3G

No, not death, but close to it. The race is on for who has the most expensive iPhone plan in the world! Plus Microsoft finally gives us a date for XP SP3, sort of. And we have some security news for you as well as a recap of the digital TV transition. So listen up! Listen now: Download today's podcast

FAQ: iPhone 3G launch day is Friday http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9983810-37.html

iPhone Jonny: world’s first iPhone 3G owner (in waiting) http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/08/iphone-jonny-worlds-first-iphone-3g-owner-in-waiting/

Spat with Rogers leaves Canadian Apple … Read more

NEW YORK--It's a lovely day here at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue and East 58th Street, at least so far. Temperatures are slated to hit 90 degrees within hours, and the short line for the iPhone 3G hasn't gotten any longer. It comes out on Friday at 8 a.m., in just slightly less than three days.

I was explaining to a friend over breakfast this morning that I think there's a critical-mass issue at hand; you need about 15 people in line to really get the ball rolling. Then would-be queuers will stop wavering and … Read more

Update at 10:08 a.m. PDT, with clarification on how users' e-mail will be handled.

Apple's MobileMe service is primed to be relaunched this week, ahead of the Friday launch of the iPhone 3G. That means subscribers to .Mac will find the service taken offline for a six-hour stretch as Apple makes the transition, according to a post in MacRumors.com.

The www.mac.com site will go down on Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. PDT, leaving .Mac subscribers unable to access the site or use .Mac services, except for .MacMail via their desktop … Read more

NEW YORK--Some time shortly before midnight, I stopped by the Fifth Avenue Apple flagship store here to get an update on the folks who were waiting in line for the iPhone 3G. It hits stores Friday.

It's very quiet here. There is no one new who has lined up for the phone; the line still consists exclusively of the sustainable-agriculture activists from Waiting for Apples. (I guess eager fanboys got our memo that as a trend, gadget-queueing has reached the tipping point.) Regardless of what you think of their mission, these happy hippies are extremely pleasant to talk to … Read more

We've offered more than 99 pennies in reward money as a challenge to the first person who can make some e-salt that will stop the snail robots from taking over our planet. Of course, running would probably also work as they are snails. Also Microsoft and Yahoo are fighting and we children don't like it. But Time Warner might. We also talk a little bit about some phone that's coming out this week. From Apple. I think it's called the over-hyped phone. Or iPhone. Or something.

Microsoft letter … Read more

If the online demand for the iPhone 3G in the U.K. is any indication, Apple, O2, and U.S. carrier AT&T could be in for a long weekend.

O2, the U.K. carrier of the iPhone, had hoped to deflect some of the expected demand for Apple's new iPhone, scheduled to launch Friday, by taking preorders for the phone. It sent text messages to existing O2 customers Monday morning informing them of a chance to upgrade to the iPhone 3G. But that prompt overwhelmed O2's Web site Monday, forcing the carrier to halt the upgrade process … Read more

Word in the blogosphere is that T-Mobile USA will include a Google Android phone as part of its nationwide 3G wireless network launch later this year.

Several blogs reported Monday that T-Mobile is set to offer service in some 20-plus cities starting October 1. And the carrier plans to include the HTC Dream smartphone as one of its first 3G phones to launch with the network, according to reports.

T-Mobile started offering 3G service in New York City in May. And the company said at the launch it would roll out the service in other top markets by the end … Read more

You've got to wonder whether Apple and AT&T are excited or worried about a repeat of last year's iPhone mania.

Even though a few people have already started lining up outside Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York, the buzz surrounding Friday's launch of the iPhone 3G has been far less prevalent on our shores this year than last year, when I thought I was going to lose my mind writing about Apple's first mobile phone.

That makes some sense, since, in many ways, the iPhone is old news. But a new activation … Read more

NEW YORK--A message to those of you thinking of hopping in line for the iPhone 3G at the Fifth Avenue flagship store here: there are thunderstorms predicted. Please stay home and spend some time with your friends, families, and pets. You're just going to get a sunburn and look silly.

Plus, a scrappy half-dozen activists who call themselves Waiting for Apples are going to get all the positive press. They're hoping to set a Guinness World Record as well as spread the buzz about sustainable agriculture, and are waiting in line with a solar-power generator, a bunch of … Read more