Cingular to Offer Apple iPhone?
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According to insider sources, Apple and Cingular are teaming up to offer some sort of iPod/phone hybrid device near the beginning of 2007 that will be available exclusively on the Cingular network for the first six months. In Listening Post.
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Like hundreds of iPhone buyers yesterday, Computerworld's Seth Weintraub was among those who stood outside an Apple Store waiting to buy an iPhone. His conclusion: "It is hard not to justify buying out your current phone contract and making a beeline to the nearest Apple Store" to get one.
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U.S. regulators are set to give  Cingular Wireless final approval for its $41 billion purchase  of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. AWE.N on Monday, on condition  that it sells assets including wireless airwaves in more than  16 markets, according to a source close to the deal.
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Reuters reports the announcement coming today:  Cingular, the largest U.S. wireless phone carrier, will offer a version of popular social-networking site MySpace.com on its phones in an expansion of their partnership, the companies plan to announce on Monday.  For an additional $2.99 a month, customers will be able to upload photos taken on cell phones, read and [...]
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We're just not meant for each other Verizon Wireless was the first company offered exclusive access to the iPhone, but turned Apple away because of problems with the proposed business model. Cingular had no such reservations, and will be selling Steve Jobs' "revolution" later this year.â¦
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InfoWorld - Consumers aren&#39;t willing to pay what Apple&#160;may ask for the&#160;iPhone, but if the price drops they&#39;ll switch their mobile service to AT&amp;T in order to get it, according to results of a survey released Thursday.
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Blog: AT&T has released pricing information for the new iPhone, with plans starting at $60 per month.
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By Jason Gertzen  KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The amazing Apple hype machine soon could help unaffiliated wireless carriers sell bunches of music-playing wireless phones.   The debut of the much-heralded iPhone is scheduled for June 29.
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ATLANTA - Preparing for the acquisition of AT&amp;T Wireless, Cingular has committed to a $100 million deal to buy network services from AT&amp;T, Cingular said Monday.
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(InfoWorld) - Consumers aren't willing to pay what AppleÂ may ask for theÂ iPhone, but if the price drops they'll switch their mobile service to AT&T in order to get it, according to results of a survey released Thursday. Online market research firm Compete Inc. surveyed 379 people in the U.S., most of whom had heard of the iPhone and have shopped for an iPod, to find out how interested they are in the device to produce the uncommissioned report. The iPhone is a combined music player and cell phone that Apple plans to start selling in the U.S. in June. Among the 26 percent of respondents who said they're likely to buy an iPhone, only 1 percent said they'd pay $500 for it. WhenÂ Apple introduced the iPhoneÂ in January, it said it would cost $500 on the low end. Forty-two percent of those who said they're likely to buy the phone said they'd pay $200 to $299. The iPhone will be available only to subscribers of Cingular Wireless, now part of AT&T. In a blow to the operator's competitors, 60 percent of those in the survey who said they were likely to buy the phone said they'd switch their mobile operator in order to get it. While the iPhone has been discussed as a competitor to other handsets like Research In Motion's BlackBerry, the two serve very different markets, said Andy Neff, an analyst at Bear Stearns who participated in a conference call to discuss the results of the study. "Even though there's talk about this as an alternative to RIM, it's not a corporate product," he said. Instead, the iPhone is an indication of a broad shift toward smartphones and the emergence of niches within the category, he said. The analysts were split on what price they think the device will ultimately retail for. Operators recently haven't been discounting phones in the similar price range as the iPhone, said Phil Cusick, an analyst at Bear Stearns. However, Apple has been known to announce a product with one price and ultimately sell it for less. Apple TV, for example, was expected to cost $399 but sells for $299, he said. The phone may start out around $500 because early adopters will pay that, said Neff. But pricing will likely drop by $100 to $200 to target the mass market, he said.
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(InfoWorld) - For all the buzz building about Apple's iPhone launch next week, success is not a sure bet, according to a survey released Tuesday. "The first million, no problem," said Chris Hazelton, senior analyst, mobile technology and trends with IDC, talking about iPhone sales. "Interest in this has been building for years. But the '08 goal [of 10 million sold]...that will depend on the iPhone experience. If it's not rock solid...." The IDC survey, which polled online users researching their next cell phone purchase, found a majority were interested in the iPhone but also revealed several hurdles to mass acceptance. About 10 percent, for example, said they were willing to pay full price -- the iPhone will list at $499 and $599 for the 4GB and 8GB models, respectively -- and sign a two-year service contract with AT&T, the iPhone's sole carrier. That's close to the estimate offered by a survey detailed yesterday by M:Metrics, a Seattle research firm, which said that 9 percent, or about 19 million, of all U.S. cell phone subscribers pegged their iPhone purchase intent at high. Although Hazelton didn't argue with M:Metrics' numbers, he stressed the snags that could limit the iPhone to a much smaller group than Apple and AT&T hope. "The exclusivity of AT&T will be the largest barrier," said Hazelton. "Only some people will have timed it right so that they can leave their carrier and won't have to pay an early termination fee." Others, the survey found, were unwilling or unable to eat the penalties. AT&T's rumored five-year exclusivity agreement with Apple will give the two companies the time to "weed out" other carriers from consumers interested in the iPhone, he noted, but again, that could be a slower process than the companies have planned on. "And then there's the price of the iPhone itself, and the need for a data plan on top of a voice plan," Hazelton said. "That's probably $80-plus a month right there. People will pay it if they want the iPhone experience, but moving forward, that may be simply too expensive." If the iPhone doesn't deliver on its promises, though, all might be moot. Dubbing it the "iPhone experience," Hazelton ticked off many of the same potential pitfalls as other analysts, ranging from the lack of a tactile keyboard to the slower speed of AT&T's EDGE-based data network. How users react to the iPhone, and how they expect to use it, said Hazelton, will ultimately be the most important determiner of success. Nothing will kill the buzz faster and brand the iPhone as a failure, said Hazelton, like negative word-of-mouth from the first buyers. And although the early adopters may be especially savvy about technology, one unknown could play a major role. "There are relatively few people who use smartphones in the U.S., and most of them are business users. This will be the first smartphone aimed at consumers," he said. "It's a complicated phone, basically a computer, and like computers, like Macs, it may crash, maybe a lot." Tales of iPhone problems, say frequent crashes, will turn Apple's hope into another Newton, Hazelton argued, referring to the 1993 PDA flop. In other words, there is much that may not go Apple's way after June 29. Ironically, that would make rivals unhappy, rather than glad to see Apple fall flat, Hazelton said. "The iPhone could open up the smartphone market to the U.S. consumer," he said. "When we talk to other device makers and carriers, they generally welcome Apple to the game. It makes sense. The iPhone raises the bar of customer expectations for what a cell phone is. If it succeeds, other vendors will have more ability to drive product upgrades, get customers to pay more for the device, and carriers will be able to get more people to subscribe to the more expensive plans." Apple will launch the iPhone Friday, June 29, at 6 p.m. local time, with the device available then at AT&T and Apple retail stores.
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U.S. regulators are set on  Monday to  give Cingular Wireless final approval for its $41 billion  purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. AWE.N, on the  condition it sell assets, including wireless airwaves in more  than 16 markets, according to a source close to the deal.
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Also: Impending Apple phone to be Cingular-exclusive upon launch. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.
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Cingular Wireless, the nation&#39;s largest mobile-telephone operator, said that it would sell some airwave rights and customers to the Alltel Corporation for $170 million to satisfy government conditions on its purchase of AT&amp;T Wireless Services.
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Blog: If you're thinking of changing carriers to AT&#38;T to get Apple's iPhone, there are some things you should know. We detail them here.
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By Sanford Nowlin, San Antonio Express-News  Sep. 7--San Antonio-based radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc.  is launching a new service that lets Cingular Wireless cellular customers --  for a fee -- tune in and interact with its stations around the country.
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Just how much will the iPhone boost AT&T's business?