iPhone

[Dilusion]

You getting it? Me? Too far out of my price range. 

[ABoerma]

Well, I decided I need a new mobile phone yesterday, so... $499? _And_ a 2-year contract? You know, when Steve says it like he does, it doesn't sound too expensive. But it won't be for a year and a half until it comes to Europe, probably, it's way above my budget and it's not like I really need all those functions. I just want a phone.

By the way, "Boy, have we patented it." =)

[Shmi]

But it won't be for a year and a half until it comes to Europe, probably

they said it would be out in europe the 4th fiscal quarter of this year. So, probably for the holiday season.

[zizdodrian]

I'm gonna get one. Pity it only comes to Australia in 2008. That will give time for everyone to copy it and it won't be so special any more.

[Brother Munro]

As I am in the UK on a pay as you go it would be easy to get one, and my 3rd Gen iPod is getting a little long in the tooth now...

Dammit! £250-£300 for the 4GB? I guess it includes the calls, texts etc...

Curse you Apple!

(And I have found out why it is not unlocked, the visual voicemail etc. needs the carrier to alter their service)

[Jaycee]

i'm not gonna get one. i'm not even considering going back to a phone/mp3 combo for a few years because of several reasons. mainly that the battery power suffers a lot if you want to make and recieve calls and listen to music. days out are a no no. then there's the low capacity too.

still, at least Xplay will let you upload away from itunes now so i could ignore that side of it.

but to replace my lovely 30Gb player and year old mobile phone for one expensive unit with a million functions i'll never use? not to mention my player isn't an ipod so i'd have to convert my music collection too.

i am looking at updating my phone, but i only spend £10 a month on it instead of what'll probably turn out to be £30+ and a nice whack for the unit. waste of money in my case, or if i'm honost, for 99% of ipod users too.

@Munro: remember, contract means £xxx for the phone plus the monthly charge, and that won't be cheap if they limit the networks it's released on.

[Brother Munro]

I knew there was a reason I didn't like contracts. Still if you work for a company that provides them...

But now that the iPhone has been unvieled, will the iPod get similar treatment? To be honest my T630i does for my phone needs, so an iPhone without the phone stuff, contract or camera,  but with everything else (patricularly WiFi) and a bigger HD and battery would sell like hotcakes.

However, remember the first iPod? That was $499 too. Look at the iPod now. $249 and a smeg load more features (not to mention 6 times the storage).

[Jaycee]

oh i think this will be a great piece of kit 2 or 3 generations down the line. i always wait for the first price drop and a couple of firmware updates anyway.

however, a widescreen ipod with one of those shiney new 120Gb HDs and a nice big battery in it would go down a treat. i don't know about WiFi, but bluetooth would suite me just fine too. either/or

[Brother Munro]

WiFi would allow for the iPhone's Safari and GoogleMaps stuff to work on the iPod too 

Think I'll wait for the 3rd gen like I did with the iPod

[Knightslugger]

I'm damn curious about the SIM Card tray feature...  Interchangeable service providers are a little something the US supreme court decided must be.  Cell phones must have the ability to switch service providers as the user sees fit.  Visual VM wont work on Alltel networks, but the rest of the phone sure will.

no VVM... Oh well... doesn't mean that the other big 5 wont come up with something similar.  Remember, applications can be made to fit features on the phone as it evolves.

[Brother Munro]

Indeed. I'd just would have loved Apple to say "as for pricing, we reckoned it is an iPod Nano ($199/$249) plus a smart phone (oh, say $300). Hows about... $499 and $549. It does seem expensive, which is why we are happy to announce that you can use it on any carrier worldwide using the iPhone's SIM Card tray. But when is the Phone availibe? Right now from the Apple Store."

[w!ng-w!ng]

i'm sooooo excited! i have no idea how well this is gonna work out for me, being from the Cayman Islands and all, but o wow, o wow! i soooo want one! let the savings begin!

[StirpicusMacFreak]

Now, I know this sounds silly, but is it possible to get this phone without getting some sort of plan to go with it?

...ie, could I use it as a PDA/MP3 player only?

 

-eric

[illitrate23]

well, it's only just over 24 hours since the thing was shown to the world, i expect will get a lot of our answers over the next month or so
but from the websites i've read today, it sounds as though you won't be able to buy the phone without also getting a Cingular contract

@Munro: remember, contract means £xxx for the phone plus the monthly charge, and that won't be cheap if they limit the networks it's released on.

for other phones, yes. but for the iPhone, when it's released in the US, the cost of the phone includes the 2 year contract.

the way i was working it out was, the 8gb one costs $600. an 8gb nano cost $250. so the phone is costing you $350. split that over 24 months, that's like having a two-year $14.58 a month contract and the phone is free.
that's £7.50 in UK money

obviously i expect there probably won't be 300 minutes of free talk time and a 1000 free txt msgs included in the contract, but it's still a good deal in my book
even if you don't deduct the cost of the ipod, it works out to be £12.48 a month contract and the phone is free.

[Liquidmark]

the way i was working it out was, the 8gb one costs $600. an 8gb nano cost $250. so the phone is costing you $350. split that over 24 months, that's like having a two-year $14.58 a month contract and the phone is free.
that's £7.50 in UK money

obviously i expect there probably won't be 300 minutes of free talk time and a 1000 free txt msgs included in the contract, but it's still a good deal in my book
even if you don't deduct the cost of the ipod, it works out to be £12.48 a month contract and the phone is free.

Nice work. Said like that, it doesn't sound bad at all.

$14.58 per month is very affordable in the long run.