How’d you like an unlocked iPhone 3G at S$878?

Local newspaper Apple Daily has reported yesterday (see the 27th Sep edition if you read traditional Chinese) that parallel imported iPhone 3Gs here in Hong Kong are now priced between HK$4,780 (SG$878) to HK$4,880, while the 16GB version is between HK$5,780 (SG$1061) to HK$6,080.

That’s HK$620 or about SG$114 less than what the HK Apple Store is selling the 8GB version for.

The cons of saving that bit of money are – no local warranty, and the article reports that most of the parallel imported iPhones, which are from the US, have a SIM slot that is slightly different and requires the addition of a copper piece to make local SIMs (HK and SG SIMs are the same) fit. I’d presume the US SIM slots are larger? Oh, and they’d probably have to be unlocked via ZiPhone or similar iPhone unlocking software, which should be a simple two and a half minute process if its similar to what I had to do with the 2.5G iPhone.

In any case, don’t hold your breath for these HK phone dealers to drop their prices any further. The article reports that they are still seeing brisk sales, and they are expecting loads of iPhone buyers from China over the upcoming “Golden Week” holiday.

Albert posted in a comment to this post that the iPhone 3G can be had for SG$800 in Beijing, so HK certainly isn’t the cheapest!

Well, sure beats the HK$8000-9000 that they were costing when they were first parallel imported here!

Hong Kong’s online Apple Store has started selling unlocked iPhone 3Gs! To my knowledge, its the only Apple Store to be doing that. Not cheap though!

The 8GB is HK$5,400 (SG$990) and the 16GB is HK$6,200 (SG$1,133). Ouch. Shipping is free, and its supposed to ship “within 24 hours”.

The site says: “iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.”

So it seems like Three’s exclusive deal for the iPhone 3G lasted just 2 and a half months, since it was first launched here on July 11. And it seems like Three has sweetened their iPhone plans with “free unlimited wifi“. And all this happening right after the G1 launch. Hmm.

Just in case you didn’t already know, Apple’s warranty for the iPhone 3G is local only – “Warranty service is restricted to the country where Apple or its authorized distributors originally sold the iPhone.”

Hey Alf, want one?

A little late but better late than never … Sigma yesterday announced the DP2 compact digital camera – barely 6 months after the launch of the ground-breaking DP1.

In case you didn’t know, the DP1 was its first kick ass FOVEON sensor point and shoot that soon became every amateur photographer’s dream P&S. I’d love to have one so I need not have to lug around my EOS 350D DSLR with a 18-50mm, especially on those days when I think I might take some photos but really end up just taking the cam out for some fresh air.

Now the DP2 gets the same 14 megapixel FOVEON sensor as used in the DP1 and the SD14 DSLR. Sounds like too many megapix? Well, don’t forget its a FOVEON sensor so pixel resolution-wise, its actually 2,652×1,768×3 layers. And the key thing is that for a compact cam, this sensor is physically big: 20.7mm x 13.8mm.

T-Mobile G1 aka HTC Dream

As anticipated, Google launched the first phone with its Android OS just a while ago in New York. The device, also known as the T-Mobile G1 and HTC Dream, comes with the following specs:

-Qualcomm 528MHz chip
-ROM: 256MB, RAM: 192MB
-156 grams with battery
-3.2-inch TFT screen
-HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps (making its one of the fastest ones out there and able to take advantage of StarHub’s speedy network here).
-3.2-megapixel camera
-Trackball (interesting!)

Showing off the Google Android screen

It will go on sale in the US for US$179 on Oct 22. I’ll find out more about Singapore pricing and update you folks soon about Google’s new foray into the mobile space.

UPDATE: HTC has declined to say when the phone will be out in the rest of the world (outside the US and Europe). But if I’ll be surprised if they don’t make it here in the next 2-3 months (the Diamond was here in SG shortly after its Europe launch)

In the past few months, it’s been photographed and it’s been talked about to no end. No, I’m not thinking of the iPhone, which has a fast-growing list of flaws that now includes a faulty charger that may electrocute users.

I’m talking about Google’s Android phone, dubbed “Dream”, which will be out tonight Singapore time (Tuesday United States time).

One of the worst-kept secrets (even Apple couldn’t keep its iPhone completely under wraps), the Android phone will likely come with both a slide-out keypad and a touch-screen. It is also said to have a tilt sensor, so you can play “true 3D” games, a la the Apple iPhone and HTC Touch Diamond.

But will Google change the game?

Arc Mouse

Here’s a mouse that will feel comfy whether you use in on the desktop or on the go. Say hi to Microsoft’s Arc Mouse, which as its name suggests, is shaped like an arc.

The real innovation, however, is that it folds up to 60 per cent of its original size, making it easy to carry. When you want to use it, simple unfold it. Why didn’t anyone else think of this before?

Nokia ovi

A year after announcing its ovi online services, Nokia today showed off a near-complete version of its answer to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s online offerings here in Singapore.

At a demo for reporters at the Geek Terminal cafe here, it presented new features like remote file sharing and sync’ing of contacts.

ovi is Nokia’s attempt to hook up its phone users to online services, seeing how Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are reaching out to mobile users through their Web-based e-mail, calendaring and productivity offerings. Let’s not also forget Apple and its tightly-integrated iTunes and recently, MobileMe application.

When fully ready, Nokia’s ovi offers the usual calendaring, contacts backup, as well as maps and games. Sounds like Google? Yup. Reminds you a bit of Apple’s iTunes and AppStore? Uh huh.

Concept and ambition: A. Design aesthetics: A+. Gameplay: C-.  Four mini-games and a shallow end game do not a great game make.

Don’t get me wrong. Spore is not a bad game. It is polished and a mish-mash of some really interesting concepts. But in no way does this make Spore a good game, and it feels like a tiny sandbox with very little room for folks to play in.

In Spore, who was designed by famed game designer Will Wright,  (co-founder of Maxis and creator of unique sandbox games like SimCity and The Sims), one gets to play life through five stages: from a small amoeba object, to an evolved creature, followed by a tribal, then civilized, and finally space-faring stage.

For me Spore really only shines — and briefly — during the space stage. Everything else is padding and would do well as separate small mini-games, but in no way would they all constitute as a fully flesh-out game.

Just returned from a trip down to the computer centre in Mongkok here in Hong Kong and found that the prices of many Netbooks have been slashed – and they are really selling well.

Was there with a friend to buy the Asus Eee PC 1000H 80GB and found that in the month and a half since my girlfriend bought hers, the price has dropped more than 10 per cent. ARGGH! It was HK$4,650 then, and now, we managed to get it down to HK$4,150 if you paid cash!

While the tech media were busy swooning over Google Chrome this past week, I’ve been busy trying out Firefox’s newest browser version – Firefox 3.1, the curiously-dubbed Shiretoko. And I give this, still buggy (Shiretoko is still in Alpha 2, after all) and newest web browser from Mozilla, top marks.