MacPinoy

Globe nabs iPhone deal

From Globe’s own website:

Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel and Optus today announced that they have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Australia later this year.

And Yuga asks: Does this mean that they will open up iTunes in the Philippines? Me: I don’t think so. I look at iPhone as an iPod Touch with phone capabilities, and just because I can buy iPods in the Philippines doesn’t mean that I can buy music from iTunes.

iPhone coming to Singapore? How about Philippines?

According to Channel News Asia, the iPhone may be coming to Singapore this September.

And the carrier may be Singtel.

And what about the Philippines? When will it be coming over?

Now I know you can buy iPhones but I am talking about the legit, non-jailbroken versions.

Not that I am eager to buy one.

Apple cracking down on illegal iPhones

According to Apple Gazette, Apple Singapore is seeking legal action against those who are selling unlocked iPhones.

In countries like Singapore Apple is threatening legal action against cellphone carriers selling illegal unlocked iPhones. It’s been reported that Apple plans to charge those responsible for selling the devices $700 per unlocked iPhone sold.

Currently, the only company allowed to sell unlocked iPhones is Orange in France - and if Apple could keep that from happening, they would.

Retailers in Singapore and other areas were emailed by Apple and told that if they did not comply with removing the illegal devices from their shelves, the legal process would begin. After these emails were sent out, most retailers removed the iPhones from their stores.

I suppose this is in preparation for the Asian launch in 2008. Will this legal action reach Philippines?

Choose which songs to sync with your iPod

Many have mentioned that the iPod Touch’s disk space is too small for them. Abe Olandres in Pinoy Tech Blog mentioned that he found the 8GB and 16GB capacity “wanting.”

“I wish Apple had gone with the 80GB Classic and turned that into a touch screen. That would have been the clincher,” he wrote.

I do wish that the iPod Touch had more disk space, but the reality is that there is no such thing as having enough disk space.

The trick is to selectively download songs to your iPod. You do this but accessing your iPod menu and defining which playlists you want to download to your iPod.

If you find yourself struggling to create playlists, you can use iTunes’ “smart playlist” function (which I used to automatically keep all titles with the Jazz genre under one playlist) or get The Filter, which creates a playlist based on selected songs in iTunes.

You can use this technique in case you have two iPods. For example, I plan to get a 160GB iPod Classic and use that as a backup for all my media, and then use my newly purchased iPod Touch as my media player.

iPod Touch lesson learned: no iPhone for me

I finally got the iPod touch and the first thing that crossed my mind was that it made me realize that purchasing an iPhone would have been a bad decision. The on-screen keyboard totally sucks—I kept on pressing the wrong buttons and I continuously had to press the back button to correct it. Mossberg mentioned that the virtual keyboard is a “non-issue” but it was because of “smart software that corrects typing errors on the fly.” Try using the keyboard to type Tagalog words, or even entering user names and passwords. Good luck if your email ID is pedro99 and your password is pque1589—there is no way this will ever appear in the dictionary. I have no idea how some people claim that this keyboard is a wonder of engineering. I am more with Marc Hedlund’s opinion:

The iPhone keyboard blows. Let’s not mince words, here: text input was better on a Newton. The keys are way too close together, full stop. The auto-suggestion works okay if you’re typing dictionary words (and not, say, street names, as in the Google Maps app) and if you’re in a context where typing space to accept is useful (in URLs, for instance, there is no space bar). The amazing thing to watch is everyone blogging about how they “need to get better at typing” — that’s the drugs talking. The iPhone needs to get better at typing, not you.

So that settles it. I am not getting an iPhone. It’s not because of the lack of 3rd-party apps. It’s because I text more than I call. And if I spend most of my time correcting input errors, then forget it. Who cares about eye-candy if I end up getting frustrated with something I consider as a basic functionality.

Apple update relocks unlocked iPhones

Apple makes good it’s warning.

Despite what some folks at the Philippine Mac Users Group are claiming, Apple has issued iPhone update 1.1.1, which, according to Macworld, relocks unlocked iPhones.

When the phone restarted an activation message appeared that said, “Insert an unlocked and valid SIM to activate iPhone.”

A similar message appeared in iTunes. A note saying the SIM card was not valid and to insert a valid SIM card greeted the user.

You could not navigate through the iPhone’s menus, either. The “Slide for Emergency” slider is the only thing available after installing the update. This allows customers to make emergency calls only.

Of course, iPhone users in the Philippines will say that this is just a temporary setback “hackers will eventually win.” Yeah, yeah, yeah—big frickin’ deal. Just go on and live in denial. What will you do? Avoid updating the iPhone? I agree it’s a cat-and-mouse game with Apple playing catch-up. Ever watched the movie “Catch Me If You Can?” Wanna live your life always afraid that the next update will brick your expensive phone?

Personally, I am not impressed. Yes, the iPhone looks beautiful but I still have my doubts when it comes to its functions. Of course, fan boys will continue to praise and worship the iPhone, but what else will you say if you forked out P30,000 or even P50,000 for a phone? If some bozo comes up to me and brags about an unlocked iPhone, I feel that this would be the same kind of guy who would purchase a fake Rolex watch in the hope to pickup girls.

Bill Maher said it better: “Early adopters is a business term for dipshits who wait in line for 6 hours for a frickin phone.”

Apple may brick unlocked iPhones

Apple has now issued a statement:

Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (www.itunes.com), later this week. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone’s warranty

I could not find the original statement, but the statement is all over Mac sites, having been posted by Macworld, MacNN, Apple Insider, and Apple Gazette.

So to the early-adopting Filipinos, unless you find some satisfaction in showing a bricked iPhone, you better find a way to restore the original settings.

Update: TUAW posts instructions on how to re-lock your iPhone.

Why unlock the iPhone?

I find it ridiculous that people attempt to unlock the iPhone for use in the Philippines. I can totally understand if Americans want to unlock he iPhone, especially if they already have subscribed to another provider like T-Mobile and don’t want to subscribe to AT&T. But why do some Filipinos need the bragging rights for the iPhone? What happens to their iPhone if Apple decides to issue an update that bricks all unlocked phone? Where will these early-adopting braggarts run crying for a fix?

Admittedly the interface is beautiful, but as a phone it is quite lacking. Maddox already gave a hilarious comparison between the iPhone and a Nokia E60. 3G connectivity is already available in the Philippines. The iPhone, unfortunately, does not utilize 3G. But in 2008, there will be a 3G iPhone. The current incarnation does not have video recording (which is common in most phones with a digicam) and it does not have voice dialing (which I find important when I am driving). There is a legitimate iPhone coming to Asia in 2008, though it is still uncertain whether it is a new, upgraded 3G version or just the current version that will be paired with a specific provider.

So as for me, I think I’ll wait until the Asian edition will be released. Early adopters will certainly boast that they have had many more months of enjoying their iPhone. No problem. I can show them my Blackberry Curve while they brag. And then I can show them the next generation iPhone when it arrives for a side-by-side comparison—assuming, of course, that their iPhone hasn’t transformed into an expensive brick.