Apple iPhone (news, info, general chat)

Reuters article.

Unsubsidized iPhone 3G priced at €499/€569 in Europe

I wonder if these phones are completely unlocked to all networks even outside of Italy. If so, it could be worth buying one there and then finding your own plan here if the deals that T-Mobile come up with are crap.

This is what we can wait for: New iPhone's business model is tough on unlockers


411$ = 266€

I hope this pans out...

I don't know how they are going to offer them for that cost, nor do I understand how they are so sure they are going to be able to unlock them. For all we know, Apple has closed the loop holes that allow the unlocking, and it could take a long time for someone to break it again.

In the US, the unlimited data plan will cost an additional $10 a month which evens the price of the phone + plan after a two year contract. It's a wise move to get people in the door with a smaller up-front expenditure.

And it's just been made official: http://iphone.vodafone.it/?tk=9616%2Cc&...one.vodafone.it

If they are sold unlocked by Vodafone in Italy, what would stop Vodafone bringing them up from Italy and selling them here?

unsubsidized does not mean unlocked. It just means you don't sign a contract when you buy it.

Let me see if I am understanding shit here.

SatNav is not really possible, because it relies on using Googlemaps with your GPS doodah, correct?

So, if I am abroad, I have to log into googlemaps to use my GPS, and therefore incur some ridiculous "roaming" data charges?

That sounds shite to me.

@don_riina... that's a key point for me too. There is, I think, a separate "Maps" application, but whether it has local maps data is still unknown to me. I really hope they aren't that dumb, as it nearly makes the thing useless.

However, don't forget, it would still be possible for 3rd parties to create a GPS application with locally cached maps.

I don't own an iPhone but I was looking into offline maps recently, prior to the new version being announced with GPS in it. I came across this website (link) where it seems that you can store maps for a City offline in the cache and then use them whenever you want, without the need for a WiFi connection. On the webpage there is also a video of how it works.

Further to that, you can be sure sat nav will be possible in the near future. As mentioned before, TomTom have already got their shit working on the iPhone.

If you are unconvinced by the iPhone, but have yet to see it or use it, then I suggest you do. On paper, there are certainly other devices that seem to stack up as well if not better than it. But once you have used this thing, you would seriously never consider moving back to a Windows Mobile based device.

Can you use it whilst wearing normal gloves yet?

Can you download 3rd party apps yet, specifically RealPlayer?

With RealPlayer pre-installed on the Nokia N95, you can us it as a portable Internet radio device for listening to live streams from BBC Radio (when within range of my Wi-Fi router). No need for a separate Internet radio device. You can also use the BBC iPlayer (for Radio).

Once it has this feature plus a 5MP camera I would consider switching.

I would hope that Apple are clever enough not to let that fucking horrible virus anywhere near the iphone. Realplayer should be wrapped up with Adobe Acrobat, and thrown into the pikey pit. Then again, Apple invented that other irritating virus, itunes, so who knows.

Sat. Nav. - As of now there are now Sat. nav. programs avail. for the iPhone. TomTom have mentioned they have
a ver. of their Navi software ready for the iPhone, but it hasn't been released yet. If/when it is it will be avail. via
the Apple/Iphone store only as apple will be controlling all apps download to iPhones (except those which are Free).
As of now, the only option avail. to you is Google Maps which is not a navigation application, more of a image viewer
which requires a constant internet connection, unless the ver. for iphones has been modified to cache maps data locally.
On the WinMo platform the Google maps app also doesn't cache map data. Google navigator however does cache map
data on the device for offline viewing.

The new iPhone also lacks some standard Bluetooth profiles. Profiles which are needed for things like Dial-up networking
(Using the iPhone as a Modem for a laptop), A2DP (Headphones and other Bluetooth audio devices), PAN (Personal Area Networking)
and a few others... These are all basic profiles included with just about every other Bluetooth equipped device on the market.

For lots more info, on the benefits and pitfalls of the new iphone have a read of the story and the comments - Here


And the other one.. Quicktime

The first iPhone was missing some basic features like voice dialling and personalised ring tones. Any idea if it's available in the new one?

you can use personalised ringtones on the 1st gen iphone so it "should" still be there on the 2nd gen version.

Haven't seen any mention of the voice dialling, sorry.

TomTom speaks up about iPhone situation


Full Interview Link

Tariffs remain unchanged

It seem that T-Mobile is going to be releasing the phone cheaper than the last one, but the plans remain unchanged. If you compare the current deals to those in the UK, you can see how crap we have it over here.

In the UK, for 35 pounds (45 euros), they get 500 minutes talk time, 600 texts and truly unlimited data. Over here, for 49 euros, we get 100 minutes talk time and a tiny 40 texts with "unlimited" data which after 200mb gets restricted to 64kbit/s down and 16kbit/s up (I have read however that these limits are not enforced). Up front cost of the phone is also cheaper in the UK, at around 125 euros for the 8GB, whereas it is reportly going to be 159 euros here. In addition to this, the contract in the UK only runs 18 months, whereas with T-Mobile it will be 24 months.

I have done some investigation about whether it would be cheaper just to buy one from Italy and make my own plan here, but it seems that this iPhone deal is actually quite good by German standards. For unlimited data, most providers charge around 35 euros a month alone!

Why is the market here so expensive compared to the UK?

On another note, they have said that it is now OK for you to use the sim in another device. So it is OK to use it in a UMTS card in your laptop to surf if you want. Hopefully this means that their plan is to bring data usage to the forefront and maybe get rid of these limits completely. Or then again, it could mean the opposite and that they will start enforcing them strictly so they don't care where you use your card.

Either way, I don't think anything will be official until the current "sale" on iPhone's is over at the end of the month.

It may be locked, but it looks like T-Mobile will allow the use of a Multi-Sim in its iPhones so you can use
it on other carriers networks.
.


T-Mobile iPhone FAQ

For a full list of the avail. tariffs and pricing (Including the small test) - Link

I don't see why they would care if you use another sim if they've locked you into a minimum 50 euros a month anyway.. I'm just pissed that it's so expensive here compared to elsewhere. That said, it's probably one of the best deals in Germany if you're interested in data. Pretty pathetic.

Complete S is not bad, 29€ for 500 meg data with 50 inkl minutes talktime. Although it has no hotspot access, and doesn't include sms's I still think it represents good value. I am still struggling to get usage to 100meg after owning the thing for 2 months ^^,

But the conditions in other countries simply are better, so why do we need to pay more in Germany? The €29 actually is quite crap even in Germany... with other providers you can get a flatrate for calls within Germany and within your provider net for around 20-25 Euros and if you need a data flatrate as well, it's another €5-€15 (depending on how much you want). The telec#nts from Bonn always are overpricing...

The iPhone deals have Weekend Flat rate, so free calls to other T-Mobile and fixed lines.

I don't think you can compare the deals of T-Mobile and Vodaphone to E-Plus or to a lesser extent O2. The quality of service of these two provides is substantially worse, and especially with E-Plus, reception can be a problem. I am with Vodaphone right now, and I have simply never had a coverage problem, and I believe it's the same with T-Mobile.

Also, I can't see any mobile flatrates for 5 to 15 euros. E-Plus is the cheapest at 25 euros for flat rate, and it goes up from there.

a little more news, seems like it will be 169€ with the Complete S tarif, or €1 with the highest tarif 89€ per month tarif. Both with 24month contracts

http://www.welt.de/webwelt/article2103029/...and_1_Euro.html

http://www.golem.de/0806/60391.html

I am with o2 and have no problem at all, cause as soon as I'm in a rural area without o2 it switches over to T-Mobile... for €42 you can get a Germany wide + provider net flatrate 24/7 and 5000mb data download... sounds better to me... for €96 you can get a total call flatrate (24/7) + 5000mb data download...

Ok, I seem to have bundled O2 into the crappy E-Plus category unnecessarily if they swap over to T-Mobile when they don't have coverage. I didn't know that.

You mention €96 for flat rate calls and 5000mb data, but the €89 iPhone deal includes 1000 minutes (almost 17 hours) talk time to any network, 300 texts and unlimited data. So the deal isn't bad by German standards in my opinion. Compare that to the UK though, where they get 1200 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited data and only a 18 month contract for 45 quid or €57 a month!

Latest Tarrifs

Looks like the plans will change very slightly. You'll now get 300mb instead of 200mb on the M plan before they cut your speed, although I have read that currently they don't cut your speed at all anyway.

Further to that, they are going to extend the 500mb S plan until the end of September, after which it'll only be 100mb. Phone only 59 euros on the M, 169 on S and 1 euro on the rest.

Still seriously crap compared to the UK or Austria (which for around 40 euros a month gets you 300 texts, 1000 minutes and 3 gig transfer).

Just got an email from T-Mobile that I could order it online now to have it delivered on the 11th. Order a 16gb Black one on the 29 euro plan. Still sore that it costs more than other places, but the deal in itself isn't bad.

Now I have to figure out how to get my number ported over. I guess I'll have to call them tomorrow to see if that is possible.

So you´ll pay 249,95 € and then the monthly fees?

I think I would go for `Complete M`(for an extra 20€ a month) and save 100€ on the phone and get the hotspots? But I still want see If I can score one in the States in July that is unlocked.

With the Hotspot feature, is there a way to hook up the iphone to a laptop? Or do you get a password and username that you can log on with a laptop?

Yeh, I thought about the Complete M, but I don't use the phone that much for talking. The reason I really want it is for internet/computer features on it. 500mb should be enough data per month, and I can't imagine I would ever use one of their hotspots if I could simply just use 3G.

The 100 euros you save on the Complete M package is gone after 5 months. If I want, I can always upgrade to this later if I feel the need. If you buy the M upfront, you cannot downgrade later.

handy overview: http://www.welt.de/webwelt/article2110231/...billig_ist.html

Can any one say anything to this? Thanks, PES

Last time I looked at switching from Vodafone to T-Bollox they said it would take around 3 weeks (to keep same numeber etc). Then my accountant said she can pay €25 for an instant transfer?

So has anyone here switched from Vodafone to Telekom and kept their old number?

More importantly, I presume the silly, annoying, overly long German words can be set to display in an acceptable language on the iphone? My biggest complaint with WM phones over here is that they're in bloody krout. I don't like paying money to see calendar and camera spelt with a bloody "k". Kunts.

Like when I tried to pay someone via the german banking system and the system refused 'cos he had Ä in his name. What a load of cock when your own banks won't accept they way you spell your fucking words.

Its all toß.

Like I said, I ordered this iPhone last night, and was hoping to get some information on this while ordering (because surely almost everyone wants to take their number with them), but there was nothing.

So today I rang their pathetic hotline.* I was told that what I should do is when I receive the iPhone through the mail, I should just inform my current provider that I quit and ask for a written confirmation. When I get that, to go with it and my iPhone to the store and they will be able to swap it over.

Not too bad in the end, because at least it'll all work when I get it in the mail and I'll just have a second number for a while until I switch.

* To explain the patheticness of it, firstly, a computer picks up and says to me in German "I'm just like a human assistant, just ask me your question". I thought, "This is simply never going to work" but I told it "Rufnummer mitnehmen", and like I expected it went off on some other rant about something related to "Rufnummer", but nothing to do with "mitnehmen". I was ranting here at work about it, and put a German guy on so he could laugh at their pathetic system too.

He laughed for a while at the notion that this system could ever possibly work, but I was pissed cause I just wanted to speak with someone, but there didn't seem to be that option. My colleague then came up with the great idea just to say "Berater" and that shit worked. So I eventually got to talk to someone.


You can change the language no problems.

Darknight posted this on another thread. Looks interesting as it gives another sign the new phone may be had without a contract. Garnted you have to pay for it: 699$ for the 16GB, but that is €443.00...

and they have changed their pricing...

I do not know what to think of this price: Apple iPhone 3G iPhone 100% Unlocked - PRE-ORDER $444.67

EDIT:

Easy.. Its called a scam.

I googled the site and came up with no scam warnings.

Then go ahead and buy one from them and let us know what happens.

I am flying to the States next week. I will keep an eye on this offer while there. But I don't need three iphones.

It's a scam. The PayPal & credit card logos are tiny and greyed out at the bottom of the page.



In itself this should be a red flag. If you register suddenly the only payment option is 'MoneyGram Money Transfer - US Branch'.