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dustin33finger's blog: "iphone"

created on 07/10/2007  |  http://fubar.com/iphone/b100811

iPhone Watch | 6.27.2006

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After Tuesday's flurry of "official" iPhone news -- pricing plans, activation details, local stores that will sell the Object of Your Desire -- expect a return today to rumor and speculation.

Add to that an unhealthy dose of microscopic, obsessive analysis of the mainstream-media reviews of the device, and we should have an interesting day . . . as in, "may you live in interesting times".

One common thread I noted in all four big-name reviews -- a general loathing of AT&T's EDGE network, which is what the iPhone will use to send and receive data. It's dog-slow compared to newer 3G networks, and the reviewers all said that the iPhone's ability to connect to Wi-Fi networks will be its saving grace. Expect an increase in subscriptions to services like T-Mobile HotSpots and Boingo as data-desperate iPhone users seek bandwidth water in the EDGE desert.

For some, EDGE may be a deal-killer. When my Samsung BlackJack can't access AT&T's faster 3G network, it switches over to EDGE, and I dread seeing that little "E" at the top of the screen. iPhone users will have to live with the E all the time when they can't find Wi-Fi. Poor souls . . .

And now, on with today's show. Come back often, as newer items will find their way to the top of this list.

? More iTunes goodness! MacRumors says iTunes 7.3 will support custom ringtones. This may cost 99 cents, which may be on top of the 99 cents you pay for the song. If that's the case, it further enables the giant ripoff that is fee-based ringtones. A good question: Will Xingtone work with the iPhone?

? MacNN notes that an Apple Q&A indicates box contents for the iPhone and says that iTunes 7.3 will be required for use with it. But what's currently available for download is iTunes 7.2, which means that a new version of the software likely is imminent.

? One of the best ways to avoid lines of camped-out, sweat-soaked Apple fanboys may be to find an obscure AT&T store that will be stocking them. There are more than 50 in Houston, and some of them are definitely below the radar. If you get lucky, you may be able to waltz in and walk out with the Object of Your Desire with minimal wait times. To find them, you can consult our list, or you can plug your Zip code into this AT&T Web page.

? As interest in the Object of Your Desire increases, you've probably noticed a corresponding increase in come-on ads that promise a "free iPhone". Since most of you probably weren't born yesterday nor fell off a turnip truck, you know not to click on these things -- that way lies spyware, spam and certainly madness. But what exactly happens when you do? PC World clues you in:

That spam seems to be a major point of these crap sites, according to Shane Keats of McAfee's SiteAdvisor. They'll walk you through a process of filling out surveys and sponsor offers that turn into as much of a pain in the arse as possible in an attempt to make you ditch. The practice is known as "breakage," according to Keats, and sites like these can typically "break" 95 percent or more of the people who start the process.

If you can somehow stomach it all and fill out everything that's required, the terms and conditions for eashfreecellphones.com say you'll end up with "trial offers for memberships, credit cards, subscriptions, services or products offers. Typically, there are a variety of offers presented for your selection and some offers require a trial or purchase while other offers require an ongoing subscription."

? Valleywag offers up its own version of a review-comparison matrix, with the added bonus of assigning points in each category. The outcome:

We gave scores out of ten -- in ten categories. The number was determined by the strength of a reviewer's language. "Beautiful" was worth 10 points; and "pokey" only 2, for instance. All four reviewers were fans, and the doyen of the group, Walt Mossberg, gave the highest total score, 81 across all ten categories, out of a maximum possible of 100. The average score for the iPhone? 76.75, brought down above all by the sluggishness of AT&T's data network.

? Want your MSM iPhone reviews in the form of a comparative matrix? Gizmodo obliges, comparing what the four major reviewers who wrote yesterday said about various aspects of the iPhone in a handy chart.

? Engadget's Ryan Block sifts through some interesting facts culled from the first iPhone reviews, noting some serious deficiencies. Among the most alarming:

  • The mobile version of OS X or whatever it is the iPhone runs takes up 700MB of the device's capacity. Damn son!
  • There's no way to cut, copy, or paste text! WHOA! Big, big mistake.
  • Adobe Flash support is officially out. It's just not in the browser. Neither is there any other kind of embedded video support. Sorry everybody, that's that.
  • Apple sez between 300-400 charges the iPhone will lose battery capacity -- you'll send it in and get the cell replaced for a fee. Meh. We knew this would be the case, but still, meh.

On the 300-400 charges. If you charge it, say, every other day, that'll be about two years . . . or around the time your AT&T service contract expires, and it's time to buy iPhone 2.0 for another $600. Coincidence? I think not!

? Also at Engadget -- a comprehensive look at the total cost of iPhone ownership. Charts show what hardware costs over two years with all of AT&T's available service plans will look like, in comparison to other AT&T phones. Turns out that the overall, long-term pricing is about the same as other, non-iPhone plans. But because data is bundled with voice, it looks cheaper at first glance. You do see some savings with family plans, mainly because the cost to add the iPhone as a line is only $9.99, with just $20 for data. But family plans are a phone provider's insidious way to prevent churn -- in which customers jump ship for another carrier -- because there's greater user inertia when multiple members need to switch.

? David Pogue's hilarious iPhone video is now available in embeddable form. If you were too lazy to click on the link in Tuesday's iPhone Watch, then click now. You'll be glad you did.

? In his Page 1 story on iPhone hype, Chronicle tech reporter Brad Hem finds a local guy who plans to camp out starting today for the Object of His Desire:

For some, it doesn't matter whether Apple's iPhone lives up to the hype -- just as long as they can be the first to show it off to their friends.

Others are skeptical that the new cell phone/music-player/Web-browser will meet the high expectations when it is released at 6 p.m. Friday.

Count Martin Pedraza in the first group. He's planning to get in line today and camp out with his laptop and portable video game player until Friday evening. Pedraza, 28, is counting on buying two phones and selling the second for a profit to cover the cost of the one he keeps.

"I just like having the latest technology," said Pedraza, who also camped out for a PlayStation 3 last fall. "I always like to get new things first."

Hope you get to camp out near an electrical outlet, Martin, or you'll only have a few hours' entertainment from your gear.

? Many stories about the iPhone's cost focus on frenzied fanboys who plan to get it right away, regardless of its $500 and $600 price tags. But a study indicates that it may be way overpriced for the majority of buyers. From Electronista:

Apple's pricing for the iPhone may have pushed the limits of US tech buyers too far, says a new paper by Parks Associates. The research group claims that a representative study in May of US buyers pegs high interest in the iPhone at just 3 percent of American buyers for those aware of the iPhone's cost and contract requirements. This problem has been recognized before but may be more significant than thought, according to the new research. Parks uses its results to estimate that most would only accept a smartphone-class device at $199 with a two-year contract, and just $99 for regular phones; both are well above Apple's $499 asking price.

This cost may also reflect a serious misreading of the market by Apple, Parks adds. Despite a gradual shift towards multi-purpose phones that looks to be spearheaded by the iPhone, many cellphone users are interested primarily in call quality (at 68 percent of responses) and range (72 percent) over the actual device itself (10 percent) and aren't swayed by media-focused models, especially those priced above most others.

No matter how pretty or cool it may be, the average user won't want to shell out that much cash to make phone calls. He or she will wait for the cheaper iPhone nano . . . or whatever the reasonably priced version will be called.

Technorati tags: iphone, apple, at&t

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iPhone Watch | 6.26.2007

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Hey, Houstonians! Are you planning to make a run at getting a first-day iPhone? Willing to stand in line in Houston's heat (or possibly rain, given how wet it's been this month) to get your hands on the Object of Your Desire? Maybe even take the day off? E-mail me, or drop a comment in this entry.

Meanwhile, the madness continues, and we'll track the nation's collective loss of sanity over the iPhone in this series of entries, the first of which appeared Monday. Check back often, as I'll be topping this entry with new iPhone tidbits.

? Here's video from Walt Mossberg's review:

David Pogue's review has video, too. It's a lot funnier than Mossberg's, but there's no way to embed it in TechBlog. Sorry, you'll just have to click, but it's worth it.

? Some heavyweight reviews of substance of the iPhone are in. Both David Pogue of the New York Times and Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal have weighed in. They say what you might think they'd say: That it's a pretty nifty phone with enough irritations to give pause . . . but not too much pause. Not that both Mossberg and Pogue are admitted Apple fans.

Pogue:

As it turns out, much of the hype and some of the criticisms are justified. The iPhone is revolutionary; it's flawed. It's substance; it's style. It does things no phone has ever done before; it lacks features found even on the most basic phones.

[much deletia]

But even in version 1.0, the iPhone is still the most sophisticated, outlook-changing piece of electronics to come along in years. It does so many things so well, and so pleasurably, that you tend to forgive its foibles.

Mossberg:

We have been testing the iPhone for two weeks, in multiple usage scenarios, in cities across the country. Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.

Also posting reviews: Steven Levy of Newsweek and Ed Baig of USA Today. They also say it's a big leap ahead, but could stand some refinement. I see a trend developing . . . (Spotted on Wired's Gadget Lab.)

? OK, fanboys! Break out those pup tents, because we now have an official list of stores where the Object of Your Desire will be sold in Houston on Friday. As you'd expect, all five area Apple stores -- The Galleria, Baybrook Mall, Memorial City Mall, First Colony Mall and The Woodlands Mall -- will be happy to take your currency in exchange for an iPhone. The list also contains more than 50 AT&T stores, which means if you pick your properly, you may not have much of a wait.

? Fake Steve Jobs has his own hype roundup going. As you'd expect, it's a lot funnier than mine. In particular, enjoy what Fake Steve has to say about the sweaty guy who's first in line in New York.

? Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet's All About Microsoft blog says the iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange, after all.

Here's what I'm hearing: Apple will announce this week -- possibly as soon as June 27 -- that it has licensed the Exchange ActiveSync licensing protocol. Via the licensing arrangement, Apple iPhone users will be able to connect to Exchange Server and make use of its wireless messaging and synchronization capabilities.

If true, that means it will sync up with corporate Exchange e-mail, which should put the fear of Jobs into both Microsoft's Windows Mobile group and systems administrators everywhere. Still laughing, Steve Ballmer?

? Apple often has been compared to a religion, given the fervor of its fabled faithful. Briam Lam, editor of Gizmodo, and David Kuo of BeliefNet have been writing about the religion of Appleism. Kuo's initial post is here; Lam's response is here. Both are pretty shameless fanboys, but Kuo's entry is way over the top. Here's a sample:

Religions are based on some belief in a higher or supernatural power. Meet Steve Jobs whose story is supernatural. He started Apple with a friend in his parent's garage and by the time he was 30 was running a multibillion company that had revolutionized computing. Then he was tossed aside, sent to the desert abandoned and despised. Apple slowly sank. At a moment when the company, er, faith, was near its end Jobs returned - the Second Coming - and brought salvation (also known as the iMac, iBook, and iPod). With the introduction of iPhone, however, Appleism may be outgrowing even Jobs with a belief in the power of Apple in and of itself. Apple has become its own deity.

Dude. It's just a phone . . .

? One of the problems with reviewing something like the iPhone is that its real test comes over time, but folks will be very hungry to get -- and give -- assessments early on. Come Friday, you can bet there will be a lot of "first looks" reviews, written by people who've bought them or played with a friend's and then wrote down initial impressions. You can get a preview of what those will be like by reading Glenn Fleishman's review in the New York Post. He apparently got to spend a little time with it -- emphasis on the "little" -- before he wrote this:

The iPhone crams so many different features into its slightly bulky form that it can only excel at one, and compromise on the rest. After spending some time, albeit briefly, with the iPhone, it's clear to me that Internet and e-mail are the parts that suffered.

The Web browser has fancy zoom and pan features that let you drag and pinch the screen with your fingers. The iPhone I tested performed those tasks well, and it's sexy to flick your digits instead of pressing too-tiny keys.

But the reality is that the iPhone has a very small screen compared to even the tiniest laptop. You can't read much of an article on a Web page without panning back and forth across. This is true of word-processing, too; at a size comfortable enough to read, you can't see either the full length or width of a document.

I suspect this is one reason why, with a very few exceptions, Apple hasn't given test units to many reviewers in advance. Why risk that premature assessments will kill a good marketing buzz?

? On Friday, both AT&T and Apple stores will close prior to the sale. AT&T says its stores will shutter at 4:30 p.m., then reopen at 6 p.m. Apple's retail stores will close earlier, at 2 p.m., then reopen at 6.

? Tired of hearing about the iPhone? So is John Dvorak, who says, "Shut up about the iPhone, already!"

Exactly what new meditation sequence Steve Jobs learned recently that could create such a flurry of fawning interest is beyond me. He should become a guru and teach it to the likes of Chrysler Corp. executives. Seriously, this whole thing is creepy in some mystical way.

? Om Malik's been looking at other companies' cell phone plans and found at least one that's better than the combo voice/data plans offered by AT&T for the iPhone:

And how these new plans stack up against other phone companies' offerings? We are plowing through the details, and have found one plan that is better than the basic iPlan: Verizon's "America Choice Select" calling plan is similarly priced AND includes unlimited messaging.

Malik says nevermind . . . he missed that the Verizon plan, um, lacks data and Wi-Fi. Ooops. (Thanks, DR!)

? AT&T has passed on some details about how family plan pricing will work.

Family plans with one iPhone start at $89.99 a month, for 700 minutes, unlimited data and 200 text messages. Some AT&T markets will have a 550 minute/$79.99 plan.

Customers who already have a family plan can add an iPhone for the regular $9.99 a month, then pay $20 extra for unlimited data and 200 text messages. That makes this a better deal than adding, say, a BlackJack, which has a $40/month data package.

Frequent texters can add 1,500 text messages for $10 and unlimited text messages for $20.

Also, you'll be able to keep your current cell number as part of the iTunes activation process. James Kendrick at jkOnTheRun notes the process includes putting your Social Security Number into iTunes, which may make some folks a tad squeamish.

? Stop the servers! Apple says it will use iTunes to activate its iPhones, and has announced service-plan pricing.

You won't need wait to do the activation with AT&T's service in the store. Grab your iPhone, head home and use iTunes to activate it via a PC or Mac. From Apple's news release:

Activating iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their service plan, authorize their credit and activate their iPhone. Once iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts, TV shows and movies just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.

No word on how this will affect existing AT&T customers who want to keep the phone number associated with their current phone.

Plan pricing: Apple and AT&T are bundling minute and data into one price. Most smartphones have separate data and voice prices, which can drive the cost up considerably. Again, from the news release:

All iPhone monthly service plans are available for individuals and families and are based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T. Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a one-time activation fee of $36. Family plans are also available.

Visual Voicemail is a reference to a service that lets you see a list of voice mail messages. That's similar to voice-mail inboxes offered by many Internet-based phone companies, but is new to cell-phone service.

? You knew this would happen, right? Someone's already in line outside the Apple store in Manhattan, set on being among the first to empty his pockets for an overpriced MP3 player/cell phone. AppleInsider's got text and pictures and Gizmodo has a video interview. He looks sweaty. Fortunately, Smell-o-Vision is not available here.

? Gizmodo also has an iPhone campout guide, using Google Maps to show Apple Store s in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and the relative of "nearest food, coffee, Wi-Fi, bathrooms, and hotels". In Houston, most Apple Stores are inside malls, and I suspect the security guards won't put up with fanboys setting up their pup tents near the Food Court. Still, if someone wants to put together a similar mashup for H-Town, let me know and we'll add it to the mix.

? OK, so maybe you're not in Houston. Or you're not even in the United States. Maybe you're in the United Kingdom, where TechDigest has some suggestions for getting an iPhone if you're not in the U.S. No. 1: Buy an eBay fake.

? Jon Podhoretz of the New York Post warns "gadgetheads" not to pay $500 for the privilege of being beta testers for the iPhone. His headline writers are more blunt, calling first-day buyers "iPhone iFools".

? CrunchGear has a photo of the first iPhone kiosk in Seattle. Supposedly this is the retail fixture where you'll genuflect before being bestowed the Object of Your Desire.

Technorati tags: apple, iphone, at&t

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--The high priests of free software have
congregated at Google headquarters this week to debate the future of
the movement and face down recent patent threats by Microsoft.


Leading names of Linux, the world's biggest grassroots software
phenomenon, are spending three days debating whether an increasingly
commercial open-source community should fight or ignore the world's
largest software maker.


Dressed in the alternative software movement's casual uniform of
T-shirts and jeans, the group is coming to grips with internal
divisions that sap at its success--Linux is now used to power desktop
computers, major Web sites, mobile phones--since rival factions often
create very similar products.


But as many of the world's top tech companies and corporate customers
demand ever more from Linux, open-source devotees still fight among
themselves with the fervor of a tiny monastic order seeking to root out
theological error in their midst.


"Guys: Be seekers of truth, not finders of contradiction," Jim Zemlin,
executive director of the Linux Foundation, organizer of the event,
only half-jokingly told the 150 attendees of what is billed their
"Collaboration Summit."


Linux is the best-known variant of so-called open-source
software--software that is freely available to the public to be used,
revised and shared. Linux suppliers earn money selling improvements and
technical services. By contrast, Microsoft charges for software and
opposes freely sharing its code.



Recently, Microsoft has sown dissension by claiming open-source programs such as Linux violate 235 of its patents while striking deals to insulate the customers of two Linux suppliers--Novell and Xandros--from patent lawsuits.


On Thursday, Linspire, which sells Linux-based personal computers
through Wal-Mart and other retailers, became the third company to strike a patent deal with Microsoft.



Microsoft: Enemy or punching bag


Collectively, the group is militantly opposed to Microsoft, which some attending the summit openly refer to as "the enemy."


But most believe Linux users control their own destinies and
Microsoft's patent threats are just the latest attempts to create
"fear, uncertainty and doubt" among customers. After closed-door
sessions Thursday and Friday, the group aims to issue a consensus
statement next week on what they plan to do.


James Bottomley, who works as chief technology officer at Steeleye
Technologies, is in charge of maintaining the software code used by
Linux to transfer data between computers and peripheral devices like
printers, a job he does for pleasure.


Bottomley says Microsoft is unlikely to sue Linux customers because
most Linux users also buy Microsoft. "Their customers are our
customers," he said, adding that: "It's just bloody annoying. It gets
everyone riled up."



Zend Technologies,
developers of an open-source programming language called PHP that is
used in many Web sites, is seeking to remain neutral. Eighty percent of
its customers use open-source software, but it recently struck a deal
with Microsoft.




p> "I think Microsoft is a big company trying to make up its mind,"
said Zend Chief Executive Harold Goldberg, who is not taking part in
the event.


"On the one hand Microsoft has a big established business it is trying
to defend," Goldberg said. "On the other hand, there are those inside
the company, though they won't admit it publicly, who see open source
as the future."



Working to work together

This is the first conference of the Linux Foundation, an umbrella
advocacy group formed early in 2007 to unite two predecessors, Open
Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group.


There are as many as 360 rival flavors of Linux, known as
distributions, according to Distrowatch.com. This factionalism fuels
rapid innovation but splits the energies of developers.


"There really is a sense in many projects that there is an 'us' and a 'them'," said Mark Shuttlesworth, founder of Ubuntu,
a free, desktop version of Linux that competes with Windows. "There are
the folks who are inside a project and those who are outside a
project."

The Linux Foundation boasts 70 corporate and non-profit
backers, including Intel, Oracle, IBM, Cisco, Motorola, Nokia, NTT,
Dell, Red Hat and Sun, along with major customers like ADP, Bank of
America and Morgan Stanley.


Linux used to be worked on by professionals doing the work on their own
time, said Jason Wacha, an expert on licensing Linux and attorney for
MontaVista, a maker of Linux software for mobile and consumer
electronics devices.


"Ultimately, I think (Linux) is being pushed by commercial forces...Now
a lot of people are being paid to do Linux as professionals," he said
of how many top open-source developers now work for big-name companies
like Google, HP and Oracle.

Since the discussions of Web 2.0 and SaaS at the Microsoft IT Pro Town Hall Meeting last week, I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea of Software as a Service and whether it will ever really catch on. The benefits for some business customers are obvious: a fixed monthly cost with no worries about software maintenance and upgrading sounds like a pretty good deal to company managers who are spending big bucks for productivity programs and the IT personnel to maintain them.

But don't expect those IT professionals themselves to get behind the idea anytime soon. If the reactions at the meeting were any indication, IT people see SaaS as a threat to their very existence - much the same way factory workers viewed automation a few decades ago (and those fears turned out to be pretty well founded).

Based on what I've heard from home users, they aren't too enthralled with the idea of paying a monthly or annual fee to lease their software, either. This is true even if you tell them it may cost them less and even though most of them know that they don't really "own" the software they buy anyway under current licensing agreements.

What it all boils down to, I think, is an issue of control. IT administrators are, by their very nature, control freaks. Tom and I certainly are. We could pay someone to host our web servers and our Exchange server and maybe we'd save a little money (and we'd almost certainly save a certain amount of hassle), but having those servers somewhere across the Internet and not under our control is not an attractive proposition. Being at the mercy of some stranger hundreds or thousands of miles away to fix things when there's a problem is more than a little scary. Trusting someone else with your web sites and your email isn't easy, not for us control freaks.

Of course, the SaaS concept will probably fly with a lot of people. Our society seems to be becoming more and more willing to give over control to big government, more eager to have someone else take care of us, less determined to take responsiblity for our own lives. Why not abdicate control of our software, too?

I don't expect to go easily into that good night myself, but I have to reluctantly admit that SaaS probably is what the future of computing looks like. 'Til then, a few diehards will continue to embrace the DIY philosophy.

x1prBCtpy9yqTrUBENixh9kG2heKj3mbDYVpfGUjz_guKEz6n9fLB5NEkbyeYYELphakpRimRDBz3qRSainRCGp9KQYoMsf5UyZ7ksJ5Bu0m5w
deb@shinder.net    www.debshinder.com



WASHINGTON--In our nation's great capital, where line-standing is an occupation unto itself, I was halfway expecting to see hordes of seasoned lackeys holding spots for high-powered lobbyists during my Friday afternoon circuit of five downtown AT&T stores prepared to offer up the iPhone.




But alas, instead of the usual guys in bike messenger garb holding up cardboard signs bearing their clients' handwritten names, I was confronted with relatively short lines containing earnest Applephiles, many still donning their buttoned-up office attire and ID card lanyards (among those I spotted: U.S. Department of State, DC government). Many of those who actually agreed to talk to me (remember, this is a city where people like to avoid going "on the record" whenever possible) admitted to be line-standing newbies that had gone starry-eyed over the hype surrounding the sleek gadget.




And there wasn't much of Camp iPhone mentality around these parts, either: with only one exception--a guy who refused to be named at a New York Avenue AT&T store who showed up at 6:30 a.m.--none of the lines began forming before about noon on Friday.




Line leaders willing to share their stories pretty much fit the Apple fanboy/girl profile. At a store near Dupont Circle, a self-employed Web developer who lives nearby had been keeping an eye on the storefront throughout the morning and admitted to feeling a little sheepish about coming out first. "Every time they release a product, the lines get earlier and earlier," Jon Reiling told me. "I don't want to contribute to an excessive amount of waiting."



Undeterred by drizzle, about two dozen people lined up Friday afternoon outside Washington's Dupont Circle AT&T store.

(Credit: Anne Broache)



At an AT&T store in the city center, 22-year-old Jessica Lamb, who just started a job as an intelligence analyst with a federal law enforcement agency that shall not be named, said she couldn't wait to blow her first paycheck--which conveniently arrived today--on the $500+ gadget. "If Steve Jobs told me to give him my right arm, I would probably do it," she said gleefully. She had managed to snag the fourth spot in line even though she said she didn't cut out of work--with her boss's permission, of course--until about 1 p.m. Friday.



This AT&T store in central D.C. had a line around the block just before launch, but it didn't get started until lunchtime on Friday.

(Credit: Anne Broache)



At the five AT&T stores I visited downtown, the lines I encountered never numbered more than 50 or so people, even within a half hour of the launch. But the scene was more than a little different when I descended upon an Apple store in Arlington, Va. At least two hundred people, some with now-folded camp chairs slung on their shoulders, snaked from the store's entrance around the well-manicured outdoor shopping center in which it is situated. About 20 minutes before the store reopened its doors, at least half a dozen video cameras manned by local and international news outlets encircled the entrance.



Cheers and applause greet the opening of the doors at 6 p.m. EST at an Apple store in a Washington suburb.

(Credit: Anne Broache)



The final seconds to launch brought a chanted countdown from the front of the line and sporting event-like cheers of "i-Phone! i-Phone!" Within a few minutes of the doors' reopening, a silver-haired man named Stephen Easley--who did, in fact, set up camp outside the store at around 10 p.m. Thursday to be the first in line--emerged to cheers with a pair of iPhones nestled in special black shopping bags, which he displayed for the photographers.




A bit later, I crossed paths with someone who hadn't just staked out a spot because of unbridled Apple love. Glenn Sparico, an enterprising 25-year-old consultant with a finance degree, said he wasn't content to arrive at 9:30 a.m. Friday to procure his two-iPhone quota. He had also paid $50 each to two guys found through Craigslist. They'd ostensibly agreed to buy two apiece and fork them over to Sparico, leaving him with one to keep and five to list on eBay tonight.




"Tonight's going to be a free-for-all," he said with a grin. He glanced around, perhaps with a tinge of apprehension, to see if he could pick out his line-standers. But when I left him to his gadgets, there was no word yet on whether they had come through or, well, simply run off with the goods.



Source: CNET News.com - Business Tech

SETTLING IN

Well, it's been over 24 hours that I've had a fully activated iPhone, and I'm really liking it a lot. This despite all the well-publicized quibbles (slower AT&T data network, no Java and Flash on browser, no movies with camera, no physical keyboard, no replaceable battery, non-expandable memory, etc.)

And despite the fact that AT&T/Cingular dropped the first call I got on the device.

Networks will be networks. What can you do?

I still get better coverage in my area on the AT&T/Cingular network, than on T-Mobile, which is the carrier for my Blackberry pearl, my OTHER back-up cell-phone. (Good rationalization, don't you think?)

At this point I'm going through the practical issues of how to integrate the thing in my daily routine. It's especially tricky for me since there doesn't seem to be an easy way, YET, to download my contact and calendar info from my Outlook over a Microsoft Exchange server.

Syncing Outlook data is no problem if you have a desktop version of your Outlook info.

I'm going to try and sort that out with my Exchange hosting service next week.

I'll post more on the whole iPhone experience after I've had it all set up and working.

I'm very cognizant that even with Outlook sync via Microsoft's Activesync, which Apple is supposed to be licensing imminently, the iPhone still won't deliver a Blackberry-like "push email" experience in the current version of the hardware and software.

And especially, no OTA (over-the-air) syncing of my contact, and calendar info for now.

But using the iPhone for the last day or so, I can totally see making this my primary phone/PDA once those features are available via Apple and/or third parties, in future versions.

It's the user-interface and experience going that's really captivating in the long-term. (Engadget has a good HD video walk-through of the complete interface here, and a user-interface photo gallery here).

For now, my Blackberry 8830 on Verizon wireless, remains my primary business device, with the iPhone being the personal phone.

Now if I can only get my wife to accept me wearing TWO gizmos on my belt.

In all their dorky, geeky glory.

In the meantime, I'm liking all the continued iPhone coverage on Techmeme, Engadget, Gizmodo, and other sites. I know a lot of folks have had it with all the iPhone hype, hoopla, and over-coverage, but I for one, still can't get enough of it.

I guess the iPhone is my Anna Nicole Smith. The shoe is on the other foot.

In the meantime, if you're still in the "I'd like to learn more about the iPhone before buying one" camp, there are lots of links out there that'll give you a ton of info.

My favorite today, is from Engadget, covering a "stress test" on the iPhone.

They put the thing in a bag with a bunch of keys and stuff, shook it all up, and guess what, no scratches on the glass surface! Guess I'm returning the two sets of $15 plastic screen protectors I bought at the Apple store.

They even dropped the thing a few times from head height onto concrete, and the iPhone kept on ticking, with a few scuffs on the stainless steel. Having lost a few phones like that over the years, this post was encouraging to say the least.

Speaking of accessories, this other Gizmodo story about various AT&T stores forcing customers to buy accessories with or without their iPhones, really takes the cake.

It's such a contrast to the Apple store experience, where the employees couldn't have been friendlier and less-pressuring. In fact, they urged everyone to buy ONLY their iPhones in the main line.

And then suggest browsing the store for accessories and other stuff AFTER the iPhone purchase. They even had a separate checkout counter for accessories, and there were NEVER any strings attached.

For a lot of people around the country, I guess there isn't a choice but to deal with an AT&T store if they want to buy an iPhone in person. After all, there are only 164 Apple stores vs. 1800 AT&T/Cingular stores.

But if you have the choice, I'd recommend the Apple store wholeheartedly. It's a whole different way of doing retail, as I've pointed out before.

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iPhone silliness

My better half and I live on the Upper East Side, and we walk a great deal, and the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue is one of the places where we'll stop on occasion. We observed the lines of people outside the store, some camping out for days, to be the first on their block to have the iPhone. We happened by the store late on the eve of the day before (Robin Williams was roaming around snatching up waterproof iPod accessories and taking cell phone pics with fans) and the line outside was extensive and prepared for the longhaul: folding chairs and coolers with food and drink were the norm. All in anticipation for the iPhones to go on sale at 6PM on June 29th. And, it was so silly.

This little item from CNET is interesting:
At last count, there was no shortage of iPhones, and many of the people who happened to walk into line around 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. didn't have a problem just waltzing in. As one guy put it, strolling out of the store at 7:15 p.m., a black iPhone bag in hand, "This is f***ing great!"

Gives you pause to think, doesn't it?

The media hype created an atmosphere where people had to have it NOW. The fact that, if they thought about it, they didn't have to actually wait in line for days because availability wasn't in question, wasn't part of the equation. The hype was greater than the reality. Herd mentality was in effect. Others were waiting, so I had to wait too... Those who thought about it though, realized that they could avoid the line, and have their iPhone within minutes of those who waited for days outside the store.

Personally, I could never really envision a first release of something like the iPhone breaking so big that you'd have to actually wait in line for it to ensure you actually get one because demand would outstrip supply. It's just not that big of a deal, it's a glorified iPod with Phone. I have one right now. I've had it for years. And, I don't even use it for much other than a phone. Technologically, it's interface is new, but what it does isn't new at all.

This particular event is notable for it's contradiction. The fact that someone could walk in and buy an iPhone within minutes of others who waited days shows that the event was hype. Made up. Public relations meant to hype the event.

It was an interesting event orchestrated by Apple, and their devout cult members did exactly as expected. And, it became a media event. A lame one to be sure, but one nonetheless. There's not much that interesting about people waiting to buy something. There just isn't. the interest is in the media building it up as something important, deserving of coverage, when it's only people shopping. But, the live remote trucks were lined up in anticipation, to watch those people buy their new toy, that isn't really that new.

It's a great example of how easy it is to manipulate the public and the media as well.

Should you buy an iPhone?


The most eagerly awaited cell phone ever is upon us Friday. Should you resist the iPhone's breathless hype, or take the plunge? Unless you're already standing in line outside an Apple or AT&T store, or are prepared to mug one of the first customers to come out after the 6 p.m. launch, the answer, at least for now, will have to be "let me think about it for a week or two." The level of hype and demand for Apple Inc.'s phone is reminiscent of the debut of the PlayStation 3 game console in November, when minor riots broke out at some electronics stores. However, eBay prices for resold PS3s quickly fell, and two months later the console was in ample supply.

Apparently, much of the initial demand came from people who weren't really interested in getting them for themselves, but counted on being able to sell them to people who were.

It's quite possible that the iPhone will be subject to the same demand bubble. Check with the stores a month from now: If they have iPhones in stock, the bloom may be off the rose.

Hype aside, the iPhone is a radical design, a sliver of a device with a 3.5-inch glass screen and very few buttons. The iPhone differs by being designed to be touched with the fingertips rather than a stylus, making it a greater departure from the PC experience. (There have been several expensive phones with large touch screens before, generally using Windows Mobile software.)

The iPhone does e-mail, Web browsing, music and videos. It comes in two models ? $499 for a 4-gigabyte version and $599 for 8 gigabytes of memory ? and requires a two-year contract with AT&T Inc.

That's the basics. Here's a breakdown of who might want to consider an iPhone and who shouldn't:

? The music listener ? Possibly. The big screen will make it easy to navigate a large music collection. A feature called Cover Flow shows your album covers like they're pages of an open book. However, the storage capacity is smaller than today's full-size iPods. The 4-gigabyte version fits about 800 songs, the 8-gigabyte version 1,800. The memory is not upgradable or expandable with external cards, so the 8-gig version is probably the one to get. Apple puts the battery life at 24 hours of audio playback, which is good.

? The video watcher ? Sure, get one. The screen is twice as large as that of the video iPod, and the resolution, at 320 pixels by 480 pixels, is twice as high. The smaller memory capacity is going to mean frequent syncing with a computer, but the bigger screen will make it worth it. Definitely get the 8-gigabyte version, which will fit about 9 hours of video if that's all you keep on the gadget.

The iPhone also can access some YouTube videos, but since it relies on a relatively slow data network, access could be spotty, unless you're using its other built-in wireless technology: Wi-Fi. Other Web video will mostly be inaccessible, since the browser doesn't play Flash content, but that may change.

? The phone chatter ? Maybe, but using it mainly as a phone seems like a waste. You can't type in names to quickly bring up someone from the contact list. Voicemail is listed with the caller's name or number, sort of like e-mail. In another neat feature, a sensor turns off the screen when you bring the phone to your face.

The cheapest service plan costs $60 a month for 450 daytime minutes ? relatively expensive, since you're paying for unlimited data use. Getting 1,350 minutes costs $100 a month.

? The gamer ? No. The iPhone does everything except games. A pity, with that nice big screen. Third-party developers might put something clever together that works in the iPhone's browser, but it's going to be limited. You probably have a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS already, and the PSP, in particular, already has the big screen and some of the iPhone's multimedia functions, so you can complement it with a cheaper phone.

? The corporate road warrior ? No. For professional use, you're probably stuck with what the company supports, and for now, that's going to be BlackBerries and Windows Mobile devices like the Samsung BlackJack. Corporate Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers can be configured to send e-mail to the iPhone, but many companies will not take this step. Other features of Exchange, like contact and calendar syncing, are not available.

One possible solution is to forward corporate e-mail to free Web-based e-mail accounts that the iPhone can access, but that raises security issues.

If you're looking for some entertainment from your work phone, Windows Mobile phones like the T-Mobile Wing are already quite capable. A recently released BlackBerry, the Curve, plays music through a standard stereo headphone jack and has a built-in camera.

? The frugal buyer ? No, the first-generation iPhone is likely to be followed by something substantially better, like one that uses a faster cellular broadband network and has more memory. It's unlikely that the first iPhone will be upgradable, and in any case, it would require a trip back to Apple.

? The photo buff ? Not likely. The iPhone has a 2-megapixel camera, which is decent, and the large screen should make the results easy to appreciate. But phones dedicated to camera buffs also record video and have higher resolutions. The new Nokia N95 has a 5-megapixel sensor and a lens from Germany's famous Carl Zeiss. Unfortunately, it sells for $750, since it isn't subsidized by any U.S. carrier.

? The world traveler ? Possibly, but it's not ideal. The iPhone will work overseas, but only at AT&T's roaming rates. Better to have a world phone that has been "unlocked" by the carrier, so you have the option to use a local number and pay local rates.

? The fashionista ? Sure. The iPhone is one of the best-looking phones ever. The screen is glass, not plastic, and should be fairly resistant to long fingernails. Goodbye, pink RAZR.

___

On the Net:

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So I admit it: I bought an iPhone.




That was the easy part. But I should have realized that if the customer service whizzes at AT&T could find a way to mar what was otherwise a perfectly pleasant experience, it would. After nearly nine hours, AT&T has yet to activate my iPhone, and it can't be used until then.




Buying the iPhone is easy, but AT&T activation isn't.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)



But I'm getting ahead of myself. Earlier on Friday, I had taken photographs of the throngs gathered outside for the San Francisco Apple store at 6pm, and the far more sedate crowd outside the Market St. AT&T store, and then decided not to bother standing in line for an iPhone on Friday. I figured I'd read some more early reviews and then pick one up sometime in the next few days after the lines were shorter.




Other earlier reviews were promising, including one that said audio quality was superior.




Then, around 11:30pm, I read our News.com article by my colleagues by Tom Krazit and Erica Ogg. They had stayed longer than I did and reported that: "Ninety minutes after Apple started ringing up sales of the iPhone at its 24-hour flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York, anyone could just walk into the store and pick up a device with a minimal wait."




Well, Apple stores were open until midnight, so why not? Around 11:40pm, I persuaded my wife to join me in a late-night dash to the Stockton Street store.




Yes, they had iPhones. Yes, the sales staff seemed exhausted after having to do crowd control earlier. Yes, there were still two San Francisco policemen standing guard outside, looking slightly bored by now. But there were only two people in line in front of me, including one desperate fellow who had driven far too fast from Marin County north of San Francisco to make the midnight deadline after finding that an Apple store up there had run out of 8 GB models.




So far, so good. When I got home, I plugged the phone into our media-server iMac and typed in my information in iTunes. I received an e-mail message at 12:10 am saying: "AT&T is now processing your activation. You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete." I had an existing AT&T account, so I figured that adding the $20/month iPhone wireless plan shouldn't take too long.




Then I waited. And waited. And waited.




It's now 9:06 am, and still no change. Against my better judgment, I even took the God-help-me step of phoning AT&T customer support, which is something you should never do unless you're absolutely desperate and learn that some malcontent is running up calls to Zambia on your mobile account, and probably not even then.




Mary-Kay eventually answered. "Unfortunately, sir, you do have to wait," she wearily replied, apparently sick of having to answer this question about once a minute since her shift began. "The iPhone will tell you when it is activated."




How long would this take, I asked. Five days? Two months? "I doubt that," Mary-Kay replied. "Believe you me, you're not the only one in those shoes. They did get jammed up last night. It's first-come first served."




I began to ask her if my existing Cingular phone would continue to work, but the line seemed to go dead. It could be my sucky VoIP service, or Mary-Kay could have simply hung up on me. I really wouldn't blame her for being sick of dealing with frustrated iPhone customers all day.




Now, I've been a computer programmer longer than I've been a journalist, and I find it hard to imagine any system that should take nearly nine hours to perform a database query, do a credit check, and whatever other black box magic is necessary to make this thing work. It's even less likely that the system should this long in the middle of the night after the east coast iPhone binge-and-registration should, in theory, be complete. And I'm already an AT&T customer, even.




Any bets on how long it'll take AT&T to activate this guy's iPhone?

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)



Occam's razor suggests that the more likely explanation is that AT&T has such antiquated computers that some poor saps in another secret AT&T division somewhere are keystroking in my account update by hand. Seriously. We may never know, but I can believe it.




I'm hardly alone. Some reports indicate AT&T activation is a recurring problem. One local Fox news channel article is titled "iPhone debuts with big headaches." A LiveJournal user entry buttresses my theory by reporting that the AT&T "transfer team" gets in to work at 9 am PT.




There's speculation that existing AT&T SIM cards may work with the iPhone, but I haven't tried that yet. Some posts in that thread are saying AT&T is telling customers they need to wait for 24 hours because of high volume. Some people are saying that their existing AT&T phones become unusable during the transition, though that hasn't happened to me so far.




It's important to stress that the iPhone can't be used for anything useful, not even playing music or movies, until activation happens.




The bottom line? Apple did everything it could to ensure that buying and setting up (and presumably using, though I can't attest to that yet) an iPhone is a pleasant experience. It succeeded magnificently.




But its key business partner, AT&T, has failed just as miserably. Computer companies know how to load-test server to figure out how it will respond under unusually high demand for its services. Why didn't AT&T do the same for its iPhone activation?


Source: CNET News.com - Business Tech

The iPhone is Here!

In case you missed all the media hoopla and long lines outside your local Apple or AT&T Store, the iPhone is now shipping. It looks like everybody who waited in line got one, and there were a few left over after that. Initial reports are mainly positive, with some common negatives.

The positives:
  • Touchscreen interface is everything it promised to be
  • Activation is quick and easy (for most users) via iTunes; you choose your AT&T plan directly from the iTunes interface
  • Voice quality appears to be good
  • The web browser is terrific -- with one qualification (in a minute...)
  • The screen is also great for viewing movies.
  • The auto-swivel feature works quite well, reorienting the screen when you turn the unit in your hand.
  • The 2 megapixel camera is pretty good for a phone
  • It's a great iPod music player, except for the storage limitations

The negatives:

  • Web browsing and email via AT&T's EDGE network is slower than slow -- several minutes to retrieve a message or load a web page. Intolerable, especially for device that has souch a great web browsing interface.
  • The touchscreen keyboard is difficult to type on at best, impossible at worst. This is not a phone for heavy instant messagers or emailers.
  • No connection to corporate email servers means you can't use it for work email, as you can a Blackberry. Which is why most corporate IT departments are saying "no" to the iPhone.
  • The lack of MMS messaging means that you can't send the photos you take via text messages. (You can send via email, however, but not to another user's cell phone via text.)
  • Lack of stereo Bluetooth means you can't use Bluetooth headphones -- although you can use Bluetooth mobile headsets, like the Jabra.
  • You only get 4GB or 8GB of storage (actually 3GB and 7GB, after you account for operating system software), which isn't enough to store a lot videos or big music libraries.
  • There's no voice activated dialing, which is baffling in a phone of this overall caliber.
  • In spite of previous reports (wishes?) to the contrary, you buy the iPhone, you're locked into a 2-year AT&T service plan.
  • AT&T sucks, of course.
  • It costs freakin' $600!

My advice? Unless you absolutely, positively have to have the latest and greatest, don't buy a first-generation iPhone. Wait for the second-generation model, probably in January, which should fix most of the negative issues. (There will be lots of negative press in the days and weeks to come; people will have buyer's remorse.)

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