TiPb Answers — Can You Skip AT&T and Use an iPhone Over Verizon (or Sprint) MiFi?

Can you run an iPhone without an AT&T voice or data contract, and could a Verizon (or Sprint) MiFi be used instead (insert iPhone on Verizon! humor here). That’s what TiPb reader Angie wants to know:

Can you use an iPhone with wifi? like I have Verizon MiFi and cannot afford the AT&T data cost for the iPhone.

TiPb answers after the break!

For those unfamiliar, MiFi is an EVDO modem and WiFi router all-in-one. So, you can use it to connect to Verizon or Sprint’s 3G network, and share that connection with several WiFi enabled devices. For geeks, they’re pretty much little pocket-sized miracles.

So, you could run all the basic iPhone internet functions by connecting to your MiFi over WiFi, including surfing the web, checking email, downloading music and video from iTunes, and of course getting and using App Store apps. About the only thing you wouldn’t be able to use is the Phone and SMS/MMS. However, VoIP apps like Skype could mitigate the phone part — our good friend Matt Miller from NokiaExperts.com has been Skype’ing away on his N900 via MiFi and enjoying it. Likewise, IM or faux-SMS apps, of which there are tons and tons in the App Store, could make messaging livable as well. WebApps like Google Voice if that’s how you roll, can get around SMS as well.

It won’t be perfect — you’ll have to set up your MiFi and wait for your iPhone to connect, and incoming calls would be a hassle since VoIP won’t run in the background on a stock iPhone, but it’s the closest anyone can come to an iPhone on Verizon, or iPhone on Sprint these days.

Now, if you Jailbreak your iPhone, then GV Mobile (Google Voice), Backgrounder-enabled Skype, and many other options become available.

If anyone else has tried running their iPhone off of a Mifi on Verizon and/or Sprint, please add a comment below and let Angie know how it worked for you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers — Can You Skip AT&T and Use an iPhone Over Verizon (or Sprint) MiFi?

World’s most geeky Christmas card includes an iPhone

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World's most geeky Christmas card includes an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

World's most geeky Christmas card includes an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N900, N97-mini Hands-on Video, Smartphone Round Robin

TiPb-verse, the 2009 Smartphone Round Robin starts NOW! And for me, it starts with what’s likely the biggest challenge — Nokia and its dual platforms of Symbian S60 and Maemo as represented by the N97-mini and the netbook-that-thinks-its-a-smartphone, N900. Hugely popular everywhere that’s not North America, it wasn’t in last year’s Round Robin, and truth-be-told, I’ve barely ever seen it before.

To get some extra help, I’ve got a post up at NokiaExperts.com, where I’m really hoping to get my understanding expanded a notch (or ten).

Dieter Bohn, on duty for Palm webOS has likewise triumphantly returned to TiPb’s iPhone forums, and you folks really need to get him up to date on all things iPhone 3GS and 3.x.

And remember, every day that you post a reply on those threads (or the other Round Robin threads) you get another chance to win that sites’ smartphone!

Meanwhile we’ve got a video after the break where likely the best man on earth for the job, Matt Miller gives me a guided tour of the N97-mini and N900, helps me with the interface, and reveals the awesome power of the platforms.

Next up, I spend the week figuring out what Symbian S60 and Maemo mean in relation to the iPhone, the smartphone space in general, and to new users considering their first platform, or veterans considering making the switch. Can’t. Wait.

[YouTube Link]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Nokia N900, N97-mini Hands-on Video, Smartphone Round Robin

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