AT&T and Apple: A Failing Partnership? [Yahoo Technology News]
The relationship between Apple and AT&T, the exclusive wireless provider of Apple's iPhone in the U.S., may be fraying, according to this article and other reports circulating on the Internet. While the newest iPhone model, the iPhone 3G S, goes on sale across the nation today in AT&T and Apple retail stores, many of the phone's new features won't be available to AT&T customers.
Both MMS and iPhone tethering, features that will be available on the iPhone 3G S in other countries on other providers, won't be available to AT&T iPhone customers for some time. Without MMS, the iPhone is unable to live up to its rich graphical potential when sending and receiving messages. When the device is "tethered" to a laptop or desktop computer, a user can surf the Web via the phone's wireless connection. All of these problems come right on the heals of a fairly tough go for consumers downloading the new 3.0 operating system due to server capacity issues.
There has been quite a bit of speculation that Apple may opt to end AT&T's exclusivity with the iPhone when their current deal expires. The fact that the carrier has crippled two of the new features on iPhone 3G S at its unveiling cannot be encouraging to Apple, which has created a revolutionary mobile device in the new model. And if AT&T's troubles with the new iPhone weren't enough, word is coming from Washington D.C. that several senators are asking the FCC to look into carriers' exclusive handset deals with mobile manufacturers.
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