Apple's deceptive iPhone 3G advertising

This video is excellent! It shows a comparison between the iPhone 3G data load times in Apple's ad, against real world usage in the US.  Boy, the difference is enormous.  Apple's deceptive marketing tactics... and AT&T's inferior 3G networks... enjoy.

The most obscene contraption for the iPhone!

Read this on TUAW. This is simply classic. A Hong Kong company has created an accessory for the iPhone 3G's camera which transforms it into a telephoto lens.

This obscene looking extension is not the end of the joke... the marketing and use of english really makes this product hilarious, and goofy!

The website writes: "Overcome the short coming of camera cellphone that can only near-sighted, it also makes distant view for you at the moment. The new design to run of rays can effectively avoid the contortion of image, and makes the super wide angle, the larger luminous flux, the higher visual acuteness, good for color reduction, which makes the high quality of photography. "

What the heck?

As to whether it really works, I'm unsure, but if I don't even understand the product, how will I buy it?

iPhone 3G arrives in Singapore on Aug 22

Cool!! Just a mere 4 days more to when the iPhone will be made available to Singapore. Received this email from Apple:


Check these links out!

1) Where to buy iPhone: http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/buy/?cid=MARCOM-SG-128666-C0007292

2) iPhone guided tour: http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/guidedtour/tour/medium.html

Update (20 Aug): Be sure to check out this Singtel iPhone FAQ page too: http://home.singtel.com/singtel/iphone/support_iphone.html

iPhone 3G & AT&T

On the 11 July, iPhone 3G was released in the US and other selected countries. I was too busy with organising Photon for Photosoc and piano concert that I didn't have time to keep track of the happenings in Apple world.

I don't know much about how the procedure went, but I've read stories which said the fastest it took to activate the iPhone 3G onto AT&T's network was half-an-hour! Now that's a freaking long wait, since activation is mandatory upon purchase, unlike through iTunes at your own timing as with the first phone. I will not want to stand in queue for the whole day just for an iPhone 3G!

But this brings me to my point, that the single weakest link with the iPhone does not lie with Apple: it is with AT&T! The new phone promises superior internet connection speeds with 3G, but the irony is that most people will not get that 3G in the US because AT&T's 3G network coverage is so darn pathetic! In other words, people are duped into thinking they will get 3G just because it is named iPhone 3G. Another misbelief that many have is that owning iPhone 3G will be cheaper. That's absolute baloney. Yes, the upfront payment sum is indeed less, but the monthly bill will be on average more than before, so overall, you pay more. This is a matter of perception: people perceive that something is cheaper because you fork out less at the store upon purchase, but few consider about the long term cost. Nonetheless, it's a good marketing gimmick.

Well at least I'm thankful that this is in US and not Singapore. But things won't be any better here I think. Yes, we should get 3G in most places when it arrives, but I assure you Singtel will sell the iPhone at a hefty price tag, because unlike AT&T, they will not subsidise the cost of the phone. So for me personally, I take on an ambivalent attitude to the arrival of iPhone in Singapore.

WWDC 08: First thoughts

Wow. Stayed up till 2am last night (today actually) to catch the keynote live from engadget. Was staring at the screen and constantly refreshing engadget while the rest of my family were asleep. After a while I couldn't take it and decided that I would just catch the video in the morning.

So woke up today and the first thing I did was to check the Apple website. Watched a bit of the video, and my first thoughts are that everything we anticipated came true.

There was a 3G iPhone, it has a plastic back, it's faster, it's thinner, the screen and look is still similar to the old phone, it has GPS, it'll reach Singapore... All these were known before hand. So no surprises for me.

Even MobileMe came true, though I've yet to understand what this is completely.

The iPhone took centrestage in the keynote, but they also talked about 'Snow Leopard'.

Cool stuff! I'll be formally reviewing these announcements soon, so do check back today or tmr!

WWDC 08: Speculations

Monday (tmr) will be the much awaited Apple World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC). Steve Jobs will be giving a keynote, and as usual, be announcing several cool products.

This time, he will definitely reveal the new iPhone, which will be 3G, and most probably have new features such as GPS and an Instant Messaging client. Copy and paste remains yet to be seen if it will be implemented. Hardware wise, I think this new phone will be thinner and sleeker, but I doubt there will be major changes to the overall look. This 3G iPhone will be the version reaching Asia, including Singapore.

Secondly, Jobs will also most likely give us a sneak preview as to what's happening with OS X 10.6. They're running out of names of big cats, so I'm unsure what this version will be called. I've heard rumours from cnet that 10.6 will focus on security and reliability instead of adding a ton of new features, which makes sense. With an increasing market share and thus increasing attacks on the Mac, I feel Apple needs to address the issue of security urgently.

So these are the two main topics in the keynote I suppose. Be sure to catch the screencast on the Apple website after the event!

Confirmed: iPhone in Asia this year

According to this article I saw on the Yahoo homepage, Singtel has apparently signed a contract with Apple to bring the popular iPhone over to Singapore later this year. This confirms the initial speculation that I made regarding the iPhone and the iTunes store coming to our shores! I'm excited about this, and hopefully the version that comes will be the rumoured 3G version that will be unveiled at the upcoming WWDC.

iPhone arriving to Singapore + Vista SP1

My dad woke me up today and excitedly told me that the iPhone was coming to Singapore in September. He said he heard it over the radio, but I can't seem to find official confirmation on the net, but anyway it is going to be with Singtel. This confirms a post that I wrote some time ago on the iTunes store coming to Singapore.

I can't help but feel a sense of excitement, although I'm wondering, how did Apple solve the problem of only allowing the iPhone to work with one telco? Because Singapore usually doesn't allow phones to be tied solely to only one operator... But never mind that. What I predict is going to happen is this: around June/July, there will be a special iPhone event by Apple to introduce the new software update 2.0 (3rd party apps) and also announce a 3G version of the iPhone which will look exactly the same as before, but with in-built 3G support. Then they will announce the 3G iPhone arriving in Asia, and soon Singapore will get it.

So apart from some iPhone hope this morning, I also connected Vista to the internet for the first time, upgraded Vista to Service Pack 1, installed Norton Antivirus 2008, ran scans and configured security settings.

The total install time for SP1 on my system was roughly 40mins, and the file size (from Windows Update) was only 70MB, because I got all the updates before that. The first thing I noticed was Welcome Center finally recognised my 4GB RAM and didn't show 3GB. The rest of the changes aren't visible. Install was straightforward, and it rebooted only once.


I have to say that after knowing Vista a bit more, I'm in LOVE with it, and I can't switch back to XP!

Leopard: Thoughts before release

Is it just me or do you also think that the countdown timer on Apple’s homepage seems to fuel more excitement and urge you to pre-order a copy of Leopard?

Haha… Just before the ferocious Leopard is revealed to the world in about 9 days time, I have one thought which I would like to share with you.

Presonally, I feel that this release couldn’t have arrived at a worst time than now, frankly, considering the unpleasant recent series of events with the iPhone and update 1.1.1, which I believe has inflicted a certain amount of damage to Apple as a brand name, and with the current shaky reputation it has, Leopard might not be so well-received initially until consumer confidence restores back.

I mean, although those who jailbroke their iPhone may be a small community of users, but Apple must not forget that these are the “tech geeks”, the true genuine Apple supporters who will very willingly buy the next thing that Apple releases, so now that their trust in Apple has been shaken, it would affect their overall impression of Apple. And they aren’t going to keep quiet about everything, these guys have a voice, and if their unhappy, their gonna make some noise, and the rest of us users will be convinced to adopt a similar negative impression of Apple, well at least temporarily. And so, with this teetering situation Apple is in right now, involved in iPhone lawsuits, and even with the recent attack by environmental group Greenpeace on the environmentally unfriendly iPhone, the release of Leopard would take place against a less-than-ideal backdrop, and this may have implications on the initial adoption of Leopard.

Do you share the same sentiments?

1.1.1 - iLocked my iPhone

Humans, we all err. Apparently, so does Steve Jobs.

I choose to consider it as the “biggest worst mistake of the year” and I’m positive it will have eternal ramifications on the reputation of Apple as a corporation, on AT&T as the ideal partner with Apple for the iPhone, and on the credibility of Jobs as a humane person capable of logical reasoning and compassion.

Ok, so what the heck am I babbling about? It’s a long story, and it doesn’t seem as if the book’s gonna close. I’m talking about the latest iPhone software update, 1.1.1, which was released to permanently lock all illegally unlocked iPhones for use with other networks other than AT&T’s, so that all unlocked or tempered iPhones will be reduced into a perpetual unusable state upon the installation of 1.1.1. This has got the iPhone community fuming mad, and it has raised certain disconcerting ideas about Apple products in general, and also about how one may know where is the line they shouldn’t cross when it comes to software hacks.

I personally am against this move by Apple, and I’m extremely horrified that such a trusted company renowned for making quality devices would ever resort to such drastic callous means just to ensure that no more phone hacking incidents take place. I mean, its stupid, it’s so unlike Apple, and I believe that this will eventually be a backlash, causing more problems instead of solving the issue. It would cause more discontent amongst early iPhone adopters, and even strengthen the resolve of the hacking community to unlock locked iPhones fully.

It’s a complicated issue, it’s debatable if Apple’s decision is right or not, and there’s also the possibility that AT&T was the company who pressured Apple to take on such a measure, leaving Apple with not much choice but to comply with AT&T’s demands… well, it’s impossible to discuss this incident in-depth here, these are just some of my initial views, and most probably I’ll be talking more about this on the upcoming TUWP episode.

But for now, just bear in mind that Apple doesn’t fancy you meddling with their software, they are violently against third-party involvement, and it’s best to leave your expensive iPhone in a “virgin” state.

The iPhone dilemma

Apple has been touted to be the only company with the capacity to generate, quite successfully, a tremendous amount of hype for a product that is not even on the market.

Evidence?

David Pogue, in The New York Times online, wrote: “Talk about hype. In the last six months, Apple’s iPhone has been the subject of 11,000 print articles, and it turns up about 69 million hits on Google. Cultists are camping out in front of Apple stores; bloggers call it the “Jesus phone.” All of this before a single consumer has even touched the thing. ”

So I don’t want to imagine the queue outside AT&T and Apple stores today. People have camped overnight just to be the special first few to lay their hands on the iPhone. But is it worth it?

Yes, the iPhone is commercially released today.

But as much as the iPhone is technologically advanced, it seems to be taking a step back into Stone Age. I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t know if this phone will be a true success for Apple. Will it flop like the iTunes-enabled Motorola phone? Or will it be like the Cube, silently fading off production lines?

Firstly, partnering up with telco AT&T is not too good a decision. AT&T’s signal ranks at the bottom few in 19 out of 20 major states, and the internet service provided is just too darn slow. Users would have to rely on Wi-Fi for surfing the net.  

Secondly, there is a 2MP camera built in that takes average pictures, (here's the silly part) but it doesn’t record videos. (?!)

Thirdly, Apple gives you a full desktop web browsing experience, makes it email ready, then strips away MMS support and the ability to play Java or Flash on Safari. WTH?

Fourth, you get either a 4GB or 8GB flash memory, then there’s no memory card expansion slot. 4GB may seem sufficient, but when 700MB is taken up for OS X, and considering this is also an iPod that does music and videos, 4GB is a pretty tiny storage size.

Fifth, the iPhone is engineered to run on OS X, then Apple prohibits developers from developing great apps that run independently on the iPhone, but instead sandbox developer applications to work within Safari only. For security, Apple claims, but is it justified?

Sixth, Apple claims that there is no need for chunky QWERTY keyboards, but in reality, by being different, it has made it harder for consumers to type using the minute on-screen keyboard which, obviously, doesn’t provide any tactile feedback. This has rendered the iPhone as a non-business machine. It’s no wonder Paul Thurrott said that the iPhone release is a non-event for the corporate world.

Well, but then, I’m just being pessimistic here. For this blog entry that you have read, you can easily find another proclaiming the greatness of this device. I'm just pointing out the more glaring flaws here.  

Now why didn’t they name the launch day the iLaunch? That would have truly generated much hype, wouldn't it?

(iTunes 7.3 is now available with iPhone support.)

I'm crashing, I'm crashing, I'm crashing

Argh. More programs are starting to crash more frequently on my Mac.

1) Today, PowerPoint crashed about 4 times. When I quit it, COMMAND+Q, PowerPoint shuts down, then an error message comes up telling me that it has closed unexpectedly. Then the usual choices whether to report this error to Microsoft or not.

2) Safari has crashed at least four fantastic times today.

3) MSN crashed on me a few days ago too, multiple times. Now I have migrated to Adium.

Hmm...what's next?

Oh and some recent articles written by Paul Thurrott has made me think twice about the iPhone's success. It's either Apple makes it or breaks it. If it goes wildly popular, Apple can still take over the phone industry. If not, Steve Jobs may just go downhill.

Now that's scary.

The silence finally broken

Every now and then something astounding, staggering and novel erupts, bringing forth a dramatic burst of frenetic excitement and heated discussion.

1984 was not 1984.
2001 was not 2001.

Today, 2007 will not be 2007.

After the eerie silence comes an ingenious product of the future.

Multi-touch. Full desktop class apps. 4/8GB HDD. Furnished with sensors all over. iPod. OS X.

Introducing the iPhone.