We've just received some exciting news for our UK readers from an O2 insider. It seems that O2 is really taking advantage of the 3G iPhone and giving their customers some real value. Unfortunately AT&T in the US doesn't seem to be as aggressive with their plans.
- O2 in conjunction with BTOpenzone and The Cloud are creating a Wifi "wireless mesh network" across London and other UK metropolitan areas. The coverage is supposed to rival the coverage of cell phone towers. iPhone users should be able to use this network seamlessly. Also, O2 customers will be able to log into this mesh with their laptops or desktops.
- The 3G iPhone WILL allow Bluetooth Tethering for laptops. We asked about Wifi tethering and got a blank stare. We'll take what we can get. They said that this was 99.9 percent certain and "Apple can always change their minds". Since O2 controls the network and costs involved the decision would largely be theirs.
- O2 will control everything network related on the iPhone (APN, etc.). Their settings will be on the iPhone you buy from the Apple Stores as well.
- O2 is EXTREMELY happy with the Apple partnership. They were in a fierce bidding war with Vodafone for the contract to carry the UK iPhone and the underdog. At the end they settled on giving Apple 15% of their iPhone revenues across the board (for Generation 1) which Vodafone declined. Had all things been equal, Apple would have gone with Vodafone because of their size and scale. Their take is that Vodafone is very sorry that they let the deal slip away. O2 is also happy to be associated with the Apple brand which is helping theirs climb up the ranks in the UK and the world.
- They will offer free iPhones (even 16Gb on their largest plan) with a plan and pay as you go iPhones but obviously they won't be usable with other carriers as we stated yesterday.
Will AT&T and the other carriers follow O2's lead? We can only hope!
Update: It does appear that there is a SIM card tray on the 3G iPhone though it isn't as pronounced as before. Perhaps there was some miscommunication about "the hammer"...
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Great Article...
Once again, 9to5 digs up what really matters. Well done Cleve!
Built-in SIM, that's not legal in all countries
In Denmark a mobile phone shall be unlockable after 6 months.
How is apple gonna cope with that if the SIM shall be removed with a hammer ?
// Sebastian
In Russia, the SIM card
In Russia, the SIM card removes you!
Russian Reversal ftw, LOL
Russian Reversal ftw, LOL
no replaceable sim card
@ no replaceable sim card: On the tech specs page of the iphone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html), you can read "sim card tray" on the pic in the right top corner. So it should be replaceable...
yeah or you could see that
yeah or you could see that from the image we posted.
Yes, I know, but I think,
Yes, I know, but I think, when I started posting, the pic wasn't there yet. (I'm a slow poster ;-)
a hammer?
No hammer... you will be able to change the SIM. In Italy they'll actually be selling unlocked iPhones.
http://www.macitynet.it/ipodnet/aA32833/vodafone_conferma_iphone_con_ric...
I don't buy it to be honest.
I don't buy it to be honest. Non-removable SIM? They said that about the iphone v1 too.
Bluetooth tethering would be great but as that isn't in the V2.0 software and I strongly doubt O2 are getting a specific build tailored to them.
As far as 'the cloud' goes.. that company are known for making outrageous claims about their availability (this city is supposed to be a 'wifi hotzone' but the only cloud hotspot I ever saw was in McDonalds, and that was disabled after a couple of weeks as it never worked). BT Openzone I'd trust a bit more.. but they're far from being able to come up with the many hundreds of thousands of hotspots you'd need per city to create anything close to a mesh.
The cloud
The Cloud is great!! It has been pretty much everywhere I have visited in Kent, Norfolk & London recently!! If they create a mesh when adding BT Openzone that would be amazing. I really would love to see Bluetooth tethering too. I really really hope this is true :o)
Cloud blah blah
My experience of The Cloud is fairly average. Im in the North of England however, but around 30% of hotspots simply dont seem to work...but better than nothing when you find one that does. And, their coverage isnt all they reckon either.
I also use BT Openzone, qualifying for free use through my BT Broadband account, and they are more reliable.
The suggestion of a 'mesh' is highly likely in larger cities. The reason i say this is that in Leeds City Centre for example, most phone boxes are an openzone wifi hotspot and this does mean in the centre that you can generally pick up a wifi signal, but there are parts of the centre where you cant.
Also, BT Openzone are committing to 5 wifi cities and you will find details on this if you dig around their website enough. They are somthing like Liverpool, Birmingam, MK, possibly Newcastle and somewhere else maybe. If this is the case....and they are openzone hotspots...and BT Openzone hotspots are added to your O2 plan, then this is very very good news for iphone O2 customers. Whether it will eventually reach the concept of major cities having a seamless 'mesh' remains to be seen but dont knock this as it is a major step in the right direction.
BT have a major advantage over other hotspot providers in that they can use their call boxes as hotspots and this will be what they are referring to when they are talking about attempting to cover large areas.
The problem is that BT have
The problem is that BT have been progressively removing call boxes for years.. mobile phones have pretty much made them obsolete.
We have BT Openzone call boxes - their range is probably about 20 feet radius. They'd need to build a hell of a lot more to make anything close to a mesh.
I get free BT Openzone through work (and as they peer with TMobile that covered the two largest providers). It's still fairly sparse though.. there's Starbucks (on and off, our largest one hasn't had a working hotspot for 2 years now) and Costa Coffee now that they've dropped their proprietary crap.
I still think a mesh is a pipe dream. A hotstpot every 40 feet is about 1400 hotspots per square mile.
Nice. Good find.
Really in love with the articles I can find here. Like the updates very much.
My question, is what do you expect the iPhone's price to be on the Pay+Go uncontracted phones? I'll be certain to buy it if it's £200 or less.
I would be horrified if it did go down to £100 though, it would destroy the brand from the inside out.
It isnt going to be £200 or
It isnt going to be £200 or less. They arent going to sell it at the same price as an ipod touch.
Try £269 as a good starting point. Could be a lot higher - unlikely to be lower than that i would say.
Have a look and see how much an N95 would cost you unlocked - about £300 id say
complete bs on sim card
the apple uk web site states the contents of the box include
1- sim extractor tool (aka a nice paperclip)
sheesh... rumours, bs, just delete it.
Bluetooth tethering is BS.
Bluetooth tethering is BS.
O2 existing user upgrades
I think I am missing something. For existing 8GB iPhone users, the upgrade path looks identical to just buying a new contract. Has anyone else spotted a differentiator which rewards existing users?
Existing users
I think you're right - I'm on the £35 contract (I moved back from the £45 contract when they increased the number of texts) and want the 16GB 3G iPhone - it'll cost me £169 - the same as a new customer.
Strange!
Hope the rumour about bluetooth tethering is correct - would be really useful and mean I don't have to carry my T-Mobile USB key (although still have to pay it's 18 month contract - damn!)
The benefit is getting to
The benefit is getting to keep your old iPhone without needing to complete an 18 month contract.
When you signed up for your old contract you were expecting to have to wait till the end of it in case you wanted to upgrade or change your phone. Now you get the new phone first thing regardless of how long you have remaining on your contract. I don't think it is a bad deal.
Nobody else has done that before especially in the UK.
its a good thing
I agree, o2 are offering you something you cant get in the uk with other mobiles and that is an early upgrade. If you dont like this, well you can just buy the phone on pay as you go...whats the problem. In my area i get more BT openzone than cloud, so it is a win win situation. If they also allow (which i doubt ) bluetooth tethering, well that will be a good link up to the mackbook air. For once o2 and UK posts are showing the americans how to do it.
Steve must know that europe is where the demand is for hdspa, thats why we call it hdspa here and not 3g in the usa because they are not so used to it. lets hope o2 can meet 3g demand though, bec from using tmobile hdspa - that is pretty good.
iPhone v1, O2 and reception
I've got a v1 iPhone. I live and work in London, so I don't expect reception to be a problem, but it is. I didn't go for the jailbreaking option and I'm stuck with an 18 month contract. To date the reception has been pants. I'm hoping the v2 iPhone, with its plastic back, will improve things, but I doubt it. I am just not prepared to extend my contract unless the reception problem is solved. I love the functionality of the iPhone but I need a reliable phone, and right now the Apple/O2 combo doesn't give me this.
Pants
Tell me and us Yanks, what is 'pants'? What's the origin?
Wow...I really wish AT&T was
Wow...I really wish AT&T was as open to being decent to customers as 02 is. A free iPhone and a real wifi network? Thats like a dream.
Pants is Brit slang for not
Pants is Brit slang for not very good, which itself is an understatement for crap.
O2 coverage
I'm surprised at the London user having reception problems - I live in Cheshire and whilst I don't always get Edge data, I do get a decent signal 99% of the time.
My daughters live in the middle of Wales and I get a good signal there too - but no edge.
Sounds like something else might be at fault - is your handset faulty?
Having seen the prices v1 iPhones are getting on eBay, I should be easily able to cover the cost of my upgrade - splendid news!
Not a good answer.
I understand that pants means crap, or not very good by reading the context in which it's used. That doesn't explain the use of the word. One might just as well use 'nose' to mean not very good, or 'bedsocks'. The origin is necessary.
If you had said that North Hants was a lousy place to live. So 'pants' is used as rhyming slang, I could understand. What is the explanation of the use of the word?
Pants
As far as I remember the use of the word "pants" to mean something or a situation that was bad or crap came into popular use in the late 1990. Then it seemed only to be used by school kids because they would not be told off for using the word in that context where as they would be told off if they said "crap".
In the UK 'pants' are
In the UK 'pants' are under-pants as opposed to trousers as in the US. I would suggest that the British find the word amusing in itself, as well as the fact that pants (or under-pants) are fairly funny things. The image of Y-fronts is comical and one I associate with the slang use of 'pants'.
If you wanted to start a thing for 'nose' or 'bedsocks' then I think it could become popular too. Give it time though, and get some early adopters on board if you want it evolve its meaning.
"Pants" means never having to say you're happy
Think underpants. Then think brown stains (skid marks). Now you have some idea of what it's like to have an iPhone with O2 (in parts of London at least).
The black plastic back is a
The black plastic back is a bit bothering, e.g. scratches etc..