According to a report by the Jakarta Globe, the iPhone 4S will soon be available in Singapore without a front or rear facing camera. One small carrier in Singapore even went live with a web page displaying pricing for a version of the iPhone 4S with no camera; it was later taken down. Whilst it was live, it showed a 64GB version of the iPhone 4S with no camera going for $900. It is thought that these models of iPhone are being made available for those in the armed forces where smartphones with cameras are banned from army camps.

Currently, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen are allowed to take only no-camera smartphones into camp. Because of this, many own two phones – one for use in the camp and another outside.Those with no-camera smartphones are able to tap into the Wi-Fi networks, now covering more camps, to surf the Internet.

Source: Jakarta Globe

iPad 2 just launched in Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE today and despite Wi-Fi and unlocked 3G units being snuck in from North America and Europe for over a month already, it looks like the crowds are still coming out.

Did you just get your new iPad 2? If so, if you’ve finished unboxing and you’re finally ready to go… you might just be wondering what you need to know and do next?

• iPad Starters Guide: Get unpacked, get set up, get updated, and get all the info you need for your new iPad 2!
• iOS 4.3 walkthrough: Everything you need to know about what’s new in Apple’s latest software
• Top 10 apps for your iPad: From Flipboard to Infinity Blade, productivity to utility, these are the apps and games to check out first.
• Top 5 apps to show off your new iPad 2
• How to transfer data from your original iPad to your new iPad 2
• Tips and How-tos: From beginner to ninja, everything you need to know to get more out of your iPad
• Jailbreak Starters Guide: If you want to go beyond the bounds of Apple and iTunes but aren’t sure how, we explain all the basics and help you get going.
• iPad 2 accessories: Need an extra, cable, charger, headset or anything else to make your iPad 2 perfect?
• iPad Live podcast: Your weekly dose of iPad news, reviews, and how-tos. Join us live on Sunday nights or listen any time you like via iTunes or RSS.

And don’t forget our awesome iPad Forum for extra help and expert advice! We’ve got contests and give-aways, polls and guides, bug fixes and forums, and much, much more. Bookmark TiPb now and come back often, we want to hear from you!

[Thanks for the pic, Berk! Hope you enjoy your new iPad!]

There will be no delays as Apple has just confirmed iPad 2 will be available this Friday, March 25 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Just like the US launch, online orders will begin a 1am (they don’t say which time zone?) and in store purchases will be available starting 5pm local time.

While competitors are still struggling to catch up with our first iPad, we’ve changed the game again with iPad 2,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re experiencing amazing demand for iPad 2 in the US, and customers around the world have told us they can’t wait to get their hands on it. We appreciate everyone’s patience and we are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”

Apple also announced that iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April.

If you’re having trouble deciding if you want an iPad 2, or which of the 12 models you want (no CDMA versions outside the US), check out our iPad 2 buyers guide and full on iPad 2 review. Then let us know what country you’re in and whether you’re ordering online or lining up!

[Apple PR]

Steve Jobs dropped the July 30 date for next big rollout during the iPhone 4 press conference but now Apple has gone and made it official:

Beginning this Friday, customers can purchase iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. iPhone 4 will be available for purchase through Apple’s retail and online stores and Apple® Authorized Resellers.

Nice to see, but we’d still prefer pre-orders, reservations, Apple Online Store updates to say something other than “coming soon”, official word on when Apple Retail Stores will be open, information from carriers on upgrade eligibility, MicroSIM availability, plans, etc.

You know, everything else required for a launch…!

Apple announced today that the iPad, already released in the US and scheduled for a wider release internationally in May, will be coming to Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore in July.

No word on pre-orders or pricing yet, but Apple says that’s coming at a later date.

If you’re in one of those countries — are you waiting for late July, did you get a US model already, or are you still waiting to be sold on the iPad?

[Apple]

Back on July 11, the iPhone 3G launched in 22 countries. Along with much fanfare, hippie attention seekers, lines that would stretch out for weeks on end, and constantly crashing servers. But since Apple sold about a million of the hot new handsets that weekend, you just knew they were going to do it again.

“Today” brings phase 2, where 21 more countries are supposed to come online with the iPhone 3G. (Officially Aug. 22nd, which may or may not be “today” to you depending on your timezone). How are things going so far? Reader Anton was gracious enough to send in this report (thanks Anton!):

Now it’s midnight in Estonia and I’m at the iphone launch event. No special frenzy, about 1000 people in one supermarket, a couple of DJs and a lot of light. There’s just two plans offered: us$55 and $89. First one includes 100 minutes, 100 SMS and 100 Mb; the other one – 250 of each. Every extra megabyte will cost $.25 and $.21 respectively. The phone itself is $267/8Gb and $396/16Gb with $55 plan and $149/8Gb and $278/16Gb with $89 plan.

Ouch! When will telcos worldwide realize what Henry Ford did almost 100 years ago. Mass pricing leads to mass adoption which leads to mass profits. Sheesh!

So are you standing in line right this very minute, ready to get your shiny new iPhone today? Is your carrier up? Is iTunes activating? Let us know how things are going!

And if your market still doesn’t have the iPhone 3G, just remember that Apple promised another 30+ countries — a grand total of 70+ — for 2008, which is now set to include Russia via MTS. That pretty much leaves China standing alone as the last major market sans carrier deal… for now.

20 countries launched the iPhone 3G back on July 11 (okay, zut, France straggled a bit), and Apple hopes to launch some 21 more just 6 short weeks later — only minus some iTunes authentication failures and supply shortages, no doubt.

From iLounge, we learn who’s next:

Romania, India, the Philippines, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, four additional countries will see launches. Latvia and Lithuania will see the device launched on TeliaSonera’s LMT and Omnitel services, respectively, while T-Mobile and Orange will launch the iPhone in Slovakia, and SingTel will begin offering the device in Singapore.

This will bring the grand total to some 43, with almost 30 more still slated by close of year, 2008. Looks like Apple may need those 40 million units after all, doesn’t it?

Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Janric for the tip:

Globe’s Head for Consumer Wireless Business Ferdinand Dela Cruz announced today that Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel, and Optus have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Australia later this year.

Philippines is new, Singapore is now confirmed, and given that Vodafone has already announced Australia and India, this would make it the second and third confirmed non-exclusive territories after Italy.

Score board says:

Okay folks, who’s next?

Apple COO Tim Cook said we’d see the iPhone in Asia by the end of 2008, and see it we did in China and Hong Kong! Er… oops, he meant officially, didn’t he? Well, then, Ars Technica (via Thompson) reports that SingTel might just make Singapore the first Asian nation to introduce Poppa Jobs’ pocket universe-dent’er:

The information comes from “industry sources,” and indicates that the iPhone will appear in Singapore in September. The sources don’t have any information on whether or not a package deal that includes Australia and Thailand has been reached, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see news or rumors concerning those countries start popping up. SingTel and Apple aren’t talking just yet (not that we expected them to).

Singapore allegedly boasts over 10,000 unlocked iPhones already, but if they go legit that’ll bring our official score to:

Rumors (via Apple Insider) suggest Apple may even be willing to drop its revenue sharing model in exchange for the up-front carrier subsidies more common to the industry.

What gives? No Visual Voicemail in Ireland. No unlimited data in Austria. And now no revenue sharing in Singapore? Is Apple getting beaten down by the very carrier domination they seemed so poised to uproot? Or is Apple’s business model really, as Tim Cook suggested, flexible as an 8 year old gymnast when it comes to getting the iPhone in countries?

Maybe when the Canadian model finally debuts with no Visual Voicemail, a heft 1MB of data, and Rogers’ branded WAP browser in lieu of Safari, all for the low-low price of $199 a month for 100 min., we’ll have our answer!