By Here is some good news for you iPhone fans out there from Kushibo:
As promised, the South Korea release date is the big news for those back in the ROK. I like how Steve Jobs’s head forms the o in Korea. I don’t like how they alphabetize South Korea as if South is a part of the name, like South Africa, South Carolina, or South Dakota.
Anyhoo, Korea is not part of the first group (the US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan) that will start getting the iPhone 4 on June 24, but it is specifically listed as one of the G18 that gets it a few weeks later.
Apple and KT had to go through a bunch of hoops and hurdles to get the iPhone into the country in the first place, with the 3Gs being the high-end at the time. Since those hoops and hurdles — including establishing service and contracts — have already been passed, it will probably be a lot smoother for the iPhone 4 to enter the market. [Monster Island]
You can read more at the link, but I have never used a iPhone before, is it worth the money?
4:18 pm on June 12th, 2010 1
"I like how Steve Jobs’s head forms the o in Korea."
I see that… but what forms the 'l' in Switzerland?
7:56 pm on June 12th, 2010 2
A couple of months ago, I wrote something in the forum about Chinese customers buying up iPads to resell in Hong Kong, then mainland China. I guess that had gotten around to the Apple franchises because last month there were complaints about Apple store clerks discriminating against Chinese customers.
I don't know if their are any iPhone service plans in mainland China, but I noticed that Honk Kong is on the list.
6:21 am on June 13th, 2010 3
The Iphone in Korea is great. You get great coverage (as opposed to the crappy AT&T back in the U.S.) and it’s only $60 a month for the Imedium(400 minutes, 1GB Data, and 1200 texts) plan.
9:49 am on June 13th, 2010 4
I use an unlocked, jailbroken first gen iPhone when I'm home in the States. It's absolutely great – a better phone experience than anything I've used in Korea.
Of course, I don't speak Korean, so maybe some of the previous "smartphones" released pre-Android were decent. But I sure couldn't use those pieces of crap. The interface is just far superior on the iPhone.
That being said, the fact the phone is jailbroken makes a big difference. If it was locked down the way my iPod Touch (3rd gen) is, I don't think I would like it as much.
1:24 pm on June 15th, 2010 5
Lets not get into a phone war on here, it gets ugly quickly. I personally own Motorola's Motoroid, its a pretty insane phone. Coverage is provided by SK and they'll sell a service plan to foreigners. As for the UI issue you brought up, Android is a base OS, each phone maker customizes it for their model and the phone service provided then adds their own applications (if they want). SK uses the TouchWiz UI, but other manufacture / provider combos may use the generic Android themed UI, or a custom one. Android isn't a phone, its a platform so please don't directly compare it to iPhone.
6:45 pm on June 15th, 2010 6
The iPhone is just as much of a "platform" as Android. To the non-pedantic, "iPhone OS" is implied by "iPhone". But then, I'm not a pretentious dork trying to feel superior.
As for the interface I was referencing as a piece of crap, I meant the older Korean-only "dumbphones". The ones with touchscreens (usually resistive) and crappy software, e.g. the Cooky, T-Omnia, Omnia II, or anything titled "Haptic".
Indeed, any Android-based device's usability will be dependent on
1) the UI implemented
2) the hardware
It can be a mixed bag, and vary wildly from phone to phone (see: HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Backflip). At least with an iPhone, it's a uniform experience across the board. Not saying if that's good or bad, just something people can factor when choosing a phone/platform.
Considering how badly Korean IT firms can screw up almost any interface (see any Korean website) – no doubt they'll end up screwing up their Android UIs in time.
6:29 pm on June 16th, 2010 7
If Apple allowed other phone manufactures to put "iPhone OS" on their own phones you'd get the exact same things you mentioned.
Apple is a company, iPhone is a phone, and iPhone OS is the platform, those are three distinctly different things. Apple's plan is to lock the phone and platform into each other, then lock the third party applications to both. In this way they limit the freedom of the end user which allows them to extract maximum profit.
Google is a company, Nexus One is a phone and Android is the platform. Phone and platform are directly tied to a single manufacturer. Google couldn't care less what Motorola, HTC, or Samsung does with their own phones. Google couldn't care less which applications you install on your phone or what you use your phone for. If you were savy enough you can download the source code for Android from Google and develop / compile your very own UI / OS. There are several sites dedicated to just this and they carry several 100% legal alternative loads for popular phones.