Confession: the US broadcast news networks I get up here in the frozen north come mostly from Vermont with a side of Northern New York. So, lo and behold, I caught part of the Burlington CBS station's teaser last night, and the big news? They're finally getting the iPhone 3G!

It means dozens of new jobs in Vermont and that the heavily-hyped iPhone will soon be here in Vermont. [...] AT&T officials say their products and services will be available at ten former Unicel locations in mid-January. They will honor current contracts for up to a year.

Is that the last state in the Union to get with the iPhone? Anyone else still missing out?

US tax dollars at work dept.: TUAW is reporting (via TheHill.com) that the Chief Administrative Office of the U.S Congress is testing iPhones due to "people requesting them as an option":

Adoption of the iPhone by the U.S. Congress could be another blow to RIM, which is now behind Apple in terms of sales and revenues. Apple CEO Steve Jobs gleefully reported that "Apple beat RIM" during yesterday's Q4 Earnings Call.

7 Million iPhone sold last quarter alone, and we've already heard rumors of HSBC ditching the Blackberry for the iPhone. Is this the beginning of Something Big, or just a simple case of new technology getting the tires kicked?

What say you, Americans?

Looks like Apple might be shutting down iTunes in the US and Norway. At least that's what VP of Internet Services (iTunes, Mobile Me, App Store), Eddy Cue says (via Macrumors):

"If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the ... royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss - which is no alternative at all. Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably."

What's the deal'yo? In two separate, but equally perplexing bits of news, the US Government is thinking of dumping an extra $0.15 surcharge (going to copyright holders) onto digital downloads, which would result in either consumers paying $1.14 a track for iTunes music, or Apple eating the $0.15 itself.

Since Apple already gives the record labels $0.70 per download, and out of the remaining $0.30, pays all the bandwidth, storage, infrastructure, credit card and other transactional feeds, administration, etc., cutting that margin in half is not realistic for a for-profit company (can you say shareholder lawsuit?)

Hey, here's an idea, why not take that from the record label's cut? They've made a business out of negating artists rights (remember, they went to court to get ringtones declared derivative works, so they don't have to pay artists -- but still charge consumers ridiculous, pure profit, premiums for them!), so it seems only fair restitution should come from their end (provided the artist still holds the copyright...)

Meanwhile, Norway wants Apple to open Fairplay DRM. While Apple has publicly stated they themselves want to rid music of DRM, the record labels won't give them DRM-free music (preferring to use it to bolster competitors like Amazon and Naptser), so how about Norway go have a word with the Big 4? I'm sure everyone else would love to be rid of that short-sighted bit of un-usability. Then go swing the mystic hammer at Hollywood and get us DRM free TV and movies while they're at it. As we all know, DRM doesn't stop real pirates, it just makes it harder for real users to manage.

What do you think? Is Apple rightly on the hook? Or is it time pressure was placed where it really belongs, on the Big Media companies?

UPDATE: Verizon has just announced their 4G/LTE plans for end-of-year 2010, which may make their network compatible with future iPhone models. More details here.

ORIGINAL: We've all heard that AT&T in the US has an exclusive on the iPhone, and that maybe that exclusive was bumped up to 2010 when they agreed to the new iPhone 3G model, but no one outside the lawyer-strewn vaults at Apple and AT&T likely knows how much or for how long. With that in mind, BGR is rumoring that Verizon might be getting ready to unleash a little CDMA/EVDO iPhone fury all their own.

Apple is said to have approached Verizon to be the original iPhone carrier, after all, with AT&T only getting the deal when Verizon turned it down. Likewise, it's been suggested that Apple may not exactly be thrilled at the problems 3G users (and Crackberry Kevin's, it seems!) are having on the AT&T network.

Still, this one is hard for us to believe. Irrespective of Verizon's huge footprint in the US, and regardless of the appeal a CDMA/EVDO iPhone may have for some, it's a small global market for Apple to spend their already straining resources on.

Besides, Jeremy points out that with the Blackberry Storm set to strike over at Verizon, would they really want to let the iPhone 3G steal RIM's "thunder" (ouch!)

What do you think? Any iPhone owners out there dying to switch (back?) to Verizon? Any Verizon stalwarts still holding out for an EVDO iPhone?

If you currently own a iPhone 3G and are lucky enough to be paying $15 for the MEdia Net Unlimited data plan, your luck is about to change. And not for the better. AT&T is currently on the hunt for you, and you will soon join the rest of us in coughing up another $15 a month of your hard earned money for the the $30 iPhone 3G data plan.

You chould be receiving the following email anytime now:

Our service records indicate that you are using an iPhone 3G with a data plan designed for other devices. To avoid unexpected data overage charges and enable Visual Voicemail, please contact your telecom manager, or an AT&T representative at 1-800-331-0500. Thank you for choosing wireless from AT&T. We appreciate your business.

So there you have it folks, everyone will soon be on a level playing field. Have any of our loyal readers received the email above from AT&T yet?

(via The Boy Genius Report)

Good news? Looks like there really is a new "Home" option for iPhone activation in the US. Bad news? Looks like it has nothing to do with the iPhone being sold unlocked. Apple Insider, who broke the rumor, updates as follows:

In order to service these customers, a special home pre-qualification web site has been set up so that users can find if they are qualified by AT&T for a phone unit subsidy. Users can set up their account at home so that everything is ready to go when they make their iPhone 3G purchase at a retail store. The new "Home" option that retail employees are seeing on their EasyPay terminals is designed to allow them to use this home pre-qualification step to accelerate the transaction of a new iPhone 3G. That also indicates there is no impending potential for unlocked iPhone 3G sales in the US, although this is expected at some point.

Apple Insider is also sticking to the 32GB SKU, but maybe only after the holidays (though presumably that means short term, not, you know, any point after the holidays and into future months/years...)

Magic 8-Ball?

• Unlocked iPhones in the US? Very Doubtful
• 32GB iPhone in the *near* future? It is certain

Interesting! Can't wait to see how this one pans out!

Have an iPhone on AT&T and want to travel internationally without re-mortgaging your house to pay for the data roaming? You're in luck... mostly. Engadget says the USA's exclusive iPhone carrier has just released two new plans to help mitigate your risk: $119.99 for 100MB and $199.99 for 200MB.

Realizing AT&T does have to pay other carriers for any users on their networks, we still can't help but wonder if there's an ulterior motive... Given the poor marks AT&T's network received in Wired's survey when compared to European carriers, maybe Ma Bell is trying to dissuade frustrated users from fleeing the country? Unfortunately, these new plans are pretty much Rogers' 2006 domestic rates, and probably still competitive with several international carrier-gougers!

So, AT&T travelers, will these new plans encourage you to keep the data roaming enabled for your next trip?

Finally. Finally! You'll be able to get your giant-sized HDTV $200 HDMI cables, chocolate frosted sugar bombs, and iPhone 3G all under one big, blue roof!

Yup, Apple Insider rumored yesterday, and now Associated Press has confirmed, Best Buy will begin selling 970 full-size stores and 16 smaller, but recently upgraded Best Buy Mobile stores, come September 7.

Says Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile:

We had a lot of work to do, obviously, to get in a position where Apple and AT&T would feel good about Best Buy Mobile carrying it, and that's what we've done in the last 18 months

Back in late June, Dieter posted about this and the much more frightening rumor of Radioshack getting their "laughing stock" hands on it, so it's not a total shocker... just as long as the Quickymart doesn't get it next, b'okay?

I mean, El Jobso still personally authorizes each reseller based on some cosmic alignment of Feng Shui and color swatches, right?

It's been two weeks since the July 11th, 22 nation launch. Do you know where your iPhone 3G is? Sadly, for many, the answer is still "backordered" if not "out-of-stock". But don't worry, your always customer conscious and perennially consumer focused mobile cell provider wants to make sure you know that they know that you're feeling some pain. And they want to assure you they're doing everything they can to get your money you your shiny new iPhone 3G.

First, they are absolutely, positively not hoarding them or stockpiling them in any secret iVaults. It's still first-come, first-served, and in AT&T is prioritizing direct fulfillment (with a 2 week wait time), and advising their stores are currently sold out. (Hey, they're moving it twice as fast as last year, remember? Just imagine if they had stock!)

Second, for its part Apple has stopped providing JSON data to independent webbers who were keeping you better informed (than Apple) as to what stores had precisely which units when you got there 15 exactly minutes too late. Back to Apple.com, or the still long line ups outside Apple Retail, for those in the US.

Third, in the UK 02 Online is out, stores are in increasingly short supply, but might get a few more units trickling in today.

Not worried in the least, Apple's supply-chain wizards plan to launch the iPhone 3G in 20 more countries in just under a month from now. Good luck with that.

This time last week Dieter was holding the line in Rhode Island, Chad was laying the video smack down in Ohio, Brian was too busy getting him some apps to even say where he was, and Casey was waiting for the lines to die down (good luck with that!)

Now it's one week later and what's going on? Well, thanks to Cherryhead25 (via Engadget) we know that the up-again/down-again FREE iPhone 3G AT&T WiFI access is currently up again.

That is, if you can find an iPhone 3G to buy! Seems Apple Insider has found yet another leaked AT&T memo that hints at major supply shortages in the US (welcome to the rest of the world!), leading to back-orders of 10 to 14 days.

Frequent Apple analyst Gene Munster, told Computerworld (via Ars Technica) the shortages might last a month!

"I bet we'll see these problems for another two to four weeks. Early demand has been more than they expected [because] they knocked it out of the park on the first weekend. "There were outages last year, but not to this extent. This is a more sustained outage [than last year's], and the demand seems to be sustained."

So the continued line ups would have us believe. And the hardest to find model? Nope, not the white one sported by Dieter or Chad! The 16GB iPhone Black... Wonder who got me one of those?

WOW! iPhone plans and prices are dropping faster than Rogers stock these days. With a 22 country launch on Friday (and a few days later in France -- vive la difference, eh?), some with multiple co-exclusive carriers, each with different tiers of service (from cheap, all-you-can-eat unlimited to tiny $$$ per byte ultra-rip-offs) it's a lot to keep track of -- but we're still going to try!

Read on for the good, the bad, and a lot of ugly!

Rogers/Fido Canada - WAR!

On the Canadian front (and yes, it is a war here people!) rumors of an Apple/Rogers falling out are probably going to fall out. My guess? Nothing much there unless Rogers is fanning the scarcity flame in order to get people who might be sitting on the fence or holding it to suddenly panic and rush the line on Friday. Apple Stores in Canada, unlike the US, have only pointed to Rogers/Fido for availability, and if Apple is sending units away from Canada to Europe, it may have more to do with the power of the Euro. (Nintendo's been accused of doing that with the Wii for months to profit from the stronger currency).

Telcel Mexico

2 year contracts south of south of the border in Mexico as well: MX$459/599/799 for 200/300/400 min., 100/150/200 SMS and MBs of data, with the 8GB handset going for MX$3419/2159/889 and the 16GB for MX$4689/3419/2159.

Ayaiyai! That's US$77 for a tiny 200MB!

Vodafone New Zealand

The good news? Due to the international date line, New Zealand will be getting the iPhone first and Hawaii last. In Aukland, New Zealand, the lineup is already forming to be the first (after a certain Portuguese un-boxer) to get the blessed device.

The bad news? They'll be paying out the pouch for it. 2 year contracts for NZ$80/130/250 for 120/250/600 min., 600 SMS, and 250/500/1000MB of data and 8GB handsets for NZ$549/449/199 and 16GB for NZ$699/599/359.

Ouch! That's US$189 for 1GB of data! Once again, the closer you are to a pole, the higher your prices!

Optimus Portugal

Thanks to Mário for sending this in!

Optimus (Orange) in Portugal has pre-paid, post-paid monthly, and 2-year contract prices. Contract minimum monthly usage plans are €30/45/64 which get you €0.149/0.129/0.099 per minute or SMS, 100/300/500 free in-network SMS, and MB of data, with the 8GB handset running €250/200/150 and 16GB, €350/300/250.

Vodafone Portugal

Meanwhile, Vodaphone is offering the Portuguese 2 year contracts as well: €29.90/44.90/64.90, with 100/230/500 min. and SMS, and a miserly 250MB of data, with an 8GB handset going for €299/219/129 and 16GB for €389/309/219.

Yikes! That's US$102 for 250MB?!

AT&T USA

AT&T Mobility's President of Network Services has his own podcast where he goes over iPhone 3G performance. Check it out.

And while nowhere near as hackneyed as the iReady riff, Apple has posted its own information on how to prepare yourself for launch day.

Apple's VP of Retail, Ron Johnson, tried to set expectations: he claims they'll be taking 30 customers at a time, be able to handle 100 customers an hour, and aim to complete activation in 10-15 min. But they won't rush you if you want to take your time (though the crowd behind you, torches and pitchforks in hand, might help keep you moving at a brisk pace!)

Live in the USA and want an iPhone 3G? Better get up early! We already told you how AT&T stores would be opening up at 8am sharp, and now Apple Stores will be following their lead. (And if you're in NYC and want to get it at the giant glass cube flagship, the line-up has already started, so hurry up and get your spot behind the hippies!)

As to what you'll pay for an iPhone 3G, we've already covered how taking the contract price and then canceling may well be cheaper than trying to buy it unsubsidized, but now there's word that even if you don't qualify for the new or upgrade price, there may just be some dirty tricks a way around it (provided you don't mind playing fast and loose with the rules, and have a friend with an iPhone SIM card and the will to let you active with it...)

Either way, make sure you're iReady, figure out what you're going to do with your old iPhone 2G, and get ready for Friday!

You knew it was coming, inevitable as the rise of Old Glory on July 4th -- the first iPhone 3G line up has begun at the NYC Apple Flagship Store!

Or should we say... Tailgate Party!

(iPhone launches are the Superbowl of consumer electronics, aren't they?)

The line began forming today, the Friday before the Friday of launch, just 1 week (and a few hours) before the first iPhone 3G goes on sale at 8am (and, if an AT&T estimate of 30 min. per activation is anywhere near accurate, likely 7 days and many hours before the second one will be up for sale!)

Geardiary reports there are almost a dozen people lined up already, with security being very obliging, and Apple Store employees playing nice.

So, here's to the USA, and to the few, the ultra-devoted -- those who dare to phone different first. We're with you in spirit.

Save some for the rest of us!

Read

Sister site WMExperts brings word that T-Mobile is raising the a la carte price of SMS text messages to an exorbitant $.20 per 160 characters (sadly, an industry average...) While they have their theories as to why tiny text qualifies for thousands of dollars per meg of data charges, others only really care about one thing:

A change in the terms of service may -- just may -- be a way for those of you stuck on contract with T-Mobile to get out of jail and into a sexay new iPhone 3G.

Whether T-Mobile lets you out or not will likely depend on who you talk to and how much you scream, but a chance is a chance. And could T-Mobile have had worse timing in providing that chance?

Nope.

On the Canadian front, GSM monopoly Rogers is still amending their iPhone info, after correcting the embarrassing typo that made it seem like the early termination fee was $1100 ($100 turned out to be correct). Now it's info on non-iPhone specific plans, and warnings galore on off-plan data usage ($0.05/KB!) and roaming ($3/MB on plan). Clarified, however, is that using Visual Voice Mail won't count towards your minutes or your miserly data cap.

Also interesting is the inclusion of anti-Jailbreak/Unlock verbiage:

Your iPhone is restricted to use on the Rogers network, unless you are roaming. If you attempt to unlock your iPhone and use it on another network, it may become permanently unusable. Making unauthorized modifications to the software on your iPhone violates the iPhone software license agreement, and any resulting inability to use your iPhone is not covered under your iPhone’s warranty.

Last year Apple Stores and AT&T owned retail outlets closed early, handed out water to the throngs of people lined up around their blocks, and then re-opened at 6pm local time to dispense the first generation iPhone to screams, cheers, and web-wide coverage.

This year, it looks like we'll all have to come just a little bit earlier:

We just got a tip that AT&T store managers received emails stating that the iPhone launch would be at 8:00 AM

More, as they say, as this develops...

Read

While confusion still looms over who is eligible and at what price for iPhone 3G upgrades, never mind how high the unsubsidized price will eventually soar, AT&T may have clarified what families have to look forward to:

Family Talk plans ARE available. Voice plans start at $39.99 a month (same as the regular one-line starting plan) and additional lines will be $9.99 a month. AT&T's expecting lots of Family Talk Plans this time around because of the $199 price point.

Makes sense. But howsabouta family data? $30 a pop still per phone?

Read

Representative Ed Mackey (D-Mass) wants to make Apple & ATT (and all other US providers) cry. How? By copying the French. Well, technically, by adopting a law similar to France's which mandates that cell companies "shall offer to consumers the opportunity to purchase subsidy-free wireless customer equipment."

Under this proposal, Apple & ATT would likely be forced to offer an unlocked (and unsubsidized) version of the iPhone. (Bidding to start at US$999?)

Potentially worse for the telcos, it would mandate a level of clarity, detail, and (gasp!) understandability for rate plans, including itemization and disclosure of taxes and early termination fees.

Hit up news.com for the details...