iPhone 3G GPS Not Working - How to fix it

There have been many reports of the iPhone 3G having problems with its GPS positioning. Many users are reporting that they go into Maps on their new iPhone, click the target to lock onto their position and it is just not working. I too was experiencing this and have three things to advise, that may point to a solution.

Firstly, check the version number for your 2.0 software. Mine was factory shipped with 2.0 (5A345). I did a restore through iTunes and it downloaded the later 2.0 (5A347) version. After this was downloaded the iPhone got a cellular signal a lot quicker, plus a lot stronger signal too.

Secondly, check you at least have a cellular or mobile phone network signal. The iPhone (both 3G and first generation) use the cell network to work out your position. I found that once I had a four bar signal or more, the iPhone locked onto my position very quickly. It was not that accurate, but it did respond quickly.

Finally, put your iPhone 3G outside for at least 15 minutes. You will find that if it has a non-restricted path to the satellites you will get it to lock on. After leaving mine outside, the target changed to the blue glowing dot and found my position. It was very very accurate, even tracking if I was at the top or bottom of my back garden. This is very impressive indeed.

iPhone 3G update : thanks Apple Store Bluewater

A very quick update for you all. Having driven back down to Apple Store Bluewater today, I am a happy bunny. Just 30 minutes later and I was out of the store with my iPhone 3G. A big shout out to Nick, thanks so much for doing the VMWare goodness on my contract and getting the iPhone into my hands so quickly. It makes a lot of difference when you are served with a smile, by someone who is genuinely interested that you have a great Apple experience.

Rather than rush my review for you, I have left my iPhone sealed until tomorrow. Hopefully, by about midday, you will be able to see a very special video review of my new baby. It'll be worth waiting for... believe me.

iPhone 3G Speeds - 2G Queue - no iPhone for UK

Please excuse the rather strange title, but I would love to share my experience with you today... one that was shared by thousands. It purely reflects my personal experience, not my opinion of the product... the new iPhone that I have yet to get my hands on.

So, my iPhone was ordered from O2 just over two weeks ago. Yes, I know it was first come first served, but when I was in the store there were supposedly six 16GB versions in stock and four people ahead of me, so no problem. Then when I sat to do my paperwork, oh no, they had sold the last 16GB version. Well, an 8GB one would not do, and whilst the salesperson was very apologetic, they did not really seem that bothered. The customer experience at O2 is nowhere near that of an Apple Store, so it is a shame they tarnished my experience.

I then headed on down to take some more photos at the Apple Store in Bluewater. Mid-morning and about twenty people in front of me, there were problems. Aparently the O2 servers that allows Apple to activate the sim cards was down. Perhaps it runs on Windows, if only O2 would listen to Steve Jobs ! An hour or two passed, and although it was a long wait the guys and gals there were great. They served up cappucinos and hot chocolates from the local Starbucks. Then lunchtime came around and they were waiting on O2 to call them to do things over the phone. That call did not happen for a long time, so an Apple provided prawn sandwich found my hunger satisfied, but no sign of my iPhone. Around 4pm I really had to leave, at which time they had sold just three iPhones. What an absolute mess. As I write this I am trying to ring them to ask if they actually put on aside for me, along with my £15 complimentary iTunes voucher.

Well, the good news is that the Apple Store seem to have plenty of stock and some more customers have been lucky and got their sims activated and are now enjoying using the device. From what I saw whilst at the store, the device is very sleek, with the curved glossy back being very comfortable to hold. The screen also seemed very bright and crisp, although I did not side-by-side comparison.

A big thank you to all those smiles at the Apple Store Bluewater. Although I came away empty handed, you made the day bearable, although the caffeine shots have left me a bit wide-eyed.

iPhone 3G activation DOWN at Apple Store

After waiting in queue at the local O2 store and having an iPhone 3G sold from under my nose, I headed on down to cover the launch at the Apple Store Bluewater. Unfortunately the O2 servers were experiencing serious overload, so the queue was not moving. The guys and gals here were breaking into the petty cash to supply us with coffee and cakes, but people were getting a little frustrated. Let's hope the queue starts moving soon. Expect to see full coverage on the website later in the day.

Apple's App Store is online - gallery

Wow, now this is exciting, the App Store is online. A bit hard to get to, but if you follow this link and then backtrack to the App Store (next to the little Home button in iTunes) you get there. Loads of App goodness to browse through, so you can get downloading ahead of tomorrow.

Twitteriffic is there as a free app, as is SmugShot a geotagging photo app, PayPal for sending money, Shazam for identifying music tracks, and Sketches for jotting notes and scribbles. Most of them are free, which is fantastic. See our gallery below, for some App Store goodness.

iPhone 3G lands at AT&T Store

Wow, this video is an exciting one, building up some great anticipation for tomorrows iPhone 3G launch. It shows a delivery of the new iPhones to an AT&T store, duly stacked onto shelves and locked away. I am very surprised that this video was allowed to be shot, I guess it is an employee or a friend of a friend. The 16GB white models come in white boxes, how cool is that!

Click here to watch the attvideolog Youtube video.

O2 iPhone 3G Launch - Official Details

This one skipped under my radar, but I have been looking for the official word on how O2 are handling the iPhone 3G launch this Friday. Well, below is their official press release. Of note is the fact that any existing user can buy an iPhone PAYG sim card from July 11th too. This can be topped up as you use it and for £10 per month you get unlimited data and wi-fi access. No word on if these sim cards will be free, or if you can get one of the myriad of free O2 sims and then just get it put on the iPhone deal, but I will let you know this as soon as I find out. Here follows the press release.

O2 announced this week, that Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 3G will go on general sale from 8.02am on Friday 11 July in O2, Apple and Carphone Warehouse retail stores*. To ensure fairness, O2 will sell the device on a strictly first come, first served basis to both new and upgrading customers in all retail outlets.

Demand for the revolutionary device is already at unprecedented levels, far in excess of the original iPhone. “We’ve never seen any mobile device create the excitement and demand of the iPhone 3G,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 in the UK. “We want to ensure that everyone who wants an iPhone 3G can get one so we’ll be working with Apple to continually replenish our supplies throughout the summer.”

This morning customers who had pre-registered their interest in iPhone 3G were given the opportunity to purchase via O2’s online shop (http://shop.o2.co.uk) a limited stock of devices which had been set aside. The response was so great that the online store completely sold out of iPhone 3Gs within just a few hours. Though O2 had invested several million pounds to increase the order capacity of the site (with order processing capacity increased by over 250 times its normal rate), at times the site still couldn’t process the sheer weight of demand.

Details of when new supplies of iPhone 3Gs will be available via the O2 online shop will be updated regularly via the website.

Business customers can from today also start placing orders for iPhone 3G through O2 business channels. Delivery timings will be communicated when an order is placed.

iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is significantly faster than the first generation iPhone. The device has built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, iPhone 2.0 software (which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync) and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. These can be accessed via iTunes.

The 8GB iPhone 3G will be available for free to customers opting for the £45 or £75 tariffs and £99 on the £30 and £35 per month tariffs. The 16GB model will cost £159 on the £30 and £35 tariffs, £59 on the £45 tariff and it will be free on the £75 tariff. All customers will continue to receive unlimited UK data browsing over O2’s mobile network and unlimited access to over 9,000 Wi-Fi hotspots through both The Cloud and BT Openzone***.

Existing iPhone customers can upgrade early to the iPhone 3G through O2 channels by re-signing a new 18 month contract, taking advantage of the same great offer as new customers. They will then be able to give their existing 2G iPhone to a friend, family member or colleague who can transfer onto an iPhone tariff if they are an existing O2 Pay Monthly or business customer, stick in their existing O2 SIM and buy the appropriate Bolt Ons for unlimited data, or buy an iPhone Pay & Go SIM card from 11 July offering unlimited data and unlimited Wi-Fi access to The Cloud and BT Openzone hotspots for £10 per month. Full information is available on o2.co.uk/iPhone.

The iPhone 3G will launch on O2 Pay and Go (Prepay) in time for the Christmas shopping period, with pricing details to be confirmed closer to launch.

*The iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8.02am in all Apple stores and at selected O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores on the high street. All remaining stores will open at standard trading times. Check with your local store or online for opening times.
**Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.
*** Subject to O2’s excessive use policy.

Fonix iSpeak delivers voice dialing on the iPhone

Fonix Speech, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fonix® Corporation (OTCBB: FNIX) has announced the release of Fonix iSpeak™ - a voice activated application for the Apple iPhone™ 3G. Users can initiate several operations simply by speaking the command in natural language. Fonix iSpeak™ connects the user by just saying the phone number or by saying the name of a person in the contacts database. Additionally, users will be able to navigate their music libraries and launch a song or playlist simply by saying the name of the artist, song, or playlist.
Fonix iSpeak™ is the first of several anticipated product releases that support the growing mobile device and gaming industries and is at the core of the efforts of the company to focus its efforts on these markets.
“The powerful and dynamic tools provided by Apple have allowed the Fonix team to quickly and efficiently develop Fonix iSpeak™ for the Apple iPhone 3G ” says D. Lynn Shepherd, Fonix Sr. VP product engineering. “The feature rich iPhone™ is easy to use and our robust embedded speech interface will further create a positive and natural user-friendly environment which will further illustrate the dynamic features of this phone.”
Fonix iSpeak, includes a run-time engine that sits on the phone allowing users to interact with the personal contents of their Apple iPhone™. Unlike other voice applets that enable voice search of the Internet by sending commands over the airwaves, this client-side application gives users the power of voice interaction with their personal content and eliminates network latency.
Fonix iSpeak will be available for release directly from Fonix Speech Inc., and expects to be available through traditional Apple™ distribution channels. For more information, call (801) 553-6600 and say “Sales” for demos, availability and pricing.

iPhone 3G - New pouch & StickiT Protector Pre-Order

With the new iPhone launching on the 11th July in 22 countries, it is important that you pop your little baby into a nice carry pouch. The GeekPouch is available for Pre-Order now, with shipping very soon after the iPod 3G launch. It comes in black corduroy, red faux suede and leopard fur effect fabrics and will keep your iPhone protected from light bumps and scrapes. Pricing is very simple, just £5.99 (inc. UK delivery) or £10.99 (inc. worldwide delivery) with a little saving on offer if you buy two.

If you are really worried about your new gadget, then you should pop a StickiT on the back. The nice glossy finish to the new iPhones is bound to attract dust and scratches. This thin film will keep the back of your new iPhone nice and shiney. The price is cheap too, just £2.99 (inc. UK delivery) or £5.99 (inc. worldwide delivery). Again, these will start shipping hopefully within a week of the iPhone 3G launch.

Both of these products have been available for a long time now, for the whole range of iPods and the current iPhone. They have proved very popular to date.

New iPhone 3G Tariffs O2 UK + PAYG + Free Upgrades

During the exciting announcements for the 3G iPhone last night, it was great news that the UK will be getting the new model on 11th July. It seems that we will also be treated to a PAYG version, so a double whammy of great news. Going for the triple, O2 have also published their costings for the iPhone 3G on various tariffs. The goods news is that the 8GB and 16GB models are free on their highest £75/month tariff, and the 8GB model is also free on the lower £45/month option. Both models are significantly cheaper, with £159 being the most you will pay for the 16GB version on the lowest £30/month deal... I know where my money will be going.

Existing users can also upgrade to the new version free of charge. The only requirement is that you sign a new 18 month contract. You will not be expected to complete your current contract or pay for ending it early... fantastic.

Check out the new tariffs here.

Apple announce 3G iPhone - available July 11

Apple® today introduced the new iPhone™ 3G, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. In the US the new iPhone 3G is priced at a stunning $199 for the 8GB model, and just $299 for the 16GB model.** iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries later this year, beginning with customer availability in 22 countries—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US—on July 11.

“Just one year after launching the iPhone, we’re launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “ iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.”

iPhone 3G gives users ever faster access to the Internet and email over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE networks and automatically switches between them to ensure the fastest possible download speeds. The new iPhone 3G also makes it easier to multi-task with simultaneous voice and data communications, so with iPhone 3G you can browse the web, get map directions, or check your email while you are on a call.

iPhone 3G includes the new iPhone 2.0 software with both the iPhone SDK and key enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks. The iPhone SDK allows developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch™ user interface, animation technology, accelerometer and GPS technology on the world’s most advanced mobile platform.

iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with native applications in a variety of categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it is accessible from just about anywhere, so you can purchase and download applications wirelessly and start using them instantly. Some applications are even free and the App Store notifies you when application updates are available. The App Store will be available in 62 countries at launch.

Additional features available with the iPhone 2.0 software include the ability to do real-time mapping and track your progress with GPS technology, mass move and delete multiple email messages, search for contacts, access a new scientific calculator, turn on parental control restrictions for specified content, save images directly from a web page or email them to your iPhone and easily transfer them back to your photo library on your Mac® or PC. iPhone 3G delivers an amazing 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback.

iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMe™, a new Internet service that pushes email, contacts, and calendars from an online “cloud” to native applications on iPhone, iPod® touch, Macs and PCs. With MobileMe email, messages are pushed instantly to iPhone, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads, and push keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically updated on other devices. With iPhone, you can even snap a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with friends and family.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 3G will be available in the UK on July 11. Further details about pricing and rate plans will be announced at a later date.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.
**Based on iPhone 3G (8GB) and first generation iPhone (8GB) purchases. Requires new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.