Appletell

We are swiftly approaching Black Friday. Or, as I like to call it, the best work day of the year. The highways are empty, clients don’t call, and the boss is usually gone so I can play Call of Duty 4 multiplayer with my coworkers all day long.

A lot of you, however, will be out shopping. Over the past couple of weeks, the Dabbledoo sites have been reporting on numerous developer deals and “leaked” retail ads, so we’ve collected the best of them here for you in one neat article, organized by retailer and product type. As Friday approaches, we’ll continue to update this list, so be sure to check back often.

MORE »

Another little tidbit regarding the (hopefully) imminent release of a 3G iPhone has recently popped up on the interwebs.  In recent shipping manifests for Apple product shipments, a new term has popped up.  Apple apparently is using “Electric Computers” as a disguised product name.  Most people wouldn’t think twice about this, as Apple is pretty much all “Electric Computers”.  The only interesting part about the name “Electric Computers” is that it has never been used as a disguised name before.  Most other Apple computer products are referred to as “Desktop Computers”. 

188 shipping containers full of Electric Computers have made it to the North America, 121 of them making it stateside.  Import Genius reports that these containers could contain up to 40,000 units of the new iPhone.  The only thing that could point away from 3G iPhones is the lack of amount.  40,000 would be an apettizer in the meal that will be the 3G iPhone, and Apple hopes to have sales figures in the tens of millions by year’s end.

With all things pointing towards 3G (No vacations for AT&T employees, screenshots, and now shipping manifests), I think that this product, no matter how rumored, is getting the most hype in the history of Apple products.  A lack of 3G iPhones at the end of WWDC ‘08 would be the unfulfilled expectation of the century.

Read [Import Genius] 

• Dell Inspiron Mini 9—now with optional 3G
• Pantech Duo 2 makes its FCC appearance
• Black Friday deals round-up [updated]

Yesterday, AT&T announced that it plans to release its High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) in six more US markets by the end of June, completing its deployment of HSPA. Once that task is completed, the company says that the 3G service will offer uplink speeds of between 500 and 800Kbps, which will complement the roughly 1.4Mbps downlink that AT&T already offers. The timing of AT&T’s upgrade doesn’t seem to be a coincidence, since Apple’s rumored 3G iPhone is expected to launch in early June.

AT&T’s numbers are most likely based on controlled testing, so real speeds may be a bit lower than estimated, depending on your location. Users of AT&T’s pre-HSUPA 3G network have experienced uplink speeds of around 200 to 300Kbps, so even an upgrade to AT&T’s lowest estimate (500Kbps) will be a welcome upgrade.

The upgrade is part of AT&T’s $20 billion effort to improve its network, which it began back in 2005. The company said that the speedier 3G network is already available in over 275 markets, and that it will be available to customers in another 75 or so markets by the end of 2008. AT&T will be the only US carrier to have fully deployed HSUPA on its 3G network, making it the largest of its kind in the United States.

Via [IntoMobile]

• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008
• Apple: Wait, no, stop, you don’t need Antivirus software

Now that both U.S. and U.K. online stores have reported depleting stocks of brand new units of the iPhone, here’s you’re chance to snag one for yourself if you haven’t done so, or if you don’t want to wait for the rumored 3G iPhone. AT&T has started offering refurbished units of the 16GB iPhone for a reduced price of $349. This is in addition to the already available stocks of the 8GB models which are priced at $249.

Sadly though, you can’t stock up more than one unit of those iPhone’s as AT&T allows only one unit per customer, per household. But you get to enjoy the 1-year warranty that AT&T offers for new models of the iPhones, though. The 16GB iPhone package comes with a 2-year plan and AT&T won’t charge you for shipping, should you decide to order online.

Via [Ars Technica] Product [AT&T]

• Dell Inspiron Mini 9—now with optional 3G
• Pantech Duo 2 makes its FCC appearance
• Black Friday deals round-up [updated]

According to a report by Fortune today, AT&T Inc. will subsidize $200 of the purchase price for new iPhones purchased this summer, reducing its cost to as low as $199. Although Apple wouldn’t be particularly happy, they wouldn’t be able to object either, due to increasing iPhone sales through AT&T.

Fortune claimed in its report that AT&T will subsidize the price of new iPhones capable of accessing the 3G data network that the carrier is currently expanding in the United States. AT&T’s $200 price cut would likely be limited to customers who sign a two-year contract, and would not be available directly through Apple. Apple and AT&T now sell the iPhone for $399 for the 8 GB model and $499 for the 16 GB model, and the expected 3G models are estimated to have the same list prices. Several weeks before the new 3G iPhone is to be released, Apple will stop supplying the current iPhone models to reduce inventory, according to Fortune.

Both Apple and AT&T declined to comment on the report, with representatives from both companies stating that they do not comment on speculation.

Read [Fortune’s Report]

• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008
• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?
• Apple: Wait, no, stop, you don’t need Antivirus software

Apple shares fell about 4% after AT&T’s first quarter earnings report despite rising for the two days beforehand.  Investors were expecting huge iPhone sales for AT&T to help Apple reach it’s 10 million iPhone’s sold goal.  However, AT&T announced that it has only received 1.3 million new net subscribers across all of its devices which means not as many iPhones were sold as expected.  Still, TechCrunch points out that many iPhone’s have been sold internationally and then unlocked (around 30%), meaning that Apple could have sold more phones that AT&T’s numbers show.  From the call:

iPhone continues to be very popular with customers, feedback is very good. ARPUs are in the mid to upper 90s across the base. We continue to see customers adopting iPhone. Over 40% are new to us. Nothing really new in trends there. Continued, solid growth

All of these numbers and reports are, obviously, before the announcement of a 3G iPhone.  This device is expected to increase sales by a huge amount due to the high anticipation and demand.  However, even before this announcement, AT&T has reported a 22% profit increase, so the iPhone must be doing something right for them.  What do you think of all this?  How close is Apple to 10 million devices?

• Apple releases the top 10 applications downloaded at the iTunes Store for 2008
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008
• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?

Click image for large version

So AT&T recently sent out a small survey of about 30 questions to most iPhone owners asking whether or not they’d like certain features or upgrades. Some of the questions were very interesting and show us what AT&T and Apple may be working on, they include:

How interested are you, if at all, in the following iPhone potential enhancements?

• Ability to control my DVR (TIVO) with my Apple iPhone
• Apple iPhone Insurance
• iPhone purchase anniversary rewards (free iTunes, videos etc.)
• Ability to use my iPhone as a credit card

These questions are all very interesting and lets hope we see them in the future. But in the survey AT&T also confirmed that there would be a 3G iPhone…in 2009. Now, we’re not sure if this was just AT&T talking or both Apple and AT&T, so we may have to wait another year before we see 3G in our iPhones.

• Apple releases the top 10 applications downloaded at the iTunes Store for 2008
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008
• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?

In an update recently posted on the Apple website, a new calling plan offering an unlimited option for the iPhone has been listed. In a mix between the recent rash of unlimited calling plans the iPhone plans seem to offer a strange mix.

The “New” plan will set you back $119.99 a month and includes unlimited voice calling. The plan also comes with the standard unlimited data/web, visual voicemail, nights and weekends, rollover and mobile to mobile minutes.

Sadly, and the part I find strange is that even with the unlimited web and data included they are still limiting you to the standard 200 SMS messages a month. Come on AT&T, lets get smart and increase those to unlimited as well.

Read [Apple]

• Apple releases the top 10 applications downloaded at the iTunes Store for 2008
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008
• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?

Tools like iJailbreak and TurboSIM have made it very easy to unlock your iPhone and enable you to use it in countries that Apple doesn’t supported. Confirmation has been made that 800,000 to 1 million iPhones, or about one-fourth of all iPhones old have been unlocked in countries outside of Apple’s carrier countries. Even though Apple restricts the number of iPhones a single person may buy, people have found ways around this rule. BusinessWeek recently reported:

“one reseller “got a friend to print business cards and pose as a small business owner so as to dupe an Apple Store manager into letting him buy 100 iPhones.“

The iPhone Dev team always works hard to unlock the latest firmware, but Apple keeps breaking the hacks and the iPhone team fights back. Apple is also losing money on every unlocked iPhone, as they earn a portion of the revenue for each iPhone on AT&T network. If Apple does not put an end to this unlocking, reaching the goal of 10 million iPhone customers by the end of 2008 will be reasonably harder.

Via [MacNN]

• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?
• Apple releases the top 10 applications downloaded at the iTunes Store for 2008
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008

Back at Macworld ‘07 iPod marketing director Greg Jozwiak was asked why Apple had given exclusive carrier rights to AT&T. He explained that Apple couldn’t have been able to provide crucial features without an exclusive partner like AT&T. There is no doubt that’s true while the iPhone was under development, but now that the majority of the bugs have been worked out, but with iPhone stretching to a worldwide audience can Apple continue this tactic?

It made sense that the iPhone would end up with AT&T as they are the current top dog in the US cell industry. There is only one other carrier (Verizon) who could give them the infrastructure and deep pockets that Apple would need to create a nationwide phenomenon. As the iPhone went international, Apple Kept the trend alive by siding with the largest and most entrenched carriers in each country the struck deals in. The European cell market is far more competitive than the US market and it seems like this tactic may have contributed the slow pace of sales in Europe as well as the seemingly huge demand for unlocked iPhones. Even some Macheads in the US may not be willing to jump T-mobile or Verizon even for the iPhone’s siren-like call.

MORE »