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Marco.org (via Daring Fireball) shares as much as he can:
The last session of WWDC ‘09 yesterday was about publishing on the App Store. The content of sessions is under NDA, so I can’t tell you what it was about. So I’ll tell you what wasn’t in it: the audience Q&A session that succeeded nearly every other WWDC session and usually provided invaluable access to Apple employees and useful additional knowledge to attendees. The session itself blew through its lightweight examples quickly, ending 45 minutes early. The majority of the audience was clearly there for the Q&A. As people lined up at the microphones around the room, the presenter abruptly showed a simple slide with only “WWDC” in plain lettering, thanked us for coming, and bolted off the stage. The Apple engineers, usually staying around the stage for one-on-one questions, were gone. The lights came up instantly, and it was the only session that didn’t end in music. The audience was stunned.
So are the rest of us.
Apple?
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
App Store Engineers Unwilling to Face Q&A at WWDC 2009?
Filed under: Education, Odds and ends, Internet Tools, iPhone, iPod touch
The knowledge engine at the heart of the recently launched Wolfram|Alpha site can answer queries that would baffle traditional search engines. It can make amazing comparisons, perform linguistic searches, and provides a way to do calculations that are impossible elsewhere other than in a copy of Mathematica.Wolfram|Alpha now has an iPhone portal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Wolfram|Alpha now has an iPhone portal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone
I just spent the last half hour on the phone with AT&T, and I can't quite believe what I heard.My jaw is dragging the floor.
When TUAW reader Daniel Burkholder tipped us off this afternoon, I thought he was somehow misled by the text message that appeared on his iPhone. It reads:
AT&T Free MSG: A new software upgrade for iPhone will be available on 6/17. This upgrade may affect your data service. Please visit att.com/iphone or call 800-901-9878 for a representative. If you download the software and are not on an approved iPhone data plan, your data service will be interrupted.
So I called, despite the fact that I am on an approved data plan. Sure, my account is grandfathered in, and new iPhone 3G purchasers can no longer get GoPhone activation (click the "New to AT&T" link to see the relevant section), but it's never been an issue.
I was told that AT&T was asking customers to move to a contract plan as they no longer plan to support prepaid data. "This is a recommendation," the technical support person told me. "If you decide not to go, it's okay but we're informing customers that service will not be up to par."
I asked if they were deliberately cutting out GoPhone customers from full Internet access (and mind you, I asked this in several ways, at least three or four times), and was told 'Yes.' "This will affect logging onto the Internet and using your data services."
I pushed further, asking whether I could move to a postpaid plan without invoking a two-year contract as I already fully owned my equipment and had been a customer for two years on my current plan. "You will have to enter a new contract as this service change is not compatible with the iPhone prepaid. You cannot enter a postpaid contract without a two year commitment."
The technician pointed out that "the iPhone has drastically cut prices" on recent models. I responded that my 2G iPhone was working fine. He pointed out that this was an official AT&T policy and that they have decided that "all prepaid customers should transfer into a contract plan for the iPhone."
I asked him to point me to an official policy statement but he said at this time only the text messages going out are available as official communications with customers. "This is an official iPhone advisory. We are informing customers by text messages."
So this is how AT&T rewards me for two years of customer loyalty: I either have to start paying up another $20+ per month and commit to two years of additional service (without any further breaks on equipment or contract terms, if I don't choose to buy a 3G S right now), or accept that I'm going to be paying good money each month for a plan with substandard data service. Based on the fact that the data pinching will happen deliberately on AT&T's end, I'd call it a strongarm approach and a rotten way to treat customers.
It's one thing, if you're going to make a change in the terms of service for an admittedly legacy (but still perfectly usable) service plan, to clearly communicate customer options well ahead of the transition date, and to work with loyal users to find accommodations that satisfy. It's quite another thing to lower the boom with two days warning: upgrade or suffer.
Update Official statement here.
AT&T signals an abrupt end for prepaid iPhone plans originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
AT&T signals an abrupt end for prepaid iPhone plans originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Yeah. Ouch. But that’s what BGR’s Canadian ninja are reporting. These are Best Buy inventory prices, but it’s hard to imagine Rogers/Fido stores charging less what with the exchange rate and typically Canadian shipping overages added.
Any Canadians (besides me) lining up for an off-contract iPhone 3G S this Friday? Does the price change things? How about those of you getting the full subsidy? Happier now?
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Best Buy Canada Rogers/Fido Off-Contract iPhone 3G S Pricing — $699/$799
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, tip-of-the-day, App Review
It's true. I'm delighted to find free applications that stimulate and involve. The iPhone/iPod touch continues to open new vistas for those willing to explore the app store.A free app for those who love art originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A free app for those who love art originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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PCalc developer James Thomson is one of our favorites because he not only makes great apps, but he seems to love doing it, and always figures out new, positive, and productive ways to get our attention.
This time around it isn’t just the release of an iPhone 3.0 compatible version of PCalc for iPhone ($9.99 - iTunes link) that includes support for copy and paste (and a couple of new vertical button layouts, one for engineers, one for programmers), it’s how he built one version of the app that supports both iPhone 2.2.1 and iPhone 3.0 at the same time. An iPhone version of Apple’s “universal binary” concept, as it were.
We’re not sure he’s the first to do this — and according to Twitter he isn’t either — but we hope he does write up the process when the 3.0 SDK NDA (non-disclosure agreement) lifts so other developers can do it as well. It’s an elegant solution to say the least.
Now to see if we can not only paste some complex calculations… but understand them!
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
PCalc 1.6 Now Live in App Store — As iPhone 3.0 “Universal Binary”?
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
DataViz brings Documents To Go to the App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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