iSpy with my little i, something beginning with 'œ3G iPhone'

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 02 May 2008 18:31

Your IT - Mobility

So, CNET.com.au says an anonymous industry insider has confirmed Optus will be one of the carriers in Australia to get the iPhone, while not being an exclusive deal. Surely it’s a 3G iPhone, and if Telstra doesn’t also get it, you can bet they’d be mighty unhappy.

A new revolution in telecommunications is set to begin with the worldwide launch of the 3G iPhone, or so my little i, with which iSpy, is telling me.

No, I’m not hearing iVoices in my iHead, I’m just using my common iSense, which is tingling just as it does for iSpidey.

CNET.com.au says it’s been told that Optus will get the iPhone, that it’s not an exclusive deal, and that they’re expecting ‘new models’ but can’t confirm if it’s a 3G iPhone or not.

Well, a lot of that seems to confirm what the MacTalk form people were talking about a few weeks ago when they came out with the stunning rumour that the iPhone would be sold in Australia as an unlocked device.

Clearly, all free thinking, iPhone desiring peoples of Australia (and likely the world) would love to get their hands on an officially unlocked iPhone as it would cease forcing people to give up their favourite carrier just because Apple wants it to be so.

Apple famously takes the ‘my way or the highway’ approach to computing – Apple knows what’s best for you and if you don’t like it, hey, you can always use Windows or Linux or a Commodore 64 or something.

Apple’s experiment with the 2G iPhone has proven stunningly successful, with plenty of countries around the world sporting unlocked iPhones despite their official unavailability.

But selling officially unlocked iPhones would give consumers the freedom to choose whatever carrier they desire, and would force carriers to come out with competitive iPhone plans, offering large amounts of included data, something that most carriers (but not all) have been loathe to do.

It would also suggest that the 3G iPhone will come with both an 850MHz and a 2100MHz 3.5G chip inside, allowing Apple to sell a single model that will work on Telstra’s Next G network, while also working on Three Mobile, Optus and Vodafone – with 2G compatibility built-in as standard.