So, Twitter has dropped its SMS offering in the UK because it’s costing the company too much ( http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/218880/twitter-drops-uk-text-message-support.html).

I must admit, I did always wonder how long it would last. It’s a great idea, but unfortunately – like so many great ideas that have come and gone before – great ideas cannot survive on love and air (and popularity, of course) alone.

Twitter hopes to continue talks with operators in the coming months with a view to perhaps breathing new life (and a less expensive one at that) into the service. Fingers crossed it has some success as I know many Twitterers out there who are feeling a bit naked as a result of the loss.

First of all, I’m still deeply in love with the iPhone 3G. It’s as nice to look at as the original, but it has a little more between its ears which is very pleasing indeed.

Keen to ensure the first gen device doesn’t feel too unloved, I decided to jazz it up a little by turning it into a light saber. I’m a big kid at heart and I am having a lot of fun with my new found toy. Granted, this is not a business application, but all business peeps need to relax now and again. What better way to do so than with a light saber?

Had difficultly filming myself enjoying Luke Skywalker-esque fun, so here’s a reconstruction of the event courteousy of a You Tuber.

Fighting Darf Vader is thirsty work so if you need a drink after all that light sabering, developers are one step ahead of you!

This is probably going to be one of the shortest blog posts I ever write, but I just wanted to share my excitement.

As you all know, the iPhone 3G launches today (well, a few hours ago to be precise as stores opened at 8.02am) and I have a briefing with O2 later today where I’ll get the chance to play with the new device and check out the new features.

In a nutshell, I can’t wait. I’ll be posting more information, another in-depth blog and some pics as soon as I’ve had a chance to get to know the handset a little better.

So, what are your thoughts on launch day, then? Worth the build up or a bit of an anti climax?

Another month, another product launch to keep me entertained/busy/excited/bemused/annoyed etc…

But the product we’re all waiting for this month is different. Some are hoping it will be in a league of its own. It hardly needs any introduction, but the product in question is, of course, the new iPhone (iPhone 3G to be precise). It’s going to hit our shores on July 11th and I’m already counting down the day, hours and minutes. My brain keeps losing track though so I won’t show up my poor maths skills by publishing the exact number!

Are you excited or nonchalant about the new arrival and, more importantly, will you be getting one?

So, the iPhone will be here in just a couple of weeks.

Call me fickle but I was a little disappointed when the iPhone 3G was first announced. There was such a build up and I found the announcement itself a tad of an anti-climax. But I’m the first to admit that I’m wrong and I will happily admit that is the case with the second gen iPhone.

It kinda looks the same (except for the sexy black little number it’s now donning) and has the same old camera specs, but it’s got 3G, is business friendly and, best of all, it’s going to cost a hell of a lot less.

With Apple wanting to shift 10 million iPhones this year, bringing down the price and making them a bit more business friendly is certainly the way to go. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on one.

What do you think? Is the new iPhone going to be more of a hit or a miss?

Today is National Work From Home Day, so where are you working? I’ve been in the office all day but that’s not because I had to, it was more a case of choice. Plus, I noticed the tube and train here were less crowded and much more pleasant than usual. I vote for a National Work From Home Day every day to carry on the better commuting experience!

Seriously though, I recently wrote a feature for IT PRO looking at the issue of flexible and remote working and spoke to some businesses who’ve been doing it for years. They know the benefits for employers, employees and environment (the three es) alike and don’t need convincing or badgering from government or workers.

However, there are still many archaic companies out there who - with the caveat of those businesses for whom remote working is just not practical - rely on bums on seats to demonstrate productivity. The ‘if I can’t see you I don’t trust you’ mentality. Trust in any relationship, whether one base on friendship, professionalism or romance is the key to success. Break that trust or don’t have it to begin with and you’re doomed. It’s as simple as that.

So, where did you work from today and how does your boss feel about remote/flexible working?

Ok, so I commute on a train line that has recently introduced so-called ‘quiet carriages’ where you’re meant to refrain from using mobile phones, walkmans or creating unnecessary noise.
A good idea in theory. Unfortunately nobody (except seemingly myself and a few other considerate people) takes a blind bit of notice and freely uses such carriages to have a conversation for the entire journey on their mobiles, or blast out the latest crap from the Top 10 as loud as possible. Sleep is never an option in such carriages. Neither is reading a book. Neither is simply just being able to quietly enjoy the journey.
An elderly lady sitting by me on one of these carriages recently remarked that the posters and carriage door signs suggesting the zone was a quiet one was most likely the result of umpteen marketing meetings and brainstorm sessions at much expense to the company, no doubt recouped via ticketing costs. What a massive waste of money. And then some.
I go back to my earlier point regarding the mobile phone ghettoblaster-esque youth who inflicted his musical taste - or lack of it - on me last month. If rules are to work, they need to be enforced, otherwise people simply sh*t all over them, sticking two fingers up at the company and other human beings as they do so.
If you try traveling without a train ticket, you get fined. If you assault someone, you get arrested and potentially put in prison. Isn’t blatantly sitting in a quiet zone and being as noisy as you can be assaulting my hearing and peace and quiet? We go on about human rights… what about my right to some peace and quiet? I don’t want to travel in a library-like train where people are afraid to breathe or cough, but I do expect people to be a bit more courteous to others.
As the elderly woman remarked, in her day you didn’t need rules or signs as they had something called manners. Welcome to 2008. A sad state of affairs. 

Following on from my rant at the rude boy on the tube the other day, I wanted to briefly talk about the reason behind my journey…

I was on my way to watch the Nokia Green Room being filmed. The concept is quite interesting: You take some singers and put them on a stage. Nothing new there then. Except while they’re busy performing in front of a crowd gig-style, the rest of the line-up are chucked into a Big Brother-esque green room to mingle with the other ‘artistes’ featured on the show. The programme gets aired on T4 and the green room stuff, interviews and what not gets put online for fans to feast or snack on.

The line-up the day I went was a mixed but thoroughly entertaining bag. The Hoosiers were both funny and charismatic on and off stage, Shaggy and his RnB friend Nathan (standing in for Akon) was an experience, Ebony Bones’ music, dresses and jewellery were unique and colourful and Sam Sparro was comedic and has an absolutely amazing voice.

You may well wonder what all this has to do with the corporate world. The answer is quite simple: models. Not, not Kate, Giselle and co, but business models. While operators and handset makers club together to battle against unsticky customers and dwindling ARPU, innovative formats that mix and match online, TV and mobile could be key in the fight for survival. I’m certainly going to be keeping a watchful eye on the market to see if other players follow suit…

Learn some manners.

There I was, having woken up far too early for a Saturday morning, sitting on a Piccadilly line train en route to Hammersmith to watch Nokia’s new T4 music programme the Green Room (as part of my new job over at iGIZMO magazine) being filmed, when it happened.

A boy and his friend got on the train. Since I entered my early 20s I have been abysmal when it comes to guessing peoples ages, so I hazard a guess that he was somewhere in the region of 12-14.

So he got on the train, playing the Hoosiers ‘Worried about Ray’ on his mobile. I know this because it was blasting out of his mobile’s speakers.

As everybody seems to do in London – nay the world generally today – people looked p*ssed off but didn’t dare to say anything. So I did. I tapped him on the back and politely asked him if he was planning on continuing with his impromptu disco for the entire journey. He rudely told me he was.

So, naturally, I asked if he had any headphones. “Nah, they’re broken,” he said. Risking the temptation to suggest that his phone would soon be broken too if he didn’t have some manners, I asked him to either turn it down or turn it off.

After a conversation with the yoof which went on much longer than I had ever intended and is five minutes (perhaps an exaggeration) of my life I will never get back, where he flippantly asked if I’d prefer another song and asked if he could put the now slightly-lower-in-volume-mobile nearer to me again to see if it was now ok.

All the while his friend said nothing. After a while, the kid got bored of listening to the music against his ear and gave up. Clearly his whole purpose was to attract attention – the wrong sort – and irritate people. Once we’d had our dialogue, it seemed pointless.

So my question is. Why, oh why, oh why doe public areas not have signs telling us that it is not ok to listen to music through speakers in those areas. Or, better still, threaten offenders with fines? You can’t smoke in public places because it’s bad for other people’s health. You can’t go to the toilet in public because it’s unhygienic and uncouth. You can’t have sex in public because it’s against the law and not on. So, why is it ok to inflict your loud and often tasteless music on everyone else in a confined space such as a train? And why, does no one ever bloody well tell people to stop doing something that clearly annoys them?

If everybody actually stood up to these irritants, perhaps more people would think twice about doing it in the first place. I completely understand people are worried about the verbal (and often physical) abuse people who speak out often get, but there is strength in numbers and if we all did it, it would most likely have a domino effect and at least reduce the amount of incidents to begin with.

Perhaps, the mobile industry could also take a stand here and create an advertising campaign that highlights the issue and educates people – in a fun way – that it’s just not on.

I am in no way a party pooper. I just don’t like having other peoples parties inflicted on me when I can’t escape.

What do you think? Am I just an old git or do I have a valid point?

The web is awash with stories about Nokia’s ‘iPhone killer’ the Tube…

I’m still waiting with baited breath to get my hands on the N96 which is due later this year so I’m keen to put my touch-screen excitement about what Nokia has up its sleeves for next year to one side. But it’s proving very hard…The iPhone is a thing of splendour and, what with the SDK, is also a thing of relevance for business and consumer users alike. With the 3G version due very soon (around 60 days from now according to most media reports) and patents having been filed for a clam shell version, the future roadmap looks very rosy.But will Nokia’s Tube goodness shake things up? For now, I doubt it. Good as it looks, it’s a little late in joining a race that kicked off some time ago. Indeed, the S60 touch screen offering isn’t likely to arrive before the first quarter of next year – that’s a hell of a long time to leave users waiting in the tech world.What do you think about Nokia’s Tube? Are you under or overwhelmed and is it likely to give users a real alternative to the iPhone?