Since its inception, the iPhone has sold millions of units worldwide. It provides a simple, streamlined and stable mobile environment to its users, allowing them to interact with groups and individuals around the world through Apps, web services and even games from wherever they happen to be standing.

When Apple first launched the iPhone, CEO Steve Jobs said it was the world’s first true “mobile internet device” and he was right. Sure, there had been other devices that let users connect to the web and perform many of the same features, but the iPhone was the first that gave true access to web services like Google maps, Skype, Twitter, along with a browser that displayed web pages as their designers intended.

Still, even with all of these advancements, Apple continues to fall short in regards to its competitors. Copy/Paste, which has been a default standard in personal computing since the 1970’s, didn’t show up on the iPhones until the 3GS. When presenting the iPhone to the world, Jobs toted it as a mobile email device as well. Email attachments, a huge part of the email exchange between people, often contain pictures, documents, compressed files and more, yet here we are in iOS 5 and we still can’t save many of them natively. Microsoft, a company who has repeatedly made decisions that have placed them far behind the pack, included both the previously mentioned features on their often buggy and crash-a-lot Windows Mobile OS.

My first iPhone was a 3GS and I jailbroke it an hour after un-boxing the damn thing. I couldn’t stand the pre-fab sand box Apple left me in and SB Settings, along with Winterboard and other Cydia Apps, opened up a whole new world to me. Let’s be honest folks, despite all the advancements Apple has made in regards to mobile computing, they just can’t seem to remember to load the basics. Many want the ability to turn on Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth with a single swipe of a finger. Apple forces you to choose either battery life, or journeying through the deep and dark depths of the Settings App. Hope you left the Settings App on the first screen page, if not; good luck finding it without search. The way iOS’s folders and pages work is still reminiscent of PalmOS.

Here we are now with their newest iOS version, iOS5, the stunning spectacular we’ve all been waiting for. “It’ll revolutionize computing”; “It integrates seamlessly with MacOS”, “its got iCloud”. Come-the-frack-on! I still can’t turn my wifi on from the home screen, the notification center is ungodly, (there already several replacement Apps available via Cydia), SIRI, if her server is actually up, takes longer processing what I’ve said than just opening up a browser and typing my question into Google. I swear it’s like someone spending days preparing a lavish, five course, Thanksgiving Dinner with all the trimmings, and forgetting to provide plates and silverware for their guests.

Those are a few reasons as to why my iPhone 4S is sitting in its box waiting on the DevTeam while I stroll around using my 3GS. Yes, I was sold by the dual core processor, updated camera and yes, even SIRI. But after using it for two days, I decided that I won’t take a step backwards just to have the latest and greatest. Apple, your top salesman has left the building, get on it or get used to catering only to those who don’t know any better.

9to5Macis reporting that GameStop

GameStop will begin carrying the full line of Apple’s iOS devices in stores. They will also begin to accept iOS devices as trade-ins for in-store credit. I hear that they are already accepting trade-ins before they have actually obtained stock of new iOS devices to sell, (iPhone 5, iPad 3, whatever else comes up).

It makes sense for GS to begin carrying these devices as a large percentage of iOS users picked the platform because of gaming apps. Also, with everyone from children to grandmothers having a mobile device, the market is technically the biggest market of gamers in the US.

The rumor around the interwebs is that the iPhone 5 will drop next month, and will launch on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. No one is quite positive how GS will be activating these devices for service, but buyer beware, GS hates assisting competing services, (see here). Will they be removing access to the AppStore and GameCenter?

Today Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple. After bringing the company back to the forefront of the market, he states he is no longer able to meet his duties and expectations as Apple CEO.

As expected, Tim Cook will replace Mr. Jobs as CEO, moving up from COO.

Steve’s Resignation Letter:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple”s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple”s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

It truly is sad to see the king of the Pretty PC stand down. We at Idylum  may not be mac fans, but everyone’s got to admire a guy who’s accomplished what Steve has. Idylum wishes you well Mr. Jobs.

Source CNN, 9to5mac

Pre-orders for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS 8GB are Temporarily Suspended

Effective close of business on June 15, 2010, the ability to place pre-orders (new activations, upgrades and exchanges) has been temporarily suspended.  There is a special team that will be manually working all pre-orders from June 15th that were held in a pending status.  Under no circumstances should new pre-orders be attempted in the system.

This suspension impacts Phoenix, Premier, OPUS (COR), and System X (DMDR).

Please stay tuned to future bulletin communications for any updates.

So for all you fan-boys and girls who want to be the first to have the newest iPhone in your circle of friends but didn’t make it to the store on the 15th, it will not be happening. It’s smarter to wait for the first gen bugs to pop up and be fixed before purchasing a $300+ device anyway.

I don’t think AT&T likes bad press. The story reported earlier concerning Girogio Galante’s being threatened with a Cease & Desist letter has concluded with an AT&T senior VP contacting Galante and providing a sincere apology.
Here’s what AT&T has officially released:

We are apologizing to our customer. We’re working with him today to address his questions and concerns. This is not the way we want to treat customers. From Facebook to significant customer service channels, AT&T strives to provide our customers with easy ways to have their questions addressed. Because of this incident, we are reviewing our entire process to ensure a situation like this does not happen again.

Giorgio says he’s still leaving AT&T and switching to the Evo 4G on Sprint’s network. Hopefully for him they aren’t the first to jump on the pay-per-byte bandwagon.

As I informed you yesterday, AT&T is going to change their Data Plans to a pay-per-byte format. Well a dissatisfied AT&T customer, Giorgio Galante, decided to get in touch with AT&T’s CEO, Randall Stephenson, via email. No Mr. Stephenson’s email address isn’t public, but if you can’t find it with Google, you probably don’t care much about the data price change anyway. Most would think that an email from an end user to the CEO of a company as large as AT&T would get lost in the clutter, but Mr. Galante did get through and even received a response. One of AT&T’s “executive response team” called and left him a voice mail thanking him for his feedback and then proceeded to inform him that any more attempts to contact the CEO will result in a Cease and Desist letter being sent to him.

Now what did Giorgio say in his email to trigger this response?

Just this:

Thanks for making the switch to a Sprint HTC Evo an even easier decision. I don’t think even Steve Jobs can spin 2GB for $25/month as a good thing for the consumer. I may not use 2GB/month today, but the point of these devices (iPad 3g, iPhone 4G, etc.) is that we’ll be able to do more and your network either can’t handle it, or you’re just trying to squeeze more money out of your customers. The $15/month 200MB plan is just a crappy anchor price that makes the $25 plan look like a better deal than it really is, given that the $30/”unlimited” plan goes away.

Please don’t have one of your $12/hour “Executive Relations” college students call me – I’ve found them to be generally poorly informed (Engadget.com readers know more than they do about AT&T) and they have little authority to do anything sensible.

This is simply a soon-to-be former customer feedback.

Regards,

Giorgio G.

Now that didn’t appear to be particularly nasty or even distasteful. Sarcastic, yeah, distasteful or threatening, definitely not.

In fact, he made some pretty good points. When I called AT&T yesterday to get some info on the story, I had to go through three representatives before I got a hold of anyone who even knew about the change, much less the rules AT&T made for those already contracted. Also, he’s dead on with the $15 a month for 200 MB plan being nothing but an anchor to push customers towards the $25 a month plan.

Now what are the AT&T customers to do? They don’t want or care to hear how their customers feel about the new rate changes. So much so that they will threaten to send C&D orders to anyone who attempts to contact someone at AT&T with the ability to make changes. Lets see how this plays out.

You can check out Giorgio’s full story here:
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

(via Geekosystem)

UPDATE:
Apparently there is more to the story. The email that I posted above was the second email sent to AT&T, below you can read the previous email sent by Giorgio Galante, (or at least what he’s willing to share), below.

I’ve been a customer since the iPhone 3G came out (2 years ago). My current eligibility date for a new phone is sometime in March of 2011. I’d consider sticking around if AT&T bumps up my eligibility date such that I can get an iPhone 4G on its launch day.

In general I’ve not been the happiest AT&T customer (ahem…tethering was promised to be available in early 2009 and finally AT&T is getting around to offering it as an option.) You’re bumping your ETFs to $325 for new contracts as of 6/1. Not only do I spend $80 a month with you on the iPhone, but I also throw another $30/month at you with my iPad 3G.

Android is now becoming a compelling option, and Sprint is rolling out their 4G network. I’ve contacted your customer service department and they’ve stated there’s nothing they can do to change my new phone eligibility date. Fair enough – customer service reps rarely have the authority to make the right business decision.

If you want to keep my $110/month flowing, bump up my eligibility date. Otherwise I will go to Sprint and no longer require any of your services (3G iPad included since the HTC Evo is a hotspot for up to 8 devices.)

Bump up his eligibility date? All of this is over a better price on the iPhone4G? I guess Giorgio doesn’t realize just how much money AT&T loses on iPhone sales.

At Steve Jobs’ last keynote speech, he introduced us to the Apple iPad. It was sleek, mobile, and considerably more than I wanted to pay for a giant iPhone. No longer do I have to worry about buying a big screen iPhone as China Grabber is now selling the iPed here. The iPed is a knock-off product made in Shenzhen, China at the Foxconn plant, which just so happens to be the same place that manufactures the iPhone.

Personally, I’d prefer this to the iPhone as it comes with Android OS installed which keeps Jobs and his cronies from locking out features I’m sure to like. Also, I’m cheap, and being a cheapskate, $150.00 is perfect for this hardware. Check out the video below so see how it works, it’s in Japanese, so good luck understanding the dialogue.

That’s right folks, the honchos at AT&T have decided that offering Unlimited Data packages are not profitable enough, and have decided to implement pay-per-byte data plans. Gizmodo reported back in March that this sin against geeks was coming, we just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.  Below is a chart showing the classic plans vs. the new, and from the looks of it, anyone who wants to tether their phone or iPad to another device is going to get ripped off, big time.

After speaking with an AT&T representative, we’ve found that the pay-per-byte data plans will  apply only to new contracts. Meaning, if you currently have an unlimited data plan, you’re fine as long as  you keep renewing the contract indefinitely. I guess all the people who thought they would wait to buy an iPad won’t be getting the $30 a month unlimited data plan that was pushed so hard at launch.

The Rep. also stated that they will begin offering the new packages on June 7th. Do you think it coincidence that they change the data plans the same day of Steve Jobs’ WWDC keynote? Will we be hearing of a launch date for the iPhone 4G? Perhaps this whole data restructure is AT&T is preparing to cash-in with another influx of iPhone customers playing with every web service they can find an app for.

Although AT&T is the first Wireless provider to switch to this new formula, you can be sure that the others will be following suit shortly.

(edit) We just got a hold of this graphic, thought we’d share: