"Every $100 you move down in consumer electronics brings in a lot more customers," [Gartenberg] said. "Ninety-nine dollars is a psychological price point, so that's a real barrier to move through. It becomes something people can afford - it becomes an affordable luxury.

It's been under the rumor banner for some time now, but we've been told by a trusted source that the long-awaited AT&T iPhone-as-modem tethering plans (preliminary details in MacBlogz' post from November: 5 GB data cap, $30/month supplementary cost) may be ready for prime time during Macworld Expo this week. The tethering announcement might not rise to a keynote-worthy level; it could simply be publicized as a press release during the show.

While $30 is a steep charge on top of an iPhone data plan, it's still cheaper than the $60 you'd pay for an EV-DO or HSDPA card plan for mobile data; for some users it may make more sense than a standalone device. Granted, you can already tether a jailbroken iPhone, but that may get you stomped on by the traffic cops rather promptly.

Another tidbit from our source lends credence to the MegiPod rumor (a larger form factor for an iPod touch device) floated by TechCrunch last week. No timeframes were discussed, so the late 2009 on-sale date is still in play. It's not clear how the hypothetical unit would achieve this feat, but the suggestion is that it would have "full application compatibility" with currently available iPod touch apps ... puzzling, as it implies either resolution-independence for the apps or some pretty impressive scaling tricks to accommodate the larger screen size.

Plenty of folks are probably getting iPhone gift cards this season, and for anyone who wants to make their iPhone the hit of the party (later, once you've actually purchased and activated the thing) here's a lineup for you: some speakers (which fit just about every iPod ever made plus the iPhone), a stylus to keep grubby fingers of your precious, and a case.

I tested the JBL speakers and the stylus. The JBL speakers provide an astonishing amount of sound in such a small package. We turned it up as far as felt safe, and the kids had their fingers in their ears. Plus, at either loud or soft volume the audio was always very clear, not muddled with bass or too tinny on the high end (this was from the iPhone with no EQ).

The Pogo stylus does what it says: provides a poking stick for the iPhone's surface that works. It's a stick, and it pokes -- that's about as good a recommendation as you'll get from a stylus. The thing was just a short piece of aluminum too, so there's no heft at all. If you're used to a Mont Blanc in your hand you may be disappointed, I guess.

Thanks to Dr. Bott for the JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers, iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case (in red and black) and a Pogo iPhone stylus.

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us what music you would play on some really loud speakers.
• The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers ($149.95), iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case ($39.99), Pogo iPhone stylus ($19.95)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

• iPhone 3G 8GB Black - $99US
• iPhone 3G 16GB Black - $199US
• iPhone 3G 16GB White - $199US

Want to unlock your iPhone 3G and place it on any GSM network? Your long wait may soon be over. The anticipated unlock, codenamed "yellowsn0w," should be available later this month -- they are projecting a New Year's Eve release. If you wish to unlock your iPhone, you will need an iPhone 3G with 2.11.07 baseband or earlier, and it will need to be jailbroken.

In theory, if you update your iPhone 3G to the 2.2 firmware release in iTunes, you will lose the ability to perform the unlock because iTunes will update the baseband version. If you plan to do the unlock, you will need to update your iPhone using Pwnage.

Yesterday we told you about DFU mode not working with Macs running the new OS X 10.5.6 update; today, the dev team gave us a little insight into why this might not work. Remember when the unibody MacBooks were released and there were problems with jailbreaking attempts? Well, this is basically the same problem, except it is more widespread. The dev team believes that this is an error on Apple's part, and has nothing to do with Apple attempting to shut down the hacking community. Until there is another update you can attempt to manually replace the affected kernel extensions with the 10.5.5 versions, but the dev team warns that you should "attempt at your own risk."

Thanks to William and others for the tip!

[via Engadget]

After the iPhone debuted, I posted this poll on TUAW, where I first got a sense of how much data YouTube videos and Mobile Safari web pages were pulling down through the network.

We're now about two months into iPhone 3G and I thought I'd repeat the exercise. How much data are you using on that 3G iPhone of yours? Are you still at 2.5G/EDGE levels of usage or has the 3G data bumped you up into new territory?

Pop into your iPhone's Settings > General > Usage pane and check out your Cellular Network Data usage stats. Drop a note in the comments and let us know about how much data you're actually using per month. (Assuming you haven't reset your phone, there will be about 2 months of data there.) And if any of you 1st Gen EDGE iPhone users have comparative data for month-to-month usage (rather than your total stats), that would be great to compare with the 3G numbers.

So have at it, readers. How much data are you using?

A Birmingham, Alabama, woman has sued Apple, claiming its television advertisements about the iPhone 3G being twice as fast as its predecessor are false. She also claims her handset is defective.

The woman, Jessica Smith, is seeking class-action status for her suit.

According to The Birmingham News, Smith's iPhone connects most often to the slower, older EDGE network, and not the 3G network that the advertisements claim.

Apple has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation, but Apple is, as Macworld puts it, "repeatedly sued" over a variety of complaints.

[Via Macworld.]