We’re trying to get through all of this Apple iPhone related news as fast as possible so just bear with us.
To start, AT&T will offer tethering, but there’s no official announcement on that just yet.
On the MMS front, AT&T will offer MMS on the iPhone 3G S later this summer once system upgrades have been completed. These upgrades are unrelated to the 3G network, says AT&T.
If you’re itching to get the iPhone 3G today then you’ll have to wait until 5PM ET to pick up the $99 8GB model.
You can pick up a 16GB 3G model for $149 while supplies last. Data plans for the iPhone remain the same as before. No changes regardless of which model you end up purchasing. Sucks for anyone who just got a 3G and want to upgrade because it’s going to cost a pretty penny, but there’s “early upgrade” pricing as well.
And here’s some financial jargon from AT&T:
AT&T reaffirmed its financial guidance for 2009 that targets wireless service OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) margins in the low 40% range. AT&T’s cost of customer acquisition for iPhone 3G S and the newly priced iPhone 3G are expected to be very similar to the costs associated with the original iPhone 3G.
AT&T customers with integrated devices like iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S offer attractive ARPU’s (average monthly revenues per subscriber) and low churn rates. In the first quarter, AT&T’s iPhone activations totaled more than 1.6 million, more than 40 percent of them for customers who were new to the company.
Wow. AT&T needs to complete “system upgrades” to provide a service that has been around since 2002?
AT&T does not need to upgrade their network, or their services. A while back, AT&T modified how they provision iPhones so that they could block MMS on iPhones. Why? I don’t know. Speculation is that the change was to block users of SimpleMMS application being used on jailbroken iphones. Well, now AT&T has to undo all this provisioning to allow MMS services to iPhones.
I believe level 2 support at AT&T can confirm this.
Good for Apple and AT&T to give the iPhone what every Windows Mobile user has had access to for a long time..
You mean a phone that actually answers calls when you want it to instead of running background windows tasks?
I’m a former WM user, so I definitely miss tethering my PPC-6700 to my laptop while traveling. However, the wealth of apps and the far superior Safari browser mean that I don’t even take my laptop with me anymore.
Personally, I’m more interested in the increased size and battery life of the 3GS than the camera or video recording capabilities.
the pre is dead
how so?
MMS has always been available on other AT&T phones. Why the hold up now?
Maybe because Apple is not doing it in the standard way…
I can’t find any other reason than using some specialized gateway for MMSs coming from iPhones, or something.
I am in Jordan and we have MMS on other phones, but i really never used it, and few people actually use it down here.
I find myself tilting my head to the side while I watch that video…
Trae – LOL. I tilting my head to the side while watching the video too.. then i saw your post. – the guy also only blinks like 10 times during that video.
After seeing all the apple news this is no surprise about AT&T. Commenting on little support for the iPhone 3GS and saying even smaller for iPhone in general only says that they are going to have some tough business negotiations to keep Apple exclusive otherwise the future of GSM in the US will slowly go down and open up the game to all other US networks. I applaud Apple for every word that was said securing another 1-2 years of the mobile portion of the company ahead of the competition.
Wow so the new iPhone WILL get things the first Android phone was already able to do.
,Michael Martin
GoogleAndBlog
@Sean VanSickle: I’ve heard this kind of praise before. If Windows Mobile is so great, they why is Apple killing it in this corner of the market? Your mad that everyone else around you has an iPhone and you are still using Windows Mobile. It’s ok. We forgive you. :)
you’re, dude, not your –you people are killing me
Voice commands, compass, video recording/editing, auto focus are exclusive to 3GS so what could be fun of buying it, I will wait for 3G updates and check my apps i.e Vopium, strip and call of duty performance on it and if it really makes a difference then i will decided about 3Gs.
The 3G S may usher in a new smartphone era in my life. I haven’t been willing to make the switch, but my current service contract is about to end, the time is right, the price is right…I’m just concerned about at&t service. Can anyone in the Baltimore/D.C. area comment on coverage?
I am about 17 miles north of DC, I have great coverage, all except for inside my apartment. Out in town, and the one time I have been to Baltimore, I always have great coverage.
In DC area – AT&T is the worst!!!!
Dropped calls constantly.
Also of concern – I have business callers who claim that they call me but my phone history never shows a missed call. Iphone rocks but AT&T is a disaster.
I refuse to lock into another 2 year AT&T contract even to get the phone of my dreams.
Also not going to buy until I hear what AT&T is going to charge for tethering. Apple shares the blame for not opening up the iPhone to other providers.
Our family lives half way between Leesburg and Winchester. We work in at various locations in and around DC. Our ATT Cell service is nearly perfect. There are 3 areas that I know might, at times, give me problems as I’m driving though these areas are small and will work when I have my phone mounted on my Dash versus in my Hip Holster.
Ir makes no sense tht its gonna cost so much to upgrade from the iPhone 3G. iPhone 3G customers should have some kind of trade in so that they can get some of the cost off the 3G S, rather than having to pay more than a new customer
BTW. I live 15 minutes outside of Baltimore and the coverage here is fine. I lose service every time i leave Maryland tho
So I dont get it why i cant send or receieve MMS on my iphone 3GS, i just dropped 300$ on this and now they’re telling me “Oh by the way you cant send texts with videos or pictures…”
Cause that’s not how they advertised it…i wouldnt have bought this thing if i knew 3/4 of its applications wouldnt work correctly. And it says later this summer we’ll be able to MMS…whens that? August?
I just got off the phone with at&t just now 9/23/09 and they said mms will be part of the 3.1 upgrade and that if you want to upgrade from 3g to 3gs it is 199 for the 16g and 299 for the 32gig. and thats if you can upgrade and its 18$ upgrade fee
I’m quite excited by this idea of a new faster iPhone. I’m just wondering how well it will work for me. I’m still waiting on the 3G coverage that the at&t, and cingular before them associates have been telling me is a few months away for my area for about 3 years now. Maybe this phone will be even quicker to tell me that this accessory doesn’t work with the iphone every time i touch the phone with sweat on my hand or cheek. But, I’ve always felt they put alot of thought into my iPhone(a music player with the quietest speaker available in the phone market)