-:: Malaysia Mobile Tech News ::-

Looks like a lot of details are being made available in conjunction with the start of pre-orders for the Apple iPad.  If you were wondering how one would activate/deactivate the 3G service that the WiFi+3G version of the iPad supports, wonder no more.  Get it from the horse’s mouth here.  This is specific to AT&T in the US, Apple’s preferred carrier, but should work the same way the world over.  And I think this is one of the reasons why it’s taking some time for Apple to make the 3G version available in other geographies outside of the US – carrier deals have to be struck, and the proper IT and billing sub-systems have to be put in place by the carriers.

In a nutshell, I think this is how it’s going to work for us here:

1. buy a 3G iPad from a carrier with a microSIM pre-loaded inside, but not activated.  Sign some sort of a service contract at the point of purchase with the carrier.  The reason for this is that one still has to get that microSIM somewhere before using the service!
2. whenever you want service, activate it on the iPad, as illustrated on this page.
3. whenever you want to stop the service, deactivate it using the iPad, as illustrated on this page.

The part that our local carriers are going to struggle with is the notification portion – where they are supposed to warn users when the monthly data quota is close to being breached in the event that the user chooses the “limited” plan (eg. XXX MB of data for RM YYY).  I think to keep things simple our carriers may just opt for a “limited unlimited” plan – breach that 3/5GB limit and automagically get throttled to EDGE speeds or worse.

One side effect of this 3G iPad that I foresee is that there will be a number of vendors in Lowyat Plaza for example, who will be offering SIM cutting services.  And the carriers better brace themselves for customers requesting for new SIM cards for their accounts when they have a misadventure in cutting a regular SIM card down to size!

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Yep, it’s an Apple weekend (of news).  One of the most anticipated events of the year, the release of the iPad occupied many a front page of many a web site this weekend.  I’ve covered how many were estimated to be sold during the first hours, and here’s an estimate of how many has been sold during the first day – 120,000.  This is the estimation of the investor village website.  Don’t ask me how they managed to arrive at this number, but you can click here for more details.

This number only applies to the US, of course.  Based on their estimates, Apple sold more WiFi models than the WiFi + 3G models (both were up for pre-orders), while the models were evenly spread out, disk capacity wise (there are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models on sale).  Says one of the analysts who covered the orders as they were flowing in (to the study):

“Apple has been able to generate over $75 million in revenue in one day on a product that 99.9% of purchasers haven’t touched or for that matter, even seen in person,” said Victor Castroll, an analyst with Valcent Financial Group. “And, we’re still three weeks away. That is amazing.”

And that is amazing indeed.  If this is true, we will be in for a long, long wait, as I’ve mentioned before – Apple will surely satisfy demand in the richer countries first before making it available in other poorer ones.  And that’s a sad thing (for us) indeed.

In fact, the demand is reported to be so good that new in-store collections (you have two options when you pre-order – whether to have it shipped, free of charge to you, or collect it in an Apple Store closest to you) have been frozen.

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As the iPad went into pre-order yesterday, the FCC also released documentation regarding its own testing into the product, as well as additional documentation provided by Apple as part of the review process.  The FCC is the body in the US responsible for certifying all(?) IT products before they can go on sale in the US.

So, here are the new things to note, and be happy about, based on the filings:

1. it will work with any Bluetooth keyboard, not just those from Apple.
2. the iBooks app will read any ePub format ebook, not just those downloaded/purchased from the Apple iBookstore.
3. the operating system can easily recognise file types and hand them over to the appropriate application for further processing.
4. there are accessibility features for those who are vision or hearing impaired.
5. location based services will work even with WiFi only models.
6. it will support A2DP, aka Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, aka stereo Bluetooth so you can listen to your favourite music in high fidelity stereo on your BT headset.
7. there will be dedicated magazine apps; ie. the iBookstore is not the only place to purchase/download content to be consumed.

Click here for more details.

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