AT&T

As the iPhone 3G launch grew nearer, people were pointing and shouting and jumping up and down at AT&T's sparse 3G US coverage map, and those Swedish scientists saying that it's not the iPhone 3G's fault has shifted the focus of everyone's attention away from hardware and onto reception. Luckily, AT&T CTO John Donovan knows that now is the time to improve, and shared his plan with Gizmodo's Brian Lam.

We all love the iPhone 3G, and Apple's ads do a great job demonstrating all it's wondrous glory to the ignorant masses, but it's still not perfect. Now an internal document from US carrier Verizon Wireless shows that they are preparing to launch a new anti-iPhone campaign that hits the iPhone where it's weakest-- AT&T.

One of the big benefits of the first iPhone launch was the ability to buy it online, but so far that's been a luxury we don't have with the '3G (though that's not surprising with the crazy demand they've had through just physical retail stores). However, if you happen to be a business user looking for an iPhone 3G for work, you can now order one online through AT&T.

BGR claims to have "semi-confirmed" information from two sources that AT&T stores in the US will be receiving stock of iPhone 3Gs on August 21st. Supposedly the shipments will be intended to fill outstanding direct-fulfillment orders that are awaiting, well, fulfillment. It probably won't increase the overall number of 3Gs out there, but if you've been waiting for your order from AT&T, you could be in luck.

There has been a lot of news about the iPhone being announced in this country or that country, but there's a region in our own backyard that will be getting the iPhone very soon for the first time: the state of Vermont. I know what you're thinking, and yes, Vermont is part of the US, and the iPhone has technically been "launched" there already, but currently there isn't a single AT&T cell tower in the whole state, making it the only state one of the few states without direct access to the iPhone.

We knew from early on that AT&T had agreed to pay Apple in exchange for exclusivity in the US after which the iPhone would be unlocked, but the exact date that their deal would expire has remained a mystery until today. Similarly, little is known about why AT&T changed from their previous payments to Apple to heavily subsidizing the devices. In what is a rare peak at the inner dealings between Apple and a carrier, USA Today claims to have inside information on both subjects.

In late April, AT&T announced their special Text Accessibility Plan (TAP) for the hearing or vocally disabled for the iPhone. Now AT&T has announced the TAP plan for iPhone 3G users. Like the first plan, the one for the 3G includes unlimited text messages, data, and email access for the same rate as before, but with the addition of unlimited 3G for an extra $10, totaling $50 per month.

Supplies of iPhone 3G's at Apple stores and carrier stores alike have been low, but some have been wondering if the carriers have secretly been holding out on customers. Both O2 and AT&T have commented on their supplies, and both of them have said, not surprisingly, "no". They're exactly as short on iPhone 3G's as you think they are.

According to AlleyInsider, AT&T says that despite supply issues and fears that it wasn't selling as well as Apple says it has, they have managed to sell nearly twice as many iPhone 3Gs than they have old iPhones in just the 12 days it's been available. They recently posted their Q2 earnings results, and they say they should have an even stronger Q3 now that the iPhone 3G is out. They haven't posted any real numbers to support their claim, however. Analysts have also said that they can expect their subsidizing of iPhones to hurt their earnings by 10 to 12 cents per share this year, and that the iPhone won't be accretive until 2010.

AT&T is working on a cool new technology that will bring voice recognition to the iPhone over the web. AT&T's WATSON speech recognition, now dubbed Speech Mashups, puts voice recognition functionality on the web as a service that can be accessed through anywhere with a high speed data connection. It can capture voice commands, interpret them at a remote server, and send them back to the device in a language that the device can understand.