A user called kenlo over at GiffGaff has posted an excellent price comparison of contracts over PAYG phones using GiffGaff.

Just in case you missed our review, GiffGaff is our new favourite PAYG provider offering outstanding prices, unlimited texts and internet and great service all while running on the O2 network. What’s not to like?

The comparisons aren’t always like for like, in fact GiffGaff looks less appealing the more minutes you want. If you don’t use loads of minutes, text a lot and use a lot of internet, which seems to be the case for the majority of people I know, then GiffGaff seems to be the way forward. Alternatively if you phone people a lot then three seems to be offering some pretty good contracts.

For light users:

Medium Users:

Heavy Users:

Shorter Contracts:

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iPhone 4S Price Comparison : GiffGaff PAYG vs Contract

The iOS 5 update went live about 1:00 PM -5 GMT.  Users are reporting all over the world that they are having multiple issues with the download and Apple has confirmed that the problem is on their end.  Making matters worse, there are reports that aborting the update is duplicating the contacts list and one user who had set up mail in Mac preferences is getting this message:

The word from Apple is to wait a couple of hours and try again. For those of you with mail issues the link to Apple message boards can be found here.   The smart money is on the iCloud servers being overwhelmed. That said, the Apple iCloud engineers are going to have their work cut out getting ready to activate about three million iPhones in a couple of days not to mention the iCloud music roll out at the end of the month.

Might be some iTerminations come the first of November, but we hope not.

Thanks to crimonsonsky76 for the tip!

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iOS5 install problems-Its Apple’s Fault

The worldwide press is saturating all media with the death of Steve Jobs, who passed away Wednesday from complications of pancreatic cancer. Rather than repeat all the typical reporting of his passing, it is better to focus on a celebration of his life and his many, many accomplishments that has shaped and changed the world everyone lives in today.  The list is long, the Apple I, the Apple II, the Macintosh, the Lisa during his first stint at Apple. During his time away from Apple he founded NeXT Computing and created Pixar out of pieces that he bought from LucasFilms. Pixar under Jobs became the gold standard for animated films, and is widely credited as revitalizing the genre and the fortunes of Walt Disney Studios when Disney subsequently purchased Pixar for almost ten billion dollars.

All this seemed to be only a prologue for the return of Mr. Jobs and what was arguably his and his teams greatest contributions to the way the world consumed its music, media, and used its phones. Starting with the iMac, Mr. Jobs and the people he surrounded himself with, went on to revolutionize the way we consume music, the iPod and the Apple Music Store.  Starting in 2001, the iPod completely changed the music industry and in all likely hood stated the death spiral of music CDs.  Moving from that the iPhone in 2005, and then the iPad in 2009. It is easy to forget that Apple did not found any of those product categories. Music players, smart phones and tablets all came about well before Apple entered the scene. The tribute that should be rendered to Steve Jobs and his team was that in each product area, Apple came along and arguably perfected the category.

What are your thoughts of your experience of Apple and thoughts on Steve Jobs?

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A Celebration of the Life of Steve Jobs

14 months after the release of the iPhone 4, Apple have finally announced its successor, the iPhone 4S. Touted as the most anticipated device ever, announcement turned out to be a massive disappointment to many offering a minor update to the iPhone 4 and leading to a 5% drop in shares.

It was originally rumoured that there would be 2 phones announced the 4s and the 5 with the 5 possibly having a new design and larger screen. Unfortunately the 5 was not announced the the 4S offered minor upgrades including a new Dual-core Apple A5 processor, and an 8 megapixel camera. These are similar specifications to phones like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Motorola Atrix which have been around for months now.

While the iPhone 4s will undoubtedly be a fantastic phone but the main improvements come from the launch of iOS5 which will be available on the 3GS upwards.

With the announcement of the Samsung Nexus Prime just around the corner it is quite likely that the iPhone 4S will be outclassed in terms of hardware by Christmas.

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4

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Apple announces iPhone 4s – 14 months to release an out of date phone!

CNET reported earlier this week that Apple has lost another prototype iPhone. Losing the phone has become old news and the twists and turns of the story have overshadowed the disappearance of the  phone itself, with the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) first being involved in the investigation, then denying that Apple had filled a report. Now it’s being reported that SFPD officers accompanied Apple security personnel to the home of  Sergio Calderón and while the policemen waited outside, the Apple employees searched the home and computer of Mr. Calderon, finding nothing.Previous reports indicated that Apple was able to track the phone to the Calderon apartment, probably through the Find My Phone application. Mr. Calderon denies any knowledge of the lost iPhone but has said to the media that he thought all of the individuals who visited him were police officers and further claims that he was threatened on one hand and offered money on the other to return the phone, no questions asked.When confronted by a reporter from the SF Weekly, a spokesman for the SFPD indicated that all the officers did was to escort the Apple investigators to the residence. Mr. Calderon  states that he thought all six individuals were law enforcement officers and would not have consented to a search of his home otherwise.  If this is the case, then Apple, its involved employees, and the San Francisco Police Department could be looking at civil and possibility criminal liability under American law.  It is possible that Apple was able to originally prevail on law enforcement to not file any reports in an effort to keep the affair under the press radar and avoid a repeat of the media frenzy that accompanied the widely reported loss of a prototype iPhone 4 in April of 2010.All that is known at this time about the missing iPhone 5 is that it was reportedly sold on Craig’s-list for $200.00.  In light of the legal firestorm that resulted from Gizmodo buying and disassembling the then unreleased iPhone 4 last year, it’s highly unlikely that the new missing iPhone will ever see the light of day.

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Apple loses another iPhone prototype- might be the least of its problems

Steve Jobs  today informed the Apple Board of Directors that he was resigning as Chief
Executive Officer effective at once and recommended to the board that Tim Cook,
Apple’s Chief Operating Office be named as has successor. According to an Apple
press release issued at the same time as Mr. Jobs letter, the Apple board not
only named Tim Cook as Apple CEO, but also named Steve Jobs as the new chairman
of the board of Apple.

In the  letter, addressed not only to the Board of Directors but the “Apple Community”,
Mr Jobs stated:

I have always said if there ever came a daywhen I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know.Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO
of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the
Board, director and Apple employee.

No reason was given for Jobs stepping down.  While there has been recurring rumors of
declining health since his transplant surgery in 2009, it is equally possible
that he has simply elected to leave the day to day operation to others. Not
only was Mr. Jobs a co-founder of Apple,  but he also has led Apple from the shambles
the iconic co-founder found upon his return in 1997 to create perhaps the most dominant
tech company in the world today. Further, it seems clear that he will still be
playing an active role as Chairman.

Tim Cook has been with Apple for the last thirteen
years and stepped in to run day to day operations during Mr. Job’s prior leave
of absence when dealing with his illness. With his elevation to CEO, Mr. Cook
also will be joining the Apple board.

Source: Apple via
Tech Meme

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Letter from Steve Jobs

Apple doesn’t want to run around fixing flaws each time someone feels like hacking one of its software. Yesterday, the American manufacturer acknowledged the fact that it needs to solve the security issues involving the iPhone and other devices. Authorities from Germany announced that the gadgets released by Apple risk getting breached and could allow criminals to access very sensitive information and even grant them the liberty to listen to conversations.

 iPhone owners are vulnerable

 One such example of security flaw represents the PDF, short for Portable Document Format. These files are actually an ‘open book’ for scammers and mobile pirates. Malware or malicious software is used to break in these programs. From there on the criminals get full access to the device. This is what the German Federal Office believes it could make iPhone users turn off their devices or even renounce them completely.

The Federal Office explained that these criminals can acquire confidential data stored on Apple smartphones. Passwords, PIN codes, e-mails and other personal information could be in jeopardy.

Apple’s iOS could be looking at a major overhaul of its security protocols. The operating system is used by both iPhone and iPad.

“Apple takes security very seriously, we’re aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update,” revealed Apple, right after receiving the news from the German Federal Office.

A representative from Apple shed some light regarding a future software update or a modification prepared for iOS. An actual date for the update, and the fact that it didn’t even know about this issue weren’t disclosed by the company’s spokesperson.

Things are still under control

The German Federal Office remarked that there is a flaw that needs to be corrected, but denied any hacking attempts yet. People should abstain from opening PDF documents until this issue is closed and a security update will be made available. Some may remember that Apple dealt with such a security issue last year, when a PDF exploit called JailbreakMe 2.0 was released. It was able to unlock an iPhone device in a matter of seconds. If Apple responds with the same promptitude it did last year, then this matter will soon be closed and users will be able to return to their built-in PDF reader apps. It is safe to say that Apple is working as fast as necessary to fix the new ‘bug’. The best advice for now is not to download anything from unreliable sources. Those who know themselves to be avid readers could swap the phone for a book at this moment. It shouldn’t, however, take too long for Apple to fix the issue, and make the iOS a lot safer and reliable. Nonetheless, there will be other fixes which will certainly need to be considered when hackers figure out new ways to get inside the system.

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Apple intends to fix an iPhone software defect

Connectivity between your devices and your TV especially those with camera/video functions is a must these days with new PMPs and mobile smartphones with HDMI out ports so you can see your images and videos in fullscreen, HD goodness. This has eluded portable Apple owners for sometime although there has been the component out lead which retailing at £39.99 was neither cheap nor the simplest form of outputting your goods to the telly. FINALLY Apple is releasing a HDMI adaptor. Yes that’s right lets not incorporate it into our future products, make the customer buy yet another accessory for their iPod, iPhone or iPad.

With the iPad 2 showcased last week Apple also demonstrated its new HDMI adaptor basically plugging into the Apple adaptor port at the base with a HDMI out port then attached to the adaptor. Supporting iPhone 4, 4th generation iPod touch and both the original iPad and the future iPad2. The iPad2 will output at Full 1080p HD whereas the others will only get up to 720p due to the fact the iPad2’s new A4 chipset will give the Full HD support whereas the older chipsets in the iPhone, iPod and iPad can’t handle it.

On the Apple store the HDMI adaptor is listed as the “Digital AV Adaptor” set as coming soon and with a RRP of $39 so if the American price reflects the UK price it’ll be a reasonable £25 or so which is a lot cheaper than the current price of the component lead.

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Apple HDMI Adaptor : iPad 1/2 iPod touch and iPhone supported

I was scouring the internet for something a little different to tell our readers about and now being an iPhone convert(although mine is just a 3GS) i found this little number a little interesting due to the fact I hate onscreen software keyboards. Although the iPhone’s software keyboard isn’t terrible i still make a lot of mistakes. Well ThinkGeek have come up with the TK-421 iPhone case with a flip-out physical keyboard.

The case fits on your iPhone (available for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4) working as a protector but swivels round to reveal a full 5 line QWERTY keyboard which can then be tucked away when not being used. Obviously it’s going to make your phone a little bigger than it should be but I think that’s a small price to pay. The keyboard connects to your phone via Bluetooth (no iPhone 3G support then!!) which is good in that there’s no wires but it’s obviously going to drain your battery a little quicker if you’ve got your bluetooth on at all times. Secondly the keyboard requires it’s own juice via USB. Now this could be a little annoying but the keyboard shouldn’t use too much power so a full charge should last you a fair while.

This news came from the States however and I couldn’t see anything about a UK release but if you are interested it will be available in November and will retail in the States for $49.99

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ThinkGeek iPhone keyboard case

So what a great week for my internet to not be “available” the week when Apple just about announces all of its goodies for the year. Now I try to keep away from any “leaked” pictures or material, unless from a very reliable source and with the sheer amount of rumour mongering on the iPhone 4, it hasn’t been worth bombarding you with fuzzy images of phones in an American bar’s toilet and such, so now its actually official. Even Steve Jobs made a joke about the leaks, saying “Stop me if you’ve already seen this”

So what’s new you ask? Well the first thing to note is that the iPhone 4 is just 9.3mm thick which makes it 24% thinner than the iPhone 3GS and it’s mainly made of stainless steel not the flimsy plastic that has led my girlfriend to have 3, 3G replacements. Inside will be Apple’s A4 processor which currently runs the iPad and will be available in a 16GB and 32GB, yep no 64GB .

Usual stuff aside what makes this stand out more than the 3GS. The screen has seen a vast improvement. 3.5” of 960×649 improvement. That is a 326dpi density. The sharpest screen currently on any smartphone currently available. Apple has named this the “Retina Display” Not only that the sharpness will be beyond what the human eye can distinguish, at high densities. Also it will run all your older apps with the same clarity, upscaling the images as opposed to the iPad which stretches them.

The next major improvement is the camera. AT LAST A FLASH. Yes that’s right a FLASH! Bumped up to 5MP with a backside illuminated sensor, coupled with an LED flash, the camera can zoom in gigitally up to 5x and can also shoot 30fps 720p video. The movie captre also now has it’s own iMovie dedicated app. There’s also a front facing camera allowing what Apple calls FaceTime, a videocall feature only available over a WiFi connection

Other things you may want to know. Battery life still doesn’t look great. 7 hours 3G talktime, 10 hours WiFi internet browsing or video playback and a 300 hour standby time. There’s also increased accuracy with the motion controls with Apple adding a three-axis gyroscope a la “Wii Remote”. This was demoed by Jobs in a game of Jenga and Apple are hoping game developers will make use of this function to create better more immersive games.

On sale 24th June and pre-orders starting from the 15th, i’ll post some info on the prices as nobody is totally sure what they’ll be as all the major networks are snapping up the iPhone for sale, so as soon as I have them all I’ll put them on.

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iPhone 4 in OFFICIALDOM!