MMS is very popular and the lack of it will put off a lot of people. It's not only the fact the iPhone won't send MMS but, more seriously, it won't receive them - so not much use when someone sends you a photo
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iPhone Launched in the UK on O2 Network
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MMS is very popular and the lack of it will put off a lot of people. It's not only the fact the iPhone won't send MMS but, more seriously, it won't receive them - so not much use when someone sends you a photo
The thing that everybody seems to be missing on this thread (admittedly from skim-reading it) is that the Unlimited Data is now on EVERY CONTRACT on O2, or will be soon... So basically you are paying more for the special 'iPhone' contract with less minutes and texts... If you look on 02's website you can get better deals for less money... and yes, while most of them are sim only don't forget you are buying the iPhone itself so the £35 a month deal is very comparable.
Facebook killed MMS photo sharing for every single one of my friends.
In fact, Facebook killed SMS too. I use to send around 600 a month. Now its about 100-150. Text conversations are conducted on FB now.
On Display?
I am popping by Regent Street Apple Store this evening. Anyone know if they will have iPhones on display? I'm in the UK so haven't had a chance to play with one yet. I heard they are keeping the store open longer so I'd think they are showing them off already? Does anyone have any inside skinny? I can't see why they are staying closed till 4pm other than that they've set up all the iPhones for the media (which my brother - who just walked past there - confirmed) and will be taking them down again before 4pm and won't show them until release day.
I don't know what would be more torturous, having them on display but unable to be bought, or displaying them only for the media and locking them up till the 9th of November (which suddenly seems like a lifetime away).
I am popping by Regent Street Apple Store this evening. Anyone know if they will have iPhones on display? I'm in the UK so haven't had a chance to play with one yet. I heard they are keeping the store open longer so I'd think they are showing them off already? Does anyone have any inside skinny? I can't see why they are staying closed till 4pm other than that they've set up all the iPhones for the media (which my brother - who just walked past there - confirmed) and will be taking them down again before 4pm and won't show them until release day.
I don't know what would be more torturous, having them on display but unable to be bought, or displaying them only for the media and locking them up till the 9th of November (which suddenly seems like a lifetime away).
I can't see the connection. SMS allows you to send a message to someone's phone, and they know instantly the message has arrived. They can then respond there and then. Same with MMS.
Facebook relies on you being at your computer and logged onto Facebook. Not as useful at all.
Ah, mobiles hadn't been invented when I was a teen
I think that's why we have two very distinct opinions on here - to my age group unlimited data is essential (email, web...), voice and texts far less so. MMS worthless.
It's ver far from ubiquitous. The dark blue is 3G:
Do you have a wifi map?
Props for spelling ubiquitous correctly. My spelling is rubbish!
Ah, mobiles hadn't been invented when I was a teen
I think that's why we have two very distinct opinions on here - to my age group unlimited data is essential (email, web...), voice and texts far less so. MMS worthless.
Hey, I'm old and use MMS!
Firstly, I'm in the UK, live in London, and I've had an iPhone working on O2 since it could be unlocked. Some thoughts...
£270? UK users are getting ripped off again.
The contract prices are a joke. I'm currently with O2, and on a cashback plan, pay £3.35 a month (12 month contract) for 400 minutes/200 texts - even better deals are available now, such as £0 ! a month for 800 minutes/500 texts. Who in their right mind would sign up to one of the rip-off O2 packages, when "unlimited" data seems to be very limited indeed - 1400 pages - what??
This is typical rip-off Britain, and I know plenty of Apple fanboys will sign up and buy this phone anyway. But if they had any sense, they'd buy a phone in the USA, unlock it, and find a better deal with another provider. If rumours of what O2 had to pay for the iPhone deal are true, it's clear they're passing the cost on to their consumers.
As for who has the best coverage between O2/Vodaphone/T-Mobile etc, this is a pretty moot argument. Across the UK, this varies massively. e.g. In Oxford, O2 and Vodaphone are great, in Winchester, Orange is great (and you can barely get O2 coverage), and in London, various networks suck in different areas. I think the main point to be made is that T-Mobile offer the fantastic web-n-walk package at only £7.50
£270? UK users are getting ripped off again.
The contract prices are a joke. I'm currently with O2, and on a cashback plan, pay £3.35 a month (12 month contract) for 400 minutes/200 texts - even better deals are available now, such as £0 ! a month for 800 minutes/500 texts. Who in their right mind would sign up to one of the rip-off O2 packages, when "unlimited" data seems to be very limited indeed - 1400 pages - what??
This is typical rip-off Britain, and I know plenty of Apple fanboys will sign up and buy this phone anyway. But if they had any sense, they'd buy a phone in the USA, unlock it, and find a better deal with another provider. If rumours of what O2 had to pay for the iPhone deal are true, it's clear they're passing the cost on to their consumers.
As for who has the best coverage between O2/Vodaphone/T-Mobile etc, this is a pretty moot argument. Across the UK, this varies massively. e.g. In Oxford, O2 and Vodaphone are great, in Winchester, Orange is great (and you can barely get O2 coverage), and in London, various networks suck in different areas. I think the main point to be made is that T-Mobile offer the fantastic web-n-walk package at only £7.50
My point is that text conversations with my friends that were non urgent would be via SMS. Now those are on Facebook. You know the "how are you" "lets go out next week" kind of texts. I basically use SMS now just for stuff that has to be immediately seen. "im in the club by the bar" kind of thing.
The offshoot of this announcement is of course you get to go to a free party.
Either the ones held by Vodafone/Orange/T-Mobile celebrating a near miss or the ones by Nokia/Motorola/Samsung/Sony Ericsson who can sleep tonight knowing the iphone isn't going to even slightly dent their business.
Just follow the hysterical laughter.
Either the ones held by Vodafone/Orange/T-Mobile celebrating a near miss or the ones by Nokia/Motorola/Samsung/Sony Ericsson who can sleep tonight knowing the iphone isn't going to even slightly dent their business.
Just follow the hysterical laughter.
Do you have a wifi map?
Props for spelling ubiquitous correctly. My spelling is rubbish!
I don't have info for wifi. Most city centres have it. That is also where the EDGE and 3G is focussed.
Haha. nice one.
Sorry for double post.
I don't have info for wifi. Most city centres have it. That is also where the EDGE and 3G is focussed.
When you say they have it, I have found that it's only usually near coffee shops and places where you'd sit down (i.e. with a laptop). I haven't walked through town and seen many wireless hotspots just randomly in the centre... and they aren't free. Tmobile seem to have largest coverage. I use my BTOpenzone minutes anyway... so I' really not bothered about this phone now.
"Reinvented getting ripped off" more like.
Can't compare... unless you facebook on your phone... in which case 3G is nicer
I just did compare. The effect Facebook has had on SMS and MMS usage by my network of friends is very real. Why MMS a picture on holiday when I can email it to Facebook for 200 people to see... for free?
And the iPhone Facebook site is beautiful. Will come in handy with the data plan on the iPhone with free email notifications of when I have a new Message/Wall post/photo comment etc.
MMS is dead to me.
Rip Off UK strikes again
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.
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.
HMLJCR - So you live in the UK with an unlocked iPhone on O2. Do you have visual voicemail and is that the only feature that's different after unlock? I'd be interested in unlocking one on a cheaper contract and I guess if its on O2 anyway you should be able to access all features, just on a cheaper contract.
Also, does anyone know if the UK iPhone will have anything physically different from the US one? US prices still beat UK's. IE if I buy an iPhone in NYC, bring it back, can I just activate it on O2?
So many questions...
And what about the price when going OVER the pathetic 200 minutes? 20p/minute? My current plan is 5p/minute when out of plan.
And the price for texts?
And roaming in Europe prices voice & text?
Greed. Pure and simple.
Once the fanbois and Flash Harrys have bought the phone, sales will plummet with plan prices like that.
I thought I was going to move over to an iPony. My head is screaming at my heart so much that I doubt that I'll bother.
Whilst the lack of 3G support is disappointing, at least the handset price is lower than I was expecting. I was certain that they would be trying for an entry price of £300-350. As it stands, at least it's comparable to the current US prices once you take into account VAT etc...
I imagine that these will be unlocked by Christmas, but without 3G support who are you going to use? On the plus side, unlocking them for other tarrifs means that you can get a better deal and flog your contract phone on ebay to subsidise the handset cost... This is a major hole in their plan, once the unlocking war is won - and there's only one winner in that one. Personally, I'm waiting for this and 3G on rev 2.
J
I imagine that these will be unlocked by Christmas, but without 3G support who are you going to use? On the plus side, unlocking them for other tarrifs means that you can get a better deal and flog your contract phone on ebay to subsidise the handset cost... This is a major hole in their plan, once the unlocking war is won - and there's only one winner in that one. Personally, I'm waiting for this and 3G on rev 2.
J
The 30% EDGE coverage of the UK is 0% in Scotland - so it becomes pointless.
The tariff is too high anyway for what you get. No picture messageing, and why pay $120 more for the phone than it costs in the US.
The talk in the office today is of how this is like a backwards step in phones.
I am a huge Apple consumer - but this is a definite no go for me.
The tariff is too high anyway for what you get. No picture messageing, and why pay $120 more for the phone than it costs in the US.
The talk in the office today is of how this is like a backwards step in phones.
I am a huge Apple consumer - but this is a definite no go for me.
If the US experience is anything to go by, the carrier is not a serious issue. Apple's choice of AT&T was blasted by most MacRumors regulars when it was announced, and it doesn't seem to have done much to curb demand in any way that Apple is noticing.
The tariffs announced today aren't great, but they seem to be in line with UK tariffs in general. I don't mean you can't find a better deal, I just mean you're not going to find something *significantly* cheaper offering the same package. That's not to suggest they're not pricing some users out of the market, but this is like those Macbook vs Dell comparisons that come out from time to time - the Mac advocates and PC advocates tend to talk at cross purposes, the PC advocates pointing out you can get a much cheaper machine from Dell and the Mac advocates pointing out that if you try to get a Dell that's spec'd the same as a Macbook it'll generally be slightly more expensive (continued ad-nauseum as claims and counter-claims are made about which has more for the money.)
I don't like the iPhone, it's not for me, I have no agenda promoting it, but I'm not seeing the majority of criticisms posted here as having much of an affect. If I were to see anything as having a major affect on the iPhone's viability in Britain, it would be the apparent lack of a pre-paid option, which as others have pointed out, is preferred by many in the UK regardless of their credit. Cellphones became universal when the carriers started promoting serious, usable, prepaid tariffs, before then they were considered luxury items by most. So this is what many in the UK are used to.
It may or may not succeed, but not for the reasons most are posting here.
The tariffs announced today aren't great, but they seem to be in line with UK tariffs in general. I don't mean you can't find a better deal, I just mean you're not going to find something *significantly* cheaper offering the same package. That's not to suggest they're not pricing some users out of the market, but this is like those Macbook vs Dell comparisons that come out from time to time - the Mac advocates and PC advocates tend to talk at cross purposes, the PC advocates pointing out you can get a much cheaper machine from Dell and the Mac advocates pointing out that if you try to get a Dell that's spec'd the same as a Macbook it'll generally be slightly more expensive (continued ad-nauseum as claims and counter-claims are made about which has more for the money.)
I don't like the iPhone, it's not for me, I have no agenda promoting it, but I'm not seeing the majority of criticisms posted here as having much of an affect. If I were to see anything as having a major affect on the iPhone's viability in Britain, it would be the apparent lack of a pre-paid option, which as others have pointed out, is preferred by many in the UK regardless of their credit. Cellphones became universal when the carriers started promoting serious, usable, prepaid tariffs, before then they were considered luxury items by most. So this is what many in the UK are used to.
It may or may not succeed, but not for the reasons most are posting here.
I don't think you are typical, though. People like the convenience and speed of sending a photo to another phone. Sure, they'll also post holiday snaps on a website to share as well.