The new agreement between Apple and AT&T eliminates the revenue-sharing model under which AT&T shared a portion of monthly service revenue with Apple. Under the revised agreement, there is no revenue sharing and both iPhone 3G models will be offered at lower prices to accelerate subscriber volumes. The phones will be offered with a two-year contract and attractive data plans that are similar to those offered for other smartphones and PDAs.


With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199; the 16GB model will be priced at $299. Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $39.99 a month. Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.

Labels: Apple

Apple today introduced MobileMe, a new Internet service that delivers push email, push contacts and push calendars for iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs. MobileMe also provides a suite of elegant, ad-free web applications that deliver a desktop-like experience through any modern browser. MobileMe applications (www.me.com) include Mail, Contacts and Calendar, as well as Gallery for viewing and sharing photos and iDisk for storing and exchanging documents online.
“Think of MobileMe as ‘Exchange for the rest of us’,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Now users who are not part of an enterprise that runs Exchange can get the same push email, push calendars and push contacts that the big guys get.”

MobileMe, available on July 11, is a subscription-based service with 20GB of storage for $99 (US) per year for individuals and $149 (US) for a Family Pack, which includes one master account with 20GB of storage and four Family Member accounts with 5GB of storage each. MobileMe subscribers can purchase an additional 20GB of storage for $49 (US) or 40GB of storage for $99 (US) annually.

With a MobileMe email account, all folders, messages and status indicators look identical whether checking email on iPhone, iPod touch, a Mac or a PC. New email messages are pushed instantly to iPhone over the cellular network or Wi-Fi, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads. Push also keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically pushed up to the cloud and down to other devices. Push works with the native applications on iPhone and iPod touch, Microsoft Outlook for the PC, and Mac OS X applications, Mail, Address Book and iCal, as well as the MobileMe web application suite.

Labels: Apple

Apple has developed a technique that could allow for a smaller iPhone with all the controls but half the size, according to a recent but not yet fully public US Patent Office filing. Described as a “dual sided trackpad,” the primary variant on the invention would have a translucent cover with a capacitive, multi-touch trackpad that accepts input on either side and can activate controls depending on the pad’s position.

The pad could therefore be attached to a small handheld device through a hinge and switch its functionality depending on whether it was open or closed: while a closed trackpad would simply serve as a substitute for the main touchscreen, an open position could provide a separate pad for dialing numbers or an interface for gestures and scrolling. This touchscreen could have its own basic display for these features.
A second iteration of the patent could also apply to computers and would have the dual trackpad replace the conventional, opaque surface on a notebook such as the MacBook Air; while acting as a traditional trackpad when the computer is open, a fully shut notebook would switch input to the outside and use it as an external interactive display for checking e-mail, playing music, and other simple actions, similar to Windows Vista’s SideShow.

Labels: Apple, iPhone