Several videos have surfaced that claim a revised Palm Pre may be heading to Mexico's Telcel carrier, allegedly with the addition of a MicroSD card slot. The videos, originating from the Mexican site Matuk, contain a preview of the Pre sporting a Telcel icon. The person in the video makes a reference to a memory card slot.
Apple has launched a Mexican version of the iTunes Music Store, opening up digital music sales to the country. All tracks are DRM-free, as in the US, but cost a universal 12 pesos individually, though album prices may vary. Music videos cost approximately 24 pesos each. The Mexican iTunes Store as a whole continues to lack some features; though iPhone apps are available, movies and TV shows are not. Similarly, the mobile version of the iTunes Store remains non-functional.
Telcel is now offering a contract-free version of the iPhone 3G in Mexico. The cost of an iPhone under this scheme is $7,899 MXN ($708 USD) for a 8GB model, or $9,199 MXN ($817 USD) for a 16GB model. Telcel also notes that users who choose this option are being given $500 MXN ($45 USD) worth of talk time, and 30 days of unlimited 3G browsing. In order to receive the fulal value of the promotion, however, people must use $100 MXN worth of talk time in a month. If this requirement is met, their account will be credited with an additional $100 MXN renewable up to a total value of $500 MXN.
With a little over three days to go before the iPhone 3G sees its launch, Apple has clarified a time where customers can find the device in its retail stores, while potential New Zealand and Mexican iPhone customers can now browse official rates. Apple silently placed a notice on its retail homepage, saying that customers can get the long-awaited device at its US retail stores at 8AM on July 11th, coinciding with AT&T's previously announced morning launch.
The iPhone could be headed to Mexico as soon as June, a Mexican newspaper reports. The paper cites a source within Apple, who says that the company is in talks with Telcel, Mexico's largest cellular carrier. Reporters are also said to have made a number of calls to Apple US customer support, and been told multiple times that while iPhones cannot currently be shipped to Mexico, the phone should become available domestically in June. This is the same month as Apple's planned iPhone 2.0 firmware update.
Some 40 new Apple retail stores will open in 2008, a company executive says. Speaking at a press event for the 14th Street store in New York City, senior retail VP Ron Johnson has said that Apple will expand with an international focus in the new year. The first Brazilian store is in fact opening this month in the Shopping Iguatemi mall in Sao Paulo, and the city will get a second store within 2008, located inside Shopping Marketplace. Apple is meanwhile rumored to be negotiating for space in the Torre Mayor office complex in Mexico City, a structure that includes 33,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
