Germany Will Get iPhone on Nov. 9 Too

Apple Inc. has partnered with network operator T-Mobile to introduce the iPhone in Germany on Nov. 9, the companies announced on Wednesday.

The iPhone will cost ,399 (US$553) including sales tax with a two-year service contract. In the U.S., the same phone now sells for $399, after launching at $599.

The deal will come as some consolation to T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, which saw rival AT&T Inc. win the right to distribute the iPhone in the U.S.

From Nov. 9, the operator will sell the iPhone through Deutsche Telekom stores, and through the T-Mobile online store, it said.

The phone will go on sale in the U.K. on the same day, operator O2 (UK) Ltd. and Apple announced Tuesday. The phone will cost #269 ($538) in the U.K. with an 18-month contract.

All eyes are now on France, where analysts expect Orange, the mobile phone and Internet access division of France Tilicom SA, to announce that it has won the exclusive right to distribute the phone there. Orange representatives were not immediately available to comment.

The iPhone has been a success in the U.S.: one million were sold in the 74 days following its June 29 launch.

Apple revealed a new version of the iPhone firmware, 1.1.1 on Friday with a new settings menu for international language options not seen in previous versions.

Apart from that, the European iPhone is essentially unchanged from the U.S. model, which already had the capability to operate on the 900MHz and 1800MHz GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) bands used in Europe and Asia, in addition to the 850MHz and 1900MHz bands used in North America. Like the U.S. model, it has no 3G high-speed data capability, and will instead operate on GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) networks.

Using EDGE, T-Mobile will offer data rates up to 220K bps (bits per second) across its network, it said. German iPhone buyers will also have access to 8,600 Wi-Fi hotspots in T-Mobile's network, the company said.