The lucky commenter picked out by my amazing randomising spreadsheet ™ is:

(drum roll)

…Craig Thornton.

Congratulations Craig. I’ll be in touch shortly to sort out your copy.

For everyone else, thanks again for entering. And don’t forget, there are two more copies to be won. I’ll be opening another giveaway this afternoon over on Twitter.

Cheers!

When I first started using the app I found it a little complex, but since then I’ve figured it all out and have come to rely on it for my navigation needs whilst driving. Plus the US version of the app – which I’ve just noticed is only £2.99 right now (bargain!) – seriously helped me get around while on holiday this summer

So I am very pleased to let you know that i have three copies of CoPilot Live available to give away!

CoPilot Live works on iPhone, and on iPod touch with an external GPS. You can also get CoPilot Live HD for iPad for Europe and North America. It’s one of the top grossing apps on the UK App Store, and normally costs £19.99 (or €19.99 on the Irish App Store).

Check out the main features:

• choice of mapping options: 2D, 3D and Driver Safety mode (this provides just a direction arrow and next turn instruction for the minimum amount of driver distraction, which is the option I use most)
• voice guided, turn by turn instructions (Optional Text To Speech upgrade)
• real sign information, Lane Assistance and ClearTurn instructions for complex junctions
• access to Live Local Search – search for a business or service by generic term or brand in your immediate vicinity (which requires a mobile internet connection)
• optional upgrade to Live Traffic services
• safety camera notification (except in the US and Switzerland)

Starting today, I’ll be giving away one copy of CoPilot Live for iPhone and iPod touch every week for the next three weeks. One copy will go to a commenter on this article, one to a new Twitter follower, and one to an existing Twitter follower. The winner will be chosen by my patented randomising spreadsheet

Each winner will be given their choice of app from the CoPilot Live range for iPhone , which cover the British Isles, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Russia and the USA. This app will be given to the winner using the “Gift This App” function in the iTunes Store.

The first competition (commenting on this article) closes on Tuesday 12th at midday. Good luck!

Pro/Tec’s battery-charging Energy, and their soft leather Executive, as well as Griffin’s elan form.

Well, the Griffin’s already been snaffled by a mate (sorry!), but I’m going to give the two Pro/Tec cases away. However, I do have another case knocking around which I’ll throw in.

So, the cases I have to offer are:

1 x Pro/Tec Executive leather case, for iPhone 3G or 3GS

1 x Pro/Tec Energy battery-charging case, for iPhone 3G or 3GS
– unfortunately I can’t find the mini-USB lead for this, so you’ll have to get one yourself. They’re fairly inexpensive though.

1 x black VOi! Lorem case for iPhone 3G (8GB or 16GB)

All you have to do is either post a comment below, or retweet this post using the Tweetmeme button. The giveaway will close on Friday August 11th at 5pm, after which I’ll randomly choose the three winners.

I’ll post the cases anywhere in the world, so it’s open to all.

UPDATE: This giveaway has ended, and I’ll be in contact with the winners shortly.

I gave everyone who entered a number, and then did some clicking over at random.org to generate the winning entries. So, the winners are:

1. Ian Gibbons
2. Micky T
3. Pat Riddell
4. Xavier

I’ll contact each of you in turn to see which case you’d like. If there are any cases that the winners don’t want, I’ll grab another random winner and let you know.

Thanks to everyone who entered. There will be another few case reviews and a giveaway in a little while

Proporta’s Soft Feel silicon case

VOi’s Lorem hard shell case, and

iWrap’s protective film.

And now I’m going to give them away!

The cases I have to offer are:

2 x white VOi! Lorem case for iPhone 3G (8GB or 16GB)

1 x iWrap for iPhone 3G (it’ll probably fit a 3GS as well)

1 x black and grey Proporta Soft Feel Silicon Case for iPhone 3G / 3GS

All you have to do is either post a comment below, or retweet this post using the Tweetmeme button. The giveaway will close on Friday March May 21st, at midday, after which I’ll randomly choose the two winners.

I’ll post the cases anywhere in the world, so it’s open to all.

I’ve written a post for The Really Mobile Project, and for once, I only mention the iPhone a couple of times!

Read it here: http://thereallymobileproject.com/2010/03/feature-perpetually-dissatisfied-guest-post/

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So, like the plot of the bad Steven Seagal movie I’m watching, this has been hastily-written. But don’t let my rush to write this article stop you from reading this week’s excellent submissions at leisure.

BRAND FOCUS

We begin with Andy Favell, who asks: Do brands want better targeting than most mobile ad networks offer?

Is cheap and effective ad placement (from the likes of AdMob) suitable for some brands, whose ads may end up on undesirable sites? For example, I saw an ad for O2 the other day within Cydia (the unofficial iPhone app store for jailbroken iPhones) – the only problem being that O2 prohibits jailbreaking in its Terms and Conditions #WhoopsAdFail

Read Andy’s article at mobiThinking: http://www.mobithinking.com/blog/brands-want-more-targeting-from-mobile-ad-networks

With the news from the US that Sprint has bought Virgin, Nan Hickman wonders Can Sprint put Virgin on a Better Platform Yet Maintain its “Virginness? Will this purchase inevitably lead to a diminution of the Virgin brand, which is so dependent on the customer service experience?

Read Nan’s article at Open Strategies: http://nanhickman.com/?p=97

Getting more personal, Tom Godber reveals that mobile carriers are quite capable of messing up their own customer communications, thankyouverymuch. In Orange Customer Communications – the Ups and the Downs, Tom attempts to understand a simple message from Orange, with helpful tips along the way for non-Londoners and other assorted Johnny Foreigners.

Read Tom’s article at masochismtango: http://masochismtango.com/2009/08/05/orange-customer-communications-the-ups-and-the-downs/

SHIFT HAPPENS

Chris Messina half-believes that Steve Jobs hates the App Store. Why would he hate his own creation? Because it’s merely a stepping stone to a freer, interoperable digital nirvana. I can see where Chris is coming from – there’s a gradual shift happening to the cloud, but does Jobs really hate apps? They provide a better experience than web apps right now. And Steve’s all about right now. Later can be taken care of… later. This is deliberately provocative, and well worth a read.

Read Chris’s article at FactoryCity: http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2009/08/01/steve-jobs-hates-the-appstore/

In a similar vein, does Palm dislike their own app store, or at least the pricing? Tam Hanna reveals a tidbit in Palm: we don’t want 99 cent apps. What are Palm’s options in the mobile application game, and how do they intend to keep prices above the floor?

Read Tam’s article at Tam’s Palm: http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com/2009/08/09/palm-we-dont-want-99-cent-apps/

Chetan Sharma has the latest US Wireless Data Market Update – Q2 2009. It’s crammed full of interesting analysis, for example:

The App vs. Mobile Web discussion reached a surprisingly new crescendo. The evolution is pretty clear – for the applications that don’t require significant UI resources, it will be better to develop in for the browser, for intensive games, the native platform will be ahead of the browser advances. The location API access on the iPhone browser is breakthrough to have developers start thinking about the webapps.

This is especially interesting to me in light of the previous article from Chris Messina, on the App Store as a stepping stone. Read Chetan’s article at Always On Real-Time Access: http://www.chetansharma.com/blog/2009/08/08/us-wireless-data-market-update-q2-2009/

Ajit Jaokar tackles the perceived move of mobile development from Europe to Silicon Valley, in Is Europe losing its competitive edge in mobile? Innovation and the mobile wealth of nations. This article really spells out why it’s not Nokia v Apple, it’s not Apple v Android, nor is it the Valley v the rest. It’s a comprehensive debunking of the “x platform is going to be triumphant” mentality. And as such, it’s my POST OF THE WEEK.

Read Ajit’s article at Open Gardens: http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2009/08/is_europe_losin.html

HOW SMART?

Steven Hoober tackles the old “what is a smartphone?” question in Smartphone is a state of mind. Do people want smartphones or do they want that feature? I’m thinking specifically of the new INQ Twitter phones. You can’t install extra apps, but these are cheap phones with plenty of smartness, depending on your requirements. Perhaps “smart” is the way people use them.

Read Steven’s article at Little Springs Design: http://www.littlespringsdesign.com/blog/blog/2009/08/04/smartphone-is-a-state-of-mind/

Going to perhaps the other end of the spectrum, Antoine Wright wonders about Mobile Web Server 2.0. This is also the only article actually served from a phone, running a mobile web server. OMA MWS on a SIM anyone? Is this all getting just too complex for the average phone user?

Read Antoine’s article at: https://arjw.mymobilesite.net/.py?application=blog&action=6&id=561

AND FINALLY

There’s life in the old dog yet! Holly Kolman writes to mention that there’s a Microsoft Mobile Development Training Camp (WinMoDevCamp) coming up on August 19th.

Read Holly’s article at mobiEnthusiast.mobi: http://mobienthusiast.mobi/microsoft-mobile-developer-camp-modevcamp

Plus, Steve Litchfield is Prepared for Power – However it Comes! Just how many chargers does the head geek need to pack for his family’s gadget requirements while on holiday? But solar power, in the UK? Surely you kid Steve?!

Read Steve’s article at All About Symbian: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/Prepared_for_Power-However_it_Comes.php

NEXT WEEK

The Carnival comes to rest at MobileStance. Thanks to all the contributors, and see you there.

I had to post this

All credit to The Hedgehog From Hell over at b3ta.