Remember a couple weeks ago I wrote about the new HTC Fuze for AT&T (review available here)? Well, on Friday I returned the Fuze and picked myself up a nice, new, 16 GB iPhone 3G. Now before you go attacking me saying that I always complain about the high iPhone rates, and that I went against my words — hear me out. Read on and I’ll explain to you everything that went through my mind before I walked out of AT&T with an iPhone.

I’ll start with the reasons why I dropped the Fuze.

The first, and most prominent reason behind why I dropped the Fuze was because after less than half a month of usage, it magically got me a $150 “data usage” bill. Oh, and I mean magically: I had this thing by my bed as an alarm for school, and one day I woke up and found it on the internet- without me doing anything (I was sleeping)! I don’t care what you say bout the iPhone’s high rates, there is a BIG difference between $30 a month and $150 a month.

I also was nervous about using the WiFi on the device, as I had no idea when it would just give me 3G and not WiFi for internet browsing (WiFi was a big reason I got this phone — I wanted to use the Internet around my school, which has WiFi, sometimes , and my house, without having to lug around a big ol’ laptop). I also did not want to pay for an Internet plan.

I also ran into assorted bugs, like slowness of Windows Mobile and the nice TouchFlo 3D HTC puts on (which really is nice).

All in all, I still like the Fuze, but if you don’t wanna pay for an Internet plan, don’t bother going for it or you’ll risk the major bill I got.

Now let me explain the reasons why I went for the iPhone 3G instead of a Blackberry Bold or other AT&T phone.

For one, I always loved the freedom you had with the Apps on the iPhone, I adored touchscreens (especially multi-touch), and I desperately needed a new iPod (I had a 4 GB original Nano which was getting a little old after 3 years ).

But the main reason here also was money and the monthly bill. The AT&T guy I went to was extremely helpful, and made me this great deal. Seeing I was part of a family plan and spending all this money on a phone (I explained to him the reasons why I was returning the Fuze), he asked what my parents professions were, and when I responded that my mom was a teacher, he told me about a great deal they offer to teachers: 15% off your bill and 25% off all accessories. A really great deal.

He asked me if I preferred iPhone 3G or Blackberry Bold, and when I chose the iPhone, he went through all the math with me, showing how if I got an iPhone, my monthly bill would be much cheaper under this plan (I think it is now about $15 a month after the 15% off and such).

Basically, after trading in my Fuze (an option available since it was within 30 days from when I bought the phone), I spent a total of $92 at AT&T on Friday, and walked out with a 16 GB iPhone 3G – the whole internet plan, an Apple Protection Plan granting an extra year of warranty (not bad after spending all this time picking a phone), and a nice case.

And I gotta say, after using it for a couple days, I completely understand why the iPhone 3G is the hottest selling phone in America (it really is that good of a device).

So what are your thoughts: if you use an iPhone- like it or hate it? Any Apps you would reccomend for a new iPhone 3G owner like myself?  You gonna go to AT&T and try to get in on this teachers discount if one of your parents are a teacher (something I would without question recommend doing)? Feel there is a better phone out there on AT&T that I should’ve gone with? Let your voice be heard in the comments.

The all-new HTC Fuze for AT&T

This past week I was looking for a new phone for AT&T (my other phone finally died), and wanted WiFi, touchscreen and a full keyboard. Just my luck, AT&T finally decided to release the HTC Fuze this past Tuesday, and I, naturally, went right in the next day and picked one up. My thoughts? Should you get this as your next AT&T phone? Read on!

Features

The Build

• Nice, Cool Design- This is not iPhone or Blackberry Bold thin, let’s put that out right now, but this phone does have BOTH a full QWERTY keyboard AND a touchscreen, where the iPhone is only touch, and the Bold only keyboard. Oh, and it has a sweet DIAMOND pattern on the back (got a lot of wows when I brought this to school for the first time ) The phone also feels great in the hand.

HTC Fuze (on right, compared to AT&T Tilt)

• 2.8 inch VGA Touchscreen- This thing definitely holds its own with the AMAZING screens on the iPhone and the Bold, and I actually think this is the best screen I have ever seen on a Windows Mobile phone (without a doubt beating its predecessor, the AT&T Tilt). The screen is very quick and responsive and pix and video look superb (even YouTube videos– through the hidden app; see here, then copy the app, go to Windows–> Start Menu–> Programs and paste the app so you’ll see it in your programs list)
• Full Keyboard- I love this keyboard. Yes, the Bold also has an awesome keyboard, but the one on the Fuze is amazing. After a day of use I was firing texts off like I had the phone for months. It also has a few on-screen keyboards (full QWERTY and a Blackberry Pearl-like SureType keyboard with 2 letters per key) which work just as well for me as the iPhone keyboard would.

HTC Fuze Keyboard

The Cool Stuff

• TouchFlo 3D- HTC (the makers of the Fuze) did an AMAZING job with this, and this is so easy and so much fun and to use (yes I said fun). All your stuff is on the home screen. You just drag the little icon down and you are able switch between several tabs for Home, E-Mail, Texts, Music (play your music right there on the homepage and scroll your songs with a Cover Flow-like feature), Pix, Internet, Programs. To go through these menus, all you need to do is just flip through them (the fun part).
  • Check out this video (really of the original HTC Touch pro which doesn’t look exactly similar but works identically to the Fuze)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pENEldRxuwQ]

• Accelerometer- Like the iPhone, so for pix, videos and internet, just flip the phone to its side to view in full screen!
• GPS and AT&T Navigator- For GPS, though I would recommend Google Maps- it’s free compared to the AT&T Navigator service (check it here).
• AT&T Cellular Video and AT&T Music- For watching video and downloading music on the go.
• Mobile Windows Media Player 10- This allows you to sync up your videos and music with your computer’s Windows Media Player (similar to iPhone and iTunes).

The Basics

• Windows Mobile 6.1- While this OS could be slow at times, I found it very workable, easy to use, and love the fact that there are so many apps out there that I could download on to the phone (such as Google Maps). I think this is just as good as the Blackberry OS on the Bold, but still find the mobile version of Apple’s OS X on the iPhone superior to Windows Mobile.
• AT&T 3G- I don’t have an internet plan, so I couldn’t test how well the network worked, but the phone also has….
• WiFi!- I love this. WiFi sets up quick and easy (though I did have a few times where I needed to retype my networks security code- very annoying), but the phone also has a FULL Opera Web Browser, which works great (without question better than the Bold’s, though I don’t think its better than Safari on the iPhone/ iPod Touch).
• 3.2 Megapixel Camera with Flash and Video- This isn’t a killer feature, but does a nice job taking pix, and the camera is better than both the iPhone and Bold.
• Great Call Quality- Phones need to make calls, and I was blown away by the call quality on this thing. Calls sounded unbelievably clear on my end (both on and off speaker), and the people I talked to said I sounded clear as well. Definitely good when a phone makes good calls

Drawbacks

Core Issues

• Bad Battery- While I was able to get through a full school day (about 11hours for me- brutal I know), I made it just barely- and that was WITHOUT HEAVY USE (like a lot of calls and texts). True, the WiFi was on and off throughout the day, but it was only on for about a minute (I couldn’t get on any networks unfortunately), and it was just pathetic- this phone needs more juice.
• WiFi isn’t the easiest to connect to- Many times I had trouble connecting on first try to a wireless network, though once I did get on, browsing was awesome and fast.

Annoying Problems

• Difficult to wake up phone- Waking up the Fuze can only be done by either pressing the power button at the top or sliding out the keyboard or stylus. While the latter is awesome (it’s magnetic after all!), I still don’t like the fact that pressing other keys like the home, or talk/end keys don’t wake up the phone.
• Screen doesn’t turn on for a text- Also will take some getting used to. You feel the phone vibrate (which could also be better if it got a little stronger), but you have to go through the annoyance of waking it up (see directly above) to get the screen back on to view the text.
• Screen doesn’t stay on when you tap it during a call- Yes the reason behind this is that you don’t mess up your call by accident, but with the Tilt, the screen would go off during a call, and when you tapped it, it went back on- don’t know why the same isn’t here.

The Cost

• Could run up a quick internet bill- This phone relies a lot on the mobile web, and without realizing it you could see yourself on the AT&T internet and not WiFi (when you lose WiFi it automatically takes you to 3G). I may even find myself soon buying an internet plan for $15-$30 a month because this could be a big problem.
• Expensive- Even with all these drawbacks, this phone is still very impressive and one I would recommend, but the price is pretty high right now: $299 on a 2 year contract. I expect this to drop by the end of the year/early next year, and I believe AT&T has this price right now because it is the launch price. However, if I didn’t need a phone so badly, I would’ve waited and saved some $$$.
  

Closing Points

This phone is a joy to use- its stylish, functional, and just plain cool and fun. I would recommend this without question for anyone looking for a great texting phone for AT&T. Without question this phone is better than its predecessor- the AT&T Tilt (I find it kills it in pretty much every category). But the high price and the drawbacks are somethings to think about, and you should definitely try this out in store to make sure it is the right phone for you.

What you think- this a phone you see yourself getting, iPhone or Bold more your style? How bout a different, cheaper AT&T phone like the Pantech Matrix or Samsung Propel (see here for info on them). Let us know in the comments.

AT&T user looking for a new phone? Well, we got more info on 9 (!) upcoming AT&T phones, and boy do they look AMAZING. If you are an AT&T user, there is something here that is probably for you.

Well start with the simplest phones, and move up to the more high featured ones.

Samsung a637

A small phone, it looks pretty nice and also has some decent features.

• Sleek, stylish design- very nice and small, this phone should fit very well in any pocket.
• AT&T 3G
• AT&T Navigator- aka GPS
• Mp3 and Video Player
• AT&T Video Share- AT&T’s one way video chat with other Video Share phones when both are in a 3G area.

This phone is available now for $50 from AT&T’s website after a 2 year contract and a $50 mail in rebate.

Samsung a637

Samsung Propel

The official features of this phone are still a mystery — its not yet official — but the features we know include:

• Small Design- This should fit in any into any pocket as well, but also features what appears to be a pretty big screen.
• Slide-out QWERTY (computer-like) keyboard– something great for heavy texters
• AT&T 3G
• AT&T Navigator
• 3 Different colors–  red, blue and green.

This phone should cost $80 on a 2 year contract when it launches hopefully soon for AT&T.

Samsung Propel

AT&T Quickfire

This phone is something I personally find really cool. Looking like the sidekick, its rumored to have a slide up screen that reveals a full keyboard (great for texters). Like the Propel’s, the features are strongly rumored but we do know:

• Small Design- Like the other two phones, this should also fit smooth in any pocket.
• AT&T Navigator
• AT&T 3G
• 1.3 Megaixel camera with Video Capture
• Mp3 and Video player
• Micro-SD card slot- not sure how high this goes
• AT&T Mobile TV
• Available in multiple colors-  silver, orange and green.

This is expected to come later this month for $99.99 with a 2 year contract.

AT&T Quickfire

Pantech Matrix

This phone is a really cool dual slide phone- like the older Pantech Duo. Slide it to the side and you get a QWERTY keyboard like the Quickfire and Propel mentioned above, slide it down, a regular phone keypad. Other features include:

• AT&T 3G
• AT&T Navigator
• Mp3 and Video Player
• AT&T Video Share
• Micro-SD card slot
• Three colors to choose from- Blue, Red or Green.

This phone should be available for $79.99 on a 2 year contract when it launches hopefully later this month as well.

The Pantech Matrix

Samsung a867/ Eternity

This is the rumored Samsung Omnia AT&T look-a-like. This all-touchscreen phone looks really nice with that little AT&T logo up top, and is really the most feature packed device on this list.

• Samsung OS- Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it ), there is no Windows Mobile on this phone unlike the Omnia which uses Windows Mobile.
• Thin design- Will fit into any pocket.
• 3.2 inch touchscreen- This is a smaller screen than the iPhone, but about the same size as the new Blackberry Storm for Verizon.
• AT&T TV- This phone really is more like the LG Vu, now than any other phone. Unlike the LG Vu though, this phone doesn’t need you to have an antenna to watch TV as everything is built in!
• AT&T Navigator
• 3 megapixel camera
• Mp3 and Video player
• Micro-SD card slot- Ability to add up to 16 GB of memory to this phone
• 3.5 mm headphone jack- Ability for you to use regular headphones with this phone.
• A new “light pipe”- This “light pipe” has little lights on the bottom of the phone that glow when you get new emails, text messages etc.

The phone should be out be next month for $150 on a 2 year contract.

Samsung Eternity

Sony Ericsson W760a

This is a regular sliding phone that is very sleek and stylish. Loaded with features like:

• AT&T 3G
• Walkman 3.0 with Shake Control- This lets you “shake” the phone to change or shuffle songs like what is on the new Nano.
• 3.2 Megapixel Camera
• AT&T Navigator
• Tilt Control Gaming- We’re not sure exactly what this is, but our best guess is that it is like the iPhone and iPod Touch games where you can tilt and shake the phone to play games.
• Mp3 and Video Player
• FM Radio built-in
• AT&T Video Share

This phone looks really nice, cost $129.99 on a 2 year contract, and is available now at any AT&T store (online ordering should be available soon as well).

Sony Ericsson w760a

3 More Phones Due to Arrive during the Holiday Season

LG Incite

A completely rumored phone, it has:

• High resolution touchscreen
• 3 megapixel camera
• Windows Mobile 6.1
• GPS
• AT&T 3G
• WiFi
• Thin all metal design

3G Blackberry Bold

A regular Blackberry — not a touchscreen like the Storm — its release was scheduled for over the summer, but was delayed by buggy software. Features will be including:

• AT&T 3G
• WiFi
• Mp3 and Video Player
• Blackberry Media Sync- For syncing your non-bought iTunes (or songs without iTunes copy protection, aka DRM)  music to your Blackberry! And yes, this uses your iTunes library.
• Full web browser– to view the “real” internet
• GPS
• 2 Megapixel Camera with and built-in Flash and Video Recording
  
• The latest Blackberry OS.

The AT&T Blackberry Bold (click on pic to go to the AT&T preview site)

HTC Fuze

A successor to the AT&T Tilt, features on this phone are:

• Windows Mobile 6.1 with Touch Flo 3D- This is amazing (Touch Flo 3D), and lets you view text, mail, pix, contacts, play music and more with a sleek menu interface. Add the fact that you got Windows Mobile, means you can add a whole bunch of games and apps already created- without the need for an App Store.
• AT&T 3G
• A full web browser- For viewing the “real” internet
• GPS
• High Resolution Touchscreen
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• WiFi

HTC Touch Pro (aka AT&T Fuze)- Touch Flo 3D to left, keyboard open to right

What does all of this mean to you? If your looking for a new phone for AT&T at a good price, then you got some really nice choices just from the phones here. Big texters are also in luck with phones like the Propel, Matrix and Quickfire. Throw in some higher end phones like the HTC Fuze, Samsung Eternity, and Blackberry Bold and if your looking for a high end phone your good as well. Oh, and AT&T does still have already launched phones like a certain iPhone 3G (we think this is popular with some people ), and the LG Vu.

What you think- any of these phones looking good to being your next phone, if so which phone strikes your interest? Would you rather go for an iPhone 3G or LG Vu instead of one of these phones, or are you willing to wait for a phone like the Bold or HTC Fuze? Let us know your thoughts and plans in the comments.

Info and pix from Engadget Mobile.com, Mobile Whack.com and AT&T’s Wireless site (see Samsung a637)