While other countries and large cities around the globe are craving for an Apple Store, Australia’s Sydney will get a second store. Apple will open it on August 9th at 9AM. It’s a Saturday which means you can fully enjoy the opening.
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While it lost out on the opportunity to be the only carrier to play home to the iPhone 3G, Telstra has obtained LG’s new mid-range 3G cell phone, the KF390, available exclusively on its network under its Blue Tick line of handsets, which offer seamless network coverage even in rural and remote areas. There’s not much to write home about its features other than quad-band GSM and dual-band HSDPA support, but it does seem to fulfill the criteria for a mid-range cell phone having a 2-megapixel camera with a secondary VGA for video calls, a 2-inch 262k color display, media player, Bluetooth, memory expansion, and a touch-sensitive navigation pad. The KF390 will be available in select stores and dealers across the island country starting on August 4 retailing for 559 AUD (about $526) or on a 30 AUD monthly plan from Telstra starting on August 18.

Telstra, one of the three Australian operators to sell the iPhone, has announced their prices and plans for Apple’s phone. Vodafone and Optus should roll out their offers on July 11th. And 3 might be the fourth carrier to sell the 3G iPhone if they manage to strike a deal with Apple.
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While we are getting closer to July 11th, the day Apple will start selling the 3G iPhone in 22 countries, we see more deals popping up. We’ve heard rumors about Russian carriers as well as Chinese carriers looking for a deal with Apple and we’ve heard rumors about Australian carrier Telstra wanting in.

It appears Telstra means business after all. After Optus and Vodafone, Telstra will be the third carrier to deliver 3G iPhone handsets to Australians. Talk about competition… Telstra officials will announce all of this on June 26th while the 3G iPhone from Telstra will go on sale on July 22nd. A race in three that’s something to see. Especially as Telstra is such a big carrier in Australia which got in the 3G iPhone race later than the others. Telstra also seems to have a small advantage over Vodafone and Optus; well it’s actually a bigger advantage. They offer better 3G speeds and more coverage. That means their plans and iPhone price might be higher than others.

Place your bets now! Who shall sell more iPhone in the next year? Is it Optus? Maybe Vodafone? Anyone choosing Telstra? I say Telstra for now!

We expect a lot from the 3G iPhone, but isn’t this a bit too much? Not to the Australia-based Telstra, it isn’t. A senior executive of the mobile carrier was caught claiming that the 3G iPhone will be capable of speeds up to an unbelievable 42Mbps, all in time for this Christmas no less. Well, yeah, may be in time for Christmas 4 or 5 years down the lane, but not this time. Here’s why:

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Yes please! It’s an island! We need someone to bring over some food, water we have, and the 3G unlocked iPhone!

Everyone who’s anyone in the Australian cell phone carrier world is announcing iPhone deals. After Vodafone last week, we have today Optus saying that the iPhone has been secured and it’s going to be available in Australia sometime later this year.

Optus is a subsidiary of Singaporean SingTel which is apparently behind all this. They are going to deliver the iPhone to Singapore, India and the Philippines and of course, Australia.
I imagine we are talking about the 3G versions right? Let’s see who delivers first… Is it going to be Vodafone or Optus? What about Apple stores?

We are a month or less away from the long waited for official announcement and full release of the next iPhone, the 3G version. According to a recent rumor, Australians will be able to buy unlocked iPhones from local Apple stores. Vodafone will offer plans designed for purchasing an iPhone but they won’t be the only ones selling it. They won’t even be the exclusive carrier for Kangaroo Land as local Telstra and Optus will be offering iPhone deals too.

What we don’t know is whether the 3G iPhone will be unlocked too or just its predecessor? How much do I have to pay to buy one? (Plane ticket and travel plans to Australia not included of course)

Related topics:
3G iPhone in June 2008: It’s almost here, folks!
3G iPhone this June for Australia
Apple iPhone 3G by Mid-2008: Analysts

How many countries in the world can pride themselves than the actual number of cell phones in use has exceeded the population? Well I would assume there is more than one but I am certain about Australia so far.

That means that for every Australian right now there’s more than one cell phone is use. There are 21.26 million mobiles right now and this number will go up as more and more third generation phones are developed. Right now there are 4.5 million third generation phones in Australia, a whooping 192% increase between June 30th 2006 and June 30th 2007. What can I say but keep that number up!

More cell phones than population leads to a logical drop in both payphones in operation in Australia and in land lines. That means Australians are more likely to buy a cell phone rather then use any other means of communication. As more and more people are opting in for cell phone services, the number of internet users has also gone up accordingly. More than 6 million Australians have internet access.

This statistic has been reported by Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in parliament and these numbers are contained in the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

How is your country doing cell-phone-wise? Let us know!

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If rumors are to be believed, Australia may be one of the first nations to get the elusive 3G iPhone, debuting as early as June 2008 - just 2 months away! If that wasn’t enough good news down under, consider the part that the iPhone will not be locked down to any operator.

This is great news for Apple fans! If you’re in Australia, you can not only buy the unlocked 3G iPhone for yourself but for your friends around the globe! While the EDGE-capable 2.5G iPhone may not have impressed Europe and other parts of the world, news of the 3G iPhone - particularly unlocked - is interesting.

With Nokia’s version of a touch screen phone looming, I can’t wait to see who’ll come out on top.

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