[HottDogg]

"The same gorgeous 3.5" display",... that's the info Steve Jobs was handing out at the WWDC keynote. Blame him if people are confused. I'm sure he'll see you in right away.

[richtestani]

So it sounds like Apple is able to drop the price, but AT&T will be able to charge even more for plans. I am paying $150 right now - $80 for voice/data and I upgrade from the measly included 200 SMS messages to unlimited which is I believe $20 per month and some other bogus fees which all phone companies do.
So now, I'll pay the current $80 voice with no SMS included - $30 for data plus any SMS package. Does my voice come with data for only $10 more?
Also the AT&T site says get "Enterprise Data Plan" for $45 per month
http://www.wireless....ck=1-0011RG-0-6
What is an "Enterprise Data Plan" anyway?
Just my thoughts, even though the device will be cheaper - it will be a more expensive phone.

[David_Guzman]

I have a relative that works at AT&T and we discussed the difference between the Enterprise and Consumer data plans. She stated that if it works like other AT&T plans the difference between a ‘Enterprise’ data connection and a ‘Consumer’ data plan is the way that you connect to your mail server. If you can log into your email from any computer without the use of a VPN or other specialize connection, then you are able to use the ‘Consumer’ level pricing. The ‘Enterprise’ service is for those that need to utilize some sort of special connection.

While neither she nor I are certain about the details, this would seem to make sense. If you were able to connect to your exchange server over the web, how would AT&T be able to tell the difference between that and a ‘regular’ email connection? The only difference I could see is the way AT&T would manage ‘push email’. Perhaps if you want that capability you will need to have the Enterprise plan.

Guess we’ll find out on July 11.

[macFanDave]

Quote

In 2004 people were overjoyed with their phones' 2MP cameras. Now you're saying it's unusable.

>

It's not the number of pixels that makes it unusable, I took some really nice pictures with a 640x480 (sub-megapixel) camera. The iPhone has problems with optics and auto-white balance that other cellphone cams don't.

Quote

It's perfectly usable. It's just not what you want.

No, it is not. I was sitting in the sixth or seventh row of a presentation and the speaker put up a slide of his contact info. I tried to snap a photo from 20-25 feet away of a screen that was about 8 ft. diagonal and it came out ILLEGIBLE. Not usable for even such a basic and convenient function.

Quote

May I suggest you go out and buy one of those other cell phones with the flash and zoom lens. I'm sure you'll find that in four years that phone will have an unusable camera as well.

May I suggest that you, er, . . . never mind? The iPhone does so many things beautifully that the lousy camera is a mere annoyance in what has been otherwise an excellent experience.

Quote

Or ... you could just carry your camera and take real pictures that will impress people instead of cluttering up the 'net with the same crap that every twelve-year-old girl thinks is awesome.

The point of the iPhone was to reduce the amount of devices one must carry. The "awesome, omigosh!" picture moments only come once every few weeks (two blue herons perched on a telephone wire about 30 feet away) so I can't justify carrying my camera all the time. Perhaps you can in your capacious fanny pack you wear around your corpulent self.

[fribhey]

apotheosis said:

My question is will you be able to walk into a store and purchase an iPhone 3G without the subsidy?

well considering that the only way to walk out of the store with an iphone in hand is by signing a contract with AT&T i would say no.... which means either there won't be any 3G cracked phones on the market OR there will be but will cost you a ton of money to get one.

[lee_sf]

macFanDave said:

It's not the number of pixels that makes it unusable, I took some really nice pictures with a 640x480 (sub-megapixel) camera. The iPhone has problems with optics and auto-white balance that other cellphone cams don't.

Have to agree. I've taken outdoor, sunlit pictures of people at reasonable ranges and been underwhelmed by the image quality- the highlights were a too bright while the shadows were near-black, and the resolution seemed lower than 2mp. Some Photoshop work made them usable and shareable, and I got shots that wouldn't have happened otherwise, but... it wasn't much fun.

So, yes, I'll throw in a pocket camera along with the iPhone if there's even a remote chance I'll want to take pictures.

[vasari]

"If you’ve got an iPod touch, you can upgrade to the 2.0 software as well, but it will cost you $9.95—Apple charges a fee for the touch because of the way it accounts for the device."
A point I haven't seen addressed anywhere - that presumably future upgrades for the 3G phone will also cost have to be paid for. Touch upgrades have to be charged for because Apple doesn't have a continuing revenue stream for the Touch; the pricing model for the 3G indicates that will be the same for the 3G, as Apple will no longer get a share of the call plans.



ETA: the iPhone works well enough for point and shoot - http://www.flickr.co...thiphone/pool/. Anything serious I'll haul out the Nikon D200 for, but I like the immediacy of the iPhone, and the graininess can be worked with.

[wike2004]

"Are SMS messages still included in the iPhone plans?
Everything I've read, including purported leaked AT&T documents says that SMS is not included. I think the best evidence for this is that the other 3G data plans AT&T offers do not include SMS."

It seems pretty clear that AT&T is charging data plans for the iPhone 3G in line with their existing PDA/smartphone data plans, which apply to Treos, Blackberries, etc., and now iPhone 3G. So, they're going to be charging $30 for unlimited data, which doesn't include SMS messages but I think includes Visual Voicemail, and $5 extra for 200 SMS messages. We knew that we iPhone 1.0 users were getting a pretty good deal with the $20/month for unlimited data, email, Visual Voicemail, and 200 SMS messages, but now we know how good a deal that was. Of course, we paid $399 - 599 for our iPhones then.

[Apoc112]

Is there any reason to pay $15 per month for the exchange functionality when Apple's MobileME works on all platforms and is only $99 per year? That's $80 cheaper per year. Am I just crazy?

[ggibson913]

I was all set to go ahead and buy a new iPhone. I had it worked out, my contract with Verizon is finished and the cost of the plan was only around $14 more dollar per month than I was currently paying. Then AT&T deceided that just not paying Apple wasn't asking them enough money. So the increased the price of the data plan by $10 per month. Not that big a deal but a little troublesome. Then AT&T said hey, we can charge for all text messages $5 per month.

I work for a large corporation but I don't really need to link up with my company's e-mail server to get e-mail. So my phone needs are strictly at the consumer level. I thought it would be nice to be able to check my personal e-mails and find local restaurants and such on a ver user friendly interface without having to fire up the laptop.I don't have 3G access at home but I would at work.

My whole point of this is that for me, the iPhone is a consumer level phone more than a business user's phone. At the consumer level, AT&T is making the price of admission too high. I think that many who were waiting for this phone may choose not to buy it not because of the cost of the phone, but becuase of the cost every month.

[bigpics]

pdbreske said:

Or ... you could just carry your camera and take real pictures that will impress people instead of cluttering up the 'net with the same crap that every twelve-year-old girl thinks is awesome.

well that was gratuitous. I suppose 12 year old boys have better taste??

[Jonny75]

pdbreske wrote:

Quote

In 2004 people were overjoyed with their phones' 2MP cameras. Now you're saying it's unusable.

It's perfectly usable. It's just not what you want.

Oh come on! What a silly argument. In the 1900s we had Autochrome colour photographs, and they were received with "overjoy" and are still perfectly useable. Still in 2008 it might not be what you want!!! ;o) I could go on.

The point is the phone is the weak spot and is why I won't upgrade now. Apple is playing in a worldwide market with phones, and some of my US mac friends find it hard to see the bigger picture. 3G is relatively new in the US, but it's passe here in the UK and elsewhere and we're looking at 4G now. Mobile internet will be big, but at the moment, camphones are massive out-with the US, to the extent it is felt sub #150 compact cameras will not be sold in the UK in a few years as most phones can out perform them.

The point the original poster was getting at was that features expected of a camera of the iPhone price - and the now expanding user base (moving from business to average consumer as shown by the price changes) - should be a flash and 3.2Mpx* at a minimum. Compared to the iPhone competitors, the iPhone is lacking in basic phone features (MMS, voicedial for kick off), conferencing features, and as a result is not going to revolutionise Europe and Asia where Apple are hoping to sell. 3G was a must and I'm glad that was addressed. I'm sure the silver back return, weight reduction, camera and flash will come, but until they do, it's still a nice luxury, but a SE K850i and Touch is a better combination to own (and far cheaper for those of us in Europe who don't pay for phones).

* I know megapixels are only part of what makes a great picture, but there are superb small camphones with 3Mp and 5Mp which are cheap and take superb pictures. I suspect the components would have increased the iPhone price by too much and so the camera was compromised for other features, but I hope as we see 5Mp as standard and 8Mp being introduced by Samsung, we will get upgrades very soon. When that happens we will truly have iPhone 2.0 rather that the current 1.5.

[cedreca]

Hello:
Anyone know when if ever, is Apple/AT&T going to start selling the iPhone in Puerto Rico????
So far we don't have any news about the release. And I know it works here in the Island because my companies president came to visit from the US and his iPhone worked perfectly.
Apple and AT&T, We are US citizens, how come other countries can purchase it and we can't. Be fair and allows to purchase it like everyone in the States.
Any way of contacting Apple or AT&T??