Apple iPhone in Malaysia Series Revamped

Apple iPhone and TimothyGreetings and salutations from the universe beyond, where iPhones roam freely without being held captive by the iron fists of AT&T and 02. It appears that Danny is still a wee bit busy drowning himself in his work just to put some 3-year-old smiles on his clients’ faces, so I get I’ll have to do this myself then. *Sorry, Danny* To keep things simple : Timothy’s my name, and iPhones are my game. Well, they don’t rhyme, but heck…

Alright, alright, enough with the crappy lines, I know :P I’m Timothy, a friend of Danny’s, and the the whole reason I’m the first person to publish something here besides Danny is pretty much to bring you even more iPhone tips, tricks and insider information. Being an avid iPhone user myself, it became quite apparent that Danny’s series on the Apple iPhone here has grown into quite a hit among his readers, and so I’m here now to help him give you guys another 10 more reasons to continue reading on this series, and to those of you who haven’t, perhaps get an iPhone? Read on…

So, what makes the iPhone such an awesome device? Users say it’s, and I quote, “Totally fabulous, love it so much *squeals of joy*…”, critics say it’s overrated, others say it’s too expensive for a phone…. and the list goes on. Like all other 21st century devices, the iPhone comes with different appeals to different groups of people. So let’s get down to the million-dollar question : How can we justify spending RM2k and above on an iPhone? Here’s my list of 5 top reasons for such an extravagant expenditure, or should I say ‘investment’ ;)

#1 – Revolutionary
It’s a piece of pure innovation and genuine creativity. A work of art, if you may. In terms of innovation, to those of you out there who don’t already know this, the iPhone’s Multi-Touch interface is a patented invention by Apple Inc., meaning if you’re trying to place it in comparison with the LG Viewty, HTC Touch or many other similar devices, always remember that the whole concept of using your fingers instead of a stylus, and utilizing 2 fingers to interact with a touch-sensitive panel, all this magic originated from the Apple powerhouse and their iPhone, and of course there’s nothing better than the original.

#2 – Everything In One Package
Whether you’re an iPod or Mac user, you’d probably already know well enough the wonders of using an Apple product simply because of the unique experience it provides. In the case of the iPhone, what you have here is a device combining all the features of a mobile communicator and a full-fledged iPod, packed into a device still thinner than nearly all PDA Phones currently available. How cool is that?

#3 – Pricey…you say?
Well, consider this. Paying a good RM1.5k for any other Smartphone, and an extra couple of hundred bucks for the iPhone, how do we define value for money here? The iPhone, though slightly more costly than the other miscellaneous options, if not priced the same, was not designed to be JUST another phone.

To make things simple for you guys, think of it from this perspective. An 8GB iPod Nano (RM800) + Any Smartphone (RM1.5k) = RM2.3k = 16G iPhone. Having said that, the iPhone isn’t really overpriced after all. In fact, the whole reason I got the iPhone as my first Apple product in the first place is after realizing that in fact, the iPhone is one of Apple’s most realistically priced product in ages. Go figure!

#4 – Constant Evolution & Development
Although this factor may not be on everyone’s favourite lists, I’m pretty sure it appeals to a majority of us more technically-inclined geeks. You see, with most other smartphones, what you get is the phone and the OS (may it be BSD or Windows Mobile). Now here’s the big question mark; How often do you actually see Pocket PC users going nuts about new firmware releases and software updates?

As a matter of fact, how many users actually update their phones after even years of usage. Looking back to the iPhone scene, you can easily observe the massive enthusiasm and excitement over developments from Apple as well as the community, may it be looking forward to oodles of mysterious surprises from Apple, or simply the thrill of the mere idea of having go through the challenge of unlocking the iPhone again and stand triumphant over AT&T. As Steve Jobs once said in his keynotes, the iPhone is not slowing down, it just keeps getting better and better.

#5 – A Whole New Experience
Now this is one of my personal main reasons for going for the iPhone. This applies specifically to all your Pocket PC users out there. Imagine a smartphone without the hassles of Windows Mobile, without potential threats such as Java viruses, without frequent slowdowns due to clogging up of your internal RAM, without having poking around menus which lag for seconds before responding.

Imagine actually typing on a QWERTY keyboard on the same 3.5″ screen except with your fingers and pinpoint accuracy. Imagine effortless applications with gorgeous transitions which appear instantaneously. Iimagine a phone so simplified that even my 4-year-old sibling managed to figure it out within half an hour of fiddling around with it. Imagine the Apple iPhone. :)

All in all, I believe these factors and much more have come together to make the iPhone the truly unchallenged device of the year that it is. Then again, I did leave out the ‘Cool Factor’ and ‘Limitless Bragging Rights’ from the list above for a good reason…Haha. Thanks for reading, guys. Au revoir! This is Timothy, signing off.

P.S. May I requests that everyone who has read this article, and/or are also in the iPhone user family, I hope you guys wouldn’t mind taking a minute or two to post a short comment below, just so I know whether I need to tweak my writing style or anything else. :)

Posted by dannyfoo on March 11, 2008 | Filed Under Apple iPhone | View Comments |

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  1. Response #1 by Danny Foo on March 11th, 2008

    Well, I definetely had to edit your post cause some paragraphs were a little long. LOL! But anyway, a great starting article. :)

    Now just hope the rest of the iPhone fans, haters, users and etc are equally as nice. Good luck!

  2. Response #2 by Timothy Goh on March 11th, 2008

    Thanks for the edit, mate. Looks a lot better to read now, ehh? Yeah, can’t wait to see what your readers have to say :)

  3. Response #3 by flisterz on March 11th, 2008

    I have a 16gb iPod touch, bought on the first day it was released in Malaysia. Some ppl said I should’ve buy an iPhone instead. I dont know. Yeah, all your points up there are valid. But to me, no MMS, no video recording, small MP camera and the fact that it is no official release in Malaysia yet, are something to consider as well.

    Unlocking is one thing. Jailbreaking on iPod touch is kinda easy though. I hope it is the same with Unlocking the iPhone. :)

    p/s: maybe you can put some cool pictures of iphone to persuade more :)

  4. Response #4 by Timothy Goh on March 11th, 2008

    Thanks on being the first to reply, flisterz. How’s your iPod Touch treating you, mate? As you said, choosing between the iPod and iPod Touch depends on the end-user’s preferences. Requirements of the integrated phone features and so on so forth, I guess you’ve already heard your share of that. Personally, my previous Nokia wasn’t exactly top-notch, so getting an all-in-one was definitely the right choice for me. However mate, I feel that you should know, even people with N95s and 02 XDAs dumped them for the iPhone, reason being the different experience that you get on the iPhone. Of course, there are some who agree otherwise, saying why get another phone when you can just keep your current one and settle for an iPod Touch instead. It all comes down on whether one sees the iPhone’s integrated phone features as JUST another phone, or something fresh and new to try out.

    Then again, you mentioned some downsides of the iPhone which most other phones do have. In the cases of the lack of video recording, basic camera, missing Flash support and so on, indeed these are essential features which may have been left out. However, other features such as MMS which were not integrated into the phone may have been left out for good reasons, I believe. You see, Apple’s all-round approach to their products to to keep things as simple, user-friendly and intuitive to their customers as far as possible. By not implementing features like MMS which aren’t as widely used, that is how the iPhone stands out from the crowd as the ultimate smartphone without being clogged up and bloated with all sorts of unnecessary features, instead only containing what is most important, thus simplifying the user’s experience altogether. From there on, Apple observes and listens to it’s user community, gradually adding on highly requested features over a period of time, ensuring that only features people actually want are implemented.

    As for your comment on jailbreaking, I am unable to provide much of an opinion, simply because jailbreaking and unlocking weren’t supposed to occur in the first place. However, bear in mind that for the iPhones, it’s a matter of solving the encryption algorithm on the baseband and bootloaders as well, whereas it’s only a fraction of the work on the iPod Touch. No matter how troublesome it can be, even from my days on 1.0.2 with endless command line based unlocking, being able to save yourself thousands of dollars from AT&T subscription fees, ANY amount of time is worth spending on the unlocking process, especially seeing as the unlocking scene has become more and more simple as time has progressed.

    P.S. Worry not. You will be seeing lots of such photos in my entries to come. I will be taking you guys over many of the different aspects of the iPhone, from both a simple user’s as well as an enthusiast’s point of view. Stay tuned, mate!

  5. Response #5 by dory on March 11th, 2008

    I’m an unhacked iPod Touch user, not yet anyway :P

    Considered buying an iPhone earlier on but because I’m not too much of a tech savvy person, and with an iPhone, I’ll need to keep up to date with the jailbreaking thing, I decided not to buy.

    Timothy, temp me with lots of iPhone photos and post, I might reconsider

  6. Response #6 by Timothy Goh on March 11th, 2008

    Hi there, dory. Congrats on your purchase. And for the matter, getting an iPod Touch instead of an iPhone doesn’t make you any less tech-savvy, so welcome to the family ;) The developments in the jailbreaking/unlocking, AKA hacking scene apply almost equally to both the iPod Touch and the iPhone, it’s just an extra step on the iPhones, that’s all. The hassle is when it comes down to updating and unlocking new firmware releases. One on an iPhone can always opt not to update, right?

    And about your request, I’ll be sure to satisfy your cravings for the iPhone’s beauty as far as possible in my coming entries. Just remember to keep on reading. But of course, I wouldn’t want to become peer pressure for you to spend another RM2k, would I? Hehe, thanks again for the comment! :)

  7. Response #7 by rockstar on March 12th, 2008

    Hi, any ideas how much it costs to replace the iphone / touch battery?

  8. Response #8 by Timothy Goh on March 13th, 2008

    There are 2 options for end-users to replace your faulty and/or deteriorating iPhone and iPod Touch batteries. First of all, if of course directly through Apple and their authorized resellers. If your iPod/iPhone is still within its 1-year international warranty period, Apple will consent to replacing your battery for free should the battery performance drop below 50% of its original capacity. However, this official maintainence service is only provided to users in regions where the iPhones are localised in, meaning US and UK etc. And as for users whose devices have passed their warranty terms, take note that this service is rather costly even in the States, costing up to $60 for iPods and $80 for iPhones. I paid the local Machines branches a visit to help answer your question further. Apparently, while battery replacement services are not available for the iPhone locally as of now, iPod battery replacement fees are a staggering RM320 per trip including the replacement battery and labour fees. Before you get all upset and resort to AppleCare, here’s the second alternative for those with guts…

    One can also opt to purchase a battery replacement kit from several internationally available resources, particularly Thailand, and have the battery replaced DIY style. Of course, the risks are there, and if not done with extreme caution and precision, you could be left with either minor deforms on the devices’ external hull, or worse still, an exploded lithium ion cell due to shorting the RED cable ;) The whole problem here is simply because Apple did not design the product with user-maintainence in mind. Despite all this though, my personal advice would be to save yourself the few hundred bucks, order a separate battery replacement kit and have it sent to an experienced freelance locally to assist you with the replacement for a nominal fee.

    Hope that helps. Good luck! Appreciate your reply, mate…

  9. Response #9 by rockstar on March 13th, 2008

    Thanks Tim, i’ll wait for the local iPhone launch before buying 1 then..

    It’ll be good to know what warranty coverage for the post battery replacement as well..90 days or remaining of the warranty year?

  10. Response #10 by Timothy Goh on March 14th, 2008

    Thanks again for another interesting question, mate. I’ve looked into the matter by examining my copy of the iPhone Information Guide. As it turns out, the repaired/replaced part within the device will be covered by EITHER the remainder of the 1-year warranty term, or an additional 90 days, depending on which is LONGER from the date of purchase. In other words, your post-replacement warranty would be a minimum of 90 days…. Not too shabby, ehh? :)

    Here’s an image I took of the section in the booklet containing this information in further detail. You can refer to it to help clarify your inquiry.

    http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h170/SamanoskeAkechi/DSCN1926.jpg

    Sincerely,
    Timothy

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