
A Tale Of Two iPhones - colinprince
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/27/iphone-5-iphone-lite/
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cageface
Apple would be wise to address the threat posed by low-cost entry level
Android devices. If this is true I'd be more inclined to believe that Apple
management isn't content to again be relegated to a profitable but small niche
market.

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pkamb
The biggest cost in having an iPhone is the monthly plan. Fix that first.

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zeddez
Buy an iPod Touch and use VOIP over WiFi for calling. You probably have WiFi
coverage at home and at work.

What you are really paying for is the inbetween places. If those don't matter,
then you are all set.

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wiredfool
Is there a VOIP client that doesn't suck? I haven't had much luck finding one.

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Pewpewarrows
Wait, I thought AT&T selling last generation's (I think) iPhone for $50 with a
contract was Apple's "response" to people requesting a cheaper version of the
iPhone?

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jsz0
It was. This new device could very possibly be free with 2 year contract if it
only costs $300-$350. The unlocked angle is mostly for the international
markets where more carrier competition exists and there's a real incentive to
go contract free. In the US, due to incompatible 3G frequencies on GSM phones
and little real competition, there's not a huge market for these unlocked
phones.

If this new iPhone 4-ish device was a CDMA/GSM hybrid with a healthy frequency
selection it could shake things up in the US. At minimum you really need at
least 2 fully functional carriers to choose from to bother with an unlocked
phone. As a hybrid they could (in theory at least) support all 4 carriers on
one device and push the US market closer to the international model where the
consumer has an incentive to spend the money up front on hardware.

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senthilnayagam
in India iphone 4 and iphone 3GS are available on shelf right now, 3GS has
been priced such that it will affect nokia and samsung smartphone sales.

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ableal
In Europe, they also sell the 3GS limited to 8GB storage. In its heyday, the
3GS was only sold in 16 and 32 GB versions. Note that all the software for the
iPhone 4 (except for a few apps that require front-cam, flashlight or
gyroscope) also runs on the 3GS. Seems to me the older 3G has been left behind
for over an year now.

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kinkora
While I'm not saying that a cheaper "lite" iPhone version is not possible,
anyone else feels that this could be a fabricated rumour by Apple to rat out
internal leaks?

I once came across a (half-drunk) guy in a bar who apparently works for Apple
and according to him, Apple does at times release fake rumours or have
multiple versions of a product and monitors which one gets "leaked out".

Not sure how true his statement is but this rumour somehow doesn't feel right.
Or maybe it is just me.

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petervandijck
I would _love_ an iPhone mini. Think the Pre form factor, with iOS.

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spenrose
Never. iOS is constrained by the size of fingertips and its current widget
system. You can make a useful UI with a smaller screen, but reworking the
current code base to that screen size will never happen.

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cpeterso
Though an "iPhone Nano" in a watch form-factor like the TikTok's iPod Nano mod
would be pretty cool:

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-
lunati...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-
multi-touch-watch-kits)

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mikek
If carriers could give away iPhones for free with a 2 year contract, iPhone
sales would go through the roof.

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ugh
Why do you think they can't? Deutsche Telekom in Germany will happily sell you
an iPhone 4 (16GB) for 1€ with a two year contract (90€/month for the first
half, 100€/month for the second half of the contract, unlimited minutes, 120
minutes in the EU, 3000 SMS, unlimited data throttled to GPRS speeds after
1GB). They are doing that whole activation fee scam and will want an
additional 25€ from you but still, free iPhones are certainly a possibility
and there is no reason to sell them for $200 together with a crazy expensive
contract like, for example at&t does. I'm sure US carriers could sell free
iPhones with contracts, they just don't want to.

Not that it matters anyway. Who cares about the price of the phone when the
contract costs by far the most money?

