Cingular-only iPhone At Launch?

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

ThinkSecret claims that Apple and Cingular have signed an agreement (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609cingulariphone.html) that will make Cingular the exclusive carrier for Apple's upcoming phone, reportedly due in early 2007. The contract is said to last 6 months, after which Apple would be free to expand its offerings to other providers. According to the site, Apple is still in talks with providers in other parts of the world on other exclusive deals.

The site has previously (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/09/20060915182716.shtml) claimed that Apple's phone will feature a candy-bar design with a 2.2" display and 3 megapixel camera, with "robust iTunes and iSync" support. MacRumors has posted an artist's rendering (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/09/20060913215342.shtml) of how our sources have depicted the phone.

[donbadman]

who the hell are cingular? what about orange t-mobile, vodaphone or o2? I guess it's US only again...

[gloss]

Oh man. Verizon early termination fee, here I come.

[itsonlytheend]

Darn, was really hoping for T Mobile compatibility. Oh well, guess this was pretty expected. What about all the CDMA customers? After 6 months? Never? :confused:

[gloss]

who the hell are cingular? what about orange t-mobile, vodaphone or o2? I guess it's US only again...

They're GSM, which means the likelihood you'll get the phone outside the States is very high.

[ftaok]

who the hell are cingular? what about orange t-mobile, vodaphone or o2? I guess it's US only again...
Did you even read the link?

Speculation is that O2 will have the exclusive rights to the iPhone in Europe. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think O2 is somehow connected to Orange. So it looks like the iPhone will have a carrier in Europe and the UK.

[iMikeT]

This is good news. I will not have to switch providers!:D

[Elrond39]

Did you even read the link?

Speculation is that O2 will have the exclusive rights to the iPhone in Europe. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think O2 is somehow connected to Orange. So it looks like the iPhone will have a carrier in Europe and the UK.

Well, that settles it... I'm waiting however long it takes for this to come GSM carrier-unlocked. I refuse to give up my current provider (because I'm getting massive minutes at a nice low cost), and I'm never going to buy a phone that's locked to one carrier, because you end up paying crazy amounts per month. Sucks. Well, guess this here T610 of mine will have to last even longer still.

[Brandon Sharitt]

I won't be in the market for a new phone until late next year, around August or so. Hopefully by then Cingular's exclusiveness will be over, although I'm not sure who my next carrier will be, Cingular or T-mobile.

[iwannabeaninja]

Been saying it on the forums forever.
2007 Apple pulls iTunes from Motorola
2008 Apple launches iPhone with Cingular

[auxplage]

I may have to break down and buy my first cell phone. I feel so out of place being 18 and in college without a cell phone. Well, at least when I do get the "iPhone" I can be "cool" for three months? :o :rolleyes: :)

[PlaceofDis]

Darn, was really hoping for T Mobile compatibility. Oh well, guess this was pretty expected. What about all the CDMA customers? After 6 months? Never? :confused:

well technically depending on how its implemnted... Cingular is GSM just like T-Mobile, which means that depending upon access and the way the phone is 'locked' it will work with T-Mobile too. i have T-Mobile and of course i didn't ever expect Apple to go with them, they just aren't big enough, but Cingular is, i just hope that Apple sells unlocked versions even if its at a premium, or that you can buy an unlocked version from Cingular.

[aswitcher]

looking forward to an Australian deal. Hopefully it will be someone cheap like Virgin - they are "hip and trendy" (at least I think they are...)

[abscond]

I hope it isn't O2, that would be a shame. To be honest, any network lockins would be bad.
My vote would be Orange if I had the choice.

[vincebio]

who the hell are cingular? what about orange t-mobile, vodaphone or o2? I guess it's US only again...


did you read the article above?

"Apple is still in talks with providers in other parts of the world on other exclusive deals"

:D

[Flyinace2000]

As long as i can buy one on ebay then i am happy.

[vincebio]

i REALLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY hope its orange...

as the choice of mobile phones they have at the moment is the poorest i have ever seen in the UK.

ive been waiting on a p990i since march.....still dont have it on orange, was told yesterday it could be end of october now.

i am gauranteed a free upgrade on any handset, so come one apple!!

[Platform]

Leopard and iPhone....hmm...should be good, but I hope the phone comes out world wide ;)

[Macnoviz]

I see, another "we'll start in US and maybe in the future do something for the rest of the world, too" product.

Well, good luck finding an exclusive deal in Belgium, you can't "lock" cell phones here, we believe in choice. Hopefully it will be GSM (100 % coverage)

[Warbrain]

Well, that's good news for me. As long as they release it next spring/summer when I can upgrade my phone, I'm sold. I'd pay a pretty penny for it.

[John Jacob]

What about India? I want me an iPhone!! :mad:

And why the exclusive deal? Wouldn't that mean that Apple would sell LESS iPhone's? I can't see how an exclusive deal with Cingular/O2 benefits anyone other than Cingular/O2...

[lokey]

This would be great. My Cingular contract ends in November so I'll be able to choose any provider at that time, but an iPhone will keep me with Cingular. Also, my current phone is on it's last leg... exciting news!

[mi5moav]

I don't where they get there info from but O2 was not the exclusive Europe ROKR carrier. I've been using T-mobile on my ROKR for almost a year now in Germany and that was like 2 months before my friend was able to get his on O2. I really think that T-mobile would be a better choice to start with since it seems more punks, movie stars, and hollywood ho-joes use that service then any other since when they do the jet set thing they can take their phone with them and its a lot less then with Cigular. Might have to switch to T-MO next year especially with all that bleeding EDGE network they just snapped up a few weeks back. I have a feeling if Itunes Mobile is gonna be on this phone, we need EDGE or HSDPA, half the capitals of Europe have Hi-Data and we get stuck with a war to fight, and can only bring back old models to the auto world like the Camaro,Mustang, and now the stinking Cherokee is back as the Patriot.

One thing is for sure "Designed by Apple in California" is a very important tag line and George Bush has been pushing media to sell America, Apple got on just in time. Sony designed in Osaka, Nokia designed in Finland, Samsung designed in Japan, Motorola designed in Illinois... just don't have the same ring. Even though I can't stand it CAL I FOR NI A is the place to be, right now, well at least until this surge of 80 foot water rises over our heads.

So, Jed what we gonna do?

[Porchland]

Oh man. Verizon early termination fee, here I come.

Yeah, this is pretty exciting news. I had already planned to call Verizon this morning to see when my contract is up.

EDIT: $175 termination fee per phone and a good while to go on the contract. Yeouch! I may just have to keep my fingers crossed that Verizon Wireless gets the iPhone late next year.

[Forever]

I hope you will be able to by it 'sim free' in the uk, im not buying it if it an O2 exclusive and this will make me sad

[Abstract]

That artists rendition posted on the front page is pointless. It's not as though that is the actual design. It looks too Nano-ish, and even the Nano look has changed.

Anyway, I'm not excited about an iPhone. It would need to give me at least one neat feature for this to be worth drooling over.

It has a camera? So what.
Mp3 player? Don't they all?
Games? What....like the iPod ones? Meh.

Something new would be nice.

[bigandy]

I hope it isn't O2, that would be a shame. To be honest, any network lockins would be bad.
My vote would be Orange if I had the choice.

I've found that through expansys.com and mphone.co.uk i can get anything sim free, sometimes even before it's launched on the network.

that's how i got my current smartphone.


i REALLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY hope its orange...

as the choice of mobile phones they have at the moment is the poorest i have ever seen in the UK.

ive been waiting on a p990i since march.....still dont have it on orange, was told yesterday it could be end of october now.

i am gauranteed a free upgrade on any handset, so come one apple!!


I got fed up waiting for the P990, and ended up getting a free upgrade to the SPV M600. I wasn't a fan (read "I loathed") Windows Mobile until I got this phone. It's fantastic.

The only thing the P990 does that the SPV doesn't is video calling. And, to be honest, I've got a lot of friends with 3G phones, and not a single one has ever used the videophone feature.

:)

[bigandy]

I hope you will be able to by it 'sim free' in the uk, im not buying it if it an O2 exclusive and this will make me sad

you will, just keep an eye on expansys.com and mphone.co.uk when (if) it's announced...

[erikh]

did you read the article above?

"Apple is still in talks with providers in other parts of the world on other exclusive deals"

:D

Well, the cell phone markets work in different ways in different parts of the world. While the standard in the US, and other parts of the Americas, is that phone and network follows each other closely (which is why you have a lot of provider-specific phone models, even for the supposedly provider-independent GSM phones), most of Europe has a very weak connection between individual phones and networks.

Here, the most provider-specific you can go is to get a discounted (yet otherwise ordinary) phone if you sign up for a one-year subscription. Oh, and you may get your provider's GPRS/WAP/MMS settings pre-installed.

So, it would really be a first if Apple would get "provider-exclusive" distribution deals throughout Europe. And that's not considering the fact that there is no single provider that covers all of Europe, so they would have to go through the troubles of signing different deals in each country. In my thinking, that leads to Apple either dropping the European market, postponing the release in Europe until they have saturated the US market, or just release it on the general market. After all, I believe most of the European cell phones that are available on the US market as provider exclusive are sold "openly" (under slightly different names and color schemes) back here in Europe.

[fixyourthinking]

I still think Apple will go MVNO [Mobile Virtual Network Operator] and sell it exclusively though Apple Stores and "Stores Within A Store" (CompUSA, Circuit City, Best Buy, Fry's, Microcenter) - it will most likely be LEASED time from Cingular.

For those wanting it on another service like TMobile or SunCom in the US ... it's almost a certainty that someone will come up with a way to unlock it within a few weeks of release. (maybe even a few days)

[MattyMac]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

[yoak]

I hope and think that Europe is to big a market to ignore.
The cellphone market is huge here, there are now sold more cell phones than there are people in Norway:eek:

[prady16]

I am glad my Verizon contract is over!
Now i am ready to shift to Cingular once the iPhone is out and enjoy their Roll-over minutes! :D

[ImNoSuperMan]

What about India? I want me an iPhone!! :mad:

And why the exclusive deal? Wouldn't that mean that Apple would sell LESS iPhone's? I can't see how an exclusive deal with Cingular/O2 benefits anyone other than Cingular/O2...

i`d once bought an unlocked T-Mobile Sony T610 in India and it worked absolutely fine with all the GSM providers I tried. So in case even if this iPhone is exclusive to Cingular we`d still be able to get it to work here(fingers crossed).

[prady16]

Any idea what kind of "top-secret" features Leopard could support for iPhone?
Let your imaginiations run wild!

[spicyapple]

Any idea what kind of "top-secret" features Leopard could support for iPhone?
Let your imaginiations run wild!
Automatic calendar and address book syncing.

[Leoff]

who the hell are cingular? what about orange t-mobile, vodaphone or o2? I guess it's US only again...

You've gotta love it. You're getting mad at not getting a phone that 1) Doesn't exist yet, 2) May not exist at all, and 3) the US doesn't even have yet.

[ijimk]

dunno if i will buy i just bought a slvr a few months ago and love it.

[Dagless]

looking forward to an Australian deal. Hopefully it will be someone cheap like Virgin - they are "hip and trendy" (at least I think they are...)

hah, they portrayed as that over in Australia too? I love Virgin Mobile for their brochures and other literature covered with cheeky comments.

Yea Sim Free is the only way I'd get an iPhone. No way in hell am I giving up my 7 year old phone number. Sim free, stick in my ancient Virgin Mobile sim card and BAM. We have a winner.

Any idea what kind of "top-secret" features Leopard could support for iPhone?
Let your imaginiations run wild!

I can imagine the iPhone playing these new iPod games. makes total sense. but that's the limit of my imagination for now ;)

[p0intblank]

Six months isn't a long time, so I guess I could wait until then. It'd be better if it supported Verizon from the start, though. :(

[cmcconkey]

I personally think that this sux. The Cingular store here is a huge joke. You could walk in there and no one would even notice that you were there. They will sit there in their cell phones and talk, laugh and carry on with there personal life and not worry about making a new customer. Also there customer service, every time I dealt with them, was just horrid. I was a BellSouth/Cingular customer for almost 10 years and had billing problems at least 2 months out of the year. I would call in and explain to them the problem, the supervisor would look over it and tell me I will have a credit on my next bill. Well sometimes the next bill was 3 months down the road, is that how you deal with your customers? I think not.

I call up Verizon and tell them I have a problem, on last thursday, I talk to a supervisor and we get the issue worked out. She asked me when I would like my credit applied, as soon as possible or on my next billing cycle. I told her as soon as possible, I had my credit applied to my account saturday.

I know this got a off topic, but switching back to a crap company like Cingular is not in my future, no matter if they call me up and offer me a free iPhone to come back to them.

Christopher

[Warbrain]

I call up Verizon and tell them I have a problem, on last thursday, I talk to a supervisor and we get the issue worked out. She asked me when I would like my credit applied, as soon as possible or on my next billing cycle. I told her as soon as possible, I had my credit applied to my account saturday.

I know this got a off topic, but switching back to a crap company like Cingular is not in my future, no matter if they call me up and offer me a free iPhone to come back to them.

Christopher

You got customer service from Verizon? Is this before or after they tacked on the taxes that aren't being collected anymore? Or crippled the Bluetooth on their phones? Or put a terrible GUI on their phones? Or any other number of things that they've done that are anti-consumer?

[Bubbasteve]

I wonder when it will be released? I really hope Apple sells them in there stores and I don't have to go through cingular and get it...but whatever I must do what I must do

[Stewie]

Yeah, this is pretty exciting news. I had already planned to call Verizon this morning to see when my contract is up.

EDIT: $175 termination fee per phone and a good while to go on the contract. Yeouch! I may just have to keep my fingers crossed that Verizon Wireless gets the iPhone late next year.


Yeah I don't think that is going to happen. I can't see Apple making a CDMA phone just for Verizon/Sprint. Making a GSM phone, especially if it is quad-band, would allow them to only make 1 phone for the world market.

[Warbrain]

i`d once bought an unlocked T-Mobile Sony T610 in India and it worked absolutely fine with all the GSM providers I tried. So in case even if this iPhone is exclusive to Cingular we`d still be able to get it to work here(fingers crossed).

I'm willing to bet that Apple won't use the same techniques as other cell phone manufacturers use to lock their devices as the OS will be developed by Apple. It'll be much like the Sidekick, which is locked to T-Mobile in such a manner that it's a pain in the ass to unlock it and even then a lot of the features are crippled since they won't work on any other network.

[ctachme]

Agrhhh... why does Apple have to be so stupid? Do they not know that there are vast areas here in the US where Cingular doesn't support?

Why the hell can't they just sell an unlocked phone and just let us choose providers that actually have service where we live? I really hope someone finds a way to hack these phones and make them carrier-independant! :mad:

[Xenious]

What a joy killer. Launch the iphone as network independant then let carriers subsidize it if they want. Even if I was a cingular customer I sure do not want a phone locked to any one carrier. All of this because we (americans in general) only want cheap cheap subsidized phones.

The good news here is that it will likelye be GSM based (hello world).

[Warbrain]

Agrhhh... why does Apple have to be so stupid? Do they not know that there are vast areas here in the US where Cingular doesn't support?

Why the hell can't they just sell an unlocked phone and just let us choose providers that actually have service where we live? I really hope someone finds a way to hack these phones and make them carrier-independant! :mad:

There are vast areas that Verizon and Sprint don't cover in the US, too. It's that way with every single cell phone company in the US.

Apple would have to make at least 2 different phones for that to work. There are two primary cellular networks in the US: GSM and CDMA. If Apple makes just a GSM phone, they're also making a phone that can be used in almost every other country in the world. Europe and Asia are the real cell phone markets, not the US.

[Thataboy]

Lame.

The only way the iPhone market even makes sense is via an Apple MVNO.

Since when does Apple NOT want to "control the whole widget"? I don't want Apple controlled by the nutjob mobile providers.

As much of an Apple fanboy as I am, I would never use Cingular. But beyond that, it signals that the Apple iPhone will be incredibly lame -- just another music phone (basically an Apple ROKR/SLVR), because that is pretty much all that Cingular trades in.

[Warbrain]

Lame.

The only way the iPhone market even makes sense is via an Apple MVNO.

Since when does Apple NOT want to "control the whole widget"? I don't want Apple controlled by the nutjob mobile providers.

As much of an Apple fanboy as I am, I would never use Cingular. But beyond that, it signals that the Apple iPhone will be incredibly lame -- just another music phone (basically an Apple ROKR/SLVR), because that is pretty much all that Cingular trades in.

MVNOs are expensive to lease from other networks and the whole mess of plans makes it a pain the ass. Apple would be better off making something like a smartphone, which is what the iPhone most likely is.

And just because Motorola made ****** phones that ran iTunes on them doesn't mean that Cingular is the one that wants them. Moto was the one that ****ed it all up, not Cingular. If Cingular knew that the Apple phone was going to be great and not be totally crippled like the ROKR was - which was Apple's fault - then they would sell it regardless. Don't have such bias against Cingular. Verizon and Sprint aren't much better, either.

[suzerain]

There are vast areas that Verizon and Sprint don't cover in the US, too. It's that way with every single cell phone company in the US.

Apple would have to make at least 2 different phones for that to work. There are two primary cellular networks in the US: GSM and CDMA. If Apple makes just a GSM phone, they're also making a phone that can be used in almost every other country in the world. Europe and Asia are the real cell phone markets, not the US.


Yeah, but not if it's locked. I had to call up my provider and beg for my unlock code so that I could use *my* phone in Asia, and then they said yes, and never sent it to me. Call them back, and...well..rinse, repeat.

What about people like me who travel a lot and want to pop in SIM cards in other places? I'm sick and tired of the U.S. market and all of its stupid contract / vendor lock-in ********.

Pity to see Apple on that bandwagon; I hope they just sell the phone in the Apple Store unlocked, and let us choose the carrier we want.

[cfanyc]

if the iphone gets wifi, FAT chance of verizon carrying it, the last thing they want is to lose on their $40 month data plan.

once this comes out it should be a good time to re-evalutate my need for my treo 650 and verizon...

[abrooks]

Did you even read the link?

Speculation is that O2 will have the exclusive rights to the iPhone in Europe. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think O2 is somehow connected to Orange. So it looks like the iPhone will have a carrier in Europe and the UK.

Corrected because your wrong, no connection between Orange and O2.

[Philsy]

It could be a cash cow for Apple, if it does sell 25-million phones. People want stylish phones - look how the ROKR took off (sadly, now everyone has one, it's considered naff...) - so that figure seems realistic if the product is right.

I hope the Apple phone will be 3G. Is there any indication of this? Surely Apple wouldn't go with the old 2G technology.

[g4tom]

The picture they are using as a mock up already is being sold, by LG. It is on the cover of October edition of "PC Magazine". Looks identical and has the slider hidden number pad.

[Squonk]

I'm currently on Cingular and I'm not in love with my SE T637 all that much. I wonder what the price on this shiny new iPhone is going to be... If the syncing does not create duplicates in my Address book from the phone, I'll be very very happy.:)

[Warbrain]

Yeah, but not if it's locked. I had to call up my provider and beg for my unlock code so that I could use *my* phone in Asia, and then they said yes, and never sent it to me. Call them back, and...well..rinse, repeat.

What about people like me who travel a lot and want to pop in SIM cards in other places? I'm sick and tired of the U.S. market and all of its stupid contract / vendor lock-in ********.

Pity to see Apple on that bandwagon; I hope they just sell the phone in the Apple Store unlocked, and let us choose the carrier we want.

But then they need to build two different phones based on two different sets of components and it would end up being too expensive in the end. Yes, the provider of the service will give you the unlock code for when you want to travel, but Apple and any other company that makes a cell phone will never be able to sell unlocked phones in this country and allow you to choose which provider you want. Nokia is trying it now at their two stores in Chicago and New York, but I can tell you that it's not going to work.

[abrooks]

I hope the Apple phone will be 3G. Is there any indication of this? Surely Apple wouldn't go with the old 2G technology.

Very hard to say, but 3G is not taking to the rest of the world very well, especially the US as they can't get 2/2.5G to work properly yet. This is about the only occasion when the UK really is doing well.

[Squonk]

Include all the functionality of the Apple remote to allow the iPhone to drive your iTV and Front Row.

"Mom, hold on a second, I need to change the channel..." :D

[abrooks]

Include all the functionality of the Apple remote to allow the iPhone to drive your iTV and Front Row.

"Mom, hold on a second, I need to change the channel..." :D

*runs to local patent office*

[the_ki]

Lame.

The only way the iPhone market even makes sense is via an Apple MVNO.

Since when does Apple NOT want to "control the whole widget"? I don't want Apple controlled by the nutjob mobile providers.

As much of an Apple fanboy as I am, I would never use Cingular. But beyond that, it signals that the Apple iPhone will be incredibly lame -- just another music phone (basically an Apple ROKR/SLVR), because that is pretty much all that Cingular trades in.

I'm with you. As a MVNO, Apple could kick Helio's ass. Maybe they are becoming an MVNO and they're leasing their network time from Cingular? That makes sense, don't it?

Think about it...

.Mac mobile

The cellphone connects to your .Mac mail, your iCal calendar, and your Address Book.

iChat and text messaging would become one and the same. I could use iChat to talk with a friend on his iPhone, and vice versa. The iPhone has a camera, right? Video conference from the train, anyone?

Buy ringtones at the iTunes store, or just use any song in your library as your ringtone, or write your own ringtone in Garageband.

Download your podcasts from anywhere.

The photos you shoot automatically go into your iPhoto photocast. Your videos sync up with an iTunes playlist. Everything automatically appears on your dynamically-powered iWeb. It's moblogging for the masses.

And since they'll need to sell them to Windows users, lots of folks will have .Mac mobile accounts, but they can't really use them to their full advantage unless they use iLife on a Mac, which they'll just have to buy.

Yes, this is all conjecture, but it's the only thing that really makes a full-fledged Apple iPhone make sense to me in their overall plan for world domination.

Your thoughts?

[cmcconkey]

You got customer service from Verizon? Is this before or after they tacked on the taxes that aren't being collected anymore? Or crippled the Bluetooth on their phones? Or put a terrible GUI on their phones? Or any other number of things that they've done that are anti-consumer?


I admit they do indeed do these things... or have done these things in the past. But the situation that I spoke of was last week, also every time I have called them they have worked with everything and entered things just right so that if I wanted to change my plan it would not be prorated at all.

Christopher

[Platform]

That artists rendition posted on the front page is pointless. It's not as though that is the actual design. It looks too Nano-ish, and even the Nano look has changed.

Anyway, I'm not excited about an iPhone. It would need to give me at least one neat feature for this to be worth drooling over.

It has a camera? So what.
Mp3 player? Don't they all?
Games? What....like the iPod ones? Meh.

Something new would be nice.

Great Mac syncing....

And this is Apple, they will have to do something in the style of "one more thing) ;)

[gloss]

Yeah, this is pretty exciting news. I had already planned to call Verizon this morning to see when my contract is up.

EDIT: $175 termination fee per phone and a good while to go on the contract. Yeouch! I may just have to keep my fingers crossed that Verizon Wireless gets the iPhone late next year.

Yeah, the termination fee is harsh, but I'm honestly not sure I could last another year and a half without throwing my Razr into a trash compactor. I like the phone, but the god-awful interface that Verizon loads onto it is another story.

A cell phone should NOT require hard reboots.

[Warbrain]

I admit they do indeed do these things... or have done these things in the past. But the situation that I spoke of was last week, also every time I have called them they have worked with everything and entered things just right so that if I wanted to change my plan it would not be prorated at all.

Christopher

I suppose everyone's experience is different. I've never had problems with Cingular and have never been with any other company because of that. They've always cooperated with me and have handled the problems accordingly.

[BornAgainMac]

I wonder when exactly this Vista phone will come out.

[gloss]

I wonder when exactly this Vista phone will come out.

Snicker.

[faithfulFrank]

Well, here in western NY,(USA) this would be bad news.
You could drop a bomb on the cingular stores here and not hurt anyone. Here, Verizon is king. Everyone has Verizon, and they have Verizon here because of two things....they are the only one who has coverage, and because everyone is "in network", you call everyone else for free without using minutes.
In my job, if I miss one phone call, it costs me $500 bucks. I cannot afford to lose a phone call, and a few years ago when I had Cingular, I lost a lot of calls.

Don't get me wrong....I have no great love for Verizon, but the sad fact is that at least here, they are the only viable option. My friend was visiting the other day, and had "no service" at my house, less then one mile from our "city". He has T-mobile. (Only one I know who does) At work, the city manager made a great decision to get nextel for all of our rigs because he thought the walkie-talkie feature would be "cool".......they die going 15 miles from our "city". no one even uses them. They are dusty.

It is too early to get worked up over this.....too little real info. If it works with verizon....great, i'll be the first to get one around here. If not, I love my nano, and have more then one pocket. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Frank D.

[Squonk]

I'm with you. As a MVNO, Apple could kick Helio's ass. Maybe they are becoming an MVNO and they're leasing their network time from Cingular? That makes sense, don't it?

Think about it...

.Mac mobile

The cellphone connects to your .Mac mail, your iCal calendar, and your Address Book.

iChat and text messaging would become one and the same. I could use iChat to talk with a friend on his iPhone, and vice versa. The iPhone has a camera, right? Video conference from the train, anyone?

Buy ringtones at the iTunes store, or just use any song in your library as your ringtone, or write your own ringtone in Garageband.

Download your podcasts from anywhere.

(snip)

Yes, this is all conjecture, but it's the only thing that really makes a full-fledged Apple iPhone make sense to me in their overall plan for world domination.

I love the concept! The phone syncing to your .mac account (if you have one) instead of syncing the phone to your Mac directly.

AND... This would then handle the PC users. They could get a .mac account and have access to all these goodness as well.

Sadly, knowing Cingular, and the rest of the network providers, they would charge out the *ss for this capability. I like having the ability with my SE T637 that I surf for free midi files, download them to my mac, connect to the phone via bluetooth and upload the midi's - voila, free ringtones. Sure, some of them are cheesy, but I'm not paying $1 per ringtone.

I'm already (over)paying for a .mac account. I really don't want to pay more money again for a portal between my cellular account and the .mac account. Sadly, that is probably what the reality would be and probably rightfully so - technology isn't free.

[vand0576]

Cingular service in my area sucks. I've been a happy t-mobile customer for almost 5 years. I am already happy with my Samsung t-809, and still don't know how I feel about device convergence.

[Squonk]

I wonder when exactly this Vista phone will come out.

Isn't that two Zune's connected with a piece of string? :D

[aricher]

I've been a happy Cingular customer for a few years now. Even though I just bought a new Nokia phone I'll gladly snap up an iPhone if it has all the features I need.

[oober_freak]

You're not going anywhere with your market share if you don't launch your phone simultaneously in India and China.

Nokia learnt it, SE learnt it, Motorola learnt it.

Looks like Apple will learn it the hard way as well.

I mean on an average, in India, about 5 million connections are added per month. That's India alone. Add China's figure to this and you'll understand what I'm trying to say.

[sartinsauce]

You know, I'm thinking people really want an iPhone. And I'm also thinking that they want it so bad they won't even consider the source of this information.

Usually, a rumor like this wouldn't get three pages of comments without somebody mentioning that this story comes from ThinkSecret. In case you're new here, MR readers have a habbit of panning ThinkSecret. It's worse than panning really, it's more like slaughtering any news that comes from ThinkSecret.

It's fun to watch members battle out mobile providers.

Ford! No, Chevy!
I mean...
Sony! No, Sony sucks, buy Panasonic.
I mean...
Verizon! Nooooooo, Verizon drips off donkey b*lls, go with Cingular!

You folk crack me up. Thank you.

[coal]

The Cingular "Jack" logo will look great on that new Apple-made phone. :(

[Squonk]

The Cingular "Jack" logo will look great on that new Apple-made phone. :(

I hear you. :eek: But, there are no Intel Inside stickers on the Intel Macs. Perhaps there is hope...

[Clive At Five]

Hoboy....

Let me just say that even though I am a cingular customer, I don't like the sound of this.

1) Previous reports told us that Apple relinquished developing the "hardware" and settled for common components
2) This report tells us that Apple has settled for a carrier.

What is left for Apple to do? The body and the interface (and let me tell you, only one of those two is really important). And even though Apple will control the interface, they will not control any sort of mobile -> internet interaction, i.e. iTunes. Remember when Apple wanted to allow pseudo-iPhone mobile users to be able to d/l from the iT(M)S for identical prices but carriers wouldn't allow that because it severely undercut their pricing structure (download premiums). I would only assume that mobile downloading from iTS (if possible w/ the iPhone) will be more expensive than d/l-ing from home due to the carrier's resrictions.

*sigh* I guess I'm very skeptical, suddenly, that this iPhone will be worth all the attention it's getting. Maybe the interface will be so outstanding that it'll blow everyone's mind... but I'm not holding my breath.

-Clive

[Philsy]

Very hard to say, but 3G is not taking to the rest of the world very well, especially the US as they can't get 2/2.5G to work properly yet. This is about the only occasion when the UK really is doing well.

Fair point, but I'd like to think that Apple will be looking to the future; imagine being able to buy music via your phone - couldn't do that with 2G.

Besides, the US is only a small part of the global market... ;)

[justflie]

You know, I'm thinking people really want an iPhone. And I'm also thinking that they want it so bad they won't even consider the source of this information.

Usually, a rumor like this wouldn't get three pages of comments without somebody mentioning that this story comes from ThinkSecret. In case you're new here, MR readers have a habbit of panning ThinkSecret. It's worse than panning really, it's more like slaughtering any news that comes from ThinkSecret.

It's fun to watch members battle out mobile providers.

Ford! No, Chevy!
I mean...
Sony! No, Sony sucks, buy Panasonic.
I mean...
Verizon! Nooooooo, Verizon drips off donkey b*lls, go with Cingular!

You folk crack me up. Thank you.


HAHA! I was reading all of this and, at about the 2nd page, I thought the same thing as you did. ThinkSecret has really sucked at life lately, they probably got this rumor wrong. And besides, I want Verizon anyways.

[Bear]

Oh man. Verizon early termination fee, here I come.I wouldn't pick a cellular service company based on just the available phone models.

Does the company have service where you need it?

Do they have a service plan that fits your calling needs?

etc...

Oh and if you do decide you want to switch, see if the new company will give you some crefit towards the early termination fee.

[devman]

Yeah, but not if it's locked. I had to call up my provider and beg for my unlock code so that I could use *my* phone in Asia, and then they said yes, and never sent it to me. Call them back, and...well..rinse, repeat.

What about people like me who travel a lot and want to pop in SIM cards in other places? I'm sick and tired of the U.S. market and all of its stupid contract / vendor lock-in ********.

Pity to see Apple on that bandwagon; I hope they just sell the phone in the Apple Store unlocked, and let us choose the carrier we want.

I had no trouble getting an unlock code from Cingular for a SLVR I bought from them. Here's pix I just took showing it in use back home on the Telstra network.

[yg17]

No iPhone for me then. Cingular blows, we're leaving in December when our contract is up. They have to the the worst cell company in the US, both customer service and the actual cell service

[joeshell383]

Have

[macridah]

Oh hey ... just my luck to have cingular. I will upgrade or add another line the minute it is available.

[joeshell383]

Do any of you whiners realize that Verizon is trying to start their own music service to compete with an "iTunes + iPhone". Go to the Verizon Wireless website and click on Call My Music. Cingular and T-Mobile USA have no such service.

[berkleeboy210]

I just bought one of the new BlackBerry's (8703e) for Verizion. That should keep me satisfied until January.

I just want to commend Verizon Wireless on their service though, I ordered the phone at 10pm Last Night, it's already been shipped :)

Anywoo, Bring on the iPhone!

[infernohellion]

Well what about Thailand where the law says GSM phones must not be exclusive to only one carrier (all must be unlocked)??

[coal]

No iPhone for me then. Cingular blows, we're leaving in December when our contract is up. They have to the the worst cell company in the US, both customer service and the actual cell service

Agreed. From the reviews coming from JP Power and the like, those aren't merely opinions but generally accepted as true traits of Cingular as a company. What do you really expect though from a company that aquired half of its customers through purchase? They basically doubled their user base by acquiring AT&T Wireless and not through honest signups of people enticed by their good service and reputation.

Stan Sigman is seriously the anti-Steve Jobs.

Anyhow, it would be easily unlockable for use on T-Mobile here in the U.S. as well as any of the GSM carriers abroad. At most it would be a $10-$15 charge at your local independent phone dealer.

[dextertangocci]

Will it still work in South Africa???

I hope so....

[gloss]

I'm surprised at all the Cingular hate here. At least in the D.C. area, the word is that they have the best coverage available - better than Verizon, who was the previous benchmark before the merger.

[Mac Fly (film)]

All I can say is whoever is the provider in Europe, Apple better hurry the hell up and release the damn thing!! :mad:

[xPismo]

No iPhone for me then. Cingular blows.

No iPhone for me neither. But really, unless it was out-of-the-park good, there was no change I get one anyway.

Is anyone else getting a bit tired of all this apple branding outside of the computer space? I mean, a phone? Why o why SJ? :confused:

[g4tom]

Check out the October issue of PC Magazine. This phone is on the cover as "what's hot now". It is made by LG. It is described just as the iPhone is being described. So the iPhone can't look like this or they will get sued. Or this is it and LG is making it for Apple???

[BenRoethig]

No iPhone for me neither. But really, unless it was out-of-the-park good, there was no change I get one anyway.

Is anyone else getting a bit tired of all this apple branding outside of the computer space? I mean, a phone? Why o why SJ? :confused:

Okay, more Apple products out there means more brand recognition. More brand recognition means more people will be willing to check out Apple's hardware offerings. Got it?

[lOUDsCREAMEr]

I hear you. :eek: But, there are no Intel Inside stickers on the Intel Macs. Perhaps there is hope...

http://images.apple.com/imac/images/indexintelchip20060906.jpg

whatz that?! ;) :D :p

[Hodapp]

I can't wait to get my hands on an iPhone- I'm getting tired of my SLVR. As soon as the iPhone launches I'm throwing my SLVR in to a river. This is starting to become tradition, there must be a half dozen old cell phones of mine which have been cast in to the briny deep. What a liberating experience.

[stealthboy]

NooooO! Please, for the love of all things right in this world, just let me buy a phone, and THEN decide who I want to use as my carrier. I hate these bundling tactics. While it's not quite a trust (as in Sherman Anti-Trust Act) issue, it reeks of collusion. Especially with new technology, I need more choices, not fewer.

Boo. Shame on Apple for considering this. Just release your phone and LET THE MARKET DECIDE. How hard is that? I used Cingular many years ago and dropped them fast because their coverage in the D.C. area is pretty bad.

[bjdku]

Been saying it on the forums forever.
2007 Apple pulls iTunes from Motorola
2008 Apple launches iPhone with Cingular


Ya, that is why you just registered in April and have only 8 posts.:rolleyes:

[Squonk]

I can't wait to get my hands on an iPhone- I'm getting tired of my SLVR. As soon as the iPhone launches I'm throwing my SLVR in to a river. This is starting to become tradition, there must be a half dozen old cell phones of mine which have been cast in to the briny deep. What a liberating experience.

Dude! The Sierra Club would appreciate if you donated the phones to them instead! :D

[Jopling]

I'm surprised at all the Cingular hate here. At least in the D.C. area, the word is that they have the best coverage available - better than Verizon, who was the previous benchmark before the merger.

Yeah Cingular has awesome coverage in DC. I have a cingular tower on my campus. Its unfortunate though that the metro decided to support Verizon underground considering its the only place you can get decent signal on verizon in the city.

[yg17]

I'm surprised at all the Cingular hate here. At least in the D.C. area, the word is that they have the best coverage available - better than Verizon, who was the previous benchmark before the merger.

When I was in DC, my Cingular service was horrible. Just like it was in New York City, St. Louis and New Orleans (pre Katrina, when cell towers were still standing) and every other large city I've been in.

Yet, it works fine in the middle of nowhere. On my way down to New Orleans, I was on the phone in some tiny little town that couldn't have had more than 500 people. The only thing this place had was a gas station. I'm on my phone and call quality is excellent. An hour later in NO, dropped calls and low signal as usual. Or when I'm on the backroads in Missouri talking, again, perfect signal. Enter the STL city limits? Goodbye service.

Cingular has their priorities wrong. They go for the rural markets, where people don't want to have anything to do with cell phones, and they ignore the big cities. And if you try to call customer service to complain about the piss poor service, or to try to fix a billing error (which are common with Cingular) then you'll be on hold for half an hour, and get nowhere with their customer service rep who's over in India. They are the worst company we have ever dealt with, and will be leaving them the day our contract is up in December. IMO, Apple is making a huge mistake by being exclusive with Cingular.

[mi5moav]

Coverage doesn't make products great, people make products and companies great and Cingular is lacking the soul of a great company. I had Cingular for 4 years and thought they were ok... I switched a year ago and I have never been happier. Their are actually real people running some companies not robots, it's a great feeling when you can have a normal conversation with them on the phone and not have to push 3, 5, 8, 9, 8 to get to a robotic voice called Agnes. I don't think Cingular would survive in Europe.

[extraextra]

I'm surprised at all the Cingular hate here. At least in the D.C. area, the word is that they have the best coverage available - better than Verizon, who was the previous benchmark before the merger.

Me too. I have Cingular and it works great. I mostly hear complaining from people who live outside of big metropolitan cities though, so maybe that's where all these people are from?

Well, I checked Cingular's map (http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/maps/pop_mapfinder.jsp?mapt=nationalMap) and they seem to have fine coverage. Maybe everyone lives in Alaska. :p

[MonkeyClaw]

Cingular has terrible coverage here in Asheville, especially on campus from my experience. With verizon though, I can be anywhere and have guarunteed at least 3 bars. Cingluar works sometimes on campus but for the most part its a bit sketchy. Haven't tried it in the city though.

[Seasought]

I'll have to check and see what Cingular is offering deal-wise at the time, but being T-Mobile currently I won't be getting the phone until it expands after that 6 month period.

Assuming I can tolerate the phone in the first place. I've yet to see a cell phone that's impressed me. If anyone can however, it's Apple.

[ccrandall77]

Cingular is by far the worst cell carrier in terms of customer service and I will never go back to them (nor will they have me back, I suspect). If true, it's too bad Apple decided to go this route instead of just providing a selection of phone types like Palm with the Treo. With the Treo, you can get a Sprint, Verizon, Cingular or unlocked phone so everyone who wants one can have it.

The worst part about this being for Cingular is that they will NEVER let you unlock the phone and who knows if Apple will do it for you (I HIGHLY doubt it). I tried and they gave me the run around about not unlocking the phone because it could allow malware from other phone networks to get on their phones. That's a load of BS.

This really stinks since I'm tired of having a huge Treo, eventhough it's a great phone, and smaller phones just don't have the features. I was hoping that Apple's offering would be the perfect compromise. I guess instead of getting our underware in a bundle, we might as well sit back and wait until the iPhone is release... if it's ever released.

[twoodcc]

well since i already have cingular, then this doens't bother me. bring it on :cool:

[shadowx]

Wonderful... why would Apple choose the carrier with the worst coverage and customer service (well, besides Sprint)??? T-Mobile or Verizon would be better choices...

You know, if Cingular didn't spend the $$$ to get all of the cool phones first, I think they would be out of business by now... If someone has had a different experience with Cingular, please let me know ;)

I still think Apple should go the Mobile Virtual Network Operator route ala Virgin Mobile, Helio, Amp'd, mobile ESPN, etc.

[gugy]

wow, That's really bad. Cingular is sucks like pretty much every carrier in the US.
I hope at least they have the iphone to the major carriers. Just cingular is a joke. Verizon, T mobile and Sprint need to be included if they want the iphone to be a success.

[settledown]

Apple and Cingular go way back.

Who says that Apple WONT be a Mobile Virtual Network Operator like Virgin Mobile, Helio, Amp'd, mobile ESPN

ESPN is Sprint
Helio is Sprint
Amp'd is Verizon
Virgin is Sprint in the US, but T Mobile in the UK

I say Apple iPhone IS MVNO

[displaced]

Wonderful... why would Apple choose the carrier with the worst coverage and customer service (well, besides Sprint)??? T-Mobile or Verizon would be better choices...

You know, if Cingular didn't spend the $$$ to get all of the cool phones first, I think they would be out of business by now... If someone has had a different experience with Cingular, please let me know ;)

I still think Apple should go the Mobile Virtual Network Operator route ala Virgin Mobile, Helio, Amp'd, mobile ESPN, etc.

Wow... by the sounds of it, there's no single network in the US that actually works for everyone everywhere. Nasty. So perhaps exclusivity's a strange strategy - I hope it's only a short term plan for you guys' sake.

I take it Verizon = CDMA? There's no way Apple would consider a CDMA model since it'd be a serious disadvantage in the global market.

[edit] Also, setting up as a MVNO in each country in which they want to operate would cost a fortune. Besides, they've also then got to market and sell a network - establish a reputation in the mobile phone market as a carrier, and not just as a brand of phone.

[izzle22]

Wonderful... why would Apple choose the carrier with the worst coverage and customer service (well, besides Sprint)??? T-Mobile or Verizon would be better choices...

You know, if Cingular didn't spend the $$$ to get all of the cool phones first, I think they would be out of business by now... If someone has had a different experience with Cingular, please let me know ;)

I still think Apple should go the Mobile Virtual Network Operator route ala Virgin Mobile, Helio, Amp'd, mobile ESPN, etc.


Well, out here Cingular has waaaaaay better coverage than T-Mobile or Verizon, so it's really a matter of where you are located. It really doesn't matter who thinks what about any phone co. Apple will do what Apple wants and there is no reason to sit here and complain about mobile providers all day long when we don't even know if there is an "iPhone". I travel all across the U.S. all year long and I have Cingular with no coverage problems anywhere and customer service has been fine whenever I needed them.

[shawnce]

I see, another "we'll start in US and maybe in the future do something for the rest of the world, too" product.

Well, good luck finding an exclusive deal in Belgium, you can't "lock" cell phones here, we believe in choice. Hopefully it will be GSM (100 % coverage)

Apple is likely having to GIVE exclusive rights to carriers to get them to carry the phone (in return for pushing the phone, etc.)... I doubt Apple wants limit the potential market for any phone they come out with. So if carriers in Belgium are not allowed to lock a phone to one carrier then you likely have nothing to worry about.

...and by the way you have CHOICE to not buy something that you don't want to purchase and for whatever reasons.

[j_maddison]

Did you even read the link?

Speculation is that O2 will have the exclusive rights to the iPhone in Europe. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think O2 is somehow connected to Orange. So it looks like the iPhone will have a carrier in Europe and the UK.

O2 has nothing to do with Orange. They're completely seperate companies with different parent companies. I believe Orange are owned by France telecom, where as O2 are owned by Telefonica.

Jay

[j_maddison]

i REALLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY hope its orange...

as the choice of mobile phones they have at the moment is the poorest i have ever seen in the UK.

ive been waiting on a p990i since march.....still dont have it on orange, was told yesterday it could be end of october now.

i am gauranteed a free upgrade on any handset, so come one apple!!


Do you're self a favour and ask for your pac code when the phon is released. A free upgrade is pretty much to be expected, if you dont ask for the pac code their unlikely to give you any other freebies.

You should always ask for the pac code and then wait for their retention team to give you a call back

Jay

[Danksi]

O2 has nothing to do with Orange. They're completely seperate companies with different parent companies. I believe Orange are owned by France telecom, where as O2 are owned by Telefonica.

Jay

Correct. My ex-colleagues are learning Spanish! :D

[Durendal]

I hate to say this folks, but even an iPhone wouldn't be worth having to deal with Cingular's godawful service. Reception is poor in areas where it's supposed to be good and even when you have good reception, you get dropped calls due to network error/rejected/dropped. I've had Cingular for a while now, and I am preparing to drop it with eagerness, even if that means a $200 contract termination fee. I want to slug that twat who says Cingular has the least dropped calls, because it's a ********* LIE.

[j_maddison]

I hope it isn't O2, that would be a shame. To be honest, any network lockins would be bad.
My vote would be Orange if I had the choice.

Not sure if you've had a bad experience on O2, but Orange customer service is by far the worst in the UK out of the four main providers. Their business customer service is diabolical at best.

Jay

[OdduWon]

i'm sure glad i didn't renew my contract with cingular yet now i can use my upgrade to get the new telepod! :D

[richard4339]

I hate to say this folks, but even an iPhone wouldn't be worth having to deal with Cingular's godawful service. Reception is poor in areas where it's supposed to be good and even when you have good reception, you get dropped calls due to network error/rejected/dropped. I've had Cingular for a while now, and I am preparing to drop it with eagerness, even if that means a $200 contract termination fee. I want to slug that twat who says Cingular has the least dropped calls, because it's a ********* LIE.

Verizon isn't much better. I'm wanting to switch to Sprint; their plans make the most sense. Unfortunately, their coverage areas are small.

[donlphi]

Oh man. Verizon early termination fee, here I come.

Why would anybody stop their Verizon or Sprint service for an iPHONE? Does cingular even carry a broadband wireless service? EV-DO is only getting better and Cingular can't even come close to the same offerings.

I'm sure it will be a nice phone, but don't be disappointed when you can't call anybody without being in roaming. Also don't be disappointed when your bluetooth tethering for internet is slower than a 300 baud modem on a commodore 64. :D

Once again... Apple teams up with a loser. Misery loves company. I pray this contract only lasts a year or LESS. CINGULAR... jeeze:mad:

[relimw]

PC Mag (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2020631,00.asp)
At an event in New York on Tuesday, Nokia announced the new Nokia N75, a flip phone that syncs with Windows Media Player, plays MPEG-4 videos in full screen mode, and connects to Cingular's high-speed network. Targeted straight at the North American market, it's a shoo-in to be a high end media phone on Cingular for Christmas.

[cuestakid]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

ThinkSecret claims that Apple and Cingular have signed an agreement (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609cingulariphone.html) that will make Cingular the exclusive carrier for Apple's upcoming phone, reportedly due in early 2007. The contract is said to last 6 months, after which Apple would be free to expand its offerings to other providers. According to the site, Apple is still in talks with providers in other parts of the world on other exclusive deals.

The site has previously (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/09/20060915182716.shtml) claimed that Apple's phone will feature a candy-bar design with a 2.2" display and 3 megapixel camera, with "robust iTunes and iSync" support. MacRumors has posted an artist's rendering (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/09/20060913215342.shtml) of how our sources have depicted the phone.

I would just like to say that i had said this exact same thing a couple weeks ago-apple would probably initally only sign on with one carrier and everyone else would be left out in the cold-so to al those who said it wouldn't happen it appears that it will be happening

[OdduWon]

I would just like to say that i had said this exact same thing a couple weeks ago-apple would probably initally only sign on with one carrier and everyone else would be left out in the cold-so to al those who said it wouldn't happen it appears that it will be happening
well, also it makes perfect sense since cingular is the only provider that i know of that has itunes capable phones. really no suprise here. this is why when my dog ate my ericson t637 i just got a $50 referb and held off on buying a new phone. telepod is going to be great!

[nemaslov]

Hey the Cingular deal is only six months exclusive, like the RAZR was. So you can all get it probably many more places afterwards and all of the bugs will be worked out by then.. I use Cingular and LOVE it due to the coverage in San Francisco which is difficult due to the seven hills. May other carriers I tried before including verizon and t mobile were much worse here.

Buy I have an 80GB iPod with 18,ooo songs so this thing will me useless to me. But it sure sounds cool!!

[bossass]

This is fine. I'm sick of those cripplers at Verizon.

[prady16]

You got customer service from Verizon? Is this before or after they tacked on the taxes that aren't being collected anymore? Or crippled the Bluetooth on their phones? Or put a terrible GUI on their phones? Or any other number of things that they've done that are anti-consumer?
QFT

[Dont Hurt Me]

I wonder if this means we will see some Apple Logo's on Jeff Burtons car? He is in 1st place at the moment in Nascar.:)

[QCassidy352]

I'm pretty happy with verizon's service. I get very good coverage and never a dropped call. OTOH, the phone choices suck, they're pretty expensive, and almost everyone I know has a verizon phone so most of my calls are free. My contract is up next May... would an iphone be enough to make me go Cingular? Depends on how revolutionary it is.

[duncan989]

Why Cingular?
They do not alow you to unlock their phones - even after their contract has expired. They think there is usa and nothing else. If you travel - you are screwed - roam on our network (or go to hell)! They are useless for anyone who travels beyond canada or hawaii(ok - thats only 15% of americans)

T-mobile are far and away the best carrier in the US. They dont have the most up to date phones - but they let you un lock after 90 days - and if you speak nicely to them ,(I told em I was going on business trip to Brazil) they do it earlier.

I asked a cingular rep if they had the unlock code for my cell. She said "No, but we have Blue-TEETH" I kid you not. They are as bad as At&T. They are only interested in screwing the customer!

If Apple go CIngular - I wont buy one - if they open it up to tmobile, I will.

[Superdrive]

After the ROKR and SLVR, is anyone really surprised that Cingular will help launch this phone?

I'm still waiting for this to hit the market. My SLVR is great, and as long as Apple does NOT make a slider, I will buy an iPhone right away.

2007 is going to be spendy. I'll have to buy "iTV", Leopard, "iPhone", and a new portable. AHHH :eek:

[Tommyg117]

Well, it looks like I wont be getting this phone now. Sorry, I'm Verizon and so are all the people I talk to, so I'm not gonna switch for this.

[mdntcallr]

well, im a cingular customer. so no problem there. but im hoping that Apple has a model with is a smartphone/pda ie to replace my Treo 650.

unless they have a smart model with a large hard drive, say 60 or 80 gb, with that, i don't think ill buy one right away.

[gugy]

Well, it looks like I wont be getting this phone now. Sorry, I'm Verizon and so are all the people I talk to, so I'm not gonna switch for this.

Yeah, I am in the same boat.
For me Cingular is the worst because I can't get it to work at my home and work. I have Verizon, is OK. but at least work. The truth is every carrier has a problem. I am still waiting to find somebody that says their carrier is 100% great and they are satisfied.
I hope iphone will work on other carriers. If not I'll wait until it comes with Verizon or any other carrier other than Cingular.
What good is to have an amazing phone if you can talk or get coverage?

[thejadedmonkey]

I personally think that this sux. The Cingular store here is a huge joke. You could walk in there and no one would even notice that you were there. They will sit there in their cell phones and talk, laugh and carry on with there personal life and not worry about making a new customer. Also there customer service, every time I dealt with them, was just horrid. I was a BellSouth/Cingular customer for almost 10 years and had billing problems at least 2 months out of the year. I would call in and explain to them the problem, the supervisor would look over it and tell me I will have a credit on my next bill. Well sometimes the next bill was 3 months down the road, is that how you deal with your customers? I think not.

I call up Verizon and tell them I have a problem, on last thursday, I talk to a supervisor and we get the issue worked out. She asked me when I would like my credit applied, as soon as possible or on my next billing cycle. I told her as soon as possible, I had my credit applied to my account saturday.

I know this got a off topic, but switching back to a crap company like Cingular is not in my future, no matter if they call me up and offer me a free iPhone to come back to them.

Christopher
I'm sorry you feel that way. I could write the same exact story, but replace Cingular with Verizon (and vice versa), but I don't believe this sort of FUD is on topic..

[cmcconkey]

I'm sorry you feel that way. I could write the same exact story, but replace Cingular with Verizon (and vice versa), but I don't believe this sort of FUD is on topic..


Agreed i am happy for Apple to pair up with a company that will get their product out to a large number of people. I have been a die hard user of Apple products since 1993 ( I am only 28) and I will be a user for as long as Apple is out there.

I also know that everyone has the horror stories about cell providers, it is going to happen because there are bad customer service reps at all businesses, or CSRs that are having a bad day.

I just hope that the launch of the iPhone when/if it comes will be a great success for Apple.

Christopher

[Macnoviz]

You've gotta love it. You're getting mad at not getting a phone that 1) Doesn't exist yet, 2) May not exist at all, and 3) the US doesn't even have yet.

It's an overal frustration of non US people that has been building up since iTunes.


When will we see global releases of iTunes stuff?

[thejadedmonkey]

Do you're self a favour and ask for your pac code when the phon is released. A free upgrade is pretty much to be expected, if you dont ask for the pac code their unlikely to give you any other freebies.

You should always ask for the pac code and then wait for their retention team to give you a call back

Jay
What's a pac code?

[Goldfinger]

I hope for Apple that they're going to sell it unlocked. I would probably buy one (if it turns out to be any good) but locked phones are illegal here.

[oldwatery]

Damn you guys bitch alot:rolleyes:

Seriously though...I think it is fair to say we all have good and bad stories about carriers. All carriers.
But read the release.
They are using Cingular for just 6 months then offering it to everyone (who wants to take it)
This is a wise decision on a brand new product for lots of obvious reasons.
I personally use Cingular but have my issues with them and all the rest for that matter. (don't waste your $$$ on their lame insurance plan for instance)
Also it would seem that this will not be a US only product.

I know it is hard to be patient with these things....damn it I am frustrated at having to wait 2 weeks for my wireless keyboard and 2 months for my Shuffle.
BUT as they say and the truth is.....ALL good things come to those who wait.

I think many of you have missed the simple significance of this news.
At last the phone is real...it is coming soon. No more rumors:D

[Denndave]

Why doesn't Apple just sell the phone themselves??? That way, people all over the world can buy it. Why doesn't Apple sell it themselves on their website and their Apple Stores?

Please, please, please, do not switch to Cingular just for this phone! They are known for having the worst customer service in the USA. It was a nightmare being with them (5 calls a month to Cingular customer service, at ~45 minutes each, to correct their billing mistakes). I switched to T-Mobile, and they are FAR better. Their customer service is a excellent.

Getting back to the main subject though... If this product is being sold as locked in the USA, I will just buy an unlocked one from Europe and have it shipped to me.

[Goldfinger]

Please, please, please, do not switch to Cingular just for this phone! They are known for having the worst customer service in the USA. It was a nightmare being with them (5 calls a month to Cingular customer service, at ~45 minutes each, to correct their billing mistakes). I switched to T-Mobile, and they are FAR better. Their customer service is a excellent.
I find it incredible that they even make mistakes on their bills. These days with completely automated ERP software those mistakes should be virtually inexistant.

[Eraserhead]

Yea Sim Free is the only way I'd get an iPhone. No way in hell am I giving up my 7 year old phone number. Sim free, stick in my ancient Virgin Mobile sim card and BAM. We have a winner.

You know you can get your number moved to a new network, you just have to ask.

[Denndave]

Also, I will not buy this phone if it is branded. I don't want some carrier's company name on my phone. Do you guys think Apple will allow Cingular to place their logo on the phone?

In addition, doesn't Cingular alter the OEM software that comes on the phone? Why would I want to buy a phone that has been crippled? For example, if Apple makes it quad-band, and then I take a vacation to Europe and buy a prepaid sim only to later find that either the 900 or 1800 band has been disabled, thus giving me very bad coverage in certain areas. That would suck.

I would really like to purchase an Apple phone (mainly so I can save my sms messages to my Mac so I don't have to delete them everytime my phone's memory is full).

[devman]

Why Cingular?
They do not alow you to unlock their phones - even after their contract has expired. They think there is usa and nothing else. If you travel - you are screwed - roam on our network (or go to hell)! They are useless for anyone who travels beyond canada or hawaii(ok - thats only 15% of americans)

T-mobile are far and away the best carrier in the US. They dont have the most up to date phones - but they let you un lock after 90 days - and if you speak nicely to them ,(I told em I was going on business trip to Brazil) they do it earlier.

I asked a cingular rep if they had the unlock code for my cell. She said "No, but we have Blue-TEETH" I kid you not. They are as bad as At&T. They are only interested in screwing the customer!

If Apple go CIngular - I wont buy one - if they open it up to tmobile, I will.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2882481#post2882481

[lmalave]

Very hard to say, but 3G is not taking to the rest of the world very well, especially the US as they can't get 2/2.5G to work properly yet. This is about the only occasion when the UK really is doing well.

Wrong. Cingular is rolling out 3.5G (HSDPA), and although they only have one phone that currently supports it (the LG CU500, http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/cell-phones.jsp?RFlow=A&source=INC230056&zip=10010&q_deviceId=cdsku9870167&WT.svl=dtl), reviewers have been wowed by the download speeds and smooth streaming video performance (download speeds are 1.8 Mbps).

Maybe this was exactly one of the reasons that Apple chose Cingular: it was the only carrier that could support integration with the iTunes music store. Yes, you heard right: I predict that Cingular and Apple worked out some deal where Cingular will use the iTunes music store rather than trying to set up their own music store. You heard it here first. I predict that the mobile iTunes software on the iPhone will actually be store-enabled...

[lmalave]

I hate to say this folks, but even an iPhone wouldn't be worth having to deal with Cingular's godawful service. Reception is poor in areas where it's supposed to be good and even when you have good reception, you get dropped calls due to network error/rejected/dropped. I've had Cingular for a while now, and I am preparing to drop it with eagerness, even if that means a $200 contract termination fee. I want to slug that twat who says Cingular has the least dropped calls, because it's a ********* LIE.

Settle down Beavis....

Hellooooooooo...reception is going to depend on your specific location!!! I'd have to Google what the latest survey results are, but I'll bet ranking of overall national average quality of coverage is:

1) Verizon Wireless
2) Cingular
3) T-Mobile
4) Sprint

..so I'll bet that on a national basis, Cingular is not as good as Verizon Wireless, but certainly not the worse.

Also, are you using the older phones that they are trying to phase out? If you are, then I sympathize with you and I think that those Cingular customers got a raw deal. But realize that Cingular did NOT really fully integrate the Cingular and AT&T networks, and that a new phone like the iPhone will probably get quite good reception on average (as per my guesstimate rankings above)

[getBytesLoaded]

Hey everybody,
So often I hear people talk about how great the customer service is for Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint. Why are all of you in need of customer service with these companies? I'm with T Mobile and have never needed to call and straighten a bill out, or get credit applied to my account. I'd say the best customer service is the kind you don't need to use. So, I'm hoping that T Mobile will carry the iPhone 6 months after the initial release.

[shadowx]

This is fine. I'm sick of those cripplers at Verizon.

Yeah - if Verizon didn't have the most comprehensive coverage and good customer service I'd go back to T-mobile. I'll never own a bluetooth phone from Verizon, that's for sure...

[SPUY767]

I personally think that this sux. The Cingular store here is a huge joke. You could walk in there and no one would even notice that you were there. They will sit there in their cell phones and talk, laugh and carry on with there personal life and not worry about making a new customer. Also there customer service, every time I dealt with them, was just horrid. I was a BellSouth/Cingular customer for almost 10 years and had billing problems at least 2 months out of the year. I would call in and explain to them the problem, the supervisor would look over it and tell me I will have a credit on my next bill. Well sometimes the next bill was 3 months down the road, is that how you deal with your customers? I think not.

I call up Verizon and tell them I have a problem, on last thursday, I talk to a supervisor and we get the issue worked out. She asked me when I would like my credit applied, as soon as possible or on my next billing cycle. I told her as soon as possible, I had my credit applied to my account saturday.

I know this got a off topic, but switching back to a crap company like Cingular is not in my future, no matter if they call me up and offer me a free iPhone to come back to them.

Christopher


You sound like a pain in the ass to have as a customer.

[lmalave]

This would be sweet! I definitely wouldn't mind switching to Cingular and their rollover minutes. Looking at Cingular's family plans it looks like I would save about $20/month over my current T-Mobile plan. And since Cingular is GSM like T-Mobile, my mom (who I share the plan with) could continue using her existing simple Samsung mobile phone that she's familiar and comfortable with (I'd just have to get a Cingular SIM card). And as someone already mentioned above, phone numbers in the US are transferrable between carriers, so although it's probably a pain I would do all the paperwork to transfer the 2 numbers I have under T-Mobile.

I just hope the phone is sweet enough to make me wanna ditch my already impressive Sony Ericsson phone. The main improvents I would be looking for over my SE phone are:

- Better music player software/controls (I think this one's a safe bet)
- Stereo bluetooth (less sure about this one)
- 3G enabled (looks promising - I'm hoping the iPhone will be 3.5G HSDPA enabled like the LG CU500 phone)
- Better browser (Actually Opera mini is fine, maybe all that's needed is a larger screen and faster connection speed)
- Better camera, especially under low light conditions (almost guaranteed to be better camera based on rumors it's 3 megapixels and also Apples experience integrating tiny video cameras into its laptops and iMacs)
- Larger screen (would like it to be 2+ inches diagonal and at least 320 x 240 pixels) (this one I think is a safe bet)

So basically, I will almost certainly be getting the iPhone as soon as it's available and I fill out the paperwork to transfer my number over...

Hey everybody,
So often I hear people talk about how great the customer service is for Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint. Why are all of you in need of customer service with these companies? I'm with T Mobile and have never needed to call and straighten a bill out, or get credit applied to my account. I'd say the best customer service is the kind you don't need to use. So, I'm hoping that T Mobile will carry the iPhone 6 months after the initial release.

Lucky you. I have T-Mobile and I've definitely had reason to call them. I thought their customer service was excellent (better than Verizon or AT&T), but I still wouldn't say that their service is "so good you never need to call them up".

[sjo]

Yeah, I am in the same boat.
For me Cingular is the worst because I can't get it to work at my home and work. I have Verizon, is OK. but at least work. The truth is every carrier has a problem. I am still waiting to find somebody that says their carrier is 100% great and they are satisfied.
I hope iphone will work on other carriers. If not I'll wait until it comes with Verizon or any other carrier other than Cingular.
What good is to have an amazing phone if you can talk or get coverage?

Hey I'm satisfied with my carrier. I think the last time I had any problems with coverage was back in the 20th century. I've got coverage even in the freaking underground. I'd have coverage in the middle of wilderness if I chose to go there. It's cheap as well, I never pay incoming calls, my phone has never been locked and it works pretty much all over the world, my operator has had packet data connection most of this century as well and 3g for several years. What more could I wish?

[gugy]

Hey I'm satisfied with my carrier. I think the last time I had any problems with coverage was back in the 20th century. I've got coverage even in the freaking underground. I'd have coverage in the middle of wilderness if I chose to go there. It's cheap as well, I never pay incoming calls, my phone has never been locked and it works pretty much all over the world, my operator has had packet data connection most of this century as well and 3g for several years. What more could I wish?

I guess you are a lucky dude!

[MacSync]

Wouldn't it be nice to have a phone that was able to switch to VOIP in areas with free 802.11 service if you choose to? It could be a part of .Mac Moblie that was discussed earlier. At home it would be on your existing wireless network and could sync with iTunes and all the other Apple Apps and serve as a remote. Away from a 802.11 network it could pick up the cell carrier towers. Would something like this be worth developing?

[suzerain]

I had no trouble getting an unlock code from Cingular for a SLVR I bought from them. Here's pix I just took showing it in use back home on the Telstra network.


I ended up doing the reverse. I bought a SLVR in China and brought it back to the USA. It's so nice not to have to be on any ****ing "contract". (Sorry, I just really hate the state of the cellphone market in the USA.)

I just want WiFi VoIP phones to come along and wipe out the whole market...I think that will have to wait for WiMax rollouts nationwide, though.

[cmcconkey]

You sound like a pain in the ass to have as a customer.


No actually I just want my bills to be correct. If that makes me a pain in the ass, then so be it. If someone that I am paying to provide me a service keeps screwing up my bills, and then say that they will have it fixed on the next billing cycle and then it doens't show up until a quarter of a year later. I guess that is too much to expect out of a company. I also deal with customers on a daily basis, so I know what is expected from a service provider.

Christopher

[peharri]

Actually this is completely untrue.

Last week I signed a secret, completely exclusive, contract with Apple for the iPhone. It'll only work on my home's DECT network.

Despite this, I'm expecting millions of sales. People will buy it despite peharrinet's complete lack of coverage. So I don't have a problem with that.

BTW, you'll need to agree to a 36 month contract, our base plan is just $50 a month and comes with unlimited mobile to mobile, plus three "anytime" minutes (charged in five minute increments.) Excess airtime is just $1/minute.

[inkhead]

If this is true you can always by the phone at the cingular store outright, then unlock it and use it on any carrier.

I for one in disappointed they went with GSM

[shawnce]

When will we see global releases of iTunes stuff? When the copyright holders, trade organizations, labor groups, local governments, etc. clean up their ***** mess of laws, taxes, etc.

...do that and then Apple will roll it out in very short order.

The simple fact of the matter Apple wants to make a simple to use and consistent service but so many road blocks exist to doing that because of the above mentioned mess that they cannot do it universally. Folks should be happy that companies like Apple are trying to push the world forward in this space.

Yet, it works fine in the middle of nowhere. On my way down to New Orleans, I was on the phone in some tiny little town that couldn't have had more than 500 people. The only thing this place had was a gas station. I'm on my phone and call quality is excellent. An hour later in NO, dropped calls and low signal as usual. Or when I'm on the backroads in Missouri talking, again, perfect signal. Enter the STL city limits? Goodbye service. What phone you have? The newer quad band phones get great service in and out of urban areas using Cingular.

[Jedi128]

It's so nice not to have to be on any ****ing "contract". (Sorry, I just really hate the state of the cellphone market in the USA.)

Amen to that. I have T-Mobile now with pay as you go...... I don't like getting raped monthly by cell phone providers.

But, BTW..... where the **** is my Macbook Pro with Merom? Its Tuesday...what the **** is going on........?

[Marx55]

HERE ARE THE PICTURES:

http://www.t3.co.uk/nested_content/gallery_assetlisting_navigation?root=633162&result_page=1

http://www.t3.co.uk/nested_content/gallery_assetlisting_navigation?root=633162&result_page=2

http://www.t3.co.uk/nested_content/gallery_assetlisting_navigation?root=633162&result_page=3

MORE INFO:

http://www.t3.co.uk/news/247/communications/mobile_phone/evidence_mounts_for_january_iphone

Now, imagine it as the ultimate wireless computerless presentation remote:

1. Make your Keynote or PowerPoint presentations on your Mac or PC-Windows.

2. Save them to the SMART iPhone.

3. Carry the iPhone with you and use it as a wireless computerless presentation remote.

WITH A HUGE HALO EFFECT on all corporate, education and domestic markets!!!

[dr_lha]

I for one in disappointed they went with GSM
Well it makes sense, most of the world uses GSM, it's a much larger market for Apple to aim at, combined with the much lower cost of only having to develop one phone.

Plus Verizon are coonts.

HERE ARE THE PICTURES:

You're joking right? You realise these are pipe-dream mock ups right?

[kainjow]

Anyway, I'm not excited about an iPhone. It would need to give me at least one neat feature for this to be worth drooling over.

It has a camera? So what.
Mp3 player? Don't they all?
Games? What....like the iPod ones? Meh.

Something new would be nice.
You could argue that with Macs vs PCs too, but it's all about the design and interface :)

[dr_lha]

What phone you have? The newer quad band phones get great service in and out of urban areas using Cingular.
Quad band has nothing to do with getting service in the US. A dual band phone will get you all the service you ever need in the USA. The 2 extra bands in "quad band" are ones used outside of the US.

[FSUSem1noles]

YES! Finally, I reap benefits from being with Cingular!!!! :D

[SeaFox]

Darn, was really hoping for T Mobile compatibility. Oh well, guess this was pretty expected. What about all the CDMA customers? After 6 months? Never? :confused:

Well, generally all GSM phones support the 1900mhz band, there is just the catch where European models support 900mhz, while US bound one support 850mhz (Cingular). So it's very likely the iPhone will be usuable on T-Mobile's network if unlocked. The catch is you'll have to buy it at retail price from a Cingular dealer, and get it unlocked (which Cingular might not be willing to do).

As long as the interface is not Cingular branded (like the CIngular Nokia 6030 I use on T-Mobile's network right now), and there's no branding on the phone itself, I might be willing to do that.

YES! Finally, I reap benefits from being with Cingular!!!! :D

What do you mean "finally"? Being the largest U.S. provider means you have always reaped the benefits. I cannot count the number of times I've been eagerly awaiting a certain model phone to come out and when it come here, it's always on Cingular and nobody else.

[Hodapp]

Why Cingular?
They do not alow you to unlock their phones - even after their contract has expired. They think there is usa and nothing else. If you travel - you are screwed - roam on our network (or go to hell)! They are useless for anyone who travels beyond canada or hawaii(ok - thats only 15% of americans)

I have had Five different Cingular phones since Cellular One became Cingular and they switched their network to GSM. I've been given the unlock code for every one of my devices from little more than a phone call to customer service.

A little kindness goes a long way when dealing with a customer support agent who has spent all day dealing with the retards who are posting in this thread about how hard Cingular has "screwed them over" in the past. I think people just like playing the victim role when it comes to telco conglomerates because it's chic to be in the circle-jerk complainers crew on the blogosphere.

[ClimbingTheLog]

Yeah I don't think that is going to happen. I can't see Apple making a CDMA phone just for Verizon/Sprint. Making a GSM phone, especially if it is quad-band, would allow them to only make 1 phone for the world market.

Right, so problem #1 is the huge number of Verizon/Sprint customers in the US Apple would be giving up just for the sake of saving the engineering time to replace a radio chip. There's no way they can give up 60 million or so potential customers and say to their investors, "yeah, but we'll save a million dollars over the next three years by doing it."

Problem #2 is that there are countries/regions where CDMA is more prevalent than GSM or where GSM doesn't exist at all. Some of it has to due with terrain, some of it is political. There are lists on the web you can google for which countries use which technology.

I was hoping Apple would be the first company to use software-defined radios and make this a non-issue. I was bummed when I read they switch to COTS parts for the quick buck on iTunes. Maybe the other two rumored phones which are supposed to come later will be the one we were hoping for. June 2007?

Cingular has their priorities wrong. They go for the rural markets, where people don't want to have anything to do with cell phones, and they ignore the big cities.

Huh? I've never seen Cingular coverage in any rural areas. Maybe in the mid-south but the rest of the country isn't so uniform.

When will we see global releases of iTunes stuff?

When your local media cartel decides to play ball. You think Apple doesn't want to be selling into your market for nearly $0 their cost?

[lmalave]

Wouldn't it be nice to have a phone that was able to switch to VOIP in areas with free 802.11 service if you choose to? It could be a part of .Mac Moblie that was discussed earlier. At home it would be on your existing wireless network and could sync with iTunes and all the other Apple Apps and serve as a remote. Away from a 802.11 network it could pick up the cell carrier towers. Would something like this be worth developing?

This is not so far-fetched - I briefly owned the T-Mobile SDA phone that was Wi-Fi enabled. If that phone could have Wi-Fi, why not the iPhone? But I don't know how realistic it is to expect fast iTunes synching though through Wi-Fi. It may be possible, but it would be at least 10 times slower than just hooking it up with a USB cable.

Also, if Apple does make the deal with Cingular there is NO way the phone would seamlessly switch to VOIP, even if it were Wi-Fi enabled. Cingular is in the business of selling you voice minutes, remember? That being said, if it's Wi-Fi enabled I could see someone writing a 3rd Party app (like a Java-based Skype client, for example).

But still, maybe this Cingular rumor is wrong and Apple will launch the phone unlocked for $500 the way Sony did with its initial Walkman Phone release. If so, then that phone had *better* have every conceivable bell and whistle to get people to plunk down that kind of cash. That means Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, Quad-Band, maybe UTMS/HSDPA enabled (2.5G and 3.5G, respectively, and maybe the deal is just that Cingular will have the phone be officially supported on their network even though it'll only be sold through the Apple store).

[ClimbingTheLog]

Wrong. Cingular is rolling out 3.5G (HSDPA), and although they only have one phone that currently supports it (the LG CU500, http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/cell-phones.jsp?RFlow=A&source=INC230056&zip=10010&q_deviceId=cdsku9870167&WT.svl=dtl), reviewers have been wowed by the download speeds and smooth streaming video performance (download speeds are 1.8 Mbps).

All the networks are pretty good when you're the only one using it. As you mentioned, there's only one phone that can even use it now and the reviewers got access probably before most of those were even sold. We'll see how things are 2 years from now. Maybe it'll be great.

[ClimbingTheLog]

You sound like a pain in the ass to have as a customer.

That's pretty unfair - he said he called to get a bill fixed. What is he supposed to do, give as much of his money to the cell phone company as they see fit?

If your job is dealing with cranky customers and don't much care for it you'll be much happier with a different job, trust me.

[yg17]

What phone you have? The newer quad band phones get great service in and out of urban areas using Cingular.


I had a Motorola v551 (also a piece of *****, matched the Cingular service quite well). That thing broke (one of the 2 things a Motorola phone is capable of doing, the other one is looking pretty. Because they certainly don't work) and I got a Sony w810i unlocked from eBay. It's a quadband, and the Cingular service still sucks. My parents have LG phones on Cingular, their service sucks. My sister has T-Mobile and couldn't be happier. We're headed over there when the contract's up

[Misplaced Mage]

Mark me down in the "it's on Cingular because it's HSDPA" camp. If Apple seriously intends to sell songs (and TV shows? movies? games?) from the iTunes Store over the air, they need two things:
One heck of a user interface to make searching through and previewing millions of items on a 2" - 2.5" screen quick and easy
Broadband download speeds, especially for video
I think if anyone can make #1 work, it's Apple. The new search feature on the latest iPods is probably a strong indication of where Apple is headed with this. And #2 pretty much requires UMTS or HSDPA if they want to sell to the European market as well as the US, Latin America, and South Korea (the IS-2000 EV-DO and rev A strongholds). The phone would also be a perfect way to market Cingular's high-speed services ("The only network with the iTunes Store!"), especially since they expect to finish primary roll-out of their HSDPA network in metropolitan areas by the end of the year ("It makes the perfect Chrismahanukwanzavus gift!").

[macklos]

Cingular cellular service is only decent in a few areas and their customer service is the worst I've ever come across. If Apple wants to maintain/boost their image, Cingular will not help them in that area, not at all. Judging by this forum those things appear to be almost unanimous. I'd say it would be a bad move on Apples part to make an exclusive deal with Cingular for any bit of time. Anything longer than 6 months and Apple doesn't stand a chance succeeding. With competition mounting in the ipod arena, not updating their intel product fast enough and this. I'm afraid Apple will be hurting. Not something I wanna see.

[EagerDragon]

The phone needs to be open!
I am tired of getting rip off by the providers, phones need to be able to move from one provider to another.

[aristobrat]

YES! Finally, I reap benefits from being with Cingular!!!! :D
Meh, I know, bitter doesn't go my shoes, but ... heh

It's the second or third carriers' customers that will benefit from all of the weird things that all of you early adopters will help discover. ;)

Or at least that's how it's worked here at Verizon. By the time RIM gets around to releasing a CDMA BlackBerry version of a device, all of the bugs are pretty well worked out.

[spydr]

Man..by the time I figured out how to use all the counterintuitive features in my motorola crap I already need to dump it for iPhone:confused:

Bet it is going to be awesome and amazon will give it for $75 when you sign up for a new account with cingular :D

[MooVitZ]

who the hell are cingular? what about orange t-mobile, vodaphone or o2? I guess it's US only again...

Cingular is one of the only GSM providers in the USA. This is great news!

[theman5725]

While on the topic of the iPhone, I am curious about video playback. It may be a lot to ask, but the Chocolate has it and Apple is competing with that and other media phones.

[peharri]

Cingular cellular service is only decent in a few areas and their customer service is the worst I've ever come across. If Apple wants to maintain/boost their image, Cingular will not help them in that area, not at all. Judging by this forum those things appear to be almost unanimous. I'd say it would be a bad move on Apples part to make an exclusive deal with Cingular for any bit of time. Anything longer than 6 months and Apple doesn't stand a chance succeeding. With competition mounting in the ipod arena, not updating their intel product fast enough and this. I'm afraid Apple will be hurting. Not something I wanna see.

Here, let me help you with that.

10 PRINT "Please enter the name of a US cellular provider"
20 INPUT C$
30 PRINT C$ + " cellular service is only decent in a few areas and their customer service is the worst I've ever come across. If Apple wants to maintain/boost their image, " + C$+ " will not help them in that area, not at all. Judging by this forum those things appear to be almost unanimous. I'd say it would be a bad move on Apples part to make an exclusive deal with " + C$ + " for any bit of time. Anything longer than 6 months and Apple doesn't stand a chance succeeding. With competition mounting in the ipod arena, not updating their intel product fast enough and this. I'm afraid Apple will be hurting. Not something I wanna see."

Seriously, I'd say one or two are ok with the service (I was a fan of Sprint PCS round about 1999-2001), but as far as coverage goes, they're all pretty much as bad as each other. Sure, NetCell is WAAAY better than ComuNet where you live, but where Fred lives, he can only get one bar on ComuNet and nothing at all with NetCell, but OmniCell gets a strong signal, but OmniCell doesn't even have a license where I am, I have to go with RuralFone.

We're almost done with the consolidations so I don't think coverage in general is going to improve. On the other hand, both GSM operators have announced plans to roll out UMA (GSM over 802.11g/Bluetooth), which means if they can't fix their effing networks, we'll be able to do it for them, soon. T-Mobile's should be announced any day now. I suspect once the GSM operators have it, the CDMA operators will follow.

As for customer service, the best solution is to sign for the shortest contract you can. That way, a bad experience can be followed by a quick walk to the local phone dealer (or even better, the Internet.) Don't ever, ever, accept a two year contract.

Oh and one more thing. There is no phone.

[kashimo]

Cingular gets the US contract. But we already know who will get the exclusive for Japan...Softbank. Their relationship is getting closer and closer.

DoCoMo already sells phones with download capibilities and has its own service.
AU/KDDI has a very very popular service for downloading music to their phnes.
Vodafone/Softbank has a service but doesn't hack it in comparison to the other two companies. Softbank is now promoting "buy a phone/service get an iPod Nano".

iTunes Japan has not been doing well as many Japanese do not want to use their Credit Cards online (security and massive scamming rings). They download to their cellphone and pay for it in cash with their bill.

[SeaFox]

Cingular is one of the only GSM providers in the USA. This is great news!

Yeah, one of the only ones besides T-Mobile, AllTel, and AT&T Wireless (who they bought out). :rolleyes:

[peharri]

Yeah, one of the only ones besides T-Mobile, AllTel, and AT&T Wireless (who they bought out). :rolleyes:

AllTel is IS95 ("CDMA") not GSM.

The only two national operators of GSM networks in the US are T-Mobile and Cingular, though there are a small handful of regional networks dotted around the country.

[SeaFox]

AllTel is IS95 ("CDMA") not GSM.

The only two national operators of GSM networks in the US are T-Mobile and Cingular, though there are a small handful of regional networks dotted around the country.

Not in all areas. In northern Wisconsin I got roaming signal on my GSM phone, and AllTel is the only carrier in the area.

Actually we're both right (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alltel). Alltel does not offer GSM service to it's customers, but owns and maintains a large GSM network they aquired from another carrier.

[theBB]

When was the last time Think Secret had a rumor that turned out to be true? Who cares what TS claims, this rumor about "Cingular only" is not worth losing sleep over.

Nevertheless, Apple is taking longer than I thought they would in bringing a phone to market. It does not seem like it will be introduced by Christmas and that's a pity.

[SeaFox]

Does anyone know if it is still possible to start a new wireless plan without a contract? I mean, the whole idea of the contract is to cover the phone subsidy, but if I don't want a new phone do I still have to get one?

I've been considering switching to Cingular since I don't get any signal at all in my workplace with T-Mobile (the higher GSM frequency has trouble going through thick walls) but Cingular works great.

I haven't been on a contract in about 5 years now, and I don't want to get back on one again, which is part of the reason I've stayed with T-Mobile.

[Leej]

Already have a Cingular deal. Sweet!

[devman]

I ended up doing the reverse. I bought a SLVR in China and brought it back to the USA. It's so nice not to have to be on any ****ing "contract". (Sorry, I just really hate the state of the cellphone market in the USA.)

I just want WiFi VoIP phones to come along and wipe out the whole market...I think that will have to wait for WiMax rollouts nationwide, though.

I'm not on a contract. I use their pay-as-you-go offering.

[SilvorX]

Does anyone know if it is still possible to start a new wireless plan without a contract? I mean, the whole idea of the contract is to cover the phone subsidy, but if I don't want a new phone do I still have to get one?

I've been considering switching to Cingular since I don't get any signal at all in my workplace with T-Mobile (the higher GSM frequency has trouble going through thick walls) but Cingular works great.

I haven't been on a contract in about 5 years now, and I don't want to get back on one again, which is part of the reason I've stayed with T-Mobile.
There may be some plans out there that you can start up without a contract, but the problem with carriers now days is that they're slowly phasing out 0-month term contracts, they still exist, but it can be hard to find, when I was working with an evil US based CDMA carrier a year ago, there was only one plan offered that you could purchase without a contract. You can always call up Cingular customer service and ask them yourselves (for comparisons) if you want, that's what they are there for (but watch out, they'll be greedy and try to sign you up then and there, to make their commission).

Here in Canada, with the "only" GSM carrier we have (you Canucks know it's only 1 in reality!) only allows the use of plans with a contract, usually in increments of 2 or 3 years (even 1 year contracts are starting to get hard to get). Not fun.

[lmalave]

While on the topic of the iPhone, I am curious about video playback. It may be a lot to ask, but the Chocolate has it and Apple is competing with that and other media phones.

I don't think it's too much to ask for: I think it's a given. I fully expect the phone will record and play back video.

Video takes up a lot of space, though, so another question that hasn't been brought up in this thread is: will the iPhone have expandable memory? Or will it be more like the nano where it will have 4 GB of storage, but no expandability? I'm hoping for expandability, but I doubt it will happen. Apple wants to customers to buy iPods every couple of years, and more storage space is an added incentive to upgrade.

What I predict is that the iPhone will consistently have only as much storage as the mid-range nano (so that would be currently 4 GB). That way it can consistently be marketed as an upsell from the nano. So it will retail w/o contract for $500 instead of $200, but I'll bet with a 2 year contract it's $300 from Cingular, and possibly as low as $200 (same as nano!) if you get it from a 3rd party cell phone seller.

I also predict that down the road (but not at launch), Apple will also offer a larger hard-drive based iPhone. as with the iPod/iPod nano tradeoff, it will not only be more expensive but will be much bulkier. Again, adding the phone features might make it retail for $600, but with 2-year contract that might bring it close to the iPod price. So in about a couple of years I predict Apple will have a 40 GB iPhone in addition to a (by then) 8GB iPhone nano.

I think 5 years from now apple will be selling more iPhones than stand-alone iPods, for the simple reason that the cell phone market is vastly larger than the mp3 player market. I think if Apple can make a phone that the average consumer will be comfortable using as their primary music player, the sky's the limit. My Sony Ericsson phone is a good first attempt at music phones, but I predict in 5 years Apple will dominate the music/video phone market, and people think if the Sony Ericsson the way people now think of early pre-Apple mp3 players...

[lmalave]

When was the last time Think Secret had a rumor that turned out to be true? Who cares what TS claims, this rumor about "Cingular only" is not worth losing sleep over.

Nevertheless, Apple is taking longer than I thought they would in bringing a phone to market. It does not seem like it will be introduced by Christmas and that's a pity.

Heh, the entire iPod line just went throuh a major revision! Apple is being very smart here. They want people to put iPods underneath the Christmas tree for 2006. Then, in early 2007, Apple will introduce the amazing iPhone that people will be irresistibly drawn to buy even if they already have a new iPod.

Anyway, by Christmas '07 I predict that Apple will sell at least 30 to 50 percent as many iPhones as they do iPods. I mean, if Motorola can sell 50 million of their stupid RAZR phones, then Apple should be able to sell as many iPhones as they can ramp up to manufacture in the next couple of years!!

[KilGil27]

This may never come out...

[OdduWon]

You're joking right? You realise these are pipe-dream mock ups right?
nice mock up. i've seen 4 like this after i had started making mine using the new ..ahem.. mini nano. but why, why have macrocrap apps on it?? the itunes viz is a nice touch tho. italk still my fav though.even though a phone with wings may become annoying at least it will come to you when it rings :D

[stewacide]

If I had to guess as to why Apple would go with an exclusive provider to start, I would say so as to play hardball with the network providers.

Apple doesn't want to gum their pretty phones up with provider ick-ware like other manufacturers have to (just like it didn't want to e.g. 'Intel Inside' its pretty boxes), so they make a deal whereas in exchange for initial exclusivity Cingular agrees to relent control over the phones software and services (so that it say interfaces with the iTunes store for music and tones not Cingular's store: although I'm sure the service provider will charge the full market rate for data transfer). Then when the iPhone becomes a huge hit the other providers won't have any choice if they want to get on board as well.

I don't see why Apple would start a virtual operator, because they have no interest in getting into the service provider game. They can get what they really want - an opt-out of the cruddy operator system in the US especially - through market weight alone.

[SeaFox]

I mean, if Motorola can sell 50 million of their stupid RAZR phones, then Apple should be able to sell as many iPhones as they can ramp up to manufacture in the next couple of years!!

The RAZR was a smash because it was very stylish (which the Apple iPhone will certainly be, too). But it also has been huge because every carrier has had it available on subsidy, and it's been available in more than one color. Something I don't expect from the iPhone.

It's also been such a huge seller because they are junk inside. I imagine every time a carrier has to replace a RAZR because it was insured Motorola counts it as another "sale".

[macnews]

Did anyone notice Disney introduced their own cell phone service? Normally not much but given Steve's close ties to Disney perhaps they have shared some info? www.disneymobile.com

Some very interesting features, makes me think of things that might be available with a mac phone service.

[BWhaler]

Enough with the dance. Release the product already.

Every cell phone on the market sucks in some way. I'd love to have an Apple phone which simply just works.

[dokein]

I really hope Apple doesn't jump on the camera-phone bandwagon. Seems to go against their philosophy of having devices that do few things but to them far better. And it would make the phone useless to me. But that's just because my employers are sensitive about such devices, with the nuclear reactors and all.

And signing on with Cingular or any other major carrier seems like an even bigger mistake. The only way to truly improve the cell phone user experience is to take them out of the picture and introduce a fair and simple billing system (i.e. MVNO w/ daily flat rate, iTunes-style micropayments).

[needthephone]

I thought 3G was the coming thing? I am on 3 in OZ and now Vodaphone, Telstra and Optus have all gone 3G- GSM seems a bit old hat doesn't it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications


Also comapnies like 3 are trying to compete by offering downloadable songs as a part of their service how will apple deal with this - surely comapnies like 3 won't offer apple phones??

No offence to the US (after all you give us apple , MS, Google ) but whenever I go there I am taken aback at how dated the "cell" (as they still call them there) phone networks are over there compared to Europe or even OZ

[Machead III]

I'd have thought a sensible company like Apple would have released the phone unlocked, advertise it independantly, and let people work things out on their own, as well as providing it as a contract phone.

If Apple thought the music labels and movie studios were greedy and overcharged for their products, hoo hoo, they'd better get ready for the phone networks.

*memories of £75 Orange bill after an hour of web browsing in Rome*

[lmalave]

The RAZR was a smash because it was very stylish (which the Apple iPhone will certainly be, too). But it also has been huge because every carrier has had it available on subsidy, and it's been available in more than one color. Something I don't expect from the iPhone.

It's also been such a huge seller because they are junk inside. I imagine every time a carrier has to replace a RAZR because it was insured Motorola counts it as another "sale".

You have a short-term memory. Cingular had an exclusive on it for quite some time (at least 6 months), and was only available in one color (silver). I mean, I remember there was a big deal when the RAZR introduced the Black color!

According to ThinkSecret, the iPhone deal is similar (Cingular exclusive for 6 months, then Apple can sign on with other providers). And, as you indicate, the iPhone will probably only be available in one color. This is desirable for a product launch, though, since it makes production, inventory control, etc. easier at at time when Apple can't predict consumer demand as accurately.

What I'm hoping for is that Apple uses the metallic finish of its nanos. My Sony Ericsson has a metallic blue finish but is actually made of plastic. It would be sweet to have a real metal phone. I predict Apple will launch in a single metallic color (the nano black or silver), and then within a year or less provide all the nano colors.

If you think about it from a marketing point of view, this makes total sense so use all the exact same nano colors, strengthening the association between the two. This would position the iPhone as an upsell from the nano. All Apple has to do is ensure that the profit per unit is the same or higher as the nano, and they don't have to worry about cannibalizing nano sales.

In conclusion, the Think Secret article claims Apple expects to sell 25 million of the iPhones in the year 2007 alone. If Apple can pull that off, they will indeed be eclipsing the sales rates even of the highly successful RAZR. Unfortunately for Motorola, SonyEricsson, LG, Danger, Helio, etc., these eye-popping sales figures will come at the expense of all the othe "cool" phones that consumers were paying a premium for (RAZR, Walkman Phones, Chocolate, Sidekick, Helio). And not because these products necessarily compete head-to-head in terms of features, but rather because each person normally owns only one phone. So once consumers prioritize what they want in a phone, I predict many of them will opt to combine their iPod and phone into the same device. 25 million people making that choice in 2007 is not that far-fetched...

[CEAbiscuit]

There's a nifty mock-up of an iPhone at

http://skangerland.blogspot.com/2006/09/i-want-to-be-able-to-go-rob-one-of.html

Geez, I hope it doesn't look like that. Rotary looks kool, but imagine trying to text or dial without looking.

[lmalave]

I really hope Apple doesn't jump on the camera-phone bandwagon. Seems to go against their philosophy of having devices that do few things but to them far better. And it would make the phone useless to me. But that's just because my employers are sensitive about such devices, with the nuclear reactors and all.

And signing on with Cingular or any other major carrier seems like an even bigger mistake. The only way to truly improve the cell phone user experience is to take them out of the picture and introduce a fair and simple billing system (i.e. MVNO w/ daily flat rate, iTunes-style micropayments).

Umm...apple makes computers, remember? I agree that the success of the iPod is largely due to its elegant and simple design, but Apple also makes MacBooks, iMacs, etc. that are consumer-focused, elegant, and easy to use, yet provide rich functionality.

The thing is, the mobile phone is moving inexorably to essentially be a universal handheld communicator/computer that used to be the stuff of sci-fi films. Acually, if you ask me, the primary "must-have" on the phone of the near-future is high-speed internet access (3G+), not music or camera features. That being said, i think the music and camera features go hand-in-hand with high-speed internet. I think in addition to being able to download songs, you'll be able to listen to iTunes radio stations through the iPhone (if not at launch, then eventually). And having mobile phones acting as video phones will become common, too. Can you say iChat on your mobile phone?

So there you have the long term vision of the iPhone: a phone enabled with iTunes mobile, iChat mobile, PhotoBooth mobile. Not to mention QuickTime mobile, Safari mobile (ok, no need here really - I'm happy with Opera mini), Mail Mobile, iCal Mobile, Address Book mobile, etc. Not to mention the ability to play both the new iPod games and the huge amount of Java Mobile games already available.

I have to say, I already own a Sony Ericsson phone that already has most of the above features. What I am looking for from the iPhone is
1) all the same features as my SE phone, except done a little bit better
2) more seamless integration with my MacBook (though I have 3rd party software do do everything now)
3) a true 3G multimedia phone experience (my T-Mobile contract was up just this month, and the only reason I haven't immediately switched to Cingular and gotten the 3.5G LG CU500 phone is because I'm willing to hold out a few months to see what the iPhone has to offer)

[lmalave]

Geez, I hope it doesn't look like that. Rotary looks kool, but imagine trying to text or dial without looking.

Yeah, seriously - there's no way!!!

Text Messaging is way too popular now to mess with the key layout.

Really, the only viable options are:

1) standard numeric keypad
2) QWERTY keyboard
3) Hybrid QWERTY keyboard (a la Blackberry 7100 or Blackberry Pearl, though RIM probably has a patent on this...)

[peharri]

In conclusion, the Think Secret article claims Apple expects to sell 25 million of the iPhones in the year 2007 alone. If Apple can pull that off, they will indeed be eclipsing the sales rates even of the highly successful RAZR. Unfortunately for Motorola, SonyEricsson, LG, Danger, Helio, etc., these eye-popping sales figures will come at the expense of all the othe "cool" phones that consumers were paying a premium for (RAZR, Walkman Phones, Chocolate, Sidekick, Helio). And not because these products necessarily compete head-to-head in terms of features, but rather because each person normally owns only one phone. So once consumers prioritize what they want in a phone, I predict many of them will opt to combine their iPod and phone into the same device. 25 million people making that choice in 2007 is not that far-fetched...

And yet 25 million is a drop in the bucket as far as world wide phone sales go, even phones with MP3 playing features. And, sure, when offered the choice between the free 2-gig MP3 playing phone and the $200 (subsidized) iPhone or the $600 (unlocked) iPhone, they'll go with one of the latters. Yeah. That's the way it works... Ahem.

So the majority of MP3 playing phones at the end of this, the vast majority, will not be "iPhones". And they'll be made by people who will definitely be hostile to Apple. So the iTS will sell content for 10% of the MP3 playing market, not 50-75%. And Steve Jobs will go to the studios and say "Ok, time to renew. Same plan as before, 99c a song. Who's with me?", and all the studios will give him the finger. And Jobs will say "Hang on", and run out, and call Motorola, and Motorola will say "License iTunes from you? Three words: 100 song limit. You're not screwing us over a second time. Get lost." and hang up. And he'll call Nokia, and hear laughing in the background. And he'll call Samsung, and get the same response. And Sony-Ericsson... I doubt he'll even bother.

And so tiered pricing will arrive on the iTunes music store. Meanwhile complaints in MacRumors reach an all time high. The iPhone is lame! Why the hell do I have to navigate to VeringulaWeb to download ringtones? How dare you call me a liar! What, the All-Mobile one lets you download it from "Mobile iTunes Store"? What's that? BTW have you guys noticed it keeps crashing, I've had this on Sprodafone for three months and it crashes every time I go to voicemail. I will never buy another iPhone! I will never buy another iPhone! The iPhone sucks! I will never buy another Apple! Apple sucks! I will never buy another Apple!

We're taking the ThinkSecret story seriously, still, right?

Apple is going into competition with the all the other cellphone companies. And it's bringing to the table the amazing technology of playing DRM'd MP3s. Something no existing cellphone manufacturer could possibly hope to do. Right.

But we're taking the ThinkSecret story seriously, still, right?

*bangs head on desk*

[Hodapp]

Do the new Cingular phones with iTunes still have the 100 song limit? It is a ridiculously easy restriction to remove if you have the right software and access to a PC. I've got about 150 songs on my SLVR, which is all that will really fit on a 512MB card.

[Misplaced Mage]

What I'm hoping for is that Apple uses the metallic finish of its nanos. My Sony Ericsson has a metallic blue finish but is actually made of plastic. It would be sweet to have a real metal phone. I predict Apple will launch in a single metallic color (the nano black or silver), and then within a year or less provide all the nano colors.A partially metal housing is certainly possible, but if a phone has an internal antenna there has to be a plastic "window" in the housing that the antenna can operate through.

Metal housings are a pain for cell phone RF engineers because they have a nasty tendency to interfere with the radiativity (the "shape" of the radio emissions of the antenna). You generally can't use the housing itself as an antenna because it's difficult to get a uniform impedance match due to all the different ways people hold a phone, variations in skin conduction (not to mention SAR issues...), resting surfaces like metal tabletops, etc. The metal usually can't be left "floating," i.e., electrically isolated from the rest of the phone--though there are exceptions--and usually needs to be connected to the common phone ground to give it fixed RF characteristics, resulting in things like the spring fingers you sometimes see inside a phone that touch off on a point of a metal battery door.

The RAZR is an excellent example of this. The bulk of the phone housing is metal, but there are numerous internal grounding contacts for the housing, and the area around the antennas is plastic (the "chin" below the keyboard).

[iPost]

I am really looking forward to this. I have Cingular and they are actually one of the better services where I live. And, when you are talking about quality of service from carriers, it really depends on where you live.

I currently have a Blackberry. Maybe it's just me, but I find the user interface of the Blackberry very clunky. It always feel like a struggle whenever I try to do anything with it. As this is an area where Apple usually shines, I'm looking forward to a phone that will feel effortless when using its functionality. If Apple gets this right, I'll be first in line to buy the new iPhone.