Wednesday, July 9, 2008

iPhone 3G prices and plans for 20 countries (updated)

With less than a week to go before the launch of the iPhone 3G, we thought we'd be able to compile a list of iPhone prices for the 20 countries where the new version or Apple's phone will be making its debut on the 11th. But surprisingly, seven operators still haven't announced any pricing. Maybe that's good decision-making on their part, because in a good number of cases, the pricing of the phone and especially the plans were disappointing, often translating in significantly more than the $199/$299 indicated by Steve Jobs in his WWDC keynote.

The pricing diversity around the world—or even within Europe—is staggering: you can pay anywhere from $94 to $377 for an 8GB iPhone 3G and between $24 and $128 for plans that may only have a (few) hundred MB worth of data or are "unlimited." Denmark isn't as bad as it looks, because the minimum contract is only six months and prices drop by a third if you stay after that. The Netherlands is pretty good, especially considering that you can have your iPhone unlocked for free after 12 months.

Update: added Canadian iPhone prices; Belgium is no longer getting the iPhone this Friday; added Telstra; added Vodafone Portugal plans.

Update 2: added prices and plans for New Zealand, Mexico, ONE in Austria.

CountryCarrier8GB16GBPlanMinutesSMSDataContract
AustraliaOptusuncomparable pricing
AustraliaTelstrano prices yet
AustraliaVodafoneno prices yet
AustriaT-Mobileno prices yet
AustriaONEuncomparable pricing
CanadaRogers$199$299$6015075400MB36 months
DenmarkTelia$298$426$128300unlimited300MB6 months
FinlandSonera$250$385$50100100100MB24 months
GermanyT-Mobile$94$236$7710040Unlimited24 months
Hong KongThree$377$479$24500unlimited500MB24 months
IrelandO2$265$360$711751001GB18 months
ItalyVodafone$313$423$93400400600MB24 months
ItalyTIMno prices yet
JapanSoftbankuncomparable pricing
MexicoTelcel$331$454$44200100100MB24 months
NetherlandsT-Mobile$126$252$47150150Unlimited24 months
New ZealandVodafone$414$527$60120600250MB24 months
NorwayNetCom$275$452$79100100100MB12 months?
PortugalOptimusno prices yet
PortugalVodafone??????$47100100250MB24 months
SpainMovistarno prices yet
SwedenTelia$284$451$50100100100MB24 months
SwitzerlandOrangeno prices yet
SwitzerlandSwisscom$249$349$25--100MB24 months
United KingdomO2$196$315$5975125Unlimited18 months
United StatesAT&T$199$299$70450-Unlimited24 months

Here come the caveats: although I think I managed to decipher plans on non-English language web sites, I may have made a mistake here or there. I've chosen the cheapest usable plans. The dollar conversion was taken from earlier reports in some cases, so it may not reflect the most current conversion rates, and for Canada and Switzerland, I've used a one-to-one conversion rate because the difference was only two percent or less. In some countries (Canada...) basic services incur extra fees, while in the US and Canada there are significant extra fees that come on top of a plan, as well as sales tax, which is included in most European countries. Use the links to see all the details.

Note: You can get your phone repair, iPhone unlock and unblock by the leading mobile phone repair specialist Omni Tech Limited, 378 Great North Road, Henderson, Auckland. Tel: (09) 8383943, info@omnitech.co.nz

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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Cold Weather of Auckland, New Zealand, July 2008.

This is one of the coldest winter we experience since moving to New Zealand. The coldest hour would be around 7:00am each day, Suprisingly the sun was shinning brightly for the last two days

See the weather forecast below:

Tuesday 8 Jul
12c 2c NE
Fine weather. Southerly breezes.
0
20080708
Wednesday 9 Jul
13c 1c
Fine weather. Light southerly.
1
20080709
Thursday 10 Jul
14c 6c
Fine weather. Northeasterlies developing.
2
20080710
Friday 11 Jul
16c 10c
Few light showers developing. Northerlies.
3



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Can you afford the new 3G Apple iPhone?


Out of curiousity, I checked on the new procing for the 3G Apple iPhone, there are some fun news you should read about the reaction of the New Zealand consumers. Petition in New Zealand against the pricing has started and you can view it here.

The following was abstracted for your "viewing" fun:

iPhone 3G Plans

Vodafone offers three great iPhone plans - iPhone 250, iPhone 500 and iPhone 1GB

iPhone Specific Plans iPhone 250 iPhone 500 iPhone 1GB
Cost per Month $80 $130 $250
Included Minutes 120 250 600
Included TXT 600 600 600
Included Data 250 MB 500 MB 1 GB
Additional Usage


Per minute $0.69 $0.55 $0.53
Per TXT $0.20 $0.20 $0.20
Per MB $0.10 $0.10 $0.03
iPhone with plan


8GB iPhone $549 $449 $199
16GB iPhone $699 $599 $349

To purchase an iPhone 3G with no plan you'll need to visit a Vodafone retail store.

iPhone only iPhone 8GB iPhone 16GB

$979 $1129

If your needs have changed and you want to end your iPhone or Broadband plan for mobile contract early, we'll do everything we can to help - but there may be fees.

The size of the fee depends on how early you're cancelling.

iPhone 0-6 Months 6-12 Months +12 Months
iPhone 250MB $600 $520 $260
iPhone 500MB $780 $670 $330
iPhone 1GB $1050 $910 $450
Broadband plan for mobile 0-6 Months 7-18 Months 19-24 Months
Broadband 200MB $160 $160 $30
Broadband 1GB $160 $160 $50

Things to know

  • The iPhone 3G plans are only available on iPhone 3G handsets.
  • You can get a You Choose plan on an iPhone 3G but you will not be able to access the web without a Broadband Plan for Mobile.
  • If you purchase an iPhone 3G, use it on You Choose plan then move to an iPhone plan, you will not be eligible for the iPhone 3G handset subsidy.
  • Once you have purchased an iPhone 3G you must activate it via iTunes in order to use data, and register via iTunes in order to use the iTunes service.
  • All prices above include GST.
  • All plans are on a 24 month term.



It is not the the matter of can you afford the iPhone plan but should you consider it at all!


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3G Apple iPhone Launching in New Zealand


The much talk about second generation iPhone will be launching soon along with a few other countries in the world. The published price is US$199 for 8Gig model and US$299 for a 16 Gig model.

I hear from the news that the new Apple iPhone will be sold nationwide at 12:01AM, Friday, July 11, 2008. New Zealand being where is it located, based on the time zone; technically New Zealand will be the first country in the world to start selling the new iPhone.

Three Vodafone stores will open at one minute past midnight on Friday - Queen Street (Auckland), Lambton Quay (Wellington) and Colombo Street in Christchurch.

The phone will allow faster internet than its predecessor using Vodafone's 3G network, which the company says covers 63 per cent of New Zealanders.

Many are still unaware that the 3G Apple iPhone still spots the same 2.0 meg camera and still do not have the bluetooth capability? I still prefer to stick with my cool Nokia N95.

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