Is Globe ready to support the new iPhone?

AT&T has announced that it will not support the iPhone's MMS and Tethering features for a while, so it might worry some of the folks here in the Philippines. Will Globe do the same thing and screw over Globe users who want to have the iPhone 3GS in July or the iPhone 3G owners who will download the 3.0 firmware next week?

The answer is no.

Fortunately enough, Globe has raised support of immediately supporting all iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS along with more than 20 carriers around the world, so no worries about the network screwing up. 7.2 MBps HSDPA will also be supported.

iPhone 3G (the old one) now $99

Despite persistent rumors of Apple announcing a new low-priced 4GB iPhone to the mass market, Apple didn't do so and cut the price of the old iPhone instead. Now the 8GB iPhone 3G sells for just a hundred dollars with a two-year plan on AT&T in America. This change has yet to be seen in Philippine shores, but it will probably happen only when the new iPhone 3G S comes to our shores. Greenhills imports excluded.

UPDATE: The Hong Kong online Apple store has reflected the changes made to the line-up and now offers the old 8GB iPhone for HK $4288, basically 26353.17 pesos unlike the 30000+ pesos it used to cost. That's the open line, though.

iPod touch 2G unlocked?

It seems that the iPhone dev team have more of accidentally found an exploit for 'a certain device that fits in your pocket'. When commented on it perhaps being the 2nd generation iPod touch, a dev team member commented on it as related, especially since the post explicitly states that it's not iPhone 3G related... not right now.

The ever-cryptic hacking group only gave out this website which only contains the image below:

Perhaps we'll have to wait and see.

Tap tap tap to the next level

Tapulous, maker of popular iPhone apps, has sent me an e-mail regarding 2 major projects they have come out with, and I was just amazed when I clicked the iTunes Store link. Unfortunately, unlike the original Tap Tap Revenge, they're not free.

Tap Tap Dance

Featuring Technologic by Daft Punk as an unlockable, this game is a sneak peek of the future of the popular game, Tap Tap Revenge. I saw the screenshot with low expectations (because I thought that Tapulous was gonna start milking the popular app starting today) and I was just... blown away.

Tapulous has to make a few adjustments on it, because it kinda lags- and they know it.

Christmas with Weezer

I'm not that crazy about this one, but it's cute. If you wanna get on with the Christmas spirit (plus bonus tracks) then be my guest and get Christmas with Weezer and is actually probably the Tap Tap Revenge version that tries to milk the franchise. You know, like the Nine Inch Nails version. But I guess Tapulous has to pay the bills, eh? Don't really understand why Apple has to charge a hundred dollars a year for the App Store, TBH.

But is it me, or does the name Weezer sound like a nickname for a person with asthma?

Stuff I Missed in my iPhone 3G Review

I forgot to mention the iPhone 3G's Bluetooth features, which are extremely limited. How, you say? Well, typically you are able to transfer files from cellphone to cellphone via Bluetooth. Here? Definitely not. The only use for Bluetooth is for the hands-free Bluetooth headsets. Yes, it can still pair with another phone/computer with Bluetooth, but what can you do while a mobile phone or computer is paired? Nothing except being able to unpair. It can't at least be the receiving end of the file you want to send, so, yes, if I want to send my dad's iPhone some kind of music file, it's a lost cause.

However, I've updated the firmware of my dad's iPhone 3G (to the latest 2.1), and you know what? Many performance and call quirks we experienced are virtually non-existent now. Back-up times in iTunes are dramatically speedier, and so is application installation. Now we don't have to wait 20 minutes for back-up to finish!

Plus, the iPhone is responsive after hanging up from a call. The screen is actually supposed to detect your face so it will black out when calling. You know, avoid accidental button pushing via your cheeks, and it now works excellently. When your face gets out of the screen after calling (or when you want to hang up), everything will appear as it should. It's actually a nice touch now that I know why the screen wouldn't show up unless it wanted to before updating.

Speaking of calling, the signal we get around here has significantly improved. Back then, 3G was next to impossible to get. Now, reception is very strong.

Apps are generally more stable, and so is Safari. The screen, while already snappy and responsive, is impossibly even more zippy! 2.1 is the update to get, even though yes, there's still no video recording, no copy and paste, no MMS and no SMS forwarding, but if you already love your iPhone 3G or iPod touch even before this update, you'll love it even more after updating.

Now if only it wasn't such a beast. (230+ MB download?!)

My rating for the iPhone 3G still won't change, so I stand by my 7.5 rating. I actually wanted to decrease the score by 0.5 because of the limited Bluetooth functionality, but the update straightened other things out, so you can say that they, like protons and neutrons, cancel each other.