Author Archive: Ian McGurren

O2 puts iPhone 4 on Pay As You Go roster

Good news for those of you flushed with cash and not wanting a contract – the UK’s first iPhone network O2 have now put Apple’s latest smartphone onto its PAYG list, joining Orange and Vodafone with the remaining major networks coming by the end of the year.  For just shy of £600, you too can have your very own 32GB iPhone 4 locked to your favourite network, or if you feel a phone should really only cost £500 at the most then the 16GB will fit your bill with £5 change.  The iPhone 4’s PAYG tariff gives you 300 texts and 500mb bundled in but there are no free minutes.  There is also no word whether the white iPhone will join its darker brethren at present when it finally sees a release.

Interested?  Pop on over to O2 here and bring lots of money.

Posted by: Ian

Orange to supply first UK Windows Phone 7 Handset

It seems if you are one of those who wishes to dip your feet in Windows Phone 7 waters, Orange will be your first port of call.  HTC have announced they are shipping  an as yet undisclosed handset to AT&T in the US and Orange here in the UK.  It’s quite possible the undisclosed device will turn out to be HTC’s symphonically named Schubert handset, the so far only device to have surfaced running Redmond’s much hyped mobile OS.  Orange has traditionally been one of the main providers of Windows Mobile handsets, from the SPV branded HTC devices such as the SPV C500 to HTC’s own branded devices like the Touch Diamond and the HD2.  The Windows Phone 7 reboot of the aging OS however is not without its controversy and with iOS and especially Android, there is more than one player in the mobile OS game. Certainly, it will be one of the most interesting releases of the year – Q4 can’t come soon enough.

Posted by: Ian

Nintendo Reveal Gamescom Line Up

Nintendo have today revealed what lies in store for the lucky visitors to Gamescom in Cologne next week. Amongst the hotly anticipated and expected titles they plan  to be giving hands-on game time with are Zelda: Skyward Sword and Metroid: Other M on the Wii, while the DS will be showing off Mario vs.. Donkey Kong and ladies favourite Professor Layton’s new adventure The Lost Future.

So let’s cast a closer eye over what The Big N has instore for you Wii fans:

Nokia Launches C3 in Vietnam, Riots Ensue

While over here in Blighty we usually only see rioting associated with football or ill-conceived tax policies, it appears the Vietnamese will go crazy for a mobile phone.  This isn’t just any mobile phone however, this is Nokia’s new C3, with QWERTY keyboard, Series 40 OS, WiFi, 2MP camera.  OK, maybe it is just any mobile, making it all the more unusual for anyone to get out of hand when the supply runs dry – 5000 devices were available but a pretty impressive 7000 buyers turned up.  Let’s hope Apple doesn’t launch the iPhone 4 there or things could get really ugly.

Watch people run crazy for a mid-range smartphone here.

Posted by Ian

Nokia N8 Shows Up SIM Free on UK Site, Networks Gearing Up

Those friendly Finns from Espoo’s next throw of the smartphone dice, the N8, appears to be nearly at British shores.  UK phone retailer MobileFun.co.uk has listed the Symbian^3 device for £419.95 SIM free, with T-Mobile and Vodafone putting up placeholders on their websites.

Boasting 16GB of memory, a 3.5″ 640×360 AMOLED display, a 680MHz ARM processor, HDMI out and a Xenon flash to light up that 12mp Carl Zeiss camera, the N8 certainly looks on paper to be a genuine contender.  However recent industry analysis has put one-time smartphone trailblazers Nokia and Microsoft now playing catch-up to iOS and Android armed devices.  While some analysts say Nokia’s future rests on the success of the MeeGo and Symbian^4 platforms more than Symbian^3, the N8 is at least a chance for them to right S60s touchscreen wrongs and put Nokia back in the spotlight for good reasons.

Mobilefun lists the Nokia N8’s availability from 28/8/2010.

Posted by: Ian

Meridian Launches M80 Audiophile Compact Sound System

With the rest of us mortals happy with spending £50 on an iPod sound dock, or even £400 on the Zeppelin if feeling flushed, Meridian’s sound system incorporating an iPod dock tips the money scales at a whopping £1500.  However this isn’t Vertu-style all bling and lo-tech, the M80’s sound reproduction is of audiophile standard, so you do at least get a quality device for your money.

The M80 is a 2.1 system with the main body housed in the distinctive semi-circle unit.  It has the sub as a separate unit, as is the iPod dock but the rest of the magic happens in the main unit.  DAB, DVD and CD all feature, but sadly the only digital output is for the audio – you’ll find no HDMI for the video here, S-Video is your best bet, sadly.  The analogue radio can also pick up FM, MW and even LW, just so you don’t miss out on Test Match Special.  There’s also a remote control and you can also turn it into one of the world’s most expensive clock radios with the alarm feature if that is your want.

The M80 comes in Ivory, Chestnut and the Potter-esquely named Obsidian Black, and is available at retailers listed on Meridian’s site.

Posted by: Ian

Flash for iPhone 4, here and now? Only the ‘broken need apply.

Apple putting Adobe’s Flash on the iPhone – it’s now as likely as Burger King putting Big Mac sauce in their Whoppers.  Unless of course you are an industrious hacker with a fleeting regard for the welfare of your ultra-expensive telephone.  Thankfully the internet is such a vast place there’s bound to be at least one willing to take one for the team, and that one goes by the name Comex, the brains behind the JailbreakMe  and Spirit tools for iOS.

The process uses Frash, and apparently works with a jailbroken 3GS (at 3.2.1), iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone 4.  The process is relatively simple, involving some SSH to-ing and fro-ing with OpenSSH (found in the Cydia repos), and placing the package onto the handset using FTP.  After this Flash content appears as a Flash button, which when clicked launches Frash to run the Flash code.

Sounds relatively straightforward, especially if you already have a jailbroken device, but obviously all of this is done at your own risk.  Saying that though, this does look like the only way Adobe’s foremost web technology will ever grace iOS shores.

Check out the instructions here and accompanying video here from Redmond Pie

Posted by: Ian