New iPhone info annoucend today
 

Since there are a number of iPhone users here, I thought I would share today's news. Nothing astoundingly earth-shattering, but some interesting news none-the-less:

From here:
And from here (emphasis mine):

Has the iPod Touch been upgraded as well? (not referring to OS)

I am not finding an answer one way or the other (though it is still early and the news so far is preliminary), so I would venture to guess no. But that is just a hunch on my part.

The ATT issues (no MMS, no tethering, no upgrade discount for current iPhone owners) elicited LOUD boos from the crowds. Boos and then laughter, though the presenters didn't miss a beat. It was almost comical when the MMS and tethering features were described and the list of supporting carriers was shown... ATT conspicuously absent in both lists.

On the WWDC Twitter feed, someone posted this funny photo (note: has a naughty word in it, so not entirely safe for work).

So I just bought an iPhone this past Friday.

I don't need all these added features, at least not yet.

But $99 would have been nice.

Perhaps you can return it and get the new deal

Well, I believe that every carrier allows one to return a phone within 30 days, only paying for the length of the contract used. However, I don't know if that precludes one from buying another phone from the same carrier.

Anyone know what the monthly cost would be to have 2 iphones on the lowest family plan with the dataplan and a minimal text plan? They won't let you select 2 iphones on the website, for some reason if you want 2 in a household you either need to call or go to the store. WTF is up with that?

Four billions dollars

The last we looked, it was around $125 per month.

I think last time Apple did some sort of refund for people who bought a phone right before the price drops. If AT&T isn't helpful give Apple a call.

yay, i smell birthday present.

ATT gives you thirty days to return a phone and cancel a contract w/only a forfeit of the $36 activation fee. Tell them you want to return it and get a new one for the new price. They may just give you the adjusted price for the asking just to avoid the PITA aspect.

If they won't tell them you're going to go to Sprint and get the new Pre.

I'd call CS first and see if they'll give you the price adjustment on your bill. I have been with ATT for 13 years (starting as SWB...) and have, in the last few years, found over-the-phone CS to be far more cooperative and accommodating then the stores.

in France ORANGE was the only phone network to sell the Iphone and they had 2 years contacts with Apple .

Since April 2009 any Operators here are allowed to sell the Iphone at their own price . Bouygues Telecom are the cheaper 89 Euros for the Iphone then 35 Euros per month unlimited internet and an hour calling . 89 Euros is only for the 8Go Iphone .

Oh this is so very tempting.......pant pant lust lust

Have to admit my usual contrary self wants to say screw you to the iPhone and go with the Pre. Once something is "too popular" and I wasn't on board I usually don't adopt it. It's kinda dumb of me.

We'll see, we've got time before the contract is up.

I'm waiting for the opportunity to buy a Pre (didn't get on waiting list and told it will be a few weeks probably before they're available for walk up sales).

Just remember that the $99 8GB iPhone is the non-S G3 (e.g. - not the new, faster technology).

My personal thing is that I normally avoid the first generation of a new item - for me, no Pre until 2nd generation.

Normally I'm the same on 1st gen, but my current phone is almost 4 years old so I'll take the plunge. Unfortunately our current plan is almost 8 years old and so significantly cheaper than we'll need to get full function out of the Pre.

Haven't checked yet, though, if I have to take the minutes with the dataplan or if I can save money by keeping lower minutes (I use hardly 100 actual talking minutes a month).

It appears that you can also get the non-S 16 GB iPhone for $149.

"While Supplies Last"

iPhone schmi-Phone...

I want a collar that makes my dog talk.

A few days in and the word on the Pre is still good. Battery life issues (what phone doesn't have that these days?), some disputed talk of distorted screens. Otherwise people are loving it. Contingent on holding one for myself to make sure I like the keyboard and general feel, it's definitely the front runner for me, especially since it would mean not having to switch providers.

Surprisingly, that is the secret project that Steve Jobs has been working on during his alleged "sick leave."

The iCollar

Too late. We've already bonded.

How can you not bond with your iPhone? I simply adore mine.

I'm a late adapter to any new technology. I like to see the bugs worked out and which products become very appealing. I don't like conformity, but with technology, popularity generally goes - - if not to the very best product - than certainly to one that does its job without problems.

So a big part of my decision to go with the iPhone is the same as when i finally purchased an iPod. It may not be the best device of its kind, but its ultra-popularity is a great boon. If everyone has one, everyone can give you tips ... and with the iPhone in particular, apps can be recommended by a wide variety of people. (To say nothing of the fact that the iPhone has by far the widest variety of apps available.)

I generally agree, but a year and a half of having a Motorola Q has definitely made me more amiable to something like the Pre. The Q is buggy, underpowered, and seriously lacking in apps and support...and yet I've managed to make it a very useful tool for myself.

Aided in no small part by the fact that I have the patience and knowledge to fight with half-working crap until I figure out how to get it working. I would certainly like the convenience of an iPhone where, for the most part at least, things are available, tested, and supported. But it's not a necessity for me. So the Pre, which seems to be garnering widespread appeal, will likely be an ideal middle ground for me, saving me some money and garnering significantly better community support than the Q, if not as good as the iPhone's. With the added benefit of being marginally non-conformist.

And I won't have to switch carriers. Despite the broad-based hatred for Sprint they've been completely fine for us and AT&T was decidedly not when we had them a decade ago.

Ditto. Plus I've tried the iPhone's touch keyboard and I still prefer physical buttons.

I like the idea of a physical keypad, but the iPhone is just prettier and sleeker than the Pre, for the WIN.

Besides, I have no idea whether I'll hate the touch pad. I'm just gonna take a chance.


A $299, 2-year contract chance.

Anyone know how long AT&T has the lock on the iPhone? I find a bunch of different, conflicting answers when I do a search.

Anyone have any idea when AT&T is going to add Tethering and the other cool features the 3G iPhone has, but its sole service supplier can't provide?


If I cared about any of those features, that would be enough for me to look elsewhere. In the meantime, I just love the irony of new features on the phone that their only U.S. provider cannot provide. Um, didn't anyone think to coordinate?

Who dresses Apple in the morning anyway?

(sorry to keep coming back to the Pre in this thread, but since the conversation's gone this way...)

I popped into the Sprint store at lunch. I definitely would be very happy with the Pre. Looks good, keyboard isn't the best, but it's good. And the interface really is slick and responsive, things seemed to load quickly and all.

The one that I learned that will make me hesitate is that they force you onto one of their "everything" plans instead of the a-la-cart plan we have now, bringing the monthly cost to about the same as the iPhone. That's annoying and would cost us a not insignificant amount more than we're paying now. But that seems to be the case with all of their smartphones now, so it's crappy either way. And perhaps I could talk them into a more reasonable price. Perhaps.

If you trust my oft Swiss-Cheese memory, I recall that it was five-year exclusive agreement. Presumably five years from the initial introduction on June 29, 2007.

This is not an Apple problem, it is an AT&T Problem.

From the OP in this thread:
No word on when the tethering will be available

What is tethering? :confused:

It's the ability to use your phone as a modem for your laptop (well, it works on any computer, but obviously the necessity comes from laptops).

It's when you attach a ball to a rope and attach the other end of the rope to a pole to make a playground game.

Or you believe the malarkey that GD posted.

Just saw these additional notes here:

Oh, I thought that was what David Carradine did.

Oleo is also an old fashioned word for margine. I will now assume iPhone's are scared of margarine.

How helfpul will the find thing be? 90% of the time I lose my phone, I know it is in my apartment but not where, I need pretty specific location information.

It beeps, loudly, even if you have the sound turned off.

Still fails to address the problem that 90% of the time I lose my phone it's off or the battery's dead.

Yeah, mine's always off when I lose it. Otherwise, I can find it by calling myself and hearing it ring. Wow! Because if I lose it anyplace other than my home or in a friend's car or home, a ping is not going to get it back to me any better than a ring.

Nice try though.


Admittedly, I'm one of the last people on earth with both a land line and a mobile phone ... so I guess the option to call your cell if you lost your cell is not so easy for a lot of people.

The remote data wipe is a good feature I suppose.



It turns out that all of the carriers are now forcing you to select one of their all-inclusive plans if you're getting a smartphone. No more getting away with not paying for nav. if you don't want to use it, or only paying for 300 texts instead of unlimited because that's all I'll ever use. That's pretty sh*tty.

I guess I'll go broke going for broke. I feel like such a dork with a cell phone. I'm embarrased by it.

Not all. I don't have a text plan at all with AT&T. Data plan is $30 and I get my company discount on that and the call plan too.

Chris doesn't have unlimited text either.

Yeah, but if Greg's research is correct (and if someone coud confirm, I'd appreciate it), even AT&T is now requiring full-service packages for new sign-ups with the iPhone.

I'd hate for that to be true, but I was already prepared to get butt raped on the service plan anyway.

Yeah, but (barring company discount) the family version of that plan used to be more at AT&T than the same plan at Sprint. $20 or $30 more depending on your exact plan. Now, the Sprint unlimited plans cost the same as the AT&T plans that aren't unlimited, so they still have the competetive advantage, I'd be paying the same montly for as an iPhone but for a more inclusive plan. But I literally have zero use for those extras and surely, for my use, not worth the $500-$700 it saved me over the 2 year contract. It's still a great price, Sprint is still $10 lower than T-Mobile and Verizon, but more plan than I need.

This might finally trigger the inevitable dropping of Netflix. Time to stop paying $15/month to store DVDs in our tv cabinet for months. We can always rent from TiVo in a pinch.

ETA: Oh yeah, actually, I don't know what the family plan options at AT&T are. For some reason they don't let you buy more than 1 iPhone at a time online, you have to call or go to a store.

ETA more: From what I can gather looking at their non-iphone smartphone family plans, They do still have the options to not do unlimited but costs the same or more than Sprint's unlimited.

Okay, that was very confusing and I have no idea what you just said.

I have a family share with one iPhone and one regular phone. I pay $50 for the least amount of talk minutes (I think it's 440) since I hardly use my phone to call people, plus AT&T has rollover. The second line is $9.99 more. Then there's $30 per iPhone for data plan. If you want to add texting, that's more.

When I did the math, something with Verizon that would give me comparable features was going to be more, and the phone wasn't as good. Blackberry plans are ridiculously pricey.

The new pricing is $60 for the lowest family plan + $10 2nd line + $30/line for data and $5/line for the lowest text plan. $140 total for unlimited data, limited text. I believe the old pricing had it at $130. I had been paying $100 for the same thing at Sprint. They also bumped the base price by $10 for non-smartphones, so it would have renewed at $110. But instead it's $130, but it has unlimited text and their navigation service which I don't care about.

Verizon and T-Mobile are at $140 for the unlimited plans.

ok, maybe reconsidering this whole idea. I pay all of $53 for all of my phone and text needs. Triple that plus cost of add-on applications, and I won't be embarrassed to use my cell phone ... i'll be laughing at every idiot with a so-called smart phone.


Sheesh.

One thing that puzzles me about the iPhone is that there is no "grafitti"-like input option. I loved that about my original Palm, and my pre-iPhone windows mobile device. Once learning the gestures it was quite easy to write at a good pace.

I'm looking forward to 3.0 and hope cut and paste along with a landscape keyboard option will make it a better authoring device. As it was, I was considering picking up a cheap net-book just to use as my eTypewriter.

Remember, my numbers are for 2 phones. The iPhone for one person can be as low as $70 ($really $75 minimum if you do any texting). Sprint's probably $10 less than that.

With T-Mobile I pay $60 for my BB - that's unlimited data, unlimited text and 1,000 anytime minutes. I don't have an MMS package, but I send or receive them so rarely that I don't really care if I pay 50 cents or so once in awhile.

If you don't use the phone portion that much, you can buy an unlocked version of most (if not all) GSM smartphones (including, I assume the iPhone and Blackberry) and use it w/ a cheaper, non-smartphone plan..

Get a plan (and free phone) w/minimal minutes from att* ($39 for 450 min. in KS [or $59 to bump up to 900]), add in the "general" unlimited data plan (which at $19.99 is $10 less than the "special" one for the smart phones-- but is secretly the same thing) add 200 texts (for $5) and you have a pre tax $65 plan. Take the SIM card from the new,cheap phone and pop it in the unlocked smart phone. Yes, the phone costs more upfront, but the savings over 2 years makes up for it (depending on the phone, of course, and you'd have to get a 2nd gen iPhone to reap any savings).

Once the phone is unlocked, att doesn't know what kind of phone you're using and won't automatically kick you up to the bogus "special" (read:expensive) plans for smart phones. I paid more for my unlocked Nokia but, over 2 years will save about $170 in plan charges and fees.

*or t-mobile



Did that make sense?

I think the iPhone becomes a very expensive paper weight if it's unlocked and then updated.

Information on policy for people who recently (after May 8) bought an iPhone:

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/consumeri...-it-s-all-good

Thank you, Alex!

Up through the iPhone's 2nd gen latest update, you can buy software for around $25 that either prevents it from relocking and/or restores/reunlocks your phone afterwards (while keeping the upgrade). Most of these are included in the programs that allow you to unlock an iPhone yourself. (Which is especially nice if you have a friend who is upgrading to the new iPhone and will give you their phone or sell it to you cheaply).

Oh, and I forgot to say before that an unlocked, unrecognized smartphone using the cheap, non-smartphone data package DOES automatically run on the 3G network.

I also forgot to add that an unlocked iPhone opens up some features that are restricted for att's locked version users. (I believe tethering may be one of them.)

What about MMS? It would be interesting to know if someone got around ATT's reticence to make this feature available.

I doubt it since I don't think MMS was available anywhere as a feature. Features that appear on the unlocked phone are features that are available to users in, say, the UK, but are locked or restricted in the U.S..

How to tether an unlocked iPhone:

Here is a good site answering questions and giving updates on unlocked iPhones.

Of interest to some people considering the Palm Pre:

I went to the Apple Store yesterday and they gave me a $100 credit without even blinking. I love those guys.

And I did I mention I love my phone? I love my phone.

From MacRumors.com:

Help! Do I need an iPhone?

If I traveled a lot, sure. Even if I ate out a lot, and were looking for new restaurants all the time, yeah I could see that. Gaming, um no. Videoing, nope. Even accessing the internet when I'm out and about in the world is something I can see myself doing 2wce per week or so.

I feel like a dork with a cell phone, but I'm beginning to think - at more than doubling my monthly service costs - maybe just iPhone envy is not reason enough to have one.


Yet everyone who has one raves about them, and likely can't imagine how they ever lived without one.


Any (serious) advice???

It's one of those things that if you don't have it you don't need it. But once you have it, the conveniences that come with it quickly become hard to imagine living without. So no, it's not likely to fulfill any of your currently identified needs that aren't met by a regular cell phone. But it's great at what it does and you'd likely be very happy with what it does for you once you figure out what that is.

YesNo

Things I'm grateful to have my smartphone for:

* "What do you mean you can't find my reservation?! Here, let me pull up the email with the confirmation #"

* Google maps. anywhere, any time.

* ability to read twitter easily. wouldn't be much of a killer app for me if so many of my friends didn't often use it as a semi-substitute for text messaging.

* viewing images people send me on the go. sharing photos with people on the go

* passable web browsing that allows me to look up info on whatever my next destination happens to be in a pinch.

* The fact that all those little parts, while nothing earth shattering on paper, seem to work together to make spontaneous decisions while out and about more practical.

Again, save for google maps maybe, all things that were not an active draw for me before having it, but now that I've gotten used to it I sorely miss.

Sigh, my life just got a whole lot less out-and-about.


Maybe I'll get one in the hopes that out-and-aboutness returns (ahem, in a different form).

I mainly use my smart phone to check email (done through the Google mobile mail app, not a BB email server). Google maps (but now that I have a GPS for my car I use it less), Facebook, Twitter and hockey stuff. LoT is not easily viewable on the screen of the Pearl, and that's fine since I try to "unplug" when I am out.

I can't type on a regular phone keyboard anymore because I'm so used to the QWERTY.

Ask yourself if the increased cost of having the iPhone is worth it basically just to be trendy. If you want a smart phone, there are a lot of choices out there, not just the iPhone, Pre and BB.

Just got home with a Pre.

When you leave, will you have a post?

No.

Are Pre plans (Sprint, right?) any less expensive than iPhone (AT&T) plans? Locked in for less time (under 2 years?).

I don't like the Pre as much, but it's the huge increase in my monthly and being locked into that for a long time that have me hesitating.

No idea. I don't shop and have no interest in the iPhone. I do'nt even know the details of what I'm paying for the new stuff on Sprint. I walked in said "you're holding phones for me" and then paid the amount they said. Yes, I'm sure that means I paid too much, but since it meant I spent less than 30 minutes in the store (most waiting for someone to help me) it is worth it to me.

GD has some pricing stuff up above in this thread but I didn't read the details to know if it has what you're asking for.

The cheapest Pre plan is $10 per month < the cheapest iPhone plan (and includes unlimited text where the iPhone plan does not). It is still a 2 year contract.

Posting from new phone. Expect I'll like it - and learn to type sideways.

Type sideways? Browser in landscape mode? Is that an option or is it always in landscape?

Here are some good comparison links:

Total cost and feature chart from zdnet (including the below chart from billshrink.com).



A cnet review from March that includes some more info on the data plans.

Oh yeah, the $10 difference was based on the family plan. I guess there's a wider gap with the single plans.

Browser can be landscape or portrait. More fits on landscape so I wonder if I will switch to type or just learn.

And that graph only quotes the unlimited voice. I think all three carriers have different voice options.

You also have to account for any "in" features - do all providers now allow included minutes and texting for those within the same provider? And if they do, then are most of your calls or texts within the same network? That can cause a significant difference in the amount of minutes/texts you would need, and the cost of the plan.

I'm eager to try the new 3.0 iPhone OS, but will wait until the jailbreak software is released. Don't want to give up tethering, video recording, SSH etc .

Yeah, um, no thanks.


I mean, really, thanks for the chart. A good $1,200 cheaper for the phone I think is the ugliest (but, hmmm, the smallest). And seriously, $150 a month for iPhone service vs. the $50 I'm paying now. So basically, $100 a month for internet on the go ... when I spend 80% of my time where there's a computer already at my fingertips.


Seriously, not for me.

Thanks.

If you don't need unlimited voice, or unlimited text, the iPhone plan can be as low as $75/month. (450 minutes, 200 texts)

At Sprint it's $70 (450 minutes, unlimited texts).

I certainly don't "need" unlimited, but I love never having to be concerned about it. I guess I needn't be concerned about a text limit when tweeting is fast replacing texting anyway.

This could all be solved with a big fat raise from my employer. How can i convince them an iPhone is vital to my improved job performance?

CP and I have never surpassed our 300 text/each limit, but 200 is uncomfortably low. If we were to go iPhone I think we'd probably spring for the extra $10 for the 1500 text plan. But the fact that Sprint's cheapest includes unlimited text is a strong reason we'll be sticking with them over AT&T.

And what about these apps that make the thing worth the having? Are they paid monthly, too? Or do you just buy them once and then have them in perpetuity?

I don't know which ones I'd want, but chances are I want a good handful of them. And the availability of the wide variety is one of the major plusses to the iPhone, as I understand it.



If it happens, it's gonna be a birthday gift (to myself) - so I have a couple of weeks to work this all out.

I believe most if not all iPhone apps are either free or a single purchase. I haven't heard of any monthly subscription ones.

It's true that for now iPhone will have significantly more apps as it's got a wider user base and has been around longer. But, in the long run, if the Pre is as successful (and early returns look like it's going to be), I expect it to catch up and perhaps pass the iPhone since Apple is still tightly controlling what makes it into their App store while Palm is more likely to encourage a wide variety of apps one would hope.

I haven't yet delved much into it, but there is a free app for the Pre that allows it to run apps developed for earlier Palm products. Don't know the merits of them though.

Alex, what's your feeling so far on the construction/durability of the phone? When I played with it in the store it seemed a little bit on the cheap-o side.

AT&T has unlimited mobile to mobile, which I'm guessing is the same as Verizon In calling and T-Mobile My-Faves. Their plan is $39.99 for 450 anytime minutes and 5,000 nights and weekends.

Interesting, you also have to pay $1.99 if you want a detailed bill, vs. I guess a pay this amount bill.

Steve,

You might want to look at the Blackberry Storm. It's similar to the iPhone, has an App store (with a lot of similar applications), touch screen, pretty and shiny to look at.

Yeah, that "pay for detailed billing" thing is such b.s. What other industry in the world gets away with, "You'll have to pay extra to see if we're charging you correctly for our services. Otherwise, just take our word for it."

There are thousands of apps in the iTunes store. And if you want apps that were not approved by Apple, then jailbreak your iPhone and you have access to thousands more not approved by Apple.

I wonder if you can see the detailed bill online and you're paying for a copy to be sent to you. That'd be ok by me... then again I get 99% of my bills online, only getting hard copies of my credit card statement and my water bill (online bills aren't available).

Forgive my naivity, but do you just buy these apps and be done with it, or are many of them a service that you subscribe to and pay monthly for?


Pfft, I'm not nearly tech-saavy enough to jailbreak my phone. I doubt I'll need any of the apps that are not "official." But if I have to add the monthly price of application subscriptions to my monthly service, it's pretty much a deal-breaker (the base price itself is close to deal-breaking as it is.)


If they are buy and be done with it, I could enter the modern age. If they are pay and pay and pay, I'm remaining a troglodyte.

I'm loving the iPhone upgrade! I keep finding new surprises!

Seems fine to me, but I've never held the competitors for more than a few seconds.

It's my first non-clamshell phone though so I'm worried about damage to the screen (but that would be true of any non-clamshell) since I know I won't be good about making sure it isn't in my pocket with my keys.

You pay one time.

You pay for Apps once only, however if you pay for one particular App (AppSniper) then it finds all the discounted or free Apps daily.

I have hundreds of really useful Apps I've downloaded over time (and a lot of corny games too) and I've paid for about 4 of them. The most recent was a scheduling/time management tool that was free.

The 3.0 software updgade seems to make things go faster too!. I really love my iPhone.

Thanks, Lash. Is there an app that finds me cheap flights to Down Under?

www.jetstar.com :)

This is what I had at Sprint and what I now have with AT&T.

I used the Motorola Q for two years before switching to the iPhone. I used the Q for online banking, Twitter (until it crapped out on me a couple of weeks ago), accessing some email, the calendar for reminders, and some texting and, oh yeah, phone calls. Any phone that I have gets used the least as just a phone. All those functions were okay but clunky for me on the Q and the screen was just too damn small. Do I really need to do all those things away from home? Probably not but I really enjoy the convenience. I don't have access to the internet at work for personal stuff so to be able to do something as simple as pay a bill at work instead of at home is great.

Now with the iPhone all those things I got used to click, click, clicking through the Q are so easy on the iPhone it's a real pleasure. I love being able to check AOL and gmail from the same icon and it's so easy to delete mail without reading it (a necessity for the AOL account, I don't know if it was even possible with the Q). Do I need to do that during the day? Now that I can, yes.

And the iPhone is just so pretty.:snap:

One week in with the Pre and there are definitely battery life issues, though I haven't yet done anything to research if there are simple things I can be doing to extend it.

That said, if you get the Touchstone, the magnetic induction wireless charger, it makes it extremely easy to be charging your phone all of the time. Here in my cube I just set it down when I get in and never having to plug it in it is just as simple as pick it up if I leave. Since the screen doesn't go to sleep when it's charging (unless you tell it to) it is like having another really small computer next to my work one.

But yeah, with normal use it would seem you're not going to go much more than 36 hours without needing to charge.

36 hours? That's about 4 times as much as I get with my current phone. Sounds good to me.

Jailbreaking usually just involves a comp program w/your phone attached or a code that you enter after a couple of click throughs. I've never done it but I understand it is simple.

Bah, I'm technophobic re upgrades. Been without a home computer for nearly a week all because I tried to plug in a new monitor.

There will be no changes to any other tech in my life for quite some time.

Did you check the pins on the computer port to see if they are bent?

iSm, it seems to me that you don't want to pay for the iPhone but are attracted to its, well, attractiveness. Personally, from your comments, it seems to me that you could probably get what you want in a much cheaper phone/plan, with or without a contract.

If you don't want a contract but want a capable not quite smartphone, Olivia (dd) has the X-tc by Kyocera for $99 through Virgin Mobile. It is 3G and you can download Opera so you have access to real, not just mobile web pages. I think her bill is about $60 for unlimited phone/text/data (review).

Virgin's (Helio's) Ocean 2 ($149) is supposed to be an excellent phone as well-- according to a friend who owns one and loves it (review)
.
Sprint's Boost Mobile has the Motorola i9 which, although not a smartphone (like the Razr, which was my previous, previous phone and was really quite smart enough, to be perfectly honest), has internet capability (not sure if it's 3G) and lots of other features for $50 unlimited phone/text/data.

Sure, they aren't as sexy as the iPhone, but they do a lot of the same basic functions, including (important to me) push email from any provider.

If you're willing to enter into a contract or pay a little more for your phone (as I did with my Nokia smartphone), your options expand greatly and your pricing will be lower.

BJ loves his iPod Touch but I'm just not a huge fan of the touch screen. My current phone has a touch screen and honestly it annoys me to all hell. Unlocks in my pocket and dials people, hard to type and dial on the touch screen, etc.

My next phone is definitely going to be the Blackberry Curve.

And on the same day I read about the Touchstone, I find out about the availability of wireless charging for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

WildCharge

iPhone 3GS Tops T-Mobile G1 and Palm Pre in JavaScript Benchmark

Way cool! But will I need to get one for work and one for home? Hmmm...

As cool as the touchstone is, I can't see myself justifying the expense. I currently plug my phone in daily at work without difficulty, it hardly seems like an amount of effort worth $60 to avoid.

A not unreasonable argument. The counterpoint (not necessarily a good one) is that I found the normal wired plug in to be rather inconvenient to use since there is a cover that has to be removed -- which can only be done when the phone is open -- and that hinged cover is the only part of the phone that feels flimsy to me. You might want to play with that before buying. They didn't have Touchstones in stock when we got the phone so I used the cable for the first few days. First I actually had to look at the manual to figure out where the cover was and then the first time I opened it I was sure it was going to break.

Also note that at the moment it appears you need to buy a separate Touchstone for each phone that wants to use one. You have to replace the back cover of the phone and currently I do not believe you can buy those separately.

The cynical part of me suspects they were fine with that inconvenience since it could only push a person towards the Touchstone. For me, though, I'm horrible about remembering to actually plug in the phone and with this battery life (I got about 4 days on my previous phone) I haven't as much forgiveness.

Interesting points, I'll be sure to investigate thoroughly.

Meanwhile, just to complicate matters, rumor has it that by the time our contract is up and we're in the market for a new phone, Sprint will also have the new HTC Hero with Android available. That may be another tempting option.

Link to a music video shot entirely on the new iPhone 3GS:

http://vimeo.com/groups/iphone3gs/videos/5393865

I'll admit that I have developed an unnatural love for my Android.

Yeah, that's cool and all. But THIS video what shot entirely on an Android!

Looks like Congress will investigate wireless companies for anti-trust violations re exclusive linking of certain providers with certain phones.



I might just hold off on my iPhone purchase a little while longer.

You are going to wait for Congress to make a decision? :rolleyes:

Yes, since I can't seem to make one.



(Actually, since none of the options seem to involve anything less than a doubling of my cell phone bill so I can have internet where I don't really care, I'm willing to wait on Congress.)

Huh? I thought it was only about $20-$30 more.

My current cell bill is cheaper than I thought!



It's about $40 more a month. That's $480 for the year, and another $300 or so for the phone. I'm still tempted, but mostly for the "cool" factor and the assumption that I will appreciate something as yet unfathomable about it.


Maybe I'll wait a month or two. It was gonna be a self-birthday present, but I'm pretty tapped out right now.


Seriously, though .... I'd hate to sign up for 2 years with AT&T, only to have their exclusive with the iPhone ruled illegal in less time than that.


But ... I guess if Congress is ruminating about it now, 2 years for a result from them seems about right ... if not overly optimistic.

Just doing a wee bit of research (including this thread) before heading out to purchase two iPhones

Quick question: I want to make sure that a Twitter client does not cut into Text messages - is this correct?

What are y'all's favorite Twitter clients?
Anybody have hints on the better cases to protect from clumsy owners who are prone to dropping phones?

You can set it up either way - I use Tweetie and get all my tweets via this client. I could have them sent to SMS - but I find that I prefer looking at tweets at my convenience rather than as they come in. If you send them to SMS they will count against your text allotment.

As for cases - Contour or Spec cases only and get the protective screen covers (anti glare is preferable). Just remember, you WILL drop your phone.

We are home with new toys. Gonna spend the rest of the evening setting 'em up.

Will get Tweetie. I am always amused by a well named item/app

Got the Contour case and anti-glare protective screen.

________

Anybody know of a good backgammon game?

I like having my fave tweeterer's tweets come straight to my fone with an on-screen alert, so I just upped my text plan to unlimited.

I like my case, but it doesn't cover the screen at all. Think I'll just take my chances with that, as I really like to touch the screen when I'm operating a touch-screen.

Everyone says that by far the best feature of the Palm Pre is how it does alerts, so since the Sprint plan comes with unlimited texts I may do the same when we get our Pres (9 more days!!) just to take advantage of that.

Twitterific is my favorite. I also like TweetDeck because I can separate people into groups.

I just bought the SwitchEasy Rebel Serpent case. Really like it.

True, but the first thing I did was figure out how to get it to stop telling me I had new tweets. The flow is sufficiently constant for me (and my list isn't that big) that it is essentially pointless to be told. So I just keep the tweet app running and hit refresh whenever I have a moment to care (having 15 windows/apps going at a time is the most valuable feature of the Pre for me -- though I have no idea how multitasking is handled on other phones).

Poorly. If notifications are the best stylistic feature, multitasking is the best functional feature. The iPhone barely multitasks at all (you can play music while using another single app, but that's it). Our Moto Q's with Windows Mobile sort of multitask, but it's cumbersome to switch between apps and the apps inevitably crash while multitasking so it's not so useful.

15 is impressive. <----quote material

15 may be gross exaggeration. I've never really counted.

You do eventually run into a "too many cards open" error but that seems to have more to do with time since last phone boot than number of apps open (I've received it with just two cards open) indicating memory management flaws.

I'll try it now and see how high I can get.

Up to 17 cards open with no error yet. Now, not each card is a new app, but I have open and can switch between with no closure:

My main Twitter account in Tweed (app)
The camera
The photo gallery
Google Maps application
The LinkedIn app
AccuWeather App
Evernote app
My second Twitter account in Tweed
My primary Twittera account a second time in Tweed (three instances of Tweed running)
The Sporting News baseball app
Bubbles (a game app)
My contact list
A chat window with Person A
A chat window with Person B
My primary Twitter account in Spaz (a different twitter app)
Three instances of the web browser (viewing upcombing BART arrivals at Embarcadero station, LoT, and LJ respectively).

You might want to hold off for a couple weeks. Apple is due to make some new product announcements mid September.

I have used iSkin cases on all my iPods. I quite like them. They are made of silicone and give a nice cushioning without being too bulky.

Yeah people have been reporting memory leaks.

I believe it handles multiple windows in a single app by creating a new instance of the app, so that counts.

BTW, how do you like evernote? Do you find yourself using it at all? Using it just as a simple notepad? Actually using any of its more advanced features?

Downloaded it when I got the phone. I think this was the second time I opened it.

I like it, but haven't used it a ton. It's good to save a webpage for future reading/reference.

They are more likely about the new OS (Snow Leopard). Also, there are rumours Steve Jobs is focused on a tablet.

I'll believe the tablet when I see it. There have been rumors of a tablet constantly for the past 2 years, minimum.

Beware - many Sprint users have trouble with Twitter. My cell is through virgin mobile and on the Sprint network and it spontaneously stopped communicating with Twitter in Feb. No one knows why, except that this happens a lot with Sprint customers.

You don't need to use SMS twitter to get alerts when they're new tweets. Just install one of the Twitter apps and they'll do it too.

As far as Sprint and Twitter I have had issues with one of the apps (Tweed) sometimes having difficulty communicating with Twitter but whenever that happens the other one (Spaz) works fine so I don't think it has been Sprint being the problem. ETA: Never mind, I see the reported Sprint problem is for SMS only.

Been with Sprint the entire time we've been on Twitter and, other than when Twitter itself was having issues or the client was having issues, we haven't noticed any problems.

When I switched from Sprint to ATT a few months ago I was no longer able to access Twitter from my phone. Never figured out why.

I have been getting intermittent problems with Twitter (Twitteriffic), but nothing painful

Yay! We haz Pre! *pre squee*

The screen is gorgeous. The gestures are easy and fun. So far, I'm loving it.

Now I need a case! Probably get a cheap one on ebay...

I have a friend who's ecstatic with her Android. I'm glad you are squee for your Pre. With a few tiny caveats, I'm giddy with my iPhone. Yay for smart phone happiness.

You know, for all of the complaints about the lack of apps for the Pre, I've been spending a LOT of my day downloading apps. Yes, the official catalog is limited, but Palm and Sprint are not being a-holes about "jailbreaking", so it's taken no time for a pretty extensive catalog of "homebrew" apps to appear.

I haven't even bothered to look at how to install apps that aren't in the official store. I probably should.

It takes a little bit of doing, but is far from difficult.

Have a preferred instructional link handy?

http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/...to_Get_Started

They present 2 routes - quick and relatively painless, just what you need to get apps on. Or more in-depth that gets you root access to your phone for...whatever you feel like I suppose.

If you go the "easy" route, skip down on the page that it links you to, past the "PreBrew" section straight to the "WebOS Quick Install Method" section.

My problem is finding apps I give a rat's patootie about.


The old thread here about Fave Apps provided nothing I'm keen over. Urban Spoon is a good restaurant finder ... but like most iPhone functions, I think it would really shine more if I were traveling. Here at home, I'm not a big restaurant eater. They're an eater of too much money and time.


So what I'm saying is NOT that there aren't great apps, but that there don't seem to be great apps for ME. In fact, I've been disappointed in a couple of recommendations.


TextFree does not really provide a workable way for me to get free texts from twitter. That's the only reason I have the pricey unlimited text plan. But TextFree's email-routed solution works mainly for personal texts directed solely to you. Oh well.


Then there was an Simplify, that purported to let you access your entire music or other media libraries via the internet, but it's really just a remote access. I guess I was looking for a service that actually hosted your libraries, because I'm not going to leave my computer on whenever I'm not at home on the off chance I might want to hear a song or two from home that I don't have have on my phone. Fail.


I'm pretty much going to ask everyone who has an iPhone what their favorite apps are, but I'm, hardly bowled over by anything yet. There are some fun and handy little tools that I might use once in a blue. Tip calculators, conversion calculators, and the like. I don't play games, so those are out. It seems to me there are 50 twitter apps (I like Tweetie), two dozen restaurant apps, ten zillion games, and, um, that's about it. What am I missing?


Maybe I'm just not the target audience for apps. I seem to be pleased by the core iPhone functions far more than any add-ons. But that's a bit of a disappointment, so I guess I'll keep looking.

Does this include iTunes? Our home server is on 24/7 so this would be killer for us (if Pre has something similar).

I've not yet found my own app love, though just the SMS/IM/Email sync is beyond lovely.

Yes, and per my above edit made after your quote, it's called Simplify (but then appears on my phone as "Music 2," so I had to look up the name).

As far as I can tell, it syncs ONLY with your iTunes libraries. It will sync your music and photos and, I believe, videos ... as long as they're in iTunes. If you're the type that has their computer on 24/7, this is made for you. Not me. I don't know if there's a Pre version, but good luck.

It's a brilliant idea .... for someone else.

I believe there is a Pre version, or something similar.

ETA: Dang, the one I recall seeing in my browsing today doesn't work with iTunes, only a particular Linux-based media server.

Simplify is incredible (as long as your home computer is always on). I have a 1TB external drive that's filling up with music - it's all available on my iPhone as well as my laptop. That makes me very happy.

I love playing with the zippo app and the light saber app.

Until I get bored or have to give the phone back.

For me the the most used apps on my phone are the social networking ones - I think for example the Facebook iphone app is in many ways better than the normal Facebook page. Akin the to restaurant finder apps as a KCRW member their fringe benefits ap is a cool way to let you know what places around you have a KCRW discount - recently learned a few favorite places do that I've never used my discount for.

Yeah, I might actually take to using the Facebook app much more than I use regular Facebook (which is almost never). SuPeR K! turned me and Isaac on to a "social networking" cite called Grindr, for a certain demographic.

I'd like to find more. K and Izak and I are having fun with FourSquare. It's not exactly networking, but it seems pretty perfect for swanksploration of SoCal, if we can get others to join in (hint hint)