Jai: UK Apple Store Closed

While looking at the store to gather information on the iMacs and Mac Mini's I came across our favourite sticky label. What are they doing? New Mac Mini... All we can do is hope!

Jai: Dull Mac Mini and iMac to get a new look?

The beloved Mac Mini that gets a lot stick for being the 'odd' one out is on sight for a new look says rumour sites...

With a drop in sales on the Mac Mini and iMac, Apple bosses are thinking of a radicle way to make this problem child, a STAR! While the MacBook and Macbook Pro Range make it big, Apple have seemed to neglect the poor mini in passed years, it just makes you wonder why?

My Prediction is that there will be an update for the mini, with addition to a price drop... I hope! As for the iMac I would like to see an SD Slot to the side.

That is all from me but watch this space.

Ryan: Vodafone UK also to offer the iPhone 3G and 3GS

The move came the day after rival Orange became the first operator to break into O2's exclusive deal.
Without securing the rights to the iPhone, Vodafone face the prospect of loosing hudreds of thousands of customers to other rivals O2 and Orange. Its believed that Vodafone may have lost 159,000 customers in the last quarter due to the iPhone.
Its expected that both Vodafone and Orange will be selling the device by the end of the year.
Virgin mobile are also understood to be desperate to secure the rights to sell the iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/user/newmacgeek

Jon: iPhone now on Orange too

So as from today the iPhone in the UK now has two carriers you can get the phone on. Jai spoke about this possibly happening a while back, but today it was confirmed. it doesn't seem that they have taken their time in agreeing with this as they haven't agreed any price plans or pricing for the hand set, they haven't even released a launch date (they probably have, but I think they are just building the hype up). Though if you are already on Orange you can sign up to get information about the tariff you may be interested in, be that pay monthly, pay as you go, or business. This can only inject some competition to the UK market of the iPhone.

This news comes not long after we heard about Orange and T-mobile merging and I can only wonder if T-mobile customers will be able to get the same treatment as those on Orange. Only time will tell.

So I'm sure there will be loads more stories and blogs to come from us all about this good news.

http://www.youtube.com/superjon92

Ryan: Palm Pre coming to Europe on October 13

As promised O2 is bringing the GSM version of the Palm Pre to the lucky people of Europe and by mid-October you can have it too. So far, O2 Germany, UK and Ireland websites have information about the upcoming release. Strangely enough Movistar that should be offering the Pre in Spain is still quiet about it.

Movistar was supposed to offer the Palm Pre in Spain and it was sort of implied that they will release it at about the same time as O2. Well maybe they just forgot to put up the announcement. At any rate, O2 Germany seems to be releasing it first - October 13th, while O2 UK will offer it three days later.O2 Ireland doesn't list a specific date but they do have info on the tariffs.

Here's the rundown - the British can get the Pre on a 30 pounds a month eighteen-month contract for 97 pounds, or for free for either 44 or 34 pounds a month (18 and 24 month contracts respectively). All these contracts include unlimited network data and Wi-Fi access. You can get it directly from O2 stores (including the online store), or through Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U.

Ryan: iPhone 3G to 3GS upgrade trick (must see)

So its here and you want it, bad! Apples latest iPhone the "3GS" But you were one of the many early adopters of the iPhone 3G and as a result you are contracted until early next year!

Don't despair, there is away you can get your iPhone 3GS today in an easy and convenient way. Now rather than droping the £440 on a prepay version O2 will let you process and early/forced upgrade, if you are spending over £80 a mont you will get an upgrade 6 months early meaning you can go grab yourself one now! But what about the rest of us? Well O2 are quietly letting people pay a cess fee and upgrade early, But that is still money out of your pocket. There is 2 ways around this -

1. Sell your existing iPhone on ebay to make up the cess fee to upgrade early, the only problem with this is the hassle of the sale and having to ship the item and wait for a paypal payment to clear.

2. This is a much more attractive idea, walk straight past your local O2 store and head down to Carphone Warehouse! they will buy your old iPhone off you to cover all or at least most of the cost of your cess fee! meaning no hassle, no posting just sorted there an then!

iPhone 3GS's for all!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/newmacgeek

Ryan: Twitter Slang

Twitter is taking the world by storm! This week the oldest person who "tweets" on twitter celebrated her 105th birthday! But the question is do you know your stuff? here is your guide to twitter slang..



Twictionary
ATTWACTION a crush on another twitterer.
BLOCK to stop someones tweets appearing in your feed.
DM direct message.
DWEET tweet sent while drunk.
EGOTWEETICAL someone who tweets about themselves too much.
FAIL WHALE the friendly whale character that appears on Twitter when the
website is down.
FOLLOWER user who follows another persons tweets.
HANDLE your Twitter name, beginning with @ e.g. @joebloggs.
ILLTWITERATE someone who doesnt understand Twitter.
IM instant message.
MICRO-BLOGGING another phrase for tweeting.
MISTWEET an error in a tweet, or a tweet you later regret.
NUDGE a friendly reminder to someone to update their profile.
QWITTER someone who stops using Twitter.
RETWEET posting something already posted by another user.
SPEETS spam tweets.
TWADD to add someone as a follower.
TWADDLE boring tweets.
TWAGGLE gaggle of followers.
TWEAVESDROPPING reading strangers Twitter conversations.
TWEEK Twitter geek.
TWEET a post on Twitter.
TWEETERITIS injury caused by too much twittering, e.g. sore fingers.
TWEETHEART someone you fall in love with while tweeting.
TWEETOUT to sign out.
TWENDY something trendy on Twitter.
TWIRTING flirting on Twitter.
TWITCH the need to tweet.
TWITLIT stories or poems posted via Twitter.
TWITTERATI the A-list celebrity twitterers.
TWITTICISM a witty tweet.
140er a tweet that uses exactly the maximum 140 characters.

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Ryan: LG BL40 New Chocolate, here soon!

The unorthodox long shape definitely sets it apart and the glossy black plastic with careful touches of silver trim easily remind of the times we first saw the LG Chocolate in flesh. The LG BL40 New Chocolate is immensely sleek and the 4-inch screen with great quality easily makes it one of the most unusual mobile phones that have set foot on the newmacgeek news feed.

Unlike some other fashionable handsets out there, the LG BL40 New Chocolate beauty is not skin deep - the hardware has all the bells and whistles a modern high-end gadget should have. the BL40 New Chocolate S-class user interface offers convenient multitasking and is polished to match the sleek exterior.

We should see the new LG hitting our shops in the next week or so and i cant wait!

http://www.youtube.com/user/newmacgeek

Jon: iTunes 09 Overview

So iTunes 9 was released at the recent apple media event on the 9/9/09 and has brought with it some great new features. Features I think have no doubt improved it hugely.

The first main difference you will see is the interface. It's now a lot lighter than the other windows are in leopard or snow leopard, also in grid view the background is now white rather than black which I'm not a big fan of but it is growing on me. I think this is a key step towards what 10.7 could look like? Everything seems more defined, buttons seem to have more depth to them, along with the new scrub bar in the top and the new media controls when playing video through iTunes which bring the theme through from QuickTime X. Again a step forward for people using Snow Leopard.

Genius has been updated which is something I've actually been expecting for a while. I at one time had every artist in their own playlist, that was until recently when I sorted though it all, now I hardly use playlists unless creating a audio CD or once I had created a genius playlist. Now it's a simple click away and they are kept within the sub-catagory for Genius. This is something I can see myself using a lot more now.

Another section of iTunes that has changed is the iTunes Store. The iTunes store has improved so much it's actually hard to put into words. This has been coming for a long time. It's now so much faster to find what you're looking for, everything appears to be so much snappier than before. Artists will now have pages designed and laid out better for them. A new feature is being introduced in the form of iTunes LPs. These are special editions of artists work which will include art work, information which would normally only come with a special edition hard copy. One last thing is movies and TV shows (more movies), will have extras now included just like buying or renting a DVD which wasn't available before.

Home Sharing is the last feature I'm going to talk about. In previous versions of iTunes you were able to share music over a LAN (Local Area Network) which allowed other people who were given permission or access your music content and play it, basically streaming it from your computer to theirs. Now with Home Sharing you are able (with the other person running iTunes 9) to copy music and other media content across to their computers. Then disconnect and play that media. As far as I know it's only purchased items you are able to do this with and they have to have your iTunes account information to copy it across to keep but other than that it will work just like the old sharing feature did. And if you have two computers on your network, one running Snow Leopard and the other not you can still use the old sharing feature too, that hasn't gone missing in the upgrade.

So to conclude this blog, I hope that I have educated some of you to what's new in iTunes 9 and for my first blog for newmacgeek, I hope I've done a good job. And if I've missed any new features out then don't shoot me, I haven't been using it for very long.

Don't forget to keep checking back for more tech news!

http://www.youtube.com/superjon92

Jai: O2 loosing iPhone Exclusivity?

Yes this is the story that has been around for a while now, but newmacgeek has been told that it maybe very soon that rival companies will be able to get a piece of iphone goodness. This has been expressed by the recent signing to an exclusive deal to sell the Palm Pre (Apples Enemy... well one of).

So what does that mean for the consumer? Well GOOD news of course, this will allow you all to look and shop around to get the best price for you.

I do believe that this is a good move for all use iphone users, as it now means that we have control over our device. Instead of apple dictating what network we have to use to gain them more and more profits. To be honest I feel liberated and I might ever do a little dance.

However it is not good news for the whole world... well O2 at least. With the invitation for other networks to sell at a cheaper rate this could mean a loss to O2 profits.

So what will this mean to you if this happens? Leave a comment. Oh can I also remind you that an Ofcom report did say that O2 delivers the least broad coverage in the UK compared to the five major networks.

Finally just a note the main networks that will take the light will be T-Mobile and Orange.
Keep your eyes peeled to newmacgeek.com for more details.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jaihill

Ryan: 3UK introduces mobile hotspot (Mi-Fi)

The UK’s disruptive mobile operator, 3 UK, has unveiled plans to bring a mobile hotspot device to the country later this month via The Carphone Warehouse and Retail stores.

The Mobile wifi device, known as ‘MiFi’, is not the same MiFi unit that is manufactured by US firm Novatel Wireless as telecoms.com originally reported. 3’s ‘MiFi’, which we shall now refer to as Mobile Wifi, is a branded Huawei E5830 wireless modem that does a very similar job to the Novatel device.

The unit is a pocket sized box that runs off batteries or mains and can connect a handful of wifi powered devices with a cellular backhaul connection (HSPA in this case) – a sort of 3G dongle on steroids.

Prices are TBC, But i see its as a great investment as it can be used as a shared connection with upto 5 devices.

Uses...

1. Taxi/limo drivers - To offer free wifi to clients
2. Students - to share the connection and cost of an effective mobile connection
3. iPod touch owners - mobile connection to browse the net and use SKYPE!
4. mobile games - iPod touch, PSP & Nintendo DS
5. Reps - the perfect way to showcase your new wireless products

Ryan: Apple Event, iTunes 9 and new iPods

Apple CEO Steve Jobs appeared on stage at an event in San Francisco!
Im sure we all welcome him back in the public eye!

iPod Nano.
The video-capable camera has been added to the back of the iPod nano in its lower right corner. Video clips can be viewed on the nano device itself or synced directly to a computer via iTunes, from where they can be uploaded directly to YouTube.

We also saw a size increase in the iPod touch and the iPod classic (not discontinued as first thought)

The was also the announcement that to date there has been 1.8 billion applications from the iTunes App store.

Apple also announced a new version of its iTunes software, iTunes 9. Among its new features are the ability to share song and media info via Facebook and Twitter. The new iTunes will also allow users to copy songs between as many as five computers in a single household. The store will also offer some 30,000 ringtones at a price of $1.29 each.

http://www.youtube.com/user/newmacgeek/

Ryan: T-Mobile UK and Orange UK start merging

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom announced today they will be combining T-Mobile UK and Orange UK into a new joint-venture company. The resulting entity will become the UK's leading mobile carrier with 28.4 million large customer base, representing approximately 37% of UK mobile subscribers.

• Deal expected to lead to significant job losses
• Venture will operate under one name by 2012
• 5,000 fewer mobile phone masts needed

http://www.youtube.com/user/newmacgeek/

Ryan: newmacgeek.com relaunch

This is the first post in our newmacgeek tech news section! please return soon to see the latest updates from the tech community!
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