tin-men

iPhone 3G

I’m sure I don’t need to inform any of you that the new iPhone was announced yesterday. There was me fully expecting to have to pony up another £269, as well as a more expensive contract, because let’s face it – mobile companies have a bit of a reputation for being greedy buggers.

But get this, O2 have come up with a new business model: (take note Vodafone and the others)

If you don’t shaft your customers, they’re more than happy to spend their money with you.

O2 are going to give me the same amount of texts and minutes, as much 3G data as I can eat (remember it’s twice as fast as EDGE, and EDGE isn’t that bad if we’re honest), and if 3G isn’t fast enough and I need WiFi, I now get BT Openzone as well as The Cloud (which covers pretty much everywhere I will ever go in Manchester and London), all for the same £35 a month. I would have happily paid an extra few quid a month for 3G speed and the Openzone access, but O2 really pulled it off and kept it all at the same price.

And they’re selling the 16Gb model that I’ll be getting for a measly £159 – £110 less than I paid for my original iPhone in November. All they’re asking in return is that I restart the same 18 month contract that I signed up for in November.

So, well done O2. If you and Apple keep this up I’ll more than happily buy a new iPhone every 8 months or so, and you’ve got yourself a customer for life.

Gimme ur iPhone plz

I was intending to write a nice big post about my iPhone experience and all the related things, but lots been happening, so you’ll have to make do with a video instead over at my vlog, firesuite. Enjoy!

London Calling: Live blogging the UK iPhone launch

And so the anointed day came to pass. Graham and Nik are the first two people in the iPhone queue. I’ll be writing on here as long as my battery lasts, so enjoy.

Thursday 10:27am: Been here for two hours now. Camp iDay is set up and coffee is in hand. The Apple reps have already come out to say hello. My mac is getting dirty from the filthy London air…

11:26am: And we’re still the only people in the queue. Had apple PR asking if we want to be on TV. I think tomorrow I’ll only be capable of grunts after three days of little to no sleep.

12:40pm: We had a visit from a guy from The Cloud. He wants us to wear a Cloud hoody in exchange for a rather nice bribe. I think I’ll take him up on the offer!

6:04pm: In the Apple Store giving our macs a little drink. Have been wearing my Cloudy hoody in exchange for food and tea. There are now five of us in the queue, and I’ve been giving interviews all day to the press. I still suck at it. And it’s only going to get worse. Hoping the rain stops tonight so I’ll have a chance of getting a little bit of sleep.

Friday 5:08am: Didn’t get any sleep unfortunately – central London seems to attract a few drunk people at night (hence the non-blogging). A very nice chap from Apple brought us out a cup of tea about an hour ago, and about five minutes ago the 7th person to join the line turned up bringing a gift of wine gums. I’ve been reading the press so far of our holy quest (will be writing more about that another day – one or two of the articles made my first exposure to the mainstream press a not entirely pleasant one).

1:15pm: It’s been a busy day so far. Given more interviews than I can remember and I still haven’t slept. We’re getting ready for the final push now. Just need to sort out the escape route after we’ve got our JesusPhones and we’re pretty much away!

Sunday 11th November
I’ve just about recovered now. And yes, I have in my hands the first iPhone in the UK. I will write a full round up of the experience over the next week.