Apple Releasing iPhone in South Korea
After its brilliant success releasing the iPhone and iPod Touch in the United States, Apple continues to expand its share of the global smart phone market by making headway into a host of other nations around the world. Its decision to unveil the iPhone in South Korea is considered by industry analysts to be not only smart, but exceptionally well timed because this major Asian nation is one of the most technologically advanced in the world, boasting a sizeable population of highly tech literate users who have long ago embraced not only the web, but a variety of digital communications devices and online gaming, something of a national past time for those in South Korea.
While South Korea based companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics might be alarmed to see the iPhone’s introduction, local carriers KT Corporation and SK Telecom are going to provide their services as carriers for this hot mobile phone now that the Korean Communications Commission has approved Apple’s products for their nation. Both LG and Samsung are expected by both Apple and industry experts to develop and release their own handsets, no serious competition is anticipated at this point since Apple regularly trounces is competition in the global market place due not only to its technology, but the experience it has crafted for consumers.
Rumble in Smart Phone World As iPhone Braces for Competition From Nokia N900 and HTC HD2
Any time that a product captures the hearts and minds of consumers worldwide it is going to9 prove difficult to go up against, particularly when that product is an innovative one such as Apple’s iPhone. For years, this hi tech wonder machine has been one of the most sought after devices in a huge range of demographics, but the times just may be changing for the ruler of the smart phone universe. It appears that the Nokia n900 has other plans for smart phone users and its powerful mix of heavy processing speeds along with the ability to get broadband web browsing without having to find a WiFi connection, just may be enough to give this company a major edge when Nokia brings out their secret weapon: the Fennec browser. This particular piece of software will enable Flash animations that allow users to watch YouTube videos over the web or play their favorite games. It will be incredibly tough for Apple to keep its hold on the app market once the Nokia n900 takes off.
This is not to say that Apple is going to be shoved into oblivion, in fact, far from it according to experts. The real prize here is that consumers will benefit from the competition like never before. One only needs to look to the HTC HD2 to see that there is definitely a major wave of competition soon to be crashing up against Apple’s long held and highly secure shores. Analysts predict that Apple will not go down without a fight and that price drops are to be expected, a benefit that will bring a huge number of people into the smart phone market and help make the devices even more widespread than they currently are. This means that in the future, consumers should expect to be able to choose from a range of high end products at much more affordable price points.
Cost Conscious iPhone Users Flock to Freedom Unlocking Provides
When it first entered the market place only a few short years ago, the iPhone was lauded at nothing short of a miracle for technology. The device was expected to be the world’s most advanced smart phone at its price point and this attracted a huge number of customers who flocked to the device and gave Apple record profits for their hi tech gadget, creating a brand new market that other competitors rapidly attempted to gain entry to. Along with the iPhone came the exclusive carrier agreement with Apple’s chosen purveyor of wireless communications. This meant consumers had to put down a large amount of money if they expected to be able to use the phone, no other carrier was available - that is, until the unlock iPhone movement took hold. Tech experts from around the world were furious at the competition crushing attitude Apple exhibited and used their prowess to come up with a way that consumers could not only cut costs on air time, but also have a greater measure of control over their iPhone.
The nexus of this movement brought forth a wide variety of solutions to solve the problems of those wanting to unlock iPhone 3G phones. The ease of use that these solutions offered meant that it was no longer the hi tech elite who could benefit from this new found freedom. Today, many cost conscious consumers have chosen to unlock their mobile devices in the pursuit of more reasonable phone service that offered them the pricing and benefits they desired. Despite the movement, many still remain unaware of the benefits to them after their phone is free of the Apple stranglehold. The primary social motivator is the consumer base forcing the corporate powers to recognize that when they pay for a device, they have the right to do with it what they please. The cost saving, the greater control over personal property and the defense of personal rights is what experts believe will keep this movement rolling until the corporations come to see the error of their greed driven ways.
iPhone Users to have Speech to Text Capabilities According to New Patent
Apple recently filed for a patent that will bring speech to text technology to its iPhone and iPod product lines. According to the Baltimore Sun the document included not only a diagram of how the system works, but an explanation of the system as it would be used to compose an email. The documentation suggests that the speech recognition technology being filed for would recognize not only words and letters, but punctuation as well.
The limitations of previous voice recognition technologies are set to be pushed with this latest advance from Apple’s engineering team. In fact, the actualization of the technology as conceived now would be a huge win for the maker of the popular iPhone and quite likely shift a huge amount of profit their way if they are able to develop the technology before other competitors. The technology is seen as something of a coveted landmark because it would have a massive effect on both data entry and the retrieval of information at far quicker speeds than users currently experience through pressing buttons.
The patent includes mentions of allowing users to be able to save voice recordings for later processing into text and the ability to time stamp and date the recordings. This could lead to total voice control for iPod and iPhone, some experts suggest.
China Unicom Help Apple Bring iPhone to China
In a surprising move that fulfills a long held promise from Apple, the iPhone will be going on sale in China through a company called China Unicom thanks to a deal struck recently. During the news conference to announce the deal, Unicom did not state which model of the iPhone will be available in the market, the largest in all of Asia.
According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, the phones are expected to go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year which fulfills a promise Apple had made long ago by promising that they would make the iPhone available to the Chinese market by the end of 2009. It was not clear previously how they would do this, but with the possible help of a governmental subsidy, Unicom will indeed bring the world famous technology to the people of China.
Fortunately for Apple, China is a huge untapped market for makers of digital communications devices and has over 700 million wireless subscribers already. That market alone could massively move Apples profits forward to a level as yet unseen.
The iPhones shipped to China will not be Wi-Fi enabled due to government communications regulations in that rapidly growing nation.
Extended Hours at Apple Stores and New Ticket System to Make iPhone Acquisition Easier
Apple’s iPhone 3G is in great demand and people have to wait in long lines at apple stores to obtain their iPhone 3g’s.Apple has implemented a few changes recently to ease the iPhone acquisition process for customers. Apple Stores now open on every day except for Sunday at 8 a.m. local time. Moreover, while you’re waiting in the line, store staff will pre-qualify you for an iPhone purchase. You will receive a claim ticket that guarantees the iPhone model you want. Then you can either wait in line and redeem the ticket when it’s your turn or return later in the day before 6 p.m. (4 p.m. on Sundays) and redeem your ticket for an iPhone then.