3G iPhone on the Way? 191
mooseman93 wrote to point out Forbes is suggesting that if you haven't purchased an iPhone yet, you may want to wait just a little bit longer. Supposedly the next generation of iPhone will offer some substantial upgrades, including 3G capabilities. "To be sure, a 3G iPhone likely won't pop up over the next several weeks. The Unofficial Apple Weblog reported this week that Apple is hiring a television production firm in preparation for a high-profile late February announcement. That event, however, will likely detail the widely anticipated release of a software developer's kit for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. But the wait can't drag on much longer. AT&T is building out its high-speed wireless network as quickly as it can, announcing Wednesday that it will expand its 3G wireless broadband service to more than 80 additional cities by the end of the year for a total of roughly 350 markets."
Re:Only now 3G in US? (Score:4, Interesting)
A great point: over in Great Britain 3G has been working (very quickly) for several years now, whilst O2 have only just started rolling out EDGE for the iPhone (mainly). When I tried using an iPhone in an O2 shop a few months ago, it was painfully slow under EDGE (but fine under Wi-Fi).
Re:Only now 3G in US? (Score:2, Interesting)
If Apple would release it in Asia, Jobs would be often saying "boom!" with each sale.
Forbesian Bullshit (Score:5, Interesting)
Here are some questions that Forbes should have asked:
Again, Forbes shows that journalism takes the back seat. There are plenty of great articles that could be written. Instead, we get an article that isn't even worthy of an unpopular rumor blog. Like mine.
Re:Only now 3G in US? (Score:3, Interesting)
Here in the US you get to choose between 4-5 major carriers. However, most of them use different signalling technologies that make their phones incompatible with most of the other carriers. Because of this you can't just buy a phone somewhere and hook up with a carrier. Instead you have to get the phone from the carrier, and it's usually locked to their network. They do give you the phone "for free" if you sign a 2-year contract for their service. Obviously the phone isn't free, it's subsidized by the contract fees. If you terminate the contract early you're charged a several hundred dollar penalty. Of course once you've completed the terms of the contract you still usually can't take the phone to another carrier, so if you want to switch the whole process starts over again.
So while consumers do have a choice between multiple carriers, the carriers all design their services in ways that make it next to impossible to switch service if you are dissatisfied. This lowers the amount of competition, which means that the carriers don't have to spend as much money building out/improving their network or adding new features to bring in new customers. Let's face it, if you want mobile service in the US it's like choosing between three shit sandwiches. You don't want any of them, but you still have to choose.
That's one of the reasons that AT&T has suddenly started doing so well in the US market. Because they were the exclusive US carrier of the iPhone they actually had something different that people wanted, so millions of people switched to their service. But even that works to tie consumers to AT&T, because even if you can unlock the iPhone the only other US carrier that supports that signalling technology (GSM?) is T-Mobile, and they don't have anywhere near the market penetration or coverage area that the other big carriers do.
Incidentally, the same sorts of entrenched interests that make the US lag so far behind the rest of the developed world in the mobile communications space are responsible for making the US lag so far behind the rest of the world in other communications formats, like broadband Internet access.
Re:iPhone in Japan (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:soem people still don't understand (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh, yes. The cost.
$25/month.
Re:Only now 3G in US? (Score:2, Interesting)
I like that. I'm going to use it to break the ice at parties in future. Thank you.
While the UK mobile system is far better than the US system, it still has its flaws. For example, some providers have the habit of 'locking' a phone to its provider, and demanding an unlocking fee to unlock it. If you want to transfer your number from an old to a new SIM, you have to phone both providers and go through rather intrusive security checks.
For example, last month I switched providers from Tesco Mobile to 3, and wanted to transfer my mobile number over. I had to phone Tesco Mobile, tell them my postcode, the location, amount and date of the last top-up, and then tell them who I was moving to, why I was moving to them, and why I wasn't moving to Tesco's own Extra tariff before the lady on the other end of the phone would give me the PAC code.
(For those on the other side of the pond, over here Tesco is like Wal-Mart in its relative size, popularity and rubbishness. I only had the SIM because it was given to me someone else a few years ago.)
If the US's market is a choice between shit sandwiches, then the UK's market is like choosing between a pleasant, lightly toasted, warm bread-and-butter sandwich, or a sandwich made of cardboard and artificial margarine. The problem is that they're all hidden within opaque sealed boxes, á la Deal or No Deal.
There are contracts in the UK, but the cancellation fee is usually quite modest (around £30-50, which is equivalent at the present exchange rate to ~$60-100).
Re:Apple SHOULD go 3G (Score:4, Interesting)
the market use of these terms has changed over time. five years ago, nobody questioned that EDGE was 3G. the marketing hype was that once 3G (by which everyone meant EDGE) was ubiquitous, it would change everything. well, we got EDGE, and very little changed. so they kept the same marketing message - once we get 3G, everything will change - and just obliterated and precise meaning of what 3G was.
EDGE is explicitly a 3G technology. the speeds found in real-world applications are dependent on far more things than the underlying technology used. one can run EDGE slower than RTT (a clearly 2G technology) if you allocate few enough cells, or faster than EVDO if you allocate enough. if what you really mean is that we want HSDPA, please just say that. if what you really mean is that you want >300Kbps, say that.
Re:USA != the only iPhone market (Score:3, Interesting)