I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
New Zealand is on the official country list for July 11 iPhone 3G launch. Who’d have thunk this a few months ago?
About to skim through the keynote but from what I can tell there are some interesting hooks.
- After panning RIM for a single point of failure in their email service Apple does the same with an central, Apple only, app notification service, instead of background applications
- The have developed their own push email service. I wonder what Google will do with their mail - can they use the same push mechanism or will it be Apple only?
More later …
Q: I wonder if MobileMe supports hosted domains?
And on fake Steve …
Did you see it? Were you watching? Were you there? People, word up. That. Just. Happened. A faster, better iPhone, for as little as 200 bucks. Yeah. You should have seen the faces in the crowd. For a moment they were all just sitting there with this glazed, worshipful, vaguely confused look on their faces. It was the same look Joan Baez had on her face the first time she slept with me, right after I finished — just this curious look like, Who are you? What planet do you come from? Why do I hear angels singing? How did you do that to my lady parts, you strange intense monkey man?
Just saw this …
Snow Leopard will also include out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 and is scheduled to ship in about a year.
Mac goes Enterprise!?!
blog
If the specs are correct http://store.apple.com/nz/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=NzY2NzA0 then there is no significant advantage to TNZ or Vodafone in NZ — HSDPA only at 2100,1900, and 850.
I would imagine that it will evolve to have 900 UMTS in it as well — it looks like they burnt a whole band on T-Mobile’s dippy 1900/2100 UMTS band.
Has anyone been able to find out NZ pricing?
For the phone or the data package?
I’m impressed with the touted USD199 price at apple.com, but at that price its cheaper than an ipod touch and ipod classic, and the same price as an 8GB ipod nano.
So, its likely wrapped into a mean contact…
So are the Apple boxes sent to Aussie vodafone stores under NDA that were pictured in a recent drury blog post the in-store demo models? Are they in Wellington stores today?
Yeah, fairly astounding price. The Macrumors coverage of the keynote states the following:
“The iPhone 3G will be available July 11th in 22 countries. The maximum price around the world is $199 USD.”
This means that we could see a price of $299NZ here for the 8GB version (with the contract). The way the contract works in the US, you subscribe when you get home via iTunes after purchasing the handset. The phone can easily be unlocked, so you are not forced into the contract.
Look forward to seeing what sort of data the carriers will give us.
[...] Rod notes that Apple has included New Zealand in the release schedule for the iPhone2. [...]
So when are you moving your mobile office to Lambton Quay Rod so you can be first in the line outside the VF store? A big Xero sign behind you will get your some free advertising when you have it on worldwide TV as the first person to queue for the 3G iPhone a whole month before it becomes available - especially since NZ with it’s timezone will probably be the first place in the world to get them!
I wonder if Vodafone will give up anything like the AT&T deal in US. In particular unlimited data caps.
from AT&T release: “The new iPhones will cost $199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB) with an unlimited 3G data plan costing $30/month”
TechCrunch’s coverage @ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/09/199-iphone-sure-with-a-2-year-contract/ talks of a (still) exclusive AT&T 2-year contract with following aspects:
- $39.99/mth for basic voice
- $30.00/mth for unlimited iPhone 3G data (consumer)
- $45.00/mth for unlimited iPhone 3G data (business)
Lots of talk from AT&T about their 3G network being the best positioned for growth.
Can we expect similar pricing here? or will non-exclusivity push down that data price? 2-year contracts??
Very very interesting.
Also of note is the big push for 3d party apps…
Went into my local vodafone store and they had no idea on pricing (no suprise).
I dont think we will see an unlimited plan given the price of the limited plans and the fact we dont even get unlimited broadband, unlike the US and UK.
..What happened Vodafone, my experience today…
Where’s PaulB from VodaNZ? I thought he kept a lazy eye on our discussions and ruminations here ??? :O) I am sure that if anybody could give us some answers, he would be one of the few who could … where are you Paul?
Hello Mrs Brislen, can Paul please come out to play?
Come on Paul your audience awaits we know you know, you know that we know that you know……
OK how about $299.00 for the 8GB & $399.00 for the 16GB, data plan 20GB + free 500 texts and free local calls for $49.95.. Now that really would get queues forming at the store doors, an extra 5GB for $4.99..
I reckon we should all go a little easy on Paul - he does a fantastic job of following these posts and responding where he can - more so than lots of other people in his position
Remember he has guidelines and bosses and his hands are tied also - if he could comment I have no doubt that he would
Stan, I’d love to see all of that for $49, although you cannot even get a regular residential 20GB broadband connection for that. (It’s $69.)
I always thought Paradise.net.nz’s old bandwidth metric was good, in that local traffic was much cheaper than international. With my email and many servers based in Wellington, it frustrates me that I pay high rates to access them.
In other news, though, the iPhone really means we need to get TheFreeNet moving along. A huge opportunity awaits Wellington if it gets serious coverage of free wifi.
Fully agree Ben,my comments where said with tongue firmly planted in cheek… If we could get more industry folk contributing in the way Paul does then the world would be a better place (for at least 2-3 minutes)
Guessing that his hands are fully tied at the moment..wait for the Apple pr machine to die down and then Vodafone launch the local plan..
You can not just plonk down US$199 and walk out the door of an AT&T or Apple store with a 2nd gen iPhone. You are now (unlike the old, not subsidized ones) required to sign up for a 24 month contract. AT&T has confirmed this. Also, the price on the contracts has gone up by US$10/month, which over 24 months more than makes up for the $200 lower sticker price.
Here’s an interesting tidbit: I went into a Vodafone store today and was told that the iPhone to be released here is NOT the 3G one announced today, but a different “3Gi” one to be announced in a low key manner by Apple next week. They didn’t know the difference, but one assumes that support for 3G on 900 MHz might well be the main one.
They also said that 1) the iPhones will not be SIM locked, and 2) they *will* be available on prepay at a non-subsidized price, probably around $800 - $1000.
Take this with whatever “shop staff don’t actually know anything yet” grain of salt you think appropriate, but they seemed very sure of the 3Gi business.
Well, I don’t mind a Vodafone contract, given that I’ve have a contract with them for the past 4 years, and I assume (hope) that they are planning a deal for their business contracts as well.
Happy Apple did not go with Telecom, that would have sucked the big one.
Can’t wait to get my hands on one, and SDK looks fantastic.
“Happy Apple did not go with Telecom, that would have sucked the big one.”
Is this official? We don’t really know whether Telecom will sell the iPhone or not yet do we? I guess your comment is limited to the July 11 release?
@Matthew: Just referring to the fact that Vodafone subsidized price will be quite low, so as an existing Vodafone customer, that suits me, as my toy budget is currently rather constrained :)
I have been a Telecom business customer for the past 7 years. I walked into a Vodafone store in Wellington this morning and asked about the iPhone. It was an opportunity for them to secure my business. I said I was a Telecom business customer and was interested in learning more about the iPhone. There were no other customers in the store and the 4 customer service people behind the counter were banal. They said that Apple hasn’t given Vodafone any pricing details, but I could go into the pre-order (for notifcation after 11 July), asking whether I would like the 8MB or 16MB phone - I said how could I make a decision like that based on no pricing info. They also offered no assistance on the appropriateness of the 2 options. This smoke and mirrors game has left me feeling underwhelmed and confused.
Well we finally have it for NZ - our friendly Vodafone has decided not to allow those who “registered” to get a window to purchase a 3G iphone ahead on any one else, rather they have decided to let it be a “free-for-all” by opening 3 stores from 12:01am on Friday 11th July - first come first serve!!!
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/maps/iphone-stores.jsp
Whats the bet they only have a 1-2 thousand, not scores of thousands………?
Overall, Poor show Vodafone (again)….
And still no word whatsoever on prices and plans.
No prices & plans really slacks me off, but I am going to be so p….d off if I find out that they dont have enough phones, especially since I am being forced to line up at midnight!
I couldnt bear to wait in line to have them sold out just ahead of me!
Hopefully they announce the plans before midnite Thursday so the high price will keep the line short!
All details tomorrow morning at 10am: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=40&TopicId=21777&page_no=25#143775
Ok, so now we have price is $199 on a 24 month contract, contracts announced 10 am tomorrow.
199NZ? or US? its its NZ, thats $150 US…
http://stuff.co.nz/4610632a28.html
Stuff says NZ?
Great price for the contract.
Unfortunately at that price, I am not hopeful of getting a reasonable priced contract.
Plus, what is the point of preregisting if they can be got directly from the shops on the first day. Unless they have got such a large allocation that they don’t think they will run out in the first shipment.
Here’s my HTML-view-online link from Vodaphone re the contract price No new info really:
http://view.eid.co.nz/?ice=14TRG7V01CN
Plans listed here on Geekzone:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/iphone/5335
$80 plan looks like a pretty reasonable swap for the current $80-100 a month I’m paying…
FFS $250 a month for 1 GB
These plans must make NZ the most expensive place to own an iPhone. Thousands and thousands of would be buyers left out in the cold without the pre-pay option. Surely somebody at Vodafone knows that we are country of pre-paid users. Would happily pay $899.00 for a pre paid iPhone but will not be buying one on these contract rates. Bang goes any data revenue they would get from me. $2469.00 for a 8GB unit what a joke.
Thankfully, Ebay is choca with 1st gen iPhones so I’ll pick up one of those for $500. The 3G version doesn’t have the 2x features to warrant the 2x price to buy one outright on Vodafone.
You can actually build your own plan. A 1Gb data plan is $50 so if you don’t need the full free minutes, you can build up a you chose plan. The subsidy gets build up based on what you choose.
Dont have time to work it out know but it might not be two bad.
Have you seen the Telstra and Optus plans across the ditch……
the phone is free on Optus’ A$179 per month plan on a 2-year contract, and Optus will sell the 8GB and 16GB models on pre-pay for A$729 (NZ$926) and A$849 (NZ$1080) respectively.
The phone is also free on Telstra’s A$100 a month plan on a two-year contract. The 16GB model costs A$399 (NZ$507) on a A$30 per month plan.
Why is Vodafone screwing us here in NZ?????
I want to see Paul Brislen talk this one up…where are you Paul?
@geer - Paul is on leave till next week
11th July - flights Auckl to San Fan Return: $2965.50 iPhone at AT&T: $199 Off Contract charge: $175 Return to NZ on the 14th with your new iPhone and 4 day holiday $3339.00 Don’t go to Vodafone to buy your iPhone, go to Air NZ
OK so apologies to Vodafone it does like you can get the iPhone on pre-paid. I for one will take that option rather than be tied in to 2yr plan.
@Stan: Nope, see http://vodafonenz.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/vodafonenz.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6513&p_created=1215313077&p_sid=BiTuDc8j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xMiZwX3Byb2RzPSZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1pcGhvbmVmYXFz&p_li=&p_topview=1 (what the.. with the long link??)
Seems NZ more thans twice as expensive for entry level plan than Mexico
where for equive NZ$75 per month, subscribers get 300 minutes, 150 text messages and 150MB of data. With this plan, the 8GB iPhone costs equiv $NZ 271
Don’t even try to compare to Aus - makes even Mexico look expensive let alone NZ.
Good one VF - absolute price gouging. Come in Paul re your Nice Price quote!!
If only they added in wifi hotspots like most other countries - hang on, NZ doens’t have a good network of wifi spots like the UK or US.
I can see many people watching you tube videos on it in NZ as they will just chew through your data caps.
there is a petition started online to send to vodafone:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/iphone_rip_off_New_Zealand/signatures-10.html
Last looked it was 442, its increasing rapidly, keep spreading the word!
All the international tech sites have picked up the NZ pricing story now. They are incredulous.
Vodafone have scored an incredible PR own goal here. The news yesterday that their price for an iPhone was NZ$199 got a lot of non tech people excited and interested — perhaps for the first time — in getting one, but the reality of the plans today has shocked and disgusted them.
I also want to know what has happened to the new “$1 a day” casual data rate, which Paul Brislen was telling us a few weeks ago was for prepay customers and was the default data rate for any on-account customers who did not sign up for a data plan.
But now Vodafone’s iPhone FAQs are very explicitly saying that if you buy an iPhone and put it on a You Choose plan and don’t add on a data plan then can not use mobile data AT ALL.
what the hang - this is crazy……lets hope that VFNZ decide to review their pricing (even before friday) and admit they got it wrong!!
this site at AppleInsider positions how badly Vodafone New Zealand’s pricing fits on the International stage…
http://www.appleinsider.com/topics/International_iPhone_3G_Plans.html