The Cloud - Cheap UK Wi-Fi for iPod Touch
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Cloud has announced that it is giving Wi-Fi access to owners of Apple’s new iPod touch in thousands of hotspots across the UK. From Monday, users will be able to use their iPod touch to access the internet and Apple's online iTunes service in Wi-Fi hotspots provided by The Cloud.The new Wi-Fi service, called Cloud Unlimited Music, will be available from Monday 1st October 2007 for £3.99 per month, specifically for iPod touch, and is not subject to any minimum term contract.
Owen Geddes, Group Director of Business Development at The Cloud, commented; “We believe this is a significant step forward in making music, podcasts and video available when, and wherever, people really want it. iPhone users will soon be able to make the most of our Wi-Fi network with O2 and The Cloud when the iPhone is introduced in November and we want to make sure people who have the Wi-Fi enabled iPod touch are able benefit from our network of over 7,500 hotspots too.”
iPod Touch users need to sign-up for the service at www.thecloud.co.uk/ipod, where they can register their individual device for use on The Cloud’s network across the UK and pay for the service. Once a user has registered their device, they are able to connect to any The Cloud Wi-Fi network without complicated usernames and passwords. The service is being introduced in the UK first and will become available in other European markets shortly.
Labels: Apple iPhone
iPhone 1.1.1 Software Update Available
Thursday, September 27, 2007
If you plug your iPhone into iTunes today you will be offered the chance to update your software to version 1.1.1. The main part of the update brings access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, so you can preview, purchase and download your tunes whilst you are out and about. This is a nice feature and one that many users will be pleased to see (promised by Steve back when the iPod touch was announced).This new version adds a lot of new features and fixes including;
- Access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
- Improved speakerphone and receiver volume
- Home Button double-click shortcut to phone favorites or music controls
- Space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
- Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape
- Stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather can be re-ordered
- Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
- Support for TV Out
- Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally
- New Passcode lock time intervals
- Adjustable alert volume
Apple have posted a video showing the new features here.
If you have third party applications installed, then the update is reported to restore your iPhone to its virgin state, removing all the extra apps. An unlocked iPhone seems to be returned right back to its pre-activation state, with no chance of using the various applications to hack again, so I guess it is just a waiting game for some.
Labels: Apple iPhone
New look Apple Store Online hits the UK
You may well have seen it covered elsewhere that the USA online Apple Store got a face lift the other day. Well the new look with rounded corners and blue highlights has now hit the UK. It looks very fresh and is very welcome.Labels: Apple News
Two great iPhone Videos
I stumbled upon these spoof iPhone videos on YouTube. You gotta love them for both their simplicity and unique take. Check them out below.
Labels: Apple iPhone
Apple Newton Revisited or Tablet Mac ?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
AppleInsider report on a rumour that Apple may be working on a new PDA type device. Supposedly 1.5 times the size of the iPhone, with a high resolution 720x480dpi screen. This next gen device could appear in the first half of 2008 and may even be announced at MacWorld in January.So, could this really be the return of the Newton?
My take on this is that the iPhone is a very Newton-like device anyway. You can schedule calendars, make notes, text, transfer files via Wi-Fi, connect to it via BlueTooth, play music and videos, the list goes on. Of course I would like to see a device like this, and yes it would sell very well indeed, but I think we are more likely to see something a little different.
Another rumour doing the rounds is that of an ultra portable laptop, perhaps a 10-inch or 12-inch offering, very thin, still a clamshell type design, all aluminium and maybe sans hard drive. This may well come to fruition as a totally separate product, but if this Newtonesque device is true, it may well be born as somewhere between these two rumors. Let me explain...
One segment that Apple do not participate in is that of the Tablet PC. I think it unlikely for them to try a PDA device again (once bitten, twice shy), but I do think they would like to do the Tablet PC thing right. Remember the ModBook that generated so much interest, well surely this did not go under the radar of Steve Jobs. Personally, I think we will see a 10-inch, maybe 12-inch Tablet Mac, with a very thin aluminium lid to cover. Full touch screen interface like the iPhone and iPod Touch, but with a more fully fledged version of OS X. This device would allow many of us to travel around very lightly, but still have the power to complete real-world tasks. Solid state memory for storage, somewhere around the 32GB mark and maybe even a small 80GB or 160GB hard drive for saving files too, allowing the solid state to be emptied (apart from OS X of course). Maybe I am dreaming, but I think this is a lot more likely than a device that would be touted as a large iPhone.
Labels: Apple Rumour
iPhone Update - Day 2 usage
After having had and heavily used the iPhone for over 24 hours now, I wanted to bring you a small gallery of images below and an update.Throughout day one I played with the device off and on, pretty much all day, and this morning still had about two or three hours left. Because I was due to go out, I had to charge the battery for an hour. I did this off the mains charger, rather than my Macs USB port and for the first time I got a full charge. The iPhone can display the usage of your device and lets you know how long the battery has lasted since its last full charge. Strange this was that I had it plugged into my Mac for about six hours, and although the battery icon showed full, it did not register as full.
Anyway, that small discovery out of the way I headed out. During today I took a few calls and at lunchtime logged onto a wi-fi hotspot with no problem at all. As I mentioned in my last iPhone related post, EDGE is very slow, but my outside wi-fi experience was superb, nice and fast, just how it should be. I also used Meebo for the first time properly today. This is a web based chat client that uses your AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Google, ICQ or Jabber account, to enable you to do instant messaging. Nice thing is that you can use it on any computer, but it also has a really nice iPhone interface. You can see an image of how a chat looks below (with names private bits deleted). It works very well, and you can easily flick between various conversations.
Using Meebo also showed me just how good the on-screen iPhone keyboard is. Yes, you can hit the wrong keys every now and again, but you have to just trust it and every time (in my experience) it auto-corrected every time with the right word. It took me until today to get used to the keyboard, but trust me you will love it.
To finish off my day I took in a quick cartoon. Wow, the screen really does rock. Colours are bright and vivid, with nice crisp lines. As I headed back to the office to take the photos for the gallery below, I realised that I had used my iPhone for eight hours without the need to use headphones. The big satisfaction was that it had not let me down once, the only sad thing was that not one passer-by had asked me about it, even when I was laughing at a cartoon in the coffee shop.
Labels: Apple iPhone, Reviews
Intego releases FileGuard X4 - protect yourself!
Intego, the Macintosh security specialist, today released FileGuard X4, a data protection program that stores sensitive files in virtual safes. Using industry-standard, unbreakable encryption, FileGuard X4 allows Mac users to protect personal and confidential documents, and be sure that hackers or data-thieves will never be able to access them.FileGuard X4's safes are not only secure; they are also portable. Users can store safes on file servers or external disks, and can keep them on home or office Macs with no risk of anyone opening them. They can even send FileGuard X4 safes to friends, family or colleagues, who can access files contained in those safes, as long as they have the password, even if they don't have FileGuard X4 software. FileGuard X4 can create safes of any size, for any kind of document, and also create special safes to protect e-mail and instant messaging transcripts.
FileGuard X4's safes are accessible from the Finder, and open with a double-click. Safes act like folders; users can add files to them by simply dragging files to a safe’s icon. Safes have floating avatars, unique icons that display above other windows, so users can drag files to them regardless of which other windows are visible. Users can access safes from the Intego menu, located in the Mac OS X menu bar, and from standard Open and Save dialogs.
“Everyone has sensitive and confidential files on their Mac, whether personal or business documents,” said Laurent Marteau, CEO of Intego. “Securing these files is essential, especially for people who use laptops. FileGuard X4 provides the most flexible solution for protecting sensitive files on a Mac.”
Features of FileGuard X4 are numerous and include;
• Stores sensitive files in secure virtual safes
• Industry-standard encryption makes safes unbreakable
• Users can create as many safes as they need
• A different password can be set for each safe
• Safes can be created by drag-and-drop, or from the Intego menu
• Safes increase in capacity as more files are added
• Safes can be changed in size, or compressed to save space
• Safes can be opened by a simple double-click in the Finder
Intego FileGuard X4 is available now from Intego’s website, for £34.95, $49.95 or €41.76.
Labels: Mac Software
D-Link Add 500 Channels to DSM-520 Media Player
Today D-Link announced it has expanded the capabilities of digital media adapters (DMAs) by adding more than 200 channels of Internet TV to its best-selling MediaLounge(TM) Wireless HD Media Player (DSM-520), a wireless device that allows users to enjoy videos, music, photos and more from a PC on a TV using a simple remote control.More than 200 online channels serving millions of Internet videos are brought to the TV by the D-Link HD MediaLounge Player using active-TV technology, a new service that allows easy access to Internet video and entertainment sites with a remote control.
The active-TV line-up includes programming from 36 U.S. channels, offering movies and music videos, radio stations, sports, news entertainment and shopping. In addition to YouTube, some of the notable channels include: Comedy Central, AOL Video, CinemaNow, Google Video, Movielink, ROOtv Music Videos, Akimbo, MTV, Musicmatch, Napster, VH1, ESPN, FOX Sports, MSN TV Today, Reuters News, Yahoo! Sports and eBay.
The new Internet TV lineup also includes international programming from 14 countries, including the BBC and other networks from the United Kingdom, along with digital entertainment from Australia, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland and Taiwan.
The D-Link MediaLounge with expanded Internet programming is now shipping. Existing DSM-520 customers will receive a free upgrade to their products that will allow them to access the new channels. The upgrade is available now for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP and Windows Vista(TM) operating systems.
"Our MediaLounge Player has revolutionized the way people receive and watch digital entertainment. Now you can expand your viewing beyond the PC and bring a vast amount of Internet TV directly to your living room," said Steven Joe, President and CEO of D-Link Systems, Inc. "There are other media players out there, but they only provide limited programming. With D-Link's MediaLounge player, the channel line up is already far-reaching
and continually expanding."
To learn more about the D-Link DSM-520 MediaLounge Player and for a complete list of programming, please visit http://www.dlink.com/activetv.
Price and Availability
Firmware enabling active-TV technology is free of charge to existing DSM-520 customers and will be available Oct. 4, 2007 at http://www.dlink.com. The DSM-520, with an MSRP of $249.99, can be found throughout D-Link's network of retail outlets and at its online store http://www.dlinkshop.com.
Labels: PC Peripherals
Google Calendar now iPhone & iPod Touch Friendly
Monday, September 24, 2007
Google have updated both its Google Docs and Google Calendar applications. The calendar is of most interest here, in that it has been updated to fit the iPhone screen nicely. Of even more importance is that iPod touch users have been complaining about the inability to add events to iCal on the iPod touch. Well, with some syncing between Google Calendar and iCal, it is not pretty easy to add this functionality. On your iPhone or touch, point your browser here: http://calendar.google.comLabels: Apple iPhone, iPod Touch
iPhone Review - UK get ready, this is the dogs danglies
So I managed to get my hands on an iPhone, and in true Geek style wanted to bring you my first thoughts on the must-have-phone from Apple. Being so keen to bring you the details, you are getting this even before I have had time to take photos of the iPhone. This is the first Apple product that I have ever had that hasn't had photos taken first in its virgin, fingerprint free state. That should give you some idea of how excited I was after opening it.The iPhone form factor is superb, in fact a lot slimmer than I had expected. The actual screen real estate makes it comparable to the sleeker PDA's available today. The rounded corners make it feel smaller than it actually is. In the hand, it is weighted just right and feels (as Apple products normally do) like a really high quality product. The touch screen definitely needs a screen protector on, so if you are getting an iPhone on November 9th, be prepared and order some protection in plenty of time. The majority of the back is brushed silver aluminium, with a small portion at the base being black. This gives a very luxurious, yet slippery feel, but at least not a fingerprint magnet. The camera, also located on the back is tiny and recessed back into the unit, so again you would struggle to get a greasy finger on it.
Now, when you switch the iPhone on for the first time, make sure you are seated. The screen is just awesome, pin sharp, bright, vibrant, spot on. Only when I had dug a little deeper into the settings did I find it was set to half brightness, so bumping it up a couple of notches had those colours popping. On playback of some video podcasts and a few cartoon videos, I was wowed, for this alone, the device is worth its asking price. If the iPod Touch is anything like this, it will also be just as popular.
The internet worked just as I expected, but doing the double-tap to zoom in, as I had seen in the demo videos, was all the more satisfying. Email was also a very smooth experience, just like a mini Mail.app with all my account settings taken from my Mac and transferred onto the iPhone. Hopping into my car I tested making a few calls and the voice quality was again very good. Back onto Safari and the main let down was the speed on surfing the internet over EDGE. Not entirely Apples fault, but the network does not support lightning fast speeds, far from it. So, I hopped back on the road and headed to a local restaurant that has a Wi-Fi hotspot run by The Cloud. Logging on was really easy and made the internet, email and YouTube a joy to use. So my advice is that you will need to use Wi-Fi if you are a heavy data user, otherwise you will get frustrated. EDGE should be treated as a backup solution.
I have only really covered here my early experiences. My opinion of the iPhone so far is that it is superb. Most certainly one of the most exciting Apple products I have had the pleasure of using to date. When launched on November 9th, it will make a lot of people really happy. If you were having second thoughts, then don't, you will not be disappointed.
Labels: Apple iPhone, Reviews
Channel 4 On Demand - No Go for Mac
Sunday, September 23, 2007
We all know how the BBC iPlayer does not support the Mac platform. What a cheek, especially considering the use of 'i' in the name of their Windows only player. Well, I wanted to search out some content to play on my Mac and a lot of Channel 4 programmes make me laugh (the IT Crowd springs to mind). Well, guess what? The Channel 4 On Demand service is not Mac compatible either, so I emailed them asking for an explanation, here is their reply;
"Unfortunately we cannot say when the 4oD service will be available to users of other platforms, including Mac OS and Linux. The problem is, our content providers (e.g. the production companies who make our shows), insist on using a DRM licensing system.
The DRM (Digital Rights Management) system basically protects the video content from duplication and broadcast outside the UK & ROI. Currently they insist on using Microsoft's DRM, and because of this we can only support Microsoft operating systems.
Linux currently has no such DRM system available and so our content providers will not allow us to support the Linux operating system. Macintosh do have a solution, however the closed DRM system used by Apple is not currently available for licence by third parties and there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of our
content owners. Unfortunately, we are therefore unable to offer 4oD and other video content to Mac users at this stage.
We are sorry to disappoint on this occasion and assure you that if changes throughout the industry happen, as we would like, we will ensure the support of other operating systems."
If you require further information, visit http://help.channel4.com/4oD/ - plus I urge you to email them too and ask for a Mac compatible player.
Labels: General News
Yet more Apple Store Touchwood Photos
Yes, I know, I know, enough already, but let me explain. I love attending Apple Store openings, and I was so disappointed that I could not attend The Touchwood Centre, Solihull that I had to track down some photos to bring to our readers. This time, thanks to pale_whites of eleganttechnology.co.uk - check out the rest of his Flickr set on the link above.
Labels: Apple News
More Apple Store Touchwood Photos
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Here are a few more photos of the Apple Store, Touchwood Centre Solihull opening. This time courtesy of PhotoCharlie! thanks Charlie.
Labels: Apple News
Apple Store Touchwood Centre Solihull Open Today
The latest of the UK Apple Stores opened today in The Touchwood Centre, Solihull. It looks like a good time was had by all, with free T-Shirts, a prize draw, and a first chance by many to see the new generation of iPods, including the latest and greatest iPod Touch.Many thanks go to wicker_man gave us kind permission to post a few of his pictures up on the website, you can catch the rest of his Apple Store Opening set of photos here.
Labels: Apple News
Updated version of iPod Touch + iPhone Test Movie
Thursday, September 20, 2007
We have now updated the movie that allows you to test the screen on your iPod Touch or iPhone. It plays black, white, red, green, blue, allowing you to check for dead pixels. You can then check for the 'negative black' issue that so many are reporting, along with a gamma/contrast test and a gradient screen to check for banding.The video can be downloaded here. Then drag it into iTunes or onto your device and touch play.
The new screens were supplied courtesy of http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/small/ - if you go to this website you can also download static versions of the images to load onto your device. There are also some additional test images on lagom.nl that we did not put onto the video, as the compression would have made them not suitable for testing.
Labels: Apple iPhone, iPod Touch
Latest EA Games - Now Shipping
If you want the latest and greatest games from Electronic Arts, then head on over to the Apple Store (US only at the moment, UK to follow) and you will find that some are now shipping in 24 hours. These include Command & Conquer 3, Battlefield 2142 and Need for Speed Carbon. Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 are featured, but still showing as pre-orders. Not too long to wait though, I fancy a round of golf.Labels: Mac Software
Apple Store Solihull UK - Opening Sat 22nd September
If you have never been to an Apple Store opening, I urge you to go to one. The atmosphere is great, you get the chance to get a free T-Shirt (first 1,000 through the door), plus you can enter a prize draw to win a Digital Lifestyle Collection, which includes a black MacBook and an iPod Nano. The store opens at 9:00am on Saturday 22nd September at The Touchwood Centre, Solihull. Full details can be found here.Labels: Apple News
Western Digital Revamp MyBook Hard Drives
Western Digital's MyBook range of hard drives have always been a favourite of mine, mainly due to their reliability, but also they are so damn quiet. Well, they have updated the MyBook range with three new versions, that look a lot sleeker than the old.The Home Edition offer up three interfaces. In addition to FireWire 400 and USB 2.0, you also get external SATA for mega performance gains.
The Office Edition is the first in the MyBook range to offer up its files online without the need for an Ethernet connection. When you turn on your Windows PCs, the MioNet software makes files and folders available online through USB, so long as your PC is online.
The Essential Edition 2.0 is the entry level of the range, with USB-only for users just needing to add extra storage to their systems.
Pricing
The 320GB Essential Edition 2.0 costs $130 disk and go up in price, all the way up to a 1TB version. The 320GB Home Edition will set you back $170, and again is available up to 1TB. King of the crop, the Office Edition, costs $170 for the 320GB version, right up to 1TB for $380. Available now in the US, but I have yet to track down UK pricing. A handy comparison table is available here.
Labels: Mac Peripherals, PC Peripherals
Crave have video of the UK iPhone Event
We all know by now that the iPhone hits UK stores on November 9th. The event held at Apples Regent Street store to make the announcement was a press only event. Crave took some video footage of the event and have just posted it online. It is well worth a look, so point your browser here.
Labels: Apple iPhone, Apple News
iPod Touch & iPhone Screen Test Movie
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
This is a very simple movie that tests the iPod Touch and iPhone screens. It plays black, white, red, green, blue and a nice scale at the end. Check if you have any dead pixels and it your blacks are the correct way around, not displaying the 'negative black' issue that so many are reporting.In our early findings, having seen six iPod Touch screens, none that we saw had any display issues. So this cannot be something that is effecting every Touch, it must just be certain ones.
The video can be downloaded here. Then drag it into iTunes or onto your device and touch play.
Labels: Apple iPhone, iPod Touch