The iPhone is a series of best selling smart phones licensed with AT&T. Created by Apple, the iPhone continues the line of innovative Apple products such as the iPod mp3 player. The iPhone has become famous for its application system, a marketplace of downloadable applications that give the iPhone unlimited functionality. Since 2007, there have been four models of the iPhone with a new phone released each year.

The Original iPhone

The original iPhone was created as a hybrid between cellular phone and PDA technology, utilizing new designs such as a touchscreen interface. The glass touchscreen was unique for its multi-touch functionality. The user could touch multiple points on the screen for additional functions (such as zooming). The keyboard and mouse controls were incorporated entirely into the touch interface, similar to a tablet PC. Internet access was provided through the EDGE network. The original iPhone was released with a 4GB and 8GB model, with a 16GB model released later.

The iPhone 3G

The iPhone 3G was the second generation of iPhone, released in July 2008. The iPhone 3G came with much of the same hardware as the original iPhone, but had an increase in software functionality. The major introduction for the iPhone 3G was the Apple App Store. The App Store allowed users to purchase and download applications, small programs which added additional functions to the phone. This became a trademark of the iPhone brand that has continued to this day. The iPhone 3G was also the first iPhone built to use the 3G wireless network for internet access – the original used only the slower EDGE network.

The iPhone 3GS

The iPhone 3GS, released in June 2009, was created with a focus on hardware improvements. The display screen for the phone was updated to use a greater number of pixels and have a richer color display. The processor and memory were upgraded for the first time since the original iPhone, allowing for faster speeds and better performance of applications. A new camera was also added, allowing 3 megapixel photos and video capture in high definition. The iPhone 3GS also included a compass application, using a built in magnetometer.

The iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 is the latest model of iPhone, released in June 2010. The aesthetics of the phone were the focus with an all-new steel frame and glass display. The phone is thinner than previous models – the exterior antenna in the steel housing gives the phone a smaller profile than older iPhones. The iPhone 4 also received a hardware upgrade with a new processor and double the memory of the iPhone 3GS. It also uses a forward mounted video camera (in addition to the rear HD camera) to allow for video conferencing.

This guest article was contributed by Jennifer Bell from Health Training Guide. Check out her site to learn more about vocational nurse training and other exciting health careers.

Photo credit: Burt Lum

iPhone News

Verizon Wireless says it’s ready for Apple iPhone rush – Deep down I hope they crash and burn

AT&T Sued for Overcharging iPhone and iPad Owners

Steve Wozniak Says White iPhone 4 Coming Soon, Delay Due to Paint Issues – You would think that this should be a problem by now

Apple responds: we want a cut of Amazon, Sony e-book sales – This is just BS. If this goes through, expect a call for the government to step in

AT&T Offering Customers Unlimited Data to Get Back at Verizon? – They are scared and will do everything to keep their customers as they renewal comes up

iPhone Apps

Angry Birds Seasons getting a Valentines update

Quickoffice Teases Additional Document Sharing Services For iPad

RunKeep Pro Fitness App Goes FREE for Life

eReader Roundup: Hunting for the Best iPhone eBook Reader

10 Billionth App Download Winner Hangs Up On Apple

iPhone Jailbreaks

Jailbreak Only: CameraWallpaper – Coming Soon To Cydia Store

Untethered iOS 4.2.1 Jailbreak for iPhone, iPad shown off on video

Top iPhone News

Apple to Challenge Facebook With iPhone “Photo Streaming?” [REPORT] – I know I love taking pictures with my phone and sharing them on FB, so this seems like an interesting feature.

Starbucks Card Mobile now available for iPhone and iPod Touch – If mobile payments are able to go mainstream and not have any major security breaches, this will be awesome.

iPad 2 Picture Getting Clearer as Rumors Ramp Up – This is the next big launch for Apple so everyone is trying to figure out what its going to look like. iPad 2 is coming soon!

Apple Conference Call: 6 Things You Should Know – It’s crazy to think that this company was almost bankrupt a few years ago.

iPad 2, iPhone 5 to have a dual-core PowerVR SGX543 GPU to drive Retina Display? – Dual core baby!

White iPhone shows up in order systems, available Feb 27? – Do people even care anymore?

With Verizon, iPhone’s Flaws May Become More Apparent – AT&T gets a lot of crap over their service from iPhone users, but you have to wonder if any of that falls onto the device.

iPad 2 to Have SD Card Slot & Qualcomm Chip [RUMOR] – almost a necessary these days, I hope this is true.

iPhone Apps

Angry Birds Usurped By 14-Year-Old Boy Atop Free Apps Chart

Bubble Ball: The Best-Selling Free App Made By A 14-Year Old

iPhone Jailbreaking

Apple Asks Federal Government to Put an End to Jailbreaking

Seas0nPass makes for easier AppleTV Jailbreak

Top News

Microsoft Claiming Term “App Store” As Generic – It will be interesting to see what the decision on the AppStore trademark will be.

Will there be a Verizon iPhone 5 this summer? (And should I wait?) – if I were a Verizon user, I would certainly wait. If not, you will miss out on the next two generations of the iPhone due to the 2 year commitment.

Confirmed: iOS 4.3 to bring Wi-Fi Personal Hotspot to GSM/AT&T iPhone – This is a feature I have always wanted.

Analysts: Verizon iPhone will put brakes on US Android growth – I think Android has a lot of momentum because the iPhone was not on Verizon. Now that the iPhone is an option, how bad will Android get hit? We will find out soon.

Is Apple Building A Mobile Social Network? – Just another way for us to stay connected with our friends.

Verizon iPhone

Apple, Verizon Took Years to Clear IPhone Differences – How the deal came together over the last few months or years.

CDMA vs. GSM Examined: Which 3G Network is Superior? – Interesting write up that talks about how the networks differ between AT&T and Verizon and why Apple had to build a new phone for Verizon.

iPhone Faceoff: AT&T vs. Verizon – Curious what the difference is? This is a good write up.

Non-exclusive Apple-Verizon deal could allow iPhone on Sprint, T-Mobile – I would imagine T-Mobile would be next

Verizon iPhone has relocated buttons, might require new cases – This is lame, now we have to worry about case differences?

iPhone Apps

GoTasks is the Cure for the Common List – Simple, Free task list.

Reeder App Is Better And Faster With Latest Update – My favorite RSS reader for the iOS. If you haven’t tried this one yet, you are missing out.

Splice – Video Editor Review – Great alternative to iMovie if you are looking for something more intuitive.

Top News

Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: The SIM card – Some people are perfectly happy with AT&T and their coverage, myself included.

Don’t Buy the Verizon iPhone 4 – Remember one thing about the VZW/Apple relationship, Apple is still in control. They will be in charge of the release cycle and they do that once a year, which is coming this spring.

Verizon IPhone to Help Apple Boost Sales, Fight Google – It seems like everyone wants to take shots at Google these days.

Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: Need for speed – Again, some people love AT&T and don’t see the need to switch. At least now you have the option.

Everything We Know about the Verizon iPhone So Far

Connecting to Denon’s A/V Receivers — Now With AirPlay – This is going to be a huge market this year. I am excited to see how Airplay is used.

iPhone Apps

9 Sites To Find Mobile Apps From Mashable & Others – who doesn’t love finding iPhone Apps.

Kindle for iOS gets background downloads, file support – Finally!

Toy Balls! HD – So far my kids like this game.

Slice It! Update Adds 20 New Levels To Cut Through – This is a new addiction in our household. Right behind Angry Birds

Announcing the January, 2011 App Hall of Fame Inductees – you may find a few new gems in this list.

Sorry for all the VZW stuff, but its everywhere you go. Maybe these will help you get through your Monday morning

Top News Verizon News

AT&T Already Attacking Verizon iPhone: “Not Sure iPhone Users Are Ready For Life In The Slow Lane” – When the iPhone hits VZW it will open up a whole new level of trash talk between the carriers. The commercials should be fun to watch.

WSJ: Verizon Is “Confident” It Can Carry The iPhone – There has been debate that the AT&T network went downhill because of all of the iPhone users. Will VZW suffer the same problems.

Analyst: Verizon To Sell Nine Million iPhones In 2011, AT&T To Sell 11 Million – A lot of iPhones are about to be sold.

WSJ Reports That Verizon iPhone Means $30 Unlimited Data – This is expected to compete with the AT&T plans.

Five Ways The Verizon iPhone Will Change The Mobile Landscape – A VZW iPhone is going to change things for sure.

Why the Verizon iPhone Doesn’t Spell Disaster for AT&T – There are a lot of users loyal to AT&T and are also locked into a family deal. It will be hard for all of them to leave.

I had a conversation recently with some friends about the true cost of owning a smart phone.  I decided to run some numbers to see what the total cost of ownership really is across 5 of the more popular smart phones out there such as the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, Blackberry Storm, Android G1, and Palm Pre.

Here is a summary chart of what I found while shopping online:

[singlepic id=74 630 h=166 float=center]

As you can tell the monthly cost of ownership between the iPhone and the Storm are pretty close.  The G1 is your best cost saver across the board, except for when you get into the unlimited talk, text, and data.  Once you get to that tier, the Palm Pre comes through as the cheapest.

Now some basic disclaimers.  I tried to put some carrier specific disclaimers on each chart listed below.  These prices were effective on 7/20/2009.  When listing the price for the phone, I took into account what offers the carriers had running at the time, regardless of if it was a mail in rebate or instant rebate.  The prices do not include any state or federal taxes.  Finally, all of this is based on signing your life away to a 2 year contract as a new subscriber.

Here are the rest of the charts:
[nggallery id=8]

AT&T posted a PDF that seems to answer common questions related to the new iPhone.  Two of the bigger questions has to do with how they are going to handle MMS and Tethering.  While the pdf mentions that MMS will be provided at no extra charge, they still don’t address tethering.  As I stated in a previous post though, I would expect tethering to cost an extra $30 a month.

AT&T Questions from our Customers

On Monday, Apple officially launched the new iPhone at the World Wide Developers Conference and to everyone’s surprise AT&T was absent from the list of providers who will support tethering and MMS. On Wednesday, AT&T was quoted all over the web saying that they would support MMS by the end of the summer as they are in the process of upgrading their networks to provide the best service possible to their customers.

As for tethering, that still seems to be up in the air, but people are beginning to speculate on what the real motive behind the delay is and people are curious if they are looking at charging extra for tethering and MMS.  My thoughts on this is that AT&T will charge extra for the tethering, but not for the MMS.  If you look at their existing plans for smart phones they have tethering and messaging options for those phones.  Tethering is an extra $30 and according to the details of the messaging, it includes MMS.

Here is a screen shot from the AT&T website:

ATT Features for tethering and MMS

If iPhone users are given an “iPhone Tax” for MMS, then AT&T and digging their grave even deeper with iPhone users.

What are your thoughts about an iPhone Tax?

Yesterday during the WWDC, Apple announced some new iPhone hardware.  During the keynote two new features were announced, MMS support and Internet tethering.  During the announcement, it was mentioned that AT&T would support these features later this summer.

After the keynote, AT&T announced the pricing and upgrade information for existing iPhone 3G customers.  Long story short, if you have owned your 3G iPhone for less than 18 months, it would cost you $399 for the new 16GB model and $499 for the 32GB model.  If you have had your phone for longer than 18 months, then you qualify for the $199/$299 pricing.

Based on various tweets and blog postings, people are pretty upset with AT&T.  I can understand being upset for not supporting MMS and tethering at launch, but I think people are overreacting to the upgrade policy.  When you got the iPhone 3G you signed a 2 year contract for that phone, so they are not required to let you out of your current contract just so that you can get the latest and greatest iPhone.  We can definitely thank phone subsidies for this as this is a pretty standard practice across the mobile industry.  When the Storm 2 comes out for Verizon, those customers are going to have to go through a similiar process if they want to get the newest version.

Could you imagine life without phone subsidies?  I sure wouldn’t want to?  Yes, I know we marry ourselves to a carrier for 2 years, but it gives us the option to own incredible “phones”.  I use the term “phones” losely because these days these phones are turning into mini super computers.  With this capability, comes a price that would prevent most consumers from ever even coming close to owning these devices.

So please, lets move past all the griping about AT&T and how they mis-treating loyal customers, and lets start focusing on the countdown to the new 3.0 OS that will give existing customers most of the new features that are part of the iPhone 3G S.