IPhone Carrier Swap &#39;Close&#39;
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UniquePhones is writing an app that will let customers use a carrier other than AT&amp;T with the iPhone.
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Deutsche Telekom's  mobile  phone division, T-Mobile, said on Wednesday it won a deal to  sell Apple's  iPhone and said the price would be 399  euros ($558), as reported last week by Reuters.
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Ending a 40-day spat by agreeing to share the iPhone brand, the two companies vow interoperability between their products and Cisco drops its lawsuit. In Gadget Lab.
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Want an iPhone but don't want to use AT&T?  A UK company says it soon will offer a service to help owners unlock their iPhones for use with other cellular operators.
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AT&T Inc. sold almost all its initial stock of Apple Inc.'s iPhone within hours of the device going on sale, an AT&T spokesman said on Saturday.
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O2 UK, part of Spanish telecoms giant  Telefonica, and European mobile phone retailer Carphone  Warehouse have clinched the long-awaited deal to bring Apple  Inc&#39;s prized iPhone to Britain.
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(InfoWorld) - For some cell phone fanatics, the iPhone is love at first sight: a cool touchscreen, a slim design, promising simplicity. The only thing standing between you and that dreamy device is your contract with another carrier. Is there a way to break the relationship without paying a penalty of $150 or more? Yes. First, in a few situations, you can dump or suspend a contract without enduring too much hassle: You can end a contract early without paying fees if the carrier makes changes that have a significant negative effect on your service or your subscription rate. For example, if your carrier raises its fees for text messaging, you can use that as your get-out-of-jail card. Still, you'll have to plead your case to the carrier -- it won't let you go that easily. You'll need to convince the company that the change applies to you and that it has seriously and negatively affected your service. Carriers will also suspend your wireless service during active-duty military deployment. That doesn't free you from your obligation entirely, but it's better than paying for something you can't use at all. In the most extreme situation, a contract is terminated if the customer dies -- though this circumstance does put a crimp in the deceased's future iPhone enjoyment. Trade it in Another way to lose your current contract is to transfer your account to someone else. How do you find that someone? Either on your own (through a network of friends or by posting an ad at a community site such as Craigslist.com) or via an online trade-in service such as Cellswapper.com and Celltradeusa.com. These sites provide a place for people to buy, sell, or trade their wireless contracts. "Consumers see the account transfer as a fair resolution," says Eric Wurtenberg, co-founder of Celltradeusa.com. "With our service, people can get a provider that works better in their area, and the carrier gets someone to fulfill the contract. Our core customer has always been and will continue to be the person who wakes up one morning and finds the service doesn't work in his apartment, or a college student who finds the phone doesn't work on campus." Good time for a deal? With the upcoming release of the Apple iPhone on AT&T, the number of people buying AT&T contracts on Celltradeusa.com has increased by about 33 percent in the past two months, said Wurtenberg. "We see equipment envy as increasing the demand for our service." Likewise, Adam Korbl, co-founder and CEO of Cellswapper.com, says that "thousands of potential Apple and AT&T customers have recently flocked to Cellswapper to get out of their contracts and be ready to sign with AT&T when the iPhone launches at the end of the month." If the iPhone is a little too expensive for your tastes but you still want to upgrade your phone, this might be a good time to pick up a used smartphone on the cheap. "We have seen that in order to get the iPhone, people are not only selling their used phones, but even willing to give them away as incentive for someone else to take over their contact," Korbl says. "Many people are offering great phones and big cash incentives just to break free of their contract in time for the iPhone." For example, in a recent search on Cellswapper, I found the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic offered for free (a brand-new version costs $150 at T-Mobile's site) for assuming a three-month contract on T-Mobile at $50 a month. Not bad. In addition to throwing in your old phone or offering a cash incentive to entice people, Wurtenberg advises you to gather up all your contract information and have it with you when you post your service plan on the site. "You need the original date of the contract," he says. Make sure your account balance is up to date, too. And provide detailed descriptions and pictures of your phone if you're including it in the sale. Finally, try to respond quickly to buyers' questions. "These things go a long way to finding someone to take over your account," Wurtenberg notes. If there's a match, the seller pays $20 at Celltrade or $15 at Cellswapper. Then the buyer and seller go through the process of formally transferring the account in the carrier's records. With most mobile operators, this can be done by phone or at the carrier's retail store. Typically, transferring your contract means losing your current phone number. On Verizon, for instance, the phone number carries over to the new customer because the number is tied to the previously existing contract, says Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney. To port your current phone number to another carrier, you must be have an expired contract or you must pay a penalty to break it, according to Raney. Still, if you're determined to dump your contract, getting a new number is a fair trade-off. Before switching to a new carrier, evaluate your predicament, recommends Wurtenberg. "Do your homework by asking friends and neighbors how they like their wireless service." If you want to get rid of your old phone completely, recycle it. Sites such as Collective Good accept cell phone donations. Or trade in your old phone for a few bucks or for a gift certificate to a retail store. Web services such as CellforCash, GreenPhone, and ReCellularTradeIn will offer you cash or a gift card in return for your handset. For a cash trade, check a few sites to see whether their offers differ significantly. There are no set prices for used phones, so it's best to determine which site will make the best offer. For more information on donating cell phones, read "Dialed In: Cell Phone Recycling" and "Tips & Tweaks: Recycle PCs, Notebooks, and Components." Before relinquishing your old phone, remember to wipe your data off of it. For tips on how to proceed, read "Privacy Watch: Wipe Your Cell Phone's Memory Before Giving It Away."
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With AT&T reportedly having activated over 600,000 iPhones as of Monday, it's no surprise that European carriers are eager to jump on Apple's bandwagon. Numerous reports have pointed to wireless carrier O2 being chosen as Apple's exclusive iPhone partner in the United Kingdom.
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Blog: Rumors emerge that the iPhone will be avaialble to prepaid AT&T users.
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The strange journey of Appleâs popular iPhone is another sign of its extraordinary popularity and a blow to the companyâs business model.
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Warburg Pincus, Providence Equity close to acquiring former part of AT&amp;T Bell Labs, report says. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Two investment firms are about to close a deal to acquire telecommunications software company Telcordia Technologies Inc.
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AT&T Inc. sold almost all its  initial stock of Apple Inc.&#39;s iPhone within hours of the device  going on sale, an AT&T spokesman said on Saturday.
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New wheels 'a great end to a great summer' A New Jersey teenager has cut a deal to trade a hacked iPhone for a new set of wheels and three further iPhones, Yahoo! reports.â¦
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Apple&#39;s iPhone officially has a phone company partner in the UK. After weeks of rumors, Apple announced Tuesday that O2 -- the largest UK mobile phone operator -- would be its exclusive wireless carrier there.
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Shares in Vodafone Group Plc, the world&#39;s largest mobile-phone operator, dropped after The Wall Street Journal said the company is considering bidding with US partner Verizon Communications Inc.
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AT&T Inc , the exclusive U.S.  carrier for Apple Inc's  iPhone said on Thursday it  ended 2007 with "just at or slightly under 2 million iPhone  customers."
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Deutsche Telekom&#39;s (DTEGn.DE) mobile  phone unit T-Mobile clinched a deal to bring Apple Inc&#39;s iPhone  handset to Germany, according to a report in a German daily.