Getting a MicroSIM in Singapore for future use

Now that the iPhone 4 is out in the United States, the buzz in Singapore has also start to generate around the use of the microsim in the handset as well as the new iPad.

From this article, it appears that all 3 telcos in Singapore are offering their data plans that comes bundled with the microsim. Judging from the pricing, they seem eager to cash in on the new offerings.

For now, I have to wait and see how the telcos will adjust their plans when the iPhone 4 finally lands on Singapore's shore.

Now I'm A Fanatic. Or Not.

Like many other millions of users out there, I went ahead and bought myself an iPhone 3GS earlier tonight at the Singtel hello shop at Takashimaya Shopping Centre.

I suppose you can say that it is an impulse buy for I had no original intent to buy anything tonight, other than having a dinner appointment with my university friends, Joanna and Vanessa. All I wanted to do was to check out the corporate price plan for buying and using the iPhone and voila! I ended up being an iPhone owner overnight.

My dear NTT Docomo Sharp phone has barely been used for half a year, mind you. The only saving grace that the iPhone will have over my SH-06A is the connection to Singtel's satellite. Now I will no longer experience a sudden signal cut from my phone.

I bought the white version of the 16GB model. Too bad the phone doesn't come in red. That would have been a killer model.

Nonetheless my fingers are not quite used to the typing on the iPhone's screen keyboard as I tend to hit the wrong letters. Just writing a SMS to my friend takes me around 10 mins as I just can't get the hang of the keyboard. Argh... I gotta keep practicing to master the typing for this iPhone.

Anyway I am not to going to become an Apple fanatic who gets all defensive if someone else critisize my phone. Go ahead. I also can't stand some of the nitty gritty details that are missing on the iPhone. For example, changing the ringtones and SMS tones should not be made so difficult. I know Apple wants to make more money but simply getting users to pay US$0.99 for a ringtone for a song that they already own in the first place is bullshit. That kind of money-grubbing attitude from Apple is something that I can't stand. Apple stands to earn millions just from selling songs via its iTunes store. Why does it need to earn more by forcing iPhone users to buy their ringtones from Apple? It doesn't make any sense to me.

I managed to get around changing my ringtones on the iPhone without buying them from the iTunes store but I can't change my SMS tones. Those are way too tough and require a jailbroken iPhone. I am not going to jailbreak my iPhone for the sake of some measly SMS tones.

Next, the wallpaper setting on the iPhone is quite weird. I only can see my wallpaper each time I unlock my iPhone to get to the main screen. The home screen doesn't show my wallpaper but a black blank background. Not very appealing to me. Being able to display the wallpaper on the home screen is a basic mobile phone function yet the iPhone is not that clever enough to allow that.

Then there's the odd missing function of allowing you to copy your contacts from your iPhone to your SIM card. Strangely enough, this function is not implemented by Apple. The only way iPhone owners can save their contacts is to sync to a PC via Microsoft Outlook. That is so unnecessary and stupid. Even my SH-06A can do this simple task. Why not the iPhone? That said, many experts acknowledge that the iPhone is not the most technologically advanced smartphone out there. It just happen to be the most user-friendly and the most popular, mostly thanks to Apple's skilled marketing tactics.

Oh well, I'll see how it goes for me. I hope I haven't wasted my bucks for nothing. See ya on the iPhone next time.

iPhone price plans for M1 and Starhub out

Finally we get to compare the pricing plans for the highly sought after Apple iPhone offered by both M1 and Starhub. They have joined the market which used to be dominated by Singtel. How do their plans score?

Cnet has compiled a table for easy reference. The official date launch for both telcos are 9th December 2009, which is this coming Wednesday. Will many Singtel customers make the switch? For me, I am still under a current contract with Singtel and that will only be due next May. So I have got a long wait ahead of me.

Still it wouldn't hurt to start researching and comparing those prices. On the other hand, Singtel has announced they will be making revisions to their current price plans for the iPhone. How much of a difference it will make depends on how big (or small) the revisions are.

I shall be waiting for Singtel's move before making the final decision.

All 3 Telcos in Singapore to carry the iPhone 3GS

The latest news from CNET is circulating around the web, that Starhub is the latest telco to announce that they will start carrying the iconic iPhone. Singtel has been selling the iPhone since August 2008 whereas MobileOne announced in October that they will start carrying the iPhone at the end of this year.

iPhone 3GS

This is nothing but good for all consumers in Singapore as it could mean that the iPhone could come cheaper and more affordable for many people to buy. For me, I won't be able to buy any contract phone as my two years mobile contract is not yet due for renewal. The earliest time for me is next May so I might as well sit back and relax.

This goes to show how big of a success iPhone has proven itself to be worthy of Apple's new cashcow status since the iPod days. Everywhere you go, people can be seen carrying or using an iPhone in one way or another. I think it's only a matter of time before the iPhone will overthrow Nokia as the world's top selling mobile phone ever.

How will the local mobile phone scene play out for the telcos and the consumers? It could potentially lead to a pricing war between the 3 telcos or it may not. However the consumers only has goodness to gain from it all. It's the telcos' fight to earn and keep the consumer dollar firmly in their hands. Only their pricing plans will sway consumers successfully to their side, provided it's the most competitive amongst all.

I can barely wait for the drumroll to start. =D

New iPhone 3G S Coming

I had just received an advertisement from Apple, which states that they will be launching the newest version of the iPhone, iPhone 3G S, worldwide soon.

Apple claims that this iPhone is the fastest phone yet and it will come in 16GB and 32Gb sizes. Naturally prices will be high due to the foreign exchange rates. Singtel will be bringing the phone in July 2009, that's 1 more month to go.

Let's see how the reception to the new phone will be like. My guess is that it will be phenomenal as this version addresses a lot of issues that current owners have with their iPhone 3G. I shall wait and see if it would be worthwhile to buy. Otherwise I will settle for a Japanese mobile phone instead.

I shall write more about that the next time. See ya!

New iPhone Coming Soon?

There are rumours afloat on the internet that Apple might be releasing a new generation of its hugely popular iPhone soon.



If that's the case, I might be able to get my hands on the new iPhone by the end of this year. Hopefully Singtel will get to sell the new phone and at a competitive price so that I can buy it.

I like the phone more for its design rather functionality. However it does not seem to be doing very bad in the funtionality department either. If the latest reincarnation of the iPhone manage to address all the grips that current iPhone users have, then it would be the best phone in the world.

Whether Apple will have a successful 2009 or not probably depends on this new baby. If the new phone turns out to be lousy, then Steve Jobs will have lots of fans to answer to.

Anyway I'm still stuck on contract with my Nokia N95 8GB till next August so it's kind of early for me to buy anything. *sighs*

HTC Touch HD Only Exclusive to Starhub

I was so happy when I read in the papers that HTC Touch HD will be coming to Singapore this month.

Yet to my dismay, this new phone is an exclusive item specially sold by Starhub. Since I have a Singtel mobile phone contract, I am unable to purchase this new baby to replace my Nokia N95 8GB.

Looks like this is going to be the mobile operators latest strategy to lock in new customers, by selling phones that are not offered by other competitors. Yes, it's convenient for the companies and those new customers. But what about the existing customers? Does that mean we are penalised for NOT changing our mobile operator?

All these exclusive thingies are not doing us justice. Already in the US, AT&T practice this with the iPhone. Or maybe the party who's truly at fault is actually Apple.

Damn stupid Apple. It wants to earn big bucks and through all these exclusive deals, it ensures that Apple fans will be lured and tied to one of their desired operators, i.e. one who would pay them, Apple, the most premium fees for selling the iPhone.

I guess that's when the trend of selling exclusive phones kicks in for all mobile operators. This is so unfair to us, especially if we don't feel like changing our operators since we are comfortable with them.

Life sucks, doesn't it?

=(

It's the Comex 2008!

In the blink of an eye, 3 months have passed and it's now time for another big IT fair. This time round, it's called the Comex 2008, where all sorts of appliances can be found under 1 fair. Plus it's one of the biggest fair ever, occupying the whole exhibition levels of Suntec City.

With such a crazy huge area to cover, certain measures must be taken so that I don't ended up getting lost amongst the numerous vendor stalls. One main thing that I'm going to catch at the fair is the MSI Wind's 6-cell battery.

I made my way down to Suntec City today, right after the official ending of the JCI audit. I felt that it was a waste of my time to attend this last day of audit as I don't see myself being useful to the audit. Yet my boss insisted I have to come back on this Saturday to fulfill whatever needs she sees.

In the end, all I did was nothing. I just remained at my desk, doing nothing but surfing the Internet since I was so bored. I don't intend to do any serious work at all since it's a weekend.

Right. Back to the Comex 2008.

By the time I managed to reach Corbell's booth, it was nearing 2.30pm. But I ended up getting disappointed as I was told there's no stock for the 6-cell battery and there's no pre-order list for it as well.

In the end, I ended up getting gadgets that were totally bought on the spur of the moment. See the pictures below.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 and accessories

A free dry box for my Sony camera

Nokia N95 8GB

Yep. I bought a camera AND a mobile phone. Right on the same day too. Crazy eh? I don't really know the reason why I bought the Sony camera. Perhaps I was just too frustrated with my Casio Exilim EX-&0, which couldn't give me excellent night shots.

So far, I have not tried out the Sony camera yet but I hope I won't ended up being disappointed again. By the way, it comes with 5x optical zoom as well. So perhaps in future I could capture better shots of those stars when I go to their concerts. Hmmm...

Anyway, I got lots of accessories to go with my Sony camera. It comes with 2 memory sticks with adaptors, 2 batteries, 1 cleaning kit, 1 mini-tripod, 1 leather casing, 1 dry box and a course for learning how to use Sony cameras effectively. All these for $499.

As for the nokia phone, it happened to be a good bargain as it was selling for $488 with a 2 year re-contract of my plan. Add to it the trade-in I got for my Sony Ericsson K800i, the phone only costs a cool $368, which is several hundreds cheaper than before.

Truly a good bargain, though many people at the Comex bought the iPhone instead. Guess iPhone's sexiness still works here. Almost everybody who got to Singtel counters had indicated they were purchasing the iPhone. I seem to be the only odd one out with a Nokia phone and an old model at that. But I have been hankering after this N95 8Gb for ages. Its price was the only factor that stopped me from buying. Paying $698 for a phone that's not the IT phone of the moment simply doesn't sway me.

Now it's a different story. Wee... I'm still trying to figure out how to use the phone as the functions are totally different from Sony Ericsson's version. Damn...

Overall, I am quite pleased with my purchase. So, till the next IT fair shall we meet again.

Tada....

Sony Ericsson C905 Coming?

According to this blog, Sony Ericsson appears to be gearing up for a release of the most powerful handphone ever made.

The specifications are very impressive. With a 8.1 megapixel camera on board, capable of VGA video recording coupled with both xenon flash as well as photoflash, it makes for a wonderful camera gadget.

Then there's multiple connections like WIFI, Bluetooth, TV-Out Cable ITC-60 to enable that perfect LCD TV viewing pleasure, etc... Looks like this phone has really got it going for Sony Ericsson, provided it's all for REAL.

The report is not official from the company although the blog quotes that very relevant sources are confirming the phone's details.

Now.... with this phone coming along, I am starting to re-think about getting that iPhone 3G. Looks like I'm not the only one who is thinking of switching. Even handphone operator Singtel is trying to grab the lion's share of the market first by allowing for reservations to be made for that fabled iPhone 3G.

The handphone market is heating up very fast here and looks like there can only be more good deals for the consumers. Woohoo~~