Appletell

The iPhone and iPod touch have a pretty good amount of storage space on them, but let’s face it—your music library is likely larger than the space you have on your device. So, you have to pick and choose which songs you want to have with you at all times. That problem must have bugged Simplify Media, because they’ve got an app to help keep you and your music together forever.

The app, also called Simplify Media, lets you stream songs from your home computer and even your friends’ computers; up to 30 in total. All you have to do is download the app for your Mac, Linux, or PC, create an account on their website, and then get the app for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Jump past the break for details on how to get this app for free for a limited time.

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It seems o2 are blaming Apple for a shortage of UK iPhone 3G stock. In an e-mail response to an inquiring customer, Steve Shurrock, sales director of o2 had the following to say,

“We have been working continuously with them [Apple] to get as much stock for the UK as possible. Unfortunately, they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries.”

Shurrock goes onto say that he is confident that the volume of iPhones will increase over time and become sufficient for customer demand.

More after the break.

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I was awoken this morning by a text message from o2, which read, “iPhone 3G is here. The iPhone you have been waiting to early upgrade to. Order from 8am today.”

Yup! If you’re an o2 customer/wannabe customer, you can now pre-order the iPhone 3G at o2’s website! o2 say that pre-orders are on a first-come, first-served basis, and if you order sooner, there’s a bigger chance it will arrive on July the 11th via courier!

If you’re going through the upgrade route, you will need to visit the o2 iPhone upgrade page where you will be asked to type in your iPhone mobile number. You will then receive a text message with an upgrade code, which you must then enter before the upgrade process can continue.

The website is acting extremely erratically (at time of writing), whether this is due to traffic or o2 not getting their web page up in time is unknown. The upgrade site currently throws me between being able to order the phone and a maintenance page (8 a.m., ey’ o2?).

No word on how new customers are getting on, but I have a feeling they might not be having as much trouble. I haven’t as yet been able to pre-order my 3G iPhone. Come on o2, fix your website!

Happy iPhone 3G pre-ordering UK o2 customers.

Steve, calling it the phone that changed phones, praised the iPhone’s 90% customer satisfaction and 98% mobile browsing and overall greatness. What could come next? Steve talks about them running out of iPhones, and their next mountain to climb. It’s a big mystery...and it is 3G. The iPhone in more countries. Steve acknowledges that they are in use in many more countries than the six they sell them in. Lastly, the iPhone needs to be more affordable. I’m just giddy.

Today, they introduce iPhone 3G, thinner, tapered, with a black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same gorgeous 3.5” display, a flush headphone jack, dramatically improved audio, and 3G. It looks like the mockups we’ve been seeing.

Steve says the 3G increased browser speeds. 21 seconds on 3G, and after a long long wait and some whistling, 59 seconds on EDGE. 3G is 2.8 times faster. iPhone 3G is 36% faster than the Nokia 3G phone. 

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The Times has said that the 3G iPhone being released by Apple soon could cost as little as £100 in the UK. Analysts have predicted the drop in price due to ineffective marketing strategies such as “network exclusivity deals” in Europe.

Apple had estimated that the iPhone would sell between 500,000 and 600,000 units across the UK and France, but that they have failed to meet this target with just 330,000 sold. Apple could be scrapping the exclusivity deals across Europe and introducing more tempting pricing to try and reach that “10 million iphones sold” goal. So far, the iPhone has only had incredible success in America, with Europe lagging on behind, hence the predictions.

Although analysts say that the iPhone could be sold for as little as €99 across mainland Europe, the slightly higher price for the UK iPhone is due to a two-year-long exclusivity with UK network O2, thereby lacking incentive for competitive pricing. Unlike when the 2.5G iPhone was released, the 3G version is expected to be released to 3G-iPhone-hungry “United Kingdomers” very shortly after the American version is released.

The 3G iPhone is expected to be unveiled during the World Wide Developers Conference on June the 9th, Keep your fingers crossed ... although it’s almost a given.

Yesterday, AT&T announced that it plans to release its High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) in six more US markets by the end of June, completing its deployment of HSPA. Once that task is completed, the company says that the 3G service will offer uplink speeds of between 500 and 800Kbps, which will complement the roughly 1.4Mbps downlink that AT&T already offers. The timing of AT&T’s upgrade doesn’t seem to be a coincidence, since Apple’s rumored 3G iPhone is expected to launch in early June.

AT&T’s numbers are most likely based on controlled testing, so real speeds may be a bit lower than estimated, depending on your location. Users of AT&T’s pre-HSUPA 3G network have experienced uplink speeds of around 200 to 300Kbps, so even an upgrade to AT&T’s lowest estimate (500Kbps) will be a welcome upgrade.

The upgrade is part of AT&T’s $20 billion effort to improve its network, which it began back in 2005. The company said that the speedier 3G network is already available in over 275 markets, and that it will be available to customers in another 75 or so markets by the end of 2008. AT&T will be the only US carrier to have fully deployed HSUPA on its 3G network, making it the largest of its kind in the United States.

Via [IntoMobile]

The iPhone 2.0 firmware is looking even more promising, with the inclusion of photo geotagging. For those not familiar with Geotagging, it’s the process of giving a photo an accurate location on a global map — for some, it may sound like a pointless process — but it is in fact a very useful one. Normally, GPS is used to give the most accurate location. Obviously, the current iPhone doesn’t have GPS built-in, so using Wi-Fi and cell tower technology, Apple can estimate your location. The next iPhone is rumored to have 3G and GPS built-in, so this could become a big feature for it.

The feature can be turned on and off under the “Location Services” preference in System Preferences on an iPhone. Location is becoming a key aspect of social networking today, with up and coming sites like Yahoo! Fire Eagle, and other location-based services. The iPhone could become one of the devices that kicks-off GPS location. The iPod Touch probably won’t see this feature, simply because it doesn’t have a camera or cell tower reception.

Via [MacRumors]

It looks like there are only a minority of Americans who are interested with the upcoming iPhone, if we’re to look into the March survey conducted by ChangeWave on 3,600 respondents.

Results of the survey showed that only 14% of the respondents are waiting for the release of the new iPhone, while another 11% indicated that they are interested with any form of 3G compatibility. Clearly, those numbers don’t speak of the majority of the respondents. Interestingly, 24% of those who were surveyed indicated that they might not quickly grab the new iPhone once it gets officially released. These respondents identified as “waiting for cost to do down” as the major reason why they are not keen on getting the new iPhone.

In addition, some 21% of the respondents who are currently iPhone users pointed out that AT&T’s EDGE network is too slow and the new iPhone’s high speed 3G capability might be hampered down by AT&T’s network. Likewise, another 17% of respondents said that AT&T’s contract is unreasonable, as compared to buying an unlocked iPhone which is not yet part of Apple’s plan with the new iPhone.

With the media hype that the new iPhone is getting, one can’t help but wonder whether the iPhone is really a hit among mobile consumers or only to a selected few tech-savvy American mobile phone users?

Via [Macnn]

Gizmodo is claiming that someone “very closely related” to the 3G iPhone launch has given them a confirmation announcement date of June 9th. Apparently, the second-generation iPhone will be available straight after its launch at the WWDC conference on June 9th – possibly worldwide. The 3G iPhone is probably one of Apple’s most-hyped products ever, after the original iPhone. There have been so many rumors of its launch, that it wouldn’t make sense for it not to exist.

Apparently, some of the international launches may be altered. For example, in Spain the 3G iPhone will be on sale June 18th, when the grand opening of Telefonica’s megastore happens. Other European countries are expected to have similar launch schedules. Gizmodo is also reporting that the 3G iPhone will be available with the traditional discounts we’re used to on most other mobile phones – rather than the fixed price that the iPhone has now.

Via [Gizmodo]

Fueled by the recent snowballing of Mac sales and interest in the iPhone’s mobile WiFi platform, this year’s Apple World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) has sold out for the first time in history.  The exact number of spaces that were available was not put out by Apple, but soon after making the “sold out” announcement, they released the following statement. 

“Response to this year’s WWDC has been off the charts and we are delighted with the show of enthusiasm and support from the developer community for the new iPhone SDK. The conference is now sold out.”

There are many speculations as to what will happen at WWDC ‘08, ranging from 3G iPhones to Tablet Macs (the latter taken with quite a sizable grain of salt).  Based on past WWDC history, chances are slim that any new computer designs will be introduced, as those larger announcement are usually saved for MacWorld (small design updates for the Mac line up are more of a possibility).

Luckily for those who didn’t snag a seat at the conference, videos of the session will be on iTunes shortly after for purchase.

Read [Mac Megatsite]