The Worldwide Rollout of Apple's iPhone 3G Kicks Off

Apple Inc.’s much-anticipated iPhone 3G device debuted Friday in Tokyo, making its debut in the Japanese market. More than 1500 gadget fans besieged a store in downtown Tokyo to grab the device.

Softbank Corp., the only carrier selling the iPhone in Japan, said iPhone 3G went on sale at 7:00 a.m., July 11, 2008 at the company’s flagship store in downtown Tokyo.

"This is the year that the cell phone becomes an Internet-connecting machine," Masayoshi Son, president of Softbank Corp., said at the countdown ceremony. "Today is that day that will make it real, and it's a historic day."

Apple is releasing the new iPhone in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong simultaneously. But, due to the time differences, the new models are going on sale first in New Zealand, then Australia, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. In the United States, 3G iPhones will hit the market shelves at 8 a.m. in each time zone.

In the United States, the iPhone 3G is available at AT&T stores at 3225 Pleasant Valley Blvd. and the Logan Valley Mall.

The iPhone 3G device is a follow-up to Apple’s widely popular iPhone device that went on sale last year in the United States and several other nations. Apple has described the newer model as twice as fast and half as expensive as the original.

The iPhone 3G is a revolutionary phone with unimaginable features at the users fingertips. Fast 3G, or third-generation, cell phone technology, GPS mapping, features like Microsoft Exchange and App Store. The handset combines the work of three products, namely, a phone, a widescreen iPod and an internet service in one. The phone boasts of enhanced battery life.

What makes the new model more attractive is apparently its reduced price. The iPod/Mac maker had announced last moth its plans to scrap its pricing plan for the newer model.

An 8-gigabyte version with the full-fledged new features is priced at 23,040 yen (US$216), while the same model is available at a price of $199 with a two-year contract with AT&T, which is just half the price of the existing iPhone ($399).

The 16-gigabyte model will cost $299 in the United States, while the same capacity version costs 34,560 yen ($320) in Japan.

Vodafone, the only mobile provider selling the iPhone in New Zealand, is charging between NZ$199 ($151) and NZ$549 ($416) for the new iPhone model and NZ$250 ($190) a month for a minimum two-year plan.