Apple Employees to Get Free 8GB iPhones

[safan80]

This is cool
http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Employees+to+Get+Free+iPhones/article7881.htm

Apple to give free 8GB iPhone to all full-time employees

Every job has its perks, but the perk from Jobs for Apple employees will soon be making many outsiders green with envy. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at a company town hall meeting that all full-time employees, and part-time employees with the company for at least a year, will receive a free 8GB iPhone, reports Think Secret.

While the phone launches today, Apple employees will have to wait until the rabid consumer demand is satisfied. The free iPhones will not be delivered until late July. According to Apple’s last annual report, the company employs 17,787 full-time workers.

Getting a $600 phone for free is a sweet pick-up, though it is unclear if the deal comes with any strings attached. Consumers looking to own an iPhone will have to sign up for a two-year rate plan at a minimum of $59.99 a month – plus other fees – tagging on over $1,400 in additional charges over the cost of the hardware itself. Apple employees have not yet been informed on what service contract requirements, if any, must be tied to their free iPhones.

Think Secret also reports that Apple will offer its extended two-year “AppleCare” warranty service for the iPhone for $69. The AppleCare plan for iPhone will not be available in time for launch, but owners may opt for the extra coverage any time while the iPhone is still under its original warranty.

[Ubermann]

"two-year rate plan at a minimum of $59.99 a month"

What ?

[zerazax]

iPhone requires a 2 year plan with a monthly payment even AFTER you pay $ 600 for the phone

[Chewbenator]

Good advertisement, who is going to turn down a free iphone, and when they are using it they can spread the word.

[xlink]

not like it costs apple the full $600... more like $200

[MrDeeds]

Good advertisement, who is going to turn down a free iphone, and when they are using it they can spread the word.

I would. Its a visually appealing phone and all but the functionality leaves alot to be desired. A friend of mine got his yesterday and i played with it for a bit but for someone like me who already has a pda phone there was a certain point when i just wanted a damn keyboard.

Not an on screen keyboard but a slide-out. I've got grown man size hands and i had a lot of issues having entering info on the on-screen keyboard. The phone doesnt have many apps maybe that'll change later on but right now after about ten minutes you start feeling like "is that it?".

The most impressive thing about the phone would be the clarity and size of its screen. For me to be interested though they'd have to put a slide-out keyboard on it, add windows mobile 6, and yea it be great if i didnt have to change my cell provider. I've got a great $30 a month plan with unlimited internet and evdo speeds.

[Shintai]

1400$! Thats nuts!

600$ for the phone, ok very expensive but ok. 24 months of 60$ a month = insane. That is also illegal here anyway. You can maximum keep a customer for 6 months with a binding.

[Kasparz]

1. Bluetooth is ONLY good for connecting a headset. That's it.
2. There is no file browser on the device at all. Data must be organized (if at all) in the appropriate application.
3. The camera is a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter. Pictures come out okay on the device, but nothing too fancy on a monitor, especially if it was an attempt at a macro shot.
4. SIM card is damn near impossible to open, if at all. I didn't look into it extensively.
5. Web browser is slow, even over WLAN. Even the simple OneList web app that was created takes around 20 seconds to load over WLAN. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website, and you can not save any images you find from a website either. The only nice thing about it is the tabbed browsing, which crashed on me when I went to Engadget and YouTube on two tabs. This is the only application that allows you to use the keyboard in landscape mode.
6. The keyboard sucks. It gets slightly better after the iPhone "learns" you, as the employees said, but even then, it's not a device you can use with one hand comfortably, much less without looking.
7. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.
8. No custom ringtones (yet, as we were being told) and the alert tones can not be changed whatsoever.
9. The default ringtones are incredibly lame.
10. The only form of customization outside of a lame default ringtone is the wallpaper, which you'll only see when you need to unlock the device or when you get a phone call.
11. "Picture pinching" or using two fingers to zoom on any content is certainly fun to play with, but not practical whatsoever. This operation depends solely on using the device with two hands.
12. No document editor or native viewer. You can not store documents on the device to be viewed, they can only be viewed as attachments when they're sent to your in an email.
13. Visual voicemail is laggy and reacts about the same way as pushing the fast forward and rewind buttons on traditional voicemail systems. The only advantage is for those that get that many voicemail messages a day that they need to sort them according to priority.
14. NO games. None.
15. No voice dialing.
16. No speed dialing (which can be made up by the "quick list", but getting to that quick list isn't as fast as holding a single key on a real keypad).
17. No video.
18. No MMS.
19. It's still <4GB for $500 and <8GB for $600
20. It only takes around 2 hours to explore every menu without any options for expandability except to scrounge around for new web apps that will load slowly and nowhere near as smoothly as the native apps.

This device looks like it was aimed at the general consumer who has the money to spend on such a flashy device, but it leaves so many basic features behind that it's almost impossible to consider it a success as a mainstream device. It encourages the advanced user to move away from MMS and into email to send images, but leaves out any advanced features advanced users would be accustomed to, and still retains a huge price tag on top of it.

It's certainly pretty and Americans will buy it because of that simple UI, but anyone who's familiar with other operating systems would be appalled. This phone needs to be unlocked and cracked WIDE open to make much better use of the multi-touch system. That, or it needs an immediate update in iTunes to rework every feature.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1190824
http://www.smashsworld.com/2007/06/10-things-that-absolutely-suck-about.php

[mcflurry4321]

1. Bluetooth is ONLY good for connecting a headset. That's it.
2. There is no file browser on the device at all. Data must be organized (if at all) in the appropriate application.
3. The camera is a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter. Pictures come out okay on the device, but nothing too fancy on a monitor, especially if it was an attempt at a macro shot.
4. SIM card is damn near impossible to open, if at all. I didn't look into it extensively.
5. Web browser is slow, even over WLAN. Even the simple OneList web app that was created takes around 20 seconds to load over WLAN. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website, and you can not save any images you find from a website either. The only nice thing about it is the tabbed browsing, which crashed on me when I went to Engadget and YouTube on two tabs. This is the only application that allows you to use the keyboard in landscape mode.
6. The keyboard sucks. It gets slightly better after the iPhone "learns" you, as the employees said, but even then, it's not a device you can use with one hand comfortably, much less without looking.
7. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.
8. No custom ringtones (yet, as we were being told) and the alert tones can not be changed whatsoever.
9. The default ringtones are incredibly lame.
10. The only form of customization outside of a lame default ringtone is the wallpaper, which you'll only see when you need to unlock the device or when you get a phone call.
11. "Picture pinching" or using two fingers to zoom on any content is certainly fun to play with, but not practical whatsoever. This operation depends solely on using the device with two hands.
12. No document editor or native viewer. You can not store documents on the device to be viewed, they can only be viewed as attachments when they're sent to your in an email.
13. Visual voicemail is laggy and reacts about the same way as pushing the fast forward and rewind buttons on traditional voicemail systems. The only advantage is for those that get that many voicemail messages a day that they need to sort them according to priority.
14. NO games. None.
15. No voice dialing.
16. No speed dialing (which can be made up by the "quick list", but getting to that quick list isn't as fast as holding a single key on a real keypad).
17. No video.
18. No MMS.
19. It's still <4GB for $500 and <8GB for $600
20. It only takes around 2 hours to explore every menu without any options for expandability except to scrounge around for new web apps that will load slowly and nowhere near as smoothly as the native apps.

This device looks like it was aimed at the general consumer who has the money to spend on such a flashy device, but it leaves so many basic features behind that it's almost impossible to consider it a success as a mainstream device. It encourages the advanced user to move away from MMS and into email to send images, but leaves out any advanced features advanced users would be accustomed to, and still retains a huge price tag on top of it.

It's certainly pretty and Americans will buy it because of that simple UI, but anyone who's familiar with other operating systems would be appalled. This phone needs to be unlocked and cracked WIDE open to make much better use of the multi-touch system. That, or it needs an immediate update in iTunes to rework every feature.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1190824
http://www.smashsworld.com/2007/06/10-things-that-absolutely-suck-about.php

I saw all that coming from so far away.

[Chewbenator]

Yes but if you were handed one for free would you use it? Especially if you work at an Apple Store where they sell this stuff. I'm not proclaiming its masterful execution as the mother of all cell phones forcing all those in its presence to bow to its will. I am saying that if you work for an Apple store you probably like apple products. Then Stevey gives you his latest product for free are you going to decline? Then you are a happy employee, Apple gets advertising, AT&T gets to :bananal: you with fees! Everyone happy.

[deathman20]

$60 a month isn't truely bad if it enables all the features and gives you decent air time. Hey a free $600+ phone though, hell why not.

[Ubermann]

Did you use say it has no video ?
I cant record movieclips or watch movieclips with it ??

[vitaminc]

Did you use say it has no video ?
I cant record movieclips or watch movieclips with it ??

no video/audio recording on iphone, unless they update the system software.

[NH|Delph1]

$60 a month isn't truely bad if it enables all the features and gives you decent air time. Hey a free $600+ phone though, hell why not.

If you had any idea how little we pay in Europe and Sweden especially you would shoot yourself right now after saying that.

//Andreas

[Vapor]

$60 a month isn't truely bad if it enables all the features and gives you decent air time. Hey a free $600+ phone though, hell why not.$60 is much less than I pay for a comparable minutes/internet plan through Verizon. Granted EVDO>>EDGE, but it's what each company offers for comparison, so it's somewhat valid.

Chances are that if they work for Apple, they already have a cell phone. So it's not like it's even $60 more per month, it's only $X more per month depending on their current service fees. And they can wait for their current contract with another carrier to expire....and it's not mandatory to accept....if they want a minimalist phone and service, they can have it.

[Kasparz]

Come on guys, srsly, what the fu*c are you doing to pay 60$+ a month?
I never spent more than 5-7$ a month and im calling/using GPRS a lot.

Did you use say it has no video ?
I cant record movieclips or watch movieclips with it ??
You heard it right. Its just bling bling phone for teens, nothing more. It has a built in chick magnet :rofl:

[Vapor]

Yes, let's all move to Latvia to save on our mobile bills...:rolleyes:

[HiJon89]

Yes, let's all move to Latvia to save on our mobile bills...:rolleyes:
Who cares if you live in a third-world country as long as the phone/internet bills are cheap :D

[deathman20]

If you had any idea how little we pay in Europe and Sweden especially you would shoot yourself right now after saying that.

//Andreas

Hey I pay $80 for my cell and wifes per month. Its basic its nothing special, just general minutes. Its more or less what I've been accustomed to in the bill department for the cell since it is mostly our main phone even though we do have VOIP at home I use my cell mainly.

Besides its the US, go figure, we gotta get rapped on something that the rest of the world gets decently priced.

[Serra]

I don't know that I'll ever get over that contract price. As it is my combined cell phone bill with my wife comes to just $52, and that's with an awful contract (by todays standards, when I signed up it was good). Which is to say nothing of the cost of the actual phone itself.

Still, I'm sure Apple will do just fine with this product and it will continue to promote the Apple ideal of overpriced, pre-configured hardware with no upgrade path and a trendy little look that plays so well into Steve Job's wallet.

[Duh]

is there any way in getting an unblocked cell or is it illegal?

[bartsimsonii]

is there any way in getting an unblocked cell or is it illegal?

Do you mean unlocked?

[justin_c]

i'm almost sure that by next week there will be demonstrations of an unlocked iphone, as per the progress made here: http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/index.php?title=Latest_Summary

[Kasparz]

Who cares if you live in a third-world country as long as the phone/internet bills are cheap :D
2nd that :D

[iddqd]

Latvia is more like 2nd world.

[Kingcarcas]

If i was given one i would sell it. Whatever you do, don't be like that one lady who paid her way to the front of the line in order to buy $100,000 worth of iPhones she wanted to sell on ebay..............only to have the clerk tell her "limit one per customer" :ROTF:

[deathman20]

Thought there was a limit of 2 per customer? Guess it varies per store.

[Vapor]

Thought there was a limit of 2 per customer? Guess it varies per store.2 per customer is the max a store could do....some did 1 per customer though.

[Chewbenator]

Except that Apple had over half a million phones on release to sell, so Ebay prices PLUMMETED after the first 2 days or so.

[Duh]

how many phones have they produced up to now?

[NH|Delph1]

Hey I pay $80 for my cell and wifes per month. Its basic its nothing special, just general minutes. Its more or less what I've been accustomed to in the bill department for the cell since it is mostly our main phone even though we do have VOIP at home I use my cell mainly.

Besides its the US, go figure, we gotta get rapped on something that the rest of the world gets decently priced.

I can't for the life of me understand why the US is still using GSM and haven't moved on to 3G. And the prices you pay are ridiculous, but I guess you got a point. Not that it's an especially good one, but I guess it's small comfort ;)

//Andreas