Following yesterday’s announcement that the iPhone will launch on O2 in Ireland on March 14, O2 Ireland CEO Danuta Gray has spoken about the value of the device, given the €1209 cost including the minimum 18-month tariff plan. “You can’t compare it with other products,” said Gray in an interview with the Independent. “Comparing it with a standard handset is just not like-for-like. I have music on it, videos on it, DVDs,…

Get ready. Later this evening, iLounge will launch an all-new site design, which will offer improved navigation, functionality, and features, in addition to a slightly new look. Due to the nature of the transition from the old site to the new one, there may be a short period tonight where you will be unable to access the site. Please be patient; It will be worth the wait. For a preview of the new site design, check out page 10 of our 2008 iPod + iPhone…

According to several sources familiar with Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch software development kit (SDK) plans, the company will use a March 6 event in Cupertino, California to formally announce a number of potentially controversial limitations on application development and publishing. Our sources spoke on the condition that their comments were not for attribution, independently confirming the following details, and offering differing opinions…

Chris Foster of Harmonix has written a postmortem discussing the creation of the iPod game Phase. It’s interesting to note the design and development teams’ need to make this a fun game for what may…

The iPhone is second in planned corporate smartphone buying, and first in corporate smartphone satisfaction, according to the latest research from ChangeWave. A February 11-15 corporate survey of people involved with IT spending decisions showed that despite its 5% share of the corporate market, the iPhone ranked first in corporate smartphone satisfaction, with 59% of Apple’s business customers saying their company was very satisfied with the…

Belkin’s first combination car charger and FM transmitter was released as TuneCast Auto in late 2005, a white and gray $60 cable with an iPod Dock Connector at one end, a car charging bulb at the other, and an FM transmitter awkwardly in the middle. Now Belkin has redesigned the product, christening it TuneCast Auto for iPod and iPhone, and raising its price to $80. Thankfully for iPhone owners, who will discover that TuneCast Auto is the first…

Reporting its fourth quarter financial results, O2 has said that the iPhone is the fastest selling device it’s ever had in the UK. “In the UK, we outperformed the market again, posting like for like revenue growth of 9.5% for the year, above the top end of our guidance range,” said Matthew Key, CEO of Telefonica Europe. “The UK added 483,000 net customers in the quarter including 276,000 on contract, the highest number ever,…

Apple was amongst the world’s top ten cell phone manufacturers in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to new research from Gartner. For the first time, worldwide sales of mobile phones surpassed 1 billion units, with growth of 16 percent driving sales of 1.15 billion units in 2007, compared to 990.9 million in 2006. The fourth quarter of 2007 saw three new entrants to the top ten: Research In Motion, ZTE, and Apple. Apple placed tenth in the…

In a resent research note, UBS analysts told clients that German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG will likely provide new chips for Apple’s upcoming 3G iPhone. The group said that this isn’t yet the consensus view, and it also believes 3G-enabled iPhones will be released by mid-year. It added that the current EDGE iPhone platform is being ramped down earlier than expected to “clean” inventories. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson…

O2 has confirmed that the company will carry the iPhone in Ireland, with a launch date set for March 14. The launch was confirmed in an account of likely performance indicators for O2’s fourth financial quarter; a website touting the device’s launch is now online. As in the UK, the iPhone will be available through O2 retail stores and through Carphone Warehouse. Pricing is similar to other European countries, as the 8GB model will sell…