Sunday July 06, 2008 07:42 PM
iPhone Alley posts a suggestion on how to convert an upgrade ineligible AT&T account into an upgrade eligible one to take advantage of the discounted iPhone 3G pricing.
At the heart of the matter is that existing AT&T customers who recently bought a subsidized phone from AT&T may not be eligible to purchase the subsidized ($199/$299) iPhone 3G. Instead, these upgrade ineligible AT&T customers will be required to pay $399/$499 for the iPhone 3G. iPhone Alley suggests a procedure in which you could get around this issue, but does carry with it a number of assumptions, so we are not sure it will necessarily will work as advertised.
When AT&T launched the original iPhone in 2007, upgrade eligibility was not required because the original iPhone was an unsubsidized phone. As a result, there were early reports of individuals taking advantage of this situation by buying a subsidized phone and then immediately upgrading to the iPhone. Typically this action would trigger an early termination fee on your existing account, but it appears the original iPhone is (was?) an exception.
iPhone Alley suggests that an individual borrow a friend's iPhone and use their existing AT&T SIM card to activate iPhone service. This is said to replace your current phone service and suddenly make your account "upgrade eligible" since you are considered an iPhone customer. They believe that you can then use this iPhone-account to qualify for discounted iPhone 3G pricing on July 11th.
This procedure carries with it a number of assumptions that may or may not be true:
- AT&T is still not charging termination fees when upgrading to iPhone from an upgrade ineligible plan
- That it will not affect the upgrade eligibility of the person's iPhone you borrowed
- That they will only look to see an active iPhone plan on your account as verification
A quick look at the AT&T discussion forums reveal others plotting similar strategies to become iPhone eligible, including purchasing a broken iPhone for the sole purpose of activation prior to July 11th.
You're mileage may vary and we certainly don't recommend following these steps, but provide them for interest.
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Saturday July 05, 2008 02:13 PM
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Friday July 04, 2008 07:54 PM
Engadget reports that a line has already formed at the 5th Avenue Apple Store. The motivation behind lining up so early doesn't seem to be to try be the first to get the iPhone 3G. Instead, it appears they simply want to break a world record for standing in line. In fact, based on the interview, I'm not even sure they know much about the iPhone.
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Thursday July 03, 2008 11:57 AM
Google announced a new version of Google Talk optimized for the iPhone. The web-based chat client allows you to instant message with others.
- Chat with your Google Talk contacts in real time. Send and receive instant messages in chat sessions with your contacts.
- View and search for your Google Talk contacts. See the availability and status message of your contacts and change your own status on the go.
- Go off the record if you don't want to store your chats. Off the record chats are not stored on Gmail.
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Thursday July 03, 2008 03:09 AM
Apple has published a knowledge base article detailing steps for existing iPhone owners to take in upgrading to the iPhone 3G. Apple walks through the backup and restoration process which will require iTunes 7.7 for the iPhone 3G.
One new bit of information for U.S. customers is the fact that you will not move your existing iPhone SIM card to the new iPhone. Instead, the iPhone 3G's SIM card will be reprogrammed with your information:
In the US, iPhone 3G includes a SIM and your original iPhone's SIM is not needed. Your original iPhone account information will be transferred to iPhone 3G's included SIM when you purchase iPhone 3G. To dispose of your original iPhone SIM, contact your carrier.
For whatever reason, international users may simply use their original iPhone SIM card in the iPhone 3G.[ 37 comments ]