Here is a summary of an avalanche of info from the last few days:

COSTS:

Surprise, the monthly plans are either pretty much what most people are paying for talk + advanced services with other carriers or in some cases even slightly less. This are the basic rate plan choices:

If you need more minutes – there are other plans with all else the same except for daytime minutes: 2000 minutes ($120), 4,000 minutes ($170) & 6,000 minutes ($220).

Family plan pricing is as follows: 700 minutes ($80), 1,400 ($100), 2,100 ($120), 3,000 ($160), 4,000 ($210) & 6,000 ($310).

If you don’t want to be tied in a contract, it looks like you go go with their pre-paid “Go” Plan – see if the math works out for you at their GoPhone page.

You can add more SMS texting because if you reply ‘What Up,’ that’s a message.

Pretty straightforward. If you already are an AT&T customer, it’s $20 to add to your iPhone to whatever plan you have now.

Buy it in the stores (AT&T or Apple) or online (Apple) and take it home, launch iTunes and activation looks like a 10-minute process. Pick a plan, transfer a number, etc, etc … all in this straightforward Apple video.

STORE HOURS – FRIDAY

It seems to be that AT&T stores are closing at 4:00 or 4:30 and re-opening at 6 PM and then closing at 10 PM. Apple stores seem to be closing at 2 PM and re-opening at 6 PM but staying open until midnight. There are some reports some AT&T stores will stay open until midnight also. Okay, we knew this last week but if you want the office store locations for AT&T and of course, where the Apple stores are.

REVIEWS

The reviews are in from Walt Mossberg, David Pogue (of the NYT), the USA TODAY & Newsweek.. Another shocker, the phone works pretty much as the original keynote promised and what many “haters” seem to miss about people interested in the iPhone – that we have tried the Treos, Palm’s, Handspring’s, Moto’s, Nokia’s, Samsung’s, RIM’s and MS phones and found them wanting – we want to try something different and this Apple company from Cupertino seems to be able to deliver a better user experience usually – and surprise (well to the haters), the iPhone pretty much delivers on that promise. No one is saying the iPhone is perfect but then, hardly anything is … all the iPhone promises is that it’s better to much better than what we have now … with more & better to follow. And yes, hopefully, this will incite others to get up off their puny screens with idiotic OSes to do much better. Edward Biag of the USA probably has the most apt headline, “Apple’s iPhone isn’t perfect, but it’s worthy of the hype,” or a good quote from Steven Levy of Newsweek for geeks, “The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge.” (again, not much of a surprise for most Apple product users).

THE SCREEN

The five reviewers (WSJ had two users) and they all said they carried the iPhone around unprotected for two weeks, no scratches and only DAvid Pogue there were hand-print smudges.

TYPING ON THE SCREEN

All seem to think it was fine and you get used to it pretty quickly.

INTERNET

On WiFi, they all raved about it. On AT&T’s EDGE, no so much – again, no surprise. Of course, it would be nice to have a DSL-like 3G internet access 24/7 but we also know that would’ve have added to the cost, battery life and monthly plan cost … I’m sure the same people who are complaining about no 3G would then in a parallel universe be whining that Apple should offer an EDGE version that’s cheaper with better battery life as most people can find a WiFi hotspot for free (Panera Bread), WiFi FreeSpot, or GoogleMap Free WiFi.

MAIL

AOL, Gmail, Yahoo & .Mac (all POP or IMAP) fine – including rich HTML.

(From Walt Mossberg’s review)
“It can also handle corporate email using Microsoft’s Exchange system, if your IT department cooperates by enabling a setting on the server.”

“It can also receive and open Microsoft Word and Excel documents and Adobe PDF files. But it doesn’t allow you to edit or save these files.”

The USA Today IT department wouldn’t flip a switch for their writer – no surprise as noted in our previous blog post 🙁

BATTERY LIFE

(from USA TODAY review)

“Battery life didn’t prove to be a big problem in my unscientific tests — a mix of calling, surfing, listening and watching. Still, it’s a good idea to charge it overnight. You receive warnings when you have just 20%, 15%, 10% and 5% of power remaining. You can charge the phone in its dock, through the supplied plug or through an iPod accessory.”

CAMERA

David Pogue complains about the quality but I have a 2 megapixel camera currently but I’ve yet to take any photo that is not a smear unlike his top notch photos.

IPOD ACCESSORIES

(from USA TODAY review)

“… standard iPod dock connector, but because of possible interference from its wireless radios, it won’t work with all existing iPod accessories. I was able to play music through my Bose SoundDock speaker system. To combat interference, iPhone offered to switch to “airplane mode.” That turns off all radios, meaning you won’t receive any calls.”

SYNC

In addition to the obvious sync of address book, music, calendars, video, podcasts and photos – you can also sync your Safari bookmarks.

SIZE

What exactly is the size of the thing? Has ya got a graham cracker? 🙂

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

(According to APPLEINSIDER.com)

“Also inside the retail box … a stereo headset, dock connector to USB cable, USB power adapter, documentation and cleaning/polishing cloth.”

ALSO …

“second iPhone dock — reportedly dubbed “Dual Dock” — will feature built-in charging stations for both the iPhone and Apple’s $129 Bluetooth headset accessory. People familiar with current pricing data for the iPhone accessories claim the latter dock will fetch $49.”

NOT ON THE IPHONE

No voice speed dial, no iPod games and no ringtones (other than the 25 pre-loaded).

MY NEIGHBOR JOHN D. THREATENS TO STAND ON MY LAWN, NAKED AND RANT ABOUT WHY I SHOULD NOT HAVE PURCHASED AN IPHONE …

(FROM AT&T)

“Apple branded equipment is covered by a 14-day return policy and must be returned to the original point of purchase. If the Apple branded equipment is returned unopened and in the original shrink wrapping, it will be refunded back to the original payment method. Opened Apple branded equipment that is returned within 14 days will be subject to a 10% open box restocking fee. All products must be packed in their original, unmarked packaging including any accessories and manuals that shipped with the product.”