Open Thread: iPhone Launch Nears. What Are You Doing on Friday?

Too bad there isn’t a lot of buzz about the iPhone this week, huh? Apple’s breakthough device first hit the stage in January, and now we’re finally seeing some speculation turn into reality as the June 29th launch date nears.

We now know that the battery life and outer covering of the phone will be better than originally announced, and developers will be able write applications that can run on the phone through the browser. Apple even released a version of Safari for Windows to facilitate this and make the iPhone experience comparable on both platforms.

What else does Apple have up its sleeve as launch date is mere days away?

Today, Apple and AT&T announced the new rate plans for the iPhone. The companies gave you the good…no standing at the counter for 20 minutes while the phone is activated. You’ll activate from home through iTunes. And the companies gave you the bad…you want an iPhone, you must take one of AT&T’s iPhone data/voice plans starting at $59.99 per month with a 2-year commitment. All folks who had hopes of getting a cheapie voice plan while using the wifi exclusively for their data are not happy campers at the moment. Seriously, now. Is anyone that surprised? Did you think AT&T was in this deal out of the goodness of their hearts? Actually, the iPhone plans are cheaper than other AT&T plans which typically charge $39.99 for voice, $39.99 for unlimited PDA data and $4.99 for 20 text messages a month.

If you’re convinced and you want to get out your current cell phone contract to start over with AT&T, Consumerist has some suggestions to avoid extra fees. I wouldn’t recommend #6, though.

Were you set on buying an iPhone until the rate plans were announced, or is your mind made up and you’ll be camping out on Friday afternoon? If you’re not buying an iPhone now, will you at some point? Personally, I’m planning to wait for a few revisions before jumping in. I spend too much time in email on my phone. I need to see how that virtual keyboard is in real world use. Plus, I want to wait for the device to have more storage capacity. Remember, the first iPod was only 5GB and look at it now, topping out at 80 GB!

Have you bought into the hype? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

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