I just got an iPhone as a late Christmas gift. I have to say it is awesome. I just had one noob question though. That extra $30 bucks a month covers all the web surfing and emailing I can do right? And if I use a feature that uses the gps location that is included in the $30 right? I wouldn't want to run up charges I'm unaware of.
GPS service itself is free and the GPS feature is built in and is not charged for. The phone does basic triangulation off of cell towers for a rough position and then uses GPS for a fine position. Any app that uses this service uses the phones basic capabilities and you are not charged for anything.
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Originally Posted by dakineyj
That is correct. Unless you are roaming, then you will be gauged. You can turn off Data Roaming.
I'm not sure that is true unless you leave your country of origin and even that may vary. If you live in the US and go to Europe you will get charged. If you stay in the US (and I presume some parts of Canada and Mexico) you will not be charged.
As long as you are on the AT&T (or a partner) network, you shouldn't get charged for Data Roaming. It's when you get off their network that the charges will apply. For the most part this means if you leave the US, but I believe you are covered in parts of Canada and Mexico.
Mac Specs: MBP 15", 2GHz Intel Core Duo, 2GB RAM, OS X 10.5.4, Switcher As Of 10/06, 80G iPod, ATV, iPhone 3G
Data roaming is similar to regular roaming. If you travel out of your network area, say to another country, you will be billed a lot more per call or data usage. Back in the old days before nation wide plans you could be considered roaming while in a different part of the same town. So to avoid the surprise of a $2000 phone bill when you return from vacation double check that data roaming is off. I believe it is located under Settings and then Network.
And yes, the GPS is free it uses the data network for the maps...
The only thing that's NOT included in the $30 that threw me for a loop was the SMS.
Yeah I wasn't crazy about that either. From what I so far understand your basic phone plan covers your minutes/text messages, the extra $30 covers the data(web, email, etc). I decided to add the extra 200 text messages for $5. If you do the math it is a lot cheaper to just pay the $5 instead of .20 per text.
