Still having doubts that an iPhone will
ever come to China via legitimate means? Have a gander at this. According to the listing after the break, which was discovered on China's State Radio Regulatory Commission (SRRC; basically the Chinese version of the FCC) website, we're looking at a GSM / WCDMA cellphone complete with Bluetooth, an internal model number A1324, a little-known manufacturer called "Apple Inc." and an approval date of May 7th, 2009. We're also told that the certificate expires in five years, which should give China Unicom plenty of time to capitalize on its
reported three-year deal to offer the phone in mainland China. So, all we need now is what's we've needed for years: a handwritten note from El Jobs himself saying that this whole thing is more than some
sick charade.
[Image courtesy of
Sina, thanks Joe]
Update: Looks like this may be
the first live look at a China Unicom iPhone 3G, complete with no WiFi to speak of.
posted Jul 31st 2009 1:59AM
What is most interesting in the frequencies... 900MHz, 1700MHz and 1900MHz Bands.
Just need Apple to launch a 900/2100MHz product for Europe and other coutries such as Australia.
Ahhh we have had the iPhone for a while in Australia and Europe. In Australia it kicks along quite nicely on the longer range 850Mhz spectrum provided by Telstra.
This is a specialized version for China's custom 3G implementation, well I am guessing at that, but if it is certified for use in China it's a pretty good guess.
China, like Europe and Africa, uses GSM on 900 and 1800 (yes, the 1710-1755 range) MHz.
Oh well this will give us more headache about availability DELAYS.
Here in Philippines, the 3GS should be available today but Apple failed to deliver it for today.. =(
Why does it list 1700MHz? The 3Gs doesn't do 1700MHz. Did Apple maybe make a new model?
Brilliant, Sherlock...
The model offered according to this site was just the same as a regular iPhone with WiFi removed. Removing WiFi wouldn't add 1700MHz band capability. So I'm asking, did they make a new model?
They made a new iPhone model "90".
no wifi, f*
so what is with china, and their dislike of wifi!?
Dont Verizon remove wifi on some model phones too?
I live in Australia though where we dont have to deal with that..unless they are already censoring our internet and i just dont know about it....
Because China mandate its own WAPI encryption standard, and apparently Apple has no plan to add WAPI to wifi's current WPA/WPA2 standards.
WCDMA? Hmm. Looks like the possibilty of the iPhone just got easier because Apple can just ship the China one with a different firmware. I also read that the 3G/3GS Triquint 3G band chips support WCDMA. Hmmm.
WCDMA is UMTS 3G - what AT&T use. CDMA2000 is what Verizon/Sprint use.
I see no point of buying from China Unicom if it does not have Wifi... And i doubt the price would be way below the HK price just because of no Wifi.
But would that mean that wifi is removed at harware level, or just that the wifi is disabled by software ?
Indeed.
I don't see China falling lockstep in to the iPhone hype because they have always been a people where everyone is considered an individual, they demand to be allowed to think for themselves and they would never blindly follow one leader believing his propaganda as if all else never existed. I'm sorry i just don't see that happening.
Power to the People, One China, Built on the backs of the individual!
Agreed about a jump in share price. Some people had said it's already priced in, but I don't think so. If it's affordable in China, I'm hopeful it will sell with its browsing capabilities. The younger Chinese population love games and the iPhone's ability to play lots of games should help sales.
I'm just waiting for Apple's announcement.
This news actually goes back to mid-June
http://iphonasia.com/?p=5586
http://iphonasia.com/?s=A1324
Wifi is banned in China, they use a different wireless LAN protocol.
Funny - iPhone has been available in china for a long time in apple store. Maybe new to china telecomm. Wifi (same as the states at least is available just about everywhere, I walked down the street with my US purchased iPod picked up a lot of signals not just at starbuck's etc) info seems wrong to the reality on the ground.
More accurately, WIFI is banned on mobile devices on China. They use another protocol cased WAPI.
I almost expected this to be tagged KIRF
Why is the phone not Red? Or Mao Green? ZING! (Btw, I'm Chinese too)
too bad it's not gonna sell in china
iphone in china is more expensive than it is for an average american (when you look at the relative wealth of each nations)
besides, chinese beat apple in bringing iphone-esque phones like meizu and even a clone of the meizu
This a KIRF. All phones in China are KIRFs. No exception.
To have Wi-Fi feature in China, iPhone needs to have the WAPI support which is mandated for all Wi-Fi-enabled phones in China.
I just wrote "The Other News of China Unicom Eunuch(Wi-Fi less) iPhone: No iTunes, No App Store". Check it out at http://www.kai-mai.com/node/171 for reactions from Chinese users on the Eunuch iPhone.