Apple have announced that they are getting into bed with Microsoft in an attempt to make the iPhone more appealing to business users, offering Exchange, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint compatibility.

The next version of the iPhone firmware v2.0, due to hit in June, will supposedly be compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server which will tread on Blackberry’s turf and provide  push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe.

Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft and is building it right into the iPhone, so that iPhone will connect out-of-the-box to Microsoft Exchange Servers 2003 and 2007 for secure over-the-air push email, contacts, calendars and global address lists. Built-in Exchange ActiveSync support also enables security features such as remote wipe, password policies and auto-discovery.

The iPhone 2.0 software provides a configuration utility that allows IT administrators to easily and quickly set up many iPhones, including password policies, VPN setting, installing certificates, email server settings and more. Once the configuration is defined it can be easily and securely delivered via web link or email to the user. To install, all the user has to do is authenticate with a user ID or password, download the configuration and tap install. Once installed, the user will have access to all their corporate IT services.

In addition to these new iPhone network and security features, the beta iPhone 2.0 software provides several new Mail features such as the ability to view PowerPoint attachments, in addition to Word and Excel, as well as the ability to mass delete and move email messages.

The LG KF600 is now widely available in the retail channel.

The device’s main selling point is the InteractPad, described by LG as “context-specific virtual keys that change to fit the task at hand”.

For example, when you want to take a picture, relevant buttons illuminate such as links to your photo album and one to adjust the brightness of the image.

Haptic technology means that, when a key is pressed on the screen, the icon becomes larger and the phone vibrates to confirm the action.

Similar to the HTC Touch Dual, a slide-out keypad with 15 buttons is also provided for traditionalists.

Other features include a 3-megapixel camera (with autofocus and flash) and Yahoo! Go, which offers five services – search, email, maps, address book and calendar.

There  is also an FM radio, document reader and Office document viewer.

3 is poised to launch a new unlimited texts tariff next week that massively undercuts rival deals, Mobile Phone Central understands. 

The ‘Unlimited Texter’ tariff will come at three price points, with a £25 deal expected to be the headline promotion. It will offer 500 minutes and unlimited texts. The other tariffs will also offer unlimited texts but different levels of minutes. 

Customers will be able to choose a Nokia 6500 or a Sony Ericsson W880 at the launch with the likelihood of more handsets available in the coming months. 

The deal is expected to generate further price pressure in what is already an extremely competitive market. It is also expected to irritate rival networks who have only recently become comfortable with declining average monthly line rental prices following the success of T-Mobile’s £35-per-month Flext deal in early 2006. 

Orange started offering free unlimited texts on its £30 and above Dolphin tariffs last year on the basis that customers wouldn’t use all their texts, and that it was a compelling sale. Several operators followed suit with similar unlimited text deals.

3 is hoping its new deal will out-muscle rivals in the £25 bracket. Orange currently offers 100 minutes and 300 texts for £25, while Vodafone has a text heavy package of 150 minutes and 500 texts. O2 customers can get 200 minutes and 200 texts for the same price, while T-Mobile customers can get choose between 450 minutes or 900 texts.

The BBC has launched a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. It is the first time the service has been available on portable devices.

The iPhone and iPod touch are able to stream shows from the iPlayer website over wi-fi networks. The iPhone cannot stream BBC video over the cell network. A BBC developer said that the corporation was currently working on other versions of the iPlayer for “many more” devices.

Anthony Rose, writing on the BBC internet blog, said: “We started with iPhone because it is the device most optimised for high quality video currently available.

“It displays the BBCiPlayer site and BBC programmes nicely.”

The software currently comes in two versions - a program which allows users to download programmes to their Windows PC and a streaming version on the web available to all users.

The version for iPhone and iPod touch users will allow streaming over a wi-fi connection. However, the EDGE mobile network used by the iPhone is too slow for streaming video.

The corporation has agreed a deal with wi-fi firm The Cloud to provide all BBC online services for free at its 7,500 hotspots.

A version of iPlayer for Virgin Media customers is expected later this month.

Samsung have announced their new Samsung G400 mobile - part of what seems to be now Soul family. The Samsung G400 Soul comes in the clamshell form factor, and boasts a unique dual screen setup.

The Samsung G400 Soul has a high-gloss brushed metal finish and a rich touch-centric user interface. The unique about the Samsung G400 Soul is that it has two identical displays - a 2.22-inch 262K color one on the outside, and a 2.22-inch 262K color one on the inside.

The external display is fully touch-operated and gives access to multimedia features such as FM radio, music player, camera, and photos. It also displays the phone’s system notifications. The external display also provides haptic feedback with short vibrations when touched.

The Samsung G400 Soul is also equipped with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera that comes with advanced features such as face recognition, the widely advertised Samsung’s Wide Dynamic Range optimization and image stabilization.

As far as connectivity is concerned, the G400 has fast 7.2Mbps HSDPA support with video calls, Bluetooth, and USB. A microSD memory card slot is also there to fill in.

Somehow we couldn’t help but think that the G400 was meant to be announced along with the G900 Soul in Barcelona as Samsung used to do with their two previous Ultra lineups, but obviously the company has decided to keep thinks on focus and concentrate their marketing efforts on one product at a time.

The Samsung G400 Soul will be available from June 2008.

Sony Ericsson today revealed T303, a new mid-end compact slider phone targeted to the mass market with its good looks and price. The Sony Ericsson T303 has been rumored throughout the past week and now it finally meets the bright light of day.

Sony Ericsson T303 has a nice appearance thanks to its metal housing and chrome finish, as well as a mirrored screen. The 65K TFT display itself is rather small with its 1.8″ and 128 x 160 pixels resolution.

The phone is packed with decent set of features as FM Radio, TrackID, 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. A serious downside however is that the T303 doesn’t have a memory card slot, while its internal memory is only 8MB.

Sony Ericsson T303 measures 83 x 47 x 14.7 mm and weighs 93 grams and will be available in Shimmering Silver and Shadow Black colors.

Sony Ericsson T303/T303c is a tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 phone for Europe and China respectively but there is also an American version T303a with GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900 bands support.

A certain point of interest is that the Sony Ericsson T303 follows the new Sony Ericsson naming convention that we informed you of earlier.

Sony Ericsson T303 will be available from mid 2008.

Samsung has teamed up with German sportswear giant adidas to produce the miCoach phone, a sports music mobile

Equipped with a stride sensor and heart rate monitor, the Samsung miCoach phone collects and analyses your personal data, providing a unique customised training plan based on your fitness levels and specific goals. With its built-in music player, users can tailor their music to fit in with their workout, arranging songs according to tempo to give you that added motivational push.

The miCoach phone is fitted with a personal coach who advises runners to ’speed up to power zone’, or tells them that ‘fifteen minutes is completed’. The phone also provides training tips and time updates, while the two-inch LCD screen shows a real-time visual display of time, heart rate, distance, speed and calories burned.

Other features include a 14.5mm compact slider design, two-megapixel camera and 1GB memory capacity. Available from mid-March, consumers can choose from a standard package (miCoach phone, armband, stride sensor and heart rate monitor) or the essential package (miCoach phone and armband only), while the handset itself is available in seven colours; Dark grey, tech silver, pink red, cool grey, sapphire blue, misty blue and sweet pink.

New Apple iPhone 2.0 software, due in June, will enable push email and free software downloadsThe iPhone 2.0 beta release, announced yesterday by Apple in California, includes an iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.

This makes the iPhone a genuine option for business users looking for secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe, and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks.

In addition to these new iPhone network and security features, the beta iPhone 2.0 software provides several new Mail features such as the ability to view PowerPoint attachments, in addition to Word and Excel, as well as the ability to mass delete and move email messages.

The iPhone 2.0 software provides a configuration utility that allows IT administrators to easily and quickly set up many iPhones, including password policies, VPN setting, installing certificates, email server settings and more. Once the configuration is defined it can be easily and securely delivered via web link or email to the user. To install, all the user has to do is authenticate with a user ID or password, download the configuration and tap install. Once installed, the user will have access to all their corporate IT services.

The iPhone 2.0 software release will contain the App Store, a new application that lets users browse, search, purchase and wirelessly download third party applications directly onto their iPhone or iPod touch. Users can download free applications at no charge to either the user or developer, or purchase priced applications with just one click. Enterprise customers will be able to create a secure, private page on the App Store accessible only by their employees. Apple will cover all credit card, web hosting, infrastructure and DRM costs associated with offering applications on the App Store. Third party iPhone and iPod touch applications must be approved by Apple and will be available exclusively through the App Store.

Pricing & Availability
Apple plans to release the final iPhone 2.0 software, including the iPhone SDK and new enterprise features, as a free software update for all iPhone customers by the end of June. Third party applications created for the iPhone will also run on the iPod touch, and iPod touch users will be required to purchase a software update to run these applications.

Two years after the launch of the Animals, Orange has updated the pay monthly packages to “reflect the changing ways that people are using their mobile phones”.As of the 1st of March 2008, the Dolphin, Raccoon, Canary and Panther packages now include mobile internet and social networking as an inclusive benefit.The new Dolphin 40, has been revised for customers who want to social network on the move with unlimited access to Bebo’s mobile internet site, SMS alerts when they
receive updates, and SMS uploads to their Bebo friends profiles.Panthers get mobile internet with the option to receive unlimited texts or unlimited calls to landlines or Orange numbers or alternatively, anytime mobile internet browsing.

Crispin Tristram, head of pay monthly, Orange UK said: “By including the internet in our packages we are reflecting how people are using their phones. The changes make mobile internet and social networking even more accessible”.

As long as O2 customers have a compatible handset, the O2 Bluebook online service will back up all phone numbers and automatically save every text and photo message online, so all valuable data is kept safe. Photos taken with O2 phones can also be MMS-ed to the service for free.

As well as providing back-up, O2 Bluebook provides a way of publishing and sharing user’s mobile lives online. The texts and pictures that have been automatically saved can be filed, edited or displayed in online albums that can be viewed and shared with friends and relatives.

O2 Bluebook also offers a blogging service, “Blueblog”, where customers can document their daily lives using the photos and messages saved directly from their mobile.

Simple set-up and an online tutorial claim to make the new online offerings easy to use, visit 02.co.uk/Bluebook to see about getting started.