MOBIZ

Old iPhone still fetch a good 2nd resale value

2008-07-21T05:22:00.000+08:00

In case if you are not aware, the old iPhone still fetch a decent price. Check out the flyer above and you will see that they are opportunists out there who will pay $199 for a 8GB version and $299 for 16Gb version. You can check out the details of their offers at FreeiPhoneSwap.com.

Its pretty obvious that they are buying up the old iPhones to feed the gray market. There is a high demand for the original iPhones that don’t require an operator's contract to activate. Techniques for unlocking the original phones for use overseas are already well established, while those for the 3G phones are still under development.

And in the United States, Apple and AT&T have made it harder to buy a 3G phone which the user must sign a contract with AT&T, making those phones harder to export or peddle on the gray market. If you don’t care about or can’t take advantage of faster network speeds, or you don’t want a contract, or you live in China like me, where there are still no authorized iPhone dealers, the original phone will still be the best option.

LATEST : Jailbreaking your iPhone 3G is ONLINE

2008-07-20T21:42:00.003+08:00

Pwnage 2.0 is here! It was officially released a few hours ago. Check it out if you are want to use the software to jailbreak your iPhone.

Here is an instruction guide and video:

Olympic Condom Ads in China

2008-07-20T06:44:00.000+08:00

Even consumer products like condom is taking advantage of the advertising exposure during the main event in Beijing. This Olympic condom ads has become rather popular on the internet.

Another Video of Making Pop Corns with your Mobile

2008-07-19T06:11:00.000+08:00

I cant verify whether its just another trick pop corns trick. But its quite unlikely that pop corns will pop this way with just mobile phones around it.

Check out my previous blog on the same trick.

Nokia's profits drop by 61%

2008-07-18T06:01:00.003+08:00

Nokia reported second quarter earnings today, which saw its net income fall 61 percent to 1.1 billion euros ($1.74 billion), from 2.83 billion euros ($4.49 billion), compared to a year ago despite its market share reaches 40% from 38%.

Nokia blamed among other items the 259 million euro ($411 billion) charges related to its Bochum, Germany-plant closure.

Mobile device volumes rose 21 percent year on year, or 6 percent sequentially, to 122 million units, which Nokia says gives it a total global market share of 40 percent. Average selling price (ASP) fell to 74 euros ($117) from 79 euros ($125) in the first quarter. Nokia blamed some of the fall on the declining dollar, noting that 40 percent of the average selling price decline was caused on exchange rates moving against them.

Emerging markets were once again Nokia's strongest growth areas, especially in Latin America and Asia Pacific, the company's two largest markets. China, usually a strong performer for Nokia, saw sales fall 16 percent quarter on quarter, while North America, still its tiniest market by a long way, saw a 73 percent increase in sales from Q1. China sales drop is expected in view of the many natural disasters that had taken place from snow storm in Feb, earthquake in May to the latest floods that had hit Southern China in June.

The further drop in profits must had also contributed by the reinvestments and maintaining the Services and Software division who has yet to turn a profit. The Services and Software div is spearheading the Ovi and overall internet strategy for Nokia and it will take sometime before we can see a real Ovi deployment though bits and pieces of the Ovi services had been rolled out here and there. Its going to be interesting to see how Ovi will be tastefully integrated and more importantly how it will rival the iPhone, Apple Store, iTunes and MobileMe strategy.

As of now, Nokia may have a more compelling range of devices but moving forward Nokia needs think ahead how to create innovative internet services and not being me-too. It has to also start recognising the innovation behind the whole iPhone device and its powerful ecosystem Apple has created. Nokia will need to also buck up on design to fend off the strong competition coming from the two Korean mobile device companies namely Samsung and LG who has made tremendous progress.

Nokia expects mobile device volumes in the third quarter to increase, and for its share of those volumes to remain at about the same level from the previous quarter. Overall, it believes mobile device volumes in 2008 to grow 10 percent or more from its 2007 estimate of 1.14 billion units.

iPhone's Battery Life Tops

2008-07-18T05:10:00.002+08:00

The first iPhone 3G battery test results are in, and it beats the competition with an average of 5 hours and 38 minutes talking non-stop on AT&T's 3G network. The closest competitor—only five minutes short—was the Samsung Instinct.

PC World says that the result is remarkable knowing that AT&T's HSDPA/UMTS network is very power-hungry because voice calls use the more battery-demanding 3G band. Apple's own tests give the new iPhone a 5 hour talk time over 3G, so that's 38 minutes more.

They didn't test the latest iPhone's battery life over 2G networks, which Apple rates at 10 hours (the same as the iPhone classic). Its a pity that the test doesnt include Nokia as it would be great to see how Nokia will fair against the iPhone.

via PC World

The First Jail Broken iPhone 3G on video

2008-07-17T06:06:00.001+08:00

Its not surprising that the new iPhone 3G has been jailbroken as I m sure we all had expected it. The iPhone Dev Team has added a video to their blog showing off the latest version of their upcoming PwnageTool 2.0, along with a video of what they claim is the "world's first" jailbroken iPhone 3G. Check out the video below.

Apple sold 1 million iPhones over the 1st weekend and 10 million downloads from Apple Store

2008-07-16T06:07:00.000+08:00

Apple sold 1 million of its new 3G iPhones over the weekend, with iPhone and iPod users also downloading more than 10 million applications from the fledgling App Store . Apple launched the new version of the iPhone in 21 countries on July 11 and had previously took 74 days to sell 1 million of the first version of the iPhone.

This sales figure isnt going to stop here as the number is going to increase further when Apple rolls out the iPhone in 70 countries over the next few months. Piper Jaffray estimates Apple will sell 4.1 million iPhones in the current quarter, and sales could reach 45 million units in 2009.

This is definitely a great start for the iPhone and lets see whether it will hit 45 million units in 2009.

The Making of Nokia N82

2008-07-15T09:09:00.000+08:00

Ever figured how the idea of Nokia N82 was conceived. Nokia Conversations Video of the day had this video below to tell the story behind the successful creation of N82.

iPhone 3G Twice as Fast

2008-07-14T12:29:00.002+08:00

Courtesy of GigaOm, check out the speed of iPhone 3G accessing the internet and YouTube in comparison to the old iPhone. Its twice as fast and I believe this is going to jumpstart the demand of wireless broadband.

Also check out this blog at GigaOm where Om Malik had provided his insights on how the iPhone 3G will jumpstart the demand for wireless broadband.

Louis Vuitton guides you through China

2008-07-14T06:05:00.001+08:00

LV had just launched an audio travel guide for 3 major cities in China; Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Its perhaps the best travel guide i have ever seen and best of all its narrated by 3 sexy and gorgeous Asian stars namely Gong Li, Shu Qi and Joan Chen. Each of them will guide you in real time through the 3 cities.

Unfortunately its not a free download, each of the travel guide will cost you $17 or Euro 12.

Will-it-blend blends iPhone 3G

2008-07-13T08:07:00.002+08:00

Its definitely a good marketing show off though it would not be something i would do in a million years. Seeing how it crushed the poor iPhone, it makes me feel lousy. Wonder what Uncle Steve has got to say about it.

Win an iPhone 3G

2008-07-13T08:05:00.000+08:00

If you want a free iPhone 3G, head over to this site for a chance to Win a 16GB iPhone 3G! All you have to do is drop a comment and you may end up with a brand new iPhone 3G. The iPhone giveaway will run until Sunday July 20th at 11:59PM ET. Good luck.

Guy Wash

2008-07-13T07:38:00.000+08:00

How would you like to be washed by Hot Women? Another brilliant Axe commercial. Enjoy the clip.

Official Video: AT&T Unboxes The White iPhone 3G

2008-07-12T07:50:00.004+08:00

This is the official unboxing video of a white 16G iPhone 3G from AT&T. The video will provide a guide to the various features of the new iPhone 3G. Lookout for the great UI on Apple store. The internet speed on the iPhone 3G is very comparable to a DSL internet speed and you can also talk and access the internet at the same time too with the iPhone.

For a complete review, you can look it up here on Engadget.

Images via ReadWriteWeb.

Romancing with 3G mobile

2008-07-12T06:55:00.000+08:00

This is perhaps one of the most romantic 3G ad that i had seen so far. Not sure whether the 3G reception would be good at that height though but still its a hard warmer and its not likely that anybody will say no to the question. A must watch....

Holographic Text Messages on iPhone

2008-07-12T06:14:00.000+08:00

Holographic Text Messages will definitely be the killer app rock your world. With 1.5 million views in just a couple weeks, this viral video proves it. The video, by Inha Luke Yoo describes the concept as HoloText Messaging.

The kicker of course, is that this sort of technology isn’t yet available. But this concept video does a great job of showing you what holographic text messages will be like.

1 million iPhones in China

2008-07-11T07:31:00.000+08:00

There are 1 million iPhones in China according Kevin Li, an analyst with In-Stat China specializing in telecom research. With only 5.4 units sold as of end of March, 1 million iPhones in China is a suprisingly high figure in view that the phone isnt legally available here.

It was reported 6 months back that there could be an estimated 400,000 unlocked iPhones in China and this figure should have at least doubled since then.

It is interesting to see how the iPhone will be entering China. The best way will be to partner with China Mobile, which means the iPhone will be customised to China Mobile's requirements and subscribers will likely have to sign yearly contract. This will certainly reduce the price of iPhone allowing easy entry for chinese mobile users to own the phone.

With the phone customised for China, I m sure Apple would have to disable the wi-fi feature from the iPhone. With the wi-fi feature removed, I m quite sure the iPhone will be less attractive and this will encourage many to opt for the "non-official" version that i m sure will find its way into China.

I m not too sure whether China Mobile will allow users to access Apple's iTunes Music Store as China Mobile is also promoting the full track music downloads on their portal. Even if its allowed, without wi-fi, the user experience on iTunes will fall short as the existing EDGE network will not support it well.

Its going to be a guessing game how the whole arrangement will be inked out. One thing for sure, iPhone is definitely coming to China and I m quite certain that its going to be real soon as I m sure Apple wants a piece of the mobile action in China.

Nokia N96 interactive site launches

2008-07-10T06:29:00.001+08:00

The Nokia N96 which is similar to the N95 has finally launched its own special Flash-based web-tour. It goes into all the details regarding GPS, music playback, and Internet browsing. The Flash demonstration site allows you to see how the menus and other features of the phone will work as well as look at cool features such as watching live TV and video podcasts.

This is supposed to be the new turbocharge replacement for N95 but so far i dont see much of a huge improvement over its predecessor. Perhaps I would have to wait till the phone is out before i make any further critical comments.

When it launches the N96 will have 16GB of storage, a 5 mega pixel camera and 2.8 inch QVGA display for viewing the integrated DVB-H mobile TV on

Below is a short video clip on the features of the new N96 thats scheduled to be launched in the 3rd quarter.

Latest : The First Unboxing of iPhone 3G

2008-07-09T09:44:00.003+08:00

Compliments from Portugal, the images below are probably the first iPhone 3G unboxing pictures. While it may look like the 1st generation unboxed iPhone, you can clearly see from the side the term "3G".

Guess we will have to patiently wait for the official launch in China and I expect to see iPhone 3G coming to China before the end of the year. Hopefully these pictures can help hold you over.

Smartphone - Apple is No.3, Nokia is No. 1 but BlackBerry had the largest growth

2008-07-09T08:06:00.001+08:00

A new research from Gartner has reported Apple, with just a single iPhone model, is No. 3 among global smartphone vendors for Q1 2008. Apple broke into the "Top 3" in the smartphone market with 1.7 million iPhones sold since it's debut last year. It seems that the iPhone is seen globally as a competent smartphone capable of competing with the best - even with all it's faults.

With increasing awareness among consumers of the smartphone segment and a strong sales push from carriers looking to increase their ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), the smartphone market has highlighted growth in the mobile phone industry. And, the ever increasing smartphone market seems to have helped Apple come in behind smartphone makers Nokia and RIM. Nokia took an astounding 45.2% (14.58 million units) of global smartphone sales, with RIM, makers of the ever-popular push-emailing BlackBerry lineup, garnering 13.4% (4.31 million units) of all smartphone sales.

Compared to the same period last year, smartphone sales grew 29%, with 32.2 million smartphones sold in the first quarter. The growing market didn't just help Apple, Nokia saw a 25.3% growth in smartphone sales in Q1. But, the most remarkable growth numbers belong to RIM - the BlackBerry maker increased smartphone sales by 107.3%.

So, will iPhone 3G be enough to not only meet its goal of moving 10 million units by the end of 2008, but also overtake the BlackBerry as the most sought-after smartphone? Guess we will have the answer pretty soon.

Beijing 2008 - Olympic Figures

2008-07-08T07:08:00.000+08:00

The Beijing Olympics will kickoff on August 8 2008 at 8.08pm, a month from today. Here are some interesting stats about the main event :

11,300,000,000 - The expected figures hitting the official Olympic Website

91,000 - The capacity of the Bird's Nest stadium, expected to be sold out everyday

21,600 - The number of media who will be granted official accreditation to the Games

5,000 - The listing price for the Opening Ceremony - the most expensive ticket but this price tag has gone up many folds now thanks to the creation of black market

302 - Total number of gold medals to be awarded

30 - The listing for the cheapest ticket to the Games (softball preliminaries)

Half of Smartphone buyers intend to buy iPhone 3G

2008-07-07T07:07:00.000+08:00

Good news for Apple - Investment bank RBC Capital Markets says its own proprietary study has revealed that more than half of consumers who are in the market for a smartphone intend to buy one of the new Apple handsets after its launch on July 11th. The report indicated that 56 percent of those consumers who plan on buying a smartphone in the next 90 days will buy the iPhone 3G.

That's a jump from just 35 percent of consumers who said they anticipated buying one of the new touch-screen handsets back in March when the firm conducted a similar survey before Apple had announced pricing and features. Another 25 percent indicated that they may buy an iPhone 3G "sometime in the future" -- a more than twofold increase in interest from the March study.

The same study showed that purchase interest in the Apple handset is two times greater than that of other brands surveyed. Consumers holding out for a BlackBerry device in the next 90 days made up 23 percent of responds, while Palm garnered interest from just 3 percent. HTC, Nokia, and Samsung each had the interest of 2 percent of respondents to the study, and Motorola just 1 percent.

Consumers routinely cited the iPhone 3G's lower price (67 percent) and faster 3G internet access (63 percent) among the top reasons they plan to choose the Apple handset. 47 percent indicated GPS was a strong selling feature as well, while 35 percent included enterprise email in the list of selling points, and 20 percent check-marked third party applications.

The analyst, who reiterated his Outperform rating on Apple shares, said he continues to expect that the company will ship 14 million iPhones in 2008 and 24 million in 2009.

Social Media in Plain English

2008-07-06T08:15:00.000+08:00

Here is a video clip by the Common Craft guys on Social Media in plain and simple english.

Nice Interactive website from Russia vodka with love

2008-07-06T07:17:00.000+08:00

From Russia, with love, here is the link to the new Russian Standard Vodka website.

I like the idea that the first level of content is all video based and starts playing automatically when you open up the site. So you get a nice overview of the differente sections and you learn all the basic information about the vodka without reading anything. Its really interactive and this is how website should be rendered in the first place.

Competition when it comes to alchoholic brands are fierce, therefore it's good to see Russian Standard Vodka managed to create something interesting to explore in a crowded space.