USA: Virgin Mobile to offer prepaid iPhone 4 and 4S.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

USA:  Virgin Mobile to offer prepaid iPhone 4 and 4S.

Virgin Mobile USA, the prepaid brand owned by US number-three operator Sprint, is to begin offering the iPhone later this month, marking the second deal Apple has struck with a prepaid carrier in as many weeks.

Virgin Mobile will offer the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S beginning 29 June, offering unlimited data and messaging plans from as low as US$30 per month without a contract. Customers can also use the device as a mobile hotspot for an additional US$15 per month.

The base tariffs are lower than the iPhone prices unveiled by rival prepaid operator Leap Wireless last week, which will offer a US$55 per-month, all-inclusive unlimited talk, text and data iPhone plan when it launches the device via its Cricket brand on 22 June.

However, Virgin Mobile’s up-front costs for the devices are higher, charging US$549 for the 8GB iPhone 4 and US$649 for the 16GB iPhone 4S, compared to US$399 and US$499 at Cricket.

Sprint already offers the iPhone to its postpaid customers and analysts believe the Virgin Mobile prepaid deal may see it lure more iPhone customers away from larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

“At US$50 per month (versus comparable unlimited options from AT&T at US$100-plus per month), we believe this could gain some traction among U.S. customers who are able to pay the upfront costs,” Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, told Bloomberg. 

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NYT: Verizon iPhone coming early 2011

The New York Times is reporting that Apple and Verizon will begin selling a version of the iPhone 4 early next year, echoing earlier reports from The Wall Street Journal and Wall Street analysts.

An anonymous source "in direct contact with Apple" told the Times this week that Apple is readying a version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon's network for an early 2011 release. 

The long-rumored Verizon iPhone "could significantly alter the dynamics of the smartphone market in the United States," wrote author Miguel Helft. Though Google's Android mobile OS now outsells the iPhone, Helft notes that a deal between Apple and Verizon "could quickly tilt the marketplace back in Apple's favor."

According to the report, numerous surveys show that "many owners" of Android handsets would switch to an iPhone if it was offered on Verizon's network. The Verizon iPhone "is going to have a fairly disruptive impact when it lands," the paper quoted Needham & Company analyst Charles Wolf as saying.

The report references The Wall Street Journal's Wednesday story as part of "the flurry of reports" predicting a Verizon iPhone. Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have persisted for over a year, coming to a head this week with coverage by both the Times and theJournal.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are both widely respected publications, but as recently as this summer, their Apple sources have been off the mark. On the eve of the "Antennagate" press conference in July, Helft authored a Times report, citing a source with "direct knowledge" of the iPhone 4 design that the antenna problem. The source asserted that the iPhone antenna problem was a software issue that could "presumably be fixed with a software update."

Also prior to the iPhone 4 antenna press conference, the Journal's sources claimed that Apple engineers had known of the problem for almost a year. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs denied those claims at the press conference, saying the company had only learned of the problem 22 days earlier.

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Verizon will bring LTE magic to the Apple iPhone.

Apple will reportedly bring its iPhone to the Verizon Wireless network in early 2011. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless is launching Long-Term Evolution in 38 markets by the end of the year. That�s a recipe for gadget nirvana.

Let�s add up the moving parts:

• The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will produce a CDMA iPhone by the end of the year. Verizon Wireless will sell these devices in early 2011.
• In addition, the Journal reports the first iPhone to hit Verizon Wireless will similar to the iPhone 4 at AT&T.
• However, there�s a �new iPhone model� coming that will have a different form factor.
• Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless just happens to be launching its LTE service in 38 markets by the end of the year.

Add it up and you have a potential iPhone-LTE match that could be a game changer, but Verizon appears to hold the cards. Verizon Wireless chief Lowell McAdam said �I expect at some point in time our business interests will align.� He added that LTE could be a great catalyst for Apple to want to bring smartphones and tablets to Verizon.

The only downside�for Verizon�is that this news will freeze a lot of upgrades.
In some respects, Apple had to make the Verizon move. Android devices are swamping the market and Apple was losing share by being exclusive to AT&T. A Verizon Wireless-iPhone should move more units and give Apple a major shot of doubling distribution in the U.S.

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg seemed to throw cold water on the iPhone chatter last month, but left the window open to a deal. Translation: Verizon�s comments were a negotiating ploy. Seidenberg said:

"So the iPhone, AT&T has done a wonderful job with it, Apple obviously has done a wonderful job with it. We were not in the game because it was GSM-based, it was global standard, really not there. We have worked hard at building a franchise out of Droid which proves that if there is an alternative, an acceptable alternative to the iPhone, and a great network and a great distribution channel, the market will go that direction.

I�m hoping that the success we have had with the Droid will lead us to the place where Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Huawei even, will want to build 4G devices and accelerate the ecosystem development so that the number of devices that will be available on 4G will be extraordinary. And our view would be we would want to carry them all.I can�t speak for Apple but my view is there is a lot of momentum in the industry for people to move on the 4G issues quicker."

Bottom line: Apple and Verizon are playing iPhone negotiation games, but the LTE card may be too hard to resist for both parties.

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VIDEO: China Unicom customers got the iphone 4 today

Despite a somewhat tepid reception last year for an earlier version of the iPhone, customers in China turned out in force Saturday to try to get their hands on the latest incarnation, the iPhone 4, as it made its debut in the country.

According to various reports, more than 1,000 people mobbed the new Apple Store in Beijing's Joy City shopping mall Saturday, and carrier China Unicom said it had taken almost 50,000 preorders for the device in one day. That compares with a mere 5,000 iPhones sold last year during the first weekend that the earlier version of the gadget was available in China.

On a faster boat to China.

(Credit: Apple)

That version was 3G only, with Wi-Fi disabled because of Chinese regulations prohibiting gadgets that don't use the country's WAPI (Wired Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) wireless standard. The iPhone 4, however, has been made Wi-Fi-ready for the Chinese market--Apple having acquired a network access license in the country in July.

The price, too, has come down. A 16GB iPhone 4 is selling for about $743 and the 32GB version for about $892 without a contract at Apple Stores in China, the company said on Monday. (The phone will also be available through China Unicom with a two-year contract at prices Apple did not detail.) Last year's iPhone 3--Wi-Fi-less in China--went on sale in the country at about $732 for an 8GB model and about $1,025 for a 32GB version.

Apple is no doubt pleased by the seeming uptick in iPhone love among the Chinese--the country is the world's largest mobile market. The company opened two new Apple Stores there Saturday, according to an item in The Wall Street Journal: the Joy City location, and another across town at a mall called The Village. That doubles the number of Apple's Chinese retail outlets. The company plans to open 25 Apple Stores in China by the end of next year, the Journal said. Apple also began selling its iPad in the country on September 17.

Still, there's a ways to go. When the iPhone 4 debuted in the United States earlier this year, it sold, according to Apple, 1.7 million units in three days, the company's most successful product launch ever. And Apple was only the fifth-largest smartphone seller in China as of the second quarter of this year, according to figures quoted by the Journal. Nokia held the top spot.

On a side note, Apple may be able to duck iPhone 4 "Antennagate" issues in China--China Unicom said last month that the device would be sold with a free case there.

  

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How to get phone on the ipod

This young man made a tutorial video on how you can get phone  on the ipod touch.



On this video you can meet the young chinese developers who invented this creative change.

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iPhone 4 Available in China on September 25

iPhone 4 Available in China on September 25

New Apple Retail Stores Opening in Shanghai & Beijing

CUPERTINO, California-September 19, 2010-Apple� today announced that iPhone� 4 will be available to customers in China beginning Saturday, September 25 at 8:00 a.m. at Apple Retail Stores including the new Apple Store� Hong Kong Plaza in Shanghai and the new Apple Store Xidan Joy City in Beijing opening on the same day. iPhone 4 will also be available on Saturday at China Unicom retail stores for qualified buyers with a new two year contract.

iPhone 4 features FaceTime�, which makes the dream of video calling a reality, and Apple's stunning new Retina� display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, images and video. iPhone 4 also features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple's A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time-in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world's most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features. The revolutionary App Store? provides access to more than 250,000 apps including the new iMovie� app built just for iPhone 4.

Customers who buy their iPhone 4 at an Apple Retail Store will receive free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their new iPhone by setting up their email, loading their favorite apps from the App Store, and other tips to get up and running before they leave the store. In addition, Apple Retail Stores will host special workshops throughout the day to help customers learn more about iPhone 4. Every Apple Retail Store is staffed by a highly trained team of passionate employees who deliver innovative services like these, plus free technical support at the Genius Bar�.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 4 will be sold in China through Apple's retail stores for a suggested retail price of CNY4,999 for the 16GB model and CNY5,999 for 32GB model without a contract. At China Unicom stores, iPhone 4 will be available for qualified buyers with a new two year contract, sold separately. For pricing and tariff information please visit www.10010.com. The new Apple Store Hong Kong Plaza is located at 282 Huaihai Zhong Road, Shanghai. The new Apple Store Xidan Joy City is located in the Joy City shopping center at 131 North Xidan Avenue, Beijing. For more information please visit www.apple.com.cn.

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