Launch of Apple iPhone 3G Sets Consumer Electronics World Abuzz
Monday June 9, 2008
Image © Apple, Inc.
The drastically slashed prices of $199 for the 8-gigabyte model and $299 for the 16-gigabyte model are alluring enough for many consumers who declined to make the $399 or $499 investment the first time around.
Promising faster, “3G” data speeds and ever-popular GPS tracking will help sell other consumers on biting into the sleeker apple when price is more than the determining factor. The Apple iPhone 3G will also be thinner by about an eighth of an inch.
Apple plans to amp up its 22-country release to 70 countries in the coming months. Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Monday said 6 million iPhones have been sold thus far. The iPhone 3G details were revealed in San Francisco on Monday at an Apple conference for developers.
With the release of another cell phone monster, other companies large and small are already jumping on the bandwagon to cash in on the fanfare. Phanfare, for example, released a new application on Monday so users can easily take photos and share them using their iPhone 3G.
“For consumers, digital photography was a huge step forward over film, but uploading digital photos to a computer is just too complicated,” said Phanfare CEO Andrew Erlichson in a Monday statement. “The Phanfare iPhone [application] gets the computer out of the uploading loop and makes digital photography fun and convenient all with a single click.”
Update: AT&T on July 1, 2008 announced restrictive and punishing pricing for the new iPhone 3G.
Comments
Would someone please tell me why, if I’m going to buy a pre-paid foreign SIM card, I wouldn’t just put it in my unlocked phone and use it rather than put it in the phone and set EQO to “travel” mode?
I’d really like to know what advantage there would be to using EQO since I have a new number anyway and the advantage of local rates.
Thanks,
John