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If you were on the fence between an original iPad and its successor, AT&T may have just made your buying decision a little more difficult.

As noted by CNET contributor Jim Dalrymple on his personal blog The Loop, AT&T today cut the price of the original iPad with 3G by $100, putting the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models on sale at $429, $529, and $629 respectively. By comparison, those units cost $629, $729, and $829 when they were first released.

This is the second price cut to hit the first-generation iPad. In the first one, which occurred following the announcement of the iPad 2, Apple took $100 off the base price, while throwing buyers who may have bought an iPad in the two weeks leading up to the announcement a $100 refund.

Apple continues to sell brand-new versions of the 3G version of the first iPad at $100 off its original price, and refurbished versions of the device at $150 to $170 off depending on the model, leaving buyers who go through AT&T getting a better deal in either case.

In order to use the 3G service, users need to sign on to one of the two, prepaid data plans, which can be done from the unit itself. Additionally AT&T is currently running a promotion where new users of its DataConnect personal plans get the first month of 2GB of data free of charge.

As of this post's publishing, AT&T's online store appears to be out of stock of the 32GB model, however the 16GB and 64GB models are still available. … Read more

In what may have been nothing more than a minor footnote to Friday's launch of Apple's iPad 2, shipping times on Apple's Web site quickly jumped from 3 to 5 business days to 2 to 3 weeks.

Interestingly, according to a report from AppleInsider, AT&T is already shipping iPad 2s to customers, with some expecting to see theirs as early as Monday.

As of the writing of this article, shipping times on Apple's Web site are 3 to 4 weeks for all models of the iPad 2. The photo below, from AppleInsider, shows the … Read more

When the Verizon iPhone finally went on sale last month, it bested its AT&T cousin by offering a wireless hot spot that could support up to five devices. It was a welcome addition and, as we found in our Verizon iPhone review, the feature performed well. It wasn't necessarily better than other smartphone hot spots we've tested, but it offered a simple and relatively speedy way to get online.

When AT&T would join the hot-spot party became the next question, of course, but Apple offered an answer Wednesday when it delivered its latest software update a couple of days early. Though as iOS upgrades go, iOS 4.3 activates the hot spot on the AT&T iPhone 4 (earlier iPhones will not support the feature). It's almost the same experience as on Verizon's device, but there are some important and disappointing differences.

What's the same As with Verizon's handset, AT&T users will need to activate the optional tethering plan to use the feature (if you don't have the plan, the option won't appear in your Settings menu). And, like Verizon, AT&T charges an additional $20 for the plan. Though AT&T's data cap is 4GB per month for tethering and the hot spot (Verizon has a 2GB cap), the carrier requires you to select at least the $25-per-month Data Pro plan for basic data. … Read more

AT&T customers can now choose postpaid data plans for their tablet PCs.

Starting today, AT&T said, customers can opt to pay $14.99 for 250MB of monthly data or $25 for 2GB of monthly data. The postpaid option will show up on the person's monthly wireless bill after the data is used. Prepaid plans, which feature the same price and data allotments, are charged on a person's credit card prior to their use.

Both the postpaid and prepaid plans are month-to-month, meaning that customers have no long-term contract.

The only difference, apparently, between the … Read more

So what is more important to you? Having an iPhone 4 that might drop calls? Or having an iPhone 4 that saves your marriage?

This seems to be the fine and important question posed by AT&T in its instant rebuttal to Verizon's new iPhone 4 ad that suggests you might finally be able to make a phone call.

This ad offers an insight into how an AT&T iPhone 4 might save a marriage that is just about to run aground.

You clearly work too hard. You clearly neglect your wife--who, strangely, still talks to you … Read more

So if you were going to advertise the new Verizon iPhone 4, what would you do?

You'd show everyone how beautiful it is. But then many people know that.

Then you'd remind them that you can actually make phone calls on this iPhone 4, as opposed to the AT&T one. You know, the one that some who live in, for example, San Francisco claim drops calls more often than 49-ers receivers drops balls.

Verizon's first spots for its new iPhone 4 were all about a magical beginning. Now the company has decided to bash AT&T about the ears with consummate subtlety.

Fortunately for Verizon, they have that nice man with Elvis Costello's old glasses. He always reminds you that you can make phone calls, sometimes even quite clearly, on the Verizon network.… Read more

Shortly after CNET first heard that iOS 4.3 would bring the new hot-spot feature to all iPhones, Apple confirmed the rumor when it released the update's beta version to developers. iPhone Atlas' Joe Aimonetti will follow up with a list of new iOS 4.3 features shortly, but the hot-spot option is sitting pretty inside the Settings menu of our updated AT&T iPhone 4.

Unfortunately, we can't actually use the hot spot just yet, but we welcome it nonetheless. Not only will the new Verizon iPhone 4 lack a monopoly on the feature, but also … Read more

More than three years after it first came on the market, Apple's iPhone is still one of the hottest smartphones out there. But new hardware designs and the unending software upgrades to the iPhone's operating system, have left some iPhone subscribers scratching their heads.

In this week's Ask Maggie column I help explain to one reader why his data usage has doubled since upgrading from his iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4. I also answer questions about iPhone reception issues. Is the SIM card to blame? What about a software update?

To find out the answers, read … Read more

A new report released Wednesday by market research firm ChangeWave shows that 72 percent of iPhone 4 users are "very satisfied" with the new Apple device.

The report, which tallied the results of 213 iPhone 4 users in July, also said that 21 percent were somewhat satisfied with the device.

ChangeWave said that one third of iPhone 4 users surveyed said the device exceeded their expectations, while 50 percent said it met expectations. Taken together, the iPhone 4 numbers fall short of the satisfaction rating of the iPhone 3GS after its release: 82 percent reported being "very … Read more