iPhone deals for Nordic and Baltic nations; new Leopard seed hits

[AppleInsider]

Apple has signed on with TeliaSonera to sell its next-generation iPhone in the Nordic and Baltic markets. Meanwhile, a new pre-release build of Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard was pushed out ahead of the holiday weekend.

TeliaSonera to sell iPhone

In a one-line press release early Tuesday, Stockholm-based TeliaSonera said it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia later this year.


TeliaSonera, the result of a 2002 merger between Sweden's Telia and Finland's Sonera, is now the dominate phone company in those regions. As of last year, the carrier had over 106 million mobile subscribers, including those from its other markets in Central Asia and Spain.

Mac OS X 10.5.3 build 9D34

Apple over the long holiday weekend provided developers with yet another build of the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard update for testing. The pre-release software, labeled Mac OS X 10.5.3 build 9D34, joins earlier builds in containing no known issues, according to people familiar with the matter.

However, the new build arrived with just a single addition to software's bug fix list of over 220 items -- an improvement to kernel performance.

Apple is also reported to have made some modifications to the areas in which developers should focus their testing efforts. Specifically, it asked that they thoroughly evaluate all audio- and video- intensive applications, but said special attention is no longer required in the areas of AFP, Audio, Dock, Finder, Spotlight, and Sync Services.

According to a recent report, Mac OS X 10.5.3 is likely on a similar developmental course as iPhone Software v2.0, both of which are now expected to surface on or around Apple's annual developers conference during the second week of June.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Vigants]

I am from latvia and I am iPhone user for several moths.
This is good news that there finally will be oficial iPhone from biggest operator in country (LMT, doughtercompany of TeliaSonera). Just hope the price will be reasonable.

Historically we see that oficially thing come at price tag twice as hight as in USA.

[bmson]

TeliaSonera is in all of the Nordic Countries except Iceland.
If we don't get the iPhone I'm gona be furious.

There are probably more iPhones in Iceland, than in all of the Balkan countries

[saare2000]

wooohooooo yeahh leto svet plätt

[Buck]

Somebody needs to update the map.

[Commodus]

TeliaSonera is in all of the Nordic Countries except Iceland.
If we don't get the iPhone I'm gona be furious.

There are probably more iPhones in Iceland, than in all of the Balkan countries

I don't know, you'd be surprised at the grey market for iPhones on the edge of Europe...

Also, insert jokes about preloading the iPhone with Bjork (or Sigur Ros) and calling fairies here.

[Wiggin]

Is the list of "over 220" bug fixes in .3 available someplace? Or just to developers? I'm curious what I should be looking forward to being fixed in the next few weeks and how quickly I should apply the update when it comes out. If it doesn't fix the main things I'm concerned about, then no hurry to install it until after it's been tested in the wild by bleeding edgers. (Although, addressing my biggest concerns would probably also require updates to Aperture and .Mac in addition to an OS update.)

[moveteam]

Of course not Iceland is much smaller than the Baltic countries and even smaller than the Nordic countries (with a population about 25 mio.), the Nordic countries alone is 100 times bigger than Iceland.

Just relax

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

Is the list of "over 220" bug fixes in .3 available someplace? Or just to developers? I'm curious what I should be looking forward to being fixed in the next few weeks and how quickly I should apply the update when it comes out. If it doesn't fix the main things I'm concerned about, then no hurry to install it until after it's been tested in the wild by bleeding edgers. (Although, addressing my biggest concerns would probably also require updates to Aperture and .Mac in addition to an OS update.)

I don't know if there is a specific list, but you can search the "10.5.3 seed" articles on AI to get an idea of what Apple wants developers to focus on.

I think that there will be some .Mac changes coming soon. Mainly in relation with the iPhone's. V2.0 software, but hopefully they will add better connectivity to Leopard and make the server side less of a disaster.

[solipsism]

So, is that about 25 new countries now?

[bmson]

Originally Posted by moveteam

Of course not Iceland is much smaller than the Baltic countries and even smaller than the Nordic countries (with a population about 25 mio.), the Nordic countries alone is 100 times bigger than Iceland.

Just relax

To begin with, Iceland is a part of the Nordic Countries (scandinavia).

Second, there have been sold hundreds if not thousands of iPhones to Iceland.

[satchmo]

Hmmm...this 3G iPhone better be more than just a slight revision (as one rumour had it).
With that many carrier and countries on board, I'd hate to see it be a colossal flop because Apple didn't want to alienate first gen iPhone owners by adding too many new features.

That said, this new iPhone could blow that 10mil target easily if it's as good as we're all hoping it will be.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I don't know if there is a specific list, but you can search the "10.5.3 seed" articles on AI to get an idea of what Apple wants developers to focus on.

I think that there will be some .Mac changes coming soon. Mainly in relation with the iPhone's. V2.0 software, but hopefully they will add better connectivity to Leopard and make the server side less of a disaster.

Agreed. The Mac-to-Mac syncing seems to be working OK; but the online apps are an embarassment (specifically talking about Address Book and Calendar). They need to focus less on creating web sites and more on giving me online access to that data.

[moveteam]

Originally Posted by bmson

To begin with, Iceland is a part of the Nordic Countries (scandinavia).

Second, there have been sold hundreds if not thousands of iPhones to Iceland.

Nope Iceland isn't a part of Scandinavia (that's only Sweden, Denmark and Norway.) I know Iceland is a Nordic country, but you said Iceland is a more important market than the Baltic countries.

Probably, in Norway and Denmark about 20.000 iPhones have been sold.

I'm not against Iceland in any way

[bmson]

Originally Posted by moveteam

Nope Iceland isn't a part of Scandinavia (that's only Sweden, Denmark and Norway.) I know Iceland is a Nordic country, but you said Iceland is a more important market than the Baltic countries.

Probably, in Norway and Denmark about 20.000 iPhones have been sold.

I'm not against Iceland in any way

If we want to nitpick.
Denmark is not a part of Scandinavia, the scandinavian pensula is only Norway and Sweden.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark are often counted together, because they are all nordic Kingdoms.
Iceland and Finland are often counted as Scandinavia because of the common history. Iceland have been a part of both Norway and Denmark.

But today the nordic countries advertise them self as the scandinavian countries because that's a much stronger trademark than nordic countries.

goscandinavia.com for example

[noirdesir]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

Is the list of "over 220" bug fixes in .3 available someplace?

Have a look here:
http://news.worldofapple.com/archive...34-seed-notes/

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by bmson

If we want to nitpick.
Denmark is not a part of Scandinavia, the scandinavian pensula is only Norway and Sweden.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark are often counted together, because they are all nordic Kingdoms.
Iceland and Finland are often counted as Scandinavia because of the common history. Iceland have been a part of both Norway and Denmark.

But today the nordic countries advertise them self as the scandinavian countries because that's a much stronger trademark than nordic countries. goscandinavia.com for example

Wasn't Iceland a part of the old Danish monarchy? It was basically only settled by Nordic peoples, right?

Sorry, off-topic, but I definitely need to travel around Scandinavia! What a beautiful area! I'm an American, but I've been able to trace my Ancestry (on one side at least) all the way back to a town on "zealand"(sorry about the spelling... I don't know how to write Danish). And there is actually an old restored farm house from the 18th century where my ancestors lived. Although I have yet to visit that part of Europe, I know I would love it and it's people. I particularly respect their lifestyle and governing philosophy. America is much too focused on material wealth, and the government is *very* pro-corporation and anti-citizen --- while neglecting the much more meaningful and worthy causes of providing society with affordable healthcare, top-notch education for all, a well-built and maintained infrastructure -- both physical and digital, safety nets for the poor and disabled, etc all while balancing those obligations with smart fiscal policies and a strong recognition of freedom, privacy, and individual's rights.

anyways, time to get off the soapbox.

[nasdarq]

Buck - so right ...

Lol, one of the funniest threads ever. Couldn't help myself but post a message. Don't they teach geography/history in Scandinavia? ... Or are some of you too young to attend high school?

P.S. The Baltics (not to be confused with Balkans) have some of the highest mobile phone penetration rates in the world. Lithuania alone had (in 2006 ...) the 144% ratio - much higher than Iceland or any other Nordic country, btw ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tors_of_Europe

Peace

[nasdarq]

some more stats for comparison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...f_the_Americas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...Pacific_region

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by nasdarq

Lol, one of the funniest threads ever. Couldn't help myself but post a message. Don't they teach you geography/history in Scandinavia?

You must have missed the posts where Australians don't consider their country an island, only a continent, and where Central Americans consider their geopolitical sub-continent a separate continent from North America.

These discussions have all come about because of the iPhone. I look forward to more as other countries' carriers become retailers. Welcome to AI.

[Kendoka]

>the carrier had over 106 million mobile subscribers

I wonder how much market penetration in the TeliaSonera areas the iPhone could get??
If anything near 5%, the 10Mil sales target will be blown out of the water! - and AAPL will reach another all time high

[KASHA]

Denmark is a part of Scandinavia! - But you're right, because Denmark is the only Scandinavian country not located on the the Scandinavian pensula. Denmark is the only Scandinavian country connected to the European mainland, but like the other Scandinavian countries they share nearly the same culture and similar languages.

Iceland has a total population of about 316,252 people. To make a comparison, Norway which is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries has a population of about 4.671.900. I wonder which is the biggest market ?

[nasdarq]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You must have missed the posts where Australians don't consider their country an island, only a continent, and where Central Americans consider their geopolitical sub-continent a separate continent from North America.

LMAO!