Apple Announces iPhone 3G

Are the prices subsidized?

Correct me if I'm wrong but Steve never mentioned if these were subsidized prices or not. Could these possibly be non-subsidy prices?

Question

How will you purchase a 2 year contract with your iphone on the apple online website? I don't understand how this works.

Also is the keynote over? I thought they said they were going to be talking about snow leopard?

Alec

freeman24 said:

Has anyone noticed that on the US store it says on the requirements:

AT&T service
(minimum two-year agreement)

on UK store it only says:

Wireless service


I think UK are getting unlocked phones!!!!

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good point actually, its actually illegal in europe to sell a phone with out the option of buying it sim free, or unlocked.......maybe europe will be getting sim free phones!

So it's still locked ???

that's really a bummer.. if they sold them without having to be bound to a carrier, I would go out and get one even if it where more expensive.. i don't like the idea of jailbraking them..


edit: why doesn't Apple include a microSD slot ?? bugs me

Bobthemonkey said:

I believe that this confirms the handset is now subsidised and can only be purchased on contract.

The reason being that a mobile phone contract in the UK amounts to a credit agreement and can only be sold once the salesperson has the proper authorizaton (very basic, but still must be done). O2 and CPW staff will have this, but apple staff will not, hence apple not being listed as a seller in the UK.

Or, to put it somewhat more succinctly; Arse.

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Yep, it will be available at the Apple Stores here in the US, but won't surprise me if Apple and AT&T set up a B2B (Business-To-Business) website where Apple Store employees can sign you up for Wireless service before you leave the store...

thaitillidie said:

Get ready, upwards-of-$100K/year-salary-earning business people --- you're gonna hear those words uttered the world over!!

And how are you gonna look (your image, your reputation etc etc etc) checking your corporate email on the same device some teeny bopper is using to beat his high score on PacMan?!!! Hilarious.

Keep your blackberrys. They're still pretty much immune to teenager-itis!!

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Or Super Monkeyball.

As for blackberries, I see many fellow students at Princeton using them just for checking facebook and sending texts that begin with "omg... you know what happened?" sort of stuff. So it is not merely a corporate thing.

equis.zero said:

Something just occurred to me. Every year Apple has given away free iPods to college/university students in the summer to clear out old stock to make way for the new iPods released each fall. Assuming that the iPhone 3g is sold unlocked, perhaps they're giving away the iPod touch this year with the plan of replacing it completely with the iPhone.

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Unlikely. Unless Apple starts selling iPhones unlocked and with the option of NOT using the phone part, Apple will continue to sell their iPod touch product. The iPod touch is a fantastic all around media player; there are many people who still want that and a basic phone.

iPhone 3G, not for everyone

1. Still not the greatest phone service. AT&T drops out when I sit on my couch, or my fiance's couch. Seems like certain furniture doesn't bode well for wireless connectivity. It also drops out at BWI airport at the luggage terminal. What sense is that?

2. Still no flip camera, which means no videochat.

3. Still among the most bulky phones in terms of length/width. A folding OLED display would have allowed them to make it fit in a smaller space.
Sure it is thinner. Still can't remove battery for when service needs to be reset which seems to happen every so often with my other phones.

4. Service still costs as much.

5. MobileMe, right, I still find that their sendmail service goes down quite frequently. And extra storage, and the bandwidth still not increased, and what do you get? Dropped connections.

bushido said:

i cant wait to see how much it'll be in germany i bet they'll just get rid of the $ and add a € HOW MEAN i must say

im also kinda disappointed mostly bc of the freaking 2 MP camera. Imagining your friends asking u how much it has and u answer with 2 while their freaking 1 year old phones have at least 5 MP but besides this im satisfied and cant wait for july

i hope the contract will remain the same cuz i dont really want to pay more then 49 euro but i have my doubts considering it uses 3G which dataplan is more expensive

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http://www.t-mobile.de/iphone/

At least you can buy it - still nothing here in Denmark

guys stop the whining.
They are offering a better product and slashed the prices big time.

The plastic is maybe a letdown, but we have to look at the product to have a final conclusion, plus in my case, I would buy a protect cover, so it won't be visible anyway.

Sure I would love 32 gig but that's coming maybe in few months. For the price this thing rocks. I would not expect another iPhone 3.0 in at least 1 year from now. But with this price, I don't care to upgrade it later anyway.

Kudos for Apple!

spinko said:

that's really a bummer.. if they sold them without having to be bound to a carrier, I would go out and get one even if it where more expensive.. i don't like the idea of jailbraking them..

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Some countries will have them available unlocked (like they do now) but the price will be much higher to include no subsidy, and the money Apple and the carrier looses from not providing service.

j763 said:

Disappointments:
- No mention of copy & paste in iPhone Software 2.0
- MobileMe/.mac is horrendously overpriced - basically it appears to let you sync some information over the air rather than using iTunes. Hardly a compelling offering.
- iPhone no longer sold via apple.com (presumably because of the subsidy arrangements)
- iPhone Drive Capacity
- AT&T rate plans are ominously absent from the Apple website. The smart money would be on higher monthly charges IMO.

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Source, or GTFO.

I couldnt get the live coverage here. ****ing pissed me off.

nicpec said:

will the keyboard turn horizontal when writing text messages? Also, I saw something about cut and paste with MS office docs but what about cut and paste from the web?

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Find someone with a developers kit or sdk and it can, all it is , is a simple boolean expression. One of the other programmers I work with , has already tried it. But apple is using the push email and will not change this. $$$$$$

techlover828 said:

have we even seen a picture of that one?

edit:nvm found it

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Yes we have: http://www.apple.com

SUCKS for u 1st generation buyers. Within seconds your iphones were worth $340 on ebay, and now they've depreciated 2 about $100. hehehe sucks for u guys.

Simon R. said:

Hmm as I read it, it doesn't have proper GPS - isn't A-GPS what e.g. Nokia phones have had for 2-3 years, meaning it can ONLY base your position on cell antennas - no satellite GPS reception? If it had real GPS I suspect Steve would have demonstrated that more thoroughly...

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It does have real GPS, just like nokia phones. the cell reception compliments the satellite signal.

Bobthemonkey said:

I believe that this confirms the handset is now subsidised and can only be purchased on contract.

The reason being that a mobile phone contract in the UK amounts to a credit agreement and can only be sold once the salesperson has the proper authorizaton (very basic, but still must be done). O2 and CPW staff will have this, but apple staff will not, hence apple not being listed as a seller in the UK.

Or, to put it somewhat more succinctly; Arse.

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sorry, there's no way that the Regent Street store and the other apple stores in the UK aren't going to sell the 3G iPhone. I can 100% guarantee they will be sold in store and online. They had all 6 options (02, CPW, Apple Store and their online equivalents) until just a few minutes ago on the where to buy site as well

the REAL question is going to be.... where's the subsidy? will you pay full price for an unlocked iPhone at the Point of Sale and then get a rebate if you sign with o2 thru iTunes?

hob said:

Can't find a British price ANYWHERE! Anyone got a clue? I really hope $199 ≠ £199!

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Steve said $199 is the most expensive everywhere which would be £99.00.

Apple is digging themselves a hole...huge price cut every 6 months or so and with memory upgrade.

So what's the point of upgrading your phone when cheaper and better is coming in 6 months?

thaitillidie said:

And how are you gonna look (your image, your reputation etc etc etc) checking your corporate email on the same device some teeny bopper is using to beat his high score on PacMan?!!! Hilarious.

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Who the F cares!?

You're talking about adults? Seriously? You're making this up, right?

You see a teenager driving a Ford so you feel bad that you own one?

Again...seriously?

gmoney550 said:

SUCKS for u 1st generation buyers. Within seconds your iphones were worth $340 on ebay, and now they've depreciated 2 about $100. hehehe sucks for u guys.

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Hmmmm, last I checked $199 + $200 (early termination fee) = $399....

I suggest you take a math class...

thaitillidie said:

Get ready, upwards-of-$100K/year-salary-earning business people --- you're gonna hear those words uttered the world over!!

And how are you gonna look (your image, your reputation etc etc etc) checking your corporate email on the same device some teeny bopper is using to beat his high score on PacMan?!!! Hilarious.

Keep your blackberrys. They're still pretty much immune to teenager-itis!!

Click to expand...

I think a better question would be "how are you gonna look using an (arguably) inferior device only because it has a more diverse functionality than the other more popular option?"

Seriously, other than image, physical keyboard, and WindozeM, what is RIM offering that iPhone can't deliver?

think!

contractcooker said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but Steve never mentioned if these were subsidized prices or not. Could these possibly be non-subsidy prices?

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lol...dude, I REALLY don't mean to be condescending but...consider what you're getting for $199 and that'll answer your question lol!!

inkling23 said:

I kept waiting for Steve to go "oh, and one more thing..." for the front side camera to do video iChat. Guess I'm not canceling my Verizon contract after all.

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You know, how do you plan to use that feature with 95+% of the cellphone users out there, who do not have a phone capable of video-chitchatting? Besides, it's not at all practical. Could be nice at times but in reality video-powered calling is overrated. Just use a computer if you really want to see your loved ones while talking over a distance.

I say it's not prime time for mobile video-conferencing, yet. At least when we exclude Japan as the tech-crazy feature-leader in Asia.