Some of the countries around the world have officially launched the iPhone 3g.

Jonny Gladwell (New Zealand) aged 22, has become the 1st person to own a new iPhone 3g, he had spent 60 hours lined up outside the Vodafone store to have the privileged and told reports he was going home to put it on charge and get some much needed sleep.

Initial reports from the UK suggest that the excitement explosion over the new iPhone 3g was bigger than they had envisaged with Steve Alder, iPhone director for the “O2″ Up carrier reportedly saying, “We’ve seen the demand the 1st time, but we were even (more) blown away by this demand”.

Japan Tokyo have iPhones on sale for $215 (Approximate R1650) for an 8Gb version and the 16Gb version on sale for $320 (Approximately R2440) these prices being on average around 7% more than early indications.

There is still no official word out from either Vodacom or Apple on the release of the iPhone for local South African markets. We have been in touch with the Public Relations personnel for the various companies and have been assured an update the moment there is one.

One very nice feature of the soon to be released iPhone, is the ability to add custom apps. The previous generation of iPhone enjoyed a cult following of people who sought to “jail-brake” to phone to add their own custom functionality. Apple has undoubtedly seen big potential in creating a platform through which 3rd party applications can be delivered to mobile devices.

iTunes, the online “apple shop” for music content and more recently video content is now set to offer application content too for purchase and download. Not surprising that application delivery will probably be the initial vector into the market for the new iPhone 3g through the iTunes store which is now in its early stages in South Africa.

I believe it wont be long now before music and video content is also avablable for purchase and download through the South African iTunes Store.

There is a lot to be said for all the positives of the new iPhone 3g… but lets take a moment to focus on some of the negative aspects…

• First and foremost (to ease us into the bad) here is a bittersweet problem -
  With bandwidth being as expensive as it is in South Africa – One really wonders what the overall total cost of ownership would be for running an iPhone in this country.

  Recent international figures indicate that consumer usage of bandwidth may be up to 30 times higher than on a regular phone.
  All that ooohing and ahh’ing over a rich web experience and the host of available things to do on the phone would undoubtedly lead to more usage and may result in overall prices.

• The prospect of having GPS functionality on your phone is great, but the truth is that the A-GPS technology that is present in the new iPhone (a technology which factors in hot-spot and cell phone tower location data into positioning calculations) is only really as good as the information the iPhone is being fed. Does Vodacom have this functionality present on their cell towers, and if so, how wide-spread is it?Then there are the maps, which are a separate issue altogether, what map data will the phone make use of, can it be updated, would there be a choice of 3rd party mapping, and how complete are those maps?
  

• On the iPhone (1st Gen) – There was also an apparent issue with connecting to a laptop via bluetooth, to use the phone as a dial-up modem for laptop surfing. A few hacks were discussed to make this a reality. Has that issue been resolved in the iPhone 3g?The new specifications are still reporting to have “Bluetooth support for headsets only” – This isn’t nearly enough of a standard if the iPhone wants to compete with the other vendors in this arena.
• The battery life is not actually as long as it reportedly is the iPhone specs informational pages. Some people see the iPhone as an expensive teenagers toy, whilst others hope to embrace the host of features it offers to use it as a successful business tool. How will the limited battery life effect this?The battery is also not user-replaceable and this could lead to more expensive ownership in the long-term.
• Video Camera & MMS – There is still no video recording, and the only apparent way to send images from the phone is via email, and not by MMS like some of the other phone vendors allow.

Some people were “put-out” by how quickly the iPhone 3g was put out after the iPhone 2g – My gut tells me that Apple have done this new version of phone largely in response to the wide spread jail-breaking of the 1st generation iPhone, and in an attempt to drive market penitration in many more countries. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if a 3rd generation of iPhone was to hit the shelves a year and a half – two years from now…

It wont be long now before the iPhone is available for purchase in South Africa. This begs the question, how will it become available? What will the rules for getting one be?

If Vodacom are the only providers to have initial exclusivity, then there could only be a number of ways in which a user would be able to get a phone.

We already know that users can fill out an online web form to be “called” once the iPhones become available, but this doesn’t guarantee you a phone.

There is still mystery surrounding whether the iPhone will be available on contact only (which I fear might be the case) or whether it would be available for over-the-counter-purchase. If this is the case, expect long lines at the Vodashops in the malls or around city blocks with midnight camp-outs and thermos flasks of hot drinks.

Either way, what should be considered is that initial numbers will be limited. Regardless of pricing, I still believe that there will be a huge deficit which will not meet the demand for consumers. Once stocks are sold out, it is very likely that they will take a couple of weeks, or near a month to replenish. You have been warned !

What are your thoughts on securiting an iPhone, do you have any special tips for being one of the first to get it when it arrives, or one of the lucky ones to secure a unit before they are all gone?
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