I bet that volcano in Iceland must seem tame compared to the reaction of Steve Jobs after hearing this news. A few weeks ago Gray Powell, a (now probably sacked) software engineer at Apple, left the new iPhone at a bar in northern California.

Apparently the guy who found it did his utmost *cough, bullshit, cough* to get the phone back to Apple before selling it for FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS to the super-blog Gizmodo. It seems to have been a great investment, the story is now rocking over 10 million views on Gizmodo alone, with the sort of global coverage that would give Nokia wet dreams.

As you can see from the picture, it’s a big change from the usual iPhone styling, now it’s entirely flat and less tacky looking. Apple have also made it smaller in size with a bigger battery.

Here are some of the main features:

• Front-facing video chat camera. See my iPhone video calling post.
• Improved regular back-camera.
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. The general concenous is that it’s 960×640, making it riduculous close to some netbooks.

No word on whether it has NFC yet, but the guys at Newtoy make a great point:

Gizmodo reckon that the back of the device is now made of glass or ceramic material, which would enable a stronger cell signal, but also potentially allow for an RFID signal to be ‘read’ or transmitted more effectively across the device.

However Gizmodo are getting their moneyz worth by publishing more revelations over the next couple of days like some sort of tabloid Premiership roasting scandal.

The phone isn’t due to be released for a few months yet but this totally kills any decent ‘wow’ factor that Jobs was hoping for at the official announcement. He must be fuuuming!

Part of me wants this to be different from the final version sold in shops, I feel slightly underwhelmed after seeing all those funky patents Apple registered. Whether this is one big prank by Apple or their worst leak ever, one thing is for sure, consumers and the media care far more about their products then any other manufacturer.

More pictures and videos over at Gizmodo.

Let’s face it, there is only one manufacturer that can create mass adoption of NFC services and devices, they are called Apple.

The NFC market today is in its infancy, a few shops are installing terminals BUT I guarantee you that if the following patents filed by Apple are due to appear in the next iPhone, then we’ll see the rapid uptake of contactless technology by retailers, appliance manufacturers and rivals. This is going to be BIG.

We are talking about handset manufacturers redefining mobile advertising here.  What kind of things could happen?

• NFC enabled TVs – TV shows and adverts will become interactive. See a product you like? Just move your phone over the TV or remote and get more info/coupons/store directions right on your handset
• Apple enable mobile banners in Safari to have ‘Click to coupon’ functionality – meaning that offers and coupons from what you see online can go directly into your phones ‘wallet’ which can be redeemed at shops.

But forget payments for a moment, NFC allows you to do some incredible creative interactions with interfaces. Check out the patent diagrams that Apple have filed which show some cool executions:

• Using the accelerometer on the handset to change the orientation of what’s on the Macbook screen.
• Lock and unlock your Macbook using your iPhone.
• Unlock doors using iPhone as a keycard

And this is just tip of the iceberg stuff, can you imagine the ways developers and brands will use this? I previously thought this would feature in the iPhone in 2011, but if this happens in the summer it’s bloody exciting.

[Via ElectricPig] (Great blog)

If I had a iPhone and didn’t think phone covers were a bit silly, this would most definitely be attached to my handset.

The case is made from bamboo and hardwoods, and just so you don’t feel guilty the manufacturer Vers will plant 100 trees for every 1 tree used.

There’s loads of different colours and version for around $39.99 each , head on over to Vers to check them out.

Updated: Wrote this post last year before the iPhone 3GS launch, obviously that version didn’t have video calling or mobile tv as its core features but could that change this year? I was a thinking a bit too far ahead last year but now it seems other blogs are mentioning the same thing.

Rumours (and screenshots) are flying round featuring a front facing iPhone camera…9to5Mac has a post with all the theories. Remember the iPhone can’t save video calling on its own, operators will need to create unlimited bundles with standard tariffs otherwise it’s not going to be able to sustain the initial uplift. Maybe this is the kick start video calling needs to begin lowering prices?

Check out the new image and original post below:

The new iPhone is due to be announced soon and I have the feeling that it’s about to change the way people use (and perceive) Video Calling and mobile TV. The two services desperately need a jump start and have been poorly received by consumers for years.

As a consumer I know that Mobile TV is very appealing, I can’t tell you the amount of times I have been out and wanted to catch the football or a episode of Californication. Even at my desk, I can’t be bothered to keep turning my head to watch the plasma and would gladly have a phone in front of me with the TV on. The proposition isn’t hard for the consumer to understand, it’s TV that you love and know…on your phone. Simple.

However the price has always been far too high , I’ve found that most people don’t know that their operator offers TV and the ones that do think it’s too expensive to take up. Currently the price sits at around £3 per month on Vodafone to £8.99 per month on Orange…That’s 35% of my line rental!

Video Calling is just as expensive, on Orange it costs 50p per minute to call someone on another network. Video Calling is a service I would dip in and out of but why would I ever bother at those prices? I know many things have been listed on why video calling isn’t popular, everything from unflattering camera angles to human nature but lets face it, cost is usually king and if it was free people would use it more. Plus video calling is aching for a sprinkling of decent Apple-style user experience.

Apple certainly has the power to tell networks that it wants consumers to be given unlimited video calling and Mobile TV tariffs with new iPhones. It’s my belief  that when you take cost concerns out of the equation you can instantly change user behavior, that coupled with Apple user interface expertise could completely set a new standard for Mobile TV and Video Calling.

So would operators offer Mobile TV for free? Well we know that operators bend over backwards for Apple and news about the upgrades currently being done by networks is surfacing.

I once worked on a project which looked at inserting video ads inbetween Mobile TV programs which were different from what was being broadcast on actual TV. This meant that the ads could be more relevant for the mobile device and even use location. The ads can have mobile call to actions and click throughs which you can’t obviously do on a normal TV. Video ads generate a higher CPM than graphic and text ads so this could be the swaying point for operators.

Lets wait and see if Mobile TV and Video Calling appear on the new iPhone.

Anyway, where as the idea might be useless, check out the functionality of the augmented iPhone. You can actually USE the iPhone, it’s the first time I’ve seen this much interactivity with a object, it’s incredibly detailed.

The app was developed by Ogmento to promote the launch of iPhone by Orange Telecom Israel

As usual the comments on YouTube are classic:

In June last year, Apple released the 3.0 update which enabled long-awaited MMS functionality on the iPhone 3G. The newer iPhone 3GS shipped with MMS as standard. What affect will all these dormant iPhone have on

Lets take a look at the figures:

Video and Picture messages (MMS) usage stats for the last 3 years in the UK:

2008 total 553 million (+104 million from previous year)
2007 total 449 million (+113 million from previous year)
2006 total 336 million

These statistics can be broken down as follows in 2008:
Year on year growth (2008 vs 2007): 23% growth

As you can see the growth is pretty steady, which is great because it makes any spikes easier to spot. You would normally expect something in the region of +/- 10 million from 2008s figures for 2009.

I’ll check over the figures when they are released for any abnormalities, and do a bit of digging to see they can be attributed to the iPhone. The majority of the spike would need to be from O2 as they had exclusivity on the iPhone until late 2009.

A far cry from the MMS is dead talk hey?

What’s interesting is how much a phone with a great user experience can improve usage of traditional mobile services. If the iPhone can have a massive effect on MMS, imagine what it could do to Mobile TV and Video Calling?

Could one phone bring down the barriers that have held back these services in the past? I honestly think it can, we’ve seen how applications have been transformed with the iPhone.

In June I wrote about the potential of what the iPhone could do for video calling, although it never happened with the 3GS, the next update could prove different.

However it’s not just down to the iPhone to aid adoption of services, it’s down to operators too. Without unlimited data plans would iPhone applications have been so successful?

MMS, Mobile TV and Video Calling needs to be thrown into flat rate tariffs otherwise they will never succeed. The iPhone played a massive part in making flat rate data the norm, maybe it will have the same effect on other services.

It’s been such a long wait I was beginning to wonder if it even existed. Sekai Camera has finally launched for the iPhone.

In the summer 2008, the mobile world was buzzing with the annoucement of the application at Techcrunch 50 (a tech innovation conference). It was one of the first iPhone applications to use Augmented Reality in a way that had never been seen before.

If you haven’t heard of Sekai Camera, it uses the iPhones camera as a viewfinder to overlay tags and information onto actual objects around you. This info is pulled in from servers based on your location and the direction you are facing. It’s a interface between the real and virtual world.

Tagging is bascially just like bookmarking, only in rich multi-media way. The tags can be images, audio, text and video, they can be made by you or your community.

Check out the video below to see the demo.

If you have a iPhone, head over to the App Store to download it now by clicking here.

One of my new years resolutions is to use a paper and pencil more when designing, I often dive straight into Photoshop, which is great for the environment but is not always a good idea for a creative.

With the iPhone firmly rooted within mobile marketing strategies, more and more people are requesting iPhone apps and websites, so it makes sense to get more familiar with standard UI elements.

Check out this great iPhone metal stencil and notepad from uistencils.com. The stencil only costs $17.95 with the iPhone shaped notepad at $7.95.

UI Stencils also do a brilliant website kit with social icons and everything:

For those of you who hate pencils or want to save the environment there is always the layered iPhone UI elements Photoshop file by teehan+lax.

It’s Christmas time and ad agencies are usually about to send out their lovely little holiday messages to their clients and staff. These always have some creative flair, showcasing what that agency does best and letting the client know that their business is in good hands.

Last year Ogilvy released the Chrimbell iPhone app, the virtual Christmas-carol-playing-handbell got loads of positive reviews. Releasing it on the App Store was a genius move, not only do you show your clients that you are down with all the new technology but the exposure can win new business. Plus the rest of the public get some fun out of it too.

It’s so simple and effective. If you’re in the advertising, whether it’s mobile, digital etc this sort of stuff should be on your list. Better than a Flash e-card right?

This year Ogilvy have done it again with a White Christmas application which adds snowflakes to any photo.

And you don’t just have to go mobile, check out the video below from Christmas 2008 by AKQA, 1.8 Million views on YouTube, lots of love being shown for that too.

Ogilvy 2008 App Chrimbell Video

AKQA 2008 Christmas YouTube Video

I’ve been keeping an eye out for developments with NFC after the TV and Radio advertising concept I sketched out a while back.

I think it’s going to take someone like Apple to get NFC maintstream, there is much talk of them sticking NFC capabilities in the next iPhone after they filed a patent for such a feature.

However in the meantime, here’s the first NFC peripheral called iCarte:

“iCarteTM is ideal for iPhone users who want to use their iPhones for fast and secure contactless payments, transit payments, loyalty rewards, checking balances, top-up, discovering new services from smart posters or kiosks and exchanging information with other NFC phones. Business iPhone users can use the iCarteTM for commercial applications such as asset tracking, document tracking, healthcare, security and access control.”

Although this is nice, I doubt if consumers are going to buy NFC adapters, this stuff really needs to be built in the phone itself to work.

[Via Touch]