Hong Kong's iPhone 3G gets an unboxing

First indication of iPhone 3G PAYG price

From Mobile Computer Mag -

Vodafone Italy has said it will be selling the iPhone 3G, without subsidy, for €499 for the 8GB model and €569 for the 16GB version. Anyone interested in the Pay & Go option can sign up on the O2 website to be sent details as soon as they're released.

Source article here.

Lines Begin to Form for Apple 3G

From Gear Diary -

This early lines are beginning to form in front of the Apple Store in New York for the Apple 3G launch. Number one in line is a man and woman with a baby who’ve told the police and security guards that their goal is to set a record for time in line and possibly the first baby to wait with them (or some such nonsense.

The New York police will allow everyone to stay and indicated that as of yet there are no plans to put out barricades. It appears that most (if not all) of the people in line are part of some group who may be either attempting to set a record for waiting in line or gain some publicity for themselves. It’s too early to tell if this is a publicity stunt or whether these folks will stay in line through sun and rain for the next seven days.

Source Article here.

iCall App Enables GSM to WiFi / VoIP Switching On The iPhone

From iPhone Hacks -

iCall is a newly announced app coming out on Apple’s App Store. It promises seamless call switching between VoIP via WiFi and regular calls. There will be no hacking involved, they are fully approved Apple developer. iCall has a two tier system with a free version and a ‘pro’ version with added features. iCall is their own service provider so don’t expect to use this application with any of your current VoIP plans like Vonage.

Source Article here.

Apple orders 50 million iPhone NAND chips from Samsung

From Engadget -

Per DigiTimes, Apple has ordered from Samsung, the world's primary supplier of flash memory 50-million "8Gb-equivalent" NAND chips presumably for use in iPhones. This follows a June oder for 25 million of the same chips. In response, Samsung has reportedly told its lesser customers that it would "sharply cut supply" of NAND to them while the order is being fulfilled.

Source article here.

Hands-On Google Talk for iPhone

From Gizmodo -

The new Gtalk webapp for the iPhone has a nice design, and sending messages was easy, but bottom line it's still runs in Safari and doesn't work in the background — which means incoming calls and other interruptions such as going to the home screen immediately sign you out.

There are also no preference settings and no Gtalk AIM support. Meaning, the program sucks. If you need a solid IM solution now try Agile Mobile's AM client (recently released on Installer) instead.

Source article here.

AT&T announces iPhone 3G pricing plans

From Engadget -

AT&T has announced its pricing plans for the 3G iPhone, which will be available starting 8 am, July 11th.

New customers and those eligible for an upgrade will be able to buy it at $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB), while "early upgraders" will have to fork over $399 or $499, all with a two year contract and $18 upgrade fee. A no-commitment version of the phone will be available for $599 and $699, though it looks like that will come after the initial launch.

Full details are available in the source article here.