On Wednesday I received a text message from AT&T. This isn't unusual if you're an iPhone owner and still on the AT&T network. However the following text message probably made just about every iPhone owner run to the nearest coffee shop with an AT&T hotspot:

"AT&T Free Msg: Your Apple iPhone now has free AT&T Wi-Fi access at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. "

AT&T hotspots can be found at thousands of locations. A huge emphasis is being placed on hotspots at Starbucks due to their new partnership that converted thousands of T-Mobile hotspots into AT&T hotspots. We all know that a Starbucks can be found on just about every corner and if not, there's always Barnes and Nobles.

Can I Use it on my Laptop Too?

In my personal tests at my local Barnes and Nobles I was able to connect my iPhone without a hitch. All it took was selecting the correct Wi-Fi network and my phone number to get things going. From there, a text message was sent to my iPhone with a secure link to access the hotspot. According to AT&T the link is only valid for 24 hours. Also, if you relocate to another hotspot you'll have to request a new link. Unfortunately, copying the link into the address bar of my laptop did not allow me to access the Wi-Fi from my laptop instead of my iPhone. Will we see a work around for this in the future?

Up till this point, no one had announced a development tool for the iPhone - although there have been suggestions by bloggers that Adobe AIR and Google GWT might become iPhone development platforms. However, it seems Morfik is the first to do it.

Morfik says that Scriptor, a utility built into their WebOS AppsBuilder platform, enables development of applications for products such as the iPhone. To prove that point, Morfik used Scriptor to develop iChess, a working example of an iPhone application. That link is the iPhone version, but see also http://chess.morfik.com for a browser version. It is a chess app, a favorite prototyping app of Morfik. It is running on EC2 now and can be used by purchasers of the iPhone on Friday. Also developers can download the AppsBuilder with Scriptor now from Morfik's homepage.

There is of course a lot of anticipation around third party iPhone apps - indeed there are dedicated sites for this already. As last100 recently noted, Apple will allow third party apps for iPhone - by giving them access through the web (not the OS).

What Morfik has created is a web development environment for the iPhone. But they also told us that as soon as Apple announces an API for the iPhone, then Morfik will include that into their platform.

Interestingly, with regards to ads in SMS messages, the numbers were pretty close (22.5% vs. 17.6%). This seems to be an area where the iPhone doesn't outshine other phones.

Of course, with the impending release of the Palm Pre and the large number of Android phones in the handset makers' pipeline, it will be interesting to see if these numbers will look similar on phones that are able to offer comparably compelling experiences (though, at least in the beginning, without the tens of thousands of apps that iPhone users have access to). It would be nice to see numbers that compare recall rates just for users of smartphones, like the iPhone or Blackberries. But for mobile advertisers, these are encouraging numbers, especially given that more and more users are drifting away from feature phones and towards smartphones like the iPhone.

During the period where the activation servers were down, the Apple store employees let everybody still buy their phones and had them finalize the activation at home. As it turns out, that might not have been very useful at all, especially if the iPhone servers are still only working intermittently.

According to various reports online, these problems weren't just limited to the US, but pretty much occurred around the globe. Given how widespread these reports about problems are, it would seem that the majority of issues was more due to Apple's fault than the local carriers'.

The new WordPress App for iPhone supports both WordPress.com installations as well as self-hosted Wordpress.org blogs that are version 2.5.1 and above.

The app includes the following features:

- Embedded Safari previews of posts
- Full support for tags & categories
- Photo support for both camera phone pics and library photos
- Support for multiple blogs
- Ability to password protect a post, save as draft, or mark for later review
- Auto-recovery feature recovers posts interrupted by phone calls

You can see WordPress on the iPhone in action in the video below or check out screenshots here:

More information can be found on iphone.wordpress.org where you can review the Frequently Asked Questions and/or report issues with the application.

To download this app from iTunes, click here.

Thanks to Digital Inspiration for breaking the news.

Now that the iPhone is in the hands of early US adopters (the Apple ones at least), we expect to see a flurry of web entrepreneurs and ordinary users testing their apps in the iPhone.

Mobile social networking startup MyStrands pinged us this evening to tell us about their tests. Their excited blog post says:

"What do we like most? The easy sync with the mac. It’s amazing! I’ve got all my email, contacts, playlists in my iPhone… with zero effort. And of course…

MyStrands mobile website looks great!"

MyStrands in the iPhone

Open Thread

So let's make this an open thread over the weekend. If you have your hands on an iPhone, let us know how your favorite web sites and services perform in it. And if you're a web developer or entrepreneur, tell us how your app works - is the UI as good as it's being promoted? Is the navigation easy? Blurt it out...

Top photo: naan

"Mobile advertising is rapidly maturing, and we believe the iPhone is leading the industry forward. Advertisers are excited to connect with consumers in new ways on the iPhone through social and rich media ad units that deliver increased impact and engagement," said AdMob VP/GM, Jason Spero. The new ads build on the high-performing iPhone ad units the
company launched last year and will begin running July 1st.

AdMob is also working with app developers to help them prepare for the new iPhone 3.0 OS. The company feels their new version of the iPhone SDK "delivers a better experience for consumers through the ability to dynamically update a given advertisement's look and feel, which in turn helps developers better monetize their applications," according to the company's press release.

As we reported last week, the iPhone/iTouch group of smart mobile devices accounted for 43 percent of ads served via mobile websites and 65 percent of ads served through HTML requests.

Q: What do you think of iPhone 2.0?

It's revolutionary! 12% (105 votes)
It's a very solid version 2 product, nicely done 40% (359 votes)
Meh, it's ok 20% (182 votes)
Bah, those features are already in [insert your fave phone here] 16% (140 votes)
Yawn! 9% (77 votes)
Wait, Apple has a phone? 4% (37 votes)

In case you didn't see the iPhone 2.0 announcement, our network blog last100 posted an excellent overview. The new version iPhone supports 3G and faster data networks, has GPS, has a few cosmetic changes and is thinner, carries a (dramatically) lower price ($199 for the 8 GB iPhone, $299 for the 16 GB model) and will be available in 22 countries starting July 11. It also features Microsoft Exchange and full enterprise support out of the box.

These are all great features, but some people questioned: is the iPhone really that revolutionary compared to products available internationally? For example 3G has been available in many mobile devices for 2-3 years now in places like Japan. Check out the robust discussion in the comments to our post this week, as well as the results of the poll we ran and which you can still vote in:

See also: iPhone 2.0, Video Highlights and iPhone-less? Try Tiled Browsing Instead

Good for Mobile Web Developers

Of course, these are benchmarks and don't necessarily correlate directly into a superior user experience, but it is good to see that even iPhone 3G users will see significant speed gains from the 3.0 release. This should give mobile developers quite a boost, as they can now develop and run more complex, cross-platform compatible web apps that won't be hindered by the mobile browser's performance, though the Android-powered G1 is still pretty slow according to Medialets and the Palm Pre sees the same performance as a 3G with the 3.0 OS.

For now, however, there are also still a few million iPhone 3G users who haven't updated their phones' operating system yet...

Zimbra is already available on a host of mobile platforms such as Windows Mobile, Palm, Nokia, and Blackberry. Their latest support for the iPhone 2.0 platform will help to increase their market share. While the iPhone has progressed with its support with email, documents and more, Zimbra is looking to make it easier for its users to stay synchronized regarless of the platform.

Enteprise Capabilities

Zimbra Mobile for iPhone 2.0 software provides users with enterprise class features including OTA synchronization of e-mails, calendar and contacts. Zimbra Mobile for iPhone 2.0 software will allow iPhone users to maximize their business functions on the iPhone. Additionally, Zimbra Mobile for iPhone will enable OTA photo-sync, so photos associated with iPhone contacts will sync with the Zimbra address book as well.

Zimbra has provided numerous ways for uses to access the Zimbra Servia via the iPhone including:

• IMAP / POP - Standards based access to email only
• Connectors - Use Zimbra's Connector for iSync (Mac) or Outlook (PC) to sync address book and calendar; combined with IMAP email it is a completely native UI solution. (Network Edition only).
• Mobile Web Browser - Zimbra Web Client is optimized for Safari on the iPhone; you can take advantage of iPhone's unique browsing capabilities to access your email, address book, calendar and more.

The users interface for accessing Zimbra's services via Safari on the iPhone is gorgeous and efficient. Zimbra makes great use of the screen real estate by providing a plethora of options right from the start. The new interface for the iPhone gets even better with a navigation menu at the top of the screen and important information right below it. This minimizes the number of finger tapping you'd normally have to do with the previous design.

Off to a Good Start

Zimbra is now approaching the same area territory Google is dominating at this point. However, the new Zimbra Mobile for iPhone 2.0 is looking to be off to a good start with more than enough features available from the iPhone to keep its users happy. Users can test Zimbra Mobile for iPhone by heading to Zimbra's Hosted Demo page.

The iPhone has a ton of selling points. It sports an user interface that goes beyond anything ever seen on the Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Palm OS'. The performance is fast! The interface is intuitive and it sports an iPod. How many people have phones with music playback capabilities, yet don't transfer any songs to play on their phone? I'm one of those users and if you're one too, you know you'd use the iPod that's integrated with the iPhone with no hesitation. All in all, the iPhone is sleek, beautiful, and performs adequately. The biggest selling point though, is not necessarily the Safari browser, but the applications that have been developed to take advantage of Safari's functionality on the iPhone.

Why the Apps Make a Big Difference

Touchscreen phones are being snapped up left and right. More than enough are already available including the LG Voyager (Verizon), Samsung Instinct (Sprint), HTC Touch (Verizon, Sprint), LG Vu (AT&T), and Samsung Glyde (Verizon). While this is great for those who may want to go against the rising tide of the iPhone, these phones will not break the iPhone's stronghold. Why? Their browsers suck!

The biggest reason most people would like an iPhone is because of the Safari browser. However, it's not just the browser. It's the mobile applications that are accessible via the browser. Have you seen the user interfaces for mobile apps made for the iPhone? The functionality is splendid. The design is flawless just like the iPhone. Execution these applications is in strict accordance with Apple-like standards. There are tons of mobile applications already available that don't require you to download them. And after the WWDC, there are tons more on the way.

Reaching for Something Better

While it's nice to see more touchscreens on the market and phones that pick up where the iPhone natively slacks, meaning you don't need to "jailbreak" them just to do something, they just don't compare to what's available for the iPhone. Sure there are more Windows Mobile applications floating around than iPhone apps, but take a look at the design and execution difference. When it comes to mobile apps, it doesn't get any better than what the iPhone has at this point. However, I hope that mobile handset makers and carriers are striving for something better to break what is surely a monopoly that the iPhone will eventually hold on the mobile web.

The new version also now automatically saves posts and restores them if the network connection is lost during the publishing process.

Just like the first version, Wordpress for iPhone 2 is an open-source program.

It's important to note that this new version will not appear as an update to the old version. Instead, users will have to install a new app, which can run side-by-side with the older version.

The new version, of course, still offers the same basic feature set as the earlier version. These include support for multiple blogs, photo uploads and post previews, as well as full support for tags, categories and password protected posts.

Blogging on the iPhone

There can be little doubt that the iPhone - or any mobile phone for that matter - isn't the ideal platform for writing long, thoughtful blog posts. Maybe that's why Wordpress for iPhone 2 puts more emphasis on comment moderation than the first version.

For a quick blog post on the road, though, the app is perfectly adequate, especially if you just want to upload a few pictures. It's not as easy to use as the more specialized PicPosterous, but Wordpress for iPhone 2 is a far more flexible application and Wordpress has a different user in mind for this app.

"I've had both since the first day they were out (I'm a gadget junkie, I guess :-), and I like them both a lot.

The Kindle is a great reading experience; I've probably gone through 30 - 40 books on it already. Given a choice between the two devices, if I'm sitting down to ready, I'd rather read on the Kindle.

On the other hand, the iPhone is always with me, and the Kindle isn't.

What would be really slick would be if the iPhone and Kindle would both support Mobipocket format books (which is also the Kindle's native format), and iTunes could be used to sync both devices, keeping "last read" pointers in the same way it does with audiobooks and podcasts now.

That way you could sit down with either device, and pick up where you left off.

Doubt we'll ever see it, but it'd be terrific if it happened."

We mentioned in our previous post that CRM provider Etelos had created an iPhone version of its product. Today Zoho has announced an iPhone version of their Web Office suite, called (naturally enough) iZoho. It currently allows users to view documents, spreadsheets and presentations. As of now, only documents can be edited. And Zoho hasn't actually tested this on iPhone yet, so they say they will add more features "after we get to play with iPhone."

The big question around all of this is: how much adoption will the iPhone get in the enterprise? We know that the iPhone will be mostly a consumer play, as with the majority of Apple products. But on the other hand, the Blackberry has been an enormous success in the enterprise. In many ways, the iPhone will compete with the Blackberry - and it already looks to have much better Web support. Zoho noted this about iPhone in their blog post:

"...a device with a big screen, built in Wi-Fi, good usability and a full fledged browser will only improve the chances of practically using web apps on a mobile device."

Raju Vegesna from Zoho told me they don't have a version for Blackberry and that developing Zoho for the Blackberry would be much more difficult. "iPhone was easy because we didn't do lots of changes", Raju said, "we just supported Safari. But that's not the case with Blackberry. We'd have to do a specific version for it, as it is not a full fledged browser."

Conclusion: Watch out Blackberry!

In response to a question from Simon Leyland about business use of the iPhone in our previous post, a commenter named Dan responded:

"Simon, I am not sure that iPhones will be less desirable than Blackberry's to the Enterprise. The Exec. and outside sales teams seem to be ideal for browser-based apps that get them their data. Why not? I have been using a Blackberry for years and ready to try something new. I would love to get at my data from a smaller device than a laptop. But I may be the exception to the rule."

I think Dan is right and there will be demand from businesses for the iPhone, despite the higher price. The iPhone has better Web support than the Blackberry and by all accounts is easier to use (although we won't know for sure till Friday). What do you think - will there be demand in the enterprise for the iPhone? How will this affect Blackberry?