Incredible iPhone 4

For those that know me well, they know that I'm a techie and I hate iPhone for one simple reason. Simply because the system they are implementing is worse than Windows, by locking down entire operating system to its own centralised control and limiting everyone else in exploiting its potential. Of course there is jailbreak available, but it defeat the whole purpose.

With that, there is no surprise that I favour development of Android and one of my favourite smartphone in the market is HTC. I'm eyeing for HTC HD2, 4.3" with 480x800 display is crazy sharp. Coupled that with 1GHz processor, nothing ever come near to it. The only drawback is its not an Android system and there is none Android smartphone in the market that match what HTC HD2 is offering. So I plan to wait for my perfect phone. Remember, I'm still holding to my limit of RM1000 for a phone, so only 2nd hand will be consider.

With the new launch of iPhone 4, I'm planning to get it for my wife. The advantage of lock-down system implemented by Apple is that the whole operation is simplified and easy to use for non-techie like my wife. So I convinced her and brought her over to get one. I believe this is one of the main reason why iPhone wins over many worshipper around the world.



As you can see above, I got the iPhone 4 for my wife already. Surprise over how fast I got one on hand? I simply did a quick search and run around a while before manage to grab one. There is no stock and no reservation sign all around Maxis & Digi center, and I even go over to KLCC for road show at 9.30am. Still I'm too late and the last number over 150 units of iPhone 4 per day is given out by 7.30am, as informed by Maxis staff there. The first person got there by 5.30am, tell me if they are crazy.

Anyway, cut the long story short, I did another search and got it in Digi Concept Store at Solaris Mont Kiara. As we are waiting, I played with the iPhone 4 and something extra-ordinary happened. HTC HD2 has very impresive display but it looks pale when compare to the 960x640 retina display in iPhone 4. It's truely impressive display with crisp sharp and I've never seen anything like it before. Love at first sight. I move on to the Safari browser and although HTC HD2 is powered by 1GHz processor, still iPhone 4 is faster and much smoother than HTC. The web surfing is fast, smooth without a single lag, again I surrender.



The sleek design of double pane glass and aluminium strap around the body is crazily elegant and the correct weight put it to the top most desirable smartphone in the whole market. I'm not convince with the finger touch screen rather than stylus, but I'm biased with my over 10 year experience in stylus world. But that's minor to the extra-ordinary experience I'm having. It's truly an impressive piece of technology.



As we are examining the plan, I noticed it's incredibly cheap. iDigi 138 plan only need RM88 after deduction of auto billing. Its not cheap but considering they are giving out 450mins voice call, 400 SMS, 40MMS, and 3GB quota Digi 3G turbo connection without limit (only slower speed), it's very much worth the price. The 3GB quota Digi 3G turbo broadband connection alone will cost RM68 add-on to the bill of any plan. We decided on iDigi 138 plan for my wife, considering she is heavy broadband user.

After a deep thought, I took out the calculator and started playing with the numbers. I'm paying RM50 for my Digi monthly plan without broadband but deductible with usage, my minimal commitment is RM50. Plus I'm giving out RM90 for Celcom broadband that gives me 5GB quota at 3.6Mbps connection, that add up to almost RM140 per month commitment. My simple calculations as follow:

iPhone iDigi 138 plan
iPhone 4 = RM2090.00
24months contract = RM88.00 x 24 = RM2112.00
Total = RM4202.00

My plan
Plan for 2nd hand HTC upgrade = RM1000.00
Digi + Celcom broadband = RM140.00
Consider 24 months = RM3360.00
Total = RM4360.00

I reckon if I upgrade with iPhone 4, get rid of my Celcom broadband and utilise iPhone tethering function, I can have a saving of RM158.00 over 24 months. Some savings but with a new spanking iPhone 4 is irresistible. Only drawback is slower connection but still acceptable proven speed at 700kbps and 3GB quota that I rarely break. My wife did the same trick on me and without me knowing it, I'm converted!



That day, we ended up with TWO iPhone 4 in our house! My wife is crazily happy, and somehow I'm excited as well. No matter how much I resist iPhone 4, a new gadget with such elegant advantages still got me jumping around excited. Anyway its still a very expensive phone that manage to garner over millions of worshippers around the world, and there is no surprise why. It's just addictive.


iPhone 4 Lock Screen and iPhone 4 Home Page. I customise the wallpaper only, all others are original.


Safari Website Display and Speedtest.net's Result of Digi 3G Turbo speed around KL

Digi 3G Turbo connection is fast but sometimes dropping to around 300kbps and it's only accessible in big town like KL and Ipoh. The connection of 3G is lost once you hit the highway and I got only EDGE and GPRS around the entire route back to Ipoh. It's ok for me, I can live with it though.



The iPhone 4 really very nice and put it side by side with my old Dopod D810 or known as HTC Trinity, immediately the technology difference over 3 years are obvious! It kicked my little Dopod ass very hard!



Taking a close look in the casing, I'm deeply disappointed with the packing. Paying so much for the iPhone 4, I'm expecting something better in the packing and accessories, but it's surprisingly small box with minimal accessories. They don't even have installation CD and I struggle to get the tethering up without online guidance, because I cancelled my Celcom broadband on the same day!

A single USB cable supplied is definitely not enough with the 3 pin plug without cable provided. Damn, we got to buy another cable for mobility. The ear piece is also crap, lousy sound quality but serve as a decent handfree though. The manual is so small and useless. The whole box only got one single good point, it's the iPhone 4. I believe that's what Apple team thought. Bugger.

The iPhone 4 is extremely fragile and I'm very worried if I will scratch or break the glass, its reported happened before. So I quickly find casing for both of us.



This is what I got for myself, a red Speck Candy Shell casing. There are lots story around the web indicating possible scratch on iPhone 4 of some hard casing that rub on the glass / aluminium strap. I choose this because the entire internal casing is filled with red soft rubber.



It's easy to install and it fit very nicely to my iPhone 4.



The back is spectacular with hard casing protecting my iPhone 4. The only complain is that it kill the elegancy of the iPhone 4 glass casing. Its one way or another, so I got to keep quiet about this.



My wife choose this Viva Carbono 3D Red leather flip casing. The iPhone 4 is protected by synthetic leather all round, so there is no risk on getting damage. It fit nicely and the quality is good.



I hate this casing, with the flip hanging around when using the phone. My wife love it though, so her phone, her choice. Both our iPhone 4 is protected by front & back Screen Guard. Let me know if you are interested to know where I got my accessories, I can hook you up.

Ok, and now come the best part. Am I happy with the iPhone 4 after 2 weeks of owner experience? I am happy but with complains as well. For iPhone lover, you can leave now. For others, stay on and see what I got to say on this piece of God Made Gadget.

People calling the program to "free" the iPhone as Jailbreak for a reason. I really felt like staying in a jail, all functions limited without any freedom to do anything. Those non-techie or non-WM or non-Android user will not feel it, but to me, it's prison. I took me forever to change wallpaper, change ringtones, copy movies, upload mp3, and finding some good apps without using my credit card. When I connected the iPhone to my computer, I can't even effectively swap apps that I downloaded in both computers, pass on stuff to my wife's iPhone 4, and even use it as USB! I can't use it as USB! Everything is locked and I got to use the unfriendly iTunes to do everything. It's taking me forever. Maybe only because I'm not familiar, but if techie like me took forever, I bet others will feel the challenge as well. Surprisingly my wife handle it better than me, probably because she don't care if she can do those, she only cares of her zombie farm games now =P

I can't change the icons, there is no animated wallpaper, thousands over apps and there is no sorting to help me find what I need or ranking, no help in any forum I'm searching except jailbreak. Until now, I still don't know how to upload pdf or office file into my iPhone 4 and access it from there! There is no control over the camera unless you pay for a professional apps. Note that I can do all those above with simple setting in Android or WM.

Just 2 weeks into ownership, I'm already reading everything about jailbreak and let's see how long I can hold myself up from jailbreaking it! But what's the worst part? My piece of God Made Gadget is actually made in China. Bugger... but am I happy? Yes, I am happy with a but ...