Jason Unger

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Got a first-gen iPhone you want to mix with a new, 3G unit in an AT&T family plan?

Here's how it's going to be priced, according to an AT&T CSR I spoke to today (this is assuming you go with the lowest, 450/700 minute plan):

- The phones share a voice plan ($69.99 for 2 units)
- The 3G model pays a monthly $30 data fee
- The EDGE model pays its normal $20 data fee
- The EDGE model still gets its 200 text messages built in
- The 3G model can add text messages at the indidividual rate ($5/month for 200, $15 for 1500, $20 for unlimited)

Total that up — for a 2 person family with one 3G iPhone and one EDGE iPhone, both at the lowest plan:

$69.99 (voice)
$30 (3G data)
$20 (2G data)
$5 (200 text messages for 3G)
=
$124.99

Presumably, you will pay the data rate for each additional iPhone added and $9.99 more for voice, so another EDGE phone would be $29.99 more and another 3G phone would be $39.99 more.

Compare that to the 2 line, 3G-only FamilyTalk plan.

At first, it seems reasonable — but consider that two individual plans would cost you only $10 more and you'd get 200 more voice minutes.

When I spoke to the CSR today, she had to go to a higher-up to find out this info — so hopefully AT&T gets their act together and distributes it to store reps soon.

Now that Debbie has an iPhone, this is most likely the route we're going (especially since she gets to keep her text messages).

iPhone 3G: What you need to know (AT&T)

The iPhone is the perfect device to function as the ultimate convergence remote.

Think about it. Remotes suck. Nearly everyone agrees that there's not a truly great remote out there. They have too many buttons, poor user interfaces, and sometimes even use a stylus (which is ridiculous).

Even worse than remotes, however, are keyboards. Since Media Center PCs and Internet-connected consoles/TVs are an active experience (which is a bad idea, in general), you need a keyboard.

But really, who wants to use a keyboard with their TV? Nobody.

To balance the active interaction of typing in URLs (keyboards) with the passive experience of changing channels (remotes), you need a device that can function as both. The iPhone, with its portable form factor and touchpad keyboard, can.

(Sidebar: I call remotes a passive experience because you can't go OUTSIDE of what it allows you. You can only go up or down. Like the elevator vs. the Wonkavator)

Obviously, the iPhone is not the first touchpad controller commercially available. But nearly everyone who has used one agrees it's one of the best.

In the home automation space, both DIY solutions and manufacturer-created options for controlling your home systems have popped up.

SpeakerCraft's Jeremy Burkhardt has even said the iPhone will kill keypads.

"I hate to say it, but this is the beginning of the end for keypads," says SpeakerCraft president Jeremy Burkhardt. "Soon any keypad that isn't emulated on a device like the iPhone will be obsolete."

But don't you need some hard buttons — like for power, volume and channel? Well, maybe. There aren't a lot of hard keys on the iPhone — one power, two volume and a sleep — but I don't see that as a huge hinderance.

The idea here is that the iPhone may not permanently replace your universal remote (since you can't be talking on it at work while someone else wants to change the channel), but when you're in front of the TV, you whip it out of your pocket, bring up the interface, and do everything you need.

When you just want to see what's on, you've got the simple channel/volume/power interface. When you're on YouTube and want to search for a video, the keyboard pops up. It's the best of both worlds.

As I was writing this, Dave Zatz posted a video where he's controlling his TiVo with his iPhone over Wifi, using some Crestron functionality. See? It's starting.

Considering that so many consoles and TVs are getting WiFi, the capability is there. All we need is the official functionality.

Image of the GUI is from Residential Systems Design, which does Crestron and AMX programming.

So I received a package from a public relations company on Tuesday with the expectation of getting a pair of AirDrives for iPhone earbuds to review online.

With a $99 price tag, it's $70 more than the standard Apple offering. (You can't use a normal headphone/microphone combo because of the iPhone's recessed jack– unless you go the Patrick Norton route).

Much to my surprise, it wasn't the AirDrives inside the FedEx box … it was two boxes of FruitaBu organic smooshed fruit twirls.

Yup, somehow I ended up getting strawberry and apple fruit snacks instead of iPhone earbuds. Oops.

So what's a FruitaBu? Here's what the included press release says:

FruitaBu was designed to evoke wonder and excitement in children while enabling them to enjoy organic fruit anytime and anywhere.

Yeah … okay.

So in order to provide you with expert coverage, we're getting experts to weigh in on the FruitaBus. Debbie is taking them into her preschool, where 15 3-year-olds will have the chance to taste the snacks and share their thoughts.

FruitaBu: Join the Fruitolution!

I have a million ideas for products. Literally.

Ask anyone who has ever worked with me, especially Andrew, who I've dragged along on a million cockamamie plans to strike it big.

(My biggest fault is that I have difficulty following through with new ideas, but that's a whole other story.)

Now when it comes to product ideas, it's easy to think of something that serves little to no purpose and has no chance of making money (see: Web 2.0).

So when I was browsing the DVD rack at Best Buy last year, I came up with what I thought would be a useful and potentially profitable idea.

You see, I always have this problem of not knowing when a "deal" is actually a good deal. Is that TV show boxset actually a good price? Is that thing cheaper here? How would I know?

These days, the answer is an iPhone (no, I did not have the idea for that — someone else did). But if you don't have an iPhone, how can you comparison shop when you're no where near a computer?

Simple: SMS information about the product to a service, which spits back prices from Amazon, Froogle, Buy.com, etc. Then you know if you have a deal or not.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Too bad I was one year too late on it.

iPhone users have their own application for it, pricecheckah. And even Amazon is getting into it, offering products for sale by text message.

Obviously, it's a good idea, if there at least three services doing it (or something like it). I'm not convinced it's a dumb idea to try and run with it, but I'm not nearly as excited about it as I once was.

Everyone's got news about the 3G iPhone today — here's the quick rundown.

3G iPhone launch seen in 2nd quarter

Apple (AAPL.O) is expected to launch a high-speed wireless version of iPhone in the second quarter and to produce as many as 8 million of the devices in the third quarter, according to Bank of America.

Gartner Clarifies 3G iPhone Reports

Technology research firm Gartner on Thursday tried to clear up reports that it had said Apple might be buying 10 million iPhones capable of connecting to much faster data networks.

The iPod Observer reported this week that Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said Apple may have ordered 10 million iPhones that support 3G networks, based on rumors in Asia. That report later got circulated on the Web, where the comments were misinterpreted as a Gartner prediction, said Bob Hafner, Dulaney's boss.

Gartner doesn't know whether Apple has actually placed an order for 3G iPhones, but the researcher does believe the next version of the touch-screen smartphone will have those high-speed capabilities. "If Apple was to place an order, then 10 million would be a reasonable number," Hafner said. "And we absolutely believe that in the next-generation iPhone, 3G will be there."

Apple picks trusted supplier to assemble 3G iPhone

It should be no surprise that Apple has turned to Foxconn, the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industries, to build the next generation iPhone.

China’s Commercial Times reported early Friday that Foxconn was competing for the business, and the Dow Jones newswire, citing “a person familiar with the situation,” now reports that Apple (AAPL) has awarded the Taiwan-based firm the exclusive contract.

As long as it doesn't look like this stupid clamshell mockup, I'm psyched.