iPhone users insulted by lack of front facing camera

something that the iphone lacks at the front

So before WWDC rumors abounded that a front facing camera would allow ichatAV interaction with desktop and mobile users, it would have been a massive coup, with no other provider able to offer that kind of integration between the live mobile app and the millions of ichatAV users.

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It was strangely absent from the Keynote speech given by Steve Jobs on Monday – but a front facing camera is only something that other mobile phone companies have been putting into their kit for years – so where is it? Is it because the US doesn’t yet get the mobile market? Is it because of other more serious infrastructure problems within the US mobile network?

Either way this points to another serious oversight by Apple, and an underestimation of the literacy of mobile users, and their networks in the rest of the world. Either way it’s no wonder we’re feeling insulted by being offered features that should have been included with the first iteration of the iPhone. What a let down.

US – Welcome to the 3rd rate video-game territory

The US has been pushed into 3rd place in video-game territory revenue according to the latest stats from Nielsen

Gamesindustry.biz compared the stats to the US and Asia market share – “Gaming generated EUR 7.3 billion (USD 11.4 billion) in the European Union during 2007, compared with EUR 7.4 billion (USD 11.5 billion) in Asia and EUR 6.9 billion (USD 10.7 billion) in the United States.”

The average age of a gamer in the UK is 33 – the highest out of the territories surveyed – and 42 per cent of UK game players have children.”

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Some interesting stats from the report:-

In the UK, 37 % of the population aged between 16 and 49 describe themselves as active gamers defined as currently playing games on a console, handheld device or PC. The same is true for 28% of the population in Spain and Finland.

- 72% of European gamers use their games console as a multimedia device for broader media activities such as accessing the Internet, playing DVDs or listening to MP3’s.
- Video-games are not restricted to the ‘younger crowd’; 33% of those aged 30 to 49 in the UK classify themselves as active gamers, followed by 23% in Finland and 16% in Spain.
- Females represent a sizable proportion of the games market: 29% of women aged 16 to 49 in the UK, and 18% in Spain and Finland, describe themselves as active gamers.

This news is incredibly significant, meaning that console manufacturers, and developers will refocus more attention on Europe and Asia – these statistics may also give clues on the restricted supply of Wii into the US, as maybe stocks get diverted to key European and Asian markets first, especially seeing the strength of the US economy is so weak. Is this just another notch on the gradual decline of the US gaming market or a testament to the strength of Europe and Asia?

The original report is available from here.

If you thought you could ignore the iphone in the UK you’re wrong.

Of course you’re bored of iphone hype, me too. In the UK we’ve been gloating for months about how outdated the iphone is compared to our high speed, gps enabled mobile devices. We’ve had the chance to sit back and watch what’s been happening in the US for months, So now the iphone has been released in the UK lets go over why people in the UK might have thought the iphone was nasty. These are some of the things people have mentioned..

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