AT&T Gears Up for the iPhone 256
ElvaWSJ writes "In preparation for its exclusive launch of the cellphone industry's most anticipated device, AT&T is pulling out all the stops. It is adding about 2,000 temporary employees to cope with the influx of shoppers in the first few months. And it is planning for enhanced security to control the potentially large crowds and avoid theft of the phones, which will go for a steep $499 or $599, depending on memory capacity. Some sales agents expect to see people camping outside the night before. 'Apple, which plans to start selling the phone in all of its 162 retail stores on June 29, did not disclose any plans around training or staffing for the launch. Apple will also start selling the phone online on the launch date, but AT&T will first launch only in its stores ... AT&T, which is requiring iPhone shoppers to sign up for a 2-year contract, has not yet revealed the service fees it will charge iPhone customers.'"
Re:Other Carriers (Score:2, Informative)
No.
Re:Other Carriers (Score:4, Informative)
Better story in USA Today... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:why is service fee unknown? (Score:3, Informative)
I'm not sure exactly what the fee arrangement is between AT&T and Apple, but the support arrangement is different enough to warrant special attention.
Re:Other Carriers (Score:2, Informative)
Verizon uses CDMA - gross
Re:Other Carriers (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Other Carriers (Score:5, Informative)
GSM is the standard protocol that the world uses.
Except for the US. It uses IS-95.
So, because the iPhone uses GSM, it'll only work with two US carries, and THE REST OF THE WORLD.
GSM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mo
IS-95: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IS-95 [wikipedia.org]
Re:I just don't get one thing... (Score:3, Informative)
A lot of the time if you want to buy a new expensive phone they will let you out of your current contract so long as it is for the purpose of signing an equivalent or more expensive contract.
Generally speaking, the cellphone company is typically willing to take more of your money and extend your contract period.
Re:No Apple Stores, and new hire reps? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I Hope It Doesn't Flop... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Just a reminder... (Score:4, Informative)
By the way, until the people demand that the government not do this, then its got popular support.
Re:Watch the demo, then comment again (Score:5, Informative)
"Smaller"?
Blackjack = 113mm tall
iPhone = 115mm tall
Difference = less than 1%
Blackjack = 59mm wide
iPhone = 61mm wide
Difference = less than 1%
slimmer than the iPhone
Wrong.
Blackjack = 12mm
iPhone = 11mm
Difference = more than 1%
lighter than the iPhone
Blackjack = 106g
iPhone = 135g
Difference = 25%
This is the only one where it makes any difference, but it's not as if 135g is heavy by any measure.
gets 800kbps in Manhattan via 3G HSDPA
Great. The *one* feature iPhone doesn't have that people carp about. Well, guess what? AT&T doesn't have 3G in my city and probably won't anytime soon, and definitely not within 2 years.
And the iPhone has WiFi. Which blankets my entire campus and city. Which is much, much faster than 3G.
(And yes, I will agree that some people "depend" on 3G, and the addition of WiFi doesn't help. I'm not one of those people on either count.)
has a finish which is almost impossible to scratch
Since iPhone isn't out yet, I guess we'll have to wait and see how durable it is.
To test iPhone's durability, Thandu says, they doused it with water, dropped it on concrete and bounced it off sidewalks.
Thandu says he took the iPhone with him on long runs, sweating all over it. "We wanted to test the limits of it."
has a real full QWERTY keyboard
Great. I like the keyboard on my Treo, too. But since iPhone has a keyboard when it needs one, we'll see how good it is. Is it likely to be not as nice as a tactile keyboard? Probably not. But then:
Blackjack: 2.3", 320x240
iPhone: 3.5", 320x480
Difference: >50% size, 100% (!) pixels
Not to mention all of the other features and functionality, multi-touch, the tightly integrated music, video, photo, etc., management, user interface, more than double the battery life, and so on. Of course, anyone can say they don't "need" any of these features, but to essentially call the iPhone a piece of junk is a little ignorant.
and cost me a whole of $50.
Congratulations. You get what you pay for. If it does the job and you like it, good for you.
Re:Guys jeez, calm down about the data plans (Score:2, Informative)
ATT is $39.99 + $19.99
and Verizon is $79.99
ATT Data [att.com]
ATT Voice [att.com]
Verizon Bundle [verizonwireless.com]
How sure are you the iPhone data plans will cost more than a Treo now?
Bzzzt! Thanks for playing! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Sorry, I don't understand (Score:4, Informative)
- The Mall Kiosk of Doom -
In the hallowed halls of unfettered, unashamed, pillaging, raping commerce, there are these odd booths out in the middle of the walkway. Mind you, this isn't some backwater open-air market. This is a Shopping Mall(tm). Real Stores(tm) are located down either side of the walkway. Only scammers, con artists, and seasonal vendors use the dreaded "kiosks" that impede traffic. In the category of both "scammer" and "con artist" falls the Mall Kiosk of Doom Cellular Phone Vendor. Most malls (due to these exact vendors) now have policies that require kiosk employees to stay within their kiosk area, not roaming around bothering the passers by. But some malls don't have this limitation, and the MKDCPV will approach you, rather than waiting for you to walk unwittingly into their lair. Either way, once you're caught, your life is forfeit.
These kiosks are always run by a specific network provider, and have all the soul to match (none at all, of course, just an IOU taped to the wall, signed by the devil himself). The drooling lackeys they employ are the new breed of "burger flippers". Every other word they say is "fuck", and also "dude". When they're not talking to customers (and even when they are) they simply repeat "fuck dude fuck dude fuck..." until you walk away. Sometimes there's one with a few more braincells, enough to replace the word "fuck" with some sort of preprogrammed message installed by the network provider they work for. They will try to get you to sign your name to the list of recipients of the IOU on the wall. This involves a multi-year contract and a phone. Sometimes the phone is free. Most of the time, they "mess up" and charge you for it, or "forget to tell you about a service fee" and charge you for it, or they're "out of stock and you'll have to buy a phone" and charge you for it. In any event, your wallet is going to be raped and pillaged (remember, you're in a Shopping Mall(tm) - all your money are belong to us!) and your soul will belong to the devil (the CEO of a cell-telecom).
- The Network Provider Store (a.k.a. The Bowels of Hell) -
You don't have the chance of accidental entrapment like with the Mall Kiosk of Doom, but these stores operate the same way. The help here tends to be a bit more "clueful", usually not drooling, and usually curtailing their use of "fuck" and "dude" while customers are present. Depending on the network provider, some of these guys are actually helpful. Not AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, but the smaller carriers seem to hire genuinely helpful people. You might have a good experience here. But not if the sign out front says AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint.
Generally, they have a lot of accessories and a decent stock of phones. They have all the plans from the vendor they represent, top to bottom. But they'll deny that you can buy a phone without a plan. And they'll deny that you can buy a plan without a phone. In the minds of these guys, plans include phones, and phones are not available separately. Period. Pay up, bitch.
- The Faceless Web -
All network providers have a website where you can buy a phone without having to remove your cheeto-covered ass from its resting place. They work like stripped-down versions of the network providers' stores without the salesguy sticking his nose into your butt and his hand into your wallet. Maybe it's just me, but web servers seem to be a great deal more polite than salesmen.
- The Independent -
These guys are a dying breed. They sell phones. They sell plans from more than one network provider. They sell network provider plan+phone packages. They make their own plan+phone packages. They'll let you trade plans with another customer or act as a proxy plan buyer to get you the phone you want. These guys would sell a guy a Treo, sign him up for an AT&T "iPhone" plan and turn around and sell the iPhone to someone that wants it, but wants a T-Mobile plan.
And