When the iPhone was released it had a lot of expectations, but not even apple could have predicted such popularity. The iPhone has single handedly managed to give Apple 20% of global marketshare and 30% US marketshare, almost destroy AT&T's network and sell a record breaking 8.7 Million phones in a single quarter making a grand total of just under 70 Million iPhones sold to date. The iPhone is undoubtably a huge game changer and, to me, the best handheld device ever to walk this earth.

But along with any ground breaking invention comes masses of competition. Wether its palm with the pre, RIM with the Bold, curve and storm, Motorola with the Droid or even Google with the Nexus One, everyone is out to make an iPhone killer. All these phones have come and gone claiming to be the next big thing; but do you ever see someone walking around with a Droid a Nexus or a Pre?… No. I cannot deny the fact that i do often see someone welding a blackberry, but only ever a stern business man. The iPhone is used globally by casual users, Geeks and even the stern business men.

There are several main reasons why these phones have failed. The first that Apple released the iPhone first, everyone saw the ads first, everyone heard about it first … everyone wanted one first. This of course gave Apple a huge head start, setting the standards from the beginning


Secondly the iPhone is just a better phone overall. All though the other phones may have better screens, faster processors and more memory they just don't have the same experience as the iPhone. For example the Droid is a great phone and can do the big things like multi-tasking well but it just can't do the little things for example it is very easy to hit the enter key when trying to hit the backspace key. Things like this are where all these phones let down. I mean why would you use that keyboard when you could use the iPhones perfected keyboard.
If you look at the interface of many of the "iPhone Killers" it is usually very similar to what the iPhone first introduced. The icons along the bottom are very much like the iPhones dock, the whole idea of having icons on some sort of home screen that you click to open the application. Even that, applications, initially came from the iPhone.



The iPhone has one thing that no one else does, the whole apple Eco-system. If you have a mac it works perfectly with the iPhone, from amazing syncing to discounts when you buy a mac. It syncs everything between you mac, Apple TV and iPhone so you are always with all your media. Most importantly once you start buying apps you cant stop and they sync with your mac and then you can home share them across with all your macs and other iPhones and iPod Touches so everyone in you home can have them. If you decide to ditch the iPhone for another phone then all of these apps that you have spent your hard earned money on become useless to you. Even if you don't mind re buying the apps for the new platform you simply can't because there are so many apps that are exclusive to the iPhone. It is almost impossible to port every single application because every user has their own specific combination of apps for them no amount of work could bring all 100,000 of them successfully to a new platform.

All the reasons why the iPhone is invincible are impossible to list, but putting aside all of these there still remains one reason why someone would choose not to have the iPhone. This reason is nothing whatsoever to do with the iPhone itself but more to do with the carrier it is available on. Many people refuse to use Apples device simply because it is only available on AT&T, if Apple were to move to even just Verizon then the iPhone's user base could expand almost without limits. I recently wrote a post on this topic here.

But the reason that stands above all for me is the fact that 70 MILLION people own an iPhone, a number is every increasing, anyone with an iPhone will only ever switch to a better iPhone. Apples main competition is themselves; the next iPhone killer is the iPhone 4G.

Ever since the iPhone was released, in 2007, there has been talk of it moving to Verizon's CDMA network. Recently the rumours have been stronger than ever; especially with the latest predictions that the iPhone will finally make the inevitable move to Verizon at Apples "Come see our new creation" event on 27th January. A quote from Brainstorm Tech reads "Verizon iPhone unveiling next week?" is followed by a further quote from an analyst saying, "We believe there is a good chance".

The only way that the iPhone could work on Verizon is if it were to be given CDMA capabilities. As it is now the iPhone does not have these capabilities, so there are only two ways that Apple could crack a deal with Verizon:

1. Not so long ago a chip was released that supported CDMA and GSM networks. If Apple took advantage of this chip they could in theory release a new version of the iPhone on both networks. Now that seems all very well, but of course there is a down side. To include this chip it would dramatically decrease the iPhones battery life, which is bad enough all ready. Also i would presume it would be much more expensive. But above all these things it would be moving backwards, the CDMA technology is old as it is and will soon be overtaken by Verizon's upcoming LTE network. It is against all Apple stands for to move backwards just to please customers now, but to cause great difficulty for themselves later. A perfect example of this is flash on the iPhone; Apple are waiting for HTML 5 so they don't have to drain the iPhones battery with flash support.

2. The second option is of course to have a second iPhone with just CDMA support. The chances of Apple doing this are nearly impossible they would never have a secondary model just for Verizon, would they?

Basically what I’m trying to get at is that Apple will not release an iPhone on Verizon until Verizon rolls out their LTE network, sometime in late 2010. Of course I could be entirely wrong and this time next week there may be a Verizon iPhone available for purchase, but i am willing to bet my mac that they wont. Read More...

Tags: verizon, iPhone,

Top 20 all time iPhone applications (in no particular order)

These are the Applications i just couldn’t live with out
 
 
Logmein Ignition
Tweetie 2
Tweetie
Fieldrunners
NAVIGON
EliminatePro
Canabalt
Mr AahH!!
Mr. space
Midomi
Redlaser
Rowmote Pro
Snaptell
BeejiveIM
WunderRadio
Trenches
TapTap
Around me
DoodleJump
Things
 
SOMETHING NOT HERE?
LET ME KNOW, LEAVE A COMMENT
 
 

Tags: top 20 , iPhone, Apps

You can now watch me live through out the day on the live stream page located here.

Yesterday Apple confirmed the rumoured January 27th event by sending out invitations with the tagline "Come see our latest creation". The event is to be held at the Yerba Buena Center in san francisco. But as with every Apple event this one begs the same question… What will Steve Jobs pull out of his Apple iHat this time?

The word "creation" sounds like something new will come, not a revision of a current product an entirely new "creation". But don't get me wrong there is no doubt in my mind that we will see several revisions; but the main act will, of course, have to be the long awaited iTablet.


From where I'm standing it looks like the tablet will be priced at a 600 to 800 dollar sweet spot. Weighing in just under the bottom end $999 white macbook but enough over the iPhone to emphasise a clear difference. This difference has got to be marketed very well by Apple as the average consumer will not see the need for a tablet if they already have a Macbook and an iPhone. I think that one of the significant functions of the Tablet will be an ebook reader; and along with it a stunning way to purchase ebooks through iTunes. This will surely transform the way ebooks are distributed for ever more, much like the iPhone and it's AppStore. I believe strongly that the main selling point will come from the ebook reading capabilities.



With that we can now nicely seg-way into the other functions of the tablet. Along with being a ground-breaking ebook reader I think it would also have it's own AppStore with many of the Apps that we see in the iPhone's AppStore today, earlier there were rumours of Apple asking iPhone developers to scale up the resolution of there iPhone apps to be compatible with the tablet. If these rumours were true then we will most probably see some demonstrations on the 27th.

A definite function of the tablet will be an outstanding media player. Apple may or may not bring some new light to iTunes movie section for the tablets arrival.

Synchronisation between the iPhone and the tablet is crucial. I think that along with the tablets release AT&T will finally allow tethering on the iPhone, of course at a price but if you own a tablet this may be discounted. But will the tablet even need tethering? If it does have cellular capabilities then tethering will be irrelevant.

As for the spec a rough estimate is a intel 2.0 gHz dual core processor 2GB ram and a 64GB hard drive. To be able to display video content at the beautiful quality, we deserve, it will need to have a fairly high resolution; I would say at least 720p maybe even 1080p.

Along with the tablet we should see the annual iLife and iWork update, a sneak preview at iPhone OS 4.0 and maybe even an iPod Touch with a camera (I Wish). But whatever Apple showcases I will be outside the door on the iTablets release day. Read More...

Tags: iTablet, come see our latest creation, Apple, iphone 4.0

The iPhone Theory now has its own live feed.
The feed, as it is now, will play music throughout the day and in future will host a iPhone/Mac based show.
The feed is: http://192.168.0.4:8000/listen.m3u (will play in iTunes)
Read More...

Tags: music feed

This will only work on a mac and does not yet support the iPhone 3GS, the iPod touch 2G or the iPod touch 3G. So that means it does support the iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G and iPod touch 1G.
I will be demonstrating with an iPhone 3G

Before you begin this you will need:
-iTunes 9
-pwnagetool 3.1
-3.1 iPhone software
iPhone 3G
iPhone 2G
-A mac this only works on macs.

Extract pwnagetool in the usual way and then follow these steps:


Read More...

Tags: pwnagetool 3.1, iPhone, jailbreak, unlock, detailed guide

This summer many heads were turned, including the FCC's, by the insane rejection of Google's Google voice application. The app was approved but then removed just two hours later causing riot across the iPhone scene. Several other 3rd party google voice apps tried to sneak their way in to the store but were soon removed. One of these apps being made by Riverturn.

Riverturn, like many others, attempted to make a Google voice clone but were of course rejected. But Riverturn are back stronger than ever, having recently announced the creation of their own web app to serve in the exact way as a native app. It's name; VoiceCentral Blackswan.




As you can see Riverturn are planning to release the web application some time in early 2010, so sit tight until then Google voice will return.


Read More...

Tags: google voice, google, riverturn, voicecentral, blackswan

Two days ago the rumour of an 8GB 3GS was reborn with a post from a german shopper. He reported ordering a refurbished iPhone 3G and that was exactly what he received but the box that it was shipped in was labelled as an iPhone 3GS 8GB.

The boxes exact labelling was "iPhone 3GS v2.2, 8GB”; The model “A1241” and part number
“MB490DN/A”. These model numbers mean nothing as we have seen them previously in earlier versions of the iPhone, but the box was labelled with 3GS in more than one case leading us to believe that it was no mistake. The shopper posted two images to prove his authenticity:

Read More...

Tags: iPhone, 3GS, 8gb

Not so long ago people were talking about Apple hitting 10 Million iPhone sales in Q4 but recently predictions have been made that 11.3M sales may have taken place this last quarter, blowing away the already hefty figure of 10 Million.

Broadpoint’s analyst Brian Marshall is stating to investors that he expects Apple to of sold just over 11.3 million iPhones at the end of the current quarter, ahead of the previous figures of 10. Marshall also announced that Apple “remains the best technology company on the planet”

Marshall is basing these predictions on several facts firstly the fact that abroad the iPhone is becoming exceedingly popular abroad. For example France alone has reports of 2 Million sales this year alone and also in Britain Apples signature device has moved to 4 different carriers; O2, Orange, Vodafone and just recently Tesco Mobile. Finally and most significantly is the fact that the iPod touch’s sales have increased by 900% this Christmas leading most people to believe that the iPhone’s sales must have also increased quite significantly. In Q3 we saw 7.4 Million sales will we see the 25% increase in sales for Q4?

Read More...

Tags: iphone, q4, 11.3M

Apples all new Magic mouse has recently gathered enough sales to double Apples previous 5% to a proud 10% market share of mice. Although this is a very successful figure for Apple they are still in third place behind Logitech and Microsoft in terms of mice marketshare.



Stephen Baker, analyst with the market research firm states:
"Sales in November were through the roof. The Magic Mouse had the best month for a mouse product from Apple that we've ever seen."

This data is from individual Magic Mouse sales only and does not include sales from the new iMac line up; that came bundled with the new Magic Mouse. Read More...

Tags: magic mouse, marketshare

Recently the head of O2 has issued an apology to the many customers who could not access data because the network was overwhelmed by bandwidth hungry smartphone users in London, the iPhone being the main culprit. The mobile operator has blamed the crash on "a fault with the allocation of IP addresses”, and claims to be fixing the problem. 
These issues only seem to be effecting users with Smartphones on an O2 contract as the O2 pre-pay service, which has a different access point was not effected by the crash.

Mr Dunne, the CEO of O2 stated the following on the matter:
"Where we haven't met our own high standards then there's no question, we apologise to customers for that fact,"

So now we ask what has O2 done to solve these ongoing problems? Well for a start they invested Billions of pounds building over 200 new network towers in places worsely effected; it would be nice to see AT&T do the same thing in the US.

Read More...

A new AppStore game has recently entered the AppStore that uses the iPhone 3GS’s augmented reality feature to make a REAL first person shooter. Gunman [App Store, $0.99] is a first person shooter but unlike most others it doesn’t use a fictional setting and characters; Gunman’s setting is YOUR setting and the characters are real people in real places. Here’s a trailer:



Along with using augmented reality to create the real interface it also uses lazer tagging to identify the shirt colour of your opponent and then your shots will only take effect if your shot hits that particular colour, bright distinctive colours work best. This app is a must have for the holidays and for just $0.99 in the App Store these no reason to not go out and grab it now. This app will only work if you have a 3GS.

Read More...

Tags: augmented reality, gunmac

This december we have seen the AppStore sales double in comparison to November and these staggering sales figures have not just been seen on the AppStore, the iPod touch sales have also gone through the roof. This Christmas we have seen 900% increase on iPod touch sales leading to the iPod touch blowing away the iPhone by 172% on AppStore sales.
The iPod touch is defiantly a top gift this christmas, will it finally surpass the iPhones staggering 30 million sales? Read More...

Tags: ipod touch, sales, christmas

I have had the app instapaper hiding away somewhere in my iTunes library for God knows how long and I have just recently dug it up and checked it out. This may be old news to some of you but for others this could be extremely useful. What instapaper does, in a nutshell, is let you view saved web pages offline, but the way it saves them is seriously cool. You follow the instructions it will give you in the "Read later" section. Then when you are on a page in mobile safari that you want to save you simply click bookmarks and then the instapaper book mark it will of created for you (you'll understand when you buy, it took me a while to get it). Then a nice little box appears in the top left of the safari page that says saving, then next time you open the instapaper app there it is readable in offline mode. It also includes a nice tilt to scroll function, it's $4.99 in the appstore or there is a free lite version Check out the screencast bellow for more info.
Read More...

Tags: instapaper, Apps

If your with O2 in the UK and you were planning to switch to Vodafone or Orange, when they begin selling iPhones, then you could be out of luck as recently O2 have stated that, very unforttunatly, they are still unsure if they will let there users unlock their iPhones and switch over to a different carrier. This means that if you buy an iPhone from Orange or Vodafone then it will be unlocked; but if you already currently own an iPhone on O2 then you may not be able to unlock it to another carrier. One thing that came to my attention was that if you can't unlock the iPhones then many people who already own them will buy new ones on Orange or Vodafone, boosting Apples sales.
What do you thing have Apple got something to do with this. Leave a comment.

Read More...

Tags: O2, unlock

Here is a funny clip of t-pain auto tuning President Obama with his auto tune app.


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Tags: obama, auto tune, t-pain

Here are a few ways to to help you save your battery life:

1. The thing that uses by far the most battery, after phone calls, is data transfer. When 3G is on it will of course make everything faster but your battery will decrease dramatically, like wise with wifi. I recommend that you turn these settings off unless you are using them and never have them both on at the same time, you will never be using them at the same time anyway.

2. Unless your iPhone are in airplane mode your phone will always be checking for new mail, this is a major battery drainer. iPhone will check for mail at set intervals the more often it checks the more battery it drains. You can set it to check every hour or every 15 minuets, also you can set it to never check and you have to open up the mail app to get it manually, this saving the most battery. Go to settings>Mail ,Contacts, Calendars> Fetch New Data to change these settings. But that method means you never know when you have received a new email, what I personally do is use the application GPush to send me a push notification every time I get an email I then go and manually read the mail. This has saved me massive amount of battery and I know as soon as I get new mail. Alternatives to GPush are Mail notifier and Push Gmail.

3. Something that wont effect your battery that much but does make a difference is how bright your screen is I have my screen brightness set to about 75%, having it set to 100% will drain your battery slightly faster.

Read More...

Tags: tips, battery life

Finally the dev team have released a jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 2G , but iPod touch 3G remains unjailbreakable for now. The latest version of PwnageTool is dubbed as pwnagetool 3.1.3, what happened to 3.1.1 and 3.1.2.But unfortunately if you have already upgraded to 3.1 then there is no way to jailbreak and you can only jailbreak your 3GS if your are already jailbroken on 3.0 or 3.0.1, but this can be easily done with redsn0w. Pwnagetool, luckily, does not upgrade your baseband even on the 3GS so the ultrasn0w unlock can be used on a jailbroken 3GS. PwnageTool does not support the 3GS out of the box.
As I have already stated if your running 3.1 then you can not jailbreak but the dev team do state this:

"If your iPhone 3GS has 3.1 preinstalled and is not Pwned then there is no tested jailbreak solution at the moment."

So we may see this jailbreak in the future.
Good luck pwning. (Here's the guide to using pwnagetool 3.1) WARNING IF YOUR iPHONE 3GS IS NOT JAILBROKEN ON 3.0 OR 3.0.1 THEN DO THAT FIRST WITH REDSN0W
Read More...

Tags: pwnagetool 3.1, dev team, jailbreak, unlocked

My first prediction, for the upcoming month, is that Orange will hold off with selling the iPhone and will begin that some time in early January 2010 along with Vodafone. Secondly a mac event has been rumored take place on October 14 and this may go ahead. I doubt the tablet will be released but some tablet announcement is not impossible whatsoever. Also at this mac event I presume that all the mac will go to Solid State Drives and possibly a new macbook range of some sort.

A 3.1.1 iPhone update is bound to along soon fixing some bugs including random crashes and maybe even battery life improvements. A 3.2 release is highly unlikely in october as we haven't even seen the first beta, but bata 2 by the end of the month is near to certain. Something I know we will will not see the release of this october is iPhone 4.0 but the rumors may emerge this month.

The iPod touch 3rd generation camera was supposed to be in there as ifixit proved, with a teardown, there was a place for a camera to go. I think some time in the near future Apple will announce a camera only on the 32 and 64 GB models, there is a slight possibility that this could happen in the upcoming month. So if your planning to get the new iPod touch 3rd Gen hold off for a couple of months to see about the camera news.

Finally I think that apple will finally hand over the iphone over to other carriers in the US as in the UK.(Only t-mobile though as I doubt they will make a CDMA iPhone for Verizon and sprint Read More...

Tags: predictions, october