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iPhone Launched in the UK on O2 Network
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Wow, that makes a big difference then and kind of dismantles my point about plan price differences bet ATT and O2. Having Cloud, which costs £11 ($22) per month, added to those plans sort of makes up for the gross difference.
Admit-tingly, I was disappointed that Apple is offering only free WiFi iTunes access in Starbucks and not some partnership/deal for iPhone users to get WiFi access for Safari. Instead, unless we use EDGE, we have to pony up to T-Mobile for Starbucks WiFi. Which is strange when you think about it. If you are in Starbucks and you want to get on WiFi iTunes, you have to keep your WiFi on, which means you have to pay T-Mobile if you want to surf as well as EDGE doesn't work for WiFi iTunes. If you don't, then you have to turn off WiFi to surf, turn it back on if you want to use WiFi iTunes store, then turn WiFi off again to surf on EDGE. Ugh, seems silly.
Only 5 or 6 Mb ? Yeah....if you live on top of the local exchage, and are then NOT connected on fibre......
Not just Apple, O2 must be paying The Cloud for the use of their WiFi hotspots too. Without those two sucking up money the contracts would be much better.
Yeah, but what if you don't want to pay it and wont use it? There're none in Northern Ireland, where I live, yet I still have to pay a high contract fee. Even if they were available I'd rather have a cheaper contract any day.
I've just been looking on eBay and the prices are quite astronomical at the moment.
Okay people, a question: how can I import a US 8GB iPhone to the UK this month for £270 or less?
That's a good question, one my friends and I were discussing about Apple products being shipped after purchasing them in the states. Let's say, for example, that I had a friend buy a Mac Pro in NYC and I'm from the U.K. If I were to have the Mac Pro sent via FedEx as if I was "moving" to the U.K., would it be taxed or something? How does that work?
As people surely move bet countries all the time, if you bought something new just before you moved to London, and put it in with a moving truck or just had it shipped, they surely can't tax it can they?
I think the Starbucks thing is a trial of the context sensitive technology. It makes sense to roll that technology out to all sorts of things.
The Cloud is good. Particularly in Manchester and London from my experience. So much so that at one point I was considering just getting an iPod Touch with the £11/$22 monthly subscription to it before the iPhone had a price drop.
Yep, Birmingham UK! They had some of the staff with them to play with as well. Yummy!
-Leemo
OK, so when the iPhone launched in the US, this was the deal:
iPhone (8GB) - $599
Service (450 minutes, 200 SMS, Unlimited Data) - $59.99/month
WiFi - Not Included
Network - AT&T, an old school provider with a lot of users that everyone complains about
And in the UK on launch date, you've got:
iPhone (8GB) - £269
Service (200 minutes, 200 SMS, Unlimited Data) - £35
WiFi - 7,500 free hot spots
Network - O2, an old school provider with a lot of users that everyone complains about
Say what you want about 3G, about The Cloud's spotty coverage, etc, etc, but I think if the iPhone succeeded in the US - an environment where most people are paying $30 a month or using PAYG with phones that are free with service - then it will do equally well in the UK.
I don't think the pessimists arguments about specs, about "savvy" European users or about anything else will hold true.
If you doubt Apple's ability to judge the market (and I think that's a foolish thing to do) then trust O2's - I don't think they're in the business of losing money, and they knew what they were agreeing to going into this, realizing it would be a success.
iPhone (8GB) - $599
Service (450 minutes, 200 SMS, Unlimited Data) - $59.99/month
WiFi - Not Included
Network - AT&T, an old school provider with a lot of users that everyone complains about
And in the UK on launch date, you've got:
iPhone (8GB) - £269
Service (200 minutes, 200 SMS, Unlimited Data) - £35
WiFi - 7,500 free hot spots
Network - O2, an old school provider with a lot of users that everyone complains about
Say what you want about 3G, about The Cloud's spotty coverage, etc, etc, but I think if the iPhone succeeded in the US - an environment where most people are paying $30 a month or using PAYG with phones that are free with service - then it will do equally well in the UK.
I don't think the pessimists arguments about specs, about "savvy" European users or about anything else will hold true.
If you doubt Apple's ability to judge the market (and I think that's a foolish thing to do) then trust O2's - I don't think they're in the business of losing money, and they knew what they were agreeing to going into this, realizing it would be a success.
LOL - Why do all the brits think their iPhone was going to be much better then the one in the US... Did you expect them to have an unlocked iphone? Or 3G? Or unbelievable rate plans? Have you been reading up on the iPhone in the US in the past 3 months? Why dod you think we worked so hard to unlock it? SURPRISE! ITS THE SAME!
It seems like they think (with or without reason) that the device will upstage the rate plans...
Absolutely not - come on, you must have heard you can unlock the iPhone for free by now??!
I guess people are just confused cos over here, you won't get out of a shop with a handset without signing for a contract and giving them your bank details first.
i think some people thought that while EDGE was exactly the right solution for the US, 3G coverage here might meant a different solution. perhaps they also thought that there had been some movements in the sphere of 3G and battery life.
i do think that the US tariffs are more generous. 5000 off peak minutes on the cheapest tarifff and 450 peak minutes. only 200 total on the cheapest 02 tariff. i think the cloud wifi is only to account for the relative scarcity of free wifi in the uk.
And what exactly did you play with the yummy staff?
Oops - Freudian slip with my post!
iPod Touches - had a few out and were playing with them before I bought mine!
-Leemo
From my limited knowledge, you can import your personal effects tax-free if you are moving to another country and they have been used for more than 6 months. Anything over that and you end up paying taxes. But in reality if you were moving from one country to another, and you have needed visas etc, you don't end up paying for stuff you take with you, as long as its for personal use and is yours. But then again it tends to be a grey area as there is a limit on how much new stuff you can bring in through customs. If you are buying a computer in the US, technically you have to pay taxes if you are taking it permanently into the UK. If you take it out again however you can refund those. Its all a bit confusing so I would say that really you should pay taxes when you buy something there and get it sent over, and Fedex most likely will bill you for taxes on the item.
any news if the regent st branch has them yet? i went there on Thursday last wk and the guy just laughed and said next month!?
I frankly don't understand all these people pissed at apple and at their partnership with O2 about the iPhone. NOBODY is putting a gun to their head and telling them to buy one.
If you want it and you want to spend that kind of money... then buy it, if not don't and stop bitching about the price and the coverage and be happy with what you have.
I personally tested the iPhone of my roommate when i was living in the states, and i tried it either on EDGE and on wi-fi with incredible results in both scenarios. i have used 3G here with my Nokia N73 with O2 and it takes forever to surf the web.
The only thing makes me hold on the purchase are the tariffs and the certainty that the 16gb will soon be out... that's it! if the 16gb was out today i would be queueing in front of the apple store as we speak!
if apple had to listen to all the whining people of this forum it would be bankrupt in a matter of weeks!
If you want it and you want to spend that kind of money... then buy it, if not don't and stop bitching about the price and the coverage and be happy with what you have.
I personally tested the iPhone of my roommate when i was living in the states, and i tried it either on EDGE and on wi-fi with incredible results in both scenarios. i have used 3G here with my Nokia N73 with O2 and it takes forever to surf the web.
The only thing makes me hold on the purchase are the tariffs and the certainty that the 16gb will soon be out... that's it! if the 16gb was out today i would be queueing in front of the apple store as we speak!
if apple had to listen to all the whining people of this forum it would be bankrupt in a matter of weeks!
Wow, anyone who voted negative on this is a retard. Go get a Windows Mobile device if you're not happy.
Over here? Eh? You're in Birmingham US or UK? You can obviously easily walk out the store with an iPhone without signing up to a contract in the US because a) people have done, and have unlocked it and b) you 'sign the contract' using iTunes unless I'm mistaken (it's been known). And in the UK you can very easily walk out the store with a handset without signing up to a contract. It's called Having Willpower and Telling The Salesperson NO THANKS, JUST THE PHONE PLEASE.