Thailand grants citizenship to half a million people – but not farangs

[Guest Reimar]

If you bought the phone and used it with AT&T then the cost of ownership is the rate plan commitment you have with them. Early buyers are only out $100 USD given the $100 credit offered. The problem is for those who bought a now discontinuted 4GB model.

MBK. Was full of iPhones today, with unlock signs all over the place. Prices around 22 to 25 k {without bargaining}.

Regards

Tx for the report. Good to know... mine's coming via friend for $299 (+tax)...

That's quite a difference to THB 30,000.00!! And they will come more down in price!!

I think the change of the price is very exiting for those who paid a huge price!!

Even more for those who bought via Internet or so!!

Ok but that's for the US only but not for Thailand!

[steffi]

Well the price probably doesn't make much difference to those Thais who bought the iphone as the original astronomic prices.

If you bought the phone and used it with AT&T then the cost of ownership is the rate plan commitment you have with them. Early buyers are only out $100 USD given the $100 credit offered. The problem is for those who bought a now discontinuted 4GB model.

MBK. Was full of iPhones today, with unlock signs all over the place. Prices around 22 to 25 k {without bargaining}.

Regards

Tx for the report. Good to know... mine's coming via friend for $299 (+tax)...

That's quite a difference to THB 30,000.00!! And they will come more down in price!!

I think the change of the price is very exiting for those who paid a huge price!!

Even more for those who bought via Internet or so!!

Ok but that's for the US only but not for Thailand!

[A_Traveller]

Just on the price point, the rec. retail for the Prada is 22,800 I think, so a few K more for the iPhone fits right in. My guess is if you really want one, wait a few weeks and see the prices drop at MBK. By the by my, admittedly shortish @ 1 hour, experience with the unit was that the phone sound quality was poor compared to new Nokias and Motorolas {those with the white noise circuits}, the UI was cute, but SMSing was a pain, {find the Prada a little better on that score}. Didn't like the lack of voice dialing either {though that's true for the Prada as well}, odd omission.

Regards

[Guest Reimar]

Just on the price point, the rec. retail for the Prada is 22,800 I think, so a few K more for the iPhone fits right in. My guess is if you really want one, wait a few weeks and see the prices drop at MBK. By the by my, admittedly shortish @ 1 hour, experience with the unit was that the phone sound quality was poor compared to new Nokias and Motorolas {those with the white noise circuits}, the UI was cute, but SMSing was a pain, {find the Prada a little better on that score}. Didn't like the lack of voice dialing either {though that's true for the Prada as well}, odd omission.

Regards

May you write a new report after a few days of using. The Pro's and Contra's will be interesting. I read alot in the past about comparing the iPhone to others and many of the other products looks like can do more with less limitations!

[HDRIDER]

Hi. I want a iphone. Have nokia 80 and 73M non of them very good. I use to be nokia fan.

[nikster]

Hi. I want a iphone. Have nokia 80 and 73M non of them very good. I use to be nokia fan.

Hah, I am getting an iPhone too. I had an N73M and found it so bad I traded it for a SonyEricsson P990i. Flagship model not so long ago. The amazing thing was that the P990i was much worse than the N73. It barely functions. Used to be a Nokia fan as well but they have really blown it over the last few years. I am hoping the iPhone will provide enough of a kick in the pants so they rediscover usability...

[HDRIDER]

Hi. Found 1 in MBK trying to get them to send it to Phuket. 22.700 8GB model

[jetzie]

hi, which part of MBK?

[HDRIDER]

Hi. Dont know. found a phone number on MBK web site. Dont know yet if they will send it to Phuket

[jetzie]

went by today didnt actually see the iphone, which floor was it on?

[steffi]

It will be on the 4th floor at MBK. As you go up the escalator in the middle you'll go to the next floor and turn right and head towards the end with all the shops. I know that Winner Telecom definately will be selling it and they have a number of stores there. Many others will be selling it too as well I'm sure. Winner is easy to see as they have very pretty women working in the store.

went by today didnt actually see the iphone, which floor was it on?

[HDRIDER]

Hi Guys

Just bought one from MBK over the phone, it will be here in Phuket Friday. it cost me 24.000 and not 22.700, fair enough they will send it with TNT.

[Guest Reimar]

The latest News from Apple: iPhone will be available in Europa at November 9. 2007!

Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile division will sell Apple Inc.'s iPhone in Germany, where the eagerly awaited gadget will go on sale in November, company officials said Wednesday.

The iPhone, a combined cell phone-music player that can access the Internet, will be available starting Nov. 9 and cost 399 euros ($553), Telekom CEO Rene Obermann and Apple's Chief Executive Steve Jobs told reporters in Berlin.

The announcement came a day after Apple confirmed the iPhone's first foray across the Atlantic — its launch in Britain, also on Nov. 9, through mobile operator O2.

Beyond Britain and Germany, rumors have circulated for months that Spain's Telefonica SA — the parent of O2 — and France's Orange likely would offer the device in Spain and France. None of those companies has confirmed holding talks with Apple.

Apple announced last week that it had sold 1 million iPhones in the United States in the first 74 days it was on sale, shortly after also slashing the price by a third.

News Source: Yahoo News - AP

[Gary A]

Other than having a touchpad, which I don't like anyways, what will this phone do that my Nokia N80 won't do? I'm actually still quite happy with the N80.

[cdnvic]

Other than having a touchpad, which I don't like anyways, what will this phone do that my Nokia N80 won't do?

Be cool

[A_Traveller]

OK I used {and could have bought} the iPhone for a few days, helped sell a few for the shop in MBK, {people seeing and liking} but personally despite liking it, it wasn't for me. Key reasons, 1} The phone side is just so poor, reception, call quality{!!}, and functions {no voice dial, frustrating SMS etc.} 2} There was a feel even with the glossy UI that this was a device under development. 3} The iPod Touch, slimmer, provides all the gee wiz, even 802.x and delivers on the functionality based on it's feature set. Despite Apple's claims it really is a iPhone sans phone.

Given the respective sizes, weight and practicalities, a RAZAR2 + iPod Touch is a far better combination in my opinion. For me a core issue is that the iPhone design is American centric, as was Motorola until recent revisions. I would suspect that the e-mail function would be a key selling point there, but the touch screen keypad, despite multi-touch {a UI I have experience from before} is surprisingly frustrating. Oddly enough I preferred the Prada screen where you are entering as with a phone pad. Maybe it's because one is used to the tactile 'key' element that makes screen or projected qwerty keyboards so unintuitive.

Regards

PS Am a user of both Apple and MS OS's and products over the years and am, I believe, an agnostic

/edit clarification//

Edited September 20, 2007 by A_Traveller

[HDRIDER]

Hi

Nokia N80, crap, N73M, crap

i have 2 for sale, software is bad well everything is bad, lets see if iphone is better, had Samsung as well, like it.

[nikster]

Hi

Nokia N80, crap, N73M, crap

i have 2 for sale, software is bad well everything is bad, lets see if iphone is better, had Samsung as well, like it.

Which Samsung? I liked the looks and build of the Ultra series but found the interface / functions pretty limited.

Generally the iPhone is not so cool because it's so incredibly good but because the others are so incredibly bad. Seems like most of my friends in San Francisco have iPhones now and while everyone agrees that they have drawbacks, everyone also really loves them. Which is not something that can be said about a lot of phones.

[HDRIDER]

Hi

Had SGH-D600E, SGH-F300, i like phones.

[Carmine6]

What does this website say? Is it just about the UK release of the iphone?

http://www.techxcite.com/newsdetail.php/news/487/

O2 iPhone พร้อมบุกอังกฤษแล้ว 9 พ.ย. นี้ 20/09/2550

[jetzie]

hi people, might be irrelevent to the topic but dont wish to open yet another thread just for this question.

I am using a Nokia E65 , and i was wondering if there's any thai software that can enable my mobile to read thai text? i am not in thailand now so i cant pop into MBK to get it done..

[Gary A]

Hi

Nokia N80, crap, N73M, crap

i have 2 for sale, software is bad well everything is bad, lets see if iphone is better, had Samsung as well, like it.

My wife bought a new SGH E370 Samsung and the call quality is so bad that I can't use it. My N80 Nokia has the best call quality of any phone I ever had. I keep the firmware updated and the phone has never had any problems. Maybe the only shortcoming is the WiFi. My laptop has a MUCH stronger signal when they are side by side.

What problems have you had with your N80? I don't remember what number my last Nokia smart phone was but I didn't care much for it. The N80 is much more user friendly.

[gisjames]

Hi Guys

Just bought one from MBK over the phone, it will be here in Phuket Friday. it cost me 24.000 and not 22.700, fair enough they will send it with TNT.

Saw them in MBK today, had a little play, seemed brilliant to me.

24500 baht starting price, didn't bother haggling as wasn't intending to buy today.

Anyone bought one from MBK yet?

HDRIDER, did yours arrive?

Were there any functions missing?

[Guest Reimar]

The iPhone is available at IT-Mall Fortune by many shops on 2. Floor as well. Starting price is about THB 24,000

[Abrak]

Yeah love the new iphone.

Available at MBK Bt21000 for the 4gb and Bt24000 for the 8GB. I bought one and kept my Nokia thinking that I might only use the ipod for fun. Actually it is easy to use and has some pretty cool apps. Will probably sell my nokia now.

Seems to do everything pretty well.

If you buy one make sure you get some of the third party apps that have been programmed for the iphone downloaded onto your phone to.

[tjo o tjim]

I've finally hacked my iPhone to add some third party applications, and I am pretty happy with it now. A few of the basic annoyances can be dealt with now, although there are still a few complaints.

For browsing the web, it simply can't be beat. For the feel -- size, weight, texture -- it kicks the pants off of everything else I have looked at. It makes my Blackberry feel clunky and the new Blackberries feel cheap. The Nokia smart phones don't come close, nor does the Q or the Treo. I actually used the iPod function for the second time in almost three months, and got a call... slick integration!

The dirty little secrets no Apple fan will tell you?

E-Mail is awful. Don't get me wrong, e-mail is awful on most smart phones. The only exception is the Blackberry. It is a function of trying to make the thing work with POP more than anything. The big text size and portrait orientation reduce reading comprehension capability with short lines of text.

The other one? Make sure you have a pen and paper if you need to dial a conference line or something that requires a phone number and then a long PIN or second telephone number. No copy and paste is a real pain.

Won't go back to anything else just yet, but losing faith that Apple will address my problems in the next six months.

[nikster]

Finally got iPhone - it doesn't disappoint. The software is so much more refined than any other phone out there, Nokia et. al should go stand in the corner and cry. Everything works beautifully. Ever noticed how the screen jitters, stuff kinda shakes the screen a bit when you change apps - some delay? NONE of that on the iPhone. Everything is smooth and fast. Connects to WiFi in a second.

I took a brand new AT&T iPhone from its box and unlocked it with the instructions here:

http://www.theiphoneunlock.com/free-unlock-manual-english/

I tried the anySIM application prior to that and to my great disappointment it just didn't work. But the Unlock.app from the above instructions works just beautifully - restart and the phone is unlocked. I also have AppTapp which lets you browse existing applications and download/install them and I am kinda surprised that there seem to be TONS of applications already out there! Quite surprising given that Apple doesn't officially support them and that you need to jailbreak the phone to upload these.

Email is a lot better than on any symbian phone I have owned - but I grant that that set the bar rather low. I found email to be OK so far, very fast in retrieving my IMAP mail. The browser is amazing and pretty much as good as it can be on a screen that small - in fact, it's better than you'd imagine it could be. It's very usable. Very nice touch that it synced not only the whole address book from my computer, but also all my bookmarks.

Only drawback I could see so far was that the ringing is on the quiet side. Forget about hearing that in any Thai shopping mall.

For the geeks out there, it's surely irresistible to be able to ssh into your toy and find a full blown unix underneath...

Edited September 24, 2007 by nikster

[HDRIDER]

Hi Guys

Yes, i got my iphone, not home right now so only used it for about 2 hours, it is very nice to use, bye bye Nokia, well using my 5410 on work, only be course it can handle rough work

Had a lot of problems with N80, my girlfriend have it now, good for her, only use it as a phone, it open itself in the pocket, no lock, and software problems, and very very slow.

[Guest Reimar]

Interesting how the prices drops for the iPhone. Take a look at the PIC from eBay:

[nikster]

Interesting how the prices drops for the iPhone. Take a look at the PIC from eBay:

Umm... current bid doesn't really mean anything, you have to wait & see what they actually sell for.

Though I can imagine prices dropping because of two things:

- The one-button unlock application can't be far off. I had to follow a lot of instructions to unlock my phone - simple but not convenient. But there wasn't anything in these instructions that couldn't be automated by software. And if it can be done, it will be done.

- Tough rhetoric on hackers by Apple. Apple released a statement that in essence said that they can't guarantee future iPhone updates will not brick hacked phones. But they worded it very strongly so that many people interpreted it as a sign that Apple is now actively going after hacked phones. Only time will tell... but prices of hacked phones will be dropping as the risk increases.