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iPhone 3G Finally Available In US Contract-Free
Engadget is reporting that the iPhone 3G is finally available contract-free if you are willing to pay a much higher premium. Without a contract consumers are looking at $599 for an 8GB model and $699 for the 16GB. AT&T has the added restriction that you must be an existing AT&T customer, but Apple (retail stores only, sorry) will sell one to anyone willing to pay the premium. This change brings the model much closer to the prevailing European model where phones are sold as hardware and the plans are handled completely separately.
I love how marketers in North America continue to push the idea of "European". We've all seen the infomercials where they state "This is a best selling product in Europe..." or "In Europe this retails for $60 but..."
The way that it really works in Europe is that you pay for your phone over the course of your contract. For example, if you want a phone that is $600 and you are on a 3 year agreement, you pay $16.67 as a line item on your monthly bill to pay for the cost of the phone. That's much better than the hidden subsidy cost that most (if not all) North American carriers provide.
The contracts WERE in order to subsidize the cost of the phone... and the whole time I thought it was so they could lock me in and deliver shitty service. But seeing that the phone is $400 more without a contract pretty much proves what the cell phone companies have been saying all along.
The UK must not be in Europe then.
In the UK the phone is "free" (or not) and then you get contracts that provide you with minutes/texts that do cover the cost of the phone, but it's still hidden.
Most phones are available without a contract if you want to pay that much, and you can get contracts without phones that are considerably cheaper. But it's not necessarily the most economical way of doing it.
No, the UK way is to have the phone covered by the contract but the contract only lasts a single year, after which the companies are obliged to SIM Unlock the phone for a nominal fee.
Or of course just to use pay as you go, if that's your thing.
To me, this product from Samsung is better in every way compared to the latest iphone.
Unfortunately, you pay "full" price, but the phone is still locked to AT&T. Dumb move in my mind, but maybe that is what we will end up seeing in another month.
Its cheaper to buy the phone and break the contract if you want a "no contract" iPhone, as its only $400 or so that way.
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T-Mobile and ATT use different frequencies for 3G. T-Mobile uses 1700/2100, ATT uses 850 and 1900. You can connectivity with EDGE but you won't be able to do 3G.
Anyway, just because it's contract free doesn't mean the phone is unlocked. It probably still has the ATT SIM card restriction in place.
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Lets define our terms:
This story would appear to be an instance of the second thing.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
No, it does not work like that, at least not everywhere. There is one provider in Italy that does this, I know of no one in any other country.
You can either:
1. Buy a phone, then use the card you want; or
2. You get a subsidised, locked phone with your contract - the preferred way in Germany, where people end up paying much more for the iPhone than the americans, even.
In italy route 1 means that the iPhone is factory-unlocked, in Germany it will cost you more than in Italy and still netlocked to T-Mobile. I bought my iPhone in Italy and have used that several times in Italy, UK, north america and even Chile. With prepaid cards - sometimes even international sims (and will end up spending much less). In Germany and Italy I even have pay-as-you-go data plans that allow me to purchase 500Mb (italy) or 1Gb (germany) for about 10 euros.
Roberto
Yes, the cost is subsidized over the length of the contract but that's an excuse for a locked phone, not a reason.
If you sign a contract to pay $40 per month for 2 years and walk away with a free phone, it don't matter if you use it or not, or switch provider or not.....you STILL have to pay the $40 per month you agreed to, with all the usual debt collection / court hassles for defaulting.
If you switch carriers and set up a separate contract with a separate sim card you need to pay for that in ADDITION to the contract you signed. Not only that, but your $40 per month contract would include free minutes / SMS as part of the deal which you wouldn't use. The propaganda they use would have you believe that if you switched the sim card and started using another carrier the contract you signed would be void and they wouldn't get paid. This is bullshit, and they need to be called on it.
The only reasons I can think that you'd want to pay for both at the same time is if you either object morally to the contract company (in this case AT&T, or Apple's iPhone partner in the UK O2) or if you don't get a strong enough reception from them. You may have a long term deal through your employer, or even a number you've been using for a long time that all your contacts know....why should you be forced to change? Yes you can often bring your old number to the new phone but it's not the point.
Locking you in is inexcusable. An unlocked phone would mean they have to actually compete to keep you. The point here is that a locked phone to enforce at least the cost of the phone on a contract is a red herring. It's even more of an insult to have a pre-pay phone locked to a carrier.
Personally I live in an area where O2 is the only constant strong reception, so my carrier is dictated by signal strength. I refuse to buy any locked phone, even if it is locked to O2.
Mobile phones should ALL be unlocked, sold as phones on their own at full price, or with a contract with the provider of your choice, with a selection of deals / prices / free stuff on offer, with an optional cheaper rate per month by buying the phone at the start or a subsidy at a higher rate per month. This is not rocket science.
Low iphone sales in Japan is FUD to which the blogosphere and the WSJ caught on. In fact, Japan ranks second in iphone sales. Of course the U.S. is where the majority of sales are, but the idea that iphones aren't selling in Japan is the result of somebody trying to manipulate Apple's stock price. It's all exposed here.
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Well you know that Sham-Wow is made in Germany and Germans always make great stuff!
Don't kid yourself. It's the size of the regexp AND how you use it that counts.
For all those Americans who think that AT&T offers a lousy deal, look to the Great White North:
Mandatory 3 year contract. There's no option for an unlocked phone or a shorter contract.
$60 + sales tax for 500 Mb
$75 + sales tax for 1 Gb
Pretty lousy, eh? There's not even an option for an unlimited plan. Rogers had a temporary 6 Gb plan for early adopters that's no longer available.
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It's all relative. My phone was $6.50 refurbished from Virgin. I pay $90 pre-paid each November for a year of service. That's $186.50 for 2 years of service at about 75 minutes a month.
As much as as I like gadgets, I just can't imagine paying $15/MO for a phone. I'd much rather put that money towards blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the blackjack. Ah, screw the whole thing.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
Do you have any idea how much elves and pixie dust cost these days? It's not like you can just pick them off trees, you know.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!