The ghetto iPhone
March 3rd, 2009
The 3G iPhone came out last year right around my birthday. I was all set to get one when I found out that I wasn’t eligible at that time for an equipment upgrade through AT&T. Without the upgrade credit, the cost of the phone would’ve been around $600.00. Way too expensive. AT&T told me at the time that I’d be eligible for an upgrade in March/20009. Today is March 3rd. And sure, I’d love to get an iPhone. But the problem now is the costly nature of AT&T’s iPhone rate plans. The least-expensive rate plan for iPhone is around $70.00/month. I’m currently paying $40.00/month for a bunch of minutes I don’t use. Tacking an extra $30.00/month on to that for the privilege of Shiny Toy ownership is stupid. So I’ve been researching my options. I’ve looked at comparable phones/plans through T-Mobile and Verizon, and haven’t really found anything that suits my needs. I’d really like to have access to mobile Internet/data, and only have to pay for a small amount of airtime (minutes). I’m not someone who lives on the cell phone. Most months, I probably make less than 20 minutes worth of actual mobile phone calls. I was out for a walk last week, contemplating what to do, when I was struck with an idea. Apple’s iPod Touch has almost all of the functionality of the iPhone. But the iPod Touch has no 3G connectivity. It can only communicate with the outside world via Wi-Fi. And while there are plenty of public Wi-Fi networks out there, Wi-Fi isn’t as expansive as 3G. So how hard would it be to provide constant Wi-Fi connectivity to an iPod Touch? It wouldn’t be that hard at all with a Wi-Fi enabled cell phone that can share its Internet connection. Unfortunately, the only cell phone providers that use Wi-Fi enabled phones have expensive rate plans. The least-expensive option I’ve found is through ghetto-tastic cell phone carrier Boost Mobile. You can get unlimited data/Internet access through Boost for about $10.00/month, and then airtime for ten cents/minute. That’s exactly what I need in terms of a monthly plan. Problem with Boost is, the company’s phones suck. Not one of them is Wi-Fi enabled. Some of them, however, have Bluetooth connectivity. I was thinking that it might be possible to get mobile Internet to an iPod Touch using Bluetooth from a Boost phone. As of right now, the iPod Touch doesn’t officially have Bluetooth connectivity. But Apple-obsessed nerds have found an inactive (sorta) Bluetooth chip inside the iPod Touch. I wonder if, after a good jailbreak is released for the iPod Touch, industrious hackers will figure out a way to use that Bluetooth chip. If they do, it could open the door for Internet connectivity via Bluetooth sharing. So i could then pair a Boost Mobile ghetto phone with an iPod Touch. Hence, giving rise to the ghetto iPhone. Maybe?