06.24.09 - 9:30 a.m.

In Chicago, $6.99 won't buy me a large quad iced venti latte and a chocolate chunk cookie. It will, however, buy you the greatest iPhone radio app there is.

As many of you know, I've always recommended WunderRadio as my iPhone radio app of choice.

Yes, there are other music apps out there like Pandora and Pocket Tunes and Slacker and all of them do what they set out to do well, but WunderRadio is different - WunderRadio is about providing a high-tech, old-fashioned radio station experience.

Meaning, when I want to listen to Atlantic City's hottest music at 95.1 WAYV just like I used to do while I was driving to work 19 years ago, I can - even when I'm in Chicago. It's simple to find radio stations and bookmark them as favorites using WunderRadio and it's that simplicity that keeps the app on my first iPhone screen.

Now, I have a whole new reason. And so do you. Starting Thursday. As in tomorrow.

As you know, I've started to transition this blog from here to Twitter. And as you probably also know, I'm a big ol' Twitter geek anyhow. Well, when I was told by the great folks at WunderRadio first about the way they are combining the radio and Twitter experience, well, they had my attention.

Here's how the company describes it in their press release - I find that for as often as I rewrite press releases, I don't think anyone can do it more clearly and concisely - and passionately - as the people working on the project.

Use your iPhone to tweet your favorite DJ
WunderRadio has launched a new Twitter capability that allows radio listeners to follow radio station Twitter feeds while listening to the live broadcast on their iPhone.

Conversely, users can login to their Twitter accounts and send Tweets directly to DJ’s live on air. All of this can be done within WunderRadio so there is no need to open a new browser or shut down the application.

“We believe that adding Twitter to WunderRadio has created a ground-breaking medium for radio listeners to interact directly with on air talent,” said Alan Steremberg, President and co-founder of the application’s developers, Weather Underground. “It will also serve as a valuable tool for radio stations looking to communicate further with their listeners.”

Radio audience figures have received a massive boost from the availability of Internet streaming and the mobile space is certain to play an ever-increasing role in boosting these numbers. Today, 42 million people in the US listen to online radio, up 27% from 2008 according to Arbitron Radio Ratings and Media Research

Commenting on this new trend in radio audience, Steremberg adds “WunderRadio and its Twitter capabilities are certain to play significant roles in the communications strategy of forward thinking radio stations.”

To date, almost a quarter of a million iPhone users have downloaded WunderRadio. The application is also available for Windows Mobile users and will soon be accessible to BlackBerry users as well.

Fans of WunderRadio can also follow the application itself on Twitter -- at @wunderradio -- and keep up to date with new features and content.

So ... as they say in the radio business ... to repeat this hour's top story ...

WunderRadio costs $6.99 in the App Store (iTunes link). I've paid more for only a few apps and none are used as often as WunderRadio. And none are on my first iPhone screen - if you know anything about me, you know that if your icon is on my first screen that you've done something right.

Check it out now.

If you want to comment on Twitter about this story or anything else on the blog - and if you want to be connected live to the most lively and complete iPhone discussion anywhere on Twitter, follow me at @iptib.

Thanks for calling.

**UPDATED 12:20 p.m.**
Not so fast, literally. I received this comment from Meghan Roskopf, a spokesperson for AT&T:

"What you've heard is false. MMS for iPhone will be ready by late summer. AT&T and Apple have a detailed planning process and both companies supported the decision and timing."

That's unfortunate, so it remains to be seen what this internal memo was that the AT&T representative at customer service talked about. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

06.18.09 -- 11:21 a.m.

This is what folks in the U.K. using o2 received when they downloaded 3.0. We might be next. (thanks to @jovike for sending me the awesome screenshot!)

Soon. Very soon.

I talked to a developer friend of mine who goes by @brdunton on Twitter and he had some potentially exciting news for me.

Now take it with a grain of salt for now simply because I have not heard back from my trusted PR contact at AT&T, but what my friend tells me the AT&T rep told him is that the rollout of MMS will coincide with the iPhone 3G S launch tomorrow.

Apparently, there's one outstanding issue that the AT&T rep was waiting for clarification on from Apple and that the rep said that employees received an internal notification discussing the MMS launch.

And the rep is apparently an iPhone user who is very familiar with the whole process and he said that it should be functional soon.

I'm waiting for clarification from my AT&T PR person, but with or without that, it stands to reason that AT&T would want to get MMS online as quickly as possible. The company took as much flack for that as it did over upgrade pricing when it was revealed that several countries would be ready with MMS before the U.S., including Canada and the U.K.

Oh, and by the way, I received several tweets yesterday from blog readers/tweeters in the U.K. and Canada that say that MMS not only works well, but that it's elegant and fast.

So I'll update if I hear anything back, but I wanted you to know that something's afoot and we could all be in for a really nice surprise tomorrow.

Thanks for calling and thanks @brdunton for the great tip.

06.17.09 - 2 p.m.

This is huge news. AT&T has listened to what customers had to say and a lot of people - including myself - appreciate this. Now instead of waiting to qualify for upgrade pricing if you would normally be eligible next month, August or September, you can upgrade effective tomorrow.

Many kudos, AT&T - This is welcome news.

We're reacting of course on Twitter, so please chime in with your thoughts there.

Thanks for calling. The entire press release from AT&T appears below.

An Update for our Customers
Some customers have had questions about our plans and policies for iPhone 3G S, and we’d like to provide you with answers. We’d also like to announce a change to the date when some iPhone customers are eligible for our best upgrade pricing to iPhone 3G S.

PRICING
Importantly, we want our customers to better understand our wireless device upgrade program. Like most U.S. carriers, we offer a variety of phones that we sell below our actual cost when customers agree to sign service agreements. In general, the more a customer spends with us, the quicker they become eligible for a price break on a new device. For example, iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract.

We also currently offer early upgrade pricing only for iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G.

All of that said, we’ve been listening to our customers. And since many of our iPhone 3G customers are early adopters and literally weeks shy of being upgrade eligible due to iPhone 3G S launching 11 months after iPhone 3G, we’re extending the window of upgrade eligibility for a limited time.

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

If you’re one of the many customers who will benefit from this change, please note that our upgrade eligibility tools will reflect this change on Thursday, June 18.

We invite you to come to our stores beginning Friday during normal store hours, although please be aware that customer demand may exceed supply in some of our stores. You may also preorder online on June 18 at www.att.com/iPhone, and your iPhone 3G S will arrive in 7 — 14 days. Or you can purchase iPhone 3G S at Apple’s retail and online stores, as well as at other popular retailers.

If you’re one of the customers who benefits from this change, and you’ve already preordered from an AT&T store, we’ll adjust the price of the device when you pick it up. If you benefit from the change and you pre-ordered from AT&T online, we’ll send you an e-mail and issue you a credit.

If you pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S through Apple’s online store, your upgrade eligibility will be reassessed based on AT&T's new upgrade policy for iPhone 3G owners. If you are eligible for the lower price, Apple will issue you a credit for the difference as applicable.

So, what if you still aren’t eligible for our best upgrade pricing and you still want iPhone 3G S now? You do have options:

You may qualify for the iPhone 3G S early upgrade price of $399 (16GB) or $499 (32GB).

You can pay full retail — and not have to sign a 2-year contract — at $599 (16GB) or $699 (32GB).

You can wait until you’re eligible for our best upgrade pricing. We invite you to check your upgrade eligibility by visiting www.att.com/iphone, calling *NEW# (*639#) on your AT&T device (we’ll send you a text with upgrade information), or visiting any of our over 2,200 stores.

If you want more details on our pricing and upgrade policy, check out our FAQs. And as always, you may visit one of our stores to talk with a representative.

In Summary
We’ve listened to our customers — and hope our response helps answer some of your questions and concerns.

We are incredibly proud to be the U.S. carrier for the new iPhone 3G S and will work around the clock to be ready on June 19 to serve customers who are interested in the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.

06.17.09 - 9:15 a.m.

Hi, everyone.

With the future of the blog up in the air I'd like to just remind you of 2 ways to get everything you'd normally get here.

1. Twitter. Follow me at @iptib. I'm on it all the time. I still answer questions and pass along all the good stuff. It's not a blog but it's still me.

2. Facebook. There's an iPTIB page that I try to check. And while I admit I do a poor job over there, there's places galore for you to comment so I'll be sure to check it.

Sadly, as we approach 2 years here, I never really anticipated the day where I'd be telling you that iptib may not have a home in the blogosphere.

I wish I had a definitive answer on the blog but because I know what my gut is telling me I'd prefer to take the party off site into the social media world and then reconnect down the road in another form.

Anyone out there who wants to chat with me regarding future endeavors, you know where to find me. iptib (at) mac (dot) com.

Thanks for calling.

06.10.09 - 6:50 p.m.

This is either good news or bad news depending on your perspective.

According to the Chicago Tribune, AT&T will become the fourth wireless service in CTA subways under a contract the transit agency's board approved Wednesday.

AT&T joins Cricket, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular in providing service in the underground rail tunnels of the Red and Blue Lines.

The CTA estimated the AT&T contract will generate at least $3.1 million over the 10-year deal.

According to the CTA, installation and testing of AT&T’s base equipment — comprised of amplifiers, transmitters and receivers — within the subway will take place over the next several months. Following installation, service is expected to begin later this year.

Now if we could just get that MMS!

Let me know what you think on Twitter.

Thanks for calling.

06.08.09 - 3:15 p.m.

Just got an email from Rick Fox, spokesperson for AT&T, who explained the iPhone pricing structure to me.

"iPhone 3G S is a great value. The 16 GB model is $199 and the 32 GB model will go for $299. Individual plans start as low as $69.99 per month and include unlimited data (Web access and email). Families and small businesses can add iPhone lines for $39.99 per month. Upgrade eligibility varies with each customer, but in general you will become
upgrade-eligible the further you are into your service agreement. Customers can find out at att.com or in one of our stores if they are upgrade-eligible. If you are not currently eligible for an upgrade but still want iPhone 3G S, we can offer you an early upgrade price of $399 (16 GB) and $499 (32 GB). You have a number of choices here. You can wait until you are eligible, you can pay the early-upgrade price for iPhone 3G S, or you can simply continue to use your current iPhone 3G, which is eligible for the free upgrade to the new iPhone 3.0 software."

And as far as tethering goes, which was announced at WWDC but there was no mention of AT&T, Fox says: "We plan to offer one but we don't have an announcement to make at this time."

So that's the details. You still have to pay more if you aren't eligible but there is something built in for current customers.

I'm responding to this information on Twitter, so please follow me there if you don't already. I have two accounts that I hope you will follow: @iptib and @scottkleinberg

Thanks for calling.

Looks like the tweets on @iptib aren't going through as Twitter slows down for me. So I'm using @scottkleinberg until I can get to the bottom of it.

So far no mention of new iPhone as of 1:33 central time. We'll see what happens.

Other highlights ...

Tom-Tom GPS app has car kit, voice navigation, U.S. and international maps. No price but it's coming this summer.

06.07.09 - 1:30 p.m.

Hey all. Just wanted to let you know that I will be livetweeting Monday's iPhone and other announcements as they happen at WWDC.

The fun starts at noon Central Time. I'll tweet for the duration of the announcement -- usually about 90 minutes or so -- and then I'll discuss and answer questions throughout the day.

If you are following me on Twitter, you are all set.

If not, here's what you should do.

1. Go to twitter.com/iptib
2. Watch for my updates there. If you want more control over your Twitter experience, sign up for your own screenname first.
3. Then, follow me in 2 other places: @scottkleinberg and @redeyechicago. I talk about everything interesting at @redeyechicago (that's my day job) and @scottkleinberg is my personal account.

I'm not planning on doing this live on the blog. It's a lot of work to keep both updated and as we move toward the potential end of the blog, it's better to name sure we're all set via Twitter.

And assuming Twitter doesn't choke and there are no other technical difficulties, I think you'll appreciate the immediacy of the updates via Twitter.

Should be a great announcement. I don't really feel any surprises coming but I feel like what we are expecting should be pretty awesome.

Thanks for calling. Looking forward to tweeting with all of you tomorrow.

06.01.09 - 9 a.m.

Happy June, everyone. June is a wonderful time of year, isn't it? In about a week, we'll be excited about WWDC and the upcoming iPhone announcement. We've all seen some great stuff that's promised in 3.0, but I really think it's going to be even better than we're imagining.

When 1.0 became 2.0, we were all pretty blown away. I think the transition from 2.0 to 3.0 is going to be even better. What's so cool, to me, is that we're not only talking about a new handset - we're talking about amazing new software that does amazing things.

And we're getting close to that amazing transition from 3G to LTE, where download speeds will get faster and the line between what's possible on a home computer and an iPhone continues to blur.

That said, sometimes, the simplest of things are overlooked.

There are three things that are absolutely necessary to make the iPhone a joy to use going forward.

1. Folders
We've talked about this before and everyone has asked for it - there needs to be the ability to create a folder called games on the front page and for the apps to reside inside that folder. The way where everything is scattered now makes no sense and the fact that there's a limit to 9 screens or whatever it is is troublesome considering all the great stuff out there. We should never have to be limited in what we download and knowing that we're going to get 32GB iPhones for sure should mean lots more room and more ways to manage what we buy.

2. A favorites list/cart
When I'm browsing for apps that I may want to buy, I find myself sitting around with a pen and writing down the ones I want to come back to. There's no way to mark something that I might be interested in later and come back to it. The most efficient way to do this, I believe, is a cart where you can separate what you want to buy now and what you want to buy later. Look no further than Amazon, Apple, to see how this should be implemented.

3. iTunes management for icon placement.
We've talked about this in the past as well and it's a fantastic idea. Before I sync my iPhone with iTunes, I want to see a picture of my iPhone's screen and the ability to move icons around on the pages I want. Then, when I sync, I want to see icons in the places where I placed them in iTunes. In other words, I still want wiggly icons and the ability to move them on the fly, but I also want to be able to control them via iTunes. It just makes sense and it will make the experience of using the iPhone with iTunes that much better.

I'm sure there are millions of other things that are needed, but those 3 top my list. Do you have favorites? Let me know on Twitter by following me at twitter.com/iptib.

Thanks for calling.

05.27.09 - 1:05 p.m.

I've posted this type of note before. Please follow me on Twitter.

This time, I'm asking you to please do it - with an extra dose of please. I'm even asking you to follow my personal account there too.

Things are afoot here at the iPTIB mothership - the Tribune company - so I feel the need to be honest with you and tell you that I'm not sure how much longer iPTIB The Blog will be around. But I'll always provide my style of iPhone talk and news on Twitter. And any time there's a big iPhone-related announcement, I'll always livetweet it as long as it's humanly possible.

So if you are an iPTIB fan/supporter, please do this for me to ensure you don't miss out. I'm still answering every single comment and posting, but ... well, just follow me on Twitter, OK?

Thanks. And thanks to each and every person out there - in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and 66 other countries for every ounce of support you have given me since I started this 2 years ago. In all that time, it's always been just me trying to make sure you had the very best -- and 1000 percent accurate -- iPhone coverage a person could possibly give. The only thing that made me want to do that each and every day was you. I feel like you're all my friends. We've accomplished a lot, from liveblogs to covering major iPhone outages around the world.

Heck, you've all been responsible for well over 1 million page views. It's hard to put my thanks for that into words. But I'll try.

I'm still here, but ... well, just follow me on Twitter, OK?

Thanks for calling.