The recent  announcement of the iPhone 4S was met, pretty universally, by disappointment. People were expecting the iPhone 5.

However, the release of the 4s is quite consistent with Apple iPhone releases.

The initial iPhone (with a monikor) was released in June 2007 and was followed up by the 3G – simply named because it had 3G data capability – in July 2008.

In June 2009 they didn’t release a new version, but improved the 3G and released it as the 3GS.

In 2010 we get the iPhone 4 and this year the iPhone 4S.

This pattern of releasing a new phone one year and then improving it the next is a good idea – particularly when iPhone users are usually on 2 year contracts. If the year after they buy a newly released iPhone they launch another brand-new must-have version then users would probably get annoyed quite quickly. An interim improved phone is the logical conclusion.

So, we have a pattern, which means that the next big iPhone release will be next year. But what about the number?

The 3G was not the third phone. However, the iPhone 4 WAS the 4th iteration (after the original, 3G and 3GS). So that means that next year’s phone will be the iPhone 6. And for a company that works so hard on these intricate details would they really get the numbering wrong? Logically, no. But something tells me the next phone will be the iPhone 5.

Are we paying more than we should (image courtesy of Sam Savine

I’ve reviewed both Pogoplug hardware and software over the last year and have found both products to be excellent.

However, after recently buying their Pogoplug Pro hardware myself, I am perturbed by their “rip off” pricing for the UK.

Their Pogoplug Pro costs $99.99, with cheapest postage at $12.95. For some reason, when buying from the US they automatically add to your shopping cart (even though you didn’t ask for it) a copy of their premium software ($29) and their “Extended Download Service¹“  at $5.99. Thankfully, both can be removed. Take into account US taxes and that $99.99 is probably more around $110. Convert that to sterling and you get approx. £68.

However, buy for the UK and it’s… £99.99. The cheapest delivery is £10. That’s £109.99 compared to the US equivalent of £68 – a £42 increase. Take UK VAT into account and that decreases the difference to £20.

The Euro Zone doesn’t get off any lighter, however, as the Euro Pogoplug costs, yes you guessed it, €99.99. That converts to about $70.

Pogoplug isn’t the only company to do this kind of thing – Adobe and Apple spring to mind – but it’s still disappointing.

The usual excuse given by businesses is the cost to convert the product to each country. However, there is no software included, the box is a universal design and the included leaflets are multi-lingual. Interestingly still, where a lot of localisation would be required – software – they charge the same. Their premium software is $29 and they simply convert this price to your own currency “on the fly” (and accurately too). So a conversion to UK rates, will get you the software at £18.16 today. So, they don’t charge any more for the software – something for which (particularly in non-English speaking countries) language conversion is going to be costly, but do for hardware which needs no change.

So, I contacted Pogoplug and spoke to Jeff Fochtman, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cloud Engines, Inc (who make Pogoplug). His answer was to the point…

We are in business to make some profit and at this point in time it simply costs us more to deliver and support products in the UK and EMEA and to run our business there so we have to charge a bit more

He added 3 points that he believes explains the differences further²…

• We have a cost of doing business in the UK and EU that is much higher than our cost of doing business in UK/EMEA
• Many smaller companies simply do not go through logistics, packaging, certification and manpower that goes into setting up business overseas.  Our ‘profit’ per unit is the similar across all regions because of the cost of doing business at a much smaller volume…we feel we are doing the right thing by adding server support, customer service, operations support in your region but it comes at a higher cost per unit.
• Indeed the shift in rates affects differential in pricing between geographies using different currencies.  It has shifted balance to be a higher delta from when we set the price, however we cannot be constantly changing price with retail partners having a set MSRP.

He concluded our conversation but pointing out that a number of retailers are selling Pogoplug for as little as £49. However, this is the original bright pink Pogoplug (non “pro” version) which is unavailable to buy from their website.

So his answer is that it’s more costly to sell it outside of the US so they charge more. And we should maybe be thankful that we pay as little as we do as the exchange rates has changed since. Maybe it’s just me that thinks that maybe the way to sell more outside the US, however, is to charge fair prices – I’m sure they’d sell a lot more if the unit cost £80 which would be the true equivalent to the US price.

But he says we’re paying extra because, for instance, we get local servers and support. Interestingly their site only makes mention of their US office , their site isn’t country specific and their is no telephone support – just anonymous email support. Does that require localised support? When I recently ordered my Pogoplug it was sent from Germany, so at least that was within Europe. Now, I’m not saying they don’t provide local support – there’s just no evidence of it from their site and, from what I can tell, no reason for it. You can’t even view their site in any language other than English (until you sign into MyPogoplug to view your shared files).

Indeed, the only time you specify your country is when purchasing hardware from them. How do they offer local support? The ticket system that customers can use to request support makes no mention of the country of origin and my user profile doesn’t specify this either.

Whether they’re using localised servers for Pogoplug I can’t tell.

So, is that a good excuse or are we being ripped off once again?

I didn’t respond back with any further questions to Mr Fochtman but if I do hear anything I’ll update this post.

1. essentially they will backup the software you download for easy access in future [↩]
2. this is an exact cut and paste quote from Mr Fochtman [↩]

Powermat is a company, and range of products, that allow you to charge your electrical gadgets via conductive charging – that’s the same technology that most electric toothbrushes use, where charge is sent to the device without having to physical plug it in.

Instead you buy a “mat” which does the charging and each device has a special case or replacement battery compartment which accepts the charge.

It’s a US company but UK versions of their products are available. Indeed, their prices are quite competitive right now with massive price drops on many of their products.

But.. and there’s a but… their range is rubbish. If you don’t own an Apple or Blackberry you’re likely to be out of luck. They also support the Nintendo DS and DSi and 2 Android phones. The Apple iPod Touch is supported but not the latest generation and in the case of the Android phones, both are US models and don’t appear to be supported in the UK at all.

I contacted them via Twitter to ask if they had plans for a receiver for the incredibly popular Samsung Galaxy S 2… they didn’t.

So, it begs the question – “what’s the point?”. Well, unless you have a phone named after a fruit.