AT&T Purportedly Looking to Push iPhone Exclusivity to 2011

[Via HotHardware]

Wake up, Microsoft! Research firm Piper Jaffray's most recent Teen Survey has concluded that, when it comes to MP3 players, American teenagers only want Apple. The firm's most recent polling of 600 high school students reveals that every teen in the survey who didn't already own a media player wanted an iPod. Of the teens who do have MP3 players, 86-percent have iPods. None expressed any interest in purchasing devices from Microsoft, Sony, Creative, or several other major companies that sell digital media players.
This demographic domination serves as a serious kick in the pants to other mobile device manufacturers, which should be worried about these teens upgrading to iPhones and remaining loyal to Apple in their adult years. The famous Apple iPhone did see a decline, though, when comparing the latest data with Piper Jaffray's previous survey last fall. Only 16-percent of teens plan on buying an iPhone, down from 22-percent. It's the perfect graduation gift idea, parents! Your kids want them; they're just hoping they don't have to pay for them. [From: Piper Jaffray, via AppleInsider and CNET]
At long last folks with a contract phobia or just a general penchant for lawlessness can pay exorbitant amounts of money to get an iPhone 3G contract-free. As promised, 8GB models for $599 and 16GB ones for $699 are now available from AT&T and Apple stores, with AT&T requiring buyers to be existing AT&T customers, limited at one per, while Apple stores will sell the handsets to anyone wandering in off the street -- rebellious demeanor preferred.Cell Phones, iPhone, Mobile Software, Mobile Phones
We're still filing this away in the rumor folder for now, but we'll be honest -- this is totally believable. GigaOM has it on authority that a bona fide Skype for iPhone client will be launched as early as next week, and with CTIA kicking off on April 1st, we'd say the timing is just about ideal. Of course, we've already seen a variety of alternatives for bringing Skype and other VoIP apps to Apple's darling, but by and large, they've been supremely unimpressive. There's no word on pricing (we're crossing our fingers for free) or any other tasty tidbits, but you can bet we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.Cell Phones, iPhone, Mobile Phones
Just in time to nab your soon-to-be-jailbroken copy of iPhone OS 3.0, AT&T has now confirmed that commitment-free iPhones are going to happen -- soon, in fact. As of next Thursday, you'll be able to waltz into the AT&T store of your choice and pick up an 8GB or 16GB unit for $599 and $699, respectively; that's a little harder to swallow than the normal $199 / $299, granted, but in exchange, you're free and clear without two years of your precious life sold off to a wireless carrier like it's a cheap piece of meat. You're worth more than that, you know?Cell Phones, iPhone, Mobile Software



It's hard to call two incidents of some occurrence around the world a trend, but, when those incidents both involve an electrical device catching fire spontaneously, it creates a situation that's hard to ignore -- especially when that device is the iPhone. On Saturday, Italian blogger Tim Colbourne was charging his 3G handset and, after three hours, it sparked and caught fire at the base.
Tim did a little investigation and found a case of a Swedish handset doing the same thing back in 2008, making us a little concerned that there could be more melted chargers out there. Apple replaced that earlier phone after something of a fight, and while we're hoping they'll be a little friendlier here, we're also hoping this gives Cupertino another bit of incentive to go ahead and switch over to micro-USB already. All the cool kids are doing it, and you don't see their cables catching fire -- usually.
[Via Cult of Mac]
Cell Phones, iPod, iPhone, Mobile Phones

iPhone, Holiday Gift Guide 2008


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