Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) today told Israel's mobile carriers that it is bringing forward the Israel launch of the iPhone 5 by 24 hours from Friday December 14 to Thursday December 13. Following this announcement Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) unit Pelephone Communications Ltd. said that it will begin marketing the new smartphone via the Internet from 8 am tomorrow for NIS 3,990.
Customers who buy the phone will have it delivered within a few days of the launch. Pelephone is selling the iPhone 5 16GB in black or white casing. The NIS 3,990, which can be made in up to six payments, includes the SIM card, and delivery to the buyers address.
Apple will begin selling the iPhone 5 in Israel as part of a worldwide launch in 50 countries. The iPhone 5 is already on sale in 47 countries. The iPhone 5 will be on sale throughout the country by Israel's major mobile carriers, and the smartphone can already be purchased in private stores for about NIS 4,500-5,000.
The iPhone 5 is still the world's most impressive smartphone, after Apple successfully upgraded previous versions, adding important features. The most significant improvement in the iPhone 5 is the screen, which retains its excellent quality and Retina display technology but has been enlarged to 4 inches from 3.5 inches and has five rows of icons instead of the previous four. Despite this the iPhone 5 is thinner than its predecessor and gives the optical illusion of being even thinner still than it actually is.
Apple has also moved the earphone plug-in port point to the bottom of the smartphone and has redesigned the lightning charger connector and adaptor. This latter point is likely to annoy consumers who will be compelled to pay an additional $30 for this necessary accessory.
The iPhone 5 weighs 112 grams and is 7.6 millimeters thick. The iPhone 4 weighs 140 grams and has a thickness of 9.3 millimeters.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 6, 2012
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