"UK Apple iPhone is 3.5G" - say Carphone staff
The fact my imported iPhone is stuck limping along on a T-Mobile connection is seared into my consciousness when I’m stood next to a few folk pressing, squeezing and flicking through their UK iPhones using o2’s Edge. My experience of Edge is reasonably good so far on the devices I’ve tried. Faster GPRS, basically — however it’s definitely second generation. There ain’t no third generation about it… not yet, anyway. A fact lost on the chaps at the Carphone Warehouse integrated into the Selfridges store. So reports Andrew Grill on his blog.
Andrew’s given me permission to replicate his experience thus (replete with photo live from the scene):
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I was in the Selfridges Carphone Warehouse store on the weekend in Oxford street, and I happened to walk past the in-store iPhone stand (shown on the left). As I was playing with one of the iPhones on display, I overheard the sales pitch from one of the young sales people to a couple of young girls. What caught my attention was when he was showing the internet browser and said “…superfast internet…with 3.5G technology”. Hang on a second, we all know the current iPhone is limited to EDGE speeds (2.75G – 236Kbs maximum data rates). The other troubling part of the pitch was when he said it was locked to the O2 network. the girls asked “can’t we unlock it?”, to which the sales assistant offered “I’m not supposed to tell you this but you can”.
The girls walked off, but I asked him if he had said “3.5G technology” instead of EDGE and he shrugged his shoulders and just said “they’re girls…you know..” and then kept repeating the phrase “EDGE technology” as I walked off.
One wonders if this is the standard pitch when people ask about the data speeds when the iPhone is on a cellular network. Granted, when connected to a WiFi network the iPhone will provide superfast speeds but those not in the telco industry may not know the device is not a 3G device.
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Gahhh. I suppose it’s OK telling white lies to ‘girls’ who wouldn’t care anyway?
Or is it? Does the Carphone Warehouse chap actually understand (or care) about the difference between 2/3G devices? I wonder.
Thanks very much Andrew. You can read more of Andrew’s blog here.
