I'm looking through you -- you're not the same, as birthday boy Paul McCartney memorably put it. This cool advert for a possible future iPhone 5 definitely isn't the same -- and you can look through it.
The first glimpses of the next iPhone have started to emerge, revealing that the phone is set to have a new widescreen design. Those glimpses, such as the video comparing the prospective iPhone 5 with the current iPhone 4S, may or may not be genuine -- but we know this one's from the realm of pure fantasy.
Click play on the video to see the advert for the gorgeous see-through iPhone concept.
Designed by Apple fan Dakota Adney, this speculative iPhone concept design sports an 'iClear retina display' -- in other words, it's transparent, layering text, apps and games on the clear display.
The see-through screen is handy for taking photos, as well as offering augmented reality, layering information on the screen over whatever's in front of you.
Set the phone down on a flat surface and twin projectors beam a virtual keyboard in front of you, with sensors spotting where you tap and turning that into typing.
If you like the idea of a transparent phone, the designer of this concept has also put together a promo video for a transparent iPad.
For more mind-blowing concept phones, check out our favourite made-up iPhone 5 designs, our favourite made-up iPad designs, a Nokia phone that's a touchscreen all over, and a bendy PaperPhone flexible phone.
We're expecting to see the next iPhone this autumn. Whether it's called the iPhone 5 or the new iPhone, Apple's next blower will be the first to show off iOS 6, the latest version of i-flavoured software, complete with improved Siri, a new Apple maps app and assorted other improvements.
Would you use a see-through phone? What would you like to see in the iPhone 5? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
T-Mobile cuts roaming rates for Europe - zdnet.co.uk
The new bolt-ons, called 'Internet Travel Boosters' and 'Broadband Travel Boosters' will allow a customer to add them to their package on arrival at their destination. The user is simply redirected to a page where they can buy the add-ons when they first connect to a mobile network, T-Mobile said.
"Once the purchase is complete, they can immediately continue to browse the internet, update Facebook, email or download apps and documents without the worry of paying more than they expect when they return from their travels," T-Mobile said in a statement.
The internet booster allows smartphone-only usage while the Broadband booster can be used with "all mobile broadband devices", such as dongles and tablets.
Pricing for the boosters starts from £1, T-Mobile said. The amount of data allocated for each booster depends on the country being visited. For example, within Europe a £1 internet or booster plan would provide 3MB of data usage. To get the same amount of data use while on holiday in the US would require a £5 booster.
However, visiting places further afield, such as Hong Kong, still attracts significant commitments, with 3MB of data costing £20. Currently, and without the bolt-on, T-Mobile customers visiting Hong Kong are charged £7.50 per MB for data. Increasing the amount of the bolt-on does provide some economy of scale, but 20MB of data, even with the bolt-on, will still cost £75.
The decision to reduce costs, albeit primarily within Europe, makes T-Mobile the fourth of the five major UK operators to announce reduced roaming rates before the new EU roaming regulations come into effect on 1 July. Only Orange is yet to announce new rates.– Ernest Doku, uSwitch.com
It's still down to consumers to protect themselves and make bill shock a thing of the past.
Earlier in June, Vodafone also announced it was cutting its prices for roaming within the EU. The EuroTraveller add-on costs £3 per day and allows contract customers to use their normal monthly call time and data allowance. Out of bundle charges are then charged at UK rates.
Despite the clampdown from regulators on roaming rates within the EU, Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at price-comparison site uSwitch.com, doesn't think some of the new measures go far enough.
"We have now seen four of the five major providers take steps to protect their customers. However, with Orange still to show its cards and some of the packages not going quite far enough, it's still down to consumers to protect themselves and make bill shock a thing of the past," Doku said in a statement.
iPhone bedding will keep you comfy - Phones Review
One for the iOS faithful today that simply must have everything Apple, so they can show their undying lover of Apple’s iOS smartphone, and their ultimate devotion to Apple, a three-piece iPhone bedding set to keep you warm and comfy when you hit the sack, so you can dream of all things iOS.
The iPhone three-piece bedding set is brought to our attention by the guys over at Ubergizmo by way of Inventor Spot, and enables the iPhone lover to curl up under a large sized touch screen display for possibly about a twin size bed, a matching iPhone pillow case, and a small iPhone cushion.
Unfortunately though there isn’t a great deal known about this three-piece iPhone bedding set, and even the person who originally posted the images of the set over on Baidu didn’t bother to say where the set can be purchase or what price tag the iPhone bedding set might command.
Obviously just for the lover of the iPhone, and not for rival Android fans, who no doubt would also love a bedding set sporting their little green robot, but for now at least it would appear the person simply isn’t letting on where you can get it.
However, if you are such a devoted iOS fan and simply much be able to go to sleep wrapped up in the likeness of your favourite smartphone, you can always head on over to eBay where you can place a bid for a single iPhone bedding set. Would you love to own an iPhone bedding set?
T-Mobile launches worldwide browsing bundles - mobot.net
Here's one that is very clearly long overdue. T-Mobile has unveiled new roaming boosters that cover the entire world.
We say 'overdue' because for years, operators have been offering various European boosters. All very nice, and they help keep your traveling costs down if you keep within your allocation. Problem is, for those of us who often travel outside Europe, it can be akin to being mugged the second you step off the plane.
As for these T-Mobile boosters, they start from £1 but are also pretty expensive at the other end of the scale. Nope, the following is not a typo - expect to pay up to £280 for a 50MB bundle if you travel somewhere as exotic as Qatar, Cuba or Brazil. Obviously, these are bundles at the higher end for folk who just really need to be connected, regardless.
As long time users of old T-Mobile, I have to say I'm a fan of their previous Euro tariffs. Having used them lots over the years, I've found them to be reasonable and reliable and whatsmore, they keep you in check. As do other networks, I'm sure.
Frankly, it'll be great if other networks join the party. T-Mobile starts its new tarrifs on June 19th, which is today in case you hadn't noticed. Let's hope the others follow suit soon.
Via Pocket-lint
Spotify Introduces Free Mobile Radio for iPhone, iPad - Billboard Business News
Spotify today introduced free radio streaming for iPhone and iPad users, making the site more directly competitive with online radio leader Pandora. Using internal data from Spotify's database of 16 million tracks in the U.S., Spotify will create custom radio playlists based on track, artists, albums, genres or playlists themselves. As an example of the latter, a playlist based on the current Billboard Hot 100 playlist might suggest a track like Foster the People's "Warrant," a song that hasn't charted but is similar to the songs on the playlist and also to users' own meta-data.
Spotify Play Button Launches, Aims For Ubiquity
In another Pandora-like move, Spotify's radio service comes equipped with the ability to "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" a song, which will in turn update the next track on the playlist in real time to more accurately reflect the user's listening preferences. Such additions could be useful in helping Spotify narrow the gap between its competitors -- Pandora reported 50 million active users in May (compared to Spotify's 10 million active users and 3 million paying subscribers), with 70% of usage coming from mobile devices. Prior to today's announcement, only premium users could access Spotify on a mobile device (premium users will also be able to use the new radio service on iPhone and iPad).
Spotify Lifts Limits on Free Listening in U.S.
"One of the things users kept asking us was for better discovery of new music," says Donovan Sung, product manager for Spotify. The free mobile features could also have a halo effect on other usages of the product. "There's a high correlation between time spent streaming and being a paying customer. We're just trying to improve the experience," Sung says.
Spotify Introduces First iPad App, Aims To Become 'Home Stereo'
"Liking" a song on the new Spotify playlists will automatically save the track to a special playlist so users can revisit any song they've given a "thumbs up," similar to the starred playlists users can currently create to remember their favorite tracks. A radio icon also features prominently in the middle of today's update for Apple devices -- making it "the central feature of the mobile app," Sung notes.
Spotify Developing Online Radio to Challenge Pandora (Report)
With an Android version of the new mobile app in the works (an updated, radio-free Android app debuted Monday), could a click-to-buy feature for songs be far behind? "We have to see what the users will say," Sung says. "We're constantly updating to include anything users really like."
Imagination Technologies hit by fears over reliance on Apple - Daily Telegraph
"The [share price] fall is illogical but I am not going to argue about it. 10m units [based on Imagination's designs] are being shipped every day and I see no reason for us not to hit the 1bn target."
Mr Yassaie said Imagination's "smart" technologies are "being adopted more widely across new and existing partners" and that the company it is seeing significant growth in demand for tablets, as well as from China in the current financial year.
Revenues from its Pure digital radios rose £1m to £29.3m, as an increase in demand overseas offset "softness" in the UK market.
T-Mobile slashes data roaming prices for EU - The Guardian
T-Mobile has unveiled details of a market-leading tariff for consumers who want access to the internet through mobile phones while overseas, and announced plans that will prevent customers experiencing "bill shock" when they return from travelling.
The cost of using your mobile phone to access the internet is set to fall dramatically across Europe from 1 July following implementation of rules to stop UK mobile providers setting excessive charges.
It means holidaymakers may finally be able to chat to friends on Facebook or watch YouTube on the beach without breaking the bank.
Some consumers have suffered bill shock after unwittingly running-up charges amounting to thousands of pounds while on holiday, after leaving data-hungry smartphone apps running in the background.
Source: consumerchoices.co.uk However, mobile providers are introducing lower roaming charges and deals on data allowances in anticipation of tighter pricing controls.
T-Mobile will allow customers to buy "booster" deals, based on how much data they wish to use, and will completely block overseas internet usage until customers purchase one of the new packages (available from 19 June).
Comparison site Broadband Choices said T-Mobile was the best option for consumers wishing to use the internet briefly, buying 3MB worth of data for just £1 or 33p per MB.
However heavy internet users might find other tariffs cheaper than T-mobile's larger bundles, which are priced at £5 for 20MB and £10 for 50MB (both have time limits).
Three is offering an "all-you-can-eat" tariff, the Euro Internet Pass, for £5, while Vodafone will allow customers to use their existing UK plan overseas for an extra £3 a day.
However Three's Euro Internet Pass will not allow streaming or tethering – where a mobile is linked to a laptop to enable internet access.
For frequent travellers Virgin Mobile's new data passes, available from 25 June2012, are valid for three months or until the data is used up, so there is no need to use all the data allowance within 24 hours. This makes the £3 charge for 5MB or £5 for 10MB reasonably cost effective.
A megabyte of data is equivalent to accessing eight normal web pages or 200 emails without attachments, according to Which?. You would need 10MB to download one music track.
The Guardian has reported on several cases of mobile bill shock in recent weeks, including that of Alexandra Xanthaki, who faced a £2,600 bill after using an iPhone app to find restaurants on a short trip abroad.
Consumers can also end up considerably out of pocket if their phone is stolen. Johan Potgieter, was landed with a £9,000 bill from Orange after thieves stole his phone while he was on holiday in South Africa.
The EU ruling caps charges imposed by UK network providers for overseas roaming.
From 1 July, the cost of data can be no more than €0.70 per MB, plus VAT, which is around 69p. This will then fall to 45 cents plus VAT, around 36p, in July 2013 and 20 cents plus VAT (around 16p) in July 2014 – vastly cheaper than some UK providers' current European rates.
Orange, for example, charges £3.07 per MB if you want to surf the net in Europe, while Three's pre-EU ruling fee is £1.28 per MB.
But some of the new pricing plans are not straightforward , with some only available to contract customers, leaving pay-as-you-go users facing higher costs, while others penalise light internet users.
Dominic Baliszewski from Broadband Choices said: "Even with these new lower costs, charges can quickly rack up. A £3 charge is still a lot if you're only using 1MB to quickly check your emails. A £3 data charge per day will cost £42 if used daily over a two week trip."
The EU rule does not affect the prices providers can charge for data roaming outside the European Union but from 1 July, people travelling further afield will at least get a warning text message, email or pop-up window from their mobile provider when they are nearing €50 of data downloads, or their pre-agreed level. Consumers will then have to confirm they are happy to go over this level in order to continue their data roaming.
The iPhone Turns Five Next Friday - Forbes
Image via CrunchBase
The iPhone turns five on June 29th. This isn’t something I have marked on my personal calendar by the way–I am not that far gone about the device–it was brought to my attention courtesy Gazelle, a consumer electronics trade-in site when it reported on the findings of a recent survey.
So these surveys tend to be a bit self-serving and, not to pick on Gazelle or the gadget community, are common to just about every industry. In other words, take the following with a dash or two of salt.
Gazelle found that the majority of respondents (65%) cannot live without their iPhones, while only one percent say the same about Facebook. (Here I must digress to note that Facebook has been getting panned in a number of surveys lately to the point of piling on. Best example: two days before Facebook’s IPO, AP and CNBC released a survey that found that half of Americans see the social network as a fad).
Nearly 15% of Gazelle’s respondents also say they would rather give up sex than go without their iPhone for a weekend, which makes me wonder about some of my fellow iPhone owners (although to be fair the survey is unclear–does it mean no sex forever, or just none for the weekend in question?).
Changing Manners
Where the survey does ring very true is its observations about how the iPhone has changed manners and social expectations. Actually this can be attributed to all handhelds now, but since the iPhone was the first wildly popular consumer smartphone it gets the honors.
It found that more than 25% of survey respondents “almost always” use their iPhone in a social setting such as during a meal or while at a party and a combined 58% of respondents say they use their iPhone in a social setting either “usually” or “occasionally”.
BYOD Meets the iPhone at a Client Lunch
Here’s my question: as BYOD becomes more a matter of practice and not just a trend, how much will our love affair with the iPhone and other devices change business etiquette as well?
We’re already surreptitiously peeking at our phones during staff meetings (guilty), conferences (heck yes) and webinars our editors insist we watch (that goes without saying).
Is the day coming when we whip out our devices during lunch with a client or a sales prospect? A brief pause during a job interview maybe? My guess is that day is not too far off. I recently interviewed someone who told me he has actually seen some prospective job candidates get antsy when they learn they may not be able to use their own devices at work.
I can understand kicking up a fuss over a no-frills health insurance policy, but come on people. I wonder what we will be like when the iPhone turns ten.
O2′s cross-platform chat app Tu Me hits Android - Euro Droid
Telefonica, which we know here as the owner of mobile network O2, has launched an Android app called Tu Me, which offers users of phones across all UK networks a way to chat, send photos of cats, make excuses about not being on time and so on within a nice little app.
If you can convince someone else to install the Tu Me app you’re then able to make and send free calls and texts between the two you, using your phone’s data allowance or a wi-fi connection, plus Telefonica says it supports “HD sound” for voice calls.
Clare, I’m busy. And I’ve told you not to use this number. Tu Me is free and on the Play Store here. It looks nice and was pretty well received on iOS last month.
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