iPhone News: iPhones appeal to "poor people", MobileMe updated, iPhone TV tuner in Japan
Latest iPhone News: Friday 31st October 2008
iPhone appeals to poor
The supposed exclusivity of Apple products decreases with each new generation of gadget, it seems, with the latest research suggesting that -- shock, horror -- poor people are buying the iPhone.
Yes, according to the Wall Street Journal, those on lower incomes are taking advantage of the iPhone's ability to function as a phone, music player, mobile Internet device, camera, watch, PDA, and portable games console.
Of course, it still costs a pretty penny to get a monthly contract with one of the authorised networks, assuming people are playing by the rules.
"We see that lower-income consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices to access the Internet, to listen to music and for email," said analyst comScore's Mark Donovan.
Poor people, embarrassing celebrities ... whoever will be tarnishing the reputation of the iPhone next?
(Via Tech Digest)
MobileMe gets significant patch... now it works
The IT Examiner reports that Apple has done a quiet update of its troubled MobileMe software, and now insists that the service works as it should.
Users who signed up for trial accounts (or even started paying for them) soon after the iPhone 3G launched were greeted with significant problems, including inconsistent syncing of devices to the central server, and were offered an extended free trial by way of compensation and an apology from Apple.
Now, the 27 patches, which were all done on Apple's servers so no software updates needed to be applied to users' iPhones or computers, should have sorted the issues out.
I'll keep an eye on it. Whether this will restore confidence in the service that, uncharacteristically for Apple, fell way below expected standards, is another matter.
iPhone with TV Tuner - Japan only
We've seen before how much the Japanese like their mobile TV experience, so it's not really surprising that one company has found a way of adding a TV tuner to the iPhone 3G.
Softbank will launch its One-Seg Wi-Fi TV Tuner, that's also a battery pack, which can be connected via the iPhone's dock connector and then send the TV signal over Wi-Fi to the iPhone, which must be running a special application.
That's a pretty nice idea, though it would need some tweaking to make it usable with alternate US/European mobile TV standards if it were to be released here. A great idea when the likes of iPlayer isn't available, and presumably totally bandwidth free, too.
(Via CNet Asia)
Powermat: Revolutionary Gadget Charging
Came straight to this page? Visit www.iphonic.tv for all the latest news.
