The iPhone 3G is available for purchase from AT&T's online store; you don't have to go to an Apple or AT&T retail outlet to pick one up anymore. But what sweetens the deal is that the phone you buy online can be activated — that is, connected to the AT&T network so you can make calls on it — online too. Previously AT&T had insisted that the iPhone 3G only be activated in a retail store out of fear that savvy hackers would exploit an online option to make their phones work on networks other than AT&T's. All the prices and everything else are the same; there's nothing new about the online-activated iPhone. It's just an extra convenience, especially with the holidays coming up. If a family member buys you an iPhone this season, you won't have to go out in the cold to activate it at your local store, and that's a gift in itself!

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