Ok, first I have to point out that IBM don’t fully support this app but it should keep users happy and, best of all, it’s free.

iNotes Ultralite was launched today Notes admins and iPhone users. At its heart, iNotes Ultralite is a web app which allows users to access Lotus Notes email through Safari on the iPhone (hopefully it’ll be more stable than IE). You’ll also need to install IBM Lotus Domino Web Access 8.0.2 on your servers.

As yet, we’re not aware of a formal deal between Apple and IBM but never rule anything out. The iPhone 3G’s support of MS Exchange has been a big hit and helped the handsets adoption in the enterprise so expect to hear more news on an IBM/Apple collaboration soon.

Update: An IBM representative has said that the two companies are working to bring the Lotus Notes Traveler software to the iPhone. ’nuff said!

Here’s the link to iNotes Ultralite

Popularity: 12% [?]

All for only $199!

German company Nero AG and Tivo have announced a collaborative software package that will allow users to record TV on their Windows box; LiquidTV. The bundle, which consists of a remote control unit and a television tuner that plugs into your PC, will be launched on October 15th with a price tag of $199.

Ok, it’s not cheap and it’s not the only TV recorder software out ther but what it does do is to bring the familiar Tivo interface to Windows. This is big news for Tivo. Currently, the only European county with Tivo subscribers is the UK. By parterning with Nero, the company looks like they’re seeking to make big inroads in the lucractive European market.

Users who already have a TV tuner in their PC are in for a bonues - Nero will be selling the Tivo software for $99 as a standalone package. For this price you’ll get a bundled one year subscription (if you want Tivo’s guide updates after 1 year you’ll have to stump up another $99).

As you’d expect,  LiquidTV allows users to transfer shows recorded on other TiVo devices in the home to the PC’s hard drive to pretty much any compatible device. You’ll also be able to burn programmes shows onto DVDs courtesy of the Nero burning software.

I’ve been a fan of Tivo since I managed to get hold of a box about 4 years ago. I have to admit that it’s actually pretty good and I know that $99 isn’t much but there are cheaper options (Vista includes a free programme guide).

I’ve also got a MythTV box that gives me all the functionality I need and is free (well, apart from the time and hardware needed to build it!). Admittedly, this option is far to complex and time consuming for the average viewer who just wants to point, click and watch and this is what Tivo are counting on. A familiar, simple to use interface for less than $100 per year - it’s probably going to be a winner.

Popularity: 37% [?]

Marriage of convenience?

Android’s here and it seems like everyman and his handset is going pie eyed over the open source mobile phone software - including Motorola. To be fair, Mototola has been a supporter of Android since the early days but now they’re really starting to show their commitment. Motorola are upping the number of Android development team from 50 to 350. This indicates a serious attempt to unseat Apples iPhone 3G as THE target for web developers.  As we all know, the better the app the more likely the phone will be adopte as the choice of users.

The most notable absence from the Android huddle is Nokia. The mobile phone manufacturer currently uses it’s own OS for mobile phones; Symbian. Although Nokia has open sourced Symbian other vendors are slowly chipping away at the market dominance of Nokia’s operating system. It would be fairly logical to accept that Nokia could, at some stage, join the party and launch their own Android based handset.

So, an act of benevolence on the part of Motorola or a shotgun wedding in an attempt to get a nice slice of juicey, sale pie? Considering Motorola’s falling market share I know which option I’d plump for!

Food for thought, eh Apple?

Popularity: 25% [?]

A report relating to the MacBook redesign has surfaced over at AppleInsider. Apparently, the updated MacBooks and MacBook Pros will feature shiney, new aluminum-based exteriors - pretty much like the MacBook Air and iMac. Other rumours revolve around ports on the new MacBook; apparently, the Firewire 400 and DVI-I ports are being replaced by Firewire 800 and Mini-DVI.

To some of you this might seem a great change but it certainly gives Apple’s range of laptops a nice uniform look - that should force hardcore MacBook users to look twice before sneering at your ‘inferior’ model!

Unfortunately there’s no news on a launch date although rumours suggest 14 October as a possible date. Time to twiddle my thumbs - for about 3 weeks!

Popularity: 18% [?]

But only for the US

That’s right, just like Hulu. The MySpace Music launch, which was announced yesterday by MySpace owners News Corp, allows all users to view the new layout and functionality. Unfortunately, music content will only be available to users in the US. According to News Corp, this isn’t a snub to users outside the US but is the result of complex licensing deals in different country which need to be negotiated prior to music being available. MySpace are expecting to have deals in place soon, on a country by country basis (Note: Hulu is now a year old and most video content is still only watchable in the U.S!)

It will be in the interest of MySpace to resolve this licensing issue as soon as possible. There are already millions of non-U.S. users who won’t be able to listen to any new music added by the major labels. This also means they can’t access access, create or share new playlists. It’s not likely that another music site of this size will spring up overnight and snatch MySpace users away but, should we see another similar service rise over time, users could be slowly leeched away with a high quality, open to all service.

Popularity: 20% [?]

…almost eveyone.

As you probably know, the Android based G1 has officially seen the light of day and, so far, it’s getting a big thumbs up. Well, apart from Ulf Washbusch, (ex-Product Marketing Manager for Google Mobile). Ulf has created a blog post which criticises the G1:

It’s funny - but the first time I heard about Android was about 2.5 years ago, when Eric Schmidt told me about the device at Stanford after I got a job offer from Google (yet before I accepted it!). Since then I have seen many iterations of the software. The software. Not the device itself, because sadly it hasn’t changed in many years. The reason many people see the phone as ugly and old-fashioned is simply… because it IS! It’s a design unchanged for at least two years, without iterations on it besides color schemas (it’s now available in Zune-brown along with white and black) and the silly ‘with Google’ description on the back. Don’t ask me what ‘with Google’ means. I didn’t understand it back then and still don’t understand it today.

So I guess he doesn’t want to work for Google ever again! There are a couple of points that Ulf raised that seem to be a common cry amongst people who have seen the G1 - ‘Where do I plug in my headphones?’ and ‘No video player?’. For some strange reason, the powers that be have seen no to include a 3.5mm headphone jack or built-in video file support! That’s fine, I’ll play YouTube media at full volume on a ‘low cost data plan’! Come on Google/T-Mobile, you’ll have to do better than that.

Some valid points Ulf but I’m not sure how well your current employers, MySpace, will view these comments considering their recent collaboration with Google on Open Social!

Popularity: 27% [?]

aka Android based handset

It hasn’t been officially launched yet but images are already in the wild. Do a little digging on the T-Mobile site and you’ll shots like this:

The handset, apparently designated G1, will be officially unveiled later today. Cometh the hour, cometh the insatiable hordes - there seems to be a huge appetite for info on this handset with little or no marketing on Google or T-Mobiles part. Not surprisingly, Google participation is enough to guarantee a huge following.

So, it’s only a matter of hours before we get the official announcement. In the meantime and just in case you haven’t seen them, here’s the rumoured G1 specs:

• One touch access to: Search, Maps, Gmail, Youtube, Calendar, and Google Talk
• Gmail account and data plan required
• GPS
• 3.1 MegaPixel camera
• Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in
• Weight 5.6 ounces
• 480×320 65K color screen
• 5 hour talk time, 130 hour standby time
• Expandable up to 8GB

Popularity: 27% [?]

…according to Google

Figures forecasthing the sale of up to 130,000+ Android handsets are being touted by Google and T-Mobile. Apparently, the sheer level of anticipation over the Android-based mobile phones has analyists suggesting sales in the region of 400,000 handsets by 2009. Whilst I agree that there would appear to be a strong interest in Android handsets, I’m not so sure these figures add up especially when you consider how little marketing has been done so far. This means that the end of year market share of 4% that Google and T-Mobile want will be extremely hard going.

Now, if you think that T-Mobile is aiming high, take a look at this - HTC and Google are thinking even bigger. Some rumours suggest that around 700,000 handsets will shipped worldwide in order to prevent shortages! Now that’s thinking big.

HTC and T-Mobile are the only companies looking for big gains. Apple has sold a huge number of iPhones, both generation 1 and 3G, albeit on the back of a lot of hype and a huge marketing campaign. But they’re not stopping there. Jobs and Co are hoping to sell 10 million iPhones by 2009!

The key battleground for Google and Apple will be the availability of apps that can be used to customise the handsets. Currently, 1 - 0 to Apple but we mustn’t forget that the Android OS is Linux based and will have huge appeal to the Open Source commmunity. This rather clever move on the part of Google could just tip the odds.

I’m going to put my feet up with a beer and watch as battle commences. By the time the dust settles…I’ll be very drunk!

Popularity: 18% [?]

…with an arse kicking 1Tb of storage

Move over Asus, here come Acer’s Aspire X3200 mini desktop PC and it ain’t taking any prisoners! The diminuitive Acer desktop looks set to wipe the Eee PC off the map unless Asus produce a very rapid answer. On top of the huge SATA disk the Aspre X3200 comes fitted with a Blu-Ray player - a nice move on Acer’s part.

Other goodies include an AMD Phenom quad-core processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8200, and up to 4GB of DDR2 memory. Should keep Vista happy.

I mustn’t forget to mention a bonus for movie fans - HDMI output and 5.1 channel surround sound (Dolby Home Theater technology). Like I said earlier, Acer are really setting the standard with the X3200.

There’s no news on release date or pricing, but rest assured that we’ll be hunting down the info and it’ll be posted here as soon as we find it.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Only £2.99, but only for a limited time. This app, which puts Google Earth on your iPhone, usually costs $10. Now I have to admit it’s pretty impressive; touch screen control of Google Earth and integration into the iPhones GPS makes this application a must have - even if only for the ‘look at me’ factor!

Other nice little features include highlight locations with Wikipedia information and Flickr phont’s, where provided. You can even take photos of locations visited and add them to the Earthscape database. This images can then be presented to other users with geotags attached.

Admittedly, Google Earth is free but the level of integration in EarthScape puts makes it worth every penny.

Popularity: 16% [?]