Apple’s iPhone, the 8GB device will hit stores on November 9 in UK, priced at £269.

It will run on the O2 mobile phone network, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs told a press conference at the firm’s flagship UK store in London’s Regent Street.

Mr Jobs said: “It is a breakthrough phone. It is a very powerful phone and it is super easy to use. “It is the best iPod we have ever made.”

After the £269 upfront cost, customers will sign an 18-month contract with O2 on a tariff of either £35, £45 or £55 per month. The iPhone will be sold at some 1,300 O2, Apple and Carphone Warehouse stores.

Customers who switch to the O2 network to get the device will be able to keep their previous phone numbers, O2 said. Customers will get access to unlimited internet downloads as part of their monthly O2 tariff.

The iPhone’s internet browser function will be compatible with 7,500 Wi-Fi hot spots across the UK plus other areas where the internet can be accessed wirelessly.

Earlier this month Apple slashed the cost of the iPhone in the US from its launch price of 599 US dollars (£298) to 399 dollars (£198).

Asked why the device was more expensive in the UK, Mr Jobs said: “The majority is, of course, the VAT. The US price doesn’t include any sales tax and the UK price does. That is the majority of the difference.

Apple has sold more than one million iPhones in the US since its launch there on June 29. The device combines a touch-sensitive mobile phone handset with a built-in iPod media player and a wireless internet browser.