You have to feel a little sorry for the Free Software Foundation, which launched the first overhaul of its General Public License (GPL) in 16 years on the same day that Apple's iPhone launch hogged the spotlight.

Future GPL 3 violator?

(Credit: Apple)

But the foundation, like everybody and his brother, couldn't resist looking for a piece of the iPhone action. It used the launch as an opportunity to preach the merits of its new license and raise the specter that Apple's iPhone will violate it.

"We know that Apple has built its operating system, OS X, and its Web browser, Safari, using GPL-covered work--it will be interesting to see to what extent the iPhone uses GPLed software," said Peter Brown, executive director of the foundation, in a statement on Thursday.

That sounded a little vague, so I asked the foundation for some follow-up. Joshua Gay said he doesn't know what software is in the iPhone, but said, "If it's true that Apple can upgrade the software on the phone, but users can't, then distributing GPL 3 software on the iPhone would be a violation of the license."

Even if the iPhone uses GPL software, it's not clear whether Apple will employ GPL 3 versions of it at some point. What is clear is the foundation's loathing for what the iPhone represents.

Free software--that which grants anyone the freedom to see, modify and redistribute its underlying source code--is "radically reshaping the industry and threatening the proprietary technology model represented by the iPhone," the foundation said. On Friday, "Steve Jobs and Apple release a product crippled with proprietary software and digital restrictions: crippled, because a device that isn't under the control of its owner works against the interests of its owner."

Specifically, the foundation decries what it calls "TiVo-ization"--the incorporation of GPL software into a device, such as a TiVo's personal video recorder, that stops working if its software is modified.

The GPL 3 attempts to block such behavior, though Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project, objects to it vehemently as overreaching.

Source: CNET News.com - Business Tech

AT LAST

Well, iPhone-day has come and gone, and the customer reports seem to be generally positive on Techmeme.

I managed to get two iPhones after a 1 1/2 hour wait in line at an Apple store. Although normally waiting in line for anything drive me a little batty, this line was actually fun because of the festive mood of all the people in line.

Although they were all strangers, we shared a common enthusiasm for all things Apple. I'd bought work stuff to go through while in line, and ended up talking to folks for all the time in line.

It was almost sad to say goodbye, when each of us finally arrived at the Apple counter to select and pay for our iPhones.

I asked the rep if he was selling many 4 Gigabyte models that were a $100 cheaper than the $599, 8 Gigabyte models. He said barely anyone was ordering the 4 Gig models.

No Apple accessories were available for the iPhone, except for extra chargers and cables. The store didn't have the Apple-designed bluetooth headphone. But there were plenty of third party iPhone accessories to choose from, including bluetooth headphones, cases, and car chargers.

The lines were very well organized inside the stores, and moved pretty quickly.

The Apple folks had done a great job organizing the whole thing. The lines were orderly, and Apple employees came out regularly, even to the very end of a very long, snaking line, to give updates on the process, and provide tacit assurances that they had enough iPhones for everybody.

They even had an Apple cart with Starbucks coffee,and another with Smart-brand bottles of water for everyone.

It was a party.

Coming home and activating the phones was another story.

As widely reported, the iPhones don't do anything until activated via AT&T/Cingular, other than allow you to make an emergency call.

After entering my info for each phone, I got a screen saying "AT&T is activating your iPhone, the process could take up to 3 minutes".

Then in each case, I got a web page saying that the activation would take more time, and that AT&T would email me when the activation was complete.

I got an email two hours later informing me that my wife's iPhone was activated.

It's now over 8 hours on the other phone, and still haven't received an activation email on mine.

Online forums say that AT&T was "surprised" by the wave of activations, and overwhelmed. Waits of up to 24 hours are being suggested by AT&T reps when you get them on the phone.

The toll-free support lines at AT&T are being picked up within a few minutes. The operators are friendly and apologetic enough for the delays, so that's a good thing.

All in all, the experience was about what one might expect, given the deluge of first-day orders and activations.

If you haven't gotten yours, would recommend going tomorrow to an Apple store rather than an AT&T store, if possible. Number of folks in my line yesterday had anecdotal reports that the AT&T stores were running out of the 8 Gigabyte models.

The Apple store seemed to have a good supply of both.

Happy hunting, and a great fourth of July weekend to you all.

UPDATE: My iPhone finally got activated via AT&T about 9 hours after data submission.

My lovely wife bought her computer, a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv1207us notebook, in August 2005. It was the first computer she could call her own, and she loves it.

It also was an impressive enough notebook for the money -- she paid $850 for it at Best Buy -- that I recommended it to a lot of other people who were looking for a decent portable at a good price. As a result, a lot of my friends and colleagues carry one now.

Over the last year or so, my wife's been eyeing some of the Tablet PCs I've reviewed. She's a psychotherapist who's always looking for ways to cut down the amount of paper she has to touch, and the notion of being able to handwrite case notes on a computer appeals to her.

So, when my buddy Ed Bott wrote on his blog that he was selling an Acer TravelMate C314 Tablet PC, I mentioned it to her.

After two days of pondering, researching, reading reviews, checking finances and general agonizing, she's decided to take the leap. She's buying the tablet from Ed at an excellent price. The specs:

? Intel Pentium M 760 processor, running at 2 Ghz.

? 1.5 GB of RAM.

? 100 GB hard drive.

? 14.1-inch screen, powered by an nVidia GeForce Go 6200 video adapter.

? DVD-RW drive.

? 4-in-1 memory card reader.

? 802.11g Wi-Fi adapter.

? Gigabit Ethernet.

? Bluetooth.

It was interesting watching her decision-making process. I didn't push her one way or the other, but rather answered her technical questions and described for her the Tablet PC landscape -- its capabilities, how others use them and how this particular model compares.

I also happened to receive a Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC for review, and I let her play with it for a while. That reminded her of a tablet's potential, though I did catch her hear snickering a few times at how the text recognition translated her handwriting.

One of the factors in her decision was that she would be making a major change in the way she works, and it would likely be a permanent change that would affect her future computer purchases. Once she began using documents generated by Tablet PC-centric applications -- such as Microsoft's OneNote note-management software -- she would be tied to the tablet platform. The computer she buys to replace the Acer will almost certainly have to be another tablet.

She's decided the features of a tablet make it worth relying on the platform, the smooth inking and the ability to search handwritten text chief among them. I wrote the chapter in Larry Magid's and my Windows Vista book that features Tablet PCs, and as a result I've got a lot more respect for what they can do.

I'll be curious to see how she adapts and changes the way she works. And I'll also end up learning a lot more about tablets, because I'll be her technical support and software consultant on it.

Also, Ed has details about the circumstances of others who expressed interest in the tablet.

Today's the day you'll finally be able to plunk down way too much cash for a cell phone with an Apple logo on it. I'm doing what I can to resist the urge to call it iDay . . .

If you are one of the first to acquire the Object of Your Desire, we want to hear from you. After you activate your iPhone and play with it for a bit this evening, leave a comment in this entry with a quick review. If you do so early enough -- say, before 9 p.m. CDT -- your comments may make Saturday's print edition of the Chronicle. Please include your real name and e-mail address in the comment form (your e-mail address won't be public).

If you're in line in the Houston heat this afternoon and would like to send us some photos of your vigil, e-mail them from your lame-duck non-iPhone to newspix@chron.com. They'll show up in our Breaking News photo gallery. And if you want to take photos of your iPhone after you get it set up and working, you can upload them to our Geek Gear gallery.

As always, check back often for new items, which will be added to the top of the list.

Steve Ueckert : Chronicle Brian Hesterberg waited 13 1/2 hours for this.

? I just got back from the start of iPhone sales at the AT&T Experience store on the Southwest Freeway. About 75 people were waiting outside when the doors finally opened at 6 p.m.

The store's employees applauded as Brian Hesterberg, a 19-year-old University of St. Thomas student, was first through the door after having waited in line since 7:30 a.m. today. Sunburned and with bloodshot eyes, he walked to the counter and plunked down hard, cold cash for the $600 version of Object of Your Desire and a $20 case for it.

Total with tax: $670.06.

I asked as he was paying which felt better -- finally getting his hands on an iPhone, or getting indoors to some air conditioning.

"Boy, that's a tough question to answer right now," he said.

Customers were brought into the store a few at a time, where they were greeted and their names were taken. When a cashier was available to help them, their names were called.

Once the transaction was completed, a clerk went to the back with the receipt and came out with an iPhone box, which is small and black, with a picture of the phone on the outside. Hesterberg stopped long enough to talk to the horde of reporters, then fled back out into the heat and presumably home to activate the Object of Your Desire.

? Not everyone wants the Object of Your Desire. Take Clinton Shelvin, for instance. He's a 22-year-old District Manager for Blockbuster, and he left the Galleria after purchasing a new MacBook.

"This is complete madness and foolishness,'' he told Chronicle reporter Ashley Harris. "I'm not waiting in line all day, when I have a life to live. My Treo 700p is the bomb.com. It does everything I need without all of the fuss.

"Half of these people are going to get drunk and sit on it anyway. At least with this I don't have to stress and worry the face of my phone is going to get cracked. In three to four months the price is going to go down. People are paying for the fad, not the phone.''

? At 2 p.m., Houston-area Apple stores closed. Marc Nathan was waiting in line at the Galleria and reported via Twitter:

they just closed the doors to the Apple store and we can see them pulling out banners

The AT&T stores will close at 4:30 p.m. for similar setup efforts. Both chains open again at 6 p.m.

? The mayor of Philadelphia, apparently not having anything better to do, decided he'd wait in line at an AT&T store to buy an iPhone -- but not for long. From the Associated Press:

Mayor John F. Street abruptly ended his wait in line for an iPhone Friday after a passer-by asked him about the city's murder rate.

Street, who showed up outside an AT&T store at 3:30 a.m., left shortly after a 22-year-old sporting a mohawk asked him, "How can you sit here with 200 murders in the city already?" The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on its Web site.

Street told the man: "I'm doing my job," the newspaper said.

He's apparently coming and going, with minions taking his place in line as needed.

? Chronicle business reporter Purva Patel hit some southwest AT&T stores around noon today and found . . . . well, not much.

Don't want to wait in line? The AT&T store in The Fountains shopping center in Stafford seems like the place to be. There are festive balloons and chains to keep the masses in line, but about noon there no masses to control -- as in, zero.

Another AT&T at Sugar Land Town Center had three waiting. At the front of that line was Megan Burleson, who was there because her boss bet her $150 she wouldn't be able to stay in line long enough to buy an iPhone for him.

"I'm here to prove him wrong, '' said Burleson, who got to the store late Thursday.

Meanwhile, AT&T's Dan Feldstein says 80 percent of the store managers in the Houston area say they've got folks waiting in line for the iPhone.

? Version 7.3 of iTunes for Windows or Macintosh -- which is what you'll need to activate the Object of Your Desire in the comfort of your home -- is now available. (Mac users can get it by running Software Update.) For users of Apple TV, it also allows you to show photos on your television from any PC or Mac on your home network.

? At the Galleria, another three dozen were in line around 10 a.m., the queue wrapped around the clear plexiglass balustrade across from the Apple Store on the mall's second level. The first to arrive, 24-year-old D.J. Lewis, told Kevin Moran he'd gotten there about 4:30 a.m., and had to wait until 8 a.m. to get into the mall.

Kevin Moran : Chronicle The faithful await the Object of Your Desire at the Galleria Apple Store.

Lewis told Moran that, when it comes to gadgetry, he's gotta have it all on Day One.

"Every electronic gadget, I have tried to get it the first day it comes out," Lewis said. "I normally get a new phone about every six months."

The iPhone, he said, "will complete my collection."

The scene at both Memorial City Mall and the Galleria was placid, which is a lot different from that of the PlayStation 3 launch late last year. Lewis said he was at the Sony Style Store in the Galleria and "it was chaos."

As was the case at Memorial City, there's a visible security presence. Moran's description: "Man, this place is guarded like Fort Knox."

? Around 8:30 a.m. today there were about three dozen iPhone hopefuls lined up inside Memorial City Mall, some of whom had been camped out since early Thursday evening. Reporter Kevin Moran said Darlene Dakus and her 14-year-old son Daniel were first in line, arriving about 7 p.m. Mall security wouldn't let them sleep overnight in air-conditioned comfort, so they spent the night outside and were finally let in around 5:30 a.m. today.

Daniel, an eighth-grader at Spillane Middle School in Cy-Fair ISD, is the buyer, and he plans to snag one of the pricier, $599, 8-gigabyte models, as well as some accessories for it. He told Moran he earned the money himself, umpiring for a children's baseball league, and has spent four months researching the phone.

Also in line at Memorial City -- 19-year-old college students David Carr, Alan Seunsom and Brian Ngo, all of whom have a more mercenary goal. They want to buy the phones today and sell them at a premium to others who have more money than time to spend in line.

The campers at Memorial City aren't being allowed to wait near the Apple Store there, but instead are being corralled by stanchions at the mall doors closest to the store, between Target and Macy's. A couple of security guards are keeping a watchful eye on them, in case they get to, um, euphoric.

Kevin Moran : Chronicle Daniel Dakus peeks around his mom, Darlene, while waiting for an iPhone at Memorial City Mall.

Update: AT&T says there are now some folks waiting at the AT&T Experience store on U.S. 59 South, between Weslayan and Buffalo Speedway. And a couple of people were spotted sitting out in front of the AT&T store on North Main Street at McKinney -- though whether they are waiting or just cooling their heels is unclear.

AT&T is also now telling us about lines in Pearland and Lake Jackson. Spokesman Feldstein says that "it's pretty safe to assume there are lines at many stores now."

? Still a mystery: Whether Apple really has licensed ActiveSync from Microsoft so the Object of Your Desire can get push-style e-mail from an Exchange server. Walt Mossberg mentioned in his review that this is possible "if your IT department cooperates by enabling a setting on the server." That likely means the switching on of IMAP, an older e-mail protocol, which Exchange can handle. But if Apple has licensed ActiveSync, there's no tweakage necessary from typically surly mail administrators, and it puts the iPhone's e-mail capabilities on an par with those of competing Windows Mobile devices. ThinkSecret has some iPhone screen shots that show an Exchange tab, but as Wired's Gadget Lab points out, the shots still show Cingular as the carrier.

Update: Looks like Microsoft has released a patch for the Exchange 2007 software, which will make it work better with IMAP4. That's the protocol used by the Mail program on Apple's Mac OS X, and, according to someone who knows the software, what will be used on the iPhone.

The update is expected to address the many issues Exchange 2007 users have been having, including with Mac Mail and the fact that when they access their mailboxes on a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 server, certain IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) clients cannot open the bodies of the e-mail messages, which triggers an error message.

This fix is important as the iPhone will work with Exchange Server via IMAP4, Keith McCall, chief technology officer of Azaleos and a former Exchange executive, told eWEEK.

? Chronicle reporter Kevin Moran cruised by some AT&T stores in the Houston area early this morning in search of iPhone campers and found . . . only AT&T executives!

Ken Fisher, AT&T vice president for sales in Houston, said as of 6:30 a.m. there were no lines reported outside AT&T stores in the metropolitan area. Some exceptions included people gathered outside a store in Tomball and one person outside a Pasadena .

Fisher said he does not have the number of iPhones that will be available at the 3773 Southwest Freeway stores or other area s. "I do forecast we will sell out," Fisher said. "But the inventory will be replaced each and every week."

If people come into a store, and there are no phones immediately available, AT&T will ship one directly to their homes. "You're not going to have to wait a long time to get it," said AT&T spokesman Dan Feldstein. Phone service will also need to be activated through iTunes, Fisher said.

Feldstein also said there are reports of lines at stores in San Antonio, El Paso, Addison, Grapevine, College Station and Pasadena.

Moran's now checking at some area Apple stores.

? AT&T's EDGE network, which the iPhone uses to access the Internet when Wi-Fi isn't available, has taken some hard knocks over its pokiness by iPhone reviewers. But last night, reports began filtering in from AT&T subscribers that the dog-slow network was now noticeably faster. Gizmodo reported earlier this month that AT&T had a project called Operation Fine EDGE that was aimed at increasing speeds. EDGE normally gets around 40 Kbps -- less than a 56K modem -- but in tests last night, Engadget found speeds of over 200 Kbps.

? In fact, the EDGE network's lame performance was the topic of discussion during interviews yesterday with Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal ($$$) and USA Today all had sit-downs with the pair, and in each one, the subject came up. Jobs took up the defense, as in this snippet from the WSJ:

You know every (AT&T) Blackberry gets its mail over EDGE. It turns out EDGE is great for mail, and it works well for maps and a whole bunch of other stuff. Where you wish you had faster speed is...on a Web browser. It's good enough, but you wish it was a little faster. That's where sandwiching EDGE with Wi-Fi really makes sense because Wi-Fi is much faster than any 3G network.

What we've done with the iPhone is we've made it so that it will automatically switch to a known Wi-Fi network whenever it finds it. So you don't have to go hunting around, resetting the phone, flipping a switch or doing anything. Most of us have Wi-Fi networks around us most of the time at home and at work. There's often times a Wi-Fi network that you can join whether you're sitting in a coffee shop or even walking along the street piggybacking on somebody's home Wi-Fi network. What we found is the combination is working really well.

When we looked at 3G, the chipsets are not quite mature, in the sense that they're not low-enough power for what we were looking for. They were not integrated enough, so they took up too much physical space. We cared a lot about battery life and we cared a lot about physical size. Down the road, I'm sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision.

? Jobs also said that iPhone supply may not meet the demand. Ya think, Steve?

? Stephen Colbert is not happy that Walt Mossberg, Ed Baig and David Pogue got iPhones to review, and he did not. So, the Comedy Central fake-news anchor reviewed it anyway.

I've been holding off doing a full swan dive into the iPhone swimming pool, but I don't think I can avoid taking the plunge any longer. When there's this much rumor, innuendo and raw, raucous hype about something this geeky, there's only one thing to do . . .

Aggregate!

We're kicking off iPhone Watch, a daily TechBlog entry that will continue each day this week through Friday, when the Object of Your Desire is actually available.

I'll troll the Net for the most interesting, insightful, funniest, outrageous or just flat out stupid iPhone nuggets -- and I suspect before this hypefest is all over, there will be a lot of the latter.

This will work like the Linkpost, with a new entry each day and additional items as I find them posted at the top.

Buckle your seatbelts, kids. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

? MacInTouch has a nice iPhone FAQ going. It appears to be eschewing rumor for fact. Imagine that!

? CNet's Tom Krazit looks at how Apple's generating the buzz for the iPhone, by relying on its horde of fanboys:

Traditional ways of reaching potential customers are changing rapidly, as any newspaper employee will tell you. Some companies have plunged headlong into a new media frenzy, setting up shop inside virtual worlds such as Second Life or trying to create "grassroots" viral video campaigns.

But a passionate, almost evangelical base of supporters makes any marketing campaign easier. Apple's reliance on a horde of loyal fans thirsty for information is the catalyst for its marketing.

Keep them thirsty, and every drop will feel like a gallon of information.

? Want to bet that the iPhone will be a hit -- or a dud? You actually can. LiveScience reports that BetUS.com -- a gambling Web site based in Costa Rica (online gambling is illegal in the U.S.) -- has odds on whether the iPhone will fly or flop. You can also get odds on:

• Initial iPhones get recalled--30/1
• iPhone sells at least 12 Million units in 2008--5/6
• The screen breaks/cracks like Apple's first-generation nano (iPod)--150/1
• There are mass reports of the battery life being less than the promised 8 hours--10/1
• Someone is trampled while trying to get an iPhone--20/1
• iPhone spontaneously combusts--150/1

? AppleInsider reports that the first shipment of iPhones have arrived in the United States:

People familiar with the matter say the intrinsically valuable freight was carried inbound by a certain Hong Kong-based air courier, which services Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The early arrival is to assure the cargo can clear customs with enough time to handle unexpected delays, those people said.

? TechDigest has a list of the top 10 funny iPhone-related videos found on YouTube, including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughing about it.

? The Boy Genius Report, which has been pretty dead-on about the iPhone for the past two weeks, says the AT&T data plan for it will be called -- you guess it! -- the iPlan.

No, we're not kidding. Although iPlan might simply be used internally to refer to the Apple iPhone data plan, this streak of info came from a pretty high up source of ours, and it looks to be accurate. The iPhone data plan will be around $34.99-$44.99 and feature unlimited data, and either 2000 text messages, or unlimited text messages (we still have not confirmed which, but unlimited text messages would be awesome).

? Don't miss Philip Elmer-Dewitt's roundup of features visible in the 25-minute iPhone guided tour posted last week on Apple's Web site. And he's also got a look at the true cost of an iPhone over the lifetime of a 2-year AT&T contract. ($2,218.12 plus tax, for a 4-GB model with 450 minutes a month)

? From Bloomberg: Can the iPhone ever possibly hope to meet investors' expectations?

? Cult of Mac says Apple employees are no longer being coy about whipping out their iPhones in public, and that people are being hired to wait in line for an iPhone. Is this a strange planet, or what?

Apple's

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iPhone finally goes on sale June 29, and for many potential buyers, the

only issue is whether they'll be able to get their hands on one, as

it's certain to sell out immediately. But whether you are a music

lover, a business e-mail addict, a mobile power-user or just a normal

consumer, there are several good reasons to think twice about dropping

$500 for the first-generation iPhone.

Will that be enough to slow

iPhone sales after the initial rush? There are, after all, plenty of

other options for consumers who want a smart phone, which is

essentially a high-end phone with the ability to do other functions,

like e-mail. Previously just expensive toys for information technology

nerds and executives, smart phones are gaining mainstream appeal.

Research firm Yankee Group projects that smart phones will grow from

11% of this year's mobile-phone market to about 20% of phone sales in

2010.

In Pictures: Five Reasons To Think Twice About The iPhone

Jobs hopes to pick up 1% of the market by the end of 2008. But

consumers are finicky and have options. If Apple's iPhone doesn't stack

up, numerous competitors, like Samsung, LG Electronics, Nokia

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Windows Mobile platform, will be happy to take their business.

(Elevation Partners, the private equity firm that has invested in

Forbes Media, has announced plans to buy a 25% stake in iPhone competitor Palm

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The

iPhone's battery is one example of a feature that could flop. By all

indications--Apple is still being mum about almost all details

regarding the device--the iPhone's rechargeable battery is sealed

inside its case. That's what Apple does already with its iPod devices,

presumably to save space. The company says the battery will last up to

five hours of talking, watching video and browsing the Internet.

But

it's not clear how those claims will measure up in the real world. What

happens if you use the phone's wi-fi connection heavily? Or a Bluetooth

earpiece? Without a midday charging pit stop, iPhone owners may have to

consistently choose between using its Web and multimedia features or

saving battery power for phone calls.

Other smart phones have

similar battery drawbacks. Palm, for example, says the battery in its

newest Treo 755p will last for up to four hours and 12 minutes of talk

time. But when that's up, you can easily swap out the Treo battery for

a charged replacement. Many people carry a spare, especially while

traveling on business. With the iPhone, it seems you may be tethered to

a backup-battery accessory, which is far from ideal.

Making

matters worse, rechargeable batteries have a limited lifespan and can

be charged only a finite number of times. This number varies, but Apple says

a properly maintained iPod battery--whatever that really means--can

retain 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charging cycles.

Eventually, it will hold a charge so short that it must be replaced,

which could at best mean a trip to an Apple or AT&T

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The

iPhone's stripped-down data features could also provide incentive to

wait for a better offer. Apple's boilerplate is that the iPhone is a

"revolutionary" device for browsing the Internet on the go. To an

extent, it has a point: Apple's Safari is arguably the most powerful

mobile Web browser. And the iPhone's large display will surely make

surfing the Web more enjoyable and functional than on a tiny Motorola

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But

for whatever reason, Apple decided not to allow the iPhone to work on

AT&T's fastest, "third-generation" (or 3G) wireless network, opting

instead for its slower "EDGE" network. The difference is apparent even

on a small-screen device browsing scaled-down, mobile-edition Web

sites. When you're surfing full-size Web pages, as Apple touts on the

iPhone, the slow speeds could be a deal breaker.

During Apple's

first-quarter earnings conference call, finance chief Peter Oppenheimer

said the company is "very much sold" on the slower network because it

is more widespread in the U.S. This is a valid point, sort of. AT&T

says it has 3G coverage available in 165 major U.S. metro areas, with

dozens more on the way, and EDGE coverage in 13,000 cities and towns.

But a 3G device can seamlessly hop between the faster and slower

networks. And many of the iPhone's competitors, like the 7-month-old

Samsung BlackJack, do just that. So why did Apple skimp?

One

reason may be the iPhone's built-in wi-fi capability, meaning it can

connect to local hot spots and avoid AT&T's data network

altogether. This is much faster than using the cellular Web, but

imperfect. Wi-fi access is not as universal as you think, and often

it's not free. Spending $10 to use a faster Internet at Starbucks

doesn't sound practical on top of a $40-per-month, all-you-can-eat EDGE

data plan. You may already have a wi-fi hot spot in your home or

office--but chances are, you have a computer there, too, with a screen

larger than 3.5 inches.

Then again, wi-fi may be a cool feature

if Apple opens the iPhone up to developers to write interesting

software like network or peer-to-peer games, on-the-go photo sharing

software or any other mobile-friendly apps. Jobs is particularly fond

of the iPhone's Google Maps software, which he says "blows away" any

previous version, and the iPod music software, which he says is "the

best iPod we've ever made." But it's not clear if Apple will let other

people write software for the iPhone, at least right away, and that

could be a reason to stay away.

For example, if you're looking

to check your corporate e-mail with any ease, you may have to wait.

It's not clear if the iPhone's e-mail software will initially--or

imminently--support "push" e-mail from Microsoft Exchange e-mail

servers or Research in Motion

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to support real-time "push" e-mail delivery. But CrackBerry addicts

should be iPhone-hesitant, at least until we get more information about

compatibility. (RIM did not immediately return a request for comment.)

Jobs said recently that Apple is "working to find a way to allow developers to build applications" but that security is a sticking point.

Rabid

e-mailers or texters may also be skeptical about the iPhone's

keyboard-free design. Jobs dislikes the tiny QWERTY thumb keyboards on

many of today's smart phones, with good reason: Typing is slower and

less accurate than on a normal, full-sized keyboard.

But it's

not apparent that typing on a touchscreen will necessarily be any

better. Many BlackBerry users, once familiar with the keyboard, can

type without looking. Can you thumb out a text message on an iPhone

screen without undivided attention? Will it work in the rain? Or if

you're wearing a bandage? Will it scratch, as the iPod screens have

been infamous for?

Lastly, one of the most anticipated, unknown

iPhone features is its real price tag. We already know that it will

cost $500 to $600, depending on storage capacity. But AT&T's

contract requirements could easily quadruple that price. To qualify for

the lowest pricing on many smart phones, carriers require that you

subscribe to an all-you-can-eat data plan for around $40 per month, in

addition to a $40-or-more-per-month calling plan.

So much for

getting the cheapest calling plan and just using the wi-fi feature for

the Internet. Add text messaging and taxes, and you're looking at a

bill near $90 per month. Over the two-year contract period, that's more

than $2,000.

Businesses manage that expense for executives'

BlackBerrys, but will consumers happily pay that much? AT&T says

existing customers will get the same deal as new customers switching

from Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel

(nyse:

S -



news

-



people

)--but

subscribers will have to extend their contract for two more years. Will

AT&T offer a version for prepaid service subscribers? Many

consumers can justify buying a $500 smart phone/iPod hybrid. But

AT&T's service terms could break the deal.

NowPublic

Tags: Apple Inc. | iPhone | mobility

• Touchscreen interface is everything it promised to be
• Activation is quick and easy (for most users) via iTunes; you choose your AT&T plan directly from the iTunes interface
• Voice quality appears to be good
• The web browser is terrific -- with one qualification (in a minute...)
• The screen is also great for viewing movies.
• The auto-swivel feature works quite well, reorienting the screen when you turn the unit in your hand.
• The 2 megapixel camera is pretty good for a phone
• It's a great iPod music player, except for the storage limitations

The negatives:

• Web browsing and email via AT&T's EDGE network is slower than slow -- several minutes to retrieve a message or load a web page. Intolerable, especially for device that has souch a great web browsing interface.
• The touchscreen keyboard is difficult to type on at best, impossible at worst. This is not a phone for heavy instant messagers or emailers.
• No connection to corporate email servers means you can't use it for work email, as you can a Blackberry. Which is why most corporate IT departments are saying "no" to the iPhone.
• The lack of MMS messaging means that you can't send the photos you take via text messages. (You can send via email, however, but not to another user's cell phone via text.)
• Lack of stereo Bluetooth means you can't use Bluetooth headphones -- although you can use Bluetooth mobile headsets, like the Jabra.
• You only get 4GB or 8GB of storage (actually 3GB and 7GB, after you account for operating system software), which isn't enough to store a lot videos or big music libraries.
• There's no voice activated dialing, which is baffling in a phone of this overall caliber.
• In spite of previous reports (wishes?) to the contrary, you buy the iPhone, you're locked into a 2-year AT&T service plan.
• AT&T sucks, of course.
• It costs freakin' $600!

My advice? Unless you absolutely, positively have to have the latest and greatest, don't buy a first-generation iPhone. Wait for the second-generation model, probably in January, which should fix most of the negative issues. (There will be lots of negative press in the days and weeks to come; people will have buyer's remorse.)

AT&T is the exclusive iPhone carrier for the United States, which means you can expect every AT&T store in the country to overflow with customers at 6:00 PM local time on June 29. Demand is expected to be so high that AT&T stores reportedly will close shop for about two hours before the 6:00 PM launch, installing iPhone displays and roped queues to handle the anticipated lines. But earnings simply from retailing the iPhone won?t be AT&T?s biggest boon from its Apple partnership. Anyone wishing to be an iPhone-owner has to sign a two-year AT&T service contract, which means the telco could steal millions of customers from rivals like Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.

AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson said today that about 40 percent of people who showed an early interest in the iPhone are not AT&T wireless customers ? a strong indication the ?ultimate digital device? will help the company pull customers away from rivals. If Steve Jobs is proved correct in his forecast of 10 million handsets sold worldwide by the end of next year, that could mean an additional 3 million customers for AT&T.

But it?s not clear sailing for AT&T or Apple. The iPhone will operate on AT&T?s EDGE network, one generation behind the latest data networks, which means Web pages will take longer to download on the iPhone than other devices operating operating on competitors? third-generation networks. And there?s plenty of direct competition among super-smart handsets ? Dan Frommer at Forbes put together a thorough list of nine iPhone alternatives, and points out that every major cellular company is poised to offer a direct iPhone competitor:

Don?t write eulogies for the other cellular companies yet. The iPhone is a threat to the wireless industry, but it?s also helped convince millions that spending $500 or more on a cellphone, and another $40 per month for a wireless data plan, is completely within reason. Each competing carrier and handset company has juiced up its product line, marketing one or more new, high-end smart phones that mix phone calls, the Internet and multimedia capabilities like music and video players.

One point remains firmly in place, however: the iPhone is definitely the sexiest phone of the lot. But it?s still in the air whether that chic styling and all the media hype can overcome a slower network, unfamiliar interface, and nine competing products. Stay tuned.

(Image of AT&T at Apple iPhone Presentation by Kainita)

By Andrew Hines

Benefits of a Resource Library

While it's true that a resource library, on the surface, exists to benefit site visitors, it doesn't end there; it also provides benefits that can have a direct impact on any business.

First, they spread goodwill among a business's prospect base?and its non-prospect base. Visitors see the site as offering free information about important subject matter, and that makes it a more attractive site to return to in the future, when a purchase will be made or a service established.

Second, with a solid resource library, the site puts itself in a great position to organically attract important inbound links. Outside sites will notice the offerings of important and unbiased information and link to individual articles or to the resource library as a whole?boosting traffic and rankings overall.

Third, if the articles in the section are optimized properly, they will also boost rankings for popular and competitive keyphrases, driving additional targeted traffic to the site. The traffic may enter the site at the articles, but visitors are then likely to click for further information about the site itself.

A Common Objection

The most common objection a search engine optimization company hears when recommending that a site add a resource library is "I want to sell my product, not educate." However, that is shortsighted.

It is important to reach buyers at all stages of the sales cycle. For example, if someone is just starting to investigate a product or service, a site with an appropriate informational article will reach him or her at this critical early stage. The prospect will then likely remember the experience when he or she is ready to buy and will return to the site.

In addition, a site with a resource library can help a salesperson save valuable time. With quality articles freely available on the site, the salesperson will no longer need to take the time to explain the basics to a prospect?the site will have already taken care of that. Instead, the salesperson can focus on speaking to the people who are ready to make a purchase.

Examples of Successful Resource Libraries

Several sites serve as great examples of this approach. Let's look at three of them?Bed Bath & Beyond; Lowe's; and Step Two Designs (an Australian consulting firm).

Bed Bath & Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page.

Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed Bath & Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the impressive monthly search estimate (using data from WordTracker) of 55,304. Note that this page, which is an unbiased article offering tips on choosing different types of window treatments?and not a retail sales page?is what achieves the rankings.

Home-improvement chain Lowe's actually has several resource libraries on its site, from buying guides to an extensive how-to library. Its buying guide page notes, "Work Smarter: We'll help you find the right equipment and tools you need for all of your projects." And the company's article on choosing floor tiles appears on the first page of Google for the targeted phrase "tile floor," which has a monthly search estimate of 2,046. Again, it's an informational page, and not a product page, that gets the great rankings.

Both of the above examples are great, but you don't need to be selling a product online?or even in the retail business at all?to use a resource library to your benefit. Step Two Designs is a consulting firm that offers a resource library of whitepapers on its site. Its "How to Evaluate a Content Management System" article, for example, establishes its usefulness right at the top, stating that "No vendors or products are mentioned in this article: this is not a survey of current commercial solutions. Instead, it provides tools to assist you to conduct a review of suitable products."

This article appears on the first page of Google for the targeted phrase "content management systems," which has a monthly search estimate of 2,356. While this may be a lower number than the Bed Bath & Beyond example, a consulting firm's average sale will likely be greater than that of a single purchase from a retail outlet, and so these visitors are potentially more valuable. Even in this type of business, a resource library will quickly prove its value.

Conclusion

Resource libraries clearly offer something of value for everyone involved. Prospects appreciate their existence, search engines reward sites that have them, and salespeople are relieved of the burden of explaining basic concepts to early prospects.

You can create your articles in-house or, if you're not sure where to start, hire a search engine optimization company to help you with everything from idea generation to writing. In either case, with just a little bit of effort, your site can realize the benefits of establishing this type of section.

_______

Scott Buresh is managing partner of Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing (www.mediumblue.com).

NO GREAT SHAKES

Well, Apple and AT&T announced the pricing plans today for the iPhone launch this Friday. And there are no major surprises.

But one does need to get mentally ready for the financial commitment involved here.

Here's the low-down:

"Pricing & Availability
iPhone goes on sale at 6:00 p.m. (local time) on Friday, June 29 and will be sold in the US through Apple?s retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores.

iPhone will be available in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac®.

All iPhone monthly service plans are available for individuals and families and are based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T. Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes.

All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a one-time activation fee of $36. Family plans are also available."

Key takeaways:

1. Apple is emphasizing unlimited data on all three plans, highlighting the web browsing functionality of the iPhone. That despite the slower EDGE data network on AT&T/Cingular vs. the EVDO networks of Verizon and Sprint.

2. A one-year AT&T contract doesn't seem to be an option. It's two-years or nothing. So above the $500 or $600 the user pays for a 4Gb or an 8GB model, s/he is committing anything $1440, $1920, or $2400 for the two years.

That's before any accessories and doo-dads one gets for the new gadget.

3. Can't use the new gadget as just a new version of the video iPod. The jkOnTheRun puts it:

"...you'll need to re-up for a new two-year contract to "activate iPhone features, including iPod functions".

And for the top-tier $100 plan? You don't get unlimited voice or SMS text messages. What a deal.
The only saving grace of the whole thing?

You don't need to deal with a human being to activate the thing. The gadget can be activated entirely through one's Mac or PC, via iTunes.

But if you absolutely MUST have the thing in your hands on Friday, you'd better get in line. Gizmodo reports the lines are already starting to form at the Apple stores.

Wonder how long Apple will wait before unveiling new video iPod models with the screen and touch features of the iPhone sans the phone features.

I'll start the pool with a guess of three months, with a new line-up in time for the holiday season. Any other takers?

The line for the iPhone stretches over to Powell Street, one of the routes taken by San Francisco's iconic cable cars.

(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)

It's officially happy hour in San Francisco, and as busy commuters make their way home through the Stockton Street area, hundreds are lined up for Apple's iPhone.

The line at the Apple store has now moved around the block and over onto Powell Street, while the lines at the AT&T stores are building as well. There are hundreds in line at the Apple store, while there are about 50 people in line at the AT&T store at Fremont and Market, with about 75 in line at the store a few blocks away at Third and Market.

They're in a celebratory mood at the AT&T store on Third and Market. One gentleman, an intern at a local financial services company he preferred not to name, was standing in line at the request of his bosses. He said the experience had been a lot of fun, especially because he was adjacent to another gentleman who had managed to acquire a number of adult beverages for the front of the line.

Local gadfly Frank Chu is trying to warn iPhone waiters about the control exerted on our lives by the now-800 galaxies.

(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)

Back over at the Apple store, local psuedo-celebrities such as Frank Chu basked in the crowds, who were getting antsy as 6 p.m. loomed. No one knows exactly how many iPhones Apple will have available, which concerns some at the back of the line who have been waiting for hours.

Still, everyone was peaceful as they lined up in front of the blackened windows of the Apple store. It doesn't appear that CEO Steve Jobs made an appearance at the Fifth Avenue store, but Apple is planning to let reporters inside the San Francisco store to witness the action, so perhaps there's something planned. Stay tuned.

Source: CNET News.com - Business Tech

So I admit it: I bought an iPhone.

That was the easy part. But I should have realized that if the customer service whizzes at AT&T could find a way to mar what was otherwise a perfectly pleasant experience, it would. After nearly nine hours, AT&T has yet to activate my iPhone, and it can't be used until then.

Buying the iPhone is easy, but AT&T activation isn't.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Earlier on Friday, I had taken photographs of the throngs gathered outside for the San Francisco Apple store at 6pm, and the far more sedate crowd outside the Market St. AT&T store, and then decided not to bother standing in line for an iPhone on Friday. I figured I'd read some more early reviews and then pick one up sometime in the next few days after the lines were shorter.

Other earlier reviews were promising, including one that said audio quality was superior.

Then, around 11:30pm, I read our News.com article by my colleagues by Tom Krazit and Erica Ogg. They had stayed longer than I did and reported that: "Ninety minutes after Apple started ringing up sales of the iPhone at its 24-hour flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York, anyone could just walk into the store and pick up a device with a minimal wait."

Well, Apple stores were open until midnight, so why not? Around 11:40pm, I persuaded my wife to join me in a late-night dash to the Stockton Street store.

Yes, they had iPhones. Yes, the sales staff seemed exhausted after having to do crowd control earlier. Yes, there were still two San Francisco policemen standing guard outside, looking slightly bored by now. But there were only two people in line in front of me, including one desperate fellow who had driven far too fast from Marin County north of San Francisco to make the midnight deadline after finding that an Apple store up there had run out of 8 GB models.

So far, so good. When I got home, I plugged the phone into our media-server iMac and typed in my information in iTunes. I received an e-mail message at 12:10 am saying: "AT&T is now processing your activation. You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete." I had an existing AT&T account, so I figured that adding the $20/month iPhone wireless plan shouldn't take too long.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited.

It's now 9:06 am, and still no change. Against my better judgment, I even took the God-help-me step of phoning AT&T customer support, which is something you should never do unless you're absolutely desperate and learn that some malcontent is running up calls to Zambia on your mobile account, and probably not even then.

Mary-Kay eventually answered. "Unfortunately, sir, you do have to wait," she wearily replied, apparently sick of having to answer this question about once a minute since her shift began. "The iPhone will tell you when it is activated."

How long would this take, I asked. Five days? Two months? "I doubt that," Mary-Kay replied. "Believe you me, you're not the only one in those shoes. They did get jammed up last night. It's first-come first served."

I began to ask her if my existing Cingular phone would continue to work, but the line seemed to go dead. It could be my sucky VoIP service, or Mary-Kay could have simply hung up on me. I really wouldn't blame her for being sick of dealing with frustrated iPhone customers all day.

Now, I've been a computer programmer longer than I've been a journalist, and I find it hard to imagine any system that should take nearly nine hours to perform a database query, do a credit check, and whatever other black box magic is necessary to make this thing work. It's even less likely that the system should this long in the middle of the night after the east coast iPhone binge-and-registration should, in theory, be complete. And I'm already an AT&T customer, even.

Any bets on how long it'll take AT&T to activate this guy's iPhone?

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)

Occam's razor suggests that the more likely explanation is that AT&T has such antiquated computers that some poor saps in another secret AT&T division somewhere are keystroking in my account update by hand. Seriously. We may never know, but I can believe it.

I'm hardly alone. Some reports indicate AT&T activation is a recurring problem. One local Fox news channel article is titled "iPhone debuts with big headaches." A LiveJournal user entry buttresses my theory by reporting that the AT&T "transfer team" gets in to work at 9 am PT.

There's speculation that existing AT&T SIM cards may work with the iPhone, but I haven't tried that yet. Some posts in that thread are saying AT&T is telling customers they need to wait for 24 hours because of high volume. Some people are saying that their existing AT&T phones become unusable during the transition, though that hasn't happened to me so far.

It's important to stress that the iPhone can't be used for anything useful, not even playing music or movies, until activation happens.

The bottom line? Apple did everything it could to ensure that buying and setting up (and presumably using, though I can't attest to that yet) an iPhone is a pleasant experience. It succeeded magnificently.

But its key business partner, AT&T, has failed just as miserably. Computer companies know how to load-test server to figure out how it will respond under unusually high demand for its services. Why didn't AT&T do the same for its iPhone activation?

Source: CNET News.com - Business Tech

WASHINGTON--In our nation's great capital, where line-standing is an occupation unto itself, I was halfway expecting to see hordes of seasoned lackeys holding spots for high-powered lobbyists during my Friday afternoon circuit of five downtown AT&T stores prepared to offer up the iPhone.

But alas, instead of the usual guys in bike messenger garb holding up cardboard signs bearing their clients' handwritten names, I was confronted with relatively short lines containing earnest Applephiles, many still donning their buttoned-up office attire and ID card lanyards (among those I spotted: U.S. Department of State, DC government). Many of those who actually agreed to talk to me (remember, this is a city where people like to avoid going "on the record" whenever possible) admitted to be line-standing newbies that had gone starry-eyed over the hype surrounding the sleek gadget.

And there wasn't much of Camp iPhone mentality around these parts, either: with only one exception--a guy who refused to be named at a New York Avenue AT&T store who showed up at 6:30 a.m.--none of the lines began forming before about noon on Fri