Official iCreate Blog > iPhone

If you are planning on heading out and getting a new iPhone tomorrow here are a few pointers:

Numbers may be limited.

At both the Carphone Warehouse and O2 stores employees are not sure of the delivery numbers expected later today ready for tomorrows launch. If you are desperate for a phone, get there early.

Opening Times may vary.

Apparently some stores will be opening at 7:02 and others an hour later, so its best to check in with your local store.

Take ID

The exact requirements for what types of ID to bring to the stores seems to vary so its probably better to be safe rather than sorry. Take your Chip and Pin bank card, a household Bill and your O2 account details if you plan to upgrade.

If you have any other tidbits of advice about your local stores and availability let us know in the comments…

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

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

…

Everybody knew that, when the iPhone launched with its revolutionary touch screen interface, there would be pretenders to its throne pretty soon. 
LG & Samsung lead the pack at present with their respective takes on digit-driven mobiles but, as we all know, they’re still simply mobile phones with advanced control features. Apple has time on its side as other manufacturers race to better the iPhone but will surely be confounded when the much rumoured iPhone 2 makes its appearance this year. Back to the drawing board for the competitors. I worry, however, that consumers still don’t “get” the iPhone in the UK. They don’t quite know what it offers (even with the constant ads on television) and they certainly don’t appreciate paying for a phone up-front before signing a contract and thus forgoing a subsidy on the handset as is the custom here.
Sales figures have, apparently, been pretty sub-standard for the iPhone in the UK. No specifics have been provided but some very vague statements from O2 suggest they’re not as happy with the five-year iPhone deal they’ve signed up to, as they were pre-launch.In light of this I’m intrigued to see a new wave of ads in O2 store windows and on TV for the LGKF700. This is by no means an iPhone killer but, in the eyes of the consumer it could be a tempting option over here. 
Exclusive to O2 (as we remember from the iPhone ads) the LG phone offers touch screen AND a keypad, a three megapixel camera and, most importantly, web browsing with 3.5G technology. 
Still, not as good as the iPhone but to the man on the street it’s certainly an option. Depending on your contract you can get the phone free or for an up-front payment of up to £159.99 a clear £100 cheaper than the least expensive iPhone.
We’re definitely getting into mobile web technology here and the iPod is still going strong but, consumers want the best deal and what they perceive to be the best device. The core advertising its “3MP”, “Touchscreen”, :”3G” and “full web browsing” are likely enough to sway a consumer in favour of the LG device over an iPhone. 
Perhaps O2 is toning things down while we wait for the new iPhone models but it does seem like its promoting “banker” models of phone over Apple’s device, likely even further denting iPhone sales. 

www.beet.tvWall Street Journal columnist and iCreate favourite Walt Mossberg has openly stated that Apple’s iPhone will be 3G in 60 days.In a matter of fact yet casual comment during the Beet.tv executive summit in Washington, Mossberg stated: “Broadband on these cellphone networks is limited and I’m not talking about the fact that iPhone isn’t 3G, it will be 3G in sixty days.”Now we all know Walt and Steve Jobs are good pals, making this quite a worthy claim, especially considering Mossberg is one of the few journalists to receive Apple’s products before they are launched. (Steve, if you’re reading, can you put me on this list too?).Referring to the Apple CEO while discussing streaming media options at the same conference, Mossberg said:”Believe me, I know this guy. If Steve Jobs thinks that a streaming service would be the right way to go and sell him a bunch of iPod and Macs, he’ll turn it on tomorrow. It’s not a religion.”Good friends with the CEO. Exclusive clearance to test new kit. We think this is a particularly meaty rumour that may well turn out to be true.www.ipodobserver.com To further add fuel to the iPhone 3G fire, T-Mobile in Germany has begun offering discounted 8GB iPhones for those who sign up to 2 year contracts. With rumours pointing to poor German iPhone sales this could be a one off but… with new “Black iPhone” whispers circulating, could be we see consumer and pro offerings in the future?If so this could be how things pan out:Pro iPhone (2nd Gen) 3G compatible, 16GB & 32GB - Full price, no discounts. Available in blackIntermediate iPhone (1st Gen) 8GB & 16GB - Standard pricing or discount for 2 year contract. Available in silver.ConsumeriPhone nano (iPhone Air?) - Stripped down, 4GB - fully subsidised with contract. Available in multiple colours.We know how Steve Jobs likes his products to sit in the market (see MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro etc) and we also know how much he values the iPhone, hence no subsidy with contracts. Could this be the compromise?

EDIT: Appleinsider.com is reporting on aesthetic tweaks to the MacBook line as part of Apple’s ongoing “green” effort. Plastic casing is said to make way for aluminium enclosures which, once again, points to a brand conformity through the notebook line. The MacBook Pro is also due for a visual revision with design elements “borrowed” from the new iMacs. Black, aluminium and glass once again.

I thought I’d share a little iPhone tip that you may or may not find useful. 

If, like me, you listen to a lot of music on your iPhone you probably find yourself stopping, starting and skipping tracks using the button on the headphones. 

For those who don’t know, here are the facts:
One click: Pauses currently playing music. One click (when paused): Resumes music playback. Two clicks: Skips current track.

The annoyance I’ve found is the way in which the headphone button becomes unresponsive after the music has been paused for a little while and the iPhone heads back into regular standby mode. 

This often happens when I’ve been listening to music and use the headphone button to pause while I talk to someone.  Usually, by the time I’ve finished talking, the button doesn’t resume playback because the iPhone has gone into standby mode.

So, a cunning plan for those who carry their iPhone in their pocket. Find the home button on your device (either inside your pocket or through your chosen garment) and double click it. You will now find the button on the headphones will work again and you wont need to remove your phone from your pocket to start playing music again. 

Simple yet effective. 

   
Not content with having us wander around seemingly jabbering to ourselves when making a phone call on the iPhone headset, Apple has yet another confused look-provoking feature to share. 

Games are coming to the iPhone in June thanks to the recently released SDK (Software Developers Kit). Not just point and click stuff, not just Tetris, games that require shaking, rotating, twisting and flipping. The accelerometer in the iPhone is incredible when you’re looking at pictures or websites and need to quickly rotate the screen and now this impressive technology is being harnessed to make the device the “Wii of handheld gaming”. The iPhone is not a toy, stop it, stop it, stop it! 
 
Picture the scene: 

9.45: Hop on the bus, plug in iPhone headphones and listen to the latest iCreate podcast. A couple of suppressed giggles garner some strange looks from other public transport users but nothing to worry about.   

9.50: Podcast is getting going but I’m interrupted  by a phone call. Click the button on iPhone headphones to receive call. “Hello?” I say, apparently into thin air. Most assume I’m singing along to Lionel Richie.  


10.00: Finish chatting away while appearing to still listen to iPod with no discernible telephone anywhere nearby. It was a friend informing me that the new iPhone App store is available with games and really cool third-party apps. I fire up Safari. 


10.20: Successfully download Super Monkey Ball for iPhone. It’s a primate in a ball that must be rolled, Marble Madness-style, to the end of the level. The controls? You guessed it - accelerometer.


11.30: Level one completed. Successfully navigated the ape in a ball by tilting the iPhone. Imagine how stupid you look playing tennis on a Nintendo Wii and multiply it by ten. Then imagine doing it in public. 


10.35: Game’s getting harder, motions more frantic. Concerned onlookers fear some kind of fit from the guy talking to himself a few minutes before. I bought this iPhone to look cool! 


10.40: Bus arrives outside office. Police & Ambulance are waiting. Apparently someone with a “regular” telephone tipped them off.   


So what’s next? Default ABBA ringtones? A voice-activated unlock feature that requires you to sing the first four bars of Build Me Up Buttercup? Apple, this is the coolest piece of technology ever to be produced, please don’t reduce it to a plaything. Perhaps that’s why they announced the Microsoft Exchange support for iPhone at the same time, to balance the lightweight, consumer extras with heavy business power tools. Then again, that’s Microsoft technology and when have those guys ever been cool? 

Let’s just hope that beyond the games studios, some truly brilliant third-party apps for iPhone are in the works that don’t make us look like morons when using them. Either that or the popularity of the phone will grow by such a degree that swinging your arms and legs about and talking to yourself in public will become the norm.