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I recently bought a pair of iSkin Revo models. I’d previously bought a Marware silicone Sport Grip but I must now say that the Revo has stolen my heart - at least in terms of cases for my iPhone. Both provide a goodly amount of protection. The Sport Grip ships with a screen shield which really decreases the amount of finger marks under heavy use on the iPhone. The Revo also has a non-adhesive screen cover but it includes a privacy filter so the viewing angle for watching movies is greatly decreased. This is important if you intend to be replying to personal mail or don’t really want someone looking over your shoulder while you watch Toy Story again.

Both products are well made and provide play-through features though the Revo wins for me simply because it includes a little rubber flap covering the headphone socket. I’d previously had sound issues on my iPhone because some pocket lint had gotten into the iPhone headphone socket and fooled it into thinking there was a headphone attached while I was using the Sport Grip.

We’ll be following up with some more case reviews for iPods and iPhones.

We currently have the 16 GB iPod touch and hard drives in stock (for Time Machine).

We have Leopard, iLife 08 and iWork 08 on order! Due in next week!

Jingle bells….

No. We don’t like it either but be aware.

Buying an unlocked iPhone is currently like buying a iPhone with no warranty. The first update you do via iTunes may well turn it into an expensive iBrick.

Just be careful out there, folks.

Our friends NiMUG have revamped their web site and are gearing up for Summer 2008 which is the tenth year that NiMUG has been about, which is quite amazing really.

They’ll be holding monthly meetings starting on the 23rd of this month. See their main front page for details!

and I’m going to let all my calls go to voicemail so I can use visual voicemail

Only 2 days to go.

plus, on the download restrictions on iPhone?

‘Customers find ‘unlimited with limits’ confusing, plus most people don’t speak in megabits or understand what they equate to,” said O2 UK chief executive Matthew Key. ‘’So we’ve taken the decision to remove the fair usage cap so that ‘unlimited’ really does mean ‘unlimited’ – this is a market first.”

With the Cloud in Northern Ireland (Esporta in Holywood and Castlecourt in Belfast witnessed by yours truly), and an unlimited EDGE network, things are looking up!

Actor and very funny man, Stephen Fry, reviews the iPhone on his blog.

…the iPhone lives up to, even surpasses the hype. Another triumph for Jonathan Ive and his design team, Apple have made a wholly desirable and beautiful object. Only a cross and silly person would pretend to be unimpressed or make claims of parity about their O2 xda Trion or similar lumpen beast.

Fair enough, Stephen….

The iPhone is due for release on November 9th and will be available for £269 including VAT from O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores which will make for over 1300 distribution points for the iPhone and every store will allegedly have an expert on the iPhone (I can’t wait to test this theory out based on the Apple Experts that PC World allegedly had).

Visual Voicemail is enabled so getting your voicemail won’t be the current distraction it is based on having to remember the number commands for the menus. If you do decide to go for a hacked/unlocked iPhone then this will be one feature you miss out on. you’ll also be stuck with GSM data. Blechhhh! They describe the unlocking a bit like decryption of DRM’ed music - a cat and mouse game. This tells me Apple and their carriers will be breaking unl;ocks with every software update to keep hackers busy.

‘Unlimited’ Data will be available on all tariffs over £35 a month (that’s the £35, £45 and £55 tariffs). They’ve also created agreements with WiFi providers, The Cloud which will allow roaming and they’ve sidegraded their wireless network to provide EDGE services (2.5G as opposed to 3G data). It’s available on an 18 month contract and ‘unlimited’ really means around 1400 pages per day (so, like every other instance of doublespeak from mobile carriers it’s not actually unlimited at all.)

Only about 30% of O2’s network will be EDGE at launch. That’s disappointing. So you’ll be stuck on GPRS and GSM data if you can’t find a wireless hotspot. Which means, in Northern Ireland, you’ll be on GSM data most of the time and paying for WiFi via BTOpenzone.
TheCloud are a big WiFi provider (7000 hotspots) in mainland UK though they have no presence in Northern Ireland which makes that particular feature absolutely worthless to us. Maybe they’ll pull their finger out and make it work locally. I’ve emailed them to ask!

From 1st October, O2 will be rolling out ‘Unlimited’ data packages to all of their tariffs, not just for people who bought iPhones. Half of me says “about time, playing catchup to some providers out there” while the other half of me says “this will likely make other companies perk up and be competitive!”

I’m not inspired by this development. So watch this space.

[UPDATE: Apple and O2 Press Release on the iPhone]

September 18th brings us a media event from Apple:

I believe this is referring to the resounding secrecy around the launch of the iPhone in Europe. The press conference will be held in the massive Regent Street Apple Store in London on September 18th, at 10 am.

We’re earing up for the iPhone release here in the UK, working through our processes and making sure that should the worst happen, we’ll be ready to assist.

We’ll be getting them in as soon as we can so if you want to see one in action, come and see us.

A Wii, but how can that be Mac related? Well bear with me.
I bought a Nintendo Wii a few weeks back and have fully enjoyed the system. It’s fun and easy to get to grips with the new control system. And I must say it does get me up off the sofa of an evening.
As you may have gathered from my previous posts, I’m a bit of a gadget head. So imagine my enthusiasm when i read an article regarding Nintendo employing bluetooth technology on their super new controller. I just had to play with this. I found two small apps that let me pair the device with my 15″ Power Book.
The first was Mac Saber (sorry Wii Saber), and if anyone played with this when they got a motion sensor enabled mac, you will know what to expect.

http://isnoop.net/blog/2006/12/07/wiisaber-a-wii-mac-and-lightsaber-sandwich/

The second is a great app that lets you use the remote, as a….. eh, remote.
A few simple steps to pair the remote to your mac and your away. You have the option of the motion sensor to move your cursor around for the IR, but you will need the Wii’s sensor bar and the Wii turned on for this to function correctly.
I really liked this option and will continue to watch for further updates to the software.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwiin-remote/

Have a go and let me know what you think.

After February’s letter from Steve Jobs, on the Apple website regarding his vision for an end to DRM. Mr Jobs argued that the copy protection software used to protect digital music downloads from piracy has not worked. In the letter he outlines a world where the record industry abandons so-called Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems.
A Media event was held by Apple and EMI, today with the topic of, the removal of DRM from EMI’s catalogue.
Apple and EMI have announced that EMI will be releasing their catalogue on iTunes without the usual DRM. This is happening under the guise of Premium downloads, with an increased price tag.

From press release: $1.29 for premium tracks (DRM-less), $.99 for standard (DRM), and $.30 for upgrade

The changes will also cover EMI music videos, but will incur no extra charge. There has been no announcement regarding other labels removing the DRM restrictions, but Steve did mention 2.5 million premium tracks available by year end, so it seems the end of DRM may be indeed be in sight.

Premium downloads will be available next month (May).