Gizmodo has a juicy update on the Blackberry Bold; the device should/might/will launch on AT&T in a little over 2 weeks (September 12th). The US will be the fourth country to get the Bold, after Chile, the UK and Canada.

The best part? It’ll sell for just $299 (with the usual 2 year contract), making it $100 cheaper than our poor neighbors in the north had to pay (in addition to a three year contract!)

Source: Gizmodo.com

• 0 Comments

The AT&T store is just across from this T-mobile kiosk, and had at least 100 people in line. And the Apple store above them had over 200 people in line. Must suck to watch that all day long.

• 4 Comments

This evening I decided to check out my closest AT&T corporate store. The first indication something was wrong was the total calm and serenity inside. In the store were 9 reps and myself. People have either given up on the prospect of scoring an iPhone tonight, or they are just too tired to leave the house in this 90 degree weather.

Of course, they were out of iPhones, but when pressed how long it would take to get one, the guy acted pretty weird. At first he told me it would be 5–7 business days.

Then when I let him know I wanted 4 new lines (I bluffed), he let slip that he’d have more tomorrow morning. Of course, I dug even deeper asking what time they’d be delivered. And then he screwed up; he told me they already had them in the back, but that he couldn’t sell them yet.

Seems like Apple and AT&T took lessons at the “Bestbuy school for artificial Wii shortages”. Sleazy.

Update: The Boy Genius Report already reported on this: AT&T stores are getting daily allotments, so most stores will indeed already have their Saturday iPhones in stock today, with the Sunday ones arriving tomorrow. Still a pretty poor way of doing business.To tell customers TODAY that they are out of stock and that they need to order now and wait a week but then go ahead and sell them tomorrow to other customers is just pathetic.

FWIW; he says that AT&T stores will be getting between 20 and 150 iPhones, with most Apple stores receiving at least 2000!

• 7 Comments

Amazingly, the hottest upcoming phone this summer is not the 3G iPhone. It is the Blackberry Bold (in my humble opinion of course)

RIM’s latest was planned for a July release, but according to BGR, issues with heat and battery life have pushed things back to mid August.

I’d be lying if I said this doesn’t make me a little sad. The Blackberry Bold is the only phone I *really* want at the moment. Fingers crossed that this delay will be the only one. Of course, a delay on AT&T means the release on T-mobile will also be pushed back, since AT&T usually get a 3 month head start with new devices.

• 0 Comments

You’d think that having 5 major operators in the US would be good for competition. But international pricing on the iPhone would prove you wrong.

The upcoming 3G iPhone will go on sale at AT&T for $199. But that same device will be given away for free in the UK, and costs just 1 Euro in Germany.

The concept of free phones is nothing new in Europe, which is probably why the original iPhone wasn’t much of a hot seller. But when you start giving them away, things will be quite different for Apple.

In fact, resellers in some countries have had to resort to  free gifts in order to convince people to signup. And these gifts are not the kind you’d expect in the US (chip clips and caps). It’s not uncommon to get a free laptop of LCD TV when you signup for a 2 year contract.

The UK "free" iPhone plan costs $89 / $149 depending on your usage:

The $89 plan on O2 in the UK gets you 1200 minutes and unlimited data (cellular and Wi-Fi using a nationwide Wi-Fi network). The $149 plan has the same features, but comes with a whopping 3000 minutes. The UK plans come with free text messaging (up to 500 messages per plan), the new AT&T 3G iPhone plans no longer come with any free messages.

The AT&T 3G iPhone plan costs $69 for 450 minutes, $89 for 900 minutes, and $109 for 1350 minutes. The UK plan has the advantage of only locking you in for an 18 month contract, AT&T only offers 2 year deals. So, once again US customers get the worst deal possible.

• 0 Comments

Perfect timing from Amazon (and AT&T), right before the 3G iPhone launches they are working hard to sell their current stock of smartphones.

There are some amazing deals here, including the tilt for just $80 (after a $100 rebate). Other deals include the Blackberry Curve for -$75 (yes, MINUS $75!) and the Blackjack II for -$49.99.

If the iPhone isn’t your thing, then there is bound to be at least one smartphone that’ll fit your needs.

Check out the list of all smartphones on sale at Amazon.com

• 0 Comments

If you plan to go abroad this year with your iPhone, you’ll need something other than deep pockets. Many people arrive at their destination, turn on their iPhone, and don’t realize that international data is horribly expensive.

A single received email may cost you as much as $1 to download. Multiply that by 2 weeks and 100 emails and you’ve got yourself one hell of a phone bill when you return.

So, before leaving, call AT&T and have them add the Global iPhone data plan to your account. You’ll get 50MB of data for "just" $59.99 (only in the countries listed).

If you live a busy life and receive a lot of data, you’ll appreciate this example:

100Mb of data transferred on vacation. Without the iPhone data plan, will cost:

$0.195 per KB = $19.50 per MB * 100 = $1950

But WITH the iPhone global data plan:

$0.005 per KB = $5 per MB * 50 (first 50MB are included in the plan) = $250 + $59.99 (for the plan itself) = $309.99

Saves you: $1640.01.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a massive ripoff, especially since other operators (like T-mobile) offer unlimited international data plans for just $20 (Blackberry only). But if you absolutely insist on carrying your iPhone, it makes sense.

AT&T Affordable international data packages

• 3 Comments

This is suddenly a hot topic. New phones are appearing on a rival network, but you are still under contract with your current operator. Canceling your contract will result in an early termination fee of up to $200, but what do you do if you want to keep your current number when you switch provider?

In most cases, it’s possible to port your number from operator A to operator B, without the contract at operator A coming to an end (and resulting in that ETF).

Once you’ve done the number port by calling operator B, call operator A and tell them you want a "win-back". This will assign your old line a new number and keep it active, thus avoiding the pain of the termination fee. In most cases you’ll see the ETF on your invoice, but once you do the win-back, it will be credited right away, so don’t wait too long to call them.

Of course, this means you’ll be stuck paying for 2 lines, but if you only have a couple of months left with operator A, then it means you can get that shiny new iPhone/Blackberry you’ve been dreaming of.

Of course, sooner or later all operators will have pro-rated termination fees, making this entire post obsolete.

• 0 Comments

Last year iPhone users were downloading so much stuff, that AT&T suffered several massive data network outages. So it’s only fair that GigaOM wonders whether the stress of all those 3G Youtube downloads will once again bring AT&T to its knees.

My guess? Yes, but only localized. There are places in the country where it’s almost a crime to not carry an iPhone (Yes Bay Area, I’m talking about you). When the combination of disposable income and pure Apple love meet, there are bound to be thousands of people rushing to trade in their old iPhone for a new one. If past experiences are any indication, then AT&T will have 2 weak spots: their activation systems and their network.

Last time, people were able to activate their iPhone at home, sitting at their desks with a cup of apple juice. This time, you’ll need an Apple or AT&T store, and the entire process will take at least 10 minutes per customer. That is not a good time to see the AT&T computers choke (again).

Time will tell, but I’d say the weeks after July 11th won’t be full of good PR for AT&T.

• 0 Comments

When Steve Jobs presented his new iPhone this afternoon, he made everyone believe that it was amazingly cheap. At $199 it is cheaper than the previous model, but I’d hardly call it a bargain.

1. The iPhone data plan is going from $20 to $30/month
2. AT&T no longer need to pay Apple $12/month in "revenue sharing"

Lets do the math:

$10/month + $12/month * 24 months = $528

So, AT&T are making an extra $528 off iPhone subscribers compared to the current plan.

It’s no wonder why they can afford to subsidize the purchase price. A $199 3G phone is nothing new, AT&T have 10 of them that are available for free right now, and even their high(er) end 3G smartphones can be found for under $100.

When Steve said it was becoming cheaper, what he really meant to say was "we are finally going to sell them the same way every other manufacturer in the world sells them".

• 0 Comments