iPhone set to be the apple of many eyes

Tag : Phone Set

THE new incarnation of the iPhone is better, faster, cheaper and— most importantly for tech freaks — will be on sale inAustralia in a month.
Almost a year after Apple's first mobile phone went on sale inlimited countries overseas (and was then smuggled in to many more),from July 11 Australians will be among the first in the world to beable to buy the upgraded 3G version of the iPhone.
Michael Smith, head of retail sales for Optus, has a succinctprediction for the release: "We think it's going to go off."
The new version of the device, essentially an iPod souped up withmobile phone and other features, was predictably unveiled with muchfanfare by Apple founder and chief executive Steve Jobs aftermonths of internet gossip.
Despite selling 6 million iPhones in their first year on sale, MrJobs conceded the company had erred by selling them in too fewcountries and making them too expensive — initially $US499($A525) upfront for the cheapest model, plus a long-term contractwith a mobile carrier.
"Everybody wants an iPhone, but we need to make it moreaffordable," he said. And so Apple has reduced the cost of thecheapest 3G iPhone to $US199 in the United States.
Optus and Vodafone are currently the only two mobile carriers inAustralia that will definitely sell the 3G iPhone, although neitherhas revealed how much the phone will cost to buy outright or on along-term contract.
The new iPhone is very similar, cosmetically, to the previousmodel. The main improvement is the ability to operate on faster 3Gmobile networks, providing significantly faster internet access.
Another bonus is the inclusion of global positioning systemtechnology, although its built-in camera is still two megapixels— significantly inferior to many rival mobiles.
The iPhone combines a mobile phone, mp3 player, camera and GPSnavigator in a single device, controlled using a touch screen. Itis promoted as offering five hours' talk time, as did the 2GiPhone, but also retains two of the previous model's deficiencies:the inability to use a spare battery or memory cards to booststorage space.