After the launch of iPod touch two weeks ago, Steve Jobs has made the trip to London for another press conference. On Tuesday morning he took the stage in London flanked by the Apple black turtle-neck maffia and announced the launch date for the UK iPhone – November 9th. He also confirmed rumors of the news that the operator O2 is going to have exclusive network rights.

The price of the iPhone in the UK when it goes on sale November 9th is £269 including VAT (around $540). Unlimited data comes standard with with £35, £45 and £55 voice plans. Reports talk about a unique deal in the mobile phone market, revenue resulting from iPhone sales will be split between O2 and Apple where O2 hands over 40 percent of profits to Apple, but Steve Jobs would not comment on the terms of the deal at the press conference, according to Engadget:

"Unfortunately, we're not going to go into that, but good question!" Laughter. "…Sometimes you get what you pay for."

“Throughout discussions over marketing the iPhone in Europe, Apple has played off the UK's four main networks – O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone – against each other. All of them, at one stage, believed they had an exclusive deal for the British market. As a result, many mobile phone company executives are unimpressed with the way the Californian computer group has conducted businesses this side of the Atlantic, although similar tactics were used in the US, ” writes Richard Wray in the Guardian UK.

One reason that Steve Jobs have been able to drive such a hard bargain is that the iPhone has been a huge success in the US, with over one million units sold in the two months since its launch in June. While some Brits might be willing to pay the price to get their hands on an iPhone, consumers are expected to be less forgiving of the iPhone's EDGE data support. Many Europeans are already used to the much faster 3G network standard is widely deployed in the region.

Apple is expected to host a similar media event in France next week, around September 24, to usher in the iPhone's arrival there. Meanwhile, T-Mobile is also slated to start selling the iPhone in Germany some time in November, although details of that product launch are less certain at this point, according to the Apple blog Think Secret.

See live coverage and pictures from London on the Engadget blog.

Joakim Baage

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Flickr Image By kowitz