[Stogieman]

AT&T has new pricing on their data plans. It looks like the cheapest plan for unlimited internet browsing is $19.99 (without M2M). I wonder if prices stay the same during the iPhone release. This info was pulled from the howardforums:

"Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion. AT&T offers two flavors of Unlimited Messaging, just like Verizon. Here are the details on the plans with the feature codes.

1) Unlimited Messaging to Anyone (includes Text, Pics, Video, and Instant Messages)
- $19.99 Messaging Unlimited - 4N16
- $39.99 MEdia Max Unlimited - MBR8 (also includes unlimited MEdia Net <browsing> & CV <video>)

2) Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (M2M) Messaging to AT&T Customers (includes Text, Pics, & Video Msgs)
- Any current Messaging Package or MEdia Bundle + $5 for Unlimited M2M Messaging
- $9.99 Messaging Starter with M2M (200 messages for non AT&T customers, IM, alerts, etc...) - MP1M
- $14.99 MEdia Basic with M2M (400 messages for non AT&T customers, IM, alerts, etc..., 1MB MEdia Net) - MB1M
- $19.99 MEdia Works with M2M (1500 messages for non AT&T customers, IM, alerts, etc..., 5MB MEdia Net) - MB6M
- $24.99 MEdia Max 200 with M2M (200 messages for non AT&T customers, IM, alerts, etc..., Unlimited MEdia Net & CV) - MB3M
- $34.99 MEdia Max 1500 with M2M (1500 messages for non AT&T customers, IM, alerts, etc..., Unlimited MEdia Net & CV) - MB7M

Existing customers can sign up here:

Messaging Packages, MEdia Basic Bundle, & MEdia Works Bundle
https://www.cingular.com/media/multi...aging_purchase

MEdia Max Bundles
https://www.cingular.com/media/cingular_video_purchase"

[Dazed]

No 3G, No Sale. Thats a lot of money for old phone technology, even if it is wrapped in a pretty little osx bundle.

[charmdustio]

I just read about the F700. Might not be Apple but sure has some awesome stuff the iPhone doesn't. Vibrating-touch, 5 Megapixel Autofocus Camera, VGA 30fps video recording to name a few.

..and it looks pretty darn classy!

[jaimela]

I'll pass on the iPhone for now. Too much $$. Besides, you can't best the call clarity of Nokia, just about ANY Nokia sounds amazing, and that's what I'm looking for on a phone. The only exception I can think of is a Treo on the Cingular network, have had very clear and loud calls with that combo.

[k2director]

I'll be buying the day it's out. No doubt about it. I wish it had 3G from the start, but I honestly don't *need* that. What I need is a phone with a really smooth, intuitive interface, and such tight integration to my Mac apps and content (iTunes, Address Book, iCal, iPhoto, etc.).

If you're on the fence about the iPhone, I recommend re-watching Jobs' keynote address, where he demoed it. 5 months later, it's easy to forget some of the nice details that the phone gets right, but the keynote will refresh your memory.

One more month, just one more month....

[AC Rempt]

I am hot for the iPhone. I have been using a Treo for some time now, and while I like the phone well enough, it doesn't work as seamlessly with my Mac as i expect the iPhone to. I use Missing Synch and all, but even though it does a good job, it still feels kludgy, and the data transfers are never quite right. I want the calendar on my phone to match the calendar on my Mac, and I have never been happy with how the Treo calendar and iCal synch.

My Verizon contract is up in July, and I will be kissing them goodbye for the iPhone.

[mac128k-1984]

The way people (and the media) are salivating over this thing, I have to imagine that the hype is going to far outstrip reality. That is when it finally hits it will be, well anti-climatic. Its a wickedly expensive phone, why do I want to spend several hundreds of dollars and I presume pay a higher contract for the internet access for a phone? Besides the most popular phones it seems tend to be on the smallish size. I wonder how this will stack up with that trend.

[tcugrilla]

i will be sitting in line in front of the cingular store at midnite the day they are for sale. join me on hulen street in fort worth.

[vmarks]

It will be mine... Oh yes, it will be mine...

[Dale Sorel]

OK, where's the pole choice: No, I couldn't care less.

[icruise]

I've got your "pole" right here...

[icruise]

By the way, does anyone else think it's odd that there's now less than a month until the release of the iPhone (assuming they hold to "late June") and we still have no idea what the monthly cost will be? That's the only sticking point with me. The hardware itself looks great, but if it's going to cost a fortune for the service, I may have to pass it up.

[draggerman11]

I am getting one. Just signed up on my local AT&T store's waiting list.

[vmarks]

Originally Posted by icruise 

By the way, does anyone else think it's odd that there's now less than a month until the release of the iPhone (assuming they hold to "late June") and we still have no idea what the monthly cost will be? That's the only sticking point with me. The hardware itself looks great, but if it's going to cost a fortune for the service, I may have to pass it up.

I'm presuming that the data plans will fall under what we've been seeing currently. Media Max and so on (unlimited internet, x number of messages) -- and knowing that SMS and MMS get used as the iChat client, some of these packages make sense.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by vmarks 

...and knowing that SMS and MMS get used as the iChat client, some of these packages make sense.

Is that so? How does it make sense to use SMS/MMS for iChat rather than routing traffic over TCP/IP (when available)? Or is this just supposed to allow carriers to make more money?

[icruise]

It's not really iChat. It's just an iChat-like skin for SMS messaging that makes messages look like they form a conversation.

[starman]

Part of me is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal excited for it.
Part of me is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal apprehensive about it.

I had an iPaq-type phone (Windows Mobile). I loved it. Say what you will about MS, but the Windows Mobile OS beats the crap out of Palm. The problem was that the phone was heavy, and was really a problem when I wore the thing at the gym. Currently I have a SE w810 which is a nice size/weight. If this iPhone winds up being real heavy I may have to think differently (ha!) about how I carry it around at the gym.

I'm also concerned about the lack of tactile responsiveness.

[k2director]

Jobs says that the iPhone's touch keyboard is better than the little plastic keyboards on the Treo and the Blackberry. I tend to doubt that, as I've seen people using two thumbs to blaze away on those keypads, and can't imagine the achieving the same high speed with the iPhone keyboard (especially since you have to hit a shift button just to get simple punctuation like a period).

In the end, I think the iPhone will never be as good for composing messages as a Treo/Blackberry. But it will certainly be functional for writing quick replies or querries to people, and that's all I need. I'd rather have a great reading device (email, internet) than a great writing device if I had to choose between the two...

[Trin]

I think they're really cool and love the look/concept of them... but a) they're too expensive for my budget or lack thereof b) i already have a Rogers Much Music mobile which is working well for me... and c) the features it does have are mostly on my iBook which is usually with me wherever i go anyway so I wouldn't need to put it on a mobile phone. But I think it's great for people who can/want to upgrade to a higher-quality phone... it's just not within my view of possibility at the moment.

[vmarks]

Originally Posted by icruise 

It's not really iChat. It's just an iChat-like skin for SMS messaging that makes messages look like they form a conversation.

Yes, and no.

Set up AIM to forward messages to your cell when you're offline. The messages come as SMS.

MyMobile - Mobile AIM


iPhone uses SMS in an iChat-like conversation. The result is an effective iChat on the phone.

As for carriers making more money, it depends on the package for minutes/tcp-ip minutes/sms messages allowed. Additionally, when I travel outside the US, sms roaming is cheaper than tcp-ip roaming. I've also found that I can receive SMS in places where I cannot get a tcp-ip connection. Perhaps similar experiences to mine played into the decision to make sms act like iChat rather than a tcp-ip iChat client.

[icruise]

You can also use the iChat client (for the Mac) to directly send and receive SMS messages, which I have done.

[icruise]

I stopped by the local Cingular store and asked about the iPhone. They didn't really have much more information than us (no concrete release data, etc), but they did put me on their waiting list. The guy also said that he thought the monthly fees would be $30 plus whatever voice plan you choose. Since the cheapest voice plan is $40, that would be a minimum cost for the iPhone $70 a month. That's just about the limit of what I would be willing to pay.

[Appleman]

I'll be getting one, although here in Europe we have the "privilege" of first wait-and-see what the reactions are in the USA.
Then, will there be a different version here as networks seem to work different?
As it's running a kind of OS X I would say you can't talk about a closed system.
The possibilities are wider than any other phone as I could imagine you go to a wifi network and update the OS when needed: my SE P910i still runs more or less the same OS as when I bought it. I love the chess game though ;-)

Capability of 8 GB is a laughter: even my current 60 GB iPod isn't enough for my music only, so I leave out photo's. movies and podcasts.
So I might still use it as a kind of phone, you know, to make phone calls.

Oh, did I mention the chess game in my current SE P910i?

[MacosNerd]

I'll wait and see. It's mighty expensive and I'm not show much the cingular plan they'll be offering with the phone will cost. My iPod mini is getting a little long in the tooth however I'm not looking forward to paying a premium on the phone because its in such demand.

[krove]

I hope that it isn't released on Jun 29, as some site recently speculated. I'll be on an airplane!

[butterfly0fdoom]

I really do wish someone at AT&T would leak us the fineprint. I'm on a family plan, and I don't really want to have to go into a separate individual plan just to get an iPhone... That and I'd like to know what other things AT&T would gouge from us.

[krove]

June 29 it is: Apple - iPhone - TV Ads

While I said I would be on an airplane...I goofed. I'll be flying back home on June 28, so you better bet I'll be waiting in line for hours to make sure I get one. Now the question is do you risk going to an AT&T store where they might already have a waiting list, or camp out at an Apple store. Hmmm....

[icruise]

Steve Jobs indicated that you'd probably have a better chance at a Cingular/AT&T store because a lot of people won't know that they're selling the iPhone too. Of course, I would think that Apple stores might get more stock. It's hard to say.

[Stogieman]

Yeah, but I still have $150 worth of Apple gift cards I received from last Christmas. No Cingular/AT&T store for me.

[APPLEFAN08]

I would get it but I have verizon and it's for AT&T but I like my phone right now its the LGVX9800 but the Iphone does look cool but I would get it if I had AT&T but I don't.

[krove]

Celltrade, America's Online Cellular Exchange Place

Apparently you can find someone to take over your contract without having to pay the fees. Anyone know about this service? Engadget linked to it a while ago.

[Altered_Ego]

I just love looking at the latest gadgets, and would love to get them all. But the iPhone is a waste for me.

I don't use my cellphone much at all. I'd rather use my computers to surf the web. I don't do text messaging, etc.

Oh, and I live in a small town in Maine. Cingular (AT&T) service stinks. I can barely get any signal at all. I don't even know why they offer it around here. I finally figured that out after buying 3 phones, including an unlocked Blackberry and a Motorola Razr V3.

I finally just bought another TracFone, and paid for a year's service.

But, oh, that iPhone really looks nice.