phone

When I was a young college student, I camped out overnight with friends in a parking lot outside Tower Records (remember them?) to buy tickets for The Who's 25th anniversary tour. This was the summer of 1989, and the Internet was a university research tool--I didn't log on to send my first e-mail for another year, and back then I only had one friend to communicate with! To get decent seats (or, sometimes, to get any seats) for a popular show back then, you either had to wait in line outside the nearest Ticketmaster outfit, or call the … Read more

Paul Kedrosky in the Wall Street Journal knows why people are excited about the iPhone.

He says it's not that Apple has slowly allowed little tidbits of information about the device to come out.

I am hard-pressed to think of a single material feature in the product that wasn't announced six months ago, right down to the nifty new way you can scroll through songs.

Actually, the Macalope can think of two without even going to the iPhone product page: the 8-hour battery life and the YouTube player, so there might be some merit to the slow bleed … Read more

There's just over an hour to go until the iPhone launch, and I got up on a stepladder (precarious, considering the crowds that could knock you off at any second) in order to survey the scene. Nothing particularly chaotic, but yeah, it's a lot of people.

The guy in line next to where I'm sitting is on his cell phone, telling a friend that "it's crazy...it's absolutely crazy." He got here about 6 AM today and is at position #110 in line.

People are starting to buzz on whether or not Steve … Read more

AT&T says it has spent an additional $50 million in the months leading up to the iPhone launch to upgrade and add more capacity to its 2.5G EDGE network, but a company official said that subscribers shouldn't expect to surf the mobile Net any faster.

"We don't want to set unrealistic expectations," said Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T. "We have been upgrading the network on an ongoing basis, and we've made an additional investment in anticipation of demand for the iPhone."

AT&T has spent over $… Read more

Europeans are going to have to wait for their iPhone until later this year, but good things might be coming to those who wait.

Newswireless.net reported Friday (thanks Engadget) that Apple will announce on Monday the European carriers it has chosen for the launch of the iPhone across the pond. Vodafone, T-Mobile and Carphone Warehouse will be named as Apple's launch partners, according to Newswireless.net, and they will have a faster 3G phone to offer their customers.

The EDGE network used for the iPhone in the U.S. is probably the most widely cited problem with Apple'… Read more

At last count, the line for the iPhone at the 5th Avenue Apple store in Manhattan was approaching a full city block's perimeter in length. As a result, it looks like the security folks have asked the people at the front of the line to pack in a little more, stop reclining in their tents and chairs, and squeeze up closer. Pedestrian traffic has also been "rerouted" so that passers-by are off the sidewalk, leaving it clear for press and Apple fanatics.

Special thanks to the photo editing guys who lent me a power outlet on their … Read more

Check out my grainy little video--that's the iPhone line in midtown Manhattan. Can you believe that there's apparently barely anyone waiting at the city's AT&T stores?

It's a madhouse here! There are even more TV crews, reporters, and gawking passers-by at the 5th Avenue Apple store in Manhattan for the iPhone launch in fewer than three hours. The sun's out, and it's not too hot, but still decently uncomfortable. I don't have an estimate on how many people are in line, but it stretches from the steps in front of the … Read more

If you haven't been living under the proverbial rock, you probably already know the hype surrounding Apple's iPhone has built up quite a bit over the last few weeks. It seems like every news site has something to add to the iPhone fray, and certainly, as a technology site, you can get a lot of information here at CNET. Since today is the big launch for the iPhone, I might as well give all of you a couple more things to get excited about.… Read more

With all of the hoopla surrounding the iPhone, we have all forgotten about the most important development of today's release: a new way to activate a cell phone. You can have your iPhone. I'll take the home activation and enjoy it for much longer than you will enjoy your new phone.

For years, I have been buying new cell phones from Verizon Wireless. And in each of those years, I've been forced to waste the better part of a Saturday afternoon on activating the new phone I had been coveting for a few months.

Here's the … Read more