iPhone Launched in the UK on O2 Network

[gnasher729]

How I waited for the iphone... I need a new phone, was happy to change to O2 even. BUT £269 = $540 WHHHAAATTTTTT??? Even for Apple that really is a rip off. $141 more in the UK than the USA. Strewth. Bring on the grey imports.

What is this obsession with dollar prices? Check out what a pint of lager costs in your nearest pub, and tell them that charging six dollars for a pint is a ripoff. Then check out the price of a decent hotel room for one night for two in the middle of London and translate that into dollars. It will give you a heart attack.

 

[iLionel]

Having used GPRS for web browsing, i'm more then happy with EDGE.

 

[pianojoe]

I perfectly believe Mr Jobs when he says, 3G isn't happening because Apple haven't figured it out yet.

I also don't think that the iPhone is too expensive in the UK. I payed $399 + tax at the Apple Store. Without tax that converts to 200 GBP. Add UK VAT, makes £235. The remaining £34 cover the higher service cost in the EU (warranty laws are much more on the consumer side than in the U.S.) and the lower overall sales volume. I can't see a rip-off.

When you compare the iPhone to your current mobile phone, don't forget that it gives you a new view of what it means to stay connected, and how to experience the web on-the-go. (I'm not kidding, and I'm not Phil Schiller either.) And unlimited data is part of the concept. Feel free to drop unlimited data (anybody say Canada?) if you're on a tight budget, but iPhone doesn't make so-much sense without.

Edit: For the benefit of our American members, the price of the iPhone in the UK converts to $456 + tax.

 

[nja247]

T-Mobile don't have EDGE.

Actually if you check out engadet's hands - on article, you'll see that their unlocked iPhone using T-Mobile had the EDGE indicator on in the Apple Store in London whilst the O2 model did not.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/18/hands-on-with-the-o2-iphone/

 

[dalvin200]

To be fair, free wifi is included in the plan

ahh, so if you had an unlocked iphone (ie, not using 02), then you can't use the free cloud wifi?

 

[Pressure]

It depend on where you live, in the larger cites here in Sweden you now can get 7,2Mbit/s. (€21.464/month -unlimited data only)

3G in the countryside only give you 0.384Mbits (€10.67/month -unlimited data only)

in countryside you can get 2,5Mbit (not 3g but some competing technique )
- I think this is meant for laptops and needs a special modem.


It shuld be the same in all countries that the larger cities get faster data transfer first.

At least we are pretty even in Scandinavia. I mean, around my entire city we have 3G (3.6MBit) network available. Would I use EDGE? Heck no, not when I can get 3G (which my SonyEricsson W880i has). It's enough to stream TV and what not.

 

[Plumbstone]

Apple is trying to create a certain exclusivity around this product, they don't just want any old spotty teenager with a few hundred quid sticking in a PAYG sim. This is one of the most advanced phones ever made so paying a premium for it is totally understandable both from a business and a marketing perspective.

If you can't afford one, tough, go and get a job/better job/another job....London is one of the wealthiest places in the world and I am sure there are are plenty of folk who won't even think twice about spending that kind of money, I mean average house prices in Kensington rose by £500,000 last year alone, thats over $1,000,000.

 

[DJS1234]

OK everyone what to do now...

I was really hoping the iphone would be released today in the UK after all they lost a days trading yesterday and half a day today for a half hour press conference that was hardly that eventful. So a wait until November 9th or..

Buy an iPhone on eBay and unlock it then use my Vodafone sim. I haven't taken an upgrade this year as I was waiting for the iphone but I could opt to cut my tariff in half instead that would really make the o2 offer look unappealing.

Question is... Will Apple cripple the unlocking tools in a future software update (The 'Cat and Mouse' game they spoke of in the press conference) and leave me with a phone that is locked to a foreign network.

Anyone have any inputs?

Cheers
Dan

Anyone thinking the same thing?

 

[Digitaljim]

Sorry Apple/O2: not a good enough deal for me.

Having been over in NY last week and played with my friend's iPhone, I really do love the interface & design. However, EDGE is basically unusable in all the most desperate of situations. And 8 gigs really is too small for something that claims to be 'the best ipod ever'.

The free wireless spot access is certainly a bonus though.

 

[Philsy]

Apple is trying to create a certain exclusivity around this product, they don't just want any old spotty teenager with a few hundred quid sticking in a PAYG sim. This is one of the most advanced phones ever made so paying a premium for it is totally understandable both from a business and a marketing perspective.

If you can't afford one, tough, go and get a job/better job/another job....London is one of the wealthiest places in the world and I am sure there are are plenty of folk who won't even think twice about spending that kind of money, I mean average house prices in Kensington rose by £500,000 last year alone, thats over $1,000,000.

Go on, tell us what you do for a living

 

[iBlue]

Apple is trying to create a certain exclusivity around this product, they don't just want any old spotty teenager with a few hundred quid sticking in a PAYG sim. This is one of the most advanced phones ever made so paying a premium for it is totally understandable both from a business and a marketing perspective.

If you can't afford one, tough, go and get a job/better job/another job....London is one of the wealthiest places in the world and I am sure there are are plenty of folk who won't even think twice about spending that kind of money, I mean average house prices in Kensington rose by £500,000 last year alone, thats over $1,000,000.

poke it! that doesn't mean everyone in london is rolling in so much dough that they feel perfectly ok with being ripped off.

 

[Kipling]

I perfectly believe Mr Jobs when he says, 3G isn't happening because Apple haven't figured it out yet.

I also don't think that the iPhone is too expensive in the UK. I payed $399 + tax at the Apple Store. Without tax that converts to 200 GBP. Add UK VAT, makes £235. The remaining £34 cover the higher service cost in the EU (warranty laws are much more on the consumer side than in the U.S.) and the lower overall sales volume. I can't see a rip-off.

When you compare the iPhone to your current mobile phone, don't forget that it gives you a new view of what it means to stay connected, and how to experience the web on-the-go. (I'm not kidding, and I'm not Phil Schiller either.) And unlimited data is part of the concept. Feel free to drop unlimited data (anybody say Canada?) if you're on a tight budget, but iPhone doesn't make so-much sense without.

Edit: For the benefit of our American members, the price of the iPhone in the UK converts to $456 + tax.

Yup, couldn't agree more. The price of the phone is fair in comparison to the US price. It sits neatly alongside the iPod prices. And the monthly charge for any phone soon outweighs the up-front cost.

However, the O2 tariff bugs me quite a bit. 200 talk + 200 text for £35 or $70 doesn't stack up at all well against AT&Ts 450 talk + 200 text + 5000 minutes of weekend and evening calls, all for $60 or £30. Either O2 is trying to recover their 40% revenue deal, or Cloud is charging a lot for the free WiFi hotspots.

I pretty much hoped to replace my landline with an iPhone; not sure that it's economic to do so now.

 

[sananda]

snicker snicker

Again I say, speaking only from an American stand point, what good is 3G when the only areas of the states that has it also has free WiFi hotspots every 2 feet?

i wish i could access free wi-fi hotspots every two feet in london!

 

[iLionel]

Yup, couldn't agree more. The price of the phone is fair in comparison to the US price. It sits neatly alongside the iPod prices. And the monthly charge for any phone soon outweighs the up-front cost.

However, the O2 tariff bugs me quite a bit. 200 talk + 200 text for £35 or $70 doesn't stack up at all well against AT&Ts 450 talk + 200 text + 5000 minutes of weekend and evening calls, all for $60 or £30. Either O2 is trying to recover their 40% revenue deal, or Cloud is charging a lot for the free WiFi hotspots.

I pretty much hoped to replace my landline with an iPhone; not sure that it's economic to do so now.

Yeah, let's compare fuel prices too, and while we're there let's compare cost of property!

 

[brucebrendon]

iPub (modem?)

Well after checking out theCloud's WiFi in my area i think thhey should rebrand maybe to thePub, thePint...?

Ironically the only place that was not a pub or restaurant in StAlbans was the o2 shop!

So, hypothetically of course... could i use an iFone as a modem down the iPub?

...and what's the average range and speed at/near these establishments?


iDrink

Ps. such an obv&exp parntnership sellout 3G dodge! (see prev postings)

 

[DJS1234]

I mean average house prices in Kensington rose by £500,000 last year alone, thats over $1,000,000.

That's a little optimistic... I think you mean the average house price in Kensington is £500,000 not rose by £500,000. Or that the average increase in value of houses previously valued at say over £2mil was £500k.

Dan (Used to do I.T. for a London estate agent until about 4 months ago)

 

[hanxu]

how much are you paying for your blackberry, just to get an idea!

Well I pay 15 per month and £10 per month unlimited blackberry data, my phone is 8800 which came free with my contract.

I am a loyalty O2 customer, so that's why I get everything so cheap.

 

[Project]

Yup, couldn't agree more. The price of the phone is fair in comparison to the US price. It sits neatly alongside the iPod prices. And the monthly charge for any phone soon outweighs the up-front cost.

However, the O2 tariff bugs me quite a bit. 200 talk + 200 text for £35 or $70 doesn't stack up at all well against AT&Ts 450 talk + 200 text + 5000 minutes of weekend and evening calls, all for $60 or £30. Either O2 is trying to recover their 40% revenue deal, or Cloud is charging a lot for the free WiFi hotspots.

I pretty much hoped to replace my landline with an iPhone; not sure that it's economic to do so now.

Do Americans have to pay for incoming texts/minutes? I keep hearing to something of that effect.

 

[Parky]

Well I cancelled my iPod touch due to the current screen issues and thought I might go for an iPhone instead. Having looked at what is on offer....I think I will pass for now and sit it out a bit longer.

I'm usually an Apple 'early adopter', but something is telling me to hold off at the moment, maybe the excitement of the US launch and the bad press that it and the iPod touch appear to be getting has slanted my judgement.

I will wait until the New Year (my Birthday is in Jan) and see what I can get then.

Ian

 

[dalvin200]

lol!! so true!
checked my nottingham central and again, most of the places were bars/pubs.. as well as many BT phone booths..

Well after checking out theCloud's WiFi in my area i think thhey should rebrand maybe to thePub, thePint...?

Ironically the only place that was not a pub or restaurant in StAlbans was the o2 shop!

So, hypothetically of course... could i use an iFone as a modem down the iPub?

...and what's the average range and speed at/near these establishments?


iDrink

Ps. such an obv&exp parntnership sellout 3G dodge! (see prev postings)

 

[iShak]

in UK, generally getting a high end phone on a £30+ /mo contract gets you the phone for free or at a minimal upfront payment, even the Nokia N95 is free at £30/mo on O2 so this £269 tag for iPhone is quite ridiculous.

Apple has not introduced anything new, its the same old USA iPhone locked to O2. There is no 3G, yes I hear what steve has to say but then atleast drop the price a bit, steve.

only 30% EDGE coverage in UK ... baah

only 200 minutes @ £35/mo? .. my bro gets 1500 minutes @ £15/mo (no unlimited data, so what? I don't want to pay £33 for EDGE connection [the calltime comes to about £2 for 200 minutes for my bro])

so I have decided, iPod Touch it is! (but some time in January next year, want these screen/audio/stability/everything? issues to get sorted first)

 

[sananda]

Yup, couldn't agree more. The price of the phone is fair in comparison to the US price. It sits neatly alongside the iPod prices. And the monthly charge for any phone soon outweighs the up-front cost.

However, the O2 tariff bugs me quite a bit. 200 talk + 200 text for £35 or $70 doesn't stack up at all well against AT&Ts 450 talk + 200 text + 5000 minutes of weekend and evening calls, all for $60 or £30. Either O2 is trying to recover their 40% revenue deal, or Cloud is charging a lot for the free WiFi hotspots.

I pretty much hoped to replace my landline with an iPhone; not sure that it's economic to do so now.

yes, i agree with all you say. the price of the phone seems fine. but the tariff is of a different order to the at&t one. the latter seems to offer a better deal than their usual tariffs for any phone. in other words, it may well counteract the fact that the phone is subsidised. and this is possible because at&t have no subsidy to recover. whereas 02 are not offering a tariff any better than the ones they offer with subsidised phones (some earlier post set this out although their conclusion was that it makes for a fair deal)

 

[sananda]

That's a little optimistic... I think you mean the average house price in Kensington is £500,000 not rose by £500,000. Or that the average increase in value of houses previously valued at say over £2mil was £500k.

Dan (Used to do I.T. for a London estate agent until about 4 months ago)

there's no way that an average house in kensington costs £500,000! you're way off on that one

 

[Kipling]

Yeah, let's compare fuel prices too, and while we're there let's compare cost of property!

Actually, the ATT tariffs in the US seem broadly comparable to what's on offer from other UK networks at the £35/month mark.

I'm suggesting that O2's iPhone tariff, specifically, is overpriced for what you get - at least at the bottom end.

 

[tfstone]

They gotta be kidding?! Right?

Don't get me wrong! I love my Macs. Got MBP at home and one at work. An iMac, Apple TV, Airport Extreme and a Shuffle. So you probably could me a "fanboy" or macoid.

BUT! This phone (camera, no 3g) at this price in Europe is a joke. BTW it is supposed to come to Austria in November, according to someone at t-mobile in Vienna (in case someone cares).

I will pick up a touch though once the screen issues are sorted out.