Fortune reports that AT&T may be planning subsidize the iPhone to the tune of $200, reducing the cost of the entry-level 8GB to $199 with a two-year contract.

The lower retail price would likely attract more buyers and help AT&T scalp even more customers from competitors—something the iPhone has effectively done with up to 40% of buyers reportedly coming from other carriers.

Whether the $200 price reduction comes as a direct subsidy or in rebate form, Forbes speculates that only those purchasing directly from AT&T would be eligible.

(Via insanelygreatmac.com.)

ars technica is reporting that AT&T will make their hotspots free to iPhone owners.

Reader Brian Zushi tipped us off a little while ago to the fact that AT&T WiFi hotspots offered not only an iPhone portal, but apparently free, unlimited access for the device. This evening, Brian sent us the screenshots you see here. Apparently, no AT&T hotspot account is necessary, as users are simply prompted to enter their 10-digit mobile number to gain access. We assume this means the hotspot checks the phone number against AT&T’s iPhone account records, which leads us to assume that unlockers may be left out in the cold on this one.

My iPhone is saying it’s about time!

(Via arstechnica.com.)

Comments on ‘Apple punts ‘Penryn’ iMacs’ | Register Hardware
link to thread at bottom

I thought I’d try to save everyone from typing.

John Watts • Monday 28th April 2008 19:13 GMT

Macs are overpriced underspec’d poncey toys for people with too much money. Macs are great value for money - you couldn’t get the same spec for the same money elsewhere. OSX is great Windows is shit. Windows is great OSX is shit. 2GB is nowhere near enough memory these days. 2GB might not be enough for Vista but Macs run fine with it. OSX copied Vista. Vista copied OSX. Some boring shit about the finer points of Intel processor technology that’s the equivalent of showing everyone how big your willy is except nobody is interested whatever. OSX is shit and Windows is shit; I run Ubuntu blah blah blah. I hate Steve Jobs he eats babies. Bill Gates eats the babies and their mothers. I run Cock-Rot Linux and it’s the best in the world and I don’t know why everyone uses Ubuntu when you can do everything using Vi and the terminal feature of my obscure mobile phone (which nobody ever rings ’cause I’ve got no friends). Some other boring comment about processors from someone who wants to show the world that his willy is bigger than the other processor posters (okay, one person read the whole post). Apple hardware is overpriced I hate anyone with an iPhone. Actually BSD is much better than Linux or Windows or OSX, that’s why such a large percentage of people have it installed on their home machines. Doh, didn’t you know that OSX is Unix and runs BSD. Actually it’s not Unix ’cause Apple won’t pay for the certification. Yes it is. No it’s not. Fanboi something. Don’t you know the whole fan-boy thing is old and so juvenille, just like your spelling. I still use a Lisa and it does everything I need it to. I use a Commodore 64 with a hard-drive and it’s better than the Lisa. I don’t know what I’m talking about and haven’t read the article but I’m going to chip in with something irrelevant and wrong anyway. OSX sucks. OSX rocks. Bootcamp. DRM. iTunes. Steve Jobs is on first name terms with Satan. Bill Gates is Satan. I’ve got an iPhone and I love it. It really pisses me off that Apple has to put i in front of everything. Something about PPC versus Intel. Something completely without evidence comparing Apples and Oranges (pun intentional) proving PPC is and always will be better than x86. Something completely without evidence comparing Apples and Oranges proving x86 is and always will be better than PPC. GPL. Google. Linux. QNX. My Dad’s harder than your Dad. My Nan’s harder than your nan. Something anti-American. Angry riposte proving anti-American point. Thoughtful welll thought out riposte clearly disproving anti-American point that nobody will ever read because there’s so much uninformed chaff above it.”

(Via reghardware.co.uk Comments on ‘Apple punts ‘Penryn’ iMacs’ | Register Hardware.)