Aim! Shoot!! Duck!!!

So finally we have the official announcement about the rumored iPhone OS4 & yes, multitasking is now coming! Steve Jobs said, they maybe be late, but their multitasking will be the best. So I guess everyone should rejoice & the naysayers should now be happy, right? Well, maybe. So why am I not jumping for joy now that the biggest stumbling block for me to adopt Apple’s iPhone has been removed? Because the implementation can’t achieve something basic I need. Yes, there’s multitasking but it’s not the usual multitasking everyone knows. In some sense, yes this is actually a smarter way of doing multitasking but at the same time, it’s implementation will mean it can’t be used for all situations, yet. This can of course change in due time.

So what am I so bummed about? I still can’t open instant messaging or Twitter, background it & let it update & notify me when someone replies. You might say that it already does that, using push notifications, & rightly so, even Apple says that, in their opinion, this is the best way to do it on their platform. But then again, push notifications for instant messaging SUCKS!! Try using it & you’ll get sick of it very fast. Save states might help to ease this a bit but anything that needs to load updates from a server will always suffer from delays as you wait for the app to catch up & display it. So yeah, unfortunately, no better solution for this, yet.

However, the rest of the updates in iPhone OS4 are great! The multitasking is actually pretty good, in it’s confined context of use. The background task completion &  save state function will definitely help a lot now that it’s open for all devs to use.  Previously on iPhone OS3, only Apple apps had access to these functions.

App folders is a long overdue feature, since I’ve long used up all 12 pages of app screens on my iPod Touch.  Now I can add even more junk. LOL! And finally, enhanced email app! Threaded messaging view & a merged inbox view! Now this is going to be super useful to me.

There are more updates in the OS but these are what caught my attention as they impact my daily use. Check here for more details of the rest of the updates. Here are a few vids of the new OS in action.

The iPhone OS4 will be out for the iPhone & iPod Touch this summer, or June 2010 to the rest of the world. iPad users will have to wait till fall, or September 2010 for it. Oh ya, one last note, not all features of the new OS will work on iPhone older than iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch 3rd Gen. Specifically multitasking won’t work which is a bummer but not surprising. What other features will not work wasn’t detailed out so I guess we have to wait till June 2010 to find out.

Ok, I’m late on this, a week late. But I think there’s enough confusion that it warrants a brief explanation on the plans DiGi is offering for their iPhone.

DiGi iPhone Plans

DiGi iPhone Payment Options

I’ll be focusing on only the iPhone 32GB model & iDiGi 88 plan as the principle is the same all across, so no point repeating it. Basically DiGi subsidise around RM1k for you, the buyer, but you pay this back monthly with RM88 which gives you a set number of calls, SMS & MMS. The confusion seems to happen on the payment options side, which even I have to admit, I didn’t get the first time I went through it.

You are given 3 options to get the phone, pay cash + 6 months monthly fee, 24 months installment or 36 months installment. Now all plans are tied to a 2 year contract so even if you take the 1st option, you will still be paying RM88 for the next 18 months. In total the 3 options works out as follows:

Option 1: RM2544 + (RM88 x 18) = RM4128

Option 2: RM176 x 24 = RM4224

Option 3: RM117 x 36 = RM4212

So you end up paying almost the same using any of the options. But of course there’s a catch. There’s a 5% service charge charged each month you pay your bills. So the longer your installment, the more service charge you pay. Simple as that. So if you can manage it, take Option 1 by all means.

Just to clarify Option 3, you’re only tied to a 2 year contract with DiGi so during the 3rd year, you’re just paying back your credit card installment & not paying for a iDiGi plan. You won’t be on ANY DiGi plans after the contract expires but you are free to sign-up for a normal DiGi plan or move to another telco.

Now I’m not going to compare DiGi plans to Maxis plans, DiGi already provided that here. Safe to say, DiGi doubles up everything on what Maxis offers for every plan. But the more important things to note are:

1) DiGi charges 1 rate to all networks for calls, SMS & MMS. This is a BIG plus to me.

2) There’s no extra charge if you go over the limit of the quota set for local internet access. Just your speed will be reduced. This is quite important as you will use the iPhone to access the internet often, not just for web browsing, but any apps that require internet connection. In fact I think even with the throttled speed after going over quota, you might still get better speed than on Maxis with it’s congested network.

So I guess my blind faith in DiGi paid off. Yes I did pre-order the iPhone, for fun, but no I didn’t get one because I’m broke. LOL!

The iPhone is not something new, but it’s now being offered by another telco in Malaysia, DiGi, breaking the monopoly of Maxis. Kind of excited but not because of the iPhone, but because it’s DiGi. I’ve been a DiGi user ever since I got a mobile phone back in 2001, so yeah I’m biased but then again, they are the ones that always bring new perks to prepaid plans that the other two telcos conveniently copies & modifies. Also, DiGi advertisements are a blast to watch, darn creative & funny. Ok, back to the topic. DiGi is still hashing out their iPhone plan rates but they have already launched their pre-order page for the iPhone. Now would I have enough blind faith in DiGi to pre-order the phone without having seen their plan rates yet? Oh yes I would! DiGi even just recently posted on Twitter asking what bugs us most about current iPhone packages & what we want most from the new DiGi iPhone plans. Love how they embrace the social community.

DiGi iPhone Pre-order

Digi Twitter Post

Then there’s the Nokia N900. The Nokia superphone. This is a phone I’ve been waiting to see, not to buy, but to test. I really like what I’ve seen with the Maemo OS though & now finally we can pre-order this phone too. Price of the phone is RM2280, where I was expecting it to be. The first 300 ppl to pre-order will get a free “Nokia Extra Power DC-11? worth RM278. Kind of like a charged up battery you can use to charge your other mobile devices. Would I get this phone instead of the iPhone? Yes I would to be honest! Unfortunately, my current financial status doesn’t allow it. So I’ll settle for testing it only, for now. 

N900 Pre-order

Unfortunately it seems that at current time & date, 15th Mar 2010 11.20pm, the N900 pre-order site is down. Overwhelming response maybe? I’ll update this when the situation changes.

So what will it be for me then? iPhone? N900? What do you guys/gals say?

UPDATE 17/03/2010: Ok the Nokia N900 pre-order page is back in business! So anyone who’s interested, go fill up the form & cross your fingers!