Sales are scheduled to begin in Australia at 8 a.m. local time, then move through Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.K., France and Germany before hitting the U.S. and Canada.

The phone costs between $199 and $399 in the U.S., depending on the amount of storage and with the signing of a two-year contract.

The total price of the phone and two years of cellular service ranges from about $1,160 on Verizon's cheapest plan to $4,000 on Verizon's most expensive plan. Its most expensive contracts are meant to be shared among more than one user. The other carriers fall somewhere in between, with typical prices in the $1,600-to-$2,800 range.

The IDG News Service