I’m still very unhappy with the service from Vox here in Luxembourg. Their network coverage is not working properly. The data connection is very slow, whenever it’s EDGE, but also when you are between EDGE and 3G. Recently, whenever I’m covered by a Vox hotspot, I can’t connect to anything…
As for the phone network, it’s the same story: it is possible even in Luxembourg city itself to be in a spot where you have no service… Horrible, horrible, horrible.

I hope this is good news… Hopefully, Vox and LuxGSM will be competing to provide the best service to their customers. I have not been impressed with the quality of the Vox network here in Luxembourg.

Have you considered what to do when you are out in the cold weather wearing your gloves and your iPhone rings? Well, Rob Griffiths has some good ideas :

The temperatures outside are dropping rapidly, and many of you will find your hands wrapped in thick gloves. And then suddenly, an important phone call drops in. Unless you’ve plugged in your earphones, or connected your Bluetooth headset to the iPhone, it will take quite a long time to get your hands free to slide the button to speak. So how to answer this important call quickly?

There are “alternative” ways to interact with your iPhone without having to uncover your fingers. For basic actions such as accepting a phone call or unlocking it to read a text message, you can use either your nose or, for some more precise gestures, your tongue. I know this isn’t the most elegant way to operate your beloved iPhone, but in some cases, it needs to be quick and dirty…

For those of you finding this disgusting, but still don’t want to run around with cold fingers, consider buying some fancy iPhone-enabled Dots Gloves.
[From Some ways to use the iPhone during winter]

I have put up a petition on petitiononline.com that will be sent to VoxMobile. If you care about the iPhone service here in Luxembourg, I encourage you to sign it.

I sent the following (12 Nov 2008) to Vox’s customer service because quite frankly, their network coverage is not in the same league as their prices:

“Bonjour,

Après avoir utilisé l’iPhone un peu plus qu’un mois, je me sens obligé de vous faire part de mon mécontentement de votre service.

La connexion data
D’abord, la connexion est souvent perdue même lorsqu’on se promène en pleine ville (Luxembourg).

Deuxièmement, la connexion, même à Luxembourg-ville, n’est souvent pas du tout 3 G. En dehors de la ville, je capte rarement la connexion en 3G.

Troisièmement, si je suis dans une voiture en dehors de la ville de Luxembourg, je n’arrive pas à voir une connexion data.

Connexion téléphonique
Ceci est le problème le plus grave. Au bureau (au Kirchberg), je ne suis plutôt pas joignable, car le signal est trop pauvre.

J’espère que vous allez procéder à une amélioration de ces défaillances rapidement, car le tarif mensuel ne correspond pas du tout au niveau de votre service.

Votre service clients
Pourriez-vous mettre la musique ou bien le silence après avoir signalé qu’aucun correspondant n’est disponible pour l’instant? En plus, il n’est pas normal de couper la connexion lorsqu’on est en attente…

Dans l’attente d’une amélioration rapide des points soulévés,”

Today (16 November 2008) I still haven’t received a reply.

Since sending the e-mail, I have also experienced dropped calls due to loss of connection with the network (no service displayed in the top left corner on iPhone).

Really sad, that Vox isn’t up to the task. And yes, the whole selective voicemail thing showed off by Jobs in the Macworld 2007 keynote is not installed on Vox’s servers either…

Vox’s clients are paying top dollar for a mediocre service…

[End of rant]

[From App Store Pick of the Week: Grocery IQ]

Thanks to Grocery iQ ($4.99), you may never have to write another shopping list. Now you can tap to quickly build a comprehensive and highly legible list on iPhone or iPod touch, arrange your list by aisle to match the layout of your grocery store, check off items as you add them to your cart, build a purchase history and a list of favorites. Grocery IQ even lets you email your list to a designated shopper.

Excuse me, but it doesn’t look very good when I end up with this clicking on the link:

This is not an app that should depend on any authorisation or approval from any one in another country, so why isn’t it available in my App Store?

I hope that TapTapTap‘s app “Groceries” will be available in my App Store…

version 2.0 is out but still only available in very few countries
Looking forward to seeing the app in the Luxembourgish iTunes Store!

So the phone is activated now, and I see that the coverage in my workplace isn’t not great. I hope that Vox is working on improving their network coverage. EDGE coverage on Kirchberg is not good enough.

And no, the HotCity wi-fi network isn’t available on Kirchberg.

Now that I have my iPhone, it is time to get involved in improving the the thing
A French site, http://www.iphoneideal.com lets you make suggestions for improvements and you can vote for suggestions made by others.
I’m sure that someone in Cupertino (maybe Bertrand Serlet ) can translate for Steve. Check it out.

Just received the news. Vox will have a launch party going on at their shop in Luxembourg City.

140 iPhones up for grabs. So youngsters, line up tonight if you want to be one of the first. No word on the data plan matrix yet, but I hope for Vox that it will be an attractive one. Otherwise I will stay on the fence for the time being, as I’m not a client.

From their e-mail:

140 additional iPhone3G’s are in stock !
In addition to the ones we blocked for the first 10 people, we have an extra stock of 140 phones that can be purchased during our launch party. As the demand is very high, we suggest you to be there on time to be sure to buy one on that evening.

Where and When ?
We welcome you as of 4 pm at our VOX shop in Luxembourg City, 1-5 rue Marché-aux-Herbes. Doors will be open from 6.00 pm til 9.00 pm.

Please bring your identity card and bank details with you.

We wish you a lot of fun during our launch party!

I won’t be joining the frenzy, but have fun