The Wal-Mart/iP3G rumor has been swirling for months now and the latest tid-bit states that Wal-Mart will indeed sell an iPhone3G, but it’s going to be a 4GB version for $99 with a two-year agreement. Plausible? Sure.
Spending your fiat money from the comfort of your iPhone is even easier, now that Amazon has released an application (“App”) for Apple’s little wonder. The mundane functions are as you’d expect: you launch the app, then you can browse and buy goods from Amazon just as you would from your computer.
What’s worth singling out is this little photo-takign feature. Using the app, you take a photo with your iPhone then send it to Amazon. Then, after a bit of voodoo, Amazon sends you an e-mail with a link to products that match the photo (or its best guess). For example, you take a photo of a a french press, then Amazon sends you links to french presses you can buy from them. Technologically neat, sure, but you wonder how well it works in practice… and me without an iPhone!
* Note: 3G only available in Finland and on the Telia network. This post does not in any way imply that Apple and/or AT&T will offer MMS support in the United States. This application only works on Telia’s network and it should not be suggested by the tone or wording of this post that you should be excited by the prospect of MMS for the iPhone and, in fact, maybe a little something like cut and paste would probably be worth Apple’s time – hell, Telia’s time – rather than recreating the email experience over cellular networks. Seriously, who still uses MMS anyway?
CrunchGear is not responsible for any excitement we may have caused with our headline or body text. Do not read CrunchGear if you are pregnant or nursing or have a heart condition. If erections last over four hours after reading CrunchGear consult a doctor.
Are you ready for some iPhone 3G tethering, that is, being able to connect your laptop to the Internet by using the iPhone’s 3G network? Sure is useful when you’re at a café or whatever that, shockingly, doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
Moving on. Some details have leaked to MacBlogz regarding AT&T’s plans for iPhone tethering. The big news, I’d say, is that AT&T plans to limit data consumption to 5GB per month—go over that and you’re paying through the nose. (Those of you who need more than 5GB of 3G connectivity will be encouraged to purchase one of those wireless cards, which will no doubt be all over CES in January.)
Ever use the Myvu Crystal? It’s a pair of glasses that has a built-in VGA-quality display. The idea here is that you connect the Crystal to your portable media player or cellphone and you can take immersive audio/video with you wherever you go. That’s the idea, but like I said I haven’t used them so I can’t speak to how well they work. Doug seemed to like it, though.
In any event (which is my latest crutch of a phrase, you may have noticed) the Crystal is now fully compatible with the iPhone 3G. You need to buy a separate $25 cable to get your Crystal and iPhone to play nice.
Photo from Flickr
According to iSuppli the BlackBerry Bold has a BOM of $169.41, which might lead you to believe that RIM’s margins for the device are huge when compared to the selling price here in the US. AT&T will be selling the device for $300 with a 2-year contract or for $550 without (I think). Best Buy has it up on their website now for $660 and CompUSA is selling it for $800. The most expensive component on the Bold is the processor from Marvell Technology which costs $34.34. The display from Samsung costs $16 and the 2-megapixel camera is $9.90. Check out the entire breakdown after the break.
I wonder how much RIM actually profits per handset. Comparatively, the iPhone 3G costs roughly $4 more to manufacture than the Bold. Read More
Would you buy an iPhone if it only cost $99 subsidized? It could make choosing other smartphone-like devices a lot tougher for most consumers. Analyst Charlie Wolf of Needham Research thinks that Apple would be able to lower the subsidized price of the 8GB iPhone 3G to $99 and still make a not-too-shabby 42.3% profit margin, according to Electronista.
Wolf also said that if the price dropped to $99 it could double or even triple projected sales figures and leave most other smartphones in the dust, with the exception of “niche” products like BlackBerry devices.
The wizards at the iPhone-Dev Team have just about cracked the iPhone baseband which means carrier unlock is almost upon us. What does this mean? Sadly, not much. The iPhone is still physically – at least in theory – locked to purchase and activation at AT&T and Apple stores so those heady days of buying an iPhone to crack at home are long gone. It is my suspicion that lots of 3Gs will soon be falling off the back of trucks around the world, especially in Russia and Asia, as folks dedicated to one G.S.M. carrier or the other decide they don’t want to switch.
Baseband unlocks essentially cede control of the phone’s telecomm portions to hacked code. Usually it’s impossible to run hacked baseband code but the iPhone Dev folks have patched the baseband without alerting the phone itself, resulting in the Great iPhone Unlocking of 2007 and the future iPhone unlocking of 2008/2009.
AT&T just told us that the BlackBerry Bold will be released on November 4 for $299. That’s the same price as the 16GB iPhone 3G, natch.
That’s the official date. No rumors, no “sources,” none of that nonsense.
Be there, or not.
Yes, we know you can get Qik for your jailbroken iPhones now, but this is the App Store version and Mr. Rose, personal hero of mine, gets a look at it before all of us. Jealous? Didn’t think so. Anyway, Rose pontificates that the version he has is near final and that it should be coming soon for free. Would you want your Qik followers to know exactly where you’re streaming from?
Also, you better order that Mophie Juice Pack now because this is going to suck the life out of your iPhone 3G faster than a paparrazo’s shutter when Lohan slips a nip.
Update: Bhaskar Roy, Co-founder of Qik, has commented on the matter:
Hi all – wanted to clarify that we are looking into having Qik be available on App Store, but at present are not sure when and how this will happen.
Is there nothing Steve Jobs can’t do? After warning that a full recall or update would be required to get the IP3G to fighting trim, I’m pleased to note that this bastard now holds a charge like a champ. Before the latest update, my phone would literally be dead ten hours after being taken off the charger. I would wake up at 8am, pull it off the charger, and at about 6pm it would be near death and at about 8pm it would be completely dead. Not wishing to cheat fate I turned 3G off for the past few weeks but today I used 3G the whole day long and I’m still not even through half the battery.
Now, however, when I sit on the phone I get a No SIM error. You’re damned if you do, and, it seems, if you don’t. Anyone else seeing better performance?
That’s if you pre-ordered yours on or before September 8th, suckas. If you ordered beyond that date then don’t expect your juice pack to start shipping until the 30th of October. But be warned, consumers, for the juice pack for the iP3G is still awaiting its “Works for iPhone” Apple certification, which could effect shipping dates so maybe they should have held off, no? Either way, I hope mine will be waiting for me at the office when I get back next week.
According to BGR, Wal-Mart may be carrying the iPhone 3G starting on November 15th. Also noteworthy is that it doesn’t look like the iPhone will be sold at Radio Shack, as previously rumored. Now, I’ve never purchased a cell phone from Wal-Mart before but here’s to hoping the activation process will be relatively hassle free, as I don’t remember ever seeing anybody in the electronics departments of any of the Wal-Mart stores I’ve been in.
I’ve seen a counter, I’ve seen locked glass cases holding cameras and video games, and I’ve seen a cash register, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual person. It might be a good idea to cross-train the dependable lady behind the jewelry counter in the art of cell phone activations, because she’s almost always around.
Reports are filtering in that iPhone 3G owners are receiving their replacement USB power adapters before the Apple-announced shipping date of October 10, 2008. The updated adapter look the same expect sport a green circle on the metal prongs side to differentiate from the recalled versions. Hopefully, this version’s metal prongs will not break off in outlets, causing obvious safety concerns.
Still haven’t ordered your iP3G power replacement adapter yet? Head over to Apple’s website or wonder into an Apple store with your phone and recalled power adapter for a free, hopefully less dangerous model.
The is the best use of the iPhone 3G I’ve seen yet. That is, other than using it as a communication device.
Some guy, captain-ahab, dropped his phone in a river, rendering it useless. So, in the true spirit of something or other, he decided to turn his once head-turning phone into a fishing lure. A bit of revenge, if you will: that river took you from me, precious iPhone, now I’m going to use you to take something from the river.
In the future, may I suggest not using your phone near a large body of water, or at least being less clumsy?
via Make Blog
Although logic dictates that smaller is better when it comes to running gear, RunKeeper, a cool iPhone app that tracks your treks via G.P.S. adds a compelling exception to that old adage. The iPhone isn’t the first thing you think of when going out for a run – maybe a nice Nano would be a better fit – but Runkeeper is something to consider.
RunKeeper is a fairly unique product. It uses the iPhone’s G.P.S. to trace your tracks through the city. I tried it in San Francisco with varying results but it’s definitely a step up from Nike+iPod’s pedometer estimation techniques, which have ultimately failed me many times.
Read More
Attention iP3G and Ultracompact USB Power Adapter owners-
Today, Apple made it clear that the little USB power adapter that came with our iP3G (first thumbnail after the jump or for those who bought it as a standalone product
) is defective, like, the prongs will break off in the electrical socket, which will then shock the living life out of you. Ok, it won’t actually kill you, but there is a chance that the broken prongs could cause an electrical shock. But this recall doesn’t affect everyone. Just those of us who purchased it in the US, Japan, Mexico, Canada and a handful of Latin American countries, which we’ve listed after the jump. However, if yours has a green dot then you’re in the clear. Read More
Congrats, Steve ol’ buddy! Your life long dream has finally come true! Yeah, yeah, selling millions of iPhone 3Gs was cool and all – but now it has won the UK’s Stuff Magazine readers pick award for “Gadget of the Year”! You can pick up your plaque and $50 dollar Hometown Buffet gift card next week.
The other nominees for the readers choice award were the PS3, 360, Wii Fit, and the Zeppelin iPod speakers. It’s a good thing those iPod speakers didn’t win. If they had, all iPods and iPhones around the world would have simultaneously stopped working due to sadness.
Reader Mike writes:
I recently sent you guys an e-mail about how I was going to try to get the iPhone 3G and then cancel the AT&T service within the first 30 day to avoid an early termination fee. Well, the [charming folks] got me. I tried canceling it and it turns out if you cancel within the first 30 days Apple AND AT&T want you to return the iPhone wherever you bought it from, PLUS pay a 10% restocking fee. So, luckily I bought 2 of them for $660 with tax included. I am going to pay almost $400 in termination fees but one iPhone is on eBay right now and it is racked up to $600 so far (4 days left). Hopefully it will go higher so some of my money will get paid back to me and I’ll eventually just be paying the normal $300 for the first iPhone that I’m keeping. To wrap everything up you will ALWAYS have to pay an early termination fee or turn in your iPhone no matter what. Can’t they just give us a break?
I bought a SIM card called iSmart. www.kuso8888.com sold it to me. My T-Mobile service shows up for a little bit then goes back to No Service. The SIM card goes right under my T-Mobile SIM and I insert them together.
So wait a second, Michael, you actually got what you wanted: you bought two iPhones, got out of the contract, and basically made back your entire investment in aftermarket sales. With a little elbow grease an know how you can easily get the 3G to run any GSM network. I’d say your experiment was a success. Anyone else try this?
An internal source at AT&T discussed the problems fixed by the 2.0.2 update, explaining, in no uncomplicated terms, that the update controlled the UMTS power control in the phone. Each iPhone requires a small amount of power from the transmitter and that power is requested by the phone itself. If too many phones ask for too much power at once, the transmitter starts shutting down, resulting in dropped calls. The iPhone 3G was asking for too much power and, in 2.0.2, has been fixed to stop requesting that power so often.
The result is a net effect: if everyone upgraded, we’d all be OK. But since folks are slow to update, the problem persists. The only way to fix this once and for all would be to push an over the air update to the phones, something I’m not sure Apple can or will do.
Cellular transmission is a hairy problem. Sadly, Apple’s internal policy of “be totally freaking quiet on everything until people’s hands explode from fiery batteries” doesn’t help matters much. The only “official” comment on this problem? Apple’s PR person Jennifer Bowcock telling Ed Baig that “”the software update improves communication with 3G networks.” We’re a smart bunch, I think. We can all understand “the iPhone was TOO POWERFUL for the G.S.M. networks.”
