OPEN

Last Tuesday, I valiantly prevented a colleague from spending £150 in a US Apple shop on a new iTouch, the iPhone-like version of the iPod. But I could see why he was so tempted – I think I’d prefer one to an iPhone…

There was a telling moment in the live-blogging of the iPhone announcement when someone – Mike Butcher I think – picked up on a hint of frustration from O2 that the iTouch would also be launching in the run-up to Christmas. No, the iTouch is not a phone but it does a lot of what the iPhone does do – if you can get near a WiFi hotspot…

Meanwhile, Apple is “neutering” the iPhone, according to Gizmodo, following a firmware upgrade that is cutting out all of the third party applications that have been developed for it (prompting Gizmodo to downgrade its verdict on iPhone to a “Don’t Buy“).

I won’t bore you with the technical detail, this illustration of an iPhone running all sorts of groovy third party apps and after the “upgrade” to the software from Apple.  

: : Meanwhile, Adriana resists the temptation of Apple by contemplating becoming “an accessory to a brand” – interesting take on things, as usual…

: : : And yes, the hints about a 3G iPhone being launched in Europe were wrong, althopugh I still don’t believe Vodafone weren’t interested in offering the iPhone because of this :-)

: : : : Lastly, see cheeky Nokia’s campaign poking fun at the locked down iPhone (via Gizmodo again).