iPhone 3G in Europe

[Bush438]

Basically every carrier that has spoken about possibly carrying the iPhone in Europe has stated that a 3G iPhone is almost a sure thing. Obviously this is still speculation / rumor.

But who is to say that if they do deliver a 3G iPhone in Europe that they will also simultaneously release it in the US. Also, who would prevent somebody from buying it oversees and then bringing it back to the US unlocked or even buying it on ebay? Is this even feasably possible.

 

[boss1]

Europe is most likely to get 3G model although you are right it's still rumor until it comes from Apple.

A 3G model released in the US simultaneously?! If you asked Steve Jobs he'd probably tell you "Why don't I cut off 4 of my fingers and give them to you, it'd be easier"

a 3G iPhone bought in europe , unlocked, and shipped to the US is also possible but it's probably going to be a far cry for what 99.99999% of iPhone customers are going to be willing or able to do. Cost , technical, warranty, barriers, etc etc.

Edit: I think I'm going to make that my new signature since i don't have one.

 

[Bush438]

Good point. It would also be branded by whatever carrier is releasing it in that particular country. Not to mention the fact that they would probably go for about $1,000 on ebay.

With iPhone nano due out in the Fall, what about an update to this one at Macworld?

I mean, really though, look at how many variations of the Motorola Razr are out there.

 

[btallada9870]

edge isn't that bad. the way i see it is, if you need to go on the internet that badly on your cell phone, you can wait a little longer to get to the page.

 

[Compile 'em all]

Good point. It would also be branded by whatever carrier is releasing it in that particular country. Not to mention the fact that they would probably go for about $1,000 on ebay.

The iPhone will not be branded by any carrier. It will look exactly the same like the one currently being sold in the US.

 

[GTiPhone]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A543a Safari/419.3)

Maybe this is a dumb question but if you bought a 3G European model and had it shipped here, how would you activate/ pay for a service that's unavailable yo iPhone customers. Is a data plan just a data plan and your chipset just latches on to whatever its made for?

Also, given the current limitations of the v1 iPhone I'm not sure 3G is even necessary yet. EDGE works fine for wha the iPhone can do, browsing, emal, etc...

The most it could do for us now is make web apps a little more hefty, yet I haven't seen many that really blaze on wifi so...

 

[toomer]

Also, who would prevent somebody from buying it oversees and then bringing it back to the US unlocked or even buying it on ebay? Is this even feasably possible.

My expectation is that the "EU" iPhone, when released later this year, will only have a radio for the "EU" 3G bands. Much like the Nokia N95 (you can't use US 3G on the N95).

If that turns out to be true, importing an EU iPhone will do absolutely zero for you in terms of having usable 3G here in the US. The only benefit you may have is an unlocked phone. That's assuming that there aren't serious legal issues with importing the phone and getting it through US customs (I keep hearing about this Qualcomm chipset ban, would love to read more about the specifics if anyone has a link).

 

[kdarling]

That's assuming that there aren't serious legal issues with importing the phone and getting it through US customs (I keep hearing about this Qualcomm chipset ban, would love to read more about the specifics if anyone has a link).

iPhone doesn't use Qualcomm chips now, and doesn't have to for 3G.

The chipset ban is because Broadcom claims Qualcomm infringed on their patent for saving the battery when out of 3G range. But they knew a court fight over the patent would take a while (and might not come down in their favor). So they took their complaint to the International Trade Commission.

The ITC doesn't have to investigate the actual patent claim, just enforce it. So they did, and banned imports of the chip or phone with the chip. Easy solution for Broadcom. Qualcomm has asked Bush to overturn the ITC decision.

The ban doesn't affect phones currently in the U.S., because that would disrupt our economy too much.

Verizon just agreed to pay Broadcom $6 a phone directly, to get around the ban. Otherwise, they couldn't bring in all their new phone models that are due out now.

Kev

 

[Bush438]

My expectation is that the "EU" iPhone, when released later this year, will only have a radio for the "EU" 3G bands. Much like the Nokia N95 (you can't use US 3G on the N95).

If that turns out to be true, importing an EU iPhone will do absolutely zero for you in terms of having usable 3G here in the US.

Thats what I was thinking too. It would be a blow to the US consumer base if Europe gets a 3G version and here in the US we're still dealing with dial up type speeds. Obviously if they can work out the kinks over there (ie battery life and chip size) they could definitely work them out over here.

The iPhone is definitely a game changer, but in my opinion, had it come with 3G and support for Flash, there would be nothing on the planet that could come close to touching it.