People rushed to Apple stores last week to become one of the firsts to lay their hands on what others call as the JesusPhone. Talk about the “Apple cult”.
Anyway, Apple officially announced that iPhone will be released in the Asian market by next year. Being an Apple fan myself, I’m looking forward to this — I mean, really!. On the other hand, there are conditions, and these might be yours too, for shelling out $500. I’m hoping that the 2nd generation iPhones will be the ones that will be released here in the Philippines, and will contain these features:
* 3G – definitely needed. I can’t live without this right now given the kind of work I have. This first generation iPhone has 2.5G installed, I believe.
* Open line – in the US, iPhone is locked with AT&T. Here in the Philippines, it would be hard to implement that since the PH mobile users switch carriers overnight.
* Chat client – I read from reviews that a chat client is not installed. This, in my opinion, will really rock our online world if this will be available. Imagine, you can check your emails THEN chat with your client to discuss the email over Yahoo IM while being connected on a WiFi hotspot — all without a laptop. Wouldn’t that be cool? Oh well, I’m hoping that Aduim already have an iPhone version by then.
A cross-post from my blog.
25 comments
Based on the buzz, AT&T pays Apple a cut in the monthly plans. And can Pinoys afford those plans? If Pinoy operators lower the rates, they will (think they) lose money since they have to pay Apple.
So, if ever, an unlocked iPhone would cost even more.
Really, why go with the iPhone when Sony Ericsson’s W960 offers more than what the iPhone has? Only difference is Sony Ericsson’s W960 has 3G, a 3.2mpx camera, a usable keypad, 27 hours of music playback time, thousands of compatible software, at least a dozen innovative accessories, and a bigger available flash memory (8gb… iPhone has up to an 8gb flash memory, but 700mb of which has been consumed by the OS)…
And really, do you guys want a phone that’s heats up too much, doesn’t have an mms client, can’t be upgraded on it’s own (have to bring it to a service center which costs $$$), etc… 🙂
Either go with Sony Ericsson’s W960 or wait for Samsung’s F700 which allows up to 7.2mbps HSDPA speeds, has a 5mpx camera, a slide out QWERT keyboard, and tacticle touch screen feedback 🙂
I don’t see why you would need to bring an iPhone to a service center to upgrade it, considering that it can use the infrastructure already in place for the iPod – iTunes 7 and above will detect availability of firmware updates for your iPod automatically and prompt you – there’s no reason why the iPhone would be any different.
I just bought an Iphone and yes, it is amazing. However, we should protest since they forgot the Philippines in the listed countries. Tried updating contacts information of the address book and when you click on country, it displays lists of countries. To my surprise, Philippines is not among those listed.
if u really into the trend thing(iphone) u should ask ur self if all the features of the iphone will be usable in your day by day work basis cuz right now every phone provider release a much more high tech phones but actually the pinoy users are not getting full hands on that features. they simply buy a phone which is trendy..hehehe..
iphone>? i rather buy SE W960i w/ 8g memory (USB mass storage) i can transfer my work to my personal comp with a click of a bluetooth button.plus the fact it has modem conenctivity..hehehe
I believe the Philippines to be a very diverse country. Manila is not lacking in people who can afford Range Rovers and Mercedes S500s, despite stiff import duties that make them cost more than double their already high price in the USA. Those folks can afford an iPhone.
Looking at this another way, US$500-600 for an iPhone is roughly P22500-P27000. That’s far from unprecedented, seeing that I’ve seen some Nokia phones that cost roughly the same amount in the Philippines.
AT&T’s plan costs roughly P2700 a month, including P900 a month for the data portion. If this same charge could be retained for 3G service, I would much prefer it to what Smart currently charges in the Philippines for 3G.
If you consider that Smart is charging P10 per half hour – P20 per hour – of data use, the P900 a month looks pretty reasonable and is in fact very similar to PDLT’s 999/month low-end DSL.
I’m sure that whatever amount is paid Apple under these plans, the rates will be kept competitive. In the USA, plans for the competing Blackberry start at $85 a month [P3825]. This is much more than the iPhone plan. Estimates in the USA are that AT&T pays about P150 per cellphone subscriber for each iPhone. They pay RIM, the Blackberry’s maker, about P1500 a month for each unit.
In short, if Filipinos can afford Blackberries, as I’m sure some can, you’ll see iPhones in the Philippines undercutting the Blackberry cost substantially, as they do in the USA.
Hope that helps.
D
Iphone is just an Eye candy.I’ll wait for the 2nd gen Iphone. Still waiting for the 6th gen Ipod running os X
do u have any idea as to how much the SE 960i/960 or the samsung F700 costs here? are these phones avail in the market already?
do u have any idea as to how much the SE w960i/w960 or the samsung F700 costs here? are these phones avail in the market already?
Do you have any idea when w 960i will be release here in the philippines and how much will it be cost?
The iPhone is just great for the ‘wow’ factor, bragging rights, for the trendwhores. hehe I agree with what the previous people had said here: go for Sony Ercisson’s W960i. Getting an iPhone this time (1st gen) seems late na since Apple just released their latest OS — and iPhone runs on the older one pa.
i need to know where is the right place for me to send my iphone for repair or service.i just bought the phone and has download many many things and i think i screwed up the phone by downloading some unnesassary program or software.now its only blinking and cant turn it on. i need someone to tell me where to bring it maybe manila is the best place as i travel to manila every week now for work
ANYONE HERE HAVE A TEST OR UPGRADED IPHONE THRU THE INTERNET? I BOUGHT IPHONE LATE LAST YEAR AND THE VERSION IS 1.1.1, IS IT OK TO UPGRADE IT TO 1.1.2 THE NEW VERSION? PLEASE HELP ME.
PALOTIL
W960i is P23,000 in the philippines
bought these iphone sa singapore
ewan basta na lng kinailangan iconnect s itunes pro ng nagnrestore n.
“The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be a supported…..”
narestore ko n xa pro d pa kompleto ang activation
panu q ba ito maaus?
tulong nmn po…. nasasayang ako sa 8gb n iphone na ito…wla silbi at di mo mgamit until maActivate
i found out my carrier “singTel” becomes “globe” kpag nkapasok na sa pinas…
d ko nmn cguro kelangan bumalik sa singapore pra lang maaus ito..
tulong po….plz lng… khit referrals lng.
if you’re looking for a place to repair that iphone, better go to greenhills shopping center. located at 2nd floor. you can even unlock your iphone in 1.1.4 firmware. and i believe they will also release 2.0 firmware earlier than apple.
if you have problems bout your iphone, there’s no other place like greenhills. home of the iphone hackers. hahaha!
Hi, anyone here already upgraded iphone to version 1.1.3? Hope you can give feedback if okay to upgrade.
Palotil
Philippines
How much is the uprage and unlocking of iPhone in Greenhills Shopping Mall??????Pls. reply….
How much is the uprage and unlocking of iPhone in Greenhills Shopping Mall??????Pls. reply to whom it may concern para magamit q na tong iPhone q…plzzzzz…..….
How much is the uprage and unlocking of iPhone in Greenhills Shopping Mall??????Pls. reply to whom it may concern para magamit q na tong iPhone q…plzzzzz…..….
How much is the uprage and unlocking of iPhone in Greenhills Shopping Mall??????Pls. reply to whom it may concern para magamit q na tong iPhone q…plzzzzz…..….
How much is the uprage and unlocking of iPhone in Greenhills Shopping Mall??????Pls. reply to whom it may concern para magamit q na tong iPhone q…plzzzzz…..….
How much is the uprage and unlocking of iPhone in Greenhills Shopping Mall??????Pls. reply to whom it may concern para magamit q na tong iPhone q…plzzzzz…..….
cristopher…why dont you look it up online and unlock it yourself? I unlocked mine thru ziphone.
ganyan talaga mga ‘ kano mahilig sa kalokohan..
just go to youtube and search for jailbreaking your iphone..make sure to know what version u have..and u can chat using ur YM, MSN, AIM, Google Talk..watever instant messenger u have..just download the app for it.u can just hack it, just go to YOUTUBE to know how it is!