Following this morning's "unsurprising" announcement at the Apple store in London regarding the inevitable launch of the Apple iPhone here in the UK within the next 6 weeks, the question is will you be considering a purchase come November 9th or is the lack of 3G support just too painful to bear the £269 price point?
At 10am (GMT) this morning, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone would be launching here in the UK on November 9th, exclusive to O2. The following details were revealed:
- Same model that is currently available in the US (i.e. 8 GB, No 3G).
- £269 including VAT - roughly $535 US (currently $399 US if purchased in the US).
- Minimum 18 month contract with O2.
- Unlimited data plans ranging from £35 to £55 a month (However, there is a limit of 1,400 internet pages per day which would break the terms of the contract).
- Visual Voicemail.
- Carphone Wharehouse will be an official distribution partner making the iPhone available from a total of 1300 retail stores nationwide.
- Support transfer of your existing mobile number to O2.
- O2 have made an agreement with "Cloud" for 7,500 free WiFi spots to provide internet access for iPhone customers across the UK.
- Activation via iTunes.
- iTunes will also facilitate future updates to the iPhone software and allow you to select your initial data plan.
Initial Thoughts
It has always bothered me having to wait months after a new product has been released in the US before these same services and or devices are available in the UK or other parts of the world for that matter. The iPhone is no different, having been first announced at the beginning of the year and finally launching in the US in June, it will be a further 5 months before this device will be available here and what do we get for our patience...well by the look of things from today's announcement..not a lot.
With the recent launch of the iPod Touch touting a 16GB flash drive compared to the current iPhone's 8GB storage limit coupled with the massive price drop of the US iPhone from $599 to $399, I must admit I was pretty hopeful for a 2nd generation iPhone boasting larger storage capacities and possibly 3G support to debut overseas. Alas this was not to be the topic of today's announcement.
According to Steve Jobs, adding a 3G chipset into the iPhone would decrease the battery life to just 2 - 3 hrs as compared to the current 6hrs of internet surfing and email checking which can be expected over the standard EDGE network. However, here in the UK EDGE is not widely supported (O2 currently only have around 30% coverage nationwide), as many networks have moved on to support the faster speeds offered by UMTS (3G) which is now much more prevalent. It just seems such a shame that one of the iPhone's most notable features, its superior mobile web browser, will not be utilized to its full potential especially for mobile users who will undoubtedly find themselves in a "dead area" with limited connectivity.
The Long Wait Continues...
For a device that relies heavily on a solid web connection to take advantage of the Google Maps integration, Safari Web Browser, YouTube Videos, iTunes Online Store and the ever growing list of web based applications built specifically for the iPhone, I have serious doubts that the proposed connectivity provided by a few thousand free Wifi hotspots scattered across the country coupled with limited EDGE coverage will provide a seamless experience. So for me I am definitely going to wait for version 2, without question, and for now I will continue to use a regular mobile phone for everyday calls and my laptop with Vodaphone 3G USB modem (now up to a staggering 7.2 MB/s connection - that's faster than the average home broadband connection), for VPN and web browsing.
The question is, will you wait....