Vonage just announced their app for the iPhone yesterday that allows discounted international calls. AT&T’s recent announcement doesn’t seem to have effected the status of the Google Voice application.

Ruth Milkman, Chief
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington DC 20554

Re: AT&T Response to Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Letter, DA 09-1737 (July 31, 2009); RM-11361; RM-11497

Dear Ms. Milkman:

On behalf of AT&T, I am writing to provide you with an update to AT&T’s August 21, 2009 response to the Bureau’s questions about the Apple iPhone. In our response, we explained that AT&T currently offers a variety of devices that enable VoIP applications to make use of our wireless network (including our 2G and 3G capabilities) and the devices’ Wi-Fi connectivity. We further explained that the iPhone currently supports VoIP applications that make use of the device’s Wi-Fi connectivity, but VoIP capabilities were not available on the iPhone for use on our wireless network. We also stated that we were taking a fresh look at the issue and would promptly notify the Commission of any such change in our policies. AT&T has completed its review of the matter and today we informed Apple that, effective immediately, AT&T consents to Apple enabling third-party VoIP applications for the iPhone that use our wireless network, including our 2G and 3G capabilities.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Robert W. Quinn, Jr.

The weird thing is Microsoft just released their Zune HD which is a direct competitor to the iPhone and iPod touch. Microsoft is probably just being smart and accepting that the iPhone rocks and that they can monopolize on app search results. You can get to the search page here: bing.com

ScreenShot

Though, you will notice that the Press Release says nothing about tethering… grrrrr. View full press release below.

Press Release:

We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.

We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.

We’re riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that’s resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry. We want you to know that we’re working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.

We thank you for your business and look forward to keeping you updated on our initiatives.

Gene Munster, senior research analyst with Piper Jaffray, predicts that Apple will announce new carriers in the summer of 2010.

“For various reasons the company moved from an exclusive relationship with French wireless carrier Orange to a multi-carrier model,” Munster said. “In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40 percent range vs. about 15 percent in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens). We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10 percent) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements.”

The article goes on to say that Munster is not alone in his predictions of Apple adding new carriers in the US. Others have said that Verizon could be the next carrier to see the iPhone.

Read the full AppleInsider article HERE.

Read full post HERE.

Check it out on Roger’s website HERE.

This image compares the iPhone 3GS and 3G. The comparison shows that the iPhone 3GS is available in both White and Black and all three versions (32GB, 16GB and 8GB) where the iPhone 3G is only available in a Black 8GB version.

The info in the image (which apparently looks to be some sort of memo) says:

Rogers has now launched the iPhone 3GS in 8GB Black (120080). Effective immediately, this will be ordere… (120050). In order to complete a smooth transition over to the new piece, inventory levels of the 3G version v… out of stock of an 8GB model. Please keep in mind that we are aiming to reduce our inventory levels signific… model and would ask that as you receive the new SKU that you continue to sell out of the older version prior…

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this strategy, please email…

Thank you all ahead of time for your help in making this a smooth and easy transition.

Transition du Rogers 8GB vers le 3GS

See full article HERE.

“Using a flaw they’ve found in the iPhone’s handling of text messages, the researchers say they’ll demonstrate how to send a series of mostly invisible SMS bursts that can give a hacker complete power over any of the smart phone’s functions. That includes dialing the phone, visiting Web sites, turning on the device’s camera and microphone and, most importantly, sending more text messages to further propagate a mass-gadget hijacking.”

If that doesn’t sound scary enough, the only way to prevent the attack is to turn your iPhone off.

“If you receive a text message on your iPhone any time after Thursday afternoon containing only a single square character, Charlie Miller would suggest you turn the device off. Quickly.”

The researchers say that they notified Apple about the bug a month ago however, Apple has not released a fix for it.

Do we know if this is actually true or not… No. Do we know if iPhones all over the world are going to be hacked today… No. If you receive an email with a single square character, should you turn off your iPhone… that is up to you!

You can see the full Article HERE.

Like many teenagers, Ari Weinstein spends his summers riding his bike and swimming. This year, the 15-year-old had another item on his to-do list: Foil Apple Inc.’s brightest engineers and annoy chief executive Steve Jobs.

Ari is part of a loose-knit group of hackers that has made it a mission to “jailbreak” Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. The term refers to installing unapproved software that lets people download a range of programs, including those not sanctioned by Apple.

Full article HERE.