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Apple begins taking iPhone 4S preorders in 22 new countries

Apple's iPhone 4S remains on track to launch in 22 more countries by the end of the month, as the company began taking preorders around the world on Friday.

The iPhone 4S represents the fastest worldwide rollout of any iPhone model yet. The handset launched earlier this month in seven countries: the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., France, Germany and Japan.

When it introduced the iPhone 4S at an event this month, Apple promised that an additional 22 countries would gain access to the iPhone 4S by the end of October, bringing the total number of nations to 29.

Those additional 22 countries began taking preorders on Friday via Apple's online store (where available), as well as local carriers. The full list of countries is: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

In countries where the iPhone 4S is available for preorder, Apple is quoting an estimated shipping time of one to two weeks for new purchases. The unlocked iPhone 4S is a "world phone," meaning it can be used to roam worldwide on GSM carriers with a micro-SIM card.

The iPhone 4S is already off to a record-breaking start in its first seven countries, where sales topped four million in its first three days of availability. That handily outpaced the 1.7 million units of the iPhone 4 Apple sold in June of 2010.

Apple executives said on Tuesday that they expect the current quarter to be another record setting three-month span for the iPhone. Driven by the iPhone 4S, Apple has predicted it will earn $37 billion in revenue during the holiday frame.

"I'm confident that we will set an all-time record for iPhones this quarter," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said during his company's quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday. He added "In our wildest dreams, we couldn't have got off to a better start than we did with the iPhone 4S."



13 Comments

venyz 17 Years · 4 comments

Yep they?re all ready to be taken.

I ordered my unlocked black iPhone 4S 64GB at about 14:30 CET in Switzerland. I even used the Apple Store App on my current iPhone. Worked like a charm.

launfall 15 Years · 51 comments

Be interesting to see what happens when they try to roll out in South Korea...Samsung will be waiting for them with guns blazing!

paxman 18 Years · 4729 comments

Will Siri work in all of the above native languages?

moustache 16 Years · 95 comments

Anyone know when it will come out in Hong Kong?

solipsism 19 Years · 25701 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by paxman

Will Siri work in all of the above native languages?

Language Support and Availability

Siri works exclusively on iPhone 4S. Siri understands and can speak the following languages:
  • English (United States, United Kingdom, Australia)
  • French (France)
  • German (Germany)
In 2012, Siri will support additional languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian, and Spanish.

Can I use Siri in any of these languages in other countries?

Yes. Siri can be enabled in any country, and you can choose to speak to it in English, French, or German. However, Siri is designed to recognize the specific accents and dialects of the supported countries listed above. Since every language has its own accents and dialects, the accuracy rate will be higher for native speakers.

The interesting thing, and proof that this really is a Beta product, is that Nuance supports 40-ish(?) languages and dialects and Google Maps is obviously available in most if not all the countries getting the iPhone 4S.