iPhone Accessories – The Latest Rage

The Apple iPhone packs three spectacular products into one – a stunning phone, a touch screen iPod, and a cutting edge Internet device. Combining a whole host of next generation features such as fast 3G wireless technology and GPS mapping, the iPhone is the hallmark of 21st century technology. Apart from standard communication, this brilliant phone can serve as an array of gadgets with the 2.0 megapixel camera, media player, wireless connectivity and browsing. The iPhone is much more than a standard cell phone and technology conscious consumers acknowledge that it is a cut above the rest.

Apple, true to its design-centric approach, has created a stylish smartphone with spectacular iPhone Accessories that extend the functionality of this awesome device. The wireless iPhone headset puts Bluetooth technology into a sleek anodized aluminum casing that offers nearly 6 hours of talk time and 72 hours when on standby. Like the smooth curves and stylish finish of the iPhone, this headset too, is a beautifully crafted accessory. Wireless technology built into the iPhone Headset offers fans of the device the hands free option when making or receiving voice calls. As improvements are made to the underlying Bluetooth technology, these headsets can only get smaller and better.

Protecting your iPhone is serious business. iPhone covers must offer safety against moisture and provide extra grip without compromising on access to the many phone features. A stylish iPhone leather case is sometimes preferred over covers, since they are a chic, sophisticated alternative. A durable leather case integrates a tough plastic shell for better impact resistance. One essential protective accessory is the iPhone Screen Protector. Manufactured from a tough self-adhesive polymer, this iPhone accessory prevents dirt, dust, fingerprints, and scratches from marking your cell phone.

The buzz that the iPhone generated was as justified as it was intense, with hundreds queuing up for the launch of the phone. If you already own this stunning smartphone, Wireless Emporium has great deals and discounts on these iPhone accessories and much more.

source : http://www.free-articles-zone.com/

LG still out-touching the iPhone

The touchscreen market has been a long time coming, it's fair to say. Since the first time a touchscreen was shown in 1971, its use in small devices, where screen space is at a premium, has been inevitable.

The problem with touchscreen technology was it was TOO futuristic; the sort of thing that could revolutionise so many things, and the little problem of the necessary development was all too negligible in the public's collective eyes.

So the question of 'when will we see touchscreen phones' should really have read: 'when will the tipping point come between cost, battery life and performance so it makes sense to use it in a phone?'

It's a less interesting and more wordy question, but still valid.

Long time coming

And the answer to that can be found in the iPhone. There's no doubting Apple was working with touch interfaces since the early 90s, and the concept of the iPhone was dreamt up not long after the first iPod at the turn of this century.

But making a touchscreen is one thing; to get it right is quite another. And there's no denying the iPhone's interface is pure perfection at the moment: smooth, responsive and above all, accurate; the touchscreen the mass market has been clamouring after for decades.

But how did Apple manage to come in and steal the thunder from a saturated mobile market? Why didn't another manufacturer, one with years of handset building experience, knock out the touchscreen device to beat all others?

Well, the answer to THAT lies with LG. Despite being fairly new to the handset arena itself, it can be seen as a pioneer in the touchscreen market. It has over 45 patents in this area, and has released and sold more touchscreen phones than any other company.

That's right: LG has sold more touchscreen phones than Apple in not much more time.

iPhone vs the Viewty
We were having a discussion in the offices of TechRadar recently, debating the performance of the iPhone vs. that of the Viewty, LG's top touchscreen seller.

I was arguing the case for the Viewty, my trusted device for almost a year, while one of my colleagues was making the case for his new iPhone.

The discussion boiled down to a simple question: 'Why did LG miss a trick with the Viewty? It could have made an awesome touchscreen on a pretty well-stocked handset, but didn't.'

(A question and a statement, granted, but still, you get the gist.)

His argument was simple (and valid): The iPhone is as close to device perfection as anyone has seen for years.

And it's true, the iPhone is great. The touchscreen is swishy and swoopy (if you've ever played with one, you'll know what I mean). The screen is large and bright, and the 'keys' are accurate when pressed.

The LG Viewty's screen is like that of the iPhone, only a step or two behind on every point. You have to 'throw' screens to scroll them, you have an ever-so-slight lag when each key is pressed (the Viewty also packs haptic feedback, but that matches the press in the lag stakes too), and the screen is a little smaller.

Basically, good but not as good. Had the iPhone never appeared it would probably be the best in class.

Apple: zero to hero

But this isn't a debate about whether the iPhone is better than the Viewty: it's about how Apple got the touchscreen so right.

However, the fact the iPhone has such a good interface actually isn't cutting it on a global scale. LG recently showed it has sold over seven million touchscreen handsets, and will continue as market leader for some time yet.

The reason for this is also the reason Apple has done so well with the iPhone, which has only sold around five million units in both the first version and the new 3G iteration.

Apple only has one device. You either want an iPhone or you don't. But LG has worked out lots of ways to enter the touchscreen into the psyche of the masses worldwide, and it's paying off.

The Viewty, Voyager and Venus have all been big sellers, but mix things up nicely for the consumer. For instance, the first is all touch and no keys, while the latter teams the touchscreen with a full set of buttons too.

Future
"We were a true pioneer in touchscreen phones, applying for a total of 49 patents while developing the Prada Phone by LG," said Dr. Skott Ahn, President & CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

"From the beginning we have worked to create phones that are extremely easy to use despite their myriad features. This is why our touchscreen phones have been so well received around the world.

"As the market for touchscreen phones continues to grow we will also continue our research in this area to create even more innovative products."

Marketing spin aside, the point is LG has been the one hard at work on the interface, and is primed to deliver it to the markets in the ways it wants. Apple's iPhone might be universally popular, but LG has models for the US market, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Its diverse touch options are the reason it has sold so many handsets, and given the global touchscreen handset market will reach 125 million units by 2010 (according to Strategy Analytics), it is well-primed to still be jostling at the front come that date.

Of course, Apple will probably have outsold it by then. Nokia will have joined the touchscreen market in a big way, and Samsung and Sony Ericsson will likely have a few decent offerings too.

But the public mustn't forget one crucial thing: touchscreens are still a LONG way from perfect. They eat battery, they can be 10 times more responsive and accurate, and above all, they aren't always needed.

So hats off to both LG and Apple, for they have proven what is needed to bring this technology to the market, and have both sacrificed a lot to do so.

source : http://www.techradar.com/

Touch mobile's revolutionary rise

As Apple's new iPhone is launched, Dan Simmons tests some of its features and investigates how it and its rivals are changing our mobile habits.

Although smartphones were common before the iPhone debuted in June 2007, few had the impact of Apple's first handset.

Since then it has set the industry benchmark, said Darren Naylan, managing director of mobilephoneshop.

"It's the operating system, in my view, that makes the real difference," he said.

Four years of research resulted in a large, responsive touch screen which invited play and made internet use easier.

Research suggests iPhone owners are five times more likely to surf the web than the average mobile user.

Though the original iPhone was expensive - $599 (£300) at the US launch for the 8GB model - the touch screen and "all-you-can-eat" data tariffs helped drive internet use.

It showed the mobile industry how to crack getting the web on the move - something the mobile industry has dreamt about since the introduction of 3G data networks in 2001.

Hacked phone

But there have been some problems.

Customers were locked in to one network in most of the nations in which it was launched and it did not work with the fast 3G networks speeds accessible via other smartphones.

Two months after the launch the iPhone was hacked. This meant it could run non-Apple programs and work on any operator's network.

These issues aside, it has become an icon and made other manufacturers focus on offering better web browsing on the move.

Mobile web

That seems to be paying off as in 2008 mobile web use has taken off.

A survey commissioned by Vodafone suggests almost a quarter of 18-25 year olds in the UK now use their mobile to check social networking sites.

The same study of 700 users suggested around 40% of all UK mobile users now access the internet on their handsets.

A separate report, carried out by marketing research company Gfk, suggested that for 1 in 5 users in Japan, their handset has replaced the PC as the way they go online.

Touch screens

Other phone manufacturers are tapping into touch.

In the past year, touch screens have gone from business-type PDAs to stylus-free style icons.

There are even models for avid texters unsure about making the leap.

Slider models like LG's KF700 offer a more traditional keypad in addition to the touch screen and there are rumours that Apple may produce something similar too.

Nokia, which sells more phones in one week than Apple does in a year, says it will release at least one touch screen smartphone later this year.

"I think they're pretty keen to be public about that, to show that they're doing something. Because for a big company like Nokia not to be doing something, I think that's not great for them or the consumer," said Mr Naylan.

"There are a lot of loyal Nokia fans out there who want to see an iPhone rival in their hands, that's for sure," he added.

Touch has given operating systems a facelift too.

Both HTC, for its Touch Diamond, and Samsung, for the i900, turned away from Windows Mobile which was powerful but awkward to use.

"It had so many options to choose from, they [users] had lots of trouble trying to find the stuff that they wanted to use," said Rui Antunes, HTC's european marketing director.

"We tried to make things easier, and bring out to the top level the key things they were used to using, and make that very interactive, visual and engaging," he added.

Maps and photos

Apple's new 3G iPhone replaces the old one with faster web surfing and also has GPS mapping.

Photos taken on the 3G iPhone can be geo-tagged automatically, much like the free Flickr Uploader application found on a Blackberry.

The new iPhone lacks a search facility for files or e-mail, it has some Office-style software and easier syncing through Microsoft Exchange, or if you are a personal user, through MobileMe via an annual subscription.

However, it may not be what is inside touch smartphones that makes them popular.

Price drops could be a factor that helps. Increased data use means operators make more money and can subsidise the handset.

Some operators offer a phone for nothing if customers sign a lengthy contract.

But making these phones customisable by support for widgets and applications will also drive sales.

Apple apps

Apple is just getting started with its App Store but already on offer for other phone are thousands of programs, scattered on different sites across the internet.

Alex Reeve, director of Windows Mobile in the UK, said Microsoft had 18,000 applications developed for the Windows Mobile platform.

"There's everything from games, music mixers, solutions for sales forces if you're in the business side, sat-nav because a lot of our phones now have GPS built in," he said.

Security will need to be tight, and users will probably want better parental controls too - a feature provided on the new iPhone, but lacking in many other handsets - but the floodgates for new ideas on mobiles are now wide open.

Open source handsets

Nokia is opening up the Symbian operating system, giving third party developers a freer hand.

Blackberries now offer much more than just e-mail and Google promises to release a suite of applications on its Android platform on new handsets by the end of this year.

And opening things up reached new heights, when Openmoko released a new open-source handset based on Linux.

Every aspect of the phone can be reprogrammed, so a USB port could be used to attach a camera or USB stick rather than just be used for charging.

The new iPhone may be stealing the headlines but there is no doubt that the entire mobile industry is changing at a rapid pace.

source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/

iPhone’s mobile Safari browswer still gaining popularity

The sheer number of people with iPhones is having more and more of an effect on the browser market. The mobile version of Safari has seen exponential growth in the past few months, especially since this past holiday season. In December of 2007, mobile Safari had a market share of .14 of one percent. Remember that this is comparison to full-fledged browsers like FireFox and Internet Explorer. Now, mobile Safari has jumped to .23 of a percent, an increase of 65 percent. At this point, the only browser ahead of the iPhone’s is Nokia’s… and just try to imagine how many Nokia phones there are out there.

source : http://www.iphonematters.com/

Apple iPhone vs Nokia N96

Aussies love a good stoush, and from the response to our previous Apple/Nokia face-off, the battle for Australian mobile supremacy is far from decided.

Apple recently announced that the 4GB and 8GB versions of the iPhone, released in the US and Europe, would be superseded by 8GB and 16GB models. Not to be outdone, Nokia hits back with 16GB of storage in the N96, and MicroSD expansion that will support up to 8GB. If Apple put a 3G chipset in the iPhone before releasing it in Australia we'll have a real fight on our hands.

That's not to say the N96 is a clear front-runner, and it's not just a matter of style over substance. The iPhone's 620MHz processing speed is significantly faster than most smartphones on the market to date, and is nearly twice as fast as the N95's 330Mhz. Also, the N95 had terrible battery life, and while we're hoping this improves in the newer model, we won't be holding our breath.

Apple, Google Gear Up For Developers

Apple's annual software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone, Apple said this week there has been over 100,000 downloads of the software. WWDC is June 9-13. Conference attendees will likely be exposed to final, or very near-final, features of the finished SDK, which is due out by the end of June. It's clear from the program that Apple expects interest from developers working on some pretty flashy applications, though not based on Adobe's Flash animation format, which the iPhone currently doesn't support.

The agenda says attendees will be able to learn from Apple graphics and media engineers about media-rich mobile applications and cutting-edge handheld games for the iPhone. Sessions will include techniques to animate user interfaces, render interactive 2D and 3D graphics in real-time and how to support video download and playback.

In addition to the iPhone, there will of course be plenty of sessions related to Apple's bread-and-butter Macintosh line and "Leopard" OS X 10.5 operating systems. A third track is focused on IT issues like setting up, integrating, deploying and managing Leopard, Leopard Server, and iPhone OS technologies in heterogeneous environments.

Google's new marquee event

Google's two-day Google I/O "Web Forward" conference is a new event slated for this May 28-29 in San Francisco. A Google spokesperson said its Developer Day will continue to be held, but the company plans to take it on the road as a worldwide tour set of events. "We expect Google I/O to be a marquee event and a hot ticket," said the spokesman.

Five tracks are planned, including a focus on Google's new Android mobile phone and OpenSocial social networking platforms. Java and Ajax tools, Web APIs (define) and other programming tools will be covered as well as sessions on developing applications that leverage Google Maps.

More information on where OpenSocial, currently being deployed in a 0.7 release, is going will be covered in a session "What's Next for OpenSocial." The "Building an Android Application 101" session is designed to help developers new to the platform.

The Google spokesperson said to stay tuned for news between now and the event that promises to heighten developer interest further. "We have some exciting stuff in the pipeline," he said. "We haven't put all our cards on the table yet."

source: http://www.internetnews.com/

Snap Sun decision launches Java at iPhone

Less than a day after Apple unveiled its much-discussed iPhone SDK, Sun Microsystems has told the world it will build a Java Virtual Machine for Steve Job's handheld status symbol.

"We're very excited," Eric Klein, Sun's vice president of Java marketing, told the The Reg. "We've spent the last 24 hours furiously looking through what information was made publicly available, and we feel comfortable enough at this point on the information we have to commit the engineering resources to bring the JVM over to the iPhone and the iTouch as fast as our schedules and Apple's release schedule will allow."

That means the Jesus Phone JVM will arrived sometime after June, when the official iPhone App Store opens its virtual doors. You see, Steve Jobs has allowed third-party applications onto his phone, but each and every one must be funneled through his own private software market.

That said, Apple has allowed developers to set their own prices. And this made Sun happy. "We of course chose to set the price of the JVM at... free!" Klein told us with a chuckle. Or two. Or more. "Apple explicitly said developers can chose to put free applications through the App Store and - heck - we're doing it!"

Klein had no other details to share. Because there aren't any. "We're just 24 hours into this," he said. "We have a lot of learning to do, as do all the developers who just got access to the SDK. We just thought it was really important that our development community has the opportunity to write a Java app and have it run on the iPhone."

Source : http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/