The BBC on the future of iPlayer on the iPhone
Yesterday, there was a Twitter chat with Jason DaPonte, managing editor of BBC Mobile. Macworld and Electric Pig have reported on this, including responses to a couple of my tweets. But they missed out a few details, and didn’t mention some questions that went unanswered about the future of BBC iPlayer on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Has O2 UK pulled a #totalfail with iPhone 3GS pricing?
The WWDC Keynote is done. Thanks to macrumors.com, which has the best coverage optimised for Safari on the iPhone. There was plenty to look forward to in the Keynote, and not just for the iPhone. I was a bit surprised they didn’t demo video editing, but all in all, good stuff. Voice control, not just voice dialling, looks excellent. More details are of course all over the web – try Engadget for starters.
So no massive surprises, until I checked out O2’s responses on Twitter. Oh dear O2, oh dear.
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Not long now
Have you heard? Reading this blog, you must have. It’s almost here. The keynote of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, and the third significant update to the iPhone’s hardware and software, is just a few hours away.
But (take a deep breath) if there’s one thing that watching Apple has taught me over the past few years, it’s this:
- Bloggers over-sell
- Apple under-delivers
What if… iPhone Video?
I had a dream on Friday night. Steve Jobs was giving the WWDC keynote address from a small fishing boat out in Weymouth bay. I can’t recall ever dreaming about a Steve Jobs keynote address before, so I guess this shows just how far my excitement levels been ramped up these last few days, with or without Steve Jobs’ presence. The reason for my excitement this time is because of one little rumour… the iPhone Video.
The importance of RAM and a hope for Monday
RAM – i.e. Random Access Memory, is all important. It’s the workspace which your phone’s OS runs in. And a critical parameter, in terms of what you can do with your smartphone, is how much RAM it has free. Free for you to do stuff. Like run a web browser, play a game, and so on.
Over and over again, in reviewing iPhone games for IPAL, I come across user reviews saying ‘Game is buggy, just crashes every time’. Now, no developer worth their salt would release a game that kept crashing. What’s happening is that the iPhone is physically running out of RAM. Starting with perhaps 40MB free, some of the fabulous 3D games need just about all of this and when the RAM runs out, the OS panics and shuts the game down. Result: one unhappy user. On my iPod Touch, with 60MB free most of the time (again, after the OS has loaded its bits and pieces up), I never, repeat never, hit RAM limits, incidentally.
CPW “announces” 32GB iPhone
It’s all over bar the shouting.
Although not exactly an official announcement, Carphone Warehouse has added black and white 32GB iPhones to its ordering system.
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Will this adult app be seen on the App Store?
Since the App Store opened on July 10th 2008, Apple has earned plenty of justified criticism over its approval policies. There’s still a lack of transparency over what may or may not be allowed. But Apple has always been clear in its role as the gatekeeper that it will not allow “adult” applications.
But I’ve just received an email from a developer letting me know about his adult iPhone app, which will be approved after iPhone OS 3.0 is released. Is Apple about to relax its grip on the App Store?
The cheapest way to get an iPhone on O2 UK
If you’re thinking about buying an iPhone on O2, there is a page on Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert site that looks at the monthly tariffs. But it’s well out-of-date now, so I’ve put together a quick guide highlighting the total cost of ownership.
Read on for the cheapest way to get your hands on Apple’s shiny mobile, short of nicking it!
iPhone tethering, mobile billing (and Android) coming to O2 UK
It’s time for a round-up of info I’ve gleaned from recent posts on Twitter. O2 have an official presence on Twitter, and recently asked for suggestions for iPhone apps. Giving away some apps specific to their network would be a good move for the carrier – they could add some real value to the iPhone customer experience.
Some of the most requested included:
- Integration with Bluebook
Bluebook is a great free service from O2, storing all you texts, picture messages and contacts, but iPhones cannot use the service yet. A workaround is to install Synthesis SyncML, which at least enables you to sync contacts. But why you’d use this over Google Mobile sync, I’m not sure (unless you’re Google-phobic).
Straight to Voicemail
You, like me, probably pay a lot of money each month for your iPhone. You, like me, expect your iPhone to be blessed with the fact that Apple products “just work” (generally). You, like me, do not expect calls to randomly go straight to voicemail without even ringing.
For a phone, especially an expensive phone, this is very bad indeed.