All Articles Tagged iphone-risk

What is best in life?

An iPhone 3G in your pocket, the wind in your hair, and 70+ markets to roam in?

WRONG!

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their handset users.

Thus Apple dropped the Steve Jobs Keynote BOOM! On the first round of iPhone Risk with news of over 70 regions signed on to carry the all new, all spectacular iPhone 3G. North America and much of Europe are currently set to get the next generation universe dent’er on July 11, with the rest “Coming Soon”/

Blanketing almost all the known continents (sorry Antarctica, see you come 4G!) and countries (with the huge gaping exception of China?), iPhone Risk, post WWDC edition, is now soundly under the “Epic Win” column, even as the scorecard strains under the map-bending load, which we include after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

From the land of the rising sun, and the trend of mono-sentence-ic press statements, Softbank has announced that they will be carrying the iPhone in Japan with — wait for it — details to follow later!

Unofficial beginning of June scorecard:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), Hong Kong SAR (Hutchison) India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Japan (Softbank), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Macao (Hutchison), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), Spain (Movistar), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

Still burning a hole in your direction, China! Only a few days to go…

Read

Another week, another single line, non-specific iPhone launch announcement. This time it’s Movistar in Spain.

Unofficial beginning of June scorecard:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), Hong Kong SAR (Hutchison) India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Macao (Hutchison), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), Spain (Movistar), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

That still leaves China, Japan, and… Antarctica!

Read

Back in April, we lamented that the month ended pretty much exactly where it started, 6 iPhone’s launched, 1 announced for Canada, 7 rumored around the rest of the globe, and not much else on the horizon.

Wow. What a difference a month makes!

Here we are at the end of May, and we have the same 6 launched, but an unbelievable 45+ countries/territories announced, presumably for the iPhone 3G, presumably in June following Apple’s WWDC and Steve Jobs’ scheduled Keynote.

What’s left for June? China? Japan? Russia? A roof-blowing “one more thing” announcement of the iPhone 3G being sold unlocked?

What do you think?

Unofficial end of May scorecard:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), Hong Kong SAR (Hutchison) India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Macao (Hutchison), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

Short and pro-forma sweet:

Hutchison Telecommunications Limited said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau later this year.

Updated list:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), Hong Kong SAR (Hutchison) India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Macao (Hutchison), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

Of course, Hong Kong and Macao are nice and all, but there’s still Taiwan and the giant sleeping dragon itself, China to go.

When will they, Japan, and Antarctica drop?

Read

In keeping with other recent, ridiculously short and detail-free iPhone statements:

TeliaSonera today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia later this year.

By Odin-One-Eye, the iPhone is coiling its way across the globe like the World Serpent in search of its tasty Thor-snack. Does this mean Ragnarok for Nokia on its home turf, or just that mythological metaphors strain awfully fast in blog intros?

Gotcha.

Table shattering score card now link list:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

Lately I’ve been ending these by asking “Who’s next?” but, honestly at this point, “who’s left?”

Anyone want dibs on Antarctica?

Read Via

French iPhone exclusive, Orange, has just added to the iPhone country count by announcing a deal to bring the (presumably next-gen 3G version) device to:

Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Orange’s African markets later this year.

Belgium and Romania are said to be exclusive, but this brings Dominican Republic (maybe), Egypt, Portugal, Switzerland, and South Africa (maybe) into the multi-carrier (co-exclusive or non-exclusive) column and for the first time suggests a previously exclusive region, Austria, may no longer be exclusive!

France Telecom spokesman Bertrand Deronchaine said Orange will be the exclusive iPhone provider in Belgium and Romania, with co-exclusive or non-exclusive deals in other countries. He declined to offer more details about the arrangement.

What might that portent, if anything, for the US, UK, France, Germany, and Ireland?

Table shattering score card now link list:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T) 

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel),  Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil),  Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel),  Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

So, with the board filling up like the cable car to WWDC, the question remains: who’s next?

(PS: We’re not claiming iPhone Candyland… yet.)

Read Via + Via

 

Joking that the iPhone Risk map was getting a little crowded up in Europe… turns out not to be a joke anymore:

Swisscom on Wednesday confirmed it will begin selling Apple’s iPhone in Switzerland this year, possibly bolstering a recent report on the matter which also stated that the handset would arrive with video conferencing and other fresh features.

What fresh new features? As if borrowing from Kevin Rose’s twitter feed, GPS, bi-direction video iChat Mobile, and mobile TV.

Checking the score board:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica	Total
Launched	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
Announced	6	2	15?	3	2	2	0	30
Rumored	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Total	13	3	15?	3	2	2	0	38

Personally, I’m not sold on 2-way iChat yet, or Mobile TV unless Apple can break it out of the carrier-controlled sandbox in which it now languishes. This is a little too close to rumor-regurgitation for now. GPS, on the other hand, seems likely.

What do you think?

Read

Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Janric for the tip:

Globe’s Head for Consumer Wireless Business Ferdinand Dela Cruz announced today that Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel, and Optus have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Australia later this year.

Philippines is new, Singapore is now confirmed, and given that Vodafone has already announced Australia and India, this would make it the second and third confirmed non-exclusive territories after Italy.

Score board says:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica	Total
Launched	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
Announced	5	2	15?	3	2	2	0	29
Rumored	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Total	12	3	15?	3	2	2	0	37

Okay folks, who’s next?

First Canada, then 10 Vodafone-serviced countries spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, now Engadget brings word that Mexico-based America Movil has announced it will be bringing the iPhone not only to its own home town, but to potentially all the 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries/territories/protectorates it provisions!

These include Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, the United States (almost certainly off limits because of AT&T), Guatamala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Chile.

And the Phone Different Jumbotron now reads:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica	Total
Launched	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
Announced	5	2	15?	1	2	2	0	26
Rumored	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	4
Total	12	5	15?	2	2	2	0	36

As with the other recent announcements, no details were provided as to when, how much, or whether or not there would be exclusivity or anything approaching special (read: reasonable) unlimited data plans. It also leaves another pressing question:

Who’s next?!

No sooner did Vodafone announce it would be carrying the iPhone in 10 countries, then previously rumored Telecom Italia chimed in with a hearty “anche io!” (”Me too” for you non-Romantics)

Apple Insider quotes:

“Telecom Italia announces today that it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Italy within the year.”

Mama mia, Tim Cook wasn’t joking around when he said Apple wasn’t tied to any particular business model, now was he?

Is this something particular to the specific Italian market? A test-case for carrier non-exclusivity? Or a sign of how business for Apple will be done from now on?

What do you think?

Figures. Right after I go to all the trouble of cut and pasting together an April iPhone Risk Roundup, Vodafone goes ahead and announces 10 more countries, more than doubling the amount of countries having, or set to have, the iPhone! Apple Insider goes on locations:

“Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network,” the carrier said in a statement without providing further detail.

A look at our newly overpopulated score board:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica	Total
Launched	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
Announced	5	1	0	1	2	2	0	11
Rumored	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	4
Total	12	3	0	2	2	2	0	21

Vodofone, of course, owns Verizon in the US, which is rumored to have taken a pass on Apple’s iPhone, leading to the current AT&T exclusivity deal. Back with a vengeance much?

Like the Canadian detail-free announcement from Rogers, it’s also likely these deals will involve the as-yet-unannounced-but-widely-expected 3G iPhone, though given the rest of the world’s 3G-centricity, it certainly should. Also unknown is whether these will be the exclusive deals involving revenue sharing and pressure towards unlimited data plans Apple pioneered with the initial iPhone launch last year.

What do you think?

(PS - Apple, help a blogger out and release more of your little flag circle icons. Those things don’t Photoshop themselves, b’okay?)

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here were are at the end of April pretty much exactly where we were at the beginning: 6 iPhone launches on the board representing the US, UK, Germany, France, Ireland, and Austria.

But wait, who’s that on deck now, eh? That’s right, Canada’s Rogers Wireless has officially announced that they’re #7, bringing Poppa Jobs’ pocket universe dent’er to the Great White North circa “sometime later this year”.

Of course, announced and launched are two different things, and no less than 7 other countries, including Singapore, Mexico, the Netherlands, Australia, India, Italy, and Belgium are rumored to be hot on Canada’s heels for launching, and bragging, rights.

Quick check of the PhoneDifferent.com scorecard:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica
Launched	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Announced	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Rumored	3	1	0	2	0	1	0

Still some slim pickings, but May leads right into WWDC which should kick June, and our little game of iPhone Risk, into high gear. If iPhone 3G drops (especially 25 million of them!), all bets are off and we’ll be in for one Jobs of a ride!

So who’s next? Canada? One of the rumored other 7? Someone out of the blue? What do you think?

Another day, another iPhone International rumor, this one from Ars Technica (via astel.be) pegging the iPhone 3G to arrive in Belgium sometime between May and June.

Quick check of the scorecard, should this be true:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica
2.5G	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
3G	1?	0	0	0	0	0	0

Says Ars:

The report indicates that Belgian carriers Proximus, Mobistar and BASE are putting together special iPhone data packages which should include compatibility with the Visual Voicemail feature as well as unlimited data transfer. It’s also noted that an exclusive deal like the one Apple has with AT&T in the US would violate trade laws in Belgium.

And a quick recap, as the lineup continues to grow with Italy, India, Singapore, the Netherlands and Mexico, and Australia also in the running for the next great iPhone release.

Who’s your money on?

Engadget, via typically credible Italian newspaper La Repubblica, reports that a 3G iPhone will be coming soon to Telecom Italia, and what’s more: without carrier or contract lock-in.

Ch-ch-ch-che?

First, a quick look at our scoreboard, if this be true:

	Europe	North Am.	South Am	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Antarctica
2.5G	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
3G	1?	0	0	0	0	0	0

Next, Apple Insider brings some details:

[A] formal agreement on the matter was signed last week when Franco Bernabè, chief executive officer of TIM’s parent company Telecom Italia, met with Steve Jobs at Apple’s Cupertino-based headquarters. Under the terms of the deal, TIM will reportedly receive a several month exclusive on sales of a 3G iPhone through its retail shops [...] Apple is also reported to have agreed to terms by which the new iPhone will be sold at a higher price than in other European countries, but without a carrier lock and two-year service agreement.

Apple Insider further notes that, given the high percentage of pay-as-you-go plans in Italy, this unprecedented arrangement would give both the carrier and customers multo-flexibility in selling units and either using them on TIM, or with other providers, with plans or with pre-purchased bundles/minutes.

No comment, of course, from either Cupertino or Roma, but we’ve repeatedly repeated Apple COO Tim Cook’s comments on being open to other business models, and this particular one is very intriguing to say the least.

How does the idea of a contract-free 3G iPhone coming soon (albeit to Italy) grab you?