Le iPhone et 3G (but is it art?)

Bonjour! C'est le IT Blogwatch: in which the French offer a less expensive unlocked iPhone and Apple's 3G plans emerge. Not to mention malware as art...

Gregg Keizer a le reportage:

France Telecom set the price for an unlocked iPhone Wednesday at $1,106 ... when customers decline to sign a 12- or 24-month service contract ... [less than] than the roughly $1,471 that rival T-Mobile charges its customers in Germany. [more]

Seth Weintraub ajoute:

649€ or $980 ... is probably close to cost for Orange ... This wasn't a cheap device to bring to market ... Apple needs to recoup these costs on 10 million iPhones over a year an a half ... [so] you can consider the iPhone costs about 1/3 parts, 1/3 R&D and 1/3 Apple Gravy. [more]

Charlie Sorrel égéries: [That's enough Babelfish -Ed.]

Anyone who opts for a plan and then decides to switch carriers can also unlock the phone, although it'll cost you €100 if you do it in the first six months of the contract. [more]

Chauncey Dupree is beastly to the Germans:

749€ - not bad for an unlocked iPhone. Compared to what now appear to be Deutchbag T-Mobile's €999 fee, it is a bargain ... 49€ for 2 hours talk time, 59€ for 3 hours, 79€ for 5 hours, 119€ for 8 hours (FYI - you don't get charged on incoming calls in France). [more]

Philip Elmer-DeWitt reminds us of the local legal aspect:

France Telecom, which owns Orange, knew even before it signed its exclusive deal with Apple that it was going to be required to offer customers the option of buying the iPhone with or without a contract. [more]

Thomas Ricker looks forward:

Of course the 3G iPhone is coming ... it's only a matter of time ... Still, when AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson says, "You'll have it next year," well, our ears tend to perk up ... [but] he didn't say how much it could cost. [more]

And Jesus "phone" Diaz adds:

We hope ... they are already well into the development phase, perhaps taking advantage of the latest low-consumption 3G chipsets to solve Steve Jobs' concerns about a 3G iPhone's battery life. [more]

Meanwhile, Fake Steve Jobs likes the Torygraph:

The Brits totally get what iPhone is all about ... it's the whole hierarchical class structure thing ... they would totally understand that it's about feeling special, and maybe, well, a little bit better than everyone else. See this cartoon which explains it perfectly. [more]

And finally...

• Randall Munroe's xkcd on malware as art
  

Buffer overflow:

• Tom Foremski: MSFT: Setting Up Facebook For Failure?
• Anton Chuvakin: Poll: What Do You Do With Collected Logs?
• Ellen Anon: Using the Tint Wheels
• Om Malik: With Google's My Location, Who Needs a GPS?
• Eric Roch: SOA Top Ten Mistakes
• Mike Kavis: Fear and Enterprise Initiatives
• Mike Masnick: Microsoft Must Pay $140 Million For Using Multiple Passwords To Activate Its Software
• Appletell: Steve Jobs rated most powerful businessperson
• Ryan Paul: Novell-SCO case finally heading to trial

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Michael R. Farnum: Dallas Red Cross employees find personnel files waiting for trash
• Mike Elgan: New Google Maps Mobile gives GPS-like location
• Mitch Betts: Author: IT isn't like construction, and ROI doesn't work for IT
• Mark Hall: Service targets DSO difficulties
• Shark Tank: But it does sound logical, doesn't it?
• Douglas Schweitzer: New online banking threat

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Verizon's open plan surprises and delights (and messy rabbit)
• Monday's online shopping: HUGE (and Brit beer spot)
• WinXP SP3: seems snappier (and error'd)