Apple like to innovate don’t they? In fairness to them, they’ve done a rather good job of doing that over the past few years. Now, they’re looking at making the home computer well jazzy.

How? Well, future versions of iMacs could have technology that allows the machines to switch between a standard display and an ergonomically-friendly touchpad.

It’s a simple concept, which could see the monitor on a hinged stand, according to a patent filed in January but only recently uncovered by website Patently Apple (click here to see the patent).

The patent application suggests that the action of pivoting the screen between vertical and flat would toggle between operating systems as well as outlining plans for “transitioning between a high-resolution input mode, such as a mouse-based interface, and a low-resolution input mode, such as a touch-based interface”.

“Transitioning between the two input modes and corresponding user interfaces (UIs) is based on the detected change of orientation,” the patent application said. “A change of orientation can be detected with one or more sensors, such as an accelerometer [or] position sensors.

“Transitioning from one mode to another can include modifying an item displayed in the UI of the one mode into a corresponding item displayed in the UI of the other mode.”

It looks rather good doesn’t it? MacHaters, feel free to sneer in the comments.

[PCPro]

Hey! Fat face! How much did you pay for THAT then?

The whole ethos behind HotUKDeals and Bitterwallet is the collective sharing of information that will make everyone’s life that little bit better. 35-year-old so-called ‘Prime Minister’ Dave Cameron doesn’t appear to share that belief.

Our billionaire overlord, 36, seems to know where you can get 20 cans of Stella for just £5.00 but he isn’t prepared to share the news with everyone. Worse still, he’s all in favour of putting the kybosh on it.

The PM spoke about the plans by a group of councils in Greater Manchester to introduce minimum booze pricing, with the magic figure of 50p per unit being mooted.

Gorgeous Dave, 34, said “I think if what you’re trying to do is stop supermarkets from selling 20 tins of Stella for a fiver that’s what we’ve got to go after. Where I want to try and help is ending the deep discounting on alcohol. People going and ‘pre-loading’, having bought from a supermarket where they were attracted by a price designed to bring them into the store.”

Enthused by this, we immediately scoured HotUKDeals to see if the 38-year-old prime ministerial heartthrob had posted more information about the amazing Stella bargain so that we can all get a piece of it. But it seems that he hasn’t.

So we’ve badgered the PM for more details from our flea-ridden Twitter account and we’ll let you know AS SOON as number 10 get back to us with all the info…

Now that the American courts have announced that it’s okay to jailbreak an Apple device without Steve Jobs sending round his hired goons to issue you with a ‘correctional update’, the jailbreakers seem to be becoming more brazen as they develop and advertise their illicit wares.

Here’s a useful way of getting your iThing to run Flash like it probably should have done in the first place. It’s not simple and does involve you jailbreaking your device before you do it, which could possibly end in tears and will certainly knack your warranty.

Is it worth the hassle and/or risk? It’s up to you. What’s that coming over the hill? Is it Jobsie’s hired goons…?

[via Consumerist]

How we laughed the other day at the story of the Frank Lampard-branded gold iPods that were being sort of melted down due to lack of sales. How amusing it was to learn that they were going to become Hello Kitty iPods instead.

But which is REALLY more extreme – Brand Lampard or Brand Kitty? Probably the latter, if this is anything to go by. It’s Hello Kitty ‘luxury water’ and each bottle will set you back the small sum of $100 (about £65 at the moment).

We’re sure it’s lovely water and everything, but for £65, we’d want it to be infused by distilled nectar taken from the veins of the late Princess Diana thank you very much.

[Kitty Hell]

After the royal balls-up of the Kin, Microsoft are crying that, come October, they’ll be BACK IN THE GAME! High five’s all round, eh? Obviously, the company are still smarting from the Kin failure, and basically, want what Apple have got – and that’s a posh phone to crow about.

And so, some bald bloke raved about the new Windows Phone 7 at a conference and that October is the timeframe for its release across Europe (and November if you live in the US – sorry Americans).

So, how exactly are they getting back in the game? This seems to mean that this new phone they’re bringing out is a smartphone that has a ’smart design for quicker access to information’, ‘hubs’ (integrated experiences) for music, video and games, hi-res screens and will possibly link in some way to Zune, XBox Live, Facebook and Office.

Sounds like your average smartphone thus far, but I’m sure they’ll have some trick up their sleeve (whether people buy into it or not is another matter entirely).

Engadget have a video of the bald man crowing about this new device, which you can watch by clicking here. Be warned though, it isn’t particularly interesting. You will get to see a graphic of the phone in action if you’re interested enough.

At this early stage, it looks like a cheap MP3 player in design, but there’s a lot of tweaking to be done between now and October no doubt.

Oh dear. It’s that time of the month again where someone points out the problems with Facebook and the dicky privacy settings. This time around, it’s actually quite an eye-opener – a directory containing the personal details about more than 100 million Facebook users has appeared on a file-sharing site.

Zoinks!

Thinq report that the torrent was compiled by hacker Ron Bowes of Skull Security, who created a web crawler program that purloined data on users contained in Facebook’s open access directory… that basically means that it harvested all the info of all the people who couldn’t be bothered to change their privacy settings to make their pages unavailable to search engines.

In numbers, Bowes’ directory contains 171 million entries, relating to more than 100 million individual users.

The file contains user account names and a URL for each user’s profile page, from which details such as addresses, dates of birth or phone numbers can be accessed. If you access a user’s profile from the list, you’ll be able to click through to other profiles, even if they’ve been made non-searchable.

So he’s going to get the police after him? Not at all. Fact is, he’s done nothing illegal because the information he’s gathered is publicly available isn’t it? Really, he’s just created a programme that has taken what has been offered up to him like a sacrificial lamb to a false god. Or something.

Perhaps it is time to update your security settings, eh?

Once again the iPhone 4 fanboys and assorted Apple fanatics have lined up around the block of the Regent Street Apple Store, stretching back to Hanover Square. We thought about going down and handing out free Android handsets but our budget didn’t quite stretch that far and avid Bitterwallet writers Andy and Paul are isolated in the north east.

So we’ve decided to reach out to you the ever more avid Bitterwallet reader. Here’s your chance to funnel your frustration at Bitterwallet’s endless Apple coverage. If you go down to the Regent Street Apple Store and film a good effort of you talking an iPhonefanatic out of line we’ll give you £100. Don’t be nasty and an idiot but see if you can talk them into abandoning their iPhone purchase.

If you can actually talk someone out of line we’ll give you another £100… but it has to be someone in the first 5 people of the queue.

Ground rules… 1) Needs to be Regent Street branch of Apple today. 2) Must attempt to coerce the person at the front of the queue to leave it and not return for the rest of the day, using non-aggressive techniques. 3) All attempts must be filmed and sent to bitterwallet. 4) All verified attempted will be awarded £100

Here’s a pic of the line from an hour ago so you still have plenty of opportunity … plus these guys have been waiting for hours

Last week we looked at cheap deals for the sea-faring pirates amongst you; this week it’s a few tips for landlubbers wanting to get around on the cheap this Summer. Anymore? Of course you have – stick them in the comments please.

Buy a PlusBus ticket for £1 bus fares in June
PlusBus tickets are add-on tickets to a standard rail fare that provide a discounted bus pass for your destination town. According to the blurb, PlusBus day tickets cost just £1 and are available for 270 towns and cities across Britain. Zowzers!

There are a few exceptions, but should you be gallivanting across the country by rail next month, it may be worth a gander.

Ask friends, relatives and neighbours for their unused Oyster cards
In the year to April 2010, £29.85 million sat unspent on 16.5 million dormant Oyster cards, the PAYG cards for transport in London. Some will belong to long-gone tourists, but plenty won’t be. If anyone you know has spent time in London or worked there for a while, ask if they’re finished with their Oyster card – tell them you can use the card before the credit expires, although that’s a whopping lie since there’s no expiry date.

Book up on Eurostar for the school holidays
Eurostar is cheaper than plenty of UK train journey when booked well in advance; a return from London to Paris costs just £69 if booked now for August – this far in advance, most dates have good availability.

Share the journey, share the cost
Over the next twelve months, whenever you buy event tickets, you’ll probably start seeing an option to tell other attendees where you’re travelling from, so groups of you can organise a car-share or even hire a bus. That’s what start-ups like GeoGoer are looking to provide – a quick and easy way to offer transport to others, or find it for yourself. GeoGoer is still in its infancy, but it’s one of several sites looking to crack the market, along with liftshare.com.

Book train tickets now for the Edinburgh Fringe
If you’re planning to attend this year’s Fringe in August, book your train tickets now. East Coast have just opened up tickets up until August the 22nd, which means there are plenty of tickets that are dirt cheap; we’ve just found stacks between London and Edinburgh for just £13 each way. Tickets for the week up until the end of the Fringe will be opened up next week.

After days of failing to address the concerns of their customers over their mandatory data charges and scrapping their Fair Usage Policy, Vodafone have contradicted themselves yet again, with a message that seemingly goes back on everything they’ve said.

The first time we read that statement, we took it to mean Vodafone had a change of heart, that the Fair Use Policy would remain in place – customers who repeatedly go over the 500MB will receive several month’s grace before any charges are applied, which is in keeping with the current agreement.

Then again, the wording is very particular in being ambiguous, and it’s easy to believe Vodafone are simply trying to dress up the new charges to dampen down the protests of customers. Another point is that the wording is so ambiguous that consumer law would probably cite Vodafone as acting unfairly; as a definition of service it’s “open to challenge if it could put you at a disadvantage because you are not clear about its meaning”.

There’s also the fact that numerous customers are reporting on the Vodafone eForums being told the exact opposite by Customer Services:

“I’ve spent 45 minutes on the phone to #191 because I had no answers to my questions on here and they are telling me I will be charged if I go over the 500mb. I come here to update and I am reading something completely different.” Davie1

“I spent over an hour and a half on the phone with 191 yesterday during two calls. The first was about 30 mins and the person I ended up speaking with (Amy Scott) confirmed that the new pricing structure of £5 per additional 500MB would affect me but that they were unable to process my termination.” AndyWicks

Vodafone have now contacted Bitterwallet through Twitter (after ignoring previous emails and phonecalls), so we’ve sent four very straight forward questions for them to answer:

• Will affected customers still retain a Fair Use Policy in their agreement after 1 June?

• Will affected customers be automatically charged if their monthly uses strays over 500MB?

• Can you please define “excessive use”? This term defines whether a customer is liable for additional charges or not, and despite constant requests from customers, Vodafone are yet to explain it.

• Can you please provide a real-life example of a customer who reads and replies to 10,000 emails, reads 8,000 BBC news stories and uses no mobile applications whatsoever? You’re currently justifying a 500MB data limit with a completely fictional example of usage. Vodafone are suggesting that customers who buy smartphones don’t use applications.

We’ll let you know what they have to say.

There are plenty of companies sitting just outside the UK exploiting the tax benefits of trading from the likes of the Channel Islands; Play.com have built their reputation on it. Now the biggest retailer in the UK are muscling in on the game. Or rather, back into the game.

Tesco simply aren’t making enough money by buying in masses of stock at bulk discount; according to the Guardian, they’ve quietly began fulfilling orders for their Tesco Entertainment website from Guernsey. Four years ago, Jersey kicked Tesco out for exploiting the European tax directive that waives VAT on some personal imports from outside the EU. A quick look at the website reveals Tesco Jersey has been resurrected, but instead fulfills orders from Guernsey:

The VAT relief applies to goods bought for £18 or less, and since 95 per cent of all DVD transactions fall under that threshold, fulfilling orders from the Channel Islands means a company can offer more competitive prices. And everyone’s at it, with outsourcing deals aplenty – WH Smith, ASDA, Argos, HMV all have deals with distributors there. The reason Play.com is more famously flagged up as a Channel Island operator because it’s the only retailer that’s actually based there.

If everyone’s doing it, what’s the problem? The issue seems to be because it’s Tesco, and the feeling that as the UK’s biggest retailer they shouldn’t be resorting to tax-dodging to make their money. Of course Tesco only want you to think of the children: “We have to remain very focused on price in this fiercely competitive market. The benefits from the VAT savings are passed straight to customers in the form of a lower price.” Tesco want you to know they’re doing it all for you, and Tesco doesn’t benefit from the situation at all. Except of course, by selling more stock, generating more revenue and in turn more profit. Apart from that.

[The Guardian]

Social networking sites never learn do they? MySpace ruled the roost for years and started to drop through the floor when the powers that be started tinkering with it too much. Facebook was on hand to scoop up the online refugees and in turn, pissed around with the format so frequently that the site rarely worked as it should and everyone endlessly spewed out updates about how much they hated the various new looks of the site.

Twitter was waiting with open arms for all those jumping the Facebook ship and delighted those who used it with its simplicity and fuss-free layout.

You can see where this is going can’t you?

Twitter is going to undergo a major redesign and Doug Bowman, Twitter’s creative director, posted a picture online showing a new-look networking site. Click here to see it.

Bowman, who previously worked at Google and Wired magazine, where he pioneered web design, posted: “Working on what may end up a significant redesign. Not final yet. What we can show without giving away the farm.”

Of course, the reaction on the blog is wholly positive, but it does reek of techie fanboy fawnery, with everyone cooing about the lovely rounded edges and nice colours.

However, should Twitter start messing about with the way people use the site, or indeed, monetise the site with adverts in a way that feels a bit too much like having things rammed down your throat, then invariably, people will irritate the entire world with constant online petitions and groups and status updates saying “WE LIKED IT AS IT WAS!” and all that.

Still, it won’t be as irritating as those people who snipe about Twitter with hackneyed lines like “Why should I care what Rufus Hound is having for his dinner?”, entirely missing the irony of using the comments of a Web2.0 medium to spout off an staggeringly uninteresting string of words under the misguidance that other people will want to hear what their views are on someone talking about what they’re having for their tea.

Brace yourselves. There’s going to be moaning either way.

[BrandRepublic]

3D is the big thing on everyone’s lips at the moment. Well. The big thing on everyone’s eyes… you get the idea. Anyway, since Avatar came out and looked really exciting and fun, despite being a shitty cliche of a film, everyone wants in.

As such, Sky are getting on it and showing football matches in three-dimensions, so you can marvel at the weird geometry of Steve Bruce’s nose or feel that you can almost reach out and comb Richard Keys’ hands.

Of course, if we’re all headed toward 3D, then we’ll want to buy our own glasses (those Ray Charles standard issue ones won’t be to everyone’s taste) and Samsung are getting in on the act nice and early with a range of specs that could leave you looking like a 1950’s secretary or some horrendous snow boarding dude.

The glasses, which you can see here,  range in price, starting at $149.99 and going up to $199.99. You can pre-order them at Amazon apparently, but the sensible thing to do is to wait until they go on-sale over here, which they inevitably will. Unless, of course, you think this is all a crappy gimmick to get us all to buy new televisions sets and are determined to ride it out for as long as possible for making the jump when everything drops in price (aka, When ‘adult films’ start using it).

While Eastenders was tarting about making live shows and cracking open Bradley’s skull like it was a soft boiled egg being hit with a monkey wrench, Coronation Street is going to get you fat and pissed.

Yep, retailers will be able to stock Cor­onation Street-branded products to mark the 50th anniversary of the ITV soap.

This means you’ll be able to get so drunk that you go blind in your ears on Newton and Ridley ale (made in association with JW Lees) and then soak up your crushing hangover the following morning with a portion of Betty’s Hot Pot.

Holland’s Pies is taking care of the food side of things and will make the range of Corrie grub available in supermarkets.

The products are part of ITV Global Entertainment’s plan to make the anniversary a key marketing, promotional and licensing platform this year.

Of course, this means that all these releases will be promoted through adverts, presumably online and on the television box machine.

That’s not all Corrie will be pushing though. As well as a ‘Best of British Brands’ promotion with Warburtons, Typhoo and Imperial Leather, from next month, fans of Coronation Street will be able to play a Nintendo Wii game featuring their favourite characters.

Rumour has it that the game will be a Mortal Kombat style gore-fest and gamers will be able to play as a host of classic characters from the soap. One clip seen at the Bitterwallet office saw a collective dry-wretch as it appeared to show Bet Lynch hoiking Emily Bishop’s head off with her labia, leaving the veteran actress decapitated with her spine swinging freely from the skull.

Another screengrab appeared to show Rita Fairclough being impaled in a pit of spikes after being torched by a naked Curly Watts. Should be good fun, eh?

[BrandRepublic]

Consumer-powered guerrilla warfare – that’s what we’re calling it here at Bitterwallet. Avid Bitterwallet reader The Couch has emailed about how MSE forum members are sticking it to the operators of an unloved private parking company.

The business is called PCN-UK Ltd and is operated by Ashford S Wood. According to the forum members on MSE, PCN-UK makes its money by issuing unenforceable parking tickets then threatening people who refuse to pay with bailiffs and court action.

MSE members began to draw attention to the business and pointed out the glaring legal errors in their procedures, and when one member turned to the forums for advice over the threat of court action, he received threatening messages from PCN-UK. If you want further examples of their incapacity for understanding the law or punctuation, read the company’s signage, what happens if you choose not pay or the FAQs on their website. Our favourite quote is:

“People on internet forums are nobody’s who don’t have a life and like to get people into trouble by giving them incorrect advice… if you don’t want to pay that’s fine, but just expect more costs and home visits.”

Them nobody’s on the interwebz! To read those FAQs in full, you’ll have to read the cached version of the page we linked to above – PCN-UK didn’t renew their domain name (or had it revoked), and today a new site was launched in its place:

A Facebook group has been set up in the company’s name, there are dubious Twitter accounts for both Woods and PCN-UK, while Wood’s mobile number has inexplicably cropped up on several Gumtree ads, including this one offering a free Xbox and this one offering special man love:

All websites relating to Wood’s other business interests seem to be inactive, too. According to forum members, Wood wasn’t registered with the SIA (which he would need to be for the purposes of vehicle clamping) or the BPA. Regardless, the previous PCN-UK website displayed logos from both companies, as well as that of the ICO – which may or may not have had a hand in closing down the website.

Whether the company is still operating or will simply reappear under a new name seems unclear right now, but it’s guaranteed PCN-UK Ltd and those involved won’t enjoy a quiet life in the future, thanks to consumer determination, perseverance and liberal use of bottom humour.

As pointed out by Andy yesterday it’s now been one year since Bitterwallet sprang out from the womb of HUKD swaddled in consumer wrath and clutching a Tesco yellow label. It’s been an interesting and occasionally exciting year as we found our voice as a site and started to gather faithful (some lovingly faithful and some hate-ingly faithful) Bitterwalleters both in comments and email tips.

Statistically here’s what happened in the past year:
- 2.4m visits
- 4m pageviews
- 24,722 comments
- 2,785 posts

The top read posts with 300k reads between them were:

- Probably supposed to be ready for a shot
- Orange increase charges – can you cancel your Orange contract
- Cancelling your Orange contract – A troubleshooting guide
- Brutal honest on the NY subway
- Who’s hungry for a whole chicken in a can
- Breaking news – Further emergency meetings at PC World
- Breaking news – DSGi emergency meetings store restructuring
- The 20p coin
- Cancel your Orange contract – official statement from Ofcom
- Bitterwallet readers force Orange to scrap new call charges

There’s lots of areas we want to improve in yet. We’d like to get more voices on here with experience in different consumer areas, such as personal/data privacy, consumer law and retailer inside knowledge. We’d like to develop more guides that are solid consumer resources for recurring subjects. We’d also like to dig up more insider dirt and tips from “those in the know”. If you’re interested and passionate in any of these areas and can channel the Bitterwallet spirit please feel free to get in touch.

In the last half of our first year we think we’ve raised our game by taking on some more complex consumer issues (like the Orange and T-mobile contract changes) and we’d really like to get our teeth into more of those issues. We have some good legal resources to draw upon now that have been helping us with these issues so we’re getting into a better position to tackle these.

That aside, where do you think we’re getting better, where do we need to improve and importantly, what do you want to see here on Bitterwallet?

Thanks to all those who have helped us with tips, advice, comments and corrections over the past year. Without your feedback we’re shooting blind and without collective knowledge! We’re looking forward to where this next year will take Bitterwallet…