Recently in Apple Category

Apple's Magic Mouse is a joy to behold and shouldn't be restricted to just Mac users... and it hasn't.

You can now download the Magic mouse drivers here and enjoy flicking and stroking your mouse in front of a PC!

Source: Uneasy Silence

Picture from Cimm on flickr

In a move that appears to be designed to upset Orange's apple cart, O2 have just announced that users of their iPhone Internet Tethering bolt-on  who sign up on or before 31 December 2009 will be entitled to the standard Home Broadband package for free. Tethering - which enables you to use your iPhone as a 3G modem when you're out and about - costs £9.79 a month with a 3GB allowance. Now you can get online for free at home as well.

O2's iPhone exclusivity finally ends on November 10^th when Orange start shipping the Apple devices to eager customers.  Today they published details of the tariff - and Twitter is all-a-fluster with Orange's use of the term "Fair Usage".  You see, all the Pay Monthly plans come with "unlimited" mobile internet.  But the small print at the bottom says that a "Fair Usage" policy of 750MB/month applies to mobile internet browsing and WiFi.

750MB a month doesn't seem particularly unlimited. Let's make a comparison.  Standard mobile internet packages for your PC - those things that come with a USB dongle - usually start at 1GB.  No one calls those packages "unlimited", especially as they're at the bottom rung of the ladder.  

For example, Orange's own dongle offering starts at 500MB per month (on a 12 month contract) and goes up to 10GB a month - with stops at 1GB and 3GB along the way. They can't all be unlimited, can they?

In real terms, 750MB a month might be enough for checking emails and logging in to Twitter in the morning - but start flicking through your friend's photos on Facebook or log in to Funny or Die, and see how long it lasts.  

O2 has what it calls an "excessive usage" policy in place on its unlimited iPhone plans - with no top end defined.

But don't let all that detract you from the real news:  Yay, iPhones!  And, overall, it does look like Orange's offering is slightly cheaper than O2's...

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Update:

via @conorfromorange on Twitter:

"...for our new iPhone offers we are using a fair usage policy of 750MB for Mobile data, & 750MB for free Wi-Fi access with our Wi-Fi partner"

So that's actually two lots of 750MB, depending on how you access the 'net.

TVcatchup returns from the brink with an amazing service for the iPhone. It's legal, easy to use and doesn't require downloading any apps.

TVcatchup was created around a year ago as an online personal video recorder (PVR) but was soon kicked to the side as broadcasters feared for their analogue lives. The site has now had an overhaul and has been relaunched to be used on the iPhone through a website.

It was yesterday that the site came to my attention when our community editor ran across the office waving her iPhone at me in excitement. This is nothing new at all, but this time it wasn't an app, just a web page.

My first question was 'Is it legal?' and the answer is yes. On their FAQ page it says:

TVCatchup is completely legal, and the broadcasters were consulted and themselves participated in a thorough review of the services offered.

Next question is how good is the picture quality? It's almost perfect. Over wifi it's faultless but over 3g we found it struggled but was definitely watchable. It buffers one minute ahead of live TV allowing you to forward and rewind.

Why is this a good idea? Why am I so excited about it?

Well other than the fact that being able to watch TV in the toilet is a dream most men never manage, it's the potential interactivity that allows my mind to wonder.

Imagine being able to click on links in TV programmes that open your web browser or the ability to buy a product straight from an advertisement.

Can this be the start? I certainly hope so.

Orange have issued the following statement confirming that they will sell the iPhone before the end of the year. Here's the statement:

Orange to sell iPhone in UK

Orange UK and Apple have reached an agreement to bring iPhone 3G and 3GS to Orange UK customers later this year. Orange globally now offers iPhone in 28 countries and territories.

Orange, which has the largest 3G network covering more people in the UK than any other operator, will sell iPhone in all Orange direct channels including Orange shops, the Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels, as well as selected high street partners. A pre-registration site for customers to log their interest has been launched at www.Orange.co.uk/iPhone

More information on pricing, tariffs and availability dates will be released in due course.

See also:
Video: I'm an iPhone and I'm an N97 - smartphone smackdown!
Photos: Top twelve enterprising iPhone apps for business
Photos: Top ten paid iPhone apps
Apple to open iPhone up to Orange and T-Mobile

So last night Apple showed off the Nano that now has a bigger screen (2.2 inches), a pedometer, voice recorder and, most importantly, a video camera.

Initially, everyone was excited talking about how Apple were taking on Flip and how having an iPod that could do so much made it such an amazing gadget. But on closer inspection, you'll find that it's good but not great... not by a long shot.

No HD? No way.

Let's start with the fact that the Nano is not a HD recorder. While snapping clips of your friends might be fine for now, eventually you're going to want better quality. HD is readily available now, the Flip Mino HD is reasonably priced and most importantly, everyone at the event was asking 'is it HD?' which makes you think Apple have missed a trick.

They will probably release a HD version later this year but for now, it's a problem.



Audio... what did you say?

The Flip suffers from the same problem. Tiny devices like this are fine if you're at home and filming the kids, but if you go outside or anywhere where there is some background noise and the subject you're filming gets drowned out completely. The solution? A mic jack or even bluetooth capabilities to potentially link one up.

The BIGGEST problem: camera position

And finally the awful position of the camera. Why oh why did Apple think it was a good idea to put it in the bottom left hand corner? When you hold the Nano as you would naturally in a portrait position, your hand will cover the lens.

What's more, the buttons are directly on the other side of the camera so you will usually have your fingers in the way of your video at the beginning and end of each video. This is by far the biggest problem with the Nano video (as the clip below shows)

I don't understand why Apple went ahead with this. Every portable video camera or mobile with video has the camera at the top because it's the natural way to shoot a video.

If you record in landscape then it's not such a big problem, but if you point and shoot then you'd normally do it in landscape.



My verdict: Nano? No No No

I think the Nano is a good size, it's very light and seems very solid. As a music player and all round gadget it's fantastic but if you already have a Nano or even an iPod and feel the twitch to upgrade because of the video facility, don't bother.

Your mobile will have the same video capabilities without the annoying awkwardness and if you have an iPhone then you'll have editing capabilities as well.

At $149 it isn't going to break the bank but if you really think about it and consider the things you may already have, such as a mobile with video and an iPod with a bigger hard disk, then it's probably not worth going for.

But if you want a small gadget iPod that has that little bit extra, then it's worth considering.

PS I would have been a lot more happier with the Nano if they'd placed the lens better. It really, really bugs me.

See my previous posts:

• Live: iPod Nano to have VIDEO CAMERA, radio, pedometer and voice recorder
• Live: iPod 64 GB announced at $399 as well as uogrades to shuffles
• Live Apple Event: iPod and iPhone games (Assasins Creed 2)
• Live Apple Event: iTunes 9, Genius mixes, Home sharing and iTunes LP
• Live: Download iPhone upgrade 3.1
• Live: Apple Event coverage - First post

Apple are going head to head with the Flip by releasing an 8GB iPod Nano video camera with a speaker. It has a larger display of 2.2" and will come in a variety of coloursand will cost $149 for teh 8GB and $189 for the 16GB.

It is not HD.

Every iPod Nano will have a video camera. It's smaller and thinner than a Flip and will have uploading straight to Youtube.

It will also have radio, voice recorder and a pedometer.

We're now back onto the iPod. They're telling us how amazing the iPod and the iPod touches are.

20 million iPod touches sold to date and 30 million iPhones.

They've gone back to Genius again. You can just ask it to make a playlist for you and a mix. So basically it'll encourage you to spend more money.

Apparently playing games on the iPod touch is better than a DS or a PSP. Errr... I don't think so. It might be easier to buy games but it's definately a crappier game, trust me.

I can't see myself playing GTA on teh iPod, it's just not good enough.

Don't get me wrong the games are good but it (for the moment) doesn't compare in my eyes. I'm insulted.

Ubisoft have taken to the stage talking about Assasins Creed 2. It looks like Prince of Persia. It looks like a good game. But I bet it's better on a PSP.

Steve Jobs is now talking about iTunes 9 that will go live today. It integrates Genius in that it will create a playlist by recommending music to you depending on music you've already downloaded.

The Genius mixes create playlists and act like a 'Radio station'.



Synching also gets an upgrade. It will synch your applications, movies and music between your iPod/iPhone which helps you manage your library.

Home sharing allows you to copy media from your home Mac to your other Macs and even your iPhone/iPod. It can even do this automatically.

The new iTunes store is revamped and cleaner too.

iTunes LP is asically a virtual album. So you get lyrics, album cover, information videos etc. It's basically trying to get that whole 'I buy albums cos I wanna hold them and smell them'.

UPDATED: We've now been shown the iTunes store. It's a lot easier to preview and buy things. You can also share information on albums and songs on Twitter and Facebook. Not sure how useful that is but a nice touch anyway.