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)
The iPhone 3G is a data monster. With speeds of 400, 600 or more than 1400kps reported in some areas, it sucks down information faster than El Jobso does veggie smoothies. Unfortunately, not every carrier in every country provides unlimited data plans to go with Apple’s next generation revolutionary internet device, or even reasonable data. And even those that do typically have a “soft cap” (e.g. 5GB) after which they either throttle down your speed, or put a black mark in your record as a problem customer and eventually give you the boot.
If you’re in one of the Scandinavian countries, in Mexico, Belgium, or any other Pacific or European, Latin or African country with very expensive data, or if you just want to keep track of how much you’re using and when, Apple has provided you and easy way to do it. Read on to find out how!
Read the rest of this entry »
[Note: This a a Wait-A-Thon post! Comment on this post -- or any post tagged "Wait-a-Thon" -- for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card! Note that you must post with a valid and real email address so we can send you your prize -- no switching!]
More and more people are switching to the iPhone. They’re switching from Palm and Windows Mobile and Blackberry smartphones to the iPhone. They’re switching carriers to get the iPhone. And now that the next-gen iPhone 3G is all but upon us, and more and more regions are announcing their plans and pricing, the switching is only going to get faster and more furious.
To celebrate the switchers, those who dare to phone different, the iPhone Blog wants to help you get your content off your old, perhaps restrictive and outdates systems, and onto your shiny, new iPhone.
We’ve already gone over how to move your music, movies, and other media to iTunes, so now it’s time to get with the data: contacts, calendars, and email.
Read on to find out how!
Read the rest of this entry »
Sorry to rain on the iPhone 3G parade but it has to be done. Here’s some not so great news about the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G data plan is going to cost $30 per month. That’s $10 more than the current iPhone plan. On top of that, current iPhone owners will have to sign a NEW 2-year contract to use the iPhone 3G. Meaning, buying an iPhone 3G won’t be a seamless upgrade in the traditional sense. Granted, AT&T won’t count the remaining years on your current iPhone contract to the new iPhone 3G contract, the fact that you have to sign a new contract plus the added cost per month just doesn’t sit right with me.
Look at it this way, the iPhone 3G costs $199. Hip hip hooray right? Not quite. We have to add the cost of the added monthly fees. First we multiply the 10 dollars more a month by 24 months (the life of a 2 year contract) which equates to $240 dollars more to use the iPhone 3G’s data plan versus the original data plan. Now for the simple math, $199 (cost of the iPhone 3G) + $240 (cost of 3G data vs EDGE data over 2 years) = $439 over the lifetime of the contract. That’s actually a $40 dollar increase from the current iPhone, not quite the ‘half price’ that we’re being marketed to believe.
Also, it looks like AT&T will discontinue their pre-paid, GoPhone option meaning there is no alternative than being tied into a 2 year voice+3G data contract under AT&T. At least before, some users could choose to use the iPhone as a pseudo-data only device.
Perhaps its because the old revenue sharing model of the original iPhone is no longer in effect, but it looks like AT&T has taken back control of data plans and is positioning the iPhone 3G to increase subscribers and broaden market potential. The carrier subsidy is theoretically included in the $199 price, essentially AT&T is giving Apple the money upfront instead of through a month-to-month revenue sharing plan. Do we as consumers win out? Depends what your perspective is. The iPhone 3G is still a great phone and a steal, but AT&T & Apple are obviously not in the same relationship they were in just one year ago.
So when the iPhone 4G comes is AT&T going to raise our data prices to $40? Will it stop? What do you guys think of this? Does it change your perspective on the price of the iPhone 3G?
UPDATE: Gizmodo is also reporting that the iPhone 3G can only be activated in store via a 10-12 minute process. Also, a fine might be levied to those who don’t activate the iPhone 3G within 30 days. It seems like the iPhone no longer carries that unique badge of being separate from the rest of the other phones in AT&T’s lineup anymore..
I’m not going to get off on another Rogers rant here. Suffice it to say, when it comes to Canadian telcos, I’m the rat who, having learned helplessness, now lies face down on the hot plate.
However, not content to let me lie there and wither in peace, now comes this report, determined to kick poor downed me with some hope:
Sources from inside Rogers claim that the device should be available the same month as an expected US release of an updated, 3G-capable model [...] currency values are likely to place the cost of the phone itself closer to the eventual US figure. [...] The sources claim that the iPhone will qualify for Rogers’ $7 on-device browsing plan, which currently allows all phones offered by Rogers (excepting BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices) to access the web as much as they like through the carrier’s officially-sanctioned browser. Whether Rogers will allow YouTube, the App Store, and other official but non-web devices to fall into the unlimited plan is unknown, though unlike with other phones Rogers will not have the choice of installing or customizing the web browser or other applications.
We’ll see (or more likely, we won’t see). The best indicator of future behavior being prior behavior, I figure the iPhone data plan will cost $100/month for 1GB. Prove me wrong, Rogers!
What do you think?
Read Via
"
