Tech Industry

 Apple must wake up as its front room media solution-cum-hobby, Apple TV is under attack

Microsoft has announced a new deal with Netflix under which the latter service will offer Xbox LIVE users who are also members of Netflix Gold free access to over 10,000 films and a multitude of TV shows – all directly through the Xbox.

From the Netflix website, members simply add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will be automatically displayed on the TV screen via Xbox 360 and available to watch instantly. 

It’s a significant move that underlines the additional value you get from using TV-connected console systems, rather than more limited streaming boxes (such as the Roku Netflix box that’s now available).

The Xbox plays games, accesses the internet, plays DVDs and more, while Apple TV does not.

 John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Services Business at Microsoft said: “We are creating a completely new social entertainment experience, and Xbox 360 will be the only video game system where you can access your library of instantly streamable movies from Netflix and turn any room into a virtual movie theater.”

 Remember Skyhook? The people who helped Apple put a little location-sensing inside the v.1 iPhone? 

Well, hot on the heels of the most recent Apple mobile, Skyhook has introduced XPS 2.0, its next-generation hybrid positioning system that combines signals from Wi-Fi access points, GPS satellites and – now – cell towers to deliver location data for mobile handsets (such as the…)

The company insists it is offering the most advanced positioning system in the world by combining its positioning algorithms with comprehensive environment survey data.

The original version of XPS delivered "multi-mode" location switching between WPS and GPS readings based on availability and error estimates. XPS 2.0 combines raw Wi-Fi, GPS and cell tower readings to produce a single hybrid calculation. In the most difficult indoor and urban environments, XPS can, for example, leverage signals from just two GPS satellites to improve Wi-Fi location accuracy by 35%+. In a typical deep urban setting Assisted-GPS (A-GPS) can only produce a location 70% of the time outdoors due to blocked signals. 

It’s fast, too – XPS delivers a location in just 4 seconds from a complete cold start compared to 30-60 seconds with just A-GPS. 

The company has also reached a deal with CSR that brings Skyhook’s advanced location capabilities to CSR’s Wi-Fi silicon, making it easier for device makers to launch location based services.

As part of the XPS 2.0 launch, Skyhook Wireless is also introducing its first cellular positioning system that uses Skyhook’s fleet of field signal surveyors. Today the system covers major US and European cities expanding to full Skyhook global coverage by the end of 2008. 

By now it is a forgone conclusion that Apple will use Intel’s latest Centrino 2 platform in its new Macbook Pro Line-up.  Back when Apple used PowerPC, no one knew what chips Apple would use or when they would come out.  Now that Apple is on the very transparent Intel roadmap, we know what is next.  That next is the Centrino 2 line.  Oh and quad-core in August??

The code-name Montevina refers to the fifth-generation Centrino platform, now formally named Centrino 2. It was scheduled for release at Computex Taipei 2008, which took place on June 3 – 7, 2008, but was delayed until July 14, due to problems with integrated graphics and wireless certification. 

Some fun facts about the Centrino 2 Platform:

• Centrino 2 will top out at 29 Watts compared to Penryn’s 34.
• Clock speeds ranging from 2.26 GHz to 3.06 GHz
• RAM support for DDR2-667, DDR2-800, DDR3-800, DDR3-1066 and DDR3-1333 SO-DIMMs
• Main support for DisplayPort with an external connector attached to the motherboard along with full supplemental support of HDMI, DVI, and VGA standards.
• an Intel WiFi Link 5100/5300 mini-PCIe adapter (code-named Shiloh), and the add-on card WiMAX (802.16) (code-named Dana Point), or the Intel combo WiFi/WiMAX Link 5150/5350 mini-PCIe adapter (code-named Echo Peak).
• NAND flash-memory caching branded as Intel Turbo Memory (code-named Robson 2).
• Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers 82567LM and 82567LF (code-named Boazman)

More From Crave:

There are five new processors available within the Centrino 2 family. Athe the high end is the Core2 Extreme Mobile Processor X9100, which it says is the "highest performing mobile processor." Intel has removed overclock protection, and generally tuned it to impress gamers. To demonstrate, an Intel employee played the PC version of Assassin’s Creed on a notebook with the Extreme Mobile Processor.

The company says it will enable the new 2.8GHz processor to consume 60 percent less electricity than its 2.33GHz processor on a single task, and it will get that task done 30 second faster.

Also in Centrino 2, 802.11n Wi-Fi will be standard. Intel says to expect five times faster wireless connections, and twice the range, but to get ready for WiMax coming this fall. Though not available immediately, future versions of Centrino 2 will come with built-in WiMax capability.

 Sit back and look forward to new generations of voice-controlled games on the Mac, beginning with their debut on the iPhone. What’s making this happen is that a company that specialises in embedded speech interfaces for mobile devices has decided to make a move on the iPhone – and with iPhone running a version of OS X, it’s logical to expect Mac-bound movement in future.

Fonix Speech today introduced its Fonix VoiceIn 5.0 tool-kit for the iPhone 3G. This includes a license and run time engine fee to video game developers.

"We expect to leverage our prior successes with video game developers that incorporate Fonix VoiceIn Game tool-kit for an increasingly growing mobile video game market," says Steven G. Jones, Fonix Director of sales and business development. "A hands free game like Tom Clancy’s ‘EndWar,’ developed by Ubisoft, features Fonix VoiceIn for Games and is a natural fit for the iPhone 3G."

Jones then began to wax quite lyrical on the iPhone’s potential as a gaming platform, saying the device would, "explode the market with the powerful, easy-to-use and intuitive Fonix voice interactive software."

In addition to Ubisoft, Vivendi, EA Sports, Harmonix and other game developers that have licensed Fonix speech technology, the company expects "an increasing number of new game developers to release games for the Apple iPhone 3G."

Fonix VoiceIn software allows for voice command interface across multiple platforms including XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, Wii games, PC and Mac videogames. 

Apple confounded most estimates on first weekend iPhone 3G sales, delivering a record one million units sold by Sunday night. The company also revealed ten million applications to have now been downloaded from the App Store.

Only RBC Capital Market’s Mike Abramsky had anticipated global iPhone sales on the launch weekend would reach one million, while Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster had anticipated less than half this mark, 425,000 unit sales.

The news is certain to please investors, and provides slight justification in terms of the activation problems which plagued most customers in the US and the UK on launch day Friday 11 July.

Apple’s UK network partner O2 last week told Macworld UK: "Demand is really high. In some of our stores we have been selling 40 iPhones an hour – the same level of sales those stores usually do in a day."

Dominic Hulewicz, O2’s head of convergence services and both a Mac switcher and former BlackBerry user as a result of the iPhone said: “We’re seeing phenomenal demand. I was staggered.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems ebullient, too, saying: “iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”

Applications available from the App Store now number 800, that’s 300 up from the 500 offered on launch and indicative of the company working its way through a huge pile of submitted apps, prompting Jobs to remark: “The App Store is a grand slam, with a staggering 10 million applications downloaded in just three days,” said Jobs. 

What makes these figures singularly significant is that the number of mobile phone handsets expected to be sold next year number 1.35 billion, with smartphones set to account for 270 million of those.

Apple has aimed at selling ten million iPhones during the current calendar year. While it seems off to a very strong start, we’ll have to see if the promise of Apps is sufficient to maintain momentum, as Nokia, RIM, Palm and others begin to answer back with their product introductions.

So – you’ve queued in line for hours, coped with chaos at Apple and O2 retail outlets as the iPhone sales systems fail. What else do you need to create the perfect customer experience?

Would you like iTunes to brick up your iPhone 3G when you get it home and try to activate it? Or, failing that, if you are simply attempting to upgrade an older phone with the new software, so you can play with those dozens of applications you downloaded from the App Store yesterday, perhaps you’d also like iTunes to delete everything on your iPhone and leave it unusable?

A little far-fetched? Not at all – it appears iTunes and O2 have managed to arrange one huge slap on the faces of iPhone customers all across the UK. As Macworld UK explains, "what is happening is that people’s existing iPhone’s are being bricked up as users attempt to install the software update. This is because part of the updating process demands iTunes activate the phone."

It appears the servers are unable to keep up with the demand for authorisations through iTunes, leaving many iPhone owners – new and old – facing a bricked, dead and erased mobile device. Though you can make emergency calls on it.

Those who have been able to contact tech support are being asked to remain patient, with O2 saying it has been overwhelmed. "Engineers are looking into it," apparently.

The result is an iPhone stuck in limbo. It’s got the new software on board, but without being activated by Apple’s servers, it’ll only make emergency calls.

This is not a good thing for Apple or for O2 in the highly advanced UK mobile market. We think the people from Nokia, RIM and Palm will be laughing right now.

We hope to use one of our two Apple mobiles some time this weekend. If you are trying to call us, send us an email – our phone is out of action. The UK launch has been a shambles – sure, there has been unprecedented demand, but there’s a point at which companies of the stature of Apple or O2 should stand up and make some kind of explanation for these numerous SNAFU’s, rather than demanding their customers exercise the tolerance of the Buddha himself.

Lift your hats once again to the iPhone Dev Team, who have succesfully unlocked iPhone Software 2.0.

The team has been working on unlocking Apple’s iPhone software for months, and the current build is stable and effective – a Gizmodo reporter has been using his iPhone (using beta of v.2) for a week on the Vodafone network, rather than through AT&T.

The team intends releasing a new version of its free Pwnage tool so others can unlock and jailbreak their handsets for use with unapproved applications on non-official networks.

We are waiting with baited breath and bricked iPhones.

 An irritated Italian consumer rights group has filed an anti-trust complaint with local regulators against the restriction of sales of the iPhone in Italy.

They are complaining because the device is only available through Vodafone and Telecom Italia. 

Italy’s anti-trust agency has begun gathering information on iPhone distribution, but hasn’t yet begun a full anti-trust investigation, following reception of the complaint from the Movimento Difesa del Cittadino (MDC).

Both Italian carriers offer the same prices on an unlocked version of the iPhone – €499 for the 8GB model and €599 for the 16GB.

"We learn with pleasure booting dell’Antitrust part of a pre-inquiry to verify a possible dominance of only two operators currently marketing the I-Phone, Tim and Vodafone," said MDC (well, as explained by Google Translate.

 You are staring at iPhone Jonny – he’s the first person in the world to buy an iPhone (we think), and was photographed queuing outside his local Vodafone store yesterday – thanks EnGadget (maybe you’ll link back to us one day, hey?) – waiting at the head of the queue to pick up his iPhone.

Now he has. Yes, you heard us right – the iPhone 3G went on sale today, but in fact it is tomorrow it goes on sale – except in New Zealand, where it’s tomorrow already! Sometimes time zones are kind of exciting.

Parts of Australia will now be getting the iPhone 3G as they have a few hours difference to New Zealand. And then it invades the rest of the world as the dawn of the new day breaks….

So, Jonny has his iPhone 3G – congratulations, Jonny, drop us a line if you come across us, we think the whole world wants to know what you – someone who isn’t a highly-paid journalist working for some major media outlet – think of your new purchase!

What’s going to be frustrating for New Zealand’s iPod touch owners is that there’s no sign yet of iPhone Software Update 2.0, which you need to actually install and use applications on the iPhone or iPod touch.

Never mind, though – the software has escaped, you can download it now, but will have to install it manually, check here for the link and the details.

Apple may have a huge big massive hit on its hands in the form of the iPhone – but Research In Motion’s fight back plan may be falling apart, an analyst said this morning.

Nomura analyst Richard Windsor has warned clients that Research In Motion is struggling to develop the touch interface for use within its forthcoming ‘iPhone killer’, the BlackBerry Thunder. The analyst says the implementation even lags behind Nokia (who we think themselves are trailing Apple on touch controls).

"Those who have handled prototypes complain of poor typing, unresponsive keys, bugs in the user interface cause by touch as well as accelerometer issues," Windsor said, as reported by MarketWatch.

The analyst also warned Nokia’s future touch-controlled Tube just won’t have the edge and usability of an iPhone. (see, we told you…)

So, right now it looks like Apple’s about to clean up in the smartphone space. Did we mention UK iPhone 3G carrier O2 this week saw pre-orders for the device flying in at a rate of 13,000 per second?

"Demand was at 13,000 orders per second," said O2 yesterday. "Frankly, we have to admit we just weren’t prepared for this unprecedented level of demand. No website is."

9 to 5 Mac’s spies are all over the iPhone launch. Here’s our latest image, it shows the first stocks of the iPhone 3G being delivered to The Carphone Warehouse.

The hugely anticipated mobile phone officially launches tomorrow, with Apple’s carriers and some selected high street retailers, such as Carphone Warhouse in the UK, opening early as the iPhone 3G is introduced globally.

All involved in the launch now warn customers to expect limited supplies, as early ordering systems in the UK and Australia this week buckled under the strain, indicating significant demand for the device.

A ChangeWave survey yesterday suggested iPhone will have a "tsunami-like" effect on the smartphone market. The researchers spoke with 3,567 consumers, finding Apple’s market share now to be catching up to that of Palm, which is looking less and less popular.

“These numbers are good news for Apple,”  said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing, “but it’s when we asked respondents about their planned smart phone purchases over the next 90 days that the tsunami-like effect of this marketplace transformation becomes crystal clear.”

The survey found that a full 56% of respondents who plan to purchase a smart phone in the next 90 days say they’re getting an Apple iPhone – a huge 21-point leap from the previous survey. And this means Apple seems set to dominate the smartphone market within weeks, grabbing 56 per cent market share and eclipsing current number one smartphone maker, Research In Motion.

ChangeWave also revealed that 55 per cent of current iPhone owners are Very Likely to buy the iPhone 3G for themselves or someone else in the future – half of these will do so within the first 90 days of release.

 Apple this morning introduced iTunes 7.7.

Installing the application offers users a route to the App Store – you can browse and download applications now, but you’ll need to wait until iPhone Software 2.0 ships to run them on your iPhone.

The App Store isn’t automatically showing as an option when you log into the iTunes Store, though it has been showing up occassionally this morning in the main view as a menu navigation option. If it doesn’t, it is very easy to get there – open up the new ‘Applications’ folder you’ll see in your personal iTunes navigation area to the left, once in Applications select "Get more applications" using the button at the lower right. And you’ll be in the App Store.

There’s 500 applications to choose from now, including the much-vaunted Apple Remote app which lets you remotely control your iTunes collection or Apple TV using your iPhone or iPod touch, the absolutely outstanding Band music application, voice recorders, social networking, free and paid for applications. We had a hard time resisting purchase of a guitar tuner application, for example, so we didn’t.

The bad news? None of these applications will work on your iPhone – yet – but with the iPhone 3G beginning to go on sale in some parts of the world (where the Friday dawn is approaching in their time zone) we can’t believe we have too long to wait until iPhone Software 2.0 ships.

Apple’s iPhone 3G will grab 35 per cent of the US market for touchscreen-equipped mobile phones by the end of the year, new research claims.

Bonny Joy, analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “We estimate the Apple iPhone will account for 6.3 million of the 18.1 million touchscreen phones sold in the United States during January to December 2008, for an impressive 35 per cent marketshare. We expect the release of the heavily-subsidized 3G iPhone 2.0 on July 11 to catalyze a healthy spurt in touchscreen volumes during the second half of the year.”

Neil Mawston, Director of Strategy Analytics, added, “Apple is in a strong position today but its rivals are not standing still. Samsung and LG already offer numerous, popular touchscreen models such as the Instinct and Voyager, while Blackberry and Nokia are scheduled to launch their own portfolios in the coming months with the Thunder and Tube. Clearly, the competition is rising fast and hanging on to that 35 per cent marketshare will be a major challenge for Apple in 2009.”

Do you think it will be a challenge? 

Microsoft will offer the next version of Office for the Mac by January 2011 at the latest – possibly as early as January 2010, the company said this week.

The company’s Mac Business Unit’s senior marketing manager, Amanda Lefebvre, also said it intends restoring support for Visual Basic for Applications in the next version, Information Week informs.

"We’re on a two to three year lifecycle," she said, admitting, "We were a little beyond that for our last round."

Mac users who purchased Mac Office 2004 had to wait four years for Office 2008. To try to prevent such delays in future, the Mac Business Unit has also initiated a huge recruitment drive, partially to find developers to work on Visual Basic for Application.

The company is also developing tools to integrate Mac Office into corporate Windows environments that run Microsoft’s Exchange Server and Unified Communications Server, said Lefebvre.

These moves reflect Apple’s growing market share in the consumer and the enterprise markets.

 Wake-up, California – your iTunes prices are under attack (again).

That’s right – assemblyman Charles Calderon is back with another attempt to levy a tax on digital downloads, just two months after Californian voter anger saw his last attempt to do the same thing chucked out with a vengeance. In April, the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee on a bipartisan vote rejected a legislative proposal to extend California’s sales and use tax to digital property.

So what’s this guy pushing for this time (other than more money for the government)? Turns out to be the same again, only this time split into two parts, presumably on the basis that if one set of rules is approved, it will set some kind of precedent to more easily force through this tax. (Not that we’re lawyers, not that we’re Californians, even, but we do know that’s how bureaucrats like to force through that awful system creep).

"Sales of Digital Property. AB 22XXX (Calderon), introduced June 25, requires the State Board of Equalization to report to the Legislature on the sales of digital property. The report must include a proposed regulation to tax such property, and a revenue estimate. This bill is keyed a majority-vote bill.

"Tax on Sales of Digital Property. AB 23XXX (Calderon) introduced June 25, imposes the sales tax on digital property. The bill is keyed a two-thirds vote bill.

The legislation is intended to extend the sales and use tax to downloads of online music, movies, ring tones, games, books and other digital property."

So far as we can tell, it’s time to dust off your letter-writing skills once again to see Calderon’s dual-pronged second attempt rejected. The last attempt was rejected after a campaign by Cal-Tax, over 130 Californian companies and others.

Thanks to the CalTax letter for the detail.

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…

 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.

 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".

 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….