What is it about Apple product launches? When Nokia launch a new phone it's front page in the Carphone Warehouse brochure, but when Apple do the same it's front page of the FT. Anyway.

So they finally announced the 3G Iphone yesterday, and it's pretty much what everyone expected - more of the same, only its 3G and has GPS. The biggest surprise there is that it's only 3G, and not using the superfast "broadband speed" HSDPA that a number of other phones have been packing since before the original Iphone was released. It should benefit from some of the other improvements that are also coming the way of the first Iphone in a software update - exchange email support for example - but video calling is still out, since there's no front camera, and there's no word on picture messaging either.

Apple (they of the increasingly annoying adverts) are coming for in for some stick after finding ways to sneak their latest web browser onto Windows PCs.

Their Safari browser, previously found only on Macs, now has a free Windows version. Nothing wrong in that, except rather than wait for people to choose to download it, Apple are using the Apple Update software that comes with their ubiquitous Itunes and Quicktime applications to offload Safari onto Windows punters - often without their knowledge.

Well now that some of the hype has died down, I actually went to an Apple shop and had a good poke around at the Iphone the other day.

Now, I'm a bit of a phone geek. I've had a succession of "giant" smartphones with touchscreens, real web browsing, email, video, music etc since 2003, and maybe that explains it a bit. But at the end of the day, I was massively underwhelmed by the Iphone.

A Petersfield man I've never heard of has been made ever so slightly famous in connection with the massively overhyped UK launch of the Iphone. Several newspapers and other sources have named "Nik Fletcher, 21, of Petersfield in Hampshire" as one of the first people to get an Iphone from the Apple store at Regent Street, London, inadvertently revealing the existence of Petersfield (home of this site) to the rest of the world.

So come on then, now that the o2 deal's been announced, who's going to be queuing on 9th November to get one?

In the UK they'll be costing £269 to buy, subject to a £35pm contract, that gets you (blah blah) minutes and (blah blah) texts (who cares) and a whole lot of unlimited internet, including free wifi access from Cloud-owned hotspots.

Seen the new Ipods? I rather like the look of the Ipod touch, basically the same as the Iphone (with a big touchscreen, Safari web brower, 8 or 16GB and Wifi built in) except it's not a phone, so quite a bit cheaper... you can browse and download new tunes from the Itunes store directly - I don't suppose it will run KCEasy though

The Nano's have also been reworked, making them a bit wider with a bigger screen which now does video. Not so convinced by them - they don't look quite so nano-small and pocketable now, so I'm not sure why you'd not just save up a little bit more for a Touch.

Just as the queues are forming in America to be the first customers of Apple's Iphone, the news is breaking in Europe that we're close to seeing a new and improved model released here.

One of the principle complaints about the original Iphone, now launching exclusively in the US, is the lack of any 3G support for the fastest data networks. For such a data-centric device, making a big selling point of internet and streaming video, this was a pretty major omission - but is just about excusable in America, where 3G coverage is still very limited.

Us sophisticated Europeans were a lot more concerned about this seemingly backward aspect of the Iphone, but our complaints are about to answered - on Monday Apple will be announcing the launch of a new Iphone for the European market which includes 3G support. It won't be available till the tail end of this year, but unlike the American version it will be available on more than one network, as both Vodafone and T-Mobile look set to be launch partners.

Apple IphoneAll the speculation and ever more imaginative photoshopping is over - Apple have finally revealed the very real Iphone, their first in-house mobile phone and Ipod combo.

Looking nothing like any of the many fake designs that have been peppering the internet for the last few years, the genuine Iphone is pretty well stacked - 2mp camera, wifi, bluetooth, 4GB or 8GB storage, and a brand new UI based on multitasking OS X - it's first appearance in a mobile device. The most interesting aspect of the UI is the fact that it's completely touchscreen orientated - there are very few buttons on the device - and rather than expect you to whip out a stylus, it's designed entirely for finger use, and is supposedly able to tell the difference between accidental and intentional presses. It even has a proximity sensor to disable the screen when you hold the phone to your ear.

I stumbled across an interesting article on the Guardian here (free registration required) on the possibility of Apple entering the mobile phone market shortly.

The mythical "iPhone" - an Apple designed combination of iPod and phone - has been rumoured for years, and most recently came to an apparently disappointing head with the release of Motorola's ROKR phone - a slightly chubby, bog standard Motorola design with iPod software and iTunes compatibility, but with a software-imposed 100 song limit. This weak attempt to enter the phone market without damaging iPod sales was met with some disdain, and with rivals like Sony Ericsson launching phones that can easily take a thousand songs, it seemed like far too little too late. Now however, there are increasingly firm reports that Apple have taken the design and concept into their own hands and begun the manufacture of a new Apple branded phone. What's even more interesting is the possibility that they won't be selling these phones through the conventional networks, allowing giants like Vodafone and Cingular (in the US) to call the shots, but retailing directly to customers with an emphasis on building in their own products and services.

Details on the iPhone itself are still scant, although it's fair to assume it'll have a good music player and reasonable storage, and a 2mp camera has also been touted.

Microsoft have fired their first real shot across the bows of Apple's Ipod with the release of the Zune music player in the US - a 30gb model retailing for the equivalent of £130.