
Cornered! is a blog devoted, most of the time anyway, to telecommunications: local and global issues, technology, people and trends from the perspective of someone who's been reporting, analysing and commenting on the industry since the dark ages (BC - before competition). Sometimes serious, sometimes flippant, sometimes frivolous. Controversial, analytical, informative, amusing, but never boring; a vehicle for examinations of important issues and observations on my encounters and experiences in an industry where polarised views and hyperbole are the norm.
Follow the Australian Telecommunications scene NEWSLETTER- FREE TRIAL Blog
Technology news and Jobs
Cornered!
Apple’s Chinese iPhone: why no 3G and no Wi-Fi?!
Cornered!
Apple’s Chinese iPhone: why no 3G and no Wi-Fi?! | Apple’s Chinese iPhone: why no 3G and no Wi-Fi?! |
|
| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Sunday, 28 September 2008 | |
|
Page 2 of 2 With no 3G networks, the iPhone has to at least be 2G GSM capable. The lack of any 3G chipset reduces costs to Apple and China Mobile, as would the lack of a Wi-Fi chipset, so cost is one factor, but in the case of Wi-Fi, there is said to be another. Featured Whitepaper
5 Best Practices for Smartphone Support
The desire to remove this has been explained by China Mobile not wanting VoIP programs to deprive them of revenue, and if that’s the case, it’s a tough penalty for official iPhone owners and one which seems to make the unlocked import iPhone all the more attractive. Chinese phone manufacturers have also been busily creating a host of iPhone clones, some running Windows Mobile 6, others running customised operating systems. One such clone is called the HiPhone. A taxi driver I came across on a recent trip had one, and it was fascinating to see and compare with a real iPhone. The HiPhone was thicker, and as anyone has seen from a HiPhone video on YouTube, the interface looks similar but crude. The phone performed all its tasks, but clearly without the panache, style, sophistication or speed of a real iPhone. What was surprising was that the iPhone’s multi-touch capability for zooming into and out of photos was available. While zooming into a photo using finger and thumb brought about a kind of ‘stair-step’ zoom in, it did work, and it’s clear that, over time, these clones will become far more sophisticated. But the most sophisticated phone has already been available for some time, and easily works in multiple languages, including traditional and simplified Chinese: the iPhone. This means that the real iPhone, unlocked, imported and as sold in the West, will still be the best iPhone, and the phone any official China Mobile iPhone is truly competing against. |
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|


Tags





