This is certainly the first time in the history of Apple that a new product “preview” was released before it was actually launched. Apple has not done this before and i think they will hope that it will not happen again. They have always been very secretive in their launches until the very last minute when the Man of the Day, aka Steve Jobs will reveal what the new toy of the town is going to be. Not too sure if anyone would be fired for this, though. It has certainly created a lot of buzz in the market place on what this next generation of iPhone is gonna be.

So. how did it all started?

Well, it all started when a software engineer was celebrating his 27th birthday in a German pub in Redwood City, California. It was just simple, honest mistake that anyone could have done in the midst of a celebration. The iPhone 4G prototype was left in the pub and was later picked up by someone who sold it to Gizmodo for US$5,000. Not bad for a prototype phone who is not even working well. Since then, Gizmodo has dissected the lost iPhone and published an article with some photos of it on its website. Gizmodo has got many hits on its website when this leaked iPhone story was published. So, i guess spending US$5,000 to pull this publicity stunt is still very worth it after all.

So. how does the next generation iPhone looked like?

Below are some of the photos courtesy of Gizmodo:-

Above is the youtube video on what potentially happen(of course with lots of humour and exaggerations!). Please watch it before it is taken down.  :-)

Steve Jobs has done it yet again!

He has once again revolutionize the tablet PC. As you know, the tabled PC has been quite a failure for many companies. Not for Apple though. It sold more than 300,000 iPads on the first day of launch and is expected to touch half a million within the weekend.

On the 8th April 2010, Steve Jobs gave a big presentation on what’s coming in the next version of the iPhone operating system.

He said there will be 1,500 new APIs for developers. Of that, he highlighted 7 big new features that most of us iPhone users will be eagerly looking forward to in the new(yet to be released) iPhone OS 4 :-

1.  Multitasking

This is the biggest news of the day from a user’s perspective. Apple is adding multitasking to the iPhone. With Apple’s multitasking, you’ll hit your home button twice. A tray will pop up with the apps you have running in the background.

It is 100% true multitasking though, rather an advanced form of app switching. Apple wants to preserve battery life, while still allowing some background processing. So, the specific functions listed below can run in the background:

• Background audio for an app like Pandora.
• VoIP so you can get Skype calls at any time.
• Push notifications
• Local notifications
• Task completion
• Fast app switching

2.  Folders to organize apps

Apple is adding a way to organize all apps into folders. With your current OS, you can probably store up to only about 9 pages of apps on your iPhone. With the new iPhone OS 4.0, you will be able to store over 2,000 apps on your iPhone. You can make a new folder, label it, then throw apps into it. Click on it, and you can see all the apps in there. So, in future, you will not need to delete apps if you wanted to add more apps.  :-)

3.  A unified inbox

With the iPhone OS4.0, you can get all the inbox in one place. In addition to that, you will also be able to have multiple exchange accounts.

4.  iBooks

Apple is confirmed bringing its iBooks application to the iPhone. Previously, it was for iPads only. Well, for a smart person like Steve, why would he want to limit his sales of the iBooks to iPad users only? If he enable it for the iPhone users as well, he will be able to multiply his earnings. i foresee this is going to be a big revenue earner for Apple in the future. With ebooks priced much cheaper than the hardcopy editions, and the ease of reading an ebook using the iPad or iPhone, this new app should do well.

5.  Enterprise enhancements

Apple’s fifth big announcement for the day was more for enterprise. Apple would like to see more Enterprise users for this neat device and give BlackBerry a run for their money. The below features will be added to enhance the Enterprise iPhone offering:-

(a) Even better data protection

(b) Mobile Device Management

(c) Wireless app distribution

(d) Multiple exchange accounts

(e) Exchange Server 2010

(f) SSL VPN support

6.  Social network for gaming

One of the key reasons why many people loves the iPhone and iPad is because of their super solid apps especially their gaming experience. To make the experience even better, Apple is adding a social network for gaming called the Game Center. In a press release, Apple says it will allow “developers to create apps with the ability to invite friends to play a game, start a multiplayer game through matchmaking and track achievements and compare high scores on a leader board.” This is gonna be a good addition for the gamers out there.

7.  iAd

Mobile ads suck says Steve Jobs, so he’s introducing the iAd. With the iAd, Apple is hoping to help developers that give away apps for free make some money. Developers get 60% of the ad sales revenue, Apple gets the rest. During his presentation Steve Jobs took a swipe at Google saying the search doesn’t work on mobile like it does on desktop. Apple wants iAds to be more interactive, and keep people in the applications. This is a genius enhancement(not so much for the users of iPhones, though) for Apple to make more money from advertisements as well as to encourage more developers to develop free Apps that could benefit the iPhone community. This is what a win-win-win is all about. Win for the developer who develops free apps. Win for iPhone users who will see more free apps offered because of the first win to the developer. And a big win for Apple who shares in the ad revenues as well as more devices sold.

Below is the video of what Steve Jobs shared with the developers recently on the new features of OS4.0 which is coming mid of 2010:-

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.

TECHNICAL TALK AND PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING SESSION

Jointly Organised by

Apple iPhone Platform: Overview & Application Development

By  Percy Chen

25th March 2010 (Thursday)

2:00pm – 5:30pm

Dewan Persidangan University (DPU), USM Main Campus, Penang

Abstract:

Biography:

Apple first started opening its Apps store to developers and the public in June 2007. In just a short time(not even 3 years!), it has tens of thousands of Apps available there for sale and many more being added on a daily basis. This is changing how people view mobile devices i.e. from just a conventional phone for calling purpose only to an integrated entertainment cum business tool for the busy executive.

Below are the list of the Top Selling non-gaming Apple iPhone Apps for 2009:-

10. The Moron Test

Category: Entertainment
Seller: BERKELEY MALAGON
Price: $0.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later, iPod Touch

9. Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite

Category: Business
Seller: Quickoffice
Price: $9.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 and later, iPod Touch

8. Pocket God

Category: Entertainment
Seller: Bolt Creative
Price: $0.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later, iPod Touch

7. ColorSplash

Category: Photography
Seller: Pocket Pixels
Price: $1.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.0 or later, iPod Touch

6. SlingPlayer Mobile

Category: Entertainment
Seller: Sling Media
Price: $29.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later, iPod Touch

5. Golfshot: Golf GPS

Category: Sports
Seller: Shotzoom Software
Price: $29.99

4. TomTom US & Canada

Category: Navigation
Seller: TomTom International
Price: $69.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later, iPod Touch (only the iPhone 3G and 3GS do not require TomTom car kit for turn-by-turn directions to function)

3. Textfree Unlimited

Category: Lifestyle
Seller: Pinger, Inc.
Price: $5.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.2 or later, iPod Touch

2. MLB.com At Bat

Category: Sports
Seller: Major League Baseball
Price: Free*
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later, iPod Touch

1. MobileNavigator North America

Category: Navigation
Seller: NAVIGON AG
Price: $59.99
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later, iPod Touch

Please do take note that some of these Apps are not suitable for the Malaysia market and is more for the US market. i am sharing the list here to show what the range of top selling Apps are and also maybe give some local iPhone developers some ideas on what apps to work on and which can be customized for local contents to suit our Malaysian market!

To all the GPS and iPhone 3G/3GS enthusiasts out there, there is finally a good GPS App with updated maps that are available out there. The Papago GPS App is able to use the community-maintained maps from malfreemaps.com which has the most updated maps for Malaysia. Below is a great write-up by Tan Kit Hoong. It is also available at http://star-techcentral.com/reviews/story.asp?file=/2010/2/17/prodit/20100211165050&sec=reviews&new=1&cat=5&rid=1356

Papago iPhone App

iPhone 3G/3GS users rejoice, for there is finally a car GPS navigation application that works reasonably well on the iPhone.

We’re talking about the Papago! M6 Pro for the iPhone which recently appeared on the Apple App Store.

Retailing for US$19.99 (about RM68) the Papago! M6 Pro’s big draw is that it features the community-maintained GPS maps from Malfreemaps.com, which is probably the most updated ones available for this country right now.

The software fulfils the need of those looking for proper GPS car navigation on the iPhone instead of the rather basic Maps application but it does have some issues.

Features

The Papago! M6 Pro has all the features of a modern car navigation unit — you get 3D buildings, junction view and turn-by-turn voice prompts.

In fact if you’ve used the the company’s purpose-built standalone car navigation units before, the Papago! M6 Pro’s interface will be quite familiar.

There are actually two versions of the software available on the App Store — the US$19.99 (RM68) one comes with 3D building and junction view support, while the US$9.99 (RM36) doesn’t.

Interface-wise, the icons are a little nicer-looking and the layout is slightly different from the car navigation units, but they’re easy enough to figure out even if you’re a newbie.

We’ve said this before when reviewing the standalone car navigation units and it applies equally here — in terms of user-friendliness, the Papago!’s interface is just a little below Garmin Nuvi units and definitely much better than the TomTom software (which you can also buy from the App Store) and even MapKing (which is popular on Windows Mobile smartphones).

We won’t go into detail on the navigation system — suffice to say that you can find points of interest like restaurants and such, as well as enter in road names and addresses to find where you want to go.

All pretty easy to use, and thanks to the maps from Malfreemaps.com, there are extensive listings of restaurants, hospitals, roads etc., covering all of Malaysia as well as Singapore.

The one big advantage of the iPhone version is that it supports both portrait and landscape orientation on the iPhone.

Just turn the iPhone either way and the maps and menus will rearrange themselves to suit the orientation.

Menu navigation is a tad slow — while not deal-breakingly slow, the interface is a little bit laggy and could do with some speed optimisations.

Once you set your navigation, though, the refresh rate is fast enough for navigation, although it sometimes loses the GPS signal due to the iPhone’s relatively poor GPS hardware.

Nevertheless, I had very few issues with it — signal rarely dropped for very long (unless you’re in a tunnel) and the software is very quick in recalculating your position if you take a wrong turn.

Issues

There are a few problems specific to the iPhone however — apart from the hardware limitations of the iPhone, using the Papago! software for car navigation heats up your iPhone really fast.

While I don’t think this will cause your iPhone to suddenly ignite into a ball of white hot flame, it does have one undesirable effect.

If you’re using a car charger, the iPhone’s built-in temperature sensors will turn off charging to keep the temperature down if the unit gets too hot.

This means that the iPhone’s battery power will slowly deplete when this happens, even if the car charger is still plugged in.

However, I found an easy workaround for this — if you bring the iPhone up to your car air-conditioning vent for a couple of minutes, the temperature will come down enough that the temperature sensors will allow charging to resume.

So, if you have a an aircond vent mount for your iPhone, we would suggest using that instead or risk having to cool down the device every 20 minutes or so by holding it up to the vent.

There also seems to be a bug where if you connect the iPhone to a 3.5mm stereo jack while the Papago! software is running, it doesn’t automatically transfer audio to your car stereo.

What you’ll get when you do so is complete silence.

Again, we found a workaround — if you had music in your iPhone playing while running the Papago! software, then the voice navigation will also come through, although, of course, with the voice prompts heard over your music.

The last issue is not really a Papago! problem and it has more to do with Apple — as you probably know, unless you have a jailbroken iPhone, the device’s file system is essentially closed from users.

This means that should you want to load in any of the often-updated map updates from Malfreemaps.com into the iPhone, you simply can’t.

Instead you’ll have to wait until the Papago! software is updated on the App Store with the latest map data.

Conclusion

After a couple of weeks using the Papago! M6 Pro I have to say that the software is pretty impressive as it works as advertised and the Malfreemaps data included is recent enough and detailed enough that it got me anywhere I wanted to go.

The Papago! definitely won’t replace a purpose-built car navigation unit — it isn’t quite responsive enough and it’s a bit disruptive when you get text messages and phone calls while you’re navigating — but it works and is probably the cheapest alternative to getting a true car navigation unit if you already own an iPhone 3G or 3GS.

For the price Maction Technologies is asking for the Papago! with Malaysian maps, it’s practically a steal, really.

Pros: Intuitive interface; 3D buildings; junction view; extensive map data.

Cons: iPhone heats up a lot during navigation.

There have been a lot of buzz around the new Apple’s launch aka the iPAD. So, i thought i should also blog about this. In my personal opinion the iPAD is essentially an “oversized” iPod Touch/iPhone. Having said that, knowing Apple’s previous launches, they can normally turn something very ordinary into an extraordinary launch.

Here is what my “predictions” for the iPAD:-

1.  Apple die-hards will still get one unit for themselves……  :-)

2.  Apple will likely launch a whole new service for ebooks similar like the iTunes Apps. Apple has just found a new way to monetize ebooks. This unit will definitely give other ebook readers like Amazon’s Kindle a run for their money. In the near future, the iTunes will be selling a lot more ebooks than they are currently offering and this can be another potential boost in revenue for Apple.

3.  Tablet PCs will give the laptops a run for their money and there will be more launches of tablet PCs by other manufacturers in the future to tap into this market(if Apple is successful in this launch). Tablet PCs are not something new but failed to kick off in the past. It is yet to be seen if Apple manage to pull this off using the iPAD. My view is that this launch will generate enough buzz and excitement and will eventually contribute to Apple’s revenues in the future.

Below is the video on the launch of the iPAD by Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs:-

Below is another article by New York Times which commented on the new Apple’s iPad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/technology/personaltech/28pogue-email.html

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

For now, i am happy with my iPhone and has no intention of getting the iPad.  :-)

How do you find out what movies are showing at your local cinemas and the showing times of each movies? Things that i have personally done in the past includes buying the local newspaper and browsing at the “Movies” section as well as driving all the way to the cinema to check them out.

Introducing the new iPhone CineApp application………………With this new application, you do not need to do that anymore.

With the CineApp application, you are able to do the following:-

1.  Add a cinema into your favourite’s list for easier access in the future.

2.  Connect to Google map to get the direction to your cinema of choice

3.  Check and compare movie showtimes for every cinemas in your vicinity.

4.  See what is being shown in the “Now Showing” and “Coming Soon” tabs

5.  Watch trailers and video clips of the selected movies

6.  Read synopsis and reviews of the movies of your choice

and many more……  :-)

Below are some of the screenshots of the Applications:-

With such ease of use and features, i will undoubtedly give it a thumbs up to this Application.

To find out more about this App, you may go to their website at http://www.appsolution.my/gallery/cineapps.html

The first iPhone virus has been created by a 21-year-old Australian student, Mr Ashley Towns from South Sydney.

The virus, which can spread from phone to phone, changes the iPhone’s wallpaper to a photograph of singer Rick Astley – best known for his hit Never Gonna Give You Up in the eighties.

The wallpaper features the words “Ikee is never gonna give you up“.

The virus can only infect phones which have been jailbroken by their owners. Jailbreaking allows the owners to run non-Apple approved applications on their phones.

“When people jailbreak their phone, it allows them to install a service on their phone called SSH,” he said.

“Generally you should always change your password after setting up on the iPhone as all iPhones use the same password. This virus pretty much exploits people’s laziness to change their password.”

With the creation of this virus, it is proven that anyone could easily hack into an iPhone.

“I think to raise awareness for one, somebody with more malicious intent could have done anything – read your SMSs, go through your emails, view your contacts, photos – anything,” he said.

Mr Towns says he is unaware if he is breaking any law by starting the virus.

“I’ve been informed that I may have broken some, but not being a lawyer I do not know,” he said.

“The virus itself is not malicious and is not out to hurt people. It’s just poking fun and hoping waking people up a little.”

He says it is the first virus of its kind.

“Yes, especially the first that spreads from phone to phone,” he said.

Mr Towns says he does not know how many people the virus could affect.

“Due to the nature of it, it’s kind of hard to tell, I know my phone hit about 100 alone but from there I have no idea,” he said.

But he says apart from changing the wallpaper on a user’s phone, the virus is not harmful and quite easy to get rid of.

The virus does nothing malicious.  All it does is to change their wallpaper to Rick Astley,” he said.

He says it takes a couple of minutes to remove by simply changing the phone’s password and deleting a few files from the phone.

With this first virus on the iPhone, it may prompt many more hackers to start developing similar threats on the iPhone in the future.

Hopefully this will not get out of hand to the point of being annoying.

Do you fancy to have the iPhone 3GS functionality but are currently stuck with the iPhone 3G and are not planning to upgrade your current iPhone 3G in the near future?

Below are 3 Applications that can help transform your iPhone 3G to have features that are similar to the iPhone 3GS for FREE:-

This application “Say N Dial” has the similar functionality as the Voice Dial feature of the iPhone 3GS. Please take note that if you have many contacts of very similar names, this application may not work very well as it may tend to confuse itself with similar sounding names. So, do not be surprised if you ended up calling someone that you do not originally wanted to call using this app.

Ever wanted to have the Zoom and Flash functionality of the iPhone 3GS? This application is a great one to do just that. It allows you to capture images and will do a modification on the captured image to make it looks brighter. It also allows you to perform a zoom whenever you want to. This is certainly an application that i will recommend for those of you who do a lot of photo-taking using the iPhone.

The iPhone 3GS comes with the standard battery indicator on the top right corner of the phone. If you are using the iPhone 3G and would like to know the remaining battery life on your iPhone 3G, you may want to consider installing this app. It provides a good estimation of the remaining minutes that the iPhone can last if it is put on standby mode, talktime mode on 2G/3G network, internet browsing mode on EDGE/3G/Wifi as well as video or audio mode when using the iPod function.

Of course, these are not going to fully replace the iPhone 3GS functionality. It is however a good or reasonable compromise to enhance the iPhone 3G handset. Have fun testing out these functionalities and do drop us a comment if you have found better apps that can do the tricks.