I’d resisted for ages, but NOW I want one… It’s the announcement that a lot of people have been waiting for. Finally… FINALLY… Apple are catching up with the rest of the phone manufacturers out there, and the iPhone is going 3G. Therefore it will be able to browse the web at proper ‘broadband’ speeds of up to (theoretically) 3.6 Megabits (dependant on network coverage and capability of course). Not only that, but it’s a tri-band phone – so will work practically anywhere worldwide, and it has WiFi for connecting to your PC or other WiFi device and GPS (satellite navigation). More details here and here and, well, on various other blogs which are far more techie than mine. Oh, and it will be priced in the USA starting at $199 – HALF the current price. I don’t see any indication yet what the price will be here but I would still expect it to be more expensive here than in the States as the original version was. Also, it’s still only got a 2 megapixel camera (and no front facing camera built in for video calls), but that doesn’t bother me.

I do hope that they’re now allowing you to use any MP3 as a ringtone instead of having to pay extra to download ringtone versions of songs from iTunes… I want to stick with my CTU ringtone

It will be available in various countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA) from July 11th. It’s already mentioned on O₂’s UK site which says “come back tomorrow to find out more”. I only wish it wasn’t exclusive to O₂ as I’m with 3 and actually like their service. Ah well… my contract is up in September…

Been away from this blog for a few days. There are reasons. Work aside, there’s a few other web sites I maintain which needed attention lately – one being ShiteDrivers which features a new entry today from me about kids. They can be shite drivers too, you know. The ShiteDrivers site has been shortlisted for the Irish Blog Awards – which gives me an excuse to stick on my best suit and head to Dublin on March 1st!

Another site I maintain is the Dundalk FM 100 one – which is also based on WordPress. The latest additions are podcasts and YouTube videos (one can be seen on the RehabCare on Air page) plus a full schedule and loads more besides including live football scores and commentary!

My own sites aside, it’s amusing to see Marks and Spencer making a slight cock-up, in trying to sell a lingerie model (with ‘durable hardwood feet’) on their web site. Great value at only £1,549!

Via Damien… iPhone’s available in Ireland… how trustworthy does this look?

Ralph Wiggum for President! Oh yes! … Do you “dig the wig”?

Ruairi thinks it never happens that you’re waiting for ages for a bus and then two come along at once… I beg to differ. Happened to me loads of times when I lived in Dolphin’s Barn in Dublin.

As Conor Pope reports, BT can be pretty nasty too when it comes to billing for their broadband ’service’ (or lack thereof)

Finally, from the “ooh that’s entertaining… and clever… and incredibly nerdy” department (and via Michèle) comes this… a tune made entirely of Windows sounds:

One month later and Blogorrah hasn’t returned as promised. Is anyone really that bothered any more? Is the ‘Bring Back Blogorrah’ campaign dead in the proverbial water?

Damien unearthed a 419 scammer who’s advertising in an Irish newspaper. The cheeky feckers. Also, he’s offering to do free P.R. for my new site ShiteDrivers.com – which, itself, has seen a small accelleration in signups and posts exposing poor driving lately. Cormac Donncha also gave the site a mention on his InPhotos site, so yeah – as it’s getting a bit more exposure, I must have a look at tidying up the layout and design and jazzing it up a bit with some new features. Anyone any good at logo design like to offer their talents for a new ShiteDrivers(.com) logo?

Microsoft have launched a "snazzy" new search engine called ‘Tafiti’ – it runs on their new Flash-rival called ‘Silverlight’ (and you’ll have to install it to use the site). Interestingly, Microsoft don’t own Silverlight.com – that actually links to someones .mac site. Oh well… Back to Tafiti (where did that name come from???) – While it looks pretty, it’s really not so hot when it comes to its intended function – searching. If you like a load of bells and whistles when you search and don’t mind disabling your pop-up blocker so that search results can launch in new Windows, go for it… if not, stick with Google or Yahoo!.

I’ve been playing with my new Nokia 6288 on 3 for a week or so now and I’ll be getting a new Sony Ericsson K800i from the network (yes, I work for them) next week some time… which is nice. There are a few handy places to get free applications and games for these phones on the web including GetJar.com, About.com and FreeDownloadsCenter.com.

Speaking of phones… the American’s are quite some way behind us aren’t they? Sure, the phone they all want (which is supposedly launching here "soon") doesn’t even have 3G/HSDPA. Mind you, many Americans are still only getting used to text messaging – with some paying more attention to the task than they really should…!

Finally – I know I was being a bit picky (no, not pedantic) originally I guess – but I noticed yesterday that our local Virgin Megastore finally fixed the ironic spelling error on their sign just in time for a brain training "expo" where they had loads of people playing the game on the Nintendo DS to see who had the best brains in Dundalk. Er… ah… no comment…

My filler “Live Request Jukebox” show has been cancelled after only one week to give way for a new programme on Dundalk FM. Am I bothered…? Not at all… The Wall of Sound returns soon!

Jim Carrey on Letterman taking the piss out of David Caruso (with help from Paul Schaffer and band doing a half decent impresion of the Who). Easily done, in fairness.

I should have, – but I couldn’t have put it better myself. Well said, Stephen.

Looking for a new domain name? New web site Bust a Name cleverly suggests available domain names based on different combinations of user-input keywords. Well worth a try.

Instantly improve your vision – using your fist! (Thanks to HackerZen.com)

Both Yahoo! and Google have been on a bit of a spending splurge lately, buying lots of companies. SEO by the Sea gives us a comprehensive list with some insight into the purchases and Google themselves.

The iPhone may only be out just over a week but people are already using it for exactly what you’d expect people to use it for… searching for porn!

[EDIT:] Update on last Crunchy Links, my blog is now rated “R” for Restricted by Mingle². Well, hurrah! \o/