Good Morning Silicon Valley

The word is out today on what using your nice new iPhone will run you per month, and the AT&T rates show an Apple design approach in offering just a few simple choices. The difference in the three primary plans is strictly in available minutes. For $59.99 a month, you get 450 anytime minutes and 5,000 night and weekend minutes. For 20 bucks more, you get 900 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend use. The $99.99 plan bumps the anytime minutes up to 1,350. All three plans include unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, and all require a two-year committment. Heavy users, text fiends and families have some other options for more minutes and more messages.

Apple also announced that users will be able to activate their phones from home using iTunes rather than waiting around for it to be done in the store. That should make for a challenging spike on Apple’s servers as soon as new owners start getting home Friday night.

In other iPhone news nuggets:

* Apple 2.0 reports that the first officially authorized reviews, from the chosen few pundits who exchanged non-disclosure agreements for a chance to give the new toy a workout, will hit the wires at 6 p.m. PDT tonight. Expect to hear from the Journal’s Walt Mossberg, the New York Times’ David Pogue and a few other heavy hitters. Apple 2.0’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt says, “From what we’ve heard the reviewers are going to be generally positive but will not shy away from pointing out the parts of the iPhone experience that were disappointing — mostly revolving around typing difficulties and sluggish downloads over AT&T’s current cellular network.”

* If you’re inclined to go the camp-out route, Gridskipper has put together maps of the areas around several key retail outlets around the country. That way you can get the lay of the land before you lie on the land.

* Gambling site BetUS.com has posted odds on a variety of iPhone-related developments, including these: Consumers pay at least three times the original price on eBay, 2-1; there are mass reports of the battery life being less than the promised 8 hours, 10-1; someone is trampled while trying to get an iPhone, 20-1; and an iPhone spontaneously combusts, 150-1.