Apple IPhone

[Azeke]

Have you all seen the new Apple IPhone?

It's gonna change the cellphone industry, touchscreen, MAC OS, Wifi, bluetooth, etc.

June 2007, exclusively to Cingular, $499.00 with a two year contract for the 4g, and $599.00 for the 8g model.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Chris D]

Cool... can it interface with a PC, though? I don't have any Mac stuff, and always sync my Pocket PC, phone, or whatever, to my PC's.

[springer49]

it syncs through i-tunes so if you have that on your PC you won't have a problem

[Brian Bunge]

Since my wife is a store manager for Cingular (aka The New AT&T), I'll get to see one of these when they come out. I'll be very interested in seeing this thing.

[Nick M]

Brian - Do you have any information as far as Cingular fees are concerned? What will they be charging for access?

[Brian Bunge]

I'm not sure what you mean by "fees" or "access". I'm sure there will be some sort of data plan geared towards this device. My wife is practically best friends with the Data Manager. She was out on medical leave for a few months and didn't get her BlackJack when all the other managers did. So when she met him for lunch yesterday and he found out she didn't have hers yet he popped the trunk and handed her a brand new BlackJack. So I'm sure I can get the skinny from him as soon as he knows anything.

[Nick M]

Yeah, I'm talking about fees for accessing/using the internet/eMail/voicemail/SMS/photo transmit features.

I'm chomping at the bit for this thing, but if they plan to charge by the minute while web browsing I have no intentions on getting one. For example, if while reading The Boston Globe at lunch with Safari I get charged 60min of useage they can go to hell... :lol:

I'm also curious if the internet/eMail features will work wherever you have tower access, or if it's only while you have EDGE network access. I work in an area that has tower access, but no EDGE network coverage.

[Brian Bunge]

I think all you need is Cingular's Unlimited Data Plan. I don't know for sure, but I think it's $40-$50/month. I've just got the $20 plan right now, mainly for text messaging, but if I get my install business going I'll get some sort of device for email and web surfing so I'll go to the unlimited plan at that point.

I don't know about the EDGE network question; I'll ask her about that. I'm just hoping they get the new UMTS network going down in our area. Orlando is about is close as it gets right now, which is an hour away.

[satchm0]

It's gonna change the cellphone industry, touchscreen, MAC OS, Wifi, bluetooth, etc.

Other than the Mac OS, this is nothing new. Touchscreen, wifi, bluetooth, email, internet access are all now available on other handhelds. Apple is making it sound like they are the first to come out with this stuff.

[Brian Bunge]

Here's what my wife had to say about Cingular and how they handle data:

"Cingular does not charge by the minute. Data is billed at kb rates. Robust data plans as well as smaller plans are provided to fit the customer’s needs. As this device has WIFI, tower connection will not be needed if within a WIFI area."

Also, it's important to note that as of Jan. 27th (IIRC) Cingular will be known as AT&T (as will BellSouth). All the commercials down here are referring to it as "the new AT&T" and there's even a website with that as the URL.

[AndrewM]

Cingular charges $40/mo for an unlimited data plan for PDA-phones (the iPhone would likely be classified as this), $20/mo for 'smart phones' and Crackberries are IIRC $50'ish a month.

Right now the iPhone looks like it will have limited business use (interfacing with Exchange/Lotus the same way a Windows Mobile does). But it should work the same as something like Palm device does (basically synchs to the PC instead of on its own plus PC).