Now here's a handy tip! Take a screen grab

The 2.0 Update has added the ability to take screen grabs of your iPhone and iPod Touch. This may be useful for some but probably not useful for many, nevertheless it's an interesting feature to add to the 2.0 update.

How to perform a screen grab.

1. Hold down the 'Home' button.
2. While holding down the 'Home' button press the 'Sleep/Off' button
3. The screen will turn white for half a second and dissolve back to your original screen
4. Your screen grab will be saved in the 'Photos' section

Voila!

Shield your iPhone with Invisible Shield!

Now that you’ve received your iPhone 3G the next (logical) step is to protect your Apple investment. This post is a semi review as to what I think is one of the best protective products you could ever use for your iPhone 3G.

I want to talk about Zagg’s Invisible Shield; a product designed to protect expensive electronic devices. Since I haven’t got my iPhone back yet I can’t really comment on how well this product works with the iPhone 3G. But I can however give you an impression of how well it works with my iPod Touch (which can definitely be compared to the iPhone 3G).

First off, what is the Invisible Shield? Umm…how do I explain this, it’s not a hard case and it’s also not a screen protector but at the same time it’s a bit of both. The Invisible shield is a piece of adhesive film that covers the entirety of your iPhone to prevent scratches. One of the biggest selling points of this film is that if it is scratched it won’t show (unlike screen protectors) but rather go back to its original form. On the Zagg website there are several videos demonstrating how strong the film is. One video shows a bowling ball being dropped from several metres onto a stretched out piece of Invisible Shield film. The result? The bowling ball just bounced off the Invisible Shield film. The Invisible Shield is a thin polyurethane film which Zagg claims was created for military purposes (particularly to protect helicopter blades).

Applying the film was a little tricky because you had to make sure the film was placed correctly as it would form a permanent mould when dried. You must also allow a couple of hours for the film to dry. Once the film is dry you’ll hardly even notice that the Invisible Shield is there (hence the name).

I’ve had the Invisible Shield on my iPod Touch for approximately 6 months now. My iPod Touch is constantly in my pocket with keys and coins. Every time I take the iPod out of my pocket I am always amazed at how scratch free the device is. The Zagg Invisible Shield I dare to say is probably the best product into the market to protect your new iPhone 3G from scratching. The price is great as well! One thing to note is that the Invisible Shield can’t protect the iPhone 3G if dropped.

Click here to visit Zagg’s website to order your iPhone 3G Invisible Shield (trust me it’s worth it!)

iPhone 3G comparisons

Here is an interesting article by iLounge where they've put the iPod Touch, iPhone 1st Gen and iPhone 3G side by side for a close comparison. Results were as expected however there was one thing that was noticed on the iPhone 3G that seemed different from the iPod Touch and the iPhone 1st Gen - it was the screen. The screen on the iPhone 3G screen has a slight yellowy tinge compared to the other two. For the full comparison article check it out for yourself at iLounge.

iPod Touch 2.0 update is now available

For those of you who own an iPod Touch, the 2.0 update is now available for download. This update is exactly the same one that came on the iPhone 3G. App Store and other features are included in this update. Get your 2.0 fix now.

My iPhone dilemma

I must let potential Apple customers aware of the 'Dead On Arrival' policy that they have set in place for Australians (maybe the rest of the world too but I'm not sure). I have posted my little dilemma on Whirlpool.net.au but has since been been closed.

So this is my iPhone story.

I arrived to the Optus world in Hay Street, Perth at 5:10am. I was the 6th person in line. My deposit was paid for and I had all my ID documentation ready. There was going to be a 3 hour wait as the store opened at 8am. So finally after waiting the store opened and the first batch of people got signed (which included me) . I went to one of the staff members and signed up for an iPhone 3G 16Gb white. By the time the documentation was completed and processed it was about 8:30am.

I got back to work and opened the box. I noticed something straight away that I didn't notice in the shop, there was a large LCD stain under the glass screen (looked like a ripple) . I turned it off and on and it was still there. The stain was about .7cm in diameter.

I called the Optus World store about 2 hours later as I had work to do. They told me to come back to the store and they would resolve the problem there (I assumed they would of done just a straight replacement).

During my lunch break I went back to the store. I showed them my iPhone and they could clearly see that there was a problem. They said that they COULD NOT replace it but had to send it back to Apple for an approval. The phone hadn't even been used and they couldn't replace it! Apparently Apple doesn't do straight replacements if the phone is DOA (Dead On Arrival). This is probably the most preposterous thing I have ever heard. In my experience with both Nokia and Sony Ericsson this was never an issue. There was clearly stock in the store as one of the staff members was shouting it out to the people still waiting in the queue (non deposit people) – I think there were still 10 iPhone 16GB White and 40 iPhone 8GB White. I made a bit of a fuss and they said they still couldn't swap it over. I just left the phone with them. They said that it could take up to a month if a replacement was needed. So I went back to work.

Once I got back to work I called Apple and the Optus World main office, they said that it should of been swapped over. I called the Optus store again and I spoke with another staff member. This time around they said it should of been swapped over when I brought it in but now there was no more stock.

So after paying for a deposit, waking up at 4:30am in the morning, making many many phone calls I have nothing. I have to wait for Optus/Apple to analyse the phone and decide what to do with it. If a replacement was to be made I would have to wait about 2-4 weeks.

So there you have it folks that is my iPhone story.

First person in Australia to get an iPhone 3G

The man shown above is the first person in Australia to get an iPhone 3G. His name is Brett Powell and he started lining up at 1pm in the afternoon. After waiting 11 hours he finally receives his iPhone. Was it worth the wait? You can be the judge of that. Picture taken from Gizmodo.

Telstra queue has formed...sorta (Sydney)

Remember those Telstra iPhone 3G plans that were apparently leaked earlier today? Well it seems that many people weren't too impressed with them. How can I tell? Well, just take a look at the picture below.

Unlike the Optus queue the Telstra queue is a little underwhelming. I guess if you run out of iPhone 3Gs you can always pop by Telstra's T-Life store...given that you pay for it through your nose. Picture taken from Gizmodo.

People start lining up for the iPhone (Sydney)

Here are some pictures from the iPhone launch at the Optus World store in Hunter Street, Sydney. According to Gizmodo there were already around 200 people in the line at 10:30PM. Pictures taken from Gizmodo.

The iPhone signup process will take 10-15 minutes

According to Apple's Retail Chief, Ron Johnson the Apple iPhone will take about 10-15 minutes to setup. I'm not too sure if this applies to just the US stores but I'm pretty sure Apple has figured this process out. This is a very different process compared to how the first generation iPhone was distributed where customers could just go into a AT&T store and purchase the phone or alternatively buy over the internet. Click here to check out Bloomberg's Apple iPhone 3G report.

The Optus iPhone 3G Launch Checklist

Not long to go guys, the iPhone 3G is upon us.

Here are a few tips for those of you going to the midnight launch or going to the early OptusWorld store openings. The checklist below is from an email Optus sent out to people who paid a $100 deposit (it's slightly modified for those not attending the midnight launches).

Optus iPhone 3G Launch Checklist

• Bring a printed copy of your deposit receipt.

• Bring your current Optus mobile phone service that you will be upgrading to iPhone 3G (if applicable).


• You must be the Optus mobile account holder or authorised representative of the account.


• Bring 100 points of ID – photo ID (eg. Australian driver license, Australian passport etc.) plus at least one other form of secondary identification (eg. current gas or electricity account, medicare card, etc.)


• Dress in warm clothes! It could be very chilly on the night.


• Pack for wet weather just in case.


• Prepare your transportation plan - public transport, parking etc.


• Plan to be there early as possible.


• A healthy dose of patience!

500 applications for the App Store at launch, 25% of them are free

According to Engadget, Steve Jobs has told USA today that the App Store will have 500 applications ready for download at launch (impressive!). Not only that but 25% of the applications will be free, that's 125 free applications. The other 375 applications will costs $9.95USD or less. I'd like to see other phone companies pulling this off. It's hard not to get excited, not long to go guys! Click here to check out the full article by engadget.

Learn how to become an Apple salesman

Here are some instructional pictures for Apple sales staff to study before they go out onto the floor to make their first iPhone 3G sale. One of the instructions is to "Give them (the customers) a chance to enjoy the feel of the phone in their hand". Don't you just wonder what type of people work at Apple's sales and marketing department? Check out the set of instructions below. For the orginal article check MacRumors.

Australia's Telstra iPhone 3G plans leaked? Shocking

Yes, Telstra was the first Australian carrier to announce their plans for the iPhone 3G but when they did not all the details were revealed. They realeased the upfront cost and the pricing per month. Apparently APC magazine has discovered the nitty gritty details for the Telstra plans and guess what?...They don't look pretty.

How bad is bad you say? Well lets take a look at Telstra's cheapest iPhone 3G 8GB plan. You pay $279 upfront and $35 per month. Seems okay so far? Well this is where we give it the epic FAIL. The inlcuded data per month is 5MB. Yes 5MB!!! Ontop of that you get $25 included calls per month. I will stress however that these plans are yet to be confirmed. If it were true I wonder who would actually want to go with Telstra? See the plans for yourself below. For the full APC magazine article click here.

Click to enlarge

Apple gaining momentum with the iPhone 3G

Over at the ChangeWave blog a survey was conducted to see how consumers reacted to Apple's iPhone 3G announcement back in June. With the 3567 people surveyed there were many interesting finds. Of the people who were surveyed the top 3 smarts phones that people owned or planned to buy in the next 90 days were phones by RIM/Blackberry, Palm and Apple. The survey showed that 42% own or plan to purchase a Blackberry device, 14% own or plan to purchase a Palm device and finally 11% own or plan to purchase a Apple iPhone. Although Palm may have a greater percentage than Apple, the once popular device has been experiencing a gradual decline in popularity over the years.

Survey candidates were also asked about smart phones they would be purchasing over the next 90 days. In last place it seems that 3% are planning to purchase a Palm device, 23% would be planning to purchase a Blackberry device and 56% would be planning to purchase a iPhone (3G). These are indeed interesting figures but in no way represent the global market.

Apple however is certainly doing a very good job in capturing marketshare so quickly. Is Blackberry and Palm in trouble? Well with the iPhone 3G being released in a couple of days, we'll see how things pan out.

Click here to read the full article.

*Images taken from the ChangeWave HotWired Blog.

The best iPhone 3G plans for Australians

As an Australian we have many choices when it comes to purchasing an iPhone 3G this Friday. We can go on a cap plan, a traditional plan or buy the phone outright. Personally I'm looking to either buy the phone outright or sticking to a 24 month plan, I still have a day and a half to decide. The carriers that will be offering the iPhone 3Gs in Australia are Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. At the moment Optus looks most attractive as they offer affording and generous plans. News.com.au has written up a iPhone 3G 'buyers guide' for those of you who may be sitting on the fence about mobile carriers. Check the article out and hopefully you can come to a conclusion.

US iPhone 3G reviews compared

Gizmodo.com has created a review matrix comparing three different iPhone 3G reviews from three of the top tech journalists in the US - Ed Baig from USA Today, Walt Mossberg from Wall Street Journal and David Pogue from New York Times. At the end of the day whatever the reviews say it's ultimately up to you to decide whether or not the iPhone 3G is your cup of tea. Check out the comparison below (click to enlarge),

Interview with the first iPhone 3G owner

Remember that New Zealand man who supposedly will be the first person in the world to buy an iPhone 3G? Well they've interviewed him on the radio and much is revealed why he went to line up early. According to the interview the early queueing is the result of a bet. The bet itself was to survive 3 days camping in the streets of Auckland with only a Yellow Pages to use. Crazy? A little but no so crazy compared to the guys in the US. Click here for the radio interview.

The Japanese go crazy for the iPhone 3G - Lines have started to form

In the land of the rising sun (aka Japan), particularly in the region of Tokyo the queue for the iPhone 3G has already started to formed. It seems that the Japanese are in love with Apple products as much as westerners. Apple, particularly the iPhone is truly a global phenomenon. For more pictures of the Japanese iPhone queue click here.

APC magazine reviews the iphone 3G!

Yep, here they come, more reviews for the Apple iPhone 3G. This time (unlike Walt Mossberg's review) we have an Australian take on how well the iPhone 3G works down under. I won't write anything more on their review, so APC magazine take it away! - Click here.

Australia's Telstra has released launch stores and opening times

Telstra has released a list of store locations and opening times for the iPhone 3G launch. This was taken from Telstra's website,

"Melbourne and Sydney T-Life stores at 6am on Friday 11 July. The following Telstra shops will also be open from 8am on Friday 11 July: Chadstone (Vic), Hobart (Tas), Queens Plaza (Qld) and Canberra (ACT)."

For a full list of Telstra's iPhone launch stores and opening times click here,

A closer look: What is the App Store and what will be available?

The App Store can be thought of as a marketplace for software developed by people ranging from amateurs to professionals. Apple has provided user friendly programming tools (Xcode) to assist developers in their creations. At the moment the App Store is only available for the iPod Touch and all versions of the iPhone. Microsoft has also created something similar with the Xbox 360 gaming system – known as XNA.

An incentive for developers is the fact that they can make a bit of money on the side. At Apple’s WWDC earlier this year CEO Steve Jobs mentioned that there would be a 30/70 cost model. This simply means that Apple receives 30% and the developer would receive 70% of the returns. Seems reasonably fair. The release of the App Store is to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3G in 3 days. Until we get our hands on the App Store we don’t have any hands on impressions. So far Apple has only shown a handful of applications that can be downloaded from the App Store.

Games

• Enigmo from Pangea Software


• Cro-Mag Rally from Pangea Software


• Spore from Electronic Arts


• Super Monkey Ball from Sega


• Kroll from Digital Legens Entertainment

General Applications

• Sales Information from Salesforce.com


• AIM from America Online


• Drug database software from Epocrates


• Social network mapping software from Loopt


• News software from Associated Press


• Band by Mark Terry


• At-Bat from MLB.com


• Education anatomy quiz from Modality


• Medical imaging software from Mimvista


• Ebay software from Ebay

Setting up MobileMe on the iPhone 2.0 OS

Gizmodo.com has a little video demonstrating the setup of MobileME in the new and improved OS 2.0. MobileMe is already out on the Mac platforms and will be available for use on the iPhone when available on the 11th of July. Click here to view.

If you're not sure what MobileME is click here to find.

The iPhone 3G gets reviewed

Walt Mossberg, a technology journalist for the Wall Street Journal has reviewed the iPhone 3G. Mossberg shares with us both the iPhone's strengths and weaknesses. Check out the video below,



What do you think? You can be the judge on the 11th of July.

More iPhone 3G pictures in the wild!

Over at Gizmodo.com they have managed to gather up some nice unboxing iPhone 3G pictures. Check them out! More photos can be found here.

Vodafone iPhone 3G pricing revealed...not that great to be honest

Vodafone has posted up their pricing details for the iPhone 3G and have for some reason taken them down. See below for the pricing options,

$69 Vodafone Cap Contract for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for $189 or iPhone 16GB for $309 includes $310 of talk, TXT & more plus 250MB data per month (Coming Soon)

$99 MyBusiness Cap for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for $99 or iPhone 16GB for $219 includes $600 of talk, TXT & more plus 500MB data per month (Coming Soon)

$99 Vodafone Cap Contract for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for $99 or iPhone 16GB for $219 includes $600 of talk, TXT & more plus 500MB data per month (Coming Soon)

$119 Vodafone Cap Contract for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for $59 or iPhone 16GB for $179 includes $800 of talk, TXT & more plus 500MB data per month (Coming Soon)

$169 Vodafone Cap Contract for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for FREE or iPhone 16GB for $89 includes $1200 of talk, TXT & more plus 1GB data per month (Coming Soon)

$69 MyBusiness Cap for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for $189 or iPhone 16GB for $309 includes $310 of talk, TXT & more plus 250MB data per month (Coming Soon)

$119 MyBusiness Cap for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for $59 or iPhone 16GB for $179 includes $800 of talk, TXT & more plus 500MB data per month (Coming Soon)

$169 MyBusiness Cap for Apple® iPhone™ 3G
iPhone 8GB for FREE or iPhone 16GB for $89 includes $1200 of talk, TXT & more plus 1GB data per month (Coming Soon)

Optus iPhone 3G plan pricing (For Australia Only)

For all you Australian's out there here are the Optus pricing options for the iPhone 3G,

Post-paid details

Optus Cap Plans

Above are just the basic details. For the full pricing details click here.

Optus 'yes' Plans








Above are just the basic pricing details. For the full pricing details click here.

Pre-paid options










Above are just the basic pricing details. For the full pricing details click here.

iPhone 3G in the wild! (Pictures)

Thanks to Engadget.com we have the first pictures of the iPhone 3G in the wild. It doesn't really look like anything special but it's definitely nice to see the packaging, the back of the iPhone 3G and a picture of how the SIM eject tool will work. Hopefully these pictures can satisfy you iPhone 3G cravings. Enjoy!

The packaging and the contents of the box. From what I can see we will be getting an iPhone, charger accessories, and some headphones. Nice!

The iPhone 3G - no drastic change

On the left hand side is a picture of how the SIM eject tool will work

The first guy in the world to recieve an iPhone 3G

Yep that's him. His name is Jonny Gladwell and he is from New Zealand. As I type to post he is currently outside the Vodafone shop (shown in the picture above). Like with many simultaneous world wide releases New Zealand will once again be the first to receive the goods. Well good luck to you Jonny, you only have 72 hours left.

So it begins...

There are many crazy people out there and there are many crazy iPhone people out there too. A queue for the much anticipated phone has already started outside the Apple Store in Manhattan. The 10 who have started queuing arrived to the store on the 4th of July (Independence Day) and will wait a total of 7 days till the release of the phone. However there is a twist to this iPhone tale, the few that have formed this queue aren't exactly Apple 'fanboys' but are acutally environmental activists. The message they want to send out is to let the next US president know that they want to turn the White House lawn into an organic farm. Huh? You don't get it? Well neither do we.

Well besides that they did mention that they would pick up an iPhone as well.

News and picture taken from Engadget.com

Introducing the iPhone 3G

The first generation of the iPhone has been out in the United States since the 29th of June 2007, so that's just over a year. While the US has enjoyed the iPhone the rest of the world has waited patiently for a local release date. At the WWDC (Apple's World Wide Developers Conference) last month Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 3G. Not only did he reveal the updated iPhone but he also announced a world wide release across 77 countries. The release date of the iPhone 3G is in 3 days, 11th of July 2008.

The commercial that was used to introduce the iPhone 3G

Taken from the Apple website, below is a brief summary of what the iPhone 3G has to offer.

"Introducing iPhone 3G. With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support for enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one — a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. iPhone 3G. It redefines what a mobile phone can do — again."