There have been many things that I’ve done which people have described as “pulling a Nick” (for example the method on which I got my iPhone for practically free). In switching to the iPhone, or rather the BB Curve then iPhone, I made the switch away from my long time carrier T-Mobile. I enjoyed the 24/7 customer service, selection in phones, etc, but iPhone was just too tempting.

While I was a T-Mobile customer I also paid for the Starbucks/T-Mobile Hotspot access at $20/month. When I made the switch to AT&T I got a 3G Expresscard/34 AT&T wireless modem from my MacBook Pro (both of which were stolen, yet I’m still paying for the modem). I canceled my T-Mobile hotspot access at the same time, and enjoyed the freedom of my modem. The irony is that I would still end up in a Starbucks most of the time on my laptop, but now using my 3G modem, which produced slightly slower speeds then the Starbucks/T-Mobile access.

Well Starbucks has pulled a “Nick” and made the switch over to AT&T as of today. Now the change will happen at the store level by the end of the year, but now that I live in one of the most connected areas of the country, I anticipate the change over in the San Francisco area to be quick.

The deal offers a lot of new and cheaper options. Previously it was $9.99/day, $19.99/month for T-mobile customers, and $29.99/month for non T-Mobile customers. The new pricing plan is $3.99 for a 2 hour block for AT&T customers and Starbucks card holders. Every Starbucks Card holder will get 2 free hours a day as well. In addition, anyone with AT&T DSL service at home (which I recently got) already enjoy free wireless access at AT&T hotspots, and thus the addition of Starbucks will expand the network they have access to.

I can’t wait for this deal to finally be finished and all the stores converted over. Now I just need to get a laptop again, so I can enjoy the atmosphere and aroma of Starbucks while surfing the web.

Read

P.S. If you work at Starbucks, you will get free unlimited access to the wireless access, just another perk of working at the largest coffee shop in the world.

AT&T is really pushing their Blackberry line, and why not? The Blackberry Curve 8310 with GPS is the best phone I’ve ever used. It was more functional, flexible, and felt better in my hands then any phone I’ve owned…and I’ve owned a lot, including the iPhone. The iPhone is a very close second to the BB Curve. Well let me show you how to get either one for free.

If you want the Blackberry Curve, and you are a new customer to AT&T, you can simply go on Amazon and buy the BB Curve 8310 with GPS, and after rebates, you make out with $50.01 in cash and a free phone. That’s it…simple as that. Cold hard cash and the best cell phone ever made.

If you are wanting to get a free iPhone, the steps are a bit more involved, but not by much. Buy the BBCurve like mentioned above. Then go online to GSM PhoneSource and get an unlock code for $19. Finally, put your newly unlocked BBCurve (make sure to keep it pristine and sell as new), on eBay where they are selling for upwards of $400.

That on top of the $50.01 you made just from buying the Curve from Amazon will net you enough cash to buy an iPhone including tax.

There you go, a free iPhone, and heck you might even have some extra money left over for a nice case for that newly purchased Jesus phone iPhone.

Buy via Amazon

P.S. This is the method I went about buying my iPhone, but Amazon wasn’t offering such incredible rebates, so I was able to get the AT&T store to match the Amazon price at the time of paying $50, this this method, you can pocket $50 on the purchase of a Curve.

Today Apple released the iPhone update 1.1.1 which includes a ton of anticipated updates. Here is a brief list:

• iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
• Louder Speakerphone & reciever volume
• Double space bar inserts a period (like the BlackBerry)
• Support for TV Out
• Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming
• Adjustable alert volume

…and many more

Well I’ve officially given in to the iPhone. I’ve had my BlackBerry Curve just sitting around waiting for the day when I felt the burning desire to start using it again, but the iPhone always won out. That being said, I am selling my BlackBerry Curve with an Invisible Shield on the screen and back and 3 silicone BlackBerry cases. The buy it now is $299 and it is only a 1 day auction, so get your bids in fast if you want this.

This phone is UNLOCKED, and thus will work on any GSM (aka sim card) network, including AT&T and T-Mobile in the USA. It has push email, a 2 megapixel camera, great media player, and all of the features you’ve come to expect out of the best phone RIM has ever made. This thing even does IM through EVERY major client out there. Good luck, and happy bidding!

Buy it now

My favorite phone for years and years was the Sidekick. I couldn’t live without all of it’s IM features great full QWERTY keyboard. It had flaws though like no 3G, GPS, and bluetooth support came late in its life. If you read my posts over at Boy Genius Report, you know that I’ve been awaiting the Helio Ocean with the giddy delight of a high school girl the week before prom. I’ve posted quite a bit about it, like here, here, here, .Well now it’s even better since it supports Microsoft Exchange. The iPhone is my phone of choice currently, but it’s lack of native IM, GPS, and a bunch of other features I grew dependant on while using Sidekicks and BlackBerry’s. I will say that I am dying without Google Talk on me 24/7. I feel disconnected from the rest of the world at time.

Well it turns out that Josh Hallett an internationally recognized thought leader in the convergence of social media and corporate public relations & marketing is giving away a free Helio Ocean, and his rules for entry are quite simple. Write a post, link to his and make your story good.

I’m officially throwing my hat in the ring, because there are many features that I love about this phone that I sorely miss on my iPhone, but feel free yourself to enter Josh’s contest as well. All the info you need is here, along with his speaking schedule, photography, and Blog and Social Media Consulting Services.

I’m not saying that I should be the winner, but I can’t think of anyone with better Blog and Social Media Consulting Services, speaking schedule, photography, and blog then that of Josh Hallett an internationally recognized thought leader in the convergence of social media and corporate public relations & marketing.

It turns out that if you change rate plans on your iPhone, they need to remove the old plan and add the new. In this process all of your Visual Voicemail is lost into the abyss that is AT&T.

Even dialing 1 from your iPhone won’t retrieve these lost voice mails. There seems to be nothing that AT&T can do to get them back either. Lesson learned today, don’t change rate plans unless you really need to.

Yep that’s me on the front page of Saturday’s St. Pete Times. I was the first person at the Tampa Apple store to get an iPhone, and waited around 32 hours in line to get one, well 3. I plan 2 on eBay, but I’ve had quite the busy weekend. I’ve had more people come up to me about just getting the iPhone then my featured front page + all of page 6 article about TV/Gadgets. It’s a bit crazy.

My boss, where I called in sick, even likened me to Ferris Bueller, but apparently had no problem with me calling in while waiting in line for an iPhone.

That isn’t to say that my experience has been all good. 2 of my tires were slashed multiple times while I was in line. Was the phone and the wait worth it though? Oh hell yeah, it’s pretty darn cool.

My major gripes include a lack of IM (Google Talk doesn’t work like I previously reported), Gmail is pop (no Gmail client like on my BlackBerry Curve), but other then that I love it. I was listening to it while playing poker yesterday, able to switch right over to a phone call by simply clicking the button on the ear buds…it’s great.

I bought the InCase protection case that TUAW reviewed and is a great match for the style of the iPhone. It keeps the sleekness yet protects from accidental drops.

It was quite the busy weekend with the iPhone, helping Dawn’s grandmother move, driving up to Gainesville, and poker yesterday (which was the first day of no limit poker in Florida…which I ended up walking about with $600 from my $200 buy in). I’m just now getting online for the first time really since Friday. Looks like the iPhone is selling well at over 500,000 units sold, and besides AT&T botching the activation on some people’s account there are nothing but great reviews out there.

I’m sure I will have some stuff to post about the iPhone, and I was taking video of walking thru the doors and ordering my iPhone, that will be posted soon.

If you don’t already have one, I HIGHLY suggest getting one…the iPhone is pretty darn cool.