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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Despite AT&T’s best attempts at completely failing its free WiFi promises eternally, iPhone owners can finally fire up Mobile Safari in their local Starbucks, or, um, that one other place we heard about with AT&T WiFi, and get browsing. Of course, that’s not to say the service won’t crash horribly in the next 10 minutes, but at least AT&T stuck by its word, and can now move on to more pressing issues.

Update: Yeah, turns out this isn’t true, and AT&T has pulled the page. Free WiFi? That’s just silly.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve been getting scattered reports that Apple’s shiny new toy might not be snagging as many bars as it should for a lot of users. In our own tests, we’ve noticed the iPhone 3G fairing poorly in spots where other 3G devices exhibit strong signals, and the Apple support forums are alive with displeasure over what might be a widespread issue. We’re curious to know what you — the reader — are experiencing. How’s your mileage with the new phone? Let us know in the poll after the break.

Continue reading Poll: How’s your iPhone 3G reception?

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

Notice that your freshly-purchased N75 smells more like a week-old head of cabbage than a bundle of brand new plastic, glue, and circuitry? That’s gross, and no, we don’t want to touch it (seriously, get that thing away from us). Turns out you may not be alone, though — a new class-action suit filed in federal court alleges that CommClub, an independent retailer in California, was selling used Nokias for AT&T’s network as brand new devices. For whatever reason, AT&T and Nokia are also named as defendants in the suit, though we’re not sure exactly what role they played in CommClub’s potentially nefarious dealings; at any rate, the class is looking to bring home some bacon for “injuries” suffered as a result of the bait-and-switch. You′re going to go smell your ể now, aren’t you?

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones

If you hadn’t heard, hundreds of people were turned away from Apple Stores last night, iPhone 3G-less. However, being gluttons for punishment — and having nothing to do over the weekend — they′ve returned in droves to Apple Stores, with reports of lines longer than 200 people stretching out from The Cube, Apple Store Chicago (pictured) and even a store in Durham, NC. Apple offered up vouchers last night, at least at some stores, to anyone still waiting in line, so those folks can show up whenever and jump the line for a phone — about 30 of them are lined up at The Cube currently. If you don′t mind you can let us know in tips what the current status on the line / stock is at your local Apple or AT&T store is, and we’ll try to keep track of this mayhem through the weekend. Good luck out there!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this stuff in]

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iTunes_activation_servers_go_down_told_to_activate_at_home’; In a repeat of last year’s problems, it looks like the insane demand for the iPhone 3G has taken its toll on Apple’s iTunes activation servers — that’s a picture of iTunes locking up in the Chicago AT&T flagship earlier this morning. We’re hearing that the servers are now definitely down after being intermittently active for the past few hours, and that customers are either being turned away or sent home from both Apple and AT&T stores to activate at home using iTunes. That’s especially interesting since it suggests that AT&T was insisting on in-store activation to thwart unlockers, but for right now the real news is that lots of eager iPhone 3G buyers are stuck with two useless phones, since upgrading from a first-gen unit disables the SIM. Ouch. We’ll keep you updated.

Update: Apple has confirmed to us that activation is down, and that customers are being asked to take the phone home and activate via iTunes later. We’re not sure what good that’ll do, since the servers are down no matter where you are, but Apple says it’s “working on a solution.” In the meantime, it looks like the new SIM works in first-gen units, so at least upgraders aren′t totally phone-deprived. Oh, and remember that updating a first-gen iPhone to 2.0 requires hitting the server as well, so if you haven′t taken the plunge we’d say hold off until this all gets sorted.

Update 2: In related news, those updating their first-gen iPhone to 2.0 are also getting caught in the activation shuffle, leaving some with bricked iPhones. In our test case, the activation servers came back up after about 45 minutes just long enough to get 2.0 running on our first-gen iPhone, but not all have been so lucky. Is your first-gen iPhone stuck in activation limbo from the update? Let us know.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Cellphones

Well this was bound to happen. Ahead of schedule, Walt Mossberg has turned his official review of the new iPhone 3G, and we’ve got the recap. On the whole, Walt stays mostly positive about the device; he likes the form factor (which he wants to stress really hasn’t changed much), says the 3G speeds are a big improvement over EDGE (no kidding?), and informs us that the audio quality and phone reception are — thankfully — improved all around. Downsides? There are plenty. Mossberg takes issue with AT&T’s new pricing policy, which he finds steep, says he only squeezed 4 hours and 27 minutes of talk time out of the battery, and gripes that you can only sync Exchange or personal email accounts — not both. If you’re like us, you’ll probably want to just read the whole thing. Too lazy? Check the video after the break.

Update: David Pogue of the New York Times has also turned in a kinda-sorta review of the iPhone 3G, though it reads more like an overview of its features than a honest-to-goodness critique. He also makes passing reference to the GPS antenna being “too small” to function as a proper GPS, which makes roughly zero sense to us. Feel free to figure it out on your own.

Continue reading Walt Mossberg reviews the iPhone 3G, isn’t that impressed (now with more David Pogue!)

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

Well this was bound to happen. Ahead of schedule, Walt Mossberg has turned his official review of the new iPhone 3G, and we’ve got the recap. On the whole, Walt stays mostly positive about the device; he likes the form factor (which he wants to stress really hasn’t changed much), says the 3G speeds are a big improvement over EDGE (no kidding?), and informs us that the audio quality and phone reception are — thankfully — improved all around. Downsides? There are plenty. Mossberg takes issue with AT&T’s new pricing policy, which he finds steep, says he only squeezed 4 hours and 27 minutes of talk time out of the battery, and gripes that you can only sync Exchange or personal calendars and contacts — not both. If you’re like us, you’ll probably want to just read the whole thing. Too lazy? Check the video after the break.

Update: David Pogue of the New York Times has also turned in a kinda-sorta review of the iPhone 3G, though it reads more like an overview of its features than a honest-to-goodness critique. He also makes passing reference to the GPS antenna being “too small” to function as a proper GPS, which makes roughly zero sense to us. Feel free to figure it out on your own.

Update 2: Can’t forget Ed Baig of USA Today, who says the new model is “worth the wait” (not to say we have any option at this point anyway, seeing how hard it is to find an original anywhere). He seemed to have trouble picking up 3G service in some locations, though it’s not clear whether that can be chalked up to technical issues with the handset or a lack of coverage where he was testing. Like the others, Baig discovered a noticeable improvement in audio quality and a noticeable hit in battery life when hooked up to the 3G network. Gotta pay to play, we guess.

Continue reading Walt Mossberg reviews the iPhone 3G, isn’t that impressed (now with more David Pogue and Ed Baig!)

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

Continuing this day of iPhone 3G impropriety, the Boy Genius has somehow secured himself a brand-spanking-new iPhone 3G, and has unboxed it for all the world to see. First off, our condolences to the AT&T or Apple employee who will probably lose their job over this one, and then a tip of the hat to BGR for pulling off such a daring stunt. The pictures, however, should be less exciting (since we’ve been seeing a lot of these today) — still, nice to know what you’re about to get into! We′ve included a few more shots after the break.

Continue reading US iPhone 3G gets unboxed and handled

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Just got this email stating that as of July 7th, AT&ampT will no longer offer CallVantage through their affiliate channel. To me, this is “codeword″ for “we’re no longer promoting CallVantage and expect AT&ampT to end CallVantage entirely in the near future.” I’ve read about many affiliate programs that when they′re ended, it’s the end of the road for that product. Further, the emails explains, “We ask that you remove all of your promotion of the CallVantage product on/before July 7th and we recommend that you swap out your creative to another of our product offerings such as High Speed DSL or our latest flagship product, UVerse.”

Now tell me that doesn′t hint towards the end of the road for CallVantage. So current CallVantage affiliates are supposed to promote High Speed DSL which has little to do with VoIP phone service? As for UVerse, that has it’s own share of problems. Not to mention UVerse isn’t offered everywhere yet. CallVantage, like Vonage, at least works everywhere there is a broadband connection. This is a sad day for the single-play VoIP broadband providers. If AT&ampT is jumping ship, what does this bode for Vonage, Packet8, and the other single-play providers?

Now this ‘could’ simply mean AT&T doesn’t want to pay the referral fees from affiiates. But even that doesn’t make sense since affiliates are the CHEAPEST way for broadband VoIP service providers to acquire new customers. Something’s up. I wouldn’t be surprised if AT&T drops CallVantage in 6 months or 12 months from now. My guess is 1 year from now (July 7th, 2009) due to their cancellation terms:

$29.99 disconnect fee applies if service or order for service is canceled or disconnected less than 1 year from the date you placed your order for service and Telephone Adapter (if obtained directly from AT&T without charge) is not returned to and received by AT&T within 16 business days of cancellation or disconnection.

They’ll wait till like June 2009, announce they’re dropping CallVantage, and anyone that jumps ship before the full year is out will have to shell out the $29.99 cancellation fee. Check out the email for yourself…

We want to make you aware that as of July 7th, we will no longer be offering our CallVantage product in our suite of products offered through the affiliate channel.

You will receive commissions on all residual sales that come through during the 60 day referral period that is offered through the program.

We ask that you remove all of your promotion of the CallVantage product on/before July 7th and we recommend that you swap out your creative to another of our product offerings such as High Speed DSL or our latest flagship product, UVerse.

We truly value your partnership and will continue to work with each and every one of you to ensure that we are giving our publishers what they need in order to be successful. Feel free to reach out to the team with any questions, concerns or comments you may have regarding the AT&ampT Consumer program and enjoy the summer!

Here are some links to get you started:

Get DSL for a Dial-up price
Get Html

Get Html

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Tags: affiliate, AT&T, ATT, broadband voip, callvantage, packet8, voip

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Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Cellphones

Shoot, all Motorola had to do was change from pink mahogany to this nice, normal, compliant shade of black, and that would’ve been enough of an update to justify a model name change. There’s more, though: the V9x will officially offer AT&T Navigator, the Telenav-powered navigation system already found on the Z9, and we can see from these press shots that it’ll even work on the secondary display, which is pretty trick. This appears to be the same update that we’d originally heard would drop way back in January, which means we can likely expect Video Share support as well. Take a stroll on over to Engadget Mobile for the full gallery.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/AT_T_Announces_iPhone_3G_pricing_plans′; Finally, a piece of news we can actually do something with. AT&T today announced its pricing structure for the next iteration of Apple’s iPhone — which you can plunk down money for come 8 am, July 11th. There’s not much that’s surprising here — new customers and those eligible for an upgrade will be able to nab the phone for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB), while “early upgraders” will have to fork over $399 or $499, all with a two year contract and $18 upgrade fee, of course. The telco says a no-commitment version of the phone will be available for $599 and $699, though it looks like that will come after the initial launch. AT&ampT appears to be leaning pretty heavily towards the all-in unlimited plans, but there are options if you don′t want to go that route. We’ve sorted out the basics after the break, and included AT&ampT’s “iReady” video — certainly good for a few chuckles.

Continue reading AT&ampT announces iPhone 3G pricing plans

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

What’s that, you didn’t know AT&T was based in Texas? Yeah, ever since all those mergers (re-)created AT&T, its HQ has been in the former SBC offices in San Antonio, which is why certain services tend to roll out there first. It looks like the Alamo City isn′t quite big enough for Ma Bell, though — it’s just announced that it’s moving its corporate headquarters to Dallas in order to be closer to the airport. Yes, the airport. Dallas-Fort Worth Internation is country′s third-largest airport, and AT&T wants travel to and from HQ to be more convenient and cost-effective. AT&T also has about 1,300 different suppliers and vendors in the Dallas area who employ some 45,000 people, so moving closer to them seems like a no-brainer. The company′s Telecom Operations unit is staying put, however, so only about 700 of the 6,000 workers currently in San Antonio will be schlepping across the state. The transition should be completed within the year — here’s hoping some of those cost savings make their way down to us.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Cellphones

According to reports crossing the wires this morning, Research In Motion is expected to delay the release of its next-gen BlackBerry Bold. The Boy Genius is claiming that software issues, battery life problems, and overheating are causing the hold-up, which will move the street date back to mid-August as opposed to the presumed July release on AT&T. There’s been no confirmation from RIM on the news, but that’s not stopping analysts from predicting the move will lower the company’s second quarter earnings outlook. We′re pretty sure it’ll make businessmen with twitchy thumbs none-too-happy as well.

[Thanks, Sam]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve seen the Centro in its Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon (to name a few) iterations, but global roamers and free agents of all sorts will be delighted to know that Palm’s increasingly popular little smartphone is now available in a delicious unlocked GSM flavor. The device sports all the same specs as AT&ampT’s model, but clocks in with a $299 price tag and plain gray numberpad instead of the telco version’s shocking lime green variation. Alongside the carrier-free phone, Centros will also be nabbing a version of Google Maps with its “My Location” feature (long absent from GMaps on Palm phones) . Current AT&T and Verizon customers as well as new unlocked owners will be able to download the app tomorrow, with a software update for Sprint later this Summer. Finally, you’ll all know where you are.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

Klausner Technologies′ litigious ways have already proven successful with Vonage, and it now looks like the company has got what it wanted out of Apple as well, which it had sued (along with AT&T) back in December over the iPhone’s Visual Voicemail feature. As Reuters reports, both Apple and AT&T have agreed to license Klausner’s patents relating to Visual Voicemail, and settle the lawsuit that was brought against them, although any other details are expectedly light at the moment. It seems that Klausner isn’t quite content to sit on its patents just yet, however, with Reuters also reporting that the company is “in discussions” with both Comcast and Cablevision about them using the very same technology.

[Via CNET News.com]

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Original post by Donald Melanson