With the iPhone 3G releasing on Friday, some early reviews from some of the big players are starting to come in. They all seems to be saying the same thing: meh.

It’s good but it’s pretty much more of the same. But faster. And with less battery. There also seems to be a lot of bitching all round about a lot of the new pricing tariffs introduced by AT&T to counter the subsidized price.

Oddly though in the UK it’s actually cheaper all round since the phone works out cheaper than the US equivalent (£99=$195) where before we got shafted. The tariffs are also a better deal this time round with more texts getting added for the same price.

I’m guessing it’s due to the fact that the iPhone wasn’t successful on the same scale as the US, mostly due to the price. In Europe we’re used to getting our phones for free or cheap and not a lot of people were willing to pony up £250 for a phone that had EDGE which only worked in 20% of the country.

Of course the people who did are now completely screwed. Now that the iPhone supports 3G (which is a lot more widespread than in the US) EDGE won’t be improved any so they’re stuck with what they’ve got. And while widespread 3G is a great plus for UK buyers, it’s only a new thing in the US and isn’t as widespread so a lot of people won’t see much of an improvement.

So it’s a mixed bag as always with Apple. Yes it’s a cheaper phone, but the battery life isn’t that great anymore and it’s actually more expensive for most.

Where my interests lie are how this affects the iPod Touch. Now that the iPhone is only $200, who is going to buy a gimped iPhone (the iPod Touch) for $299? Hopefully Apple will cut the price in a couple months once the iPhone mania has died down a bit.

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