iPhone 3G launch

South Korea has been ready to get the iPhone for some time now, but one obstacle has stood in the way of an iPhone launch in the country. Up until recently, their government had a law stating that all phones must have support for WIPI, a software platform developed by the government to make handsets there more compatible with each other, but something that wasn't about to be available on the iPhone. As a result of the dropping of the standard, several companies, including RIM, Nokia, and Apple, will be able to sell their handsets there starting April 1st.
[via Macworld]

True Move, Thailand's third largest wireless carrier, claims to have signed a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G to their country. If true, the deal would make the carrier the first to bring the iPhone to the Thai market, which is quickly expanding.

Apple is gearing up for a third phase in their global launch of the iPhone 3G. They are preparing to launch the iPhone 3G in 29 additional countries, starting with Brazil and South Africa on this Friday (Sept. 26). The iPhone is already available in 44 nations as of today, and this phase will be an attempt to bring that number up to 73 by the end of this year.

As was announced during the Q3 financial results conference call, Apple launched the iPhone in an additional 20 countries today. Subsequently, they have updated the list on Apple.com of the countries the 3G is available in and will be available in soon.

Turkcell, a leading wireless phone carrier in Turkey, has announced that they will be bringing the iPhone 3G to customers in Turkey some time later this year. TurnkCell currently holds 56% of the market in that country, and is one of three mobile carriers in the country. Vodafone announced back in May that they would also be carrying the device there as well.

I was really excited to get my iPhone 3G on Friday, but my activation process was a nightmare and left me in suspense for several hours while I waited to get through. And by no means was I the only one. People across the US had the same problem. Similarly, things were less than perfect in the UK.

Arn over at MacRumors has stumbled upon some of the instructions AT&T retail employees have received on how to activate the new iPhone 3Gs. Now that Apple is requiring all iPhone 3G's to be activated before they leave the place they were purchased, AT&T employees will have to take the iPhone out of the box in the store. However, they've been given special instructions to immediately give the buyer some time to bond with their new device before the activation process.

With the new in-store activation policy, one of the chief concerns for many that were planning to pick up an iPhone 3G on launch day are how long it will take Apple and AT&T to move through the inevitably long lines of people waiting to get their iPhone 3G on July 11th. Most (us included) have been guessing that it would take a long time, and now Apple is saying the concerns may be accurate.

Apple has posted details of what you will need to purchase an iPhone 3G in the U.S. and what to expect at an Apple Store. According to Apple, you will need a credit card, your social security number, a valid government-issued photo ID, and your current wireless account number and password or PIN if you're a new AT&T customer.

While it has widely been rumored that the iPhone would be going on sale at 8AM on July 11th, and AT&T had already confirmed that that is when it would be going on sale in their stores, Apple had yet to make a formal announcement about what time of day their Apple Stores in the U.S. would start selling the device. They formally announced today after their conference call that Apple Stores in the U.S. at 8AM, just like AT&T stores.