Say Where is now available on the App Store!

Say Where is the first iPhone application for voice-entry to popular websites for mapping, business search, and reviews. Instead of typing, iPhone users just speak any “place” – any address, business, or point of interest. Users choose the mobile site to launch, such as Traffic.com, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and more. Featuring new voice-entry technology and open user interface simplicity across devices, Say Where unlocks mobile content for mainstream adoption.

Here’s how Say Where works:
- Speak into your iPhone and say any place: like “524 Broadway” — “Delfina Pizzeria” — “Golden Gate Bridge” or “dog parks”.
- Then choose the website to launch!

Calling a store? Say Where – to YellowPages
Deciding on a restaurant? Say Where – to Yelp
Traffic conditions? Say Where – to Traffic.com

AT&T today confirmed that the iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11th. AT&T has also outlined pricing and upgrade eligibility.

iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:

• iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
• Customers activating a new line with AT&T
• Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount

Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).

Current customers may also choose to wait until they become eligible for an upgrade discount. Eligibility is generally determined by amount of time remaining on a current contract and payment history.

Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.

Voice, Data and Text Messaging Plans

AT&T brings iPhone 3G customers the best coverage on the globe and the largest mobile-to-mobile calling community with unlimited calling to AT&T’s 71.4 million wireless customers. iPhone 3G customers can choose from four individual AT&T Nation plans, which bundle voice and unlimited data (e-mail and Web browsing).

• AT&T NationSM Unlimited: Includes unlimited Anytime Minutes for $129.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 1350: Includes 1350 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $109.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 900: Includes 900 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $89.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 450: Includes 450 Anytime Minutes and 5,000 Night & Weekend Minutes for $69.99 a month.

All AT&T Nation and AT&T FamilyTalk® plans for iPhone 3G include nationwide long distance and roaming, Visual Voicemail, Rollover®, unlimited Mobile to Mobile calling, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, Three-Way Calling and Caller ID.

AT&T will offer FamilyTalk plans, with bundled voice and unlimited data, starting as low as $129.99 a month for two iPhone 3G lines. Up to three additional iPhone lines can be added for $39.99 each.

Unlimited text messaging can be added for an additional $20 ($30 for FamilyTalk plans of up to five lines); $15 (1,500 messages), or $5 (200 messages).

iPhone for Business

Business customers interested in iPhone 3G should contact an AT&T business sales representative or review their account information online to determine their eligibility for upgrade pricing. Corporate e-mail and other business applications require the Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone, which is $45 a month and bundled with an eligible voice plan. Small business customers may qualify for AT&T BusinessTalk, the industry’s only shared plan specifically for small businesses. Additional details on iPhone business offerings are available at www.att.com/iphoneforbusiness.

iPhone 2.0 Software

All iPhone customers will benefit from the iPhone 2.0 software, which will be pre-loaded on all iPhone 3Gs and available as a free download for current iPhone customers. The new software will include numerous enhancements, such as business-class e-mail access via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync; the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), which allows a business to easily create applications customized to its needs; and the App Store, which offers a wide-range of applications — from games to business, education to entertainment and productivity to social networking. For example, AT&T has developed YELLOWPAGES.COM Mobile for iPhone, which takes local mobile search to a new level by allowing users to discover businesses and local events based on their popularity among other iPhone users, get directions and access business reviews.

Rogers finally released their data pricing plans for then iPhone.

The pricing starts from 60$ a month, and goes up to $115 a month. The cheapest plan offers 150 free minutes, unlimited weekends and evenings, 75 SMS, 400mb of Data usage, while most expensive plan has 800 free minutes, 300 SMS, and 2GB of data.

You can see all plans in the following picture:

Interestingly you will have a free access to Rogers and Fido Wi-Fi hotspots. as well as an identical plan from Fido.

“As the wireless provider voted number one in wireless satisfaction(x), Fido is thrilled to offer a variety of well-priced voice and data plans making iPhone 3G accessible to as many of our customers as possible,” said Sylvain Roy, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fido. “These pricing plans will allow our urban customer base easy enjoyment of all that iPhone 3G has to offer.”

Back when the iPhone first launched in the UK, many users were disappointed by the comparatively high price Apple and carrier O2 were charging.  One of the key messages from the iPhone 3G announcement, then, was the confirmation that the same $199 (or equivalent) entry point would be matched in all markets.  O2 have just unveiled their monthly contract details, including confirmation that the carrier will be subsidising the 8GB iPhone 3G to free on certain contracts, as well as revealed that for the first time the handset will be available on pay-&-go prepay.

O2 are yet to release details of pay-&-go iPhones, but we do know the pricing for the contract version.  A new £30 plan has been introduced, which means there are now four contract choices (£30, £35, £45, £75); on the two cheaper plans the iPhone 3G will cost £99, whereas on the two higher-priced plans it will be free.  That assumes a new eighteen month contract.

All tariffs include unlimited browsing, unlimited Wi-Fi access, visual voicemail and reduced roaming rates with O2’s International Traveller Service.  Existing iPhone owners will be able to upgrade to the new 3G model without penalty, as long as they sign up to a new 18-month contract; they’ll pay the normal price for whatever tariff they choose.

So, what’s with the new iPhone 3G?

Well, it’s pretty much the same iPhone as before — except now it’s down to $200, and has way faster 3G data, A-GPS (which is even better than regular GPS), as well as a flush headphone jack (which is great for anyone who doesn’t want to use Apple’s bundled headphones). Oh, and it’s also a little thinner around the edges, and a little thicker at the center. If you want to know what it was like to try out, check out our iPhone 3G hands-on.

How’d they get the price so low? The iPhone used to be crazy expensive.

Actually, depending on how you do the math it’s not actually cheaper. Now, in some countries the iPhone is free when you sign up for service, and in the US you’ll pay $200 for the 8GB model — half what it was a month ago — so you’re definitely paying less up front. But the data plans cost more now, so you might wind up spending more money over the long run.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is great interview with Brad Mays, AT&T PR made by editor of iphonebuzz.com Chase Higgins

Will you allow the iPhone 3G to be used on your pre paid service? No, each new iPhone requires a new, two-year contract. There will be no pre-paid or month-to-moth options.

Basically now there is no doubt, that the iPhone will not be able to be used on pre paid plans. This is unfortunate, as all the pre pay plans can do is give Apple more sales. It does not fit with Apple’s new plan to stop iPhone unlocking, and alas will not be allowed.

Can customers not eligible to receive a discount price, or those who are not willing to sign a contract, still get the iPhone 3G? No – see number one.

Well that is pretty straight forward. It does not answer the question though, if a customer currently on AT&T can get the iPhone 3G at the discount price. I am sure all that will come up in the future as the July 11th release draws nearer.

For people who are not in 3G areas but want the 3G iPhone for its looks, new features etc, will you still charge the extra $10 for data, or can they use the standard iPhone plans? We will provide more plan-specific information closer to the time of availability. But, as of right now, we have said that each new contract requires a voice and data plan. And, the new iPhone data plans are $30 for consumers, $45
for business users.

Well, it seems that AT&T prefers to deliver the typical corporate dance around. In my area, AT&T offers no 3G coverage, at all. There are plenty of areas with the same story, and it is hardly fair for them to pay an extra $10 a month for the same service they were getting with their old iPhone.

How will AT&T be activating the iPhone 3G, and can activation be done at home via iTunes still? All activations will take place in the store. We think this will give customers an opportunity to cover any questions they have before leaving the store.

We all know that this is not the case. Apple and AT&T are severely cracking down on iPhone unlocking, and are requiring all iPhones to go out the door activated. While there could be some truth to what was said here, it is more likely they are just trying to tighten control.

by Jonathan Cassell – Editorial Director and Manager, Public Relations
via iSuppli

What do you call a mobile phone that owners employ for voice communications less than half the time they are using it?

Apple Inc. calls it the iPhone, and iSuppli Corp.’s latest consumer survey research indicates that U.S. owners of the popular product are spending their time enjoying all its capabilities, i.e. voice, data communications and multimedia entertainment, rather than exclusively using it for traditional voice calls.

Owners of all types of mobile handsets use their phones for voice communications 71.7 percent of the time, according to research from iSuppli’s ConsumerTrak survey of U.S. residents. In contrast, iPhone owners spend just 46.5 percent of their time with the product engaged in voice calls. So what are consumers doing with their iPhones instead of talking?

U.S. consumers said they spent 12.1 percent of their iPhone usage time accessing the Internet, a stark contrast with 2.4 percent for all mobile phones on average. Furthermore, iPhone owners spent 11.9 percent of their usage time listening to music or other audio, compared to just 2.5 percent for all mobile handset users.

“This usage pattern shows Apple has succeeded in producing a true convergence product that consumers like to use for multiple purposes,” said Greg Sheppard, chief development officer for iSuppli. “Apple has come as close as anyone to achieving a balanced convergence in mobile-handset features and usage.”

The attached figure presents the breakdown of average time usage for iPhone owners as well as for all mobile handsets.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever wanted a good excuse to take your iPhone into class, how about using it to record your lectures? That’s what iPhone Recorder offers, together with the ability to directly record audio to ringtones without any computer necessary or any conversion processes in-between. Dynamic volume adjustment, channel and bitrate control, and a choice of mp3, mp4 and aac file formats round out a decent range of options; you can also directly attach them to an email from the app itself.

Now for the bad news: developer DreamCatcher is asking $29.95 for iPhone Recorder, which seems a bit steep for an audio recorder, even one as fully featured as this one is. It’ll be interesting to see what happens once the Apple App Store opens for business; right now iPhone Recorder requires a Jailbroken handset, but when people start finding their software the official way it’ll be far easier for developers to get freeware apps into the catalogue. Will there be a market for thirty-buck voice recorders by then?

[via ModMyiPhone]

via pocketnow.com

The recent announcement of a software development kit and the Microsoft Exchange Activesync support for the iPhone has raised the eyebrows of a few users who have remained hesitant from switching to the iPhone. Our own Brandon Miniman even exclaimed that now that the iPhone has Exchange support, various device form factors was the only reason left to stick to Windows Mobile.

On the contrary, here are 42 reasons you still don’t want an iPhone: Read the rest of this entry »