Apple will be launching the iPhone in the UK and Germany this Friday, November 9th.
A press release details the launch details for Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse. The iPhone will be available from more than 1,300 Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse retail locations across the UK starting at 6:02pm. O2 has hired and trained hundreds of new iPhone specialists who will be in all 450 O2 stores. The UK iPhone will be sold for ?69 and require an 18 month contract with O2. Only two iPhones may be purchased per person.
Despite some early comments indicating that there would be a data cap on the O2 network for EDGE-data, a recent Telegraph.co.uk article states that O2 has scrapped plans to limit web usage on the iPhone -- instead allowing users to download as much as they like.
''Customers find 'unlimited with limits' confusing, plus most people don't speak in megabits or understand what they equate to," said O2 UK chief executive Matthew Key. ''So we've taken the decision to remove the fair usage cap so that 'unlimited' really does mean 'unlimited' ?this is a market first."
The iPhone is also launching in Germany on November 9th through Telekom Shops of Deutsche Telekom as well as the T-Mobile web shop starting at midnight. The German iPhone requires a new 2-year T-Mobile rate plan and will be available for 399.
We've reopened our iPhone Purchaser Meetup forum to allow GeekWebGuides members coordinate with others.
Existing iPhone users should also find interest in the the UK/German iPhone launch as it will likely coincide with the release of the 1.1.2 iPhone Firmware which is said to offer a number of bug and security fixes along with international language support.
