9to5 Staff

The all-new iPhone 3G is compelling enough to tempt many pay-as-you-go mobile phone users to take out a contract, new research shows.

GfK NOP carried out its research last weekend among UK consumers, and found that 16 per cent of pre-pay users would consider taking the new handset on a contract.

Furthermore, of that 16 per cent, two-thirds prefer one of the 18-month contracts over the pre-pay offer, indicating that the device has the potential to move customers toward long-term contracts.

On a week in which O2 reveals iPhone 3G orders at times reached 13,000 per second (!!!!!), Apple seems set for insanely great sales of the device, set to ship 11 July. The researchers found one in five mobile owners are interested in purchasing the new handset – effectively translating into 20 per cent of mobile phone users, a fairly significant slice of the market. A further 7 per cent are interested, but not on the current tariffs.

Awareness is insanely great, too:  97 per cent of 16-24’s and 72 per cent of those aged 60 and over are aware of the iPhone. Awareness is centred on the new handset features, with over half being aware of the improved 3G data speed (56 per cent) and the improved memory of 8 or 16 GB (54 per cent), but there is also good awareness of the different range of tariffs and handset prices on offer.

Anders Nielsen, Director at GfK Technology said, “The message from the research is very clear; the blend of handset subsidies, sensible tariffs and the improved technical specifications will combine to really drive demand. O2 and Apple have addressed most of the barriers which held back mass-market take-up of the original iPhone, so we expect the iPhone 3G to sell well. In addition to selling new connections, the research shows that the new iPhone offers will also help convert some pre-pay users to 18 month contracts which, in turn, could contribute positively towards O2 customer retention and ARPU levels.”

With O2 experiencing such strong demand, there are some concerns the company may be unable to deliver iPhone’s pre-ordered by UK customers this week on time. Electric Pig reports customers may not receive the device until next week, though O2 denies this, saying, “Customers that were successful in the pre-order will receive their iPhone 3G on Friday. The only exception is customers who live in certain postcodes, north from Aberdeen who will receive on Monday.”

World of Warcraft is coming to the iPhone, well, sort of – here’s video proof of this interesting development, though sure, it’s a re-run – but read on…

The video shows World of Warcraft running on an iPhone using a Google-developed technology called Telekinesis to stream it from a nearby laptop. Oh, and if you want to take a look at 19 more videos showing a variety of games running on the iPhone, take a click across to Pocket Gamer…

NYTimes (Pogue), WSJ (Mossberg) and USAToday (Baig) all got their mitts on the 3G iPhone.   Amazingly, not one of them had anything original to say.  Nothing you couldn’t make up by looking at the specs or images of the iPhone and postulate.  Just FYI, we’d have had those screws off and been digging around the guts within 30 seconds of recieving the device…but maybe thats why we have to wait like all of you schmucks too.

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/452319854

Baig’s insights:

Doesn’t work with Firewire docs.  Audio Quality better for calls and songs through speaker.  Geotagging pictures is cool.  GPS functionality works better – but could have driving instructions.  Back is "curvier"

Pogue:3G means that you can talk on the iPhone and surf the Internet simultaneously, which you couldn’t do before.  According to Apple, the iPhone’s G.P.S. antenna is much too small to emulate the turn-by-turn navigation of a G.P.S. unit for a vehicle, for example.  One coming program, called iCall, will give you free phone calls when you’re in a Wi-Fi hot spot. Another, called G-Park, exploits G.P.S. to help you find where you parked. Yet another, Urbanspoon, is “a cross between a magic eight ball and a slot machine:" you shake the phone, and it randomly displays the name of a good restaurant nearby, using the iPhone’s G.P.S. and motion sensor.

…and grandmaster funk WSJ Mossberg: iPhone 3G’s battery was drained much more quickly in a typical day of use than the battery on the original iPhone, due to the higher power demands of 3G networks….Also, in the U.S. and in many other countries, the iPhone is still tied to a single exclusive carrier, whose coverage or rate plans may be unacceptable to some….One drawback: While you can have both personal and Exchange email accounts on the new iPhone, if you synchronize with Exchange calendars and contacts, your personal calendar and contacts are erased…..One side benefit to 3G is that in some areas, voice coverage improves. At my neighborhood shopping center, where the first iPhone got little or no AT&T service, the iPhone 3G registered strong coverage. But I still found that calls regularly broke up on some major streets. In New York City, riding in a taxi along the Hudson, one important call was dropped three times on the new iPhone. Finally, I borrowed a cheap Verizon phone and got perfect reception…..Bottom line: If you’ve been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge, if you can live with the higher service costs and the weaker battery life.

Our Take: 3G+GPS>battery+Service price=buy.  Biggest dissapointment: Camera.

With all of the horrible plans around the world coming in, especially Canada, Italy, Norway, etc…AT&T’s plans seem like a downright bargain.  But it is still going to hit the average person with a $15/month extra charge before taxes (Yes 3G will be yummy good if you can get it)…so Macenstein came up with this funny graphic:

International readers, feel free to insert your carrier of choice.

 With all the furor over iPhone 3G prices and subscription costs, we’re happy to find an invaluable resource for price-spotters, an international iPhone pricing guide.

We’d just set out to assemble one ourselves, which, given the nature of an international roll-out is harder than it looks, as so much of the small print in these deals is in languages foreign to us, turns out we didn’t need to, as the venerable TUAW had the list already. So, we didn’t know about it, and figure it could come in useful, and figured many others would find it of use.

One thing that is missing are details on WiFi access, which we understand varies from country to countru, with some potential customers complaining at the cost their carrier wants to charge.

We’d like to get on top of the WiFi and data plan charges, and need your help, partially to overcome any language barrier, so, please state the country and carrier you are talking about and kindly put information on WiFi and data offers in your country in the comments box below.

Meanwhile, here’s the international guide from TUAW.

 The creators of Final Fantasy, Square Enix, have introduced Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, a game for iPods that’s now available through iTunes.

The role playing game takes the songs on your iPod to turn into soldiers you control in a battle against mechanical creatures on a mission to destroy all life on the planet.

As the protagonist, Ziggy, players must embark on an epic journey to rescue their brother from the mechanical enemy.

"From the days of old, Melodica was a land of music, a land of freedom. The people sang, played and danced to the music they so cherished. Until one day, they came – the Mechanoids, who enhanced their bodies with machinery. Those who were tempted by greed and power willingly gave away their souls for bodies of steel, forsaking their humanity to become cold, emotionless automatons. Now, they seek to destroy all that do not embrace their way of life," Square Enix explains.

The game’s compatible with the iPod nano with video, iPod classic and fifth generation iPod.  Check the Video below.

 Apple will introduce its MobileMe this week in preparation for the release of the iPhone 3G on July 11.

A note on the .Mac pages warns existing subscirbers should expect to lose access to their account, with the exception of dektop-based email access.

"As part of the MobileMe launch, www.mac.com will be taken offline at 6pm PT on Wednesday, July 9th," Apple warns. "Members will be unable to access www.mac.com or any .Mac services during this time with the exception of .Mac Mail accessed via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod touch.

MobileMe will be available as soon as possible during this maintenance window."

The new service will offer email, calendar, AddressBook, image gallery and storage capabilities as well as "Push" mail and sync services. 

Existing .Mac subscribers should already be able to send and receive emails at their new @me.com addresses. 

Just like Canada, Italian iPhone customers are angrily denouncing the deals they’re being offered by Vodafone Italy and Telecom Italia for the iPhone 3G. Italian customers reckon they are being stitched-up by both.

Italian users are so angry that they’re expected to pay double what anyone in the US or UK must pay for using an iPhone that they’ve also launched a petition against it. While the campaign hasn’t ignited the same level of international interest as that against the deals on offer from Rogers Wireless in Canada, the petition has still attracted 3,000 signatures inside a week.

"TIM and Vodafone prices are way too high and completely beyond any level of acceptability," the petition reads. "For this reason, all we ask is a price adjustment in line with the italian market. Otherwise, we’ll be forced to boicot the 3G iPhone."

Italy has the most 3G users in Europe and 1.58 mobile phones for every citizen, making it a strategically important market for the iPhone, which will also be sold unlocked there. For many Apple-loving Italians, the demand they pay twice what US and UK customers must hand over has raised concerns Apple’s Italian iPhone launch could flop.

Only Vodafone has announced its three monthly subscription plans for iPhone 3G users, Entry plan:        €49/mo ($92/mo) 400 minutes voice; 400 texts. 600MB data iPhone 8 GB: €199 ($311) iPhone 16 GB: €269 ($420) Special plan:    €79/mo ($123/mo) No limits in minutes and texts to Vodafone users, 250 minutes or texts towards other carriers. 600MB data iPhone 8 GB:  €99 ($ 154) iPhone 16 GB: €169 ($ 264) Large plan:        €99/mo ($154/mo) 900 minutes included 900 texts included 600MB data iPhone 8 GB:  €49 ($76) iPhone 16 GB: €119 ($186) 600 MB DATA (for web surfing, emails, Voicemail….)

 Adobe Flash is already running on an iPhone, well, Flash Lite does just that thanks to Belgian designer/coder Thomas Joos.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJhGCQ888Os&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f]

Joos has managed to port Flash onto an iPhone in order to run an event guide he had prepared for a local music festival. While the developer hasn’t managed to make Flash run as a browser plug-in he has managed to get the Adobe multimedia software running, thanks to b.Tween and a graphics tool called eyeGT. You can take a look at Flash running on an iPhone in the video above.

 Yet more news as O2’s UK iPhone 3G launch unravels – the 16GB iPhone isn’t available yet, there’s no white model, and we won’t see a pay-as-you-go option until Christmas.

The UK carrier alerted iPhone customers this morning with a text message promising them the chance to upgrade their iPhone to the new iPhone 3G now, in exchange for which they will receive the new model on 11 July, when it ships.

"To thank you for being an iPhone fan, we’re offering you an early upgrade to iPhone 3G. You don’t have to wait until the end of your existing contract, all you’ll need to do is agree to a new 18-month minimum term contract," the company said. With this deal only available until 11 October, its no surprise consumers flocked to get hold of the must-have next-gen ‘Phone.

Sadly, O2’s servers couldn’t take the strain. 

Customers attempting to fill-in the online form were instead seeing a message which said, "There has been a problem with taking your order. We apologise for the inconvenience. Please try again."

While the 8GB model is available at no additional cost to customers on the £45 and £75 per month tariffs (subject to a new 18-month contract), the iPhone 3G costs customers on the £30 and £35 tariffs £99 for upgrade to the 8GB model, and £159 to the 16GB model. However, O2’s online ordering page reveals that there is no stock of the 16GB model, and the only model available in the UK is black.

We reported last week that Apple is unhappy at the extent of iPhone unlocking taking place in the UK, fewer than 15 per cent of all the iPhones sold by O2 when it slashed prices on the 8GB model actually ended up in use on the carrier’s network. Apple since then has moved to limit UK supplies of the device – that’s assuming manufacturing problems haven’t limited the number of 16GB models the company could bring to market.

O2 today also warned that pay-as-you-go versions of the iPhone 3G won’t be made available until later in the year. While O2 declined to say when the product to ship, an official statement from Carphone Warehouse suggests we’re looking to a Christmas launch for the product.

In the US, AT&T also today confirmed it will offer iPhone’s free of a monthly contract, though these will cost approximately $400 more than the standard price.

Finally, to make the matter even more infuriating, O2 now says it is out of stock of the iPhone, at least, online.

 Apple’s iTunes service may face a double-pronged competitor in the UK market by the end of summer, as more major labels reportedly prepare to offer their music DRM-free here.

The UK’s second-largest online music service 7 Digital today announced that sales through its online store had climbed 300 per cent since the introduction of DRM-free downloads from Warner Music through its UK service.

"It is now clear that MP3 downloads represent the future for digital music.  With two of the four major labels now supporting MP3 in the UK, we expect to see the whole market supporting MP3 in the not-too-distant future," said 7digital CEO Ben Drury.

Industry insiders expect Sony BMG and Universal to release their DRM-free MP3 catalogues "imminently" in the UK, according to disruptive media website, Distorted Loop, perhaps as soon as September 2008. That release will mean 7digital offering an all-DRM free range of music, and will likely see Amazon introduce its MP3 store in the UK, perhaps also in September

Appe’s DRM-free iTunes Plus service remains a contender within the online music space, yet offers no tracks from Universal, Sony BMG or Warner Music as yet. The three labels have refused to permit Apple a license to sell their catalogue free of rights restricting technologies. They have allowed iTunes competitors to do so in an attempt to undermine the Apple music service in order to foster a more competitive digital music ecosystem (and also, conceivably, to continue their long-term game plan of raising online music prices).

Whether this is to the detriment of customers, Apple or otherwise, unprotected music sales online are becoming more popular as consumers grow to understand the significance of DRM-free music. "This format makes the digital music proposition simple for consumers with one universal format for all devices. Music lovers are beginning to realise that owning an iPod doesn’t mean just buying tracks from iTunes and, in fact, MP3’s are far superior in terms of compatibility," Drury said.

Apple may not be so short of cards in this game – September is the traditional launch point for new model iPods, and has been a focal point for iTunes service upgrades.

Yes, you heard right, the Cheif Technology officer at Segway, Doug Field,  has left the company to become a VP of product design at Apple. 

What does this mean?  Actually it means nothing but it isn’t hard for the mind to wonder on this one.  Remember Steve Jobs was one of the people who said the Segway (known as the Ginger project back then)  was as big a deal as the PC.  (As a side note, here is an interesting little jaunt through the first Jobs meeting with the Segway team)

So who is Doug Field and why is Apple interested in him?

Doug Field is a guy who has dealt with electronics that go into motors and wheels and balancing his whole career.  When you look at Apple’s product roadmap, there is nothing currently there that fits into his expertise.

Here is Doug’s bio from Segway LLC’s web site:

As the Vice President of Design and Engineering and Chief Technology Officer for Segway LLC, Doug leads some of the most talented engineers and designers in the world in the conception, development, and delivery of radically new forms of transportation. Doug’s team is wholly responsible for the development of the Segway Human Transporter (HT) as well as all the research and development of future Segway products.

Doug’s career of managing and developing new products and manufacturing processes for the automotive and medical industries led him to DEKA Research & Development in 1996. He worked at DEKA for several years leading the prototype design and overall technical leadership for the INDEPENDENCE™ IBOT™ Mobility System. Prior to that he was the Manager of Process Development for Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc. where he led the introduction of advanced manufacturing processes for high-volume medical device production. Earlier in his career, Doug was a vehicle development engineer and team leader at Ford Motor Company, focusing on the development of ride, handling, and noise and vibration characteristics on several car platforms.

Doug was a fellow in the dual degree Leaders for Manufacturing Program, a partnership between the MIT School of Engineering, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and major U.S. manufacturing firms, where he earned a masters degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. He attended Purdue University for his undergraduate education, where he received a BS in mechanical engineering with highest distinction.

Some of the forum members even go on to postulate that Apple could end up buying Segway.  While more than slightly premature, the possiblity certainly is interesting..

Thanks

(Axel Springer CEO, Dr. Mathias Döpfner Talks about moving the company to Macintosh)

Axel Springer (no relation to Axel Rose) is doing what no company of its size has ever done. It plans to move its 12,000 desktops to nearly 100% Mac.  Besides the GooglePlex which is a mix of Macs, Windows and Linux and Apple itself, Axel Springer will become the biggest Mac shop in the world.

This is excellent news for Apple for a number of reasons.  If successful, it will be the case study that IT managers can point to when trying to convince their companies to switch to Mac.  Until now the highest profile switcher has been Auto Warehouse Co. which is in the midst of a switch of 1000 desktops.  It will also force Apple’s enterprise unit to put more might into its European operations.  My experience with Apple Enterprise in Europe has been very negative.  For instance, Spain (the whole country!!) had only one representative.  It will also put a lot more Mac literate users and administrators out in the world.

Most importantly, it will give the world a chance to see what the Macintosh platform can do in a very large organization.  If it works out as it should, it willgive Axel Springer a large advantage over its competitors in spam/virus/malware prevention costs, training costs, repair costs and even attracting top talent.  I have sent this news to all of my mixed environment clients who I think should go 100% Mac.

Maybe you should too?

Linkage

 "Actor Justin Long, best-known for his starring role in a series of Macintosh computer commercials, has purchased an apartment at the high-rise Blue luxury complex at 105 Norfolk St., on the Lower East Side.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, listed by the Corcoran Group, was purchased for $2.4 million, according to the real estate Web site StreetEasy.com…"

New York Sun

 Apple’s iPhone 3G will take a huge chunk out of the enterprise, UK carrier O2 said today. 

The network has revealed its business tariffs for the iPhone, but more interesting to most Apple-watchers is the company’s positive observations on the impact of the device on corporate users during beta testing of the product.

O2 UK’s head of business sales, Ben Dowd, told Silicon.com that O2 beta-tested the iPhone 3G with 15 corporate customers, including Citigroup, Logica and McDonald’s. Describing the feedback as "very positive," he explained the testers found it usable, liked it, and wanted to find out more about the device

Dowd added: "That sort of feedback in addition to the feedback that Apple got – from about 30 per cent of the Fortune top 500 customers – is all very positive. Absolutely this can be used in the business world."

Asked about device security, Dowd said that contrary to come analysts, business customers had not asked O2 about security during the test, and that even the US army has been testing the iPhone 3G. He also pointed out that O2 uses the Cisco IP VPN security supported by the iPhone in the networks own corporate systems.

Perhaps the only soft spot in the solution Apple is offering enterprise users is the need for users of corporate iPhones to have iTunes installed on their computers in order to sync data. Some firms may be unhappy at this, though O2 promises it will work with their IT crews to "make it happen".

Neil Young has slammed iTunes, hates MP3’s and wants better quality musical products – and has a plan to make it happen.

Speaking to the Financial Times, the singer said: "It’s like all new digital media technologies," he said: "great for convenience, but the sound quality sucks – putting on a headphone and listening to an MP3 is like hell."

Young is developing an alternative, higher-quality digital distribution platform that could provide an alternative to the download world and perhaps even a new business model for music, the artist claims.

The technology behind this was first shown off last month at Sun’s JavaOne conference. Young has spent 15 years experimenting with different technologies to assemble a complete archive of his career, and will release the first part of this on Blu-ray disc, with additional content set to be introduced later on.

As Young explains his technology: "It has every media component you could want, and they’re all married together in a platform. That means other artists could use it, other record companies could use it and gain the knowledge of our 15-year development curve."

Windows usage could fall beneath 90 per cent by the end of 2008, while Apple’s Mac OS X claims double-digit market share, Net Application’s latest internet figures suggest.

Aggregating data collected from approximately 160 million website visitors every month, the company charts things like browser usage online, as well as operating system statistics.

June’s figures reveal Mac OS X use to have climbed 0.11 points last month, ending with 7.94 per cent share – a new high for the platform. (And you can add the 0.16 per cent share currently enjoyed by the also OS X-driven iPhone to that, giving Apple a share of 8.1 per cent).

While Microsoft continues to be the dominant player, retaining the huge marketshare the pursuit of which led the company to fall foul of anti-trust bodies worldwide, that lead continues to atrophy.

Microsoft’ various breeds of Windows ended June with a 90.89 per cent share, down from 91.13 per cent the month before. It’s a pattern of loss that has been a constant for the last two years, and if users continue to abandon the platform – and given the lacklustre feeling for Vista, there’s no reason for them to fall back in love with the Microsoft OS – then there’s a chance Windows usage could drop before 90 per cent this year.

While Microsoft is declining, Apple’s clearly ascendant. It held a 6.18 per cent market share (by OS) in August 2007. That the company’s Macs continue to fly out the door at growth rates that exceed industry averages has now begun to attract enterprise users to the platform. Any dents Apple makes in the enterprise will significantly erode Microsoft’s stranglehold on operating systems, as the enterprise is where so much of the bedrock of Microsoft’s OS dominance is based.

 Up-and-coming gadget site, Electric Pig, claims the UK is the unlock capital of the iPhone world, saying Apple will limit supplies of the next-generation iPhone 3G as a result.

Citing insider sources, the report explains that fewer than 15 per cent of all the iPhones sold by O2 when it slashed prices on the 8GB model actually ended up in use on the carrier’s network. The rest of them were unlocked for use on other UK networks, or were sold abroad.

That move likely reflects habit and custom among mobile users in the UK, who are now well-versed in switching networks to get the best deal. iPhone critics here have frequently slammed Apple’s decision to offer the device through just one carrier.

Whatever the consumer politics inherent in the claimed unlock craze, Apple has apparently elected to limit supplies of the iPhone 3G in the UK, with the report claiming 16GB models will be particularly hard to find, and warning the white model may never ship in the UK.

We do hope this report is incorrect, as the 16GB model appears the only sensible choice of model, once we consider the applications we’ll likely download from the App Store.

 Sure, it’s another re-run but even three month’s later it is still quite a funny parody of the MacBook Air ad, this time featuring the world’s largest envelope and some Dell desktop system…enjoy..

http://www2.funnyordie.com/public/flash/fodplayer.swf?a76b5203

See MacBook Air Ad – Parody and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.com

Google has introduced Google Talk for the iPhone, a web-based version of the service that’s compatible with existing iPhones, and will also work with the iPhone 3G, and, naturally, the iPod touch. 

The new service has been released in the US, and is available to users who visit the www.google.com/talk page using their Apple device. Users must sign into their Google account, and that’s it – the service runs within the browser.

The Google team explains there are a few differences between the way Google Talk works on an iPhone and a Mac, principally due to the iPhone’s lack of support for background processes: "In order to receive instant messages with Google Talk on your iPhone, the application needs to be open in your Safari browser. When you navigate away to another browser window or application, your status will be changed to "unavailable" and your Google Talk session will be restarted when you return."

Otherwise, its pretty much the same, users can select from a quicklist of the people you contact most, search your contacts, and manage multiple conversations.

 Take a look at these – pictures take both inside and outside of the still under construction Apple Store in Beijing, China.

The store is situated in a mall just near other western brands including Nike, Adidas and Zara.

These images were taken on behalf of French language Mac news website, MacPlus, by one Thibault Metzinger, who notes (according to Google Translate) that Apple is ‘Pingo’ in Chinese….