Just went you thought you couldn't possibly hate AT&T any more, AT&T has raised the upgrade prices for all phones including the iPhone for anyone mid-contract or without a contract. Different types of phones have different price changes, so let's break it down from smallest to largest.

First are feature phones (the cell phone that's actually a portable phone) which only get a raise of $10 for early upgrades and $20 for folks not on a contract. Next is the iPhone which has its own specific price plan. All early upgrades are going to be an additional $50. So a new iPhone 3GS mid-contract is going to go for $299 and a new 16GB iPhone 4 will go for $449. Finally, all other smartphone models (the cell phone that is a phone and everything else you could imagine) get a very unfortunate price increase of $150 for early upgrades. "Other smartphones" include Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, etc. If you aren't on a contract, it only raises by $50.

So what's with the price increases? Is AT&T trying to teach us the lesson of honoring a commitment perhaps? It doesn't seem that way. It's actually just to increase their own profit as the very fast-paced smartphone market continues to get more complex. You can bet other carriers will probably follow suit pretty soon.