World of Apple

Today marked the release of the iPhone 3G across the world, New Zealand began the process and the launches slowly spanned the globe.

The first cracks began appearing when the iPhone was set to launch in the UK, as customers queued through the early hours of the morning they were quickly disappointed as stocks dwindled at O2, Carphone Warehouse and Apple Stores across the country. Most O2 stores reporting that they had less than 50 units.

These issues and frustrations were nothing compared to what would occur as US purchasers began hammering the iTunes activation servers. Not long after the 8AM launch of the iPhone 3G on the East Coast Apple’s servers began slowing and eventually died leaving thousands queuing across the country.

Reports emerged that some were being sent home with un-activated units, instead being told to activate them at home through iTunes.

The problem was increased by magnitude as Apple simultaneously released the iPhone and iPod touch 2.0 firmware update causing a flurry of users to attempt to download the software.

As servers failed many iPhone owners in AT&T and Apple stores were left with half “bricked” iPhones and users at home trying to update were also suffering with non-functional units.

The problems come after a significant delay in the release of MobileMe which took over 24 hours to fully come online and is reportedly still sluggish.

To ease confusions for those wishing to purchase an iPhone 3G on July 11, AT&T has posted videos offering information about the upgrade process for existing AT&T customers as well as new customers.

The iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8am in AT&T stores across the US on July 11.

AT&T offers a video for existing customers in which the company outlines that current iPhone owners backup their iPhone using iTunes prior to purchasing an iPhone 3G. The video also notes that voicemail will be deleted when upgrading.

In a second video AT&T advises those wishing to sing-up with AT&T for the first time to visit a store before July 11th and complete a credit check to save time on launch day.

AT&T has today announced detailed pricing information for the iPhone 3G, the official carrier of the iPhone in the US also confirmed that the iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8AM on July 11th.

AT&T also confirmed that the 8GB and 16GB iPhone’s will sell for $199 and $299 respectively, prices require two-year contracts and are available to customers who purchased before July 11, customers activating a new line with AT&T and current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount.

The iPhone 3G will cost $599 and $699 to customers wishing to opt out of any form of contract and will be sold sometime “in the future,” AT&T said.

iPhones will go on sale at 8 a.m. local time on July 11.

Oppenheimer equity research analyst Yair Reiner has noted to clients this week that AT&T is paying Apple a $325 subsidy on each new iPhone 3G sold in the US.

The analyst also adds that AT&T is paying Apple an added $100 for each new subscriber to AT&T signed up through Apple’s brick-and-mortar stores.

The subsidy on the iPhone is said to be more than 50-percent higher than most other smart phones which are typically subsidised by around $200.

AT&T and Apple settled a lawsuit brought by Klausner Technology Inc. on Monday. The lawsuit was originally brought around by Klausner last December for violating its patents on technology that sends visual alerts to computers or mobile telephones when a user has a voice message. The company sought $360 million in damages.

Today Apple and AT&T have agreed to license its “visual voicemail” technology and settled a lawsuit against them. No companies involved revealed the financial details of the agreement.

“The patent litigation with Apple has been settled. The patents have been licensed to Apple,” company founder Judah Klausner.

AT&T is currently holding a conference call discussing the introduction of iPhone 3G earlier today.

According to supporting materials AT&T will be discussing:

• Strategy
• Qs and As

AT&T will focus on the following four aspects of iPhone 3G when selling the device:

• More powerful device - innovative features and functionality
• Greater speeds - delivered via AT&T’s 3G network
• New agreement - replaces revenue sharing with traditional model that supports a significantly lower device price point
• Opportunity to expand the market - and spur increased demand for wireless data services

AT&T also lists “GPS-enabled YellowPages.com mobile application” as a feature of the new iPhone.

Finally AT&T confirms that two monthly data plan options will be available:

• Consumer individual unlimited data and e-mail - $30
• Enterprise unlimited data and corporate e-mail - $45

AT&T is repeating last years pattern of hiring retail temps to help in retail stores during the month of June.

In June of 2007 AT&T hired many short-term workers for what turned into crowd control for the release of the iPhone on June 29th.

Temporary workers will begin work on June 16th and end three months later on August 16th, those who remember from last year will note that the temps started one week before the iPhone release to receive the necessary training.

AT&T Completing 3G Network by June

AT&T said Wednesday that it plans to complete deployment of its 3G network by next month.

“By the end of June, connecting to AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband service will be as speedy as logging onto the high speed Internet service that many consumers enjoy at home,” the carrier said in a statement.

The carrier which is the exclusive distributor of the iPhone in the US noted that the final step in the deployment of its 3G network was to setup High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology in six remaining markets covered by its 3G network, which will boost uploads speeds to the 500 - 800 Kbps range.

“The ability to quickly upload large files from a laptop is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity,” said Kris Rinne, senior vice president of Architecture and Planning for AT&T’s wireless operations. “By fully deploying HSUPA across our 3G footprint, we not only meet the current needs of our customers but also lay the path for our continued evolution to even faster wireless broadband capabilities.”

The company’s HSPA network is the best-positioned among American carriers to grow in line with customer demand, evolving to HSPA+ and providing next-generation speeds without costly investments. AT&T plans to adopt LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology to reach even higher speeds in the long term.

Apple is widely expected to release the next revision of the iPhone in June, it is also predicted that the iPhone will run on 3G technologies taking advantage of AT&T’s continued deployment across the USA.

Offers Refurb iPhones for Discount

AT&T is currently selling refurbished iPhones on its online store.

The 16GB iPhone is selling for just $349 while the 8GB model is selling for only $249.

AppleInsider has republished an internal AT&T memo which informs retail staff that customers can only purchase one iPhone.

“Effective May 14, 2008, customers can only purchase one iPhone at AT&T stores,” reads a copy of the memo. “The prior limit of three iPhones is no longer in effect.”

AT&T also informs retail staff that customers can only purchase using credit or debit cards.

T-Mobile Germany Shifts 100,000 iPhones

CEO of Deutsche Telekon, Rene Obermann announced today that its subsidiary T-Mobile has sold over 100,000 iPhones in Germany.

T-Mobile board member Hamid Akhavan cited that iPhone sales were “about in line” with corporate sales targets.

Recent price cuts of the iPhone in Germany were said to have increased sales.

AppleInsider is reporting that AT&T is now listing a new iPhone model on its website.

The option to select “iPhone Black” is visible alongside the normal “iPhone” for existing AT&T customers who are logged into their AT&T account.

The apparent error adds credence to rumours that the next-generation iPhone will have a black plastic shell.