iPhoneStuff.org

Apple has just announced the cost of each rate plan and what get for your iPhone. Many are surprised that it’s not that expensive, however, adding the cost of the iPhone + the 2-year contract, you’ll be paying a MINIMUM of 1,939.75 after all is said and done. ($59.99 x 24mo. + 499.99 4GB iPhone)

Here’s the rate table:

Most cellphones sell for less than their actual production cost, with the cellular network paying the difference as an incentive to buy. In exchange, customers promise to use the service for a set period, usually two to three years. When subscribers cancel early, phone companies charge a cancellation fee, usually citing the need to recoup the cost of the subsidized phone.

Though AT&T isn’t subsidizing the iPhone’s weighty price of $499 to $599, depending on the storage capacity, the company will charge a $175 termination fee for iPhone users who want to break their two-year contracts.

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said that termination fees pay for more than phone subsidies.

“There are certain fixed costs we incur in serving every customer who establishes service with us.”

AT&T has had to substantially beef up their network in preparation for the increased bandwidth traffic, spending more than $50 million dollars to network upgrades.

Source: Boston.com

Only a week before the iPhone is released! Here are some last-minute iPhone facts that will hopefully help you to make your purchasing decision before the countdown is over.

1. The iPhone will support IMAP, POP3 and Yahoo Push email. It will automatically recognize phone numbers in email messages and provide one-click access to dialing them. However, it will not support Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), so users won’t be able to send text messages with pictures or video to other mobile phone users. The iPhone will not let users chat with friends directly via instant messaging (IM).

2. When watching a video on the iPhone and a call comes in, the video will automatically pause while you take the call, then resume when you hang up.

3. The iPhone does not offer GPS capability.

4. Third-party applications will be allowed only as web-based applications loaded from the internet on the iPhone’s Safari web browser. Apple will roll out a Windows version of Safari, which should drive support, application development and awareness of the browser to improve the Safari-centric iPhone experience, especially for Windows users.

5. As demonstrated in the latest iPhone ad, featured below, the iPhone will be compatible with Youtube. As earlier reported on iPhoneStuff.org, a spokesman for Apple confirmed Youtube, and yet said that Youtube does not necessarily mean Flash support. The last time I checked, Youtube does require Flash to work, so it seems that the iPhone comes equipped with a specialized version of the Flash player that works only with Youtube, and not in the built-in Safari browser.

This brings me to the next point:

6. The iPhone will not support Flash in it’s Safari browser. Running off the heels of the last iPhone fact, it would appear that the iPhone has a limited version of the Flash player built into it, so it will more than likely be only a matter of time before Apple releases a fully-fledged Flash player for the iPhone’s Safari browser.

7. In order to use an iPhone, buyers will be required to first set up an account with the iTunes store using their credit cards, even if they have no intention of buying anything there. This is in addition to the required carrier contract with AT&T. Current iTunes account holders will be able to use existing accounts.

8. We already knew that iTunes would provide sync capability between iPhone and email, contacts, calendar, photos and other data on both PCs and Macs. We learned this week that the synchronization is automatic when the iPhone is plugged in.

Sources:

Mac Rumors
PC Advisor

Watch how this guy modified the skins of Windows CE to make it look and function nearly identical to the iPhone’s interface. Watch until the very end, where he even has the “flicking” through songs down to a tee.

Within the next little while, as we have seen in the past, individuals and companies will start immitating Apple’s great interface. Microsoft did it with OS X, numerous mp3 player manufacturers did it with the iPod, and it will happen again with the iPhone. Competition is always a good thing, however, as it drives prices down. We know that Apple will always release the highest quality product.

The other day, I was driving to a doctor’s appointment in a doctor’s office I’d never been to before. I was referred there by a sports-clinic doctor with very messy writing. I read the address of the doctor’s office as “XXXX St. Mary’s.” I did a quick check on Google Maps for the address and set off for my appointment.

The slip that the sports-clinic doctor gave me said there was a $75 non-attendance fee, so I was nervous to be on time. I got to St. Mary’s Street with about 2 minutes to go, and was feverishly looking for the right address. I had printed out my Google Map guide so I knew exactly where to look. The funny thing about this map, was that it pointed to a spot in the middle of a park. “Oh well, it must be a nice office,” I thought to myself.

I’m checking addresses, checking addresses, I’m in the right area, but there’s no building in the park, no building next to the park, and no building ANYWHERE NEAR the park with that address on it. It’s basically a residential area with no businesses anywhere to be seen. I’m freaking out. Where is this place?

It occurred to me then, that I might have the wrong address.

The point of this story is near. I don’t own a cell phone, but ever since I was young, I always carry change with me in case such a situation occurs where I need to find a pay phone to make a call. I don’t know if I’m the first to realize this, but there’s NO PAY PHONES ANYMORE. With the rise of cell phones and their sheer mass popularity, nobody needs pay phones anymore, so telephone companies don’t maintain them.

I drove up and down this St. Mary’s Street where there’s more businesses and signs of life, but no pay phones in sight.

Thus - the point emerges: The market is saturated with cell phones, PDAs, mobile communication etc. The amazing punk band Randy wrote a song about how people today are Addicts of Communication. How true this is. Many people can’t wait in line at the grocery store without pulling out their phone for a quick call or text message. I’ve noticed also that more and more people think it’s not rude to talk through the entire check-out process, just passing their VISA to the cashier when he/she slightly opens their mouth and motions for payment. It’s rude, but people are addicted.

Feeding their addictions are the cell phone and PDA manufacturers. Much like computers, a cell phone or PDA is obsolete as soon as it’s taken off the shelf. Life cycles of these mobile wonders of technology are getting shorter and shorter and people are just waiting for their contracts to run out so they can get a new contract and product because all their friends have a better shinier one.

The newer shinier one currently: Apple’s iPhone. Everyone wants one, and will stop at nothing to get one. Sure, it’s a little pricier than most of the competition, but man will it make my friends jealous! That is - until one of the competitors which releases a new phone every month makes a slicker one.

Apple makes products that last years, are quality products, and can usually be sold for almost as much as you paid for it. An Apple cell phone will not be any of these things. It will not last years, even if the contract does, it might be a quality product, but just imagine the damage scratching that touch-screen will cause, and lastly, by the time you want to sell it, it will be so outdated you’ll just want to get rid of it.

Will the iPhone be Apple’s biggest mistake? Only time will tell. Mr. Jobs has usually hit home runs with his products, but this is a very risky move, and one that other cell phone manufactureres are definitely watching closely.

I’ve compiled a list of 7 facts about the iPhone that are often overlooked, and also what they mean to me, and maybe to you too.

1. The iPhone features a built-in battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable (”we knew that,” you cry), similar to existing iPods. The battery is capable of providing five hours of video, web browsing, or talk time. HOWEVER - the battery life for music playing is 16 hours. It is unknown how long the batteries will last in sleep mode.

The fact that underneath all the gloss and music and video, it is a cell phone, here’s hoping that the sleep mode battery life will be at least 48 hours. Most cell phones can be left on in sleep mode for a few days.

2. There will be new headphones which are similar to those of current iPods, but which incorporate a microphone.

If you thought you had to hold the iPhone right up to your mouth to talk, and worry that you’ll drop it, worry no longer. Also, if it’s illegal to hold a cell phone and drive at the same time where you are, out of the box this will not be a problem for you with this corded solution.

3. Calls can be answered and ended by squeezing the microphone.

I hope you don’t have an itchy finger for squeezing, because if you squeeze twice quickly, you would have just answered and hung up on your friend. A good way to lose friends!

4. The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback.

That’s right - it has a built-in speaker. Well of course it does, it has MP3 ringtones doesn’t it? Annoy all of your coworkers while you watch the latest episode of Scrubs or The Office without headphones!

5. Storage: 4 or 8 GB Flash memory, storing files (music, video, contacts, photos) and operating system.

Unlike current iPods, the iPhone will use flash memory, not a hard-drive based memory storage. This is good news for a cell phone, which will more than likely get tossed around more than an mp3 player. A hard bump and you might get the sad iPod icon on an HDD based iPod, but flash memory is solid with no moving parts like the USB thumb drive sticking out the back of your computer right now.

6. Apple has announced that the slimmed-down version of OS X running on the iPhone will take up “considerably less” than 500MB.

Does this mean it will take up 495MB? Add a couple of widgets and most likely it will be close to 500MB. This means that on a 4GB model, you will be able to add only 3.5GB of your own songs, videos, and photos. Also of note is that the flash memory will not be upgradeable.

7. The iPhone has three switches on its sides: sleep/wake, volume up/down, ringer on/off. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touch screen.

We knew that it was basically an all-finger operation, but I for one am glad to see a manual volume control on the side. When I used to ride the public transit bus through the heart of the ghetto known as the north end in my city, I always kept my CD player in my backpack and just reached in to adjust volume. I didn’t want to pull it out. The problem with the iPhone is that if you want to change tracks without looking, you might have a tough time.

That’s my roundup of things I found interesting that haven’t been talked about to death. Anything I missed?

Well the initial oo-ing and ahh-ing about Apple’s new iPhone dead, most journalists have turned their writing from sweet to sour; many talking more about what other phones can do that the iPhone can’t, taking shots at some of the iPhone’s negatives such as price, Cingular/AT&T ties, etc., and overall disappointment.

This leaves this writer with one question. Obviously Steve Jobs and the folks at Apple knew this might happen if they introduced something 6 months before it’s slated release. Generally speaking, Apple has been the king of announcing a new product, and then stating that it will be available at the Apple Store in 5 minutes. It has proved successful for them in the past, as the initial excitement has driven many to impulsively buy the new hot toy. This was not the case for the iPhone.

So why did Apple introduce the iPhone so early? My guess is that they have some secrets.

It makes sense that they introduce it early: to quash the hundreds of rumors about an upcoming cell phone from Apple. Enough people were expecting it, but no one knew exactly what it would be like. Steve Jobs laid those rumors to rest in a very satisfactory way. How did the public react to the news?

The blog sphere exploded with glee. The front page of Digg.com was filled with stories about the iPhone, and every local news channels featured the hot new product due out in June of 2007. Everyone who knows anything about technology and gadgets now knows about the iPhone, what it will be like, and most of the features. They also know the price tag. Initially, the excitement of flicking through digital album covers was enough to make us forget the price, but would that last?

The general feeling I get from most recent posts about the iPhone from bloggers and news sites in general is that it’s not lasting. Reality is setting in. An incredibly expensive smart phone with no expandability or access to office-centric applications is not so hot of a ticket anymore. Did Apple see this coming?

Apple is a smart company. They make decisions that usually always surprise us in a good way. If they knew this type of lull would happen less than two months after the iPhone was announced, they must also have a backup plan. This is my theory: Apple has more tricks up their sleeve. They will deliver something even more with the iPhone than we’ve been shown up to this point. What will it be? I don’t know, but I’m certain they’ll pull some Apple magic before the final release of the iPhone that will again make the hesitation at the high price tag melt away.

What do you think some secret features could be?

Cisco and Apple have announced that they have agreed to BOTH use of the trademark iPhone. In the terms of the agreement, “both companies have the right to use the name iPhone for their products around the world“, said the head of the press service of Cisco Systems in the CIS Alexander Palladin.

He said that both companies recognize the prior ownership of the trademark and waive any claims to each other about it.

Cisco and Apple will explore the possibility of cooperation in the field of security, individual communications and corporate communications. Other conditions of the agreement are not known at this time.

Cisco has had the right to the trademark iPhone since 2000, under the company name Infogear. The agreement allows Apple to label and sell products under the brand iPhone for a number of years.

[source]

If you were like me and watched the oscars, you might have seen a sexy little compilation of some very famous people all picking up a phone and saying “hello.” This was Apple’s first television ad for their upcoming iPhone.

The video for this amazing ad is on the official Apple iPhone site.

A Macrumors forum user put together a list of the actors seen in the short clips, and I use this as reference for my list of actors together with still frames from the ad and of course from the original movies and shows they were taken from.

Lucille Ball

Jackie Gleason

Humphrey Bogart

Marlon Brando

Jerry Lewis

Marilyn Monroe

Clark Gable

Peter Sellers

Steve McQueen

Richard Dreyfuss

Burt Reynolds

Betty Rubble

Robert Redford

Michael J. Fox

Harrison Ford

John Cusack

Audrey Tautou

Kevin Spacey

William H. Macy

Dustin Hoffman

Will Ferrell

Sarah Jessica Parker

Jeff Bridges

Billy Crystal

Cameron Diaz

Samuel L. Jackson

John Travolta

Robert DeNiro

Ben Stiller

Michael Douglas

Mr. Incredible

Hello

This was quite an amazing ad and I’m really looking forward to the forthcoming ad campaign as we get closer to the launch of the Apple iPhone!

Stanley Feinbaum wrote an interesting article about why he’s not interested in buying an iPhone. A humorous look at some of the ‘features’ of Apple’s new cell phone.

Cingular only. This makes as much sense as selling computers that can only access the internet through AOL.