Zap Zombies in your street

HAD to wait until I got home to try this because it's the kind of game I'd play if I ever got bored in the office.

It's one of those casual web distractions that do the rounds, except with a clever twist.

You get to zap zombies in your street thanks to a developer who has overlaid the game on to Google's Street View.

Virgin Trains have seized on it to get across their marketing message. The aim of the game is to convert as many undead into happy Virgin commuters and high scores win First Class rail travel.

Oh and Richard Branson will appear as a zombie.

So you get to zap him too.

Try it at www.dontgozombie.com but don't have nightmares.

8p a minute calls from Talkmobile

 
TALKMOBILE has launched Britain’s best value pay as you go phone tariff, equalling Asda’s 8p a minute deal, but halving to 4p a minute for calls to other Talkmobile users.

Called Essentials, and exclusive to The Carphone Warehouse, texts cost 4p (2p to other users) and you get web access for 30p a day (subject to 25MB fair usage).

The network coverage should be great because it’s backed by Vodafone.
But iPhone 4 users will have to get a sim card cutter, because its not available on micro-sim.

Talkmobile Director, Paul Layte said: “Our research has shown that a third of mobile phone users in the UK are looking for clear and simple tariff pricing when considering which product to buy.

“Talkmobile Essentials offers customers unbeatable value calls and texts with no hidden catches at a time when keeping in touch and managing a tight budget are really important to many people.”

A Talkmobile SIM card cost £10, which includes £10 of credit.
12-month Talkmobile contracts are also available at £15 a month or £20 a month depending on usage.

Apple opens new giant store

 
 
 
STILL not managed to get an iPhone 4 yet? Get yourself down to Apple's new store in Covent Garden, London, on Saturday.

 

It's their biggest shop in the world, so more room for stock than ever before. And, though I haven't been to all of them, it's probably their most beautiful too.

 

Situated beneath the arches of the Piazza, a city landmark, it has rooms devoted to showcasing products and demos as well as the Genius Gar for giving advice.

 

"We are thrilled to open a new store in this amazing location in Covent Garden," said Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of Retail.

 

 "Our store on Regent Street is one of the most popular and successful Apple stores in the world, and we think the people of London will love the new Apple Store Covent Garden just as much."

 

The store opens at 10am, but expect queues, so turn up early.

Here's the Torch in all its glory. Blackberry users will at last be able to experience apps as they are meant to be enjoyed, by a simple touch of the screen. And they'll be able to pay for them via credit card, Paypal or through their monthly phone bill. This phone combines everything Blackberry users already love about their handsets with the best that touchscreens have to offer. Importantly, it will enable RIM to more easily hang on to customers tempted by both Apple and Android phones.

Blackberry launches new Torch handset

Blackberry makers RIM today launched their new handset, the Torch, in an Apple-style video-cast live from New York. It's a touchscreen with a slide-out qwerty keyboard and it's being billed as the best Blackberry ever. Software enhancements make it a more easily searchable device and "text-wrap" zoom has been introduced to make web pages more readable. Based on feedback from users, there's a new home page and new "user interface" keeping the best of the current Blackberry navigation. It follows the trend of putting all your emails, social network and web feeds into one User-defined view on the screen. And RIM have tried to make setting up the phone far more simple. There are tabs for frequently used functions. And the home screen has far more of an iPhone or Android look to it.

Get Sky 3D in your home from October 1

SKY has announced an impressive package of 3D shows as the broadcaster names the date for rolling out the exciting new format in British homes.

Sports fans will watch the Ryder Cup come alive as never before on their TV, as well as regular Premier League football fixtures already enjoyed in pubs around the country.

From October 1, film fans will be able to catch 3D movies including: Bolt and Monster vs Aliens, Alice in Wonderland, Ice Age – Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Coraline, Fly Me To The Moon, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince and My Bloody Valentine.

And Sky Arts 3D is partnering the English National Ballet to add some high culture to the line-up.

Available to any Sky+HD home with a 3D Ready TV, there will be no extra charge for customers who subscribe to Sky’s top channel and HD pack.

Sky Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said: “As with High Definition, 3D is set to transform the way TV is enjoyed in homes nationwide. Following hot on the heels of the success of 3D cinema, Sky customers will now be the first anywhere in Europe to experience 3D TV from the comfort of their living rooms. They can look forward to a fantastic mix of live sport, blockbuster movies, and innovative entertainment and arts shows.”

Sky 3D is now available in more than 1500 pubs and clubs across the UK and Ireland. Over a million sports fans have already lapped up a range of sports broadcast live in 3D since the channel’s launch.

Sky 3D is compatible with all of the 3D TVs being introduced by Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic, and works with both ‘active’ and ‘passive’ 3D formats.

To register for the latest information on Sky 3D visit:

www.sky.com/3D

iPhone 4 Star Wars battle

CHECK out the Star Wars duel between Apple's Steve Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates in this video from NMA News. See their weird and wonderful channel at YouTube.

Free Xbox Slim

The Carphone Warehouse is giving away an XBox Slim 250GB when you take out a contract, either in store or online, on the Samsung Tocco Lite, which is free on a £25 a month tariff with Vodafone including unlimited texts and 300 minutes.  

Wi-Fi spots getting hotter

 
By TREVOR DAVIES

THE popularity of the iPhone 4 will make free Wi-Fi even more sought after as users look for places to make video calls via Apple's FaceTime function.

For ease of use, video and audio quality FaceTime is easily the best internet telephony system we've tried at Gadgits. Apple have taken the good points offered by Skype and put them into a simple and sexy package. FaceTime won't stop with the iPhone4.

The smart money is on Apple introduc ing FaceTime with video call conferencing on the next iPad as the power of their tablet as an office tool gathers momentum.

After all, all they need to do is add a small webcam and mic. FaceTime would make so much sense on the iPad because it is essentially a Wi-Fi device.

In the meantime, we've been looking around for free Wi-Fi access points to make calls on the iPhone 4 and you can find a list here

London's Timeout magazine published a list of their favourite free Wi-Fi cafes, but it didn't include ours,  Gastronomica in Wapping.

Starbucks has a nearly-free service if you keep a loyalty card topped up to a £2 minimum. For more, go here

Please let us know where your favourite Wi-Fi spots are, anywhere in the UK, in the comment box below.

GetJar v Apple

By TREVOR DAVIES

Apple's app marketing model will fail in five years, claims their biggest rival, Ilja Laurs, CEO of the world's second biggest app store GetJar.

That might sound a little overconfident, considering the phenomenal success Apple has enjoyed in a market it invented, boasting 5 billion app downloads in two years.

But this month GetJar celebrated one billion app downloads and won $11 million worth of funding. Which kind of makes you want to listen to what the powerful Lithuanian has to say.

The 34-year-old entrepreneur sees the way Apple distributes it's apps as flawed and it's this chink in their considerable armour that he and his company is exploiting.

"Steve Jobs decides if you can sell an app," he says. "And Apple will take a 30 per cent cut."

"We will distribute any app for free," he says. "If you buy an app through Apple you have to use iTunes for billing."

"This might not suit your business. What if you want to sell via phone credits? Or PayPal?"

With 300,000 registered developers and 40 partnerships with phone service providers and phone makers, Mr Laurs will distribute apps for any platform or device open to him.

So if you are Vodafone and you want to sell your apps via monthly phone charges or on pay as you go, who are you going to call?

"We are the Walmart of apps," he says.

But Mr Laurs, who now divides his time between San Mateo in California and Vilnius, is no anti-Apple iPhone slayer. He loves the new iPhone 4. "It is a beautiful device," he says. (Although, he has a Blackberry Bold within reach during our chat at the Charlotte Street Hotel brasserie.)

"Everyone in America agrees that Apple is the best," he adds.

And, explaining the fact that Android phones are outselling the iPhone in America, he reminds us that it's all about price.

The way GetJar makes it's money is by charging for visibility on its site.

So a developer will come to a deal in which GetJar will earn a percentage for units sold, depending on the positioning it gets on the site and the app's popularity.

The key to Mr Laurs' view is that apps are the medium, not the message, whereas, he argues that at present the mobile phone industry tends to view the apps as content itself.

It's just a shift in how we access the web. After all, an app is just an easy route to a website.

"URLs are dead," he says. "The app icons are the new era. No more typing www, you just see an icon and press it. Anyone can do it."

Simples, as they say.

Virgin launches cash-prize video game site

SIR Richard Branson today launched Virgin Gaming, an online arcade for console players to compete against each other for cash prizes on top PS3 and 360 titles.

Games include Halo 3, FIFA 10 and NHL 10. ModNation Racers is promised soon.
After a brief registration, in which you can use your existing PS3 or Xbox ID to validate the process, you are then asked to deposit 25 dollars, although I was given 50 points (giving me a balance of ten dollars)  for joining.

Tournaments on offer include a game of FIFA 10 with a  $10 entry for a possible  $28 "jackpot".

As you progress through challenges, you build up a reputation through feedback.
And you meet up potential challengers in the relevant lobby for your console.
Virgin aim to giveaway $1million in prizes over the next year.

Putting his money where his mouth is, Richard Branson turned up to the E3 video gaming convention in LA with the cash in hand, hoping to spark a worldwide rush to sign up for big cash prizes.

This will be a welcome earning opportunity for the more skilful gamers.
But it will be interesting to see if it can make any kind of dent in Xbox Live's 23million-member multiplayer environment.

Sir Richard said: "Gamers want something new, something interactive and something fun.
Virgin Gaming is just that - access to play the best games in super competitive tournaments with anyone in the world and win the biggest prizes and the most rewards."

 "Giving away over $1 million in cash and prizes this year is proof. We've had great success with Virgin Games and Virgin Interactive Entertainment and recognised the enormous potential of an online community of 40 million daily users.  I welcome gamers from novice to expert to join the online Virgin Gaming community."

iPhone4

SO, now the iPad has the ultimate accessory, the iPhone 4. CarphoneWarehouse are expecting a rush for Apple's latest version of their wonder phone, which has a 5 megapixel camera and flash and improved display. Carphone Warehouse boss Andrew Harrison said: “There is always a huge amount of excitement whenever a new iPhone is released and we are expecting a stampede of customers to hit our stores. " Apple are hoping to spark a shift towards video calling, which the iPhone 4 is supposed to be able to handle better than any other handset. The phone is expected to hit stores on June 24. You can pre-order from Apple, Carphone Warehouse http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/news/coming-soon,  Vodafone, 3, O2 and  Orange this week.

The iPad has landed

From Trevor Davies in Regent Street, London (on my new iPad!)

TWITTER god Stephen Fry was among the first to welcome the iPad to Britain this morning at the Apple store.

As sales staff wildly whooped and cheered customers, he compared the event to a Lady Gaga gig.

Asked if the iPad was any good he said: "Of course, there wouldn't be all this fuss if it wasn't."

He told Gadgits that he already had a Wif-Fi-only version from America but was looking at a 3G so that he could Tweet from anywhere

Predicted sales for the iPad are in the multimillions over the next few years with as many as 1 in 4 Brits considering a switch to the new tablet format.

Deafening screams and cheers could be heard coming from the store as the first few customers left clutching their prized new possessions - some smiling broadly, others appearing somewhat bewildered by the applause.

A team of security staff monitored queues outside as people waited behind a cordon to be allowed into the packed store.

Some weary-looking fans, who had been camping out on Regent Street since the early hours, appeared grateful as they were served refreshments and gradually inched closer to the store.

Edward Cook, 25, from Greenwich, south east London, said he was "thrilled" to have finally got his hands on one of the gadgets, following a 10-hour wait.

"I'm very excited but also quite tired. I've been here since 2am. For me it (the iPad) is a novelty toy. The novelty may wear off but for now it is quite exciting."

Apple was forced to push back its original late April UK launch date because of "overwhelming demand" for the iPad in the US.

The company's website is already warning that iPad pre-orders made now will not ship until June 7.

Apple sold more than one million iPads in the US in the first 100 days after the April launch, making it a faster seller than the iPhone.

iPad sells for £429

THE basic 16GB Wi-Fi Apple iPad will cost nearly £100 more in the UK at £429 than it does in America—where it sells at £337 ($499). Brits will be able to preorder one online from Apple on Monday (May 10).
And the tablet computer, which has already sold a million in the US, will be available in Apple stores from Friday May 28.
For larger memory Wi-Fi models you’ll pay £499 for 32GB and £599 for 64GB. In America they'd cost £405 ($599) and £472 ($699).
If you want 3G and Wi-Fi. you’ll pay £529 for 16GB, £599 for 32GB and £699 for 64GB.
Vodafone and O2 are yet to announce their iPad 3G data only price plans. But we reckon a pay as you go deal will be best for the iPad, which is the ultimate coffee table gadget. Orange are offering various tarriffs including a simple pay-for-what-you-use deal at 5p per MB upto £40 a month. Brilliant for reading books and magazines, and casual gaming, we reckon you are only likely to use the iPad to browse the web away from home Wi-Fi without downloading. You'll get £10 credit on activation of any Orange iPad data plan, for use at any time. Other bundles include: £2 per day for 200mb of data, £7.50 per week for 1GB, £15 and £25 a month for 3GB and 10GB, plus unlimited use at Wi-Fi hotspots.

Apple postpone iPad launch

Apple have postponed the global launch of the iPad by a month until the end of May.

Here is the statement in full they released today:

"Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad™. We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

"Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason—the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far."