The iPhone is not set to release in Europe for at least another month or two, so imagine our surprise when we came upon a shop (Gravis) with a real iPhone on display in Munich’s Tal area.
After asking if we could photograph inside the shop, we were treated to a reasonably lengthy hands-on with the device. Hit the jump for a full report, a video and some shots of the device nestling in our decidedly sweaty palms.
As our American cousins have been saying now for a good few months, the iPhone is a dream to handle and feels reassuringly weighty, though not to the extent that it will burden your pocket.
The unit we fondled was able to access the internet via the in-store wi-fi connection (which proved reasonably speedy) but unfortunately was not with a carrier and so we couldn’t make any calls. That didn’t stop us however from having a good poke around with the Safari browser, Google Maps and iPod functions.
Each proved to be just as speedy and intuitive as you would expect although to begin with, going between using the home button and the touch screen back button seemed a little confusing. Also the text entry system has not come under fire without reason as we discovered when trying to type in the Pocket Picks URL. In spite of these niggles the iPhone certainly has pizazz and it commands the same wow factor that the original iPod did. Needless to say it’s one hell of a phone.
When quizzed about the unit, the Gravis staff remained exceptionally helpful, though slightly coy when it came to determining its nationality. Although it is entirely possible that this is simply an American unit that Gravis has been given by Apple to demo to an eager public, the base station we spotted was almost certainly European as it was plugged in without a US to Euro socket adapter (see photo below).
So there you have it, a real iPhone in Europe. Chances are that over the next couple of months more and more iPhones will begin to appear in retail outlets across Europe for demo purposes, so keep your eyes peeled when you’re out and about.
PS Sorry about the slightly blurry shots…
(Thanks Simon Oberpaul and Gravis)
It was more than likely just as US iPhone using an EU iPod power brick, you can use the bricks from normal iPods with the iPhone. Don’t get too excited just yet…
Yeah, the power bricks for iPod are (as you’d hope) able to deal with international voltages and frequencies, and work with US/ UK/ Euro/ whatever plugs, so it is probably just down to that.