Photo: johncarljohnson / Flickr

Are you still an iPad non-believer? Yeah? From a consumer purchases standpoint, you are part of the minority, with a report indicating that the iPad is the fastest adopted consumer electronics device in history. Yes, faster than the iPhone before it, and even faster than the DVD player. You hear that sound? That’s the sound of your mind being blown.

Destiny and reality

This adoption rate study was noted by Colin McGranahan, an analyst at Bernstein Research. And before you feel bad for doubting the Apple tablet PC’s viability, he is also open about being sceptical. In a recent note to investors, McGranahan says ´The iPad did not seem destined to be a runaway product success straight out of the box, and notes the criticisms lodged at the device when it was first unveiled due to its omission of several thought-to-be-key functions. He continues, saying ´By any account, the iPad is a runaway success of unprecedented proportion.´

Worldwide sales topping 8 million potentially

Bernstein estimates that the iPad’s current run rate for the quarter totals 4.5 million, topping the 1 million units per quarter the original iPhone sold, and 350,000 quarterly DVD sales those devices saw when they first launched.

It also brings the iPad’s total estimated sales to around 8 million, if one counts what the Apple tablet PC sold in its first quarter of availability, as per Apple’s own earnings reports.

You may want to sit down for the next figures, because the implication is unfathomably scary. According to the research note, if sales continue the way they have, the Apple tablet PC alone could become a $9 billion annual business, whizzing past video gaming and mobile phones, too, to become the fourth biggest consumer electronics category. Stop, and think about that for a second. We’re talking one device here being the fourth biggest consumer electronics category. Period. Unbelievable.

Touch computing victory

For touch computing as a whole, this is a major victory, and while we cannot speak for you, we look forward to the tablet PC revolution, with competitors from all over shipping competing devices in the coming months.

Photo: Apple

As the iPhone steamroll continues unabated, it appears Apple has a rabid fanbase in a country few American technology firms thrive in: China.

Big pre-order numbers, long lines

The iPhone 4 launch is a far cry from what analyst deemed disappointing, which is how they referring to last year’s iPhone 3GS launch in China. Last year saw virtually non-existent queues, and four days after launch to market, only 5,000 customers were snagged up. This time round, the reality is much different.

The latest Apple smartphone launched this month in China to overwhelming support and fanfare. How overwhelming? 200,000 pre-orders and 1,000 plus customers queuing up at Apple’s new Beijing store at the Joy City mall. Sure, considering China’s population has more than 1 billion people, one could argue that this is hardly a run-away success in the market, but that’s just the point. The potential upside for future sales of the iPhone 5 and so on are colossal.

Computerworld was on hand to interview those in line, with one excited fan, 26 year-old Sun Jian Kuan, describing the experience as akin to ‘…waiting in line to see a movie star’. The praise didn’t stop there, though. He added that ‘No phone can best the iPhone.’

Other successful launches elsewhere

Not only is the Apple smartphone capturing the hearts of mobile users in China, it also had several successful launches all around the world, in its slow, methodical rollout. The iPhone 4 is clearly a worldwide hit, with its South African launch seeing handsets being available on every major continent in the world. This is a far cry from the original iPhone and iPhone 3G days, when, if you wanted it in certain parts of the world, you had to settle for importing it.

Pricing

If you’re in China, you can pick up the 16GB iPhone 4 for 5,999 yuan (£565) and the 32gb iPhone 4 for 4,999 yuan (£471) out of contract. That’s a notable saving over last year’s model, a trend that seems to be leading to an increase adoption of Apple’s mobile phone and mobile OS worldwide.

If there was doubt before, there cannot be any now – the Apple smartphone is a worldwide phenomenon.

Photo: Jeremy Brooks / Flickr

Clearly Americans love their new iPhone. They love their iPhone so much that on the very same day pre-ordering opened for the iPhone 4, Apple sold out of it.

Less than 24 hours

In less than 21 hours, AT&T retailers throughout North America and Apple’s online store were completely sold out of the popular successor to the iPhone 3GS. The online store is still letting consumers place orders, with the device now shipping on 2 July for delivery on 4 July. As such, the only options for those looking to get an iPhone before 4 July is if Apple were to release the white iPhone prior to that date, considering this variation of the iPhone 4 was not available for purchase on Apple’s site.

The thing that makes these pre-order sales figures remarkable is that, for many users accessing Apple’s online store, the pre-ordering system was broken, with many unable to complete their applications for an iPhone. If the system worked according to plan, these early sales could well have gone through the roof – if they haven’t already.

UK availability

The United Kingdom will be getting the new iPhone on 24 June 2010, the same day as North America. Vodafone, 3, T-Mobile, Orange and O2 are confirmed carriers with Tesco also earmarked to sell the iPhone. UK pricing for those looking to buy the phone outright without a subsidy, is set at a painful £499 for the 16GB Apple phone and £599 for the 32GB Apple phone.

What’s new

Photo: Apple

The iPhone 4 has a few new features that differentiate itself from its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS. The device is said to have up to 40 per cent longer battery life than its predecessor. It now features two cameras, one of which is front facing, with LED flash, too.

One of the ways Apple is implementing this dual camera system is through FaceTime, which is Apple’s video calling platform that it hopes will becomes standardised across all smartphones. The display has been boosted, too, with Apple’s muck talked about retina display showing 326 pixels per inch at a resolution 960×640. The form factor has been drastically revised, too, with the formerly curvy edges on the iPhone looking a bit squarer in the iPhone 4.

The new iPhone releases on 24 June. Are any of you, faithful readers, picking one up?

Photo: Skype

A mere few days after the release of its 3G-enabled iPhone Skype app, the VoIP company has revealed that the application has been downloaded nearly 5 million times already and these downloads are distributed across its main areas of business – Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region.

Quick flip

This brings the lifetime total of the iPhone Skype apps to well above 12 million, given that was the figure reported to GigaOM on 31 May, two days after the 3G version was released. Until we know how many units were downloaded between 29 May and 31 May, it is difficult to say just where the grand total sits, with Skype likely to announce it soon.

So are people beating it up?

The big question, of course, is, how much is it being used? In the Reuters report that revealed the download stats, the reporter seemingly forgot to ask this telling question. Considering the application is available for non-3G devices like the iPod Touch, in addition to the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, it stands to reason some people who do not have 3G have the app downloaded, too.

Photo: Apple

What the usage figures will further reveal is how much of a drop off the 3G service will see once Skype begins charging users for it. Currently, making calls over the 3G network is free, but Skype has publicly stated that they plan on charging for the service sometime after August this year. This fee could have a major impact on adoption and usage, something Skype VP of mobile Russ Shaw is well aware of, in saying ‘we’re not going to price ourselves out of the market’ and, ‘I can’t ignore the fact that consumers use us for free (at present).’

Have you downloaded the iPhone Skype app? If yes, are you prepared to pay for using it later on?

Photo: Nokia

The Nokia N8, the Finnish company’s next roll of the smartphone dice, has had its Vodafone UK pricing unveiled, coming in slightly cheaper than expected.

Surprisingly affordable

Vodafone’s pre-release page pegs the Nokia N8 at just £320 SIM free. For that price you’re getting what is arguably Nokia’s most heavily specced phone of all time.

Look what it can do!

This latest Nokia smartphone comes with a 12MP(!) camera that can also do HD video recording. Being a legitimate HD device, it also packs an HDMI out slot for viewing your video content on high definition televisions. Internal memory is a very generous (though increasingly standardised) 16GB.

The really big deal for this touch-based phone loving generation is the display on this smartphone. The Nokia N8 has a gorgeous, large (though actual dimensions are still uncomfirmed) and bright OLED, capacitive touch display.

Hail Mary number 3!

With every new Nokia smartphone, we’ve developed a bit of a tradition of referring to them as Hail Maries. You see, with the N97 before this and the N900, somewhat, it always seems as if Nokia will finally get the formula of developing a compelling, game-changing, smartphone right. But they keep missing. The N97 was very disappointing, Nokia admit themselves, and the N900, as phenomenal a handset as it is, had one too many software bugs to go on our ‘no-brainer’ purchase list.

This time, the Nokia N8 comes packed with the new Symbian^3 OS, Nokia’s latest attempt at building an operating system on par a pr with (or superior to) iPhone OS and Android and, who knows, maybe the Finnish mobile giants will get it right this time

Release scheduled

This Nokia smartphone is said to be releasing in Q3, though evidence indicates otherwise. It appears the folks at Vodafone UK think it may come up for air a little early, sometime in July or so. Which is both good news and bad news. It’s good news in the sense that we get to play with it sooner. And it is potentially bad news, in the sense that that will be around the expected release window for the iPhone 3GS successor, which may not be all so healthy, all things considered.

Photo: Apple

In the tech coup of the year, Gizmodo found a prototype of the iPhone 4G (G for generation) and, as is customary, moved to tear it down to confirm that it was, in fact, the real deal. It is the real deal.

The old ‘new’ feature

Though the iPhone 4G couldn’t be booted out of recovery mode, the interface of the phone revealed a few important things about the phone. The first is the long-rumoured front-facing camera, which is there. In addition to that is camera flash for image capturing in a dark environment. This would tick off yet another ‘feature’ found on many high-end phones that Apple would likely treat as a very big deal.

What’s changed

Photo: Apple

Regarding form factor, the phone is thinner than the iPhone 3GS, but with a large battery inside. The internal components have been downsized, too, contributing to the ability to reduce the phone’s size. The screen is slightly smaller than that found on previous models with the display also being given a boost in resolution.

The back of the iPhone is made with a new material, which, though some are not entirely sure what it is, seems to be either glass or some type of ceramic.

In June, we’ll know

Bets are on that the next iPhone event will be in June, so as to keep with the theme of revealing the latest handset around that time of year. With the iPhone OS 4.0 having recently been revealed at a special preview event, as well as rumours that the iPhone now finally has proper social networking functionality, it is quite likely the iPhone 4G will build on the success of its predecessors. Across the three iPhone’s released so far, Apple announced they have sold an astonishing 50 million units.

A fast iPhone, Apple iPhone 3GS displays web pages in a fraction of a second and allows user to view email attachments faster. It has an improved performance and delivers excellent gaming performance with 3D graphics. A lot more responsive than and twice as fast as iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS is the new improved avatar. The user can shoot video, edit it and share it all on your iPhone 3GS. Use the 3 mega pixel camera to clock grate still photos, which come out great thanks to the built-in auto focus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything you want. It is now easy to share your video in an email and post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or even sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.

A practical and versatile device, the iPhone recognises names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. Its new Compass application automatically reorients maps to match the direction you’re facing. It also allows you to cut, copy and paste words, photos and web content, even between applications. The Apple iPhone 3GS is equipped with an intelligent keyboard that can be rotated to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari. Accessibility and searching for contacts, email, calendars, and notes has become very simple on your iPod. Sending messages with text, video, photos, audio, locations, and contact information can happen at the clock of a button. What’s more the iPhone offers accessibility features for users who are visually or hearing impaired. Such features include the VoiceOver screen reader, a Zoom feature, White on Black display options, Mono Audio and much more.