iPhone climbs to No. 1

Source: Asbury Park Press

Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G became the most popular handset among U.S. consumers for the first time in the third quarter, overtaking Motorola Inc.'s Razr.

The Razr had been ranked as No. 1 for 12 straight quarters, Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm NPD Group said in an e-mailed release today. NPD's numbers exclude purchases by companies.

Apple, which started selling the latest iPhone model in July, increased sales even as total handset purchases by U.S. consumers dropped 15 percent, NPD said. The Web-browsing iPhone, introduced last year, accounted for more than a third of Apple's revenue last quarter.

The Razr took second place last quarter and was followed by Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Curve and two LG Electronics Inc. models. Motorola's phone sales have slid for seven straight quarters as the handset maker has struggled to compete with touch-screen devices such as the iPhone.

Read more: http://www.app.com/article/20081110/BUSINESS/81110019/1001/rss

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Businessweek needs to fold. They predicted that Apple Stores, and years later, the iPhone would fail.

Now both are #1.

I was at a convention this past week and was able to answer email, surf the web, navigate with my GPS in a new city, show my portfolio to interested parties, take notes, watch a movie on the plane, listen to music, find a restaurant, check it's reviews and make reservations for 16 with the "I want" app, and of course make phone calls all with my iPhone. Perfect for those of us who don't own a laptop.

I have no real need for portable internet access, but being able to place all my songs on a portable device would be nice.

But you should use at least the phone as you will need a contract.

Two types of wireless Internet- 10.11g WiFi which is free many places, and through the AT&T 3G network, most major cities have coverage.

Don't know if you can get without data service (3G) but regardless the WiFi will work.

You will still be able to use it for Data at WiFi access points.

Me, I could not live without the Data plan.

however, having a different smart phone, I think you will be surprised at how much you use the data access if you go for that plan. It becomes quite second nature to look things up online in all kinds of cases.

OTOH the piss poor calender and lack of any to-do list prevent me from dropping my Palm Pilot. Honestly I expect more from the G1.
The tethering announcement is a huge step forward into the corporate market. They should now consider opening up the building of custom (non-app-store) applications for private distribution and allow custom apps to run in the background. The combo would put them in much better shape to compete for the biggest enterprise contracts.

They also need a more stable browser but the above would allow for that.

I have to renew my two year contract with AT&T this month and when I go in I think I will add an iphone. :-)