:( No - I Verizon.... sure wish I could I Phone....

But before the AT&T Iphone matchup I got EVERYONE in my family on board with Verizon..... Maybe someday.

The iPhone, BlackBerries, Treos, you name it - they're great tools...as long as one uses their features and is comfortable with them.  A left-handed taco folder is a great tool...but if you're right handed, or don't eat tacos much, what good is it?

Brad, Are you selling iPhones on the side? Thanks for the update, will be watching for next years tech.

Brad

I currently have a Treo, but I have been looking at the iPhone, I think at this point my next phone will be an Apple.

Good luck and success

Lou Ludwig

For additional information about Lou Ludwig go to www.LouLudwig.Com

Shucks I wish I was born 20 years later...technology would be a snap, right now though its intriguing but hard to grasp!

SOmetimes too much info and too much availablity hampers your personal life...you do have a personal life, right?

iPhone is an amazing tool for sure and for those who do not have AT&T service in your area...don't forget the iPod Touch.

I am a mac fanatic and would sure love to get an iphone when my ancient treo finally goes kaput, only 2 problems: 

1)ATT offers shockingly weak coverage where I live ( just 5 miles outside a major University town) and

2) WHEN IS Supra going to get on board!!

I looked at jumping to a blackberry a couple months ago, when I initially started tip toeing into the Internet waters. Decided just to up my minutes until I could figure out the best plan.

Way too much new for me to hazard a guess as to which provider, phone, plan to choose.

Still probably not ready to move, but soon.

Does the Iphone work on any network?

Richard

Can't use it as an eKey yet... So, pointless.  Not on T-mobile... So, pointless.  It is a cool toy, but generally I like toys with a bit more horsepower. 

I've been thinking about getting an Iphone but I can's seem to get past that price.  I think I will just go for the Dash or Blackberry.

I've had the Palm & Windows Based Treos and had many technical problems with both platforms, to the point I quit using them.  Bought an Audiovox 6800 and do not have the ease of data entry I had with the Treo.  Have had problems with this one too.   I may get an I phone after AT&T's two years are up and if Verizon gets those then.  If not, I may change carriers.  My son has a newer blackberry & loves it.

No AT & T for us; too bad, I'd love an iPhone. I've been looking at blackberry's - I'm almost afraid to buy one! Another addiction.

iPhone is the only way to go (that's me overstating it a little). But, really, it is by far the greatest tech gadget I have ever had. I have had one since the first week they came out in 07 (serial early adopter). What I especially love about it is that it does so much and still remains the most user friendly phone I have ever had! (pda or not). I am curious about the new Google phone in September (like I said, I am a serial early adopter), but I won't give up the iPhone for it.

Thanks for the post Brad,

I'm waiting for my current contract to end....can't wait to get my hands on the new iphone

AT&T service coverage isn't the greatest where I live, so I'll have to wait for Apple to extend service agreements with other providers. Until then, I plod along with my BB... with envy...

I love the I phone. I am currently back on the blackberry becuase I ran over my I phone. It does pretty much everything my laptop does and its a lot smaller.

I still want one .. but this is the year of needs over wants so I will hold on to my tero for a bit longer

Hi Brad;

I do not have a I Phone but I am very much interested. I will check it out.

Anthony

THe Iphone has been on my mind for some time.  I am going to get one someday.

Last week I finally gave up my AT&T Tilt which is a Windows based mobile device and went to an iPhone. I'll never look back, the iPhone is a tremendous piece of technology. eMail and internet access are almost on par with a desktop. It is an extremely intuitive device and just about anyone can use it right out of the box. I have found that I have to manage the power though.  Oh yeah, I haven't had to reboot it since I purchased it last week. My Windows was good for two or three reboots a day.

If I could wean myself off of the AT&T call forwarding cradle (lets me charge my phone and/or forward the cell to my home phone and not use cell minutes), I'll jump on the i-Phone bandwagon.  I'm not going to like the upgrade in service plan from 450 to ??? minutes that will have to go along with the change, but I'm sure I'll love the phone and its features.

I don't think I need an iphone for anything. The cost of playing with a phone can buy a lot of exposure and help my business in ways I believe are more important than playing with a gaget. So, a simple cell phone is all we need.

Hello Brad.  I I Phone...I had to.  I dropped my Treo so much and there were so many pieces that had broken off of it, I couldn't use my touch screen anymore.  It was a tough jump since I was one of the first to sport a Treo back in "olden" days and I'm still getting used to that blasted touch screen but I think overall I'm pretty happy with it.  Do you know if there's a way to cut and paste???

Hello Brad.  I I Phone...I had to.  I dropped my Treo so much and there were so many pieces that had broken off of it, I couldn't use my touch screen anymore.  It was a tough jump since I was one of the first to sport a Treo back in "olden" days and I'm still getting used to that blasted touch screen but I think overall I'm pretty happy with it.  Do you know if there's a way to cut and paste???

Brad, After 2 years of hemming and hawing I got a Blackberry and I now wonder what was I waiting for.  I love it.  I can see that IPhone is my next move up.  Thanks for all your great information

Hated my Treo... love my iphone, but I didn't even know a lot of what you have posted here... thanks!

Would love to I Phone, not much I coverage though so we I blackberry for now.

Hi Brad,

"i" agree that this phone is cool and I must admit that I do feel that my "Gadget Girl" title might be in jeopardy since I don't have this toy in my arsenal.  Unfortunately, until the service matches the phone I will remain a confirmed Verizon user.  And don't think for one hot minute that I haven't sat and spit nails when I think about the fact that the perfect marriage was almost made and that doofus in charge of Verizon let this slip through their (and thus my) fingers.

So, I am condemned to gaze longingly from afar.  But I do have to say that I am totally in love with my LG EnV2.  No, it doesn't do all the cool stuff the iPhone does but it totally rocks at handling the things that I really need my phone to do... give me clear reception and just plain work whether I am in the depths of a building or in the middle of the Desert.  And, it has a full qwerty keyboard which makes life easier.

Thanks for sharing about all the neat stuff that is available.  I am confident that soon these apps will be available for more than just iPhone.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

3g is the BOMB!!!!

I have had about every cell phone you can get (yes, I have a big problem) Last year ATT had to replace my Treo 750 six, yes six times. Last time they sent me a Tilt. Tilt is a very, very good phone for folks that need WM6 and do a bunch of MS stuff on the phone.

Have had a iphone for about two weeks. By far the BEST unit on the market. Price is cheap. service is great. Now it will be interesting to see what this new round of telephones will offer (looks like Google may have a very intersting product coming very soon)

I had an i-Phone for about two weeks or so.  Decided that I didn't love it as much as my old beat up TREO - which I had to retire because I had dropped it one too many times.  The i-Phone just didn't do things that I needed it to do, and I felt there were too many steps to take (hard to do while driving).  I could handle the screen/keyboard okay, but also hard to do while driving.  One thing I really disliked was that I couldn't cut and paste, and I couldn't keep different folders and categories in the notepad (unlike Treo's "Memos" section).

So, I did what no woman (or man) ever dreamed of doing after waiting for an i-phone..... I gave it up to my husband who was still waiting for his to come, and I bought a Centro.  It has all of the features my beloved Treo had, yet its smaller which means it fits in my hand better so I won't be dropping it as much as I did the Treo!

I phones are nice. Now all it needs is infrared to open lock boxes.

Brad- After reading your blog I was convinced the IPhone was the way to go- I am not sure about the coverage in my area with AT&T and the fact taht is does not work with the eKey is a problem- Thanks for the info- It will help in choosing which way to go!

I am going to be looking at phones later in the year.  I will have to check them all out

Thanks for the info. Might have to try a different service.

WHY can't it just open a lock box??  Please, I people, fix this!!!  It is the only reason I keep my treo.  

Kent - it's after dinner but you're making me hungrey here, cut it out!  lol~

Susan - my wife and I used to be on Verizon when I had a TREO, my son down at Cal Poly say "iPhone Dad" so guess what I bought.  I totally love it, the best phone I've ever had.  It does more than my PC!!  :-)))

Brad - well there are some compelling reasons for sure> I am reserving judgment, in part becuase I just got a new phone. We have a tech guy at our upcoming CRS meeting and I am anzious to hear what he has to say, as an RE practitioner.  unfortunately have a real bias against AT & T with some not-so-good experiences. That alone would not bkeep me away but it enters into the mix. Blackberry is coming out with something very similar I understand. I will probably W8 & C.

Jeff

Pat - I'm not selling iPhones. lol~  But at 1,000,000 sales the first weekend, I sure wish I was!! :-O  Next year there will be no tech, eerything will be by telekinesis.

Lou - I loved my TREO, it was great, but the iPhone, now that's a love affair!  :-)

Hi Brad, read so much about IPhone and still thinking about getting one.  Left my old cell phone on the plane while returning from a trip, so it's time to get a new phone anyway.  Thanks for helping me make up my mind.

As long as I can get to my MLS to pull up the sq footage, schools, price, and so forth, then I'm happy. Nothing like the good ole days when most had a book to look through and you had to wait for a new one to come out. I've not been in business that long, but people tell me everyday about it.

GE supra is coming out with a converter for Blackberry, it will convert a bluetooth signal to a small device that looks like a keyless car remote and that will beam the infrared into the I-box. I would think if they can do it for balckberry that other phones won't be far behind.

no

Won't be doing anything like that until I can do it with Verizon.  AT&T's service in the areas I need it are worse than  useless (not crazy about having to stand in one square foot of my 55 acres and NOT lean my head left or right in order to carry on a phone conversation).  The fanciest phone in the world won't do me any good if I can't make a phone call! ;-)

Sara - How do I do it?  I have 3 boys, the technology is forced into our home! I have to learn this stuff, soon it will be their homework.  haha...   :-)

Kelly, are you kidding me?  I work for ActiveRain!!  lol~   You are my personal life....

Brad- I really wanted an iPhone, but the plans/coverage is not very good in my area.  So, I went with the next best thing, The Blackberry Curve. It has a lot of these same applications, it is just missing the cool touch screen.  It will even hold songs just like the iPhone.  I know yours has a lot more cool gadgets & toys, but for now, until iPhone i more available and accessible, the curve will work very nicely.

I am going to have to find our if our mls is compatible with the iphone.  I have seen a couple of my client's phones and they are remarkable.  The  other thing is coverage -- I have heard that some areas in NH can't get any service -- so I have some homework to do.

Hey, Brad.  I love my iPhone, but didn't realize there were all these cool applications! 

Sam - how is the iPod touch minus the phone?  Does it have internet connection? Same features etc?  I have an iPod, but it's the old 60 gigger from a couple years ago.  Over 2000 songs on my iTunes and iPod but now I can listen to the entire librry from my iPhone without downloading a single song onto the phone. It's one of my favorite iPhone features. The app is called Simplify, it's the BOMB!!  :-)

I haven't gone to the iPhone...yet.  My Treo appears to be dying a slow death after faithful service for almost four years.  Maybe I will replace it with an iPhone.  Thanks for the terrific tips as always, Brad.

Myself and technology take time to get along looks like a great tool, but I will wait and see.

The iPhone is indeed the best smartphone EVER. Period. I had been a Verizon customer for over a decade until July 11th when I dumped them like a hot potato for my new iPhone 3G.  I waited for the 3G and GPS for a couple of reasons. I was under contract with Verizon (which I paid to break to get the iPhone) and I wanted to wait until the ETF went down some. I used my Treo for streaming internet radio and my favorite station isn't yet playable on the iPhone (but with Simplify Media I can stream from my computer directly to my iPhone so its almost as good) and I often rely on GPS, which on my Treo was through a BlueTooth receiver.  GPS on the iPhone is awesome and even though there aren't any turn by turn directions available it is much easier to use and I'm finding myself using it more often because it is fully built in.  My old Treo 700p had started crashing on me all the time and I was getting so sick of it. The iPhone isn't perfect (and AT&T truly sucks), but it is the best available by far! What other phone can have you on ActiveRain one minute, then on your MLS system the next, then let you play awesome games like Super Monkey Ball after that?  Answer - NONE! I love the iPhone!

Amy - I knew there was a reason I liked you!  I too, love my MacBookPro, my iPod and my iPhone.  Everything is seemless and simple, yet so powerful.  Even today, we had a video conference meeting with the staff and the video and audio in the MAC World, and live on the internet, was absolutely phenominal.  Here's a shot from my iPhone of my laptop with the guys doing a 4-way...  very cool.

I'll save iChat for another post. lol!~

You know even though I am currently on Verizon I must admit the Iphone is by far the best Smartphone out there and is your one stop phone ever.  You know they say that this generation is the Apple Generation and that Microsoft will lose to Apple, With Apple having such smash hit products I will agree 100%

One more word about AT&T. Their service here in Milwaukee is terrible. With my VZW service on my old Treo I pretty much never dropped a call and only rarely had "no service".  With AT&T I'm in "no service" areas all the time and I'm dropping calls on a daily basis (sometimes multiple times in a row).  However there is something extremely exciting coming along soon, VOIP on the iPhone! iCall just started their public beta testing today and I believe that their app will be available in the App Store soon, possibly as early as next month. Their service works over your WiFi internet connection, so I'll be able to forget about AT&T while I'm at home and at the office and make FREE unlimited calls over the internet. I'm so excited that I can't wait!

I just found this on Youtube, this is actually the old one that I have, it's not the new 3G. Great video!

Here's a guided tour Part 1

Oh Great Brad....now what am I suppose to do! LOL! I've got a Treo 700w (it's been replaced 4 times like others have said) and I've got Verizon. My contract was up back in September, and it's time to do something. But what? I don't feel I really use the features on a Treo/Blackberry enough to warrant the extra $50 I pay every month for the data plan. Have my eKey separate so my partner and I can use. What am I missing that I should be getting on my PDA?

 I use Top Producer, but to get my e-mail on my phone is another $15 per month. I feel like right now I need to look at expenses. I love Verizon's service. But they need to do something to keep me! LOL! Actually learned from a Palm Sales Rep that if you call Verizon, and ask for the Retention Team, the will work with you.

Making that call tomorrow.

Brad - I know some folks that have the iPhone and are happy with the phone, but not happy with the limited service provider. 

It seems as though AT&T is a little weak in this area and service can be very spotty.  So when I decided to make the jump to an "all in one" phone I went with the htc PPC6800 (Alltel) and can do everything I need to do with it.  Internet, mail, phone, office applications, camera, video, etc.  And if I add  you to "my circle" I can call you (or vice versa) all day long for free. 

My plan is running $100 less than those I know with the iPhone.  Guess I'm too frugal to make that jump - and since we are moving south soon I checked on the service down there and Alltel has great coverage so that reason to switch went out the window.

Here's Part 2

.....and Part 3

So the next question is "How long will AT&T have the hold on iPhone by APPLE?"  My next adventure, be back with an answer shortly unless someone else pipes in who already knows the answer....   :-))

@Brad - The initial rumors were that Apple had signed a 5 year exclusivity deal with AT&T. Beginning last year it would have expired in 2012.  Word on the street lately is that there was only a 2 year deal but it has been extended by another year as part of the new pricing (subsidized) on the iPhone 3G, so they'll have it exclusively until 2010.  Unless AT&T or Apple comes out and tells us officially though there's no way to know for sure.

How long is Cingular/AT&T Wireless the exclusive iPhone carrier in the US?

Here's what I found

Matt - I see you did some homework....   :-))

Richard - right now it only works on the AT&T network, but I harfly think that will last forever. I just posted a link in the comment above regarding AT&T's contract with APPLE and iPhone.  I'm sure there's more info out there, but it's past my bedtime.  :-))

Lane - I don't think there's a phone device out there with much more horsepower than an iPhone. I'm sure that SUPRA will have it eKey compatible shortly. It has actually been run on a t-mobile SIM card, but I'm sure APPLE took care of that in their firmware upgrade. Watch This

@Brad - Actually I'm just going from memory. I'm what you'd call a MacAddict, Macaholic, or "One of those Mac guys". I'm constantly up to date on just about everything that has to do with Apple.

If you're looking for horsepower in a smartphone you're going to be hard pressed to find anything that can come close to the iPhone. Its got tons of processing power as evidenced by the games that it can play. Its graphics are untouched by any other smartphone and they rival, and some say beat, purpose built gaming devices such as the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP.

Here's a "Sprint Instinct" that wants to take on the iPhone 3G... check out this site, this is very cool!!

Like some others have said, I don't want to switch providers, though I do appreciate the comment made by Thom? that I should call Verizon retention.  Thanks for the tip.

wow! I currently us the VX6800 on the Verizon network. I use it for just about everything but the stuff you posted really put my phone to shame!