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HK Tech Phooey

Tapping the pulse of this gateway for Asia's IT

by Victor Cheung, Hong Kong SAR, PRC


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The real deal with iPhone 3G S

Jun 10, 2009 23:30

And you thought you heard it all about the iPhone 3G S. Well, not quite. Here're a few things I noted some 30-plus hours after Apple's Keynote Address.

  • Consider this, you've an iPhone 3G some time ago and are STILL stuck with a God-knows-how-long contract with the mobile carrier. Here comes the announcement of the all new iPhone 3G S which the same mobile carrier is probably going to end up carrying. So how are you going to go about getting the new iPhone 3G S? Well, first thing first. I don't think the mobile carrier is going to let you trade in your iPhone 3G, and the next thing you know is that if you want the 3G S so bad, you will probably end up with another 24 months tapped on top of your current contract. If your carrier is as crappy as AT&T, I wish you all the best. Another thing to consider is that should Apple decide to launch a new iPhone every 18 to 24 months, you probably will be stuck with the same mobile carrier for the next decade or so, or end up paying a hefty fee for the upgrade.


  • For one to go through the painful upgrade as mentioned above, what's the upside then? Well, you're getting a faster phone (it claims, but don't you think the carrier also has something to do with the speed as well?); more onboard memory for your video and music library; a normal battery (hopefully one that can last longer than 24 hours under NORMAL usage); a better camera, voice control (like you really need this); digital compass (Tom-Tom stuff, nice one here); direct YouTube upload; MMS (well, wait here, if you read through the fine print on Apple's site, it mentions that "you can't send photos or videos if MMS isn't supported by the carrier"... (for the full list, better check out my fellow CNET Asia blogger Jesada's post).

  • So, on upgrading to the iPhone 3GS, you're probably thinking about giving the old iPhone 3G away to your girlfriend, sister, mother, mother-in-law (someone who's not so tech-savvy). Well, refer back to the first bullet. You're still stuck with the carrier.

If you ask me whether I will be getting mine upgrade, my answer is still yes. I think I'm a lot like you guys out there, stuck with Apple AND the carrier. Wish me luck.



3 comments   |   Share


 

    Talkback
aakash says...
# Consider this, you've got an iPhone 3G sometime ago and STILL stuck with that God knows how long contract with the mobile carrier. Here comes the announcement of the all new iPhone 3GS in which the same mobile carrier is probably gonna end up carrying, so how are you gonna go about getting the new iPhone 3GS? Well, first thing is I don't think the mobile carrier is gonna let you trade in with your iPhone 3G and next thing you know is that if you want the 3GS that bad, you probably will end up with another 24 months tapped on top of your current contract. If your carrier is as crappy as AT&T, I wish you all the best. Another thing to consider is that should Apple decides to launch a new iPhone every 18 to 24 months, you probably will be stuck with the same mobile carrier for the next decade or so or end up paying a hefty fee for the upgrade.
# For one to go through the painful upgrade as mentioned above, what's the upside then? Well, you're getting a faster phone (they claimed, but don't you think the carrier have something to do with the speed as well?); more on-board memory for your video and music library; a normal battery (hopefully one that can last longer than 24 hours under NORMAL usage); a better camera, voice control (like you really need this); digital compass (Tom Tom stuff, nice one here); direct YouTube upload; MMS (well, wait here, if you read through the fine prints on Apple's site, they mentioned that "You can't send photos or videos if MMS isn't supported by carrier."..... (for full list, better check out my fellow CNET Asia blogger Jesada's post).
----------
candy
--------------
parking sensor--parking sensor

Jun 11, 2009 02:53
 
 
Jesadac says...
For the first time, I'm feeling a bit good for Thailand's no-lock down law and no lock-in contracts.

Jun 11, 2009 15:56
 
 
Hillary says...
The price of being an early adopter, but hey, you get to be the first to own one. And, you can sell off the old at a forum.

Jun 11, 2009 17:54
 
 
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About Victor Cheung

A true tech junkie at heart, Victor Cheung has been obsessed with all tech gadgets since his college days. His favorite gizmos span from tablet PCs to UMPC, to PMPs, gaming consoles, mobile phones and anything with WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 on it. A newcomer to the blog scene, he started his own quasi-tech blog, The Hong Kong Phooey in October 2006.

 
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