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Non-Tech : Bill Wexler's Trading Cabana -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Reaper who wrote (2140)	6/29/2007 9:30:35 AM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6370

Nonetheless...." On the eve of the day of reckoning " AP Thousands Line Up to Buy Apple iPhones Friday June 29, 8:42 am ET By May Wong, AP Technology Writer Thousands of Eager Customers Line Up to Be Among the First to Buy an Apple iPhone SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- On the eve of the day of reckoning for the most-hyped gadget in recent memory, eager customers lined up Thursday, a few even braving torrential rain, to be among the first to get their hands on the coveted new cell phone from Apple Inc. The gadget, which combines the functions of a cell phone, iPod and wireless Web browser, will go on sale in the United States at Apple and AT&T stores at 6 p.m. Friday in each time zone. It's been the focus of endless anticipatory chatter and even parodied on late-night TV. It's hogged so much of the media spotlight, a St. Paul, Minn., minor league baseball team planned to spoof its porcine mascot by selling a real 'iPig.' "This phone is going to blow everything out of the water," Tony Cecchini, 40, a San Antonio, Texas, air conditioner salesman said while braving a downpour to wait outside an AT&T store Thursday morning. Apple and AT&T Inc. -- the phone's exclusive cellular carrier -- have not disclosed how many units will be available at launch, adding to the frenzy that more typically accompanies the releases of video game consoles. Featuring a 3.5-inch touch-screen display, the iPhone will cost $499 for a 4-gigabyte model and $599 for an 8-gigabyte edition. People armed with sleeping bags and folding chairs started lining up on Monday outside Apple's flagship store in New York City, but in the company's San Francisco Bay area backyard, residents apparently took a more laid-back approach and didn't start queuing up until Thursday. "I got here at 8 a.m. and was shocked I was the first in line," said Jerry Taylor, 54, a San Francisco marketing consultant and longtime Macintosh computer user who set up a golf-putting green on the sidewalk to keep himself and a friend entertained. Others were looking to turn a quick profit, expecting the product to sell out quickly and drive up online auction bids to triple the retail price. Apple said it was limiting purchases to two per person at its retail stores, while AT&T said it would impose a purchase limit of one per person at its stores. "We're college kids looking for money," said Josh May, 18, of Benecia, Calif., who with four buddies formed an ad hoc business called "iWait" to stand in line for people who couldn't do it themselves. May and his friends were the first ones in line at the Apple store in downtown Walnut Creek, Calif., after arriving there Wednesday. Other companies, including Playboy, tried to catch a ride on the iPhone publicity wave. "Steve Jobs has delivered the hardware and now Hugh Hefner has delivered the software," Playboy stated in announcing its fresh "iPlayboy" offerings -- free downloads of wallpaper photos and videos "customized" for the iPhone. In San Antonio, AT&T's hometown, Cecchini and his wife, Liz, arrived at 7:30 a.m. Thursday to be the first -- and only ones -- in line at the AT&T store. The couple hopes to pick up three of the 8-gig models -- one for each of them, and one for their 15-year-old daughter, who has already been warned not to take hers to school. Tony Cecchini, who planned to trade in his Treo smart phone from Palm Inc. for an iPhone, said he's convinced designers have figured out how to fully integrate features that are cumbersome on other phones. "This phone is the cutting edge," he said. Executives at rival smart phone makers nervously awaited initial iPhone sales figures from Apple. "I've never seen the kind of feeding frenzy we've seen in the media," Palm CEO Ed Colligan said during a conference call with analysts Thursday. Palm reported a 43 percent plunge in its fourth-quarter profits amid rising costs and blistering competition that offset record Treo sales. "We expect it to be a very successful product -- but I don't know how it can possibly live up to the hype," Colligan said. AP Business Writers Rachel Konrad in San Francisco and Michelle Roberts in San Antonio contributed to this report.

To: The Reaper who wrote (2140)	7/1/2007 8:09:51 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 6370

AP AT&T Says IPhone Activation Improving Sunday July 1, 7:46 pm ET By Sudhin Thanawala, Associated Press Writer IPhone Activation Complaints Continue; AT&T Says Situation Has Improved SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- While blogs continue to simmer with complaints from people who waited months to buy an iPhone and now are experiencing problems activating it, AT&T Inc. said Sunday that the situation has improved. "We are working on any issues on an individual basis with customers who were impacted," said Michael Coe, a spokesman for AT&T, the Apple Inc. device's exclusive carrier. Nearly all customers have been able to activate their phones within five to eight minutes, he said. Without activation, not even the phone's alarm clock works, leading some unhappy customers to joke that their inactive iPhones are little more than expensive paperweights. AT&T attributed the problems to overloaded servers as large number of customers tried to activate their phones over the weekend. After being hit with the initial onslaught, AT&T made technical adjustments to its activation system so that new users wouldn't face the same delays, Coe said. Customers with corporate accounts might also experience delays because AT&T needs authorization from the telecommunications manager at their company to switch them to an individual account, he said. Timothy Johnson, 36, of Collegeville, Pa., said his phone was activated Sunday afternoon, about two days after he bought it. "The experience of the activation is unacceptable," Johnson said. "It all just reeks of ill-preparedness to me." Johnson said he was happy with the iPhone and credited Apple for acknowledging the problem. But he expressed concerned about the type of service he would get from AT&T in the future. Rob Enderle, an industry analyst with The Enderle Group, said the activation problems probably won't hurt iPhone sales. "This kind of thing is not unusual when you have this number of people trying to buy something all at once," Enderle said. Depending on how the companies handle customer's complaints, it could in fact help, he said. If customers feel the company has treated them well, they are more likely to buy and recommend its products in the future. "It doesn't matter whether your product breaks or not," Enderle said. "It matters how well you treat your customers." The iPhone, which also serves as an iPod media player and a wireless Web device, went on sale Friday evening after months of anticipation. Thousands of people lined up in front of Apple and AT&T stores across the country to be among the first to get one. Apple has been updating its Web site nightly to report which of its stores have iPhones in stock. Nearly all AT&T stores have sold out, Coe said. Apple would not provide details about iPhone sales figures or customer activation problems, but a spokeswoman said the company was working hard to resolve any issues. "There are a small percentage of iPhone customers who have had a less than perfect activation experience," said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. Customers can activate the phones by logging on to Apple's iTunes software from their computers. Although many customers said they experienced no delays, others received a message saying activation "will take some additional time." Many buyers said their troubles began when they tried to switch from their current cell phone provider to AT&T. The activation problem has affected both existing AT&T wireless customers and those signing up from another cell phone carrier, Coe said. As of Sunday afternoon, eBay Inc. said more than 2,700 iPhones had been sold on the online auction site at an average price of $740.18. The iPhone retails for $499 for the 4-gigabyte version and $599 for the 8-gigabyte model.