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iPhone 3G rolling worldwide, Russia coming soon


Thanks to the magic of time zones, the iPhone 3G is already on its worldwide march across 21 countries.

Tipster Lawrz let us know that the handset is on sale in the Philippines from Globe Telecom, after a sold-out party that started at 10 p.m. local time counting down to midnight August 22. It's already Friday in India, and midnight is just now crossing Europe, as of this writing.

Also, tipster Efthymios tells us that Vodafone Hellas is distributing unlocked iPhone 3Gs, as is the law there. 8GB models are €499 and 16GB models are €569. Contracts plans for the handsets have not been announced, but should be available in the next few hours. (Update: and here they are.) However, Efthymios notes that Greek character input is not yet available for the iPhone, with many people having to resort using "Greeklish" instead: Greek words typed with English characters.

Reuters notes today that Russia will also be getting the iPhone 3G in October. Apple struck a deal with the country's largest mobile provider, MTS, which has nearly 84 million subscribers.

Thanks, Lawrz and Efthymios!

[MTS details via Macworld]



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Thanks to the magic of time zones, the iPhone 3G is already on its worldwide march across 21 countries. Tipster Lawrz let us know that...
 

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oriste

I went and bought the iPhone 3G in Iraklio, Crete, Greece this morning. The plan includes 100 minutes talk time, 150 outgoing SMS messages, 500MB data transfer for 35€/month. This is the most basic package. For the iPhone itself I paid 317€, due to the fact that I have accumulated credit over the past year as a Vodafone customer. More details of the somewhat kafkaesque purchasing process at http://www.oriste.com/2008/08/22/iphone-3g-lands-in-greece

August 22 2008 at 3:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Fal-z

in Ecuador is like mr. Jobs said $200 for the 8gb and the 16gb is for $329, the problem is on the plans, you have an obligatory 2 years plan for in which movistar charge you $80 a month (this is the less expensive one)
http://www.movistar.com.ec/iphone3g.html

August 22 2008 at 2:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lars

He he, Ecuador still takes the grand prize for worst plans in the world.

Here is the data from Porta in Ecuador - still living in the 90's:

8GB, 200 minutes to other Porta customers, 100 SMS, 100 MB (yes 100), $403.20 for the phone, $44.80 monthly.

16GB, 200 minutes to other Porta customers, 100 SMS, 100 MB (yes 100), $534.24 for the phone, $44.80 monthly.

16GB, 300 minutes to other Porta customers, 150 SMS, 150 MB, $422.24 for the phone, $61.60 monthly.

16GB, 400 minutes to other Porta customers, 200 SMS, 200 MB (that is the largest plan), $310.24 for the phone, $72.80 monthly.

So the largest data plan available is 200 MB. No unlimited plan. That is just the biggest joke I have seen in a very long time.

I guess the only reason why you should not get above the 200 MB per month, is because of completely shitty coverage of the 3G.

If you get above the maximum though, the price is $0.0015 per Kb!!!

August 22 2008 at 1:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
didis

I want to stress that there is no iPhone launch in Latvia. In fact LMT (TeliaSonera) act like they are not aware of this fact and has no comment on this and they even cannot tell approximate date when iPhone will be available in Latvia.

Something similar is going on in Lithuania. The only Baltic state where iPhone is available starting today is Estonia.

TUAW could write something more detailed on this issue.

August 22 2008 at 12:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Woz

iPhone 3G is really cool.
I bought it one month ago.
Compare with iPhone, the GPS and 3G is very useful.
And .MOV movie is compatible with iphone 3G, not only mp4 video.
Enjoy private time with this bright widescreen player is so comfortable.

BTW, share a DVD and HD video to iPhone 3G conversion guide with you people:
http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/articles/convert-dvd-video-to-iphone-3g.html

August 22 2008 at 5:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mariusz

Ah, and the prices of the phone in Poland (for individual customer) were:

Orange:
2 year plan
8GB: $200 with $85/mo | $1 with $125/mo
16GB: $325 with $85/mo | $75 with $125/mo

3 year plan
8GB: $25 with $85/mo | $1 with $125/mo
16GB: $150 with $85/mo | $1 with $125/mo

Era:
2 year plan
8GB: $350 with $45/mo | $1 with $100/mo | $1 with $175/mo
16GB: $500 with $45/mo | $150 with $100/mo | $1 with $175/mo

3 year plan
8GB: $135 with $45/mo | $1 with $100/mo | $1 with $175/mo
16GB: $300 with $45/mo | $1 with $100/mo | $1 with $175/mo

So the phone itself wasn't really expensive, it was just contract plans that killed it cause the cheapest iPhone tariff plan is one of the most expensive for the regular phones.
Business plans were quite friendly, tho, but not everyone owns a company. ;)

August 22 2008 at 4:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Mariusz's comment
Jash Sayani

Nice. Whats the contract cancellation fee ?

And also, can I get it shipped internationally ?

August 22 2008 at 6:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mariusz

iPhone3G start in Poland (at least from my knowledge) is considered a fail -- they made mainstream events with opening stores @ 12:00am to get one, but here it's not such a mainstream product and it's quite expensive, so the events were empty and sellers were boring themselves to death.

August 22 2008 at 4:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
macsphere

The cost of a new iPhone with a contract from Vodafone in Greece is almost double compared to other European operators.

Cheapest monthly plan is €35 (100 min talk time, 150 SMS, 250 MB data) for which the iPhone is sold at €375 (8GB) and €459 (16GB).

Well done, Vodafone! Well done, Apple.

August 22 2008 at 3:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
max

In Colombia we're getting charged more than US$770 for the 16gb model, this is crazy! Check it out http://tinyurl.com/5pwhta

August 22 2008 at 2:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to max's comment
Jash Sayani

In India, its US$750 for the 8Gig one and US$ 900 for the 16 Gig one.

Now how crazy is that ?

August 22 2008 at 6:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mvan

21 more countries ready to add to the pile of below par 3G performance complaints, I thought apple would have fixed this before getting themselves deeper into this mess..

August 22 2008 at 2:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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