Gadgets
21 July 2010How do you like them Apples?
I hate to continually write about Apple but it seems to be the most interesting tech topic at the moment. First the good news: the iPad is coming to New Zealand this Friday (23rd of July).
From the official Apple release:
"iPad is available from 23 July in New Zealand for a recommended retail price of $799 for 16GB, $979 for 32GB, $1149 for 64GB for Wi-Fi models; and $999 for 16GB, $1179 for 32GB and $1349 for 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G models."
So finally you can have the same toy that your travelling friends have brought back from overseas over the past few months. Check out our review of the iPad - we liked it a lot but didn't like the parallel imported price. The new official price tags are better, though still on the expensive side.
Now the good but not as great news. Over the weekend Apple held a press conference to admit a fault with the new iPhone 4's antenna. The infamous "grip of death" meant that holding your new iPhone in a particular way would significantly decrease the signal strength. The effect was so strong that our American counterparts at Consumer Reports would not recommend the iPhone as a phone (though everyone still agrees that it is a great device).
Some techblogs found Apple CEO Steve Jobs' tone during the conference to be petulant, but the thrust of it was that the iPhone 4 has a fault and because of that Apple will give away free cases (or a "bumper" - you get to choose apparently). The new iPhone is released in New Zealand on July 30 and we'll see what options New Zealand consumers have. Frankly I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the shiny new toy.
For both the iPad 3G and the new iPhone you'll need a Micro SIM card, which Vodafone, Telecom and 2Degrees will offer. There are ways you can alter a normal SIM card with a sharp knife and a steady hand that some people have tried, but be aware if you break the card you'll have to buy a new one.
Update: Vodafone just released their pricing for iPad plans. They have two plans: Alpha is $20 per month for 250MB and Extreme is $50 per month for 3GB. Telecom's data plans offer XT customers $29.95 per month for 500MB of data or $18 per month for 240MB. These are available on both Prepaid or postpaid plans.
Hadyn Green - Technical Writer
Comments
"the thrust of it was that the iPhone 4 has a fault"
No, that's not at all what they said.
They said it's working exactly as designed as will get better reception than other models as long as you don't cover the gap in the lower left corner. Only a percent or two of actual customers (as opposed to the press and people who aren't going to buy one anyway) have expressed dissatisfaction, which is very low.
It seems to me that saying it has a fault is a bit like if every car had an automatic transmission and then Ferrari introduced the first manual transmission because skilled drivers could drive faster with it. Some people love it, while others complain that they stall, bunny hop, over-rev the engine, or burn out clutches.
Personally, I'm choosing to forego the iPhone4 in favour of a Windows Phone 7 device, later this year.
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