I looked up the ipod battery program, $66 USD! I think that's a bit much, my DIY battery replacement was around $20. Of course Motorola charges $49 for a Q battery, and Tmobile charges $59.99 for a BB Pearl battery.

Apple offers the AppleCare extended warranty as well, which will cover battery replacement during the warranty period, in addition to covering phone support, other repairs (that aren't due to abuse), etc. I think this runs $99 for iPods presently. Not sure if the iPhone AppleCare will be the same price.

I probably wouldn't opt for it, but it might make sense for some. It's another option anyway.

I would get the iPhone Apple Care.

iPod = $400
iPhone =$500-600 + a lot more usage.... I could see it being more than $99.

And is it that likely the batter will fail during the warranty?

It isn't bogus.

The AT&T HSDPA standard is over 850 (originally it was supposed to be 1900) and isn't used broadly in the rest of the world (if at all, elsewhere). The chipsets aren't available in quantities to ODM/third-parties and, frankly, had Apple gone shopping for them early in the design cycle, it would have tipped their hand in design/market entry, as it's a small world after all.

You CAN get UMTS/HSDPA chips for 2100, though they're still not fully integrated like Jobs was referencing in today's WSJ, so it leads to bulk (another design criteria). If they can get around the bulk issue, the basic deployment of UMTS/HSDPA in those markets will be a lot easier.

Also, with 3G chipsets, their battery life is notoriously worse v. 2.5G/EDGE. A lot of Europeans I know have UMTS turned off to prolong battery life.

Timothy

I'm sure if it HAD the 3G chipset and was slightly larger, you'd complain about that, being that it's an Apple device and all.

So I watched the tutorial video on apple's site about activating and syncing the iPhone and I although I can't tell for sure it is looking more and more like the SIM is non-removable. There are two options for existing AT&T/CIngular customers: Replace your current phone with the iPhone -or- add the iPhone as a second line of service to your existing account. They don't elaborate on what happens exactly if you elect to replace your existing phone, but one would assume that they would've showed how to replace the SIM card.

Also, in regards to the service plans. They all include 200 SMS messages (which for those of you not familiar with Cingular/AT&T's billing both outgoing AND incoming messages count towards your allowance), but there are two options you can add on for additional SMS: 1500 for $10/month or unlimited for $20/month.

There was also mention that existing AT&T/Cingular customers would keep their current plan and would just need to add the iPhone data package which was pro-rated at $20/month. I would assume (hope) that you would also have the option as an existing customer to switch entirely to one of the new rate plans, especially since you still have to sign a new contract.

Craig

Well, they were sitting in lawn chairs outside an ATT store I pass on the way to work.

I have a feeling there will be lines EVERYWHERE. I was planning on going and picking up mine around 4p my time, and sit in line for an hour and a half.

hey, so will we be able to post to FT using the iPhone??? Someone let us know when they get theirs!

Anyone notice that in the SMS screen, they had message bubbles from 2 parties. It looked like an iChat chat.

Can you do SMS simultaneously like an instant message chat?

Does one chat session count as an SMS or does each message entered count as an SMS?

The SIM card is removable.

http://www.thinksecret.com/archives/.../iphone05.html

SIM: is removable. This was confirmed in the Pogue FAQ, and there's now a graphic of the how-to floating around.

SMS: The SMS text messages back and forth are put into conversations that look like iChat. But each one is still a message. The base level plans include 200 messages, but you can bump up to more. With that kind of layout and device, bumping up to more might be good, although you can also send email. There's no reason you couldn't do it simultaneously, but there may be more lag than IM. Note it apparently doesn't do MMS; you have to send a pic by email or upload to web.

Lines: everywhere, I guess. The best story I've seen is the Mayor of Philly is third in line at one of the ATT stores in Center City. He got there at 3:30am. Apparently he is going to go do some work, though, and someone will pinch sit for him until he comes back later in the afternoon. I'm off today (not for iPhone just a coincidence) and was going to go check out my suburban Pittsburgh ATT store near home. It feels like there shouldn't be a big line, but maybe one or two people are waiting there. There's no Apple Store out this way, only an indie Apple dealer, so probably someone from there is waiting at least.

Have you guys read the stuff about the EDGE on steroids, with people experiencing a bump in speed that happened in the last day or two? There was some stuff about ATT beefing up the EDGE network in advance of the iPhone. Maybe they really did, and the reviewer speeds may not be indicative. Not that 200k bps is too awesome, but it's better than 50 or so that many people have gotten in the past on this ATT service.

Only five people in line at the big store in Little Rock.

And I am not one of them. I just drove by over lunch.

Let me know if you're willing to pay me $300 or so to go get you one.

It's amazing. Fifteen years ago I remember that we were on 9600 or 14.4K baud dial up, and now you can get 200K in your pocket. And that actually lags the rest of the world.

Mikey likes it.

Can you unlock it and use it for tmobile?