Author: Stuart Dredge
Video: iPhone UK launch – hands on with Apple's handset
Susi was at this morning's iPhone UK launch, as you'll know if you read her liveblog. Once Steve Jobs had done his thang on-stage, she got hands on with the phone, explaining the key features and pricing for the UK market. Watch below.
A third of social networking users enter false information to protect their identities
A growing trend amid all the Web 2.0 hype is concern over whether your MySpace or Facebook profile is a security risk. Certainly if you’re a smart identity thief, you could probably retire from rooting through dustbins, in favour of simply scanning social networks for people who give up too much information.
It seems many people are aware of this, though. A survey conducted by research firm Emedia suggests that 31% of users have entered false information on their profiles to protect their identity, while 62% say they’re worried about the safety of their personal data on these sites.
iPhone UK launch: Does The Cloud Wi-Fi deal mean no Apple / Starbucks partnership in the UK?
Right, so Apple has announced that the iPhone will go on sale in the UK on 9th November, and us Brits will have free access to over 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspot run by The Cloud, which includes McDonalds, several football clubs and the entire financial district in London.
But what about Starbucks? In the US, Apple has tied up a deal with the coffee retailer to offer free Wi-Fi to iPhone and iPod Touch users, yet here in the UK, Starbucks’ Wi-Fi hotspots are run by… T-Mobile. Which is a rival to O2, the exclusive UK mobile operator for iPhone.
iPhone UK launch: Free iPhone Wi-Fi in City of London, McDonalds, and Arsenal / Chelsea / Manchester United stadia
The news that Apple hasn’t shoehorned 3G into the UK iPhone will disappoint many people here, even if it wasn’t a huge surprise (not least because if the company had, can you imagine the backlash from iPhone users in the US?)
At the launch this morning, Steve Jobs said battery life is what’s stopping Apple releasing a 3G iPhone, with the claim that a 3G model’s talktime would be cut to 2-3 hours, rather than Apple’s preferred 5+. Instead, Jobs talked up the faster speed of Wi-Fi surfing, and offered us Brits the carrot of a deal with Wi-Fi hotspot provider The Cloud for free access through its 7,500 UK hotspots.
iPhone UK launch: £269 on O2 from 9th November, but NOT 3G
Apple has finally announced details of the iPhone’s UK launch. As expected, O2 is the exclusive operator partner, and the handset will cost £269 on this side of the pond when it goes on sale on 9th November.
iPhone UK launch: O2 and Apple online stores both down
Ooh, it’s getting exciting now: O2’s online store isn’t working, with a message saying simply: “We’re sorry you’re unable to access the Online Shop at the moment. We are currently making improvements to the site to provide customers with an even better shopping experience.”
3G iPhone with GPS on the way… next year
Just half an hour to go until Apple’s press conference to launch the UK iPhone kicks off, but it seems 3G won’t be on the menu. TheStreet is reporting that a 3G iPhone is being developed, but won’t go on sale until the first quarter of 2008.
However, the silver lining is that the handset is set to include GPS for beefed-up mapping and navigation services. To be specific, Broadcom’s Global Locate is apparently supplying assisted GPS chips for the second-generation iPhone, which should make it quicker to get a signal than pure GPS.
Opinion: iPhone UK launch will be £250, O2 exclusive, but not 3G
After nearly three frustrating months of waiting, Apple is finally set to launch iPhone in the UK tomorrow, revealing the handset’s price on this side of the Atlantic, as well as which mobile operator has bagged the exclusive rights.
Kat’s summarised the latest rumours about Apple’s press launch tomorrow in London, for which invites have been sent out with the tagline ‘Mum is no longer the word’.
Somebody's already cloned the new iPod Nano
Don’t ask me who, mind. It’s a Chinese manufacturer which has been quickest off the mark with a new Nano clone. It’s got the same controls and the same widescreen, although I’m betting it won’t work super-seamlessly with iTunes.
The $100 laptop now costs… $188?
Cheap laptops for the developing world aren’t what they were. Take the One Laptop Per Child project, which came out of MIT in the US with the noble aim of mass-producing a laptop that’d cost $100, to ensure schoolchildren around the world could watch The Salmon Dance on YouTube too.
However, when the laptop begins production later this year, it’ll actually cost $188, due to rising component costs and currency fluctuations. Although it’s still exceptionally cheap given the laptop’s wireless capabilities, experts say the price hike could put governments in the developing world off ordering the laptop.
