Recently, a lot of dust has been kicked up about computing giant Apple's relationship with the cellular provider AT&T, and how it affects developers on the App Store. There's been a federal investigation into this, and it seems things have finally been resolved for the aforementioned developers.AT&T announced on Tuesday that it will now allows iPhone applications that utilize VoIP technology to run on its network, an issue which has been outstanding for longer than most people would like so far. Of course, now that AT&T has allowed this development, Apple is changing its App Store submission terms to fit, according to The Loop. Apple spokesperson, Natalie Kerris, said, "We are very happy that AT&T is now supporting VoIP applications. We will be amending our developer agreements to get VoIP apps on the App Store and in customers' hands as soon as possible."
Which applications will be affected by this? The big ones are Vonage and Skype; having previously been limited to calls over WiFi, they'll now be able to ring others over a cellular connection, vastly improving the usefulness of the service. One big question that people will be asking is, "What about Google Voice?", the main reason that the federal investigation into Apple and AT&T kicked off in the first place. Unfortunately, that particular application isn't actually run through VoIP, so chances are slim that it will be allowed onto the iPhone any time soon. Nevertheless, there is always the chance that it could be, so keep an eye out for any news on that.
Nice.
for 64kbps, 1 gb is about 34 hours.
So yes,even if AT&T cheat with the bandwidth, it is a lot of time.
It is advertised as unlimited, but for those that have gone beyond this untold 5GB ceiling, AT&T has been known to intervene. I can't see any way that anyone can manage this short of tethering to a laptop for a long period of time, though. I've had my iPhone for 2 years (running a 3GS now), and for about a year and a half, I've accumulated a total of 5.2GB on the cellular network. And, I use it daily, sometimes streaming music while in my car. I couldn't see myself going over that limit in a month.
You can rent movies on iTunes, for instance. If you were allowed to download those through 3g on an iPhone (which you aren't), you would pass the 5GB "limit" fairly quickly.
Its hard to do 5GB/month with "casual" use. But if you start downloading movies and ISO (such as Linux, and Windows 7 RCs etc), you can pass that amount in a few days. The only realistic way to do this, currently, is through tethering. With the limits of iPhone features, it is very difficult to do on your iPhone alone.
What will AT&T do if you exceed 5GB? Charge you extra?
Its funny how you can write and advertise in bold letters "Unlimited Data" throw a "*" next to it, and write at the bottom in tiny print "not really..." and get away with it.
I think that's why they don't let you do that in itunes
I think that's why they don't let you do that in itunes
I get about 1.2 Mbps over 3G here. YouTube works fine over 3G. If my phone was plugged in I could probably download a movie rental in 3-5 hours.
For me, on the other hand, all my friends send texts. I rarely go over my 450mins/month, and have a ton of rollover minutes that will most likely go un-used.
So having "Free" calls over WiFi isn't such a big deal, since I have virtually unlimited calls anyway.
However, the Vonage app lets me use my HOME phone number on my iPhone, which is pretty cool. You have to make a new "Vonage Mobile" account to use the iPhone app, but if you put in your Vonage home phone number, calls made from the iPhone do show up on your regular Vonage account. Vonage is VERY misleading about this, since there is NO mention of linking accounts (Vonage and Vonage Mobile), and they even tell you to put your iPhone number in the Vonage Mobile app, and warn you if you try to sign in with your Vonage home phone account.
The app has been getting 1/5 stars because of the confusion of not being able to use your Home account. While it is mostly Vonage's fault for making it so confusing, the app is certainly better than the 1/5 rating. I'd say it was at least a 3.5 or 4 out of 5.
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