This week the people at 3 Mobile announced an interesting petition for Apple to allow them to sell the iPhone 3G. The site, www.three.com.au/iphone, will be launched on July 27, where customers can express their desire to get their hands on a 3-friendly Apple iPhone. Gizmodo reports that the site will be “where 3 customers can voice their hopes and dreams for an X-series Jesusphone to browse the web from their pocket cheaply”. Though they have no expectations to begin selling the iPhone on July 11 like providers Optus and Vodafone, sales and marketing director, Noel Hamill believes that 3 will be selling the iPhone eventually. Fuzzy Logic writes that the whole situation “really does seem like a plea to customers not to race off to get the iPhone from elsewhere”. It will be interesting to see whether their little bargaining ploy will actually grab Apple’s attention in a favourable way.

In other tech news, Bill Gates has officially left the building. Frankarr holds a mini-retrospect on his blog in commemoration of the founder of Microsoft. He’s retired young at the age of 52 which some have considered a smart move considering the state of his company today. Stan Beer of the Beer Files speculates that “Gates has known for a long time Microsoft is a company on the wane”. Considering the massive flop that was Windows Vista, and the fact that “Microsoft continued to lose money on anything to do with the Internet”, it comes as no surprise that Gates decided to bow out early.

On a final note, I think for now we can safely say that the eBay-Paypal fiasco is over. This week, eBay sent out an email to all its users saying that the Paypal only scheme has been postponed indefinitely. Gizmodo calls it “one of the stupidest decisions in the history of the Internet”. No doubt many users have already jumped ship and moved to another auction site.

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Kotaku, Tech Blorge, Fuzzy Logic.

 
For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Tracey Yong at tracey@espressocomms.com.au.

This week, the first official Australian Apple store opened for business with a mass of Sydneysiders waiting to experience the second largest Apple store in the world. Located on 367 George St, Sydney and spanning three levels, its grand opening has drawn plenty of attention with some fans camping outside the store a day early. Fuzzy Logic writes “it’s a retail experience unlike any other”. The first level is entirely filled with Macs, the second with everything to do with iPods and the third holds a 20-metre long Genius Bar, bigger than any other around the world. According to Gusworld, the store brings with it a lot of extra perks, including “a couple of kid-height Macs to play with” to distract the children, as well as free internet so that people can “check their email for nothing”.  It also has 125 people on staff, and even the option of booking an appointment with a ‘personal shopper’ to help you with all your Apple needs. For all those users who have already jumped on the Apple bandwagon, free training classes are available three times a day, every day of the week to help people become tech-savvy. More Apple stores are set to open, with one in Chatswood, Sydney and another in Melbourne. If you need to know more, check out Gizmodo’s pictorial tour.

There has been plenty of talk about the eBay situation this week as the online shopping giant shows signs of resistance against the ACCC ruling. Last week, the ACCC drafted a response that essentially rejected eBay’s request to set up a PayPal only payment scheme. Stan Beer of the Beer Files reports that “eBay Australia has resorted to bravado stating it will fight the ACCC draft notice”. They have set a new date for PayPal only enforcement: July 15. So far they have already tried pushing the scheme for sellers. Fuzzy Logic writes that “eBay Australia are warning sellers not to include alternative payment systems in their ads”, restricting them from using any other payment facilities by removing the option altogether. It seems they’ve decided that the ACCC haven’t made their “final” decision yet.

In other tech news, Ross Dawson announced the BRW Top 100 Web 2.0 companies of 2008. Ben Barren of RSS’ing Down Under blogs that the Web 2.0 industry in Australia is finally gaining some momentum but that “we’ve still got a lot of catching up to do”. Number one on the list is mig33, a “Global mobile and web-based community, including social networking and messaging such as IM, email, text and photo sharing” which has achieved plenty of success around the world. For the full list, visit Ross Dawson’s blog here.

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  Fuzzy Logic, Gizmodo, Screen Play, Gusworld, Pocket Mojo

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: Now We’re Talking, The Tower Blog, RSS’ing Down Under, Online Communities, Frankarr

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Tracey Yong at tracey@espressocomms.com.au.

We couldn’t leave this week without of course talking about the Apple iPhone. Clearly, this product needs no introduction, being one of the most highly anticipated tech products this year. Previously set to be launched in June, this week Apple announced the iPhone 3G would only land in Australia on July 11. Gizmodo comments that this means “another month of waiting before we Australians can get our own Jesusphone without unlocking it”. This certainly hasn’t stopped the ebb of iPhone updates, with Fuzzy Logic blogging about “what’s in and what’s out” on the new Apple product. The iPhone 3G has no video calling, no 32GB storage and no alternative colours, along with several other missing features like MMS. What’s really causing a stir though is the price of the smartphone. David Braue of Full Duplex reports that the iPhone 3G is likely to cost less than $300, which is pretty cheap for a mobile phone. He writes that Apple has “commoditised the smartphone” when prices for items like the BlackBerry have hit four figures. This means that the iPhone 3G is set to become the most popular smartphone yet, made available to a much wider audience and challenging other brands to follow suit. It looks like we’ll just have to wait until July 11 to see if what is predicted actually happens.

In gaming news, the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) and the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) have joined forces to give an extra push to their causes. Together they are urging the government to introduce tax incentives for Australian game developers so that they have some chance at competing with game developers in countries like the United States and Canada, which have bigger budgets and more resources at their disposal. Kotaku blogs that “we know how awesome tax rebates have been for game developers in other countries” so the Australian government just needs to get on board.

This week, eBay’s PayPal only scheme has been given the kibosh. Gizmodo reports that the ACCC on Thursday drafted a controversial response to eBay’s request and “the response sounded like a polite version of the phrase ‘F^&k off’”. The ACCC claim that the introduction of a PayPal only scheme would “reduce competition to supply online payment services to users” because of eBay’s dominance in the online shopping market. It looks like the ordeal is almost over, and sellers won’t have to be in uproar for much longer.

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  Fuzzy Logic, Gizmodo, Screen Play, Alex Kidman, Kotaku

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Tracey Yong at tracey@espressocomms.com.au.

This week the buzz around the Apple iPhone continued, as more and more evidence poured in hinting that the next iPhone will be 3G. Fuzzy Logic reports that Softbank, a Japanese telecommunications company has announced that it will bring the iPhone to Japan, where 2G phones are no longer sold and almost all 2G networks have been switched off. He writes that this news “is yet more proof the 3G iPhone is real”. With signs of a 3G iPhone debut in only 4 more days, all sorts of rumours have surfaced on the web, including photos of the new iPhone model. The question is, are they real?

In other Mac news, there have been signs that .Mac is set to go under a huge revamp. Pocket Mojo has been tracking the rumours in the last week. He first suggests the new .Mac will be called Me.com, and then reports it will actually be called MobileMe. The update on the email program has been in high demand for a long time because of its painfully slow performance and lagging applications. However, news about the revamp will no doubt take a back seat in coming weeks with the imminent release of the iPhone.

Asus is trying to make the most of their success in the sub-laptop market by rebranding themselves as Eeesus. Alex Kidman comments that “Asus has decided to capitalise on the runaway success of the Eee PC and focus the company name on it”. Instead of Asus TVs, we’ll soon see Eee TVs, Eee phones and even Mini-Micro Eees. Alex Kidman reports that an eBox might soon jump on the scene, with prototypes having already been made. No doubt the Eee PC mini-laptop caused a great deal of commotion in the technology market, but is Asus (or should I say Eeesus) taking it too far?

It seems more and more likely that the long awaited Rock Band is not going to reach Australia any time soon. Jason Hill of Screen Play writes that a major issue is the cost of the game. Selling for $169.95 in the US, the Australian price is “likely to translate to at least AU$299”. To add to Rock Band’s problems, the game has been receiving nasty reviews, with users complaining of “snapped drum pedals and unresponsive guitar strum bars”. This is bad news for the creators considering that its main competitor, Guitar Hero World Tour is set to be released before Christmas.

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Tracey Yong at tracey@espressocomms.com.au.