iPhone UK Launch and 3G iPhone Plans

[LeviG]

Ah yes but Apple's device is a data-centric one (yes even with EDGE the coverage for me is better than 3G), I consider it more a hint at the future of mobile computing. You clearly just need a trad mobile phone. There's a huge market filled with traditional phones. Go and get one of them.

Now, I'm not saying that the iPhone is a bargain and I'm not saying it has broad appeal but it _does_ have appeal and some of us consider the pricing, while not great, to be affordable and worth going for.

You're right though we all have our opinions.

Actually I do have a need for data occasionally, I like the option to view files too but with current software on the iPhone its not exactly going to happen very easily.

But this is what gets me, its called an iPhone, yet apple market if for web browsing, music/video playing (and trust me the net on a small screen is not nice -been doing it for years on a p900 with a decent browser too) - if the phone side of things is so unimportant they might as well just reincarnated the Newton but with data access - but again the software is lacking.

Oh and where I live o2 is useless and edge is never going to happen let alone 3G from them, vodafone, orange and even t-mobile are already here with 3G. And I'm not exactly out in the sticks either.

Its just going to be the magpie crowd that buy this phone, not people who need a device that does more than look pretty - even the reviews by british shows (gadget show) are saying basically the same.

 

[emotion]

Oh and where I live o2 is useless and edge is never going to happen let alone 3G from them, vodafone, orange and even t-mobile are already here with 3G. And I'm not exactly out in the sticks either.

It's the back of beyond compared to where I'm from

...and even then I wouldn't get full 3G access on my train ride to work (Warrington to Mcr, look at the coverage maps - for any network). Now, that is not the same as me saying 3G isn't worth having in case that rant above is aimed at me. I want full HSDPA and HSUPA access on my mobile device please. Until then....

And as for internet on a small screen. Not used an Apple multitouch device yet have you? It's not bad for such a small screen.

Its just going to be the magpie crowd that buy this phone, not people who need a device that does more than look pretty

Just keep telling yourself that (this isn't a LG Prada y'know). Me I'll be using my tiny pocketable mobile internet device everywhere I need it.

 

[paulwlee]

I'm glad to hear a few anecdotes from people who ACTUALLY OWN iPhones in regards to their connection speeds on EDGE vs. WiFi and whether they feel 3G would be in any way helpful to them. Do any other iPhone owners out there have an experience to share?

I too was one of the "waiting for 3G" crowd. After upgrading to UMTS on my Treo 750 from my EDGE Treo 650, I just didn't want to go back to the slower speeds. I played with the iPhone at the store, liked it a LOT, it really seemed to fill all my needs extremely well. I still decided to wait.

But when I got to play with my buddy's iPhone out in the real world, I realized that using Safari on EDGE was still a much more usable and satisfying experience than using some other mobile browser on UMTS or HSDPA. For many websites I use frequently, it came down to a choice between a page downloading in a few seconds that you can't use due to bad formatting or non-working forms, and a page taking twice as long but 100% functional. No brainer here. A data plan that was only $20 vs. $40 on the Treo was really good too.
Got an iPhone the next day and Ebay'ed my Treo 750.

Google Maps, email and mostly-text webpages work very very smoothly on EDGE. With lots of pictures, it gets slow, but still quite usable. I find that EDGE speed varies a lot depending on where you are. Sometimes it's super fast (relatively speaking), sometimes pretty slow.

That said, 3G will be enough to make me upgrade.

 

[paulwlee]

Not necessarily.
I know an engineer at AT&T here in Denver that claims their 3G is up (not yet public) and smoking. They also claim a 3G iPhone will show up (in the U.S.) this spring.
I assume the 2 announcements will coincide.

AT&T 3G has been up for quite some time, although only in the bigger markets.

 

[skeen]

I have a BlackBerry under contract with O2. I am not due for an upgrade any time soon (in fact I upgraded to the latest BlackBerry model just a few months ago), but would like the iPhone. Does anyone know if I'll be able to do some kind of trade-in, or transfer the contract or something?

 

[sirbobbyuk]

i will wait for the 3G one

MacWorld.co.uk points to to a Telegraph interview with O2's chief executive Matthew Key who provides some details on how O2 became Apple's iPhone partner in the UK. After meeting with Steve Jobs in Cupertino, Key had come to a decision:


According to FT.com, Key expects "a couple of hundred thousand" iPhones to be sold in the first two months in the UK. FT.com also claims that the 3G version of the iPhone is due in the second half of next year, though the exact source is not cited. Regardless, Key appears confident that O2 would also get rights to the 3G iPhone when it arrives.

Article Link

I was in O2 store today and i did come close to signing up, but i backed out at the last minute. Maybe because of the price of the iphone itself and being tied into a 18 month contract.
And there was another interesting thing the demonstration models that were there were the 4gb version, which made me think are we getting the 8gb or are they they really the 4 hhmmm?

The other issue which which is kind of a bug bear why don't apple design a phone where the battery can be removed and replaced instead of having to send it off to them and wait 3 week for it to come back.

Apart from that a great phone and i would like one. I have the itouch and that great