Apple sets UK iPhone launch

Apple's iPhone will go on sale in Britain on November 9 and have the O2 network as its exclusive carrier, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said on Tuesday.

The 8GB model will sell for £269 ($A640 or $US536), Jobs said at a news conference in London.

"We can't wait to let people here get their hands on it and see if they love it as much as we do," Jobs said.

The deal with O2 was described as exclusive and "multi-year". Customers will sign up for an 18-month contract on a tariff of either £35, £45 or £55 pounds, said Matthew Key, chief executive of O2 UK.

That would make the iPhone at least a £900 commitment over 18 months, a deal that places it at the pricey end of mobile phone deals in the UK.

As in the US, the phone will run on the 2G networks, disappointing many Europeans who were hoping for an upgraded iPhone that would run on the faster 3G network.

Jobs said the reason Apple wasn't introducing a 3G iPhone just yet was because the 3G chip sets were "real power hogs".

"Most [3G] phones now have battery lives of 2-3 hours and that's due to these very power-hungry 3G chip sets. Our phone has 8 hours of talk time life. That's really important when you start to use the internet and want to use the phone to listen to music," he said.

The Apple CEO said he expected a 3G model to be launched next "late next year", by which time battery lives for 3G phones would be up in the five hours plus range.

However, O2 have announced that iPhone users will have freeWiFi access to some 7500. hotspots dotted around the country.

Unconfirmed reports say that O2 struck a deal to hand over 40 per cent share of the iPhone revenues to Apple.

Apple recently cut the price of the 8GB iPhone in the US from $US599 to $US399 and discontinued the $US499 4GB version. It apologised to those who had paid full price and offered $US100 credits to early buyers.

Asked about the burgeoning market in unlocked iPhones, Jobs indicated that Apple was looking at ways to beat the hackers.

"This is constant cat-and-mouse game. We play it on iPods with our digital rights management and when somebody hacks it we have to go ... and stay a step ahead," he said.

"It's the same way here, people are going to try and break in and it's our job to try and stop them."

Apple's announcement in London was bound to spur speculation about further launches in Europe, though Jobs declined comment.

"We're announcing the UK today. We've said we'll be in a few countries in Europe next quarter. As we roll those out, I'm sure you'll hear about it," he said.

For months, rumours have circulated that Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG has been in talks to carry the iPhone in Germany through its T-Mobile wireless unit, while Spain's Telefonica - the parent of O2 - and France's Orange have been touted as likely candidates to offer the device in Spain and France.

None of those companies has confirmed if they have even been in talks with Apple.

Apple announced last week that it had sold one million iPhones in the United States in 74 days after the combination mobile phone-iPod went on sale there - and less than a week after its price was cut by a third.

Jobs said the iPhone was scoring higher on customer satisfaction than any previous Apple product, with more than 90 per cent of buyers saying they were "very happy" and 85 per cent saying they would enthusiastically recommend the phone to a friend.

He said Apple chose to team with O2 "because they were the best culture fit with Apple in the U.K."

Asked about media reports that some British phone companies felt Apple had played them against each other, Jobs said: "You want to go on a few dates before you get married."