Some of the networks are still to announce their iPhone 4 tariffs but let’s   look at the  that are being talked about.

If you want a free Orange iPhone 4 16GB on a 24 month contract then you will have to fork out £75 a month. Ouch! The cheapest alternative if you want a contract iPhone 4 on Orange is to pay £169 for the iPhone 4 on a £30 a month deal, which will give you 150 minutes, 250 texts and unlimited data. You can also add tethering from £5 a month

Vodafone have not yet officially released their iPhone 4 tariffs but the rumours are that an iPhone 4 on Vodafone will cost from £35 a month with the 16GB handset costing £89. It looks like the Vodafone iPhone 4 deals will be cheaper generally, which is good news all round.

By contrast, the obvious limitation of getting an iPhone on O2 is that they are not currently offering unlimited data. O2 iPhone 4 data packages start at 500MB and go up to 1GB, which should be more than enough for most people. Taking a 24 month iPhone 4 deal for comparison, £25 month will get you 100 minutes at the 500MB level, increasing to £60 if you feel you need 1GB.

Don’t discount the iPhone 4 on O2 though, you might also want to look at their Simplicity range; top up £10-14 per month and grab 300 texts with the 500MB data deal for example. That is the best starting point and it is easy enough to change tariff once each month.

As the number of iPhone 4 deals on the market increases, the number of iPhone apps increases and the number of iPhones out there increases, the Apple iPhone success story just goes from strength to strength.

Apple are congratulating themselves on what they are calling their most successful launch and claim they could have sold more iPhone 4 deals had stock been available. 1.7 million in a matter of days is nothing short of a miracle given the state of the economy but it just goes to show the power of the Apple marketing machine. Even the 3G and 3GS only sold 1 million in the days after release.

Perhaps, given those volumes, the teething problems that some users have experienced were inevitable. Were similar problems encountered with the 3G or 3Gs or even the iPad though? Not that we can recall, so is the iPhone 4 release really a total success if you move away from the numbers? On balance, the answer has to be yes, the iPhone 4 is one heck of a bit of kit. 

The demand for the iPhone is going to increase as app developers are becoming more customer focused and providing apps for every niche of the market; therefore, the iPhone success juggernaught does not look to be slowing down.

 iPhone deals are presently available in the UK with Vodafone (Vodafone iPhone), Orange (Orange iPhone) and O2 (O2 iPhone)…all of these deals are available with the Carphone Warehouse and other suppliers.

Apple launched the iPad in the UK in May 2010, where it has been a dramatic success since this launch. able. The research suggests that consumers interested in purchasing the iPad or the more technology minded end of the market, aware of both it’s capabilities and it’s “geek chic” reputation.  

It is really interesting that consumers are demand for the 64GB the highest spec iPad as this will provide a bonus for app developers.  The huge demand for the Apple iPad was expected by the tech community with the success of the iPod.

As for protecting Apple’s latest device, the most popular choice of iPad case is in neoprene material, with rubber and leather being the 2nd and 3rd choices. Top iPad case colours are brown, pink and purple.

The Apple iPad is only likely to go from strength to strength, with additional models undoubtedly around the corner and hundreds of new Apps arriving for the iPad format every month.

Developers have rushed to modify iPhone apps for the iPad and take advantage of the  9.7-inch screen.

Book, newspaper and magazine publishers have joined in and it’s recognised iPad as a counterbalance to Amazon’s popular Kindle e-book reader.

The iPad only has  four buttons: an on/off button on the top edge, volume buttons (and a screen rotation lock) on the top right edge, and a recessed “home” button below the screen.  There is a standard headphone socket but no external expansion ports other than the dock connector.

The iPad is a great device for viewing video, digital photos and electronic books. Of course you can do all these things an iPhone or iPod Touch. But it is much easier to watch a film on the iPad’s big high-definition screen, or read a book using Apple’s beautifully designed free iBooks reader app.

Some of the biggest contributors to video on the iPad could prove to be the print-oriented news media. They have less invested in traditional forms of video distribution and graver concerns than entertainment companies about their industry’s health.

The iPad does not support multiple applications running at the same time, or multi-tasking another is that it cannot support Adobe Flash, this seems a bid odd as there is a high number of Flash sites on the web to display video.

Because of the size and weight (it is light weight) of the iPad it is is a handy bit of kit for your checking and replying to your e-mail and it has an internal rechargeable battery which lasts over 10 hours which is better than most netbooks annd laptops.

The iPad is a feature rich device which will only get better over time, remember that the iPhone didn’t have that many apps to start with, just wait until applications are developed specifically for the big iPad screen.

The revamped gadget has a stainless steel case, two cameras, improved display and is 24% thinner than the most recent version.

Apple boss Steve Jobs said the redesign was the “biggest leap” it had taken since the launch of the first iPhone.

The new iPhone now includes two cameras – one on the front and one on the back – and allows people to video-chat, although only when it is connected to wi-fi. It also supports high-definition video.

Other extras added to the phone include a gyroscope which, when coupled with the existing accelerometer and compass, gives it six-axis motion sensing. This allows people to control games and apps by waving the handset.

The 4th release of the iPhone includes an update to the iPhone’s operating system, which is now called iOS.  This operating system update gives the iPhone ability to have more than one application running at a time, which is handy for all those iPhone apps.

Another change adds Bing as a search choice on the phone, although Google remains the default option.

A leading market research firm believes that the iPhone now has around 15% of the smartphone market, behind Blackberry and market-leader Symbian with Google’s Android operating system has around 10% followed by Microsoft’s Window’s mobile with around 7% market share.

Despite Apple’s position in the smartphone market, analysts warn of stiffer competition especially from Google.  The rise of Google Android over the last two years has been huge and is allowing manufacturers to create appealing alternatives to the iPhone at cheaper prices.

UK shoppers were initially told they would only have to wait until late March for the device but Apple subsequently moved the release date to late April. The release date was then delayed once again, being pushed back to late May.

Apple has not given a reason for this latest delay, except to say “demand has been off the charts”, leading to speculation the UK may have already sold out of its allocation of iPads.

The shipping date for the iPad in the UK has been put back: previously listed for 28 May, the Apple online store now says the tablets will ship from 7 June.

The delayed shipping date will only apply to new orders, however – those who have already pre-ordered an iPad can expect to see the device arrive on 28 May as planned.

Its new “Kin” range of mobile phones have slide-out qwerty keyboards.

Microsoft has been in the mobile phone market for almost a decade but has consistently failed to grab anything like the market share it has enjoyed in the PC world. Its share of the US smartphone market dropped to 15.1% in February from 19.1% in November, while Google’s Android platform has 9%, up from 3.8%, and Apple maintained its quarter share of the market, according to figures from Comscore.

Earlier this year Google launched its own phone, the Nexus One. It is manufactured by HTC but Google has controlled exactly how the device looks and works.

In a similar manner, the Kin devices are manufactured by Sharp but Microsoft has control over the software, online services and hardware. The phones are designed to make it easy for users to access Microsoft’s online services – including search engine Bing – as well as publish and share information with their contacts.

In the US the devices will be available on Verizon Wireless while in Europe, Vodafone will launch them in the autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, with further markets to follow before the end of 2010.

Mobile social networking is increasingly having strong appeal for our customers. KIN has a unique and intuitive way of engaging with the user, enabling them easily to share experiences and stay in touch with their friends.

Pricing information and local availability dates will be announced by the markets closer to the launch date.

Of the two devices the Kin One is the smaller and has a 5 megapixel camera – the same as the Nexus One and better than the camera in the iPhone. The larger Kin Two has an 8 mega-pixel camera and can take high definition video.

Calling a mobile in the UK is set to get cheaper from next year. Today telecoms regulator Ofcom announced it will pass a ruling to cut mobile termination rates, the cost a network charges to connect a call from a landline or another network.

 If network operators pay less in termination rates, they can decrease the charge consumers pay to make mobile calls.

 Kevin Russell, CEO of 3UK said: “Consumers will benefit from better deals and we’ll cut our prices significantly over the next two years.” 

The ruling follows the campaign lead by BT and 3 about relating to mobile termination rates. As mobile termination rates are charged by the network receiving the call, to the network making the call, BT and 3, as the UK’s smallest major operator, pay a larger portion in mobile termination rates.

 Meanwhile, larger operators that get more revenue from mobile termination rates are less pleased. Orange said it was a ‘backward step for Britain’ and that as a result, the drop in revenue might have to be offset by other means: “Handsets may no longer be subsidised, you may have to pay to receive calls and the rollout of Digital Britain and other network investment may be stalled considerably.”

 The rate cuts will roll out from later this year on a glide path, with consumers seeing the full benefits by 2015.

Apple has declared that it is now “the first and only VoIP application that functions on the iPhone and iPod touch over cellular 3G networks.” Regardless, there is now at least one app on the market that can make 3G VoIP phone calls possible on the iPhone.

We knew this was coming. At the CTIA conference in October, the American telecoms carrier AT&T confirmed that would provide functionality to support cheap VoIP over 3G for the iPhone.

Now that the restriction have been lifted, you can expect Skype and possibly Vonage to soon work over mobile 3G networks.  This is a fantastic revelation could mean cheap mobile phone calls in the future with VoIP functionality over their Apple iPhone and possibly other Smartphones by makers such as Nokia, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson and Samsung.

But another possibity with this application which is available on the iPhone is that it will also be available to the iPad, which could mean cheap VoIP calls on the iPhone, the iPad and other Smartphones in the future such as the Blackberry….what a cool money saving prospect.

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