Apparently you can get a subsidized (non-iPhone) handset and then immediately "upgrade" to the iPhone. It may be a wise move to get a free or cheap handset for when the iPhone needs to get its non-user-replaceable battery replaced.

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/iphone-faqs.jsp

I'm guessing that both handsets would need to be returned if you decide to cancel service within the 30-day service cancellation period?

In thinking about this it is going to pretty interesting when they start selling them in the EU. It is my understanding that providers must unlock a phone in the UK, for instance, although they are allowed to charge a "reasonable" fee for that.

I am currently paying ~$140 for a 1400 minute family plan plus unlimited data (for my Blackberry). If I go with the iPhone I believe I can get a similar plan for $100. http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/rateplans.html Even with the additional $10 for a second line with a plain old phone, this is $30 less per month.

Unless I'm missing something, this alone makes it worth my while to try to figure out a workaround for my corporate email (from BES).

Speaking of which, I've been googling for updates on this without much success. Any info?

If you're used to frequent Blackberry use you're probably gonna get really frustrated by the iPhone's lack of a real keyboard.
I don't think current Blackberry users are very likely to switch.

Do you guys remember the hype for 'It' (a.k.a. 'Ginger', a.k.a. Segway) a couple of years ago and the Sony PS3 hype not too long ago? None of those products turned out to be huge successes and the iPhone may go the same way if the text input and the talk quality is as bad as previews have hinted.

If you wanted to fully cancel, yeah. Most handsets can go back with the 30-day thing, but the iPhone is only 14 days, and it's a 10% restocking fee. Plus you still get charged for whatever the usage is and possibly a minimum of the whole first month.

Wouldn't the Apple Stores have a couple of lines for people to have their phones activated in-store (or nearby)?

APPL stockholders - anyone going to sell a few shares on Friday? :)

NY Times on iPhone FAQs
 

In case anyone is interested, the NY Times has a bit on "Often-Asked iPhone Questions"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/te...ref=technology

Probably less info than their review, but might still be worth a look.

That would be silly. You could probably sell it on ebay for more than you paid, plus transfer the contract.

We will know a lot more after the weekend (yes, I know Friday is the official release date, but I'm giving people the weekend to play with it a bit), but everything I have read says that the Apple is not open source. They allow some HTML programming which allow you to create some widgets, etc. but they really don't seem to leave you under the hood.

I have no doubt that the lock will get picked, but because of the US's DMCA, I don't think any developers will offer programs force their way on to the iPhone. I'm sure there will be an amateur community where this occurs, but it may prove to be a cat and mouse game where Apple pushes upgrades to boot them off the air.

That just seems dumb. You make a phone that is meant to store songs yet you cant even use them as a ring tone. :confused:

WHAT!! Again, you make a device to play music and you need an adapter to connect a standard headphone jack. :confused:

Yeah, I don't understand about the headphone jack, why they couldn't make it without whatever plastic molding is blocking the way. But the ringtone thing, there was some evidence yesterday (can't remember where, read too many things) that Apple is going to offer an iTunes to ringtone conversion. It'll be something in the iTunes (on your computer) interface, and it may charge you 99 cents for the privilege (Apple and/or recording industry gouging?) Or maybe the 99 cents is only if you're getting a ringtone from a song you don't already own. Details are sketchy as this is not announced. I'll try to see if I can find where I read it. EDIT: here http://www.macrumors.com/2007/06/27/...tom-ringtones/ Rumorish and may not be ready or may have fallen through.

Interesting in the Pogue FAQ it says you could replace the SIM with an existing AT&T SIM after activation, so that may be how activation works for existing accounts where you're transferring the number to the iPhone (as opposed to adding a new line to your account). The bits about inserting another country's SIM are only because the phone is locked, which we know. The question for many is how and how soon it will be unlocked. (I must say, it's not a particular concern of mine because of my existing plan and the way I use my phone, but I know it is something many are interested in.)

Another odd omission: apparently you can't sync with Bluetooth, even though Apple iSync on a Mac has supported this with phones for a few years. I guess this is because the sync is more akin to an iPod than other phones, and transferring movies and music over Bluetooth would be slow. But it still sounds weird. The only thing you can do with Bluetooth is connect to a handsfree setup. This could change later, of course.

What Apple apparently told Pogue about 3G:
Not having tried a 3G device on a 3G network, I can't attest to this at all. I did try a 3G gadget recently on ATT, but we have no ATT 3G coverage in this area anyway. Its battery life didn't seem too awful when not connected to a 3G network, but then I used it rather lightly, just some bouts of testing here and there. I have heard from other sources that there is some truth to this, though, particularly if you're trying to get something to be that thin.

RSS: supposedly this http://reader.mac.com/ is Apple eating its own dogfood with web-based apps for the iPhone, giving it an RSS reader.

Not new to the Pogue FAQ really, but iPhone has VPN client capability.

You can get a keyboard in the widescreen direction, but only in the web browser.

Good summary of email:

15 minutes? Forget it then. That's gonna be no good for IMAP or POP periodic checking as a potential replacement for push. You'd have to forward everything to a Yahoo Mail account looks like. I hope that's wrong and there are more possible settings. The bit about the Exchange administrator knowing what IMAP is should include "and isn't going to do it", and if you're a cynic about it, should further add "even though there's little reason not to."

All the reviews point out the flaws and incompleteness in certain areas, but iPhone still seems like a slick device that is going to be popular. The frenzy these past couple weeks as we learn more has got me pretty close to ready to pony up the cash, even with some of the early shortcomings.

The whole 3G thing is bogus. There ARE chips, and there ARE service providers who can offer a great speed increase. I still fail to see the logic in leaving 3G out of it, especially when they've pretty much already confirmed that Europe will be getting a 3G version soon.

Aren't ring tones like $2 or $3 or more? When you purchase them over the cell network?

I think the music industry has made billions on them so I'm sure they don't want people to get ring tones without paying. Of course Apple is going to bide by their wishes.

Why "of course Apple is going to abide by their wishes"? Motorola doesn't abide by those wishes. Nor Nokia. Nor Samsung...

I would never buy such a restricted phone as this one while there are plenty of good unrestricted phones on the market.

Yeah, but none of those companies are in the top 5 of music sellers in the US.

Apple is in the interesting position of having a lot of power over the music industry whereas Motorola, Nokia and Samsung have absolutely no relationship with them at all. With all that power Apple has also comes a lot of responsability keeping the relationship a happy one.

Apple sells its iTunes songs according to a strict license agreement and they can't just add new features or playing platforms without renegotiating that.