Transcript of Apple's 'Mum is no longer the word' event in London - Sept 18th 2007
08:43 am Ewdison Then: Hi Guys, SlashGear Live from London, 1 hour and 17 minutes to the event
09:33 am Ewdison Then: We are getting ready to go in now
09:45 am Ewdison Then: Many people reported O2 UK store is offline while Apple store UK is still up and running
09:55 am Vincent Nguyen: I'm in, it's a pretty small area. Not like other US Apple events
10:00 am Ewdison Then: We are hearing KT Tunstall music
10:04 am Vincent Nguyen: I wonder if she's going to be performing live at this event?
10:04 am Vincent Nguyen: I'm pretty sure Apple would get a UK native to perform though
10:07 am Vincent Nguyen: Boy, Steve doesn't waste any time here. He has announced the 8GB will be sold for £269.
10:07 am Vincent Nguyen: It will be carried by the largest, most popular carrier, O2.
10:08 am Vincent Nguyen: It looks like those in the UK are still going to have to wait, it's not going on sale until November 9th.
10:09 am Vincent Nguyen: They're showing off their new UK iPhone ads now
10:10 am Vincent Nguyen: Mostly the same stuff, just spoken with a British accent
10:11 am Vincent Nguyen: Steve has introduced O2 UK CEO Matthew Key
10:12 am Vincent Nguyen: Key talks about the iPhone being a breatkthrough product after only using it for a few minutes
10:15 am Vincent Nguyen: Big news, the UK version of the iPhone will not have 3G!
10:18 am Vincent Nguyen: Plans will range from £35- £55 and will include unlimited data
10:18 am Vincent Nguyen: O2 has teamed up with carphone warehouse to distribute the iPhone
10:19 am Vincent Nguyen: This gives you over 1300 places to get an iPhone, and each location will have an iPhone expert on staff
10:20 am Vincent Nguyen: Looks like O2 has teamed up with someone to create 7500 WiFi locations in the UK, so you won't have to be running off of EDGE when you're in the city
10:21 am Vincent Nguyen: Key is done talking after mentioning that the iPhone has been a bigger topic than the upcoming Led Zepplin concert
10:21 am Vincent Nguyen: Steve takes the stage, and takes a question
10:22 am Vincent Nguyen: Someone jumps in with the big question on everyone's mind, why isn't there 3G?
10:22 am Vincent Nguyen: He responds that 3G chips are battery hogs, it would cut the talk time on the iPhone down by 2-3 hours
10:23 am Vincent Nguyen: once they can get the battery issue solved, we may see a new 3G iPhone next year
10:24 am Vincent Nguyen: the next question is about the hotspots mentioned by Key, are they free?
10:25 am Vincent Nguyen: The mysterious partner is Cloud, and yes, the hotspots will be free
10:25 am Vincent Nguyen: More questions for Steve
10:26 am Vincent Nguyen: Will we see the same Starbucks Partnership? Steve says we'll have to ask Starbucks
10:26 am Vincent Nguyen: iTunes activation will work the same in the UK as it does in the US
10:27 am Vincent Nguyen: the iTunes WiFi music store will be launching later ter this month and will be loaded onto the upcoming UK iPhone
10:27 am Vincent Nguyen: The contract for the phone will be 18 months, and unlimited data usage actually means 1400 web pages per day
10:28 am Vincent Nguyen: Steve is reluctant to talk about revanue sharing between Apple and 02
10:28 am Ewdison Then: Unlimited does not mean unreasonable kind a way
10:29 am Vincent Nguyen: another big question for Steve, "is unlocking a concern?"
10:29 am Vincent Nguyen: he sort of dodges the question, calling it a "cat and mouse game"
10:29 am Vincent Nguyen: though he's not sure if they are the cat or the mouse
10:33 am Vincent Nguyen: Key responds to a question about network preparation saying that only 30% will have EDGE coverage
10:33 am Vincent Nguyen: That's pretty low, but understandable since everyone is going 3G
10:34 am Vincent Nguyen: Key is apparently a master of dodging questions, the latest one asked if they were aware of the iPod Touch while they were in negotiations
10:35 am Vincent Nguyen: he just mentioned that Apple is always moving forward
10:36 am Vincent Nguyen: Next dodged question pertains to the number of iPhones they plan to ship before Christmas
10:37 am Vincent Nguyen: he noted a figure (not sure where from) that 80% of high-end customers would be willing to switch over to them
10:37 am Vincent Nguyen: but he wouldn't talk actual numbers
10:38 am Vincent Nguyen: Now it's Steve's turn for some questions, he's asked about other European carriers
10:38 am Vincent Nguyen: he compares his time spent with each carrier like going on dates before getting married
10:39 am Vincent Nguyen: I guess that makes this the wedding
10:39 am Vincent Nguyen: When asked about other countries getting the iPhone, Steve just shot the question down saying he's only here to talk about iPhone in the UK
10:41 am Vincent Nguyen: Steve takes another hard question, this time about 3rd party apps
10:41 am Vincent Nguyen: he says they're still considering it, but people want more stable and secure phones
10:42 am Vincent Nguyen: Ouch, someone brings up the price, namely, will they cut the price in a few months like they did in the US
10:42 am Vincent Nguyen: that one got a good laugh from everyone
10:43 am Vincent Nguyen: Naturally he dodges it, basically saying it probably won't happen, but with today's technology you never really know
10:44 am Vincent Nguyen: They're already working on the next iPhone, so you can't really predict when the price will fall
10:44 am Vincent Nguyen: Now steve is asked about the 2.0MP camera, will it be good enough for Europe
10:44 am Vincent Nguyen: naturally, he thinks it will be
10:46 am Vincent Nguyen: Someone asks if the unlimited packages will be available to other customers, and they will on October 1st
10:46 am Vincent Nguyen: That wraps it up for the Q&A session
10:46 am Vincent Nguyen: and for the entire event
10:47 am Vincent Nguyen: Check back for more coverage later on
10:50 am Ewdison Then: We'll have the video up soon!
10:51 am Ewdison Then: We've got the video of Q&A, We are heading to our hotels soon to process the videos