iPhone To Arrive August 22 In Argentina

If you’ve been dying to get a new 3G iPhone, your wait is almost over. Claro, the leading GSM and 3G cellular provider in Argentina, and Movistar, which has more clients than any other company, will both start selling the iPhone August 22. 

“The prices, rates and details of the offer will be announced in the days ahead,” Movistar said in a statement Wednesday. A spokesperson for Claro said the prices had not yet been determined.

“The phone will be in the same price range as the other smart phones already on the market,” the person said.

It is highly unlikely that the phone will cost as little as $199 as it does in the U.S. The phone will likely face an import tax as a “luxury good.” Typically such items face an 83% import tax, along with other applicable taxes such as Argentina’s 21% value-added tax.

Both companies will come with access to Apple’s new Apps Store. The 3G phone also includes integrated GPS, as well as Microsoft Exchange Active Sync compatibility, meaning that it can be used with corporate email accounts.

Until now the Apps Store has been available only to iPhone 2.0 version users in a handfull of countries. On August 22 it will be available in 10 Latin American countries. I’ve been using Version 2.0 on my iPhone here and can say that it works seemlessly. 

Most applications cost $1.99, some cost more and others are free. A great application for users in Argentina is a “Units Converter” App. It is by far the best unit converter I have ever used on any computer or phone. It easily converts everything from currencies to weights, volumes, and temperatures, etc. It looks like a simple calculator and is as easy to use.

If you already iTunes and Version 2.0, you can get the application by clicking here. There are also a host of decent digital voice recorders. You can see a review of several of them here. This a particularly good App for journalists, language students and teachers, or anyone else who needs a recorder. Some of these Apps even allow you to email the recording after capturing it. I use QuickVoice Recorder, a $2 App which you can find here.

Link: Claro

Link: Movistar