AT&T increases early upgrade prices for Apple’s iPhones by $50
“We’ve updated our early upgrade and no commitment price points for smartphones and feature phones,” a company spokesman said. “Only customers who are not yet upgrade eligible or who do not want to sign a contract are impacted.
“As mobile devices become more sophisticated, their cost goes up. This change reflects the increased costs, while still allowing us to offer customers the latest device before they qualify. We’re happy to discuss individual account and upgrade needs one-on-one with customers.”
No-commitment pricing on the iPhone 4 is $599 for the 16GB model, and $699 for 32GB of capacity.
While early upgrades for the iPhone are more expensive, the pricing for other smartphones has also changed. For customers looking to buy a smartphone other than an iPhone, AT&T’s one-year commitment pricing has increased by $150 for the cost of a handset. And no-commitment pricing for all smartphones other than the iPhone has also gone up by $50.
Last year, ahead of the iPhone 4 launch, AT&T made any customer with an upgrade date before the end of 2010 eligible for upgrade pricing on Apple’s latest handset. That meant that some customers were able to buy the iPhone 4 at the standard $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB subsidized pricing up to 6 months early.
Apple quickly releases iOS 4.2.6 with bug fixes for Verizon iPhone 4
On the day of the iPhone 4′s release on the Verizon network, Apple has released an update to the smartphone’s software to resolve a bug that affects the accuracy of Personal Hotspot data reporting.
After drawing record preorders last week, the Verizon iPhone 4 launched to modest lines Thursday, with one report calling the lines “laughably short.”
Though iOS 4.2.6 was first available as a direct download for review units in January, Apple issued official release notes Thursday to coincide with the launch of the CDMA iPhone 4. iOS version 4.2.6 “fixes a bug to ensure Personal Hotspot data usage is accurately reported (for Verizon iPhones),” according to the notes.
The Personal Hotspot WiFi tethering plan, which supports up to five WiFi devices, costs an additional $20 a month for 2GB of tethered data. Each additional gigabyte used will cost $20.
The free software update should be available to Verizon iPhone 4 users through iTunes.
The promptly released fix could be an effort by Apple and Verizon to head off a public relations nightmare from any billing errors as a result of the bug. Verizon has previously come under fire for its billing practices. In 2009, the FCC initiated an investigation of a hard-wired “Wireless Mobile Web” button that would charge Verizon users $1.99 when pressed.
QuickPoll: Is Verizon’s mobile data throttling move fair?
NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Verizon Wireless warned customers it may clamp down on heavy users of its wireless data services before an anticipated deluge of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhone customers.
The mobile service provider is expected to benefit from strong pent-up demand for the device as it ends AT&T Inc’s (T.N) more than three-year hold on U.S. iPhone sales.
During the first day of online sales of its new iPhone, the Verizon appeared initially to be facing heavy demand for the phone on its website, as some who tried to buy it were instead stymied by error messages. Verizon said its system ran smoothly and that the errors were user-specific.
One perceived advantage of buying the Verizon Wireless iPhone was its offer, at least initially, of unlimited data services for a flat monthly fee of $30. AT&T eliminated its unlimited data plan last year.
However some consumers may be less excited about this, if Verizon Wireless starts slowing down download speeds for the heaviest 5 percent of its smartphone data users as a document on its website suggests, analysts said.
“Neither one is rolling out the red carpet for heavy data users,” said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. “It makes Verizon Wireless equally unattractive.”
Verizon Deal May Expose IPhone Flaws
With this week’s announcement that Verizon Wireless is going to begin selling the iPhone — something its customers have been panting for ever since AT&T got that first, exclusive iPhone contract four years ago — it’s time for me to face the music. Nobody really cares that the iPhone is flawed. After this column, I’m going to stop caring too. I swear it.
Its design is undeniably elegant; both the iPhone and its sister device, the iPad, stand at the pinnacle of modern industrial design. The iPhone offers some 300,000 apps that delight its users. Photographs look gorgeous on an iPhone. “It is the first and best implementation of a highly mobile computer,” said Roger L. Kay, the president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a market intelligence firm.
Yet for all that it offers, the iPhone has always been plagued by serious drawbacks. The “phone” part of the iPhone has never worked very well, dropping calls with annoying regularity. Even when the phone works, the sound quality is often substandard. You would think in an age when fewer people are using landlines this would matter. Apparently not.
Acer Liquid Mini FCC Approval Obtained [FCC Approves Acer Liquid Mini. Will It Come to AT&T?]
Android is making its way to various devices, from smartphones to tablets. But one interesting application for Android is those small phones like the Sony Xperia Mini and Mini Pro. The Acer Liquid Mini is certainly among these tiny Android smartphones to look out for.
Measuring about 11 x 5.5 cm, the Acer Mini debuted at CES with a 3.2 inch touchscreen, 600 MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, and Android FroYo 2.2. The acer Liquid Mini is said to have passed FCC approval under AT&T’s 3G frequencies.
This doesn’t exactly confirm, though, whether AT&T will carry the phone, although speculations have it that AT&T might carry it, given the approval under its 3G frequency allocation.
The Acer Liquid Mini is meant to be a budget Android smartphone, much like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8. We wonder, though, what customizations Acer will implement on the Liquid Mini’s user interface to make it friendly with smaller screens. I personally use an Xperia X8 and the “corners” UI seems intuitive enough.
AT&T Gains FCC’s Ear as Regulators Near Decision on `Net-Neutrality’ Rules
AT&T Inc. has spoken more frequently than any other company with U.S. officials as they near a decision on rules that may restrict how carriers offer mobile Internet service, according to regulatory filings.
Jim Cicconi, a Republican who is AT&T’s top Washington executive, talked at least six times about the net-neutrality rules from Nov. 4 to Nov. 26 with Edward Lazarus, chief of staff at the Democrat-led Federal Communications Commission, according to disclosure filings with the agency.
In that span no other company discussed the open-Internet rules more than twice with Lazarus, who reports directly to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, according to the filings. Lazarus and officials advising Genachowski on the issue have met about two dozen times in the past month with AT&T opponents and public-interest advocates, Josh Gottheimer, an FCC spokesman, said today in an interview.
Companies such as Google Inc. that rely on the Web to reach customers have urged the FCC to pass rules that bar telephone and cable providers from interfering with the Internet traffic they deliver to subscribers. The carriers led by AT&T and Comcast Corp. say rules may restrict their ability to manage their networks and discourage investment in Internet capacity.
Samsung Focus Owners told by AT&T to wait for “certified” microSD cards (key: random access speed) Instead of Using Cards Available Now
A statement has been put out by AT&T lets all customers know that Windows Phone 7 devices require a “certified high-speed microSD card” in order to work optimally. Specifically the Samsung Focus right now is expandable with microSD cards is warned about in the AT&T statement, them then noting the fact that “Certified for Windows Phone 7″ is not yet marked on any microSD cards on the market. Updates came into Engadget after this new initially broke letting us know that microSD card compatibility with Windows Phone 7 devices isn’t just based on speed class – other factors including the number of random read/write operations play a role, too.
Gains from iPhone may mask struggles elsewhere for AT&T
On the surface, AT&T Inc . is growing like a weed, thanks to iPhone fertilizer.
The Dallas-based telecom giant said Thursday that a record 5.2 million iPhone activations in the third quarter helped boost sales and profit.
But the huge growth in wireless is masking other challenges at AT&T, and the potential loss of exclusive U.S. rights to sell the iPhone won’t help.
Just looking at the sales data, AT&T is on an upswing.
The company had sales of $31.6 billion in the quarter, up 2.8 percent from $30.7 billion in the third quarter of 2009 and better than the $31.2 billion analysts had expected.
Microsoft Readies New Phone Launch With AT&T
Microsoft Corp is set to unveil a new line of phones running its Windows software on Monday, as it attempts to pull back market share from Apple Inc’s iPhone and Google Inc’s Android system in the fast-growing market for multi-featured ‘smartphones’.
The world’s largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers such as Samsung, LG and HTC, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing.
The new phones, initially available on AT&T Inc’s network, have already been shown off in prototype form, and are much closer in look and feel to Apple’s iPhone, with colorful touch-screens and ’tiles’ for easy access to e-mail, the web, music and other applications.
Some analysts say they represent Microsoft’s last chance to catch up with rivals, which overtook them in the past few years. Handsets are not expected to appear in stores for a month, so their success may not be judged until the new year.
Microsoft has just a 5 percent share of the global smartphone market, according to research firm Gartner, compared with 9 percent a year ago. Google’s Android system has a 17 percent market share, jumping from only 2 percent a year ago.
The market for multi-feature phones that allow users to e-mail, surf the web and play games, as well as have access to music and video is set to expand massively.
Windows Phone 7: New US / UK Release Date and HTC Mondrian AT&T Ads
We have some good news for those of you planning to pick up a Windows Phone 7 handset on launch, as new release dates have been identified as the launch date for WP7 devices. We also have the first official video ads for you to take a look at.
As reported from RedmondPie, users in the UK will be pleased to know that Microsoft will be launching Windows Phone 7 in your region before the US. Specifically, October 21st has been nailed in as a potential date for Europe, while the US will get devices on November 8th, according to this report from Engadget.
Furthermore, we haven’t seen or heard too many details on the HTC Mondrian, but it looks certain that the device will be one of the first handsets to release on launch. Two official AT&T ads have leaked to the web, both showing the HTC Mondrian in action.