Starting Thursday, Japan Communications will begin offerring a SIM card for unlocked iPhone 4 units sold in Japan by Softbank Corp, although the service plan costs 6,260 yen a month, while the unlocked iPhone 4 will sell for about 60,000 yen at Japan Communications Inc.

Read More news.softpedia.com

A cover that fits the iPod and turns it into a phone for half the price. A chinese patent: at least two different companies offer a “wrap” for the iPod touch that turns into a phone. The first device published was called apple peel 520 and was invented by a 22 year old programmer. The device is a sort of chassis that enlarges and thickens the device.

Read More www.ifreshnews.com

Flat-rate mobile data tariffs look like an endangered species in the US and Europe. Mobile operators say that the all-you-can-eat model is damaging their ability to increase their revenues, and that the cost of building next-generation networks and providing the backbone capacity for the data is a “critical challenge”.

Read More www.guardian.co.uk

IPhone 4 mania is as strong in South Korea as it is in the States–perhaps even more so. Korea Telecom’s servers were overwhelmed by pre-orders for the September iPhone 4 launch, company officials said Wednesday. More than 130,000 people pre-ordered Apple’s (AAPL) latest smartphone in just nine hours, causing some nasty congestion.

Read More digitaldaily.allthingsd.com

China Unicom has reached an agreement with Apple to sell the iPad and iPhone 4 in China, according to a new report. Citing a source within China Unicom, Caixin reports that the company has finalized a deal with Apple that will make it the sole distributor of the iPad in China, although no timetable is offered for the device’s Chinese release.

Read More www.ilounge.com

South Korea’s KT plans to start accepting pre-orders for Apple’s iPhone 4 on Wednesday for a September launch, according to AFP.

After the iPhone 4 completed South Korea’s standard approval process, KT spokesman Lee In-won commented “We will try our best to launch iPhone 4 sometime in September.”

Read More www.macobserver.com

A survey by Sybase, an industry leader in enterprise and mobile software, has found that more than half of iPhone owners will use it to conduct work, and more than a third of non-iPhone users will consider buying one for business based on the iOS 4 update and iPhone 4.

“The survey conducted by Zogby International polled over 2 000 Americans and explored increasing demand for iPhones in the workplace, most anticipated iPhone and iOS features for conducting work, and work-related usage habits between iPhone users and non-iPhone users,” says Julie Tomlinson, director at Sybase South Africa.

Read More www.itweb.co.za

SEOUL (Dow Jones)—South Korea’s telecommunications regulator said Tuesday it has given Apple Inc. (AAPL) the green light to start the sale of its new smartphone, the iPhone 4, in the country.

Read More online.wsj.com

Now that the iPhone 4 is available around most of the world, iFun designed this interesting little infographic that compares the various prices of the handset around the globe. Note that all of these prices are in Euros, and that they all reflect the out-of-contract price—because the US iPhones are locked to the AT&T network currently, our country doesn’t appear on this list.

Read More www.tuaw.com

Sure, Apple may have announced they’re giving free bumpers to everyone, but perhaps you’re in search of a more extreme solution for your death grip-related woes. Extreme in its pricing, that is.

Well, if you feel that anything other than 200-year-old African wood is simply not trying hard enough, Gresso has you covered.

Read More www.unwiredview.com

Now we know when we are likely to se the new iPhone 4 sporting its white coat as Steve Jobs has said the white iPhone 4 will ship at the end of this month. However it appears that the white version has already been seen and unboxed over in Japan.

Read More www.phonesreview.co.uk

Korean fans and online users of Apple who watched the Friday news conference of Apple CEO Steve Jobs at his company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, showed utter disappointment.

Many of them called the iPhone 4 the “next-month phone,” meaning its launch has been delayed to next month.

Read More english.donga.com

Details of the manufacturing difficulties Apple has faced in producing the white version of the iPhone 4 have been detailed in a new report, which suggests supply will be extremely limited when the devices launch later this month.

Read More www.appleinsider.com

Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the time to address the iPhone 4 antenna controversy on Friday, but he also dropped further tidbits on what’s down the road for the iPhone 4, including new countries, and news on the elusive white model.

Read More www.networkworld.com

The Chinese are at it again. Just as the first batch of iPhone 4s are being shipped, assembly lines in Shenzen have already started churning out exact replicas of Apple’s latest poster child by the hundreds.

Read More www.techtree.com

Apple today announced that it and its carrier partners had sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first three days of the new smartphone’s availability.

The company could have sold considerably more if it had had more on hand, an analyst said.

Read More www.computerworld.com

The long-awaited 1.4 update for the TomTom iPhone app is now available to download from the App Store for free.

As previously reported, new features include support for multi-tasking (only on iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3rd Generation devices, running iOS 4) and turn-by-turn guidance at the same time as operating other apps. The free update will also include the latest GeoSmart map of New Zealand.

Read More www.techday.co.nz

Apple is officially releasing the iPhone 4 today in five markets: United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.
Because of the time difference, Japanese iPhone fans already got their iPhone 4 already in hand. Reuters reports that their have been long lines in Tokyo at Softbank’s flagship store. 300 customers have been waiting to get their hands on a new iPhone 4.

Read More www.i4u.com

iPhone 3GS and 3G owners are expecting the iPhone OS 4 release from Apple today. Renamed iOS 4, the new firmware adds 100 new features including multitasking, folders and more. Apple watchers are predicting that the company will make the update available on its servers by 10 am Pacific time (1 pm EDT).

Read More www.iphonefaq.org

If you buy an iPhone 4 or 3GS from Apple in the US or another country where the iPhone is only available on a single mobile network, that iPhone will only work with the carrier in question. But if you buy one directly from Apple in France, Canada, or the UK (at unsubsidized prices), it will work with any compatible network worldwide.

Read More arstechnica.com