News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
Australian free-to-air television guide IceTV is now available via the iTunes App Store for people to install on their iPhones. Usage of the free app requires registration with the IceTV service, which is free and provides a one-day TV listing. Paid subscribers to the IceTV service get a seven-day listing. Other features available to subscribers are the ability to record programs remotely using EyeTV, a personalised TV guide and recommendations based on shows you've previously recorded.
Despite a spirited public begging campaign and petition with numerous signatures, 3G mobile phone provider 3 has not managed to persuade Apple to take it on as a supplier of iPhones. However, that has not stopped it from targetting iPhone users with its own dedicated plans — you just have to buy the phone from somewhere else first. All of Three's plans call for an unlocked iPhgone, which you'll have to obtain from one of the other telcos which Apple did take on as partners for the iPhone 3G.
Despite gaining the inside running on iPhone 3G with pricing plans generally agreed to be the best value on offer amongst Australian telcos, Optus has today announced unlimited voice plans that can be used with any handset including the iPhone 3G. Depending on how you use your iPhone the Optus "Timeless" plans offer better value than the plans announced before the iPhone's release.
Brett Howell did not intend to be the first person in Australia to purchase an iPhone 3G. He didn’t want to become an instant celebrity, mentioned on blogs the world over. He just wanted a phone. Specifically, he wanted an iPhone because as Howell (a Mac fan, but not a fanatic) put it, "it's like a mini-Mac in your pocket". But such is the power of the so-called “Jesus Phone” that its fame touches and indeed changes everyone with whom it comes into contact, whether they want it to or not.
Few devices have ever been hyped to the extent of the iPhone. And the extra year and a bit of waiting between when it debuted in the USA and when you can officially buy it in Australia have made the hypestorm all the more intense. It’s hard to believe any device can live up to such expectation. So does it? Yes. And, also, no. The device Australians can buy as of 12:01am on 11 July is a somewhat improved version of the device that went on sale in the US last year. For one thing, it has a 3G chipset that enables it to use fast mobile data networks when available. For another, it has real GPS, rather than the pretend GPS that the old iPhone and iPod touch can use, which fakes your position based on nearby mobile phone towers. Also, it has a plastic back instead of a chrome back, making it less like an iPod touch and more like a phone.
After a false start this morning, when some mobile phone plans from Vodafone were accidentally posted to a web site and then withdrawn — though not before being picked up by some sharp-eyed bloggers — Vodafone actually announced its iPhone payment plans this afternoon. There are fewer plans than Optus announced (no outright purchases or unlocking, for example) buit at least they do include information on data allowances — something Telstra remains mum about.
Telstra has released The Official AFL App to coincide with the start of the 2010 football season, but while this is likely a welcome addition to any footy fan’s iPhone, t...
As I type these words, I am waiting for Apple's Developer Connection web site to ease up sufficiently for me to download the long-awaited Software Developer Kit for the iPhone (and iPod touch, just by the by). In a way, I hate developer-oriented announcements — "here's a really cool thing we're working on, and it's available now, and hoi polloi can have it in about six months". Actually, it's the six months I hate.
