Cingular kicking rear and taking names for iPhone
By Chris Ziegler 
posted January 10th 2007 12:08PM
posted January 10th 2007 12:08PM
[Thanks, sysengr]
Cingular Business Markets Group
Announcing the Cingular – Apple Exclusive Partnership – The iPhone
Cingular and Apple have formed a multi-year exclusive partnership, leveraging the strengths of both companies, to create revolutionary new wireless products. The first of these products is the iPhone, an innovative wireless phone combining the reliability of the Cingular network and the simplicity and functionality of an iPod. It will be available in June 2007, exclusively on the Cingular network.
BMG professionals please note that at launch, the iPhone will not be available to BMG CRU customers or available under IRU discount programs.
Phone Details
Availability:
Cingular is the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone and will work only on the Cingular network; new and existing customers can purchase iPhone in June 2007
Models:
There will be two models at launch, a 4 gigabyte model will retail for $499 and an 8 gigabyte model will retail for $599; the iPhone is fully compatible with Apple's iTunes running on either a PC or Mac.
Where to buy the iPhone:
iPhone will be available in Cingular retail stores, at www.cingular.com, and will be offered through Cingular's direct mail/direct response channels in June 2007; The iPhone will also be available in Apple stores and at www.apple.com.
Details on the qualified service plans will be made available nearer to the launch date (June 2007).
Features:
• The iPhone is a fully functional iPod, all iTunes Store content can be used on the iPhone, including 4 million songs, 350 TV Shows and 250 Movies
• Song and video capacity depends on the memory size of the device purchased
• Featuring Apple's renowned innovation and ease of use software and hardware design
• Visual Voicemail: a first on any mobile phone available today in the United States
• Customers receive Cingular service and all the benefits of network reliability, Rollover minutes, and mobile to mobile calling to 58 million customers
• Access to MyAccount via the device and the iTunes site, allowing customers complete ability to manage their Cingular service
• iPhone has unique internet browsing capabilities: EDGE, GPRS, GSM Quad-band, and is WiFi capable
Qualified Cingular Rate Plans:
Details will be available closer to launch.
Potential Customers:
Encourage your customers to register at www.cingular.com/iphone . By providing their name and email address, customers will be notified when the iPhone becomes available.
Critical Must Know
• Cingular and Apple have an exclusive multi-year partnership to create revolutionary wireless products
• The first of these – the Apple iPhone - will be available only on the Cingular network; combining the reliability of the Cingular network with the simplicity and functionality of an iPod
• Customers who purchase an iPhone will have a direct relationship with Cingular as their wireless provider (this is not an MVNO or Reseller agreement); customers will have Cingular service and receive Cingular bills
• Both existing and new customers will be able to purchase the iPhone
• The iPhone will only be available in Cingular and Apple stores and websites, and through Cingular's DMDR channel
• The device will not be available until June 2007
BMG Q&A
Q. Will I be able to get this device under my existing BMG contract (CRU)? Why not?
A. BMG customers will not be eligible for the first version of the device. Cingular will be selling through Cingular retail, Direct Marketing/Direct Response and Cingular.com The iPhone will also be available in Apple stores and on www.apple.com.
Q. Will my corporate discount (IRU) apply to this device? Why not?
A. The agreement between Cingular and Apple does not allow discounts on the device.
Q. Will this device support corporate email?
A. The device will have an internet browser at launch. Email capabilities of the phone will be defined closer to launch.
Q. If my BMG account wants this device, how can they participate?
A. BMG customers can buy the device, but not a discounted price. In addition, BMG customers will not be eligible for any service discounts.
Q. Does this decision not to offer this device conflict with existing BMG contract terms?
A. This does not conflict with existing contracts
Data plans are expensive on any service: almost 100/mo. Adding a 600 phone to that is way too expensive for average joe.
This phone has to be used for enterprise or the plan price has to drop.
For market penetration, this phone HAS to have coporate features. I have to be able to swap the battery and use MS office. Period. There is no other way to justify this expense other than it's for use in my line of business.
I think there's more money in licensing the features of this thing than there is in selling the actual product for Apple unless they get MS Office on this thing. At this point, it's just a reference design.
I don't like Cingular more than the guy next to me, despite being their customer for the past 6 years. Call services are fine. Data on the other hand is a foul.
What's significant about Apple & Cingular relationship isn't the bind they are in. That has to happened for anything to be done. It's the willingness for Cingular to build its services around iPhone, to build what Apple, a manufacture specified. That's a game shifting move that many overlook. In telecommunication space, such incident NEVER happens, period. Better things will come out of this relationship than worse. Be patient.
For the record, I tried my sister's Verizon wireless, and that doesn't impressed me much, either. In my opinion, the future of data doesn't lie in grossly overpriced + inefficient proprietary 3G standards.
Unless the OS can get upgraded to adapt to 3G or newer technology, this thing is not worth it. Especially when it comes out in June and by then the new 3G phones & technology will have already taken off. I'll wait for V.2 too!
I have to step in.
When AT&T merged with Cingular, it was messy. I left AT&T/Cingular. Most of their resources were on completely that merger. Too many resources. Lots of parts of their company suffered bad. They even outsourced tech support to India. After the merger was complete in late 2005, early 2006 they were back to full throttle. I switched back to Cingular when the black Razr came out and have been happy since. This is not the same company as in 2003. $20 montly plan on my Motorola A1200 (soon to have EDGE) and this is my favorite toy ever as I browse the net with the touch screen. I barely use SMS as I use the gmail account on my phone to send emails to other phones (which their providers were change to SMS for them). The rollover is definitely helpful.
The only problem I have is the lack of 3.5G (HSDPA), which means no Video Calling for later. iPhone won't be the greatest phone because other phones will have video calling. I think I'll get the V1 iPhone and give it to my sister when I get the V2 hopefully with Video Calling.
And as for Cingular name change to AT&T, it's just that, a name change. They're not reconfiguring thousands of cell sites like before. Cingular is good enough to switch back. Don't worry guys.
This phone is not innovative or wonderful ^^ Microsoft phones have been able to switch from Portrait to Landscape for quite sometime (since Windows Mobile 2005) and strangely enough some phone look similar in design...
This phone has crap stats... nothing wowing me. In 6 months phones will be even better... 2 megapixels in crap, standard is atleast 3 megapixels. I'm a mobile phone junkie, and love new gadgets but the only thing new about this phone is OS X Mobile, and what software runs on OS X, let alone OS X Mobile? I don't see the wonderful development tools that Microsoft released for Windows Mobile being released by Apple for for OS X Mobile.
> Lars Kelley @ Jan 10th 2007 2:26PM
>
> This phone is not innovative or wonderful ^^ Microsoft
> phones have been able to switch from Portrait to Landscape
> for quite sometime (since Windows Mobile 2005) and strangely
> enough some phone look similar in design...
>
> This phone has crap stats... nothing wowing me. In 6 months
> phones will be even better... 2 megapixels in crap, standard
> is atleast 3 megapixels. I'm a mobile phone junkie, and love
> new gadgets but the only thing new about this phone is OS X
> Mobile, and what software runs on OS X, let alone OS X
> Mobile? I don't see the wonderful development tools that
> Microsoft released for Windows Mobile being released by
> Apple for for OS X Mobile.
OMFG, what is it with the anti-Apple zealots here? Yes, this phone is missing many features I'd like to see: GPS, FM receiver, voice recorder, video recorder, removable battery, memory expansion, an Ajax-compliant-browser. In addition, it's unclear what kind of apps will be supported and allowed.
But beyond that, it's absurd to claim that the iphone is not innovative. The iphone's multi-touchscreen interface is far more advanced and effective than anything we've seen before. It scales web-pages in a new and better way compared to anything we've ever seen. The photo and music navigation are better than anything we've seen. How it manages phone calls and voice mail is better than anything we've seen.
Now some of those things are not new in that existing phones could play music, video, and voice messages, and display photos. But the iphone will be the first phone that doesn't suck at those things.
And speaking of sucking, you mentioned Windows Mobile's lanscape-portrait switching; it's sluggish and manual while the iphone's appears quick and automatic. While we're talking about WinCE/PPC/WM, it's a horrible OS: memory management issues, sluggish performance, syncing problems, and unreliable alarms (WinCE is over 10 years old and you can't depend on the freakin alarms.... WTF!) Its VGA implementation is inefficient (double-pixelated images in the web browser, double-pixelated cells in Excel, etc) and its browser is next to worthless.
and to specify, i have unlimitted data plan on my phone and that's what i pay $20 a month for. the difference between the pda plan and the regular phone plan is that the pda plan assigns you an IP while the regular phone data plan just gives you internet access proxy style. if you don't need to run services that host TCP/UDP connections (which the iPhone doesn't need) you pay $20 for unlimitted internet. if you need the IP, you get the unlimited PDA one for $60. that's the ONLY difference.
Okay, i googled it. When you call cingular, they'll tell you, if you want to use VPN access, you'd need the $60 plan because it has an IP, if you don't need VPN, they can put you on $20 unlimited. this is why it's called PDA plan, because most businesses that use PDA also use VPN/Exchange to connect to their workplace. $20 unlimitted plan on iPhone!!! let's not hear about this $60 stuff again
I've already got a 4GB music phone, it's called a 2 year old Samsung i730 PDA phone, upgraded to WM5 and everything.
It also has a stylus and a real keyboard that you can dial without looking at the keys.
Battery life is about the same as well.
Most of my friends aren't buying into the PDA phones due to price, though the blackjack is making major inroads, almost everyone I know is planning to get one.
The fact that they are hooking up with Cingular is a red flag. Cingular rushes to get the new phones out first, before the bugs are worked out, then screws the customer service up when they need servicing. It will need servicing, too--Apple, Inc. is new to this game. Is this an exclusive arrangement, or will a REAL cell company (Verizon) eventually get this toy (and it IS a toy--handheld computers/phones are still FAR from being truly useful, especially ones that won't allow software to be loaded .)?
"iPhone has unique internet browsing capabilities: EDGE, GPRS, GSM Quad-band, and is WiFi capable"
I'm wondering what's so unique about it? My PDA gots the same `unique` features... and it does not cost this much.
Price? Pfffffffffft.
Features? Good enough.
Bottom line : It pays for it's self the first time a chick at a bar walks up and asks "What's that?" (assuming you godless nerdchildren actually have social skills).
C'mon people! Snap outta it! This resembles what's out there as much as a WII controller resembles one from a Game Cube - they both got buttons! WM5 devices could "rotate", after you hit keys and told it what to do - not dynamically like the iPhone (sorry John, give up the freakin name already). Which one of you has a device that auto-senses being close to your cheek, shuts down the tactile input and dims the screen? (Was that a hand I saw? The Bathroom? 3rd door to the left...)
And give it a rest about Cingular (or AT&T or ATT or whatever). Exactly who were you planning on having them go with - VZW? Which one of you Q-zealots can get through a full day using a Bluetooth headset without the extended battery that makes it look and feel like a boat anchor? (Hmm, no hands again... what a surprise). Sprint/Nextel? Oh, right. Nextel doesn't have a data network. And Sprint is as much CDMA as VZW - right, battery again. That leaves TMo. And while its getting much better than it was, Cingular still kicks Tmo in the coverage area - and last time I checked, it was more important to me to have a phone that was usable than one that was cheaper (Cellphone 101 - did you pass?)
Innovation costs. And if you don't want to pay, that's fine. But from a planning perspective, Apple with Cingular did a helluva job here for a GEN#1 device.
And I assure you - there's a "long" time between now and June for this device to be finalized, which it is absolutely NOT at this point. These were PRE-RELEASE STATEMENTS, not FINAL SPECIFICATIONS. Apple fully intends to fill in as many of the issues between now and June as is possible . . . so stay tuned.
Need details of all costs associated with iphone
What about the fact that Cingular doesn't have service in all areas of the US? Anyone out there trying to get around the service coverage issue? I'm a reporter and looking for someone who's going out of his/her way to get an iPhone by establishing residency with a PO Box in a Cingular service area in order to use the iPhone in their home area by roaming on another network. Cingular will let users roam outside of network, but you can't sign up unless you live within a service area. If you're one of those people and want to talk to me for my story (I work for the public radio show Marketplace), e-mail me at jlindholm@marketplace.org.
Thanks!