I’m sure by now everyone who has an iPhone 3G or 3GS will be on iOS4 (I hope the 2G and 3G folks don’t feel left behind). OS4 is really cool for users in many ways. Multitasking, home screen customization, camera zoom, new mail handling capabilities etc etc. So that’s for the users. What about developers? How is iOS4 going to help developers? As Steve Jobs had announced back in April, iAd is going to “revolutionize” the way that application developers will be making money from Apple. I will be first introducing my readers to what iAd is all about and then will follow up with a post on how to integrate iAd into your applications.

Firstly, why iAd and what the hell is it all about? Do you realize the thousands of free apps in the app store have some form of advertising or marketing in built in them? It could either be in the form of some of those ads from admob or the app could be an extension of a business like ebay. Take the example of the ads served by admob. What happens when you click on the app? You get kicked out of the app and land on the advertiser’s website. So what if you want to get back to your app exactly at the same point that you left? Pretty much impossible if you ask me.

What iAd does is to exactly address this issue. The ad is served in such a way that when the user clicks on the ad, he does not have to leave the app at all. The ad appears right in the application and there is no need to leave the app. So after viewing the ad, the user is able to get back to the exact same point where he clicked the ad. Pretty cool if you ask me. Now users will not have any second thoughts to click an ad if they liked what is was serving.

iAd is supposed to bridge the gap between emotion and interactivity. In Steve Job’s keynote address he mentions that while internet ads have interactivity, they lack emotion. And while TV ads have emotion, they lack interactivity. iAd will have both interaction and emotion which is very apparent from the example ads that he has shown in his keynote. Let’s face it – this is going to revolutionize the ad industry in a big big way. The ads will not be intrusive and will be served to the user only once every 3 minutes. That’s almost like the frequency of a television ad according to Jobs.

As a developer I’m certainly excited to try this out. I have already thought of quite a few free applications which I will be launching over the next few weeks. Instead of just relying on the marketing returns, I can certainly hope for some immediate revenue through iAd IF it is successful. I have not seen any live iAd being served on my current apps. Still waiting to see how it will look like in real life although I do have a good feel of it after seeing Steve Jobs’ keynote address.

If you are interested to view this video then I would encourage you to take a look at this youtube video. Its pretty straightforward and gives you an overall idea of this cool concept. Trust me, its 9:38 minutes well spent

Looks like the big A is getting sued again by unscrupulous lawyers again. I mean c’mon give them a break guys. What’s with going around scouting for big companies who might have incorporated a small portion of a design which was patented before and using the opportunity to make some big bucks? These are nothing but the “patent trolls” of the legal world. I have the least respect for them as they are just slimy opportunists waiting to take advantage of bigger firms. They either arm twist these companies to pay them out or get them to pay some kind of royalty or licensing fees.

I know I’m no lawyer but there has to be a line drawn between legal issues and common sense. Patents were filed to protect intellectual property and not to use it as a vehicle to make some quick money. A person’s intelligence is not tangible like a product and hence a patent is necessary to safeguard it. But at the same time there are quite a number of products which might use a small portion of the patent somewhere in the design out of necessity. This should not be considered an infringement as the final product might not be doing the exact same thing as the patent that was filed.

I know this is a web of confusion when it comes to handling the legal aspects of it but something must be done soon to preserve the sanity of big cash rich companies such as Apple. A good patent system should not be a hindrance to development of innovation! Otherwise we might as well be better off with a system such as one in China where there is no system to protect the IP of any company or individual. What’s your thoughts?

Via TUAW

Yep that’s right – 1 day, 60,000 iPhones in Korea. That’s considered really good compared to sales of about only 5000 in China during the first week! Anyone has the numbers for *ehem* Malaysia?

Here’s an extract from the report from International Business Times:

KT priced the 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS at 369,000 won ($317) for customers subscribing to monthly plans based on the basic rate of 45,000 won ($38). Subscribers paying 65,000 won ($56) in basic rates can have the iPhone for 264,000 won ($227), while premium users signing up for monthly plans based on a 132,000 won ($113) basic rate could have the phones for free.

The 8-gigabtye iPhones were priced at 132,000 won ($113) for subscribers signed on the 45,000 won ($38) monthly plans.

As iPhone made its formal debut in China on October 30 through China Unicom, South Korea is one of the last major countries in Asia to get the iPhone which is also on sale in Japan, India and Australia.

Way to go Apple!

Well today’s been a busy day for all Apple geeks. The WWDC was a hit and although Steve Jobs was not present at the event, it still packed a punch as usual. A new iPhone, a new OS and even a new lineup of Macbooks were revealed. But what was interesting for me as an iPhone developer was that a new paid applications agreement went into effect today. I promptly accepted the agreement and then noticed there is a new option available on iTunes Connect – namely “In App Purchases“.

According to Apple,

Some developers have come to us and talked about other models they’d like to use. Like subscriptions. A place where you could renew that sub in the app. Some game devs have wanted to be able to sell new levels from within an app. There are many examples of that, like e-books. Like a bookstore built into an app. We supporting these new models in what we call In-App Purchase,

Here’s how the new option looks like on iTunes Connect:

Interesting concept – certainly a new money making vehicle for developers as well as Apple since Apple gets a 30% share on the sales as well. I am yet to try this, but I have no idea what I will be selling within an app. Maybe I will write an ebook, maybe not. Have you tried this feature?

I hope you had some time to read why it might not be the right time to buy the iPhone 3G from Maxis just yet! The short answer is that there is a very high possibility that a new iPhone is on the way. The announcement might just happen on June 8th which is less than a week away. Based on all the rumors circulating on the internet, The Green Room has put together this amazing graphical representation of the next-gen iPhone. Certainly looks mouth-watering to me!

P.S. I just stepped into the Maxis store with a friend who was looking at the iPhone 3G promotions catalog. It says “valid until June 14th” in fine print. Wonder what’s going to happen after June 14th then!

Anyway, here’s the next-gen iPhone graphical representation! Feast your eyes!

Finally some good news to all of DiGi’s loyal fans – DiGi broadband has finally been rolled out. Their tagline has been “better speed for less”. Well that’s what everyone claims but I’m yet to see anyone prove it to me yet. I think a lot has been said and complained about how unreliable is Maxis’ mobile broadband (I own one but I have hardly used it). DiGi claims that their broadband plans are flexible and you could choose one according to your needs for as low as RM 2 per day. Lets look at their plans in detail.

There are 3 different packages offered by DiGi.

1. Discover

This is the entry level package for light users. The plan allows usage of up to 3GB and any additional usage is charged RM 0.15/10MB. Maximum usage is capped at RM 138.

2. Explore

This is the mid range package for pretty much the majority of us. The plan allows usage of up to 10GB and any additional usage is charged RM 0.05/10MB. Maximum usage is capped at RM 138.

3. Extreme

This package is really for heavy users. If you’re online mostly to download music, videos etc. then this package is for you. The plan allows usage of up to 20GB and that’s it. You can’t use more than that even if you want to.

Funny thing is the maximum cap on the usage. Don’t they trust Malaysians to pay their bills? Or maybe this is their tactic to avoid getting a deposit from us in the first place. Both the Discover and Explore packages promise an average (I’m sure that’s on a “best effort” basis) of 700kbps for downloads and 200kbps for downloads. The Extreme package offers an average of 2Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps for uploads. Nice!

Of course the HSPA modems which you will need to use this service costs extra. DiGi recommends Broadband E219 HSDPA USB Modem for the Discover and Explore packages while the Broadband E230 HSPA USB Modem is recommended for the Extreme package. The E219 modem will cost you RM 30/month for 12 months while the E230 will cost you RM 50/month for 12 months. These charges will be reflected in your monthly bill.

Now what I like about the DiGi website is that they have made my life much easier by putting in a comparison chart of the different major broadband services available in Malaysia (Streamyx, Maxis, Celcom and P1). Each package has its comparison chart as shown below.

Discover package comparison chart :

Explore package comparison chart :

Extreme package comparison chart :

DiGi’s plans seem pretty reasonable when compared to the others. What needs to be seen is if the data connection is fast and reliable as they claim. The coverage is not extensive yet but there is a tool on their website to check if your area is covered. There is also a plan recommender in case you are not sure which package to choose.

One last thing before I sign off – I’m amused by the mascot that they have chosen to promote their broadband service. Agreed that they picture shows a tortoise coming out of its shell but still how fast can the turtle go? A tortoise’s shell is also used as a defense mechanism, so do they imply they are prone to hacker or virus attacks? Not sure if choosing the tortoise was the right thing to do as it is the first thing that greets you in their broadband homepage. In my opinion DiGi certainly could have chosen a better mascot for their marketing – something like a cheetah, road runner, speedy gonzales etc. Well that’s something trivial but I thought I’d bring it up since we’re analyzing DiGi anyway.

If you would like to share your experience with DiGi’s service or any other broadband services I’d love to hear them in the comments section.

More information can be found at DiGi Broadband.

As you might have known, Hypp.TV was relaunched in KL on the on February 21st at Laundry Bar in The Curve. Initially Hypp.TV was launched sometime back in November 2007 but was mostly covering BPL (or EPL). With the latest relaunch it looks like Hypp.TV is more serious with a whole lot of new channels to offer. Currently the service is only for Streamyx users and the the package is priced at RM 9.90 per month.

Quite a number of channels including WB’s Sorority Forever, Fashion TV, Luxe TV, Debar 99, NDTV image, C Music, Wedding TV, Zee Music) and news as well as sport (including the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers!) and even a cricket channel for cricket lovers are available. There are over 31 live channels currently and more channels will be added soon. There are also Video-On-Demand channels that include episodes from popular animated series like Upin and Apin.

It would be interesting to see how the effort materializes. It certainly seems to be a very exciting thing happening for Malaysians who want an alternative to Astro. The minimum requirements to use the Hypp.TV Media Player is .Net Framework 2.0 and above, latest Adobe Flash Player, Windows Media Player 9 or above or Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 and above. But with our current internet speeds offered by Streamyx, I wonder if it will be good enough for live TV streaming on our PCs. Imagine watching a live EPL game and the connection screwing up when Rooney takes a penalty. Certainly not something football fans will look forward to.

Actually for the sake of Malaysian viewers I do hope that someone proves me wrong. I do intend to sign up for this service just to check how it works. Hypp.TV mentions that the service would work with Streamyx connections of 1MB/s (recommended) and above. I’m sitting right on the threshold and would love to max out the service just for the heck of it. But unfortunately I learnt from Streamyx that the service is currently only available to Microsoft Windows users and not for Macs. I really can’t see myself moving away from my Mac just for this service.

So what are the steps for signing up?

1. Sign up for a Hypp.TV account at www.hypp.tv by registering a user account for free under the ‘Free Sign Up’ tab
2. Launch Hypp.TV Media Player under the ‘Watch Now’ tab
3. Sign in on Hypp.TV Media Player to start enjoying the content!

Meanwhile, if anyone has used the service before I’d like to hear from you.
[Via ShaolinTiger]

It was certainly heartening to hear that the mini budget announced by our DPM will also allocate RM 5.4B for improving the broadband infrastructure in Malaysia. The country’s broadband infrastructure is definitely in need of improvement to match other developing countries in this region. Not only is the service below par but the monthly charges are absurd as well. The stimulus in the budget can certainly be seen as a boost for broadband in Malaysia.

According to David Wong who is the chairman of the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom), this move would help to achieve the Government’s 50% broadband penetration rate target by the end of 2010. Currently the broadband penetration in Malaysia is only 17.5% which is a small percentage considering the size of the country. Compare that with a broadband penetration of 30.4% in 2008 in Taiwan and you can see a big difference. According to Wong, RM 3B will be used to roll out the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) service to the entire nation at a faster rate.

The money will be used to improve connection speeds of 2Mbps to 1Gbps which is quite decent. So where does the other RM 2.4B go to? That will be provided to the SKMM to facilitate broadband community centres and provision of basic telephony services in rural areas.

Let us hope with these plans in place the state of our broadband services in Malaysia will be improved. We definitely need to see some big improvement in the areas of stability of connection and connection speeds too. Once these have been worked on, then the service providers will need to charge the consumers a reasonable rate and not an exorbitant price as it is currently being done. Maybe a few more players in the broadband field would straighten things out with some healthy competition? What’s your say?

UPDATE: Here’s a list of internet providers in Malaysia. How many of them are you actually aware of? What kind of competition do they provide to Streamyx? (Source TheDaneshProject)

My pick is PenangFON – 2MB/s at RM 66/month RM 60/month. I just need to remember to pay my bills!

1. eBulding – http://www.eb.net.my/
2. Airzed – http://www.airzed.com/
3. Arcnet NTT MSC Sdn Bhd – http://www.arc.net.my/
4. Atlas One Broadband Internet Provider – http://www.atlasone.net/
5. Biz Surf – Broadband Internet services – http://www.bizsurf.com/
6. Celcom – http://www.celcom.net.my/
7. Digi – http://www.digi.com.my
8. Giga Broadband VDSL – http://www.vdslnetwork.com/
9. Gold Information Systems Wireless broadband provider – http://www.gissb.com/
10. iDiGi Internet Services – http://www.idigi.com.my/
11. iZZi – Mobile wireless broadband, iBurst – http://www.izzi.com.my/
12. Jaring - http://www.jaring.my/
13. Maxis Broadband – http://www.maxis.net.my/
14. Metro FON – http://www.metrofon.com.my/
15. NasionCom – http://www.nasioncom.com.my/
16. Penang FON – http://www.penangfon.com/
17. PutraNet – http://www.putra.net.my/
18. Time Net – http://www.time.com.my/
19. Time Broadband – http://timebroadband.time.net.my/
20. TMnet – http://tm.net.my/
21. TMnet Streamyx – http://isp.tm.net.my/streamyx/
22. Webbit – Time Wireless Broadband – http://timebroadband.time.net.my/webbit/
23. ZapZone Wireless Hotspot – http://www.zapzone.com.my/
24. Netlynx by TIME dotCom Berhad – http://www.netlynx.net.my/

25. P1WiMAX – http://www.p1.com.my
26. InfoLient – http://www.infolient.com

27. Amax – http://www.amax.my

Mobile Broadband and WiMax are also included in the list.

Shortly after writing the post on whether the iPhone 3G will legally be available in Malaysia, it looks like Maxis has unveiled the iPhone 3G after all. Currently the phone is available for booking through Maxis website. The actual launch in Malaysia will be on the 20th – 22nd March 2009 at the KL convention center.

There are 3 different contracts available from Maxis for the iPhone 3G. Let’s take a quick look at them.

6 month contract plan:

With this plan, you will be able to get the iPhone 3G 8GB for RM 2540 and the 16GB for RM 2960. But you will also need to sign up for a monthly commitment as per the rates above.

12 month contract plan:

Second option is to go for the 12 month plan. In this case the iPhone 3G is a bit cheaper than the 6 month plan but you will need to sign up for a longer period of time with Maxis with the minimum payment (from RM 100 to RM 375). There is also an advance payment which is waived for existing customers with Maxis. Seems a bit dodgy to me.

24 month contract plan:

This is probably the plan which gets you the iPhone 3G for the cheapest price. Of course its not rocket science to figure out what the catch is. You will need to sign up with Maxis for the next 2 long years.

From my point of view, this is all too confusing. You can certainly take your time to go through each package to figure out if any of these packages actually suits you. Chances are, none will! I still think that the best choice would be to head over to your friendly neighborhood cellphone shop and get an unlocked iPhone 3G. After all there is a software unlock available and you can pretty much use it with any carrier you want!

Kudos to Panasonic to come out all guns blazing! Panasonic has recently announced a new range of models for their LUMIX and AVCHD Lite camcorders. A staggering 10 models in each category was introduced in the Nanyang Siang Pau. Obviously Panasonic has some pretty aggressive plans to beat this recession. According to the company’s statement these models are suitable for both beginners and professionals as there is a wide range of models available.

According to Panasonic:

Panasonic Malaysia Managing Director, Tony Endoh mentioned that there is a growing demand for video capture on LUMIX cameras. Therefore, in line with this trend, we have also included the new AVCHD Lite video recording format on some selected Lumix models.

One interesting part in this news is that there is a website where the customer can go and directly “bid” for the camera models featured in the website. Certainly and interesting concept in the lines of a certain ebay? Nevertheless it is an interesting move and you could place your bid on Panasonic’s website.