PCWorld has an article up saying that, based on AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega’s comments during yesterday’s CTIA Keynote, AT&T was laying the groundwork to “manage” or “throttle” iPhone users’ data.

de la Vega did use most of his time, after announcing VoIP over 3G for iPhone, to rail against the FCC’s net neutrality push. He claimed a small percentage of heavy data users (i.e. iPhone users) were hogging most of the limited data resources, and “crowding” out regular (i.e. non-iPhone users). He also stated that AT&T would need to “manage” the network so that the few couldn’t crowd out the many.

This is what makes PC World think:

In the face of exploding data service demand and scarce wireless spectrum, does AT&T intend to quietly begin rationing the data usage of bandwidth hogs like the iPhone? Will AT&T begin to quietly "manage" the duration and speed of my 3G connection based on how much data I've used in a given day, or on the type of content or services I'm using the bandwidth to access?

Aside from “AT&T should spend some of their billions making a better network and getting 4G here faster”, it’s hard to argue that the iPhone hits the network like a freight train, and when you multiply that by tens of millions of users, it’s a huge load (something RIM emphasizes to carriers when pitching their highly compressed, proxied BlackBerrys as “better network citizens”).

That’s an immediate problem for the iPhone on AT&T, but arguably if another device with a great internet experience ever succeeds enough to reach those numbers on a single network — Android or webOS for example — it will become an everyone problem everywhere.

Dieter Bohn, editor-in-chief of our Smartphone Expert network was live at AT&T’s keynote yesterday, but his takeaway was a little different:

It’s pretty clear from [de la Vega's] complaints about the top percentage that he would want tiered data prices instead of unlimited for everybody. That seems more likely what was meant by ‘managing.’ I think that rather than rationing, ATT would just like to charge that top percentage more.

What do you think? Do you want AT&T “managing” your iPhone usage? Does it sound fair to charge heavy users more for that heavy use?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Wants to Throttle iPhone Data… or Just Charge More for Heavy Usage?

Head on over to iTunes and start your downloads, people, because iPhone 3.1.2 (7D11) is now available!

Weighing in at 306.2 MB, Apple says:

This update contains bug fixes and improvements including the following:

• Resolves sporadic issues that may cause iPhone not to wake from sleep
• Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart
• Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming

Update: iPod touch 3.1.2 is also out (iPod touch G3 shipped with 3.1.1 which is why this update is 3.1.2 for everyone), and US readers are telling us AT&T Carrier File Update 5.6 is popping up for them as well. If you notice any other changes, please drop us a note in the comments!

So is the infamous “coma mode” fixed? If you’ve been having trouble, and you do the update, let us know how it goes.

And as always, if you’ve Jailbroken, do not update or you’ll lose your Jailbreak.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Updated: iPhone 3.1.2, AT&T Carrier File 5.6, and iPod touch 3.1.2 Now Available

AT&T, following the the reversal of their no-VoIP-over-3G policy, still has nothing new to offer with regards to iPhone tethering. Quotes the Wall Street Journal:

An spokesman for the wireless carrier, however, said that tethering remains unavailable and stuck with the company's prior statement: "Whenever we offer new features, we want to offer the best possible customer experience. For tethering, we need to do some additional fine tuning to our systems and networks so that we do deliver a great experience."

While international iPhone users have been able to connect their computers to the internet using the iPhone’s 3G network, via Bluetooth or USB tethering since the launch of iPhone 3.0 in June, for US iPhone users, no news remains bad news.

Then again, if you’re already complaining about poor AT&T signal, probably the last thing you want is every iPhone user on your tower trying to suck down 5GB of torrents… right?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T: Still No iPhone Tethering for You!

Not much to go on yet, other than blackra1n.com going live and Twitter chirping it up as usual, but it looks like Geohot is back on mission and his “one exploit to Jailbreak them all” is on its way.

Jeremy’s keeping an eye on things and will post when there’s something worth posting about, until then how happy are we it wasn’t called chocolatera1n…?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

blackra1n Universal Jailbreak on the Horizon?

Foxconn is rumored to be producing 300,000 – 400,000 of the much hyped, still fabled Apple iTablet for introduction sometime in Q1 of 2010 says DigiTimes. This, of course, is the next stage of any good Apple rumor evolution, after specs and before random case leaks…

10.6 inch screen from Innolux Display, focus on digital print like e-books, good battery life, killer UI, etc. are all mentioned as well.

Now we just need Steve Jobs to say something dismissive like “people don’t read”… Oh, wait…

iPhone 4.0 SDK Sneak Preview event should be held March 2010. Might we have an earlier event to look forward to now as well, the iTablet Introduction?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Rumor: Foxconn to Produce 300,000 Apple iTablets for Q1

Metallica has just released Live Metallica [$0.99 - iTunes Link], their very own companion application to go along with their LiveMetallica.com website. With it fans can purchase official recordings of each and every single live show since 2004 and listen to the latest concert streaming for free.

Purchase the app, log into your existing LiveMetallica.com account or register as a new user, and voila . . . every show you’ve purchased is there under the “listen” tab, along with a free stream of the latest show on the tour! You can listen to samples of over 5,300 live songs from close to 300 shows, and if you hear something you like, purchase it through the app and it will automatically stream on your phone . . . of course you can download your purchase to your computer later at your leisure. Shows from the free “Vault” section of the site are always streaming, and you can check out photos and notes from almost every show going back to 2004 when the site launched.

Metallica claims to have gotten this idea back in the day when they saw fans bootlegging their shows and figured they would make it more convenient by doing the recording themselves and cashing in. So you have to pay $0.99 to gain access to yet more content you again will have to pay for to access, minus a few free streams and jpegs of the band.

Any hardcore Metallica fans out there going to give this a shot? Let us know in the comments!

[Thanks to Phil for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: Live Metallica Goes “Live” in iPhone App Store

What would a Verizon iPhone be like? We ask because almost everyone in the US wants the iPhone on Verizon (or so our comments, tweets, and email tell us). But how often do we stop and think about what that device might actually be?

Developer Marco Arment has done just that, but instead of a wondrous network dream, he’s giving us a lockdown nightmare:

• Verizon to demand 30-50% commission on all on-device App Store sales, and all iTunes media sales.
• If not a complete replacement of the App Store with Verizon’s own application market.
• Removal of key applications to force users to pay for premium Verizon services (like V-Cast in lieu of Maps)
• Removal of WiFi and lockdown of GPS (okay, we added that for old times sake — but it’s happened with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile)
• Ugly Verizon branding plastered all over the iPhone.

Arment theorizes this is why we haven’t seen it happen yet:

I bet Apple did go to them this past spring to attempt to get a Verizon iPhone off the ground, and I bet Apple's reps left the discussions, thinking, "These guys are nuts."

Fact or FUD? It will be interesting to see, based on yesterday’s Android “openness” announcement, if Verizon really has changed its ways, or if users who want the iPhone on Verizon would ultimately get an iPhone they didn’t want.

Oh, bitter, poetic irony.

Let us know what you think, best case and worst.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

What Would a Verizon iPhone be Like?