Achtung! Motorola Milestone now free on contract in Germany, sort of
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 17th 2009 5:03PM
posted November 17th 2009 5:03PM
Already jealous of the multitouch functionality afforded by Motorola Droids (or Milestones, as it were) sold outside the United States? Well, you might just want to look away for this one -- it seems that O2 is now practically giving away the phone in Germany. Specifically, it's selling it for a mere €1 with a 2 year-contract, which itself can be had for as little as €20 per month. As with other non-US carries, however, you'll have to make do without Google's own free navigation service, but you will at least get a 60-day Motorola's MotoNAV service in its place, and the endless joy that comes from telling your American friends that you got a free Droid.
[Thanks, Bob]
Update: As some commenters have helpfully pointed out, that €20 a month for two years is actually on top of a standard contract, which certainly makes the deal a tad less attractive -- although you can technically still walk away with a Droid for just a handful of Euros.
[Thanks, Bob]
Update: As some commenters have helpfully pointed out, that €20 a month for two years is actually on top of a standard contract, which certainly makes the deal a tad less attractive -- although you can technically still walk away with a Droid for just a handful of Euros.
The projected capacitance is insane, I can make the piano app play like crazy with my hand a full 4 cm away from the thing.
O2 has changed the way they handle contracts. Instead of confusing pricing for phones, if you sign up for a 2 year contract, they just give you a EU 200 credit for your account. That's effectively the discount you get on whatever phone you buy.
So, if you buy this phone with a 2 year contract, the price is EU 281 (at least as I understand it), with the EU 20/month being paid by O2 for the first 10 months, and then you getting charged EU 20/month extra for the next 14 months.
I think this is actually a big improvement since you know what you're getting. The EU 481 is also fairly competitive, judging by other sites selling the device (it's just available online if you like, you don't need to buy it through O2).
(Also, the O2 plans are quite good: for EU 0/month for voice and EU 20 for data, you get unlimited Internet on up to 4 devices--any devices--and reasonably cheap per-minute charges. For EU 20/month for voice and data each, you get unlimited domestic calls and unlimited data. So, put a SIM in your Milestone, another one in your old phone, one in your laptop, and one in your WiFi access point. Other German providers have similarly cheap plans. US cell phone service sucks in comparison.)
The text in your own screenshot very, very clearly states that the price is 1 + 20 * 24 = 481 euro. No "sort of" or "technically" about it. Why is this so difficult to grasp?
You could "technically walk away with" any product you want for 0 euro, if you pay with a credit card and only count what you pay in cash.
Prices and rates can change.
After I found out Tom Tom charges like 80 bucks to update the maps, the monthly service charge for GPS navigation seems reasonable - since the maps will always be up to date.
O2 Germany doesn't subsidide its phones any more. The 20€ are a monthly payment rate for the phone, you also can buy it 481€ at once, I think. Sim-Lock free, contract optional.
That sounds good actually, I've always been contract, but it's immoral to both change you through a contract and to maintain a lock on your phone. If you buy a sofa on credit, you can use it in any house you wish!
Could you please read my comment below and help me out to buy one ?
Another fuck-you sales concept. And as stupid as they come, it only looks interesting for about 0,5 seconds.
actually it's not that stupid. in germany there aren't so many subsidised contracts out there like some years before.
it's a new business concept by o2 which likely will be followed by others too.
in germany there are loads of discount providers who just give you a sim card and super cheap calling fees WITHOUT A CONTRACT. they normally don't offer phones with it. so offers like that one are actually a good selling point for customers like me who want a new phone without shelling out the total amount at once.
all the cheap providers formerly were prepaid only, but meanwhile they have switched to automatic account balancing and even postpaid which makes them quite equal to a standard provider. standard fees are for example 9cent for one minute call or one sms is also 9cent. there are also flatrate options available which you can decide to use whenever you want them on a monthly base. so you don't have to be stuck in a 2year-contract just to have a flatrate
So... I'm guessing they won't deliver to the UK...
to all my german friends; i reside in france and tried to buy it but got this message:
“Produkt vormerken!
Produkt nicht verfügbar
Das gewünschte Produkt ist derzeit ausverkauft oder noch nicht in unserem Online-Shop verfügbar. Sie können sich hier gerne registrieren und wir informieren Sie umgehend, sobald das Produkt lieferbar ist. ”
which means it is not available; do they mean they are selling it only to physical stores, or only to people connecting to the o2 site with a german ip adress ?
hey vincent, it just means that the phone is not available yet
i am fed up by the lack of communication from motorola (and nokia). How ironic from these companies selling communication devices !
the n900 seems very tempting now... if only it wasn't rescheduled again to beginning of december. sigh
sorry forgot to add:
engadget is a bit late on that "news". the website offering the phone is already up for three weeks now. i don't know the exact release date, but i think you will have to wait until the end of november until you can order it from the website.
if you live close to the german border you might have it faster by walking into an o2 store. you can find one of these in most towns.
thanks for this answer...
i was reading the o2online website daily, and always got this same message pasted before. That's why this news seems weird.
We are the lucky here in Europe , i dont think so , in USA you have N900 for 649$ and that is 463€ ....and here is 600€ and that is 840$ so in the end who are the lucky basterds....
@ papabear_2_3
search better in several european countries and you can find the n900 with qwerty keyboard for a lower price.