Style is what iPhones are all about and the new Black Diamond dock is nothing if not stylish. Rather than being designed purely for music, the Black Diamond appeals to another sense – sight. The dock is a partial sphere with a geodesic pattern on the front and an angled slot in the back for your iPhone. The base is a rubber ring to keep the thing from rolling off the desk. Two small holes that correspond to the iPhone’s speakers so that audio still plays clearly. The faceted facing is translucent so that the display of the phone lights it up when inserted.

To get the most out of the Black Diamond you’ll need the Black Diamond app. The app has four features. The first, Effects, allows you to select different psychedelic light shows to display. The shifting patterns light up the Black Diamond, giving it an ethereal, lava lamp-like quality. The effect is cool, but quite subtle. You’ll really only see it in the dark, which brings us to the Sleep function. This lets you select music from your iTunes library and set a timer for how long it plays. The Wake-Up function is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, or would be if it didn’t crash constantly. A bit more work needed there. The IM function alerts you whenever you receive an incoming message, provided that it’s an MSN message as other types are not supported yet.

Overall, the Black Diamond doesn’t do much besides look slick but it does that very well. With a bit more stability in the app, it would make a cool conversation piece and nightlight while you’re recharging your iPhone. Its an interesting idea – that docks don’t have to be boring but for the price you’d think that the supporting app would, you know, work.
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In our view Apple’s history of re-inventing it’s most successful devices (think back to all the iPhone rumours that were circulating before it launched) leads us to believe that this device may be much more than early reports have suggested.

First of all what exactly do we know about the new Apple tablet?  It depends on the source you read but the most commonly accepted description is consistent with a report that appeared on Gizmodo.com in August this year:

“The device…..is going to have a 10 inch screen, and when I saw it looked just like a giant iPhone, with a black back— although that design could change at any time…..with the same black resin back, and the familiar home button….it will come in two editions, one with a webcam and one for educational use.”

Is that all?

In our opinion the key market that Apple will be seeking to gain dominance of will be the electronic book reader (ebook).

Apple already has a strong market position with digital music and video through iTunes and in mini applications (apps) through the App Store.

A new device like the tablet will be expected to leverage those existing strengths but importantly may also provide Apple with an entre into the digital reader market which is currently dominated by Amazon’s Kindle.  With a large colour screen and wireless access the device appears to be ready-made for an assualt on one of the fastest growing market segments.

And why wouldn’t Apple have its eyes on this prize?

Have a look at some of the numbers. At least one analyst of Amazon’s business (Sandeep Aggarwal of Collins Stewart) has forecast US$2 billion of revenue for the Kindle by 2012. This is revenue not solely derived from hardware sales but from the eco-system that surrounds it.  Apple makes enviable profits from those $0.99 downloads on iTunes.  The margins in ebooks should be at least as good.

In its first full year of sales back in 2002, Apple sold just under 400,000 iPods. Two years later that number was approachng 4.5million.

By comparison in its first year of sales Amazon has sold over 500,000 units.

Apple is a savvy operator and arguably the best in the business at developing products that change the way we live, work and play.  The Apple tablet will just not be a bigger iPhone or iPod Touch: it’s going to change the way we buy books.

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According to close sources, Apple is developing an FM tuner app for iPhone and iPod touch users.

It is believed the app is mostly done at this point, and will likely take cues from the FM tuner interface of the recently introduced fifth-generation iPod nano.

The iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and second-gen iPod touch all use a Broadcom radio chip that combines low-power WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM capabilities.

The newest iPod touch uses the newer chip which also has FM receiving.

The original iPhone and iPod touch used chips from Marvell for WiFi, and the iPhone had a separate chip for Bluetooth, so those devices wouldn’t work with an FM tuner app.

While FM tuners have been features of a wide variety of other media players, they have never featured significantly in the Apple line-up. A separate FM tuner accessory Apple introduced in 2006 never sold in significant numbers and was quietly discontinued.

However, Broadcom’s Chris Bergey said late last year that FM tuning is particularly popular in other areas of the world, such as India; there phones with FM outnumber those with Bluetooth, for instance.

Since the hardware already has the capability, and the software design is most of the way there with work done on the iPod Nano, it would be relatively trivial for Apple to offer up an FM tuner app for the iPhone OS platform.

Integrating iTunes purchasing would also be the sort of compelling value add that should give Apple a good reason to make it happen.

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MMS messaging is coming…

It was announced a few weeks back and it was yet again confirmed this week that MMS for iPhone will be available today, September 25 2009.

Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready to download through iTunes.

This will come in the form of a carrier update that you will have to download via iTunes.

But while the news is great, don’t expect to see MMS working on your iPhone as soon as you read this.

The AT&T will be systematically activating groups throughout the day, starting at 10 AM Eastern time. Also don’t forget that to enable MMS on your iPhone you must first connect to iTunes and download and install an updated carrier file.

That is, if AT&T’s network holds up. It is predicted that millions of iPhone users will rush to test the new service today, causing a jam in the network or even a complete crash.

The possibility of this outcome has left AT&T feeling fairly nervous, and according to the Macrumours website:

“Early testing has been a little rocky, with AT&T seeing a fairly significant test outage yesterday that has them rushing to beef up their MMSC messaging servers. Estimates among those working on the project are that traffic on AT&T’s wireless network will be about 40% higher all day on Friday as iPhone users fire pictures and video at one another.”

Let’s just hope the jam doesn’t affect things too severely so we can all finally enjoy the MMS feature on our iPhones.

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In the 12 months since the launch of the iPhone, many software companies have capitalised on the download capabilities of the phone and have got rich through iPhone applications.

While many would expect the large scale software companies to dominate the market, it is in fact the smaller ones which have a made a name for themselves.

Apple’s App Store is now crowded with about 13,000 games, many from tiny developers who have based their organisation on the success of the iphone.

But it seems now the big time players are ready to spoil the party. According to managing director at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Jeremy Liew, the inevitable is just around the corner.
“Although the top iPhone games are made by independents today, the big publishers will strike back,” Liew said.

“The iPhone only offers one way for games to get discovered today, and that favours the cash-rich big publishers.”

Apple has sold more than 40 million iPhones and iPod Touches, with more than 1.5 billion apps downloaded. According to Mobclix, the average price paid for a game download is $1.79.

Little software companies do so well at dominating the market as they sell games and applications for under a dollar or for free.

However with the big software players finally realising the potential of the market, it appears the glory days for the small companies are finally over.

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The new phone system will cost users $99 and is much more expensive than the current GPS devices on the market which retail for around half of that price.

While the price may be hefty, the system will does not charge any monthly or additional downloads fees.

While the application is fairly similar to the current vehicle version, there are a few extra and specified features for the iPhone. One of theses is the Meet a Friend function, where users can find an entry on their iPhone contact list and the Tom Tom will navigate you to their location.

Thee is an optional car mount, which charges your phone, offers amplified speaker for turn-by-turn instructions, lets you dial hands-free, flips to offer both horizontal and landscape orientations and adds an antenna to boost GPS reception. A price for the mount has not yet been announced.

So far the reviews have been positive with many saying they are pleased with the new system, and only a handful reporting negative reviews.

With the dominance of iPhones’ in the public, there is belief the growing number of GPS applications signals a death to the standalone versions.

But while the new Tom Tom GPS system is a fairly good representation of the original stand alone device, it is still fairly overpriced and compared to competitors’ versions, it is hard to say it is worth the extra cash.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqKD2aKdE18

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However, according to a recent survey by RBC/IQ ChangeWave, this is not the case. In fact, the results are completely opposite, revealing that almost every iPhone user is satisfied so far with their product.

The survey, which involved 200 participants, found that an astounding 99 percent of respondents were satisfied with the device and 82 percent said they were “very satisfied” with the 3GS service.

The research also found that while users were in love with their handsets, it is in fact the service and software providers they are unimpressed with.

There has been an ongoing argument by many market experts that the recent Apple backlash has evolved from issues completely out of the company’s hands. The survey results support this theory.

It was revealed that most of the customers felt they were being charged a hefty fee for a mediocre service that did not satisfy user’s needs.

When asked what they disliked about the iPhone, 55 percent of respondents said the service providers. 41 percent reported the iPhone 3GS’s battery life was too short; and 8 percent complained that their employer’s IT department didn’t support the device.

So far, the iPhone 3GS has achieved better than the last two versions of the iPhone, which earned favorable reviews from only 73 percent of those surveyed.

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iGO My Way 2009 is now available for iPhone users in the Apple AppStore with three versions currently on offer. Western Europe (70 Euro’s), Europe (90 Euros) and North America ($70US) are now all available for iPhone users.

Nav N Go are currently in the process of expanding their map coverage and hope to add Australia to their list by the end of the year.

Users of the iGO My Way will experience a more efficient, faster and easier to use GPS system than ever before.

One of the best features of the system are the beautifully rendered maps which can be viewed either vertically or horizontally. The graphics and imaging are accurate, realistic and vivid in colour, highlighting the user experience.

The voice over is clear and easy to follow and users are able to choose from up to four different ways to route to destination: fastest, shortest, economical and easy.

When an incoming call arrives while using either application, you can answer the phone like usual. The moment you hang up, the apps will automatically re-launch and continue with the existing navigation.

With every application, improvements can be found, and iGO My Way is no exception. The biggest disappointment in the system is that it does not offer real-time traffic updates and while it does offer speed alerts, it does not warn for speed cameras or safetycams at this stage.

Overall, the iGO My Way 2009 GPS application is a great addition to any iPhone and perfect for any user who drives or travels a lot. While there is some room for improvement in the application, it is only its initial release and new update and features are sure to be added.

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To create a conference call, tap the “Add Call” icon while making a call.  This will put the first call on hold for the time being.

Once you have been connected on your second call, tap the “Merge Calls” icon.

The calls will now be merged onto one line and everyone will be able to hear each other.

This process can be repeated up to five times depending on your provider and carrier.

To drop a call, tap “Conference” and tap the “End Call” icon, then tap “End Call” again.

To talk privately with a call tap “Conference”, then tap “Private” next to the call you wish to select. Tap “Merge Calls” to resume to conference.

To add an incoming call tap “Hold Call” and “Answer”, then tap Merge Calls.

The Conference Call feature is great for travelers, business calls and any situation where you need to address more than one person at a time. It’s easy to use and one of the many great features of the new iPhone.

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The iPhone 3G’s built-in GPS chip makes it not only one of the best mobile phones, but one of the best GPS devices on the market. It uses Assisted GPS, or A-GPS, to lock on your position and give you an approximate location if it can’t find your GPS signal.

Despite the inclusion of the GPS chip, there still isn’t a sat nav turn-by-turn voice navigation application for iPhone users. It seems Apple have pre-empted possible litigation stemming from route guidance by the iPhone, but it does seem odd they haven’t included the feature. That said, iPhone users can still get directions to and from destinations by means of Google Maps. They won’t be vocal directions but are most certainly an improvement on the back seat street directory.

Directions on Google Maps
Finding where something is located is easy on Google Maps. Once in the Google Maps application of your iPhone, you can find virtually anything you like.

When you press the Directions tab at the bottom of the screen, you’ll be prompted to enter the location you wish to begin and end your journey. You can type the location in manually or use the Address Book to automatically input the field. To do this, press the X, then press the blue Book icon to open your contacts list. If the contact you wish to find has more than one address, you’ll be prompted to choose which one you wish to navigate to.

By default, the Directions entry will have your Start position as your current location, which is worked out by using the iPhone 3G’s A-GPS. After you’ve entered the Start and End points on the interface, select the Route button to begin the process.

Google Maps calculates the best route to take between the two locations. It will tell you the difference between the two points and how long it is likely to take and show you a map with the planned route. Simply press Start and you’ll be given a set of instructions on a marked map of each step of the journey, including where to turn and how far to travel. To move to the next part of the journey, press the right arrow in the top right hand corner.

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