The High-Tech Texan Blog

Friday, June 29, 2007

Opening Ceremony

5:34pm Arrive at AT&T Experience Store to check out iPhone line of customers

6:01pm Watch from inside store as doors open to customers (congrats Brian Hesterberg)

6:52pm Arrive at home and start documenting my iPhone experience

I must say the process of moving people through the doors at the AT&T local flagship store went very smooth. An initial flow of about 30 people were let inside and then called in one-by-one as room allowed. The media were well-represented with video cams, flash photographers, reporters with notebooks and also some the curious passers-by.

Here are some requisite I'm-a-loser-and-want-to-document-every-step-of-this-process photos. Will spend some of this weekend getting used to this expensive thingie and report back here and on my show Monday.

Got one yourself? Please post below...




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Are you ready?

Got to the AT&T Experience Store around 7:45 this morning to prep for my live broadcast. I expected a semi-circus with cars, lines of people, TV trucks and yellow tape guiding customers where to go. Instead I got an AT&T PR guy, one kid circling the parking lot to see if anyone was in line and a TV reporter for FOX 26. Hmmm, maybe there won't be a mad rush to get these iPhones.

Had some interesting conversation with the Houston VP of AT&T. He didn't provide too much more insight than what the pubic knows about the phone and he expected his store would sell out of them quickly. Cool - I got an exclusive!

I was inside the store when the doors opened at 9am. About a dozen people strolled in; the first person in asked where he could get the iPhone. Oops, come back in 9 hours, please.

By the time I left at 10:15am there were a dozen people lined up. I'll be back at 6pm get mine.



(oh, it's thinner and lighter than I imagined! Sssshhh)




A few things to know. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes (v 7.3) installed as that is your interface for activation and synchronization.

If you have Comcast Internet service let's hope your service has been restored. Early this afternoon many of Comcast's cable modem users experienced an outage. My Ft. Bend home was down but came back online around 2:30pm. Would have had to use my wireless data card to activate my phone this evening. Would not have been pretty.

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iDay is here (finally!)

After midnight and I just received an email from the AT&T PR folks. As of 11pm there was a report that 10 people were in line at their Pasadena store, 5708 Fairmont Parkway, and maybe a few people at the Tomball Parkway location. I thought there would be more iManiacs but maybe they just don't like humidity and bugs. Or maybe the iPhone won't be selling as fast as expected.

Either way I will be doing my show from the AT&T Experience Store on SW Freeway near Buffalo Speedway. I'll be talking with Ken Fisher, VP of AT&T's wireless market in Houston; Ed Cholerton, VP/GM of their local wired side of the company and maybe some of those iManiacs who sweated outside all night.

I made my decision. I will come back later in the day to stand in line with the rest of the disciples early adopters to see if I can have the priviledge of paying $600 plus tax plus whatever accessories will make the device stand out even more. Keep checking back throughout the day for more reports, photos and hopefully video of the 6pm "rush" through the front doors.

In the meantime, check out CNET's "Everything iPhone" page. And click on that picture to see it in detail. Hilarious!

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Monday, June 25, 2007

Summer Time Happy Hour - THIS WEDNESDAY!

To celebrate the summer, the week of the iPhone and anything else we can think of, it's time for another one of my SURF 'n SIP events. Tell your friends and co-workers that I'm taking care of the first round this Wednesday from 5p-8p. Come early...
  • SEE some of the latest technology gadgets on the market including new wireless phones, satellite and portable audio players, digital cameras and more (note: UNCONFIRMED RUMOR that an iPhone will make an appearance)

SURF the web on free WiFi

SIP some of the finest spirits around – Woodford Reserve

Come sample some of the finest small batch bourbon either on the rocks or the evening’s special Woodford Lemonade.

The party begins this Wednesday, June 27, at 5:00pm and the samples will flow until 8:00 pm or when they run dry. As always there is no admission but you must be at least 21 years old. And of course, please drive responsibly.

Downing Street Pub is located at the corner of Westheimer & Kirby, next to Taco Milagro.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Vacation Resort Special - Week of July 4













If you haven't made plans for that long, boring week of July 4th, here's a super secret special the folks from Tapatio Springs Resort sent me. I stayed there a few months ago - great golf, very nice condos. Tapatio Springs is located in Boerne, just northwest of San Antonio on I-10.
Here's the deal...they just lost an 80-room conference booking and have some extra availability from July 1- July 8. Make a reservation during that week and mention the "KPRC Special" and you'll get a 4 night stay for the price of a 2 night stay. I'm not a mathematician but I believe that's a whopping 50% off!
Click this image below for the details. Hurry. 800-999-3299


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Monday, June 18, 2007

10 Bucks will get you DSL

I had Ed Cholerton on my show a few months back. He is the regional VP/GM for AT&T. While we were discussing U-verse and other products he mentioned that his company would soon be offering a very inexpensive DSL package due to concessions in their acquisition of BellSouth.

It's here, but you'll have to dig to find it. Could be worth it, though, as $10 a month will get you DSL. The fine print says it's available to new customers only, those who have not subscribed to AT&T or BellSouth DSL during the past 12 months, and the service requires a one-year contract.

Careful now, it's not the fastest broadband speed around with downloads of up to 768 Kbps and uploads topping out at 128 Kbps.Not everyone is eligbile for this deal. You need to enter your phone number and see what price it is available for in your specific area. I'm a $14.99er.

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The Bots are coming!

With the arrest of the "King of Spam," the recent security outbreaks like the Storm Worm, and this week’s FBI investigations into more than 1 million botnet crime victims, there is mounting evidence supporting the growing bot pandemic.

In fact, just last year more than six million computers (an increase of 29 percent from 2006) were taken over by botnets, according to Symantec’s latest Internet Security Threat Report. These victimized computers are used at the will of the "bot-master" to perform a variety of activities, from stealing identities and confidential information to sending out massive amounts of spam – usually completely in secret.

I'll talk with a rep from Symantec on Tuesday's show about botnets. Tune in so you know what potential dangers are out there.

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

I Really Do Update This

It's tough keeping up a website much less more than one site. For the past few months I have been concentrating a bit more on my TalkRadio 950 "blog." OK, it's not a real blog as readers can't leave comments and it doesn't yet have RSS feeds. But the Clear Channel boys want me to focus more of my thoughts, stories, reviews and rants on that site.

So add this page to your bookmarks and check in daily. We give things away all the time so the least you may get out of it is a prize.