Another "Knockoff" gets Redesigned, now More Like iPhone: Meizu MiniOne M8 from China

Aside from the obvious-looking Windows and Internet Explorer icon, can you notice how similar is the China-based Meizu MiniOne M8 with iPhone?

While the feature is more-rock solid that the current iPhone (3G, HSDPA with WiFi, 16GB flash), I wonder if there's any credibility left when the design is so close to the original iPhone. This phone is scheduled to be out by 2008, and I am sure there will be the next-generation of iPhone by then. Well, let's see how the competition goes.

Read the full scoop and the interesting readers' commentaries at Engadget.

iPhone 3G is a Big Possibility

Steve Jobs hinted that Edge is indeed not ideal for web connections, but cramming 3G connection inside the present iPhone will disrupt the design, since the space needed for the components will be different and the power consumption will rise as well.

However, in the future these trade-offs will go towards 3G, meaning that the next iPhone will have different shape, and power management, and who knows what else. Here's hoping that the one hitting non-USA area will be the next-gen iPhone capable of 3G!

The full story is available here at vnunet.

iPhone in Canada to be Carried by Rogers Wireless

This week and a call to Rogers Wireless’ customer support lines later, things look to be a bit more optimistic. According to comments from a customer service representative, Rogers will be carrying the iPhone and will actually function as the exclusive Apple iPhone carrier for the nation of Canada. No exact release date or price could be specified, even though the carrier claims it will provide full support for the phone when it’s released.

This is from John Wiseman. Gizmodo also confirms the same thing:

Rogers is actively working with Apple to launch the iPhone in Canada as soon as possible and will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone in Canada.

No news about date and pricing, but stay in touch!

Another Rumor: Announcement for European iPhone Next Monday?

Here's the original source. Key questions:

1. 3G instead of EDGE?

2. Partnership not only with Vodafone but Vodafore, T-Mobile (as carriers) and Carphone Warehouse (as virtual network carrier).

Engadget asks whether it's possible a 3G iPhone would arrive first in Europe instead or at least at the same time with US.

Vodafone Best Candidate for Apple's Partner in Europe?

Reuter reports that Vodafone is in alk with Apple to launch the iPhone in Europe. According to the article, another possible candidates are Deutsche Telekom and Orange.

PureMobile to Offer Unlocked iPhone for use in US dan Canada?

Apple iPhone Black Unlocked GSM Cellular Phone, at Pure Mobile, a CNET certified Store. They mentioned that it should work Cingular, T-Mobile, Fido, Rogers and other GSM Carriers in United States and Canada.

By the way, definitely go there before the Apple lawyers team goes there and sue their ass off or I don't know what. Is this thing even legal?

iPhone in India Real Soon?

While the official release would be around 2008, news has it that grey market operators in India claimed that they can unlock the iPhone so that it can be used in any network in India. Theoretically, if this is possible, then it would be possible in other places as well. Here is the full scoop at Business Standard.

Digital Inspiration added that even though those grey market operators might be able to do so (despite never handling a real iPhone themselves!), people will have to activate the iPhone through the iTunes service as well, so the unlocked phone might not get the features aside from the simple SMS/call ones!

Trimming

From now on I will be trimming the updates on the general news, I will be posting only on the subject of iPhone for those outside the USA.

Engadget's List of iPhone Disappointments, from Real Testers

1. The keyboard was simply described as "disappointing". Keyboarding with two thumbs often registers multiple key presses (two or three at a time) resulting in a lot of mistakes. The best way to type is with a single finger (as shown in most of Apple's demos), but two thumbs is supposedly very difficult. After trying it for a number of days our source gave up using their thumbs.


2. 
   The text auto-correction only works well for simple words, but doesn't work for proper names. We can only assume this bit will get better with time as Apple fills out its predictive text dictionary.


3. ....

Read the complete article here at Engadget. Unlike the previous posts, this one is serious and is worth the time reading before you decide to get the first release of iPhone.

iPhone List of Disappointment by Blah Blah! Technology

There's an article regarding iPhone disappointments at Blah Blah! Technology. It turns out that there's so many weaknesses on the oh-so-great iPhone we all adore!

(hint: It's not serious)

Already Out! iPhone Docking Station with a Spot for Bluetooth Headset

While there's no news about whether Apple's own docking station will have a bluetooth headset spot, 4UStuff from China has already produced said product. We don't know how good will this thing integrate with the iPhone, but at least we know it's there.

MacDaily News' Interesting Take on Future iPhone Pricing

Anyone considering holding their breath for a $120 Apple iPhone should have medical attention standing by at all times.

This is regarding the opinion by John Jackson, wireless industry analyst at the Yankee Group, who said, "When the iPhone Nano comes out at $120, everyone is in big trouble."

I don't think the prices will go that low, but I believe there will be a stripped-down, cheaper version of iPhone coming. Here's the complete MacDaily News article and here's the original article containing Jackson's prediction.

iPhone Predicted to Kickstart Waves of Touchscreen-only Devices

Shipments of this advanced strain of touch screens are projected to jump from fewer than 200,000 units in 2006 to more than 21 million units by 2012, with the bulk of the components going to mobile phones, according to a forecast by iSuppli Corp., a research company.

"This new user interface will be like a tsunami, hitting an entire spectrum of devices," predicted Francis Lee, chief executive of Synaptics Inc., a maker of touch sensors.

Azcentral has the complete coverage on this subject.

30 Times more Powerful than the iPhone?

Say what? What did they measure and how did they come up with the number?

The i-Mate Ultimate series is said to be 30 times stronger than the iPhone. Here's the spec details. Also,

i-mate is due to launch a series of new devices in September including the Ultimate, Urban and Jama ranges, however Morrison refused to disclose how many models there would be in each range. He said that the Ultimate's "big selling point" would be its power and high bandwidth, "around 3.6MB compared to the iPhone's 128K". He added that the retail value on each phone had "yet to be decided".

From Ultimate "30 times more powerful" than iPhone, claims Morrison.

My take on this? User experience matters! Stop boasting about specs and worry about that!

I, Cringely Reports the Possibility that Apple and Google are Helping Each Other with the iPhone

Where Google comes into this story is with the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), an open source compiler that compiles Java source code into optimized browser-specific JavaScript code. GWT makes writing AJAX apps like writing regular apps in the sense that developers can use many of the tools they are used to. And GWT adds the advantage that the GWT compiler handles all the problems of working with specific browsers.

Now imagine you are the developer of an AJAX application and you suddenly have an urgent need to support Safari for Windows. The easiest way to accomplish that is through GWT.

Of course. We do realize that the release of Safari for Windows is within the grand scheme of things. Here's the complete article.

Advertising Age Predicts that iPhone will Fail

The hype has been enormous. Apple says its iPhone is "literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone." A stock-market analyst says, "The iPhone has the potential to be even bigger than the iPod."

I think not. An iPod is a divergence device; an iPhone is a convergence device. There's a big difference between the two.

I would actually cringe on this article, seeing myself rooting for the iPhone to revolutionize the way we use cell phones, but it does provide an interesting insight regarding the divergence/convergence difference. Here's the link to Advertising Age's article for those interested.

Roughly Drafted Predicted iPhone to Lead Mobile Development and Browser Market Share

With even moderate success for the iPhone, Apple will rapidly end up leading mobile development and mobile browser market share, both powered by open standards and an open source browser engine.

Apple will also maintain wide cross-platform reach of its Safari browser, making it easy for mobile developers on any platform to build applications that can be tested to work against a standards compliant browser like the iPhone’s Safari.

Here's the link to the full article.

20-minute Guided Tour on iPhone Available on Apple's Website!

Go go go! Note that regarding the typing process on iPhone, the guide man said:

"In about a week you'll be typing faster on the iPhone than on any other small keyboard, especially if you trust the intelligence of the keyboard."

We Want no Fake iPhone: Chinese Knockoff Factories releases tPhone

Engadget reported the news (with video) of an Apple iPhone knockoff named tPhone. By the looks of it alone, well, it resembles an iPhone, plus it holds removable batteries and microSD slots. A knockoff is a knockoff, however, so if you just want to show-off that you can own an "iPhone" while living outside USA this might be the phone to look for. Otherwise, just stay here so you can keep up with the news of iPhone for non-USA residents.

Here's the link to Engadget's article.

Adobe to Hold iPhone DevCamp

Adobe is going to hold a free-for-all, iPhone DevCamp event which will talk about how to develop web-based applications and optimize web sites for iPhone. The scheduled date is Friday 07/06, Saturday 07/07 dan Sunday 07/08. The hour varies each day, so you might want to check the home page of the event for further information.

You will have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before attending the event, and here is the page where you can register yourself to be an attendee. As a non USA resident, I can only envy those close to Adobe's home who's able to pay the event a visit. However, I'd like to wait about the news to circulate on the internet regarding the content of the event. Here's hoping the presentation materials to be available on the Web as well.

Good News for Mac Developer: Test Websites' Display on iPhone using iPhoney

MarketCircle.com releases iPhoney, and here's what they have to say about it:

iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment—powered by Safari—that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It's the perfect 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development. And it's free.

I think it's important to mention that iPhoney is not an iPhone emulator, it only emulates the browsing capability of the phone. It is a Mac only software, though, requiring Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later, and they recommend you to install Safari 3 as well (currently still in beta) for better emulation.

The file is pretty small, 492KB in size and you can grab your own copy here.

Gizmodo is Giving Away an iPhone

Here's what you have to do to win: Create or design an original invention (emphasis on original - no recycled projects please) and send in a sketch, render, mockup, blueprint or some kind of image plus a description detailing your invention to contests@gizmodo.com with "Made in Eureka" as the subject.

There's not much legal information in it, but I'm pretty sure it's for USA residents only. However, you might want to check them out anyway and let me know if there's any more details I missed.

Here's the link to Gizmodo's iPhone contest.

Welcome to iPhone Outside USA Blog!

My name is Hafiz and I am an Indonesian. I would love to own an iPhone, just like every single one of you there, but since I live outside USA I will have to wait a little longer to have it. So, I create this blog so I can keep track on news and everything iPhone-related, especially news for the majority of us who lived outside USA but wants an iPhone as well.

So stay tuned! You might want to subscribe to this blog's RSS as well, so you can keep up with the updates here!

Oh, and last thing, welcome to this blog, iPhone lovers all over the world. Hope you enjoy your visit here.