iphone 3g: Now available everywhere, except Israel.

June 10, 2008 - 9:15 AM by

oh, when will Israel finally get the iphone? I am a gear geek. I like my toys. Multiple guitars, effects petals, earphones, ipod, etc. The only thing missing in my life is an iphone. No, I do not want one to just look cool. I am a mac guy. I am all about full integration of everything in my life – email, photos, calendar, address book, etc. My current cellphone has no relationship with my computer, I can’t even connect it to my mac via bluetooth. And I am not a paper guy, I don’t wander around with a scheduler or calendar on my hand with all of my upcoming appointments. I grab whatever scrap is around whether that be a napkin or business card and then plug the info into my computer when I get home. Not the most efficient way to keep a schedule. And I am sick of it. I’ve been dying for an iphone but the price has been a wee bit out of my range.

Yesterday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the 3rd generation iphone for the low price of just $199 and also announced the iphone will be available in seventy countries – including our neighbors Egypt and Jordan – but not Israel.

Lots of Israelis have iphones that they’ve purchased from abroad, though by hacking them in order to use them here they ruin the warranty and are not eligible for Applecare, Apple’s paid coverage for damages, so for me this is not an option.

I am quite confused as to why Ghana is getting the iphone and we are not. I can only surmise that the cellphone companies here are blocking it somehow because it will hurt their profits.

Tags: • Category: General 

Comments

21 Comments on iphone 3g: Now available everywhere, except Israel.

  1. Dan on Tue, Jun 10th 2008 11:18 AM

    2. The iPhone 3G will only support in-store activation. What this means is that to purchase an iPhone 3G you will have to sign a contract with AT&T and pay an early termination fee to escape from it. This will essentially destroy the iPhone gray market in Israel.

  2. carol on Tue, Jun 10th 2008 5:30 PM

    3. How is a post about the Iphone not coming to Israel plugging Israel? This post makes no sense.

  3. Larry W in Los Angeles on Wed, Jun 11th 2008 1:57 AM

    4. Hey Carol. ISRAELITY is not about “plugging” Israel, it’s a chronicle of the reality of daily life in Israel. So Harry’s lament about the new iPhone not coming to Israel is part–apparently a big part–of his daily reality. I’ll soon be in Israel, but not with a new iPhone but a trusty new BlackBerry. Some of us just ain’t cool….

  4. Harry on Wed, Jun 11th 2008 9:00 AM

    5. @Dan I can’t imagine they are just selling them exclusively with the ATT contract. I’m sure they’ll put another 100 bucks on the price and offer them without the contract.

    @carol Hi Carol. I love gadgets, music and food. These three items are part of my daily life so I’ll be blogging about them often.

  5. Karin Kloosterman on Wed, Jun 11th 2008 10:43 AM

    6. I think Israelis should develop their own iPhone…

  6. Harry on Wed, Jun 11th 2008 3:07 PM

    7. @Karin Have you heard of Modu yet? Lotsa buzz…

  7. Dan on Wed, Jun 11th 2008 6:46 PM

    8. @Harry

    AT&T is *heavily* subsidizing the iPhone 3G, somewhere to the tune of $200. They’re unlikely to allow you to purchase it without a contract.

  8. harry on Thu, Jun 12th 2008 7:22 AM

    9. @dan

    That really sucks. I finally convinced my wife that I need one. sigh.

  9. Nicky on Thu, Jun 12th 2008 8:13 AM

    10. Hate to say it, but I’m one of the people who got an iPhone from abroad and then hacked into it.
    I’m not a techie person – I’m only impressed by technologies that can actually do something to improve my life – and this does. I love it. It’s so intuitive.
    Ridiculous that I had to buy it like this, however.

    I’m also looking forward to seeing what Modu does… seems like it’ll go far.

  10. Darnell Clayton on Mon, Jun 16th 2008 12:52 AM

    11. Have you guys (and gals) tried contacting iDigital and see if they could find local phone companies within Israel that would be willing to partner with the iPhone?

    After all, Israel is probably not Apple’s greatest market, although with a little help from a few bloggers, the iPhone could go mainstream there.

    Note: As far as the “hebrew too hard” for iPhone, I seriously doubt it as my first generation iPhone supports Japanese (and no, it was not hacked either).

  11. y on Sun, Jun 22nd 2008 10:39 AM

    12. A new Facebook group has been created for the purpose of promoting the iPhone’s release in Israel: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15342704508

    We believe that with a penetration rate almost 125%, in other words, more than nine million mobile phone accounts for a population of 7.2 million people, Apple is missing a great business opportunity by ignoring the Israeli mobile telecom market.

    We’ve already sent a letter to Apple and received the following answer:
    “The iPhone currently does not support right to left text. Don’t you think this will severely limit its success in Israel?”

    Obviously, if Apple can develop a Chinese keyboard for the iPhone, right to left text support for Hebrew shouldn’t be a problem either.

    We sent a reply letter but haven’t received a response back from Apple yet.

    You can read the letter we sent and the response we got from Apple in here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15342704508#/topic.php?uid=15342704508&topic=4068

  12. seanola on Sat, Jul 12th 2008 6:41 PM

    13. Hurrah! With the iPhone 2.0 update I can now read Hebrew emails and websites! The Hebrew in the interface is back to front, but within sites and emails the right ray round!

    It’s a start…(oh and it is Israeli telcos fault that you aren’t getting it over there btw)

  13. Roman from Australia on Mon, Aug 25th 2008 4:14 PM

    14. After visiting Israel and noticing that the new iPhone will not be available in Israel, despite 70 other countries being included has raised some alarm bells. Israel’s cellular network is 100% compatible with the new iPhone and should Apple want to, I am sure that they could find a way to include Hebrew in the iPhone (not to mention Israel is the inventor of the Mobile(Cell) phone).
    So then why is there no Apple presence in Israel (besides a retailer that offers limited sales and support)? Why is the iPhone not available in Israel? As has been shown economically it would definately be a money maker for Apple and considering the fact that the first generation iPhone has already being hacked, I am sure it would not take long for someone to allow Hebrew to be used on it.
    Looking at the above I think it is quiet obvious that the decision not to include Israel on Apple’s shipping list was intentional.
    The question now is why does Apple hate Israel so much?

  14. Steve on Sun, Sep 7th 2008 3:09 PM

    15. I don’t think that Apple hates Israel. The root cause may be that Apple and Israeli mobile operators could not reach agreement, I guess. Right-to-left support may also be an issue, but Apple now markets iPhone in several countries without proper localization, and will market in Arabic countries as well.

  15. nk on Thu, Sep 11th 2008 5:59 AM

    16. am quite confused as to why Ghana is getting the iphone and we are not.

    where in ghana is the iphone available?

  16. christian on Mon, May 4th 2009 5:07 PM

    17. iam new boy in age of 20 years. i need i phone to buy where can i get it from if any ones knows or ready to sales his or her for reply me throught this email.kenethchriste@gmail.com

  17. rebbecca on Mon, May 4th 2009 5:11 PM

    18. plsssssssssssssss where can i get i phone from i am located in ghana.pls somebody help me?

  18. Amir on Thu, Jun 11th 2009 2:31 PM

    19. Well i’m a real Mac geek and i have a macbook laptop, the iPod touch, i make music using apple’s Logic Studio 8 and been craving the iPhone ever since it was first released.
    I didn’t buy one ’till now because of two reasons.
    1 is that i didn’t want to crack it. it just aint fun
    2. they didn’t have a 32GB iPhone. well now they do!!!!! and the fact that it’s not being soled in israel drives me nuts!!!!

    Hay Apple! what the hell is your problem?! do you have anything against having more costumers?
    [or it's just that your not sure israel is going to be here in a few years and you think it's not worth the effort?]

    disappointed costumer
    >:-(

  19. Kevin on Thu, Jun 18th 2009 2:31 AM

    20. It’ll be interesting if the iPhone 3G S isn’t sold in Israel. I don’t know if it is Apple’s fault or if none of the wireless carriers in Israel want to carry it. I do know that Apple just added Hebrew language support with the iPhone OS 3.0 release.

  20. Tom on Sat, Jun 20th 2009 5:24 PM

    21. The iPhone 3GS is now sold in Israel as of June 2009. And it has full Hebrew support too (for everything: emails, Safari, icons on the starting page, etc.), thanks to the update iPhone 3.0 OS. So, at least, the job is done!

  21. Free Gadget on Sat, Aug 22nd 2009 1:32 PM

    22. Good post, adding it to my blog now, thanks

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