Appletell

Macintosh and iPhone software updates and announcements for July 18, 2008:

• iPhone accessories from OrionGadgets
• NovaMind introduces ScriptMapping and Merlin 2.6
• TeamViewer offered for free for non-commercial use
• PDO is now shipping the TopSkin for iPhone 3G
• Aimersoft Studio releases Aimersoft DVD Studio platinum
• Jewel Quest III now available
• Flashforward Film Festival Big Orange Rubber Arrow nominees announced

Details after the break.

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Macintosh and iPhone software updates and announcements for July 16, 2008:

• As Simple as Photoshop book updated
• 38 Apple iWeb templates and RapidWeaver themes
• Pocket Informant coming to iPhone and iPod touch
• Four new iPhone 3G cases from ArtWizz
• New theme for RapidWeaver 4.0
• ProTouch and ProTouch FX keyboard protectors from iSkin

Details past the break.

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Griffin Technology, maker of all things iPod and iPhone, has announced the general availability of its protective cases and other accessories for the iPhone 3G. Griffin’s case offerings for iPhone 3G include Wave, Nu Form, Elan Form, Elan Clip, and Streamline. Other accessories available for iPhone 3G include TuneBuds, TuneBuds Mobile, SmartTalk and an array of connector cables.

Details after the break.

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Apple had themselves quite a nice weekend, even if many of its customers didn’t. The company reported today that over one million iPhone 3Gs were sold by Sunday.

“iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”

I’m not sure exactly how they pulled this off, considering the long lines and iPhone activation delays caused by server problems for those trying to activate their new iPhone 3G (and for those of us just trying to get the iPhone 2.0 upgrade). Considering many people were turned away or left in frustration, imagine the weekend Apple would’ve had. These numbers are further indication that a popular, well-made product can survive early troubles. I’m sure most iPhone 3G owners would tell you it was worth the hassle.

That same weekend, iPhone and iPod touch customers downloaded more than 10 million applications from the new App Store. The groundbreaking App Store now has more than 800 native applications, including over 200 offered for free and more than 90 percent available for less than $10. I expect sales will taper off once the excitement wears off, but I’ll admit I did download some free apps I’ll probably never use to just to see iPhone 2.0 in action. The only app I paid for was Freeverse’s Wingnuts Moto Racer, and it’s been a hit with those to whom I’ve shown it...and has won over a few iPhone converts.

How about all you iPhone and iPod touch owners? What was the first app you downloaded from the App Store?

Via [Apple] Product [iPhone]

FROM GAMERTELL - Jobs tells the New York Times that 25 percent of the first 500 applications at the store are free and the other 90 percent of applications are offered for $9.99 or less to help entice customers and developers…
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New York Times personal technology columnist David Pogue is well known in the tech world for bringing a good deal of humor and satire to his work, and this recent video the did at the Apple Store in Manhattan in anticipation of the iPhone 3G launch has to be one of his best.

In the video, Pogue does a skit where he interviews a crazed Apple fanboy who has supposedly been waiting in line for the iPhone 3G for more than a year. The point of this is clearly to poke fun at the, uh, interesting people who started the line for Apple’s improved smartphone a full week in advance, in hopes of breaking a world record.

Via [The New York Times]

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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Sunday, we reported that Apple would be diverting shipment of the iPhone 3G from Canada to Europe as a slap on the wrist to Rogers Communications over their ridiculous rate plans. Now, that slap has become a punch in the gut. Apple Insider is reporting that Canadian Apple Stores will not be selling or activating or marketing or supporting or apparently even acknowledging the iPhone’s very existence. Rogers will still be able to sell the iPhone and gouge its customers, but they’ll get no marketing help from Apple, Inc.

Apple is giving Rogers the corporate equivalent of the silent treatment.

Juicy details 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.

Well, at least it seems as though we’re making progress. Yesterday I wrote about growing discontent among consumers with the “deal with the devil” Apple made to lock the iPhone to AT&T for a period of five years.

Now, The Washington Post reports that AT&T will begin selling the iPhone to users who would like to use it with a different carrier—that is, if they are willing to pay three times as much for the smartphone; a whopping $599. This is the original price of the iPhone when it was launched.

Apple’s popular iPhone can be yours, no contract required. But there’s a catch—and a pricey one at that.

AT&T yesterday announced that it will offer the smartphone to people who want to use another carrier, starting at $599.

The iPhone 3G, scheduled for a July 11 release, will be available for $199 to new AT&T customers or existing customers eligible for an upgrade—under a two-year contract. The larger-capacity 16-gigabyte model will cost $299 under the same conditions.

For those looking to use another carrier, the 16-gigabyte version will cost $699.

This news comes on the heels of AT&T’s announcement that it will be raising rates on their iPhone plans to $70 per month for the most bare bones plan. If these comments by readers of The Post are any indication, AT&T’s price hikes will probably hurt Apple’s iPhone 3G sales at least a little bit.

“Was going to join the line at midnight,” wrote one commenter responding to a Washington Post blog post about the price plans. “Now won’t get one at all.”

“I will just have to swallow the price hike,” wrote another.

Via [The Washington Post]