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March 15th 2010, London
Our quarterly networking event is back once again - save the date!
March 15th 2010, London
Our quarterly networking event is back once again - save the date!
Director Business Development
Competitive Package
UK
Orange and T-Mobile favourites to swoop in and stock Apple device
Although there has been plentiful speculation about O2 losing its iPhone exclusivity over the last few weeks, ME has seen documentation that states it will end officially on October 9th.
O2 signed its original deal with Apple in late 2007, and is believed to have the rights to sell iPhone to 2012.
However, the exclusive arrangement lasts only for two years – although sources say that O2 may retain sole rights to the recently launched iPhone 3G S.
Orange and T-Mobile have been linked heavily with iPhone over the summer, and both networks already sell the device in other territories.
Orange was the first network to sell the iPhone around Europe, while T-Mobile stocks the device exclusively in Germany.
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Indeed, a report by The Register on Monday stated that T-Mobile UK had already begun shipping iPhones discreetly to big-spending customers.
A spokesperson for O2 would not be drawn on the October 9th date. He said (vaguely): "All I can say is that O2 has a multi-year exclusive on iPhone - and that this remains in place."
A broadening of distribution for iPhone in the UK would not be too dramatic. The device is sold in round 80 countries and is currently exclusive only in the US, UK and Germany.
Now that that network access for the iPhone is opening....we need iTunes and the AppStore to open up and give any mp3 player access and the Palm Pre and other devices access to apps respectively.....YES I am dreaming I can't see Apple ever giving up their crown jewels as easily as they drop O2 et al
The apps in the app store don't work on any other device so I guess you really are dreaming. I'm curious as to why Vodafone haven't been mentioned as I always thought they were larger than o2 here in the UK and also sell the iPhone in various countries around Europe.
...and iTunes stores tunes are in AAC protocol only… file format isn’t the issue….(you can make your choice of format at the time of purchase or it could be done intelligently)… it’s the retail/merchandizing opportunity the iTunes/AppStore offers to Apple alone.....Apple is fast becoming along with Google an Evil Empire such is their control…even making us (well me!) feel sorry for Microsoft…..look at what Apple did to Palm Pre connectivity to the App store to see why we should worry about Apple’s increasing power , exclusivity and dictatorship.
Keep in mind Apple (Steve Jobs) pressed for the demise of DRM as they believed it was not in consumers interest…opening the store is our interest so, Apple should open the iStore as it opened up to other operators.
I Think You Are Confusing "Apps" With "Music";
Yes, Fair Enough The Music IS Encoded In AAC, But The "Applications" In The "App Store" Are Programmed To Run On OS X For Portable Machines, ie iPod Touch And iPhone.
They Could Be Ported To Run On Other Machines I Guess, But That Would Involve Extra Work.
Palm Pre Never Was Compatible With The "App Store", Only iTunes, And This Was UnLawfully Done ( Apparently..)
No I am not confusing apps with music I'm not concerned about the technology or any protocol. What I'm concerned about is is openness - what made the Web what it is today – look at Net Neutrality. Apple chooses to be open when it pleases Apple...look what happened when the Palm Pre it tried to access the AppStore or look at how the Google Voice app was not allowed in yet Skype's still there. Forget all this porting nonsense the App store should open its doors to any device which understands its APIs incl MP3...making its money from rev sharing on delivering content...not trying to starve to death everyone else on the market.
