Thanks to our fans, word is getting out about how we help save your money and your gadgets! SquareTrade was featured in Gizmodo Friday: SquareTrade's iPhone 3GS Warranty Covers Clumsiness, Stupidity, and Human Nature
....and our updated iPhone study has been featured in TechCrunch: iCrack: The iPhone Is An Accident Magnet
The study has generated quite a buzz! You can view the full study or check out coverage in the news.
Ahhh, the dreaded cracked screen. I’ve heard of it happening a lot with the first generation iPhone. In fact, I just came across this support group for people who’ve actually had it happen and lived to tell about it.
With all the hype and excitement about the new iPhone 3G, we’ve been hearing lots of concern about the lack of phone insurance available from Apple and AT&T. You can get AppleCare directly from Apple, but it won’t cover you if you accidentally break your phone. Plus, it's a little pricey. And AT&T won’t let you insure the phone through their regular monthly phone insurance plans either.
So if you think there’s even a slight chance you could drop your new iPhone, accidentally toss it, mistakenly dunk it into a liquid of some sort, unintentionally freeze it, bake it, feed it to your dog, or step on it after your child's toy choo-choo train gently nudges it off of a TV tray, you might want to consider getting some accidental damage coverage just in case.
So far, SquareTrade is the only full-service warranty company that will offer Accidental Damage from Handling protection for the new iPhone 3G. Since you can do it all online, you don’t have to deal with a bunch more paperwork on top of everything you already got from Apple and AT&T for the phone and the wireless plan. On the $299 16 gig iPhone, you can expect to pay about $35.99 for 3 years of basic coverage that'll cover you if the phone stops working on its own -- and tack on another $39 to guard against any drops, spills, and slips you might have. Learn more about the coverage here.
Bonus: It’s so easy that you don’t even have to actually talk to anybody if you don’t feel like it. But you can always call us up too... even if it’s just to say “hey,” and brag about your awesome new phone.
It's a day earlier than expected, but considering everybody in the entire world knew Apple planned to release an updated iMac this week, was there really any reason to make us all wait an extra 24 hours? No, there was not.
The new secret formula is, as expected, faster Core 2 Duo Penryn processors, but they didn't change the starting prices on these machines. Nice touch, Cupertino. The base 20" iMac opens at $1200, and that nets you a 2.4GHz processor, 1GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM (expandable to 4GB) and 250GB available on the hard drive for whatever shenanigans you care to plot.
But if you really want a little something-something, the top-of-the-line 24" iMac fronts a really, really fast 3.06GHz chip with an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics card and 512MB video RAM, so you'll never want for buttery smooth video again. It comes with 2GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, plus a 8x double-layer SuperDrive. That'll run you a cool $2200 out of the gate (a 2.8GHz/320GB version drops it to $1800), but you can boost those specs to 4GB of RAM for a extra $200, and a full terabyte on the HD for $250 more. And why the hell wouldn't you?
We'd also suggest a SquareTrade warranty for your new toy, so you can make sure it's still around long enough to justify all the cheddar you shelled out for it. Use the quote widget in the sidebar to see how much money we'll save you, too... AppleCare protection is a flat $169 across the board. Our prices pretty much beat everything except warranties on the highest-priced iMacs, and the difference there won't be more than a few bucks. But we've got great reviews and a 5-Day Service Guarantee that ensures you're back up and running in no time. They don't. That's probably worth a couple of bucks to you.
Nice as all this is, let's be honest... it's just a tease before the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference in June, where we'll see a 32GB iPhone with high-speed 3G connections and haptic feedback and true GPS and all of our other dreams come true.
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Mark Arnold was hanging out by his local river when he pulled out his Apple iPhone to make a call. It flew right out of his hand, smashed hard against a rock and then fell into the drink.
"So I'm thinking impact and water damage," says Arnold, "nice double whammy, there." Luckily, he'd taken precautions.
When Arnold bought an extended warranty for his iPhone, he took the option to add Accidental Damage from Handling (ADH) coverage. SquareTrade, his warranty provider, now reports that 50% of all iPhone owners who buy a SquareTrade warranty also buy ADH - almost double the rate for all other cell phones - and while the ADH rider is offered on everything from laptops to GPS devices, the numbers show it's the iPhone that needs it the most.
"There's something delicate about the iPhone that makes people think something has to go wrong," says SquareTrade CEO Steve Abernethy. "It's going to slip right out of their hand and break on the kitchen floor."
A lot of them do. Nearly all iPhone claims - 85% - made on SquareTrade policies are accidental damage claims, more than all other cell phones combined.
The iPhone's smooth glass and metal surfaces often make for a slick, tough-to-grip gadget. Cracked screens from drops on hard tile floors are by far the most common problem, and the $400-500 phone is known to slip out of pockets as people get in or out of cars. One SquareTrade customer described watching a TSA screener accidentally bang their iPhone against the metal exam table while passing it through airport security.
The table won that encounter.
Silicon grips and carry-cases are now almost as standard as iPhones themselves, but none are fool-proof. SquareTrade received one claim where the iPhone was in a protective case - and in the owner's pocket - when the man slipped and fell down. He later found his phone's face completely ruined.
iPhones also have a tendency to go swimming. In addition to Mark Arnold's river mishap, SquareTrade claimants have spilled various liquids on their iPhones and one slightly embarrassed individual sent theirs right down the toilet bowl.
Despite - or because - of all this, SquareTrade is currently the only warranty provider offering accidental damage coverage on the iPhone.
Interestingly, most of SquareTrade's clients spend their cash reimbursements on another iPhone. Arnold admits he went out and bought a new one the same day. "I use it for business purposes. I felt I kinda needed one."
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You heard right. While Wall Street Journal tech god Walt Mossberg was badmouthing Verizon's broadband network at the Beet.tv executive summit over the weekend, somebody quizzed him about the Apple iPhone's lack of 3G super-speed. Walt's response: "It will be 3G in sixty days."
By a curious coincidence, Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference kicks off on June 9, or sixty-three days from now. And we all know how Apple likes to announce things at big conferences with tons of reporters in the audience, live-blogging away.
Was Uncle Walt just shooting the macrumors breeze? Tough to say, but Apple tends to FedEx their new products to the WSJ first, because they love the coverage Mossberg gives them. It's not completely out of question that he got the word from Steve Jobs to keep his review schedule open in early June, always assuming Walt doesn't have a 3G iPhone on his desk right now. Plus all those rumors floating around about low in-store iPhone stock have got people talking about a jump to a new model. That's a pattern Apple established long, long ago.
And if the warranty pattern holds true, a 3-Year SquareTrade iPhone warranty will still cost less than a 2-Year AppleCare plan, and offer you the Accidental Damage coverage that Apple won't. Up to you, really.
True or not, this has been a wish-list item for way too long. A few people around the office have been waiting for the iPhone to go 3G before committing, and with Samsung's Instinct around the corner, it's now time for Jobs to step it up to some tri-band goodness.
UPDATE: Uncle Walt recanted his "60 Days" quote, but who do be believe now? Before-Walt, or Now-Walt? Does he know too much or too little? Time - and the Worldwide Developers' Conference - will tell.
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Business technology consultant Gartner has reversed its former anti-iPhone stance and, post SDK release, now endorses the Apple iPhone for scaled business application.
"The iPhone will soon be tailored for enterprises. Gartner recommends "appliance-level" support status once firmware 2.0 and improvements are released. iPhone will become a popular tool alongside BlackBerry and Microsoft devices."
That's more than likely to have a strong effect on purchasing decisions going forward for corporate IT departments. We've already reported on all the enterprise support the iPhone's getting with Firmware 2.0, but combined with the SDK, big business can adapt any proprietary systems they have for their corporate-issued iPhones (we also know second party companies like Salesforce are already onboard) with minimum security issues. And if an employee is terminated, they can wipe his iPhone access remotely in no time.
And while commercial-use items like a company printers aren't eligible for a SquareTrade warranty, single-use business items like smart phones are... at half the cost of regular cell phone insurance, with a guaranteed 5-business day turnaround and much better customer reviews. We're also one of only two avenues for iPhone warranties - a 3-Year SquareTrade iPhone warranty runs about half the price of a 2-Year Apple Care plan - and we're the only ones who offer Accidental Damage coverage.
The iPhone already took a big chunk of the smartphone market away from RIM in its first year. Once Firmware 2.0 releases in early summer, its second year will be about taking on the corporate market. Expect to see a lot more Suits walking around with iPhones by Fall.
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Well, it was only a matter of time. We've been keeping an eye on AT&T's newish program of offering refurbished phones on new plans... they've had Blackberrys up for a while, the Pantech Duo and LG Trax went up the other day, and now cheap refurbished Apple iPhones are available. Hooray?
Specifically, it's a refurbished 8GB iPhone that's gone up for $250, which is $150 less than a brand-new model. That's a decent chop, but don't forget the mandatory 2-year contract with purchase.
Also don't forget that AT&T doesn't offer cell phone insurance on iPhones, Apple Care won't be available on a refurb, and even if they did, it would cost too much for too little. A SquareTrade iPhone warranty for an iPhone refurb will run you $30 for a full year of coverage, and if anything goes wrong, you'll get your $250 back to go buy a new phone. Up to you.
Keep in mind, these are iPhones that have broken down once before, so it's strictly Buyer Beware.
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Those wacky guys over at Unwired View have unearthed some pictures from patent-happy Apple for what look like the next version of the Apple iPhone.
Take all these with an entire shaker of salt, because Apple would patent letters and colors if they could, and they've been known for slamming the patent hammer on concepts as a pre-emptive strike so other companies don't scoop their coolness. That said, let's just ignore that bit of advice and geek out a bit at the Big Ideas.
First, we're looking at a flip-iPhone, which rocks the house because all truly worthy cell phones are modeled after Star Trek communicators, and this all men know. But this flip phone has a few twists: the clamshell is transparent, and both sides are touch control-enabled. Presumably not at the same time (why would you need that?), but we do have to wonder what the point would be of having a transparent touchscreen directly above another touchscreen... when you flip it open, you get double the surface area, but closed it seems a bit redundant. Staggeringly cool, yet redundant.
Other fun bits shared in the patent: this would make for a smaller, squatter iPh
one, and you'll be able to dial by drawing numbers on the touchscreen. Rotary phone interface, anyone?
That's a Photoshop piece (also from Unwired View) of what it might look like. And should this ever come to pass, odds are it'll go down just like the current iPhone. Which is to say, a SquareTrade iPhone warranty with optional Accidental Damage coverage will still outperform Apple Care for less money, and last a year longer to boot. And AT&T still won't even offer rip-off cell phone insurance.
So, Apple... will it be 3G? Please?
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Okay, so we've actually been saying this for a while, but it looks like the Apple iPhone is going to be the next really big mobile gaming platform. Because conquering music, film, television, and the world communication networks wasn't enough.
Just last week at the iPhone SKD release, we found out that ports of Will "The Sims" Wright's upcoming "sim everything" game Spore and goofy platformer Super Monkey Ball were coming to the iPhone. Now everybody's jumping on the bandwagon. Gameloft, those wacky guys who brought The Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed to the hiptop set, have announced they'll be developing over fifteen games for the iPhone in 2008, though it's not clear if these will be entirely new games or ports of older games. Not to be outdone, Id Software has also said they'll be adding a few apps to the App Store... so maybe the next Doom for the iPhone will be official, followed by iPhone Quake.
It's tough to say how well these will play on a touch screen, though games like Super Monkey Ball are entirely played by tilting the iPhone around. Sony Ericsson FCCed a game phone concept last week, but with a haptic feedback system on their touchscreens, so gamers won't loose track of the controls in the heat of battle. Time will tell, but the game/iPhone combo is likely to be a fairly potent one.
Oh, and if you thought the small frys were the only ones who were going to take advantage of the $99 iPhone dev kits and free hosting on the App Store, think again. Sun Microsystems is already gearing up to put Java on the iPhone.
And if you want to keep that pricy iPhone safe, maybe you should compare the Apple Care plan to the SquareTrade iPhone warranty. The short version is we cost less, and we offer Accidental Damage coverage, too. And our customers tend to be very happy with us. Just sayin'.
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Where there any big surprises at today's Apple iPhone SDK press conference? Well, it started on time... Steve Jobs was at the podium at 10:00 a.m. sharp. Oh, and they're building out the iPhone for enterprise use. And opening up 3rd party development for iPhone applications. Happy Day!
Starting today, Apple's opened the same native APIs and tools they use to build iPhone applications. We're sure you'll all miss jailbreaking your iPhone every other month to keep up with the firmware updates, but as demoed by Scott Forestall, VP of iPhone Software, it's going to be ridiculously easy to build, debug, and push native 3rd party applications.
For examples, they trotted out reps from EA (demoing a two-week build of the highly anticipated game Spore, from Sims creator Wil Wright), Salesforce, AOL (AIM is coming to the iPhone), and Sega, showing off Super Money Ball... a game played entirely by tilting the iPhone. All third-party apps can be submitted to sell of the all-new App Store. Expect that icon to appear on your iPhone with the next update. It's a straight 70/30 split between the app's developers and Apple. No hosting fees. So a lot of developers to jump on this big-time.
As for the enterprise build-out, they started by licensing Microsoft's ActiveSync, and MS is tailoring the architecture to the iPhone so it works directly with the Exchange server without adding new applications that you wouldn't want anyway... like Microsoft usually does. It's all done from the iPhone's old email, calendar, and contact apps, as God intended. That direct link makes updating and adding meetings and new employees happen very, very fast, and when you're "let go," your friendly IT department can remote-wipe your iPhone before you get your two checks.
It gets especially fun when you start putting enterprise functions together with Salesforce applications. And Steve's One More Thing: it all goes live for the iTouch, too (though there will be a mild upgrade charge for those). Otherwise, iPhone Firmware 2.0 should be live by June.
And least we forget, if you want to keep your iPhone safe from all the dangers in the world, there's only two options: Apple Care and a SquareTrade iPhone warranty... and ours costs lest, lasts longer, has optional Accidental Damage coverage, and has the best reviewed service in the world. Your call, really.
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