I’ve got my hands on a 3G iPhone. I can’t say much about it, but I can say that Apple has selected Vodafone New Zealand as an exclusive partner to trial the 3G iPhone. The theory goes that New Zealand is a small, isolated market, but the Vodafone GSM network in New Zealand is very modern; so the New Zealand market is perfect for GSM beta testing.
The form factor is identical to the 2G model, with the only changes being the 3G radio and a GPS receiver. Of course the 3G iPhone is running the latest version of the 2.0 firmware, and the push email integration with my work Exchange server is working perfectly.
At the moment the GPS receiver is only working inside the standard Google Maps application, but the word is that the GPS data will be available for geotagging photos, and also accessible via the SDK when it is released.
Update: oh my god I’ve just had some guys in suits knock on my door! I hid in the wardrobe, and after they left I set up some packet sniffing on the wireless network. It looks like the GPS module in the iPhone is phoning home to Cupertino with my location details. I have no idea if this is just in the trial models or not. Sh1t!
Photos after the jump:
1st of April?
No, the post date is 31 March.
Any idea when it would become available to consumers in NZ?
Anybody ever heard of April Fools’ Day?
[...] Ozzie contacts finally paid off. We have in our possession a real 3G iPhone running on Vodafone’s 3G [...]
The calculator button is not the same as it is in iPhone 2.0.. This has to be a prank
Look at the date on the phone itself. 1-Tuesday = April Fools.
I like the terrible photoshop job especially on the 2nd pic… (on purpose?)
Hey come on. I can’t afford Photoshop. Paint.NET did an admirable job.
LOL WAT?
What are you doin’ with ur 2G iPhone?
Hey I don’t give a rats about AFD… iPhonewant!
[...] uitroept. Het iPhone Dev Team was niet de enige met 1 aprilgrappen. CrunchGear en een zekere Ben uit Nieuw-Zeeland kwamen (onafhankelijk van elkaar?) op hetzelfde idee: ze hebben een 3G iPhone in handen. Apple [...]
[...] La web ben.geek.nz, nos informa que tiene en sus manos el primer iPhone 3G, que parece que Apple ha empezado a distribuir en Nueva Zelanda a una serie de usurios solamente para pruebas. Hay que pensar que Nueva Zelanda es un pa?s peque?o, pero en cambio, Vodafone tiene una de las redes 3G m?s modernas, por lo que lo hace perfecto para hacer pruebas. El m?delo es identico al 2G, y el ?nico cambio es que utiliza las redes 3G… adem?s de tener instalado el firmware 2.0, y integrase perfectamente con el servidor Exchange. Viene con GPS que solo trabaja con Google Maps, pero se espara que se tenga acceso a m?s aplicaciones mediante el SDK. [...]
nice photoshop job with the Vodafone logo dude
[...] La web ben.geek.nz, nos informa que tiene en sus manos el primer iPhone 3G, que parece que Apple ha empezado a distribuir en Nueva Zelanda a una serie de usurios solamente para pruebas. El m?delo es identico al 2G, y el ?nico cambio es que utiliza las redes 3G? adem?s de tener instalado el firmware 2.0, y integrase perfectamente con el servidor Exchange. Viene con GPS que solo trabaja con Google Maps, pero se espera que se tenga acceso a m?s aplicaciones mediante el SDK. [...]
Cool life lose…..
[...] menos es lo que leimos en la pagina de Ben.geek.nz lo que nos da esperanzas para que ahora que esta proximo a M?xico (o eso esperamos) llegue con la [...]
you’re a slow dude
Could this post possibly be any more lame?
AKA When the socially challenged attack.
Posting a pic on the internet of a map showing where you are will probably get people turning up to you as well?
you idiot. shouldve done your homework before posting this anyway. your not even in keeping with leaked chipset info. you jackass
for sale the following domain name
http://www.iphonebiz.co.nz
offer over $495-00
ph 021-120-3318 mr addis
aayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayay!
That means the new iPhone is gonna be da shizzle
This was an extremely good April fools. I bet you would’nt have guess that ALL the things you listed have actually come about. (New Zealand release, the fact that there is GPS, the fact that there is a 3g model arriving, also that Vodafone will be the carrier). Very very good guessing skills
Ben,
Do we know if the 3G will use the standard cim card technology? Vodafone in NZ is saying only contract plans but AU has said they will do prepay. As I don’t need the plan features (only regular voice and texting) and will use WiFi for web access, I was thinking, buy the prepay in AU, bring it over here, and sign it up.
Any comments?
Thanks,
very very sad attempt with Photoshop