Blackberry maker RIM recently proposed a new nano-SIM card design to counter one proposal made by Apple to the the European Telecommunications Standards Instititute. One of the major points of contention surrounds the use of a SIM tray; Apple wanted to use one, which effectively would impose their SIM tray design on other manufacturers, but it would be interoperable with existing SIM formats since the pin footprint in Apple's layout is exactly the same as the old generation SIM cards. Meanwhile Motorola, RIM, and (until recently) Nokia were pushing a tray-less design with a fingernail catch, not unlike what we see on microSD memory cards. Apple's original nano-SIM design was as long as the old mini SIM was wide, which could easily confuse consumers, lead to jamming, and consequently more repairs and returns. RIM and Motorola's countered that adapters are unreliable and can't hold a card securely against the contacts, but still offered the compromise that you see above.

Despite the compromise offered here by RIM, nobody could agree after an informal vote, which isn't much of a surprise given Apple herded in sympathetic partners to the association. Ultimately, if these guys can't find common ground, it's entirely possible that we'll see two nano SIM standards floating around: one made by Apple, and one used by everybody else. You can imagine what a headache that could be for all parties involved, particularly carriers. It seems like most parties adopted micro SIM without too much of a fight, and that was also a charge led by Apple with the iPhone 4; could the same bullheadedness get other manufacturers to just go along with Apple again? Why is Apple so hell-bent on their particular design anyway? How would carriers side in all of this?

If you're interested in poking around the ETSI documentation, it's all somewhere in here; the particulars of RIM's latest proposal are available here.

Source: The Verge

Most players on iPhone and iPad tend to spend more money than those playing on an Android device -- five times more, to be exact. This according to a Newzoo study that examined the growth of mobile gaming in Europe and North America. It showed that there are now 101 million American mobile gamers, 69% of which are playing on smartphones and 21% play on tablets. Of them, iPhone claimed 19 million gamers, which is 28% of everyone that plays games on a smartphone. Surprisingly, the iPod touch managed to snag nearly as many with 18 million players. As you might expect, the iPad rocks the tablet gaming world with 12.7 million gamers (a 60% slice of the whole tablet pie). In the U.S., the vast majority (91%) of revenue was made through various in-app streams, not counting advertising, though that figure is a bit lower for Germany and France, which ranged between 73% and 87%.  This data was gleaned from a survey of 17,000 people plus data from Distimo, who do regular reports on app downloads.

This data isn't a huge surprise considering how much Apple has polished the purchasing process on iOS and through iTunes. Game piracy is a very real concern for many Android developers, and likely contributes to iOS being as profitable as it is. What's more surprising to me is that in-app purchases constitute such a big chunk of revenue; I'm rarely interested in spending any cash on in-app purchases, and would much rather pay cash up-front for a full game without being harassed by ads or prompts to buy virtual currency. The good freemium games out there will tend to have their IAPs mostly in the background, and will naturally lead people to them through engaging gameplay rather than obnoxious pop-ups.

How much do you guys tend to spend on iPad and iPhone gaming? Are in-app purchases appealing to you? Developers, how much more profitable do you find your iOS titles compared to Android?

Source: Forbes

As expected, the third wave of Retina-grade new iPads are hitting international markets today, including South Korea, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. The last batch was on March 23, which covered most of Europe, while the initial rollout included select major markets in North America, Europe, and Asia. The final wave will be next week, April 27, when the new iPad hits Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

Apple has been beating Samsung on their Korean home turf with the iPad 2 alone, so it's a safe assumption that the new iPad will further cement iOS dominance there. I have the sneaking suspicion that  the new iPad will do equally well elsewhere in the world. I feel a little bad for those who have had to wait so long to get their mitts on one, but no doubt the wait is creating a fair bit of excitement for launch day. Any international readers out there really itching to get a new iPad? Have any of you resorted to ordering one from abroad?

If you get your new iPad today, jump into our iPad 3 Forum and give us your review!

Apple is butting heads with RIM, Motorola, and Nokia over the next evolution of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card sizes. SIM cards are used by GSM and LTE carriers to attach numbers and service plans to mobile devices like iPhones and iPads. After paving the way for the micro-SIM format, which has since been adopted by Nokia for their Lumia series, Apple is now putting pressure on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to recognize a their new nano-SIM format as the next industry standard. What's the problem? Well, competitors worry that Apple would be in a position to claim patents on the nano-SIM format, and if it was set as the universal standard, they could all end up paying royalties. There's also a concern that other vendors would be stuck with Apple's design even if they think they've come up with something better.

On top of that, Apple might skew the voting process, having recently applied six of their subsidiaries for membership in the council. This would oust Nokia as the largest voting member.  Service providers are all for the nano-SIMs, in any case, and they're supporting Apple's proposal to ETSI. Voting at ETSI starts next week.

The nano-SIM would be 30% smaller and 15% thinner than the micro-SIMs currently found in iPhones and iPads, and that means more room in smartphones for other good stuff. iMore previously heard Apple was intent on moving away from the traditional 30-pin Dock port towards a "micro-Dock" connector due to similar space considerations.

Source: Financial Times

According to some EU court documents, Motorola and Apple had talked about hashing out a licensing deal in late 2011. Given their rough and ongoing patent battles over the last few months, it's no surprise to hear Apple claim in the documents that their "refusal to accede to this demand led Motorola Mobility to sue Apple in an attempt to exclude Apple’s products from the market.” Meanwhile, Motorola has claimed that they've been offering fair, reasonable, and non-descriminatory licensing to Apple since 2007. Google's pending purchase of Motorola looms large in this whole affair, through which they would acquire between 7000 and 8000 patents (500 - 1000 of which would be European). Google says that they're open to Motorola licensing their patents for up to 2.25% of the handset cost, which is $13.50 on a $600 phone. Overall, the EU court sounded positive on the idea of a cross-licensing deal between Motorola and Apple.

"From the information available to the Commission, this option envisaged a cross-licence possibly to the benefit of all Android OEMs but also with mutual carve-outs. This kind of cross-licence would be different in scope from that which might have been concluded by Motorola Mobility prior to the transaction."

I'm no lawyer, but there seem to be two sides to this. On one hand, I could certainly see the mutual benefit of Motorola and Apple to allow access to one another's fairly important patents. On the other hand, if Motorola agrees to license their patents under FRAND terms in order to become part of the standard, and Apple decides to keep their patents proprietary to gain competitive advantage, a blanket cross-license wouldn't be a fair deal to Apple.

Source: EU court documents here, Bloomberg

Apple has announced some of its European launch pricing for the iPhone 4S. The countries with pricing available are the United Kingdom, France and Germany. These are the countries that will get the iPhone on October 14 with pre-orders starting on October 7. The prices are for a SIM free unlocked iPhone 4S and cell service would have to be taken out separately.

United Kingdom

iPhone 4S 16GB         £499.00

iPhone 4S 32GB         £599.00

iPhone 4S 64GB         £699.00

France

iPhone 4S 16GB         €629.00

iPhone 4S 32GB         €739.00

iPhone 4S 64GB         €849.00

Germany

iPhone 4S 16GB         €629.00

iPhone 4S 32GB         €739.00

iPhone 4S 64GB         €849.00

We will keep an eye on the major European carriers who have yet to show their hands when it comes to pricing or availability for the matter. When they do, we will let you know.

Source: Apple

European carriers are reportedly warning Apple that if Apple goes ahead with plans for custom, built-in SIM cards for future generations of the iPhone. the carriers may refuse to subsidise the iPhone altogether.

The cost of the iPhone without a carrier subsidy is around $600 and estimations say that global sales may drop by around 12% if the phone isn't subsidised. Some of the carriers known to have concerns include:

• Vodafone UK
• France Telecom (Orange)
• Spain Telefónica

Like Apple, all 3 of these carriers have refused to comment. Robin Bienenstock, an analyst from Sanford C. Bernstein said:

Any decision by Apple to introduce an iPhone with a Sim embedded would undermine the operators’ relationship with their customer and such a move could ultimately prove to be the first step in a process in which the mobile operators cede customer control to handset vendors like Apple

What do you think about a possible built-in SIM? Would you still buy an iPhone without carrier subsidy?

Financial Times

AdMob [Via Electronista] released its latest report and it states the iPhone is the leading smartphone not only in the Americas, but in Europe as well. This news should really come to no surprise to any of our readers, and it's not the first signs of Apple's dominance in the smartphone world as we've reported its U.S. success of mobile web traffic previously. As you can see, the iPhone is annihilating the competition regarding mobile traffic in some major markets.

"Alongside the iPhone growing to 54 percent of all smartphone Internet traffic in North America, it now makes up more than half of all handheld traffic in Latin America (56 percent) as well as Western and Eastern Europe (78 percent and 51 percent). Apple's lead is especially high in Oceania, which centers on Australia and New Zealand, as it represents 92 percent of all mobile data."

Following behind Apple's footsteps here in the U.S., we have the Motorola Droid coming in 2rd in overall smartphones. Sadly for our good friends over at PreCentral.net, their beloved device only took a lonely 2% of the pie.

UPDATE: Engadget is reporting micro-USB vs. the BBC's mini-USB. Also, that Apple, among others, is backing the standard.

ORIGINAL: We've discussed this before, but now it looks like Europe has gone ahead and done it. Mini-USB is going to be the "one size fits all" universal charging standard for phones. The caveat:

The deal isn't legally binding though and, at this stage, is only voluntary.

Translation: Apple's 30-pin dock connector likely isn't going any place, any time soon.

Are we happy about this? Are we wondering why it wasn't micro-USB? Or do we really not care one way or another about it at this point?

[via the BBC, thanks sambell for the tip!]

Fair warning, this post is only for the serious gadget-loving Euro-Apple-fanbois....

Looks like the US isn't the only country where iPhone 3G S is already burning lens flares into people's cameras. Here are some early arrival shots from our 007-type friends across the pond. Europeans, the iPhones 3G S have landed! The carriers have them, and soon... so shall you!

More shots after the break!

The European Union is known to be a little more hard core than North American regulators. Just ask Microsoft about their Windows monopoly fines, or Apple about iTunes pricing and DRM. Now, however, Apple Insider reports that the EU might just be getting ready to fire another shot across Apple's bow with a "New Batteries Directive" that says power cells must be "readily removable":

Gary Nevison, writing for New Electronics, said [PDF] "the requirement is clearly intended to ensure that users can remove batteries by opening a cover by hand or after removal of one or two screws. The producer will also have to provide the user with details on how to remove the battery safely."

Of course, Apple and their design guru, Jonathan Ive, have long weighed the extra juice -- and clean lines -- of a single, integrated unit, so this may cause no end of frustrations in Cupertino. (Though the iPhone 3G does, of course, sport two new screws at the bottom, the battery removable process could still never be mistaken for "ready").

What do you think? Removable batteries a plus for consumers and the environment? Or a harbinger of less sleek, less iconic iPhone designs? Is it better to look good, or be good?

The iPhone has now successfully stormed the mobile markets of both the Emerald Isle and the birthplace of the Oak. For those keeping track at home, this brings the official score card to:

(Not counting the massive gray market, 'natch).

What makes the two newest iPhone launches unique, however, is that while hardware pricing is consistent with other EU countries, it looks like Austrians won't be loving them some unlimited data any time soon, with T-Mobile caps firmly in place at 3GB. Of course, they're still better off than their O2 bedeviled Irish launch-mates, who not only get even less data at a miserly 1GB, but also don't get Visual Voicemail! (We should point out that, according to Apple Insider, use of Visual Voicemail in Austria will also count towards your 3GB of data!)

So are these capped data plans the future of iPhone? Are the European EDGE networks so obsoleted by 3G that they can't handle more or is Apple being forced to concede on their data demands to get their units into more and more territories?

And now that 5 and 6 are settled, who's in the running for 7? Apple COO Tim Cook did promise us Asia this year, which makes Japan (who knows about China?) a possibility. What about Australia? Scandinavia? Are we betting on Antarctica before data-gouged Canada? (I am!)

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, ever since the 1.4 firmware dropped, complete with a carrier reference for T-Mobile in Austria, we've known who will carry Herr Jobs' miracle phone into its fifth European country. And now we know when!

Tomorrow, March 14th!

This revelations comes courtesy of Electronista (via Ars Technica) and the ever-lax security of T-Mobile private web pages (hit the aforementioned links for the screen caps).

The 8GB and 16GB versions will be available for €399 and €399 respectively, with rate plans ranging from €39 to €55, depending on the talk-time and SMS package. And unlike the Irish, it reportedly WILL rock Unlimited Data and Visual Voice Mail.

Austrian iPhone fans, better get in line now before the Governator buys them all!

As posted (and updated) earlier, O2 has officially launched the iPhone in Ireland, making it the fifth country (after the US, UK, Germany, and France) to enjoy the revolutionary phone and breakthrough internet device... ish...

Apple Insider reports that Irish iPhone plans, unlike all previous iPhone plans DO NOT come with unlimited data or visual voicemail (a feature often touted by Steve Jobs as being a prime example of carrier cooperation and hence, the benefit of exclusivity).

There seems to be two options here:

1. We've heard before that Edge (2.5G data) coverage isn't strong in Europe (which more quickly embraced the faster 3G data model), so could this be a (potentially temporary) situation that O2 will rectify over time? If so, we could be looking forward to service improvements and price drops like we saw with O2 in the UK.
2. Or is this a sign that Apple is no longer pressuring carriers to offer affordable, unlimited data plans or features like visual voice mail as part of the iPhone package? If so, this could be the beginning of a far more sweeping and important story. It's long been rumored that extremely high data rates have kept the iPhone out of countries like Canada, so if Apple is bending to carrier demands on these issues, it could allow the iPhone to spread wider, but at the cost of the concessions Apple was previously able to leverage. (And which analysts said could change the wireless industry)

What do you think? Is this just a temporary road bump on the way to Irish iPhone bliss, or a sign of changing times in carrier-land? And if so, would you prefer to see the iPhone in more countries, even if you get less data and fewer features? Or do you want Apple to hold the line on unlimited plans and visual voicemail-style innovations?

Current exclusive UK iPhone carrier O2 has apparently confirmed to Pocket-lint (via Engadget) that Apple's finest will be launching on Ireland's emerald shores come March 14th.

As with the UK, the device will sell via O2 Retail and Carphone Warehouse, cashing in at €399 (incl. VAT) for the 8GB or €499 (incl. VAT) for the 16GB, with rate plans starting at €45.

With O2 expanding its exclusivity into Ireland, and T-Mobile set to expand theirs into Austria, what's next? Orange in Belgium? AT&T somehow getting into Canada? What's your guess for iPhone's next move?

UPDATE: Looks like the 1.1.4 firmware confirms carrier listings for O2 in Ireland and T-Mobile in Austria (Macity via Ars Technica).

UPDATE 2: It's official, O2 launches the iPhone in Ireland (via Engadget).

After a full weekend of the iPhone in Europe, how well has the iPhone been doing? Well, T-Mobile reported that they sold 10,000 iPhones on the first day. That's not too shabby; it's not an incredibly high number either, but it's not bad either.

O2 hasn't published any numbers yet, so there's a bunch of hemming and hawing about whether the UK launch was a success or failure -- and same with the German launch, actually. My guess is that since possibly 250,000 iPhones have been unlocked and sent overseas and Apple has had to limit purchases to 2 and require a credit card for purchase, that the iPhone launch must have been pretty good over there when it started a few months ago.

There's a big line at the mothership Regent Street Apple Store in London. The line started forming yesterday, and though there hasn't been torrents of rain pouring down on the line waiters like there was in Germany, it's been fairly cold -- about 45° F. Still, the mood is chipper, and everyone is looking forward to getting their iPhone, and they'll only have to wait about 2.5 hours before the official launch at 6:02 London time.

Well, the iPhone has officially launched in Germany with T-Mobile, and with fanfare at that. Heise.de reports that there was a bunch of hooting and hollering, which reminds me of the Mall of America launch -- they did a good job of making people feel like they were part of something big. Even if it was just for waiting for the release of a smartphone in a collapsible chair for 11 hours.

The CEO of T-Mobile is pleased with the demand for the iPhone, and is not sure that supplies will keep up with demand over the holiday season:

We're not giving out precise forecasts, but registrations on our Web site lead me to believe (the Christmas sales period) will be a strong sales period.

iPhone: Bei mir, bist du schön.

Details of the iPhone's launch in the UK is spilling out rapidly, and O2 are making some last changes in preparation for iPhone's arrival. Their CEO granted an interview that gives a peek into Apple's carrier selection process. O2 has changed the way that they deal with limited "unlimited" plans -- they still limit them, but at least they will give users a warning before they punt people away. And lastly, UK gadget magazine tried out the iPhone for a while, and they have information about the 1.1.2, the upcoming firmware update and iTunes 7.5.

O2 CEO Interview

O2 CEO Matthew Key granted an interview to the Telegraph in which he doles out information and money quotes like candy at a parade. He recounts his journey to Apple's HQ in Cupertino to offer O2 as the UK carrier for the iPhone.

"[Jobs] clearly knows his stuff in a level of detail that for someone at that level is mindblowing, and he has a great incisiveness in terms of what the customer wants and needs in products"

"I played with it for two minutes and just thought, 'oh my God, this is leagues above anything I've ever seen before'"

This is pretty straight talk coming from a CEO. One could say it's PR from someone who's shilling the iPhone... but one would have to concede that he's saying everything else that he sells is left in the dust.

There have been a few folks around that claim that partnering with Apple on the iPhone is like a deal with the devil, that the carriers don't make any money selling it. Key, formerly the CFO of O2, has a few choice words to say about that:

"When we left two hours later, I said to Cesar, 'that's a device I've got to offer. In the UK market, where the top four networks have pretty much equal shares, it offers a great way for me to get a hell of a lot of high-value customers on to O2 and drive up data usage"

"For me to sign a – whatever it is –'madly money-losing deal', well, it's almost a slight on my professional integrity, isn't it? Why would I do that?"

Limited Unlimited Plans

There's always some hubbub about the limited "unlimited" plans that carriers are so fond of implementing. O2's "unlimited" data program topped out at 200MB, and sometimes half that. If an ordinary person, aka "punter," was to download more data than that in a month on their UK iPhone, O2 would punt the punter -- they'd cancel his or her service. That language has been removed, and they now promise to send a stern letter warning of cancellation, allowing the punter to change habits and preserving the contract.

"Customers find 'unlimited with limits' confusing, plus most people don't speak in megabits or understand what they equate to."

UK iPhone Review

And meanwhile, pre-eminent gadget trade rag T3 got some hands on with iPhone firmware 1.1.2, a long expected sequel to the 1.1.1 firmware we currently enjoy. The new firmware closes the TIFF exploit, so if you were planning on jailbreaking your iPhone the easy way (jailbreakme.com), you'll probably want to hold off on applying this update. Also present in the 1.1.2 firmware is vastly upgraded language support for dozens of languages. There's all sorts of detail available in their official review. There are some gobsmacker quotes in their review too:

"Twelve months of tick-inducing anticipation had, in an ephemeral moment, just been exchanged for internal squeals and loud snorts."

"Oh, how we wanted to post picture proof last week but would have run the risk of Steve Jobs personally removing our knackers."

"Finally, a gizmo to properly rival the well-heeled crackberry."

"new version of iTunes (we were given 7.5 d15) supports Ringtones as well as iCal and the Address Book."

Theirs is a very good review, and not far from what you may have read elsewhere: mostly ahead of all of the competition everywhere, except for where it isn't, and it drives them mad. They warn users that it may not replace their "existing pocket rocket" even though they say "it's the best piece of kit we've seen all year."

Engadget posted up a briefly leaked document from T-Mobile.de that indicates costs and charges for T-Mobile Germany unlimited data plans for the iPhone. There are three tiers -- a 200MB tier (M), a 1GB tier (L), and a 5GB tier (XL).

They're not as unlimited as I'd like, and it looks like they cap your data speeds at about 25% once you pass your download limit, but it's a start -- the other option is to charge you out the nose for exceeding your data limit.

I think my new favorite bit about the international iPhone is how it forces carriers (or operators or whatever) to have a conversation about what manner of data plan and minutes plan the iPhone will be paired with. That, and the promise of a fully unlocked iPhone someday. My two new favorite bits about the international iPhone....

Apple finally confirmed that Orange would be the carrier for the iPhone in France. The iPhone will be sold on Orange's website and in Orange's retail stores for €399, which is around $566 American. Information on plans has not yet been determined or revealed. They did set an official date, however: November 29th. It is widely expected that the iPhone will retail for a higher price if sold without a contract as required by French law.

figure 1: Apple and Orange?

It was widely expected that Apple would have some happy things to say about the iPhone and French mobile operator Orange last week at Apple Expo Paris. But, the expo came and went without any sort of iPhone news whatsoever. It looks like we may now know the reason why.

Apple may have problems with a French law that

"would require the iPhone to be sold both with and without contracts, undermining its exclusivity for Orange and Apple's demand of up to 30 per cent of voice and data revenues"

Clearly, the only option here is to not sell the iPhone at all and wait for the law to change. Instead of charging the no-contract folks an extra $150 or €150 or whatever and skip the revenue sharing. Doing that would require weeks upon weeks of delays. It's practically not worth it at that point. Why even bother? [via]

Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodaphone, is "absolutely" confident that they'll get a second chance to distribute the iPhone somewhere in the world. Anywhere, really. He's still bullish on the 3G iPhone. By the time Apple comes out with one, I'm not sure what major markets will be left for a contract. Asia maybe?

Didier Lombard, the CEO of Orange, confirmed that Orange would be the sole provider of the iPhone in France. He didn't reveal any details at all, merely confirming that they were not going to subsidize the cost of the handset. Rumors have indicated that unlimited data will not be part of the deal.

He's probably going to let Steve reveal that information at Apple Expo Paris (Google Translated)next week. Hopefully for Lombard's sake, he didn't reveal any secrets that Steve Jobs wanted to reveal himself; I know that he's punished partners for revealing his secrets before -- ATi was punished around July 2000 for leaking that new iMacs and PowerMacs were coming.

One day after Apple confirmed that they will partner with O2 in the U.K., it was announced that Apple will partner with T-Mobile in Germany for sales of the iPhone. The iPhone will be available on November 9 for €399 and requires a 2 year contract. It doesn't appear that the plan details are available yet, so they might still be working those plans out -- T-Mobile's Deutchland site doesn't have much information, just the typical marketing spiel. You heard Steve say it all in January: ein revolutionäres Telefon, ein Breitbild iPod, und ein wegweisendes Internetgerät, right?

A picture of the iPhone linked to BMW's iPhone stereo surface showed up on BMW's website, and it shows Vodaphone's network logo instead of T-Mobile's. There have been rumors that T-Mobile has clinched the deal in Germany. And yet, here we have the above photo. My understanding was that Vodaphone would get the territories not covered by Orange, O2, and T-Mobile, but we won't know until Apple says for sure. Which they'll probably do at their "Mum is No Longer the Word" event tomorrow. Failing that, there's Apple Expo Paris a week or so later. [via]

O2 is still the main partner candidate for the UK, and there are new strong indicators that reaffirm that, based off CEO Peter Erskine's remarks about the apparently unprecedented revenue sharing. He also apparently believes that the iPhone is an iconic device.

In other news, the rest of the world is excited about the free iPhone unlock.

Or, as noted by the Consumerist, you could just pop out the sim card. You can still check stocks, weather, view videos, check email, browse the web, and do more or less everything except for:

1. make phone calls,
2. use EDGE networks, and
3. use visual voicemail

To me this looks like a MS Paint project.

Although there's been no official announcement, O2 has long been rumored as the carrier that will be selling the iPhone in the United Kingdom. They've recently announced that they're building out their EDGE network; something they hadn't ever bothered to do previously. Actually, most of Europe hasn't bothered installing the EDGE portion of their network; carriers (sorry, operators) activating EDGE in Europe is tantamount to tacit admission that they will be carrying the iPhone. I leave you with this gem from a Nokia Siemens marketroid:

"A typical upgrade for a country-wide network would be measured in weeks"

The Financial Times of Germany reports that Apple gets 10% of the revenue from every phone call and data charge in exchange for regional exclusivity. I'm not surprised to see that the revenue sharing deal is different in Europe than AT&T's revenue sharing, since contracts and charges in Europe are so different than contracts and charges in the U.S.

What does surprise me is that Apple is already regarded as an industry heavyweight. It turns out that only Research in Motion, Blackberry creators, have the same deal:

"These are not negotiations among equals. Apple clearly had the upper hand."

O2 in the UK, Orange in France, and T-Mobile in Germany. According to the German version of the Financial Times, the deal is done, set in stone, and not up for discussion. They apparently agreed to terms very similar to AT&T's terms; Vodaphone is apparently #1 on the list for the remaining European nations. [via]

The article doesn't mention the most important thing about the European carrier, however (important, at least, to North Americans). There are businesses who make it their work to take advantage of foreign economies to purchase an unlocked mobile device and then resell it in a different nation. Some nations, like Belgium, mandate that all phones are sold unlocked. So, one might be able to buy an unlocked iPhone via Belgium, for example. The purchaser may end up with a European warranty, sending their device across the Atlantic to have it serviced, or an outright refusal to service the warranty.

The idea is that the purchaser gets an iPhone on Rogers or T-Mobile, etc, instead of Cingular. It's not possible to get an iPhone on Sprint, Verizon, or Alltel, unless you can get one of them to give you a SIM card, which you likely can't. We will, of course, post updates as they come.