Technogearophilia

It seems that AT&T is not singing I Love New York – or, at least, it’s not singing about loving NYC iPhone users. They have quietly stopped selling or offering the iPhone anywhere in the New York City metropolitan area.

AT&T has been struggling to meet the network demands that convergence devices like Apple’s iPhone have been making on the telco giant’s aging, insufficient, and underpowered network infrastructure.

Stephen in Brooklyn made the discovery while shopping for a new phone on December 27,2009, and reported it to the The Consumerist.

I was on the AT&T Wireless website trying to get an iPhone. However, when I put in my zip code 11231, the site says the iPhone is unavailable. This seemed a little odd so I started punching in other famous zip codes: 90210, 60609 (spiegel catalog), 02134 (zoom, an old children’s show). For theses cities, LA, Chicago, Boston, iPhone is available. Then I looked up some other zip codes: Dallas, Miami, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco. All those cities are ok. Then I started putting in more NYC zip codes: midtown, Staten Island, the Bronx…no iPhone available.

This is weird…AT&T has cut off New York City.

Simply put, AT&T does not have the network capacity to provide iPhone service in densely populated urban centers and has chosen to eliminate coverage in those areas rather than move forward with upgrading their network in cities like New york.

This is one of the best reasons for manufacturers of mobility devices like smart phones and netbooks to refuse to enter into exclusive contracts with telco firms.

Hopefully Apple has leaned its lesson and will let AT&T – or any telco – be the exclusive carrier for their rumored tablet.

In geek circles – especially Macophiles – there has long been rumors of Apple finally releasing a Tablet PC. The hype surrounding the tablet’s release is quite palpable amid the gearophiles. Yet, to date (December 27, 2009),  it is nothing but hype and rumors, though hype and rumors that have given Apple a massive bump in stock prices.

Will This Be Apple’s New Tablet PC?

We can, however, make some reasoned inferences based on various insider predictions and corollary data.

It Will Be the iSlate

The semi-mythical Apple Tablet will most likely be name the iSlate, since Apple registered the iSlate.com Domain Name through an intermediary some time ago. Even if this was a originally – circa 2007 – “defensive” registration, Apple would most likely choose to use the name.

It Will Be Announced in Mid-to-Late January, 2009

iLounge has been predicting since September that Apple will announce their Tablet on or before January 19, 2010. The Financial Times said on December 23, 2009, that Apple is expected make a major product announcement on Tuesday, January 26th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where Apple’s rented a stage for several days. Silicon Alley Insider also predicts that Apple is going to demo their new Tablet in January.

Of course this is the predicted time-frame for the announcement of the “iSlate.” It would most  likely not be available for consumer purchase until March, 2010 at the earliest. May or June would be more conservative estimates on the tablet’s actual availability.

It Will Cost Between $750 – $1000

The consensus of insider opinion is that the “iSlate” will be priced in the $750 – $1000 range, at least during its initial release. It may, the market being what it is, be like the iPhone and have a dramatic price drop later to ensure maximum market saturation.

AppleInsider has said that the tablet is expected to retail for somewhere between the cost of a high-end iPhone and Apple’s most affordable Mac notebook.  Gizmodo has said that it would cost $700 – $900.  Taiwan Economic Times says it’s between $800 and $1000.

Technogearophilia’s estimate is that there will be several minor variants and the price ranges will initially be $750 – $1000.

It Will An Improved 10+ Inch  iPhone / iPod Touch

The “iSlate” will not be a fullfledged computer or netbook. It will be more of an iPhone OS media player and light communication device with expanded document reading / writing capabilities and websurfing capabilities.

iLounge claims that it will run the iPhone OS, come in two(2) variations: one with 3G networking capabilities, and one without, and, rather than being a netbook competitor, is designed to expand the iPhone and iPod touch media concept to its next potential level: as a slate-like replacement for books and magazines, plus all of the media, gaming, app, and web functionality of the iPhone and iPod touch.

Some iSlate Conceptual Design Fantasies

The world will just have to wait and see which, if any, of these predictions come true. There have been several previous aborted attempts by Apple to bring a tablet of some sort to market, so this all has to still be classed as rumor.  If nothing else, issues with AT&T that arose over the iPhone may delay any 3G enabled version for some time or make it less than attractive to the consumers.

Still, this rumored tablet from Apple would be the awaited “next big step” in both the Mobility and Convergence market spaces.  I look forward to seeing if the “iSlate’ has as much impact as the iPod did.