iPhone airtimes rates released but photo pricing not mentioned

Apple has posted the airtime rate plans for the iPhone (see above) -- starting at $59.99 for 450 minutes -- although there's no information about MMS pricing.

One interesting aspect of the airtime plans is they all include unlimited e-mail and Web access as part of the package.  The plans listed on Apple's Web site also include as standard visual voicemail (access voicemail in any order you want), rollover minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes.

All the plans come with 200 SMS messages.

The most expensive of the six plans on the Web is $219.99 with 6,000 minutes.

iPhone photo pricing?

If the iPhone's unlimited e-mail/Web policies are the same as AT&T's other plans, you will be able to attach photos to your e-mail messages without paying any extra fee.  The iPhone has a two megapixel camera but no flash and no video recording capabilities -- a big boo for that.

There's no price for sending an MMS, rather than attaching a photo in an e-mail, and two AT&T representatives I called didn't even know any rates were publicly available.  I called an AT&T retail store in northwest Washington, D.C. and AT&T's national sales center and I was the one telling them what the rates were!

So, I guess we'll have to wait a day or two or three longer to learn about MMS pricing.

Update:  The New York Times' technology writer, David Pogue, confirms in his review of the iPhone what "siphon" says in the comments to this article:  The iPhone does not have MMS.  As Pogue notes, many cellular phones cannot receive photos via e-mail -- just via MMS -- so many phones won't be able to receive iPhone photos.

Pogue also posted several photos he took with the iPhone.  See my next article for Pogue's photos and comments.

Activation & Sync video

Apple has also just posted an "Activation & Sync" video (see below) that demonstrates how to (1) activate a new iPhone via iTunes and (2) sync content between iTunes and iPhone.  As I've written previously, iTunes is the main way for iPhone users to transfer lots of content via sideloading (downloaded first to the PC and then via cable to the phone).

The video includes how to sync photos on your computer (see below) as well as music, videos, contacts, calendar, browser links, etc.  The video uses the Macintosh's iTunes software, but as the video notes iTunes works with Windows machines, too.

The combination of Apple's "Guided Tour" of the iPhone and this latest "Activation & Sync" video makes it very easy for a new user to get up and running.

Of course, when you're buying any version 1.0 of any electronic gadget, my advice is definitely caveat emptor.  (Check out the column "Don't Get 'Hung Up' On Buying An iPhone" by technology writer and WiFi guru Glenn Fleishman.)

Comments

[matthew]

i dont know if im willing to swithc networks or even pay that much for the device but i do know this...i really wish i worked for apple right about now...

http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/453262?c_id=wom-bc-mam

--matthew from the technology desk at thenewsroom.com

[Alan A. Reiter]

Hi Siphon,

Thanks for the info. I thought that might be the case, but AT&T's reps didn't know!

[siphon]

The Iphone doesn't do MMS. Thats why there is no plans for it.