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iPhone in the UK: O2, £269 and coming in November
Author: Phil CogarPublished: 18th September 2007
The iPhone is coming to the UK in November but is it worth £899 over 18 months? Probably.
The iPhone didn't receive the most hypothesised upgrade though and will remain on EDGE and GPRS - that means no 3G connectivity for some high speed downloading. You will, however have unlimited data service on £35, £45, and £55 plans and Apple has teamed up with Cloud to offer over 7,000 Wi-Fi hotspots that will allow connection to internet sites and the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store just in case you want a little more speed or need some form of internet access.
O2 currently has EDGE coverage in roughly 30 percent of Europe but is striding to building a larger network just for the mobile.
Steve Jobs commented on the non-availability of 3G saying, "The 3G chipsets are real power hogs. Handset battery life cuts power to two to three hours. Our phone has a talk time of eight hours and that's really important when you want to use your phone for internet and music."
If you do decide to pick up an iPhone from O2, just keep in mind that you'll be locked into an 18-month contract with the network. And that unlimited data that's included on some of the plans? If you view over 1,400 pages per day, you'll be breaking the fair usage agreement. Also worth bearing in mind that £35 per month over the life of the plan, plus the initial purchase price, puts you in the red to the tune of £899 - a hefty sum for sure.
Word on the
Picking one up or are you going to set this one out and see if Apple drops the price again in a couple of months? Or would you sooner buy an iPod touch and keep your existing phone? Let us know over in the forums or in the comment section below.
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Comments (39)Stats: 0.132 seconds
pay for the phone... + get forced into an overpriced contract... they should be jailed for robbery.
but seeing how many they claim to have sold allready it seems as ther are indeed poeple who dont mind getting robbed.
Sam
Any way i still don't get why people feel they need to carry around there music collections, all i do is make a playlist of what i'm into at the moment and it takes aboe 2 mins tops to put them on to my muvo.
I-Phone = waste of time rip off!
a) 200 mins & 200 txts per month is way over the top for me. I can't get through 75mins & handful of texts per month as it is.
b) My phones last on average 2 years before being replaced, and they're always on contract (I really can't be asked with pay as you go). So 18 months isn't an issue.
c) I'll be getting a iPod Touch for free, essentially. One that has a much better screen than that of the iTouch. So it has half the memory? iTouch has no phone, no bluetooth.
d) I'm an Apple Whore. I admit it freely. Does this make me an iPonce that buys iShit? Nah - I'm not touching AppleTV with a barge pole.
e) My old 30gig iPod Photo can stay as the Jag entertainment system. The iPhone will be mine. I don't need all my Music at work, and definatly not MrsGOOs - Lets just say her tastes differ from mine vastly...
f) Oh come on - it looks so friggin cool. :D
I hate this in ISP contracts as Ulmited means there is no limit. All the providers that sell a unlimited service and have a fair usage policy should be finded for false advertising.
Phone and contract is way too expensive. Im not going to pay just under a grand for a phone, i'll have a new Pc instead.
there's a problem....
the 35£ contract basically makes you pay all those minutes and text... if you dont need them your far better off with a cheaper contract or pay as you go.
As for unlimited - for most people, I would have thought 1400 pages a day was as close to unlimited as makes no odds. I doubt I even do that sat at home on my laptop. I mean, you're not going to be using your phone as your main browser, are you? It's more a case of you need some info whislt your out and about, google it. Or visit a website you just found out about whilst away from home.
Yes they can say it costs them to pay for the upgrades (EDGE being a downgrade to 3G but hey) to their network, but I don't feel the contract options are very competitive.
what he said
Waiting for the K850i. Too much money, i never listen to much music on the phone anyway, had a 2GB card in the old one, and only had 5 tracks!! I drive to work and back, so have the car stereo, when at home have the pc.
I think its all just a big fashion statement, "look what i got.."
£35 a month, on T-mobile flex35 can get you more mins and txt!!
Not worth it!!!
You`d have to be extemely stupid to buy one of those and a shite O2 contract, or have more money than sense.
Apple products are always expensive, its just like when you think to yourself I want a Mac but then don't want to pay that £200-300 extra when you get an exact same specified machine from other manufacturer. We buy Apple products because the design, look & feel kick ass!
People out there must be really sucked in by the iApple thing to not see that there are both better and cheaper phones out there! I'd be happy with any of the recent Sony Ericsson phones over this!!
You say you use 75 minutes plus "a handful" of texts a month. Let's say you use 50 texts (probably an over-estimate) which are worth 10p each (a ripoff in itself, 10p for 140 bytes, but that's another issue). At £35 a month you're looking at £30 on calls + £5 on texts, which works out costing you 40p per minute for your calls. Hardly a great deal.
Don't get me wrong - if you want the phone, that's your choice and I won't criticise anyone who chooses to buy it, but don't kid yourself that it's anything other than a massive luxury. For zero initial outlay and a smaller monthly cost, you could have a smartphone with many of the same features.
the only thing other smartphones lack is the multitouch display and the different UI, if thats worth £270 + 35/month to you then ok
certainly not to me, im waiting for orange to roll out this at the end of september and then upgrading to that.
:)
i think i've still got my original 3310, probably in a drawer with a load of other old electronics crap :D
Old School Dude.....Old School
I think he means that he'll be buying a phone but getting an iPod Touch for free...meaning that since GOO is an Apple whore, he won't need to go out and buy an iTouch. I'm pretty sure that he probably really, really wants one.
Yep. Got it in one. :)
Actually, is it wrong to still want a 7110? (The sprung loaded door was missing on the 8110.)
1, Its too expensive
2, Its not 3G
3, Still can't use it as a laptop modem
The cost isn't so much of an issue - I'm enough of an Apple nut to have stumped up for it but points 2, and 3, are total deal-breakers for me.
The contract is not sky-high, but payign big bucks for the phone on top is a bit heavy.
However it is perfect for those that buy it for a bit of bling in the pub, where top-end pricing is an advantage.
£270 is a immense amount to pay for a shiny casing
Not so many youtube videos. I suppose you won't be doing much youtube browsing on gprs anyway.
I say get a itouch and glue a thin candy bar phone on the back.. or just not bother.