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Jun 23, 09 - 04:08 pm Comment from: ken1w

> The app is available for $9.99 a month.

Is monthly subscription one of the payment models for the App Store? I wonder if Apple gets a 30% cut.

From what I've read elsewhere, the app itself is free while AT&T bills you the $9.99/mo separately on your phone bill.

Too expensive... I'm waiting for the TomTom

Jun 23, 09 - 04:14 pm Comment from: jarrettdailynews

Of course they get a cut. Apple's genius didn't end with the iPhone, or the Apple store, or in app purchase, or monthly subscriptions for which Apple gets its 30%. The amount of money Apple will be making yearly from the iPhone/App Store combo will be over $20 billion next year. iCal it.

Fsck you, AT&T;. You won't get any more out of me than the bare minimum need for my plan.

Jun 23, 09 - 04:17 pm Comment from: deepdish

AT&T;should be very thankful Apple lets them sell the iPhone.

$10 a month. What a joke.

Stop being dicks AT&T;.

Jun 23, 09 - 04:22 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Google Maps works fine for me. Still waiting for Delorme to get in the game.

Jun 23, 09 - 04:22 pm Comment from: Mac Daddy

Great. Now WTF about MMS? Or tethering??

Jun 23, 09 - 04:24 pm Comment from: theloniousMac

$9/month.

For get it.
Not another dime to AT&T;.

Too much - waaay too much. A more reasonable subscription price would be about $2 a month.

I think I would rather pay a one-time $99 price - but even that seems way too steep.

Someone is going to build an iPhone navigation system that will be infinitely cheaper or maybe even (Goggle?) free.

Jun 23, 09 - 04:26 pm Comment from: Erk

guess I am sticking with google maps!

Fsck you ATT I can't wait for Apples iPhone to go Verizon. You aren't getting a penny more then the basic plan. I love the AT&T;'s disgusting text plan. I'll get the next iPhone when Apple's contract with the ass wipes is over and boy I can't wait.

I still have a closeout rand mcnally/ streetfinder map kit from 2000 i use. The software is for windows 98, so i don't use that, but it comes with fold out maps for all 50 states!
Well, I never opened the box, so i don't use that either, but i paid $15 for the set, a lot cheaper than $10 a month! How bout them apples!

Jun 23, 09 - 04:34 pm Comment from: Beaker

I'm sorry, but you have to retarded if you need a "turn-by-turn" service. What's so frickin' hard about following a blue line and live blue dot on your iPhone to get to your destination? Now with the 3GS, it even show where you're pointed for more directionally challenged people... it's not that it wouldn't be a nice feature to have (when you're on the freeways in LA...) but a monthly subscription on top of our already silly $30/month data plan?! AT&T;is silly. They think turn-by-turn in the next "texting" fad that they can seriously capitalize one... don't think so.

Oh and did I mention your network is HORRIBLE. Apple went to Verizon for a reason. THE NETWORK IS BETTER..... much better if it wasn't for the iPhone, I'd still be with you Verizon sorry

Fsck you, AT&T;.

@Silver Surfer
Verizon has been chargin $9.99 a month for GPS Navigator for years, or you can just use it on occasion for $2.99 per day.
I for one am perfectly happy with Gmap US West. $20 one time shot and the maps are on the iPhone, no connection requred. Also who says Tom Tom aren't also going to charge you monthly as well. But again I suggest you check of Verizon and T-Mobile as well for freebies before you jump.

AT&T;can just put their app where the sun don't shine, and see if they can find their way out of there.

Jun 23, 09 - 04:47 pm Comment from: ecrabb

I know it does a couple of things a Garmin or TomTom won't do, but when software and a subscription service costs as much EVERY YEAR as a piece of hardware/software that provides most of the same functionality, something's very wrong. No thanks, AT&T;- I'll pass.

Maybe I naive, but can even someone in sales need to spend $10/month to find unknown locations?

Jun 23, 09 - 04:48 pm Comment from: lurker

Let the decline begin. ATT has move from connectivity provider to feature renter. Rental ringtones are coming! Happy days are back for ATT.

Jun 23, 09 - 04:57 pm Comment from: ron

I'll wait for TomTom to see their cost.

Jun 23, 09 - 05:00 pm Comment from: Mr.Fergus

They already get me for 69.99 a month, and we don't have 3G yet, hope Apple shit cans AT&T;when the contract comes up for renewal Congress is looking into regulating the cell phone companies but looking into it is about all those bozos will do as the cell phone companies probable have them in their pocket.

@lurker
No one is forcing you to buy any of these type services. Go to Verizon for the same GPS program, and they already charged me for ringtones--and just to rent them. Had to renew every two years. Grow up.

Whoa... Charge me for new maps, but $9.99/mo!? You have GOT to be kidding me. This of dollar-signs-in-eyes syndrome.

And I bet you have to pay for data usage as well as the maps are downloaded on the fly. Seriously, how often to maps change that you need to update them that often anyhow?

Jun 23, 09 - 05:19 pm Comment from: Predrag

ApplePi:

You don't have to pay any additional fee for "data usage". iPhone comes with an unlimited data plan (duh!).

I wish to apologise in advance for copy/pasting a comment from an earlier discussion today, but I just have to chime in again about the perceived exorbitant AT&T monthly fees. So, here goes:

The monthly recurring fees for ANY smartphone with internet access is more-or-less exactly as much as AT&T's for the iPhone.

I would venture that internet access, as offered by the wireless carriers, is the cheapest form of broadband available today. Most ADSL/Cable/Satellite/Fiber Optic internet access cost at least $40 per month when bought together with some other service (Cable TV, or landline phone, or similar). If you were to buy it separately, it would go even higher. For that basic $40 price, you generally get around 2Mbps download bandwidth, which is more-or-less inline with 3GS speeds in areas of good coverage.

Therefore, what you're getting it your ordinary cell phone voice plan, PLUS unlimited broadband internet plan. The monthly cost for these two is actually CHEAPER than having a cellphone and a separate, wired broadband internet connection.

Once again: ALL US carriers charge approximately the SAME monthly amount for voice plus data plans. And these plans are quite a good deal, comparing the service to other, landline offerings (landline phone with Verizon is about $40 per month, ADSL with them is around $35 per month).

I hope, against my better judgment, that people will slowly stop complaining how voice and data plans are exorbitant. They are in fact very competitively priced, compared to their wired equivalents.

My mistake about the US. Forgot you have unlimited. Although, since you can't tether, it's only unlimited on-device, unlike home-line services, which allow you to do practically anything.

Sorry for the slight ATT tangent, but this is a post I recently put up on AppleInsider (to an old thread), and thought I'd copy it here. It's basically a question about the ATT / Apple marriage.

<begin>

Where is all the innovation that those two were supposed to do together? I know visual voice was the first, but did I miss anything else? I recall Stan Sigman stating on stage at Macworld 2007 that there would be many more. (Maybe that's why he's retired.)

I was really looking forward to output from the combined forces of computer and carrier. And I don't think free access to ATT hotspots counts. Just seems like an empty promise now.

Would appreciate thoughts.

</tangent rant>

Jun 23, 09 - 06:44 pm Comment from: DogGone

Nice try ATT. I've just signed up and there is no way in hell that I will pay another 10 bucks for turn by turn.

Ideally I want a solution from TomTom or Garmin. But it will have to be reasonable. I'm willing to pay for an accessory to support the functionality but that's it.

I used the built in navigation and it worked very well. Some chick doesn't tell you where to go but not a biggie.

If the price of dedication software and attachments is too high I'll just stick with that. I'm probably willing to pay 50-70 bucks but that's about it.

My hardware GPS works great, takes me all over LA, I have not updated maps in a year and its still working fine. I don't need this one too for a monthly fee.

I'm already paying for the iPhone data service, this should be FREE ATT!

This was not even a nice try. What a joke. When iPhone finally comes to a competitor in the US, there's gonna be a mass migration from ATT.

As for the price, it all depends how much your time is worth. Getting lost takes time, fuel and frustration...and can sometimes be dangerous. The google maps are impossible to safely read while driving.

Jun 23, 09 - 07:46 pm Comment from: Not Bill

OK. I have been holding off on ATT until now. I figured they deserved some credit for making the deal with Apple early on.

But this; $120 a year for an app that channels someone elses information to provide turn by turn information!

People wonder why smart phones were going nowhere before IPhone came along. Keep in mind that no phone company would ever have allowed wifi on a phone. They simply charged and charged for half baked internet service and nearly no apps.

Jun 23, 09 - 08:02 pm Comment from: Predrag

..."When iPhone finally comes to a competitor in the US, there's gonna be a mass migration from ATT"

And to where exactly? Verizon? The one that currently already charges $10 per month for GPS navigation? The one that currently cripples WiFi on all phones? The one that currently charges exactly the same as AT&T for voice/data plan? The one that currently charges you to copy a picture YOU took yourself on your phone to YOUR own computer? The one that RENTS you a ringtone and doesn't let you make one yourself unless you pay them? The one that charges $3 per song download? Shall I continue...?

Or perhaps T-Mobile (trying to type this without laughing)? Or Sprint (no longer able to control laughter...)?

Jun 23, 09 - 08:07 pm Comment from: cogitoergomac

Anyone else thinking this may be our main choice before this is over? Apple had a reason for prohibiting third party development of this stuff. This is at least one answer why. I know others are said to be working on releases, but I doubt seriously they will represent instant disintermediation for this product & service.

Why would anyone in their right mind pay $10/mo. for a watered-down GPS service that has no hardware enhancements when you can get a TomTom for one price with hardware for speakerphone, stereo music play, mount, charging, etc. for no monthly subscription (I assume)? WTF! Is AT&T;just that stupid???

Jun 23, 09 - 08:39 pm Comment from: @davebroham

lmao @dslarsen

Jun 23, 09 - 08:55 pm Comment from: lurker

@Richard - I see you got my point. ATT likes the world of rental features and crippled capability as much as Verison. What part of turn-by-turn navigation would require a subscription? The data set? The processing? The voice? Only satisfaction of ATT greed requires payment of $10/mo.

At my stage of life growing up is over, it's growing out that worries me.

Jun 23, 09 - 08:58 pm Comment from: silverhawk

@Predrag
Do you think an Appletel would make a difference?

You know, I downloaded this app and signed up for the 10 a month charge. Then I started to play with the app and found that it couldn't find my business, my home or three other established addresses here in the greater Pensacola area. What the hell are these good for if I can't tell it to take me somewhere?

The only problem with waiting on Tom-Tom is just that - we're waiting. I file them under the same category of AT&T;and this whole MMS situation - Hey guys, did this whole iPhone thing catch you off guard? Seriously Tom-Tom, you guys have said for sometime now that you're close to releasing an app. Well, where the hell is it?

Jun 23, 09 - 09:47 pm Comment from: Predrag

MaximumOverdrive:

I don't know what $160-$200 are you talking about. Everyone I know who has an iPhone pays about $80 (with all taxes). Where on earth did you come up with more than double that? I can understand how some people would need some additional services (unlimited texting, international roaming, enhanced voice mail, GPS navigation, etc), but overwhelming majority has the standard, least expensive voice/data plan on AT&T. Even with all those additional services tacked on, you can't possibly hit $160-200 you're talking about. You must have checked your age and wisdom at the door today...

Not sure I understand what the monthly fee is for? Constant updates to the maps? Access to GPS, sorry Its already there. This doesn't make sense.

@maximum
Please please and please just go away you asshole.

Jun 23, 09 - 10:06 pm Comment from: Macrelated

@Predrag

"The monthly recurring fees for ANY smartphone with internet access is more-or-less exactly as much as AT&T;'s for the iPhone."

Lots of broadband services are under $40 per month. Your numbers are high.

$70 per month is too much IMHO whether it is "competitive" or not!

I sure wouldn't pay anyone $10 per month or anything per month for GPS. I would use a stand alone GPS if TomTom
didn't offer a no subscription iPhone GPS.

AT&T;keeps finding ways to endear itself to subscribers!

AT&T;i have tried to defend you but are you stupid or just stupid. I mean I wouldn't go to Verizon and pay $150 for all I have now, but $9.99 you can suck the back of my d... well you know. Its already a map, I ain't paying to hear a voice. So all I can say is next !! and the the 3G-S is a beast,

$10/month is too high. That's just greed on AT&T;'s part. There is no reason for them to try and back iPhone customers into yet another revenue stream. It's quite sickening, even to people who can afford it.

I want to have this functionality in my iPhone but there is no way I'm going to pay $120/year for it. That's nuts. You really have to wonder what is going on in the AT&T;board room. They're almost as bad as the RIAA (nothing is as bad as the RIAA).

This is a bargain! Sure beats having my wife ask for directions.

And here's to hoping Apple would make a competing app and bundle it with MobileMe!

That'll learn them.

What ever happened to the Tomtom app that was supposed to be out when the 3.0 update came out?

@Predrag

Actually, Sprint does not charge for navigation, it is included in their Simply Everything, Simply Everything Family, Everything Data Family, and Everything Data plans.

Jun 24, 09 - 07:54 am Comment from: jtc

its not just 9.99 for the iphone its the same price for a blackberry curve to use the gps nav.... and its basically the same on every other carrier

@MaximumOverdrive

Best thing to do is get your iphone and whatever monthly service... then pick up the $150 unlocked nokia with a $15 unlimited data plan and use that for tethering.. also.. it acts as a wireless router... so $25 a month for tethering.. and having a wireless portable router... or spend $60 for some usb device.. and all it does is data?? no thanks

Jun 24, 09 - 09:49 am Comment from: Predrag

No wireless carrier charges $60 for tethering (in addition to the existing voice/data charges). Heck, their charge for an INDEPENDENT data account with a USB/PCcard/Expresscard hardware device (with FULL subsidy, selling the device itself for $0 with contract) is about $60 (plus taxes). Verizon usually charges $15 for tethering, and Sprint actually offers its corporate blackberry users free tethering with qualifying voice/data plans.

The main point is, the cheapest iPhone plan remains $80 (with all the taxes). There is NOTHING ELSE you have to sign up for in order to use that iPhone. If YOU personally want that GPS navigation directly from AT&T, or the future tethering, or an e-subscription to FHM, or whatever other extra service that is charged monthly, you are absolutely free to get it, or not. Some services are free, some cost money. Bottom line is, iPhone cost $100 or more, plan starts at $70 plus tax. You are FREE to make choices regarding anything beyond those prices.

And exactly the SAME thing goes with ALL other smartphones. So, for those who don't think it's worth the money, they can always get a dumb phone and get a voice-only plan.