Apple has finally launched its wildly successful iPads internationally on the 28th May 2010. And guess what, the crowd responded by going wild! The first wave of International launch will hit nine countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The second phase of launch(expected to be in July) will include countries like Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.

Apple is currently selling about 200,000  iPads every week. It achieved its first million iPad sales after only 28 days. This is even better than the successful launch of its big brother iPhone which managed to achieve the 1,000,000 unit sales in 74 days. Below is an image of the people waiting outside the retail store to get in to purchase the iPad when it was launched internationally.

With this feat, it comes as no surprise that Apple has now officially become the largest market capitalized technology stock in the US. As of today, the market capitalization of Apple share is about USD232Billion. The next largest capitalized technology stock is Microsoft with a market capitalization of USD225.5Billion. Below is the comparison chart of how the Apple stock fared compared to Microsoft and Google.

No wonder Steve Jobs has been named as CEO of the decade by Fortune sometime end of last year. To achieve such a feat is indeed no simple task.  :-)

Digi has finally officially launched the iPhone last week ending Maxis’ monopoly on the iPhone in Malaysia for almost a year. Since then there has been a lot of talks on the blogs and forums as to which plan offers better value to consumers like us. Before we can answer this question, let’s dig deeper and take a look at what are the Digi offering.

iDigi Rate Plan table

Digi’s iDigi plan is very similar to Maxis’ iValue plans in the sense that both offers bundled voice, sms and data. Digi’s iDigi88 planoffers 200 minutes voice, 200 sms, 20 MMS and 1GB data vs Maxis iValue1 plan which offers 333 minutes, 100 sms, 10MMS and 500MB data. At a glance, Digi’s plan seems more attractive because it offers double the sms, MMS and data compared to Maxis’ iValue1 plan and at a cheaper price of RM88 vs RM100. Maxis’ higher bundled voice of 133 minutes is equivalent to RM19.95(based on call rates of 15sen/min. The purchase price of the iPhone 3GS 16GB(based on 24 months contract plans) for Digi is RM1590 compared to Maxis which is RM1390(additional RM200 off). This is based on Maxis’ iPhone Anniversary promotion. So, although the Digi’s monthly price is RM12 lower, the purchase price is RM200 more for the same iPhone 3GS 16GB.

Next, let’s take a look at the payment plans.

Digi’s plan offers 3 different types of payment arrangements:-

• Cash/Credit Card Up front
  Pay the subsidised iPhone price in full according to subscribed iDiGi plan with 6 months iDiGi plan. So, total amount to be paid is RM2,144(RM88+5%tax + RM1590). Let’s compare this with Maxis iValue1 plan. The total amount to be paid is RM400(advanced payment) + RM1390 which is equivalent to RM1,790. This is RM354 higher than Maxis’ iValue1 plan.
• (EPP 24) 24 months iDigi plan subscription(inclusive of 5% tax) + iPhone over 24 months
  Pay the subsidised iPhone and 24 months iDigi subscription(inclusive of 5% tax) over 24 months at 0% Interest by Credit Card. So, total amount to be paid monthly(using example of iDigi88 and iPhone 3GS 16GB) is RM159/month for 24 months. Let’s compare this to Maxis’ iValue1 plan. If you are on the iValue1 plan, you will be paying RM105(inclusive of 5% tax) + RM58(with RM200 iPhone anniversary Promotion) which is equivalent to RM163/month.
• (EPP 24+12) 24 months iDigi subscription + iPhone over 36 months
  This is the lowest monthly ownership but you’re actually paying for only 2 years usage for 3 years. So, using the same example of iDigi88 and iPhone 3GS 16GB, the monthly charges will be RM106 per month for 3 years. On month 25, you will need to sign on another data plan as you are only paying for 2 years usage over 3 years. Maxis does not offer such a plan, so there is no comparison here.

Other information and considerations:-

1.  Digi’s plans have a minimum contract period of 24 months. Maxis does have a 12 months contract plan although the subsidy is lower. Maxis also offers the iData plans on top of their existing ValuePlus Voice plans. The iData plan with ValuePlus Plans are more practical for users who roams and calls IDD frequently.

2.  Maxis should have a much wider 3G/3.5G coverage compared to Digi. In terms of speed, there is a recent 3rd party broadband speedtest conducted by Mobile World which can be viewed at the website http://bit.ly/mwspeedtest . The test showed that Maxis has the fastest speed overall for broadband.

3.  Based on a reliable source, the average data usage on an iPhone is ~300 to 400 MB per month. As a heavy user of the iPhone myself, i am personally using about 300MB data per month only.

4.  Maxis has 1 year headstart in the iPhone in terms of experience, customer service, support etc.

Conclusion:-

i believe most Malaysians will welcome Digi’s entry into the iPhone as this will finally create the competition to allow price war and competitive pressures to enable the entry price of the iPhone to be reduced further.

i must admit that i was a little disappointed as i was expecting a little more aggressive iPhone plans from Digi since they are 1 year late as compared to Maxis. Unfortunately, the plans offered are pretty much the same and i really do not see much savings in the plans.

For someone that makes more calls, the Maxis plans seems more attractive. For those who uses more internet on the iPhone, the Digi plans may be the plan to go for. So, i guess both telcos will have their own target group of customers.

Hopefully, we will see more competitive pricing coming in the future with 2 telcos vying for the same iPhone pie now in Malaysia!

For my existing profile of use, i must say that the Maxis plan is still the better choice for me.

A lot of people has been asking the same question on which phone should i get; the iPhone 3GS or the Blackberry Storm? There are advantages and disadvantages of both the iPhone 3GS and the Blackberry Storm.

Wi-fi: One key difference is that the blackberry Storm model currently available in Malaysian market i.e. the 9500 Storm does not support wi-fi. If wi-fi is an absolute must for you, then you may want to go with the Blackberry BOLD or the iPhone 3GS. After using the Blackberry BOLD and iPhone 3G for sometime, i do realized that the ability to hook onto the wi-fi network is definitely an essential component for any smartphone.

Speaker and Multimedia: The quality of the speakers are quite impressive on both the iPhone 3GS as well as the Blackberry Storm. i would say that both are pretty close or if i have to vote for one, i will probably say that the Blackberry Storm is “a little” better in this area.

Camera: Pictures taken are pretty much similar under the same lighting conditions. In terms of resolution, the iPhone 3GS has a 3Megapixel camera vs the Blackberry Storm with 3.2Megapixel camera. Both have zoom capabilities. For the video camera, i will have to say that the iPhone 3GS is “a little” better compared to the Blackberry Storm.

Emails and calendaring: This has always been the stronghold of the Blackberry and my vote will go to the Blackberry Storm(for BES) although the iPhone 3GS is catching up with the OS3.0 release and is getting closer. So, if you are going to use a company server(Blackberry Enterprise Server), the Blackberry Storm will be your choice device. If you are using the email for personal access eg gmail, yahoo, pop3 or imap, i don’t think there is much difference between the two. i personally find setting up and configuring the emails on the iPhone to be easier compared to setting up the BIS(Blackberry Internet Service) on the Blackberry devices.

Internet Browsing: i personally prefer the internet browsing experience on the iPhone 3GS much better compared to the Blackberry Storm because of the better sensitivity of the touch screen as well as the ability to “pinch” to zoom.

Cost of ownership: The retail price for both the Blackberry Storm and the iPhone 3GS 16GB are pretty close at the time of this posting. Both devices are in the range of RM2,400-RM2,500(without any contractual subsidy).  So, in terms of device pricing(at the time of this posting), they are about the same. Monthly usage cost on the iPhone will be a little lower because there is no additional licensing fees(for BIS or BES which is applicable for the Blackberry) that is applicable for the iPhone.

Applications: This is the stronghold of the iPhone 3GS where there are more than 60,000 applications that are downloadable from the Apple AppsStore. This will be the key differentiator that separates a device from being just another device to an awesome multi-purpose gadget. Blackberry is  just starting to develop more applications on their devices and it will take a long time for them to catch up(if they ever will) to iPhone.

Below is a video on the comparison of the iPhone 3GS vs the Blackberry Storm. This is quite a good and fair comparison in terms of speed and functionality of both devices. What this video does not show are the difference in the applications that are available on both of these devices. Check it out!  :-)

So, which device do you think is the overall winner? In my personal opinion, the iPhone 3GS will get my vote on this simply because it meets my requirement for emails and calendaring and it provides a much better internet browsing experience as well as the wide range of applications which are downloadable from the Apple AppStore. This is what really makes the iPhone 3GS stand out from the rest of the pack and is often labelled as a “cool” and “sexy” gadget!.  :-)

Since the launch of the iPhone 3GS in Malaysia, it has given the consumers an added option to choose when they want to get an iPhone. So, the biggest question is which one should i get? This is really a personal choice as you need to really know what you want to use the device for. Obviously, the iPhone 3GS will be more expensive than the iPhone 3G. The new iPhone 3GS does come with some cool things which the iPhone 3G does not. If you want to know more about the difference in feature between the iPhone 3GS vs the iPhone 3G, i have posted a video on this site as well. It is located at the “Great iVideo” tab above. Do feel free to check it out if you are planning to purchase the iPhone and wanted to know the major differences between the 2.

This posting is going to focus on the speed test for both these devices only. Below is a video that compares the 2 devices head-on to see which device is faster and by what margin. After watching this video, you may be able to make a better decision on which one to purchase despite the price difference.

Results: Based on the speed test only, the winner is……….the iPhone 3GS(nothing unexpected here!)