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UK iPhone users to see better value service plans
Amongst a general re-shuffling of contract pricing, O2 has announced that iPhone customers are going to be getting a better deal on their contracts. The UK contracts were, at launch, notably slim on both calls and texts when compared to other O2 packages. Whilst the higher price was due in part to the inclusion of the Cloud WiFi and unlimited data, there was speculation that the prices were higher to pay for Apple's take of the monthly revenue on the service plans.Thankfully, that's all about to change in February, as O2 has brought its iPhone tariffs in line with regular O2 deals. For those on the cheapest £35-per-month package (such as yours truly), minutes get tripled to 600 and texts to 500 per month, and the £45-per-month package gets bumped to 1200 minutes and 500 texts (previously costing £55). O2 has decided to remove the £55 option of the past, and will reduce their future bills to £45, or allow them to move to the £75, 3,000 minute / 500 SMS package. If you have your iPhone on O2, you'll want to check out this page for the complete low-down.[Via twitter / Macworld and thanks to all those who sent this in!]
O2 removes 200MB Fair-Use policy for UK iPhone
There's been a fair bit of debate (and disappointment) with the O2 200 megabyte 'Fair-Use' data transfer policy that was expected to appear with the U.K. iPhone contracts this Friday. Thankfully, it seems O2 has heard us: late last night, the Telegraph newspaper revealed that O2 has now scrapped the limit on just how much data we will be able to burn through. Although the Telegraph refers to a "200 megabit" limit, as far as we know the limit actually was measured in megabytes. O2's terms and conditions page now says:"There is no limit on the monthly network usage. However if we feel that your activities are so excessive that other customers are detrimentally affected, we may give you a written warning (by email or otherwise). In extreme circumstances, if the levels of activity do not immediately decrease after the warning, we may terminate or suspend your Services."Surprised that O2 has come full circle? We are too, but we're also very glad to see that they're listening to their potential customers (even if using the phone as a modem is unsurprisingly against the terms of your contract). If you're wondering about the story behind the Apple / O2 partnership, there's also a fascinating insight to the deal found on the Telegraph website.The iPhone goes on sale at 6:02pm on Friday (seriously - did O2 really need another plug?).Thanks Dom!
Apple releases in-depth UK & German iPhone sites
With just one week, yes a mere seven days, until the iPhone touches down (legitimately) here in the UK and Germany, Apple has unveiled more in-depth iPhone product pages with the ads and more material for the launch of the much-fabled phone. Unfortunately, my favourite ad from the US - 'Calamari' - hasn't made the flight across the Atlantic due to the simple fact that there's no iTunes Movie Store here. All the US videos and guides such as the handy 'Getting Ready for iPhone' are available, as is a more comprehensive pricelist for the iPhone accessories (I'll save rants about 'Rip-off Britain' for another day).If you've not got your fill of iPhone eye candy (where have you been?) then this certainly is the definitive place to find out what we can expect to be talking about next week - American readers, be warned!Thanks tipster 'Hutch'!
After the storm: iPhone & the U.K.
September 18th was perhaps one of the most hotly-anticipated days for us Apple-loving Brits. The iPhone, arguably one of the most hyped and hotly anticipated mobile phone handsets, was rumoured to be coming to our fair isle. Our resident iPhone code-guru Erica posted after the event on the most disappointing aspect of the announcement - the lack of 3G despite its prevalence this side of the pond, the contract pricing, and the 30% coverage of O2 EDGE services in the U.K. Let's take a look at these concerns, and see whether they are unfounded.
Metaliveblogging Apple's "Mum is no longer the word" event
Good morning, dear TUAW readers. London calling. It's Tuesday morning, and that can only mean one thing. We've been getting tonnes of tips that the Apple Store is down. The Apple store is still online, although tipster Gary tipped us off that the O2 store - the very same network rumoured to be the sole carrier of the iPhone here in the U.K. is in fact offline. Yes, that's right - iDay / iPhone Day / totally iPhone-unrelated announcement day is upon us, so sit back and enjoy the show. If you're short of reading material before the event, we'd recommend you check out this article in yesterday's Guardian about the deals rumoured to have been struck to bring the iPhone to our fair isle and beyond.Summary iPhone coming to the U.K. November 9th Will cost £269 and be available from Apple Retail stores and the Carphone Warehouse. 8GB model, EDGE not 3G (so the same model as the US). iTunes WiFi Music Store will of course come with the iPhone. O2 is the exclusive carrier Contracts cost £35, £45 or £55 a month and include unlimited (within fair-use) WiFi at The Cloud hotspots and EDGE & GPRS on O2. For more details there's a shiny new O2 page here. If you want to read the live text transcript, click the link below.
Apple to host UK Special Event 18/9
Thanks to tipster Lee for sending this, courtesy of MacFormat. Apple has announced an invite-only event to be held next Tuesday morning (18th September) at London's Regent Street Apple Store. The event invite is simply headed with the tagline "Mum is no longer the word" and instructions on how to get to the Regents Street store. My money, as with most, is on an iPhone announcement - possibly UK-specific given that it's just one week before Apple Expo Paris (Europe's largest Apple event) - however we'll clearly have to wait until next week to get any more out of Apple.
