Interesting info about Iphones...

[mastermesh]

Buying an iPhone without a contract - Wireless World - MSNBC.com

NEW YORK - What's the best way to beat the commitment involved in iPhone ownership? Bad credit. AT&T Inc. said on Friday that people who buy Apple Inc.'s much-hyped iPhone but do not meet its credit requirements will still be able to keep the phone without having to commit to a two-year contract.

After buying an iPhone, customers are required to go to Apple's iTunes Web music store to activate the phones.

While AT&T performed credit checks on customers who came to its stores to buy the iPhone on Friday, Apple stores did not.

Secret code
When it came to activating the device, AT&T customers were given a code to tap into iTunes, proving they were already approved for the service and allowing them to skip some steps in the online process. Apple customers would have to go through that process at home in front of their computer.

If they found out that they did not meet the requirements, they would be offered the option of signing up for a prepaid plan, which allows customers to pay for calls in advance.

While prepaid call charges are more expensive than per-minute charges for postpay customers who pay monthly bills, prepaid customers do not have to commit to keep the service.

So I guess if you or someone you know is really desperate for a darn Iphone (have no idea why you would be since it has a lot of limitations) this would be one way to try to get it I guess... Just seems sort of counterproductive though, since they are sort of asking people with bad credit to get it, just like the darn credit card companies do to college kids and others who are known to not have such good credit so they can hit em hard with high interest rates and overpriced services... but hey, at least poor folks doing this can get the phone... and then down the road sell them off on ebay?...

Does anyone know if this gizmo runs solely on cell phone towers for communications or can it also run on wifi for internet? Might make an interesting buy for some folks if it does run on wifi and they hit the coffee shops or college places that are wifi zones?

 

[rjruby]

[Does anyone know if this gizmo runs solely on cell phone towers for communications or can it also run on wifi for internet? Might make an interesting buy for some folks if it does run on wifi and they hit the coffee shops or college places that are wifi zones?

It does connect via wifi which is the preferred method since AT&T's EDGE network is too slow and the phones I don't believe are upgradable to the new faster G3 technology.

 

[Neutron]

It would have to have the chip made for 3G, which it does not.

What's the point of getting into a 2-yr commitment if I have to pay full price for the phone??

 

[goaliebob99]

It would have to have the chip made for 3G, which it does not.

What's the point of getting into a 2-yr commitment if I have to pay full price for the phone??

Exactly!

 

[loves2watch]

Why would anyone want to have service with AT&T anyway. Remember that this is the company who let's the NSA wiretap it's customers (and anyone who is on their network) phones and is now forwarding all info on its customers internet use to the RIAA and MPAA.