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The people's poser phone is selling like hot cakes apparently. Apple has flogged enough to confidently put out the news that one million have been sold worldwide in the last three days. It was less forthcoming on explaining why hundreds of UK buyers were left unactivated, but let's not rain on their parade, it's another poke in the eye for Nokia et al.
Users angry about lack of activation 48 hours after buying kit
An iPhone buyer who bought his phone on Carphone's website and who is unable to activate his phone has opened a website to share news with many others suffering a similar plight at http://autumnskies.co.uk/iphone/
Latest news on the site is that O2 and Carphone are not answering calls - either that or it's impossible to get through to them.
The site lists 54 customers by name who have failed to get connection. Most bought from Carphone, some from Apple and O2 stores. The majority ordered online on 7th July.
One problem appears to be customer details stuck in the Carphone system. O2 has said it will give an update this afternoon but on Friday it admitted system problems causing many buyers to have problems.
BlackberrySync has posted pics of the upcoming 9500 - more likely to be dubbed the bPhone for its likeness to the iPhone. Think big touch-sensitive screen and iPhone style casing.
Looks like the iPhonisation of the phone market is well under way.
So much for buying online.
O2 says you needn't bother trying to buy the new phone online as it has already sold out (code for the site has fallen down, no doubt).
There will be some phones in O2 and Carphone shops naturally. What would a release be like without the media crowing over queuing shoppers?
In other news:
- Google has launched 'Lively' a direct competitor to Second Life (the virtual world). The USP is that it will allow YouTube videos to be viewed in the virtual world. How sad is that? I mean how innovative, sorry.
Microsoft got ridiculously rich by selling boxes of software to the world's masses. Nice business model, shame its day is over.
But hey, big M has another plan, and its called software rental.
Too little, too late? We will have to see. You certainly get the feeling they first thought about this about ten years ago, and have only now, begrudgingly introduced it.
Anyway.....
Today it announced the pricing for this pay-as-you-go approach. In the USA only for the moment it will cost $180 per person per year. As reported by Reuters:
The company plans to charge corporate customers a monthly subscription of $15 per user for a suite of "hosted" software, which includes email, Web meeting, collaboration and messaging applications running on Microsoft's computers.
It remains to be seen how this new software compares to the boxed versions.
There is growing momentum behind what I would like to call the 'End Voicemail Now' campaign since Mike Arrington of Techcrunch pronounced voicemail dead.
Here at UK Mobile Report I have decided to lend support for Arrington's claim that Voicemail should be junked. The only thing in its favour is that it is handy when you don't want to read a screen to see a message. Other than that its clunky and an inefficient way of sharing messages.
As he suggested, let's all stop using it, then it will just wither and die. The Times has an interesting analysis today.
So join the campaign against useless technology today. Time to kill off voicemail once and for all and to get a collective life.
Apparently voicemail is hardly ever used in Germany, those sensible Teutonics.
In case you hadn't noticed, Carphone Warehouse and O2 would like you to form orderly queues outside their shops on Friday so you can get your sweaty palms on the new super improved iPhone - the one with 3G of course.
In what seems like a rather clever innovation you can now order online so that you don't have to mess around with such things in the shop or spend time in a queue.
But watch out, I just tried to click on tariff details and the page went haywire.
It begs the question: why don't more shops do this? Millions of us hate ordering online because of the hassle of having to be in to receive it. Why don't retailers integrate the two and allow you to order online but pick up at your leisure?
And another thing while I'm at it.
Why doesn't Dell have a pick up point so you can order and pick up from a central location? It would simplify their distribution a whole lot. OK it would increase costs but that would be balanced out by cutting out the need for a courier.
NEWSFLASH......The Register is now reporting that the O2 has decided not to take online orders...what a cock up!
In addition the latest update seems to be that contract-free phones will not be available until Christmas.
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