Skype for iPhone & Sim Free iPhone!

Let’s tackle the first one – it has been announced that Skype will indeed be available for the iPhone, and as a free application at that!

SkypePhone

Though it has been possible to Skype on an iPhone via 3rd party tools, it’s quite a revelation that it will officially be available on the iPhone now. Along with the recent software upgrade announcement (iPhone OS 3.0), it seems like iPhone is finally acknowledging that they may have serious competition in the market.

For some such as myself who’s Mother lives in Spain, being able to Skype without using a laptop is fantastic news. The only setback is me having a 1st generation iPod Touch so I’ll have to use earphones, but still, that’s quite a revelation.

For those people with iPhones and 2nd generation iPod Touch devices it opens up a whole new world of cost free telecommunications, especially considering Play have just started selling the iPhone SIM FREE! This has been confirmed by Apple and is not just wishful thiking on Play’s part!

iPhone 'bargain'

That’s right, for the bargain price of £599.99 you can go to Play.com and get yourself a sim free iPhone. Add that to official Skype functionality and you have quite the non-O2 proposition. Of course you need a Wi-Fi connection because one of the benefits of having an iPhone on O2 is the unlimited use of Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile internet. You could always make all your calls in McDonalds!

Those with mobile contracts from other networks that do include mobile internet could find this a very tempting offer and there is always the cheaper option of the 8GB model for just £549.99!

Of course the appearance of this version of the iPhone sim free on Play just adds fuel to the rumours that there will be a new iPhone by summer.

Make my Nokia 5800 into an iPhone!

Thanks to a superb blog over at Nokia5800.net I have been introduced to a magnificent looking application for Symbian OS phones, and most recently the Nokia 5800, which turns the interface into that of an iPhone!

It's an i5800Phone!

I have an iPod Touch and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I love the interface, and that as much as I love my Nokia 5800, the interface isn’t as nice as that of the iTouch / iPhone. Thanks to the wonderful people at MyPhone I can now turn my Nokia 5800 into an iPhone BUT have a decent camera, be able to send MMS and record video footage – all for the bargain price of $12.99 (£9.41).

It’s very gimmicky, but that’s kind of thing a geek thrives on and needless to say I will be purchasing this very soon and will report back on how well it works on what will become my Nokia i5800Phone!

Marvel Motion Comics coming to iTunes

As a big comic book fan and an iPod Touch owner I’m ashamed to have missed this news story which seems to have come about over 2 weeks ago and I caught at TG Daily. As the title would suggest, there are plans for Marvel to release motion comic books via iTunes.

X-Men to iPhone

The motion comic concept is not a new one as Watchmen motion comics were released on iTunes and Amazon to help build for the film. As a big Watchmen fan I was intrigued, but then soon put off at the prospect of having to pay £1.89 an episode, or £20.99 for the whole book, of something I already own and only cost about half that in the first place.

iVerse Comics have gone down the more traditional route and released an application that allows you to view normal comics on the iPhone or iPod Touch. It actually works quite well and with titles either for Free or priced at 59p the cost is more favourable to the Watchmen motion comic. The big barrier here is the range of titles which is far from impressive. Without the likes of Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Vertigo to name but a few, the range appears very lacking in name value.

The Marvel motion comics will debut with two titles; Spider-Woman and Astonishing X-Men, with the former being exclusive to the new format until the printed version appears at a later date. I’m very intrigued, and if the price is right I could be very tempted, though I can’t help thinking that making the standard comics available in the same way that iVerse Comics have done maybe a better route to go down. It’s possible that the motion comic concept could be a step too far and the digital delivery to iPhone/Touch of the current series’ is what Marvel really should be concentrating on, like what they already do online with Marvel Digital Comics. Either way, it’s good to see marvel thinking about the ever increasing iPhone/Touch audience.