Lest any arrogant oaf tell you that it's just Americans who are taken in by a slick Jobs presentation and a classy casing, recent research shows us Brits are equally in thrall to the iPhone.  Market analysts M:Metrics took their clipboards to the streets and pestered the heck out of mobile consumers, finally calculating that 56-percent of people are aware of the coming cellphone and a surprisingly high 30-percent have a strong interest in buying it.

That compares particularly favourably with similar research carried out in the US, where although 64-percent knew of the iPhone a mere 14-percent expressed intent of buying it. 

M:Metrics concluded that "the iPhone has sparked the imaginations of consumers and is not merely a topic of conversation among insiders and technology enthusiasts", putting the difference in intent down to Brits' love of smartphones.  While I wouldn't want to cast doubts on their expertise, I'd be inclined to assume that, with UK prices as yet unannounced, many buyers are assuming that the usual network subsidies will apply.  To illustrate, on its release it was possible to get the Nokia N95 free with a new, 18-month contract (or even 12-months with haggling), and it's certainly the norm for even luxury phones to be heavily discounted or, more often, free.

Whether that 30-percent will be so willing when Apple do their inevitable "no discounts" deal with whichever drooling operator gets exclusivity remains to be seen.

iPhone 'wins hearts of Brits' [Silicon.com]