iPhone 6: NBTC can't keep a secret

It didn't take long for Internet users around the world to notice the announcement by the NBTC that it had approved distribution applications for two new Apple phone models, information that appears to confirm that the iPhone 6 will soon be on the market.

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Leaked images purporting to be the iPhone 6 are common on the Internet, but confirmation that it is actually going to be launched soon is not. Photo from Chinese social media site Weibo.

NBTC spills beans on iPhone 6

Public announcement of 2 phone models could delay Thailand launch

Bob James

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith /photo from twitter

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission all but confirmed the existence of Apple Corp’s as-yet-unannounced iPhone 6 when it publicly announced approval of distribution applications for two new models of the trendsetting smartphone.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith announced this week that the agency has approved Apple's application to distribute two models – identified only by number – and then, on Aug 12, tweeted the news.

With every new iPhone, speculation runs rampant as to specifications, model numbers and launch markets. But very rarely have any official suppliers, retailers or government agencies divulged pre-launch information, partly because Apple – well known for zealously guarding its secrets – has been known to retaliate against leakers.

Accordingly, the Internet reacted with shock to the NBTC's revelation.

"If accurate, it's both interesting and remarkably indiscreet," wrote the Apple rumour site iMore.com. "Either way, (Mr Takorn) likely is not going to get a New Year's card postmarked from (Apple headquarters in) Cupertino any time in the next ever."

According to government regulations, NBTC approvals must be announced publicly, even if the agency kept details of the iPhone specifications secret. Finding himself in the spotlight, Mr Takorn explained his revelation in a follow-up post Thursday.

"To make the people of Thailand aware of the recent certification of the iPhone 6 is to protect consumers. It is to give consumers the confidence to buy phone accessories."

But Apple blog MacRumors.com noted that a distribution application filed a month before the iPhone's official launch was unusual, suggesting that, for once, Thailand might actually be on the list of countries getting the next iPhone on Day One.

Thailand didn't get the iPhone 5s and 5c until Oct 25, 2013 and didn't receive the iPhone 4s until November of 2011, well after the smartphone's launch in the US and Europe.

If Thailand was on the launch list, it may no longer be, if history is any lesson. Apple has, in the past, postponed release dates in Eastern Europe after leaks or simply allocated countries such limited quantities it was effectively unavailable.

Bob Jame's story contains more technical details on the new phones in his full story and you can read it here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/426720/nbtc-spills-beans-on-iphone-6

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