Has AT&T seen the light? Will it offer what is arguably the hottest gadget around -- the iPhone -- without a service agreement?

Yes.

For a nominal service charge.

The two new iPhones (8MB and 16MB versions) go on sale next Friday (July 11) for $199 and $299, with two-year AT&T contracts.

If you want to purchase an iPhone 3G from AT&T -- locked for use on its network only, natch --without a service contract, you can do so for $400 more than the price of an iPhone that's locked in to a two-year service agreement.

Math challenged? Contract-free versions will cost $599 and $699.

Currently a monthly calling plan for the iPhone runs $70 per month for 450 minutes of calls and unlimited e-mail and Web browsing.