All Articles Tagged iPhone

Apple Stores will be stocking an assortment of 25 available iPhone accessories this Friday during the big launch extravaganza. Most of these accessories are limited to cases and screen protectors, though I wonder if iPhone’s screen even supports screen protectors at all. We’ll have to wait for confirmation on that.

The company will also be offering its Bluetooth Headset for a hefty price of $129. Ouch!

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AT&T is set to unveil a specialized data plan for iPhone called iPlan. We first heard rumors about this plan in the works last week, and as expected it ain’t gonna be pretty. iPhones users will be expected to sign contracts accompanied by iPlans that start at $34.99, going up to $44.99. This according to Boy Genius Report..

The iPhone data plan will be around $34.99-$44.99 and feature unlimited data, and either 2000 text messages, or unlimited text messages (we still have not confirmed which, but unlimited text messages would be awesome).

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It’s seriously a smorgasbord of hype out there. I read more daily than I can shake a stick at. If hype was gold I’d be a leprechaun.

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AppleInsider is reporting that initial volume shipments of iPhone began arriving at drop terminals across the US, in preparation for distribution on Friday. This means iPhone launch plans are on track with no delays in sight.

People familiar with the matter say the intrinsically valuable freight was carried inbound by a certain Hong Kong-based air courier, which services Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The early arrival is to assure the cargo can clear customs with enough time to handle unexpected delays, those people said. Awaiting the freight at each location on Sunday were armed personnel, who were reportedly hired by Apple through its courier’s ground handling agent and then cleared by the Transportation Security Administration. Armed guards are extremely unusual for freight coming out of the Asian sector, those familiar with the matter explained, and are typically reserved for shipments containing riches such as gold and diamonds.

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The IBM research team is pretty sure that the iPhone will be targeted by hackers and malware. However, they think it will be a very secure device. Choice quotes:

“It’s going to be challenging for the bad guys to exploit them like they do other [smart phones]
….
A lot of these attacks are going to be very hard to launch against the iPhone.”

[via]

Engadget is posting some new details about the iPhone culled from “sources”.

• The keyboard was simply described as “disappointing”. Keyboarding with two thumbs often registers multiple key presses (two or three at a time) resulting in a lot of mistakes. The best way to type is with a single finger (as shown in most of Apple’s demos), but two thumbs is supposedly very difficult. After trying it for a number of days our source gave up using their thumbs.
• The text auto-correction only works well for simple words, but doesn’t work for proper names. We can only assume this bit will get better with time as Apple fills out its predictive text dictionary.
• “It won’t replace a BlackBerry. It’s not good for text input. It’s just not a business product.”
• The touchscreen was said to, in general, require somewhat hard presses to register input, and needs some getting used to.
• In addition to its dock, the iPhone comes packaged with a polishing cloth (the thing’s supposedly a fingerprint magnet, no surprise) and the usual smallish power adapter.
• The Bluetooth headset will debut in the $120 range, and will come with its own dock for charging both the phone and the headset. The headset will feature a miniature magnetic charging interface á la MagSafe.
• The Bluetooth headset has a hidden LED and is supposedly a very small and elegant device. Sound quality is said to be “typical”. There is no clip; like many headsets you’re expected to just let it hang out of your ear, as previously shown.
• The browser “worked well” but page load speeds on EDGE were just as slow as expected. It sounds like 3G users will have a tough run with this.
• Users must scroll through the address book (or use the alphabet-drag on the side) — one cannot bring up the keyboard and type in a name, as many of us are used to.
• Shocker: YouTube over EDGE didn’t work well at all, and will basically necessitate use of WiFi.

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Remember that mysterious iPhone display unit erected in the wee hours at the 5th Avenue Apple Store? Well they have cropped up everywhere now. Both Apple retail stores and AT&T Wireless stores are featuring these frightening iPhone displays that demonstrate iPhone features and threaten to abduct your children.

What impresses me most about these displays is the amount of money invested in development. However much these units cost to manufacture, it wasn’t cheap I can tell you that. This illustrates the importace both companies place on this product.

More pictures (courtesy of MacRumors.com) after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has updated its iPhone product webpage with a new guided tour video, demoing the phone and its operation. This is the first official demo of the final software framework in action, but very little is revealed that we didn’t already know. One thing that was finally made clear is the location and placement of the SIM tray on top of the device, which wasn’t clearly visible in previous photos.

The scary part of the video is the Steve Jobs wannabe, wearing a black mock turtleneck with sleeves rolled up. He looked the part but failed miserably to use Steveisms like “Boom” and “wouldn’t it be great..”

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More bad news, I’m afraid. Those of you who hoped to avoid the experience of camping out in front of AT&T Wireless stores by ordering the iPhone by phone or online are out of luck. I just spoke with a second AT&T sales rep who confirmed what a previous lackey told me; AT&T will only be selling iPhone to customers through their corporate stores on a first come, first served basis. No pre-orders, and no orders by phone or through the web.

The rep I spoke with did not know for certain how long this policy would continue, but hinted that it would go on well past June 29. So, bottom line – if you want an iPhone you must get in line, literally.

Isn’t this fun? I’m thinking of becoming an alcoholic to pass away the time. Who wants to join me in a drink?

Public iPhone sightings are becoming increasingly common, so this photo isn’t exactly shocking. It just further adds to our frustration. He has an iPhone and WE don’t!

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