http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 2:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/ Jason @ Jan 10th 2007 1:10PM
>
> dansonthemove:
>
> You are the idiot. Any time someone writes crap on Engadget
> one of you idiots pops in to say "oh, that was just sarcasm".
>
> I don't care what the CEO said at the keynote, there is no way
> they are going to bank on something they know nothing about
> just because Stevie is in on it. If he did, that would be a
> great reason to have him removed from the company. Working with
> Apple iTunes products has not exactly been a raging success up
> to now for Cingular.
>
> Think before you speak.
>
> How did Cingular get all the marketing materials up on the site
> as of yesterday if they knew nothing about it. Sure, I think
> there was a limited group who was aware of it but that doesn't
> mean they were totally surprised by it either. No company
> marches to Apples beat as Apple fanboys may like to believe.
> And, yes, the Cingular site was up yesterday just after the
> announcement. Just because Engadget just stumbled on it doesn't
> mean it also just went live.

The Apple keynote didn't claim that Cingular knew nothing about the phone until yesterday, only that Cingular let Apple develop it without knowing the details late into the process. From http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/10/commentary/lewis_fortune_iphone.fortune/index.htm:

**************************************
"Two years ago, Jobs and Cingular's chief executive, Stan Sigman, got together to forge a multiyear pact to work together on the iPhone. The Apple phone didn't even exist as a sketch at that point, but apparently Sigman trusted that Jobs and Apple would deliver on their promise to revolutionize the mobile handset. And Apple trusted Cingular not to meddle in the hardware or feature design. "They let Apple be Apple," one Apple executive said.

Cingular worked with Apple software developer on breakthrough features like visual voicemail - the ability to see a list of voicemail messages in a list and choose to listen to them in any order, instead of sequentially, as most carriers require today - while Apple focused on what it does best, the close integration of elegant hardware design with powerful but simple-to-use software. Even so, Apple didn't show Cingular the final iPhone prototype until just weeks before this week's debut. In some cases, Apple crafted bogus handset prototypes to show not just to Cingular executives, but also to Apple's own workers."
**************************************

If you have reason to doubt that account, please let us know.]]>Jan 10th 2007 6:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/ Jason @ Jan 10th 2007 1:10PM
>
> dansonthemove:
>
> You are the idiot. Any time someone writes crap on Engadget
> one of you idiots pops in to say "oh, that was just sarcasm".
>
> I don't care what the CEO said at the keynote, there is no way
> they are going to bank on something they know nothing about
> just because Stevie is in on it. If he did, that would be a
> great reason to have him removed from the company. Working with
> Apple iTunes products has not exactly been a raging success up
> to now for Cingular.
>
> Think before you speak.
>
> How did Cingular get all the marketing materials up on the site
> as of yesterday if they knew nothing about it. Sure, I think
> there was a limited group who was aware of it but that doesn't
> mean they were totally surprised by it either. No company
> marches to Apples beat as Apple fanboys may like to believe.
> And, yes, the Cingular site was up yesterday just after the
> announcement. Just because Engadget just stumbled on it doesn't
> mean it also just went live.

The Apple keynote didn't claim that Cingular knew nothing about the phone until yesterday, only that Cingular let Apple develop it without knowing the details late into the process. From http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/10/commentary/lewis_fortune_iphone.fortune/index.htm:

**************************************
"Two years ago, Jobs and Cingular's chief executive, Stan Sigman, got together to forge a multiyear pact to work together on the iPhone. The Apple phone didn't even exist as a sketch at that point, but apparently Sigman trusted that Jobs and Apple would deliver on their promise to revolutionize the mobile handset. And Apple trusted Cingular not to meddle in the hardware or feature design. "They let Apple be Apple," one Apple executive said.

Cingular worked with Apple software developer on breakthrough features like visual voicemail - the ability to see a list of voicemail messages in a list and choose to listen to them in any order, instead of sequentially, as most carriers require today - while Apple focused on what it does best, the close integration of elegant hardware design with powerful but simple-to-use software. Even so, Apple didn't show Cingular the final iPhone prototype until just weeks before this week's debut. In some cases, Apple crafted bogus handset prototypes to show not just to Cingular executives, but also to Apple's own workers."
**************************************

If you have reason to doubt that account, please let us know.]]>Jan 10th 2007 6:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
I'm no longer disappointed that it's 2007 and we don't have flying cars yet.]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
I think its funny that they dropped the computer from there name ... of course that could be because they still can't sell a computer]]>Jan 10th 2007 4:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/$600.00 phone
$175.00 to cancel my contract
$75.00 first month plan (ditching my work verizon discount)
$150.00 for the case headphones and all the crap we all buy...]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
And what you you do if you are stuck under contract with another provider? Well, the only way to get out of that unwanted contract is with Cellswapper.com!

http://www.cellswapper.com

We just launched to general public and are now the unofficial way of getting an iPhone... if you are stuck under contract with a carrier other than Cingular that is.]]>Jan 10th 2007 2:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
http://www.bartdabek.com/rants/apple-iphone-7-killer-downfalls]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
1) No SDK. Job's statement that it's not crippled goes only as far as the bundled applications- but that's a narrow and subjective perspective. Any platform without 3rd party innovation is DOA and crippled in a larger sense.

2) Double whammy of new OS and hardware. If Apple controls the desktop they are likely to force feed an application suite with an additional learning curve. Don't underestimate this: ever seen someone go from Palm to WM/PPC? It's not pleasant.

3) Versitility. If they manage to get the carrier lock around the Library of Congress DMCA ruling it will likely mean technology that is irreversable. Translation: Apple chose a worldwide standard and then made it impossible to to use it worldwide. (I'd bet even money that the July ship date is tied to network signal rebranding). Wanna make a side bet that it won't do VoIP either?

4) Non-ubiquity. The presence of drive space signals a resrictive content managment architecture. Yet the goal of Ubiquitous Computing is that you don't need to take it with you: all data is available anywhere on any platform. The iPhone is a step backward into the old-economy's technology and content management paradigm.

5) The White Elephant factor. Simply put: The iPhone replaces the Newton in Apple's handheld lineup. This is not an iPod- where Apple created an industry and a market (pay-per-song). This is a neophyte's foray into a mature and highly volatile industry. than an iPod. Caveat Emptor!]]>Jan 10th 2007 2:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
If this is the "next" iPod, 4GB and 8GB doesn't cut it. Apple better release a "true" video iPod quickly, because it ain't fooling anyone with this iPhone is the next iPod crap.]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Sure it does. for some reason theres a whole market of people who will buy 4 or 8 gig ipods when they could shell out 50 more bucks for one with many times the amount of memory and that plays videos.]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
As far as I can tell, Cingular has never allowed customers to upgrade devices and remain an AT&T account.]]>Jan 10th 2007 2:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
There are loads of simple phone put there RIGHT NOW! I'm not a Mac boy but I have to admit the iPhone is a nice piece of kit. Apple does know how to make some beautiful products. ]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
I'll be with you just as soon as I finish setting up the IV syringe function on my brand new iPhone and and spiking it right there into my arm.]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 2:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 2:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
but its a shame. that device would almost be worth it even without the phone part. they should sell a cheaper version without phone functionality.]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Finally, everyone (including Jobs) is saying this phone will launch in a few months. In my book "a few" is 3, 4 tops. the damned phone is 6 months (half a frickin year) from launch. thats a long ass time.]]>Jan 10th 2007 2:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 12:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
AT&T Corp. hasn't existed since 1984. What you are seeing now are a bunch of baby bell spinoffs merging together and using the at&t name SBC bought back in '95.

it just so happens the 2 spinoffs that founded cingular are now a part of the conglomerate and the whole thing's come full circle.. the snake has eaten its tail. ]]>Jan 10th 2007 2:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Ok, I can stomach the high price point for this phone, since I was looking to buy a nice video i-pod anyways, I can justify spending the extra cash for all the cool features. HOWEVER, If cingular takes advantage of this thing and only offors it at a high priced service plan, i'm gonna be really pissed. If I can't buy this thing, swap my sims (read, I allready have cingular), and be good to go, I'll be really upset with apple. ]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Some on this site may not know some essential details:
- GSM phones use SIMs to configure the phone for service
- SIMs and phones can be locked to limit operation to a particular carrier
- Cingular usually sells phones that are "locked"; they cannot be used with a different SIM unless they are first unlocked
- Cingular uses two types of SIMs - one for original ATT subscribers; one for Cingular/Bell South subscribers. An ATT SIM cannot be used in a phone locked to Cingular. A Cingular SIM cannot be used in a phone locked to ATT
- when Cingular took over ATT, they "lost" the ability to unlock ATT phones. So there are many ATT customers with ATT locked phones, that will want to retain their ATT accounts - this is because of the various corporate discount plans, as well as charter plans that are still quite attractive and less expensive than current Cingular plans. There is no easy way to unlock the phones to permit them to accept Cingular SIMs. Due to how Cingular handles these accounts, you may retain your existing ATT account, but if you wish to upgrade to a current Cingular phone, you must upgrade your account and change from ATT to Cingular; the cost usually is higher.
- yes, there are third parties who may be able to help you unlock a phone

So...no reall issues from me on the need for a contract; I just wish they handled the technical details a bit better. The Cingular sales people really cannot help with unlocking.

Finally, when Cingular changes to ATT again, who knows, perhaps there will be a third type of SIM for all previous ATT and Cingular customers.

Mike]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
The battery thing is soo friggin stupid. When my iPod runs out of juice, it just sucks. If my phone runs out of juice, it costs me money. A simple thing like a spare battery is key.

The only thing potentially revolutionary, or indeed interesting about the device are the gestures, and the UI layout. The browser is nice too. Not worth $500 though.]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Please, I'll get a $100 phone from Verizon and use the rest of the money I would have spend on Apple to get ice cream or something. ]]>Jan 10th 2007 2:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Also, I hope the screen on this this is scratch proof or at least some kind of resistance. Everyone is talking about greasy/smudges, but scratches are more of my concern. Remember the first gen nano?]]>Jan 10th 2007 12:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
I'm certainly hoping Verizon and Sprint will consider slimmer PDA phones SOON!!!!!]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
-SJ]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
When AT&T sold AT&T Wireless to Cingular a couple years ago, Cingular supported AT&T users on the AT&T system and Cingular users on the Cingular system. Obviously it made sense for Cingular to move to one system for synergistic (cut costs, hopefully improve quality) reasons. I was an AT&T wireless customer and I've lived through some of those changes including migrating to a new website for logging into my account, mirating to new voicemail system, and finally being told they were no longer issuing new AT&T phones to former AT&T customers - instead when I added my wife to my account, she got a cingular phone on cingular's system.

So two years have passed and now AT&T is buying BellSouth and gaining control of Cingular (since AT&T also aqcuired Cingular's other parent company SBC). As far as "Cingular becoming AT&T" my understanding is that this is purely a branding/marketing change. I don't think Cingular's systems (cell network, data network, etc) will change.

A FAQ is at http://www.att.com/customer_merger/Common/files/pdf/CingularWeb.pdf.
]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 5:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/10/commentary/lewis_fortune_iphone.fortune/index.htm

It seems like people are pretty confident that Apple will be making a great product - or, at least, something that's good enough for their standards.]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
"The only thing potentially revolutionary, or indeed interesting about the device are the gestures, and the UI layout. The browser is nice too. Not worth $500 though."

Ha ha. So the the only revolutionary things are, well, the things that are completely revolutionary?

"The only thing potentially revolutionary, or indeed interesting about the car is the fact that it flies."

As if exchange email and swappable batteries were revolutionary...]]>Jan 10th 2007 1:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 1:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/
Oh yeah, and Cingular? The service that's so bad that the word is they're changing their name *back* to AT&T Wireless here in a bit? My work uses them, and we've had a really tough time with them. I'd hate to think about using them as my personal provider..]]>Jan 10th 2007 8:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 3:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/10/cingular-kicking-rear-and-taking-names-for-iphone/Jan 10th 2007 2:02PM