“Globe Telecom and Apple Bring iPhone 3G to Philippines

MANILA and SAN FRANCISCO—June 9, 2008—Globe Telecom and Apple® today announced that they will be bringing the highly anticipated iPhone™ 3G to the Philippines later this year. iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

‘We are very excited to be working with Apple to bring Filipino consumers iPhone 3G later this year,’ said Gerardo C. Ablaza, Jr. president and CEO of Globe Telecom. ‘Our customers are our greatest passion and we’re constantly striving to offer them the most innovative products such as the revolutionary iPhone 3G.’

‘We are thrilled to bring iPhone 3G to millions of mobile customers in the Philippines,’ said Tim Cook, Apple’s COO. ‘We can’t wait to get this revolutionary mobile device in the hands of even more people around the world.’

iPhone 3G will be available to Globe’s postpaid and prepaid subscribers in the Philippines later this year.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.

Globe Telecom is a leading telecommunications company in the Philippines with more than 21 million mobile subscribers. As a pioneer, Globe Telecom continues to be a part of the revolution that’s connecting millions of people across the Philippines and around the world. Beyond technology, Globe Telecom’s business is truly shaped by the bonds that tie Filipinos together. Communications is ultimately about relationships, and this drives the company to innovate and constantly find easy and relevant ways to enrich people’s lives.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.”

Sourced from Apple. Note the “postpaid and prepaid” part.

“iPhone3G. Twice as fast. Half the price.”

Was there any doubt?

3G, GPS, sleeker, better battery life, US$199/8gb, 16gb white version(!), MobileMe, enterprise support, 3rd party app support, 70 countries …more details here.

It’s 3AM. Gotta sleep. Commentary later.

Remember the pic of the box from the previous post? Apparently they succumbed and opened it. Less than 24 hours to go before the deadline and the keynote announcement, and they go and open it—and a website has the pics.

Sheesh. Some heads are gonna roll.

We can’t vouch for the pictures’ veracity; for all we know it may be another iPhone 2.0 hoax, but it seems real enough. Does it look thinner and wider to you? I’m intrigued by what seems to be a front-facing camera on the upper right corner. And the color! But we’ll all know if this is real later, won’t we?

Link to the site here.

Don’t we all love it when a shipper delivers a box to our doorstep?

Well, some folk down under are beside themselves this weekend.

Australian Mac Community forum site MacTalk reports that they received a sealed box from Apple yesterday that is marked “Subject to terms of NDA. Do not open until Tuesday June 10th 2008.”

They suspect it’s a promotional iPhone 2.0 unit for display until supply actually becomes available. Other resellers across Australia (and presumably around the world) have received similar boxes under the same Non-Disclosure Agreement. This means the phone might not actually be available for purchase immediately after the WWDC announcement as initially hoped, at least outside the United States. Sigh.

(If it were me with the box, I don’t know if I’d have the restraint. Especially because I didn’t sign no stinkin’ NDA.)

Patience, patience. As they say in my country: dalawang tulog na lang.

iLounge.com released this weekend the new edition of the much-praised, much-downloaded online-only The Free iPod + iPhone Book.

Now on its fourth edition, it features everything you need to know about iPods, iPhones, iTunes and Apple TV in a 270-page book that can be printed out nicely if you don’t care about trees and nature. Speaking as a Mac user and magazine editor, this is one of the few titles I’d actually pick up from a newsstand and buy if it wasn’t already free and downloadable. Excellent and informative. The Doodler gives it high marks.

To get it, click here so that The Free iPod + iPhone Book 4 gets loaded onto iTunes for subscription, and you won’t have to worry about missing it and other iLounge Library online publications.