For someone who spent the formative years of his youth reading maps in the Scouts, I have an unnerving ability to get lost. But so far – and this is especially inscrutable for a gadget freak – I have resisted the lure of satellite navigation. I just didn’t want to have to manage *yet another device* when a map and my innate sense of direction seemed generally adequate.

But a combination of my iPhone, an affordable satnav app called CoPilot Live, and a demand from the Significant Other to end unintended diversions – and I have an opportunity to see what this GPS driving business is all about.

So having ditched the maps for CoPilot Live, did my iPhone get me from A to B?

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I’ve already written articles about getting the cheapest iPhone on O2, Orange and Tesco Mobile. But all these operators sell their iPhones locked to their individual networks. What if you want more freedom than that? What if you want to use two different SIMs, or simply want to switch to local network when you’re abroad?

You could pay an eye-watering amount buying an officially unlocked one imported on the grey market from Play.com. The 16GB iPhone 3GS will cost you £715.99 (with free delivery!). Or, you could take your chances and buy an iPhone from eBay. I just watched an auction end for an unlocked iPhone; a 16GB 3GS went for £470 plus £6.99 postage – saving £239 on Play.com’s price. Not bad. However, the seller said he had “opened the box to unlock”, indicating that it’s probably unofficially unlocked using the iPhone Dev Team’s fine work on their ultrasn0w unlocking software. So that means you’ll have to update your iPhone using a jailbreak tool and custom firmware everytime – or to put that jargon-free – no easy software updates from iTunes.

So here’s an easier and cheaper option to buy an officially unlocked iPhone in the UK.

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I received an email from a former colleague of mine today (who knows I’m a thorough iPhone geek!), with a question from a friend of his about getting an iPhone on Vodafone. One of the big appeals of Vodafone for his mate is that they supply phones on Pay Monthly unlocked as standard – no need to go faffing about with unlock codes and the like. Just buy your phone, and get on with using it however you want.

It’s not long to go until Vodafone launch their iPhone offering in the UK on January 14th, and my friend’s mate really wants an iPhone 3GS. So his simple question was: “It’ll be supplied unlocked right?”

Nope.

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Vodafone are due to launch their iPhone offering in the UK on January 14th. I’ve been looking at the Vodafone iPhone web pages, and thought it odd that Visual Voicemail wasn’t mentioned.

Yesterday, I came across a conversation between James Robinson and Vodafone on Twitter, and the carrier has confirmed that they won’t be offering Visual Voicemail in the UK at launch.

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It’s almost the end of the 2009. This year has seen the release of the iPhone 3GS, tons of new features thanks to iPhone OS 3.0 , and has seen the iPhone’s smartphone market share rise considerably.

But it’s still all about the apps. So to end the year, I asked the All About iPhone contributors to send me their choice of favourite application.

I simply asked, “Which one app has made the most impact on you in 2009?”

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LAST UPDATED: December 28th 2009

Tesco has been selling the iPhone in-store from December 14th. I already have articles describing the cheapest way to get an iPhone on O2, and a similar article for Orange. Both of these operator’s tariffs are quite similar. But if you’re looking for a budget or an unlimited option, then Tesco Mobile may be able to grab you on price alone.

Read on for a guide comparing the best deals for both Pay As You Go and Pay Monthly iPhones on Tesco Mobile.

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Collaring our very own Matt Radford, I pressed him to try the Nokia N97 mini, the latest touchscreen offering from the Finns, albeit with a QWERTY keyboard as well. Below are his video impressions after two weeks with the N97 mini. Happy watching and happy Christmas!

In-app advertising has become more and more common in the iPhone world – it’s a great way for developers to monetise their apps and games while keeping the app itself free for users. But how does it all work, in terms of putting the right ads in the right apps to the right people? Following on from the Heroes of the Mobile Screen event in London, I tracked down Smaato founder Ragnar Kruse and got to the bottom of iPhone (and Symbian) mobile advertising. And if you’re a developer, Smaato.com is the place to try first for this sort of thing.

You’ve probably seen that Tesco have announced the availability and pricing of the iPhone on Tesco Mobile. You’ll be able to pick it up from any Tesco store that sells phones Tesco Stores that contain Phone Shops (there’s a list here) from December 14th. PAYG iPhones are available online from Tesco Phone Shop, and from from Customer Services on 0845 600 4411.

There are a few things that their iPhone page doesn’t mention, such as whether tethering or an unlock will be allowed. I’ve been in touch with the very helpful Jo at Tesco Mobile PR, and here is some info that may swing your decision to chuck an iPhone into the basket with your Christmas turkey.

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If you’re a fan of keenly focussed and very informed comment on mobile, then you really should sign up for the Mobile Industry Review weekly newsletter. This week’s edition really chimed with me as a vision of what a truly connected mobile life could be, and how the iPhone is a pathfinder, edging towards it.

As Ewan of MIR points out, the signifying role of the mobile of the future can be summed up in one word: Enablement. That is, allowing the mobile user to do whatever they need to do, seamlessly and easily.

But there’s a big problem, which may stop this party before it gets started.

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