SquareTrade Warranty Blog

Vodafone follows Orange. End of US iPhone exclusivity?

To date, being an iPhone customer in the U.S. has meant being married to AT&T, for better or worse.

For nearly two years, O2 has also enjoyed a parallel position with exclusive rights to sell Apple's iPhones in the U.K. 

 

This week, iPhone owners across the pond watched in excitement as two rival carriers stepped in to bring an end to O2's exclusive deal with Apple. Many in the U.S. now wonder what the implications are for AT&T's exclusive partnership in the U.S.

Apple makes global moves to boost iPhone sales: UK, others transitioning to multicarriers

On Monday, France Telecom's mobile carrier Orange revealed that it would be bringing Apple's iPhone to the UK by the end of the year. Within 24 hours, Vodafone announced it will soon sell the iPhone in the UK and Ireland.

While Vodafone won't have the phones in time for Christmas, the announcements of these two network rivals mark the end of the exclusive UK deal that O2 had enjoyed over the iPhone.

Exclusive deals were the norm when the iPhone originally rolled out in 2007. In Germany, for example, T-Mobile still has exclusive deals with Apple on the iPhone. But Vodafone's announcement has analysts stating that iPhone exclusivity is rapidly coming to an end.

Last Chance! Fall Sale - 30% off, First 1000 Customers Only!

Heads up fans: Be among first 1000 customers to use Coupon Code FALL09 and get 30% off your next SquareTrade warranty purchase!

Coupon FALL09 is valid for a warranty for an item purchased from any retailer (like Wal-mart, Best Buy, Apple etc)  - online or not. Coupon also valid on eBay warranties too!

Remember: 30% off is only valid for first 1000 customers! (max $50 discount, through 9/29)

After that, coupon code is good for 20% off through October 4th.

AT&T seems pleased with iPhone MMS

AT&T finally activated Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) for Apple's iPhone 3G and 3GS phones late last week.

Like several iPhone users nationwide, I waited patiently to receive the following message from AT&T (pictured below) informing me of the update.

Depending on who you ask, the activation went smoothly. AT&T seems pleased. Are you?

The update went seamlessly for me but several early users reported transmission delays on AT&T's facebook fanpage.

There were even discussions on the Apple support forums complaining about the MMS 'Message Send Failure.'

The lack of MMS capabilities has often been targeted as a major weakness of the iPhone - especially since the BlackBerry and even most entry-level handsets have had this capability for years.

For its part, Apple included an update for this feature in its earlier 3.0 iPhone software update released this summer.  AT&T, on the other hand, said it wasn't ready to roll out the feature for fear that it's network would not be able to handle the strain.

Some might say the complaints rolling in are validating AT&T's earlier concerns.

Is MMS working for you? Let us know in comments below or join @SquareTrade in the conversation on twitter.

SquareTraders hit the ground running

Last week, 15 SquareTraders got motivated to put on their running shoes for the the 25th JP Morgan Corporate Challenge.

It's no surprise that our CEO, Steve Abernethy, is still faster than you can say 5 Day Service Guarantee. He took the bronze in the Most Senior Executive category!

Pictured here, SquareTraders pause for a snapshot before the start of the 3.5-mile team road race.

Also pictured: Golden Gate Bridge, part of the stunning backdrop for runners at Crissy Field.

If the scenery alone wasn't enough reason to motivate us, the cause sure was! In addition to benefiting the YMCA of San Francisco Kids to Camp Program, the SF event is part of the Corporate Challenge's worldwide “Teaming Up For a Greener Tomorrow” campaign.

Many thanks to the local fans and Corporate Challenge supporters who came out to cheer everyone on to the finish line! (Speaking of fans, for more pics of these SquareTraders on the go, check out our SquareTrade Facebook Fanpage.)

Fall Sale! 30% off, First 1000 Customers Only!

Heads up fans: First 1000 customers to use Coupon Code FALL09 get 30% off their next SquareTrade warranty purchase!

Coupon FALL09 is valid for a warranty for an item purchased from any retailer (like Wal-mart, Best Buy, Apple etc)  - online or not. Coupon also valid on eBay warranties too!

Hurry: 30% off is only valid for first 1000 customers! (max $50 discount, through 9/22) After that, coupon code is good for 20% off through October 4th.

Super-Saving Tuesday - 30% off all warranties!

Heads up to our fans: Use Coupon Code SEPTEMBER  before midnight Sept. 15th for 30% savings ! 

September coupon is valid for a max discount of $50 - and it's valid for a warranty for an item purchased from any retailer (like Wal-mart, Best Buy, Apple etc)  - online or not. Coupon also valid on eBay warranties too!

Hurry - 30% off is only valid til 11:59pm Sept. 15th. After that, coupon code is good for 20% off. Coupon expires Sept. 20th, 2009 at midnight.

24 Hour Sale - 30% off all warranties!

This is a special heads up to our fans - coupon SEPTEMBER is live as of publishing 5pm PDT today, Sept. 8th!

 Use Coupon Code SEPTEMBER  for 30% savings - one day only - Sept. 9th! 

Coupon is valid for a max discount of $50 - and it's valid for a warranty for an item purchased from any retailer (like Wal-mart, Best Buy, Apple etc)  - online or not. Coupon also valid on eBay warranties too!

Remember, 30% off is only valid til 11:59pm Sept. 9th. After that, coupon code is still valid for 20% off through Sept. 20th, 2009.

Minor data correction: Game Console Failure Rates study

A reader pointed us to an error on page 4 of our Game Console Failure Rates study published yesterday.  We unwittingly switched the usage data for the Xbox 360 and PS3 reported in the Nielsen study.  We have since corrected our data and charts, and made a minor adjustment to our analysis.

Our basic conclusions are unaffected.  The one highlight of the new data is that when we now exclude RROD from the usage analysis, PS3 and Xbox 360 both fail at roughly the same rate - 0.59% for the Xbox 360 and 0.57% for the PS3.

Our apologies for this error and any confusion it may have caused.

Failure Rates: Study Finds Nintendo Wii Most Reliable Game Console

SquareTrade analyzed failure rates for over 16,000 new game consoles covered by SquareTrade Care Plans. By far, Wii are the champions!

Nintendo fans will be happy to hear the study finds Wii is 4x more reliable than PS3 and 9x more reliable than Xbox360.

But, fans of the Xbox also have cause to rejoice; while the Red Ring of Death (RROD) problem continued to be a major problem for Xbox 360s purchased through 2008, it showed signs of finally abating with the introduction of the latest "Jasper" chipset in late 2008.

Other highlights from the study:

• During the first two years of ownership, 2.7 percent of Wii owners reported a system failure to SquareTrade, compared with 10 percent of PlayStation 3 owners and 23.7 percent of Xbox 360 owners. 
• The most common types of problems seen with the PS3 and Xbox 360 were disc read errors and output issues. The Wii had more power and remote control issues than the other 2 systems.

 

For the full study, click here: SquareTrade Game Console reliability study.