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T-Mobile to Sell iPhone in Germany: November 1st?

Philsy said:
Are you sure about games consoles? Most of those start off in Japan.
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Start in Japan, go to America about half a year later, go to Europe half a year on from when America gets them.

German said:
Vodafone is also famouse for making a really ugly branding on the phones. I guess that Apple will say No to this, if they make the deal :D
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Quite a few providers brand the phones. T-Mobile doesn't, as far as I am aware (When I bought my T-Mobile Nokia 3410 5 years ago, it had no branding on it at all... However, my Dad's old 3410 had a Vodafone logo on it... T-Mobile seems to be the way for Apple to go... Plus, I'm with T-Mobile so I should be able to use my current sim, but I swear that's not the reason I'm siding with T-Mobile, umm... umm... umm....)
 
Uh oh... I dont see much of Europe getting the iPhone for some time with this news. With the exception of 1 or 2 countries with Edge coverage.
When US gets 3G, Europe will get 3G. Which wont be any time soon.

It's inevitable, what with unlocking laws in parts of EU. A two tiered 3G in EU with Edge in USA situation just didnt seem the Apple way. Apple want one worldwide product, and product launch. And without unlocked 3G iPhones being shipped back to the US spoiling the surprise.

That said I'm guessing that's why ATT's contract is 5 year (much longer than I expected. They have probably had their arm twisted into upgrading the 3G network ASAP, which is an expensive business without long term rewards/contract.

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of EU don't get the iPhone for a year.
 
Metatron said:
You know, it does not make much sence for Apple to produce multiple phones if the iPhone is already a world phone. I would imagine that the currently iphone already supports 3g, by one of the many unknown, apple branded chips and is turned off, or Apple is sticking with EDGE on both sides of the world.
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It is already known that iPhone has GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS chip.
I still wonder what will happen with iPhone in Russia. Will I ever be able to see something like this in real life?
 

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Here's a scenario

And why would they even announce it's going to be 3G?

They'll probably announce the European partners in a press statement and do all the bla-bla that they're very happy with the partnership and all that...

Why would they say anything about any change in specs for the Euro phone? They can keep us guessing (and therefore keep feeding the hype) for another six months and all the bashers and the fanboys will discuss the merits of 3G on all the Euro blogs.

Then, just a few days before the launch, they'll show an updated 3G version that will sell in the US and the EU at the same time. For the US they can create all kinds of arrangements to handle any backlash. If they even bother.

With a software update mid-October to coincide with Leopard and all the hoo-hah around Leopard in general, June will be long forgotten by then. Introduce some new hardware updates for Macs and displays in November and then they can more or less relaunch the iPhone in its updated form around x-mas. The update will make for strong x-mas sales in both the US and the EU: 'iPhone home for the holidays'. Large close-up of the new home button with built-in camera - boom.
 
hdasmith said:
It does depend on how the lock is initiated. I would imagine Apple would incorporate a different lock so that they don't brake their agreement with AT&T in America. The lock is software based, reading the SIM. It would be very easy to make it country dependent.
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If someone unlocks the iPhone and uses it on another network, Apple wouldn't be responsible unless it was proven they used a grossly inadequate control to prevent it, so they wouldn't be braking any agreement with AT&T.
 
German said:
I don't know but i can tell you that I know a lot of people who really dislike Vodafone. Vodafone is also famouse for making a really ugly branding on the phones. I guess that Apple will say No to this, if they make the deal :D
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Uhh...T-Mobile brands their phones too. Both companies are notorious for changing the internal software of their subventioned phones such that the phone include company-specific versions of the software, which is usually butt-ugly and feature deficient. I'm quite sure that Apple will NOT allow any European cell company to brand the iPhone.
 
Digitaljim said:
But if the iPhone becomes 3G for its European release, what does that mean for battery life?
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3G draws more battery. 3G phones are bigger.
Mitch1984 said:
wasn't Apple's reason for not making it 3g because no devices work on AT&T's 3G network yet, that or there isn't enough coverage?
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I don't think so. I think that Apple preferred making a thinner phone (for now).
Plutonius said:
I don't believe that Apple will upgrade the iPhone hardware before sometime next year (It takes time for design, testing, and approval. The current 3G chips will not fit in the iPhone packaging so it's not a trivial update).
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Not just the 3G chips either. When the iPhone goes 3G, expect to see a front and rear camera (needs more space!), the 3G chips and receivers (bigger!), and handling of video calls & simple video(needs a h264 compression chip???). Plus bigger batteries to handle the extra power (so bigger phone again).

Of course... by waiting 1 year, all those pieces get smaller and more power efficient. Apple may have been very smart - it realised that for now the iPhone package hit a sweetspot. Europe MAY not have the same sweetspot, I don't know - but T-mobile's wifi hotspots plus edge coverage and 3G (for future iPhones) would seem to be a good place to start.
 
min_t said:
From what I've been hearing, Rogers is your only option. And since they make so much money charging for data right now, I don't see them jumping on board. You will be able to download HD movies in iTunes Ca before you will get the iPhone.
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I second that. I really hate Canadian carriers with all my heart!!!
They charge for every little move you make with your Fphone! GRRRR yeah, no iPhone for me, thanks. Screw those companies!

note: I really like the iPhone. *crying out loud* See you in 2012 maybe. sigh
 
blurtigo said:
I agree with those that say this points to the European iPhone not having 3G.

For the UK that would suggest Orange will get it, as they are the only ones to have an EDGE compatible network here:

http://www.orangepartner.com/site/enuk/news/press/p_edge_launch.jsp
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I believe the initial release in Europe will be EDGE but that Apple will start selling 3G iPhones sometime next year. In any case even with 3G, I don't think Apple will sell many iPhones in Europe. Most Europeans posting here have stated that the phone needs to be free, or subsidized, have no long term contract, and be unlocked or it will not sell. I believe that Apple should concentrate on the Asian markets first and then maybe consider Europe. Apple will never unlock the phone until the AT&T contract expires in 5 years.
 
SeaFox said:
If someone unlocks the iPhone and uses it on another network, Apple wouldn't be responsible unless it was proven they used a grossly inadequate control to prevent it, so they wouldn't be braking any agreement with AT&T.
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Apple gets a percentage of the AT&T monthly fees. Apple absolutely does not want an unlocked iPhone loose in the AT&T market. You will not see an unlocked iPhone for 5 years until the AT&T agreement is over.
 
German Newspaper Handelsblatt claims that the rumors are wrong and no decisions about who sells the iPhone in Europe have been made.


german link
 
Plutonius said:
I believe the initial release in Europe will be EDGE but that Apple will start selling 3G iPhones sometime next year. In any case even with 3G, I don't think Apple will sell many iPhones in Europe. Most Europeans posting here have stated that the phone needs to be free, or subsidized, have no long term contract, and be unlocked or it will not sell. I believe that Apple should concentrate on the Asian markets first and then maybe consider Europe. Apple will never unlock the phone until the AT&T contract expires in 5 years.
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There's no going to S-Korea and Japan with a GSM/EDGE phone. Rest of the Asian market would still huge but 1) vast majority of the phones sold there cost less than 1/10 of iphone and 2) the markets are just as competitive as in Europe, i.e. the requirements you listed apply there as well 3) I'm not sure if there is large EDGE coverage.

IMHO, if Apple enters the European markets with the current iphone lacking 3g, front facing camera, video shooting, gps etc etc, all gains image of selling 5 year old technology at premium. That sort of image would be very hard to get rid of later on. A lot of ppl still think that Apple computers are much more expensive than competitors, even though in fact there is little or no difference in price between similarly spec'ed apple and non-apple computers.
 
bad news

This is bad news. T-Mobile is to Germany what ATT is to the US. Not the same lame sales practices but they exist because they used to be a monopoly. That's the company that could lobby the German government in blocking competition laws for a long time. It's partly their fault if German cell phones market is probably the worst and most expensive in Europe, somewhere among the lines of UK.

And as for branding goes, they have a horrible pink logo what could spoil all the IPhone design efforts completely. Why does Apple do business with such people I don't know. If Enron was still in business Apple would probably pick them as partners :)
 
Plutonius said:
I believe the initial release in Europe will be EDGE but that Apple will start selling 3G iPhones sometime next year. In any case even with 3G, I don't think Apple will sell many iPhones in Europe. Most Europeans posting here have stated that the phone needs to be free, or subsidized, have no long term contract, and be unlocked or it will not sell. I believe that Apple should concentrate on the Asian markets first and then maybe consider Europe. Apple will never unlock the phone until the AT&T contract expires in 5 years.
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You realize that 40% of Apple's yearly revenue comes from Europe? There's no way that Asia will get the iPhone before Europe does.

As to the size of current 3G chips: Nokia and Samsung have phones out in Europe now (not "smartphones", but with multimedia features) that are thinner than the iPhone and have 3G capabilities, so the size isn't the problem, it's power consumption.
 
Flop in Europe?

Tagesschau.de, Germany's premier online news source, has picked up the story. They also point out some interesting (slightly disturbing) notes on how successful it just might be (link):

"In Deutschland wollen nach einer Umfrage zufolge jedoch nur wenige Handynutzer das iPhone erwerben. Lediglich 0,4 Prozent der Befragten sagten, sie wollten sich eines der Geräte zulegen."

Translation: "According to a recent survey, only few people are interested in purchasing an iPhone. Just 0.4 percent said they would like to buy such a device."
 
Marvy said:
Translation: "According to a recent survey, only few people are interested in purchasing an iPhone. Just 0.4 percent said they would like to buy such a device."
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That doesn't surprise me. Especially if it's going to be sold locked (still not sure about the EU laws on that for sure) and with a two year contract.
I think Europeans will laugh at that idea, and pay nothing for the latest 3g phone and get a 1 year contract if they're in the market for a new phone.
 
I would definetly prefere Vodafone over T-Mobile.

Edit:
I think 3G is somewhat mandatory in Europe. EDGE isn't really promited here. So maybe Apple took that into consideration.
 
killerrobot said:
That doesn't surprise me. Especially if it's going to be sold locked (still not sure about the EU laws on that for sure) and with a two year contract.
I think Europeans will laugh at that idea, and pay nothing for the latest 3g phone and get a 1 year contract if they're in the market for a new phone.
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2-year-contracts are standard in germany, especially for subsidized phones.
 
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