iPhone Officially Announced in the U.K.

As expected, Apple has announced that O₂ will be the exclusive U.K. carrier for the iPhone, which will go on sale in November.

Wi-Fi Music Store (view large image)

This will be essentially the same device as is currently available in the United States; despite much hope and speculation, it will not include 3G cellular-wireless networking.

However, the U.K. version of the iPhone will include support for Apple's Wi-Fi Music Store, which the U.S. version currently does not.

Pricing and Availability

The iPhone will sell for £270 when it hits the market on November 9.

O₂ is offering three different service plans, with prices ranging from £35 to £55 a month. What varies among the three is the amount of talk time and SMS messages that can be exchanged; all of them include unlimited wireless data access.

Other Telcoms

According to unconfirmed reports, the iPhone will soon be released in two other European countries, but not by O₂. Orange will supposedly handle France, and this smartphone will be available in Germany only through T-Mobile.

All three carriers are expected to have this device on sale by the end of November.

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