Digit Online reports on an uncommissioned survey by online market firm Compete, Inc. which hints that (a) the iPhone as it is is simply too expensive (well, (sarcasm deleted)), but (b) if the price drops, they would gladly switch to Cingular and AT&T (which owns Cingular) to get one. It's not that "maybe it's a fake survey" survey - different marketing firm, but as it's uncommissioned, it's got nothing to do with Cingular/AT&T or Apple, either.

Still, everyone seems to be testing the waters these days for the iPhone.

While 379 people across the US surveyed doesn't exactly constitute a statistically representative pool, most of these 379 people were aware of what the iPhone was, and have shopped for an iPod before. Only 1% of this pool was willing to lay down US$ 500 for the low-end iPhone. 42% said they'd likely buy the phone if the price dropped to US$ 200 to US$ 299.

In a potential signal to competitors, 60% said they'd be willing to switch to Cingular/AT&T if they purchased an iPhone. Okay, so 60% isn't exactly a landslide in terms of the cellular market, but other cellular providers might be thinking of talking things over with Apple for a small slice of the pie, too, despite (or probably after) the Cingular exclusivity. Especially if the product goes 3G.

So all the speculations have long been over. iPhone has been revealed, unveiled, whatever term you may want to use. It would be remembered that Steve Jobs himself highlighted its rather amazing features at this year's Macworld Conference and Expo.

So you think you know everything about the product? Well, think again. Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Apple, most especially the outspoken CEO, forced Cingular to relinquish control of the development process therefore winning many concessions from the biggest mobile phone carrier in the U.S.

The influential newspaper added as well that one of these concessions includes a portion of the monthly revenues from subscribers. Furthermore, Wall Street Journal mentioned as well that Cingular agreed to not put its logo on the phone.

Not only that, it was also reported that the carrier abandoned its whim for the phone to carry its software for Web Surfing as well as for ringtones and other services. The publication continued,

Top Cingular executives were willing to cede control to Mr. Jobs and tolerate his digs at cellphone carriers, all for the privilege of being the exclusive U.S. provider of one of the most highly anticipated consumer electronics devices in years -- and to deny rivals a chance to do the same.

It seems that doing business with Jobs has its price. There's a big chance that the iPhone is going to be a multi-million hit once it comes out - and Cingular is probably banking on this to happen.

Chris of AppleiPhoneReview.com reports that a not-yet-released Cingular iPhone ad is revealed in a private iPhone consumer survey conducted by the folks from Pinecone Research.

According to the said ad, there is a probability that the 4GB would hit at US$ 299, and the 8GB will be around US$ 399, and that this would be an on-contract price.

Of course this pricing information is coming out of a survey, so perhaps this is just to test consumer reaction. Still, this looks pretty promising. However, as it stands, we still have to wait for the powers that be to give official and solid word before we start gauging how much our wallets will be damaged come the release of Apple's iPhone.

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UPDATE: As pointed out by neok182, the survey that we have above may be a fake and may actually have nothing to do with either Apple or Cingular. Meanwhile, while there are still no conclusive reports which outrightly proves the ad to be a fake, there have been comments in various news sites which point out several inconsistencies.

For one, the survey lists Cingular's Data Plan at US$ 4.99, when it is supposed to cost at least US$ 19.99 a month (if the iPhone gets classified as a SmartPhone) or US$ 49.99 a month (if the device ends up classified as a PDA). People have also noted that only Cingular's basic Text Messaging plan comes at US$ 4.99.

Hence, this article now falls under the "should be taken with a grain of salt" category.

We all know by now that Cingular would be the exclusive iPhone distributor in the U.S.A. What we didn't know is that Verizon could have secured the sweet deal if certain kinks were ironed out. USA Today reported that the number two U.S. cellphone carrier passed up on the chance to be the exclusive iPhone distributor roughly two years ago.

The reason for it? It's not because they think the iPhone is ugly, its just that Apple's financial terms and demands didn't sit well with the Verizon folks.

Apparently, Apple wanted to rake in a percentage of the monthly iPhone fees. They also wanted to have a hand on how and where the priced thingamajig would be sold, also they would want control of the relationship with iPhone customers. Verizon's VP, Jim Gerace had this to say about that:

We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial.

What would happen is that Apple and Verizon stores would sell the iPhone but other Verizon distributors like Wal-Mart and Best Buy would have been left out to witter in the cold.

So when Verizon said no, Cingular was there to accept the deal with open arms. So far, the only thing that Cingular said about this scenario was that it's a win-win situation for both parties concern. However, Cingular wouldn't say if their distributors (RadioShack and Wal-Mart) would also be able to sell the iPhone come its launch in June and they also wouldn't divulge anything about their customer care plans.

In the U.S.A., Cingular would be its exclusive distributor. In Canada, Rogers seems to have secured that exclusive contract which could equate to lotsa profits. Apparently, there has been no public statement made yet by either Rogers or Apple, but the communications giant has already been sending emails to customers. E-mails which contain the following:

• The iPhone will first be introduced in North America
• Cingular is the only wireless carrier to launch the iPhone in the United States
• Rogers is actively working with Apple to launch the iPhone in Canada as soon as possible and will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone in Canada
• Apple is planning to introduce the iPhone in Europe (Q4 2007) and Asia (2008)
• Please be advised that Rogers will be offering the iPhone exclusively in Canada
• Launch date and pricing for Canada are not yet available
• Other Canadian wireless carriers will not launch the iPhone, Rogers will be the only Canadian wireless carrier to offer the iPhone

Since Canada is part of North America, could it be that the iPhone will launch in Canada at the same time as in the U.S.A.? Well, we all know that Apple speculations are a dime a dozen. Anyway, there's no word yet on the iPhone's pricing in Canada or what kind of contract might Rogers have for the iPhone. Rest assured that we'll keep you posted about this matter.

There was this rumor going around that AT&T plans to use the Apple iPhone to get customers from Verizon Wireless by giving away its service for a year and a half to those customers who buy the phone. Now, that's some rumor that could really make the day of anybody who has been fantasizing about the iPhone ever since it was revealed. Just imagine, 18 months of hassle-free iPhone goodness.

Unfortunately, this rumor has already been debunked. In a Gizmodo report, a Cingular representative has told them this:

The report is nonsense. We've always said the only way you can get the iPhone is with a Cingular rate plan.

Yeah, well the rumor is too good to be true if you ask us. Cingular isn't dumb enough to give away the minutes and data of arguably the most anticipated phone, for 18 months. They will already be selling it exclusively (which equates to lotsa money for them), so why let go of more profit?

One rumor smashed. Lot of Apple rumors still waiting to be debunked.

 

If you haven't had enough iPhone news and details, then we've got some more for you. German Mac site, Macwelt, was able to squeeze in some more iPhone details from Apple. The details ranges from the technical aspects (such as, where would the OS be stored?) to the more shallow bits (could my iTunes songs be used as ringtones?). Well here are some of the bits we have found.

On the issue of where the OS is gonna be stored. The Macwelt article mentioned that the OS would be stored alongside your music, but fret not, because Apple says that it will just occupy one half of a gigabyte. So you still have 3.5 or 7.5 GB room for your pics and music.

Apple would also have the final word as to what software would be installed on the iPhone. Also, you will not be able to purchase some iTunes Store goodies directly from your iPhone. Probably, Apple and Cingular didn't see eye-to-eye about this issue.

Now, the mind bugging question still remains unanswered, "would I be able to use my iTunes song as a ringtone?" The answer my friend, is no. You cannot use them as you alarm clock tones as well. Aww...that's too bad. In the Macwelt interview, they also found out that Apple will not let users use VoIP on the iPhone.

The German site also squeezed this particular info about plugins. Apple says that there will be as many enabled plugins as possible and Flash and Java will be enabled.

Hmm, I don't know about you but I'm still pretty bummed about that iTunes-ringtone tidbit. To read the interview, click on the read-link below for a Google-translated version.

The iPhone/ApplePhone/iApplePhone (whatever Apple decides to eventually call it) is taking up quite a lot of limelight recently, especially ever since it was officially revealed during MacWorld. Some of you might be eagerly waiting for Apple's mobile phone and here's a little something to help you out.

With their "2-year service plan" contract with Apple, Cingular is now accepting "sign-ups" to be among the first to know when the iPhone will become available. Just enlist your email address for updates from Cingular, and you can simply tide over the wait 'til June. Who knows? Maybe signing up for email notifications would actually give you an opportunity to bag some promos from Cingular also.

Time to hook up and connect with Cingular. The "Read" link below jumps you to their sign-ups.

After it has just been pointed out how delayed the iPhone actually is because of its lack of 3G technology, rumors are now spreading, saying that this little deficiency will be patched up. So, if you were considering getting yourself an iPhone in the future, then you might want to hold out a bit longer since it may be that a 3G-capable "iPhone2" may already be in the works with the FCC.

As to why the iPhone didn't have 3G in the first place, a network engineer for the iPhone has been quoted for saying that this is because "less than 1% of Cingular customers have HSDPA capability" and that "he target users wouldn't know the difference anyway".

So, with an audience who normally spends only up to US$ 200 on a new cellphone, will having 3G-capability finally convince consumers to shell out US$ 499 or US$ 599 for a mobile phone? Stay tuned.

Nothing's perfect at launch - not even Apple. Sure, the iPhone's great and all, but are there some things they might have overlooked that could potentially trip this baby up? Hey, didn't we do this piece already? Yeah, well, it's Ars Technica's turn, and their regular Infinite Loop feature touches on a few potential iPhone misses we've already touched on, and quite a few that we didn't.

So, for the dog that barked: no 3G, costs as much as a PS3, tied to Cingular, and limited memory. Add it all up and it's a potential turnoff for all but the hardest of the Apple die-hards. At least that's the implication: this won't be the "killer app" (as opposed to) the iPod turned out to be.

And the dog that didn't bark. "No over-the-air downloads from iTunes." That would have been a killer feature to include... well, maybe. It's a consequence of lack of 3G support, whose bandwidth would have been necessary for the high-rate transfers that downloading from iTunes will require. Or maybe Apple was looking at prior experiences with phones working with iTunes and decided that it's not worth it. "No Wi-Fi sync with iTunes." Although the Infinite Loop columnist - and we - cover that if the software can support it, why not? Hey, it's probably just a firmware away - and it's a good use for the Internet-browsing Wi-Fi capabilities of the phone.

"No MS Exchange or Office support." For Infinite Loop, "this is a potential biggie to business users." Which is true - if the iPhone was meant to be a PDA to begin with. Here the QJ jury is out. At its price, it might as well have PDA features to attract a bigger customer base, but that will mean that Apple will have to face not only Nokia and Sony Ericsson on the one hand, but also Blackberry and all the other PDA manufacturers on the other. We've never seen Apple have to fight a two-front war on the underdog side before.

"Not extensible by third parties." Infinite Loop says that if Apple locks down the iPhone away from third-party developers, this will hurt the product in the long run. If Apple opens up now, and begins working with developers to at least set a standard for iPhone-compatible software, this will measure up favorably for the iPhone's chances in the market. It could even resolve the "No MS Exchange" issue by offering an alternative.

Finally, "No removable memory." Especially for a product that is essentially a kick-a** iPod, having an 8GB limit is very, very, very, very painful. Then again, what iPod had removable memory, either (of course, they didn't need to have one for the most part, but you get the point, right? 8GB)? We said it before, and we'll say it again: if the PSP can potentially get 32GB of memory all by swapping in a stick, why can't the iPhone have one built-in in the near future? Beefing up the memory is a good justification for pushing the launch date of the phone back - it will be more than worth it in the long run.