On the walk from Oxford Circus tube station to the Computing office in London’s Soho, there is a Carphone Warehouse shop. It is normally unremarkable – except today at 9am there was a queue of (mainly male) people outside, apparently eager to be the first to buy the new 3G iPhone, out today.

Well, you might have thought, there’s a popular product. The last times there were queues in Oxford Street were for the opening of a new Primark store and the latest Harry Potter book.

But in this case, there also happened to be a camera crew set up outside the phone shop to film the queue. And another camera crew inside, no doubt waiting to film the “rush” of punters to get their hands on an iPhone.

Hmm. In-demand, or very carefully stage managed? I think the latter.

Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse have done a great PR job on the new phone – creating the illusion of massive demand regardless of how many units they will ship.

Newspaper stories this morning claimed that supply was limited to one iPhone per customer, or two per business. Given the big bucks Apple is chasing by establishing the product as an genuine corporate alternative to the BlackBerry, this is hardly likely to be the case.

Imagine the conversation: “Hi Apple, I’m the IT manager at [insert global multinational company]. I’d like to buy 10,000 iPhones please.”

“Sorry Mr Global Multinational. You can only have two.”

Yeah, right.

It’s become classic consumer electronics marketing – create a buzz around a product by making people think everyone is desperate to own one.

In the case of the new iPhone, it probably needs the buzz. After all, the great new features of the second-generation product include 3G connectivity for faster web surfing – already available in, erm, every other product on the market. And an online store of 900 ready-to-download consumer and business applications to help make your smartphone more functional.

Or you could buy a Symbian-based phone and download any of the 9,000-plus applications already developed for that platform.

Oh, and the iPhone costs a bomb.

Perhaps I’ve been in this game too long and the cynicism has set in after seeing too many product launches, but if anything is more likely to turn me off the iPhone – already the most over-hyped technology product in history – it’s the stage-managed artifice surrounding a me-too, catch-up phone.

There is a great contradiction that lies at the heart of Hong Kong. For a place where change is constant, it prides itself on the fact that it has not changed.

Computing asked our guide here this week what has changed most about the former British territory since it was handed back to China in 1997.

'Nothing has changed,' she said. 'We just sent your Governor back.'

Despite all the trepidation and uncertainty felt by the business community back in 1998, modern Hong Kong prides itself on keeping business as usual since the mainland took political control. But all over the territory, everything changes. Building work is constant, whole areas of Victoria Harbour - the waterway dividing Hong Kong Island and Kowloon - have been reclaimed from the sea to make space for new developments. Yet so much is the same - the noonday gun is fired every day near Causeway Bay as it has been since colonial days; horses still race around Happy Valley racetrack in the only legal form of gambling in Hong Kong; and most of the inhabitants keep on making money.

China has protected the 'one country - two systems' principle in Hong Kong, and it exists still as an adjunct to the rest of the nation. Hong Kong has its own border controls - on landing at HK airport, foreign visitors fill out a Hong Kong arrivals card, then hand over their departure card at the border when crossing into neighbouring Shenzhen on the mainlaind where they hand in a Chinese arrivals card, just as if passing from one country to another. Mainlanders need to do the same unless they have a Hong Kong ID card - but that doesn't stop them arriving in their thousands every week for the tax-free shopping in HK.

You almost sense that Hong Kong is the face that China wants the rest of the world to see - and Shenzhen certainly strives to be like its neighbour. But Hong Kong will be unique for a long time to come.

As for the technology world, HK is a big bonus for Chinese IT firms. With seven million residents in an area not much larger than London - but with only 10 per cent of the land space inhabitable - it is a microsm of business IT elsewhere. With multinational financial services instutions, major retailers, one of the world's largest airports, five different mobile phone networks, and an incredibly technology-literate population, Hong Kong is a great proving and testing ground.

Here the world's first major 3G networks were installed and tested, and in May last year, local mobile operator PCCW launched the world's first live, real-time broadcast mobile TV service, which now has more than 100,000 subscribers.

These are technologies that will soon be rolled out to the rest of the world. For Chinese supplier Huawei, working with PCCW on these projects brings invaluable experience that it can offer to international customers. The networking specialist is now rolling out its multimedia broadcast technology to 60 countries.

The unique nature of Hong Kong also means that mobile networks need to cope with closely-packed high-rise buildings, underground tunnels, steep and hilly terrain dividing the island, and one of the world's highest population densities. Proving the technology in such a testing environment gives local suppliers a potential edge over rivals.

Hong Kong is high-tech, modern and fast-growing, and China's technology industry is reaping the benefits of its unique ability to change and to not change at the same time. 

Day two of Computing's visit to Shenzhen and Hong Kong in China, and it has been a day of acronyms.

In this job, you rather get used to the infamous TLAs (three-letter acronyms) but when you get into the depths of the business of Huawei - supplying telecoms operators with communications equipment - you enter a whole new world. Not just TLAs but FLAs too - OTN, WDM, DWDM, HBA, VLH, OSNCP, MSTP, ASON, GMPLS and on it goes. And that was just one section of the vast Huawei exhibition hall, centrepiece of the firm's 1.3 million square metre campus outside Shenzhen.

'Vast' is a good word to describe the experience of visiting one of China's most internationally successful technology companies.

The demo centre is as spacious as I've ever seen - a huge hall waiting in anticipation for the hundreds of visitors it would need to be filled.

Some 20,000 staff work on this one site - 3,000 of them even live in subsidised housing on the campus, complete with shops, bars, gym and a hospital. The view when lunchtime starts and thousands of employees stream to the canteens is something to behold - although they have a wonderful tradition here: the lunch break lasts 90 minutes, half an hour to eat, and an hour for a nap lying on a mat by your desk.

Huawei is also an example of the vast potential of China. The firm was only created in 1988, yet now less than 20 years later it has annual sales of $8.5bn, from contracts worth $11bn signed in 2006 - 65 per cent of which come from outside China. The firm has received no outside investment - just loans from Chinese banks. It is not supported by government - it is privately owned, with all the company's shares owned by 60 per cent of its employees. The largest shareholder, the chief executive and founder, owns just one per cent of the shares. How's that for socialism meets capitalism?

The campus is so vast it has a six-lane highway running through the middle of it. And in what may be seen by some as a sign of its vast ambition, it comes complete with an R&D testing centre built as a model of the White House, the US president's residence.

The list of acronyms is also a way of overcoming the language barrier - it is a common terminology understood worldwide by a company that admits it is at a disadvantage compared to India when it comes to its grasp of English.

But at its heart is a vast research and development (R&D) operation. The company spends a relatively modest 10 per cent of its revenue on R&D - comparable to Western rivals in percentage terms, often well behind in absolute terms. Yet 48 per cent of the 62,000 staff worldwide work in R&D. That's an astonishing figure.

Huawei chief marketing officer Xu Zhijun (endearingly called Eric on his business card) claims that Chinese R&D labour costs are about one-sixth of those in the US or Europe, so that investment is actually the equivalent of six times as much in a Western rival, he says.

'Huawei combines the Western professional management practices with the wisdom of our Oriental culture,' says Xu.

East Asian people use the right-side of their brain more frequently, he says, the source of their innovation.

But of course, innovation is not what China is perceived to be about by many in the West who see piracy, copyright theft and censorship. But that's a topic for the next blog entry.

Mobile working, flexible working, remote working, call it what you will, staff mobility in general has been a hot topic in private and public sector boardrooms for some time. But isn't it time the conversation moved on?

Everyone is used to the idea of accessing email and corporate applications from somewhere other than your desk. BlackBerrys, wireless-enabled laptops and PDAs are standard business tools that give users the joy of being emailed by the boss at bedtime. But none of these actually change the way you do business - they simply give you more options for where and when you can work.

The next generation of mobility is about re-engineering your organisation to take advantage of the fact that  staff can now be more flexible in their working practices. The big mobile operators are starting to realise this and are setting up business consultancy units to help their customers. But the initiative needs to come from the top of the organisation.

I met with a fast-growing IT services company, 2e2, who works with an organisation that seems to get the point. The customer is a large local authority that recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff, but also the cost and efficiency benefits for itself. To that end, the council has decided to close an office building, so saving lots of cash, and is using this as the incentive - and the deadline - for a wider flexible working programme. Possibly extreme - but an example of what can be achieved.

IT leaders need to be pushing the concepts of mobility and the business innovations it can bring to the boardroom. The chief executive might love his BlackBerry, but he or she needs to understand the wider opportunities that such technology can deliver.

I am delighted to announce that our web site, Computing.co.uk, has been relaunched today with a new, easy-to-use design and a range of additional content to make the site your essential guide to business technology.

For nearly 35 years, Computing journalists have brought you the latest news and analysis on UK IT. Now, through Computing.co.uk, we want to make our readers part of the story too, by giving you the opportunity to let us know what you think about the latest trends, issues and technologies.

Today sees the launch of:

Reader Comment – Every news and in-depth article on the site now features a reader comment function that allows you to post your views on the stories that matter to you. Have your say on all the latest developments in IT – and find out what your fellow readers think too.
Visit Computing.co.uk/news

Computing Comment – The most extensive collection of expert blogs in IT. Some of the most influential IT leaders, academics and business groups in the UK bring you their views, along with blogs from the Computing team. Have your say – this is your chance to enter into debate with some of the most senior individuals in IT.
Visit Computing.co.uk/comment

Computing TV – A regular weekly video programme examining the latest trends and technologies, plus exclusive interviews and case studies. You can also watch daily business and science TV news bulletins from Reuters and Associated Press, and attend regular live web seminars examining key IT issues.
Visit Computing.co.uk/audio-video

Computing podcasts – Listen or subscribe to our weekly discussion show, featuring the Computing team examining the issues behind the latest IT news.
Visit Computing.co.uk/audio-video

Computing Community – Meet, discuss, and share your experiences with fellow IT managers and professionals through our exclusive forums. Take part in our Forum of the Week and regular online polls.
Visit Computing.co.uk/community

Knowledge Centres – Everything you need to know about the hot topics in IT, all in one place. Twelve knowledge centres combine all the news, analysis, comment, videos, podcasts, white papers and jobs into one easy-to-find web page.
Visit Computing.co.uk/knowledge

Best of the Web – A round-up of the stories from around the world that have caught our eye. Let us do all the searching for you about news on the latest emerging IT trends.
Visit Computing.co.uk/news

Plus you can still find the same high-quality journalism, breaking stories, exclusive news, insightful analysis and career development advice that you have come to expect from Computing, in print and online.

And in keeping with the spirit of reader feedback that underpins Computing.co.uk, we want to know what you think about the new content and design – please leave your comments on this blog or send an email to feedback@computing.co.uk.

I hope you enjoy the new site.

Every newspaper and every technology news web site is today full of the excitement and hype from the launch of the new Apple iPhone, revealed by the company's chief executive Steve Jobs yesterday at Macworld in San Francisco. The coverage generally follows the line of Jobs' claim that the new device 'is going to reinvent the phone.'

Excuse me for disagreeing - the semi-religious mania around Apple at the moment doesn't bode well for anybody who might claim the Emperor is naked except for his iPod.

Clearly, the iPhone is a pretty cool gadget. Touch screen, a few whizzy features such as a proximity sensor to detect when you put the phone to your ear, and the marketing buzz that goes with being sold as the iPod for the mobile phone world. But who is going to use it?

At $500 each, this isn't a mass market product. You won't be buying one for your kids, and it won't be in Carphone Warehouse in the pay-as-you-go phone department. And in the US at least, it is only available on one mobile network - something that would kill it in the UK.

Is it for business users? Not especially, there's not much more than you can do with a top of the range BlackBerry. Being a music player won't attract professional users. And the lack of a Qwerty keyboard means it won't be much use for those long emails replying to the boss.

Apple geeks, of course, will love it. Anybody whose life is not complete without an iPod, Mac, Powerbook, and all the add-ons, will be first in the queue. And there are probably just about enough of those to make the iPhone a reasonable commercial success.

But let's face it - this is not a new phone. It's at best a new smartphone, in reality a PDA - a handheld computer. If you use a Palm or a Treo or an iPaq and you would like the cool design cache of Apple, this is no doubt the product for you. It is an XDA with a connection to iTunes. it doesn't even have a 3G capability. And I bet those batteries won't last long without a recharge. The iPhone is something Apple had to do, in response to the number of mobile phones that double as MP3 players that may eat into the iPod market.

I didn't see all of Jobs' speech, but I suspect that the word 'Newton' was not mentioned. The Apple Newton was the firm's abortive attempt to crack the handheld market in the 1990s. The iPhone is undoubtedly a good product, but it is simply a 21st century Newton for the iPod generation.

Don't go rewriting the history of mobile telephony just yet.

But last night's other announcement - Apple TV - the ability to connect your PC to your TV wirelessly for showing movie and TV downloads to all the family on a big screen - now that might just be a milestone product...