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I’m a bit of a gadget freak. People that know me know this. I very much like shiny things, and for some years now I’ve been a huge fan of Apple computers. It has everything I want (in particular Unix under the hood, but also the great user interface and superb reliability), and with the new Intel chips, I can even run a few Windows programs to make supporting one of my clients a bit easier. They also make an MP3 player which you might have heard of… iSomethingorother…

Anybody vaguely following the technology news will have heard about the iPhone, Apple’s long expected entry into the mobile phone market. Ever since the rumours were confirmed, I’ve been quite excited by the prospect. Not simply because I’m an Apple fanboy, but also because I’ve found almost every phone I’ve ever owned a frustrating experience in some regard. With the iPhone, it finally appears as if somebody has sat down and thought through the user experience, and done it properly. At the very least, it’ll shake up the established manufacturers. At best, it’ll turn the market upside down and give us all a great new phone.

Either way, my existing phone (a Sony Ericsson k750i) is rapidly approaching the end of it’s life. I’ve lost the charger, and need to use the USB connector to charge it. It’s battered, the “joystick” (ahaha) is barely functional, and the camera comes on at random points. It’s been a good phone, but not a great phone (other than the few days after I first received it, when any new gadget it in a Special Place in my affections). So an iPhone was always going to be on the cards.

The story was “Autumn 2007″ for the iPhone entry into European market, but rumours abound about who the partner was going to be. Analysts thought Vodafone was likely, given it’s large network. Then T-Mobile seemed likely. But The Times is now reporting that O2 are leaders in the race to sign with Apple, at least here in the UK (via Mac Rumours, and also on the BBC: So it must be true!). Have to admit I was hoping for T-Mobile, as I know they have good signal strength at home here. I’m on Orange right now, and a little fed up with some of their customer service. Vodafone’s signal in Glasgow was pants. So O2 is a bit of an unknown quantity. Given I work from home, I’m a little nervous about picking one up only to find that the signal quality is non-existent on the O2 network here. But there are ways and means through that. So if you visit, and I ask strange questions about your phone provider, now you know why

Of course, rumours are just that, but it’s fun stuff none the less. Also rumoured are 3G functionality, but that’s not something I’m too fussed about all said: Wireless does it for me most of the time. I’ll be relieved they’ll have a chance to settle any manufacturing issues by the time they get launched over here, but the reports seem good so far, but manufacturing problems can take a while to appear. Apple have had a few historical problems, although generally minor ones, and ones they’ve been happy to fix.

But anyway, providing I can put my network worries to bed, the iPhone is very much on my shopping list for this year. Providing I can keep my existing phone going for a few months longer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 7:55 am and is filed under Apple, Gadgets, Media, Newspapers, Technology, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.