In Europe, mobile phone customers are used to getting free mobile phone upgrades and also significantly discounted mobile phone upgrades after a certain period of time, without having to purchase a new phone outright.
Usually at the end of the contract or close to it and usually you then have to extend your contract by another year or so. Nothing is free when you dig into it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TenoBell
It works the other way around. When you buy a subsidized phone is when your contract is extended. I doubt the iPhone contract will be extended when you have to pay full price for the new phone.
That might only be true in France as they're currently the only country selling un-subsidised iPhones without contracts.
To guarantee Apple and AT&T a steady profit over the lifetime of the phone I guess. From a customer's point of view its a pretty bad deal I'll agree as every other phone gets subsidized. For this reason when I got my iPhone, I also got a free phone from AT&T (I was out of contract) to sell on Ebay to "self-subsidize" the iPhone.
I believe getting an iPhone doesn't actually affect your eligibility to get a free phone in any way so many people who upgraded to an iPhone could probably do the same as I did today.
That is a great idea!!!
It really makes sense. When I got my iPhone, I just extended my contract for another two years. Had I been in a position to "upgrade", at the end of my current contract, I could have renewed my contract, receiving a new "free" phone, and then bought and activated my iPhone, allowing me to sell the other phone. This could be extended to new users as well.
"Apple will refresh its entire Mac line-up throughout 2008, but information about the potential launch of a subnotebook was scarce, with one supplier saying that the product may be pushed out, citing possible design issues," he added."
It really makes sense. When I got my iPhone, I just extended my contract for another two years. Had I been in a position to "upgrade", at the end of my current contract, I could have renewed my contract, receiving a new "free" phone, and then bought and activated my iPhone, allowing me to sell the other phone. This could be extended to new users as well.
Nice loophole!!!!!
I wondered about this prior to the O2 launch of the iPhone here.
The cheapest way to get one would seem to be to get a free phone on O2 such as an N95 which comes with much better contract terms, particularly if you don't want data access. Then buy an iPhone from Apple, stick the SIM in the iPhone and activate it. Sell the N95 on eBay brand new, unused.
I don't know if anyone has done that though or is the iPhone IMEI locked into iPhone only tariffs?
In my opinion the already crowded market of LCD HDTVs, with its razor thin margins, doesn't need Apple to step into it. Better fix the existing AppleTV and allow users to hook it into the existing set, than try to sell them a new TV. Early adopters, those who actually are more likely to buy the AppleTV, already own their TV set.
I think it's just for indications of what the thing is doing, think maybe an iPod size screen. I think it would be nice to be able to control it for music playback without burning my projector bulb's hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_lha
Works the same way in the USA too, but the iPhone isn't subsidized so you just have to pay full price, there is no "upgrade". That "certain period of time" in the USA is generally at the end of your 2 year contract, but I believe some cell phone providers will allow you to upgrade earlier if you extend your contract another 2 years.
The iPhone is functionally subsidized, just in a very unusual way for phones.
C'mon Mr. Sachs, Apple will be above $205 in less than 30 days.
That was my first reaction.
Their target is ludicrously conservative, and will only be accurate if there is a serious recession, otherwise it could be as little as a week or two before it's overtaken.
Well, theoretically your TV is doing this with AppleTV content, and probably better than those cheap DVD players. If your TV is in 1080i mode and you play something and the TV does not change resolutions = your TV is upconverting to 1080i. This will only look so good given the limitations of your source, of course. Full res rips from handbrake look pretty good to me.
In Europe, mobile phone customers are used to getting free mobile phone upgrades and also significantly discounted mobile phone upgrades after a certain period of time, without having to purchase a new phone outright.
Sounds totally environmentally irresponsible to me! What does this kind of upgrade behavior do to toxicity levels in garbage dumps in Europe?
It always amuses me that the Europeans view themselves as oh-so environmentally responsible ("we're for Kyoto and Bali and all that good stuff"), and yet, do things like this!
Yay, a screen on the Apple TV would make it a far more usable device for music, 'cos I don't want my TV on when I'm listening to music. If the device has a decent small music browser display on the front it would be a viable alternative to the Squeezebox (although this will still have far superior circuitry). Oh, add support for FLAC as a second lossless format eh?
As for the video playback capability ...
1) Support for full HD decode (i.e., 40mbps streams)
2) Best of breed upscaling
3) Best of breed HQV test results
4) Support for more codecs by default (hey, they don't want to play nice with cheap video downloads via iTunes, so who cares, support divx, etc, the '360 and PS3 are getting this.
5) HDMI 1.3a output (dunno if it already has this)
[...]in addition to an Apple TV overhaul during the second half of the year.
[...]
Meanwhile, the analyst's Asian contacts have also led him to believe that "Apple will be making changes to Apple TV" sometime in the second half of 2008 "which could include an LCD display."
Maybe they should first and foremost kiss and make up with NBC/Universal
W/o BSG and Heroes I dont see many early adopters forking out the money again - and I REALLY DONT want to Bittorrent my content. Jaysus - you have honest customers here and we are driven into illegality.
Sounds totally environmentally irresponsible to me! What does this kind of upgrade behavior do to toxicity levels in garbage dumps in Europe?
It always amuses me that the Europeans view themselves as oh-so environmentally responsible ("we're for Kyoto and Bali and all that good stuff"), and yet, do things like this!
Have you ever heard about donating the handsets to charity ? They get refurbished and then sold onto to less fortunate states in the southern hemisphere, where those phone CAN and DO make a difference. As there is no phone manufacturing down there no jobs get lost either. Jobs that can get lost by overprotective states from the north if you catch my drift. Lets just call the product cotton...
Have you ever heard about donating the handsets to charity ? They get refurbished and then sold onto to less fortunate states in the southern hemisphere, where those phone CAN and DO make a difference. As there is no phone manufacturing down there no jobs get lost either. Jobs that can get lost by overprotective states from the north if you catch my drift. Lets just call the product cotton...
What do you do with your old phones ?
Oh, I donate it. And, by the tone of your question, I am sure you do too.
What does the average European do? Do you have any data?
"Apple will refresh its entire Mac line-up throughout 2008, but information about the potential launch of a subnotebook was scarce, with one supplier saying that the product may be pushed out, citing possible design issues," he added."
Oh, really?
There never was a "subnotebook"!
What do you mean "was"? There are many many sources saying a subnotebook is likely some time next year. We'll see if it happens in January, later in the year, or turns out to be completely bogus.
I think the real question about one is not if it will happen, but when.
I was really expecting a successor to AppleTV in January. My gut said that AppleTV and her neglected cousin Mac Mini would be sort of merged and revamped. I guess I'll hold out til then!
Frankly I'm surprised there's even going to be second version of the AppleTV. I thought this "hobby" was done given Apple's issues with NBC and overall lacklustre sales.
Frankly I'm surprised there's even going to be second version of the AppleTV. I thought this "hobby" was done given Apple's issues with NBC and overall lacklustre sales.
Really? This is likely the future of online viewing, despite the limitations of the aTV the biggest thing holding it back is that it's more a product of the future than of the present. It's only a hobby at this point because they're waiting for the market to catch up - even if the aTV was the perfect product today, it still wouldn't sell that much because it will take a couple years for demand to build up.
You don't think there will be huge TV and movie viewing via a box like this? Or you think that apple will roll over and play dead, and give away this whole market to someone else?
I talked a guy at the AT&T store (cus the apple store people are clueless about anything with the contract. The AT&T guy had to call into headquarters but eventually got me an answer). While they would not speculate as to what would happen with a future product launch, I posed the hypothetical that I owned a 4GB iPhone and wanted to upgrade to the 8GB iPhone. If that was the case, I could buy the 8GB iPhone and would just have to renew my contract for 2 years from the day of the new activation. I could then call AT&T and release my old iPhone to either sell or give to someone else, but this person upon activation of the cell phone part (cus the rest of it would still be activated from me) would have to sign their own 2 year contract from that day. So as long as you are planning on on staying with at&t, you can upgrade and switch iPhones all you want, it will just keep pushing back the end date of your phone, to to 2 years from the last upgrade.
I am sure that if apple releases a new phone, you will have to extend your contract to use it, as it will mean more money going apple's way, but they will let you buy a new one when it comes out without having to pay any sort of cancelation fee on your old one.
In Europe, mobile phone customers are used to getting free mobile phone upgrades and also significantly discounted mobile phone upgrades after a certain period of time, without having to purchase a new phone outright.
We get free phone upgrades here as well. But, you have to renew your contract. This might be different, but, who knows?
Comments
C'mon Mr. Sachs, Apple will be above $205 in less than 30 days.
I agree with you! This had to be a misprint surely? Maybe it should have ben $505
In Europe, mobile phone customers are used to getting free mobile phone upgrades and also significantly discounted mobile phone upgrades after a certain period of time, without having to purchase a new phone outright.
Usually at the end of the contract or close to it and usually you then have to extend your contract by another year or so. Nothing is free when you dig into it.
It works the other way around. When you buy a subsidized phone is when your contract is extended. I doubt the iPhone contract will be extended when you have to pay full price for the new phone.
That might only be true in France as they're currently the only country selling un-subsidised iPhones without contracts.
To guarantee Apple and AT&T a steady profit over the lifetime of the phone I guess. From a customer's point of view its a pretty bad deal I'll agree as every other phone gets subsidized. For this reason when I got my iPhone, I also got a free phone from AT&T (I was out of contract) to sell on Ebay to "self-subsidize" the iPhone.
I believe getting an iPhone doesn't actually affect your eligibility to get a free phone in any way so many people who upgraded to an iPhone could probably do the same as I did today.
That is a great idea!!!
It really makes sense. When I got my iPhone, I just extended my contract for another two years. Had I been in a position to "upgrade", at the end of my current contract, I could have renewed my contract, receiving a new "free" phone, and then bought and activated my iPhone, allowing me to sell the other phone. This could be extended to new users as well.
Nice loophole!!!!!
Oh, really?
There never was a "subnotebook"!
That is a great idea!!!
It really makes sense. When I got my iPhone, I just extended my contract for another two years. Had I been in a position to "upgrade", at the end of my current contract, I could have renewed my contract, receiving a new "free" phone, and then bought and activated my iPhone, allowing me to sell the other phone. This could be extended to new users as well.
Nice loophole!!!!!
I wondered about this prior to the O2 launch of the iPhone here.
The cheapest way to get one would seem to be to get a free phone on O2 such as an N95 which comes with much better contract terms, particularly if you don't want data access. Then buy an iPhone from Apple, stick the SIM in the iPhone and activate it. Sell the N95 on eBay brand new, unused.
I don't know if anyone has done that though or is the iPhone IMEI locked into iPhone only tariffs?
In my opinion the already crowded market of LCD HDTVs, with its razor thin margins, doesn't need Apple to step into it. Better fix the existing AppleTV and allow users to hook it into the existing set, than try to sell them a new TV. Early adopters, those who actually are more likely to buy the AppleTV, already own their TV set.
I think it's just for indications of what the thing is doing, think maybe an iPod size screen. I think it would be nice to be able to control it for music playback without burning my projector bulb's hours.
Works the same way in the USA too, but the iPhone isn't subsidized so you just have to pay full price, there is no "upgrade". That "certain period of time" in the USA is generally at the end of your 2 year contract, but I believe some cell phone providers will allow you to upgrade earlier if you extend your contract another 2 years.
The iPhone is functionally subsidized, just in a very unusual way for phones.
C'mon Mr. Sachs, Apple will be above $205 in less than 30 days.
That was my first reaction.
Their target is ludicrously conservative, and will only be accurate if there is a serious recession, otherwise it could be as little as a week or two before it's overtaken.
In Europe, mobile phone customers are used to getting free mobile phone upgrades and also significantly discounted mobile phone upgrades after a certain period of time, without having to purchase a new phone outright.
Sounds totally environmentally irresponsible to me! What does this kind of upgrade behavior do to toxicity levels in garbage dumps in Europe?
It always amuses me that the Europeans view themselves as oh-so environmentally responsible ("we're for Kyoto and Bali and all that good stuff"), and yet, do things like this!
As for the video playback capability ...
1) Support for full HD decode (i.e., 40mbps streams)
2) Best of breed upscaling
3) Best of breed HQV test results
4) Support for more codecs by default (hey, they don't want to play nice with cheap video downloads via iTunes, so who cares, support divx, etc, the '360 and PS3 are getting this.
5) HDMI 1.3a output (dunno if it already has this)
[...]in addition to an Apple TV overhaul during the second half of the year.
[...]
Meanwhile, the analyst's Asian contacts have also led him to believe that "Apple will be making changes to Apple TV" sometime in the second half of 2008 "which could include an LCD display."
Maybe they should first and foremost kiss and make up with NBC/Universal
W/o BSG and Heroes I dont see many early adopters forking out the money again - and I REALLY DONT want to Bittorrent my content. Jaysus - you have honest customers here and we are driven into illegality.
Sounds totally environmentally irresponsible to me! What does this kind of upgrade behavior do to toxicity levels in garbage dumps in Europe?
It always amuses me that the Europeans view themselves as oh-so environmentally responsible ("we're for Kyoto and Bali and all that good stuff"), and yet, do things like this!
Have you ever heard about donating the handsets to charity ? They get refurbished and then sold onto to less fortunate states in the southern hemisphere, where those phone CAN and DO make a difference. As there is no phone manufacturing down there no jobs get lost either. Jobs that can get lost by overprotective states from the north if you catch my drift. Lets just call the product cotton...
What do you do with your old phones ?
Have you ever heard about donating the handsets to charity ? They get refurbished and then sold onto to less fortunate states in the southern hemisphere, where those phone CAN and DO make a difference. As there is no phone manufacturing down there no jobs get lost either. Jobs that can get lost by overprotective states from the north if you catch my drift. Lets just call the product cotton...
What do you do with your old phones ?
Oh, I donate it. And, by the tone of your question, I am sure you do too.
What does the average European do? Do you have any data?
"Apple will refresh its entire Mac line-up throughout 2008, but information about the potential launch of a subnotebook was scarce, with one supplier saying that the product may be pushed out, citing possible design issues," he added."
Oh, really?
There never was a "subnotebook"!
What do you mean "was"? There are many many sources saying a subnotebook is likely some time next year. We'll see if it happens in January, later in the year, or turns out to be completely bogus.
I think the real question about one is not if it will happen, but when.
I was really expecting a successor to AppleTV in January. My gut said that AppleTV and her neglected cousin Mac Mini would be sort of merged and revamped. I guess I'll hold out til then!
Frankly I'm surprised there's even going to be second version of the AppleTV. I thought this "hobby" was done given Apple's issues with NBC and overall lacklustre sales.
Frankly I'm surprised there's even going to be second version of the AppleTV. I thought this "hobby" was done given Apple's issues with NBC and overall lacklustre sales.
Really? This is likely the future of online viewing, despite the limitations of the aTV the biggest thing holding it back is that it's more a product of the future than of the present. It's only a hobby at this point because they're waiting for the market to catch up - even if the aTV was the perfect product today, it still wouldn't sell that much because it will take a couple years for demand to build up.
You don't think there will be huge TV and movie viewing via a box like this? Or you think that apple will roll over and play dead, and give away this whole market to someone else?
I am sure that if apple releases a new phone, you will have to extend your contract to use it, as it will mean more money going apple's way, but they will let you buy a new one when it comes out without having to pay any sort of cancelation fee on your old one.
Actually, like you have being saying before though, plasma is a better choice right now.
Yeah, I agree with me
In Europe, mobile phone customers are used to getting free mobile phone upgrades and also significantly discounted mobile phone upgrades after a certain period of time, without having to purchase a new phone outright.
We get free phone upgrades here as well. But, you have to renew your contract. This might be different, but, who knows?