Visit Starbucks Wi-Fi Hotspots With iPhone, Get Free Connection

Posted on May 3, 2008
Filed Under iPhone General | Leave a Comment

iPhone users who need a speedy over the EDGE connection pay attention to functional and handy Wi-Fi system. The only problem is lacking of various hotspots to use it on.

At the 2008 AT&T Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer, announced that the deployment of AT&T Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations takes place. Also, AT&T Wi-Fi internet customers will have complimentary Wi-Fi access at a number of 7,000 Starbucks locations across the USA. For the great army of AT&T customers, that means speedy and free connection.

Earlier this year Starbucks and AT&T had a deal that the coffee retailer’s T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots will be switched to the AT&T network. So iPhone users can reap the benefits of it.

Interestingly that the newly launched AT&T hotspots are providing absolutely free Wi-Fi access to all visitors with iPhones (surely you should have a valid iPhone number given by the official provider). But that’s only in theory.

Many Starbucks are still using T-Mobile’s service for providing Wi-Fi access. Some Starbucks has AT&T hotspot available, but with no free Wi-Fi service to iPhones. Some have Wi-Fi networks provided with T-Mobile with AT&T log name. Evidently AT&T’s intentions to roll out the service started this spring. The company’s initial press release claimed to finish integration in coffee chain’s hotspots by the end of the year.

The strategy suggests that the Wi-Fi service for customers of AT&T and U-verse Internet customers will be for free, with the extension of Wi-Fi service for wireless customers at Starbucks. AT&T’s fees for other users are $19.99 per month or $3.99 for a two hour block.

In the United Kingdom the situation is quite different. The mobile phone provider O2 is offering free access to iPhone owners at hotspots of The Cloud network (about 7,500 units throughout Europe). To add a contrast, AT&T boasts 70,000 hotspots internationally.

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All You Need to Know About Apple iPhone: Gadget Specs

Posted on May 3, 2008
Filed Under iPhone General, iPhone Reviews, iPhone Software | Leave a Comment

I would like to supply you with some major technical details of the iPhone. I would touch upon the size, screen, audio specs, requirements etc. All the data is taken from the official web-page, so you can trust them for sure.

Size and weight

Height: 4.5 inches (115 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (61 mm)
Depth: 0.46 inch (11.6 mm)
Weight: 4.8 ounces (135 grams)

In the box

iPhone
Stereo Headset
Dock
Dock Connector to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
Documentation
Cleaning/polishing cloth

Capacity

8GB or 16GB flash drive

Display

3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi
Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Operating system

OS X

GSM

Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Wireless data

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
EDGE
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Camera

2.0 megapixels

Audio

Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video

Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Headphones

Stereo earphones with built-in microphone
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Impedance: 32 ohms

Mac system requirements

Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later
iTunes 7.5 or later

Windows system requirements

PC with USB 2.0 port
Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate Edition; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
iTunes 7.5 or later

Environmental requirements

Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

Input and output

iPhone
30-pin dock connector
3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
iPhone Dock
Dock connector

Power and battery

Built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery
Talk time: Up to 8 hours
Standby time: Up to 250 hours
Internet use: Up to 6 hours
Video playback: Up to 7 hours
Audio playback: Up to 24 hours

iPhone Hacks & Tricks: Fast Insertion of Accented Letters

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iPhone Hacks & Tricks: Fast Insertion of Accented Letters

Posted on May 3, 2008
Filed Under iPhone Hacks, iPhone Tips | Leave a Comment

Don’t you think that the possibility to put accents over letter on the iPhone could save a great deal of your time? In fact, everything is perfectly OK when it is English, but when it comes to, for instance, German – the case gets worse. Those umlauts cannot do not occur in the keyboard, and still they are to be marked somehow.

So, here you are, I found a solution to this sophisticated problem. When the keyboard mode is activated on the iPhone you see a standard qwerty keyboard, SHIFT, Space and delete bars. There is a button that pops up additional symbols. BUT there are no accents among the additional symbols.

But there is a way to type accents. In order to type an accent you have to hold your finger over the button with the letter you want to be accented and wait for a second. Then you will see a pop-up menu with all the possible accents. Then you drag your finger to the one you need and let it go. After these operations you will have an accented letter.

If you want to accentuate a capital letter you need to do exactly the same operations with the only difference: before hold the finger over the letter you need to hold SHIFT button.

Moreover, this trick works not only with letters, you can use it for numbers and other symbols. It can be used if you want to get exclamation points and question marks upside down.

If you want my opinion about this feature I think it is a great feature. It saves a lot of time. You don’t have to dive into various menus all the time to find the symbols you need. Furthermore, the feature can be expanded. For instance, to each button there should be an alternative choice like SHIFT button in the standard PC keyboard.

I don’t know for sure, but the same option can be enabled on iPod Touch. In fact, it is not that useful on this device as it doesn’t have text messaging capabilities, but nevertheless, it can be used for organizing the media library and making notes.

Who Else Wants Great iPhone Trick Tips?

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New iPhone Feature To Stand Surgery Without Sedatives

Posted on May 2, 2008
Filed Under iPhone General | 1 Comment

We usually use iPhones for making the calls, getting the mail, playing the music, browsing the web, and now iPhones have a completely new approach to its use.

Today iPhones are helping young patients stand surgery!

Six-year-old Bobbi was going to be operated on his ear. The child was trying to stay brave, but even a little one can realize that the needle’s coming. It was a tonsillectomy and ear tube surgery.

The hardest part is always leaving for the operating room. Most young children are not able to do that without being given a sedative.

Dr. Daniel Low, University of Washington assistant professor of anesthesia, came up with the idea that iPhone could help. He ‘s been using this technology for six months now and has reduced the use of the sedative drug by 85 percent.

He simply knows how his own two kids react to iPhones. “When I bought the iPhone when it first came out they were watching movies on it and they didn’t seem to ever hear me talk to them,” he said.

Of course it’s much easier for both a doctor and a patient to cooperate for a surgery room when a child is calm. There is a great benefit to go under anesthesia without any premedication. Children wake up much smoother after the surgery. They’re less dizzy and they go home much quicker.

A skilled anesthesiologist and an engaging movie did their job and soon Bobbi drifted out and came through surgery “with flying colors”.

Dr. Low claims that the iPhones don’t interfere with medical equipment and are easily sanitized. And still there were no complaints and not a child has thrown it yet.

Seattle Children’s Hospital appears to be the only facility using the iPhone innovation for helping kids go into surgery.

View press release

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AT&T Makes 200$ Price Cut Profit On 3G Apple’s iPhones

Posted on May 1, 2008
Filed Under iPhone General | 1 Comment

AT&T is planning to make new 3G Apple iPhones more affordable to customers and reduce price tag by 200$ to make price cut profit.

Originally Apple will issue two versions of the new iPhone - an eight gigabyte memory and a sixteen gigabyte memory models with prices expected to be $399 and $499. Those customers who sign two-year contracts with AT&T will get the price down to $199.

The 200$ rebate won’t be available through Apple’s stores and would be limited to AT&T customers only. This magnetic price cut profit will attract much wider range of consumers than any other giant like T-Mobile or Sprint. And a new model won’t be available to another phone service.

These subsidies are a common practice in the U.S. phone market where competition is severe. Lowering the consumer cost of the phone is considered to invest a bit and get paid off in several months, as monthly bill is 50$. However, the average iPhone user pays up 100$ for additional data and services. That means pretty perspective and rapid income. And did you know that Apple has an arrangement according to which telcos like AT&T have to pay 9% - 15% of the monthly income? That could be a slight reason of payout delay.

The new iPhone is going to be released on June 27 in favor of one year anniversary of iPhone itself. And before that launch Apple is planning to end the line of the older model iPhones in order to clear up the inventory for new models. That can also avoid public indignation, like last year’s price drop on iPhones without warning.

It is already known that the new iPhone will be 2.5 mm thinner than the original 11.7 mm, and will have a GPS chip for all location-based services.

The investigation was held by Scott Moritz for Fortune

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