Siu Lun

While they’re trying to compete in the areas of processor speed, cameras, location-awareness etc…

One thing Android based phones have already won over the iPhone equivalent is background notifications.

Apps on Android can run in the background. This feature is so crucial and often understated or under-valued…

Imagine:
You’re on your phone, you don’t have the time or patience to check your twitter updates. Or your constantly evolving calendar schedule that is not compatible with the in-built one from Apple that is being maintained by your PA.

On Android, all you have to do is leave your phone on. Your app will notify you of any new changes. Great.

On iPhone, you have to open your tweetdeck, your ical app/lotus notes app in order to check. Not a big problem… just that today is like any other day. You just came out of a client meeting that has overruned and you’re in a hurry going to your next one. You’re revising your notes, repeating the lines in your head. You arrive at your destination. The meeting changed. Bugger.

If Apple don’t put their gear up soon. Android will be slicing away at their market.

A repeat of the ancient Macintosh vs PC era?

I searched the net the other day for iPhone 3GS information in Hong Kong. Some people has posted some different information to what I was told today by a Three iPhone 3GS sales person.

Here is the information on their official website

I was told that for the top-of-the-range price plan (HK$398 p/m). The handset cost is HK$3580. Plus you have to pay a HK$1100 which is rebate to you over 12 months.

Now then I am on the $268 price plan. The handset cost for me is HK$4180. Plus I have to pay an extra HK$500 which is rebate to me over 12 months.

This basically means. Regardless of price plan, you have to pay HK$4680. It is just that over time, the guys with the high price plan gets more money back (roughly as you can see HK$500, which isn’t much).

PLUS. You have to sign up an additional 12 months contract AND a HK$28 “value-added services” to your price plan (it doesn’t matter if you already have VAS in your current plan the $28 is on top of). This would bump my plan to $296. Over a year it is HK$366 extra. (bear in mind this isn’t just over a year, this is actually over the course of your remaining contract).

I already have a 24 months contract and I’ve used about 6-8 months so far.

Any how..

Net Payment then is actually HK$3580+HK$366 for ($398 price plan) and HK$4180+HK$366 for ($268 price plan).

For me, this means I have to pay HK$4546 to get the upgrade, but the cost of the 3GS on the Apple Store HK is HK$5388.

HK$5388-HK$4546 = HK$812

For that price difference. I would much rather buy the handset standalone than to upgrade my phone and be forced into extending my contract. (I can see a release cycle of 178 days which is around about 6 months for the iPhone, if I keep doing this, my contract would be longer than my life expectancy -.-”)

I have either been told wrong, or the guy at http://hongkongphooey.wordpress.com/ has got it wrong. It isn’t HK$2,480 net price but HK$3946 for the HK$398 price plan.

The above information is all for the 16GB version