Buy an unlocked iPhone - in France

Great news if you're planning to buy an Apple iPhone - you'll soon be able to pick one up contract-free, thanks to the demands of French law.

Apple has been forced to cave in to French consumer legislation stating that it's illegal to offer exclusive deals on mobile phones. Thus Orange France will offer both locked and unlocked versions of the iPhone when it goes on sale on Friday 29 November - three weeks after the UK launch.

However you can expect to pay a good deal more for an unlocked iPhone than the €399 (£278) the Apple / Orange axis is asking for the contract model. What's not clear at this stage is how much more: both companies have yet to set the price.

Of course even if the price is high, a French iPhone could still be worth hopping onto a Eurostar for. After all anything that gets you out of an 18-month O2 contract has to be good, right?