There was a time, when buying a Mac meant a trip to your neighborhood independent Apple reseller. Just about the time Apple decided to take matters into their own hands and open their own stores, the cell phone industry exploded, thanks in no small part to the growth of independent cell phone providers. All of those kiosks in malls and standalone independent phone dealers add a substantial amount of revenue for AT&T each year. Many offer contracts with different carriers. What better way to get them to get more customers onto your service than to arm them with the most sought-after cell phone around?
Instead, these dealers are left with the unenviable task of talking down the benefits of the iPhone to get customers to purchase a different phone. Even though there are still no superior phones to the iPhone yet, more and more decent touchscreen competitors are springing up. And guess what? They aren't on AT&T's network. So in essence, you're making your own resellers push customers to competitors.
Let's go back to the Macintosh resellers for a moment. These are stores who have stuck through thick and thin with Apple for years and years. They did the heavy lifting for Apple, taking the time to fight the hard fight, to give the best, personalized service, and to evangelize, from the heart, about why the Mac was better. It could be argued that these days Apple gets far more revenue from their own stores than these resellers, so therefore they aren't important. Well, guess what? They are important. And the proof? Well, they're still standing. All those years of building customer relationships continues to pay off. Even as Apple continues to open more and more flashy stores, there is a base of customers who continue to buy products from their tried and true reseller. Maybe the local Apple Store is too far away. Maybe people don't want to brave a mall just to ask a computer question. Maybe the jig is up, and people realize that getting a knowledgeable genius in an Apple Store is really hit or miss these days. Whatever the reason, People still choose resellers.
There have been fundamental clashes before about how products were being distributed, with some feeling resellers were getting shut out. Eventually though, (some) product would arrive. It's a far different story with the iPhone.
I cut Apple some slack on this issue with the original release of the iPhone. After all, it was a new product, and a small(er), controlled rollout could be justified. We're over two years in now, and there's no justification beyond greed. We know the phones can be activated at home, why not allow more people to sell the phone. And with the announced deal to sell the iPhone in Wal Mart, doesn't that shoot the whole theory that this is about controlling the point-of-sale experience? We've visited two Wal Marts (and will continue to do so) and have yet to find a person who could tell us about the phone, or even a working demo model.
The Apple and AT&T resellers would both show far more passion and knowledge in selling the iPhone. It is inexplicable these two groups, who have shown their loyalty to their respective corporate gods, are unable to sell a product they want to sell and could sell with far better enthusiasm than Apple's current third-party iPhone providers. I hope Don Mayer at Small Dog Electronics is right. In his predictions for 2009, Don predicted that "Apple will allow its top independent resellers to sell the iPhone." It's the right thing to do, and way overdue.
What if I told you owning an iPhone could save you $60 a year? What's that? All we ever hear is how expensive the iphone is! Well compared to plain vanilla cell phones, you might be saving a bundle depending on what you want a phone to do.
AT&T is launching MyCommunities, a service allowing you to check in on your myspace and facebook accounts from, wait for it, your phone! And the price of this integration is a mere $2.99 a month.
And AT&T also offers phone number backup for $1.99 This service allows you to backup your contacts on AT&T servers. Again, you can already do this on your iPhone, through iTunes/iCal.
So there you go... If you're trying to justify an iPhone purchase, just tell yourself, or whoever controls the finances in your family, that you'll.. SAVE MONEY!
No, we weren't going to let a holiday stop us from bringing you the latest Apple news and rumors. If you missed the live show last night, here's your chance to get caught up:
Reports are starting to surface after the 2.0.2 software update to indicate the sluggish and spotty reception is not Apple's fault. But we must point a finger at someone, why not AT&T? Sounds good . . . yes, lets go with that. My iPhone hasn't been fixed by the software update, and Apple surely did everything to address the issue so the carrier must be at fault.
All joking aside, chances are good that the blame falls on the carrier as it's their network that enables the connection. Surely we don't blame Apple when we get a slow internet connection on our Macs. How is this then any different?
I've read some other reports that claim the 3G network is over taxed with all the new iPhones pining for bandwidth. If this were the case wouldn't all 3G users be experiencing this problem across all devices? Allow me to answer myself . . . no! iPhone users experience the network problems because it's the only handset with fully integrated internet features . . . remember, Steve said it's the internet in your pocket. Blackberry users get the mobile internet (basically the internet without any pictures or other media - it sucks) along with Palm users (cricket, cricket). That being said, Apple would benefit by putting the screws to AT&T to encourage them to get more towers in more places so I can get 'more service in more places - the new AT&T'. Where's James Earl Jones when you need him?
Quick, what do Apple resellers and AT&T independent dealers have in common? Answer: Neither can sell the hottest product from the company with whom they've pledged their allegiance.
For years, Apple resellers have watched the constant march of Apple-owned stores into their territories. To be honest, there were/are a lot of independents that couldn't match the experience and know-how of the Apple Store. At the same time, there are/were many dealers who've devoted years cultivating a user base, and giving excellent service. Some have survived. Some, like Boston's Tek Serve have watched Apple move in literally next door.
Next, you have AT&T. From day one, the iPhone has only been available from Apple Stores or AT&T-owned stores. This left many AT&T resellers in the dark, and probably with a bad taste in their mouthes. Imagine you're an independent business owners, allied with AT&T. Each day customers ask you about the iPhone. You don't have any to sell, and any positive remarks will result in a sale for someone else. This puts these owners in the awkward position of either painting the product in a negative light, in hopes of remaining in business, or to be honest with the customer regarding the features the iPhone, and risk losing their business.
The line from Apple and AT&T has been that they need to be cautious of unlocked phones being sold. Why one model of phone is the only one to rise to this level of concern by AT&T is questionable. Sure, it's in high demand, but it's still a tiny part of AT&T's overall phone sales. If unlocking was the real concern, why sell any phones through third parties at all?
Today comes word that Best Buy will sell the iPhone starting in September. The phone will be available in all Best Buy locations within AT&T service areas. You'll recall this is the same Best Buy that's on year three of rolling out Apple computers in less than half of their locations so far.
The bottom line is, Apple/AT&T want to control as much of the pipeline as possible, from the iTunes app store as the sole source of applications, to the shutout of resellers and independent dealers, while working with Best Buy, a company with no loyalties to either company: Rest assured that if Verizon had a phone far superior to the iPhone, Best Buy would try for that exclusive as well. Why not make the distribution as wide as possible? Both Apple resellers, and independent AT&T dealers should be able to carry the full product line. Imagine going car shopping, let's say for a Ford Mustang, and having your local dealer tell you that model is only available from a Ford-owned dealership. (which as I understand it, doesn't exist. Hmmm.) Of course given the economics of the car industry right now, it might not serve as the best example. Still, it seems if you can reward loyalty and expand your distribution points, that's the most logical thing to do.
UPDATE: The graphic overlay above seems to only show up on the Philadelphia-area store sites (Suburban Square, Lehigh Valley, and King of Prussia) at this time. Check with your local store if you're headed out to buy an iPhone, and you're an AT&T customer already...
You heard it here first. Heading over to the Apple iPhone page reveals a banner over the store picture as seen above, indicating that due to AT&T billing system updates, they will be unable to upgrade existing AT&T customers to a new iPhone until Sunday at noon.
Quite a bummer if you planned on picking one up this weekend, and it seems like precious little heads up for both customers and the stores.
It better be one heck of an update.. What would only affect the billing system at Apple stores... Hmm.. Speculate away...
A few articles have been quick to point out that in the long run, the iPhone 3G will actually cost more than the previous iPhone. While that's true, and it's a point we've made here many times, I have a new perspective on the value of the iPhone.
I want to an AT&T store this past weekend with a friend, switching to AT&T, and not waiting for the new iPhone. The salesperson quickly showed us several options, from free phones, to about $200. What did they have in common? None were particularly memorable for starters, and all shared the same cheap plastic feel. Thanks to the RAZR, some models now have solid metal buttons though.
My friend ended up going with the Sony Ericsson Z750a: A flip phone with camera, video recording, 2MP and stereo bluetooth. A few of these features are better/missing on the iPhone (the full bluetooth support, and video for example.) Final cost for the Z750a: $99 after rebate. It struck me that this situation is very similar to the whole PC/Mac debate. while the "pc" phone was half the price, the build, operating system, and interface are far beyond anything else out there. In the Mac world, people are used to paying a premium for the OS, and maybe the cell phone market is catching on as well.
The bottomline is, an extra $99 for the iPhone with significantly greater storage, (Z750 is bundled with a 1GB card) the most hassle-free interface on any phone, and the ability to hold something that actually feels solidly built is well worth the extra money. While many people have compared the iPhone to other phones at the same/greaer price point (like the Voyager), the real market for the phone may very well be people who are considering getting a cheaper phone, realizing for nearly the same price (without rebate) they can have so much more.
Ahhh, another lawsuit has come and gone for Apple regarding patent violations.In December of this past year, Klausner Technology accused Apple of appropriating Klausner’s patent for visual voicemail and joined eBay and AT&T in the suit.The technology references the visual voicemail feature used in Apple’s iPhone.
Apple, eBay and AT&T settled the suit agreeing to license the visual voicemail technology under a non-exclusive deal.The financial negotiations of settlement were not disclosed.
Klausner has already licensed the coveted technology to Time Warner’s AOL for AOL voicemail services as well as Vonage for their Voicemail Plus services.Comcast and Cablevision Systems Corp. are rumored to be in negotiations with the visual voicemail giants.Comcast is looking to use the technology to send a visual alert your computer or cell phone when you have a new voicemail.It seems there are never-ending possibilities to being connected.
this article based on information found at www.newsfactor.com
From the moment Steve left the stage at WWDC, we were shocked that neither the iPhone 3G, or more surprisingly, the Apps store, was ready for immediate use/purchase.
During our live coverage, we even wondered why Apple would've moved the WWDC up to June, then had the most important product launches in July anyhow. The answer, according to one source, could be AT&T. AT&T has been working around the clock to get 3G service to as much of the country as possible. However, that breakneck pace may not have been enough. Because of the integration between the 2.0 phone software, and the 3G iPhone, it would've been cumbersome to launch one without the other, not to mention lessening the PR value of the launch: after all, why would you want to give people a month to realize all the fun new stuff they can do with their current phone, before trying to sell them on a new one?
So the "delay" (if that's truly the case) should mean a better 3G experience, and added hype for Apple.
Word is starting to get out about pogo, the new browser from AT&T. Yes, a web browser. In fairness, there's probably still territory to explore in the web browser space. flock for example, cleverly integrates the social networking aspect of online life today. What does Pogo bring to the table? Well, tabbed browsing, the ability to group similar pages under themes (like technology or sports) and then (here comes the innovation!) you will be able to see those webpages arranged as thumbnails. You know all those times that you can't remember that you go to cnn.com, but gosh, you remember what the homepage looks like? This is your solution.
It also gives you the ability to search your group of sites for information; handy for all those times you don't want to be bothered by all the most relevant results, just the results from the pages you already visit. You can see sites recently visited by clicking on a "viewed" button. Goodbye "history" button! Yes it's cool to see webpages being flipped through in the exact same manner as Apple's Cover Flow feature, but at the end of the day, it adds nothing. Any of these "features" could be added overnight to Safari or Firefox via plug ins. Frankly, it's almost designed as if internet explorer is the only browser the designers had ever seen. Maybe they're relying on that to be the case with most PC consumers as well.
The whole thing feels like something that would've been bundled with AT&T's Worldnet about ten years ago. The can play string music, and show floating camera views of the screen in the preview all they want, the bottom line is, if this is the best they've got, this browser is worst than DOA, it was already dead ten years ago.
There has been a great deal of speculation on when we're going to get the next version of the iPhone and even more speculation surrounding its new features. I'm going to add one more to the menu today based on the announcement coming out of the RIM & T-mobile camp. RIM released the Blackberry Pearl 8120t. WHO CARES
Well I do. I think it's significant for several reasons . . . ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION APPLE??
Here goes . . . the 8120t does all the great stuff the other Blackberrys do, but it goes one more step and adds Hotspot @ Home to the list of features. This means that the smartphone will use Voice Over IP (VOIP) when making calls from your home network. This marks the first consumer focused smartphone to use this technology. I can hear the screams already . . . yes there are several other Blackberry devices utilizing this technology, but the pearl is a consumer device so stick with me.
In the all you can eat world of cell phones today, consumers demand unlimited everything. Currently AT&T offers unlimited data , texting (if you choose to pay for it), and voice (again if you choose to pay for it). Should you opt for all 3 your monthly service bill before all those taxes is $140. Pretty steep if you ask me. In contrast Hotspot @ Home will run you $20 additional. Assuming you make the majority of your calls from home you can get away with the $40 or $50 plan and pay $60 or $70 total each month.
Besides from the cost basis alone, VOIP is just plain old cool. Apple likes to be the first to do everything. They've missed the VOIP smartphone game just slightly, but it's not too late. My prediction for iPhone V2, VOIP, and not just @ Home. You heard it here first folks, Apple and AT&T are going to deploy technology that will allow the iPhone to make a call over any WiFi network it can join. This would mean massive rollover minutes so AT&T better get those calculators and slide rules out to keep track of it all.
So there you have it. T-mobile has decided that consumer smartphones should have VOIP technology, and I agree. The cool factor alone will sell tons of phones and the industry once again will have to figure out how to keep up.
