Apple iPhone Killer?

This news item seems interesting. Will this Samsung Instinct be the Apple iPhone killer or just a lot of hot air? Well I always believed time will tell.

News Source :- http://sprintconnection.kansascity.com/?q=node/653

Sprint counters $199 Apple iPhone with $129.99 Samsung Instinct

So Dan Hesse and Steve Jobs are sitting around the wireless industry’s high-stakes poker table.

“I’ll see your $199 iPhone,” Hesse says to the man in the black turtleneck from Apple. “And I’ll raise you a $129 Instinct.”

Very interesting.

Sprint Nextel finally unveiled the price for the soon-to-be-launched phone touted as a potential iPhone killer.

Jobs recently roiled the world of mobile phones with his announcement that at least one version of the new generation of faster iPhones would sell for $199, a drastic drop from the first version that emerged a year ago.

Industry watchers since have been keeping a close eye on news from Sprint about pricing for its Samsung Instinct. Some analysts speculated Sprint would have to match the iPhone pricing to keep the race competitive.

Sprint executives promised that their price would be competitive, but offered few details.

This morning the announcement finally came: The Instinct will go for $129.99 with a two-year contract after a $100 rebate.

The Instinct will be available starting Friday through Sprint retail stores, Sprint’s Web site, Sprint telesales and Best Buy, which is Sprint’s exclusive retail partner for the Instinct until Aug. 28.

Instinct has been winning a fair amount of good reviews and it was named “Best in Show” at this spring’s CTIA Wireless 2008 event.

What do you think?

With a bet of $129.99 for Instinct pricing will Hesse and Sprint win the wireless jackpot over Jobs, Apple, AT&T and the iPhone?

Apple's 3G iPhone in Singapore by SingTel

Rumours no more, Apple's latest iPhone ie the 3G iPhone will be in Singapore, Courtesy of SingTel. It will be offering Apple's latest iPhone which will goes on sales on July 11 in 22 countries and regions, expanding to 70 by year-end. The price is as low as $199, much cheaper when the iPhone was first released.

Here is the news take.

SingTel to bring Apple's 3G iPhone to Singapore

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications said on Tuesday it will offer Apple Inc's latest iPhone that runs on third-generation mobile technology in Singapore later this year.

SingTel did not provide a date for the release or pricing for the new iPhone.

StarHub, the city-state's second-largest telecoms firm, said SingTel's iPhone deal would not be exclusive.

"We expect all three operators in Singapore to have the iPhone by the end of the year. Smart consumers will know that the best deals will arrive when all three operators are marketing the phone," a StarHub spokeswoman told Reuters in an email.

MobileOne Ltd is the smallest operator, holding about a third of the domestic market.

SingTel said last month that its mobile associates -- Bharti Airtel Ltd, Globe Telecom Inc and Australian unit Optus -- will also bring Apple's iPhone to India, Australia and the Philippines later this year.

Apple on Monday unveiled the long-awaited 3G iPhone that will sell for as low as $199 in the United States -- half the current entry-level price -- as it targets the mass market.

The new phone offers faster Internet access and improved e-mail features for business users. The new device will go on sale on July 11 in 22 countries and regions, expanding to 70 by year-end.

News Source :- http://www.reuters.com/article/CMPTRS/idUSSIN13535120080610

Apple iPhone In Singapore ?

Some time in March 2008, there's a rumour that the famous Apple iPhone will be available in Singapore sometime in 2008 through SingTel. Here is the news report I managed to locate.

SingTel to Offer iPhone in Singapore?
Neither Apple nor the local operator will comment, but the word is the handsets are finally coming. Whether they'll be 3G equipped is still a question

According to a Channel NewsAsia report online, SingTel may have won the rights to distributing Apple's iPhone in Singapore, and may launch it officially in September.

The report quotes sources as saying SingTel has "more or less sealed the deal", and that retailers expect the device to be priced at around S$690 (US$496) when it launches.

Both SingTel and Apple declined to comment when contacted.

SingTel's Group CEO Chua Sock Khoong previously confirmed SingTel was in talks with Apple, and expressed confidence in winning exclusive rights to distributing the iPhone.

Since the iPhone's launch last year, an estimated 10,000 sets have been bought and had their software cracked to be used in Singapore, according to reports online.

The iPhone has also drawn criticism for its lack of 3G functionality. Users in the United States on AT&T's EDGE network--regarded colloquially as "2.5G", as EDGE delivers faster speeds than GPRS but is slower than 3G--have complained about slow surfing speeds; should the device launch in Singapore without 3G, users will have to use the even slower GPRS network for mobile surfing.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak too, reportedly expressed disappointment at the device's lack of 3G functionality.

As such, it has been speculated that the iPhone model arriving in Singapore has to be 3G-enabled for it to gain traction. But an analyst doesn't see it as a necessary cog in the wheel.

Aloysius Choong, IDC senior analyst for personal systems, told ZDNet Asia in an interview that user studies have shown consumers are more interested in attributes such as design and branding.

"The consumer emphasis on having 3G isn't very high...it is probably more to the operator's benefit than the consumers," said Choong, elaborating that the local operator interest would lie in data revenues.

Should the non-3G enabled model arrive, it may affect the subsidy plan on the handsets offered by the operators, Choong added.

Moreover, SingTel's ultimate mobile interest is in driving use of its HSDPA networks, he said.

"You could argue that [the iPhone] may help that cause by 'conditioning' users to use the Internet on their mobiles," Choong noted.

News Source :-
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz