Yesterday I finally got my iPhone back from being fixed. Some of you may remember me posting about my accident on this very blog a couple of weeks back.

It took a week from me posting it to receiving it back with it’s brand new screen. It’s doubtful that I’ll ever let anyone touch it again! I have to say that I am impressed with the good work the guys over at iPaq repairs have done. It works and feels just like it was before it was broken.

Now, I have taken precautions against it happening again by buying a case for the iPhone from eBay. It’s a good move because it’ll be (hopefully) protected against any further accidents that I may have. The case I chose was a leather one, but there are many different cases for the iPhone 3G available through PriceGrabber too.

The cost of repairing the screen was close enough to £70, but I’ve no longer got a warranty on it if anything else happens. It was a choice between paying that amount or sending it to O2 and having to pay £250 for a screen replacement.

If you have an iPhone and, God forbid, you have an accident then you should definitely look up the guys over at iPaq repairs.

I thought about posting this last week when it happened but forgot to do so. I have found out the hard way just how fragile the Apple iPhone really is.What happened was I’d lent the iPhone to a friend who accidentally dropped it on to a slate floor. It fell about 4 feet, but it was enough to ruin the iPhone.

When I say ruined, what I mean is that the screen, or the digitizer as it’s officially called, has cracked all the way down to the home button. As you can see from the picture the top right hand of the screen is also shattered.

What’s worse is that I don’t have insurance on it and it’s not covered under the warranty. So in order to get it repaired I’d have to send it back to O2 / Apple and pay £250 just to replace the screen. This sounds like a huge amount of money to fork out just for a screen. There are other options available obviously. I can get a screen from eBay and fit it myself or pay for someone else to fix it on my behalf. Either way the warranty will be voided.

I’ve been told that I might be able to claim for the repair under the house insurance, but I don’t know about that option. It’s something I have to look in to.

So why am I telling you about this? Well quite simply I would not want it to happen to anyone else. If you have an iPhone you should really get yourself a case for it to protect it. PriceGrabber have done the hard work for you and by following this link you can protect yourself from the same sort of damage that has happened to mine.

This is my first posting from my new Apple MacBook and I have to say that I love it. I opted for the 13.3″ 2.0 GHz model simply because I didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money on a machine that I might not like. Happily I can say that hasn’t happened and I am becoming used to using the Apple MacBook.

There are certain things that I miss from the PC to be fair, like right clicking but it can be turned on in the settings. The multi touch gestures more than make up for that though. Moving the mouse with one finger is simplicity in itself, but being able to scroll simply by using two fingers is fantastic. Actually typing on the Apple MacBook feels much more comfortable than on my PC laptop.

Another feature I like is the MagSafe power connector on the Apple MacBook. It’s easy enough to forget you’re connected to the power supply sometimes, but there’s no need to worry about damaging the cable or power socket with the MagSafe. You see it’s magnetic and comes away from the Apple MacBook easily yet it’s strong enough to stay in place too.

Being able to press a button on the side of the Apple MacBook to see how much battery you have left is also easy and convenient. Everything about the Apple MacBook is convenient to be honest. It just worked straight out of the box. Things are really intuitive on the Apple MacBook too, but I can’t see me ditching the PC laptop entirely just yet though. There are things on the PC that I still use daily to do my university work. I’m sure I’ll transfer these over to the Apple MacBook as soon as I figure out all the different applications that are available.

I’m really glad that I took the plunge in getting an Apple MacBook now, simply because of the ease of use and great apps that are available for it. If you’re planning on getting a new computer soon maybe it’s time you took a look at the Apple range of computers.

It was announced the other day that the HTC Magic (which is the G2 to all intents and purposes and will run the Android Operating System from Google) will be out on the Vodafone network in the UK on May the 5th. What’s good is that you can pre-order the mobile phone right now!

The HTC Magic will be available from free on the £35, 2 year contract which will include:

• Unlimited data connection
• Unlimited text messages
• 600 Minutes of calls

As for some technical specifications of the mobile phone, it will have:

• Full touch screen
• 3G Connection
• WiFi Connection
• 3.2 Megapixel camera
• 2.5Gb of memory.

The HTC Magic will definitely become a device to challenge the iPhone much more than the G1 did. But, having said that, the Palm Pre will be released soon which is also a strong contender for a share of the iPhone market, and as we know, Apple will soon be releasing a new 3.0 version of the iPhone. That could see the bar being raised even higher.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, but it’s definitely an exciting time if you’re looking for a new mobile phone.

The Griffin AirCurve is a great gadget if you have an iPhone. So what is it? The Griffin AirCurve is self powered acoustic amplifier. This probably doesn’t mean anything much to anyone, including me.

Well the Griffin AirCurve doubles as a dock for your iPhone in addition to being an acoustic amplifier. It has the standard port that plugs in to the bottom of your iPhone. What’s good about it is that it will increase the volume of the iPhone by 10 decibels. The Griffin AirCurve does this without needing any batteries or power supply.

The way it works is pretty clever. The Griffin AirCurve has been designed to work in a way that is similar to the human ear, but in reverse. The sound comes out of the speaker of your iPhone and travels through special tubular channels in the Griffin AirCurve that increases the volume as it travels along.

The Griffin AirCurve is made of see through acrylic which doesn’t look out of place on any desk. The Griffin AirCurve is compatible with the iPhone and iPhone 3G. Not sure about the 2nd generation iPod touch though. You can be sure that PriceGrabber will have the cheapest price available for the Griffin AirCurve so grab yours today!

Last week I finally got my hands on an Apple iPhone 3G after months of waiting. My O2 contract was in its last month so I took the plunge and updated to the mobile I had been waiting so long to get.

When I got the package containing the Apple iPhone 3G, I was surprised at how small it was, but it was still exciting to cut the seals around the outer box to reveal the iPhone’s box. The good thing was that it was partially charged so I could play with it immediately once I’d inserted my sim card in to it. I did have to activate it through iTunes, but that was a painless and quick task. The first thing I did was transfer my contacts from my Nokia N95 to the Apple iPhone 3G. This was slightly dull as I had to do it entirely manually. If I’d have had an iMac I’m sure it would have been easier.

Having owned an iPod touch in the past I’m sure it was easier for me to get going straight away. The touch screen on the Apple iPhone 3G is much more responsive than the one on my iPod touch, and it does seem to be brighter. That may be down to the Apple iPhone 3G being new though.

There were however a few disappointments. No multimedia messaging (MMS), no forwarding of texts (SMS), and no 3G Signal where I live. OK, the last one is not the fault of Apple, but the other two are. But, Apple held a special event on Tuesday to reveal the new Apple iPhone OS 3.0, which will include MMS and SMS Forwarding. This is what I’d been wanting to hear and it makes the iPhone the best phone ever in my opinion.

On my 18 month contract with O2 I get 600 minutes per month, 500 text messages per month, FREE Data access and unlimited WiFi all for £35. I think that’s a pretty good deal seeing as I was paying £30 previously and using data on that package was expensive! All in all I am more than happy with the new Apple iPhone 3G that I got, but will be even happier come the summer and the 3.0 OS.

PriceGrabber have a huge range of accessories and cases for the Apple iPhone 3G - Go visit the site through this link to have a look.

Apple has again released a new device. This time it’s an update to the Apple iPod Shuffle. This will be the third version of the smallest iPod available. They’ve reverted back to the shape of the original iPod Shuffle with this upgrade albeit much smaller. This iPod measures a tiny 1.8 inches in height and its thinness is also small at 0.7 inches.

The Apple iPod Shuffle holds a special place in my heart as it was the first iPod I owned. I still have it too but it does look dated now. I can’t really see me buying one though, mainly because I have an iPod touch and an iPhone (yes, I’ve got my hands on one finally!) already.

Apple have made the decision to move the controls from the main body of the iPod Shuffle and put them on the cord of the headphones which is a smart move in my opinion as it allows you to leave the Shuffle in your pocket. So what else is new? Well, it now has 4Gb of storage space which allows you to put about 1000 songs on the device. There’s also a feature on the new iPod Shuffle which allows it to “talk” to you. It won’t hold a conversation but it will tell you what artist and track are playing at the press of a button.

The new iPod Shuffle costs £59, which is about right I reckon. Although the second generation iPod Shuffle are still available at about the £30 price mark.

There’s a lot of talk on the web, and on Twitter in particular, about an upcoming event that Apple are planning on having on March 24th.

Apple plan to (allegedly) unveil new versions of their popular desktop range of computers to the world. The iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro are all due for a revamp, indeed the Mac Mini hasn’t had a revamp since 2007.

If the rumours on the web are true then it will have the following specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo
• 2GHz
• 3Mb L2 Cache
•  2GB RAM DDR III, 1066MHz
• SATA SuperDrive

In addition to this, there would be 5 USB ports, a FireWire 800 port and two display ports (Mini DisplayPort and mini DVI).

The iMacs, or the new iMacs, would get upgraded with the new NVIDIA chipset and the Mac Pros with Xeon processors.

It has to be remembered that these are all just rumours at the moment and we will have to wait until Apple release an official announcement, but it does sound very exciting. There’s also apparently going to be a special surprise at the event too.

Hopefully the surprise will be some sort of upgrade to the iPhone but it’s highly unlikely. I just want the iPhone to be upgraded because it’s nearly time for my mobile phone contract with O2 to come to an end, and the next phone I’ll be getting is most probably going to be an iPhone.

Apple unveiled their newest version of the Safari browser yesterday albeit a beta. There has been a huge buzz about it on Twitter so obviously I had to go and download it for myself. Safari 4 beta is available for both Mac and Windows computers, which is good news for me.

First impressions of this new browser are that it is shiny and polished with a host of new features, for instance Top Sites.  Top Sites displays a thumbnail of your most visited sites in a nicely 3D styled window for you to choose from with a single click. Apple have included Cover Flow in this new browser too, which for me is a welcome addition. It allows you to scroll through your bookmarks and history as you would on you iPhone or iPod touch.

There are other little improvements in this new beta version of Safari which I am yet to discover fully for myself, but I’m liking the browser already. There are obviously some flaws in the browser, it is after all a beta version but these are few and far between in my experience of using it. I have had the browser crash on me a couple of times but nothing more really.

Safari is becoming a serious contender to both Internet Explorer and FireFox and version 4 is closing the gap dramatically. I for one will keep it installed on my machine for the foreseeable future. You can download it from the Apple website now!

Now here’s a device that every iPhone, iPod touch and iPod owner should seriously consider buying. The BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery is the perfect solution to your power needs on long trips or for when you’ve left your charging cable at home. The BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery can give up to 250 hours extra standby time, up to 3.5 hours talktime or up to 36 hours audio play back time.

That’s a pretty impressive bunch of figures if you ask me. The BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery has a rechargeable Li-ion polymer battery at its heart and is recharged by simply plugging the supplied USB cable into a spare USB port on your computer.

Connecting the BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery to your device is as simple as connecting an ordinary USB cable or charger up to it because the BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery has the same connector. What could be simpler?

Costing under £30, the BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery is a serious piece of kit that you can’t really do without if you’re an iPhone or iPod owner. You’ve just got to have one in your arsenal of gadgets. I’ll be getting one soon enough to add to my collection.

I can see the BluePack iPhone/iPod Back-up Battery becoming very popular indeed amongst the Apple fans out there.