UK iPhone

Not content with stealing license fee money from a helpless British public, the BBC has now turned its attention to iPhone app developers trying to meet a need. The Rewat.ch app, which would have helped iPhone users to find and watch BBC shows using its iPlayer functionality, has been trashed by the BBC legal department, despite every effort by the developers to meet any requirement, including making it free.

There are two possible conclusions: either the Beeb is shooting itself in the foot again, or it has plans to release its own app, and is clearing the way by eliminating the competition, in the same way that the free and useful railway timetable apps were shut down by National Rail so that it could launch its own ridiculously overpriced paid app with no alternative for long-suffering train passengers. Good old government monopoly strikes again.

UPDATE: The developer of the National Rail app has pointed out that his company is completely independent of National Rail, and that they have developed the app completely off their own bat. They pay a license fee for access to National Rail’s data, which is available to anyone who wishes to pay the fee. Furthermore there are free apps available still. So this is NOT an example of anti-competitive behaviour! Apologies to Dave and all at Agant.

We’ll be doing a full review of all the rail apps shortly.

Now that the iPhone and iPod Touch have become significant gaming platforms, you might be wondering if there is any way to improve the actual interaction with the iPhone itself. Unlike console games, the iPhone is its own game controller, and the difficulty of holding a small and somewhat slippery device like the iPhone might just be holding you back from getting the top score!

Here are a couple of accessories that make getting to grips with your iPhone a bit easier:

The iPhone Gaming Grip from Exspect

This gaming grip is kind of like a largish phone protector. Made of silicone, it features emphasised corners to make your iPhone easier to grip, and includes a screen protector. You could probably leave your phone in this even when not playing.

Buy it here: Iphone Gaming Grip: Black

Game Controller Unit

This product will make your iPhone feel much more like a traditional game controller. Reminiscent of the controllers that are built to hold the Wii remote, your iPhone plugs into the centre of this controller, making driving or flying games much more naturalistic to play.

Buy it here: Play.com Game Controller Unit For iPhone 3G / 3GS

I’m off to Sydney, Australia soon, and to keep me entertained on the 20-hour flight I’m looking for something to boost my iPhone’s battery life. Using your iPhone in Airplane mode, which switches off the cellular and wifi radios, means you can listen to music, play games, and even watch video; but all of that takes its toll on the battery, especially gaming and videos- the display backlight is a big power hog.

There seem to be a few options here.

Portable iPhone Charger

• The first is the £19.99 Portable iPhone Charger, which you charge before you go, then plug into your iPhone when its battery level drops; the Charger then tops up the battery from its own one.
• You can charge it using the iPhone’s own charger; this means you can plug the USB lead into your PC or Mac to charge (note no mains adapter or charger is included)
• Offers up to five hours of extra call time, or 20 hours of music playback
• Check remaining charge using front indicator lights

You can find out more or buy it here: Portable iPhone Charger

i-Sound Smart Battery Rechargeable Backup

• Apple-licensed – increases video playback by 6 hours
• Music playback boosted an incredible 30 hours
• Includes mains adapter charger and travel pouch
• Fantastic price discount at Play.com

Get it here: i-Sound Smart Battery Rechargeable Backup Pack For iPod / iPhone

Griffin PowerBlock Reserve

• From the well-respected name Griffin, comes the PowerBlock Reserve, at £29.99, certainly worth a look.

• It handily combines a mains charger with a snap-out battery backup that simply plugs into your iPhone for extra talk time when you need it.
• You can charge your iPhone at the same time as you charge the backup battery when you get back to HQ

Buy it here: Griffin PowerBlock Reserve Mains Charger For iPhone 3G / 3GS / iPod

Mili Power Pack

• And finally, the ultimate in battery boosters!
• For those who don’t want batteries hanging off the bottom of their phone, the Mili Power Pack fits your iPhone like a slightly oversized case
• Protects the back and sides of your phone
• Massive 31 hours of audio playback
• 9 hours of video playback
• Charges with included USB cable from your Mac or PC
• A bit pricey at £49.99, but then it does look as if it belongs with your iPhone!
• Buy it here: Mili Power Pack

And finally, remember that you can’t buy one of these at the airport duty-free! Well actually you could, but there wouldn’t be much point, as you need to charge it before you get on the plane!

Apple, maker of the iPhone and other cool stuff, has made it to the top of Fortune’s list of Most Admired Companies. Not just the list of computer companies. The whole list.

It’s hard to argue with this: Apple has completely transformed both the music industry and the mobile phone industry with the iPod and iPhone, and continues to be just about the only computer company increasing its profits and earnings year on year, as it produces the most exciting hardware and software in the field.

So congrats to Apple and Steve Jobs, and here’s to even more insanely great stuff! Can’t wait for the iPad myself…

Things have certainly changed from the days of O2 being your only choice for the iPhone. With iPhones available from Orange, Vodafone and even Tesco Mobile, the only network currently not offering the iPhone is T-Mobile. Now Tesco Mobile is effectively O2 for the purposes of network quality, although they offer different prices and shorter contracts (with a higher price for the handset).

In fact there are so many different contracts and options available that it looks as if it’s become quite difficult to know what the best choice is. But in truth the best option is the one that is right for you. If excellent coverage is important then Vodafone might be the best choice, although be aware that their monthly data limit of 1Gb/month is strictly enforced, with a charge of 50p per day if you exceed it. Still, it’s bigger than Orange’s 750Mb limit. O2 and Tesco have only a “fair use” limit, but then O2’s network is so bad you probably won’t get much chance to use it!

The cheapest overall cost is Tesco’s 12-month contract: the steep upfront cost is mitigated by being able to switch to a cheaper or even PAYG package after 12 months. But of course you will be on O2’s network for that time. If you’ve decided against O2 and Tesco, the other network’s contract price differences are marginal, and it really comes down to network preference and performance where you are.

I just love this super-cool Hello Kitty iPhone case. This would be an amazing gift for someone who loves Hello Kitty (and their iPhone!) Imagine pulling this out on the tube or bus; you’d get envious glances, that’s for sure! Also available in black:

Black Vinyl Case for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S

O2 have confirmed that they will unlock customer’s iPhones at no charge at the end of their contract, thus freeing them to sign up with Orange or (next year) Vodafone for continued service on their iPhone.

So if you are suffering under an O2 contract and looking to get on a better network, but not keen on shelling out money to replace your perfectly-good iPhone, it’s good news. As the official Orange iPhone launch day is tomorrow, 10 November, you might want to start calling O2 customer service to find out how to get free…

This is double-plus ungood news if true: the BBC have discovered portions of Orange’s terms and conditions (T&C’s) relating to the iPhone that seem to rule out any “non-Orange” streaming. Presumably including Spotify, and possibly even Facebook messaging:

“Not to be used for other activities (eg using your handset as a modem, non-Orange internet based streaming services, voice or video over the internet, instant messaging, peer to peer file sharing, non-Orange internet based video). Should such use be detected notice may be given and Network protection controls applied to all services which Orange does not believe constitutes mobile browsing.”

It’s certainly true that Orange have a history of “locking down” their phones more than most, but whether Apple would allow them to prevent specific apps from running is another question entirely. It’s not clear how the “Network protection controls” would work; not sure how they could tell data requested by Spotify apart from data requested by Safari. Although perhaps they would just block Spotify’s servers?

In any event, this is a huge question mark over Orange’s iPhone offering, and I’m now thinking we should wait for further clarification, and if possible, actual proof that Orange iPhones work as they should, before taking the plunge with Orange.

UPDATE: This seems to have been a bit of a storm in a teacup; there have been no reports of Orange banning services such as Spotify. It’s likely that the T&Cs have simply been drafted by a paranoid legal team intent on protecting Orange from some illusory threats. But be aware of Orange’s relatively mean 750Mb/month data limit; this is less than Vodafone’s 1Mb per month limit.

So the release date for the iPhone on Orange, the first time you will be able to buy an iPhone in the UK that is not on O2, is the 10th of November. You can get it through the Orange store, Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U, and Apple stores.

The tariffs are for the most part very similar to O2’s, so unfortunately no price war. But I will just be glad to be shot of O2 and onto Orange’s far superior 3G network: the iPhone will finally work the way it should!

I was really pleased to see that the excellent Dropbox has released an app for the iPhone. I’ve been using Dropbox for ages, and it’s a brilliant solution to the problem of working on more than one device (eg home computer, work computer, laptop, iPhone). Dropbox automatically and seamlessly synchronises files that you put into your Dropbox directory across all devices. To use it, you just sign up for an account (free or paid) and then download the software and install it on all the machines you want to use it on. There are versions for Windows, Mac, Linux, and now your iPhone.

Each installation creates a Dropbox directory on that machine. Anything you put into that directory appears, virtually instantly, on your other machines. Synching happens in the background, automatically. Dropbox also saves your files onto its servers, and there is a web interface to manage those files directly. So even if you find yourself on a machine that you haven’t installed Dropbox to, you can still download your files via the web!

The free plan includes a very generous amount of online storage, which you can increase by upgrading to paid.

The iPhone app is of course free, but you’ll need an account to use it. You can sign up for a free account here.