Hong Kong’s iPhone Elite

3 chooses 500 registrants to get the Apple 3G iPhone first.

With the big launch of the 3G iPhone coming to Hong Kong this Friday , Hutchinson’s 3 has decided to fuel the bombastic hype flames by letting only 500 early-bird people who registered at their website, get not only the 3G iPhone first in Hong Kong, but also some collectible pouch and of course, an most importantly, chief bragging rights.

The winners have been announced here . So if you are one those 500, we hate you already. And from the rumoured 60,000 Hong Kong people who registered at the 3 site, those 500 plus 1000 "premium subscribers" will be the only ones to get it. The exact number of iPhone’s that 3 has in stock for Friday is unknown, but The Standard is reporting that Hong Kong has an allocation of 10,000 iPhone’s from Apple.

For the rest of us, here is a 13-image photo gallery of an unboxing and comparison to the first iPhone.

UPDATE JULY 10: Here are photos of an unboxing of the Chinese-language version.

Hutchinson’s 3G iPhone Plan Exposed

Here it is, what you’ll be spending on July 11th in Hong Kong!

UPDATE 2: AT&T has announced their prices in the US for the non-contract iPhones. 8GB model is US$599 (approx. HK$4800) and 16GB is US$699 (approx. HK$5600) respectively.

UPDATE 1: Hutchinson has released their official package information at their website here.

The Hutchinson 3G iPhone deal has just spread out on the web in Hong Kong, so upon further details from 3′s official channels, we’ll present you with the deal as we know it right now in the handy grid below on their contract deal which will span 24 months:

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Apple Launches New iPod’s

Mixing the iPod and iPhone into the new iTouch.

OK folks these are real! All the speculating is over and Apple has announced their new iPod line up and its amazing, exactly what we predicted and wanted – so no surprises but sometimes that’s a good thing.

You might as well go to Apple’s website here to see all the videos showcasing the iPod Touch and the new iPod nano and classic. It’s also fun to watch Steve Jobs introduce these new products to an ecstatic crowd in San Francisco. What’s special to Hong Kong users is the new Wi-Fi capabilities inside the new iPod’s. With our Wi-Fi coverage going supernova people will no doubt be ditching their Blackberry’s for these sexy online devices. Keynote: not available until September 28.

But a bit of a stab to those that decided to be early adopters for the iPhone. That US$599 price has now been dropped to $399 in only a few months.

But the real question Hong Kong wants answered: is the 16GB 3G iPhone just around the corner???

And oh yes, we’ll be posting more iPod news all week.

Apple Rumors Consolidated

The big day is tomorrow, here is the roundup.

While Apple loves to surprise, the web has been abuzz with its guesses and even mock-ups of what is coming out on Wednesday (which means you will find out tomorrow) Engadget has a nice round-up but the report about the iPOd “Phatty” (the one on the top left) seems to be part of a disinformation scheme coming from Apple, or is it? They told Engadget to take the image down, leaning to the side that it is a real product – or is this a trick to throw gadget-hounds off the scent? Find out tomorrow in the chilling conclusion of “The Revenge of the iPod!”

iPod Touch with flash-memory
iPod nano “phatty”
Wireless iTunes store sales for iPhone and wireless iPod(s)
(PRODUCT) Red iPod shuffle
iTunes ringtone service
Beatles on iTunes — yes, again

iTunes #3 Music Retailer

Digital music sales adds up in the U.S.

If you told me 2 years ago that Apple’s iTunes store would become the THIRD largest retailer of music in the USA, I would have laughed – and long – and hard. Digital music that is easy to trade and share become the 3rd biggest behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy in the USA.

ITunes had a 9.8 percent market share in the first quarter, ranking behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s 15.8 percent and Best Buy Co.’s 13.8 percent, according to The NPD Group. Online retailer Amazon.com’s share was 6.7 percent, slightly ahead of Target’s 6.6 percent, NPD said.

Apple’s rise in the NPD survey reflects a key shift in the music industry: Compact disc sales are declining while digital music sales are climbing. That, plus the popularity of Apple’s iPod portable music players, has helped boost iTunes sales.

Still, digital music represented less than a quarter of total music units sold during the quarter, NPD said.

The promise made in the dotcom era is coming true, albeit slowly, but soon you’ll be saying good-bye to the CD’s like we already said good-bye to the vinyl and record player.