We've known that a pay-as-you-go iPhone 3G plan was in the works at O2 since June, but the carrier has at long last fessed up and provided the formal introduction. The iPhone 3G Pay & Go plan will be live on September 16th, enabling users in the UK to purchase the handset sans contract for £349.99 (8GB) or £399.99 (16GB). Yeah, it's quite a bit more than free on contract, but those prices do include unlimited browsing and WiFi for the first 12 months after the phone is activated. Once that honeymoon ends, you're looking at £10 per month to keep browsing. Also of note, Visual Voicemail is conveniently omitted from Pay & Go phones, but if you're cool with that, you can get going in a fortnight by heading to your local O2, Apple or Carphone Warehouse store.

[Via Stuff, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

So there's good news and bad news, and we're not even giving you the option of choosing which you'd prefer to hear first (hint: it's the good). Sprint has dropped the price of its Phone-as-Modem plan (capped at 5GB monthly) to just $15 per month. Now, the rest of the story. First off, you must own a Power Vision phone with connection capabilities to a laptop. Next -- unlike the old PAM plan which ran $49.99 / month all by itself -- this "attachable plan" requires you to have another data plan already on your account. For instance, the BlackBerry Personal Pack ($30 / month) or the Worldwide Data Plan ($70 / month). In the end, it looks as if tethering in and of itself got cheaper, but those newfound strings that are reportedly attached will likely cause some frustration.

[Via phonescoop]

Though we can't definitively say this will end up being the priciest iPhone 3G this side of eBay, there's a good chance it will be. Word has it that Vodafone will be offering up Apple's latest 8GB handset for a mind-boggling Rs 31,000 ($712), or Rs 36,100 ($830) for the 16 gigger. Why so serious high? Because neither Vodafone nor Airtel will subsidize the phone, and to add insult to injury, there's not even a 3G highway up and running in India. Grey market operators to capitalize in T-minus 3, 2, 1...

[Via Cellpassion]

Though the pricing is a bit (and we emphasize "bit") easier to swallow than the $600 Movistar is charging in Chile, it's not even close to free. Rogers will soon be offering up a palm-sized version of its gigantic BlackBerry Bold (which will hopefully swap those informational cards with cell radios and such) for a staggering $399.99 on a 3-year contract. Who knew highway robbery was legal, anyway?

Softbank can safely say it has a pretty decent quarter here recently, but compared to NTT DoCoMo, it's looking weak. The exclusive iPhone 3G carrier in Japan has decided to answer outcries of "too expensive!" by lowering the minimum monthly data charge that each iPhone 3G user must pay. Previously, users were forced to hand over ¥5,985 ($55) per month for unlimited data; now, users can pay just ¥1,695 ($16) per month to cover 20,175 packets of data "after which users will pay per-packet until 71,250 packets, at which time the previous ¥5,985 charge is reached and further data use is not charged." In semi-related news, the carrier has also announced that it will begin taking reservations for the handset, so yeah, there's that.

Remember how we told you to expect some totally edge-of-your-seat, riveting price news in regard to Palm's Centro? Yeah, how's about $30 off? Presumably in conjunction with the iPhone 3G launch, AT&T has hacked the Palm Centro down to $70 after rebates (from $100) with a two-year agreement. There's no telling if the new price will sashay on over to those CDMA carriers or not, but we've got our fingers crossed real tight.

[Via Electronista]

So we're getting the impression that there are a lot of Kiwis out there who think they're getting a raw deal from Vodafone on the iPhone 3G. That wouldn't totally surprise us -- they know when they've got an exclusive on a hot item, and they're going to try to milk it for everything it's worth -- but with the Rogers fallout rumors flying, Voda might want to tread lightly here.

Anyway, here's out it breaks down: on a maxed-out plan, you get a 16GB iPhone 3G for $349 and pay $250 a month, which nets you 600 anytime minutes, 600 texts, and 1GB of data. That works out to $264 for the phone and $189 for the plan in US currency, so you get a little bit of a break on the phone (AT&T charges $299), but in exchange, you get totally hosed beyond comprehension on the plan. Americans shelling out $149.99 will get unlimited voice, unlimited data, and unlimited texts, for which they'll gladly pay the $35 extra up front we'd imagine -- so yeah, by our voodoo calculations, that's about a raw a deal as any we've seen.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We could tell by looking that RIM wouldn't think of charging too many hundies for its still unannounced BlackBerry KickStart, but $49.99? CrackBerry has it that said flip phone will be selling at T-Mobile for a penny under $50 on a two-year contract, which certainly seems smart given the competition. 'Course, we've nothing to substantiate this with just yet, but take one more look at that chubby side and tell us this thing deserves a triple digit price tag. That's right, you can't.

Finally, a piece of news we can actually do something with. AT&T today announced its pricing structure for the next iteration of Apple's iPhone -- which you can plunk down money for come 8 am, July 11th. There's not much that's surprising here -- new customers and those eligible for an upgrade will be able to nab the phone for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB), while "early upgraders" will have to fork over $399 or $499, all with a two year contract and $18 upgrade fee, of course. The telco says a no-commitment version of the phone will be available for $599 and $699, though it looks like that will come after the initial launch. AT&T appears to be leaning pretty heavily towards the all-in unlimited plans, but there are options if you don't want to go that route. We've sorted out the basics after the break, and included AT&T's "iReady" video -- certainly good for a few chuckles.

There's just nothing worse than trying to piece together a calling plan -- particularly for families -- and being overwhelmed by nickle 'n dime type add-ons along the way. Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but Sprint's hoping to key in on folks who don't disagree with a new "simplified" pricing structure that does away with free incoming calls. Put simply, individuals and families alike can simply pick the amount of minutes they need and whether they want unlimited messaging or unlimited messaging and data. That's it. The prices actually aren't half bad for those ready and willing to put "unlimited" to the test, so hit up the read link to see if any are a fit for you.

[Via GottaBeMobile]

In a move that Sprint clearly hopes will fuel the iPhone vs. Instinct fires, the company today announced that it would be selling its lauded touchscreen phone starting June 20th for a price point of just $129.99. Of course, that takes into account a new two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate, but it still comes in lower than the expected $199.99 price tag we'd been hearing about. Oddly, to activate the phone Sprint stipulates that you have to choose one of their unlimited data plans -- which start at a minimum of $69.99 per month (with 450 minutes of talk-time) -- so monthly costs hover right on level with AT&T's iPhone options... unsurprisingly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We still don't have a clear answer from AT&T on whether messaging is included, but if not, the data pricing of $30 per month for unlimited 3G when tied to the iPhone 3G represents a $10 bump from what folks were paying for the 2.5G model. Business owners -- presumably expected to consume considerably more bits over the course of a month -- will be paying $45. Meanwhile, voice plan pricing will start from $39.95, and we're told more details will be available on exactly how it all breaks down when the device actually goes on sale.

The whispers are true, or so it seems. According to Stuff, O2 is getting set to one-up T-Mobile's price cutting affair in Germany by hacking a full £100 from the 8GB iPhone in the UK (bringing it down to £169). Better still, the discount will apply regardless of which contract selection you make, whereas T-Mobile forced users to sign the dotted line on a pricey Complete XL plan. Unfortunately, the lower sticker only applies to the 8GB version -- the 16GB model will remain £329 -- but anyone who sprung for one of the former iterations within the last month will receive an "Ultimate Price Promise" £100 refund voucher. Before you dash out to cash in, it should be noted that the deal is set to expire come June -- and we certainly don't have to remind you what that could mean.

Update: O2 just made it official.

[Via Mobile Today, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

After yesterday's barrage of unlimited calling plans left us all terribly underwhelmed, it seems as if Sprint is hoping to emerge as the knight in shining armor by undercutting the oh-so-popular $99 price point. According to unspecified "analysts," the carrier is gearing up to "offer flat-rate calling plans at up to a 40-percent discount to its rivals," meaning that yappers could talk 'til their batteries died (and then some) for around $60 a month. Of course, Sprint has yet to confirm nor deny the reports, but we're all for a price war in the cellular space, regardless.

Rather than simply suing Apple, Steve Jobs or AT&T individually, Dongmei Li decided to throw all three under the bus. The suit, which was reportedly filed this week in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accused the trio of "price discrimination, underselling, discrimination in rebates, deceptive actions and other wrongdoings for their role in the September 5th price drop on the iPhone." As you'd expect, Li was one of the folks who waited hours on end to be one of the first iPhone owners, and apparently feels quite slighted by the slashing. Purportedly, the plaintiff is hoping to secure "compensatory damages in the amount of $1 million" in addition to other punitive damages, and if you're up for a good laugh, hit the read link to browse through quite a few (more) comical gripes.

[Thanks, Mark]