Archive for March, 2009

Iphone 3G will be available in Malaysia next week!

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

iphone

Just today, Maxis has finally announced that it will offer iPhone 3G 8GB and 16GB from 20 March onwards. Looking at the plan, you can even get the iPhone 8GB for FREE!

So what is the buzz with iPhone 3G? iPhone 3G actually combines three products in one – a revolutionary phone, widescreen iPod and breakthrough internet device. With fast 3G networking, GPS mapping and support for enterprise features, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips.

One of the best things about iPhone is that you get access to the groundbreaking App Store, which provides access to tens of thousands of applications like games, social networking, financial planning, health management, etc. It has generated more than 500 million downloads to date.

I know many of my friends have been eagerly anticipating this revolutionary phone. Some of them have even bought their iPhones from the US, European or Singaporean markets.

Maxis will offer the 8GB and 16GB iPhone 3G models with 4 new postpaid plans called iValue, starting from RM100 per month. For customers who sign up for iValue 4 plan, the iPhone 3G 8GB will be free of charge. I think these bundled voice and data plans are the first of their kind in Malaysia. Below are the new service plans.

Price Plan :

iValue 1

iValue 2

iValue 3

iValue 4

Monthly fee

RM100

RM155

RM250

RM375

Voice credit (mins)

333 mins

666 mins

1,500 mins

2,500 mins

Data credit (MB)

500MB

1GB

2GB

3GB

iPhone 8GB

RM1,510

RM1,260

RM680

RM0 (FREE!)

iPhone 16GB

RM1,890

RM1,640

RM1,060

RM260

 Looking at the prices above, the iPhones are much cheaper than the ones you get from outside of Malaysia. Most of my friends bought their iPhone 3G for around RM2000. But these Maxis plans monthly charges are on definitely the high side - the cheapest is RM100/month. Plus, you’ll be bounded by 24-months contract too.

Anyway, it’s about time iPhone is finally sold in Malaysia especially with all the iPhone fans we have here. Actually, iPhone 3G is now already available in over 70 countries around the world. I am still puzzled as to why it took so long for iPhone to be offered in Malaysia.

You can learn more, or book an iPhone 3G at www.maxis.com.my/iPhone. The launch will be held at 7pm on March 20 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, where customers can collect their pre-booked iPhones. Walk-in customers may also book iPhones there.

Why Go Paperless

Monday, March 9th, 2009

There are small companies that have grown up to 5 branches but they are still using cardboards and sheets of papers for every document involved in their daily operation. Most of the time, the reason they are lagged behind is because they don’t keep themselves updated with the latest technology trends. Below are 10 reasons to justify why you should go paperless instead of having stacks of hard copies bundled in your office: 

  • It takes less space to store documents in electronic format.
  • Using technologies such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and content indexing it is possible to retrieve electronic content instantaneously. Once cataloged it is not possible to misfile or misplace the document.
  • Paperless content can be shared with many people at the same time. There is no need to request that the current holder make a Xerox copy or wait until he is finished from it.
  • When a document is in digital form, the owner can control who can access it. It is possible to restrict what can be done and for how long. For example, it is possible to build in mechanisms that allow a document to be readable up to a certain date. After the date the document can no longer be opened. Likewise a system can be implanted so that a document can be read, but not printed or emailed.
  • With a paper document it is not possible to scribble annotations on a document without altering it permanently. In the paperless world, it is possible to layer on annotations while leaving the original intact. Annotations may be typewritten, voice notes and pictures and the person who made the comment as well as the time can be audited.
  • Paperless content is admissible in court and can be used as evidence. It is possible to have documents signed electronically making paper completely unnecessary.
  • Backups will ensure that there are multiple copies of the data. This safeguards against disasters as well as willful or accidental damage.
  • The span of electronically stored documents is not restricted to paper. Voice, pictures and anything that can be digitized is a candidate for electronic storage.
  • Going paperless helps the environment because it is no longer necessary to print documents to paper; one can print to the paperless office program directly.
  • The return on investment is terms of increased efficiency and reduced costs surpass is positive.

Planning to go paperless already? :D