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Despite a strong marketing campaign from Apple in the UK, sales of the iPhone suggest it has failed to impress customers across the UK.

The Financial Times reported that “people familiar with the situation” said that O2, the network operator exclusively carrying the iPhone, has sold 10,000 fewer iPhones than expected since its November 9th launch.

Analysts had expected to sell 200,000 of the devices as a conservative estimate.

A spokesman for O2 however said that “those figures did not come from us” and stated that despite the negative reports, “we continue however to be delighted with the device, which is fastest-selling device we have ever had”.

The high cost and long contract have been keep customers from signing new contracts, with the minimum cost for an iPhone and an 18-month contract at an amazing £269 plus £35 per month.

Vista comes of age with Service Pack 1: First bundle of fixes could boost take-up of latest Windows version

Microsoft released the first Windows Vista Service Pack (SP1) software upgrade for testing last week, prior to its official launch in the first quarter of next year.

The release candidate (RC) version of SP1 is being offered to hundreds of millions of customers via the Microsoft download centre because the software giant wants to obtain the most extensive feedback possible.

The first service pack is key to galvanising take-up of Vista, according to analysts.

“SP1 is a moderately important technical update for the operating system,” said Gartner vice president Steve Kleynhans.

“But it is a critically important milestone because many organisations use the first service pack as a signal that the operating system has reached a certain level of maturity and is ready for them to start deploying.

“It will also help break the standoff between users and third-party technology vendors – users waiting for full support from vendors, vendors waiting for users to adopt,” he said.

SP1 has three main components – a bundle of fixes already available through the Windows Update service, some less critical patches, and minor tweaks to the way certain parts of the operating system work.

“It is important because after a year there are so many fixes, that it can take a long time to get a new Vista installation fully patched,” said Kleynhans.

Vista’s main attractions are its improved security and the collaboration function with Share-Point and Office 2007.

Nick Argent, IT manager at environmental attraction the Eden Project, said his organisation will be downloading the early SP1 version to run tests.

“Like many companies, we are reluctant to roll out a new operating system until the first service pack is available for bug fixes but we are moving to Vista for our laptops because of its enhanced security,” he said.

Tube Lines, the firm responsible for three London Underground lines, is working on application compatibility ahead of full migration to Vista next year.

“We have 70 sites across London and large-scale engineering projects,” said head of IT Adrian Davey.

“Knowing that staff can work on the same version of a document and any changes are incorporated to create a single source of truth is a big benefit,” he said.

Vista migration to gather pace.

From now on the company produces CMS templates for Joomla! and Mambo platforms.

TemplateMonster.com, a templates provider, offers new CMS templates designed for Joomla! and Mambo systems. The company holds that offering the new CMS templates is a step long anticipated by its customers.

The company states that both of these CMS packages contain many different parts, plugins and components that are integrated especially for better functionality and customization of use. The company avers that the two are basically variations of a similar product that were developed as a result of the project’s managers’ differences of emphases.

“We’ve been planning the Mambo and Joomla! templates release for a long time and today we have realized that goal. We place very big hopes on these new product lines,” says David Braun, CEO of TemplateMonster. “Because these products are very similar, and both have high functionality as well as great popularity, we decided to launch them on the same day. The internet activity of today is trending toward people who neither have nor want programming skills or coding work. Using CMS systems today is desirable and considered by many to be a standard requirement.”

Search engine Google has announced a new open source development platform for mobile phones.

The Android platform, a result of collaboration between Google, T-Mobile and Motorola, among others, will allow developers to create software for a wide range of mobile devices and comes after much speculation over the rumoured launch of a specific Google phone.

It comprises an operating system, middleware and a user-friendly interface and applications and has been launched with the aim of lowering the cost of mobile handsets and other gadgets for both businesses and consumers.

A total of 34 companies have joined to form the Open Handset Alliance, with the first handsets utilising technologies from the initiative set to launch during the second half of 2008.

‘Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks,’ commented Google chairman and chief executive Eric Schmidt.

‘Our vision is that the powerful platform we’re unveiling will power thousands of different phone models.’

The announcement came shortly after Google announced the release of its OpenSocial platform, which will allow developers to come up with social networking applications for use across the web.

T-Mobile USA has announced the imminent launch of the T-Mobile Shadow, which could prove to be a rival to Apple’s iPhone.
It is designed for ease-of-use but loses none of the features of a modern multi-use phone, said T-Mobile, which will launch the Shadow on October 31st.

T-Mobile teamed up with design firm HTC to integrate style and function, making it more ‘intuitive’ for customers.

Features include an enhanced user-interface that is integrated with the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 platform, a two-megapixel digital camera and Wi-Fi internet access.

‘We’re calling the new line of devices Shadow because they’re designed to help people stay effortlessly connected with those who are closest to them,’ said T-Mobile president Robert Dotson.

‘Shadow finally makes staying connected to people simple, fun and easy - and all without the hassle of using a complicated device.’

Last month, T-Mobile announced that more than two million customers have signed up to its Flext tariff since its launch 18 months ago.