Apple has reached a deal with the biggest mobile network in Latin America to bring iPhone to the region.

America Movil has confirmed it will sell the iPhone across Latin America in the 15 countries it serves.

read it here macworld.co.uk

Ever since his iPhone doubled as a Web browser through which he was able to purchase tickets during a personal emergency, Anil Valluri, country director (service practice) for Sun Microsystems India, has been an ardent iPhone fan. When he is not idolising the iPhone, Valluri secretly aspires to hack golf sites so that he can procure himself some free golf equipment.

read it here business-standard.com

iPods and iPhones are now supported on some flights out of the US, Singapore Airlines has announced. The company says that beginning today, business-class, non-stop A345 flights from Newark to Singapore will offer special 30-to-9-pin adapter cables to go along with its KrisWorld in-flight entertainment technology.

read it here ipodnn.com

The french group Orange announced a new agreement with Apple to distribute the iPhone in Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, as well as on african markets. The iPhone should become available in Belgium this year.

Begin May, Vodaphone had made distribution agreements with Apple for distribution in 10 countries before year’s end. Orange (France Telecom) already sells the iPhone in France since november, but sales are lower than expected by Apple.

read it here (French) lalibre.be

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In another step in the worldwide march of Apple Inc.’s iPhone, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America said Wednesday that it has inked a deal to bring the multimedia gadget to more than a dozen countries starting later this year.
America Movil SAB, controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations but didn’t offer more details about the arrangement, including whether it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in the targeted countries.

read it here ap.google.com

Thanks to Vodafone, ten more countries are set to officially be blessed with the release of the iPhone. These are Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey.

read it here blogs.inquirer.net

In case you haven’t been marking the days off on your calendar, the iPhone SDK has been out for a little less than two months, in which time Apple has released four versions. Non-US developers looking to work on iPhone applications have yet to be accepted to the official program, however, since the iPhone Developer Program wasn’t accepting any developers outside the US yet.

read it here arstechnica.com

The stars finally seem to be aligned for a Canadian launch of Apple’s popular iPhone nearly a year after it was first unveiled to lineups of gadget-crazed consumers in the United States.

There have been no official confirmations, but industry sources say that Rogers Communications Inc., the only Canadian carrier with a compatible GSM network, was hoping to include the iPhone as part of a campaign that focuses on “touch screen” phones, to be rolled out between May and July.

read it here thestar.com

Lawyers working for Apple have spent the last few months trying, and universally succeeding, to destroy any companies who have been selling iPhone clones. However, the Managing Director of one such company was shocked at their ruthlessness.

read it here blorge.com

Over the past few months, PC Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff, columnist John C. Dvorak, and I have all weighed in on the current debate about whether or not the iPhone will become the next PC platform. Lance and I both agree that the iPhone represents a completely new approach to mobile computing.

read it here pcmag.com

Vodafone’s Indian subsidiary is reported to have secured the rights to Apple’s iPhone in the country. A report by the Business Standard suggests that the 8GB handset will be launched on the Vodafone Essar network in September with a price range of around Rs 27,200 and Rs 28,000 (around US$680). The 16GB model might be launched next year, depending on demand.

read it here cellular-news.com

Why can’t Apple (AAPL) keep enough iPhones in stock in its U.S. stores? One theory: Because so many are being bought to be “unlocked” and resold overseas.

We’ve seen plenty of anecdotal reports of tourists leaving the U.S. full of iPhones (or trying to). What happens after that? In some cases, apparently, they hit Craigslist, or their international equivalents. What we do know: If you’re willing to pay a premium, you can buy an iPhone anywhere in the world.

read it here alleyinsider.com

Last week I announced the first ever iPhone in Canada Podcast via TalkShoe! It took place on Sunday at 7pm PST, and if you didn’t get a chance to listen to it, you can by clicking here. The show was very popular and we gave away our first prize to caller Julia–a set of PDO iPhone Clear Screen protectors!

read it here iphoneincanada.ca

Consulting firm Pearl Research today released a study detailing Chinese consumer purchase intent for Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone has not been officially released in China, but can be found on store shelves through gray imports. China could be a significant market for Apple with its 565 million mobile phone users and trend-conscious consumers.

read it here redlinechina.com

The Ministry of Communications is allowing the personal import of wireless devices without the need for a permit, including iPhones, laptops, and cellular telephones with Bluetooth and GPS receivers.

read it here globes.co.il

Apple Inc. has gained unlikely allies in its bid to boost iPhone sales: Russian smugglers.

The device isn’t sold by Cupertino, California-based Apple in Russia and it can’t be used legally on local networks. Still, about 250,000 people own one, more than any other country except the U.S. and China, according to Eldar Murtazin, chief analyst at Moscow-based Mobile Research Group.

read it here bloomberg.com

Robot Wars, Transformers, the Terminator vs T-1000. Who doesn’t love it when tech monsters fight for our love?

In our last phone face-off we pitted two highly anticipated media playing mobiles against one another, the iPhone and the N96. Apple have since announced some exciting business related expansions for the iPhone to be included in their June firmware update, including compatibility with Microsoft’s Exchange servers via Active Sync.

read it here asia.cnet.com

Canadians are getting antsy about not having an iPhone yet. It’s a question with some history, wrapped up in local trademark concerns and Apple’s easy-does-it approach to internationalizing its iPodification of phones. What can you do about it, Canadians?

read it here wired.com

Representatives from Apple recently visited Brazil in attempts to gauge the feasibility of an iPhone introduction in the country, reports indicate. A number of hurdles to introduction exist, including a high smuggling rate (90% of iPods sold in the country are imported illegally), steep taxes and more.

read it here macnn.com

I’ll have to take this with a serious grain of salt, but it’s another indicator that Apple definitely wants to bring the iPhone to Canada. It’s a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. The community at ModMyiFone.com posted up a video, walking us through a jailbroken iPhone 2.0.

read it here mobilemag.com

Apple has yet to set a date for the Australian release of the iPhone but Telstra’s Sensis is already gearing up to create mobile applications specifically for the device.

The advertising and directories arm of Australia’s biggest telco, which operates properties such as Yellow Pages, Trading Post and WhereIs.com, has advertised for a business analyst to create iPhone search applications.

read it here smh.com.au

Apple could bring its hugely popular iPhone mobile phone device in the Indian market sometime this year.

The company has said that they are still aiming to meet its target of selling 10 million units in this year.

read it here techwhack.com

It’s been a tumultuous few months for Apple and China Mobile. Ultimately, after failing to agree on a business model for selling the iPhone in China, the country’s (and the world’s) largest mobile operator announced that negotiations with Apple had officially ended in January.

read it here wired.com

Since I started this blog about the iPhone in Canada in December of 2007, things have progressed along the way. When I first got my iPhone it was on firmware 1.1.1, and I had to wait two weeks for an unlock to come out. Once it was released, I activated, jailbreaked, and unlocked my way to firmware 1.0.2. Currently, my iPhone is currently on the stable 1.1.1 firmware.

read it here iphoneincanada.ca

As many as 400,000 unlocked iPhones were running on China Mobile’s cellular network at the end of last year, according to market research firm In-Stat.

Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007, and more than 10 percent of them are in China, In-Stat said, attributing that information to China Mobile. That helps explain part of the “iPhone gap” created by the difference between Apple’s shipping totals for 2007 and the activations reported by its carrier partners in the U.S. and Europe.

read it here news.com