O2 iPhone Unlock Legally Available

With the first iPhone 3G customers coming to the end of their 18 month contracts I was wondering how O2 were going to handle the thorny issue of unlocking handsets from O2 SIMs. Well all credit to O2 they've taken the bull by the horns and dealt with the issue in an exemplary manner.

This website contains a form that can be completed and submitted to O2 who will remove your SIM lock within 14 days (for free for contract customers, under £15 for PAYG customers who have been on the network for a year or more).

Now, shall I un-jailbreak mine so that I can unlock it officially, but lose even the rudimentary multi-tasking the jailbreak allows?

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Maclaren Buggies Not Really At Fault

There's been something of a rumpus about Maclaren's decision to recall folding pushchairs in the US (after several children lost the tips of their fingers in accidents) and not to do the same in the UK.

Now these incidents only happen when the pushchair is being folded and lets be honest if you can't keep your children's hands out of the mechanism when you're in process of folding your pushchair you're probably going to struggle to keep them out of harm in pretty much any situation that life throws up.

Either way its not really Maclaren's responsibility...

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Murdoch Slams Google, Doesn't Understood Internet

Rupert Murdoch's News International group of media companies encompasses everything from The Sun to the Wall Street Journal. Rupert Murdoch would very much like to find some way of charging people to read that content online.

His route to achieving this looks somewhat self-defeating, as first he rages against search engines and then promises to cut them off from his sites. So no News International links in web searches on Google? I'm not expecting that to go well.

I wonder if there's somewhere on Google that we can suggest removing News International from their results and help things along a little...

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HD2 Shipping In The UK

The immense (in more ways than one) HTC HD2 has started shipping from Clove marking a new turn for Windows Mobile.

With its capacitive touchscreen the HD2 is the first Windows Mobile device to ship without a stylus or transcriber. This rather contradicts the advice given earlier this year from Microsoft which suggested that the Windows Mobile Logo program would require devices to retain both.

The HD2 looks to be on the point of making Windows Mobile sexy again. Although that seems to be as much to do with the way that HTC's Sense over-rides the standard Microsoft interface. What impact that will have on performance remains to be seen, as does HTC's long term commitment to the platform. Especially as its seeing its early lead in the Android space eroded by Motorola and Samsung with Acer and Sony-Ericsson waiting on the wings too.

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Things I Do Like About Android

Having given Android a decent kicking last week for some of its failings I thought perhaps I should point out some of the things that Google (and Huawei it some instances) have got right.

I love the homescreen and its widgets. In particular I like the toggle switches which can be easily used to change system settings and radio states. The A2DP bluetooth always manages to reconnect the service when you get into the car and when playing music through a bluetooth source event notifications are rerouted through the Pulse's speaker, saving your hearing.

The pulldown windowshade style notification window is excellent and unobtrusive, whilst the rotation of the OS is quick and works with the great TouchPal keyboard to make data entry relatively painless.

There are some other failures worth mentioning too. No real Skype client and some fairly inconsistent IM and Twitter apps. None of the Market barcode scanning programs work with the Pulse - hopefully something that will be rectified soon.

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Windows Mobile App Store Missing Almost Everything

If you were presented with a new Windows Mobile phone tomorrow and hunted through the available applications in the Windows Marketplace you'd probably guess that Windows Mobile was a new kid on the block and incredibly short of available applications.

In fact there are less than 150 listed - which seems an unfeasibly low number given the 20-30,000 that are available for the platform.

Which proves that Microsoft have either badly misjudged the entry requirements for the Marketplace or nobody cares enough about Windows Mobile to bother submitting the apps...

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The iPhone Gets Rick-rolled

It's only a risk if you have a jail-broken iPhone, but it is certainly very funny. The first iPhone worm changes your desktop wallpaper to an image of his royal Astley-ness and then replicates onto other phones...

Could only be funnier if it set your ringtone to full volume, 'Never Gonna Give You Up' and disabled the send and end keys...

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Google Following Wrong Upgrade Model For Android

If there's one area where Apple have unequivocally raised the bar in the smartphone arena then that has to be in the way that updates are handled.

The iPhone has a unique position in that all models get system updates irrespective of carrier, country or version. Its been relatively easier for Apple to achieve this as it doesn't licence its platform to other manufacturers, nonetheless this should surely be the goal for Google to achieve with Android. Its some way off that target if the truth be known.

With the first units of Motorola's DROID now shipping stateside there are four different revisions of Android on the market today, availability depending on what OEM, carrier and country your handset originates from.

Two of the major shortcomings which have affected Windows Mobile have been a lack of a cohesive interface and paucity of system upgrades. Two paths that Google seem to be wandering down almost blindly.

Whilst its good to learn from your mistakes, Google needs to realise its much better to learn from those of others...

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Will Self: Condescending Arse

Just saying, that's all...

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Microsoft Outsources Windows Mobile

This doesn't sound like especially good news for Windows Mobile as a platform, given that licensees are jumping ship to Android end masse. bSquare who were responsible for some of the early Windows Mobile reference platforms, have been given the license for the distribution and support of Windows Mobile by Microsoft.

Some commentators are seeing this as a sign that Microsoft's Zune will form the core of its handset strategy in the future, with Windows Mobile 7 becoming Zune Phone.

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