Merlin’s Blog

Apple’s much-hyped iPhone finally goes on sale in the US today.

Some people have been queuing for days outside Apple and AT&T stores across the US to ensure they get hold of one of the devices.

Hundreds more are expected to start queuing during the day because stores will not start selling the iPhone until 1800 local time (2300 BST).

Apple said buyers visiting its stores would not be able to walk out with more than two iPhones each.

The BBC News website puts some iPhone rivals through their paces. iPhone rivals

Costly deal

The iPhone will be available in Europe in 2007 and Asia in 2008.

Since the iPhone was announced at Macworld in January 2007 the gadget has won a huge amount of coverage.

That interest has continued up to the launch with bloggers reporting live from queues outside some stores. Gadget site Gizmodo is broadcasting live video from the Apple store in San Francisco.

The quad-bandphone has a 3.5in (9cm) touch screen, wi-fi, no keyboard, a camera and a web browser on board. It is also intended to be used as a media player to listen to music and watch video uploaded to it via iTunes.

It is available in two versions sporting either four or eight gigabytes of memory.

Apple said the iPhone’s battery was good for eight hours of talktime, six hours of net use or seven hours of video watching.

Early reviews of the iPhone have been broadly positive but those who have played around with it said touch screen typing took some getting used to and data download speeds were very slow.

The handset has also been criticised as it does not use the 3G network, does not support instant messaging or voice-activated dialling and does not let people choose ringtones beyond the 25 pre-installed on it.

The iPhone has been under development for more than two years (Credit: Apple) iPhone launch

Apple said it hoped to sell 10 million iPhones by 2008 and grab itself a 1% share of the mobile phone market.

To do this it will face significant competition from well-established handset makers such as Nokia and other touch screen phone makers such as Samsung and HTC.

However, some commentators thought that the high price of the gadget could put people off.

The device costs either $499 or $599 and buyers must also commit to a two-year contract with AT&T that will cost them a minimum of $59.99 per month.

As with many Apple products prices in Europe for the device are likely to be higher than direct currency conversions would suggest.

In a company-wide message relayed to Apple employees on 28 June, Steve Jobs said every worker who had been at the company for more than a year would get one of the devices for free.

The iPhone going on sale on 29 June is likely to be just the first of a long line of gadgets with future models adding the features and software lacking in the original.

Appendix 3
The Construction Phase Plan

c) Arrangements for:
■ Regular liaison between parties on site;
■ Consultation with the workforce;
■ The exchange of design information
between the Client, Designers, CDM
Co-ordinator and Contractors on site;
■ Handling design changes during
the project;
■ The selection and control of Contractors;
■ The exchange of health and safety
information between Contractors;
■ Site security
■ Site induction;
■ On site training;
■ Welfare facilities and first aid
■ The reporting and investigation of
accidents and incidents including
near misses;
■ The production and approval of risk
assessments and written systems
of work;
d) Site rules;
e) Fire and emergency procedures.
3. Arrangements for controlling significant site risks
a) Safety risks, including:
■ Delivery and removal of materials (including waste) and work equipment
taking account of any risks to the public, e.g. during access to or egress
from the site;
■ Dealing with services - water, electricity and gas, including overhead
powerlines and temporary electrical installations;
■ Accommodating adjacent land use;
■ Stability of structures whilst carrying out construction work, including
temporary structures and existing unstable structures;
■ Preventing falls;
■ Work with or near fragile materials;
■ Control of lifting operations;
■ The maintenance of plant equipment;
■ Work on excavations and work where there are poor ground conditions;
■ Work on wells, underground earthworks and tunnels;
■ Work on or near water where there is a risk of drowning;
■ Work involving diving;
■ Work in a caisson or compressed air working;
■ Work involving explosives;
■ Traffic routes and segregation of vehicles and pedestrians;
■ Storage of materials (particularly hazardous materials) and
work equipment;
■ Any other significant safety risks.
b) Health risks, including:
■ The removal of asbestos;
■ Dealing with contaminated land;
■ Manual handling;
■ Use of hazardous substances, particularly where there is a need for
health monitoring;
■ Reducing noise and vibration;
■ Work with ionising radiation;
■ Any other significant health risks.
4. The health and safety file
a) Layout and format;
b) Arrangements for the collection and gathering of information;
c) Storage of information and whether it can be reused, recycled or needs
to be disposed of.
During construction the plan will be updated to map what happens
against what was expected to happen, allowing lessons to be learnt for
future projects.

Stormor S-Duty Box Shelf
Please note that Moresecure is now offering a STORMOR S-duty box shelf as the standard
option in Stormor shelving.
The new S-Duty box shelf offers improved deflection
capabilities over the STORMOR H-duty open shelf -
which has been the standard until now. The load carrying
capacity and list price are the same as the STORMOR
heavy-duty open shelf.
For shelves over 300mm deep and/or over 900mm wide,
the STORMOR S-duty box shelf will replace the
STORMOR H-duty open shelf as the standard offer.
SPEEDSTOCK sizes are remaining the same.
In addition The STORMOR H-duty open shelf 370mm
deep x 900, 1000 & 1250 widths will remain as a
SPEEDSTOCK item for lateral file applications.
The current Speed programme and price list already
feature the S-Duty box shelf and remaining H-Duty
shelves.
Stormor Open Shelf
Stormor Box Shelf