iPhone 4 to hit Australia July 30

Renai LeMay
Sunday, 18 July 2010 14:30

Your IT - Mobility

Apple's flagship iPhone 4 handset will be launched in Australia on Friday July 30, the company's chief executive Steve Jobs revealed in a press conference in the US earlier in the weekend (the video is available online).

Apple had not previously revealed the exact timing for the device's launch, only saying it would be available in July. Australia is to receive the handset as part of a second wave of countries such as Canada, Italy, New Zealand and Singapore, for example.

All of Australia's major mobile telcos - Telstra, VHA (which operates the '3' and Vodafone brands) and Optus and its Virgin Mobile subsidiary - have confirmed they will sell the iPhone. But exact pricing plans have not yet been released.

The news came as Jobs also announced during the press conference that Apple would give away free cases to iPhone 4 buyers who picked up the phone before September 30th - giving Australians some two months to buy an iPhone if they want to take advantage of the offer. However it remains unclear how and to what extent the offer will be available locally.

The news appears to be intended as some form of redress by Apple to iPhone 4 buyers who have been concerned about what some media organisations in the US have labeled as the handset's poor mobile signal strength compared with previous models when held in a certain way.