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Via John Williams I see that O2 Ireland have followed O2 UK in reducing the price of the 8 gig iPhone by €100.
Good news if you want an 8 gig iPhone, but it also bodes well if you’re holding out for the 3G model due to be announced very soon.
If O2 Ireland are clearing stock of the 8 gig model, it could mean they are making space to release the 3G version in Ireland at the same time as in the UK.
They might get me to sign up yet.
Inside the latest release of the iPhone SDK, which came out yesterday, there’s a telling piece of evidence that the 3G iphone is coming very soon.
The guys behind ZiPhone have discovered a new 3G chip listed in the firmware. The new iPhone will have Infineon’s SGOLD3.
Just before the iPhone was released in Ireland, it was discovered in the latest firmware that the O2 Ireland network was listed as a carrier. So these discoveries do indeed tell the truth.
The evidence is definitely mounting that Apple will release the 3G iPhone this side of the summer.
AT&T’s Mobility CEO “spills the bean” on iPhone 3G
Coast-to-coast iPhone Shortage
3G iPhones already in production?
Hang in there folks.
I don’t have an iPhone. I want one, but I don’t have one yet. I was waiting for the release in Ireland so I could have visual voice-mail and a nice data plan. Neither of theses are on offer with O2 Ireland.
Also, as the months passed since the US release (9 now), the argument has been gaining weight for holding out for the 3G version release which, all things considered, will almost certainly happen somewhere in the world (read USA) this summer. It will probably be released in the UK at the same time.
So now I am in a situation where I still want an iPhone but it really doesn’t make sense to get one with O2 Ireland as I can get a cheaper unlocked one in Belfast or cheaper still in New York and yet have all that is on offer with buying one on contract with O2.
To be logical, it really doesn’t make any sense at all to buy an iPhone this close to the 3G release, but as I have been wanting one for a while now, O2 Ireland could have easily cashed in on me and pushed me to getting one if the price/data plan was right and they at least matched the UK prices for the handset. This didn’t happen. Which is very unfortunate for both O2 and me, because now I have to wait a little longer to get my hands on something I have wanted since last June and O2 lose a new customer (for now at least). It’s good for Vodafone though as I’ll remain on their network.
I could have forgiven the lack of visual voice-mail if there was even a hint that it was in the works (Which there wasn’t so I presume it isn’t).
In a way O2 have done me a favour; they’ve removed the carrier/contract factor from the equation and put me in a position with a pretty simple choice; either buy a 9 month old phone or wait perhaps 4 months and get version 2. It’s fair to say with Apple hardware, there are right times and wrong times to buy, depending on the position in the revision cycle, (Of course Apple are very secretive with their release dates and the iPhone is no exception, but going on recent reports around the net, the 3G release won’t be long) this is certainly a wrong time to buy the iPhone so I’m waiting.
If O2 sell the 3G version when it is released in a few months (Which I sincerely doubt - I’d say it will be 4 months behind the UK) and they have visual voice-mail or have a better data plan, I may jump in then. Otherwise I’ll pick myself up an unlocked 3G iPhone when it’s released in the US.
Either way, I’ll be waiting a bit longer to get my hands on the iPhone. Sorry O2.
Edit: New O2 Ireland prices for iPhone released. Things are looking up!
