iPhone news - Starbucks is dumping T-Mobile

4phun <[email protected]> wrote in news:10ce3b31-4f16-4e68-b86c-
[email protected]:

> Why, it's this: "AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at
> Starbucks to its wireless customers". The press release says spring
> 2008 -- still a little ways away, but soon "millions of AT&T and
> Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of
> their neighborhood Starbucks."
>

Wifi is free to everyone at Panera Bread Cafe across the parking lot from
Starbucks. The coffee is better and the eats are SUPERB!

Starbucky can suck eggs....(c;

---

› See More: iPhone news - Starbucks is dumping T-Mobile

On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:42:42 +0000, Larry <[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>4phun <[email protected]> wrote in news:10ce3b31-4f16-4e68-b86c-
>[email protected]:
>
>> Why, it's this: "AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at
>> Starbucks to its wireless customers". The press release says spring
>> 2008 -- still a little ways away, but soon "millions of AT&T and
>> Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of
>> their neighborhood Starbucks."
>
>Wifi is free to everyone at Panera Bread Cafe across the parking lot from
>Starbucks. The coffee is better and the eats are SUPERB!

Likewise at my favorite micro-roastery, Pacific Bay Coffee in Walnut
Creek, CA.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http:/navasgroup.com>

"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive,
difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." --Gene Spafford

4phun wrote:

> Why, it's this: "AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at
> Starbucks to its wireless customers". The press release says spring
> 2008 -- still a little ways away, but soon "millions of AT&T and
> Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of
> their neighborhood Starbucks."

What's great about coffee houses around here is that except for
Starbucks, almost all them provide free wireless to all. Plus better
coffee as well. Some Starbucks do have free wireless, but most don't.

> A side note - AT&T also has announced a major network expansion where
> they will deploy their high speed 3G network to 80 more USA cities in
> 2008 in anticipation of the new 3G iPhone.

Hallelujah. If it took the 3G iPhone to get AT&T moving on 3G, that's
fine. Maybe some real 3G competition will drive down prices, since
Verizon seems to be taking the classic monopolistic supply and demand
attitude for 3G of "we have all the supply, so we can demand whatever
the #$%^ we want."

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:33:31 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>4phun wrote:

>> A side note - AT&T also has announced a major network expansion where
>> they will deploy their high speed 3G network to 80 more USA cities in
>> 2008 in anticipation of the new 3G iPhone.
>
>Hallelujah. If it took the 3G iPhone to get AT&T moving on 3G, that's
>fine. Maybe some real 3G competition will drive down prices, since
>Verizon seems to be taking the classic monopolistic supply and demand
>attitude for 3G of "we have all the supply, so we can demand whatever
>the #$%^ we want."

This is totally silly. 3G network coverage has been continually
expanding; 3G coverage is very good; and there's just no evidence that
the iPhone, a small fraction of total subscribers, has any bearing on
the issue.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http:/navasgroup.com>

"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive,
difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." --Gene Spafford

John Navas <[email protected]> writes:

> On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:33:31 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
> wrote in <[email protected]>:
>
> >Hallelujah. If it took the 3G iPhone to get AT&T moving on 3G, that's
> >fine. Maybe some real 3G competition will drive down prices, since
> >Verizon seems to be taking the classic monopolistic supply and demand
> >attitude for 3G of "we have all the supply, so we can demand whatever
> >the #$%^ we want."
>
> This is totally silly. 3G network coverage has been continually
> expanding; 3G coverage is very good; and there's just no evidence that
> the iPhone, a small fraction of total subscribers, has any bearing on
> the issue.

I have to agree with John (while at the same time feelin 'screw your
Followup To: header to .cingular). As an owner of a 3g phone and
having used it for laptop tethering in several cities, AT&T's 3g's
availability seems better in my own experience than anywhere near
comparable speeds with say Sprint, who some revere as having the best
data network.

But if a hot product expands that network even further so be it.
However, I think the original poster pretending that the AT&T 3g
network is crippled with the iPhone to save it may not be someone
using a whole lot of 3G in different areas.

--
Todd H.
http://toddh.net/

Todd H. wrote:

> I have to agree with John (while at the same time feelin 'screw your
> Followup To: header to .cingular). As an owner of a 3g phone and
> having used it for laptop tethering in several cities, AT&T's 3g's
> availability seems better in my own experience than anywhere near
> comparable speeds with say Sprint, who some revere as having the best
> data network.

AT&T has rolled out 3G in the major markets, but there are a lot of
smaller, but still urban, markets where Verizon and Sprint have had 3G
for a long time, but where AT&T does not. I.e., I have a friend in
Madison Wisconsin, which is a moderate size city, who switched to Sprint
solely because AT&T had no 3G there yet.

I guess that someone could plan their travels so they never visit a city
where AT&T has not yet deployed 3G, and then proclaim that "in their
experience" AT&T's 3G coverage is as good as Sprint's or Verizon's, and
that this would technically be a true statement. But it smacks of one of
"he who must not be named" earlier posts, advising that if you plan your
travel routes in a way that you always have GSM coverage then GSM
coverage is as good as CDMA or AMPS coverage.

See "http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20080207/bs_nf/58238"

"Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis,
said that "the only thing surprising about this expansion is that it
took them so long."

Greengart added that AT&T's 3G network has not been as broad as those of
Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel, and "this catches them up.""

Given his history, you need to be very careful about agreeing with "he
who must not be named," unless he provides irrefutable evidence to
support his position, which is something that we've never seen happen
yet, for obvious reasons.

Okay, I'll be a good Gator and from now on remove all follow-ups from
alt.cellular.cingular.

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:33:23 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>Todd H. wrote:
>
>> I have to agree with John (while at the same time feelin 'screw your
>> Followup To: header to .cingular). As an owner of a 3g phone and
>> having used it for laptop tethering in several cities, AT&T's 3g's
>> availability seems better in my own experience than anywhere near
>> comparable speeds with say Sprint, who some revere as having the best
>> data network.
>
>AT&T has rolled out 3G in the major markets, but there are a lot of
>smaller, but still urban, markets where Verizon and Sprint have had 3G
>for a long time, but where AT&T does not. I.e., I have a friend in
>Madison Wisconsin, which is a moderate size city, who switched to Sprint
>solely because AT&T had no 3G there yet.

Coverage is actually quite good in secondary markets, as shown below.

>See "http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20080207/bs_nf/58238"
>
>"Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis,
>said that "the only thing surprising about this expansion is that it
>took them so long."
>
>Greengart added that AT&T's 3G network has not been as broad as those of
>Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel, and "this catches them up.""

The part you left out (surprise, surprise):

AT&T is expanding its 3G footprint. The telecommunications giant
announced Wednesday an expansion of its third-generation wireless
broadband service to more than 80 cities in the U.S. before the end
of this year.

The rollout will mean AT&T's 3G service will be available in about
350 markets in the U.S., including the top 100 cities, and will add
more than 1,500 cell sites.

If we back out those 80 cities, we see that 3G is already available in
270 markets, far above the first year rollout, and very good nationwide
coverage.

AT&T said its 3G service will deliver downlink speeds between 600 and
1400 kbps. Previously, the announced downlink speed for its
BroadbandConnect 3G network, as described on the AT&T Web site, has
been 400 to 700 kbps, with bursts up to 1 megabit per second.

I'm already seeing sustained speeds well over 1 Mbps here in the Bay
Area, as noted in a prior post (complete with screen shot).

To keep claiming Verizon is ahead is both silly and just plain wrong.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http:/navasgroup.com>

"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive,
difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." --Gene Spafford

4phun wrote:
> Good news, iPhone lovers!
>
> Hurray for Starbucks!
>
> They will get Internet access for free from the comfort of their
> neighborhood Starbucks in new deal.
> http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/11/got-a...elivers-wi-fi/
>
> Starbucks is dumping T-Mobile and serving you up a fresh heaping venti
> of Wi-Fi goodness. And what's the crema on that espresso?
>
> Why, it's this: "AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at
> Starbucks to its wireless customers". The press release says spring
> 2008 -- still a little ways away, but soon "millions of AT&T and
> Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of
> their neighborhood Starbucks."
>
> A side note - AT&T also has announced a major network expansion where
> they will deploy their high speed 3G network to 80 more USA cities in
> 2008 in anticipation of the new 3G iPhone.

Has anyone seen a list of those 80 new cities? Anyone know if Madison WI
is on the list?

Todd H. wrote:

> But if a hot product expands that network even further so be it.

This is what "some observers" say is happening.

"The upgrade has another subtle effect: paving the way for a 3G iPhone.
Last November, AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said a 3G-enabled
iPhone would debut sometime in 2008. It did not surface at Macworld in
January, to the disappointment of many fans. Some observers speculate
that Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) kept the device under
wraps until AT&T, the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone in the
United States, could expand its 3G network."

"http://www.forbes.com/wireless/2008/02/07/ATT-3G-wireless-tech-wire-cx_ew_0227att.html"

With iPhone sales lagging, the key to reviving sales is to get the 3G
model out as soon as possible. I was talking to an Apple employee that
was web browsing on his iPhone yesterday on the train to SF, and I asked
him when the 3G model was coming out. All he said was "soon, I hope."

We don't know why Apple didn't put 3G in the first model. Some claim it
was battery life, some claim it was that they wanted to wait until 3G
was more widely deployed, some claim that with 2G they could do one
model for the whole GSM world while with 3G they'd have to do two
different models to keep costs under control.

SMS wrote:
>
> With iPhone sales lagging,

What planet do you live on?


--
Mike

Tinman wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>
> What planet do you live on?

You need to keep up.

Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:

"http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2008/tc20080212_504818.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories"
"http://www.smartphonetoday.com/articles/2008/2/2008-2-13-A-Slowdown-For.html"
"http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/02/11/apple_shares_rise_on_citi_recommendation.html"

The 3G iPhone, combined with a expanded AT&T 3G network, will get a lot
of the patient, more tech-aware, non-early adopters, to buy the iPhone
(plus of course a lot of the early-adopters will upgrade to the 3G model).

SMS wrote:
> Tinman wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>
>> What planet do you live on?
>
> You need to keep up.
>
> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:

For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing just
fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10 million by the end
of this year. Sorry.


--
Mike

Tinman wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> Tinman wrote:
>>> SMS wrote:
>>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>> What planet do you live on?
>> You need to keep up.
>>
>> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:
>
> For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing just
> fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10 million by the end
> of this year. Sorry.

I doubt it. Plus of course Apple's stated goal is immaterial, company's
set "goals" all the time, and they're unrelated to what's actually going
on in the marketplace. All the experts agree that the iPhone is in a
sales slump, only the reasons given for the slump sometimes differ. Some
blame the recession, some claim that it's due to the cost (in the
non-U.S. markets anyway), some claim that potential buyers are waiting
for the 3G model, some claim that it's the lack of features such as
voice dialing. A few weeks ago, a UK article blamed rumors of an
upcoming 16GB model (which turned out to be true) for the slump in the
UK. In reality, it's a combination of factors, though "I'll wait for the
3G model" is what I hear the most in my own circle of colleagues and
friends.

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:14:57 -0700, "Tinman" <[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>SMS wrote:
>> Tinman wrote:
>>> SMS wrote:
>>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>>
>>> What planet do you live on?
>>
>> You need to keep up.
>>
>> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:
>
>For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing just
>fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10 million by the end
>of this year. Sorry.

Of course. But Steven's quaint world view is never troubled by facts.
Things are always the way he wants them to be, not as they are.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http:/navasgroup.com>

"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive,
difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." --Gene Spafford

SMS wrote:
> Tinman wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> Tinman wrote:
>>>> SMS wrote:
>>>>> With iPhone sales lagging,
>>>> What planet do you live on?
>>> You need to keep up.
>>>
>>> Here's some of many, many stories about what's going on:
>>
>> For every one of those I can find 100 that say the iPhone is doing
>> just fine--and definitely inline with Apple's goal to sell 10
>> million by the end of this year. Sorry.
>
> I doubt it.

I don't. They are halfway there already.


> Plus of course Apple's stated goal is immaterial,
> company's set "goals" all the time, and they're unrelated to what's
> actually going on in the marketplace. All the experts agree that the
> iPhone is in a sales slump,

They claim the *economy* is in a slump. Big surprise there.


> factors, though "I'll wait for the 3G model" is what I hear the most
> in my own circle of colleagues and friends.

I won't argue that some people have waited for the 3G model, no doubt about
that. How many though, is the question.

But aside from 3G Apple has not put all its cards on the table either. There
are plenty of things the iPhone could use, and Apple can deliver, that can
be rolled out this year (not that I am a fan of holding back features). Then
there's the SDK that is due out before the end of this month. In a month the
iPhone will be far from the completely locked down, no apps able to be
added, device it was when it was released--and it still sold well in that
form.

Oh yea, and the hacking community just scored big over the last few weeks.
Since firmware 1.1.2 was released back in October there had been no easy way
to unlock the iPhone. Now there is, with ZiPhone, Geohot's tool (almost
anyone can do it). With estimates of unlocked iPhones at 25% of all iPhones
sold--and keep in mind it wasn't unlocked for the first two months of its
existence--this will no doubt cause the unlockers to start buying in droves
in case another update closes the holes used to get in. Well, if they can:
Apple could sell more if they weren't so heavy-handed about it (limiting
purchases, tracking credit cards to enforce, etc.).


--
Mike