Apple Event in U.K.

[Satcomer]

Most U.K. people I have spoke with (outside this forum) have nothing good to say about U.K. 3G coverage. If it is like the States, only people in the major metropolitan areas have 3G access. If you are not right in a city, well you are S.O.L. Is this true in the rest of Europe (I mean whole europe, not just France or Germany)?

[Satcomer]

Well Financial Times has an article on the deal now.

[Ferdinand]

Originally Posted by Satcomer

Is this true in the rest of Europe (I mean whole europe, not just France or Germany)?

In Austria there is UMTS about everywhere. The only places where you don't get any signal is in the mountains and in forests in the west of Austria (Salzburg, Vorarlberg, Tyrol etc.).

Originally Posted by Financial Times

Deutsche Telekom is set to sell Apple’s multimedia mobile iPhone exclusively in Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia – as well as Germany.

Noooo!!! Now T-Mobile has the iPhone and I have Vodafone...

[Rhisiart]

Originally Posted by Satcomer

Most U.K. people I have spoke with (outside this forum) have nothing good to say about U.K. 3G coverage. If it is like the States, only people in the major metropolitan areas have 3G access. If you are not right in a city, well you are S.O.L. Is this true in the rest of Europe (I mean whole europe, not just France or Germany)?

I can only get 3G coverage on my mobile if I visit my family in Ireland (who live way out in the countryside). Try using 3G anywhere outside a major UK city and you're stuffed.

Of course Ireland seem capable of doing most things right these days.

P.S. Warning to anyone using email on their mobile phone. Make sure it isn't set to regular checks every so many minutes or so. My phone was set to this at the factory. When I first went abroad it racked up a £700 ($1400) bill with no calls made! Fortunately the provider agreed to drop the charge. I was lucky.

[bbloke]

The BBC is carrying a story, saying that O2 has won the iPhone contract. Perhaps not exactly a shock, but the news item seems "early" with regards to today.

Also, the Apple Store (UK) is down...

[fryke]

Okay, 269£ it is, then. And O2. And 2G. So nothing really fancy, eh. ... Well, the WiFi news was great, I think. 7000 hotspots free for iPhone use sounds like a good deal - if one is where you can use it, of course.

Now I'm waiting for news about Switzerland/iPhone. March, May, July 2008?

[Thank The Cheese]

£269 / AU $641 / US $535
+ minimum monthly fee of £35 / AU $83 / US $70

that's awfully expensive. I know the old argument of 'people said the same thing about the iPod at first' etc etc, but the iPod didn't carry contracts, monthly bills, and data plans. there's no doubt the iPhone will be popular, relatively speaking, but I'm really doubting it will be a *worldwide* phenomenon like the iPod.

And when you get to places like here in Australia where data is extremely expensive and tremendously restrictive, and where consumers expect to unlock a phone when breaking a contract, I just can't see this being a huge success.

I really feel Apple and/or the phone companies have gone a little too far this time. Between these iPhone stories and the unnecessary and blatant crippling of the touch to serve their interests, I'm starting to see Apple in a different light of late. am i the only one who has felt this over the past couple of months? maybe I'm just in a cranky mood :/

[Qion]

Getting into the cellular industry required that Steve step into a realm he really doesn't like; he can't fire whoever runs and maintains his 2G/2.5G/3G cellular networks. Point: Apple doesn't have everything to do with the prices of European, African, Australian, (etc) dataplans. Crippling the iPod touch was more of a slap in the face for people outside the U.S... I could easily go use an iPhone at the cheapest rates in the world, being it as I live in Indiana.

Sorry, guys. It'll get less restrictive/more affordable in time.