iPhone available in the UK from 9th November

Apple CEO Steve Jobs Apple announced the UK launch of the iPhone this morning, at an event held at the Apple Store on London's Regent Street. In short, the 8Gb iPhone will be available from November 9th only from O2, and will cost £269 on an 18 month contract. The iPhone will be available through Apple's online and retail stores, as well as from O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores.

There's still no 3G, but O2 is in the process of upgrading its network to support the-somewhere-between-GPRS-and-UMTS EDGE, and will have around 30% coverage by the time of the iPhone's launch. O2 is also offering unlimited data on iPhone contracts (which are subject to a fair use policy), which start from £35 a month. Apple will be launching the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store in the UK, too.

The rumour is that unlike the other handsets it sells, O2 won't be allowed to offer the iPhone at a subsidised discount and is handing Apple anything from 10% to 40% of the revenue it generates. Customer's will pay £899 for the iPhone on O2's lowest tariff over 18 months, which makes it a very expensive smartphone indeed - the better-specified HTC TyTN II is half the price, although nowhere near as stylish.