Those of you hoping to get your hands on an iphone 4 today are now out of luck. Vodafone just tweeted “^PB All iPhone4 stock sold out. More stock coming soon.”

Clearly the low supply levels are what led to this mornings debacle, seeing Vodafone only want to sell to its on-account customers. Clearly Apple didn’t supply Vodafone with enough stock and Vodafone didn’t supply their customers with enough details. Fail on both fronts really.

So sorry for all those that missed out, it looks like there will be another wait. How long that wait will be is anyone’s guess. Maybe Vodafone could let us know.

Did you manage to snag one today? Getting one from Apple “this evening”? Let us know in the comments below.

iPhonewzealand user Hermes tells us that, having successfully purchased a 32GB model this afternoon, his Vodafone receipt indicates that the outright-purchase price is $1279. In other years, Vodafone have added $30 to the RRP so we could potentially expect to see the 32GB model for $1249 when it goes live on the Apple Online Store this evening. How does that grab you?

UPDATE: Hermes has sent us a photo of the receipt – looks like this is confirmed, for Vodafone at least.

UPDATE 2: We’re hearing reports that the Vodafone receipts for the 16GB are showing $1099, so seems that Apple haven’t added to the RRP this year in which case we can expect the 32GB to be $1279 on the store.

Jeez… where was this at midnight? In true ‘chocolate teapot’ fashion, Vodafone have finally sent out an email to those on their ‘pre-registration’ list confirming that the iPhone went on sale an hour and a half before this was sent. Got your Flux Capacitor at the ready? Good, now do me a favour — hit 88mph and drive by MagnumMac Christchurch at 3am this morning and hand me a print-out of this so that I can go home and sleep instead of freeze my ass off unnecessarily. By the way, if you managed to snag one, come on in and gloat to the rest of us!

Vodafone have finally confirmed their plans and subsidies for the iPhone 4. Click the above image to open it full-size and then head on past the ‘read more’ to let us know your thoughts.

Wow. Seriously? Still no sign of an apology or any announcements from the Voda twitter feed but the Voda website now says “Online sales for iPhone 4 will begin in the coming weeks.”

We’ll make no bones about it: Today’s “launch” has been an epic fail in the PR department… and this doesn’t help. Let’s hope Apple get their act together for their online store faster.

We have had multiple reports that Vodafone will be selling the iPhone 4 in most stores from 12 midday today. The catch? It’s only for customers signing a new contract or resigning. We have also had reports that Apple’s CSRs have been citing 7pm tonight as the launch of the iPhone 4 for outright purchases via the Apple NZ store.

To try help co-ordinate our readers to have their best possible chance at getting an iPhone 4 from Vodafone today, we are compiling the below list of stores we believe to have stock available for contract-only sales from midday today.

Vodafone have just revised their website to state that all retail stores should have stock – although we have only been able to confirm/deny the following. You can access the stores that should theoretically have stock by using the “iPhone 4 “filter on this page: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/help/store-locations/#iphone4

The following stores will have stock, although limited:

• Vodafone Lambton Quay, Wellington (from iamwaiting)
• Vodafone Chartwell, Hamilton (from psychrn)
• Vodafone Wall St, Dunedin (from UrbanGrafix)
• Vodafone Sylvia Park, Auckland (from SmurFy)
• MagnumMac, Christchurch (from Live Chat user) – awaiting Vodafone approval
• Vodafone Riccarton, Christchurch (from Kamisaka)

The following…

The iPhone 4 launch in New Zealand is in chaos. People have been lining up at various different stores only to be turned away. Some are blaming Vodafone, some Apple and some the apparent stock shortages of the device in the country. Who is to blame?

Long story short – we, along with the rest of the iPhone community have no evidence as to why the iPhone 4 has been delayed in New Zealand. There have been no press releases, no new information, just speculation.

MagnumMac and Vodafone stores around the country have been putting up various signs announcing that they will not be selling the iPhone 4 – some go into detail by blaming stock shortages for example, and some as vague as referring customers to Apple’s website.

Vodafone are active on their twitter account, but have obviously been reluctant to say anything to the potential buyers waiting for official word on the situation.

Apparently, Paul Brislen from Vodafone went in person to the Queen Street retail store in Auckland to tell the fanfare that there was no launch today, and that he may have more information later in the day for public…

Still wondering which network is best for your 3G-enabled iPad? Well, here’s a very interesting YouTube video in which two iPads, one on Vodafone and one on XT, are put through their paces side-by-side. Can you guess which one wins? Check out the video after the break.

It’s worth noting at this point that for much of the video the iPads are located in a place where Vodafone is transmitting its “extended 3G” signal which operates on the 900MHz frequency and which the iPad cannot pick up. Therefore, it is actually receiving Vodafone’s 2G GPRS signal, and what we are seeing is actually Telecom’s 3G vs Vodafone’s 2G signal.

That having been said, this is still a fair comparison. This isn’t a video showing speed tests between two 3G signals, it’s a video comparing the iPad user experience when connected on one network compared to another. It’s a real-world snapshot for the 99% of users who don’t know the difference between 2G and 3G and frankly don’t care: all that matters is the end result.

Please note: this isn’t *our* speed-test so we can’t claim credit for it — this was brought to our attention on YouTube.

So……

Not sure if this has come to anyone’s attention but it has just been pointed out to us that Vodafone are offering a Free* MicroSIM for iPad users….. One catch with the SIM though is that it can only be used with the iPad.

*$6.95 P&P

Hit the read more for the link to buy….

– MicroSIM for iPad

One of our most active users, Camtab, has spotted some possible new Vodafone data plans while using the site today. Camtab says he was in the ‘my add on’ section of the site and saw two new plans which were both greyed out. Luckily, he managed to screen grab them and send them our way! Hit the ‘read more’ for the details and the screenshot

UPDATE: We can confirm that the new plans are in fact data plans for the iPad and they are available from Friday 23rd.  Full press release after the break.

Vodafone New Zealand today announced it will offer dedicated data plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G in New Zealand beginning July 23, 2010. The data plans for iPad will be available on a month by month basis, providing users with the freedom to activate or cancel a plan at any time.

iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all

…

Anyone else that pre-registered with Vodafone just received an email titled “All you need to know about Vodafone’s Micro SIM for Apple”? If so you may not have read all of it and may have missed something interesting at the bottom and whilst not a firm date at least we have better timeline.

Unfortunately it is again more announcements of announcements, but this is the first time we’ve had any real timeframe of the announcement (damn this is hard work).

Oh, and the email also contains some stuff about the Micro SIM and what you need to do.

Hit the read more to see the email.

The part that interests me the most is at the bottom:

What’s next?
We will be in contact again next week to give you more info on pricing for the iPhone 4 and when it will be available in New Zealand.

What day do you think it will be? Let us know in the comments below.

Pre-registrations are GO! (kinda). Vodafone are taking pre-registrations of interest for iPhone 4. Hit the read more for the registration link.

Vodafone today announced on their official twitter page that they are taking registrations of interest for the new iPhone 4.

This comes hot on the heels of their announcement (and here) of Micro-sims this morning. This will hopefully mean that we will be seeing the iPhone 4 here very soon. But fingers crossed.

<– Linky there!

Vodafone New Zealand this morning announced via their official Twitter account that they are now selling and swapping MicroSIMs at their 17 retail stores nationwide.

Paul Brislen (Vodafone’s Head of Corporate Communications) announced that you can now swap your existing regular SIM card for a MicroSIM card for free if you are on an ‘On Account’ plan. They are also free if you are signing a new ‘On Account’ plan. For those unlucky prepaid customers out there, you will need to pay a fee of $29.95 to do the swap.

At this stage you must be an existing Vodafone customer in order to get a MicroSIM. You cannot walk in off the street and buy one.

This comes as no surprise as Vodafone plan on announcing their iPad data plans in the coming weeks, along with the impending arrival of the iPhone 4 – both of which require a MicroSIM.

Are you going to buy or swap a MicroSIM? Let us know how it goes in the comments below.

Shortest and most vague press-release ever? Maybe. Vodafone have announced today that they will be launching iPad-specific data plans, but don’t actually spill the beans on any specifics. Hit the ‘read now’ for the ‘full’ press release that contains only marginally more information than our headline.

Posted Today, 11:06 AM

Vodafone NZ today announced that it will offer dedicated iPad price plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G in the coming weeks. iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface. For more information about iPad please visit www.apple.com/ipad/

So… there’s not a lot to actually get excited about here, and I was hoping that today’s announcement might actually be about the iPhone 4 but, hey! Any news about Apple gear in NZ is good news, right?

Well everyone, the time is nearly upon us for iOS 4 and it is with great sadness that we have to announce that our carrier bundles no longer work with the new iOS 4. We have a copy of the stock bundles from the first beta of iOS4 and upon opening them up we have found that Apple are signing them again. Unfortunately the stock bundles haven’t changed in the public release [of iOS 4].

You may remember when Tethering in 3.1.2 was blocked because Apple were signing the APN’s in the bundles. When they released 3.1.3 they changed the way they signed them and this allowed us to get them working with all the features.

Unfortunately, they are signing the bundles in a new way again but this time it is at root level. This is now disabling them completely, whereas before it only disabled the specific feature they wanted to block.

We have tried and tried but unfortunately we were unable to get past Apple’s signature in order to get them working.

Now this isn’t to say we are going to stop. We will continue to get the stock bundles as the new versions of…

Well, here’s a surprise. Like the US, iPhones in the UK have been locked to their respective carriers until now. As of late last night with the pre-ordering system for the countries in the first wave going live, the UK online Apple Store is now offering the iPhone 4 unlocked (or ‘SIM-free’ as they call it in the UK). Head past the ‘read now’ for the details.

Pricing is £499 (NZ$1061) for the 16GB model and £599 (NZ$1273) for the 32GB. This means that if you have family or friends in the UK (and so many of us do), an unlocked iPhone 4 could be yours within two weeks. The only downsides are of course the postage and any duty should customs choose to slap you with it, plus the risk of having no warranty.

Unfortunately for some, though, it does look like the lack of white option at launch extends beyond just AT&T as you’ll note in the screenshot that it’s unavailable for pre-order in the UK as well.

So how does this news grab you? Let us know whether you plan on obtaining one from the UK in the comments.

Hey guys… we need your help! If you enjoy the site, if we’ve helped you get your iPhone set-up for your carrier, if we’ve helped you solve a problem, taught you a trick you didn’t know or recommended an app that you love using then we’d appreciate your vote in the ‘Best Blog Site’ category of this year’s NetGuide Web Awards. We work really hard to make this site entertaining, helpful and just downright awesome as well as answer hundreds of support emails every week. But we’re not an internet publishing powerhouse like the guys behind Engadget, Gizmodo or Stuff – we’re just a bunch of guys who do this for the love of it in between our ‘real’ jobs and family lives, and we could do with all the help we can get to bring even more readers to the site. If you’d like to help us, please give us your vote by clicking here and typing our URL into the ‘other’ field of the first category (Best Blog Site). Voting closes July 31st. thanks for your support everyone!

Going to Fieldays? Well with this app you’ll never have to worry about finding a needle in a haystack again, or a new gumboot in an event of 117,000 people and 1400 exhibitor sites.

Equipped with the Fieldays iPhone application from Vodafone you’ll find everything you need at this year’s National Fieldays on an interactive map on your phone.

The application allows you to search for exhibitors by name or product type and includes a link to view the exhibitor’s location on a GPS enabled map, so you can find the route from your location directly to their site.

National Fieldays Society spokesperson Ariana Tucker says the application is a perfect demonstration of their theme for this year – Innovation for Future Profit.

The National Fieldays Society are excited about Vodafone’s development of an iPhone Fieldays site map application. The application not only complements Vodafone’s presence at Fieldays, it aligns perfectly with Fieldays 2010 Premier Feature, Innovation for Future Profit, which embraces progressive technologies in the rural industry

Along with the GPS mapping functionality the app also holds listing information about each exhibitor, a full event programme and easy access to Vodafone’s daily Fieldays specials.

Vodafone’s Director…

With today’s announcement of the iPhone 4 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, we take a look at how the device will affect New Zealanders, what new features it will unlock and which carrier or carriers it will be provided on.

I won’t go into too much detail about the device itself here, as there will be many articles posted about it on this blog as the day progresses. This post is primarily about how the device and New Zealand will get along.

UMTS 900MHz

Apple have added extra band functionality to the iPhone 4. It now supports Quad-band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100MHz). This might not be significant to many of our readers, however this means that the iPhone now supports Vodafone’s extended 3G service. No longer is Telecom the ‘ideal’ carrier for the iPhone in New Zealand – they are now matched with Vodafone being able to provide better coverage for customers who upgrade.

Micro SIMs

The iPhone 4, like the iPad 3G, now sports a Micro SIM tray as opposed to a full-sized SIM tray. This means that the regular sized SIM cards available from carriers in New Zealand will not fit and work in the phone. Carriers…

We’re a couple of days late with this one, but we have just noticed Vodafone have made some small improvements to a couple of their iPhone plans. The improvements are very slight, so much so that Vodafone didn’t make a huge fuss about it themselves when it was changed four days ago.

Hit the read more to see a chart of the old vs the new. Once you see what has changed I am sure you’ll forgive us for not picking it up quicker.

As you can see in the chart below the two plans that have changed are the iPhone $40 and iPhone $60 plans.

The iPhone $40 plan has had an increase from 20 included minutes to 30 included minutes and an increase in included text messages from 100 to 300.

The iPhone $60 plan has only increased the included texts from 200 to 600.

Other than that everything else is the same.

With the new 2degrees pricing you can’t help but think this is Vodafone’s response, offering more texts and a few more minutes to the lower-end user. But could this make a difference to keep you with Vodafone or will you…

This is a heads-up to let you all know that our carrier bundles don’t work with iPhone OS 4 right now. To be super-clear: iPhone OS 4 isn’t out yet, but a beta (preview) version of it is out for registered Apple developers. We haven’t had the chance to install it ourselves yet but reader simonwhite has and unfortunately he has advised that the carrier bundles don’t work with it. So: if you need our carrier bundles working, do not install the preview of OS 4 yet.

We’re updating our iPhones today and needless to say, it looks like we have a few coffee-fuelled nights ahead of us to get this thing working again but the good news is the public release of this is at least a few months away (probably July if previous years are anything to go by). We’ll keep you posted on progress, but bear in mind that until the final release is out we still won’t know for sure if we’ve done it. Until then: continue to enjoy OS 3.1.3 with fully-working bundles!

iPhonewzealand and Geekzone user Ahmad has repeated his speed tests he did last year in Dunedin using the iPhone on XT and Vodafone.

Data speeds on the iPhone, between Vodafone and XT, are a much discussed topic. There are many different sides of the story and many different reasons behind the results of speed tests. I would suggest that everyone take from this just a view to Ahmad’s experience at the given time in the given location. Some of you may have different experiences and speeds so it would be good to hear your thoughts.

Personally for me the XT speeds, where I use my iPhone, are much faster than that of Vodafone but that is not to say that other areas where you may use it won’t be different.

For a full breakdown head over to Ahmad’s Blog buttonmasher.co.nz to check out the results. As you will see Telecom’s XT still comes out on top, but it does make for an interesting read.

Tests were conducted between 12pm and 3pm on Tuesday 16 March at four locations scattered across the Dunedin central city. After discussion with an anonymous blog commenter

…

It’s Christmas time and in the spirit of giving Vodafone are offering a free iPhone dock (rrp $59) to anyone who purchases an iPhone on any On Account voice plan online.

So if you’re in the market for a new 3G/3GS and you’re on Vodafone, you may as well get it online and get your free dock.

– Vodafone iPhone

Offer only available online and ends 14 January 2010 or while promotional stocks last. Vodafone reserves the right to withdraw or amend this offer at any time.

Vodafone just tweeted a price drop for the iPhone 3G 8GB on their $80 and $130 plans. On a 24-month term the device is now priced at $199 and $0 respectively, down from $399 and $199.  Note this is for the 3G (previous generation model) not the 3GS. Still interested? Hit ‘read more’ for the link and then let us know what you think in the comments.

UPDATE: My bad. There are also price drops for the 3GS in both 16GB and 32GB flavours. The 16GB drops from $599 to $399 on the $80 plan and from $399 to $199 on the $130 plan.  The 32GB drops from $799 to $599 and from $599 to $399 respectively. Hit the link for more details. (Thanks, Nordy!)

– Vodafone

Did you feel that? A disturbance in the force… like a million voices suddenly cried out in joy, and were suddenly silenced (while they ran speed tests)…

We are hearing anecdotal reports that Vodafone “may” have tweaked their network in the Auckland area today to improve 3G speeds on the 2100Mhz frequency. This could mean a boost in speeds for the iPhone 3G / 3GS, but for now it’s just rumour. We are currently waiting for official word from Vodafone and will post back with an update once we know what’s going on.

UPDATE: 13/08/09 08:25. Vodafone’s external communications manager Paul Brislen has advised that “[our engineers] have been doing something with the software lately, but nothing in particular that should have that kind of impact.” So…. Overactive imaginations? Coincidence? Conspiracy? Now we don’t know *what* to think, but keep us updated in the comments with your experiences.

In the interests of easier comparison of New Zealand’s now three mobile networks, iPhonewzealand user Ahmad has created a table which should allow deciphering of the mobile plans to be easier than the Da Vinci code. The table covers prepaid plans only, which is 2degrees’s main focus at launch, and heavier users of mobile phone may be able to find a better deal going on account.
The cost of each network’s SIM cards is not factored into this comparison as prices for these SIMs vary. 2degrees are offering essentially free SIMs at $2 or $20 with those respective amounts preloaded, with a “porting number” bonus of $5 if you are coming over from another network. XT “charges” $30 for their SIMs but this comes with up to $20 credit. And Vodafone has kept the $30 SIM card cost the same, but have recently started running promotions which offer over $30 value in various packages.

As you will see, there are 2 columns each for XT and 2degrees. This is to allow for fairer comparison of the true ongoing running costs of a prepaid mobile on each of our 3 networks. While the published…

In a recent test performed using speedtest.net on the same iPhone 3GS, Telecom’s XT network has beaten Vodafone in the speed department hands down.  Telecom XT hit 5.74Mbps in our test, with Vodafone managing a paltry and decidedly red-faced 0.113Mbps. Without wanting to rub salt into the wound… what you gonna do, Vodafone?

Here is the Vodafone carrier bundle. The bundle has been updated and now all services work as they currently do, including Tethering, Data, MMS and Voicemail button but you can now have a custom carrier logo.

Please note that these files are for firmware 3.1.3 only and are no longer being supported.

For users on 4.0 or above that require the manual settings please see here.

Firmware 3.1.3 Only:

Install Instructions

Please download the zip file below for your OS which contains everything you need to install the Carrier Bundle. Contained in the ZIP file there are PDF’s of the instructions, the carrier bundle, and an AppleScript/Command Script to automatically Fix iTunes.

Mac User.zip
PC User.zip

Video Tutorials
If you have any trouble following our guide, or are curious to see the process involved please watch either of the below video tutorials, depending on whether you are using a PC or Mac. Please note to watch these in HD click the videos whilst they are playing, this will open them in YouTube where you can watch them in full-screen HD.

Mac OSX Video Tutorial

Windows Video Tutorial

HELP:
1. Please re-read the…

Confused about which network to put your iPhone on? Here is a great spreadsheet that compares the offerings from both carriers: http://tinyurl.com/l7g6kb

After enjoying a whole year as New Zealand’s only official and capable carrier, Vodafone are now carrying Apple’s iPhone 3GS – only this time they’re not the only network users can connect to. With the spectre of competition in the shape of Telecom’s XT Network, expectations prior to pricing announcements were high for a more aggressive set of plans and subsidies, but have Vodafone delivered?

The hardware on offer, as if we need remind you, are the iPhone 3G in both 8GB and 16GB flavours, as well as the newer iPhone 3GS in 16GB and 32GB sizes. The iPhone 3G 16GB is officially discontinued by Apple so sales of these will be while stocks last only. The iPhone 3G 8GB is available in black only, while all other models are available in both black and white.

In terms of outright pricing for those not wishing to commit to a term or who would prefer to be on Pre-Pay, hardware pricing is as follows:

• iPhone 3G 8GB: $979
• iPhone 3G 16GB: $979
• iPhone 3GS 16GB: $1179
• iPhone 3GS 32GB: $1379

These are some pretty affordable prices for a Smartphone that is arguably the class leader. Compared to…