I had the excitement waiting for iPhone to be released in Singapore but that went off after it was released. The pricing was not attractive and the SingTel monthly plan would cost me as much as 50% more expensive from what I’m paying now for the same talktime/data plan. I have also read about horror stories from a local hardware forums that many early consumers reported physical defects on the units. Some users reported exchanging their set up to 5 times.
SingTel sent me a few offers until one that I can’t refuse – S$ 200 off and 2 months subscription free. I took the iPhone as It is reasonable up-front investment. My first two weeks usage experience was not so positive. The battery would die in early afternoon from a full charge in the morning. The battery is non-replaceable and in times where I’m not in the office, I can’t charge the phone. The software itself also not stable v2.0. I wrote pretty negative blog articles from those two-weeks period of usage.
What have changed now? The latest software v2.2 is more stable and becoming useful. For the battery life, I learnt to be less ambitious and turn off wireless, Location services and push/pull mail. The battery can be used up to late afternoon now. I have also bought Sanyo Eneloop mobile charger which can charge an iPhone to full charge in an hour or so. With this, all the immediate concerns can be dismissed. This, however, does not change the fact that I have to be near a powered USB port throughout the day or bring an extra portable charger and data cable everywhere I want to go.
Despite all the inconveniences, I was fortunate to get a good set in Singapore – batch starting with 888xxxxxxxx. This batch as discussed from the forum, is the first batch in Singapore that has less quality problem.
Things started to change my perspective on iPhone when I browse a lot on it. It has one of the most fantastic browsing experience that I ever had on mobile devices: Large screen, bright, easy zoom-in/out, rotation, etc. I simply don’t get the same experience with any of my Nokia mobile phone. Next, Email browsing is also nice due to the browsing engine which I can review pdf and rich-formatted/HTML emails right away as I would on a normal computer. Fantastic. The apps store made a difference too, I can buy application that I want easily although there are plenty of ‘useless’ applications there.
Up to this point, I wrote nothing new. Here is what amazing, a 20-months toddler can use iPhone just like adults do.
- She can press unlock button on the top and slide a finger from left to right to unlock the screen without any assistance.
- She can also browse to pages of application by sliding her finger and launch desired application
- She is able to return to main menu by pressing home button when she is done with particular application
If a phone is so simple that a toddler can use it, then it must be a very good User-friendly interface. My iPhone now is about 20-30% with my daughter. She would ‘demand’ the iphone when she want to play with her application: Bubble, BubbleWrap, Animal Farms, A+, Jelly Cars, Trace, and some more. She enjoy watching her movies from Youtube also, but of course, I’d have to open it for her.
iPhone is still not my primary phone, I would use it with at least another Nokia phone. I simply can’t reply on a phone that can’t forward SMS, limited battery life and low-camera quality.
