Regarding "free" incoming calls in Germany... In contrast to the US, mobile phone numbers have a country-wide unique area code, assigned to the mobile carrier. Therefore calls to mobile phone are distinguishable as such for the caller, and the caller knows he/she has to pay a (sometimes substantial) higher price for the call. So the cost is just distributed differently.
I think the ad is real as other German 'colleagues" already said, the language is correct and "genuine T-Mobile style". The lack of the iTunes icon is (IMHO) because the ad was produced before the service was ready for release.
The phase-out of the 4G US model, the price drop of the current 8G US model, the presentation of the 16G iPod touch and the "16G iPod" in the ad indicate one thing:
The German iPhone is iPhone V2, with 16G and UMTS, aka 3G
This Ad must be a fake. Because it uses the wrong colors for T-Mobile. T-Mobile uses black font on magenta background. Magenta Font on Black background is solely left to the fixed lind and braodband business T-Home.
It's worse than the UK too. Germany seems pretty terrible. I've never had phone downtime when moving providers. Sometimes they ask you to switch the phone off for 30 minutes but I never do, just off and back on again after an over the air SIM update.
You guys in the US have to pay when people call YOU?
That's bizarre.
In Australia, Telstra is already rolling out their nationwide network now running at 14.4Mbs.....
The handsets aren't keeping up though.
telstra are also requiring you to sacrifice a daughter, and a kidney, per month to download anything over say.. 50mb. ridiculous rates. absolutely absurd.
ps: world : telstra are the most smug, ridiculous corporation ever.
i wrote more than 300 million... for the EU and around 280 million for the US... so i was close...
estimates on population are very hard... in the EU there's a lot of undocumented people living and working, and they don't really show up in those statistics even though without them everything would fall apart...
edit: i just looked it up... EU is around 494 million for 2007 and the US is 304 million for 2007... since the EU snapped up new members it grew pretty fast in terms of population... and i thought i was knowledgeable about the EU... i was off 194 million..
so the EU is now 61.5% bigger in terms of population....
EU member states: 27
US member states: 50
both numbers from wikipedia.org and for the year 2007
i wrote more than 300 million... for the EU and around 280 million for the US... so i was close...
estimates on population are very hard... in the EU there's a lot of undocumented people living and working, and they don't really show up in those statistics even though without them everything would fall apart...
edit: i just looked it up... EU is around 494 million for 2007 and the US is 304 million for 2007... since the EU snapped up new members it grew pretty fast in terms of population... and i thought i was knowledgeable about the EU... i was off 194 million..
so the EU is now 61.5% bigger in terms of population....
EU member states: 27
US member states: 50
both numbers from wikipedia.org and for the year 2007
I was using the western members for my number, as I thought you were doing that as well.
But, its not really a valid comparison, is it?
The US is actually one country, and the EU is still composed of separate member nations who rarely agree on anything enough to get one EU wide law passed, much less adhered to. The Constitution wasn't passed, and has an uncertain future. The older members aren't happy about the later crop of countries that have joined, as they are afraid of taxes going up, as well as workers coming over to take their jobs.
The larger nations regularly snub their noses at Brussels, and do whatever is best for them, and the worst for the EU, such as breaking their budgets, and creating "national champions" of companies that defy the anti-competition and monopoly rules.
Member states all have their own foreign policy.
There is a looong way to go there. Just look at this suit they have regarding Apple's iTunes store, and the various music licensing authorities. The EU states that there should be one store, and one price. But the countries don't care. They allow, and even protect, the authorities in their own countries.
Sorry for the diatribe, but the comparison between the EU and the US simply isn't valid.
When the US telephone system was set, there was only one company that put it all together (AT&T). Europe now has dozens of companies all working toward their own benefit. But I do agree European phone numbers seem difficult to easily remember.
Comments
Regarding "free" incoming calls in Germany... In contrast to the US, mobile phone numbers have a country-wide unique area code, assigned to the mobile carrier. Therefore calls to mobile phone are distinguishable as such for the caller, and the caller knows he/she has to pay a (sometimes substantial) higher price for the call. So the cost is just distributed differently.
I think the ad is real as other German 'colleagues" already said, the language is correct and "genuine T-Mobile style". The lack of the iTunes icon is (IMHO) because the ad was produced before the service was ready for release.
The phase-out of the 4G US model, the price drop of the current 8G US model, the presentation of the 16G iPod touch and the "16G iPod" in the ad indicate one thing:
The German iPhone is iPhone V2, with 16G and UMTS, aka 3G
This Ad must be a fake. Because it uses the wrong colors for T-Mobile. T-Mobile uses black font on magenta background. Magenta Font on Black background is solely left to the fixed lind and braodband business T-Home.
That's worse than here.
It's worse than the UK too. Germany seems pretty terrible. I've never had phone downtime when moving providers. Sometimes they ask you to switch the phone off for 30 minutes but I never do, just off and back on again after an over the air SIM update.
You guys in the US have to pay when people call YOU?
That's bizarre.
In Australia, Telstra is already rolling out their nationwide network now running at 14.4Mbs.....
The handsets aren't keeping up though.
telstra are also requiring you to sacrifice a daughter, and a kidney, per month to download anything over say.. 50mb. ridiculous rates. absolutely absurd.
ps: world : telstra are the most smug, ridiculous corporation ever.
+2 for the EU then xxx for the area and xxx-xxxx for the number in that area code.
we're a little over 300 million right now in the EU, US is around 280 million. there should be no problem to re-organize the EU system...
that way it would become easier to remember numbers, easier to call in the EU and make everything easier...
US Number: +1 xxx xxx-xxxx
with a new numbering plan in the EU: +2 xxx xxx-xxxx
that would be so awesome and move all of us in the EU closer and give as more sense of a union.
there's always hope for a little dreaming;-)
since the US numbering plan has been working great fro so a high number of clients i wish the EU would adopt it too...
+2 for the EU then xxx for the area and xxx-xxxx for the number in that area code.
we're a little over 300 million right now in the EU, US is around 280 million. there should be no problem to re-organize the EU system...
that way it would become easier to remember numbers, easier to call in the EU and make everything easier...
US Number: +1 xxx xxx-xxxx
with a new numbering plan in the EU: +2 xxx xxx-xxxx
that would be so awesome and move all of us in the EU closer and give as more sense of a union.
there's always hope for a little dreaming;-)
It thought there were 360 mil in the EU. There are 300 mil here.
estimates on population are very hard... in the EU there's a lot of undocumented people living and working, and they don't really show up in those statistics even though without them everything would fall apart...
edit: i just looked it up... EU is around 494 million for 2007 and the US is 304 million for 2007... since the EU snapped up new members it grew pretty fast in terms of population... and i thought i was knowledgeable about the EU... i was off 194 million..
so the EU is now 61.5% bigger in terms of population....
EU member states: 27
US member states: 50
both numbers from wikipedia.org and for the year 2007
i wrote more than 300 million... for the EU and around 280 million for the US... so i was close...
estimates on population are very hard... in the EU there's a lot of undocumented people living and working, and they don't really show up in those statistics even though without them everything would fall apart...
edit: i just looked it up... EU is around 494 million for 2007 and the US is 304 million for 2007... since the EU snapped up new members it grew pretty fast in terms of population... and i thought i was knowledgeable about the EU... i was off 194 million..
so the EU is now 61.5% bigger in terms of population....
EU member states: 27
US member states: 50
both numbers from wikipedia.org and for the year 2007
I was using the western members for my number, as I thought you were doing that as well.
But, its not really a valid comparison, is it?
The US is actually one country, and the EU is still composed of separate member nations who rarely agree on anything enough to get one EU wide law passed, much less adhered to. The Constitution wasn't passed, and has an uncertain future. The older members aren't happy about the later crop of countries that have joined, as they are afraid of taxes going up, as well as workers coming over to take their jobs.
The larger nations regularly snub their noses at Brussels, and do whatever is best for them, and the worst for the EU, such as breaking their budgets, and creating "national champions" of companies that defy the anti-competition and monopoly rules.
Member states all have their own foreign policy.
There is a looong way to go there. Just look at this suit they have regarding Apple's iTunes store, and the various music licensing authorities. The EU states that there should be one store, and one price. But the countries don't care. They allow, and even protect, the authorities in their own countries.
Sorry for the diatribe, but the comparison between the EU and the US simply isn't valid.
Maybe someday, but certainly not now.