According to rumours from The Malaysian Insider, Maxis will offer the iPhone 3G in Malaysia at a competitive price below RM1,000!!! [click here]

can it be true???

Sorry, I DON'T know, only Maxis can confirm that!!! BUT, one thing I am pretty sure is, Iphone 3g will be officially here in Malaysia, either from one of the tel operator, based on the "facts" below...

I found one quite "solid evidence" in the new iTunes 7.7.



Do you notice that iTunes store is now officially offer to Malaysian??

So, what to this meant??

Well, if you are an iTunes user for quite some time, you may notice that iTunes store was not opened for Malaysian to purchase any music or movies online, and Malaysia is not in the "MY STORE" list. Even with this 7.7 version, Malaysian is still unable to purchase music or movies through iTunes, BUT it now offers the App Store officially for us to purchase/download the new iphone 2.0 applications!!
Kindly note that there is only 62 countries are able to ACCESS this App Store at the moment!!! and Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, China and Thailand, the few asian countries which "has been omitted" in the first 70 countries that Iphone 3G is going to launch, is in this App Store list!!

What is that meant, is it an accident??? NOT really!!! Kindly note that some of the so called first 70 countries to launch the Iphone 3g, like Macau and some African countries, are not in the App store list!!! and Brunei, our rich neighbor is NOT in there also!!! Thus, I dont think Apple jsut simply put Malaysia in this App store list for fun and without any purpose!!

Don't tell me, just because a lots of Malaysian is using the first generation iphone.... so, they put us in..
Then, why they don't just put all the countries in the world into the list? and just this 62?? What do they have in mind?? You get my point??

So, what I wanna say today is..... Iphone 3G, may be sooner than what we all expected, will be officially launched Malaysia, soon!!!

Kindly note that, China and Taiwan, which is not in the first 70 countries list, has announced that it will launch Iphone 3G in their country later this year...

Here is some of the free applications I downloaded from App Store!!!



So, prepare yourself!!!! Eventhough it is just my own GUESS!!!

good to hear that .

Yes, Finally

No.

Unless you start seeing Apple providing other contents than Apps, that is not an indication of iPhone coming to Malaysia. Apple is merely providing avenues for iPod touch users here to get a chance to purchase Apps.

I'd like to be as excited and as hopeful as you are, but it does not point towards that way. And it has already been explained in other threads as well.

This move by Apple however, may be a test bed to see how well the response is from Malaysian towards AppStore. If they see that the response is encouraging, they may see it fit to launch a full-blown iTunes Store.

Meaning I don't have to spend crazy money (RM4.2K to be exact) to buy a un-warranty unit from someone here in LYP ?

GREAT ! Patient is a virtue...

I have a suggestion if says iPhone not officially launch in Malaysia and you still want the warranty.

Go to Singapore to get it, in case of any defect just back to Singapore and fix it..

Patience may not be a virtue at all if you're waiting for a train that never arrive at the station. People speak of the train, but all the while, the train goes past by this station and stops only in stations "down south".

We've all been here, and we all love speculations and hopeful rumors. But when you trust non-credible news source and accepts rumors as hard evidence, you'll end disappointed. The Malaysian Insider is good for a lot of other things, but there is a reason why people dont tune to them for technology-related info.

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Added on July 12, 2008, 11:11 amThat is if Singtel allows sale of iPhone without contract, which remains to be seen.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jul 12 2008, 11:11 AM

Like you, me too would like to see iPhone to come to our shore - officially. But as stringfellow had mentioned earlier, the situations don't seem to point to that way. IMHO, before we could see an official launch here, we'll first need an official Apple store - which we currently don't.

The rules now have change, you may not need official iTunes store to ensure that your country gets picked up for an iPhone launch. All you need is a telco willing to bring it in, and agree to Apple's own business model. Countries like the ones on the African continent, still do not have their own iTunes store, but their telcos are handling the iPhone's unlocking to their telco's network.

Last time, you need an official iTunes Store to get this done. But now, with the arrival of a customised version of iTunes made available to telcos to do the unlocking, the rules have change. The problem here is, Apple only make that special unlocking iTunes version to telcos they have agreed upon, and I dont see Malaysia in that roadmap during Steve's Keynote at WWDC.

The recent localised iTunes Store move you see is to allow iPod touch users to expand on their Touches with the addition of Apps. If AppStore wasnt available for the folks with Touches, you'll never see this happens.

Next indication to look for are offerings OTHER THAN apps. As long as they stlll stick to Apps, I dont see pining for a local iPhone launch to be wise.

Hi stringfellow,

Thanks for pointing out the ipod touch issue!! However, kindly note that neither Hong Kong nor Singapore is offering any music or movies in their iTunes Store!!!

Another point is, iTunes is NOT a new features for Ipod Touch!!

IF Apple really wanna offer music and movies download for Ipod Touch users, they should already done so.... the only reason I can see why they are not offering is because.... they "DONT expect" many people is going to buy it in Malaysia??? isn't it?? How many ORIGINAL CD or DVD you bought compare to those pirated copies??

Anyway, I am not saying I am RIGHT, as I said, I am ONLY guessing....

Cheers.

raycol97

Yes, all these are guessworks based on current Apple patterns. But the most indicative of a selection of a country as an iPhone launch platform is the inclusion of media downloads. you are right, HK or SG do not have media downloads available for them, on these countries, instead of media downloads, their respective telcos snapped up the rights and handle it as their own launch. Remember, HK and SG themselves do not have official Apple Stores, they rely on Three(HK) and Singtel(SG) to handle all the launch necessities(unlocking, support, etc).

Let's use common sense here. Why wouldnt Maxis, the supposedly telco that gets the rights for an iPhone here, kept mum/very quiet on the issue, and have Malaysian Insider break the news? Why didnt they themselves break the news and generate hype and wanting for their own brand? Why? Maybe it's because the news ITSELF has no credibility and Maxis doesnt want to be seen as an entity spreading FUD.

Trust me, I want it locally here as badly as the next guy here, but I set my foot in reality rather than floating on hope. It is better this way, you dont get hurt too much when reality sets in and you come tumbling back to Earth.

perhaps n..... hopefully...

Two words that does not bring much confidence now , does it?

Apple announced 70 countries - "by the end of this year", even Singapore isnt getting the iPhone on the magical 11th, so, I'm pretty sure they already have their hands full now with 70 countries to launch in.

Besides, if either DiGi, Maxis, Celcom or any provider had a deal with Apple, I'm pretty sure they would be boasting it with advertisement now! Why wait?

Also, why would apple not show us that Malaysia is in the list of countries? They have no reason to do so.

One last thing, apple servers went down because of activation issues on the launching hours. Thats not even a simultaneous launch at all 70 countries. They seriously need to rework the activation load on the servers or acquire new ones to avoid such problems in the future.

So, I'd say its safe to say that we're not in the list of iPhone 3g countries, at least until next year, and when next year comes, the iPhone 3 g would be half a year old, with a newer revision coming out in less than half a year, and we'd be put in this limbo again.

haha...just dun wan give 2 much hope...n at the end falling back 2 earth like wut u said...
but i do waiting maxis to make some miracles...

now wat i worry is when the iphone realli bring 2 msia by maxis but with dunno wat wat wat contract tat cost sky height....faint oso...haha

there is a difference between iTunes Store and Apps Store, the store in Malaysia is Apps Store, not both iTunes Store + Apps Store, nation like Japan and US is iTunes Store and Apps Store, so they have both buying music/video and buying Apps

the Apps Store are made for both iPhone and iPod Touch, it doesnt have to be an iPhone to install the apps.

look carefully, there are apps for iPod Touch too, and also there are even more nation which does not officially have iPhone on the Apps Store list too: China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand

having the Store doesnt mean anything in bringing in iPhone, it could be made just for iPod Touch

unless there is any thing solid (real news not just rumor) in iPhone officially getting into Malaysia border, there is not much thing happy about the Apps Store in Malaysia, look at the pricing, it still in US, just that it enable u to open an account using Malaysia credit card.

if Maxis does getting it in, it will be the greatest news for Malaysia iPhone user + awaiting user, i have also waiting for moment like this

just sit by and watch how Apple continue to revolutionize the phone industry, someday some telco will understand what market Apple has created

This post has been edited by elico: Jul 12 2008, 12:20 PM

If Maxis really bring in the phone, I don't mind paying them some premium, at least, that is a "warranty" iphone!!!

Same here, I like the idea of having myself covered in case something broke down. Thankfully even my first launch iPhone still works, bought more than a year ago, so build quality is not an issue with the iPhone, at least not in my case.

But it is not wise to rely on hearsay and speculations.

receive the maxis rewards booklet, open up only, u see a picture of iphone liao

string, any idea abt iphone in the uk? my wife will be ther for a year, so if she signs up the 18 moon contract, is the phone locked dead? or still can use back msia sim card?

iPhone 3G for Malaysia.com has opened an online petition to collect signatures.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ip3g4m

Let's join it!!!!