Good News for Cell Phone Users in Maine

If you've ever tried to use a cell phone in, say, York, or Denmark (ME) or Kezar Lake, you know why this is very good news:

AT&T has announced a planned investment of more than $4 million in the Maine wireless network in 2007. This will bring AT&T's three-year investment in Maine to more than $10 million. This year's planned investment includes the addition of six new cell sites and approximately 140 new radios to nearly 50 cell sites throughout the state. It also includes 15 new hardware cabinets and power amplifiers to increase capacity.

The 2007 enhancements focus primarily on expanding the network's voice capacity and enhancing the EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) data network, which offers faster download speeds for consumers and business users. The expansion also gives the company additional bandwidth to support its growing customer base and growing voice and data usage.

Since the iPhone launch in June of this year, the signal strength on all Cingular/ATT phones seems to have dropped.

testing

Just testing. It's the first blog post from the iPhone. Just to see if I could.
I can, and that's kind of neat.

Early Adopter Blues.....

Apple just (sort of) announced the plans for the new iPod. Sounds like it will have iPhone functionality but in a (just a guess at this point) Nano case.....

Apple Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone in the fourth quarter that could be based on the ultra-slim iPod Nano music player, according to a JP Morgan report.

Kevin Chang, a JP Morgan analyst based in Taiwan, cited people in the supply channel he did not name and an application with the U.S Patent and Trademark office for his report dated July 8.

Apple filed a patent application document dated July 5 that refers to a multifunctional handheld device with a circular touch pad control, similar to the Nano's scroll wheel.

Sorry for the Light Posting...

.....but I've been busy playing with my new iPhone all day. It's every bit as good as they all said it was.

Not Yet

If you want to buy your iPhone on-line, you're on Pacific time....

The Way Life Should Be

We have none of these in Maine....(but the photos sure are fun to look at, aren't they?)
If you still don't understand why that's a good thing, you might ask the Wisdom Weasel.
MacWorld says this is the largest product launch Evah!

The iPhone. 60 Hours and Counting

iPhones go on sale Friday night at 6 pm--which you already know unless you've been living under a rock or have just recently miraculously emerged from a coma.

Lines have started queuing at all Apple Store locations--personally, *IF I decide to buy one, I'm going on-line to buy one (if you're watching CNN this morning, they've incorrectly reported that you cannot buy an iPhone online)--and of course, there are blogs about the wait.

David Clayman is third in line in Manhattan and planning to buy two-one to give to his dad and one to auction off for charity.

Greg Packer is first in line in Manhattan. MacWorld interviewed him. Money quote?

Though he’s committed himself to spending nearly five days living on the street for the iPhone, Packer said he’s not “computer literate” and doesn’t own an iPod. “I’m not really a technology person, but I’m doing the best I can to keep up with technology,” he said.

Then there are the guys who didn't have to wait in line or even pay for an iPhone:
David Pogue gives the iPhone a great review. (It's all relative. If you've read some of his other reviews.....) Steven Levy likes it, too, but he drank the Mac koolaid long ago. Ed Baig says more of the same.

Did you know that there isn't a single Apple store in the state of Maine?

*I'm conflicted. Because of security and company policy, there's NO way to receive my company's email on the iphone (except via webmail), so I'll still be required to carry the company issued Blackberry. I currently don't pay for a cell phone, the company pays my bill (my Blackberry is my cell phone). Why would I get an iPhone? Gadget envy is the only reason and I'm having a hard time reconciling gadget envy with a two year cell phone service contract.

Want One?

We're still trying to decide...but while we decide, this little 3-D animation was just too fun to not post.