Future Checkin, a third party Apple iPhone application that utilises the FourSquare API provides an interesting feature.  If you provide it with a list of your favourite places, then it sits in the background (now that iOS4 allows background tasks), and when you arrive at your destination, it will check in for you!  However, to save battery, it’s not instantaneous, and checks the GPS on a configurable basis, and then (to prevent it being used to cheat your way to mayorship status), it only checks you in once every four hours, and never to the same place twice in a row (plus you need to have been at the location for over 3 minutes).

Apparently the author is planning to add Gowalla support too (once they release their API).

If you are interested in the (non-free) application, then search for Future Checkin in the Apple App Store.

If you are an Android user and feeling left out, then try a search for HopScotch, which claims to offer a similar automated checkin facility for Android devices (and although maybe not quite so feature rich as Future Checkin, is free).

Symbian users, of course, are left out in the cold For you, it’s manual checkin only (using either the free SociallyApp, the very powerful and useful Gravity application, or there is a new beta of a FourSquare touch only client we covered earlier this week).

Some information courtesy of TechCrunch.

Don’t forget that you can now get the Apple iPhone 4 from 3UK and T-Mobile, who have both released the phone for sale today.  If you are thinking about getting an iPhone 4 on either network I wouldn’t hang around; O2 are still reporting having supply problems even now, so I suspect both these networks will have limited allocations, and those are going to go very fast!

I’ve already stated my opinions of the fact that 3UK have been able to carry this phone, but it’s nice to see that instead of being months after all the other networks, they are now considered “important” enough to have the same release date as one of the original big four networks.

Update: In fact, 3UK have stated they will be removing the iPhone 4 from sale from 5pm this evening due to stocks starting to run low.  Depending exactly how many devices get sold in the next few hours will determine whether it comes back on sale on Monday (however briefly until stocks run out completely).

As of Friday this week (30th July), the Apple iPhone 4 will be available on 3UK, both in stores and online at the 3Store. 3UK have already announced all their tariffs details (which we covered here).  It’s good to see 3UK finally being able to release this phone, and it will be interesting to see how successful it is (the iPhone 3GS is already proving a best seller since launch on the network).

Of course, another option is to buy the phone outright from Apple, and then put a 3UK microSIM on an iPhone tariff into the phone, and their One Plan option (£25 per month, 12 month contract, 2000 cross network minutes, 5000 texts, 5000 3UK-3UK minutes and 1GB Internet) looks a nice compromise between a lengthy contract and not getting enough to stretch the phone…

Last week we mentioned that there was a minor firmware update coming to prepare HTC Hero devices for the Android v2.1 firmware.  Well, that firmware (which was not needed for all UK variants) has been released and now the v2.1 full firmware has started to arrive on European devices, but it appears that, as we predicted, it won’t be arriving for all devices.

HTC have confirmed that in the UK only SIM-free devices will be seeing the firmware in the coming days / weeks (it does take time to roll it out to all devices), with some of the networks apparently not yet approving the firmware for release at all.  The networks who have approved the device should have their branded firmware release starting in the next few days, whereas there is no ETA for the update on the other networks; I would like to suggest which networks this is likely to be, but I’ve received conflicting information from different sources, and hence I’m not confident about which we’ll see, only that I do know we won’t be seeing all network branded versions receive the firmware update this month.

Remember that the delays are caused by the network who either have to make or request changes to the stock firmware and then test both those changes and the overall package on their network; some networks are fast at this process, and some don’t even seem to bother with it at all, so whether your device will ever see the v2.1 firmware is down to the network who supplied the device.

This is the same situation we’ve seen for years with Nokia devices (many other brands don’t release any firmware updates to the public so get away with not having this problem), and as we’ve commented before, the only exception to this is Apple, who force firmware updates onto the networks (and generally prevent operator branding in the first place).

They may have been one of the last to declare their tariffs, but as always, 3UK have come out rather competitive with their offerings, to the extent that even non-iPhone users may want to consider their Apple iPhone 3GS SIM-Only tariffs for any phone (obviously avoid the iPhone 4 tariffs as they, although identical, come with a microSIM, which is more hassle using in a normal phone).

So, most importantly, you can’t actually buy an iPhone 4 from them today, although it’s coming soon (and they have declared their tariffs).  You can buy a SIM free iPhone 4 from Apple and order and use one of their iPhone 4 SIM only tariffs though (technically you can’t order the iPhone SIM Only tariff until tomorrow).

So, what are the options? Well, let’s start with the iPhone 3GS, available in 8GB Black or 32GB White, and will cost somewhere between nothing and £129 upfront to purchase, and then they are a range of tariffs at different prices (as always) ranging from £25 to currently £35, although there will be a £40 per month option from 1st July.  Of course, all these contracts are 24 months, although they do all include 1GB Internet, 5000 texts and 5000 3UK-3UK minutes, and:

• For £25 you get 500 cross network minutes
• For £30 you still get 500 cross network minutes, but pay less for the phone
• For £35 you get 900 cross network minutes and the phone for free (although there will be an option on 1st July to pay more for the phone and get 2000 cross network minutes instead)
• When that option arrives on 1st July, you’ll also have the option of £40 per month for 2000 cross network minutes and getting the phone for free.

In a similar way, there will be multiple price options for the iPhone 4 (when available); again, all tariffs include 1GB Internet, 5000 texts and 5000 3UK-3UK minutes, and then:

• For £99 (16GB) or £189 (32GB) upfront & £30 per month you’ll get 500 cross network minutes
• For £99 (16GB) or £189 (32GB) upfront & £35 per month you’ll get 900 cross network minutes
• For £169 (16GB) or £259 (32GB) upfront & £35 per month you’ll get 2000 cross network minutes
• For £59 (16GB) or £149 (32GB) upfront & £40 per month you’ll get 2000 cross network minutes
• Finally, for £0 (16GB) or £89 (32GB) upfront & £45 per month you’ll get 2000 cross network minutes

I will say a couple of things about these offers; firstly, 3UK have avoided the use of the work “unlimited” anywhere in their marketing, and for that I congratulate them for being open clear and honest about their options.  Secondly, it’s nice to see a range of options where in essence you can pay less for the phone upfront and 3UK will recoup that cost across the life of the contract with a higher monthly premium, although I would advise you to do the sums to work out the total costs over the 24 months as to whether it’s the right way to go…

However, 3UK’s SIM only plans look even better value.  Okay, you need to buy the phone upfront and SIM Free direct from Apple, but in that case the options are:

• For £15 per month and a 1 month rolling contract, you’ll get 300 cross network minutes, 3000 texts, 2000 3UK-3UK minutes and 1GB Internet
• For £25 per month and a 12 month contract, you’ll get 2000 cross network minutes, 5000 texts, 5000 3UK-3UK minutes and 1GB Internet

As stated before, the 3UK SIM only options will (from tomorrow) come available for the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4, so in essence in either normal or microSIM sizes; the £15 per month option is similar to the old SIM Only 15 plan 3UK used to have, although it comes with more Internet that most other options today (although not as much as you could have got last year, when the fair usage limit was 2GB).

Finally, if you already have an iPhone 4, you can ring 333 and 3UK will supply a microSIM to replace your existing SIM to allow you to use your current tariff with the iPhone.

Although all these deals seem better value than the other networks, at this stage it appears the 3UK tariffs don’t include any WiFi access when out and about (with 3UK feeling their network is able to cope and therefore there’s no need to use WiFi instead), which may be a factor for you.

UPDATE: 3UK have confirmed that you can get these iPhone plans direct from Apple Stores today.

Yesterday, Apple announced the iPhone 4.  Today, all the 4 main networks have confirmed that they will be selling the iPhone 4 from June (24th), with many offering pre-orders from around the 15th.  So, that’s O2 (obviously), Vodafone and Orange (already selling the iPhone 3GS), and now T-Mobile who will all be carrying the iPhone 4 later this month.  It’s nice to see T-Mobile step up and offer the iPhone at last, although with all prices likely to be pretty much identical, even with 4 networks there’s no real competition on this phone.

Still no agreement or update from 3UK on their plans though.

In time for Friday’s launch of the Apple iPad, Vodafone have announced that they have produced some iPad SIM Only tariffs, allowing you to purchase your Apple iPad from Apple and then use it on Vodafone.  With the Apple iPad needing the new micro-SIM format (which is the same design as the current popular SIM, but with less card around the edges of the contacts, so although it’s possible to cut an existing SIM down to size, it’s then no use in normal devices) this is a good move by Vodafone to pick up more customers who are after, what is after all, a data only device.

So, the iPad SIM Only tariff options are:

• £10 per month (30-day rolling contract), 1GB of data per month
• £15 per month (30-day rolling contract), 3GB of data per month
• £25 per month (30-day rolling contract), 5GB of data per month

For those who want to use Vodafone and want the benefit of a 30-day rolling contract, these look very good tariffs, although I believe the O2 iPad tariffs additionally come with some Wi-Fi allowance too, so they may be worth a look as well.

When I met up with 3UK last month, they were explaining that generally the main reason they take longer to get phones is that as a company they will purchase a much smaller quantity of any particular phone than the larger networks, and hence their requests for stock and customisations will always take second place.  They also commented that in terms of phones like the iPhone, they felt the costs were too high, both to them and to the consumer.  Well, I think this is about to change…

The day before I met 3UK I heard rumours that their Customer Services staff had been saying they would be carrying the iPhone within 3 months, and both that and a direct question on whether 3UK would be stocking the iPhone were, looking back, not actually answered on the night.

This week I’ve heard more Customer Services staff saying the iPhone will come next month (although personally I suspect it’ll be announced in the next month or so, as opposed to being on sale), and 3UK have put out a statement today saying that they don’t have a commercial relationship with Apple, but that they hope to resolve that in 2010.  That post also states that the Nokia E71 was their best selling phone of 2009, but what it doesn’t say is that the HTC Hero, costing £35 per month, is their current best selling phone.  This shows that buyers are willing to spend £35 per month on a 3UK contract, something that may not have been so apparent a year ago when PAYG and £15-£20 per month contracts were much more common.

Combine all these thoughts with statements by 3UK last month that they felt they should advertise their “Coming Soon” phones better and I think the iPhone is going to be announced fairly soon; in my opinion it’s rare for networks to talk about phones before they are pretty much ready.  With the experiences of the HTC Hero, 3UK know their customers will happily pay more for high spec smartphones, and with the comments from their own Customer Services staff I think this all shows it’s coming to the network.

Now, I might be wrong of course, and I suspect it’s possible they’ll only pick up the iPhone 3G, although I suspect they’ll be able to sell the iPhone 3GS too.  I also suspect that if / when a new iPhone 4th Generation model is announced in June / July, it won’t be seen on 3UK for a little longer than the other networks (due to the commercial points in the first paragraph), but we may well see some form of iPhone on sale on 3UK before too long.

Interestingly, unlike some Nokia phones, it appears that people aren’t having problems getting their 3UK SIMs to work in unlocked iPhones, so that bodes well.  Of course, I would expect 3UK to ship it with their own Skype on 3 and Email on 3 solution, which may take a little while to get ready and released into the App Store.  In fact, I wonder if this is the only thing stopping the announcement happening today, hence why 3UK are happy to start talking about the device…

3mobilebuzz, who manage PR and device loans (amongst other things) are running an awards event tomorrow night, and UK Gadgeteer is one of finalists!  To win, we need your support; if you are on twitter please tweet the following message:

I vote for @UKGadgeteer in the @3mobilebuzz #3mbcreative #3UKNYmeetup awards http://bit.ly/3MBcreative

Also, thanks for all the questions that you have provided to raise with 3UK tomorrow night; I will try my best to get all questions answered and will provide feedback later this week / early next week.

Thanks for your support,

Stephen

PS It’s a bit of a slow news day today, it’s as if Apple are planning to launch a new device… (6pm UK time!)

When I covered the INQ Chat 3G last week (here), I didn’t mention anything about the PC software side of things, so I thought I’d add a few comments on that here.  From one point of view, it all looks very smooth and slick, but when you go into the weeds, it’s not so perfect…

Firstly, when you connect the phone to your PC, it brings up a little menu with a variety of options, including installing the drivers to user your phone as a modem, and the option to install DoubleTwist, the new application INQ are using to manage your media.

Now, I thought this was very good, but when you click to install DoubleTwist, it actually opens a webpage and takes you directly to the DoubleTwist website to download the latest version from there.  From one point of view, this is good, as you always get the latest version, but it’s not exactly “out of the box”.  So, after a download and an installation, I was surprised to find the latest version of the software wasn’t able to recognise the phone at all.  In fact, reading the handy hint cards that came with the phone didn’t reveal the problem, until I happened to search the online INQ forums (although my phone arrived the same week most shops started selling it, I guessed that INQ Mini users may have had similar issues), and eventually I found the answer; you need to use a microSD card (not included in the box) to be able to use DoubleTwist…

Now, I acknowledge that the phone doesn’t have a lot of spare memory capacity built in, but it did seem a shame to not mention anywhere that music management needed an additional memory card.  One memory card later, and all was well.  Well, as well as could be expected; you see, I’m not (yet) a big Apple fan, so I rarely use iTunes for music (podcasts and other videos yes, but not music) as hence although DoubleTwist was capable of transferring my iTunes music across to the phone, that did not amount to much…

Here again, I found a minor issue with DoubleTwist; it happily copied the music from a couple of my iTunes playlists across to the phone, but didn’t actually copy the playlist; ie it copied all the songs, but made no attempt to build equivalent playlists on the phone to allow easy selection of the music again.

Apart from one or two niggles (that I covered within the actual INQ Chat 3G review here), this did seem a little bit of a let down to me, and although it’s outside of INQ’s control, I do hope that either DoubleTwist improves their software, or INQ can persuade them to support playlists just for them…

So, overall, the PC Software options are nicely integrated and thought out, but, like the phone, let down if you a power user.

My time with the INQ Chat 3G is now up, so I won’t necessarily keep up to date with how the software (on the phone or on the PC) improve with time, but I hope they do.  One thing I forgot to mention with the hardware review; since being announced, the price of the INQ Chat 3G has dropped a fair amount, and at only £89.99 on PAYG, it’s actually a hell of a lot of phone for the money…