iPhoneAlley notes that AT&T has once again posted information on their website indicating that all iPhone customers have free access to their more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots access across the U.S., including Starbucks locations:

AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and free Wi-Fi even hotter, which is why we are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot network with more than 17,000 hotspots, including Starbucks*. Now users can relax and access music, e-mail and web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their favorite location.

AT&T provides an online tool to find a Wi-Fi spot near you.

We had first reported on this topic back in April when AT&T had turned the feature on at hotspot locations across the U.S. This was quickly disabled just a few days later. Another week after that, AT&T advertised the new feature on their iPhone website, and again quickly removed it. When the service was active, AT&T simply required you to enter your current iPhone phone number as authentication.

There was some speculation that the delay was due to the fact that they had not yet completed their Wi-Fi deployment at Starbucks. AT&T had won the Starbucks contract from T-Mobile in February and is already offering free Wi-Fi access for their DSL and business customers.

via http://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/18/atandts-free-wi-fi-hotspot-access-for-iphones-finally-announced/

Posted on July 18th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Tips | No Comments »

Another quick iPhone 2.0 tip, but one that is a great new feature in the latest iPhone software - how to save an image from a web page in the Safari browser.

I was very happy when I heard this feature would be coming to the 2.0 software, and it’s nice to see it made it, works well, and already proves useful to me quite often.

And it’s dead easy - all you need to do is tap and hold on an image on a Safari page, and wait for the popup shown in the above screencap to appear.  Then just tap ‘Save Image’ - and that’s it, the image file will be added to your Camera Roll.

Posted on July 17th, 2008 by admin
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If you are running the new 2.0 firmware on your iPhone or iPod touch, you might not have noticed a new handy shortcut in Safari.

When you type in your address, hold down the “.com” button to get a selection of 3 other domain name endings: “.net,” “.edu,” and “.org.”

When you tap on any of the endings, it will be automatically inserted in the address bar.

via http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/15/iphone-101-hold-your-com-button-for-a-second/

Posted on July 16th, 2008 by admin
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Here’s another very small iPhone tip, but one that may hopefully prove useful for some who are finding iPhone syncing under the new 2.0 software to be unbearably slow.

A big part of how slow the syncs are under 2.0 - at least in my experience so far - is the ‘Backup’ section of things.  I believe one of the reasons for this is that when applications are backed up, it is not only the install files, it is all data associated with every app.  In any case, the backups are taking an awful long time.

So if you want to skip the backup portion of the sync - and greatly reduce the overall length of the whole sync - just hit the little ‘x’ to the right of the top Progress Bar at the top of the iTunes window - next to where it is saying ‘Backing up iPhoneName’ - as shown in the screenshot above.  This will only cancel backup; the rest of the sync will carry on.

Of course it’s not a great idea to cancel out of the backup every time (that’ll come back to bite you for sure), but if you know you’ve already got a recent one (or more) done and are in a hurry, this is a useful quick kill for the backup process.

via http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/07/14/how-to-stop-backup-during-iphone-itunes-sync-on-20/

Posted on July 15th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips, 3G iPhone | No Comments »

There’s a good chance that by now you’ve figured out which plan you’re going to get for your shiny new iPhone 3G. However, if there is some doubt in your mind that you’re not going to get the right one, there is a handy little tool over at BillShrink.

It’s pretty simple and straightforward. Just put in how much you’re currently paying, then specify how many minutes, text and how much data you use. You can also put in your zip code to see how many bars to expect. Honestly, it doesn’t really tell you much more than you probably already knew, it just puts it in a nice neat format.

Posted on July 10th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips, 3G iPhone | No Comments »

Time is a funny thing. A few weeks ago, eBay and Google were flooded with pricy first-gen iPhones starting at about $400 and people were snapping them up like crazy. Now, the same auction sites are showing dozens of listings from just $200 for 8GB iPhones.

The iPhone, as you will remember, debuted last year at $499 for a 4GB model and $599 for 8GB. Then there was the price drop, the $100 store credit and the introduction of the iPod touch. Soon after, the refurb units appeared at a slight discount, and then a bigger discount and then by March they were retailing $250 for the refurb 8GB model. Late adopters got great bargains by any stretch of the imagination, particularly those who mixed unlocking with creative data plan purchases.

Now it’s time for the iPhone 3G to appear and by every stretch of the imagination, it’s horribly priced–as is every other subsidized smart-phone out there. Unless you live in the Netherlands, the rate plans range from bad to unspeakable. If you’re in Scandinavia or New Zealand, our hearts go out to you.

From a price perspective, the cheapest way to use the phone is to buy it outright, unlock it and use it with inexpensive calling plans. Data plans, particularly, work best when you don’t have to mortgage your children to afford to visit a few websites.

Using the iPhone outside the sanctioned plans involves giving up visual voice mail but otherwise it works pretty smoothly. It also involves running unfamiliar possibly scary software and taking risks with your unit that many iPhone users would prefer to avoid. Thus there exists the always growing market of third party unlocking and resales.

The iPhone dev team hints that they’re ready to deliver unlocking and jailbreak tools as soon as Apple releases 2.0. Theoretically, you’ll be able to use your current iPhone SIM and data plan (whether licit or less licit) with the new iPhone 3G. Obviously no one has been able to test or confirm this yet outside the dev team, which remains tightlipped.

In the US, AT&T is offering a “commitment-free” 3G iPhone for just $599. It’s still locked to the network, and we’re told you still need to activate it with AT&T before it can be used. Similar overpriced “commitment free” units will go on sale in Italy and a few other countries as well. You should be able to activate and then tell your carrier goodbye if I’m reading the terms correctly. I am not a lawyer.

So here’s the question: do you want to pay the early adopter tax in order to play with shiny new iPhone? For US customers, the question reverts to bandwidth. If you can afford it, the new iPhone delivers 3G speeds. You won’t have to call out for pizza as you wait for a website to load. But if you have the flexibility to wait, you can buy a better cheaper unit soon.

Other than 3G speeds and GPS, the new iPhone does not bring a lot to the table. It still has the same crappy 2 MegaPixel camera. It appears to have the same sized screen, the same speakers, the same microphone with a few cosmetic re-designs. If the speed issue isn’t do-or-die for you, this is the upgrade to skip. You’ll pay a lot of money for little more than a design bump.

Frankly, Apple would be foolish if they didn’t have a better iPhone already in the works–one with a decent camera and other upgraded features. The 3G iPhone that goes on sale Friday, represents nothing more than last year’s iPhone–that finally got delivered a year late.

via http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/08/why-you-shouldnt-buy-the-iphone-3g-on-friday/

Posted on July 9th, 2008 by admin
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If you’re like me, you’ve likely grown hoarse from complaining about the iPhone 3G’s increased plan cost. Thankfully, there is a way to mitigate the problem. Unlike the original iPhone, which Apple received service revenue kickbacks from, the iPhone 3G is a traditionally subsidized phone. This means that it now comes with some of the same benefits that other AT&T phones do, including the one that saves you 15% each month.

According to AT&T, college and university students, as well as employees of certain companies, are eligible for a 15% discount on their entire monthly plan. Read on for more info

Quoting an email received by a user at MacRumors.com,

Wireless numbers using the iPhone 3G will be able to receive
employee/student discounts from the monthly recurring charges. The
discount will apply to the Nation 450 plan charge and the iPhone data
plan charge. You may receive the discount on the messaging plan, but
this depends upon the student discount details.

Employment or enrollment must be verified before a business discount can
be applied to the account. In order to request/apply your discount, you
would have to visit our discount request website at http://wireless.att.com/discounts. From this site you will be required to enter a work email address and
zip code, then follow the on screen instructions to have your discount
applied.

Of course, this could be inaccurate since the nature of the iPhone has always been a little strange for AT&T. We asked several AT&T store employees who didn’t seem to know for sure. To be sure, we asked Wes Warnock at AT&T if students using the iPhone 3G were eligible for the discount. He wrote:

For those colleges/universities that pass their discounts to their students, then yes, service discounts apply. No phone discounts apply.

So there you have it. College students are eligible for a 15% break on their monthly bill. Certain companies offer a discount as well. If you qualify, the discount nearly takes care of the entire price hike.

To take advantage of the discount, check out att.com/wirelessdiscounts and use your student or work email to verify your eligibility. If your email doesn’t work, you’ll need to stop by a corporate AT&T store with proof of employment/enrollment. Once verified, it will take 1-2 bill cycles to take effect.

If you sign up for the discount, let us know!

via http://www.iphonealley.com/tips-and-tricks/save-15-your-monthly-iphone-3g-bill?s=640e504b6561d6d681b5ad816a1b56e3

Posted on July 8th, 2008 by admin
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Apple has posted a Support Document that explains exactly how to replace your original iPhone with a new 3G iPhone. Basically there are two tracks: 1) In the US you don’t need your original SIM as your original “account information will be transferred to iPhone 3G’s included SIM when you purchase iPhone 3G.” 2) Outside the US, “you can use your original iPhone’s SIM with iPhone 3G.”

Once that’s done it’s just a matter of backing up your original iPhone to iTunes 7.7 and then restoring that backup to the new iPhone 3G. This should transfer all your saved SMS messages as well as email accounts, notes, etc. Once that’s done you just need to erase the old iPhone with the new secure erase option.

via http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/04/apple-on-how-to-replace-an-original-iphone-with-a-new-3g-iphone/

Posted on July 7th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips | No Comments »

If you were as shocked as I was about the no-commitment price for an iPhone 3G ($599 and $699) then you are probably wondering how to get one without paying that much.Sometimes the simplest solutions are overlooked. Gizmodo points out that instead of paying for that overly-priced iPhone 3G, you might as well get service and the cancel it, coming out cheaper than purchasing a no-commitment iPhone 3G.

They did the math, and they figure that it would still be cheaper to buy a 16GB this way than a contract-free 8GB.

Here’s what you’ll pay to cancel the service: (Plus $199 or $299 for the iPhone 3G)
$36 - Activation
$175 - Early Termination Fee
$70 - One month of service

If their calculations are correct, this would mean:
8GB iPhone Canceled: $480
16GB iPhone Canceled: $580

That is quite a bit of savings from $599 and $699. My only concern is, will it actually work?

Posted on July 3rd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Tips | No Comments »

Macsimumnews provides a tip on how to send and receive unlimited SMS messages from your iPhone (assuming you have an unlimited data plan). The steps are as follows:

1. Create a new email message.
2. In the To: box, type 10digitnumber@teleflip.com. (1235551234@teleflip.com)
3. Type a message and click send.
4. The message will be sent to the cell phone with the number in the To: box
5. All recieved text messages will be sent to you as an email.
They use the free service Teleflip.com to route your email messages to SMS and back. The service is free, but only works in U.S. and Canada.

This means you won’t be getting instant notifications of these SMS->email messages since you have to wait until your email updates. This will be far less of an issue once MobileMe is deployed as you will be able to get Push email sent to your iPhone

Posted on June 30th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips | No Comments »