First iPhone Sightings in the Manila!

I earlier wrote about the scarcity of IT news in the Philippines. Now, here’s a really good example: First iPhone in the Philippines?.

Apple iPhone

This iPhone was spotted in the hands of Jayvee Fernandez. He was supposed to be writing a review for it (I guess).

But, and here’s the clincher, the review was pulled down and the link is gone as well as the picture. Super secret? NDA? I got a screenshot of the RSS feed though.

So, see, that’s supposed to be tech news already! Too many questions abound — where did he got it, how much, who gave it to him, how did it reached his hand, why just now, does it work with local telcos, where’s the SIM, can you activate it in iTunes?

I’m sure he got the iPhone way earlier than the June 29 public release. He blogged about it here. I guess he had to wait after the June 29 6PM release because of NDA.

[tags]iPhone Philippines, Apple iPhone[/tags]

Update: Turns out my theory was wrong. Jayvee denies having an iPhone. The picture above was an iPhone by another Filipino in the US. You can just read the whole story about Pinoys in the US buying the iPhone.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

32 Comments

jayvee f. says:

18 years ago

DUDE! that was a prank! it was a picture posted in philmug.
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jayvee f. says:

18 years ago

i asked permission for a forum poster if i could put the photo on the blog. after the “continue reading” jump, it shows photo credits to philmug as well as the forum poster who claimed the iphone abroad.

i kept the post on draft but by accident clicked the post button. which is why now it is on draft once more.

sorry for the misunderstanding.
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jayvee f. says:

18 years ago

on a related note, megatron does exist and he is frozen in my basement. :)
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BrianB says:

18 years ago

My aunt got an iPhone in New York from an AT&T store. The EDGE service is incredibly fast. Prolly AT&T upped their EDGE a bit for the iPhone, I don’t know. My aunt says it’s more complicated than a computer. Visually, I think iPhone will just stump older folks. She will give it to my cousin. I was going to ask her to take a photo of it for the blog I manage, but with all the iPhone unboxing photos in the Web, I thought not to bother her.

As for the iPhone sighting on the Philippines. Only four people got to review it. As for 2008. I think either Smart or Globe will have a bidding war or they’ll agree to a compromise. Anyway, iPhone will be too expensive. People will be willing to spend 25 thou for the unit but an additional contract of let’s say 3k for a year would sway them from the idea. Two-year contracts are unheard of in the Philippines, but one way or another it’s going to be too expensive.
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kid says:

18 years ago

I thought two-year contracts are standard in the Philippines, specially if you get your phone from the telco.
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Abe Olandres says:

18 years ago

Kid, there’s a 12-month, 24-month and 36-month contracts, depending on the phone model and plan.
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Abe Olandres says:

18 years ago

Kid, there’s a 12-month, 24-month and 36-month contracts, depending on the phone model and plan.
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BrianB says:

18 years ago

Kid, I just assumed. Everyone I know with a plan (excepting those they got from work) is on a one-year-plan. Me included. Smart didn’t even offer me the two-year one.
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kid says:

18 years ago

it’s standard with globe and written on their application forms, you’re held to only one year if you provide your own equipment though.
http://www.hub-eshop.com/client/termsconditions.asp

it’s also standard for sun cellular when you get a phone from them, unless you get the relatively older models. if you provide your own equipment you’re tied 3 months.

but, i’m not sure about smart.
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BrianB says:

18 years ago

Seriously this is news to me. I just assumed.eah, I have my own phone when I subscribed. But who’d give a two-year contract to anyone these days, unless you own your own successful business or work in a bank or government?
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