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AT&T 's Randall Stephenson Talks to Walt Mossberg at the All Things Digital Conference. Worth Watching

Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman talks at the All Things Digital Conference...  he talks about churn, the impact of the iPhone, the use of data and how AT&T is managing the volumes of data that is being used on devices like the iPhone.

 

AT&T Delivers as First Responder at SXSW

Yup, there was a hurricane at SXSW in Austin over the weekend that overloaded AT&T's WiFi and Cell Phone service.

Being there, I noticed it was difficult at times to use my iPhone for making phone calls, checking email or posting on Twitter.  

No, it was not a hurricane in the sense of bad weather.

Rather, it was a hurricane of brains, creative types, coders, film makers, web types, with Macs and iPhones in hand that were overloading the network.  At first I thought that AT&T, who was providing the service would have known better that when you mix geeks and bloggers, we stretch the network to the max.

Today it was all good.  

AT&T came through, by tweaking the network and getting things humming again.  So, kudos the AT&T, but... please: for next year, please juice it up starting on day one.

Related media coverage here in the NY Times, Wired, Silicon Alley Insider and of course, all over Twitter...on

Wanna Get Out of Your Spring Contract and Switch to AT&T? Here's How

If you still drool over wanting an iPhone, but are still on contract to Sprint, here's how to get out of your contract!

Info here via the rascals over at Gizmodo

iPhone Display at WalMart in San Antonio

WalMart just started selling the iPhone today. Here is the model line-up.  You can't buy online from WalMart.

Here's a 49 second video I shot at the WalMart on Austin Hwy in San Antonio.

The Point of Purchase Display is the front end-cap, surrounded by other, lower end phones.  The salesman I spoke to told me that the plan is to attract customers who don't normally shop at BestBuy, an AT&T store or an Apple store.  (intro music info here. I was listening to Richard Turner's "Best of the Beatles Radio Show" on KSYM)

How To Save Money with Your iPhone When You Roam Overseas

While AT&T offers international roaming plans for the iPhone, you can rack up a huge bill without knowing it.... until you get home and get the bill.

The problem with AT&T's billing plans is that for $24.99 you get 20MB of Data, or $59.99 for 50MB, or $119.99 for 100 MB, or $199.99 for 200 MB. 

Sounds good, but how do you know how much data you are really sucking up?

My Suggestion:  Don't Pay for Roaming.   This is not all AT&T's fault.  They have to pay reciprocal carriers for airtime and for some reason, when your iPhone sucks up data, they gotta pay the local carrier and in turn you gotta pay AT&T.

Here's How To Save:

1.  Turn Data Roaming "OFF."  Always make sure you have downloaded the latest version of iTunes for your iPhone and when you get to the SETTINGS button, be sure you turn the data roaming "ON/OFF" button on Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming.

2.  Use WiFi Instead of 3G/GPRS/EDGE.  WiFi is readily available in many of the international airports, hotels, bars and cafes which you can use to check email and browse the web.  I did this when I was in Israel in March and it worked just fine.

3.  Turn Fetch New Data "Off."  Check your email and sync your contacts and calendars manually rather than having the phone do it for you.

To engage this features tap on Settings>Fetch New Data>, Change Push to "OFF" and Select "Fetch Manually."

4.  AT&T tries to promote their global data packages.  Don't buy them.  You will have to micro-manage and figure out how much data you have used.  And when you are traveling, it's sometimes good to just shut things off and enjoy your travels, even if it's for business. 

Do you have any AT&T global data billing horror stories to share?  Comment below.

Photo by Alan Weinkrantz (c) 2008 - Shot on location on the beach promenade in Tel Aviv

And Now….boxee.tv on Three Screens

Over the past 6 months a small startup named boxee has been making big waves in the digital media space. The company makes downloadable software for your computer (Mac&Linux at the moment) that weaves personal media, streaming Internet content, and social networking with a visual interface that makes your media come to life.

Boxee is, if you will, sort of what I could call PBS – not Public Broadcasting Service, but rather the Peoples' Broadcasting Service. As you add friends to boxee, you can see what shows they're watching and exchange recommendations with each other. In this way, you have the opportunity to create a bottom up approach to video programming that includes most of the mainstream online TV sites like Hulu, CBS, theWB, and more. It's the people and not the broadcaster who decides what merits viewing in what is becoming and increasingly noisy and crowded marketplace for attention and viewership.

The best way to demonstrate the power, freedom and social community aspect of Boxee was to shoot the video that follows below. While the focus of my review remains on the video content portion, my review illustrates how to use boxee on an iPhone, a laptop and a big screen TV. You get a pretty cool way to enjoy moviews, TV shows, music, photos and streaming content from sites like Hulu, CBS, Comeday Central, Last.fm, Flickr, etc.

I'm just now starting to make new "friends" on boxee and listening to recommendations for programming that I can follow.

But Wait! There's More!

Today, the company will be announcing that Netflix subscriber can play, browse and queue Netflix 'Instant Watch' movies from within boxee.  If they're away from home, they can queue movies from their computer or phone, and then watch them on the big screen when you get home. I was told that Netflix on AppleTV is not currently available as they are working to overcome the hardware limitations of the AppleTV.  Check back with boxee's blog  for progress on this initiative..  The boxee Netflix application was created using the embeddable Silverlight plug-in for Netflix, and they are now recognized as a Netflix affiliate.

Other announcements today include news services and channels such as:

New Content
- TheWB - shows like Angel, Buffy, Firefly, The O.C., Smallville, and In Living Color
- The Boston Globe's Big Picture blog - amazing photos from around the world
- MTVMusic - songs/artists in your collection are now linked with music videos

Updated Content
- Hulu - enhanced UI with access to personal queues from Hulu.com
- YouTube - newly developed interface with improved browsing/playback as well as h264 support
- CNN, Flickr, Picasa - custom interfaces with improved browsing and playback

All in all, a very cool approach to delivering a three screens experience.

Highly Recommended

Very Cool Application for Your iPhone: Mobile Google Apps

With Mobile Google Apps for the iPhone you can...

Search with your voice so you don't have to type. New!
Search with My Location makes finding business, weather, and movie info easy. New!
Suggestions appear as you type to save you time.
Launch Gmail, Google News, and more from one place.

BlackBerry Bold Available from AT&T on Tuesday - iPhone vs BlackBerry? Get a BlackBerry and an iPod Touch?

The new BlackBerry Bold goes on sale Tuesday (don't forget to vote for Obama - I  mean, McCain)  and is available at the AT&T stores in your neck of the woods.

My "review" is not a traditional review.  It's a series of hopefully unbiased interviews with friends and colleagues that I knew had either a a BlackBerry or an iPhone.  Since the Bold is brand new, I was really looking for first impressions.

For a thorough review see this one on Gizmodo, or this one from Howard Chui, and this one from CNet. For really great comparative review of the Bold vs. the iPhone, see the iPhoneBlog review here. 

The Bold is a wonderful piece of hardware. The screen is superb.  The keys, I must admit are superior to my iPhone.  But having been a long time previous BlackBerry user, I still lean towards my iPhone, mostly because of the Apple ecosystem that I have embraced.  

As a stand alone single purpose device, the BlackBerry reigns supreme.  Yes, I know you can get on the web, take a few photos and even import music, but as an overall device, coupled and integrated with the Mac, the the iPhone is the better choice.  

Or, if you must have both, get the Bold and an iPod Touch. 

Obama Promises Free Health Care. AT&T Actually Delivers on Free: iPhone and BlackBerry Bold Customers Get WiFi at 17,000 Hot Spots

Hey folks, I try not to inject political stuff into the blog, but if you vote for Obama the realities of free healthcare, will not only cost you a ton of money, but the quality of your healthcare will go down.

OK.  I'm done.

Now for the good news.  

Attention iPhone and soon to be BlackBerry Bold customers: AT&T today announced it will begin offering free AT&T Wi-Fi^SM service to current and new iPhone 3G and iPhone customers, at 17,000 hot spots including Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and thousands of other locations.  

The BlackBerry^® Pearl^TM 8120 and the BlackBerry^® 8820 will follow later this year, and AT&T plans to make the offer available to more mobile devices in the future. Additional details, including instructions on how to access the hot spots, are available 

 Learn more at www.attwifi.com.

 

BlackBerry Bold or iPhone? Jay Oatway Chimes in....

Here's Hong Kong based Jay Oatway, who talks about dressing up or dressing down in making your decision on a BlackBerry Bold vs. an iPhone.....  Jay also talks about the upcoming BlackBerry Storm which will have a touch screen interface like the iPhone.