SvenOnTech has already told you about this fun loving group of guys and gals that believe there is an under estimated market in first-generation iPhones and now we’re telling you about its crazy ways with the newest Super Phone. Rapid Repair has fully dismantled a new 3G iPhone and completely documented it on its web site. With only hours of the release of the follow up to Apple’s widely successful smartphone, Rapid Repair has yanked its new treasure apart. For us! The great thing about Rapid Repair is that it doesn’t want all the glory for itself and is giving away instructions with needed tools on how to take apart your very own shinny new black or white iPhone. If your sense of adventure is high, or your pocket book with green stuff, then you may want to travel this road less traveled and give it a shot!
If you’re looking to upgrade your current iPhone to the 3G and desire to keep the new one in one piece but would like a discount on it, check out Rapid Repairs buy-back program. You could get up to $150 for your iPhone!
TomTom has confirmed to SvenOnTech that it has indeed, “…tested and successfully [ran] our navigation software on the iPhone and it looks good and works well.” The Holland-based company told SvenOnTech that it is waiting to see what Apple’s strategy for the built-in GPS is on the next-generation iPhone, “…before we can say more about what kind of opportunities this will bring us.”
TomTom is excited that Apple is entering the GPS world with the 3G iPhone, due to release July 11th at both Apple Stores and AT&T stores in various markets, and is more than ready to bring its highly acclaimed navigation software to the iPhone.
TomTom believes with the development of more pedestrian navigation systems, such as the iPhone and Nokia’s offerings, it will continue to bring greater attention and demand to car navigation devices. “With more and more people getting acquainted with navigation, this will also further grow the demand for car navigation,” TomTom’s Karen CK Drake, Public Relations Manager for TomTom, told SvenOnTech last week. Drake emphasized that it does not believe the iPhone to be a replacement device for GPS but rather be “complementary” to its current offerings of car-mounted GPS units.
SvenOnTech will actively watch this developing story and keep our readers abreast of any new information as becomes available.
Our feelers are telling us that AT&T will charge $30 a month for 3G network use for the new thinner second-generation iPhone. There is no details if this is on addition to the $20 it currently charges for unlimited Internet or if it is just a $10 increase in the current fee. Either way, this would increase users fees from $120 a year minimum making the cost of use more expensive killing any savings from the Apple markdown in price within a two year contract.
If you have to have your data quicker and you don’t live in a Wi-Fi available neighborhood, then you’ll be paying more for your data. Additionally, those that find themselves traveling may not be happy with the current AT&T coverage map, though the cellular company claims nearly all metro areas will be covered by years end.
UPDATE: According to the AT&T’s iPhone 3G Conference Call held today, this will be in leu of the current $20 charge. So, the unlimited Internet will be increased from $20 to $30 a month on AT&T for 3G access from the next-generation iPhone due July 11th. Further, the phones will be either activated IN STORE at either AT&T or the Apple Store differing from the current iTunes activation scheme used today.
The rumors can finally be weeded out and now we know to be true:
CEO Steve Jobs did not make mention if the 3G will be an unlocked phone, but with no AT&T presence on the stage and the push for 70 countries to have the 3G iPhone, it is most likely the next generation iPhone will indeed be unlocked.
As for subsidies, note that Steve Jobs stated the phone would be a maximum of $199. This definitely indicates you can expect stores, such as AT&T, to take a bigger bite out of the price and offer new customers another 50% discount to entice more users to the once named Cingular network.
Other highlights included (Firmware 2.0):
The 3G iPhone, which even Steve Jobs tripped over trying to say once, will be available July 11th, for $199 for the 8GB and $299 for the 16GB version which will be white (no photos shown.) While nearing Wi-Fi speeds for download, the 3G iPhone will also suffer in battery life when compared to the current version. Talk time is halved to 5 hours with standby at 300 hours. Web browsing comes in at about 6 hours with video an hour more and audio enjoyment clocking in at a full day. With browsing now 3.6 faster than EDGE and even 36% faster than Nokia’s N95 or the Treo 750, users of the new iPhone should be impressed with the speed gains until they have to plug into a power jack to recharge the internal battery.
What limited applications Apple did show off, they were far from limiting in what the iPhone SDK can do. Some really amazing applications where previewed such as God of War which rivaled that of the DS and even comes close to the PSP. Medical students and professionals will be happy with the two med-apps shown to the developer crowd available soon after the July App Store launch. Don’t worry sports fans, the MLB has you covered with its application that’ll keep you up to date pitch-by-pitch with any game in progress. The blues simulator from the Band application brought resounding applause to the Moscone West building when demonstrated as did the eBay application.
MobileMe, the replacement for .mac, nearly replicates the iPhone on Apple’s servers. Nearly looking identical to the Mac desktop versions of iPhoto, Mail.app, and iCal, MobileMe will bring Exchange-like features to the rest of the crowd. Pushing mail, contacts, and calendar events upon creation, iPhone users will always be up-to-date with MobileMe and firmware 2.0. The Gallery, pushing photos to the web, will allow users to share pictures on the go – finally! – anywhere one might have an EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi connection. The price remains $99 a year. No details were given pertaining to current .mac users.
With the rumors running rampant on the Internet of 3G iPhones to be subsidized by AT&T for a final cost of $199 with a two-year contract, it seems that time is running out for supposed exclusive carrier for US iPhones. Signs seem to indicate that this rumor has substance. Apple’s reported recent deal with Italy’s Telecom Italia Mobile to sell the iPhone unlocked and with a lack of firmware updates from Apple here in the states to re-secure an easily hacked 1.1.4 release in February, one would presume Apple desires more sales than headaches.
Seeing the huge demand in China alone for hacked iPhones, Apple can no longer ignore the demand for the Super Phone it released nearly a year ago last June. If the Cupertino iCompany does indeed decide to sell an unlocked iPhone, then AT&T needs to find another way to lock in its customer base. It will have to do it the old fashion way by eating a loss on the phone hardware in exchange for two years of your life. At a 50% discount of the initial cost of the phone, this will surely spawn new sales to the phone as well as retain current iPhone users desiring the faster mobile data access and possibly other hardware upgrade goodies such as rumored GPS (which I say is most unlikely.)
With a lack of a large GSM pool in the States, there may be not a huge splurge in unlocked iPhone sales locally, but where GSM is king, such as Europe and China, Apple could make a killing on the next generation iPhone if it truly will be sold as an unlocked device. Apple stands to make a greater profit with this business plan than skimming a few dollars a month per AT&T customer as it is suggested it is doing currently. While Apple is nearly half way to Steve Jobs self-commissioned 10 million phones sold by the end of 2008, sales have sagged in the last few months. International sales are even lower. An unlocked phone will change all that and meet, if not exceed, that 10 million mark for sure.
D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, today unveiled a family of 3G mobile broadband wireless routers designed to make it even easier for on-the-go consumers, field technicians and mobile professionals to access and share an Internet connection virtually anywhere by blending Wi-Fi(tm) networking technology and a wireless broadband network.
The D-Link 3G Mobile Wireless Routers allow users to create a 802.11g/b-compatible wireless hotspot anywhere within range of a cellular network.
By plugging a compatible 3G notebook adapter into the D-Link 3G Mobile Router’s built-in card bus slot or a USB-enabled mobile phone, users can get immediate access to EV-DO, UMTS or HSDPA networks. The D-Link router can then share this signal via 802.11g/b Wi-Fi technology to notebooks, PCs or other Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The D-Link routers are available in two versions: the DIR-450 (EV-DO) and DIR-451 (UMTS/HSDPA).
“These routers are ideal in situations where a wired broadband connection, such as T1, cable or DSL, is not available,” said Brian Larsen, associate vice president of product development for D-Link Systems, Inc. “For instance, once users insert a notebook adapter into their D-Link 3G Wireless Mobile Router and create a wireless ‘hotspot’, they can then check their email, browse
the Web, access their company network and share information with colleagues in ‘virtual meetings’. This solution is significant to the market by enabling communications at temporary work sites such as construction or disaster areas, concerts and others.”
For security, both versions support wireless security features to prevent unauthorized access, including WEP, WPA and WPA2 that ensure a secure Wi-Fi network regardless of the connected devices. They also employ dual active firewalls (SPI and NAT) to prevent potential Internet attacks. Read the rest of this entry »
In the past few months, Verizon Wireless has been testing its high speed Internet 3G connection in California’s agriculture hot spot through wee hours of the evening. All that testing has paid off as Verizon Wireless has announced today that Central California wireless users can no enjoy high speed access from their phone or computer like nearly the rest of the state has been using for the last year. While I myself still see 1x on my phones display and I more than deep in the allotted area, I’m sure it’s due to the signal tower in my town. Hopefully that’ll be resolved soon!
Customers in Stockton and Modesto can now access the latest high-speed business and entertainment services on their wireless phones, laptop computers, and other wireless devices thanks to Verizon Wireless.
New capabilities come with the expansion of the company’s Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) network, enabling both its BroadbandAccess and V CAST services. Customers in Stockton and Modesto now have access to the same high-speed Verizon Wireless services launched earlier in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California.
“Verizon Wireless is committed to expanding our high-speed data network across the nation and is proud to announce the launch in Stockton and Modesto,” said Rich Garwood, Northern California/Nevada regional president for Verizon Wireless. “These two communities continue to experience a high rate of growth as so many people make their homes in the area while commuting to jobs in Sacramento and the Bay Area, and vice versa. Now, customers who both live and travel through these areas have access to the true mobility of wireless data.”