Geekonomics

Geek weekend at COMEX with the iPhone!

So, what has COMEX got to do with the iPhone? You mean it was launched at COMEX in Singapore and I missed it?!?

Before I let the iPhone outta the bag, let's just talk about COMEX first.

I actually just walked into COMEX without much of a concrete strategy and came out losing my pants much poorer. Sobs!


Casio's Exilim Youtube banner when you enter the show.
Was on the elevator squeezing amongst the crowd so the shot came out a tad shaky.



Shoutout to the Intel guys for showcasing my favorite game DotA Allstars! Though the booth was really quite far back in…


If I'm not wrong, this is HTC's first year here?


Although I felt HTC's competitor O2 had one of the nicest booths this year.
Not biased just because I use a Zinc!



There were dancers in front of... err... who cares about the booth?



But I think the dancing robots were much more interesting!

This year's COMEX seems more spaced out across the entire Suntec Convention Center, but which still doesn't explain the near-empty SingTel/SingNet booth which caused many staff at COMEX to want to jump ships!

Ok, now onto the iPhone... actually the only link between COMEX and the iPhone is that I experienced both COMEX 2007 and the iPhone on the same day, hehe.


Laid out in full view at Starbucks Cityhall!


Yours truly groping holding the orgasmic sleek wet dream of all geeks!


The keyboard was much more usable than I expected!

Jean and I got to check out the iPhone at Starbucks Raffles City on Sunday, just before I lost my pants giving away all my money at COMEX!

I have a video of my experience with the iPhone which I'll leave to the end of this post for a bit of suspense!

First, I want to talk about this convergence device that has sent geeks going crazy worldwide way before it was officially launch on June 29 this year.

The iPhone was searched more than 700,000 times per week leading up to its launch and people queued in line for hours even though they could have bought if on the Internet in minutes--maybe cause they thought it would be more fun than queuing for donuts!

And you thought only Singaporeans are kiasu!

Ok, basically the iPhone has a 2-megapixels camera, email support, large numeric keypad for dialing, Wi-Fi and a four-digit user-configurable password, blah blah. *Yawn*

You'll find much better technical reviews on CNET Asia and CNET TV here.

And talking about hype, check out the string of media attention that the iPhone is still garnering, albeit a few negative ones for the mama star of all convergence devices.

"… competing cell phone, smartphone, and PDA makers will be scrambling to come up with devices that have the look, feel, and functionality of Apple's offering" Scanlon and Walters of Business Week.

"The iPhone will undoubtedly make a splash, but it is unlikely to create a profit pool for Apple that is anywhere comparable to the one created by the iPod... " Barrett of Innosight.

"AT&T's declaration that only 146,000 Apple iPhones were registered on its network for the first two days it was on the market has led to widespread shock at what is now being seen as the device's failure and a down period for Apple shares, which slided 7.5 percent over a few days last week, a fall of some US$10 billion in total market capitalization." The Register.

Well, the iPhone is definitely not without its weaknesses such as the touchscreen issue. Its lack of 3G/MMS as well as poorer support for Microsoft Office documents may be a hindrance for business users. And the exclusive tie-up with AT&T Wireless as well as its "no third-party developers policy had created lots of flak for Apple and had started a new trend in iPhone hacking!

Hell, one kid traded one hacked iPhone for three unhacked iPhones and a sports car!

But don't try this at home, kids. The iPhone went boom on some guys who attempted hardware hacking.

And to top it off, a string of lawsuits on battery replacements and touchscreen patents.

But to see things from an Asian perspective, I think most of these won't affect potential consumers in Asia much. Because as consumers, we don't really care about lawsuits and Wall Street numbers. And by the time the iPhone reaches us, Apple would have resolved its touchscreen issues and the phone will be officially hacked

Unless having 3G, MMS and Microsoft Office on your phone is important to you.

This geek orgasmatron iPhone has other cool features such as an accelerometer which reorientates the screen when the phone is rotated. Or the proximity sensor which senses when the phone is placed next to an ear and automatically shuts the screen down.

Actually, I found the iPhone not so much a sell on features but more so a great orgasmic user experience. Because having read so much technical information and negative publicity, I was pleasantly surprised by my user experience with it! So how do I tell this story except with a video?

Jean and I both took videos of our friend demostrating the iPhone (I won't mention his name here because I fear for his life!)

Jean's video is much better so I'll just plug her video.



You just have to watch this video, trust me! Unless of course you prefer to watch the iPhone being blended!

Talk about ultimate convergence!

Recent Comments

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