tOfficial iPhone news and discussion thread

[haseebo]

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

He does have a point there.

He is MoP-like in his obsession. Steve Jobs is his bizzarro Brian Kelly.

[Minnie]

Woman sues for $1 million over iPhone cost cut - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A New York woman is so angry at Apple Inc. for lopping $200 off the price of the iPhone that she's filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages. Dongmei Li of Queens, N.Y., claimed the company violated price discrimination laws when it slashed the price of the 8-gigabyte iPhone by a third, from $599 to $399, within two months of the gadget's June debut.

Apple lowered the iPhone's price on Sept. 5 and also said it would stop selling the $499 4-gigabyte model. Hundreds of early customers who paid full price didn't expect a reduction so soon and complained.

According to Li's lawsuit, filed on Sept. 24 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, the price reduction injured early purchasers like herself because they cannot resell the product for the same profit as those who bought the cell phone following the price cut.

Li purchased a 4GB iPhone for $499 and alleged that owners of the 4GB model were given less favorable terms than those who bought the 8GB model at the premium price, according to the lawsuit.

[Cym Jim]

Is there MMS is the update?

[PortlandSpartan]

Originally Posted by Cym Jim

Is there MMS is the update?

Nope.

[Spartakles]

Apple okays 3rd party applications...

Apple OKs 3rd-party iPhone applications - Yahoo! News

[hexydes]

Sorry, but I don't believe Apple should be praised for doing what they should have done from day one.

[spartanNTX]

Any chance we see a ipod touch price drop before xmas? 199-250 would put it closer to my price range. I like the new Zunes but a wifi web browser is just too nice.

[Sir Denis Eton-Hogg]

Orange to sell unlocked iPhones in France
Posted Oct 17th 2007 4:13AM by Thomas Ricker
Well, well... looks like Apple has been backed into a corner by French law and will be releasing an unlocked iPhone in France after all. While no one will say precisely how much the unlocked iPhone will cost (the locked Orange-network iPhone will cost €399) those details are expected to be announced sometime before the November 29 launch. Of course, laws forbidding the exclusive bundling of cellphones to carriers are not unique to France. As such, we can expect a glut of unlocked iPhones in the coming months as deals are struck throughout Europe and Asia. Hear that AT&T, O2 and T-Mobile haters? Your nefarious unlocking efforts are about to get a whole lot easier (and more expensive).

tRicker?

Orange to sell unlocked iPhones in France - Engadget

Anyway, the grey market unlocked iphones are coming back to the USA via ebay.
Cannot wait.

[Ed Hightower]

Originally Posted by spartanNTX

Any chance we see a ipod touch price drop before xmas? 199-250 would put it closer to my price range. I like the new Zunes but a wifi web browser is just too nice.

No. They might lower them when a new model comes out, but not before then. Maybe at about the middle-age stage.

[PortlandSpartan]

Originally Posted by hexydes

Sorry, but I don't believe Apple should be praised for doing what they should have done from day one.

Who's praising? It's good news though.

[BrewSwillis]

Originally Posted by spartanNTX

Any chance we see a ipod touch price drop before xmas? 199-250 would put it closer to my price range. I like the new Zunes but a wifi web browser is just too nice.

You can buy a 1st gen 30GB Zune for $99: Buy.com - Microsoft Zune 30GB Digital Multimedia Device (Brown)- Audio Player, Video Player, Photo Viewer, FM Tuner - 3'' LCD - 30GB Hard Drive - JS800003

The 1st gen's will be able to get the firmware updates from the 2nd gens.

[tuff bob]

Originally Posted by Sir Denis Eton-Hogg

Orange to sell unlocked iPhones in France - Engadget

Anyway, the grey market unlocked iphones are coming back to the USA via ebay.
Cannot wait.

easily defeated by making sure the "unlocked" image is in French

[mrob]

Originally Posted by hexydes

Sorry, but I don't believe Apple should be praised for doing what they should have done from day one.

How does an announcement that they are opening the platform to 3rd part apps constitute "praise"?

And didn't every other poster tell you from day 1 that they would do this within 6 months?

You seem very angry over a pretty minor delay in opening a new platform to outside applications--which seems like prudent business practice to me.

[spartanNTX]

Originally Posted by BrewSwillis

You can buy a 1st gen 30GB Zune for $99: Buy.com - Microsoft Zune 30GB Digital Multimedia Device (Brown)- Audio Player, Video Player, Photo Viewer, FM Tuner - 3'' LCD - 30GB Hard Drive - JS800003

The 1st gen's will be able to get the firmware updates from the 2nd gens.

Like I said, I like the Zunes but a web browser and being able to check gmail and google calendar from a mp3 player is killer, and trumps wifi syncing and fm radio.

[BrewSwillis]

Originally Posted by spartanNTX

Like I said, I like the Zunes but a web browser and being able to check gmail and google calendar from a mp3 player is killer, and trumps wifi syncing and fm radio.

ipod touch is $300 for 8GB, or $400 for 16GB. The Zune deal I posted is $100 for 30GB. You could buy a laptop with wifi for $400...that plays mp3's.

[Fighting With A Vim]

Originally Posted by BrewSwillis

ipod touch is $300 for 8GB, or $400 for 16GB. The Zune deal I posted is $100 for 30GB. You could buy a laptop with wifi for $400...that plays mp3's.

Will the laptop fit in my pocket?

[KingPong]

Looking at getting two iphone on the family plan that includes 1400 minuters for $89.99. Is this going to include unlimited internet?

What other hidden costs are going to be involved? Do all of you iphone owners get the protection plan?

[hexydes]

Originally Posted by KingPong

Looking at getting two iphone on the family plan that includes 1400 minuters for $89.99. Is this going to include unlimited internet?

What other hidden costs are going to be involved? Do all of you iphone owners get the protection plan?

To get wireless data via the EDGE network, you will need to pay $20 extra, per phone, per month...

It's a total ripoff. AT&T finally is allowing people to cancel their data plan with the iPhone (prior to that, it was required). I would highly suggest doing so, as the EDGE network is basically worthless.

Also, if you're not 100% sold on the iPhone, check out a refurb 8525 as an alternative. It is a bit thicker, but comes with a keyboard. I just picked one up, and it is awesome. Also, $150 is much more palatable than $400 (unless you're getting the phones for a status symbol reason, in which case, by all means get them).

[PortlandSpartan]

Originally Posted by hexydes

To get wireless data via the EDGE network, you will need to pay $20 extra, per phone, per month...

It's a total ripoff. AT&T finally is allowing people to cancel their data plan with the iPhone (prior to that, it was required). I would highly suggest doing so, as the EDGE network is basically worthless.

Also, if you're not 100% sold on the iPhone, check out a refurb 8525 as an alternative. It is a bit thicker, but comes with a keyboard. I just picked one up, and it is awesome. Also, $150 is much more palatable than $400 (unless you're getting the phones for a status symbol reason, in which case, by all means get them).

I disagree on the data plan. I use edge a ton. In fact I am using it right now. If you plan on using the net/email you definitely want it.

[KingPong]

Does the Edge network come with it for email and internet? Is the $20 an upgraded data plan? The rep made it sound like the data plan was included in the cost.

[greenballs]

The $20 is added to whatever voice plan for unlimited data and email.

[hexydes]

Originally Posted by KingPong

Does the Edge network come with it for email and internet? Is the $20 an upgraded data plan? The rep made it sound like the data plan was included in the cost.

Those reps are liars, and like all things with cell phones, they throw numbers at you to confuse you. Here is a basic breakdown of how you will buy an iPhone with AT&T's default service:

- Service (lots of options, let's use your example of): $89.99 (per month)

- iPhones: 2 x $399.99 = $800

- Data plan: $20 per month, per line = $40.00 per month

So all said and done, you will owe $800 for the phones, and then you will be paying $129.99 a month for the phone service and data plans. AT&T is literally raping you with their data plan. The EDGE network sucks, it is really, really slow. It's not terrible for e-mail, but unless you absolutely have to have access to the Internet, and you don't have wi-fi access, it's really not worth it. If that is the case, you should just get the 8525 because it has 3G support, which is fast enough for Internet access.

I really wanted an iPhone, but between Apple completely controlling how you use it, and AT&T manipulating the service such that the wring you for as much as possible per month, it just wasn't worth it. It is a great phone, but not overly powerful due to Apple's ultra-tight control of the device.

[PortlandSpartan]

edge is just fine. I'm on the mobile version of the rcmb now.

[bulldogg]

Originally Posted by hexydes

AT&T is literally raping you with their data plan. The EDGE network sucks, it is really, really slow. It's not terrible for e-mail, but unless you absolutely have to have access to the Internet, and you don't have wi-fi access, it's really not worth it. If that is the case, you should just get the 8525 because it has 3G support, which is fast enough for Internet access.

I disagree to a point. The EDGE network is totally usable. I use it all the time on my Blackberry. Is it fast? Nope. But it is usable. I'm getting the BlackJackII on Monday - which does have 3G though.

Apple wouldn't release a phone and tout its Internet access if it was horrid. Apple chose not to include the higher 3G speeds. Also, $20/month for unlimited data isn't too bad. Isn't it more for the 8525? $40/mo?

[hexydes]

Originally Posted by bulldogg

I disagree to a point. The EDGE network is totally usable. I use it all the time on my Blackberry. Is it fast? Nope. But it is usable. I'm getting the BlackJackII on Monday - which does have 3G though.

Apple wouldn't release a phone and tout its Internet access if it was horrid. Apple chose not to include the higher 3G speeds. Also, $20/month for unlimited data isn't too bad. Isn't it more for the 8525? $40/mo?

EDGE is worthless, sorry. I was sitting at lunch with someone the other day, and we were trying to pull up msuspartans.com to find tip-off time for the MSU game, and it was taking around 45-60 seconds per page to load on his iPhone.

Yes, the wireless data plan for the 8525 is $40 a month, just another example of AT&T absolutely bleeding their customers dry (no better than Verizon or anyone else). Our telcos should be ashamed of themselves, and I can't wait until they are supplanted by someone who is willing to do a flat rate for unlimited voice and data on a new network (Google, please?!)

I don't pay for a data plan though, they are of no use to me, at least not at $40, or even $20, per month, per line. That is absolute robbery. I bought the 8525 because it is one of about three phones (including iPhone) that supports wi-fi, and lets me circumvent AT&T *********gery with their data plan.

If paying $240 a year for less than dial-up Internet speeds seems like a fair deal to you, then by all means, don't let me stop you. I just know that there are many other things I would rather buy with that money.