The joojoo looks hot. Look at the side/back view here.
There's some controversy, including a complaint prepared by a law firm. Engadget has more details.
I'm not sure I would actually buy it (yes yes, I know the Nokia 8800 is expensive), but if I wanted a web tablet and/or had $499 lying around... mm. Well. It's pretty.
The Apple iPhone 3GS is in Singapore! The new back and the un-updated look isn't all that exciting, but it -is- noticeably faster and in my view if you're willing to pay the asking price that feature alone means an upgrade is a great idea.
The Singapore launch happened on 10 July 2009. Prices were reasonable, from a certain perspective - any existing iPhone 3G user (and others on a running Singtel contract) could upgrade by paying an additional 300 Singapore dollars (USD 205) over the normal contract price and signing up for a new 24 month contract (more info).
Singtel, unfortunately, suffers from atrocious, awful, planning. Even though they forced payment of SGD 50 (refundable) for the privilege of reserving a phone, Singtel managed to give out enough reservations or allow a sufficient number of walk-ins, such that a wait of 5-7 hours was probably inevitable. More about this later.
New iPhone 3GS features and box contents
Apart from the speed, the iPhone also comes with a new slim AC adaptor. The US had a very small AC adaptor for the iPhone 3G, but this slim three pin version is new to me.
The iPhone 3GS also comes with headphones which have a volume control on them, and adds video recording/editting, a compass and a new oil-resistant screen coating. In Singapore, we also get (bundled) online video. I'll comment later on other features reviews tend not to focus on (like sound quality), but there are already several good iPhone 3GS reviews up at the usual suspects which are probably worth reading if you're interested in buying.
From Arstechnica: Review: iPhone 3GS lives up to its speedy claims
engadget: iPhone 3GS review
You should also note the news about the new screen wearing off, and the iPhone 3GS overheating.
More about Singtel's launch
The launch was widely advertised in email mailers, snail mail mailers, and when you actually reserved the phone online, to be from 6pm to midnight. This was misleading, sales started only at 8.30pm. Apparently this was clear from newspapers on the day itself. Perhaps I should start reading those. We eventually sat down.
I was sufficiently disturbed at the end of the ordeal (to be fair, Singtel provided bottled water, cakes, and ice cream) that I asked to speak with whoever was in-charge. The person I spoke with was James Askounis, who claimed he was head of Singtel Group customer care. Unfortunately, he had managed to run out of current business cards because he had been "giving them out". I'm sure he's nice enough, but pity James came across as being somewhat condescending (perhaps because I was a tad sensitive after the wait) and was, alarmingly, completely incapable of providing any good reason for the pathetic situation. James said that supplies were limited so they decided to go for a "first come first served" launch, he said that the iPhone 3G first-day launch was similar. The reader is left to consider why those are inadequate responses which border on being moronic (as reasons for a 6-7 hour delay for a paid-for pre-order).
Also, apparently Singtel doesn't put people in charge of particular events. Odd. That's the only time James became a little prickly - when I asked who was in charge (response: oh, there's no one person in charge). Maybe that's the reason for "the suck".
I have the distinct impression that the long queues were the plan, perhaps as part of a press stunt. If so, that's disgraceful. Perhaps Singtel should publish very clear disclaimers so I (and other people who don't like waiting in line for excessively extended periods of time) wouldn't have gone. Or maybe they should use reservations as reservations are intended to be used, by God. They should also invent plausible reasons, but I can't think of any except -not- taking the 50 bucks.
For the record, I was very pleased last year - I waited in line for about 30 minutes, after having made a reservation to pick up the phone at a specific time. I didn't even have to pay in advance. Singtel actually -regressed-! It's somewhat ironic that buying the "speedy" iPhone 3GS resulted in serious time wasting.
Singtel ought to learn that customer care is about actually providing top-class service the first time. James said he was happy to speak with me and politely said he was pleased to meet me after we finished speaking, but honestly, I'd rather be provided such great service that I never need to talk to a customer service representative except when buying a new phone/changing plans/etc. James, I'm sure you'll read this - the service is just not good enough.
Oh, and to rub salt into the wound, there was one thing which did stop at midnight - all the entertainment and background music. I can't actually comment on the entertainment, since I didn't see most of it myself. From LCD screens hanging around, I think there was a local group doing covers, a deejay, and appearances by some Singtel F1 Grid Girls. Maybe Singtel had a public entertainment licence or something which expired at midnight, but whatever the reason - still shoddy.
iPhone 3GS - PASS
Singtel- FAIL
Well. Singtel fails just for the launch event. We'll see whether surfing is actually faster - I'm not sure whether I should be hopeful. I've heard many awful stories about Singtel - e.g. ridiculous termination penalties which -carry over-. Maybe they're worth exploring.
Photos with further commentary
Step 1! Pity there were no indications of waiting time.
The sky was bright when we started
I want, but not enough to wait for 7 hours.
Ooh. Promising. A pre-order queue
This is when I got a little tired of taking photos
This is now empty (compare with the photo immediately above) because the queue has just stopped moving (since sales hadn't started). The "sitting down" photo should be added, chronologically, right here.
ZOMG. Movement!
The wait certainly wasn't 2X faster.
"Just one more queue, not too long, not too short" they said. LIES. DAMNED LIES!!!! Also, guys, a chirrupy deejay who says "Wow, amazing how you've all waited for so long! Keep your sprits up!" right before PACKING UP AND LEAVING, its really a bad idea.
[Photos: Symplification. With a Pentax K-7, DA* 16-50, DA 35/2.8 Macro Limited]
Nokia Press release: "New York, NY - Nokia, a world leader in mobile communications, and EMI Music, one of the world's leading music companies, have announced a marketing and content agreement in which EMI artists, beginning with Capitol Music Group artists Lily Allen and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, will be featured in Nokia's Flagship Store locations worldwide, as well as Nokia's Experience Centers, theater locations and certain Nokia music-related websites across North America. EMI will be the exclusive major label provider of music content for the retail program, and new content from its artists will be added and featured every 60 days."
I don't know why the "Ring Nokia" chap thinks DRM won't be involved in the deal - most current Nokia devices are compliant with the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) 2.0 DRM standard, and while EMI has flirted with the distribution of DRM-free music, I don't see anything in the press release which suggests that the content provided won't be locked down.
Who knows.
On a brighter note, lets hope that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. With the iPhone approaching, it would be a really good idea for Nokia to have an answer to the iTunes Music Store (operators have been trying their darndest) and OTA downloads would be useful- although to be honest, given the Zune's current lack of the feature it's entirely unclear if even the iPhone will sport this functionality.
PQI, a taiwanese manufacturer, has released a range of 2.5" SATA flash hard disks with capacities up to 64GB. Shocking, particularly because well respected sources indicated as little as 6 months ago that a 4 year timeframe for such deployment was optimistic.
There is no indication of cost yet; the product isn't even on the official PQI website; and we certainly didn't expect this news now, so soon after there were reports that flash memory capacity was being strained by Apple's purchase of large quantities of flash memory (for a nano-update), so we're not entirely sure that the news is kosher.
Should it be true, we're in for a great time, subnotebook-wise. Flash uses less battery life, and is faster. We're not sure if the device deals with the limited number of writes that flash memory can handle, but no doubt details about that will surface soon.
And perhaps Window Vista's "readyboost" won't be entirely useless...
[via Newlaunches]
