Not to be outdone by the Kings of Hong Kong, Mexico’s Telcel has also revealed what they’re going to be beating, piñata-style, out of the subscribers for the honor of owning El Jobso’s iPhone 3g.
Low end plans start at US$36 for 200 min, 100 SMS, and 100MB of data (!), with US$311 for the 8GB handset and US$434 for the 16GB
High end tops out at US$79 for 700/250/Unlimited data with a FREE 8GB handset or $123 for the 16GB.
Strangely the middle plans offer paltry 150MB/200MB data caps for $49 and $59, while $79 nets you unlimited?!
Still, Mexico seems to have landed much closer to AT&T’s side of North America than Rogers…
Could Steve Jobs be secretly developing and testing a slide-out keyboard version of the iPhone to make certain tic-tactile thumb typing enterprise customers happy? Sure. And he could be getting ready to license OS X to Dell and switch out the Mac casings to the little beige box company.
Of course, the same Jobs who said Apple wouldn’t make a slider also said Apple wouldn’t make a phone, and only a seasoned Kremlinologist can divine anything even remotely resembling Apple’s forward looking plans anyway, so here, to go along with iFlip and iPhone Nano, is the iSlider:
What he is apparently doing is canvassing the idea with operators. “If you had a keyboard version, how many would you take?” And he has taken this beyond just chatting: actual prototypes - not just mockups - have been sent to senior executives at some operators. I’m not allowed to even hint which operators… but I can report that the keyboard has “issues” which are not yet resolved.
What “issues” remain unresolved? The big, honking lack of keyboard? Only time and and a Macworld Jobsnote Boom! will tell.
Personally, I’ve never been great on hard keyboards (as my old Treo, still sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, will tell you), so I’m not particularly interested in this. How about you? Any urge to get your QUERTY on?
Reason number 4952 (ok, we lost count) we’re excited for the iPhone 2.0 software update: Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. Yes, it’s pretty much just a MarioKart Klone — but it looks like a quality clone and, let’s be brutally honest here, the chances that Nintendo is going to develop for the iPhone when they have a perfectly good and popular portable out there is precisely nil.
Looks like you steer with the accelerometer, tap the screen to shoot your powerups, and use your voice to giggle with glee. Next step (we hope): networked multiplayer. Pretty Please?
The man with the enormously big hands is back, baby!
Apple has posted a new Guided Tour video, highlight the new form and features of the upcoming iPhone 3G.
For those keeping track, following on a Keynote and the release of software updates (OS X 10.5.4 last night, the beta for iTunes 7.7 along with SDK beta 8 last week, etc.), Guided Tour videos are usually the next indicator that Steve Jobs is readying to break the final seal, on the final sign, of iPhone launch.
AT&T has apparently been watching Roger’s desperate, retreat-action PR spin and thinking, “Yeah, let’s not do that.” So instead they’ve done something typical and something a little surprising. The typical thing: they’ve issued a press release with some crunchy details, including:
Price for those ineligible to upgrade: $399 for the 8GB and $499 for the 16GB — these still require a 2 year agreement
(Edit: whoops, misread the press release) — no-contract iPhone 3Gs will eventually be available at $599 and $699
Minute Plans and FamilyTalk Details
$18 upgrade fee (?!!?! Is this new?)
Text options on top of your $30 data plan: $20 for unlimited, $15 for 1500, $5 for 200
iPhone 2.0 software will be pre-loaded on iPhone 3G
One more: Confirmed that they’ll start selling at 8am local time.
It’s a far cry from the simplicity of the original iPhone plan, but hey, at least we know now. AT&T apparently anticipated possible outcry, confusion, and panic, too. So here’s the nonstandard part: they’re released a series of videos on YouTube (first one is above) detailing what you need to do to be “iReady.” In addition to the above, there’s details on how to “make your original iPhone a hand-me-down” and how to “switch to AT&T for the iPhone 3G“
Alright, we have to Wait-a-Thon this. What do you think of the un-contracted prices? What do you think of the “upgrade fee?” Plans? Anybody else need a Xanax? Comment for your chance to win one of the last $100 iTunes Gift Cards we’re giving away.
Proving their kung-fu is far better than Canada’s or Scandinavia’s, Hutchison Telecom’s 3 brand just kicked out some positively Confucian price points:
With a 2 year contract, the low end plan will run you just HK$188 (a WOW-inducing US$24!!) for 500/500/500 (minutes, heart-to-heart minutes, and data megs), along with 25 MMS and 15 SMS (+ unlimited intra-SMS), and HK$2938 for the 8GB handset and $3738 for the 16GB.
Top end is HK$498 a month (US$42) will net you 2200/1500/Unlimited data, with 150 MMS, 50 SMS (+ unlimited intra-SMS), a FREE 8GB handset, or HK$138 for a 16GB.
By way of bitter comparison, Norway is paying US$221 for 1000 min. and 1GB, Sweden is paying US$145 for 1000/1GB and Canada is getting hosed for US$100 for 600/1GB. (AT&T is $+30 for unlimited data).
The iPhone Blog merged with the Phone different site in May of 2008. Both sites were founded on a premise that comes one from one of Apple's old slogans: Think different. The iPhone Blog: for people who dare to phone different.
