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MacFormat Relaunch

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:51:11 -0500

On the other side of the Atlantic ocean is little island nation known as Great Britain. That tiny nation of funny-named food and wrong-side-of-the-street driving, is home to our sister publication, MacFormat. It's like Mac|Life but with Jaffa Cakes, fish and chips, and tea.

Well the fine people at MacFormat have relaunched their site with all the gusto of a cricket team, doing whatever cricket teams do when they win a game.

Check out the new site and you can download a PDF of their "200 unmissable Mac tips."

While you're there, use the word pants in the comments section. They love that word.

T-Mobile UK Allows Users To Upgrade To iPhone

Cory Bohon — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:22:44 -0500

If you're an unhappy T-Mobile customer in the UK, they might allow you to upgrade to an iPhone even though they're not an authorized carrier of the phone. According to MacNN, T-Mobile UK started distributing the unlocked iPhone 3Gs in an attempt to stop customers from leaving the company for other carriers.

To take advantage of the deal, you must be a customer paying over £75 a month. Oh, and only 50 T-Mobile agents are authorized to do the deal, and can only offer three units per week. If there is a rush to acquire one of the coveted T-Mobile iPhones, it could end up getting ugly.

It's alleged that T-Mobile isn't advertising the deal because they are acquiring the iPhones from a third-party distributor, and this might upset Apple and could jeopardize alleged upcoming negotiations to carry the iPhone in the UK.

UK iPhone Soon Availble at T-Mobile?

JC Domingo — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:02:21 -0500

T-Mobile UK told The Register that they are talking with Apple about securing the iPhone 3G on their network in as little as a few months. O2 still seems to be secure as the exclusive iPhone 3GS supplier for the British Isle.

Like AT&T’s relationship with Apple, O2 has had exclusive rights to the iPhone since 2007. Rumors in the US indicate that the device will not be available for other carriers until 2011, when the 4G network is emerges.

If the iPhone were to be available on another carrier, which would you choose?

Pay-As-You-Go iPhone in the UK

John Pitko — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:02:47 -0600

Apple UK announced today its first Pay as you Go iPhone 3G with prices ranging from £342.50 ($500) for the 8GB model and £391.45 ($570) for the 16GB.

Apple, and exclusive iPhone UK carrier, O2 started laying out plans earlier this year to bring this much demanded product to the UK in a Pay-As-You-Go version.

Now a reality, the plans will include unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12 months after you activate your iPhone, but limited to only the UK area. After the first 12 months, the data plan changes to £10 per month.

Customers in the market for one of these must complete the following steps:

- Purchase an iPhone 3G from the Apple Online Store.
- Connect iPhone 3G to your computer, which opens iTunes. Follow the on screen instructions to set up your iPhone 3G.
- On your iPhone 3G, change the data settings (see Activation), then top up by a minimum of £10 to activate your iPhone.

Seems simple enough. Now if we could only get that deal here in the United States.

UK Yanks a Commercial from the Yanks

Florence Ion — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:59:58 -0500

The BBC reported today that the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (they have one of those?) has blocked an iPhone commercial from appearing on the air to keep it from misleading consumers about the capabilities of the device.

The ad claimed that “all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone," but the ASA argued that without Flash and Java, the iPhone is futile—or, at least incapable of accessing the internet “in its full glory,” according to spokesperson Olivia Campbell. The ASA also ruled that the commercial “gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone”, but Apple contested, saying that it never guaranteed that plug-ins would be available.

The commercial will remain banned, as Apple has no plans to modify the ad for the U.K.

Rumor: O2 To Pre-Approve iPhone 3G Buyers

Lisa Weddle — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:55:02 -0500

Not to be outdone by AT&T’s rumored 8AM iPhone 3G launch in the US, the UK’s O2 is now reportedly set to open their stores at 7AM, an hour earlier than usual, on July 11 to eager customers.

This rumor comes second hand from a poster in the Mac Rumors forum who claims to have received the information from an O2 employee. According to the employee, O2 will be signing up customers for iPhone 3G service starting July 1. By July 11, the credit check and service contract would be in place so users can waltz into their local O2 store and pick up their new iPhone.

The source also claims that O2 stores will be receiving shipments of 5,000 iPhone 3G’s per location. That’s a mighty number, causing some to question the validity of the source. Although the employee also states that O2 stores received the same number for the original iPhone launch in November.

If the winners in this picture are O2 customers, then the losers are the UK Apple stores. Because there is no O2 account activation system and a lack of proper training for employees, Apple may be forced to sell only pre-paid iPhones in their stores.

Via AppleInsider

iPhone 3G Data Roaming -- Surprise, It's Pricey

Lisa Weddle — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:06:23 -0500

The Times Online warns UK iPhone users of the high price of downloading data outside of the country. Apple’s UK partner, service provider O2, allows unlimited downloads within the country, but once abroad downloading fees are applied. Charges range from £3 (roughly $6) per MB on data downloaded in the EU to £6 in the rest of the world.

Data download fees are nothing new. But iPhone users are particularly susceptible to the fees because of the iPhone’s fast download speeds and large screen make it so darn fun and easy.

Video is not the only culprit, music downloads will cost an overseas Brit as well. Steve Weller of Uswitch told The Times Online that downloading a single track within the EU would cost the user about £9 and £18 (about $35) globally. That’s a pretty penny for that new Coldplay album!

There are options for those who want to download date around the world. O2 offers several options including a 50MB package that costs £50 per month.

Remember, the iPhone has a Data Roaming Off switch in Settings>General>Network, in case you find yourself in another country. American iPhone owners can also sign up for the global data plan from AT&T if they plan on spending a substantial amount of time out of the country and can't live without YouTube in their pocket.

UK Interest in iPhone 3G Increases

Roberto Baldwin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:21:38 -0500

According to O2, consumer interest in the iPhone 3G in the UK has eclipsed interest in the current by an unprecedented rate.

Well, maybe not unprecedented when you realize that the iPhone 3G can be had for free in the UK on the O2 mobile network.

More than 130,000 people have pre-registered their interest in the new iPhone. Compared to the 35,000 people who pre-registered for the original iPhone and it seems the iPhone 3G could be a huge hit in the UK.

The iPhone 3G will hit the British Isle on July 11.