No doubt iPhone 3.0 will come out at the same time as the expected mid-year handset refresh, much like what occurred with 2.0 last year. Background operation would be nice, although what might be better is the ability for developers to enable background operation on individual apps rather than having global permission (which would probably crash the handset PDQ).

The early ZTE handsets in Australia were, for want of a more diplomatic expression, rubbish: the F850 and F252 were pretty much to fill the budget plan segment and had the build quality and reliability to match. Later handsets have been somewhat better on both counts, but one can see something of a pattern arising: ZTE handsets are only available in those segments (budget phones, ruggedised phones, high-sensitivity phones for rural users, etc.) that brand-name manufacturers won't adequately cover.

Ah, but the Touch HD is supposed to be the top-of-the-range model from HTC; the Iolite is specced for those people who have better things to do than sit on the bleeding edge - you know, the people that you yourself have no time for whatsoever.

Standard mobile procedure: it 'hunts' for a signal, even upping the output where there's poor reception. That explain why phones often run hot when there's poor or no signal and quite cool when there's a strong signal. The problem with the iPhone is that it doesn't handle network handoffs (from 2G to 3G and vice versa) particularly well, only switching after a complete absence of signal.

248.7 meg, to be precise.

Oh, and nice to see the return of the PoS ZTE F850 image to these screens - no doubt you'll get a cease-and-desist-and-post-a-Samsung-U900-instead order sometime soonish.

And we now have the interesting situation where a 'consumer' $29 data pack gets you 300MB while the 'high-end' (for the mobile-as-modem and business data card crowd) $59 pack only gets you 200MB.
Depending on who you ask the reduction is the result of either improved technology (such as direct tunnel) or Optus's domination of iPhone sales - remember that, free Wi-Fi and the option of paying a partial outright fee for lower voice plans aside, an iPhone plan on Telstra is no different to an ordinary phone plan on Telstra (while both Optus and Vodafone have special iPhone plans with included data) with data being covered by a seperate pack. Both are probably true, although many iScenies - and their Singtel Fanboy brethren - will probably shout the latter.

Anyone who doesn't want their Bold to be useless the moment they see anything resembling natural vegetation. It's exactly like with the iPhone. Besides, the typical Optus customer thinks that the bush is some dropkick from America. Also, I wouldn't want to get anything off anyone owned by Singapore for a variety of reasons.

Not in NZ (as far as I know) but home activation's a goer in the UK, with O2 home-delivering iPhones.

Well, that explains a fair bit: Telstra will be offering the Touch Diamond on the 850MHz Next G network soonish. Looks like HTC is copying Nokia in pursuing a bi-regional specification strategy: one type for Eurasia and another for the New World.