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Review: Nike+ GPS app

Jimmy Liew — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:51:13 +0000

Apple has included an app by Nike in their iPod and iPhones since 2006 to track your runs. The first Nike+ kit consists of the small sensor and a receiver which you plug to the back of the iPod. From 2008, first on the iPod touch followed by the iPhone 3GS, Apple included a built-in receiver, removing the need for the add-on receiver.

A few days back, Nike released a new app called Nike+ GPS (iTunes link) – which eliminates the use of the sensor on the shoe by tracking your run with a combination of data from the built-in GPS and accelerometer found on the iPhone and iPod touch running iOS4.

Live mapping of your run

The main difference between this new app and the one found in your iPhone is the use of the iPhone’s GPS. This allows the app to map out your run instantaneously and also shows the elevation of the route. But with all GPS apps, the accuracy will depend on the GPS coverage. As you can see from my trial this morning, with the phone in my pocket and me on the bus, the GPS tracking isn’t that accurate. Will update again on the accuracy when I do a run, with better weather.

Instant sync to Nike+ site

Previously, you’ll need to sync your run with iTunes, log-in to the Nike+ site, map your run before you can sync your run with the route. With the new Nike+ GPS app, that is done within the app and the sync is done immediately after you stop, which is fairly good if you want to have that information up on the web fast.

How it performs indoors

If you are running in the gym – the GPS function is redundant and the app relies on the accelerometer sensors to track your run on the treadmill. That means you will need to have the iPhone or iPod touch on your body when you run – either strapped to your arm or in your shorts pocket. The other thing that you’ll need to take note is as it uses the accelerometer, you will need to keep the Nike+ GPS app at the forefront, thus you can’t use it with other running apps like C25K (iTunes link) as it will pause your tracking if you put the Nike+ GPS app to the background. The accuracy of the tracking with accelerometer is pretty close as it matches what I see on the treadmill.

Challenge Me

Click to see more

Another new feature is the option to challenge yourself which gives you the option to set targets for your next run – either farther, longer or faster. Or you can try to beat your previous best. They have added motivational messages from Nike’s top athletes when you achieve your targets.

Worth paying for it?

As compared to the pre-installed Nike + iPod app, the Nike+ GPS app costs US$1.99 to purchase. But with this new app, you need not fork out S$29.90 to buy the Nike+ shoe sensor, and maybe a bit more to buy a shoe pocket to hold the sensor if you didn’t shell out more money on a pair of Nike trainers that work with the sensor. So yes, if you are one who likes to keep track of your run, and do a bit of boasting to friends with your runs but have not bought the Nike+ shoe sensor, the new Nike+ GPS app is worth every cent.

The app is beautifully designed and many features were made with runners in mind. The instant syncing, GPS mapping and also the seamless linking with the Nike+ website makes this a must-have app for all you runners out there. Get it from iTunes now at US$1.99.

Rating: ★★★★★

Roundup of Apple’s September Media Event

waikeong — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:06:51 +0000

Firstly, we’d like to thank all of you who stayed up with us last night. For those who missed the keynote, here’s a quick roundup of all the new products announced by Apple.

Summary in numbers

120,000,000 iOS devices.
230,000 new iOS activations every day, excluding updates.
6.5 billion downloads from App Store.
250,000 apps available on the App Store.

About iOS

iOS 4.1 will be released next week and available as a free update via iTunes. Some of the fixes include issues with the proximity sensor, better Bluetooth support and issues for iPhone 3G users. Some of the new features include support for HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, ability to upload HD videos over WiFi and GameCenter. This is Apple’s solution to unify the gaming networks such as OpenFeint and Crystal. Also, GameCenter manages game invites between your friends and global leaderboards, similar to Xbox LIVE.

We think this is a great feature but will need to see the final implementation and how many games that will be linked with GameCenter before we decide its usefulness.

iOS 4.2 will be released in November, primarily to update the iPad to be in line with the rest of the iOS devices. Currently, still on iOS3.x, iPad will gain multi-tasking and support for folders, which iOS users have gotten used to. In addition to that, this update adds printing support via Print Center so if you have a wireless printer at home, you’re can print your documents directly from your iPad. This feature is definitely a useful addition to the iPad. We think this is the beginning of more iPad-specific features to come, to differentiate with what iPhone and iPod touch can do.

iPod shuffle

The buttons are back, after being removed from the previous generation. This new shuffle now gets 15 hours of battery life per charge and is available in 5 colors – pink, silver, blue, green and gold. They retail for S$78.00, and is available in 5 to 7 business days from the Apple Store.

iPod nano

The nano is now smaller and they removed the built-in camera in the previous generation but added a multi-touch screen. It’s now about 1.48 inches tall and 1.61 inches wide. The new nano gets 24 hours of playback time per charge and has a built-in FM tuner. It’s available in 7 colors – pink, silver, blue, green, gold, black and red. They retail at $228 for the 8GB version and $278 for the 16GB, and is available in 7 to 10 business days from the Apple Store.

For the fashion conscious, the new iPod nano will become a hit as we are sure 3rd party vendors will come out with wrist straps, belt holders for you to slide/snap the iPod nano and you can wear it like a fashion accessory, while still listening to your music. With Nike+ support, we think this is also the perfect companion for users who wants to go jogging and not have to strap their iPhones to their biceps.

iPod touch

As the rumor mills had predicted, the iPod touch also received updates. The new iPod touch will gain the Retina Display similar to the iPhone 4 with 960×640 resolution at 326 pixels per inch. It will be powered by the A4 chip, has the 3-axis gyro and, no surprise – front and back facing cameras for FaceTime. Yes, you can now use the iPod touch to FaceTime with your friends who have the iPhone 4. However, the back camera doesn’t have the same resolution as the iPhone, though it can take HD videos but only 960 × 720 photos.

The iPod touch now boasts a battery life of 40 hours and it will be available in three storage sizes – $328 for 8GB, $428 for 32GB and $588 for 64GB. All three will ship within 5 to 7 business days from the Apple Store.

According to Apple, the iPod touch has became the #1 portable game player, outselling Sony and Nintendo. With the upgrade to the A4 processor and Retina Display, the new iPod touch will really appeal to game developers to develop more graphics intensive games. For example, check out this demo by Epic Games Inc – Epic Citadel that shows you the environment created powered by the Unreal Engine 3. This will become a yet-to-be-released game coming out soon. Together with GameCenter, the iPod touch and iPhone 4 might be gamers’ favorite mobile device in the near future.

iTunes 10

This new version of iTunes will sport a new logo and a new social networking system called Ping. Ping provides social music discovery where you and your friends can share what you’re listening to. You can also follow artists and look at their photos, comments and tour dates. We will test this new version when we install it but from what it reads on paper, it certainly makes a lot of sense to provide support a social media dimension to iTunes.

However, as Ping works together with the iTunes Music store, which is not available in Singapore, users with the Singapore iTunes account will not be able to use Ping.

The new iTunes will also sport subtle changes to the user interface. Apple has also extended the previously named AirTunes, to become AirPlay. Besides the name change, AirPlay allows you to stream music, videos from your iTunes 10 to any AirPlay-supported devices which will be available soon.

Apple TV

This new version saw a major overhaul. It’s now smaller (about 1/4 the size of the previous generation) and powered by the A4 chip with HDMI output, micro-USB, digital audio and ethernet port. It will no longer have an internal hard disk, which means it has moved away from being a storage device to a streaming device. If you live in the US or have a US iTunes Store account, you can access First Run HD movies at US$4.99 or TV series at US$0.99 per episode.

This new Apple TV is not listed in the Singapore Apple Store since none of the contents are available for us here, except Podcasts and iTunes U, not things you’d want to spend money buying the Apple TV for.

In conclusion:

Given that they’ve sold 275 million iPods to date, we think this line of new iPods will continue to drive Apple’s year-end sales. If you’re looking to upgrade your old iPod, this is probably a good time to. The iOS updates are pretty solid, I especially liked how the roadmap for iOS converges in November when iPad gets 4.2. Traditionally, Apple doesn’t roll out a massively long list of new features with every update but the few changes are almost always meaningful, namely GameCenter and wireless printing for the iPad.

Apple TV is our biggest gripe about last night’s announcement. The price point and form factor is attractive, but without an iTunes Store that serves video content, you’re essentially buying an overpriced paperweight. Without an internal hard disk, we’re not sure it’s possible to install 3rd party software. So, as Apple claims this is a hobby product for them, we’ll keep an eye out for but won’t take it too seriously until we have access to the content.

What are your thoughts about last night’s announcements? If you want to watch the whole keynote address, start iTunes and download the video Will you be buying new iPods? If so, which one?

In the mean time, here’s the latest iPod touch ad from Apple.

nübox’s two new stores

Jimmy Liew — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:58:21 +0000

Nubox – one of Singapore’s Apple Premium Reseller will have two new stores after this weekend. The two stores are at Raffles City Shopping Centre and Tampines Mall. These will be the fifth and sixth store from them.

The sixth store – Tampines Mall will be opening tomorrow at 7.00pm. To mark the store opening, the first 50 customers who purchase a Mac will receive a 320GB hard disk, a $20 voucher, a sleeve or mouse, a palm guard and a keyboard protector.

The first 50 customers who purchase any type of iPod, will get a Dexim silicon case for the iPod nano and iPod touch that comes with a screen protector, cleaning cloth, earphones and an AC adapter.

There is also a 40% discount on selected accessories during the opening.

Lastly, there will also be performances by Urban Drums Performance and Violin Performance with DJ Jan Mesh-Up throughout the evening.

So if you stay around Tampines, do drop by the nubox@Tampines Mall tomorrow at 7pm!

Address: Tampines Mall, #01-49, 4 Tampines Central 5

Pre-ordering of iPhone 4 begins

Jimmy Liew — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:38:48 +0000

M1 started taking orders for the iPhone 4 just a few minutes ago after 11am. From the form, we can see that M1 will have four collection points on 30 July – Plaza Singapura, Tampines Mall, West Mall and Paragon – which probably is a good thing as it decentralize the collection points and there might be shorter queues for customers. According to Ivan – the form will also check for inventory as you make the orders so you won’t be disappointed – smart move.

They will only reveal collection time in separate email - thanks Ivan for this

Update – 2pm and without fail – the pre-order page for SingTel fails to launch. Don’t they ever learn?

SingTel will do their pre-order, they call it purchase appointment at 2pm today.

Book your appointment yet?

Starhub meanwhile has not disclose any plans about the iPhone 4 launch except pricing.

More details from iMerlion – SingTel will have their midnight launch on the 30th July at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre (Hall F) while M1 will have theirs at Paragon.

In addition, selected M1 shops will start early at 9am on 30 July to let customers collect their iPhone 4:

M1 Shop, Paragon
M1 Shop, Bugis Junction
M1 Shop, Plaza Singapura
M1 Shop, Tampines Mall
M1 Shop, West Mall
Arrow Communication, Ang Mo Kio Hub, #B1-31
Handphone shop, Jurong Point, #03-19

Do check our price plan comparison if you have not done so.

iPhone 4 pricing plans at a glance

Jimmy Liew — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:23:51 +0000

Like in 2009 when we did a price comparison of the three Telcos’ offering of iPhone 3GS, we have put those data for iPhone 4 in Google Docs for a quick comparison.

Based on past experience, this won’t be the final price of the iPhone 4. We will probably see changes as the days go when the other two Telcos start announcing their plans – it will be a fun ride!

Here’s the direct link to the comparison

Do let us know via comments or twitter if there are new plans being announced.

Why I am waiting for the next generation iPad

waikeong — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:46:56 +0000

On Sunday night, I walked out of an Apple reseller empty handed, even though they had stock for the 16Gb 3G + Wifi model.

You see, my biggest gripe about the iPad is that I really don’t need one.

(We can discuss all we can about the differences between needs and wants but that’s for another blog altogether)

I have my iPhone so when I’m mobile, I have the ability to check my tweets, reply emails and do most of what the iPad can.

I seldom carry a bag so my iPad would stay indoors most of the time.

I have my Macbook Pro at home so if I need to surf the web or stalk people on facebook, I have a tool to do that anywhere in the house.

I read but right now, physical books offer a much greater selection of titles compared to what you can find on iTunes SG store.

So yes, I’ll be waiting for the next generation iPad because as it is, the hardware specs are already slightly behind the new iPhone 4, which has double the memory of the iPad at 512MB. The iPad has a 1024×768 pixels resolution across a 9.7 inch screen while an iPhone 4 sports a 960×640 pixels resolution screen across a 3.5 inch screen. That’s about 132 pixels per inch for iPad vs 326 pixels per inch for iPhone 4.

The specs is one thing but pricing is another. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t really justify it’s price tag for something I don’t need. which ranges from S$728 to $1,228 depending on which model you pick up. And as with all Apple products, every generation tends to get slightly cheaper. So if my crystal ball (recently renamed as Paul) is accurate, we should see the next generation iPad to be slightly cheaper and with better hardware specs. While I’m wishing, I might as well wish that it’ll have a thinner bezel around the screen and perhaps, a camera + Facetime app and a reduction in weight.

But having said that, I know there’s many of you who have bought an iPad. Did it live up to your expectations? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Counting down to iPhone 4

Jimmy Liew — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:18:33 +0000

The clock is ticking down towards 30 July when the iPhone 4 is launched in Singapore. Telcos have released information indicating a midnight launch (again) on 30 July, where customers who pre-ordered (to be announced soon) can collect. Like previous launch of the iPhone, walk-in customers will not be entertain during the midnight launch.

We will update this post with pre-order, launch day details once they are revealed.

28 July 2.30pm – At 2pm, Singtel’s pre-ordering site failed to start. At 2.30pm, it is still the same.

28 July 11.10am – M1 starts pre-ordering here. SingTel’s will begin at 2pm.

27 July 6:00pm – Singtel also revealed their price plans for iPhone 4. Quick comparison over here

27 July 5:30pm – M1 reveal their price plans too

27 July 3.16pm – Starhub announces price plans and phone prices for iPhone 4 – briefly:

For a quick comparison as the plans get revealed – check out this post

27 July 1.50pm – Starhub will contact those who had registered their interests for the iPhone 4 within the next two days on how to pre-order for collection on 30 July, according to this post on their FaceBook fan page.

Click to see the message in Facebook

26 July 10.30pm – Apple Singapore officially announced the non-contract pricing of the iPhone 4 that will be made available from the Apple Online Store from 30 July. The suggested retail price is S$ 888 for the 16GB model and S$ 1048 for the 32GB model (Black only).

The press release as follows:

CUPERTINO, California–July 26, 2010–Apple’s iPhone 4 will be available in 17 more countries this Friday, July 30. iPhone 4 features FaceTime, which makes video calling as easy as one tap, Apple’s new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in stunning text, images and video, and a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world.

Beginning this Friday, customers can purchase iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. iPhone 4 will be available for purchase through Apple’s online store (http://store.apple.com/sg).

iPhone 4 also features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD 720p video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time.* iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which features Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, deeper Enterprise support and Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 4 will be available for a suggested retail price of S$ 888 for the 16GB model and S$ 1048 for the 32GB model through Apple’s online store (http://store.apple.com/sg). A new iPhone 3GS 8GB model will be available for just S$ 748. iPhone 4 will roll out to many more countries later this year and Apple will announce availability and local pricing for these additional countries at a later date.

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

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

26 July 2:15pm – Received a SMS text from SingTel Business to provide more information for the reservation of iPhone 4 at this page http://business.singtelshop.com/sme. There are only the 16GB and 32GB – Black models – available for reservations. No pricing, plans nor upgrade paths were provided.

As for Starhub, they have put up a short note informing the closing of the registration of interest and they will not have pre-ordering of iPhone 4. However, those who did registered will be contacted by Starhub on how to make purchase on 30 July.

22 July 10:00pm – M1 started notifying customers who had previously registered their interest to fill up a form with more personal information until 25 July Sunday. This seems to be data collection exercise before the actual pre-order begins. It might be a clever way to ensure their pre-ordering system won’t crash as customers storm in to make their orders. By having those personal data now, the pre-order will just require your NRIC, your choice of model and a YES/NO answer. We shall see.

PreRegister to PreQualify for PreOrder?

We will update when the other Telcos start reacting.

iPad availability status – seems like all gone.

Jimmy Liew — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:47:14 +0000

Almost all gone today. Although we have listed only 17 out of the 30 resellers launching iPad today as these were from Twitter/Facebook accounts, we are pretty sure the rest of the stores have ran out of iPads. Stocks are reportedly coming in in two to three weeks time. Do talk to the retailers to see if you can reserve sets from the second wave.

So far here are the stores that were reported in Twitter/Facebook to have sold out of iPads:

Challenger Tiong Bahru
Challenger Jurong East
Challenger Funan Centre
Challenger VivoCity
Challenger Tampines 1
Challenger Parkway Parade
Best Denki Great World City
Best Denki Compass Point
Best Denki Junction 8
Best Denki VivoCity
Best Denki City Square
Best Denki Century Square
Best Denki Parkway Parade
Epicentre Marina Bay Sands (unconfirmed but there seems to be stocks there)
Epicentre Suntec City
Epicentre Bugis Junction
EpiCentre Somerset 313
Sapura Digital @ MDIS

(17 out of 30 retail stores sold out)

Last updated – 3:40pm

Seems like there are some shops holding onto some stocks for those who had reservations and also to keep it for next day. The bigger resellers still have queues running – just not sure if there are sufficient sets to go around for everyone – thus we probably won’t hear of them selling out until later.

Do twitter with the hashtag #ipadsg when places have sold out of iPad.

Let’s call 23 July “iPad Day” (updated with pricing)

Jimmy Liew — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:37:15 +0000

Apple just announced today that Singapore will join another 8 countries outside the US to get the iPad on Friday, 23 July 2010. All iPad models will be available from authorised resellers and campus stores and we ~~should~~ might not see it at the Apple Online Store on 23 July. However, we expect limited stocks to be made available at the authorised resellers so do prepare to queue.

update A posting in Straits Times’ Digital Life Facebook page reveals the iPad pricing, I guess based on their sources, which if accurate, will render my estimate…wrong.

Digital Life's iPad pricing

update 2 Yipes, seems my estimates below are close but not close enough. Here are the local pricing for the iPad, compared with the US launch price.

iPad SG Pricing

Confirmation from Apple, at least about the starting price

Even Apple says so.

Just for record, below is our estimate done back in May.

iPad pricing estimate for Singapore

Look out for iPad-specific Mobile Broadband pricing plans from all three Telcos that will appear in the next few days, as you will need the Micro SIM card to work with the iPad 3G.

So now that we know the iPad is coming soon – will you buy? And if yes, which model? In the mean time, check out the TVC and in case you’re still wondering what the iPad is, read my review of the iPad and my recommendations on which model you should buy.

About the Press Conference

Jimmy Liew — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:25:34 +0000

Steve Jobs and company were out to face the press last Friday (1am our time) on the kerfuffle over iPhone 4′s antenna reception when held in a certain way, now termed as the Antennagate.

As usual, Jobs started with his opening with some choice words to state the company’s intention and their motivation, and also set the tone for this presentation:

“We’re not perfect. We know that, you know that. Phones aren’t perfect. But we want to make all our users happy. If you don’t know that, you don’t know Apple. We love making our users happy.”

He quickly moved on to some data about the iPhone 4 – like they have sold more than 3 million iPhone 4 since launch 3 weeks ago and that the iPhone 4 had garnered much high ratings from reviews done in the media. Next was the main issue of this presentation – the antenna system.

Acknowledging that the iPhone 4 has this issue, he was quick to point out that this is unique to iPhone 4 but happens to many smartphone, especially so in areas with bad network coverage. He emphasised this point when he shows videos of the same effects on competitors’ phones – BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris and the Samsung Omnia II. There are more on Youtube – like BlackBerry Bold 9650 on Verizon, Motorola Droid and lastly Google’s Nexus One, which was posted back in February. He added that they had included the wrong algorithm to show the signal bars and which they had it “fixed” with iOS 4.0.1 update.

He then touched on the testing facilities Apple had invested over US$100 million that are being used to test on the antenna systems. You can see pictures and a video of the labs here. (For such high tech testing facilities, it’s hilarious to see them using rubber bands to hold the iPhone 4 for one of its many tests.)

Testing of the iPhone 4 in one of the 17 antenna characterization chambers (or anechoic chambers)

Next were numbers. Lots of numbers.

0.55% called AppleCare with regards to the iPhone 4 antenna issue (but out of the 3million customers, how many actually bought AppleCare?)
In the same period after launch, iPhone 3GS had about 6% return rate back to AT&T while for iPhone 4, it is 1.7%, about 1/3 of 3GS
less than 1 additional dropped call per hundred more than the iPhone 3GS. This in layman-speak means the iPhone 4 drops more calls than iPhone 3GS, less than 1 more call per hundred. Repeat that, five times and it will probably sink in.

So these numbers say a few things – people are happy with the iPhone 4, probably more because of everything else, except for the antenna issues and there are more people who experience drop calls as compared to iPhone 3GS. Can this increase be directly contributed by the antenna design? No one can really say since there are much more people who says they get better reception when compared to iPhone 3GS.

So we have two issues – drop in the status bar showing the signal-strength and drop calls. So for the first, Apple has released iOS 4.0.1 update that supposedly fixed this such that now it will reflect more accurately the signal-strength at that point in time. AnandTech has a thorough analysis of this signal fix. Read it and you can be your friends’ resident antenna expert!

As for drop calls, they didn’t really state, but most will know that while still under AT&T, you will get drop calls, whether you’re holding it with the Death Grip or not. It’s like how we are in Singapore – travel on the MRT along the East-West line and you’ll definitely get drop calls when you travel between Kallang and Lavendar. Never fails. But does Singtel (my Telco) do anything about it? Nah. So when I do get my iPhone 4, this will be a real-life test to compare between iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.

Also to make everybody happy, Apple is giving away the Bummer, oops, I meant Bumper case to all iPhone 4 purchases till September 30 and you’ll get a refund if you had bought it previously (it has been made unavailable in the stores). As there are insufficient Bumpers to go around, Apple will also work with other case producers to offer choices to customers. These should also applies to us in Singapore when the iPhone 4 comes to Singapore. Why September 30? For one, they can’t possibly give away Bumper cases forever, and more importantly, this probably give Apple sufficient time to research more on the antenna and best case, tweak their iPhone 4 production process to reduce the problem, if it is really hardware related.

Which color are you?

Lastly, for those who really can’t stand the iPhone 4 (why buy it in the first place), Apple also will give full refund for any iPhone 4 that is returned without any penalty. Seriously, if the iPhone 4 antenna issue is causing much grief to people in daily use, why isn’t there queues to return the iPhone? Why?

Besides these, he also gave a quick overview of what’s coming with the next iOS update – bug fixing, especially the Proximity Sensor problem some users have encountered. He also reiterated that iPhone 4 will come to international market (same 17 countries – including Singapore) by 30 July 2010, together with the white iPhone 4 but in limited quantity (think this will be selling like hot potatoes).

Yes, so we should get our hands on iPhone 4 in Singapore from 30 July (some of us at least…). SO now it’s up to local Telcos to buck up and start sending out pre-orders information to their customers (let us know if you see/hear anything).

Before he moved to the Q&A, Steve Jobs had this long closing:

In ending, I’d like to just give you a feel of what we care about, how we operate, and how we make decisions. We love our users. We try very hard to surprise and delight them. We work our asses off. And it’s great, and we have a blast doing it.

And we make some pretty interesting products for them — Macs, iPhones, iPads, iPods, the Apple TV… we make some pretty great products.

We love our users so much we’ve built 300 Apple retail stores for them — the best buying experience in the world, and the best ownership experience in the world. With Genius Bars that cost nothing to bring your products in and get advice. We had over 60m people through our stores last quarter.

So we do all this because we love our users. And when we fall short — which we do sometimes — we try harder. We pick ourselves up, we figure out what’s wrong, and we try harder. And when we succeed, they reward us by staying our users, and that makes it all worth it.

That’s what drives us. When we have problems like this and people criticize us, we take it really personally. Maybe we should have a wall of PR people to insulate us, but we don’t — when our users have a problem, we have a problem.

We’ve been working really hard over the last 22 days to figure out the problem to solve the real problem — we think we’ve gotten to the heart of the problem, and that is smartphones have weak spots. Some took advantage by demonstrating that — and it was easily demonstrable — but for those small number of customers having problems, we’re going to give them free cases or a full refund.

But the data supports the fact that the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone in the world, and there is no ‘Antennagate’, but there is a challenge to the entire industry.

Today, we love our customers and we’re going to take care of them.

I lost count how many times he said “love”…where’s the rainbows and the pink unicorns?

So after the presentation there was a Q&A session with Steve Jobs, Tim Cook (chief operating officer) and Bob Mansfield (senior vice president of Macintosh hardware) and here are some interesting bits (too bad they cut it from the video):

Steve Jobs cut short his holiday in Hawaii to do this press conference
He wasn’t aware nor warned about this issue (re Bloomberg posted that Jobs was warned about the flaw). He say, they say.
He again apologised to the customers but stated that he doesn’t owe the investors any apology and he say they are in for the long haul because they believe in Apple
None on the panel uses the Bumper case for their iPhone 4
They are “stunned and upset and embarrassed by the Consumer Reports stuff, and the reason they didn’t say more is because they didn’t know enough”
He got a tad defensive when he thinks that some people in the media are jealous of their success and looking for ways to “tear it down”. He added, probably directed at Consumer Reports and Gizmodo – “Of course we’re human, of course we’ll make mistakes. But sometimes I feel that in search of eyeballs for these web sites, people don’t care about what they leave in their wake”
AT&T takes 3 years (regulations/permissions etc) to add a cell tower in San Francisco. Wonder how long it takes SingTel to add cell boosters in MRT tunnels … forever.

So in summary, we know that there is a problem for some people while using the iPhone 4 at areas with possibly low network coverage but Apple doesn’t know or doesn’t want to disclose the full details of that problem. They gave themselves some buffer time to work out the kinks by giving the Bumper for free till September 30, provided iOS 4.0.1 update and offer full refunds for those who don’t like the iPhone 4.

Think for most of us here in Singapore, best news out of this is that the iPhone 4 will arrive here by 30 July 2010.

Apple has posted the streaming link for the Press Conference if you like to watch it. However, the Q&A session was excluded from this stream but we’ve embedded snippets that was made available by CNN:

Added this funny video from Taiwan’s NMANews about AntennaGate: