It’s been 48 hours since Apple at WWDC announced the iPhone 3G S, and people are already complaining. Aside from some people saying that it was all a bit of a letdown in terms of announcements, the large majority of whining comes from iPhone users on O2 that want to upgrade but have a problem.
The issue stems from the fact that when the 3G got released, O2 UK allowed for free upgrades to the new handset. This time, O2 are refusing it. People are unhappy as they don’t want to either be locked into the remaining months on their contract nor pay a large charge to get out of said contract. Granted, it’s a hefty phone bill anyway, but this does seem quite strange behaviour from the consumers.
in the UK, it is extremely rare for the phone provider to allow for a free upgrade before a contract is up (You know, what we call “Normal”). Usually this would be towards the last two months of a contract, but last time O2 were benevolent enough to allow this to be extended. This time, the change in the handset involved is only minor, and in a climate where O2 needs all the money it can get (the economy is “bad”, apparently), I can’t really see O2 actually doing anything wrong here.
I know with my own phone contract that I’m stuck with it for 18 months. I don’t expect the phone company I am with to allow me special dispensation to cut the contract short because I want it to. I paid my money, I made my choice. If I were running the phone company, I would have to be asking serious questions of myself and my staff if this were allowed to happen to everyone.
Seriously, grow up…
The Apple Keynote at the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) cued cheering from many mac enthusiasts. The main order of the day was to announce an upgrade to the iPhone 3G. Namely the iPhone 3G S.
The Basics:
Apple have put a guided tour of the new phone online, but if you want the full press release with more details, you can find it… after the jump!
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Sony have now redesigned the PSP (Now called the PSP go) to make it hip and trendy again (at least, to compete against a legion of phones that play games, and of course the new Ninendo DSi), with a large sliding screen.
Officially unveilled at E3, the traditionally large screen slides up to reveal the controls stowed underneath. This is somewhat cool. In Sony’s wisdom, they’ve also removed the UMD slot, meaning that you can only play games you have stored on it’s 16 Gig drive. It also has bluetooth and wifi as expected and a few other small things, but the pricetag is now a whopping $249. Then again, it’s a small price for the coolness of a sliding screen…
The official press release is after the jump…
The Peregrine gaming glove has been unveiled at E3. Just when you thought clothing-based game controllers were dead and buried, Iron Will Technologies decide it’s not.
Coming out in late 2009, it’s a glove with a random box of electonics on top of it, but it includes the ability to perform actions in-game when you pinch a finger and thumb together. Yes, really. I don’t know how much of it will be used by normal gamers, but I bet a few may get bought by Minority Report fans… Full press release after the jump…
For the first time in a semi-regular feature we’re asking for your opinion on things. Every so often (most likely on weekends) we will put a question up for you (our glorious readers) to answer, in the hope that something good comes out of it…
This weekend’s query is a simple one: On June 2nd-4th, LA will host E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. As usual, the guys at Gametactics and E3coverage will be there, and again most of the time the show will be devoted to games, but what I want to know is:
What Tech related stuff do you want to see coming out of E3?
Justin Lee may well be filming it already, but if he isn’t, this is a last chance to say what you want to see. Maybe it’s the successor to one of the current consoles. Maybe it’s a neural implant that emits pain when you get hurt in-game. In either case, add a comment about it and Justin could be taking note.
Those great guys over at Blue Blots have made a list of 35 the decently abnormal USB drive designs on the market today. And by decently abnormal, I don’t mean a thumbdrive that has a company logo printed on it, and that’s all.
There’s usb drives shaped like pizza, sperm, Lego, keys, carabinas, even a decapitated teddy bear. This is mostly for show, but there’s one that I have previous experience with, namely the USB batteries that charge via USB but are normal AA batteries. Pretty damn cool and they still work.
Sadly, they missed out on the dog that does sit-ups…
[Via Blue Blots Via Digg]
The Short Version: The Palm Pre is being thrown out by Sprint on the 6th of June for $200. It’s data-plan heavy, and can be charged by a Touchstone charger for extra outlay.
The Longer Version: You can get the Palm Pre for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. If you value your wallet, you will do this. It’s out on June 6th. This is before WWDC. Apple may be worried. No date has been mentioned for places like the UK, which makes me a bit happier about getting a new phone recently. Your data plan choice will be limited, namely anything with massive amounts of data usage available. It does an awful lot of online stuff, and this will be necessary. Not may be necessary. WILL be necessary. You can get it from places like Best Buy, Wal-mart, Radio Shack and Sprint-selling stores. There is (available separately) a Touchstone charger, which allows for induction charging, i.e. no charging cable to connect to the device. This costs $69.99 extra, and is probably where your rebate will be heading.
If you have no idea what the Pre is capable of, go HERE!
[via Engadget and Electonista]
I’m sure you’ve seen yesterday’s post about Wolfram Alpha and it’s semi-uselessness compared to the current big dog on campus Google. I did query if I was throwing the wrong data at it. And it turns out to be true.
Searching for “how many roads must a man walk down” actually comes up with a correct answer by Bob Dylan.
Scary…
[Via Digg]
Over the weekend, Wolfram Alpha was launched. And Google got worried. Let’s see if it needs to be worried with a little test of what they can do, and for no good reason at all, chuck Ask Jeeves into the mix too…
Search Term: Malcolm Owen WA: Finds both Malcolm and Owen as names, comparing the two with US population stats with graphs over time, etc Go: Obituaries about the lead singer of The Ruts, with Wikipedia as top listing. A post by me is 10th. AJ: More obituaries for the singer, but a much more varied response after the first couple of listings.
Search Term: Third Tallest Mammal WA: Doesn’t want to know Go: Giraffe (Wrong, I want the THIRD tallest), mammals of Pennsylvania, “Mamma Mia!” AJ: Similar to Google in terms of variety and wrongness.
Search Term: Chuck Norris WA: Name, Place and Date of Birth, and, I kid you not, a TIMELINE of Chuck Norris, a straight line from 1940 onwards… Go: Facts, Official Site, Wikipedia, Facts Facts Facts AJ: Facts, Official Site, General Info, More Facts
Search Term: I before E Except After C WA: Hissy Fit of nothingness Go: Wikipedia, then book reviews AJ: Wikipedia, mostly usage of the term, but also book reviews
Search Term: New York, London WA: Populations, Distance, Local Time, Elevation Go: Flights, Hotels, Gordon Ramsay, BBC News Story and a video of The Cranberries AJ: Flights, Ramsay, BBC News Story, Vogue
Am I impressed by Wolfram Alpha? Not hugely. It just doesn’t want to know anything about things I care about, such as Chimpanzees Riding on a Segway. Maybe the data I’m throwing at it just isn’t what it’s looking for, such as mathematical equations. The speed is an issue, with Google spouting some answers almost instantly, and with some search term crafting would be practically unbeatable.I suppose it will get better the more information it sucks into itself, but I feel I’m going to have to stick with Google for the forseeable future.
Side Note: Ask Jeeves held it’s own. Granted, it’s not as fantastic as Google, but it stayed up there…
QR Codes are a fantastic idea. Mostly. And yes, I’m talking about a technology that has been around for quite some time and it really didn’t take off outside of Japan, but go with me on this.
I know that you lot would have seen them before and dismissed them as futuristic ideas that will never work on TV shows alongside beliefs that we will have flying cars and robot housemaids, but strangely, two-dimensional barcodes that can be read by modern mobile handsets and actually have uses.
The main use is, as everyone probably already knows about, for mobile websites. Cans of Pepsi here in the UK have these codes plastered onto the side, allowing you to waste lots of your phone contract’s data allowance seeing effectively an advert for a soft drink. Some generator sites will even allow you to use QR Codes to show a plain-text message, for example “Put that phone away and get back to work”. The Pet Shop Boys have even decked out a music video with tons of QR Codes. Odd, but that’s what we expect.
But my current favourite use for QR Codes has to be the supplemental content for adult magazines, as seen in Japan. The great Danny Choo has, whilst going for a medical check-up, taken some photos of this phenomenon which charges the user a high rate for each photo they see. Of course the photo consists of an altered form of the magazine, usually where the subject wears less clothing, and this does seem to be quite a good monetizing effort. It also means that the magazine itself, despite being adult in nature, has the most mundane photos inside, rendering it relatively safe to look at in public. Although weird…
Update: Wolfram Alpha Gives Decent Answer » TechMamba