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.
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.
AT&T has developed a software trick that will let modern mobile handsets, including the iPhone, recognize voice commands without the need for specialized voice recognition software.
AppleInsider has the news here along with a video.
With so much noise and misinformation about the upcoming release of the 3G iphone, here is what should be the most accurate information I have been able to
collect:
Pricing and Eligibility
AT&T is making it easy for customers to prepare for their iPhone 3G purchase by posting "Get iReady" tips and frequently asked questions at www.att.com/iphone. The site also will include a link for customers to check their upgrade eligibility and other wireless account information.
iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:
iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
Customers activating a new line with AT&T
Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount
Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).
Current customers may also choose to wait until they become eligible for an upgrade discount. Eligibility is generally determined by amount of time remaining on a current contract and payment history.
Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.
Voice, Data and Text Messaging Plans
AT&T brings iPhone 3G customers the best coverage on the globe and the largest mobile-to-mobile calling community with unlimited calling to AT&T's 71.4 million wireless customers. iPhone 3G customers can choose from four individual AT&T Nation plans, which bundle voice and unlimited data (e-mail and Web browsing).
AT&T NationSM Unlimited: Includes unlimited Anytime Minutes for $129.99 a month.
AT&T Nation 1350: Includes 1350 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $109.99 a month.
AT&T Nation 900: Includes 900 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $89.99 a month.
AT&T Nation 450: Includes 450 Anytime Minutes and 5,000 Night & Weekend Minutes for $69.99 a month.
All AT&T Nation and AT&T FamilyTalk® plans for iPhone 3G include nationwide long distance and roaming, Visual Voicemail, Rollover®, unlimited Mobile to Mobile calling, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, Three-Way Calling and Caller ID.
AT&T will offer FamilyTalk plans, with bundled voice and unlimited data, starting as low as $129.99 a month for two iPhone 3G lines. Up to three additional iPhone lines can be added for $39.99 each.
Unlimited text messaging can be added for an additional $20 ($30 for FamilyTalk plans of up to five lines); $15 (1,500 messages), or $5 (200 messages).
iPhone for Business
Business customers interested in iPhone 3G should contact an AT&T business sales representative or review their account information online to determine their eligibility for upgrade pricing. Corporate e-mail and other business applications require the Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone, which is $45 a month and bundled with an eligible voice plan. Small business customers may qualify for AT&T BusinessTalk, the industry's only shared plan specifically for small businesses. Additional details on iPhone business offerings are available at www.att.com/iphoneforbusiness.
iPhone 2.0 Software
All iPhone customers will benefit from the iPhone 2.0 software, which will be pre-loaded on all iPhone 3Gs and available as a free download for current iPhone customers.
The new software will include numerous enhancements, such as business-class e-mail access via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync; the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), which allows a business to easily create applications customized to its needs; and the App Store, which offers a wide-range of applications — from games to business, education to entertainment and productivity to social networking.
For example, AT&T has developed YELLOWPAGES.COM Mobile for iPhone, which takes local mobile search to a new level by allowing users to discover businesses and local events based on their popularity among other iPhone users, get directions and access business reviews.
I've been a long time .Mac user. And now with introduction of MobileMe and the new @me.com naming convention, here's your chance to get in early on having a great email address name.
For me, .Mac has been great place to store content and have an alternative email address (or an alias) when needed.
Now with the changeover to the .Me platform, if you are a .Mac user,
don't forget that you get an additional 5 alias addresses.
If you want to get a new alias address, think about what might go well with yourname@me.com.
Me? I now have....or what will soon be:
alanweinkrantz at me dot com
weinkrantz at me dot com
uverse at me dot com
itsyouandme at me dot com
seeits at me dot com
And if you are not a .Mac user and want to become one soon, sign up now, and create a great name for yourself!
I felt the best use of my time and this blog was to search for, and post what I thought were the best post-iPhone 3G news stories.
Here goes:
Saul Hansell'sBITS Blog summarizes interview with AT&T's Ralph de la Vega. The new plan goes up $10 and why current iPhone users may not get the $199 price point.
Om Maliks'sGIGAOm Blog begs the right question: is 3G Ready for the iPhone Stress Test? Om also interviews Ralph de la Vega here right after the official launch.
Michael Miller'sForward Thinking Blog gives the best overview of not only the 3G iPhone, but information and insight on Mobile Me
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