Japanese news site Macotakara reported last week that Apple has supplied Made For iPhone accessory makers with a new authentication chip using Bluetooth 4.0 and the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol, making it easier to setup and authenticate devices for use over the dock connector and Bluetooth with a specific push for fitness and health-related apps.

It was previously speculated that this new authentication system would support Bluetooth for carrying content over AirPlay, but The Verge was able to squash the rumor with a bit of clarification from Apple. Instead, Apple wants more MFI accessory makers to use the new spec in devices like the recently-released Jawbone UP and similar hardware. The process will make it easier for users to configure wireless devices by connecting to WiFi networks and grabbing Bluetooth configuration information, ultimately requiring little effort on the user’s part to get everything up and running.

The Bluetooth Accessory Protocol was introduced in iOS 5, but only around 2 percent of MFI accessory makers are actually utilizing the new stack. Hopefully this new authentication chip will bring wider adoption to less tech-savvy iOS users, but we’ll have to wait until we start seeing supporting hardware pop up in the market.

Source: Macotakara via The Verge

According to a report by Fierce Wireless, U.S. Cellular apparently turned down the opportunity to carry Apple’s new iPhone 4S:

U.S. Cellular turned down Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone because it did not make sense for the company economically, CEO Mary Dillon said on the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call. Dillon said that the carrier had the opportunity to sell the iPhone but that Apple’s “terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint.”

Dillon mentioned that U.S. Cellular may be open to carrying the iPhone a little further down the road. It’s possible that these “unacceptable terms” could have been similar to the Sprint deal that required a hefty four year investment to get into the iPhone game.

Meanwhile, the three big U.S. carriers that do have the iPhone 4S are booming following huge initial sales.

Canaccord Genuity’s Mike Walkley this morning raised his already fairly high estimate for this quarter’s sales by Apple (AAPL) of its iPhone from 27 million units to 29 million units, after his “checks” last month suggested the iPhone 4S was the top seller at AT&T (T), Sprint-Nextel (S), and Verizon Communications (VZ).

C-Spire Wireless, a much smaller regional carrier with around 875,000 subscribers, was able to pick up the iPhone 4S just fine by working within Apple’s terms.

So what gives, U.S. Wireless?

Source: FierceWireless, Barron’s

It looks as though Apple has decided to take all future software updates wireless and Apple will now stream all iOS updates over the air (OTA). This could be a great thing for folks who don’t want to depend on a computer to have to update their devices and even better if iCloud ends up bringing iTunes to you wirelessly.

Apple is “cutting the cord,” according to Forstall. New menus and a new Welcome screen will also be implemented into iOS 5 as well.

Are you excited about Apple cutting the cord on software updates or a little wary? How do you think this will effect the future of jailbreak?

It looks like the 16GB 3G variant of the iPad is now being offered on T-Mobile for UK customers. Depending on what plan you choose, you can snag a bit of a discount on the actual iPad.

New customers can get 1GB of data + 1GB of quiet time data (data used between midnight and 10am) for £27.00/month which will bring the actual iPad cost to £199.00. Existing customers can get the same data plan for £25.00/month and receive the same £199.00 deal on the actual device.

If you’d prefer to go no contract, there are 3 pay as you go plans you can choose from -

• 500MB/day for £2.00/day
• 1GB/week for £7.00/week
• 2GB/month for £15.00/month

If you choose one of the pay as you go plans, the iPad will cost you £529.99. You can also add insurance to your iPad for £12.99/month.

Anyone out there on T-Mobile UK thinking about snagging one of these plans?

via T-Mobile UK

AT&T released some pretty impressive numbers today with 5.2 million iPhone activations in Q3 2010. The iPhone obviously contributes a significant portion of AT&T’s smartphone sales, or what they are referring to as “integrated devices”. AT&T also claims that over 80% of postpaid activations (contract lines) were integrated devices. Around 8 million integrated devices were sold in total. Since the iPhone can only be sold with a contract, it’s safe to assume those 5.2 million iPhones were a portion of that 8 million. That means that around 65% of AT&T’s smartphone activations were iPhones. That’s tremendous. It also tops AT&T’s previous record for iPhones activated in a quarter, which was 3.2 million.

AT&T relies heavily on iPhone sales to boost their margins and bottom line when it comes to smartphone sales and data plan sales. If another carrier in the US should start carrying the iPhone, that could hit AT&T where it hurts. A lot of people that are tied into family plans and business accounts (which is a good majority), are probably less likely to migrate due to the cost of ETFs and migrating. Users that are out of contract or on single line plans may be more prone to jump ship. I’m personally one who thinks not as many people will leave when they realize how much it’ll cost them. AT&T’s got them for a year or two. What do you guys think?

[via AT&T]

BGR is reporting that one of their reliable sources is claiming to know Apple’s iTunes is going to the cloud and soon. The source states these cloud capabilities will be broken down into 3 separate groups:

• Streaming music and movies from Apple’s servers to your computers, devices, etc.
• Streaming music and movies from your home computers to your other computers, remote devices, etc.
• Wireless iTunes syncing with devices

Is this the fabled iTunes.com we’ve been hearing about for a while now, and if so, when can we expect all of these exciting new iTune features? Our best guess – Apple’s yearly fall event, which as you may already know is all about the iPod and music. BGR’s tipster even added we will see Apple introduce “two new devices with camera/camcorder capabilities.”

One might be that new iOS Apple TV we’ve heard rumored before. The other…? Speculate in the comments below!

[BGR]

Needless to say, the announcement from Sonos that you can now control all of this via your iPhone is really exciting! I personally don’t use Sonos, but I have a friend that does, and he filled me on on the scoop…

I have 5 zones of Sonos in my house. And let me give you a break down of why I use this product versus others. Sonos allows me the ability to access several sources of music via a wireless hand held controller. 

This controller has hard buttons, a touch sensitive scroll wheel, and a large LCD display for metadata and navigation. Now with the controller I can access some amazing things. First, I can access any shared music files on my personal computer including my itunes library. Beyond that the music selection is near limitless. I can access several on-line subscription services (free 30 day trials included with the purchase). Rhapsody, Pandora, Napster, Sirius, and 1500 pre- loaded internet radio stations, all from my handheld controller(s)!  I can search via all the expected criteria, and build Pandora stations right from the controller! The Sonos system transmits this data wirelessly from a sending unit my router out to each room, or “zone”. In each room is a Sonos receiver/amplifier connected to various speaker types depending on the specific room.  This is where it gets fun.  With the controller I can turn each zone on or off, select the music of choice, and control the volume of each zone independent of one another! I can “link” zones to have them all playing the same music, or not!

Now that I have explained the Sonos concept you are wondering where the iPhone comes in to play right? Well, enter the new Sonos controller application!  Being that the controllers are a cool $400 apiece (and worth it!), how much cooler would it be to have Sonos at my finger tips from the moment I walk in to my wifi network right here on my $200 iPhone! Well, being that Sonos is wifi based, 801.11-ish, its is all possible.

Pros: I get total control of my zones on my iPhone. I love this, its brilliant.

Cons: I use Sonos as my alarm clock (thats right), but I can’t control the alarm via the iPhone application.

Also, the iPhone should be a zone in itself! I could be mowing the lawn listening quite literally to almost anything I could ever want.  Hopefully these changes are just an update away!

You can find out more about Sonos and other cool “entertainment solutions” by visiting Entertainment Solutions in their store or online.

Before we say anything about the app, Simplify Media, go download it. Like right now. The first 100,000 iPhone users who download Simplify Media will receive it for free. After that, they’ll be charged a cool $3.99. Who doesn’t like a deal? Okay, good.

Simplify Media is an app that uses the desktop version on your Mac or PC to wirelessly stream your iTunes Library to your iPhone. So essentially the storage cap for music on your iPhone is essentially removed. Plus, it also works over EDGE and 3G and you have the option of listening to 30 of your friends’ iTunes Library as well. In other words, Simplify Media is oozing and dripping with potential.

Here’s to hoping you got a chance to be one of the first 100,000 users to download! As soon as we get things running, we at TiPb will let you know how well Simplify Media actually works!

ReadVia

Apple is rumored to be in talks with Orange, France’s exclusive iPhone carrier, to cut pricing on iPhone in hopes of stimulating sales in that country. Since it first marched down the Champs Elysées four months ago, iPhone has been greeted with as much acceptance by French consumers as bad Camembert cheese – selling just over 100,000 units in that period. That’s owing to the fact the French iPhone, much like its fat pasty American counterpart, lacks 3G wireless.

Europe enjoys greater 3G buildout than North America’s wireless infrastructure, so its absence in iPhone makes it even less desirable than leftover onion soup. Naturally the French have thumbed their already erect noses at Apple’s wonder device, and said “Merde!” to iPhone. But with the imminent arrival of a 3G model drawing nigh, this won’t be an issue for much longer.

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Unlimited calling plans seem to be all the rage these days, with every carrier provision subscribers with “all you can speak” plans. Now even iPhone users will soon be able to gab all they want, and not pay dearly for it in the next billing cycle. According to Engadget, AT&T will be soon offer a special iPhone bundled unlimited calling plan for the low price of just $119.99 a month. Not a bad deal I suppose, if you spend ever waking hour of your day with a cell phone symbiotically attached to your face.

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China’s largest wireless carrier wants to bring iPhone to its customers. According to sources within China Mobile, the company is deeply interested in negotiating a deal with Apple, though no formal talks have yet taken place. I guess the Chinese have given up on trying to clone the iPhone after recent failed attempts.

China represents one of the worlds largest and fastest growing wireless markets. One that could prove very lucrative for Apple, and fill its coffers with lots of Yuan.

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Put down your pint of Guinness and drop your Blarney stone. Apple struck a deal with O2 Ireland to bring iPhone to the land of shamrocks and bar fights. That confirmation comes straight from the horses mouth, depending on which end is speaking, in the form of an official announcement on O2′s website which lists iPhone’s availability on March 14. So there you have it.

Now how about making a nice pot of corned beef and cabbage for wee little Kent?

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Yes, it seems The Boy Genius Report jumped the shark by misinterpreting some cryptically worded internal memo from AT&T as proof positive the company would soon be rolling out a tethering feature (and plan) for iPhone. Sadly, or not, it is not to be. Nope turns out that memo described nothing more the process of tethering iPhone to iTunes. Ironically that document was intended to clear up customer confusion and had precisely opposite effect. AT&T – Raising the bar.

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Alright, you Aussies. Drop your didgeridoos and Kangaroos and get down from your gum trees, because iPhone is coming to your bush. What’s that you ask? Is Kent a few Kangaroos loose in the top paddock? Nope, and I haven’t been smoking any strange Aboriginal tobacco either.

T-Mobile says it will begin rolling out iPhones to customers sometime in the first half of this year, give or take. Abso-bloody-lutely they will, so start saving your zacks now. Now stop questioning my sanity unless you want to start a barney. Got it? Ta!

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iPhone may soon come to the land of the rising sun. Word on the street is that NTT DoCoMo head honcho, Masao Nakamura, has been seen in public holding hands with a certain American wearing faded denim jeans and black mock turtleneck sweater. He confirms today that his company is actively engaged in talks with Apple, but shrugged off questions concerning terms or product release dates.

I’ll lay you odds that Apple won’t swindle the same lucrative revenue sharing margins out of NTT that they’ve managed to extract from other wireless carriers, like our very own AT&T. And unless this agreement concerns the upcoming 3G model, iPhone has zero chance of success in Japan, which is a much more tech savvy market that doesn’t look kindly on non-HSDPA phones.

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Germans. You think you’re all so smart with your pickled cabbage, exotic sausages, fine Pilsners and now UNLOCKED iPhones? For just a few hundred Euros, you can waltz over to a computer, dock your iPhone, pay an unlocked premium fee through iTunes, and enjoy the privilege of using your iPhone on any wireless carrier you choose.

Well that’s all well and good, but just remember we Americans still poses the worlds most egomaniacal corporate CEO, Steve Jobs. Top that!

Readvia Boy Genius

Bonjour! My name is Jacques. On behalf of the people of France I would just like to say Merci to you Americans for exporting the Suprême iPhone. We French are quite accustomed to pinching and making gestures with our fingers, so the iPhone will be as second nature to us, oui? However, our country already has too many elitist assholes, so you may keep Steve Jobs. Just give us the iPhone and we can forget the unpaid loans you still owe us from the American Revolution. Did you swine think we had forgotten that our King Louis financed your war of independence, and allowed your con man, Benjamin Franklin, to rob our national treasury! Give us iPhone, and we give your freedom… and I don’t mean fries, mon ami.

Read les press release after les break.

Apple Chooses Orange as Exclusive Carrier for iPhone in France

PARIS—October 16, 2007—Apple® and Orange today announced that Orange, the leading wireless carrier in France, will be the exclusive French carrier partner for the revolutionary iPhone™ when it makes its debut in France on Thursday, November 29. iPhone combines three devices into one—a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod®, and the best mobile Internet device ever—all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. Apple sold its one millionth iPhone just 74 days after it went on sale in the US on June 29.

“We are excited to partner with Orange and bring iPhone to France in time for the holidays,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone is an amazing product and we hope mobile users in France will love it as much as we do.”

“The iPhone is a marvelous product and will change how people think about mobile. I’m delighted that it is launching in France through Orange, and I’m sure that our customers share my excitement. Our partnership with Apple is a natural fit because we are two global brands who share the same values of simplicity and innovation. It’s going to be a very merry Christmas for Orange customers all over the country!” said Didier Lombard, CEO, France Telecom.

In addition to all the revolutionary features that made iPhone so popular in the US, iPhone users in France will have access to Apple’s latest music offerings on iPhone including the iTunes® Wi-Fi Music Store. The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store offers customers the ability to browse, search, preview, purchase and download songs and albums from iTunes over the built-in Wi-Fi on their iPhone. Music fans can start enjoying their music purchases immediately on their iPhone with no computer required. Once they connect their iPhone back to their PC or Mac®, downloaded music will automatically sync back into their iTunes library.

Pricing & Availability iPhone is scheduled to go on sale on November 29 and will be sold in France through Orange’s online and direct retail stores. iPhone will be available in an 8GB model for €399 including V.A.T. for any subscription to one of the dedicated rate plans and will work with either a PC or Mac.

iPhone activation will require an Internet connection; an iTunes Store account; the latest version of iTunes available at www.itunes.fr and a PC or Mac with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems: Mac OS® X v10.4.10 or later; Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later; or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate Edition.

Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. France Telecom serves more than 163 million customers in five continents as of June 30, 2007, of which two thirds are Orange customers. The Group had consolidated sales of 51.7 billion euros in 2006 and 25.9 billion euros for the 1st semester of 2007. At June 30, 2007 the group had 102.5 million mobile customers and 10.5 million broadband internet (ADSL) customers. Launched in June 2005, the NExT program (New Experience in Telecommunications) will enable the Group to pursue its transformation as an integrated operator and make France Telecom the benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. In 2006, Orange became the Group’s single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates, and Orange Business Services the banner for services offered to businesses worldwide. France Telecom is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband internet services in Europe and one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies. France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris and on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information: www.orange.com, www.francetelecom.com, www.orange-business.com.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

Someone has devised a clever yet altogether impractical way of getting 3G speeds on iPhone by pairing it with a Windows Mobile Smartphone equipped with HSDPA. Now, rather than go into details I’ll simply refer you to the the website to see and judge for yourself. And I won’t be putting this process to the test because my sole Windows Mobile device, a newly purchased AT&T Tilt, is being returned due to the fact it is an utter piece of bovine anal excrement.

For those who crave adventure and just love cramming radioactive gadgets in your pants, go for it. I won’t stop you.

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Reuters reports that German mobile operator Deutsche Telekom has signed an exclusive agreement with Apple, bringing iPhone to the land of bier and lederhosen. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed, but according to one source an announcement from both sides will come as early as next week.

Neither company is offering comments at this time, but when asked by reporters whether a partnership had been reached, a press agent for T-Mobile clicked his heals together, raised one arm in solute, and shouted “Jawohl!”.

So there you have it. Willkommen zur Partei, Deutschland!

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Syd from Alien Camel sends word that his company is offering free full IMAP email service to a select group of hardcore users that spend all day in their inbox, to test out their new service and provide feedback.

You must meet a specified list of requirements in order to join.

• You must be willing to participate in providing us with feedback about our service. The feedback maybe requested via email, Instant Messaging, telephone call or by completing a web form.
• You will need to be a registered and activated iPhone user. We will require your mobile phone number if you are selected as we will be sending out your confirmation code via SMS. If you don’t want to provide us with your mobie phone number please do not apply.
• We will remind you to cancel your “free account” before the year is up or signup for a standard plan.
• Your account must be active and used at least once a month, if not, we may close the account.

Many are called, few are chosen. Sign up now.

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Nokia held a gala press event earlier today, proudly showcasing its newest line of consumer handsets and high-end smartphones, all very common and sporting the usual design flair we’ve come to love, and lament. But the true highlight of the show came during a special promotional video demonstrating upcoming technology Nokia has cooking in its labs. wink wink

An amazed audience looked on in stunned disbelief as the video revealed a slim device with full sized touchscreen – demonstrating nearly every feature of iPhone. Right down to gesture navigation and motion acumen identical to iPhone’s patented MultiTouch interface and accelerometer-driven screen reorientation.

Apparently the phone maker from Finland has run out of ideas and now looks to its competitors for inspiration. Great work, guys! What will you rip-off think of next?

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Some hosers in Montreal successfully managed to get iPhones working on Canada’s Rogers wireless network, with a little help of the rather costly TurboSIM card method. Apparently these chaps are unaware of the 18 million and counting software unlock solutions that cost nothing, or they could have saved themselves the price of 200 maple leaves, eh?

Come on, Canada. The Israelis are making you look like chumps!

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Financial Times reports that Apple has managed to secure exclusive contracts with several major European mobile operators in efforts to bring iPhone to France, Germany, and the UK, later this fall.

An official announcement outlining the details of the partnership will be made public at the end of this month, during the IFA trade fair in Berlin. Speculation is running high that T-Mobile, O2, and Orange will be Apple’s dance partners, though all three declined to comment (wink wink).

I’m just as happy to see iPhone move beyond US shores as much as any citizen of the world, but the part that drives a MacBook through my heart is the Euro model will include 3G support. weeping

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Let this serve as a warning to all readers about the dangers of unexpected international roaming charges. Heric Silva shares his experience and illustrates why you need to keep an eye on your iPhone while traveling overseas.

I recently went to Europe for 9 days. I used my iPhone over there and it seemed to work very well. I received my bill the other day and it was over $1200, yes $1200. When I had my Treo I usually get a bill for about $400 to $500 when I was in Europe. Now the problem is that the iPhone does not have anyway of controlling the amount of data you receive, unlike the treo where you can limit the amount of email data you download and giving you the option to download the rest if you like and letting you know the size prior to downloading it so you can see if it is worth the money. When I used my iPhone and press any of the applications that require updating to retrieve stock, weather, email or whatever it needs…you get hit really hard on the $ per KB international roaming charges. Also the email client does not store the downloaded/viewed emails it always has to pull them down from the web so even if I already looked at it it would download it again and incur roaming data charge!

This is a major flaw that will cost users a bundle. Why do they bother to give you 8GB of memory if they don’t even use it for email storage and downloaded files. The iPhone is essentially an iPod with a phone and the phone portion is very limited.

I called AT&T to complain and they said “sorry these are all legitimate charges, give Apple a call.” I have called them but I was on hold for about 45 minutes so I gave up and will try again. I think they should pay my bill, their poor design causes the users to incur unnecessary data charges.

This flaw should be made public and they should re-reimburse all users that have incurred these massive charges.

Over the weekend I received my AT&T bill in the mail – both of them. Huh…TWO envelopes? Rather than the usual slim parcel containing a handful of billing statements, I received two overstuffed packets filled with nearly sixty pages, detailing every minutia of data. While this is still a far cry from Justine Ezarik’s infamous 300 page AT&T bill, it still exceeds the boundaries of reason and is horrific waste of tree.

Somewhere in the world, birds and squirrels were made homeless to provide me with this worthless example of excess. AT&T promises to cut down on the paper trail, but I have my own solution – online billing. I pay my cell phone bill online, and have for several years now. Why AT&T feels compelled to bless me with redundant paper invoices is beyond me.

Join AT&T, kill a tree.

Dave Stolte had a nasty surprise in store for him, upon returning from a trip to Eurorpe (with his iPhone) – a $3,000 bill from AT&T. It seems David learned the hard way that AT&T does not offer international roaming with its iPhone data plans.

Two weeks of travel with sporadic AT&T EDGE network usage off and on mixed with wifi when available… $3000. Doing some research, I learned this morning that AT&T offers unlimited international data usage at $70 per month to its Blackberry customers. Here’s my bottom line: I want this same usage plan to be made available to iPhone customers and to be applied retroactively to my account.

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Among the dull roar of criticisms about iPhone I have to endure, one in particular stands out as the most irritating and unfounded – the attack against AT&T. I hear these slanderous indictments all the time…“Why did Apple choose AT&T?”, “AT&T sucks! They should have gone with Verizon or Sprint”, “AT&T is evil”. Blah blah blah.

Here’s a bit of schooling for you numbskulls – What you don’t understand is that the quality and reliability of wireless service in the U.S. is subjective and varies from one location to another. For example, in my specific locale, Sprint offers the worst reliability and coverage of any major carrier. T-Mobile is practically non-existent. Verizon offers great service, but their selection of handsets is abysmal. So, for all practical purposes, AT&T is the “best” wireless carrier for me. Your experience will vary. A friend of mine who lives in Redmond Washington (no, it isn’t Bill Gates) says that T-Mobile offers the best coverage and voice quality in his area, while Sprint is teh suck. So which one of us is right? We both are.

Unlike other parts of the world like Asia and Europe, wireless infrastructure in North America is less ubiquitous and unevenly distributed. This is the reason why we suffer through so many dropped calls, poor voice quality, and latency.

So yes, AT&T does suck. And so does Verizon. So does Sprint. So does T-Mobile. And so on. There is no “best” wireless carrier, only best in your location. Live it, learn it, be it.

Germany’s biggest retailer says iPhone mania is sweeping the land of Beer and Wursts. A spokesperson told to German newspaper Tagesspiegel that it receives more than 1,000 inquiries a day about iPhone, asking when it will be available.

As a nice segway to the earlier story posted today revealing that 25% of iPhone users have switchted to AT&T, more than 50% of Germans say they too would switch carriers to get an iPhone.

Sehr gut!

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American Technology Research today reported from sources unknown that more than 25% of iPhone users are “switchers” coming from other wireless carriers. The firm also sees iPhone’s potential to lure users to a particular carrier as a stong bargaining chip for Apple as it negotiates exclusive contracts to one lucky European carrier.

You know the execs at Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile have to be drinking lots of pink medicinal liquid right about now.

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Democrats led the charge outlining the evils of these seedy agreements that undermine competition and erect walled gardens around carrier’s subscriber base.

Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey quoted a popular song by the Eagles, when describing the five year exclusive contract between Apple and AT&T.

“The problem with the iPhone is that the iPhone with AT&T is kind of like a ‘Hotel California’ service. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Hah! Eddy, you may not be my Congressman but you got my vote. The real comedy from this hearing came when lawmakers addressed the forum while waving their iPhones around in a threatening manor. That’s the kind of pork barrel spending I can appreciate. sigh

Sadly very little came out of this debate as no bill or formal proposal has been put forth (yet) to create legislation. But I’ll bet you a shiny new quarter that if iPhone really does spark a large migration of Verizon and Sprint subscribers to AT&T, they will eagerly embrace congress’s efforts in order to unlock AT&T’s stranglehold on the iPhone. And so would Apple. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if contributions from Cupertino are behind this chatter. After all, Apple more than anyone stands to benefit from exclusivity breakup.

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Granted, early termination sanctions are nothing new in the wireless industry. Many years ago I once had to pony up $300 to free myself from the shackles of Centennial Wireless (a carrier I recommend avoiding), so this is nothing new. But this story points out the unrestricted power that carriers extend over enslaved customers. Rather like our our government, wouldn’t you say?

Hang on a sec, there’s a knock at my door. Some nice gentlemen in a black van just pulled into my driveway. Be right back…

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Meanwhile, Carter hinted that iPhone “may offer cool features such as unlimited Web browsing.” However, customers should be prepared to pay extra for that luxury. “Regardless of which device you’re using today, you pay us a certain amount for (voice) minutes, and you also pay us for data units,” he said. “That is also true on the iPhone.”

Wait, what? I already pay $19, on top of voice, for unlimited data, which includes all-you-can-eat web browsing. Is AT&T planning to further sodomize me with some form of premium iPhone-only data plan? In the words of the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, “that’s bullshit!”.

[UPDATE:]Now AT&T is saying it will announce data pricing before launch day. Oh well, doesn’t matter. The news won’t be good. We’re still getting screwed.

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From the department of delusional thinking comes this delightfully oblivious statement from Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg speaking at press conference at NXTcomm.

“We just added four new devices in the past month,” he said. “The new BlackBerry is flying off shelves. The way we see it, our customers have price points and service packaging that is different.” “The way we come at this is to let the iPhone hit the market,” he said. “I don’t think it changes the game plan for how we approach the market. But we need to see the impact. The burden is on (AT&T and Apple) to prove the market will change.” “The iPhone will add excitement and stimulation to the market,” he said. “If we have done our job, then we will be a beneficiary. I hope it does reasonably well.”

Oh Ivan, you silly little man. Not only doesn’t he see iPhone as a threat, or so he claims, he goes further in asserting that iPhone will aggregate positive growth for his company. Hmm, let me see if I understand his logic correctly – so, if I were an existing Verizon customer, I am (in his mind) so pumped over the iPhone that I will stick with my contract and upgrade to a BlackBerry Curve? Yeah, that makes sense.

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A poll conducted by research firm M:Metrics in May concluded that nearly 19 Million (queue Dr. Evil voice) cell phone users here in the land of the free are willing to shell out $599 for an iPhone – and intend to do so on June 29. If this survey translates into reality, Verizon and Sprint may see a huge defection among their subscriber base as customers migrate to AT&T in order to get an iPhone.

I don’t put much faith behind polls, but I do believe that all the iPhone haters out there are going to be left with egg on their face as June 29+ will reveal some rather interesting surprises.

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Whether iPhone becomes a huge success or a lukewarm seller remains to be seen. But it’s a safe bet the product will achieve iconic status. When you look at the current handset landscape no clear challenger emerges, and that’s going to present Verizon, Sprint, et al., with an enormous disadvantage and something to sweat over as iPhone’s launch date looms.

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European Operators are hot happy with the fruity company from Cupertino. Apparently Apple is not playing friendly with its iPhone distribution plans for the EU market.

“Operators consistently told us, not for attribution, of course, that they had spoken to Apple and found the company ‘unbelievably arrogant’, making demands that ‘simply cannot be justified no matter how hot the product is’,” Avi Greengart, a principal analyst at Current Analysis, wrote in an advisory on Monday. “Several [operators] were adamant that they will never offer the iPhone.”

[Via Vnunet]

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Here’s something that will make your blood peculate. AT&T Senior VP, James W. Cicconi, says the company recently began working with movie studios and record labels to develop anti-piracy technology targeting offenders. Now, I’m all for copyright protection, in fact I am one of the few sick bastards that actually supports DRM (in tolerable form), but I draw the line when my privacy is sacrificed. I don’t consume or traffic in narcotics, but that doesn’t mean I would allow the police to enter my domicile every night to check under my bed for drugs.

In a perfect world, government would step in to intercede on our behalf. But in reality Uncle Sam will simply want a piece of the action. sigh

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Some industrious haxor developer has created an interesting yet simple demo web application, highlighting what is possible via iPhone’s Safari browser. I still have very mixed feelings about this framework. Maybe I’ve been hanging around PDAs too long, but I prefer system-native applications as apposed to the Web 2.0 approach.

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Jibi from The Boy Genius Report expresses his doubts that iPhone can sustain long term growth due to inherent limitations like a lack of third party apps, limited corporate a adoption, etc. The usual complaints.

The Apple iPhone will have early success; Apple and AT&T have all but ensured this fact. It’s rare that Apple has failed with any product launch since the re-crowning of Steve Jobs and the first generation iMac. However, Apple has also been known to release rather faulty first generation products that tend to get better in the second and third and beyond generations – they never get it ‘right’ in the first go-round. Until the next generation iPhone is released, or until third-party application development and porting is opened up to allow integration within the messaging infrastructures of Corporate America, not web-based applications, do not expect to see long-term growth and sales figures to be anything to marvel about (although failed expectations may be mentioned in conversation).

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Om Malik outlines five points about the iPhone that could have a dramatic impact on the wireless business.

• A true web applications platform for the mobile
• Break the Wireless Walled Gardens
• Shift of control to the customers
• Slow demise of subsidized, boring phones filled with bloat ware
• Keep it simple or else

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The order will not affect the introduction of Apple Inc.’s iPhone June 29. AT&T Inc. has exclusive rights to carry the iPhone, and the gadget’s first version uses the carrier’s EDGE network, which is not covered by the ITC ruling. Apple doesn’t need a lift from its competitors’ woes anyway, said Michael King, an analyst at Gartner Inc. technology research firm. “There so much hype around the iPhone that I don’t think they will be able to produce enough to meet demand, so this won’t help much,” he said.

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Source: MacRumors

Robb Dunewood over at RIMarkable poses the question..

Before I became a die-hard BlackBerry user I was a die-hard Windows Mobile (Pocket PC at the time) user. I couldn’t imagine that I would ever be interested in a device like the BlackBerry, yet, RIMarkable is about to enter into its third year of existence. Truth be told, I will more than likely get an iPhone shortly after it comes out but it will be in addition to my BlackBerry. If I remember correctly, however, my first BlackBerry was in addition to my Windows Mobile device.

And so it begins. Apple’s first rival rears is ugly head. Well, not ugly. Just not as well designed or well implemented. This is HTC’s answer to iPhone and its gesture-based navigation. Dubbed the “Touch” (cute), this device offers an ingenious rotating UI layered on top of Windows Mobile.

What bothers me about this device isn’t so much that it’s a blatant ripoff of iPhone, and even marketing panache ala Apple. No, I don’t like the fact it takes something good; namely HTC’s custom UI, and layers it over something that wasn’t designed to operate like the iPhone – Windows Mobile. Like lipstick on a pig, this device fails to even remotely mimic the iPhone user experience.

That said, I give HTC a B+ for its effort.

C|Net UK chats up the coming apocalypse sparked by iPhone shortages.

Sales representatives also said they are expecting big crowds for the launch, many of whom are likely to camp out overnight in front of stores to make sure they are one of the first to get the new phone. “If I were you, I’d probably try going to some little store in New Jersey that nobody knows about,” the Times Square representative said. Even Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, suggested to technology pundit Arianna Huffington that she go to an AT&T store where lines might be shorter than at Apple’s stores.

I’m scared. Someone hold my hand.

If there is one thing I cannot tolerate it’s a technology company playing with my emotions by promising one thing and delivering another. During the keynote, Steve Jobs clearly indicated the iPhone will not have 3G support built-in, meaning it will not poses UMTS or HSDPA technology. And yet John Markoff of the New York Times is claiming that Apple will provide a firmware upgrade that will unlock this hidden functionality.

Hint to Mr. Markoff 3G is a hardware feature, not software. Meaning that it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than a firmware upgrade to add 3G capability to iPhone if the underlying hardware that enables it is missing. Smacks John on forehead

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