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Apple and AT&T have adopted a close variant of AT&T's standard smartphone data plan, starting with 450 minutes, 200 SMS text messages, 5000 night/weekend minutes, rollover minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile for $59.99/mo.. Family plans start at $80/mo., raising minutes to 700 with unlimited night/weekend minutes.
Current AT&T customers can add iPhone service to their existing plan for $20/month; new customers essentially pay standard AT&T rates plus $20/month per iPhone.
Enthusiastic texters users can blow through iPhone's 200 SMS message quota in a hurry. AT&T offers more expensive plans for these users; upgrading to 1500 texts adds another $10, and unlimited texting is available for $20. (We speculate that iPhone's lack of internet chat is an intentional omissions designed to let AT&T sell service upgrades.)
Apple and AT&T state that all iPhone plans require a two-year service commitment. However, iPhone buyers have discovered two workarounds.
With a sufficiently poor credit record, an AT&T store can provide you with a special code to enter in iTunes activation that enables you to obtain a contract-free, month-to-month service plan at a higher price about $86/month.
If you buy from Apple, which does not perform an in-store credit check, you can enter an invalid social security number during iTunes activation to force a credit check failure. iTunes will then let you buy a pay-as-you-go "GoPhone" plan. We recommend against using a random number — if it turns out to be in use, you've committed identity theft. 999-99-9999 seems to be a truly invalid number, but we have not tested this.
Both of these methods have a higher monthly cost than the standard plans, though, so the benefit is marginal.
Customers who are currently under contract with other carriers may have to pay cancellation fees to the other carrier to terminate service early. AT&T does not offer a fee reimbursement option.

Good news for all those users with a Nokia N97 out there is that the Firmware v20 for Nokia N97 has started to roll out and is now being made available for users to download to their devices.
The update, which is region specific for now, brings along a lot of new features, a lot of bug fixes and a new interface design that everyone will love.
Following are the new most noticeable features of the Firmware v20 for the Nokia N97.

• Improved touch screen scrolling.
• Ovi Maps 3.1 with 3-D Maps.
• Nokia e-mail, Ovi Contacts and Ovi Store.
• VoIP support.
• Improved battery and memory performance
• Improved image and video stability

Here is how to update to Firmware v20 using your device. Set your device to alert you when new software updates are available.

1. Select Applications > Software Update in your device's menu.
2. Choose the applications you'd like to update.
3. Follow the instructions on the device display.

You may also be able to update individual applications even if there is no software update available for your device.
For instructions on how to update through PC, follow this page.

Opera is no doubt one of the most sophisticated web-browsers for mobiles and smartphones, and it just got a whole lot better for Nokia phones.

The new Opera 10 Mobile beta for Nokia and symbian smartphones brings a whole new generation of mobile browsing to life, all with some new features and a totally new interface.
The crisp, new look introduces the Speed Dial, tabbed browsing and the always convenient password manager to Opera Mobile. Opera Mobile 10 beta is optimized for both touchscreen and keypad-style navigation. Here is what the new Opera 10 Mobile beta looks on the Nokia N97.



The major focus was put on performance and that's what makes this release twice as faster than its predecessor. Opera Turbo is also integrated, saving end users both time and money with its server-side compression technology.

For those not having a smartphone, they can still download Opera Mini 5 Beta to play around with almost the same features.

Its finally here! the unlock for the 05.11.07 baseband on the iPhone.
Blacksnow is now available to users and can be downloaded through Blackra1n RC3 which has been released by Geohotz.

Note: All those with Blackra1n.app RC1 and RC2 on their iPhone can tap to launch the app and click on ra1n, now replaced by 'Icy', to update to Blackra1n RC3. Once updated, launch Blackra1n.app RC3 and tap on Snow to unlock the iPhone on baseband 05.11.07

And for the first-timers, all you have to do is Jailbreak the device using Blackra1n RC3 and then Unlock it using the Blacksnow tool. Instructions have been provided.

Important: Only those who wish to unlock their iPhone with the baseband 05.11.07 should attempt to follow this hack. A tutorial for those who had Jailbroken using Pwnage but wish to unlock using Blacksnow would be provided shortly.

The word "revolutionary" is thrown around a lot in the world of high technology. Once in a while, something comes along that actually deserves the label. In 1984, the Macintosh revolutionized personal computing and set the pattern for every computer user interface since then. Twenty three years later, Apple has started another revolution with the iPhone.
Despite the widespread adoption of mobile phones, owners don't love their handsets. Some, such as the Motorola RAZR and Q and the Blackberry Curve, offer striking hardware design but a software personality that is complex, hard to use and confusing. And some cellular phone carriers, such as Verizon, inflict painfully slow, custom-branded interfaces on their subscribers. Most people simply accept the pain as part of the experience.
Apple decided that it doesn't have to be that way and set out to design a better mousetrap. In doing so, the company is turning the cell phone industry on its head — and aiming to get a slice of that $115 billion pie.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs's greatest successes have come from the consumer market. The original Apple computer, created by Steve Wozniak and marketed by Steve Jobs, sold to hobbyists. The Apple II was marketed to families. The Macintosh was the computer "for the rest of us." Pixar exists solely for consumer entertainment. The iMac? Consumer. iPod? Consumer. iTunes? Consumer. All huge successes for Apple.
With iPhone, Apple is taking its consumer market focus, sense of design and user interface expertise into a huge existing market. And that is the risk. With the Apple II, the Macintosh, the iPod and iTunes. Apple entered a small market and grew it into a huge market. But there are dozens of major companies already in the mobile phone handset and carrier space, and competition is cut-throat. (The same week that Apple introduced iPhone, LG and Prada introduced the equally stunning KE850 touchscreen smartphone, with similar design, screen and specifications - and a $700 price tag.)
Handset makers try to one-up each other in features to garner orders from carriers (who subsidize the handsets to win subscribers), while carriers ruthlessly play handset makers against each other to get the best price and control what features are available to their subscribers, and at what price.
Apple enters a market in a position traditionally considered one of weakness — carriers have all the power, says convention wisdom. Yet Apple has crafted a deal with AT&T to sell iPhones and service, without the traditional handset subsidy, and is even rumored to get a cut of iPhone subscription revenue. And AT&T gets new customers, with a lower acquisition cost, and the opportunity to sell service upgrades (see Pricing, below). And did we mention that iPhone customers are locked into AT&T for two years?
Apple and AT&T are breaking all the rules. How well will it work? It all depends on how well iPhone delivers on its promises.
iPhone tackles the truly hard part of the puzzle — the user experience. Companies such as Palm, Nokia and Motorola have attempted this before, but the results have never been particularly satisfying. Where existing handset makers have replaced menus with full-color animated icons and warning messages with Windows-style dialog boxes, Apple has reinvented the user interface from the ground up. And instead of the limited WAP mobile "web" and unreadably small email interfaces, Apple has fully integrated core Internet web and email functionality into the device.
Apple has turned using a mobile phone from a chore into a pleasure, and has beautifully and seamlessly integrated Internet tools into the package. Like the Apple II, the Macintosh and the iPod, iPhone is posed to win hearts and minds and leave competitors scrambling to catch up for years.

Will the new BlackBerry be a storming success? Customers will soon be able to judge for themselves whether the Storm 2 is the iPhone killer its makers hope it will be, as BlackBerry manufacturers RIM have announced that it will be available on Vodafone from October 26.

Nokia has alleged that Apple's iPhone infringes on a number of its patents. The 10 patents reportedly relate to technologies that are "fundamental" to device and mobile compatibility standards.

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," Nokia spokesperson Ilkka Rahnasto said in a statement obtained by the Wall Street Journal.



"Apple is also expected to follow this principle."

Rahnasto added that Nokia has invested approximately $60 billion in developing the technology covered by the 10 patents.