Ziang's rssApple
iPhone 3G - when will it be released in Singapore
10/06/08 10:24
I guess everyone who’s interested in the iPhone should have know of the announcement. The question is, when?
Among the 22 countries to be released on July 11th, Singapore isn’t in one of them. A simple guess will be the problem of clearance for wireless products. Normally, any new wireless products would require a period of between 1-2 months (not 2-3 weeks) for the agency to play around with the gadget so as to confirm it’s not interfering with the wireless structure already in place in SIngapore.
That puts the iPhone to be released in August - September period this year. Well folks, you’ve got time to save up
Some of the features:
1. 3G
No front camera means no 3G conferencing though, I guess the speed is for enterprise means - receive and send emails with big attachments.
2. Enterprise usage
It means nothing if your IT support doesn’t allow push mail capabilities. Of course, there are ways to do it...circumventing the safety means...
3. Camera
Still 2 megapixel. Well, more than enough for most, I guess
4. GPS assistance
Guess you won’t be lost already
5. No tactile feedback
Big words, I know, it simply means you won’t feel any depress when you type on the screen - one of the major complaints for people who’re used to sms with buttons. It also means you can’t be blind to use this phone.
6.The rest remains the same
Just new design, thinner, and cheaper!
Sounds like a blatent advertisement for iPhone. Any case, the most expensive costline is USD$199 - coverting to slightly lesser than SGD$300. It won’t be long before you see everyone carrying one!
That’s it. The long wait awaits, hope it arrives earlier than August - September!
|
Essentials know-hows for your iPod Touch (maybe for your iPhone)
26/04/08 16:51
AFTER an excruciating
experience, my iPod is now brand new - contents wise. Without
knowing why it suddenly changed from 1.1.4 back to 1.1.3, I had a
horrible experience trying to get it back to the latest firmware -
losing all my transactions in Pocket Money 
Anyways, some must knows:
1. If you screw up your jail break or ziphone, press both POWER and HOME button while connecting to the computer, which will force it to go into restore mode.
2. The latest firmware is here. Make sure it is saved as ipsw, and not unzipped.
3. Some of the must have software for me:
You'd need iSpazio source to get Restart. gpSPhone allows you to play GBA games, which erhem you'd be able to google online. Capture, WildEyes, DropCopy are apps which I've reviewed before. MobileChat allows you to do instant messenging when you're out. SummerBoard allows you to tweak your theme, after you installed you'd see SMBPrefs. BossTool allows you to transfer your apps to a new partition as most of your apps are cramped into one partition, hence you always get your "insufficient disk space" warning.
I like PocketMoney most of all for now, very similar to Cha-Ching if you're a fan. Will post some reviews at some point or another.
Hope this is helpful if you stumbled into this page
Anyways, some must knows:
1. If you screw up your jail break or ziphone, press both POWER and HOME button while connecting to the computer, which will force it to go into restore mode.
2. The latest firmware is here. Make sure it is saved as ipsw, and not unzipped.
3. Some of the must have software for me:
You'd need iSpazio source to get Restart. gpSPhone allows you to play GBA games, which erhem you'd be able to google online. Capture, WildEyes, DropCopy are apps which I've reviewed before. MobileChat allows you to do instant messenging when you're out. SummerBoard allows you to tweak your theme, after you installed you'd see SMBPrefs. BossTool allows you to transfer your apps to a new partition as most of your apps are cramped into one partition, hence you always get your "insufficient disk space" warning.
I like PocketMoney most of all for now, very similar to Cha-Ching if you're a fan. Will post some reviews at some point or another.
Hope this is helpful if you stumbled into this page
Things for free...
26/04/08 01:12
COMES at a
price.
We always wonder how come the government is willing to sponsor building Wireless SG network. Is it to increase literacy level, to allow everyone to get an opportunity to stay connected?
I guess to earn more money.
Was at MacDonald's trying to surf this website when this annoying banner irk me.
Seems like Creative is getting desperate and annoying. Imagine the irony of it - Creative ads on dot mac site.
What a contradiction
We always wonder how come the government is willing to sponsor building Wireless SG network. Is it to increase literacy level, to allow everyone to get an opportunity to stay connected?
I guess to earn more money.
Was at MacDonald's trying to surf this website when this annoying banner irk me.
Seems like Creative is getting desperate and annoying. Imagine the irony of it - Creative ads on dot mac site.
What a contradiction
Syncing iTunes Wifi Store
17/04/08 22:40
THE previous
tutorial on buying songs from iTunes (check out the tags) should be
pretty helpful for anyone who is interested in buying.
Now, there are some problems when people buy songs with the WIFI iTunes Store -> the songs bought from either the iPod Touch or iPhone refused to sync back to the main computer!
Actually, this is a known bug, but can be easily solved with some googling.
Of course, I've mentioned it, so I'd briefly guide you through:
1. Right click the iPod Touch/iPhone icon in your iTunes.
2. Select "Transfer Purchases".
3. You'd get your song back
Simple right?
Now listening to We Sing, We Dance, Jason Mraz
Now, there are some problems when people buy songs with the WIFI iTunes Store -> the songs bought from either the iPod Touch or iPhone refused to sync back to the main computer!
Actually, this is a known bug, but can be easily solved with some googling.
Of course, I've mentioned it, so I'd briefly guide you through:
1. Right click the iPod Touch/iPhone icon in your iTunes.
2. Select "Transfer Purchases".
3. You'd get your song back
Simple right?
Now listening to We Sing, We Dance, Jason Mraz
Interesting != Controversial
14/04/08 23:31
THE recent rants by
Miss Cheng, aka Wendy or Xiaxue, on her preference for a faked
Apple iPhone has been overwhelming, to say the least. Whilst the
power of blogging is not to be underestimated, blatent attempts to
drive readership by dabbling with controversial topics is quite
sad.
For a while, I thought there's not much difference between a blog and a tabloid.
Not that there should be much difference, of course. To some, they might just want to rant (like me), to others, maybe they want to earn some money by ranting.
Of course, everyone wouldn't mind an extra few dollars if they're not Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
With engadget and other blogging Mac platforms picking up this "interesting" post, she declares another war on Mac users. With her one sided perception that Mac users think that they're higher class blah blah, she irks the blogosphere by showing her contempt for Mac fanatics.
I wouldn't say I know much more than her, of course. After all, knowledge is subjective. Who is to judge who knows more? Not me of course.
At the end of the day, my best shot is that not all interesting topics are controversial, and not all controversial stuff are interesting. Of course, to be a little defensive, not all Mac users are fanatics, or even think highly of themselves.
Please correct your thoughts a little, girl
I do agree with her postings that it is bias, and more of a joke, but do spare some thoughts for the boat you sank with your bamboo stick, ok?
For a while, I thought there's not much difference between a blog and a tabloid.
Not that there should be much difference, of course. To some, they might just want to rant (like me), to others, maybe they want to earn some money by ranting.
Of course, everyone wouldn't mind an extra few dollars if they're not Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
With engadget and other blogging Mac platforms picking up this "interesting" post, she declares another war on Mac users. With her one sided perception that Mac users think that they're higher class blah blah, she irks the blogosphere by showing her contempt for Mac fanatics.
I wouldn't say I know much more than her, of course. After all, knowledge is subjective. Who is to judge who knows more? Not me of course.
At the end of the day, my best shot is that not all interesting topics are controversial, and not all controversial stuff are interesting. Of course, to be a little defensive, not all Mac users are fanatics, or even think highly of themselves.
Please correct your thoughts a little, girl
I do agree with her postings that it is bias, and more of a joke, but do spare some thoughts for the boat you sank with your bamboo stick, ok?
Contagious
12/04/08 22:18
IT really must be
contagious.
While some people might think that it is because of your close contact with the brand that you get more self conscious of it, I somehow doubt so.
Just a few days ago, I was commenting to my boss that I've been seeing quite a number of Audi cars along the road, especially these few months. He pointed out to me of that fact.
I couldn't be sure then.
However, with regards to another issue, I'm quite confident of it. The influence of Apple. Why so?
My sec 3 cousin bought a laptop.
"YOU MUST BE KIDDING! WHY DO HE EVEN NEED ONE?" one might exclaimed.
Well, it's the truth, and no point withholding that fact. The disgusting fact is that he bought a Mac.
Yah, I had my first one when I was 22 I think.
Oh well. Different times. To think that the government actually allowed our currency to appreciate against the USD$ for anticipation of inflation pressures, and my cousin, being the young and cannot think type, went along with his absurd idea of buying a Mac for his studies just because his project mate refused to get a computer.
Sigh. What in the world is happening...
Any case, after another bout of installation, for several hours, I finally got everything up and running. Apple kind of missed some steps when it comes to Boot Camp:
1. Make sure you repair permissions and disk after creating the partition, else you might hit a black screen.
2. When one allocates the Boot Camp partition to be more than 32gb, please select NTFS formating to prevent disk errors.
Hope the above tips are helpful.
While some people might think that it is because of your close contact with the brand that you get more self conscious of it, I somehow doubt so.
Just a few days ago, I was commenting to my boss that I've been seeing quite a number of Audi cars along the road, especially these few months. He pointed out to me of that fact.
I couldn't be sure then.
However, with regards to another issue, I'm quite confident of it. The influence of Apple. Why so?
My sec 3 cousin bought a laptop.
"YOU MUST BE KIDDING! WHY DO HE EVEN NEED ONE?" one might exclaimed.
Well, it's the truth, and no point withholding that fact. The disgusting fact is that he bought a Mac.
Yah, I had my first one when I was 22 I think.
Oh well. Different times. To think that the government actually allowed our currency to appreciate against the USD$ for anticipation of inflation pressures, and my cousin, being the young and cannot think type, went along with his absurd idea of buying a Mac for his studies just because his project mate refused to get a computer.
Sigh. What in the world is happening...
Any case, after another bout of installation, for several hours, I finally got everything up and running. Apple kind of missed some steps when it comes to Boot Camp:
1. Make sure you repair permissions and disk after creating the partition, else you might hit a black screen.
2. When one allocates the Boot Camp partition to be more than 32gb, please select NTFS formating to prevent disk errors.
Hope the above tips are helpful.
Wildeyes and DropCopy
09/04/08 22:27
HELPING out a
colleague on how to view PDF on his iPhone wasn't easy. However,
now this can be easier. This post will focus on Wildeyes and
DropCopy, which can be installed from Installer, under
Utilities.
You do need to cancel everytime if you don't donate, a bit cumbersome, but come on, it's free, right?
Now, this looks better than the original one shown previously right?
All pdfs will be placed to the PDF folder. Simple right? Now for dropping the files to the iPod Touch/iPhone
DropCopy for Mac
DropCopy for iPod Touch/ iPhone
You can find DragCopy here. Dropping files will require both the iPod Touch/iPhone to have the app, and the desktop to have the application too. To drop files into the gadget, it is as simple as dragging the file to the hole, select the name of the gadget, and drop into it. Simple right?
You do need to cancel everytime if you don't donate, a bit cumbersome, but come on, it's free, right?
Now, this looks better than the original one shown previously right?
All pdfs will be placed to the PDF folder. Simple right? Now for dropping the files to the iPod Touch/iPhone
DropCopy for Mac
DropCopy for iPod Touch/ iPhone
You can find DragCopy here. Dropping files will require both the iPod Touch/iPhone to have the app, and the desktop to have the application too. To drop files into the gadget, it is as simple as dragging the file to the hole, select the name of the gadget, and drop into it. Simple right?
Getting PDF, Doc, Xls viewer on your iPod Touch/iPhone (edited)
09/04/08 14:43
WELL, ever fancy your
iPod Touch or iPhone reading Word documents? PDF files? Just like
any other normal PDA?
I just hit on the right spot, so will be pulling in some simple instructions:
Applications you'd need:
1. Cyberduck
This cute ducky works wonders
Ok. For people viewing this, my best bet is that you've got your gadget ziphoned. Credit to ZiPhone, and for Rupert (in previous post) for teaching how to break it. In any case, some of you might be overwhelmed by the immense amount of new things to learn, and you really want your gadget to view the things. Let's get started!
1. You should have the community source of Conceited Software installed with ZiPhone.
2. Click on Installer, then at bottom dock click on Install.
3. Install PHP (under Development), and lighttpd (under Network). The install button is on the top right corner when you select the package.
4. Shut down your iPod/iPhone.
5. Start your iPhone.
6. Go back installer, go to Tweaks -> PDF/DOC/XLS Viewer
7. Install it
8. Repeat steps 4 and 5
9. Select Settings, select WIFI, and the Wireless source
10. Copy down the IP address.
11. Start up Cyberduck, and select SFTP for protocol, and the IP address of your gadget under Server. User name is root, password is alpine. Allow the unknown hostkey.
12. Throw your stuff into sites.
13. Fire up Safari and the following URL
14. You're done
Don't throw in 15mb PDF and expect it to read though.
Edited 09.04.08
I realised that only the latest ziphoned iPhone or iPod touch has the necessary installation files in order to SSH into the gadget. For older ones:
1. You need to install both BSD Subsystem and Installer under Systems.
2. Restart your iPod Touch/ iPhone after that and follow the above steps. That should do.
I'm connecting to my iPod Touch using an easier way instead of finding the IP address. For mine, I know the name of the gadget is iPod.local since it appears whenever it is connected with Bonjour (I have Growl installed on my Mac), I'm using that instead.
Hope this helps
I just hit on the right spot, so will be pulling in some simple instructions:
Applications you'd need:
1. Cyberduck
This cute ducky works wonders
Ok. For people viewing this, my best bet is that you've got your gadget ziphoned. Credit to ZiPhone, and for Rupert (in previous post) for teaching how to break it. In any case, some of you might be overwhelmed by the immense amount of new things to learn, and you really want your gadget to view the things. Let's get started!
1. You should have the community source of Conceited Software installed with ZiPhone.
2. Click on Installer, then at bottom dock click on Install.
3. Install PHP (under Development), and lighttpd (under Network). The install button is on the top right corner when you select the package.
4. Shut down your iPod/iPhone.
5. Start your iPhone.
6. Go back installer, go to Tweaks -> PDF/DOC/XLS Viewer
7. Install it
8. Repeat steps 4 and 5
9. Select Settings, select WIFI, and the Wireless source
10. Copy down the IP address.
11. Start up Cyberduck, and select SFTP for protocol, and the IP address of your gadget under Server. User name is root, password is alpine. Allow the unknown hostkey.
12. Throw your stuff into sites.
13. Fire up Safari and the following URL
14. You're done
Don't throw in 15mb PDF and expect it to read though.
Edited 09.04.08
I realised that only the latest ziphoned iPhone or iPod touch has the necessary installation files in order to SSH into the gadget. For older ones:
1. You need to install both BSD Subsystem and Installer under Systems.
2. Restart your iPod Touch/ iPhone after that and follow the above steps. That should do.
I'm connecting to my iPod Touch using an easier way instead of finding the IP address. For mine, I know the name of the gadget is iPod.local since it appears whenever it is connected with Bonjour (I have Growl installed on my Mac), I'm using that instead.
Hope this helps
Repeating a song on the iPod Touch/iPhone
08/04/08 01:09
BEING a new user of
the iPod Touch, the non-familiarity of the gadget irks me. On the
way to work, I was playing the song "Onion" by Aska Yang, and it
sort of irritates me that I can't repeat the song.
Not any more.
1. Play the song first, and click on the album art. A rectangular box will appear with the option to scroll through the song.
2. Tap on the loop icon (now, this is familiar already right?). You can either choose to repeat one song, or repeat the album.
Enjoy your songs folks!
Not any more.
1. Play the song first, and click on the album art. A rectangular box will appear with the option to scroll through the song.
2. Tap on the loop icon (now, this is familiar already right?). You can either choose to repeat one song, or repeat the album.
Enjoy your songs folks!
Capture screenshots on your iPod Touch
07/04/08 04:03
ONE more thing before
hitting the bed:
iSpazio has a great app for screen capture, named CAPTURE. It works totally fine on the iPhone, but some folks might have problems with the iPod Touch. Just some pointers.
1. First, you can add the repository under sources. Click on EDIT, then ADD. The repository url is http://repo.ispazio.net.
i.
ii.
iii.
2. Install Capture from Installer -> iSpazio Apps.
3. Do your captures as per normal, but since iPod Touch does not have camera roll, you'd need Cyberduck to SSH it out.
4. Open Cyberduck, same instructions as previously, use the IP address of your iPod Touch.
5. Select /private/var
6. Select the following folders -> Mobile -> Media -> DCIM -> 100APPLE
7. Double click on your image files for the screen capture. They are jpg files.
Hope this is useful for all
iSpazio has a great app for screen capture, named CAPTURE. It works totally fine on the iPhone, but some folks might have problems with the iPod Touch. Just some pointers.
1. First, you can add the repository under sources. Click on EDIT, then ADD. The repository url is http://repo.ispazio.net.
i.
ii.
iii.
2. Install Capture from Installer -> iSpazio Apps.
3. Do your captures as per normal, but since iPod Touch does not have camera roll, you'd need Cyberduck to SSH it out.
4. Open Cyberduck, same instructions as previously, use the IP address of your iPod Touch.
5. Select /private/var
6. Select the following folders -> Mobile -> Media -> DCIM -> 100APPLE
7. Double click on your image files for the screen capture. They are jpg files.
Hope this is useful for all
Getting touchy, aren't I?
07/04/08 00:49
DAMN. This is the
umpteenth time that Rapidweaver has crashed on me before I managed
to upload my entry.
Not that it matters much. Just need to retype the entry, which, in my opinion, can get quite pissing at times.
Nonetheless, it's been a busy week as Monday arrives again, with the wheel of time passing and go. This is definitely not the third age, ha. Not Rand here (folks who read The Wheel of Time series would know what I'm referring to). Sometimes, one just need to change something to spice up the monotonous cycle - for me, the newest addition to my family of Macs:
Please! Don't pronounce this as the iTouch! It's iPod Touch! I guess this nifty gadget can satisfy my desires of watching videos on the go, and a PDA too, albeit a basic one. It just needs some tweaking in order to enhance the features.
Ha, tweaking = jailbreaking, of course. Thanks to Rupert, attempts to ziphone the iPod Touch was a breeze.
Subsequent installation of apps was not that smooth, though. I guess one can't ask for too much, right? I guess the way to go is just to enjoy the convenience of the gadget for now.
On a side note, Apple could do better with the iPhone SDK, and its embracement of third party developers. Opening its arms yet shoving off potential good developers certainly isn't a good way to start off with hackers.
Only time will tell whether Apple has a winning formula with its upcoming push mail enabled 3G iPhone
Not that it matters much. Just need to retype the entry, which, in my opinion, can get quite pissing at times.
Nonetheless, it's been a busy week as Monday arrives again, with the wheel of time passing and go. This is definitely not the third age, ha. Not Rand here (folks who read The Wheel of Time series would know what I'm referring to). Sometimes, one just need to change something to spice up the monotonous cycle - for me, the newest addition to my family of Macs:
Please! Don't pronounce this as the iTouch! It's iPod Touch! I guess this nifty gadget can satisfy my desires of watching videos on the go, and a PDA too, albeit a basic one. It just needs some tweaking in order to enhance the features.
Ha, tweaking = jailbreaking, of course. Thanks to Rupert, attempts to ziphone the iPod Touch was a breeze.
Subsequent installation of apps was not that smooth, though. I guess one can't ask for too much, right? I guess the way to go is just to enjoy the convenience of the gadget for now.
On a side note, Apple could do better with the iPhone SDK, and its embracement of third party developers. Opening its arms yet shoving off potential good developers certainly isn't a good way to start off with hackers.
Only time will tell whether Apple has a winning formula with its upcoming push mail enabled 3G iPhone
Taking things for granted?
29/03/08 20:16
WELCOME to the dark side, Google!
Scary, isn't it? This screenshot is not kidding you. Google is also doing its part for Earth, showing a darkened version of its famous main page. As I made the compulsory move for the whole house to be darkened for the next hour, lots of complaints and growlings were heard.
"Who cares!" "Wait my eyes spoil how!" "WTF!" were just some of the milder comments as I quenched all of them with a iron fist.
Sad to say, most of us really do take things for granted. Switching off the lights for an hour seem to be dooms day to most, who are so used to doing everything in a brightly lit world. It's not that hard to try to do our part, though little, by just switching off the lights for this one hour.
We can choose to make a stand, can't we?
The clock strikes on. Tick, tock, tick, tock.....
P.S. I'm running on battery life typing this. Trying to save electricity. Thanks Apple for creating keyboard back lights for MacBook Pro!
cssedit & rapidweaver
26/03/08 23:06
Word of mouth - and how it hurts
25/02/08 23:57
Today's papers featured an interesting
article - writ
of seizure against Nokia Singapore
Nokia forced to cough up more than $1,000 over faulty phone
By Alfred Siew, Technology Correspondent
EARLIER this month, Ms Tan Geok Hoon marched into Nokia's office, brandishing court documents and threatening to seize the assests of the cell-phone giant.
A bailiff stood at the side of the 43-year-old sales manager, ready to reposess the company's things.
Ms Tan was enforcing a small claims court decision that ordered the world's largest cellphone maker to pay her $778 for a faulty cellphone she bought last year.
The moment, which Ms Tan recalled recently, marked the culmination of a seven- month David-versus-Goliath battle.
The story of one woman's fight against a mighty firm made its rounds in several online forums last week, casting the spotlight on how the world's top phone maker handled unhappy customers.
Things all started in August last year, when Ms Tan bought a Nokia E61i phone from a StarHub store.
Ms Tan said the phone would not power on in the first week, but a Nokia service centre refused to exchange it for a new one.
Frustrated after sending it for repairs several times, she turned to the Small Claims Tribunal in November.
At this point, Nokia tried to settle the matter privately, by offering to exchange Ms Tan's phone with a new one, or to refund her $388. This was the purchase price that came with a two-year StarHub subscription.
She rejected the offer, looking instead for $778 - the full retail price of the phone.
Ms Tan told The Straits Times: 'I didn't claim for more than what the phone cost because I'm not greedy for Nokia phones.'
There were two consultations and one hearing before the small claims tribunal. Nokia missed the last two sessions, claiming the relevant department had not received the notice on time.
As a result, the company was ordered on December 18 last year to pay Ms Tan $778 within 15 days.
But it did not.
Said a furious Ms Tan: 'I gave them warning at every turn. I gave them time to respond, but nobody called me or discussed it with me.' So she turned up at Nokia's Alexandra Road office with the court order seeking payment.
This time, the company agreed to pay up, but only if she signed an acknowledgement form that had a clause preventing her from discussing the matter further. She said 'no' and left. When she returned on Feb 11, she had a writ of seizure in hand and had a bailiff to force Nokia to pay up - with no strings attached.
In the end, the cellphone giant coughed up more than $1,000, including bailiff fees and transport charges. Nokia spokesman Foo Wen Dee said this was the first such incident and it regretted the matter was not settled amicably.
She added that the company was investigating why its officers had not resolved the issue earlier.
Ms Tan shared the victory on online forums here, and Nokia drew flak for the way it handled the case. 'I want to let people know that sometimes there's no point talking... if one side doesn't respond, then we have to take action,' she said.
Since the postings appeared in the past week, netizens have asked if more electronics firms should allow exchanges if a product fails shortly after purchase. Some firms do so on a case-by-case basis, while others offer it for certain products like hard disks.
In case you're still wandering, a writ of seizure is the same as demanding the assets of whoever is at stake to be liquified for payment.
A real fine case of consumer power, where the consumer has to be right.
It was a good conversation between a fellow colleague and my boss, and sadly, we agreed that such examples are hard to come by. Most Singaporeans choose to live and let by after a complaint or two, if the company refuse to budge or reply. What's the issue then?
Singaporean companies are living in a naive world.
In this world, there's lots of channels for word of mouth to start and spread. The effects are far reaching, and people do believe them better than reviewers of products by the company. A certain number of companies are still living in the Stone Age - thinking that consumers buy into whatever they are fed with.
I guess these companies deserve it if they got into trouble then. They really ought to google the term, "emancipated consumers".
Consumers nowadays are way smarter than retailers. We know where to source for good deals, and we know how to make ourselves heard. I guess Singapore education must have taught them to follow the rules, and when there's no rules, listen to orders.
Baaah.
Choose to ignore a complaint can lead to huge repercussions - in this case, the Nokia brand is definitely affected. Many consumers will choose to think thrice when buying a Nokia phone. What's the point of opening up so many customer care, spending millions on advertising dollars, differentiating between the "N" and "E" series to cater to different consumer groups, when such a case will wreck it up? Trying to clear up this mess will cause it even more.
I guess the branding managers over at Nokia forgot the idiom - Rome was not built in a day. Now they have to mend up the hole which they wrecked.
2 weeks ago, SPH Singapore committed a similar fault - they published an article which shows the steps to install Mac OS X on a PC. FYI, that's illegal. Members of Apple forums were disgusted by the article, and I was but a few of them who sent in an email to request for an answer.
Of course, the editor did not even bother to reply me. Being a nice guy, I emailed Steve Jobs, and here's the reply:
Dear Mr. XXXX,
Your letter to Mr. Steve Jobs was forwarded to me from Apple's Office of the General Counsel for appropriate handling. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and for your support of Apple.
Best regards,
Apple Inc.
Associate General Counsel
Kevin Saul
Of course, the best outcome of it would be an apology from the editor, in the Straits Times, if Apple were really to follow up.
Let's just wait and see. Maybe Apple is another example of company who choose to ignore views from consumers. Then again, they replied to me, didn't they?
Nokia forced to cough up more than $1,000 over faulty phone
By Alfred Siew, Technology Correspondent
EARLIER this month, Ms Tan Geok Hoon marched into Nokia's office, brandishing court documents and threatening to seize the assests of the cell-phone giant.
A bailiff stood at the side of the 43-year-old sales manager, ready to reposess the company's things.
Ms Tan was enforcing a small claims court decision that ordered the world's largest cellphone maker to pay her $778 for a faulty cellphone she bought last year.
The moment, which Ms Tan recalled recently, marked the culmination of a seven- month David-versus-Goliath battle.
The story of one woman's fight against a mighty firm made its rounds in several online forums last week, casting the spotlight on how the world's top phone maker handled unhappy customers.
Things all started in August last year, when Ms Tan bought a Nokia E61i phone from a StarHub store.
Ms Tan said the phone would not power on in the first week, but a Nokia service centre refused to exchange it for a new one.
Frustrated after sending it for repairs several times, she turned to the Small Claims Tribunal in November.
At this point, Nokia tried to settle the matter privately, by offering to exchange Ms Tan's phone with a new one, or to refund her $388. This was the purchase price that came with a two-year StarHub subscription.
She rejected the offer, looking instead for $778 - the full retail price of the phone.
Ms Tan told The Straits Times: 'I didn't claim for more than what the phone cost because I'm not greedy for Nokia phones.'
There were two consultations and one hearing before the small claims tribunal. Nokia missed the last two sessions, claiming the relevant department had not received the notice on time.
As a result, the company was ordered on December 18 last year to pay Ms Tan $778 within 15 days.
But it did not.
Said a furious Ms Tan: 'I gave them warning at every turn. I gave them time to respond, but nobody called me or discussed it with me.' So she turned up at Nokia's Alexandra Road office with the court order seeking payment.
This time, the company agreed to pay up, but only if she signed an acknowledgement form that had a clause preventing her from discussing the matter further. She said 'no' and left. When she returned on Feb 11, she had a writ of seizure in hand and had a bailiff to force Nokia to pay up - with no strings attached.
In the end, the cellphone giant coughed up more than $1,000, including bailiff fees and transport charges. Nokia spokesman Foo Wen Dee said this was the first such incident and it regretted the matter was not settled amicably.
She added that the company was investigating why its officers had not resolved the issue earlier.
Ms Tan shared the victory on online forums here, and Nokia drew flak for the way it handled the case. 'I want to let people know that sometimes there's no point talking... if one side doesn't respond, then we have to take action,' she said.
Since the postings appeared in the past week, netizens have asked if more electronics firms should allow exchanges if a product fails shortly after purchase. Some firms do so on a case-by-case basis, while others offer it for certain products like hard disks.
In case you're still wandering, a writ of seizure is the same as demanding the assets of whoever is at stake to be liquified for payment.
A real fine case of consumer power, where the consumer has to be right.
It was a good conversation between a fellow colleague and my boss, and sadly, we agreed that such examples are hard to come by. Most Singaporeans choose to live and let by after a complaint or two, if the company refuse to budge or reply. What's the issue then?
Singaporean companies are living in a naive world.
In this world, there's lots of channels for word of mouth to start and spread. The effects are far reaching, and people do believe them better than reviewers of products by the company. A certain number of companies are still living in the Stone Age - thinking that consumers buy into whatever they are fed with.
I guess these companies deserve it if they got into trouble then. They really ought to google the term, "emancipated consumers".
Consumers nowadays are way smarter than retailers. We know where to source for good deals, and we know how to make ourselves heard. I guess Singapore education must have taught them to follow the rules, and when there's no rules, listen to orders.
Baaah.
Choose to ignore a complaint can lead to huge repercussions - in this case, the Nokia brand is definitely affected. Many consumers will choose to think thrice when buying a Nokia phone. What's the point of opening up so many customer care, spending millions on advertising dollars, differentiating between the "N" and "E" series to cater to different consumer groups, when such a case will wreck it up? Trying to clear up this mess will cause it even more.
I guess the branding managers over at Nokia forgot the idiom - Rome was not built in a day. Now they have to mend up the hole which they wrecked.
2 weeks ago, SPH Singapore committed a similar fault - they published an article which shows the steps to install Mac OS X on a PC. FYI, that's illegal. Members of Apple forums were disgusted by the article, and I was but a few of them who sent in an email to request for an answer.
Of course, the editor did not even bother to reply me. Being a nice guy, I emailed Steve Jobs, and here's the reply:
Dear Mr. XXXX,
Your letter to Mr. Steve Jobs was forwarded to me from Apple's Office of the General Counsel for appropriate handling. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and for your support of Apple.
Best regards,
Apple Inc.
Associate General Counsel
Kevin Saul
Of course, the best outcome of it would be an apology from the editor, in the Straits Times, if Apple were really to follow up.
Let's just wait and see. Maybe Apple is another example of company who choose to ignore views from consumers. Then again, they replied to me, didn't they?
Apple.inc @ MacWorld - please get your ideas right folks
16/01/08 12:32
As usual, in the yearly Macworld Conference, Steve went on to announce his big thing: product releases. It is often a day of anticipation for many Mac fans worldwide, and is almost a sacred event akin to that of a religious day.
Okay, this sounds too drastic, but you get the idea.
Apple has always marked itself as a iconic brand, a brand for people to follow. AAPL, its stocks, is hovering around usd$200. What is the problem with this? Some might say the stocks reflect the true value of the company, and some will think it is inflated. I tend to think to the latter. After yesterday's product announcement, many people are disappointed and stocks fall. What does this tell you?
Apple's consumers are changing.
Back a few years ago, if Apple were to release this product in the premium sector, I can see stocks rising. However, with the move towards consumerism, many people have forgotten that Apple as a brand stands for premium and good quality products. With yesterday's announcement, people's reactions are that the laptop is priced too high and many people complain about the features and specs.
Come on, this subnotebook is not meant to replace MacBooks, wake up, dorks.
By introducing a premium subnotebook between MacBook Pro and MacBook, Apple is trying to bridge the gap between affordable and professional. A product that is highly desirable by people who don't complain about price but more about aesthetics, size and weight. Most people don't understand this though. With the switch to Intel, expectations have rocketed to sky high levels, and people think they have a right to a all in one cheap and thin laptop, like that of Asus Eee PC. I would really be surprised if Apple were to introduce a laptop of that category, for it just doesn't fit in with an innovative company which always create products of desirability. Neither does Apple want to price the product to be near MacBook Black too, for it will cannibalize sales.
Folks, do think of Apple as a company you support and the brand behind it. ok? Don't blindly think, shit they're introducing such an expensive product and this is not what I want...duh!
The PR fiasco aside for iPhone's drop in price, I really think this time round, Apple has got it right, contrary of most people. They just don't understand what Apple stands for. Yet, they are the people who caused Apple's stocks to be inflated to today's price level. People who are looking at cheap and good stuff buying Apple's stocks in a crazy fashion and only to sell it away once their wishes don't get satisfy.
I guess people who thinks Apple is coming out with a cheapie should switch alliance now. Cheapskates :p
That saying, I don't foresee myself getting one soon. A MacBook Pro still serves my needs better
Buying songs from iTunes
27/09/07 15:03
Have you always wondered how to get
songs from iTunes, and at a cheap price? While the method I'm going
to teach is not exactly un-dodgy, at least you're not stealing
songs anymore!
1. Go to this website: https://www.hogeweg80.com/store/clients/index.php?cPath=74_85
2. Select your preferred value.
3. Have your paypal account readied.
4. Pay with paypal.
5. You'd be directed to a website with your redemption code
6. Open up iTunes store
7. Select redeem
8. Key in details and use any US address (I use vPost USA)
9 You're done! Now you can buy the songs you want!
Purchased 2 vouchers from this site, very prompt replies from hogeweg from problems crop up, and the best thing is...you can finally buy songs!
1. Go to this website: https://www.hogeweg80.com/store/clients/index.php?cPath=74_85
2. Select your preferred value.
3. Have your paypal account readied.
4. Pay with paypal.
5. You'd be directed to a website with your redemption code
6. Open up iTunes store
7. Select redeem
8. Key in details and use any US address (I use vPost USA)
9 You're done! Now you can buy the songs you want!
Purchased 2 vouchers from this site, very prompt replies from hogeweg from problems crop up, and the best thing is...you can finally buy songs!
A really simple lesson for RSS
21/09/07 15:41
Well, almost everyone has heard about
RSS, but what is that all really about? To put it really so simply
across, it is just a simple way to stay updated with your friends'
blogs, news site, and all sites that support RSS. The good thing
about a reader is that it allows all your subscriptions to be
updated all at one place, without you having to click on every
individual friend's blog just to check what's new.
Let me help you to set up a simple RSS reader
First, get a RSS client. A good and free reader is Google's RSS reader. Have an account set up for simple access to Google's services.
On the main page
1. Click on Add subscription, and an textbox will appear.
2. For website that supports RSS, normally you'd be able to find the RSS icon, especially blogs. Try looking for it at the address menu.
3. Click on the icon, and a xml address will appear, and this is the address to add to 1.
4. Voila!
For Firefox and Safari users, this is simplified as the reader is inbuilt to your browser. Why don't you consider downloading them just to try this out? I've got a link by the side for Firefox by the way.
Edited 260308
Folks, an easier way is to download Safari from Apple, works for both Mac and Windows. Just click on the RSS icon at the right hand side of the URL, click on "+" icon to the left, and you'd be auto subscribed. Simple as that!
Click here to download
Let me help you to set up a simple RSS reader
First, get a RSS client. A good and free reader is Google's RSS reader. Have an account set up for simple access to Google's services.
On the main page
1. Click on Add subscription, and an textbox will appear.
2. For website that supports RSS, normally you'd be able to find the RSS icon, especially blogs. Try looking for it at the address menu.
3. Click on the icon, and a xml address will appear, and this is the address to add to 1.
4. Voila!
For Firefox and Safari users, this is simplified as the reader is inbuilt to your browser. Why don't you consider downloading them just to try this out? I've got a link by the side for Firefox by the way.
Edited 260308
Folks, an easier way is to download Safari from Apple, works for both Mac and Windows. Just click on the RSS icon at the right hand side of the URL, click on "+" icon to the left, and you'd be auto subscribed. Simple as that!
Click here to download
Libel...or freedom of speech?
08/09/07 01:54
Sometimes, it is really hard to find
the line between insult and criticism. According to this, the $100 rebate by Apple is actually a farce,
showing off Jobs' financial muscle. Perhaps the reason why I feel
strongly against the writer is due to cultural difference. Though
I'm not familiar with law, I think the content constitute to libel,
and the plaintiff should be able to press charges and insist the
negative remarks be pulled off from the web.
Imagine someone making "constructive" comments about our heads, and comparing that to people comments on Bush. I think the former might earn for himself a jail sentence while millions others will applaud the latter. Oh well, Singapore is a weird country after all, isn't it?
Imagine someone making "constructive" comments about our heads, and comparing that to people comments on Bush. I think the former might earn for himself a jail sentence while millions others will applaud the latter. Oh well, Singapore is a weird country after all, isn't it?
Apple's iPhone with additional functions
31/08/07 01:43
Creative...& Mr Sim, I hope you're reading this...
08/05/07 01:44
Environmentalism, from another angle
06/05/07 02:24