MGR IT

The Apple iPhone 4 has now been released in the US and will be available in Australia soon.  The new version of this popular smartphone has a raft of new features. including multitasking, a 960 x 640 resolution display, high definition video recording and a gyroscope.  FaceTime is Apple’s implementation of video calling, though it is only available via WiFi connections.

iPhone 3G or 3GS users can get some of the benefits of the new iPhone by installing iOS 4, which is now available for download through iTunes.  You will need to install iTunes 9.2 in order to be able to download and install iOS 4.  New features in this release include multitasking, iBooks (Apple’s book reader and book store first introduced with the iPad), improved e-mail features and the ability to oragnise apps into folders.

Earlier this month, Telstra reached a deal with NBN Co regarding its involvement in the national broadband network being rolled out by the federal government.  In a nutshell the Financial Heads of Agreement deal will see Telstra decommission their network and move their voice and broadband services to the NBN Co network as it is rolled out.  Telstra will go from being a competitor of NBN Co to being their biggest customer.

So, what does this mean to you as a Telstra customer or a customer of another telco? 

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Microsoft have announced that the next generation of their mobile phone operating system (currently known as Windows Mobile) will be Windows Phone 7 Series.  Microsoft have apparently pretty much started again with this one, so it promises to be a radical departure from previous versions in both usability and performance.

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The new HD2 Windows phone from HTC is now available and it looks like a real competitor to the iPhone. 

Windows Mobile has suffered in recent times in comparison with the business features of Blackberry devices and the usability of the iPhone.  Windows Mobile 6.5 addressed some of those issues, but seemed to have missed the boat through delays in its release.  The HD2 may get some momentum going back Microsoft’s way with its very impressive-looking hardware specs.

The most notable thing about the HD2 is its huge screen – 4.3 inches.  It is a capacitive multi-touch screen, too (think iPhone), which is a vast improvement on HTC’s previous resistive screens.  The drawback may still be the phone’s operating system, with Windows Mobile having a reputation for being buggy, something to which I can attest from personal experience.

There is a pretty thorough review of the HD2 here.  It certainly looks like a device worth checking out if you are in the market for a smartphone.