iPhone – Page 5 – Vinko’s Thoughts On…

June 10, 2008

Apple’s iPhone 3G is Finally Here in Hong Kong

An hour ago Apple’s co-founder, CEO, Steve Jobs, announced the highly anticipated Apple iPhone 3G during the keynote speech at the WWDC 2008 in San Francisco. It will be available July 11, 2008 in 70 countries around the world.

The announcement had some surprises; confirmation of built-in GPS. All in all were information that many of the rumor sites had already published: 3G radio, longer battery life, multiple colours (Black and White) and lower price. What was missing, that I had hoped for was video conferencing or Mobile iChat. Well there is just over a month before the actual release date, may be there is another higher version at the USD399.00 price point: more storage 32GB and video conferencing to be announced before the date.

Yes, Apple lower the price of the 8GB version to USD199.00 and the 16GB version to USD299.00. Making one to speculate there may be yet another model at the original USD399.00 price. I think I may hold out for that.

The most interesting is that it showed up on Apple HK’s Store, but when I try to follow the “Find a store” link within the page, it gave me a “Page Not Found” error. I guess Apple forgot to put up a “Coming Soon” page for this. As Hutchison Telecom had already announced last week that it signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone 3G through is “3” mobile brand. I just hope that it is not the only carrier that will carry the iPhone 3G in Hong Kong.

During the keynote, Steve Jobs failed to offer any details of Apple’s business arrangements with these mobile carriers in the 70 countries. It is already know from the various mobile carrier press releases in the past several weeks, there are more than one carrier in a most of these 70 countries that will be selling the iPhone 3G.

The Apple Stock had a roller coaster ride during the 2 hours of the keynote, taking a dive of almost USD4.00 during the 3rd party application demos; which most have seen during the announcement of the iPhone SDK in January, then rising to a high of USD184+ when the 3G iPhone was (“confirmed”) announced by Steve Jobs. It then drop a USD6.00 dollars when everyone realize there’s no “Just One More Thing” announcement.

I think both the market and myself was expecting Steve Jobs (Apple) to detail their future business arrangements with the mobile carriers in these 70 countries. Being a shareholder myself (full disclosure), hopefully Apple will release more details as we get closer to the actual release date of July 11th.

The one other surprise and rumor confirmation was the announcement of MobileMe, which is the next generation of .Mac for Macintosh computers, Windows computers and iPhones. To put it simply, it is a Web 2.0 refresh of (the over due revamp) .Mac service. Although, given its compatibility with iPhones (equipped with 2.0 firmware), I may again have a use for this service. Given I can install version 2.0 of the iPhone firmware on my current hacked iPhone 2G.

[Update: June 10, 2008]
Thank to the reader, AC, I just checked Apple’s “Find a Store” link and it is now pointing to a page where it lists “3” as the mobile carrier to purchase the iPhone.

Apple Apple has composed a new page which list all the countries where the iPhone will be available after July 11, 2008.

June 6, 2008

iPhone 3G Photos Leaked

As we draw ever closer to the June 9th Steve Jobs’ keynote at the opening of the WWDC in San Francisco, there are more any more allege photos of the next generation iPhone.
Allege iPhone 3G Photo

I had always expected Apple to transform the iPhone over time. This is obvious, when we remember that the current iPhone is the first version of the “platform” that Apple has created. Remember what the iPod looked liked five years ago? Over the years Apple improved and introduced new features and functions for the iPod, then releasing the 3rd generation iPod nano and the iPod Touch in 2007. Can you imagine what the iPhone or the “Touch platform” may be like five years from now?

I anticipate there will be some hint of this “Touch platform” to be announced at Jobs’ keynote on Monday, June 9th. I guess we will have to wait and see.

May 29, 2008

First of Hong Kong’s Carriers to Get the iPhone

It is reported that the first of Hong Kong’s mobile carriers: CSL (with two brands 1010 and One2Free), People (recently purchased by China Telecom), Sunday (recently purchased by PCCW), Smartone-Vodafone (with a partnership involving the mobile giant, Vodafone) and Hutchison Telcom’s Orange and 3. The latter is where Hutchison announced that they will resell the Apple iPhone later this year in Hong Kong and Macau.

Recently Apple shows signs of changing their business model for the iPhone partnerships with carriers. When Apple is predicted to make their announcement of the next generation iPhone, at the keynote speech of the WWDC, there will be multiple carriers selling iPhones for any given country.

With this in mind I am hoping the big brother of Smartone-Vodafone will be reselling the iPhone also.

Vodafone releasing iPhone Press Release

Vodafone logo The reaction to the Vodafone announcement that it has strike a deal with Apple to release the iPhone in 10 countries: Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey, was a mix bag of haters, be-littler and fan-boy.

The iPhone arriving in Asia had been anticipated for some time. The latest is definitely good news for all the countries mentioned in the Vodafone press release.

As we all know, Vodafone has one of the largest worldwide mobile network, and has 3G coverage in many of them.

Whether Vodafone waited for the 3G version of the iPhone before signing the deal with Apple, no one really knows for sure accept the parties in these talks. Whether Apple will retire the 2.5G version of the iPhone is also a speculation.

No matter which country you’re in, there are consumers who are happy with the speed and capabilities of a 2.5G network iPhone, and there are ones who need and want to pay for a 3G network iPhone. Ironically, the only exception being the United States, as 3G coverage is not that prevalent in North America.

Critics; particularly the Americans, should step back and recognize that Apple is aiming at the global mobile phone market and not just United States.

As for the original rumors about the iPhone’s Asian launch, the stages are:
India –> Australia/New Zealand –> Taiwan –> Hong Kong –> China.

Personally living in Hong Kong, should make me feel like a second class citizen; in this case 3rd or even 4th. But I am not disappointed, because like the thousands of iPhone users in Hong Kong, we are happily using our jailbroken/unlocked iPhone on every local carrier network since June 2007. Like most early adopters, will continue to do so until the 3G network version comes out, which I will upgrade to… anyone likes to buy an used iPhone?

March 25, 2008

Smartone-Vodafone Dropping POP3

Well not exactly… that are dropping POP3 in the list of protocol that comes free with their “Internet Browsing” plan.

For those iPhone users in Hong Kong who followed my advice and subscribed to the Smartone-Vodafone’s “Internet Browsing” and the GSM 2G/3G Data plans, you should have received a SMS from Smartone-Vodafone to inform you that they will be dropping the POP3 protocol within the “Internet Browsing” plan.

One less protocol in the already limited features list of this “Internet Browsing” plan; you can see my article, “iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone“, from a Smartone-Vodafone customer’s point of view on using the iPhone in Hong Kong for my opinions on this plan.

I am not certain if this decision of Smartone-Vodafone is the direct result of too many Smartphone and iPhone users using the Internet Browsing plan for POP3 and IMAP access. It is very obvious that their Product Development department did not think clearly about this plan before they launch it, and now they are trying to recover by dissecting the features of this plan further. Spawning even more VAS from it.

If you are one of the many iPhone users who took my advise in the article, “iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone“, then there is no need for you to do anything. Unless your POP3 usage is so large that it exceeds your current 2G/3G Data plan monthly quota. In that case you may want to weight the benefit of upgrading to the higher 2G/3G Data plan of the new “POP3” VAS to the Internet Browsing plan.

Note: that Smartone-Vodafone only speak of POP3 and they did not mention IMAP, nor did they exclude any POP3 access over a VPN. So you should take these into consideration if you need to argue with them on your next phone bill.

February 18, 2008

What is Your Most Desired Native iPhone Application?

Now that the iPhone has been officially released for over four months, in four different countries. What is the most desired native application you wish someone, other than Apple, will release?

By “native” I mean application that runs on the iPhone without Safari (MobileSafari).

Before anyone say it, I do know about the vast number of 3rd party applications alresdy out there. I have used many of them, but what I am talking about here are the sanctioned 3rd party applications released by developers utilizing Apple’s official iPhone SDK.

My most desired is something that will be the IM (instant messenger) consolidator, like Adium on the Macintosh and Trillian on Windows. Currently there are MobileChat and Apollo from 3rd party developers, but neither works consistently nor do they allow simultaneous logins to multiple IM services at the same time.

The other thing that I really really wish the iPhone has is copy-and-paste. Apple being the first to made popular the concept of copy-and-paste in its Macintosh OS 24+ years ago, did not release a subset of Mac OS X for the iPhone with copy-and-paste, is very surprising. Now with 6 revisions of the iPhone firmware, we still have yet to see this feature on the iPhone. I wonder if a 3rd party using the official Apple SDK will be able to bring us this feature prevalent across every user interface and applications in the iPhone.

Another cool app will be something to do with the built-in camera on the iPhone. A simple application like MobilePhotoBooth or a more complexed application which will assist with uploading taken photos to the various photo sharing sites: Flickr, Smugmug, etc.. I know there are currently iFlickr and Pushr, but both are flaky and unstable.

September 16, 2007

iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone

Many of you know that I was in North America this past two weeks and was also in New York City.

While at NYC I spent some time at the 5th Ave. Apple Store gaining some hands on experience with the iPhone. This was the first time I saw the iPhone in person and played with its applications and Multitouch interface. I will talk more about this in a separate post.

Getting back to the topic in question. While in NYC last week much had transpired regarding the unlocking (release of the lock down of the iPhone to the AT&T carrier). End of last month iPhone SIM Free announced that they had a software to unlock the iPhone from AT&T iron fist. They said that they will be selling the software on a per user (iPhone) license within a few days. Weeks had past and no announcements. Continue reading “iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone”

August 4, 2007

iOS Firmware Repositories [Updated: April 14, 2011]

Each time you allow iTunes to update your iOS device, iTunes will automatically delete the previous iOS firmware (ipsw) file from your computer. As a result you will not be able to restore your iOS device to one of these older iOS firmware.

I decided to create a place where I list all the iOS firmware Apple ever released in the past. The following are all hyperlinks to Apple’s official repositories, so there are no worries if any of these package contains malware payloads.
Continue reading “iOS Firmware Repositories [Updated: April 14, 2011]”

June 5, 2007

New iPhone Ads: what Mac ads should be

For the past 23 years the Mac OS had shined against most operating systems, particularly Microsoft Windows OS.

Although Apple, particularly Steve Jobs, had always had the believes that the product will speaks for itself. Where as, Microsoft had a powerful market machine and able to successfully sell an obvious inferior product.

So hopefully these new iPhone ads are signs of Apple’s marketing attitude changing for the better.

Business Secrecy

Many people complains that Apple Inc. is not clear about their directions and secretive about their product announcements and release dates.

An example being the recent events that had transpired with Apple’s iPhone. Apple announced and demonstrated the iPhone off at MacWorld San Francisco 2007 show in January. They then inform the public of a June 2007 release date.

Now as the rumored release date of June 11 approaches, numerous companies are trying to make their own announcements to stifle the anticipated excitement surrounding the actual iPhone release.

HTC, the Taiwanese Microsoft® Windows Mobile® smartphone manufacture, is planning a major announcement in London on June 5. Their chic designed invitation copied Apple’s iPhone theme by saying, “… a new mobile experience that will change the way we use and control our phones.”.

Microsoft® released the Microsoft® Surface a few hours ago. This device is suppose to be a commercial product based on the Multitouch technology that had been in development for the past 25 years. With Fingerworks developing an Opensource software to implement this Multitouch interface initially on Windows 2000 and Mac OS X. Although, Fingerworks is now an entity of Apple and its technology had been incorporated into the iPhone.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysEVYwa-vHM]
Multitouch demonstration by Perceptive Pixel, Jefferson Y. Han’s company.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LByAFrcOwJk]
Jefferson Y. Han’s Multitouch Experiment in 2006.

So these actions by the various manufactures to position their announcements just prior to Apple’s iPhone launch, further proves Apple’s point and justifications to not make their plans 100% clear to the public. While still gives their stockholders and consumers something to look forward to.