I read in the metro on Friday that Apple sold 600,000 pre orders of its new iPhone 4 in one day which crashed their website. And now they say if you have not pre ordered the iPhone 4, you will not get it before July 14th.
iPhone 4
I wonder did Apple do this on purpose? They knew there was going to be a huge number of people signing up for the iPhone 4, they could have made more ready. Lets see how the other mobile phone operators are reacting to the news.
O2 are ranking number 4 for the term “iphone 4″ and it immediately takes you to the page which clearly describes O2’s response to a shortage of handsets. They are saying that only those O2 customers can get the iPhone 4 and then after July 4th, it will be available for non customers. I registered my interest for the new handset and I have been receiving emails with a count down of when I can go and buy the iPhone. This was a nice touch as it lets customers stay excited about the launch.
There was no place to register my interest on the Vodafone site. They also do not mention anything regarding an iPhone shortage, does this mean they will have enough when they become available in their stores? Their site has no new content about the iPhone 4, simply an overlay which appears to be from Apple and sits on the old Vodafone iphone URL.
I registered my interest on the Orange site who sent me an email a week ago letting me know when the iPhone 4 would be available. On their website, like Vodafone, there was no mention of an iPhone shortage, simply a detailed breakdown of their price plan. Orange are the only UK network to reveal their prices for the handset and the tariffs. Prices range from £169 for the 16GB handset on the cheapest £30 per month two year contract, to free for the 16GB model on a £75 per month two year deal.
I am sure demand will only increase once Vodafone and O2 announce their deals. Lets just hope not too many customers switch from O2 since their capped data usage was announced.
There used to be just one smartphone everyone wanted – the iPhone.
Now that Google launched the Android in 2008 which is gaining popularity, customers coming to the end of their contracts are torn between the iPhone and Android. Here are some facts about each handset:
Apple vs Android
iPhone
If you love apple products, then this is great. You can play your itunes on the mobile phone, access all your music in one place.
When the iPhone launched in 2007, it was the first of its kind. It revolutionised smartphones and will always be recognised as changing the mobile phone landscape forever.
There have been now been four versions with the latest iPhone announced June 7th at WWDC by Steve Jobbs.
However, in the UK it was just on one network for two years when last November it opened to Orange and Vodafone. This meant a lot of people switching to O2 just for the handset.
The iPhone’s operating system is closed like Blackberry. The Blackberry operating system only runs on its smartphones and Apple is copying this. It is very hard for developers outside of Apple to build software or games for the iPhone.
Android
The first Android (called the G1) was released in the UK October 30, 2008 on the T Mobile network, just five weeks after it was launched in the US and since then there has been released on Orange, Vodafone, O2 and 3.
The Android like the iPhone also has cool and slick features, with touch screen, easy to access email and a wide range of apps
According to Nielsen, the growth of Android and iPhone market share increased by 2% from q4 09 to q1 10
If something goes wrong with your Android, there is no genius bar to take it to. But then it does take a long time to get your Apple products fixed with the huge waiting lists in the stores.
The main difference between Apple and Android is that Android is open source. This means anyone can have a look at the source code which is developed mainly by Google with a few other companies from the Open Handset Alliance.
It also means that companies who want to make a smartphone with the Android OS can do so without paying the licensing fee that you have to do with Apple. They can also modify the software the way they need to when building. This is the opposite of Apple which makes it very difficult for developers to build products for the iPhone. They must also pay a fee to Apple.
When I go into the mobile shops and ask which handset is better the sales assistants always seem perplexed. You are either an Apple fan or an Android fan. For me, I love both, but I have to say I have been disappointed with Apple recently. My sister had a problem with her iPhone and it has taken forever to sort out. Someone basically hacked into her itunes account (in China) and purchased music which they didn’t pay for. My sister now cannot buy anything from iTunes until this is resolved.
The market share for Android is growing. It offers just as much as the iPhone does to its customers but as it is open source it allows for further developments to be made without customers having to wait for the big releases as we have seen with the iPhone.
Mobile technology | Jo Turnbull | 
June 22, 2010 2:56 pm | 
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