Jobs' London appearance fuels European iPhone speculation

[AppleInsider]

A surprise appearance by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs in London this week is leading to speculation that Apple may be on the verge of inking a deal with at least one European iPhone carrier.

The Apple co-founder on Sunday could be seen browsing the company's flagship shop on Regent Street, according to ifoAppleStore. This immediately lead "to speculation that he’s in town to finalize an exclusive iPhone contract with an undisclosed UK cellular carrier," the site reported.

ifo added that the Regent Street Concierge bar will be closed next Monday, July 16th, providing Jobs & Co. the perfect opportunity to announce a UK iPhone deal at the store.

Following an extremely successful iPhone launch in the United States, prospective European carriers are reportedly torn between the additional revenue the Apple handset would generate and the strict set of concessions Apple is demanding in return.

In particular, a report issued by Current Analysis last month singled out Orange as a likely shoo-in for the iPhone contract in Europe given it's significant EDGE coverage in the region. The report, however, went on to cite unnamed sources from several European carriers who said that they had spoken to Apple and found the company "unbelievably arrogant,” making demands that “simply cannot be justified, no matter how hot the product is."

For its part in the ongoing speculation, American Technology Research has cited its own sources in saying Vodafone -- with a vast subscriber base in excess of 200 million -- stands the greatest chance of landing a full-blown European iPhone contract. A recent peak into the resource files of Apple's latest iTunes update appears to confirm that consensus, having revealed pre-placed "default carrier" images for both Vodafone and T-Mobile.

Last week, the Rheinische Post confidently stated that Deutsche Telekom's mobile phone unit T-Mobile had clinched a deal to bring the Apple handset specifically to Germany. At the same time, a report by the Times Online claimed that O2 had secured the exclusive rights to offer iPhone in the UK.

O2, however, quickly denied the Times' report, leaving Vodafone as a potential candidate to provide iPhone to parts of Europe.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[rjwill246]

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Here, you have some of the least customer responsive companies on the planet not getting their way--- and not liking it. I would have to assume that Apple was trying hard to get a decent deal for the consumers-- one that would attract them to the carrier as well as an inducement to buy the iPhone. The reporting of it hints, too, that Apple most likely was "arrogant" in an, 'as expected' sense, rather than simply standing its ground for a good deal.

It wasn't that long ago that the phone services in the UK and Europe were abysmal. Service was spotty, the attitudes of the telcos made "arrogance" seem like a virtue and the costs were extreme by comparison to US pricing. Indeed, SMS became popular in the EU precisely because talking-- what phones were all about, after all-- was too costly. Hence, the lesser usage and perceived need of this service in the US. That has since changed somewhat as it has become a stealth tool of communication, especially in classrooms and boardrooms!!! LOL.

Let's hope a good deal is struck in the EU that is customer friendly. This phone is awesome and though it cannot change the linens and do the laundry, it is the most capable phone I have seen. It is so close to being that stunning PDA we have been wanting from Apple, that lends its own frustration since you just want it to do ALL those things. I want ePocrates on my iPhone!!! Hopefully soon?

[Ireland]

3G or your head Jobs, you decide?

[anantksundaram]

Having now used it for 10 days, and getting sense of the sheer sweat and tears and genius that must have gone into the product design, I can see why Apple does not want to muck up the user experience in the least - i.e., can't leave it to a carrier and its decisions to what to allow, what to cripple, etc.

I was someone who had earlier thought that Apple was generally being pretty arrogant about this, but that was before I became a user. I now completely understand.

It's really simple --actual use basically changes everything you may have believed about the iPhone. There's no other way to say it.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by Ireland

3G or your head Jobs, you decide?

Also, IMHO, 3G is not likely to be as much of an issue as I had originally thought. For everything but the internet, it's basically unnecessary. Even for the internet, 2.5G is a bit slow, but not bad overall. (Needless to say, it is really fast with wifi).

If the choice was between [3G + fast internet] versus [2.5+ slower internet + reasonably fast all else + slower battery drain + thinner form factor], I may have gone with the latter also.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Ireland

3G or your head Jobs, you decide?

Unfortunately, I think it increasingly likely that Apple will try to release 'iPhone 1' (2.5G) for the European (late '07) launch, and 'iPhone 2' (3G) will wait until 2008 and the Asian launch (simply because the iPhone has a snowball's chance in hell in Japan and Korea, both massively 3G nations, without it).

Then, also in '08, Apple circles back to the US and Europe and releases iPhone 2 there as well. Leaving many early adopters in both markets rather irritated.

.

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

If the choice was between [3G + fast internet] versus [2.5+ slower internet + reasonably fast all else + slower battery drain + thinner form factor], I may have gone with the latter also.

Except in Europe it's mostly 2G, not 2.5G if there's no 3G as very few carriers bothered with EDGE and the competition's phones are that higher spec by comparison than the USA's competition.

[trevorlsciact]

Steve Jobs should get his own reality tv series, he's already pretty close to being a celebrity.

[SpamSandwich]

Got the chance to use it for about 20 minutes this weekend... biggest problem for me was lack of landscape text entry for all apps. In addition, I noticed that other people with larger fingers were having problems with text entry... iPhone should do well in Asia, but for anyone over 6 ft. tall, it's a non-starter.

[shetline]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Got the chance to use it for about 20 minutes this weekend... biggest problem for me was lack of landscape text entry for all apps. In addition, I noticed that other people with larger fingers were having problems with text entry... iPhone should do well in Asia, but for anyone over 6 ft. tall, it's a non-starter.

I'm exactly 6 ft. tall, and I have no problems typing on my iPhone. Good thing I didn't grow another inch taller.

[shetline]

Originally Posted by Ireland

3G or your head Jobs, you decide?

I'm probably just a victim-in-waiting for Apple's fiendish plans to sell a shitload of extra iPhones to people like me who wanted the iPhone now, despite its limitations, and who will still very likely shell out their cash yet again when the 3G iPhone 2 comes along.

If Apple keeps putting out a new iPhone every year, and each iPhone requires a two-year service agreement, in a decade or so I'll be locked into a single carrier for the rest of my natural life.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by shetline

I'm exactly 6 ft. tall, and I have no problems typing on my iPhone. Good thing I didn't grow another inch taller.

That's why I said "over 6 ft. tall"...

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Got the chance to use it for about 20 minutes this weekend... biggest problem for me was lack of landscape text entry for all apps. In addition, I noticed that other people with larger fingers were having problems with text entry... iPhone should do well in Asia, but for anyone over 6 ft. tall, it's a non-starter.

What a racist remark!

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Got the chance to use it for about 20 minutes this weekend... biggest problem for me was lack of landscape text entry for all apps.

Check out the screenshots of using the landscape keyboard with Safari, and you'll see why it's not suitable for all apps... no room at the top of the screen for much more than the URL bar.

In addition, I noticed that other people with larger fingers were having problems with text entry... iPhone should do well in Asia, but for anyone over 6 ft. tall, it's a non-starter.

Pfft. I'm 6'3", and have large hands even for my height. It took a bit of practice, but in 10-15 min I had an insanely good typing accuracy. The predictive/corrective algorithms are like freaking magic. After a bit, I decided to just 'trust the keyboard' like they say, and I had one typo per sentence, on average, with no pauses, corrections, or redos. Fixing them was then trivial.

I'm sure if I actually *owned* one, I'd get even better.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

What a racist remark!

You're yankin' his chain, right?

As a very short male friend of mine (5' 2" or 5' 3") said, after returning from a vacation in Japan:

"I loved it over there. I was walking down the street, thinkin' to myself, 'Whoa... I'm like almost normal height over here'."

Don't worry... with crappy Western-style eating habits/food becoming more common over there, within a generation or two they'll be up to American heights... and they'll have our heart attack and obesity rates too.

.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Check out the screenshots of using the landscape keyboard with Safari, and you'll see why it's not suitable for all apps... no room at the top of the screen for much more than the URL bar.

Meh, it wouldn't be so bad:



Remember, you'd have the option of using either the portrait keyboard or the landscape. It wouldn't be 'either-or'. No doubt some would take the wider key spacing/larger keys over being able to see more of the doc/app they were typing into.

I got to play with an iPhone over the weekend, and the portrait keyboard is indeed a bit of a chore. The keys are small and very tightly spaced, its easy to hit multiple keys or the wrong key. And I type 70 wpm on a regular keyboard.

Yeah, very likely it gets better as you get more used to it. I believe that. But I doubt it ever gets to be really good. Just... too... small.

.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

You're yankin' his chain, right?

Nope!

[audiopollution]

Hopefully Steve will visit a Toronto-area Apple Store in the next couple of weeks.

I'm dyin' up here.

If anyone has a spare iPhone gathering dust, send it my way pronto.

[lfe2211]

Originally Posted by Ireland

3G or your head Jobs, you decide?

Ireland,

Could you give us an update (if you know) on the status of Wi-Fi Hotspots in the UK, increasing in number or not, free and pay-for? Rest of Europe?

Thanks.

[Outsider]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Got the chance to use it for about 20 minutes this weekend... biggest problem for me was lack of landscape text entry for all apps. In addition, I noticed that other people with larger fingers were having problems with text entry... iPhone should do well in Asia, but for anyone over 6 ft. tall, it's a non-starter.

Really? I'm 6'2" and adapted rather quickly. I was amazed at how few mistakes I was making after about an hour of typing on it.

[lfe2211]

Originally Posted by audiopollution

Hopefully Steve will visit a Toronto-area Apple Store in the next couple of weeks.

I'm dyin' up here.

If anyone has a spare iPhone gathering dust, send it my way pronto.

Audio/Anyone,

I have a brand new 8GB model that I'm going to list on eBay tonight. If interested, make me an offer (via PM) that I can't refuse but do it quick as I'm going to list at about 8pm EST.

[lantzn]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

What a racist remark!

How is a remark about height or hand size racist??? Most of the Asian people I know are short and have small hands, of course there's always exceptions in every group.

[Kickaha]

But it's racist to point out any differences in humans. We are all the same. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

I am not tall, I have an 'unfair vertical advantage'. I am not fair skinned, I have 'culturally oppressive melanin levels'.

[Engine Joe]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

Meh, it wouldn't be so bad:



Remember, you'd have the option of using either the portrait keyboard or the landscape. It wouldn't be 'either-or'. No doubt some would take the wider key spacing/larger keys over being able to see more of the doc/app they were typing into.

I got to play with an iPhone over the weekend, and the portrait keyboard is indeed a bit of a chore. The keys are small and very tightly spaced, its easy to hit multiple keys or the wrong key. And I type 70 wpm on a regular keyboard.

Yeah, very likely it gets better as you get more used to it. I believe that. But I doubt it ever gets to be really good. Just... too... small.

.

I'm afraid I disagree - I know it sounds like Apple mantra, but forget those wrong key hits - the software is intelligent enough in most cases that it'll spit out the correct word in the end. I have huge, thick thumbs and I can two-thumb type quite well on the iPhone now, and I'm a long-time QWERTY blackberry user.

I actually don't care for the landscape mode keyboard - because it is too wide for two-thumb typing (!!). I have to revert to one finger pecking.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

What a racist remark!

Not really. I've been to many Asian countries. Most of the population are smaller people. There's absolutely no racist content in that observation. Don't be an idiot.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Kickaha

But it's racist to point out any differences in humans. We are all the same. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

I am not tall, I have an 'unfair vertical advantage'. I am not fair skinned, I have 'culturally oppressive melanin levels'.

We still love ya.

[tomkarl]

Originally Posted by shetline

I'm probably just a victim-in-waiting for Apple's fiendish plans to sell a shitload of extra iPhones to people like me who wanted the iPhone now, despite its limitations, and who will still very likely shell out their cash yet again when the 3G iPhone 2 comes along.

If Apple keeps putting out a new iPhone every year, and each iPhone requires a two-year service agreement, in a decade or so I'll be locked into a single carrier for the rest of my natural life.

If the sim and account are already active with AT&T, if one replaces the hardware, wouldn't you just move the existing SIM card?

Surely, say for example, I lost my phone and purchased a new one, AT&T would give me a new SIM card and not require an additional two year contract?

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Engine Joe

I'm afraid I disagree - I know it sounds like Apple mantra, but forget those wrong key hits - the software is intelligent enough in most cases that it'll spit out the correct word in the end.

Didn't always for me, I'm afraid.

I actually don't care for the landscape mode keyboard - because it is too wide for two-thumb typing (!!). I have to revert to one finger pecking.

The screen is only 3 inches wide in landscape mode. Doesn't seem to be a problem. I can do it, and I have only medium-sized hands.

In any case, we're not talking 'either-or' here. Its about having the landscape keyboard as an option in all apps, not a replacement.

Those who prefer the portrait keyboard could still use that, people just want the option of being able to use either.

.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Not really. I've been to many Asian countries. Most of the population are smaller people. There's absolutely no racist content in that observation. Don't be an idiot.

I think he's just being obnoxious, though he won't let on that he is.

I guess I can join in too... WTF is UP with this WHITE BACKGROUND when you type in a POST?!?! Why not BROWN, or BLACK!!! AppleInsider is a BUNCHA CRACKERS! FIGHT DA POWER!!!



.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Not really. I've been to many Asian countries. Most of the population are smaller people. There's absolutely no racist content in that observation. Don't be an idiot.

By definition in part, 'racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race,' as such, your remark was racist.

I did not call you a racist. Only that your remark was racial. Unintentional, but still racial.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

By definition in part, 'racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race,' as such, your remark was racist.

I did not call you a racist. Only that your remark was racial. Unintentional, but still racial.

Fine. I don't like picking nits over something like this.

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by shetline

I'm probably just a victim-in-waiting for Apple's fiendish plans to sell a shitload of extra iPhones to people like me who wanted the iPhone now, despite its limitations, and who will still very likely shell out their cash yet again when the 3G iPhone 2 comes along.

If Apple keeps putting out a new iPhone every year, and each iPhone requires a two-year service agreement, in a decade or so I'll be locked into a single carrier for the rest of my natural life.

If the second gen iPhone comes out in while you are still in the 2 year contract, is that an automatic up-grade to another 2 year deal? If you buy it from Apple in a store or online, can't you just swap out the "activated" sim card and who'll be the wiser?

[mr O]

Originally Posted by Ireland

3G or your head Jobs, you decide?

aaah, the Irish temper

While 3G might have the edge, I am more concerned when Apple (read: Universal, Dreamworks, Disney and the likes) is gonna release movie flicks and tv episodes to the European iTunes store …

The European iPhone desperately needs video content (other than the home made stuff).

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

What a racist remark!

And the centre half forward for the political correctness team races in, shoots and..... Oh he missed!

His comment was neither negative nor disparaging. He was just being realistic and accurate. Of course such things, along with truth, are like poison to the politically correct.

If i were to point out to you that Apple was going to have a real hard time selling its new sunscreen to Australian aborigines would that be racist or just realistic?

[audiopollution]

... and with that, we conclude our irregularly scheduled racial discussion.

Stay tuned as we rejoin the Euro iPhone chat.

[declan hunter]

Or maybe Steve was here to see The Tour De France??? jeez some people make something out of nothing.

[TBaggins]

Steve in Europe, why?

Six words: Amsterdam hookers and damn good hashish.

.

[onlooker]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Got the chance to use it for about 20 minutes this weekend... biggest problem for me was lack of landscape text entry for all apps. In addition, I noticed that other people with larger fingers were having problems with text entry... iPhone should do well in Asia, but for anyone over 6 ft. tall, it's a non-starter.

It just takes about 5 days and your used to it. I have massive fingers, but I can iPhone type now like a madman.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by onlooker

It just takes about 5 days and your used to it. I have massive fingers, but I can iPhone type now like a madman.

That does appear to be the norm as I've heard it... 3 to 5 days...

[shetline]

Originally Posted by onlooker

It just takes about 5 days and your used to it. I have massive fingers, but I can iPhone type now like a madman.

Maybe five days if you text a lot every day.

I'm hardly flying when I type on my iPhone now, and I doubt I will be any time soon, if ever. I simply don't text a lot, and thus don't get a lot of practice. However, I was far, far worse at texting on my previous phone, which only had a standard numerical keypad -- meaning multi-tap or T9 text entry. Entering a URL into the crappy Windows Mobile 5 browser was almost painful.