Should I get an iphone now or wait for the new one?

Well, the new iPhone has loads of competitors, as mentioned in earlier threads there's the Sony Xperia, HTC Touch Diamond and now another good looking smartphone from Samsung.

Their "widgets" interface and orientation sensor and 5MP camera sound really great. CNET mentioned that it's RRP is S$1,098. Pretty close to the HTC Touch Diamond.


Source: PhoneMag (Loads of pretty pictures there too)
The OMNIA also has a 5-megapixel CMOS camera with auto-focus (AF), face and smile detection and auto-panorama shot. OMNIA comes in 8 or 16GB memory configuration and additional storage can be added via extendable slot. Of course, a smart phone called OMNIA can?t go without having a GPS, including navigation and geo-tagging capabilities, so you?d never get lost wherever you are.

According to CNET Asia, ?an orientation sensor is built into the OMNIA i900. When rotated, it does this fancy transition whereby the display shrinks and expands back to fill the screen in a different orientation. The 240 x 400 display does seem a little weird, but is not unheard of?we?ve seen it in the ASUS M930?s internal display. It makes sense, too, if you are to use it as a media player because the aspect ratio is much closer to the 16:9 aspect ratio commonly seen in movie files. To that end, the i900 also comes with a media application that supports DivX and Xvid out of the box.?

Samsung OMNIAAs I mentioned earlier, the OMNIA is primarily touch-based so it makes perfect sense for Samsung to include its patented TouchWiz user interface. The OMNIA is Samsung?s first ever Windows Mobile smart phone to feature TouchWiz. TouchWiz lets you personalize the home window with unique widgets. The high-resolution touch-sensitive screen uses intuitive tap, sweep, drag and drop operations as well as an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. It also facilitates easy and convenient calling and texting with a dedicated dome key for controlling communications.

The Samsung OMNIA is ultra-slim measuring 12.5mm and has a platinum look finish. Samsung added details such as elegant hairline patterns on the back of the phone to bring the ?perfection in style.?

Geesung Choi, President of Samsung Telecommunication Business, said: ?I am very excited to introduce Samsung , a mobile device that truly delivers the best possible features for today?s busy, connected consumer. Samsung demonstrates our vision for the Samsung mobile business, which is to provide premium phones for users who desire functionality, style, usability and entertainment in one innovative device. The mobile range will help users to be at the forefront of work and play and at the same time, to stay connected anytime, anywhere.?

The Samsung OMNIA will be unveiled at CommunicAsia, Singapore from June 17 to 20 and commercially launched in the Southeast Asian market starting from the same week. The phone will be available in the European market from July.
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Gizmodo is reporting that the days of activating your iPhone at home via iTunes are over. That's right, AT&T says you'll have to activate your iPhone in store either at an AT&T store or an Apple store. The process will take between 10 to 12 minutes per phone. Oh, and you won't be able to order an iPhone 3G online at launch, so you'll be at a store anyway.
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So... no more (or much less) unlocked US-Phones via eBay for the rest of us.
 
Saw this on engadget:

...just order it from Belgium where 3G iPhone also launches 11th of July and there it's illegal to bundle operator deal and a phone. Unlocked iPhones for all =)

****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_lock

Belgium is the only European country that outright forbids simlocking and contract/phone bundling.
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Edit**

Official answers from at&t to these questions:

Will it be available as a Gophone (prepaid service)?
"No, only available with a two-year contract." Pretty cut and dried there. We're also told that there will be no contract-free price on postpaid service; the one and only way to get in on this action will be to re-up your commitment to AT&T. Unofficially, we've been slipped information that AT&T's typical upgrade eligibility rules apply when signing the new contract, and there will be a separate (read: higher) pricing scheme for "non-qualified upgrades." These prices have not yet been set.

How does contract sign-up work when a customer is in an Apple store?
"You will need to speak with Apple for more details on their retail operations, but the activation process will take place in the store." That's the official line, but we're also hearing that customers in Apple stores may take their purchase home with them without being physically activated, in which case the activation process is completed later through iTunes. Either way, though, they're not letting you out the door without signing on the dotted line.

In AT&T stores, the process should be pretty similar, except that customers will be obligated to physically activate before they leave. The stores will be receiving "tether cords" to make that happen. Just a warning, AT&T: whatever software you're activating these puppies with is going to be reverse-engineered in no time, we'd wager.

What will the per-customer purchase limit be?
Official: "We haven't discussed this yet." Unofficial: at AT&T stores, we hear that the limit will remain three. Difference is they've now all got to be activated in-store, so that would be one heck of a commitment if you somehow felt compelled to buy more than that in one helping.

Will FAN (corporate) discounts apply?
Another "We haven't discussed this yet" for this one. Since the iPhone will continue to have its own set of plans, it's entirely possible AT&T could make them ineligible for discounting. The counterargument, though, is that the iPhone is now being offered like any other phone -- deeply subsidized by the carrier, that is -- and details of the device's service should fall in line with that as well. We'll see.
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Source engadget.
 
Prepaid option has been confirmed for Australia on vodafone
 
Belgium FTW!

Take that sHitten_hunter!

...just order it from Belgium where 3G iPhone also launches 11th of July and there it's illegal to bundle operator deal and a phone. Unlocked iPhones for all =)

****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_lock

Belgium is the only European country that outright forbids simlocking and contract/phone bundling.
Click to expand...
 
jobs said the 199$ and 299$ prices should be almost the same in all the countries. Does this mean that countries that will offer a prepaid option will only charge those prices for a iphone 3g with no contract?
 
July 11th bring it on baby!! Got my holding deposit down with Optus :D
 
jensked said:
Belgium FTW!

Take that sHitten_hunter!
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Indeed it seems like Belgium is looking good on this issue. I just hope the price for a iphone with no contract won't be too expensive.
 
Solberg said:
jobs said the 199$ and 299$ prices should be almost the same in all the countries. Does this mean that countries that will offer a prepaid option will only charge those prices for a iphone 3g with no contract?
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I'd say +$300 on those prices non subsidised


Solberg said:
Any word on Aus pricing for a pre paid plan?
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Pre paid isn't a plan, you just top it up when your balance is low (eg you bring your own phone)
 
not yet, i'm sick of my current phone and i've been holding off on importing a gen1 for this. I'll get one either way. traditionally Oz prices are about 20-30% up on US pricing...
 
This idea was posted on Engadget for AT&T users:

One thing that is being pointed out that you can buy the phone with a plan.. ($199.99), cancel after one month (ETF = $175) = net $374.99 + 1 months cell phone fees (use the hell out of it!) not TOO much more than the original.. then jailbreak / unlock and you are good to go. a little more work, but may be the best option for some people who don't want to drop 2-3 grand on data / voice plans for 2 years..
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Hidden_Hunter said:
Prepaid option has been confirmed for Australia on vodafone
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Source plz.

The only website I've seen info on is Optus. I've still got 13 months with 3 on my current plan so haven't put down the $100 deposit but have gone on the "interested" email list.
 
timing is perfect for me, my current optus contract ends on july the 17th :D
 
Just saw this update, Vodafone is planning on releasing it pre-paid, which means you can just dog the sim card and unlock it (if its not).
 
Some good news maybe?

This was posted on Engadget:

phone will be be available at the apple store and online for $399 for the 8gb and $499 16gb....you receive a rebate with your iphone, once you activate your phone with AT&T you will receive an activation code and a copy of your contract, once you have this to prove you sign up with AT&T, just mail it to apple to get your $200 back.

there it is, thats how is going to be, whether you like it or not.
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399$ and 499$ seems like a very fair price for a phone with no contract. Lets hope we can get it this way.
 
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