A collection of travel stories and food reviews, my published pieces on politics and relationships, the stories behind the stories, gossip, and hearty opinions on just about any topic. Lots of stream of consciousness musings too...
iPhone users complain of skyrocketing roaming charges
MANILA, Philippines - Mounting complaints on hefty roaming charges slapped on traveling wireless phone subscribers have triggered the National Telecommunication Commission to call the attention of local mobile phone companies.
NTC chief Gamaliel Cordoba said the complaints were directed mostly to Globe Telecom, which has inked a deal with Apple to carry iPhone among its list of handsets offered to subscribers.
Cordoba said he will ask the mobile phone companies to address this issue during a meeting on Thursday.
"There will be a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) with them. This needs to be addressed immediately because there were so many complaints from subscribers who brought their iPhones and iPad tablets with them abroad during the holiday season," said Cordoba. (Click ABS-CBN News for the rest.)
This was the band featured by Jeanne Moss in CNN (subsequently picked up by ANC). Very creative group of guys. And very catchy song, actually.
I don't know what app they were using but if you've been a long-time Mac user like me, you know that each Macbook comes with a Garage Band app that enables you to create your own songs, and play musical instruments therein. You can also record the same after and turn your songs into mp3's.
According to Jeanne Moss, Apple has already been in touch w/ Atomic Tom's record label to discuss some future projects. Coolness. Oh yeah, that guy playing the "guitar" is unmistakeably Pinoy. Woo-hoo! ;p
OKAY, so who's salivating over Apple's new iPad? Raise your hands.
If you're an Apple nut like I am (although I don't own an iPhone because I think it sucks), you were also probably on the edge of your seats early this morning monitoring the presentation of chief Appleseed Steve Jobs of the company's latest creation, the iPad.
To PC users, I could probably describe the iPad as a cross bet. a netbook, a Kindle, and iPhone – all that in a 9.6"x7.5" sized tablet no thicker than 0.5". No doubt about it, it's gorgeous. Its graphics display look very crisp and vibrant, making it supposedly a joy to watch videos/films, look at photos, and play games on it. Having the same multi-touch technology as the iPhone, it looks easy to navigate, much like an iPhone.
(Joketime!)
It has wi-fi and 3G capability so you can use it to surf the net seamlessly and call, just like an ordinary cellphone (only bigger). Problem w/ the latter though, it only uses a microSIM, instead of the usual-sized SIM cards most of us have in our cellphones. Some sites suggest that despite it being an open line device, its use of the microSIM ensures that only U.S. buyers will subscribe to AT&T w/c has an exclusivity deal w/ Apple. I dunno if Apple intends to release an iPad w/c accommodates the regular-sized SIM for Europe and Asia, esp. since the latter is one of its fastest growing markets. (Maybe we can ask Smart or Globe if they're considering switching to the microSIM anytime soon.)
One of its selling points, I'd say, is its Kindle-like feature, because it uses the new app iBook. Apple has closed numerous deals w/ various publishers, making available thousands and thousands of books for downloading. All an iPad user has to do is click the device's built-in iBookstore and download the book she wants (for a price of course). Will this be available in the Philippines? I don't know. Remember when the iTunes store first opened and it didn't allow purchases made from Asia? (I don't buy stuff from iTunes, so I'm not sure if that situation still exists.) Hopefully, the Philippines will be able to access iBookstore.
While it looked easy for Steve Jobs to type on the iPad, I'm not quite sure how our bodies will deal with this smaller device. I imagine a lot of cricks in the neck and sore shoulders from trying to schooch down and type on its keyboard, and yes, even if you use an external keyboard and hitch the iPad to its dock. Btw, you would have to buy the external keyboard, the wireless variety.
With that much advanced technology and apps available, it's amazing that the iPad is reasonably-priced starting at $499 for the 16GB model. The price goes up depending on the memory and the additional specs like 3G (plus $130).
This being a new device, I would wait for at least a year until all the bugs are fixed and the design is finalized. Apple critics hail the iPad as definitely packing a WOW factor, but still falls short in some areas. Of course, with competitive prices like Apple has for this device, its understandable that the company wouldn't pack it w/ features that say, the Macbook has. Don't think of it as a smaller Macbook. Think of it as a bigger iPhone. (Or as my friend quipped on his FB status, "***** Is content with the thought his old iPhone is the new iPad nano.")
Still, I would consider buying it bec. as a journalist, I find that it'll make my coverage of events easier and more portable. Right now, I lug around my Macbook when I cover an event and it is still pretty bulky to carry around. I've been toying around the idea of buying a netbook but didn't like the fact that it uses the Windows platform.
Unfortunately, the iPad doesn't have a webcam so you can't video chat, nor does it use flash technology w/c many websites now use, nor does it have a USB port to connect your devices like cameras and printers. You need to buy a camera connection kit, for instance, to enable you to transfer your photos from your camera, as the iPad also doesn't have a card reader. Still, I'm salivating for it, but will probably wait a year to see how things develop.
Oh yes, it does play music too, like an iPod. Now here's the real video on the iPad:
Also, a story from NYT about this "revolutionary" product.
FOR those wondering what happened to Net activist Gerry Kaimo's complaint to Globe's Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Jaza) regarding his phone charges, I'm posting Gerry's email to our yahoogroup re: the resolution to the problem:
Hi Gang,
I brought my problem to the top, and got my problems solved the next day.
Also, I was given a tutorial for the blackberry i replaced the iPhone with. (Actually my GF won the BB in a raffle so I just sold the iPhone. She gave me a BlackBerry that cost nothing. It's a Curve model at that). What a relief.
Globe and I also agreed on an amount, not the P27,000 on my bill, far from it.
All's well that end well. But John (Silva) was right. Unless you bring it to the top, it is very difficult to get things moving.
In my case I felt that things could have been handled at a manager's level, but apparently a lot of phone calls around their network by their head honcho got my problem resolved. My faith in Globe restored, am enjoying the BB. It's easy to operate and can handle up to ten emails, though a caveat- remember that you will be paying for airtime for ten email accounts. I set mine to my *****@mac.com and will probably use that and that alone for my BB. I wonder when the time will come when things get settled at that level as it should but I think many people, even at a VP level, are afraid to "overplease" the customer (as if there was suck a thing) and opt to let clients hang out to dry rather than make a decision like giving the customer a rebate. Hopefully one day we shall get somewhere better in terms of customer service. Also, Globe has lost a few really good people like Gracie Khoe and Lance Agudo (head of customer service). And those were real customer oriented people.
As for those who still have the iPhone, congrats for being able to keep your bills down.
MY old friend Gerry Kaimo has been tearing his hair out over his Apple iPhone/Globe Telecom service because his phone bill had skyrocketed to P27,000 in just two months, all because of the default Internet settings.
I've checked the Philmug site and apparently this problem of overbilling by Globe has been happening since the phone was introduced last year. So if you're still thinking of buying such a unit, please be warned. Globe's customer relations system isn't exactly the most efficient in the industry, so you may want to ask a lot of questions about your unit first and Globe's charges before making that final purchase. It also helps to make friends w/ the techie guys. (The Philmug site does have suggested procedures to adjust your Internet setttings and thus protect yourself from getting overbilled. So check that out, too.)
Let's hear it from Gerry:
To all of you out there who may have bought the Mac iPhone. Please consult your nearest Globe Tech Support. There is no manual, so it's a guessing game mostly. I was at Globe Towers today and found out that I was not the only one who had a problem with this Mac iPhone.
My month's first bill came up to a whopping P15,000+. Second month seventeen I think. Basta the total was P27,000 FOR TWO MONTHS!! It was because of the settings. You all know that this iPhone lacks a manual. Mac does not give out manuals. You have to source a third party manual to learn about your Apple product. Thing is, Globe COULD HAVE given their buyers lessons, even if they had to charge them for it. Consider this: If you had a choice between paying a thousand peso seminar fee to save tens of thousands, that's still a good deal.
Thing is, they knowingly sold a phone with no manual and NOT ENOUGH techies to help the customers who paid almost forty thousand pesos for the iPhone. What happened to me also happened, according to a Globe employee who shall remain unknown because they could fire him for being honest to me. At any rate, I was told that my fifteen thousand and then seventeen thousand bills were NOTHING compared to the other customers who ran up bills of 37,000-forty thousand peso monthly bills. They should have warned us. They COULD at least have warned us. But no, it is apparently more important that Globe sell tons of iPhones before more people learn that if you are not INFORMED (caveat emptor, remember?) before people find out that they will be paying thousands more than their usual bills.
FOUL by GLOBE. A deed MOST FOUL. A warning that if you don't set the phone right, you can end up paying thousands monthly. I wonder what Globe will do to let me have it. I wonder if they will... After all, messengers are apt to get punished in this country, just ask Jun Lozada. But no matter. Do what you must. But hey, do the right thing and call your iPhone buyers. And please stop telling your tech support people to encourage your customers to switch their plans from per kilobyte to 5 PESOS FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES. because the fifteen minutes keeps going and going and going. FOUL PLAY by GLOBE, in my opinion, they should clarify. CLARIFY and inform your customers of what may may ahead of them.
That's all from me. Globe's turn. If you had the same problem, please pass this on. Help the others who may just now be getting the shaft. Thanks.
Last I heard from Gerry, he has written Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman of Globe Telecom, about this issue. I hope Gerry gets an answer soon.
(GOT this press release from Greenpeace. Seems our friend Steve Jobs hasn't kept up to his promises of making Apple products more environmentally-friendly, the iPhone included. Dang! And I'm using an iBook to write this.)
Manila/Amsterdam, 16 October 2007 - Apple´s iPhone contains hazardous chemicals and materials, according to the results of scientific tests commissioned by Greenpeace and released today. This is the first testing of an Apple product following the commitment by Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, to a `Greener Apple´, in May 2007.
An independent scientific laboratory tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone´s antenna, in which they (1) made up 10 percent of the total weight of the flexible circuit board. A mixture of toxic phthalate esters (2) was found to make up 1.5 percent of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone cables.
The insight into the components of the iPhone is presented in the Greenpeace report, `Missed call: the iPhone´s hazardous chemicals´(3). This is the third time that Greenpeace has tested an Apple product since 2006. Similar analyses of a MacBook Pro and an iPod Nano also revealed the presence of brominated flame retardants and PVC in some components.
Apple launched the iPhone into the US market in June 2007. The discovery of hazardous chemicals suggests that Apple is failing to make early progress, even in entirely new product lines, towards achieving its commitment to phase-out all uses of brominated compounds and PVC by the end of 2008.
"Apple could have demonstrated that it is a true industry leader with a green iPhone. Unfortunately, Apple missed that call and the public is left with an Apple that is no greener than what was promised by Steve Jobs in May,” said Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia toxics campaigner. “We need to see that the talk of “a greener Apple” is matched with real products in the market,” Baconguis added.
Dr. David Santillo, Senior Scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, coordinated the project and deconstructed the iPhone for analysis. He said, "Two of the phthalate plasticisers found at high levels in the headphone cable are classified as "toxic to reproduction, category 2" because of their long-recognised ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals. While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals from its products range."
Steve Jobs is proud dada to the iPhone (Photo from BusinessWeek)
During its analysis, Greenpeace also found that the iPhone´s battery was, unusually, glued and soldered in to the handset. This hinders battery replacement and makes separation for recycling, or appropriate disposal, more difficult, and therefore adds to the burden of electronic waste.
"Apple is playing catch-up with its other competitors. If it wants to grab industry leadership, it must respond to calls of designing out all toxic substances from its products so that risks from production, recycling and disposal are avoided,” Baconguis concluded.
(1) Bromine: Whether in additive or reactive form, the presence of high proportions by weight of bromine in electronic components is of concern with respect to the disposal or recycling of end-of-life iPhone handsets, as even cross-linked organic-bound bromine can contribute to the formation of toxic chemicals, including persistent and bioaccumulative brominated dioxins and related compounds during thermal destruction or processing.
(2) Phthalates: The European Directive 2005/84/EC prohibits the use of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate(DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate(BBP) in all toys or childcare articles put on the market in Europe (with a limit of 0.1% by weight).
For more information: Click on the Greenpeace Toxics campaign web site here.
(Btw, what's this I hear about Palm employees using the iPhone as their personal phone? The horrors! Apparently it's true, according to a family friend whose brother works with Palm. They took apart the iPhone and found the insides superior, so they've taken to the device (well, geeks will be geeks). No worries Treo junkies like me. I have faith that Palm will be putting its own spin on the iPhone to come up with an even more superior product with all the lovely basic features we have come to depend on.)
