At today's WWDC 2008 in San Francisco, Apple made it official. They announced the new iPhone 3G which will be available July 11th. It is now thinner, lighter, faster, and less expensive. It now has 3G for faster online access, GPS, much improved audio quality, version 2.0 of the operating system allowing 3rd party applications, half the price, and now available in black and white. For more details, check out the Apple iPhone 3G site.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, 3G, AT&T, GPS

Today, Apple upgraded it's entire iPod line from top to bottom. You now get many more features for much less than before along with new design points. The entry line of iPods, the shuffle, now comes in 5 new colors. The iPod nano now is smaller and a bit wider but supports video and games. The original iPod is now the iPod classic and is thinner along with capacities up to 160gb. That's up to 40,000 songs in your pocket.

The hot new announcement today is the iPod touch. Its basically an iPhone in every way but without the phone functionality. And with capacities up to 16gb. It also supports WiFi access now and sports the Safari web browser, YouTube access, syncs with yout contacts and calendar, and more.

The iPhone, along with the iPod touch, now have a new feature, WiFi iTunes Store. You can now browse the iTunes Store, preview music, purchase, and download songs directly to your iPod touch and/or iPhone. The iPhone, via an upgraded version of iTunes software (being released tonight), now supports Ringtones and you can create your own ringtones as well from the purchased music downloads.

Apple is now partnering with Starbucks Coffee to offer free WiFi access to the iTunes Store from the Starbucks coffee shops. Now, when you enter a Starbucks, your iPod touch or iPhone will sense the Starbucks WiFi network, automatically login, and present you with a Starbucks icon on your iPod function. It will display the current playing song in the store and the previous 10 songs played. You can preview those songs and if you like it, you can purchase and download it directly from within Starbucks. Apple also surprised everyone by dropping the 4gb version of the iPhone and reducing the price of the 8gb iPhone from $599 to $399!

You can see all the lateset iPods and iPhone at the Apple iPod+iTunes site.

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, iTunes, Steve Jobs, WiFi, YouTube

Today I purchased my two Apple iPhones and could not wait to get it up and running. With all the horror stories about activation with AT&T, I did my homework and with tips found at The Apple Phone Show website, my experience was flawless. Now my setup was a bit complicated considering I am activating two iPhones, on an AT&T Family Plan, and porting two of my four Verizon Wireless phones over to AT&T.

1) two iPhones to activate
2) utilizing an AT&T Family Plan
3) porting two of my four Verizon Wireless phones
4) maintain my BlackBerry and EVDO card on Verizon Wireless

The first thing I did was find the iPhones so I called around and found them locally here in Portland, OR so I also saved the sales tax (cool!). I purchased the last two 8gb iPhones they had in stock. I then went over to the AT&T store just around the corner and explained my situation and concerns about porting from Verizon Wireless. Mike, the AT&T sales consultant hooked me up. We first created two new AT&T accounts on a family plan. He assigned them to two temporary SIMs. Then while he was doing that, I called Verizon Wireless and informed them what I wanted to do about keeping my BlackBerry and EVDO card. The Verizon rep noted my account about porting the two main cell numbers and kept the other two devices on their data plans. Then Mike called his activation center and started the porting process to move my Verizon numbers to the two new temporary SIMs. Then he gave me the breakdown on the AT&T family plan and told me the phones would be ported at a specific time (about 2 hours from when he started).

So then we shook hands and were on our way home. When we arrived at home, it was time to prepare for the iPhone activations. I made sure both MacBook Pros had the latest iTunes (v7.3) and latest software updates. I then unboxed the first iPhone. It was minutes away from the porting process. I turned off the two old Motorola Razrs. Then I connected the first iPhone to my first MacBook Pro and started the setup. I selected that I had an existing AT&T account and wanted to activate this phone on the account. Three minutes later, DONE. I then unboxed the second iPhone, connected it to the MacBook Pro and did the same process. Three minutes later, DONE!

That was it! No issues. No hassles. Everything worked, EDGE, phone calls, etc. I then setup the items to sync and I was all setup. I love these iPhones and the best part is that all my contacts, calendars, bookmarks, mail accounts, and music syncs beautifully.

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, Activation, Verizon

Today AT&T announced that it will provide higher speed broadband customers free access to the nation's largest WiFi network.

Announcement

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, WiFi

Apple released a new finger tips video for the iPhone.

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, Video

Today AT&T published a store locator for the new iPhone. You can now search for only the stores that will have the iPhone available.

iPhone Store Locator

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, Store Locator

Today AT&T and Apple announced new iPhone service plans. Syncing and phone activation is done through iTunes. Apple posted videos on syncing and activation. All iPhone service plans include Visual Voicemail and unlimited data (Internet and email).

AT&T Service Plans
Apple Syncing and Activation
AT&T Coverage Viewer

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iTunes, iPhone Rates

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple and/or AT&T is considering an iPhone rebate to help with the cost of the phone to the consumer.

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, AppleInsider