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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Retail, Rumors, iPhone, iPod touch

Rumor: Unsubsidized iPhone to be offered by AT&T

Looking to pick up an iPhone, but not interested in getting bogged down by any contracts with "the Man?" Your time may have come -- The Boy Genius apparently got their hands on some slides from an AT&T training session saying on March 26, AT&T will offer a "No-commit" for their existing customers on both iPhone models -- it'll be $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB.

This isn't quite a deal anyone's planning to jump at, however, since the phones themselves are likely still locked to the AT&T network. Not to mention that you've got to already be an AT&T customer, and they're only selling one phone per line that you've already got. Which means these phones are... for Grandma, who doesn't want a contract and can't make it to the store herself? Businesses might be interested as well, we guess, but for most of us, it's still cheaper to just buy the phone and sign the AT&T contract (assuming that you actually want to use it as a phone).

What it does likely say, however, is that AT&T is expecting an iPhone hardware upgrade, and wants to clear out as much of the stock they've got now as they can (to suckers who are willing to pay more).

[via Engadget]

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Software, Apple, Deals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Presidents of the USA release iPhone app with their music in it

Wired has a story up about an interesting tactic The Presidents of the United States have put into action (no, not the Commanders in Chief, the pop punk trio from the '90s). While they already do have their music in the iTunes Music Store, one of the band's members has joined a company that makes iPhone software, and they're also putting all of their tunes into the App Store as well. The app sells for three bucks and allows you to listen to tracks from the four albums of material that the band owns themselves -- though only through a stream, which, according to the reviews, can sound pretty bad at times.

So interesting idea, pretty poor implementation. Still, this might be a good way for even smaller bands to get their music out there and into people's hands -- the only up-front cost on the App Store is the $100 registration fee, and Apple's fine with whatever you put out there. As Wired notes, they get paid their 30% whether you're selling your tunes via an app or through iTunes. Plus, with a dedicated app, you can add in news, throw in interactive extras, and put whatever else you can think of in there.

I doubt this is the last time we'll hear about an artist (or even a corporation) selling an iPhone app with content built-in to promote themselves. The only issue is that anyone releasing "promoware" like this should be required (either by Apple or just by consumers) to offer some actual functionality along with the promotion.

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