Apple iPhone O2 Announced - Official Details

Apple and O2 announced today that O2, the leading wireless carrier in the UK, will be the exclusive UK carrier for Apple's revolutionary iPhone when it makes its debut in the UK on November 9. iPhone combines three devices into one—a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and the best mobile Internet device ever—all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. Apple sold its one millionth iPhone just 74 days after it went on sale in the US on June 29.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with O2 to offer our revolutionary iPhone to UK customers," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "US iPhone customer satisfaction is off the charts, and we can't wait to let UK customers get their hands on it and learn what they think of it."

"Our strategy at O2 is to bring our customers the best products and experiences,” said Matthew Key, CEO, O2 UK. “The iPhone is a breakthrough that is changing the way people use their mobiles forever, and we're thrilled to have it exclusively for O2 customers in the UK."

iPhone users in the UK will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple’s popular iTunes software running on a PC or Mac computer in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated. Activating iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their tariff, undertake a credit check and activate their iPhone. Once iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts and TV shows just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.

In addition to all the revolutionary features that made iPhone so popular in the US, iPhone users in the UK will have access to Apple's latest music offerings on iPhone including the recently launched iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store offers customers the ability to browse, search, preview, purchase and download songs and albums from iTunes over the built-in Wi-Fi on their iPhone. No computer is required and when the customer connects their iPhone back with their PC or Mac, their music automatically syncs back into their iTunes library.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone is scheduled to go on sale on November 9 and will be sold exclusively in the UK through Apple’s retail and online stores, O2 and The Carphone Warehouse's retail and online stores. iPhone will be available in an 8GB model for £269 (inc VAT) and will work with either a PC or Mac. Three new great value iPhone tariffs will be available from O2 starting at £35, which all include unlimited anytime, anywhere mobile data usage and, in a market first, free unlimited use of the UK’s largest single public Wi-Fi network, covering over 7,500 cafes, restaurants, airport lounges, pubs and other locations across the UK.

iPhone activation will require an Internet connection; an iTunes Store account or a major credit card; the latest version of iTunes available at www.itunes.com and a PC or Mac with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later; Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later; or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate Edition. iPhone requires a new 18-month contract with O2. Existing O2 customers will have the option of keeping their existing phone number and upgrading their account to work with iPhone while new customers can also simply and easily transfer their current mobile number to O2.

Apple Event Regent Street London - Mum is no longer the word

The 'Mum is no longer the word event is due to start in London today at 10am. The likeliness is that we will see the launch of the iPhone in the UK, with carrier details, pricing, and possibly even stock. Steve Jobs is here too, so it must be a big thing. We will be bringing you news as it happens…

Update 1 - The O2 Store is currently offline. This could be an early indication of something about to be added to their store. Strange the Apple Store UK is still online.

Update 2 - OK, Steve has stood right up and announced the iPhone is with O2. £269 gets you the 8GB iPhone, on sale November 9th.

Update 3 - New advert for the UK. Well, same one as the US, but with a British voiceover.

Update 4 - Matthew Key from O2 UK is now up on stage. He is really excited about the iPhone , quote "I knew it was a breakthrough product".

Update 5 - Available through Carphone Warehouse. Unlimited data on £35, £45 and £55 tariffs. Sad news is that there is no 3G.

Update 6 - The Apple Store UK (online) is not available. This happened why I was busy bringing you this news.

Update 7 - Steve back on stage for Q&A. Why no 3G? It is due to 3G chips using too much power. This would take the iPhone down to 2-3 hours, the iPhone currently gives 8 hours. 3G is something we think we'll see later next year.

Update 8 - Partnership to bring over 7,000 wi-fi hotspots to iPhone users in the UK. These are via Cloud and are FREE.

Update 9 - What about iTunes activation? Yes, this works the same, allows you to select your plan and then activate.

Update 10 - What is the contract length and is unlimited data really unlimited? 18 months contract. 1,400 internet pages per day limit, over this would break the deal as part of the fair usage agreement.

Update 11 - Big question; Is unlocking a concern? Steve; "It's a constant cat and mouse game, we have the same thing with the iPod and music." Steve is not sure if they are the cat or the mouse.

Update 12 - Matthew Key is asked if he was aware of the iPod Touch coming out when he was negotiating the iPhone deal. He completely dodges the question.

**BIG NEWS** 10:33am The O2 online store has been updated with the iPhone Coming Soon page. You get free voicemail on all tariffs and special roaming rates. The £35 tariff gets you 200 minutes of calls and 200 SMS, £45 gets you 600 minutes of calls and 500 SMS, and £55 gets you 1,200 minutes of calls and 500 SMS. Unlimited data and unlimited wi-fi (with conditions).

Here is a screen grab of the O2 iPhone Tarrifs;

There were a few more questions about if the 2-megapixel camera is good enough for the UK, to which Steve replied that the camera is great. Plus 1st October will see the unlimited data plans rolled out to all existing O2 UK customers. That's it, announcements over, now to get our hands on an iPhone as quickly as possible.

Apple Store UK (online) is now back up and running, just with a new page accessible from the main store to one showing the iPhone available November 9th, plus the chance to sign up for more info. The main Apple website also features this iPhone page. Carphone Warhouse also updated with an O2 graphic, details and pricing on this page.

Better Sound for your iPod Touch, Classic, Nano

It is often the case that anyone serious about their music listening pleasure normally ditch the earphones included with ANY MP3 player. With the iPod you get half decent earphones IMO, but if you want to really take things to a higher level, then we really like the look of these q-JAYS. With a tiny size of just 18.4 x 7.5 x 7.5 mm the q-JAYS are the smallest earphones on the market. Despite their size, the q-JAYS promise to deliver awesome sound, and can be yours, in black or white for just $179.00 which includes a nice set of accessories. We hope to bring you a review real soon.

Cancom New Apple Premium Reseller in Cambridge

Cancom will officially open it's new store at 58 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1DP on 29th September. The new store will offer a fantastic destination for shoppers in Cambridge to try out and learn about Apple's innovative products and solutions. There will be a number of great offers and promotions available on the day.

Apple Premium Resellers are a great place to buy Apple products. They provide an exceptional shopping experience showcasing the full Apple product line of Macs and iPods in a customer friendly environment. They offer outstanding service and advice for both consumer and professional users, as well as a program of in-store demonstrations and expert training to help customers get the most out of their new purchases.

This is Cancom's third Apple Premium Reseller store and their knowledgeable sales people are available to help visitors learn about all the latest products from Apple. The hands-on experience provides visitors with a chance to test drive Apple's entire product line from the latest laptops, the MacBook and MacBook Pro, through to Apple's full line of desktop computers and iPods. Cancom are Europe's largest reseller of Apple computers with over 25 locations in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Our UK stores are in Brighton, Cambridge, Kensington and Guildford. We also operate a mail order service and our on-line shop at www.cancomuk.com.

Review of new 3rd Gen iPod Nano - Next Week

Just a quick update for you all. We have our review unit of the new 3rd generation iPod Nano arriving next Monday. So, keep an eye on the Geekanoids website, as we hope to have our video review online by Wednesday at the latest. We are very excited about this, as we have had such a great response to our earlier review of the iPod Classic.

**UPDATE** The iPod Nano has landed and this 3rd gen cutie is so so small and very thin. Initial impressions as you open it are wow, how can Apple fit all this technology into such a tiny package. The screen also looks so sharp with superb definition. Check back late tomorrow for a full video review.

First iPod Touch Reviews Surfacing

Seems like some lucky guys and gals are getting their iPod Touch's today, where they hit US stores, way ahead of when the online orders are due to start shipping. Let us hope we all get emails soon saying our orders are shipping. Anyway, in the meantime, first look reviews have started surfacing, and you could do yourself a favour and head on over to Playlistmag or MacWorld and check out some video footage and editorial.

Woz Sells Nissan on HotSwap to Benefit UC Berkeley

Steve Wozniak has done a very generous and wonderful thing over on HotSwap, he has placed an advert with a very cool video (you must see the vid) for his Nissan 350Z Anniversary Edition. For just over $49,000 you can pick up the car, and who knows, you may even get to meet Woz when you pick it up. The proceeds of the sale are being donated to U.C. Berkeley.

Quote from Woz on the sale information; "On a global scale we are seeing America losing it's competitiveness in engineering and technical skills. That is disappointing. All the profits from this sale will be donated to the IEEE lab at U.C. Berkeley for education and equipment."

Take a look, and Woz, you rock!

Apple UK Special Event for 18th September - iPhone?

Macworld have broken the news of an invitation they have received from Apple UK. A special event is being held in London on September 18th. The invitation states "Mum is no longer the word". This sounds like we might finally get UK launch details for the iPhone, that they have been keeping under wraps over the past few months.

**UPDATE** A visual of the invite can be found here over at MacFormat.

iXoundwear announce Sport Cap for 3G Nano

iXoundwear have announced that their new Sport Cap for the new 3rd generation iPod Nano will be available soon. They are being manufactured for high quality brushed cotton twill in colours that compliment the new Nano. There is a pocket on the right side of the cap to accommodate the Nano along with a cable tidy/management system. Keep an eye on their website, or sign up on this page for an email notification when the new caps are available. Also, check back on Geekanoids, we hope to bring you a review of one of these neat little caps when they are available.

imlikeinwithyou.com - social fun with icing

Well, well, well, just when you thought social networking sites were old news, along comes a new site on the scenes. imlikeinwithyou.com is a new website, still in beta and invite only, that is really quite different. The basis of the site is to create your profile and earn points. The points you earn can then be bid on users games. Some of the games are very inventive and some are like 'What's my favourite sandwich?' type questions. You can earn points by setting up games yourself, uploading pictures, and answering quick random questions.

The site seems to lack any interactivity with other users, it would be nice to be able to add friends a little easier, but I suppose it is early days. You can ping them, which costs points and sends them a little emoticon. That said, this is not really what it is all about. Do we really need another site to send invites out to the local pub, NO. So iminlikewithyou.com gives you a chance to burn a little time, and have a laugh. The presentation really is superb, if you are into web design, you will love it.

At the moment, I am trying to win a game where you have to ask a young lady to paint her nails a particular colour/design. So I have gone the complete geek route and asked for white with red Apple logos. If I win, no doubt some pictures will make it over to the Geekanoids website.

If you are lucky enough to get an invite, at least try it out. Keep checking back here though, as we hope to bring you some more news and background on the people behind this new website.

Belkin cases for the new iPod Nano, Classic & Touch

Belkin have announced their line up of new cases for the 3G iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and iPod Touch. They are due to be available early October in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Pictured is the Sport Armband Plus, which in my opinion looks very very sporty and one of the best designs I have seen so far. At the time of going to press we had no UK prices **NOW UPDATED** , but the links below are to the relevant pages on the Belkin UK website wherever possible.

Sport Armband Plus for iPod nano (F8Z200-MBL), iPod classic (F8Z201-MBL), and iPod touch – $29.99 (£24.99)

• Breathable, water-wicking Coolmax material
• Slim and lightweight to minimize bulk on your arm during workouts
• Removable Cable Capsule helps manage and store earphones
• Hand-washable
• Included pocket for key or earbud storage
• Clear screen and navigation protector
• Adjustable hook-fastening system for universal fit

Sport Armband for iPod nano (F8Z202-KG) and iPod classic (F8Z203-KG) - $19.99 (£19.99); iPod touch – $29.99 (£24.99)

• Slim, lightweight, and stretchable neoprene material
• Included pocket for key or earbud storage
• Water-resistant and hand-washable
• Clear screen and navigation protector
• Adjustable VELCRO® closure for universal fit

Remix Acrylic Case for iPod nano (F8Z215) - $24.99 (£24.99); iPod classic (F8Z212) and iPod touch – $29.99 (£29.99)

• True-sense click wheel provides full protection and functionality
• Thin and compact
• Made of clear polycarbonate

Remix Metal for iPod nano - $24.99 (£19.99); iPod classic – $29.99 (£24.99)

• True-sense click wheel provides full protection and functionality
• Thin and compact
• Machine-etched with graphical pattern throughout durable, aluminum, protective face cabinet
• Available in silver, black, blue, and pink

Leather Sleeve for iPod nano (F8Z204) - $24.99 (£19.99); iPod classic (F8Z205) and iPod touch – $29.99 (£24.99)

• Unique one-seam design hugs your iPod, protecting it from everyday scratches and scuffs
• Soft, durable leather with soft-suede lining
• Secure VELCRO strap attachment
• Access to hold switch and dock connector
• Click-wheel and screen protector
• Available in 3 colors: black, chocolate, and cameo pink

Leather Folio for iPod nano (F8Z206) - $24.99 (£19.99); iPod classic (F8Z207) and iPod touch – $29.99 (£24.99)

• Sleek, portable design made of soft, durable leather with soft-suede lining
• Screen protector and magnetic closure
• Access to hold switch and dock connector
• Available in 3 colors: black/chocolate, pink/chocolate, persimmon/bone

Silicone for iPod nano (F8Z213) - $14.99 (£12.99); iPod classic (F8Z214) and iPod touch – $19.99 (£12.99)

• Form-fitting design that features a snug extra layer of rugged silicone
• Secures your iPod nano with durable silicone
• Available in 4 colors: black, pink, and blue

Geekanoids to review new iPods

Well, we have some great news for you all. The new iPod Classic in 160GB form should be with us by Tuesday of next week, so Wednesday/Thursday we will bring you a full gallery of photos, followed by our review of the new UI and if it lives up to expectations. Then we have the new 3G Nano winging its way to us from Apple, so you shouldn't have to wait too long to hear what we think of this. Then early October, hopefully the 1st or 2nd, we have a 16GB iPod Touch landing.
We hope you like our coverage of these new iPod's, giving you the chance to make informative buying decisions in the run up to Christmas.