AT&T

AT&T must be sending Apple a huge fat ham or some nice flowers or whatever companies give other companies. Because AT&T released first quarter earnings yesterday and “net income rose by 22% over last year’s first quarter and income per share was 57 cents compared to 1Q2007’s 45 cents”.

This is, no doubt, partially due to the success (and the exclusivity) of the iPhone on AT&T’s network. If the rumors are true, and Apple approached Verizon before AT&T and was shot down, At&T should maybe start preparing that gift basket to Verizon as well.

In an article on Seeking Alpha: “A key piece of its wireless success has been thanks to the “must-have” technology of the iPhone, which continues to benefit from consumer willingness to spend aggressively when they believe a product worthy of the added cost.”

With the supposed release of the 3G iPhone 2.0 this summer, this can only mean better returns for the communications giant.

[Via Seeking Alpha]

If there’s one thing we were hoping to get from yesterday’ iPhone SDK event, it was VoIP support. I really didn’t expect Apple to support VoIP, as their agreement with AT&T is already showing its weaknesses, and letting customers forgo the network entirely seemed unlikely. Luckily, Apple went ahead and proved us all wrong, announcing that developers would have access to VoIP technology over WiFi on the iPhone.

What’s the catch? Apple will only allow VoIP to function if the iPhone is connected to a WiFi network, so it won’t work over EDGE. Basically, what this does is prevent AT&T customers from transforming their unlimited data plan into an unlimited phone plan. Despite that limitation, it’s nice to see Apple addressing a common request from developers and customers.

A new survey from ChangeWave research indicates that 72% of iPhone owners are satisfied with the device, and 17% of users who plan to purchase a phone in the next six months plan to buy an iPhone.

Who was it that said not many people would not be satisfied with the iPhone? Whoever it was, there are thousands that can attest.

However, do you think the iPhone will ever be as big as the iPod?

As you’ll see in the chart above, in terms of customer satisfaction, Apple is clearly the leader, with RIM following at 55 percent. Palm ranks at the very bottom; Motorola, Sony/Ericsson and Samsung are tied for next-to-last place.

However, ChangeWave states that only 30% of AT&T customers reported being very satisfied, with Verizon then leading by 42%.

What do you think about the numbers. Are you satisfied with your iPhone and AT&T or would you rather stick with your Blackberry?

Apple quietly announced a higher capacity model as you all may know, but some recent questions are starting to pop up everywhere.

After some initial confusion, iLounge received clarification from AT&T regarding the possibility of replacing your current iPhone with a 16GB one. You can read more about that here.

Some questions I have been wondering, as well as many others I have spoken with are:

Can I return my 8GB iPhone and get a 16GB model?
The answer is yes. If you bought your 8GB iPhone 14 days ago, you can return it and purchase a 16GB model. Unfortunately, if the iPhone has been opened, you will also be responsible for a 10 percent restocking fee.

Do I need to sign a new contract for the 16GB iPhone?
According to iLounge, the answer is no. Activate with the new SIM card and your account information will simply be updated.

Can I sell my 4GB or 8GB iPhone on eBay?
I have seen them on there. There are a bunch now selling for more than $400! I cannot imagine why, but… more...

It started yesterday when iPhone users on AT&T’s GoPhone month to month plan started getting errors when trying to connect to the internet via the EDGE network. At first, this problem was blamed on the 1.1.3 iPhone update. In a post on TUAW:

“You are not subscribed to the EDGE network” is the message facing the affected users. Subsequent calls to AT&T have resulted in a mixed response. They’re aware of the problem and generally offering a change of plans as a solution. The options seem to involve restarting your monthly billing or paying by the kilobyte, which is likely not a prospect most previously content GoPhone users are looking forward to.

But then it was discovered that the problem was not the iPhone update but rather a crash of AT&T’s server:
“Despite earlier assumptions by myself and users who first reported the problem it is not the 1.1.3 update that is causing the GoPhone problem, but rather an apparently coincidental server crash. AT&T support is offering a limited quick fix for some users, but is working on a long-term solution.”

It is… more...

After their recent and bold statement at CES about considering a filter placed on their Internet services, AT&T is imposing a 5GB cap for data on mobile devices.

The cap although low is not meant to trap customers into paying outrageous fees or into void their contract but to warn customers that they’re overloading AT&T’s servers and that by paying more of an even more unlimited plan might be in order.

However, the cost of data plans should drop down to $30 which is the same charge for the BlackBerry Personal plan. Also, text messaging will be broken from data bundles allowing even more savings. These changes should supposedly happen in a few weeks.

Via: Electronista

U.S. iPhone customers are certainly familiar with the terms of their AT&T wireless plans. Part of that plan is unlimited nights and weekends (a pretty standard offering). But what some people do not know is that just because you are talking past 9:00 PM it does not mean it is free and unlimited.

According to Consumer Commando, if you start your phone call before the unlimited period, AT&T will charge you for the full amount.

If you place a call on Verizon’s network at 8:59 P.M and talk for 60 minutes, you are charged for ONE minute. However, if you place the same call on AT&T’s network, you are charged for the full 60 minutes.

The post also explains that Verizon Wireless used to have a similar policy as AT&T but changed it because the policy was “inconsistent with their core values”.

What do you think about this practice?

[Via Consumer Commando]

We all know visual voicemail. Most of us use it quite often, and of those that do not a big percentage have unlocked phones. Could visual voicemail be an idea from someone else other than Apple or ATT? Klausner Technologies seems to think so, because they are suing both companies for a total of $360 million for copyright infringement. Klausner Technologies holds patents for retrieving messages from a menu which displays the caller, their number, and other such info. Sound familiar? What is worse is that they have successfully sued both AOL and Vonage over the same patents.

Basically, it looks as if Klausner Technologies will get a pretty large settlement. How this will affect both Apple and ATT has yet to be determined.

What are your thoughts on the suit?

[via Gizmodo]

AT&T announced yesterday that their 3rd quarter earnings rose 41% from the previous quarter. It has not been a secret how much success AT&T has had with selling Apple’s iPhone. But this is the first time we have seen real numbers associated with that success and just how much impact AT&T’s exclusivity agreement with Apple has had on AT&T’s overall financial health.

Although the acquisition of BellSouth and the streamlining of jobs also played a role, the 2 million new wireless subscribers in the third quarter certainly played a big part. Most of these new subscribers can be attributed to the introduction of the iPhone.

Chief executive Randall Stephenson cut customer turnover in the wireless business and signed a record number of new users to contracts, helping to counter the loss of more home-phone lines. About 1.2 million people agreed to long-term deals, and AT&T now has a total of 65.7 million wireless users.

Again, AT&T’s 5-year U.S. exclusivity with Apple and the iPhone can only mean good things for the wireless carrier.

[Via Washington Post]

This week, AT&T launched the Tilt: what is being called AT&T’s most powerful smart phone for business users. Surely, this is a model in AT&T’s lineup that warrants a full marketing push and heavy promotion in the AT&T stores.

Yet, in every AT&T store you will find prime real estate dedicated to the iPhone display. AT&T and Apple have a 5 year exclusivity agreement here in the United States and since June 29th, the iPhone display has occupied the key spot in the store’s floor plan.

Walk into every corporate AT&T store and you will be confronted with the glorious white display with the LCD widescreen monitor turned 90 degrees displaying the various features of our beloved device. It is a painfully simple display--consistent with the modern minimalist approach Apple maintains in their Apple Stores. But contrasted with the rest of the AT&T store which is cluttered with blue and orange wall detailing, racks of accessories, and other phones, the iPhone display sticks out like a sore thumb.

In retail, sticking out is a good thing. Which makes me wonder: How long will Apple get top billing in… more...