iPhone 4 is now available in Luxembourg – Luxgsm, Orange and Tango’s offers are analyzed and compared right here

Written 3-Aug-2010

In my post prior to the iPhone 4 launch in Luxembourg, there were many active readers of this blog discussing and sharing information on the launch of the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg. Now it is here. All three providers (Luxgsm, Orange and Tango) started to sell the iPhone 4 on the 30th July 2010. Due to the large readership of the prior post, I have decided to also make a comparison of the iPhone packages by Luxgsm, Orange and Tango.

Luxgsm, Orange and Tango iPhone 4 Prices and Packages

All three providers have at least 3 kinds of subscriptions. In order to provide the best transparency, I have made direct comparisons of the ‘same level’ subscriptions. I simply name them small, medium and large packages.

Small Luxgsm, Orange and Tango Packages

	luxgsm	tango	orange
iphone 4 (16 GB)	199 EUR	169 EUR	199 EUR
iphone 4 (32 GB)	299 EUR	279 EUR	259 EUR
subscription / month	35 EUR	30 EUR	35 EUR
duration	24 months	24 months	24 months
calls national	120 mins	100 mins	180 units (shared with sms)
calls international	0 mins	0 mins	75 mins
calls roaming	0 mins	0 mins	0 mins
sms	120	100	180 units (shared with national calls)
data national	2 GB	2 GB	2 GB
data roaming	0	0	0
internet tethering	Yes	No	Yes
Sim-Locked	No	No	No

Medium Luxgsm, Orange and Tango Packages

	luxgsm	tango	orange
iphone 4 (16 GB)	99 EUR	49 EUR	59 EUR
iphone 4 (32 GB)	199 EUR	149 EUR	159 EUR
subscription / month	50 EUR	45 EUR	50 EUR
duration	24 months	24 months	24 months
calls national	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
calls international	0 mins	0 mins	150 mins
calls roaming	0 mins	0 mins	0 mins
sms	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
data national	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
data roaming	0	0	0
internet tethering	Yes	No	Yes
Sim-Locked	No	No	No

Large Luxgsm, Orange and Tango Packages

	luxgsm	tango	orange
iphone 4 (16 GB)	0 EUR	49 EUR	19 EUR
iphone 4 (32 GB)	99 EUR	149 EUR	79 EUR
subscription / month	75 EUR	50 EUR	75 EUR
duration	12 months	24 months	24 months
calls national	unlimited	100 mins	unlimited
calls international	0 mins	300 mins	200 mins
calls roaming	0 mins	0 mins	80 mins
sms	unlimited	100	unlimited
data national	unlimited	2 GB	unlimited
data roaming	0	0	10 MB
internet tethering	Yes	No	Yes
Sim-Locked	No	No	No

Which is the right package to choose?

This of course depends on your personal needs. Your best option is to take your itemized bill from the past months, and see how many calls you make within and outside of Luxembourg. Also look at how many sms you send and finally also check how much data you consume (in case you already have a smartphone). You will then get a better idea of what you need.
I still want to give you my opinion on things, so here we go:

iPhone 4 16GB or 32GB?

The price difference between the two models are roughly always 100EUR. If you look at the total sum you will be spending on owning an iPhone 4 (regardless of package chosen), 100 EUR is really not a lot of money. If you are honest to yourself, then you also know that your music, video and application collection is not exactly set to decrease in size – it is rather likely to increase. Remember, in theory you will have this phone for at least one or two years. In my eyes, it is therefore a no-brainer to get the iPhone 4 32GB.

iPhone 4 Data Packages

It can be rather tricky and confusing to choose the right data package. Over the past 18 months where I have been using the iPhone 3G, I have never managed to use over 500MB in a month. This is with 3 push-mail accounts, calendar and contacts synchronization as well as facebook push notifications. This is generally not very heavy data consummation, but I also view many youtube clips and I also use the iPhone as navigation device. This is the more data-hungry applications, and still – I don’t even get close to 1 GB data consumption.
In my eyes, the only thing that will really get your data consumption close to 2GB per month, is if you start using internet tethering (i.e. connecting your computer to the internet via your iPhone). I believe the number of people concerned here are very low.
Notice that the smallest data packages from every provider is set to 2GB per month. As a result, do not let the data consumption packages make the choice for you – you are very unlikely to reach the limit with any of the available data packages.

iPhone 4 National Call Packages

The medium and large packages all have unlimited national calls (except for tango’s large package). Therefore this section only concerns the small packages. I believe it is fair to say that most mobile phone users use their phone more than 100 minutes a month for national voice calls. If you choose one of the small packages, you should therefore expect additional call charges on your monthly bill.

iPhone 4 International Call Packages

Only Tango and Orange offer international calls as part of their packages. Orange as the only provider also includes international calls in their medium package. If you make numerous short international calls, this could be interesting for you. If you are more likely to make longer but less regular international calls, it is highly recommendable to use skype via your iphone. Since earlier 2010, skype’s application is also able to be used under 3G reception on your iPhone and not only wifi (as it was before). Skype’s international call charges can easily compete with any Luxembourgish mobile phone provider’s international call charges.

Other note-worthy iPhone 4 stuff

Orange offers 10MB roaming data transfer – 10MB is close to nothing. If you choose this package, make sure you ask Orange to notify you when the 10MB has been used, so you have the option to manually switch if off. If you are not careful here, you can very quickly get a nasty surprise on your bill at the end of the month.
Luxgsm has a package only for young people up to 25 years of age. If you qualify for this, it may be worth having a look at.

iPhone 4 without a contract

Unfortunately, none of the providers in Luxembourg sell the iPhone 4 without a contract. If you are looking for an iPhone 4 without a contract, you will need to order it from the French or British apple store. They are not simlocked, which makes it possible to use it in Luxembourg (or anywhere else for that matter). Note that local shipping addresses will be needed to place the order.

Antennagate – the ‘problem’ with the iPhone 4 antenna

Just after the launch of the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg, readers commented on my prior post with information concerning the antenna problem. Nobody saw any note-worthy change when touching the ‘sensitive’ spot on the iPhone 4 on Luxgsm, Orange or Tango. We therefore conclude that this problem does not seem to be anything serious for Luxembourg iPhone 4 users. Nevertheless, I recommend watching Steve Job’s video on how Apple handles the Antennagate problem. If you have purchased your iPhone 4 before September 30th 2010 – you can get a free case, by following this link.

Which provider is best for the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg?

Remember that the iPhone 4 is a very data-hungry smartphone if you compare it to other smartphones. If you are with a provider with a poor data network, you are not going to get the most out of your iPhone 4. I even go as far as saying that it can be very frustrating. Therefore, make sure that there is good data coverage in your area. I cannot tell you if it is good or bad in your area. This is where you simply just have to ask fellow consumers who have the device about their opinion or even make them get this app that can test the speed. If you test with this app, make sure that you are connected to 3G and/or Edge – not wifi. Do not ask the providers – they will not give you a neutral opinion. Generally speaking, all three providers have decent data coverage in Luxembourg City.

iPhone 4 is coming to Luxembourg in July 2010 – What’s the deal? Which provider will get it, when will they get it and how much will it cost…

Written 09-Jun-2010 02:12
(update 1 09-Jun-2010 12:15)
(update 2 10-Jun-2010 16:45)
(update 3 30-Jun-2010 13:00)
(update 4 15-Jul-2010 15:20)
(update 5 22-Jul-2010 11:55)
NEW POST-LAUNCH ARTICLE HERE

When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, he never gave specific details for Luxembourg. When Apple announced the iPhone 4 – it was there and it was clear. iPhone 4 is out in Luxembourg in July 2010. If Apple’s CEO says it himself on stage, then it is fair to say that there is something to it. From past announcements, we have learned that Luxembourg has been kind of the wild wild west. For the iPhone 3G, it was Orange who got it first. Then Luxgsm got it a few months later – and somehow without major announcements, Tango had it as well. When visiting the official apple iPhone page for Luxembourg – there is not any mention of the iPhone 4 (Situation on 9-Jun-2010). This means, all we can do at this stage is to speculate and contact the various operators in Luxembourg to see what they are willing to reveal.

Luxgsm, Orange and Tango will all sell iPhone 4 – it’s confirmed

Luxgsm

I contacted the commercial director of Luxgsm (Mr. Celis) who was only able to confirm to me that they will get the iPhone 4. I was not able to get any further answers to my questions with regards to:

• Will the iPhone 4 still be sim-unlocked?
• Will it still be 2 years minimum contract or still available without a contract?
• Will the release date be in July 2010?
• How much will it cost?

All I got out of him was: “All I can say is we will get it”.
Since mid-July (after very unclear communication to the public from Luxgsm), you can enter your email address to get informed when the iPhone 4 is available on Luxgsm via their website.

Orange

Mrs. Hoffmann (head of marketing and communication) from Orange Luxembourg confirmed via email that they will also be selling the iPhone 4. No details on dates, prices etc were given. Since mid-July, Orange is allowing people to enter their email address to get notified when the iPhone 4 is available on Orange via their website.

Tango

Mrs. Montagnese (communication manager) from Tango has also confirmed to me in an email (early June) that they will be selling the iPhone 4 at some point in July 2010. A press release on their website on 22nd July 2010 confirms that the iPhone 4 will be available at their retail stores as of 30th July 2010. The pre-order form that was available prior to 22nd July 2010 is no longer available. It is still unknown under which conditions and at what price tango will sell the iPhone 4.

Stay Informed About iPhone 4 in Luxembourg

At present, we have very little facts and many assumptions. So to keep everything nice and clear, keep and eye on the table below that will be updated on an ongoing basis:

Tariffs for the iPhone in Luxembourg

Chances that the talk plans remain untouched are pretty high. The prices for the devices is the big question. Will they remain how they are or will they change. Steve Jobs announced prices starting at $199 for the US at the WWDC 10. At present, the talk plans for the iPhone in Luxembourg are as following for each of the providers:

Luxgsm Talk Plan and iPhone Prices

Orange Talk Plan and iPhone Prices

Tango Talk Plan and iPhone Prices

Stay updated on the iPhone 4 situation in Luxembourg

This blogpost will be updated as soon as there are more news concerning the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg. To stay updated, simply sign up for the newsletter below in the orange section. Finally, please click the ‘facebook like’ button below in case you found this post useful.
NEW POST-LAUNCH ARTICLE HERE

Luxemcall – A pretty creative scam

If you are on the luxgsm network in Luxembourg, you might also have received some strange SMS messages every now and then about making cheap international calls. Here is a screen print from my phone to show how the sms looks:

Suspicious as hell – let’s check it out by starting a visit to the website:

OK, I get the picture. Dial a premium number (900 number) in order to save money…that makes sense
Luxemcall sends the sms to your mobile from a Turkish number (+90 042 01 1). That very much looks like the number you need to dial from your Luxembougish telephone ‘900 43 015′. I have to give them points for that. I honestly think that is quite far-fetched and rather creative. Scams really impresses me sometimes.

Just before I finish, let’s look at the internet domain name that this runs on.
It is registered to:
Company: Finarea SA
Name: Dekker Monique
Address: Viale Carlo Cattaneo 1
City: Lugano
Country: SWITZERLAND
Postal Code: 6900
Phone: +41 919335412

Even that telephone number looks suspicious (without knowing it).

I did not spend too much time looking, but there are numerous similar style webpages registered with the same company. This example here shows an iPhone app you download from their website and not from Apples’ iTunes Store (which is the only legit place to get apps for the iPhone):

I just wanted to share this one with you, because I think it is a creative scam.
Either way – if you fall for this scam, I hope you will be smarter next time.

Amazon’s iPhone app picture recognition analysis

I just had the pleasure of trying out Amazon’s new feature in their iPhone app. There is one feature of the app which really impressed me. Not because it is there, but because it works (and it works fast). It’s really simple – you launch the app, you take a picture of a product and amazon will send you back the link to that specific item in their store. Here is how I tested it and what happened:

1. Take a picture of the product in question
2. Submit the picture to amazon
3. Get the reply with product recommendation
4. Check out the product and buy it if you like

For those who forgot they asked amazon to find a product for them, and for those who prefer to buy producs on the computer rather than on their phone, amazon also sends you an email (to the account registered with your amazon account) with a link to the product:

What amazes me is the speed at which amazon’s picture recognition works. It took literally one minute from taking the picture to having the product recommendation. But the tuly amazing thing about this service, is that it actually works and recommends the real product. Remington has several trimmers that look the same. Yet, amazon still managed to pick out the right product for me. I am amazed.

There had to be a downside…and there is. Even though my amazon account is registered to my address in Luxembourg, Europe, I am still taken to the US amazon store. I really don’t see what the big deal is for amazon to guide me to my ‘home store’. By recommending me products from the US store, amazon will not make any sale to me (and other non-US residents) via their iPhone app.

The app is free from the itunes store – click here to get it.