During my Monday morning RSS catchup, I came across Mobile Today’s report of O2 and Orange throwing their toys out of the pram in discussions with Nokia over the inclusion (or not) of Skype on the new N97.

O2 and Orange responded furiously to Nokia’s declaration that it will equip its upcoming flagship Nseries device, the N97, with Skype. If the row is not resolved the two operators may refuse to stock the N97 – or any future Nseries handsets containing Skype – unless Nokia strips out the Skype client.

This level of reticence towards services that invade their territory isn’t surprising, but it’s unfortunate. Who loses out by useful services like Skype being removed from the devices? It’s the customer.

It reminds me of the music industry battle; It was ten years ago already that Napster surfaced from a university student’s dorm, changing the landscape for the music industry ever since by showing music consumers that there was a new way (legit or not) of accessing more music than what your local music chain could offer.

The music industry has been grappling with this hot potato ever since; rather than going with the flow and finding ways to work with peer-to-peer networks in the early days, it opted for a lengthy legal game of Whack-a-mole with developers who were much smarter than them. It’s only in the past year or two that services like Spotify and Last.fm have started making creative use of the web to distribute music legally. Would users have gone on to use illegitimate services if no one had managed to put a business plan together to do it all above board? I suspect so.

To put it simply, once the penny drops, there’s no going back.

This is the crossroad the mobile industry is at; Through devices like the iPhone, the N-Series Nokia range and many other new phones, we’re getting an inkling of how customisable our gadgets are. Need to call a friend abroad? Grab Skype. Fancy using a Twitter app instead of SMS? Grab it from the App Store.

Of course, this freaks out the operators who want to be “more than just a bit pipe”, who up until recently received a cut of most mobile activity. And it’s fair that they need to ensure their revenue in order to stay in business, that’s just common sense. However, excessive greed may help increase the revenue-per-head in the short term, but in the long term, customers will see right through this ploy and find an operator who’s less likely to put a spanner in their creative works. Whether it’s Skype, off-portal mobile web access or having some flexibility in available tariffs, customers are (slowly but surely) becoming more empowered. Customers will only accept a less-than-full-featured phone for so long before they review their choice of operator.

The area where operators can build true value for their users is customer care; provide prompt and responsive service when something goes wrong, be helpful rather than obscure in helping your users choose a tariff and device that suits them. Users will love you. Nothing can replace the good feeling that accompanies a smooth transaction when the new shiny phone arrives. Happy customers is what makes a business, isn’t it?

[Via PaidContent]

When you were frantically unpacking your iPhone 3G were you also having problems figuring out how to put the SIM card in? In my packaging was a loose O2 SIM which obviously needs to plug into the iPhone… somehow!

Sure, the small hole in the top looks like a familiar place to engage the mechanism, but do you really want to go ramming a bent paper-clip in your shiny new priced-possession willy-nilly? I used to think I was pretty clued-up on product design – I have a 1st-class degree in it for god sake – but sometimes you start to question yourself. Surely I must be missing something??

Flicking through the user-manual didn’t help either. It’s pretty frustrating to have to:

1. Give in and resort to flicking through the manual for help* and
2. To not find the solution in there anyway.

After 5 more minutes of hitting things, it turned out that the SIM Ejector Tool was fully integrated INTO the packaging itself – you have to open up one of packaging compartments to reveal it. There was absolutely no indication that it would be hiding in there.

This is a great example of Cleverness vs Clarity. Apple decided to (mistakenly) go for the former on this one. I expect a clear distinction between a product’s packaging and the product itself. Apple: do you want your users to feel dumb?

[Ed.: He's a man, what do you expect?! ]

I watched the launch of the second generation of the iPhone with great interest on Friday, not because I planned on replacing my first generation one, but because I wanted to see how the world would welcome it. While not everyone here is an Apple fiend as I am, we couldn’t help but be curious about it since we’ve just launched a new iPhone version of Taptu*.

The product

In December, after a month of iPhone ownership, I reviewed it. I loved it then and I still do now. It’s clearly not everyone’s cup of tea, as certain Symbian-owning friends regularly remind me, but definitely still the best device for my needs.

The new version of the firmware gives all iPhones, new and old, a fresh lease of life with a wide range of downloadable applications available to make better use of the phone. Applications range from really useful to downright silly (see the iPint one for possibly the wackiest one around), but I can’t get over the fact that they can’t run in the background. I appreciate that the battery would run down faster than our office manager Celia can neck a glass of wine, but it still renders applications like streaming radio and instant messaging pretty much pointless.

The 3G hardware theoretically brings GPS functionality and faster browsing speeds, but I’ve yet to witness these first hand. I’m sure it’ll make a marginal difference, but still isn’t enough to convince me to upgrade.

The 3G iPhone is Apple’s tough second album, and not bad going, but not an awe-inspiring result.

The launch

Oooh, now here’s my bone to pick with Apple and the operators. How could launch day go so horribly wrong?

With expected sales of over 1 million handsets on day 1, plus millions of first generation iPhone and iPod Touch owners across the world, why did O2, the UK’s operator to win the iPhone contract, grind to a halt within moments of opening its doors at 8:02am? The iTunes Activation Center then followed suit shortly.

Sure, that’s a bunch of frustrated new users. But it’s also a whole lot of stranded existing users: My phone began its update and restore around lunchtime, yet I only managed to reactivate via the iTunes store around 8pm, leaving me unreachable for most of the day.

So Apple and the operators owe their users an apology for a poor first experience, I think!

The future

While execution wasn’t perfect over the launch, it’s still undeniable that the iPhone’s impact on the mobile world is increasing with every phone sold. A large and bright glossy screen, a user-friendly interface with single-click app download and no learning curve, this is inspirational for mobile developers.

The gloss is marred by the strong DRM and lock-down the iPhone suffers, one of the main criticism heard from those who opt for the Symbian-based alternatives. I’ll be curious to see how many users of the 2.0 firmware still choose to jailbreak their device, defying Apple and the operators. In fact, how long before jailbreaking becomes pointless?

[* Best viewed on an iPhone, but can be accessed in your browser]

Did you hear it this morning? The sound of 200,000 UK iPhone hopefuls getting an SMS simultaneously. It caused tremors around the Internet, and has certainly has thrown the operator’s website to the ground.

Everyone and their grandma’s dog have reported the issue O2, one of the UK’s main mobile operators, has suffered by now, but I’m amazed (yet oddly unsurprised) that an operator can be so unprepared for a traffic rush.

Based on this activity, it’s already obvious that the second coming of the iPhone will be more popular than the first. If the majority of these are new users adding themselves to the O2 network this Friday, we can only hope that O2’s mobile infrastructure is more resilient than its website!

So it’s happened. Saint Jobs announced the Second Coming of his child, the Holy iPhone.

Like Ben, I sat in front of my MacBook watching MacRumors, TUAW and Cali Lewis liveblog and report on the Keynote. Unlike Brian, I wasn’t mad (or privileged) enough to attend the Keynote at the Moscone Center, in SF.

Keynotes are a bit like circus acts. The event is rehearsed to the second, we all watch and wait with bated breath for the grandiose final scene, wondering whether anyone’s going to fall flat on their face along the way. While the keynote was light on substance, the short of it is the new iPhone hardware includes 3G, GPS, and there are a number of software changes – MobileMe particularly appeals to me.

However, the biggest change isn’t in the physical device. It’s all in the perception. Last time around, Apple was looking for early adopters, geeks and IWOOTs* to test-run their product in a giant, live usability testing session. Now that they’ve been able to watch us use the device, it’s time to reach out to the normobs with lower upfront costs. While the tariffs are still in the upper end of the scale, unlimited data makes it completely worthwhile.

As an existing user, I’m grateful that under O2’s reign I’m not given the “brand new customers only” treatment. I can upgrade without getting stung for breaking my contract. All first generation owners shedding their skin in prep for the Second Coming means there’ll be a number of orphaned first-generation iPhones floating around. Mine, for example, will most likely find a new home with my father-in-law, Roy. I’m curious to see what the trickle-down impact of giving second hand iPhones to unlikely buyers like Roy will have on the profile of future buyers.

I think Apple will continue to own marginal marketshare, because the iPhone remains too expensive, too complex and too closed for most, but it’s about to take a significant leap ahead. Are you jumping with me? Or kicking back and shaking your head at the fangirl* that I am?

[* Def. IWOOT: "I want one of those", otherwise known as saddos like me who can't resist the latest gadget, even at exorbitant prices.]
[* A fangirl who began supporting Apple back in 1986 when it definitely wasn't cool to own a Mac, I must add!]

We’ve all been reading and watching intently the latest iPhone rumours, all with different perspectives on the issue.

Marc, one of our user interface designers is most interested in the size of the device (you know men, always got size on their mind…):

“I find the current iPhone model just a little too cumbersome, so I love the idea of a slender iPhone that I can stick in my jeans pocket and just forget about, as covered by Jeremy Horwitz on iLounge. Sure, the upcoming smaller 2.8″-screen model is just a rumour at this point, but it would be a sensible move from Apple – the iPhone can’t be all things to all users. A product family makes complete sense to me.

If you’re an existing iPhone user you may have spotted a new version of our interface we just released into wild. It was our mission to create a rich, usable experience that is complementary to the iPhone’s native UI. We couldn’t help ourselves from sprinkling in some fancy Apple-style widgets in there. Just go to taptu.com on your iPhone to check it out.”

Meanwhile, I’m most excited about the faster 3G connection (assuming O2 doesn’t mess customers around). I unfortunately live in the middle of nowhere, where EDGE generally isn’t available, which means that I often find myself following a link on Twitter, which leads to a YouTube video, just to get a pop-up telling me that I must be on EDGE or wi-fi to be able to watch it.

On wi-fi, the iPhone’s a total gem, a great browsing device. Not so great on the input, even with my small hands, so the thought of an even smaller iPhone doesn’t appeal to me. On EDGE, it’s quite acceptable, but unleashing full HSDPA speeds in that device would make it even better. I don’t think I’ll be swapping my 6-months old iPhone for the 3G one purely on the speed factor, but if new features which I can’t get through software updates appear, you may find out I’m first in line for the new one.

Are you at all interested in the next iPhone release? Sick of the rumours already? Got your own theory on what’s coming up next?

This morning, The Register reports O2’s admission that its 3G customers are limited to 128Kb/s connections – with some business users being upgraded as O2 sees fit.

“384Kb/s is the technical limit of 3G technology, without resorting to HSPDA, but topping out at 128Kb/s is something of an embarrassment for a 3G network. Not that using HSDPA will help the O2 customer, depending on the “profile” O2 has decided to assign to them they might still find themselves allocated only 128Kb/sec”, says El Reg.

In non-techy terms, this means that you’re buying a 3G phone, with the expectation of fast mobile web browsing, but in fact, you’re being limited to half the potential speed you should get.

A clever fella from the 3G.co.uk forum did a speed test on the network, getting the following speeds:

GPRS 44kbit/sec
EDGE 145kbit/sec
3G 112kbit/sec
HSDPA 124kbit/sec

I tried the tests a few times and posted the fastest. The 3G and HSDPA speeds are consistently around the times posted. The EDGE speeds were more variable, from 90 to 145kbit/sec I assume depending on cell traffic at the time.

Is it just me, or are customers not getting at all what O2 is claiming. It’s supposed to be 3G, and it ain’t doing what it says on the tin!

Granted, I’ve got an iPhone, I wouldn’t get 3G speeds anyways, but I do feel sorry for the cheeky sods who’ve been giving me a tough time for having a non-3G phone. I’m currently getting better speeds than you are if you’re also on O2!

Now, immature raspberry-blowing aside, I do hope O2 get their act together and allow non-business users to experience the full potential the network has to offer. This is a stick in the wheels of the mobile web we simply do not need.

[Update: Seems like O2 are set on making an impression on their customer base today. Did you know we're "a bunch of geeks" and would be "muppets" for considering changing networks? Well, it seems too funny to be true, but O2 PR staff may need some coaching on locking their phone before having private conversations.

Did you hear that? Yes, it's the sound of two PR people who are going to have a very bad end of Wednesday...]