Originally Posted By: tfabris
Related question: How long ago must I have bought my 4G, to be eligible for the on-contract price of a 4Gs?

It's going to vary by customer. For AT&T and Verizon users, you can check here. For me, it provided the "on launch day" pricing, along with "will drop to $199 on X date".

Originally Posted By: hybrid8
In terms of software, I think Siri is going to revolutionize this market, even if it does require a data connection.

From what I understand, it doesn't always use the data connection. For the assistant, it's all local parsing, with data use for questions that require a data lookup (weather, queries that hit Wolfram alpha, etc). Dictation requires a data connection, similar to Android.

Originally Posted By: hybrid8
Apple will have LTE when that technology matures enough to be available in more than select pockets of the US.

My reading of a no LTE/WiMax version is more power related then market availability. Current WiMax and LTE chips are just too power hungry for what Apple wants. The HTC Thunderbolt in reviews tends to average 3-4 hours of battery life. Unless Apple starts making their own cellular radio chipsets, they are stuck waiting on other companies to push the power demands down.

I'm on the fence. I was planning on skipping this generation, but Siri looks pretty useful. I'll probably wait to play with one in stores before I decide to upgrade.