Apple’s just released iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone and 3.2.2 for the iPad, both of which close the PDF exploit used by JailbreakMe.

Comex has pulled it off again with a great jailbreak. Spirit v2.0 is now released and all devices can once again be jailbroken. This one is very easy to use. You don’t even need a guide. Here are the steps:
1) Load safari on your iphone2) Type in http://jailbreakme.com3) Slide to jailbreak4) Wait and soon you have Cydia.
Just like spirit 1, this is a user-mode jailbreak which requires you to be able to load safari on the device.
I strongly urge you all to visit comex’s site and donate to him to help motivate him to find further jailbreaks in the future.

Note: there is an indication that on 4.0, you lose mms and facetime if you’re on an iphone 4. I recommend you update to 4.0.1 before jailbreaking. The facetime issue is being looked at now.

As Asian users gets their hands on the iPhone 4 today, more reports are coming out in various forums about the various problems surrounding the iPhone 4.

In Singapore, all 3 operators are selling the iPhone 4. It is reported that some oeprators have stocks witih default IOS 4.0 while some IOS 4.0.1

While this doesn’t really matter, it just shows that there are probably 2 batches of goods available.

It is said that some batches do experience the death grip problem. The signal indicator drops to 1 bar when you grip it by covering the antenna. If the bumper is used, the problem goes away. As there are two batches, it is unsure if those with 4.0.1 experience any problems.

In Hong Kong, operator CSL is alleged to benefit from the FaceTime activation by charging users from this service. CSL charges SMS fee of HKD 3 (in HK)or- 4  (roaming) everytime you run this feature.

So, you would probably be paying more unknowingly (if you don’t read T&C). So far, other operators do not require you to pay for this feature.

Facetime is a new feature of the iPhone 4 allowing you to do video conferencing between two users within the same wifi network.

All 3 telcos in Singapore will be offering the iPhone 3GS 8GB, iPhone 4 16GB and iPhone 4 32GB on 30th Jul 2010.

All 3 telcos plans are quite similar, they come with 12GB bundled data or unlimited (depending on plans). Free locals minutes ranges from 100mins,300mins,700min or unlimited talk time. M1′s price for the iPhone 4 retails for S$480 and S$620. As for the iPhone 3GS 8GB , M1 also offers the Take 3 plan.

Although M1 doesn’t offer free video streaming, it offers a slightly cheaper plan compared to the two other telcos.

It may not have free tv programmes but it has free calls to 3 M1 friends which definitely saves you a lot of money if your friend is also a M1 subscriber.

M1 price plans

Starhub Plans

Starhub plans are a bit more expensive. The cheapest 3G SmartSurf 100 is priced at S$38 compared to S$36. The number of minute, SMS, bundled data  is the same as M1 value plan. The Smartsurf 700 plan is priced the same but the Unlimited plan is S$205,  more than what M1 offers at S$198. (you get the iphone 4 16GB for free). The iPhone 4 16GB is at S$500 while 32GB is at S$630, S$10 and S$20 more expensive that the M1 plans.

As Starhub comes with Free TV mobile viewing, the extra $2 allows you to get entertained on the move with its selected tv channels. On the other hand, with more mobile users viewing mobile tv, it will also mean slower HSPA+ access.

Singtel plans

Singtel’s pricing for the phones are identical to Starhub’s. The iFlexi lite and value has a higher subscription per month but the  iFlexi Plan is slightly cheaper than M1′s and Starhub’s. The iFlexi Premium only has a 30GB data compared to unlimited on both M1 and Starhub.

For Iphone plans on Singtel. Users are offered SingTel AMPed to Enjoy unlimited music downloads on your PC and mobile at no data charge with SingTel AMPed. You can create and share your very own playlists, get pre-album releases, receive invites to exclusive showcases and more.

It also has MobileTV of selected channels from its suite of pay tv channels (no detail information about it).

Conclusion

Out of the three telcos, M1 and Singtel has the cheapest handset pricing for it’s S$36-S$39 and S$56-S$58 plans. In terms of contract, you will pay slightly more for Starhub and Singtel but they offer unlimited music for Singtel Amped while both Starhub and Singtel offers some pay tv channels for entertainment.

As we have mentioned before, carriers that has streaming tv using HSPA+ tends to slow down the network especially during peak hours. So far M1 seems to have the fastest network as it is not choked down with video streams. This might change when they become a IPTV operator in the future.

So plain vanilla users who wants the best price plan and speed, I personally feel that M1 is the better choice of the 3. For best entertainment, Starhub would be the choice if you want to watch tv on the go with the best pay tv channels on your small screen. If you want free music, Singtel will be your choice.

A summary of the best telcos offers can be seen here

http://en.ocworkbench.com/mobile-news/comparison-chart-of-price-plans-of-iphone-4-by-m1-singtel-and-starhub/

Singapore,   27 July 2010   –  SingTel today announced that it will launch iPhone 4 in Singapore on 30 July 2010.

StarHub launches iPhone 4 in Singapore on 30 July 2010

Singapore, 27 July 2010 – StarHub today announced that it will launch iPhone 4 for its mobile customers in Singapore on 30 July 2010.

The newest iPhone features FaceTime, which makes the dream of video calling a reality, and Apple’s stunning new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, images and video. iPhone 4 also features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time—in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features. The revolutionary App Store provides access to more than 200,000 apps including the new iMovie app built just for iPhone 4.

“Since our launch of iPhone in December last year, demand continues to be very high among our customers,” said Mr Ng Long Shyang, StarHub’s Head of Sales and Marketing. “StarHub’s mobile service is the perfect complement to iPhone 4, with its intuitive user-interface and elegant design as well as a multitude of content and applications, including our mobile TV application which gives customers 20 premium StarHub TV channels on iPhone completely free.”

StarHub currently offers four 3G SmartSurf price plans. All these plans come with StarHub’s iconic mobile features including unlimited free incoming voice calls, per-second billing, 100 free SMS with GIRO bill payment and free StarHub IDD 018 calls to 18 destinations for $5 monthly. In addition, local data usage charges are capped at $30 monthly so mobile users have great peace of mind when they go online.

M1 Press Release

SINGAPORE, 27 July 2010 – M1 today announced that it will launch iPhone 4 in Singapore on 30 July. Customers can select from a range of available tariff plans, including the Take3 programme that offers iPhone 4 at no upfront cost and the Value plan that offers monthly subscriptions as low as $36.

iPhone 4 features FaceTime, which simplifies video calling, and Apple’s stunning new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, images and video. iPhone 4 also features a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time – in a beautiful all new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features. The revolutionary App Store provides access to more than 200,000 apps including the new iMovie app built just for iPhone 4.

“We are excited to bring iPhone 4 to our customers on the most advanced network in Singapore,” said P Subramaniam, Chief Marketing Officer of M1. “We offered revolutionary plans for iPhone 3GS and are extending the same unbeatable value to customers buying iPhone 4.”

M1 will celebrate the iPhone 4 launch at 12:00 AM on 30 July at its flagship store at Paragon for invited customers only. Invited customers can also obtain the iPhone 4 from 9am, 30 July at M1 shops at Plaza Singapura, West Mall, Tampines and Bugis and two exclusive dealer shops at Jurong Point and Ang Mo Kio Hub. To provide an enhanced customer experience, the M1 Shop at Plaza Singapura will be manned by specially-trained staff to provide set-up and after sales care service.
Pricing and tariff plans :

Note : All iPhone plans and prices are inclusive of 7 percent GST. Maximum excess data usage charges capped at $30 on Value and Lite plans.
For further information please visit  www.m1.com.sg/iPhone

Apple iPads snapped up on first day

The highly anticipated goes on sales in Singapore today 23 Jul 2010. Shoppers waiting for the local model have been queueing as early as 6am at Orchard.

Although some stores have long queues. A store at bugis junction (near adidas store) the queue is merely 15 persons queueing at 10am.

The longer queue seems to be at 313 Somerset, it has 100+ queuing since 6am.

Most people are getting the 3G models as the 3 telcos although not retailing the iPad, they have come out with dedicated iPad data plans (microsim) for use with iPad.

Just half an hour ago, most ipads are sold out at the following locations :

Challenger Tiong Barhu, Best Denki Great World City, Best Denki Compass POint, Sapura Digital MDIS, Challenger Jurong east. It is said that there are still available stocks at Ion Orchard and Wheellock place.

Source : Twitter

M1 sent us a note confirming that M1 will also be selling the iPhone 4 on 30 Jul 2010. So, all 3 telcos in Singapore will start retailing the iPhone 4 on the same day. It now remains to be seen which telco gives the deal.

Here is the mailer we receive.

Thank you for registering your interest in iPhone 4.

Please click here to fill up a simple form and submit it by 25 July.

And look out for updates in your email inbox soon.

Channelnewsasia reports that Singapore telcos SingTel and StarHub will be launching the iPhone 4 on come July 30.

According to a customer service officer from SingTel, the telco plans to start selling the device at midnight.

As for the iPad which will be available in Singapore from July 23, SingTel will not be selling the device but will offer data plans to go with the Wi-Fi + 3G models.

We contacted another operator M1, they said that they have no confirmation about the iPhone 4 launch yet.

iPad Data Plans

• FREE data bundle up to UNLIMITED usage
• NO contract
• Supports MAXIMUM speed
• BILL-CAPPED data usage at $51.36 ONLY

So go on, give your iPad the best plan it deserves — from M1.

* Promotion is valid till further notice. ^Inclusive of subscription but excludes overseas data charges.

# Valid for 30 days or upon completion of the data bundle.

M1 announces data plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G in Singapore

SINGAPORE , 21 July 2010 – M1 today announced it will offer dedicated data plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G from 23 July 2010. The data plans will be available without a contract and come with generous free data bundles and speeds of up to 7.2Mbps (downlink) and 2Mbps (uplink).

“Our dedicated 3G price plans for iPad with WiFi + 3G offer customers great value, flexibility and convenience on the most advanced network in Singapore, said P.Subramaniam, Chief Marketing Officer of M1. “And with no contract required and charges that are capped, we are helping our customers to have the best possible experience on iPad.”

iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send e-mail, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read e-books and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface. iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G models are just 0.5 inches thick and weigh just 1.6 pounds – thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook – and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life for surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos or listening to music, and up to nine hours of surfing the web using a 3G data network.*

3G Prepaid Data Plan (GST inclusive)

Prepaid Data Card      
Card Value      $20.00
Free Data Bundle        1 GB   
Days    30 days

For further information on iPad data plans including M1’s postpaid data plans, please visit www.m1.com.sg/iPad

For more information about iPad please visit www.apple.com/ipad

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

M1, Singapore’s most exciting and innovative integrated communications service provider, was launched in April 1997. It provides a full range of voice and data as well as fixed and mobile broadband services. M1 aims to be the leader in the communications business, focusing on value, quality and customer service. More information on M1 is available at www.m1.com.sg

From now onwards, you can view OCWORKBENCH NEWS on your mobile phone. Be it a Nokia, Android, iPhone, it will have that streamline view. If you have a larger screen that renders html, you can choose to view it in web view.

Just point your phone’s browser to http://en.ocworkbench.com and the system will take care of it. Here is how it looks like :

Video Review of the LG GD880 Mini Feature Phone
Bluetooth  11 Jul 2010

Looking for a small size feature phone? THe LG GD880 will fit the bill. The first sight of it reminds me of the minis from various manufacturers, all trying to outbid one another to make it more compact and handy.

Finished in polished black with silver lining, this phone looks very unique just like the LG BL40 which is longer in size. It has icons and widgets similar to those you commonly see on Android phones.

The GD880 uses a 3.2″ TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M Colors of Size 480 x 854 pixels and is powered by the ARM11 processor which is used in the original iPhone 3G.

Although the GD880 Mini is not a smartphone, it has some neat features that address the social media users.  You have  3 page customisable desktop (with widgets, shortucts, icons). They are widgets available for download for real time Facebook and Twitter updates on the 3 page desktop. When the desktop gets too messy, you can just shake the phone and it will help you arrange them in an orderly fashion.

The phone has a 10.6mm Slim 3.2″ Multi-touch LCD. It has  built-in Phantom Browser (Support Flash-lite v3.1). It supports Wi-Fi, HSDPA 7.2Mbps & GPS and comes with a 5MP Camera with Auto Focus & Face Detection (no flash). The GD880 also supports 2 finger pinch and zoom for pictures and in the browser to manify the text. There is a FM Radio built in.

LG GD880 is the first to implement the LG Air Sync. LG Air Sync allows you to synchronize your mobile with the computer without USB. A simple right click can select, resize, and crop from a PC or a website, and send directly to your LG Mini. You could also retrieve important information, like contact list, schedule and memo from your LG Air Sync account.

Below is a video showing the contents of the package.

Display

Main Display Type

TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M Colors

Main Display Size

480 x 854 pixels, 3.2 inches

Sensor

S-Class Touch UI, Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off

Screen

Scratch-resistant surface

Sound

Alert types

Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones

Speakerphone

Yes, 3.5 mm audio jack, Dolby Mobile sound enhancement

Memory

Phonebook

1000 entries, Photocall

Call records

Yes

Internal

60MB

Card slot

microSD (TransFlash), up to 32GB

Data

GPRS

Class 10

HSCSD

Yes

EDGE

Class 10

3G

HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 2.0 Mbps

WLAN

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

Bluetooth

V2.1 with A2DP

USB

Yes

Camera

Primary

5 MP, 2576×1928 pixels, autofocus

Features

Geo-Tagging , face detection, Manual Focus, Smile Shot, Beauty Shot, Art Shot, Frame Shot, Panorama, Stitch Shot, Animation Shot

Video

Yes, WVGA@30fps

Secondary

Videocall camera

Features

Messaging

SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email

Browser

LG Phantom Browser, WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

Radio

FM radio

GPS

Yes, with A-GPS support; Google maps

Java

Yes, MIDP 2.0

Software

MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA player, DivX/XviD/MP4 player, Organizer, Document viewer (DOC, XLS, PPT, PDF), Voice memo

Next Page

Sn0wbreeze 1.7 to jailbreak iPhone 3GS new bootrom on iOS 4.0 is now available for download. With this release, you can jailbreak iPhone 3GS with new bootrom if it’s on OS 3.1.2 or you’ve SHSH blobs saved for OS 3.1.2. In order to create a custom iOS 4 and go for 4.0 firmware successfully you Must be on OS 3.1.2 + jailbroken.

Sn0wBreeze 1.7 Supports:

• iPhone 3GS (New & Old BootRom)
• iPhone 3G
• iPod Touch 3G
• iPhone Touch 2G (MC & non-MC)

IMPORTANT

• iPhone 3GS with New BootRom users MUST be on firmware 3.1.2 or have SHSH blobs saved for it (needed for downgrade). Otherwise you’re still out of Luck. The exploit used in this hack has been patched in OS 3.1.3 so firmware 3.1.2 is a MUST. [How to Check iPhone 3GS BootRom]
• If you’re not on 3.1.2 firmware or don’t have saved SHSH blobs for it, you’ll have to wait for the Spiritjailbreak update which is almost ready. I think they are waiting for the next firmware update (iOS 4.1 or iOS 4.01).
• For iPhone 3GS New BootRom users it’s a Tethered jailbreak. For those who don’t know, a tethered jailbreak device once turned off/Reboot/run out of battery, you need to connect it to computer and execute a tool to boot up the device.

This guide is NOT for regular Windows users. So, proceed with precaution and follow the guide at your own risk. Here are the step by step instructions to jailbreak iPhone 3GS New BootRom to iOS 4 from theofficial source:

**BEFORE PROCEEDING, ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE YOUR PHONE BACKED UP!**

Jailbreak iOS 4 on iPhone 3GS New BootRom

This tutorial assumes that you are already on 3.1.2!

What You Will Need

• An iPhone 3GS – new bootrom
• 3.1.2 already installed or 3.1.2 installed via SHSH blobs. <– Broken blackra1n’d devices will work. (Especially if Spirit messed you up!).
• Payload Pwner-r3 for the 3GS
• Sn0wbreeze V1.7
• iBooty V1.3
• LibUSB (64-Bit users read carefully!!!)
• Download iOS 4.0/3.1.2

Note: If you have Sleep issue, you will need to restore back to 3.1.2 first.

More details here.

After much hiccups with losing MMS, 3G, Voicemail service on IOS 4.0, the struggle to change it back to 3.1.3 is strong. I spent hours reading and testing and I have successfully downgraded from ios 4.0 back to 3.1.3 using DFU mode restore in a VMWARE Workstation. To kick off the recovery loop, the tool “recboot 1.0.2″

Note : /etc/host file need to be modified to point to gs.apple.com with the ip address.

here is a picture of the successful downgrade, base band remains as ios4 but firmware is 3.1.3 running on MobileOne (M1) Singapore.

Any queries please post here.

If you are like me who hesistate to install the iOS 4, it would be good that you stay put for the time being. Many are facing strange issues with the update from 3.1.3 to 4.0. Be it Jailbroken or plain vanilla phones are facing similar issues with the 4.0 upgrade.

Most users will face the problem of losing 3G connectivity and MMS functionality. We experience the same problem ourselves and have been searching for a solution to it. Calls to telco redirected us to Apple Care Centre. The person suggest to do a fresh installation, that is, update it to 4.0 and after the phone reboots, set up the phone as NEW instead of selecting a backup file to recover your SMS, contacts etc.

This worked but it is cumbersome as tons of SMS will be gone. It would also mean that all your images and videos will be gone from your iphone unless you resync them using itunes (provided you copy them out from the 100APPLE directory using USB).

It is weird that restore from backup would actually DISABLE the MMS and 3G function of the phone. This is totally insane. There must be settings in the BACKUP files that triggers a shutdown of these two functions.

While Apple has yet to fix the issue with an update, a custom solution is already available to solve the 3G connectivity problem. The reason for no connectivity is because the APN settings is cleared out with the IOS4 update. Thus, if you are able to edit it to your local APN, it will work again.

Thanks to this software at  http://www.unlockit.co.nz. Just enable WiFi on your iPhone 3GS and visit the site. Enter your respective operator’s APN username/password. It will be saved as a profile for your operator and your 3G will be back in action.

As for MMS, there is no solution yet unless you are JB it on certain models. We shall wait for an official update from Apple to fix this.

Viewing a site with flash contents is a tough on iPhone. Thanks to CloudBrowse, you can now view the contents “remotely” in a sense. Although it is still laggy; most importantly is that it works. The application is available from the US App Store. Below is a video showing how it runs on the iphone 3gs.

I was at an event lately and tried out the Apple iPad. Somewhat a a big version of the iPhone 3GS, it seems to be the in thing as I see many journalists from overseas carrying it and typing away “LIVE” when the press conference was going on.

My first experience with the iPad, a parallel import from USA (which is not on sale here yet) was a good one to begin with. Cut away the multi-zoom, ebooks and games, this device seems to be the ideal news reporting tool during offsite.

I did a test with it, typing on the virtual keyboard on the device. The error correction is pretty marvellous and it almost got the full sentence correct without the need of a real keyboard.

The iPad I tested on has 3G/WiFi. Unfortunately 3G was non existant as the owner hasn’t got the microSIM card readly. WiFi was also all locked up in the hotel. Unless i have the WPA, i won’t be able to do any transmission through e-mails etc.

The next thing i would think of is tethering as I have my iPhone 3GS phone with 12GB of data. We tried to pari up the device using bluetooth. I am not sure why but it seems that it can’t pair up and tethering just wouldn’t work.

The only choice, retype everything on iPhone and update it via gmail. Looks like we ought to get the 3G microSIM card ready in future to get real time updates posted in time.