If you head on over to Crackberry.com you will notice a “few” articles relating to the BlackBerry Storm on Verizon. Honestly, it is no surprise since this is supposed to be RIM’s answer to the iPhone.
A few months back Casey reported on a AT&T store handing out anti-iPhone propaganda to it’s customers… Now AT&T themselves are taking shots at the BlackBerry Storm. And is it really a surprise seeing how Verizon is pushing this device as it’s iPhone killer?
The Boy Genius Report has two independent sources supplying a email floating around AT&T that is laying the smack down on the latest effort of RIM, the BlackBerry Storm. Some of the key points being the lack of WiFi, multi-touch screen, App Store, and tri-band HSDPA.
(Via BoyGeniusReport)
…Meanwhile, BlackBerry News [via CrackBerry.com, naturally) has their own internal documents from last summer detailing why the BlackBerry is better than the iPhone 3G. Naturally, RIM is touting their history, keyboard, and most of all Enterprise chops.
Personally I want this Storm to come out already so we can put it up against the iPhone 3G and find out once and for all which device will come out on top!
If you currently own a iPhone 3G and are lucky enough to be paying $15 for the MEdia Net Unlimited data plan, your luck is about to change. And not for the better. AT&T is currently on the hunt for you, and you will soon join the rest of us in coughing up another $15 a month of your hard earned money for the the $30 iPhone 3G data plan.
You chould be receiving the following email anytime now:
Our service records indicate that you are using an iPhone 3G with a data plan designed for other devices. To avoid unexpected data overage charges and enable Visual Voicemail, please contact your telecom manager, or an AT&T representative at 1-800-331-0500.
Thank you for choosing wireless from AT&T. We appreciate your business.
So there you have it folks, everyone will soon be on a level playing field. Have any of our loyal readers received the email above from AT&T yet?
(via The Boy Genius Report)
Good news? Looks like there really is a new “Home” option for iPhone activation in the US. Bad news? Looks like it has nothing to do with the iPhone being sold unlocked. Apple Insider, who broke the rumor, updates as follows:
In order to service these customers, a special home pre-qualification web site has been set up so that users can find if they are qualified by AT&T for a phone unit subsidy. Users can set up their account at home so that everything is ready to go when they make their iPhone 3G purchase at a retail store. The new “Home” option that retail employees are seeing on their EasyPay terminals is designed to allow them to use this home pre-qualification step to accelerate the transaction of a new iPhone 3G. That also indicates there is no impending potential for unlocked iPhone 3G sales in the US, although this is expected at some point.
Apple Insider is also sticking to the 32GB SKU, but maybe only after the holidays (though presumably that means short term, not, you know, any point after the holidays and into future months/years…)
Magic 8-Ball?
- Unlocked iPhones in the US? Very Doubtful
- 32GB iPhone in the *near* future? It is certain
Interesting! Can’t wait to see how this one pans out!
Yesterday at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia XVII conference, AT&T’s chief technical officer John Donovan stated that iPhone 3G users have used much less data on the network than expected.
No explanation was given, but aren’t the reasons pretty obvious? All of the connection issues along with 3G reverting over to the Edge network is what I’m guessing. Donovan later went on to say that the iPhone’s 3g data usage is still “relatively higher than any other phone on the network”. He also went so far as to downplay that AT&T just may have underestimated the network demand following the iPhone 3G launch on July 11th. He did say that improvements made since then were all planned to help meet the anticipated demand. Sorry folks, I’m not buying that one. How about you?
The last good bit of information came regarding AT&T’s plans for 4G: it’s coming and testing will begin sometime in “2010″ with the service following soon there after. AT&T will be not be the first to toy with 4G but rather “leave early adoption to other companies”. (Namely Verizon who has slated launch of their 4G network the same year.)
(Via Electronista.com)
AT&T has high hopes for their U-Verse service, which is AT&T’s fancy term for their high speed internet, TV, and voice telephone package. It all works over the Internet and some believe that this is the direction that television is headed. So how does the iPhone fit into all this?
Well, obviously we all know that AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, so some high ranking suit probably thought it’d be a great idea to create synergy with their most popular phone and their next big money maker. How well will they play together? The iPhone’s U-Verse features will include having Visual Voicemail play through your TV, the option to download shows from your DVR to your iPhone, using the iPhone as a true remote, and even for giggles like hurling virtual tomatoes at the screen.
Sure, it may sound gimmicky but it looks to be good business for AT&T. And hey, throwing tomatoes? That’s always fun.
ReadVia
Engadget, BGR, and reader reports all confirm: AT&T is having a serious data outage in the east. We just received a confirmation from Derek (Hi Derek, we hope you’re not trying to read us over 3G or EDGE!) that it’s out in Washington, DC. Other folks from St. Louis to New York are getting the same. AT&T is on it, though:
Location: NorthEast ;All Markets
Elements: 2G and 3G Iphones, as well as other data devices
Start Time: 09-03-2008 07:00 Eastern
Issue / Impact: Data Customers Cannot Send or Receive To and From Mobile
Customer Symptom: Data customers may experience slowness or latency in accessing web sites or transferring of data files or making business transactions due to outage.
ETTR: TBD
Status: Open
Issue & Customer Impact: All Data applications are experience connectivity issues in the NE region. This issue is impacting GSM and UMTS Iphone customers as well as other devices. Voice services are not impacted.
So how about it — is your iPhone suddenly a very fancy looking iPod Touch that can also make the occasional call?
Thanks, Derek!
The trouble with Steve Jobs (or an anonymous iMinion thereof) sometimes mailing off blunt-force rejoinders to disgruntled Apple customers? The intertubes suddenly become awash in Jobsmail, making it impossible to sort the real from the decidedly not so. Case in point: a Gizmodo reader claims to have emailed Jobs about the possibility of maybe potentially one day considering tethering (allowing your computer to connect to the ‘net via your iPhone’s 3G or EDGE connection). The alleged response:
We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
Yeah, we can has big old doubts as well…
Roughly Drafted is claiming a source close to AT&T has spilled the beans on what’s really going on with the iPhone and its 3G connection problems, and what 2.0.2 did to fix it.
In a nutshell? An iPhone 3G running 2.0 or 2.0.1 tries to pull too much power from the network, so when multiple iPhones connect, a tower can actually run out of juice and start dropping calls and losing data.
Why hasn’t upgrading to 2.0.2 already fixed the problem? Simple: some people haven’t yet upgraded, so their 2.0 and 2.0.1 iPhones keep pulling too much power, causing the same problem even for people who have upgraded but are stuck on the same tower (or same high-density city like San Fran or NY). Only when most users have patched to 2.0.2 will people stuck on high-demand towers see improvements.
Earlier reports and theories have lain blame on everything from the 3G radio and antenna, to the Infineon chipset and Apple firmware, to the carriers themselves. We here at TiPb have long been saying the problems were likely a combination of factors, and firmware that pulls too hard on networks that aren’t that hardy seems a far better explanation than any one previously offered. It also goes a long way to explaining why Bluetest didn’t find any hardware issues, and why both Apple (via their website) and AT&T (via SMS) have really stepped up the push for this update.
So, do we finally have our answer, or is this just the next “shot in the dark”? Are you still having 3G problems? Is your neighbor still on 2.0 or 2.0.1? Tell them to upgrade now and then let us know if it helps!
Have an iPhone on AT&T and want to travel internationally without re-mortgaging your house to pay for the data roaming? You’re in luck… mostly. Engadget says the USA’s exclusive iPhone carrier has just released two new plans to help mitigate your risk: $119.99 for 100MB and $199.99 for 200MB.
Realizing AT&T does have to pay other carriers for any users on their networks, we still can’t help but wonder if there’s an ulterior motive… Given the poor marks AT&T’s network received in Wired’s survey when compared to European carriers, maybe Ma Bell is trying to dissuade frustrated users from fleeing the country? Unfortunately, these new plans are pretty much Rogers’ 2006 domestic rates, and probably still competitive with several international carrier-gougers!
So, AT&T travelers, will these new plans encourage you to keep the data roaming enabled for your next trip?
Last week Apple and Infineon were getting all the heat for shoddy 3G performance. Now AT&T is getting its share of the blame with a dizzying array of combinations. First it was Wired’s fairly damning survey and the Swedish antenna tests that pointed further fingers at the network, and now Gizmodo head-honcho Brian Lam has had the chance to chat with AT&T CTO John Donovan:
I asked Donovan if caution was the overriding strategy behind waiting to match Sprint’s initial 3G rollout, he replied, “I’d like to say we’re deliberate. ” He added that initially meeting the voice quality and data rates of Sprint’s 3G network would have been both technically and financially impossible, despite the customer benefit. (One only needs to look at Sprint’s financial weakness now to appreciate the wisdom of his point.) He also pointed out that by waiting, they got to leapfrog the limitations of Sprint’s EVDO networks, referring to the extended data rates their network will eventually run at, at a better value. “The most astute thing you can do is be as late as possible and as fast as possible. Because it’s going to cost you more if you do it too early, and if you do it too late, you don’t get the features you want.”
Well bully for AT&T, but where exactly does that leave frustrated customers with dodgy 3G reception? According to Donovan, they have a multipart plan to make sure AT&T really, truly, eventually delivers on the “more bars in more places” promise.
Lam likes having them on the record, so they can be held accountable. We think customers would prefer having them simply get the job done, so that dead zones, dropped calls, downgraded connections, and basically everything else that’s currently broken about AT&T’s 3G network is fixed and fast.
