OK… before the RUSH and nasty lines start forming over the weekend for all of you early adopters, let’s take a look at AT&T’s TOTAL 3G coverage in the US… The blue areas below, show just where all of their 3G networks are up and running.

• Blue = 3G
• Dark Orange = EDGE
• Light Oranage = GPRS
• Banded, Light Orange = Partner GPRS

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Why is everyone so quick to criticize?  The masses haven’t even seen the bloody thing yet..!

This is the first in a 2 part series related to some criticism I’ve hard on the iPhone 3G.  You’ll see the second part of this next week.

Ok… I admit it…I was one of the many iPhone-hypers on Monday 6/9/08…and I was really hoping that Steve would have had the stores stocked and ready to buy that day as well…but that’s just sour grapes now.

I’ve been watching a lot of commentary hit the air since all of the interesting announcements on Monday 6/9; and I’ve really tried to hold myself back, as I am certain that everyone and their brother is going to have something to say…but I just can’t leave it alone. Oh well…

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I just got notice from my publisher that the final details of Apple’s iPhone 3G pricing have been announced!!

You can see the full, detailed report here; but here are the hi-lites:

• Subsidized Prices: $199/$299 for 8GB/16GB respectively, with new 2 yr plan
• Unubsidized Prices: $399/$499 for 8GB/16GB respectively, with new 2 yr plan
• No Contract Prices: $599/$699 for 8GB/16GB respectively, no contract restrictions

 

iPhone users who purchased an iPhone before June 11, 2008 can buy one at the subsidized rates, regardless of upgrade status. Purchasers who buy unsubsidized will be required to agree to a new 2 year agreement.  If you want to be foot-loose and fancy free, i.e. no contract restrictions, you’re gonna go with the no contract prices.

The iPhone goes on sale, at 8AM Local Time, on 11-Jul-08.

If you get an Open Computer from PsyStar running Leopard, you can now update your OS!

One of the biggest news items last month was the discovery and on-again, off-again availability of PsyStar’s Open Computer. They made headline news with their $399 entry-level offering, as the first non-Apple PC to run Leopard. The catch, however, was twofold:

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In case some of you didn’t know, fellow Gear Diary Teammate and gadget nut, Doug Goldring, runs Just Another Mobile Monday or JAMM fer short.  I just found out that the site is celebrating is second birthday and Doug has decided to relaunch the site!  You should check out the info and stay tuned for some pretty cool contests and give-aways as Doug and his team start stirring up the excitement!

Congratulations Doug and JAMM on reaching the 2 year mark!  Here’s wishing you many, MANY more productive and fruitful years!!

Subsidized or not subsidized?  Which is it, and will everyone get one for $199/$299?  Sheesh!

The iPhone 3G… EVERYONE is talking about it. Everyone. I hear at least 2 or three conversations about it every day (since the 6/9 WWDC announcement) here at the hospital (new job), and these are the biggest bunch of NON-geeks ever assembled in once place at one time.  If even the techno-phobic are interested in this puppy, you know it’s going to make a HUGE splash in both the consumer and enterprise spaces.

However, all of these conversations have one common theme, and I get asked this question at least 2-3 times in some of these conversations and people come and go through them, “If I’m not eligible for an upgrade, can I buy one; and at what price?”

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if you haven’t seen it yet, you need to take a quick peak at Gear Diary’s We Twit page.  Some of us, uh…Twits here at GD, make an effort to tweet as often as we can on Twitter.  As such, Twitter gives you the opportunity to put your latest tweet on your website. Judie and a bunch of us have created a Twitter status page for everyone, so you can follow us from one convenient spot.

While reading some of the recent tweets on my Twitter home page, I noticed an interesting opinion piece from James Kendrick of JK on the Run.  He has asked a thought provoking question - If the iPhone’s $199/$299 price tags are in fact, subsidized prices, what about the rest of us who aren’t eligible for a new phone??  What will the iPhone cost us?  Can we get it without subsidy; and if so, how much will that be (rumors are well over $500)?

As always, James provides a thought provoking set of comments.  Y’all should check it out and join us in the discussion and give us your thoughts on it.

I was making the rounds before really getting into my day when I saw this over at Mobility Site (a regular stop for me).  They cite an iPhone Atlas article which credits an AT&T spokesman with indicating that tethering won’t be allowed for the iPhone 3G (even though it currently is for the iPhone 2G).

…according to AT&T spokesman, Mark A. Siegel, who spoke with iPhone Atlas earlier this week, AT&T will not be supporting a PAM plan for the iPhone 3G. The only available data plan for the iPhone will be the new $30 consumer unlimited data and visual voice mail plan and the $45 business data plan.

This really takes me aback, as this was something that I was looking forward to. I don’t do this a lot (and won’t with the new iPhone), but it is nice in a pinch when something (an important e-mail, post, etc.) HAS to go out NOW and can’t wait until I get off the train.

This is either going to change at AT&T, or people are going to find a way to work around it.  I’d rather not do something like this without permission, however… but when you’re stuck you either have to carry around a spare phone that WILL do it, or figure out a way around the problem.

UPDATE: It was pointed out to me that there is NO official way of tethering your iPhone to your computer, and that is correct. The article at iPhone Atlas does mention a method of tethering your 2G iPhone to your PC; but its a hack, and is NOT sanctioned by AT&T.  Please note that no one at Gear Diary advises doing anything that would violate any agreements users enter into with AT&T or any other carrier.  You attempt something like this at your own risk.

If you’re intereseted in the MWG Atom Life, then you simply MUST take a trip over to ClintonFitch.com and check out Clinton’s comprehensive review.

As per youz-u-al, Clinton does a bang-up job on the review, and has lots of pictures to satisfy everyone. The device is only tri-band, so those on T-Mobile will be happy; but those on AT&T maybe not so much.

 

If you remember, a week or so ago, I posted a huge rant on how Microsoft released buggy and problematic SP’s in both Vista SP1 and XP SP3.  In that post, I promisd to post an update when the Symantec Registry Cleaner was released.  Well, it has been released, and it does in fact, work.

I ran it on 2 of the 3 PC’s in my house that have been upgraded to SP3. It removed almost 5000 bad registry keys on my Gateway 700GR desktop, 0 on my daughter’s Dell Latitude C610; and I have yet to run it on my older Sony Digital Studio PC (don’t ever buy one of these… ICK!)

Anyway; the free registry cleaner can be found here.  The installation and execution instructions are pretty simple and easy to follow, so everyone should be ok in running it. If you have XP SP3 installed, I would download it, run it, and see if there are bad keys in your registry REGARDLESS if you’re experiencing problems or not.