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3G iPhone for UK Customers?

Times Report

Saw this also on The Times website today.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2002888.ece

I think it will end up with Vodafone or O2. I can't see Orange dropping their heavy handed branding of every phone, not just with logos but also with software and settings they stick on.

Also, my SE W880i seems to happily use both 2G and 3G. I live outside Birmingham, with little 3G coverage and can't make Video calls, in the City though it's fine. Plus, with the W880i being one of the thinnest phones out there, whats the deal with 3G tech not fitting inside the iPhone??

be good to see something announced for the Uk though. I've had enough of US only services from Apple.
 
Dont O2 have their own-ish brand of PDA/multimedia type phones - the X2s is it? Perhaps I'm a bit behind (I don't really keep up with phone technologies). If so, then doesn't them adopting the iPhone look a bit unlikely? I'd say it's more likely to be Vodafone...unfortunately.
 
I think that the UK market is so different to the US, there is no way the ipod will succeed if its just through one network. At the end of the day, in the US, people still pay top dollar for a new phone on a contract. In the UK, we expect everything for nothing. The Market in the UK is so saturated. I mean networks have resorted to giving away free handsets, with free line rental just to get our custom. In the US its different.

Apple really have to tread carefully in the UK. AS much as I would like to see the iphone here, I think apple will be so much better off just selling it sim free here, and getting rid of some of the features (like visual voicemail) and adding some which all networks can use (like MMS). I would much rather pay £400 or so for the phone and not be tied down to a network then have to have no choice but to go with the network.

For me, its like buying a mac and only being able to use it with one internet provider, it seems stupid. It encourages the making of monopolies and oligopolies and prevents other networks from entering the market. I would much prefer it if I could have my free choice and use the iphone on any network I would like.

Having said that, if they were to release it onto a network in the UK, I would prefer it to be with 3UK. Personally, 3UK for me offers the best service when it comes to 3G data, has the widest 3G coverage in the UK, and, although I really cant see it happening, it could really increase competition within the market. In my eyes vodafone already have to many customers, and are in too good a situation for their own good.
 
Hi Chaslam, I found your forum very useful during the week when I was researching which provider to go with, cheers.

As I see it, the deal Apple struck was specifically designed to break the stranglehold that the culture of subsidized handsets has given the networks. Sure, he had to give AT&T temporary exclusivity but, in return, he got them to agree to sell the iphone at it's full price, alongside appropriately low-cost data plans. Jobs knows that, to really jump-start the use of the mobile Internet, he has to get people to properly value the handset rather than hide the true cost by building it into the ongoing cost. By taking the cost of the handset out of the plan, there is more latitude to add in the cost of data.

At a stroke, he has turned the flat-rate mobile Internet into a mainstream consumer product, with all the efficiencies of scale that brings the providers. By the time AT&T's exclusivity deal has run its course, the market will have been created and all the networks will compete to serve it. The real winners will be Apple and us, the consumers.
 
I hope that by 3G they really mean 3.5G. Most cities in Europe use 3.5G (HSDPA) instead of 3G (UMTS). In Spain it's 3.6 Mbps download / 1.2 Mbps upload and later on this year it will be 7.2/1.2.
7.2 Mbps download / 1.2 Mbps upload is a lot better than 386 Kbps / 54 Kbps, specially if you want to do a future update to iTunes and let the iPhone download music via 3.5G (hint hint! ;))
 
earnjam said:
iChat AV is cool, but I've had my Macbook Pro for over a year and I can honestly say that I have not used it a single time.

I've used the camera, but not for chatting.
Click to expand...

You just need to find more people with ichat. I prefer it over talking on the phone.
 
Come on guys

Come on guys, what are the chances that this rumor is being spread by iPhone's and AT&T's competitors in an effort to hurt initial iPhone sales this weekend? Almost certainly and look what it has done. It made you second guessing as intended. :mad:
 
I hope something is announced soon. Preferably with the Carphone Warehouse as thats who I am with at the moment (and O2).

And data plans have to be affordable. Fortunately I have Wifi at work, uni and home so pretty much everywhere and will be utilising that as much as possible. But still, I hope we have seen the last of the £1 per MB days.
 
Dont Let Carphone, Sorry Chavphone Warehouse Get Iphone Exclusive. Dont You Dare Apple It will be the biggest mistake of their lives. Carphoone warehouse staff are dimwitted, undedicated and the fact that they had the exclusive of the nokia 8800 really annoyed me. DONT give carphone warehouse exclusive iphone rights. Im on O2 but i think vodafone would be the best for it. They are very professional and usually know what a mobile phone actually is, unlike the staff at carphone warehouses across the country,
 
It seems the UK version of the iPhone is already available

iphone.jpg


Not sure if the camera is going to work very well though :D
 
UK iPhone announcement? Maybe...

It would, on first impressions, be an absolutely massive PR faux pas if Apple announced a 3G phone for the UK on Monday. It's 100% definite that the UK version would be 3G though. As everyone knows, our mobile market is years ahead of the US.

Vodafone would be a pretty good match though, as would T-Mobile - as far as I know they both cover Europe very well. Personally, I hope they go with T-Mobile in the UK as that's who I'm with and the data rates seem pretty good (3G is a wonderful thing). Vodafone seemed expensive and the coverage wasn't that great when I was with them.

Carphone Warehouse is also fairly likely for selling phones, but unlikely as a Virtual Operator... Charles Dunstone (the head guy at Carphone Warehouse) has used an iPhone and loves it... Not that it says that much, but I bet he was quick to make a deal with Jobsy. Also, being network agnostic but having the most stores over here means they are a good fit for selling the phone since we don't have as many Apple Stores over here.

The reason I think there could be truth it in though, is that they may announce that 3G is in the phone and will be enabled by a firmware update at the same time as the UK launch. That would certainly be a pretty good "one more thing" and, by Monday, the rampaging hoards of Apple fans eager to buy the unit will have died down - just ready for more massive press on Monday if they do announce a 3G surprise.

Announcing the network for the UK this soon will also give people the opportunity to let their contracts run out ready for the launch.

By releasing the phone as it is (with 2.5G/Edge) it does give AT&T's Edge network a much needed boost though and will help justify the no doubt massive cost they've invested in it over the years which will make their accounts look a tad better.

Just my thoughts - and they're not very coherent right now as I'm eating food, so feel free to rip my grammar, spelling and punctuation apart!
 
Seeing as 3G hardware also does EDGE, maybe the American iPhone has 3G too, and it will get it activated in a software update in the Autumn, when the European iPhone is released (which will almost certainly get 3G).

It also doesn't matter if it is announced on Monday or in a month they'll still get bad press if the American version is only EDGE.
 
all-in-my-head said:
Saw this also on The Times website today.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2002888.ece

I think it will end up with Vodafone or O2. I can't see Orange dropping their heavy handed branding of every phone, not just with logos but also with software and settings they stick on.

Also, my SE W880i seems to happily use both 2G and 3G. I live outside Birmingham, with little 3G coverage and can't make Video calls, in the City though it's fine. Plus, with the W880i being one of the thinnest phones out there, whats the deal with 3G tech not fitting inside the iPhone??

be good to see something announced for the Uk though. I've had enough of US only services from Apple.
Click to expand...

Not forgetting the Vodafone branding (they change all the icons on the menu, the name, and the whole UI of the device!) Vodafone branded pones suck! I would hate it if they done that with the iPhone.
 
I actually hope they bring the iPhone to UK in winter because my current phone contract runs out in december so it would be a perfect time for me to upgrade if not ill get a blackberry.
 
jimN said:
I agree with the above poster. Announcing a more fully featured phone just 3 days after the US release would be marketing suicide and I just can't see them doing that.
Click to expand...

That makes two of us. However, I can see an announcement that Europe will get the iPhone in advance of its actual release because of the same regulatory hurdles Apple had to overcome in the U.S. You can't just drop a new communications device out of thin air like Apple prefers to do without passing FCC standards (or the EU FCC corollary).

If such an announcement occurred, I'd imagine it wouldn't include any specific improvements (if any) over the current iPhone. If there were improvements, my assumption is that those would be revealed at launch which would be replicated for U.S. iPhones. In other words, Apple announce later this summer that iPhone is coming to Europe without specifics other than carrier availability. Then at Macworld 08, for example, Apple announces that iPhone is available in Europe and oh by the way 3G is now included on all iPhones (U.S. and otherwise).
 
PowerFullMac said:
Not forgetting the Vodafone branding (they change all the icons on the menu, the name, and the whole UI of the device!) Vodafone branded pones suck! I would hate it if they done that with the iPhone.
Click to expand...

There is NO WAY Apple would let Vodafone or any carrier to change/brand the iPhone.

I hope we get an announcement soon though :(
 
Can't wait for monday. Something needs to be announced to prevent me getting an SE K810i when my contract is up in September.

Vodafone is fine unless they stick their logo on the damn thing like they do with a lot of their phones.

Hopefully it'll be <£300.

And will they PLEASE update the UK site on monday! We want the new look & iPhone tab!
 
PowerFullMac said:
Not forgetting the Vodafone branding (they change all the icons on the menu, the name, and the whole UI of the device!) Vodafone branded pones suck! I would hate it if they done that with the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Too right, Vodaphone are one of the worst operators for branding. The only UK service provider that doesn't brand their phones to death is O2.
 
I am pumped about the new iphone and have made a new blog. Please come and post anything you have on your mind about it, My blog also has many links about anythng you need to know about the iphone. It also has a link to a 8g iphone, its pretty cool.

Thanks, chris
 
Looking longingly at the pictures coming in from the US this weekend.

I use 3G on my phone (Vodafone), 3.5G on my laptop, and (when overseas) EDGE on my work O2 Blackberry.

I think it is crazy for Apple not to address the 3G issue in the UK. We don't have EDGE at all, and the services profiled at the launch event won't work on 2.5G GPRS.

However, saying that 3G is infinitely superior to EDGE is missing the point. 3.5G is impressive, but a mobile battery won't support that yet. 3G is a bit better than EDGE in terms of speed, but it is not a big a deal as some posters are claiming.

Whatever, I will be near the front of the line in the UK whenever we get some iPhone love. In the meantime, if we get a new iPod with any of that touch screen functionality, I there as well!
 
I didn't read the whole thread, but in case people were wondering why Europe gets better stuff (3g, more operators), remember that America's process on approving wireless devices is extraordinarily long and bureaucratic, while most other countries don't take 6-9 months to approve wireless devices. The technology in Europe therefore is always a little more advanced/less power-intensive/smaller than in America.

BTW, in the US, why doesn't Apple wait until its ATT deal is over, then switch to 4g when Sprint gets it :D
 
xy14 said:
I didn't read the whole thread, but in case people were wondering why Europe gets better stuff (3g, more operators), remember that America's process on approving wireless devices is extraordinarily long and bureaucratic, while most other countries don't take 6-9 months to approve wireless devices. The technology in Europe therefore is always a little more advanced/less power-intensive/smaller than in America.

BTW, in the US, why doesn't Apple wait until its ATT deal is over, then switch to 4g when Sprint gets it :D
Click to expand...

None of it made any sense. Great work! xD
 
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