Apple Event in U.K.

Put any money you like on this, but the thread belongs to news & rumours. ;) I'm with the "2G iPhone 8 GB for 399 EUR, 3G iPhone 16 GB for 499 EUR" crowd.
 
I hope it is with a new 3G chipset and then that the unlock folks can do their magic.

I just helped a friend unlock a US phone for use in Egypt, but Edge doesn't work here. Still, the sweetness of the phone remains, especially since there are soooooo many open wireless access points around town.
 
fryke said:
Put any money you like on this, but the thread belongs to news & rumours. ;) I'm with the "2G iPhone 8 GB for 399 EUR, 3G iPhone 16 GB for 499 EUR" crowd.
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[facetious comment] Except that if it is held in the UK, the prices are more likely to be quoted in £ rather than € [/facetious comment]
;) :D

Anyway, it sounds like good news. Thanks for drawing my attention to this, Satcomer.
 
Bleh... Pounds. Old-school money, that. I personally still hate the fact that Switzerland doesn't have the Euro, it'd make my gigs in Austria and Germany soooooooo much easier. On the other hand, Germany then would see more easily that Apple's products are cheaper in Switzerland. :p
 
pds said:
I hope it is with a new 3G chipset and then that the unlock folks can do their magic.

I just helped a friend unlock a US phone for use in Egypt, but Edge doesn't work here. Still, the sweetness of the phone remains, especially since there are soooooo many open wireless access points around town.
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Weren't 3G devices banned from being made due to a lawsuit? Or was that just in the U.S.?
 
I think you're talking about Qualcomm's woes with Canada and the lawsuit prohibiting import due to patent infringement.

3G just arrived in Egypt; has been in Europe for some years. It hasn't caught on in the States since most carriers are older technology - there are only 2 GSM providers.
 
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 said:
Is this true in the rest of Europe (I mean whole europe, not just France or Germany)?
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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.).

Financial Times said:
Deutsche Telekom is set to sell Apple’s multimedia mobile iPhone exclusively in Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia – as well as Germany.
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Noooo!!! Now T-Mobile has the iPhone and I have Vodafone...
 
Satcomer said:
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)?
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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.
 
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?
 
£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 :/
 
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.
 
You know, can't you just use the iphone on a pay as you go plan? It's the same as any other phone and I have a pay as you go plan and all I do is stick in my sim card and it works.
 
icemanjc said:
You know, can't you just use the iphone on a pay as you go plan? It's the same as any other phone and I have a pay as you go plan and all I do is stick in my sim card and it works.
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As long as your Pay-as-you-Go account is O2. And you'll have to sign up for a new contract before they'll let you have an iPhone.

So the answer to your question is technically, yes, probably, but actually it's quite unlikely that will ever happen. And think of the data cost on Pay-as-you-Go.

Andy
 
If you buy the phone from Apple - you can unlock it and use it with O2 or any other provider as a pay-as-you-go phone.

The downside is having to be careful about updating the unit and you loose visual voicemail. Other than that it's painless (and legal and free).
 
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