iPhone news - Starbucks is dumping T-Mobile

4phun wrote:
> Good news, iPhone lovers!
>
> Hurray for Starbucks!
>
> They will get Internet access for free from the comfort of their
> neighborhood Starbucks in new deal.
> http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/11/got-a...elivers-wi-fi/
>
> Starbucks is dumping T-Mobile and serving you up a fresh heaping venti
> of Wi-Fi goodness. And what's the crema on that espresso?
>
> Why, it's this: "AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at
> Starbucks to its wireless customers". The press release says spring
> 2008 -- still a little ways away, but soon "millions of AT&T and
> Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of
> their neighborhood Starbucks."
>
> A side note - AT&T also has announced a major network expansion where
> they will deploy their high speed 3G network to 80 more USA cities in
> 2008 in anticipation of the new 3G iPhone.

Has anyone seen a list of those 80 new cities? Anyone know if Madison WI
is on the list?

Todd H. wrote:

> But if a hot product expands that network even further so be it.

This is what "some observers" say is happening.

"The upgrade has another subtle effect: paving the way for a 3G iPhone.
Last November, AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said a 3G-enabled
iPhone would debut sometime in 2008. It did not surface at Macworld in
January, to the disappointment of many fans. Some observers speculate
that Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) kept the device under
wraps until AT&T, the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone in the
United States, could expand its 3G network."

"http://www.forbes.com/wireless/2008/02/07/ATT-3G-wireless-tech-wire-cx_ew_0227att.html"

With iPhone sales lagging, the key to reviving sales is to get the 3G
model out as soon as possible. I was talking to an Apple employee that
was web browsing on his iPhone yesterday on the train to SF, and I asked
him when the 3G model was coming out. All he said was "soon, I hope."

We don't know why Apple didn't put 3G in the first model. Some claim it
was battery life, some claim it was that they wanted to wait until 3G
was more widely deployed, some claim that with 2G they could do one
model for the whole GSM world while with 3G they'd have to do two
different models to keep costs under control.

SMS wrote:
>
> With iPhone sales lagging,

What planet do you live on?


--
Mike

Tinman wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>
> What planet do you live on?

You need to keep up.

Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:

"http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2008/tc20080212_504818.htm?chan=technology_technology+i ndex+page_top+stories"
"http://www.smartphonetoday.com/articles/2008/2/2008-2-13-A-Slowdown-For.html"
"http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/02/11/apple_shares_rise_on_citi_recommendation.html"

The 3G iPhone, combined with a expanded AT&T 3G network, will get a lot
of the patient, more tech-aware, non-early adopters, to buy the iPhone
(plus of course a lot of the early-adopters will upgrade to the 3G model).

SMS wrote:
> Tinman wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>
>> What planet do you live on?
>
> You need to keep up.
>
> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:

For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing just
fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10 million by the end
of this year. Sorry.


--
Mike

Tinman wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> Tinman wrote:
>>> SMS wrote:
>>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>> What planet do you live on?
>> You need to keep up.
>>
>> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:
>
> For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing just
> fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10 million by the end
> of this year. Sorry.

I doubt it. Plus of course Apple's stated goal is immaterial, company's
set "goals" all the time, and they're unrelated to what's actually going
on in the marketplace. All the experts agree that the iPhone is in a
sales slump, only the reasons given for the slump sometimes differ. Some
blame the recession, some claim that it's due to the cost (in the
non-U.S. markets anyway), some claim that potential buyers are waiting
for the 3G model, some claim that it's the lack of features such as
voice dialing. A few weeks ago, a UK article blamed rumors of an
upcoming 16GB model (which turned out to be true) for the slump in the
UK. In reality, it's a combination of factors, though "I'll wait for the
3G model" is what I hear the most in my own circle of colleagues and
friends.

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:14:57 -0700, "Tinman" <ask@for.it> wrote in
<61gqd2F1vdrejU1@mid.individual.net>:

>SMS wrote:
>> Tinman wrote:
>>> SMS wrote:
>>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>>
>>> What planet do you live on?
>>
>> You need to keep up.
>>
>> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:
>
>For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing just
>fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10 million by the end
>of this year. Sorry.

Of course. But Steven's quaint world view is never troubled by facts.
Things are always the way he wants them to be, not as they are.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http:/navasgroup.com>

"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive,
difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." --Gene Spafford

SMS wrote:
> Tinman wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> Tinman wrote:
>>>> SMS wrote:
>>>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>>> What planet do you live on?
>>> You need to keep up.
>>>
>>> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:
>>
>> For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing
>> just fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10
>> million by the end of this year. Sorry.
>
> I doubt it.

I don't. They are halfway there already.


> Plus of course Apple's stated goal is immaterial,
> company's set "goals" all the time, and they're unrelated to what's
> actually going on in the marketplace. All the experts agree that the
> iPhone is in a sales slump,

They claim the *economy* is in a slump. Big surprise there.


> factors, though "I'll wait for the 3G model" is what I hear the most
> in my own circle of colleagues and friends.

I won't argue that some people have waited for the 3G model, no doubt about
that. How many though, is the question.

But aside from 3G Apple has not put all its cards on the table either. There
are plenty of things the iPhone could use, and Apple can deliver, that can
be rolled out this year (not that I am a fan of holding back features). Then
there's the SDK that is due out before the end of this month. In a month the
iPhone will be far from the completely locked down, no apps able to be
added, device it was when it was released--and it still sold well in that
form.

Oh yea, and the hacking community just scored big over the last few weeks.
Since firmware 1.1.2 was released back in October there had been no easy way
to unlock the iPhone. Now there is, with ZiPhone, Geohot's tool (almost
anyone can do it). With estimates of unlocked iPhones at 25% of all iPhones
sold--and keep in mind it wasn't unlocked for the first two months of its
existence--this will no doubt cause the unlockers to start buying in droves
in case another update closes the holes used to get in. Well, if they can:
Apple could sell more if they weren't so heavy-handed about it (limiting
purchases, tracking credit cards to enforce, etc.).


--
Mike

Tinman wrote:

> I don't. They are halfway there already.

It's not the Apple goal that I doubt, it's the contention that meeting
that goal by the end of 2008 has any relationship to how well the iPhone
is selling at this point in time.

I'm sure they will meet their sales goal. By the end of 2008 the 3G
model will be on sale, and there may be further price cuts, and the
phone will be deployed into more markets around the world, and at lower
prices. Remember how the met their last sales goal, they cut the price
by 33%. You have to learn to look at the big picture when you look at
marketing hype from any company.

> Oh yea, and the hacking community just scored big over the last few weeks.
> Since firmware 1.1.2 was released back in October there had been no easy way
> to unlock the iPhone. Now there is, with ZiPhone, Geohot's tool (almost
> anyone can do it). With estimates of unlocked iPhones at 25% of all iPhones
> sold--and keep in mind it wasn't unlocked for the first two months of its
> existence--this will no doubt cause the unlockers to start buying in droves
> in case another update closes the holes used to get in. Well, if they can:
> Apple could sell more if they weren't so heavy-handed about it (limiting
> purchases, tracking credit cards to enforce, etc.).

Well they've lightened up on that a little, now allowing more units per
credit card.

I guess Apple feels that selling less total units, but more AT&T
activated units, is financially more desirable.

SMS wrote:
> Tinman wrote:
>
>> Oh yea, and the hacking community just scored big over the last few
>> weeks. Since firmware 1.1.2 was released back in October there had
>> been no easy way to unlock the iPhone. Now there is, with ZiPhone,
>> Geohot's tool (almost anyone can do it). With estimates of unlocked
>> iPhones at 25% of all iPhones sold--and keep in mind it wasn't
>> unlocked for the first two months of its existence--this will no
>> doubt cause the unlockers to start buying in droves in case another
>> update closes the holes used to get in. Well, if they can: Apple
>> could sell more if they weren't so heavy-handed about it (limiting
>> purchases, tracking credit cards to enforce, etc.).
>
> Well they've lightened up on that a little, now allowing more units
> per credit card.
>
> I guess Apple feels that selling less total units, but more AT&T
> activated units, is financially more desirable.

Apparently so, or perhaps their carrier agreements demand some sort of
action on their part.

But I don't think the logic means more people will go with AT&T, in
meaningful numbers. Sure there are unlockers in the USA who chose to go with
T-Mobile. But that doesn't seem to be a lot, and they might not have bought
an iPhone at all if they had to go with AT&T (locked into a contract, better
native T-Mobile coverage in their home area, etc.). By far most of the
people I know with unlocked iPhones are in other countries. There are now
thriving iPhone communities in most every country where it can be used, but
without a sanctioned carrier (Taiwan, Vietnam, Russia, China, Singapore--you
name it).

The UK might be different, because the official carrier really offered
crappy plans initially. That has now been changed, but even before the price
drop I was seeing a lot of unlocked iPhone users converting over to
"legitimate" users after the iPhone was released over there.


--
Mike