No 3G for the U.K. iPhone

Apple announced its first iPhone deal outside of the U.S. this morning, and might have made its second big mistake in the early days of its iPhone strategy.

The company announced an iPhone partnership Tuesday morning in London with U.K. carrier O2. CEO Steve Jobs made an appearance at the Regent Street Apple store to answer questions from the British press, who were curious as to why Apple decided to introduce the same EDGE phone that's on sale in the U.S. to the U.K. market.

Engadget's live blog reported that Jobs is still concerned about battery life. "The 3G chipsets are real power hogs," Jobs said, adding that he doesn't think 3G chipsets will allow for sufficient battery life until next year. That was the same answer Apple gave earlier this year to questions about the first U.S. iPhone and its dependence on an EDGE cellular network outside of Wi-Fi hotspots.

The two markets are very different, however. The U.K., and really Europe as a whole, are much further along in their deployment of faster 3G cellular networking technology than the U.S. O2 CEO Matthew Key said Tuesday that only about 30 percent of its network will be EDGE-compatible when its iPhone launches, but the carrier has already deployed 3G in many places throughout the U.K. EDGE was meant as a stepping stone for some carriers who weren't ready to roll out full 3G services, but most U.K. carriers went ahead with 3G implementations to replace their older 2G GSM/GPRS networks. (Check out GSMWorld.com if you need help deciphering the alphabet soup that is the cellular industry.)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the company's U.K. iPhone deal with O2.

(Credit: Crave UK)

It's a little different back in the U.S., where 3G technologies compatible with the base GSM standard used by the iPhone are just getting under way, and EDGE was used to keep people interested during the interim. AT&T, the U.S. iPhone carrier, only offers 3G services in select cities around the country, while the U.K. carriers have a more seamless deployment of 3G technology.

Therefore, Apple's going to have to really captivate U.K. buyers with the design and interface of the iPhone. That's been the device's strong suit since the day Jobs first held it aloft at Macworld, but lots of U.S. iPhone customers had never experienced 3G networking speeds before, and therefore didn't know what they were missing. Most tech-savvy Brits interested in smart phones likely already have a 3G phone, and asking them to step back to EDGE might be a tall order.

Jobs' insistence on a high standard for battery life may pay off in the end, but it could be a tougher go for Apple in the U.K. at first. Apple and O2 are throwing in a subscription to The Cloud's U.K. network of hotspots, since O2 has limited EDGE coverage at launch.

But coming off Apple's miscalculation on the iPhone price cut backlash, you have to wonder if the company is likewise misreading the appeal of the iPhone in the U.K. Sure, it's pretty, but is it too slow? As always, people will vote with their wallets.

[MaLvaDo39]

Wi-Fi faster than 3G

3G is slooooow in comparison... <br /><br />I have Wi-Fi available in 90% of where I work, live, and visit.

[Nodack]

Shhhh don't tell anybody WiFi is faster

WiFi is faster than G3? You would never know it from the press <br />the iPhone has gotten. WiFi on the iPhone would be a plus and <br />an edge on the competition, so there is no way they are going to <br />mention that in any articles. If there was a problem with the WiFi <br />they would be all over it, but there isn't so they will choose to <br />omit that from any articles and only write about anything negative <br />they can come up with as ALWAYS.

[Ilgaz]

oh please

Unlike IEEE 802.11 networks, 3G networks are wide area <br />cellular telephone networks which evolved to incorporate high-<br />speed internet access and video telephony. IEEE 802.11 <br />networks are short range, high-bandwidth networks primarily <br />developed for data.<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G" target="_newWindow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G</a><br /><br />Can you read? It is like saying your land line phone sound <br />quality is better than Cell phone and cell phone not needed.

[adasha76]

not a fair comparison

Show me how to obtain WiFi speeds without having to sit in a hot spot and then we'll talk

[Apple-addict]

Strategy

Of course I know **** about battery life and the effect using 3G <br />has on it. Then again, maybe Jobs should talk to SonyEricsson, <br />SamSung or Nokia and ask them how they manage to to roll out <br />phones (smart or not) that have no battery problem when using <br />3G. Jobs' argument is a crock, me thinks. Using the faster 3G <br />consumes more power than using the slow EDGE network? Don't <br />think so.<br />What is really behind this is simple greed. Though I have been <br />an Apple fan all my computing life I also know that money is <br />what interests Jobs the most (besides his aestethic views on our <br />digital life). In certain instances I concurr with the man, like with <br />iTunes, but in this case I will wait until the next generation <br />iPhones is available. For that is the sole reason Jobs doesn't offer <br />3G support. He wants us to buy an iPhone now and buy a new <br />enhanced one a year later. Of course, there will be enough <br />people who wil actually do that. Me, I'll wait until he offers 3G <br />(or I'll by the iPod Touch, that seemingly has no battery trouble <br />despite its 16GB memory).

[bob1960]

me thinks you don't know what your talking about.

I went from a Nokia EDGE phone to a new Nokia 3G phone and the battery life sucks! I used to get three+ days on my EDGE phone and now with the 3G I am lucky to get 8 hours! And the phone gets HOT! From everything I read (and I suspected BEFORE I bought, from the reviews) that this is normal for 3G phones. I am not complaining because it was my choice and only use Data traffic for SMS and the occasional browsing. So for me it is not so bad. But there are times when I wish I could turn the 3G off to get some battery life extension... I now keep three chargers. One at home, one at work, and one in my car... And if I am going away from those three areas for any length of time, I ALWAYS carry a charger with me. I never had to do this before. And with the iPhone not having a removable battery, my trick of keeping a spare battery doesn't work. I think that Jobs had no choice but hold off on the 3G network because of the battery issues. Apple purchasers demand up front thinking and quality of product for the average person. And being stuck to a wall socket or plugged into a PC to recharge every 4 hours just doesn't seem like an Apple way of doing things....<br /><br />Does anybody know how long it will take to solve the battery drain problem? Me thinks that Steve Jobs has asked this question and either can wait for it for the next revision of the iPhone, or knows that it is farther off than Apple consumers would like....

[dotmike]

That's the problem with armchair experts!

"or I'll by the iPod Touch, that seemingly has no battery trouble <br />despite its 16GB memory"<br /><br />Er, no, NAND Flash capacity doesn't affect battery life. Higher <br />power radio transmitters do. 3G phones DO consume more <br />battery power. It's simple physics.<br /><br />You can visibly see a Nokia N95's power draining.<br /><br />The thing about the iPhone is that its data capabilities encourage <br />more use, so unlike the 3G phones you list which probably get <br />just a few minutes data access per day because of their interface <br />limitations, the iPhone would suffer disproportinately. <br /><br />Also, Apple seems to like making thin devices, which necessitate <br />a smaller Li-on cell. They could make a bulkier device, but in its <br />present form factor, with the current Lithium cells, the battery <br />life would be cut substantially going 3G.<br /><br />But I'm sure by mid-2008 there will be a compromise reached.

[Ilgaz]

Don't waste time

People will buy iPhone because it is Apple and it is a fashion <br />thing, a status symbol.<br /><br />They will never need 3G speeds for their dull web only internet <br />anyway.

[wordord]

80 percent...

80 percent of the mobile phones sold in Scandinavia today have <br />3G. The iPhone will not manage in Europe until Apple adds 3G <br />************ (well, preferably there should be HSDPA too...)!<br />And yes, we know that WiFi is faster -- but 3G works everywhere, <br />while WiFi hotspots can be found only in selected places in the <br />bigger cities<br /> I'll be the first to buy an iPhone -- when it gets 3G/HSDPA. But <br />hey, I won't buy a heavily overpriced _2G_ phone, no matter how <br />great the UI is!

[dan1000]

Using iphone

Many of these comments are valid but for some of you are <br />missing the point, mostly because you have never used an <br />iphone. <br />I have an 8GB iphone which I have hacked and run in London on <br />the Orange network. They do not have Edge capability so when I <br />am away from a hotspot I do not have access to the internet. I <br />could overcome this issue by purchasing an O2 sim card but so <br />far it really hasn't been an issue.<br />When near a hotspot i update emails on 3 accounts and have set <br />the preference to save 200 emails. Most of the text on 200 <br />emails is loaded in the phone, I lose most of the graphics and <br />ads, etc. but I am okay with that. Then when commuting or <br />doing nothing I can peruse my emails. Most of my emails are <br />informational and rarely require a reply. At these particular <br />moments I can not surf the internet, so if that is your main <br />motivation then wait until a 3G unit hits the stores. For those of <br />you who do not have an all or nothing mentality then the iphone <br />is a joy to use.<br />I use the ipod function whenever I am away from home or office. <br />The phone rings in my earphones, I accept the call and listen to <br />my caller in the earphones while holding the phone out away <br />from me and the microphone picks up my voice quite nicely. <br />When the call is over it returns to the song I was listening to <br />seamlessly. It is an absolutely fantastic interface. Sometimes I <br />am playing Tetris or Blackjack and it returns me to the game and <br />starts the music. I'm not sure what else I could ask for. It's <br />great!