Official iCreate Blog > 2008 > June

No gamers, Halo is not coming to the iPhone. The iPhone ‘Halo’ is the effect the product is going to have on the sales of the rest of Apples line up.

A lot of talk has been going on about the new, extremely low price of the iPhone and how Apple can’t be making a great deal of money out of it, especially as revenue sharing has now gone out of the window too.

The theory is that the success of the iPhone and its awesome value for money will create such a good name for Apple that iPhone customers who aren’t Apple computer users will be suddenly compelled to make the switch.

This might sound outlandish for other companies to try, but given the kind of respect Apple customers have for the brand, which is unheard of in other business sectors, it could be just the thing to drive Apples market share towards parity with Microsoft.

Anyone who owns the current iPhone will know that its one of the devices of the century, a revelation in terms of web browsing and it has an interface and menu system that makes it extremely easy to use and difficult to put down. A lot of people thought that despite the high price, the device was well worth the money. So now that its just £100 it looks as though sales could just go through the roof and thats without mentioning the App Store and the hype that wil surround that too.

If there was ever a device that could turn people from PC over to Mac, its the iPhone.

We want to make sure the best mag for your Mac continues to be just that. That’s why we’ve put together a short survey for our readers.

The Mac market is constantly changing so we’re keen to see what trends are developing and how we can better suit the needs of you, the readers.

You can find the survey here

As you should know by now, when MobileMe is launched in July, all existing .Mac subscribers will have both an @Mac and an @Me email address.

It struck me during the announcement just how many entertaining email addresses could arise from the @Me.com suffix.

So, being me, I bought an additional .Mac email only account and tried my luck.

For those remotely interested, most of these usernames are currently unavailable:

Hollaback

Stoplooking

Yell

Shoutback

Smile

Wave

Rightback

Youlookin’

Chuckanemail

Dontworryab

Throwsomething

P

Feel free to post your own ideas in the comments for this post or on our forum www.icreatemagazine.com/forum

  So, after all the excitement of the announcements on Monday we’ve now got to sit about and wait for everything to become available. Here’s what we’re looking forward to most:

iPhone - Obviously

Its not the 3G capabilities that are going to make this device extremely successful, its the brilliantly low new price (who can argue with £100?) and of course the App Store…

The App Store

This is where all the action is going to happen. iPhone users will be able to get all of the new games, productivity tools ad other cool things through here. Those apps that are under 10MB in size will be able to be downloaded directly onto the phone, the bigger ones will have to be done through iTunes. We’ve heard on the grape vine that as many as 70% of the applications on the store will be free! There is an upper ceiling on the size of apps, they can be no bigger than 2GB.

Best of the Apps?

Super Monkey Ball is  one of the best looking apps so far announced and of course with it being controlled by the accelerometer its even cooler. There will be over 100 levels to choose from and four monkeys  to  use.

And finally…. Mobile Me

This is the replacement for .Mac and this re-branding is an attempt to get those iPhone users who are still  tied to their Windows Machines to get involved in the email account business without wanting to be associated with Macs. We didn’t see that much of it at the keynote but as soon as we can we’ll have a proper look at it in the magazine as we  will with all the new releases. So excited…

The time has come…

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For anyone who doesn’t know who Blurb are - go and check them out: www.blurb.com.

They are a US based company that take Apple Photobooks to a whole new level, allowing you to create your very own books using their exceptional BookSmart software. Not only that, they also have an online store where you can sell your creations to the general public and a thriving community where you can get feedback on ideas on future projects.

Over the last year they have grown exponentially and are now involved in a very cool competition for photographers.

Photography Book Now is a competition for budding photographers to make a Blurb book and submit it so it can be judged by a world renowned panel and showcased across the globe.

For more information head to www.photographybooknow.com

There has been a veritable explosion of iPhone rumours this afternoon as WWDC approaches. Both Engadget and Mac Rumors have new posts with new details. There have been claims from eastern manufacturers saying that there will be a smaller iPhone with a 2.8inch screen as well as the possibility of a tablet like device that will have a 7inch screen.

Without wanting to be massively smug, iCreate did predict an iPhone family of products in the last issue of the magazine and this latest batch of rumours seems only to be confirming our prediction.

Of course we’ll all have to wait until Monday to find out whats really been going on at Cupertino.

It really can’t get here fast enough.

www.macrumors.com

www.engadget.com

Share the Keynote excitement with iCreate

As most of you look forward to June the 9th and Apple’s Keynote from WWDC we have another exciting treat in store.

The iCreate podcast will be broadcasting live to keep you up-to-date with all the announcements.

We’ll also have “Our Man in San Fran” calling into the show to provide us with an on-the-spot account of the goings on at Moscone West.

Even better than that, we want you, the iCreate readers, to get involved! We’ll be hosting a live iChat during the event which anyone can join and will also be updating the blog regularly with news as and when we receive it.

The forums will also be monitored so all your predictions, comments and suggestions stand a chance of being mentioned on the show.

More information on how to access the live stream and live chat will be posted on the blog later this week.

We look forward to hearing from you all on what looks like one of the most important days in
Apple’s history so far.

They’re here! Thats right, you can now download Movies on the UK iTunes store.

Apple has today announced that movies from major film studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate UK are now available on the iTunes Store in the UK.

There are over 700 titles available to own or rent through the store with over 100 available in High Definition.

Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store require iTunes 7.6.2, available as a free download from www.apple.com/uk/itunes/.

iTunes movie purchases and rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the United Kingdom.

Movies are priced at £6.99 for library titles and £10.99 for new releases.

Rentals are £2.49 for library title rentals and £3.49 for new releases, high definition versions are priced at just one pound more.

Rentals can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.