Italy, Spain and Switzerland are next up in getting the iPhone officially from Apple according to a post by Macworld UK.
Spain Telefonica (parent company of O2, the UK iPhone provider) and Telecom Italia Mobile for Italy are both said to be in the latter stages of a planned release.. Macity has reported that iPhone's software already includes a piece of code (the TIM_Italy.bundle) that strongly suggests support for that network is already being built-in.
The announcements are going down next week in Barcelona at the World Mobile Congress (Feb 11-14) according to their sources.
A third publication, Le Temps, claims that Switzerland will also carry the iPhone on Swisscom by late February. That is for the few people left in Europe who don't already have a hacked iPhone.
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Great news for those
Great news for those countries who have been patiently waiting :D
Does this mean we're going
Does this mean we're going to get a Spanish keyboard?
still no australia...
still no australia...
They can't even seem to be
They can't even seem to be able to put it on a truck headed north to Canada. :P Of course our data rates are stupid high, as in a lot of African countries have lower rates. So that's probably not helping.
Most of Europe, but not the
Most of Europe, but not the country right next to the United States... Canada.
What??? Not the
What??? Not the Netherlands? What kind of nonsense is this? If this continues I will certainly have to get a hacked version!
Most of the Dutch carriers
Most of the Dutch carriers ditched their EDGE networks and are all happily using UMTS and/or HDSPA. The only provider that still has some EDGE infrastructure is T-Mobile. Since it's T-Mo that got the deal in Germany, maybe in the Netherlands?
The other problem is that The Netherlands is a cutthroat business when it comes to cellphones and smartphones, I don't think that the iPhone would be such a success if it follows the same strategy as in the United States. But that's just me though.
It is indeed pretty pathetic
It is indeed pretty pathetic that the Netherlands has to wait for the 3G or 3.5G version, because we built down our EDGE network. We can't help the fact that we're ahead of everyone else. :P. But nonetheless, atleast we get the 3G version when it comes out and we get a good one at that, we weren't first stuck with the 2.5G one.
Also, another thing, in NL, overhere, most service providers don't have you pay for the phone at the start of the contract. You pay it back over the months as you pay for your service plan. Not many people here are willing to shell out 400 and then pay a probable ridiculous amount each month. Just my 2 cents.
@ fluoride that problem
@ fluoride
that problem exists everywhere, half the modern world doesn't use edge, and most of the modern world is used to getting handsets for "free". But if you really look at the numbers you will see that you pay out your nose after signing that contract and 30€ every month for two year is what like 700€ almost.
Id rather pay 400 now and if I get fired in six months i am not still paying for a handset that got stolen two months prior
The problem specific to the
The problem specific to the Netherlands is that we don't have an edge network anymore (save for t-mo). This means that Apple has no bargaining power because it cannot go to a competitor since, well, there are none with edge.
Concerning the rest of the world, I can't tell, but I can tell you that competition in the Netherlands is fierce, I got a sim-only contract by Telfort with 300 minutes of talking for €8.95 a month. Add this to the fact that Dutch people are not really big users of mobile internet (even though this is changing lately), you get a pretty unattractive package when it comes to introducing a product such as the iPhone, imho.
Now, let's hope that the release of v2.0 is going to take ages. I'm a bit afraid that the release of the SDK will be a "lease on life" for iPhone v1.0 and they will introduce v2.0 when the first movers will be freed of their cellphone contracts.
I hope the iPhone takes the
I hope the iPhone takes the world by storm. We need an OS revolution. I am personally waiting for 3G but will certanly be getting an iPhone. I guess I will be able to goto Italy now!
Parker - MacSoftwareList.com
Most of my coworkers are
Most of my coworkers are using hacked iPhones, I was waiting for the official release, but still no love for Sweden it seems…
I would have stood in line
I would have stood in line for the iPhone. But the product is a year old now which, in mobile phone terms, is like AGES. I live in Switzerland and rumors say it will be available here quite soon as well.
But the contract is a 24 months mandatory contract... And I wouldn't buy such a phone right now and be stuck with a 24 months contract. iPhone 3G might be shortly around the corner (less than 10 months is my take). I am therefore waiting for a refresh of the device instead of asking myself questions about when it will be available.
And, before you ask :-), in the meantime I will be enjoying the iPod Touch 16GB with the new applications (my sister will buy one in NYC when she goes there for work).
All in all the iPhone is amazing, but the product is "old" now and not worth a 24 months contract with any carrier.
Is people still waiting for
Is people still waiting for a phone/gadget, 1 year old / 1 year after is was released?
1 year on this kind of market is hugeeeeee!!!
still waiting for Canada's
still waiting for Canada's turn...
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