Rubénerd!

When registering for Wireless@SG a few years ago, I chose Qmax as my provider because they worked well with outlets supplied by SingTel and StarHub. Unfortunately, both Starbucks at Ion Orchard and the Coffee Bean at Bishan Junction 8 have inexplicably adopted M1 over SingTel, and Qmax is no longer listed as a provider.

My mum had a phone with M1, and the experience taught us to never use them for anything serious again. I suppose this is their way of seeking revenge :P.

It seems that fix for the Huawei USB SingTel Mobile modem I painstakingly detailed last week has stopped... fixing. Stopped working. Like a Monty Python parrot, it has ceased to exist. What's worse is the error message is informing me I have to contact myself. Don't they know talking to yourself is the first sign of madness? I mean, I talk to myself enough as it is.

Having just come back to Singapore I tried to use my Huawei E180 dongle to connect to SingTel's mobile broadband, but it completely failed in Snow Leopard. Fortunately there's a simple enough fix.

The problem stems from the default Broadband on Mobile application bundled on the virtual CD: when I attempted to connect in Snow Leopard I got a "Failed to find the device" error. Kim Hoong had a great blog post about the problem with an E170 which generated a lot of comments from Singaporeans with similar hardware problems, but these steps worked for me.

First, unplug the modem and if you installed the client software delete the following files:

/Applications/Broadband on Mobile.app
/Library/Modem Scripts/HUAWEI*
/System/Library/Extensions/Huawei*

Restart.

Second, go to this excellent MacTalk Australia howto page and download their MobilePartner.mpkg package about halfway down. Install it.

Restart again.

Third, plug in the E180 modem again. You'll be prompted if you want to install new network hardware, and if you choose yes the Network System Preferences pane will open. Click the first HUAWEI Mobile connection which has been created and enter *99# as the telephone number.

Connect, and budda boom! All done!

Here's hoping for their own sake SingTel Mobile get their act together and help people who call them about this issue. Macs are still a minority but especially amongst students here they're rapidly increasing market share.

Unfortunately one of the problems with essentially living in two different countries is things like bills from phone companies are easy to forget when you're living in the other place. When I'm in Singapore I have a 3G and data plan with SingTel Mobile, in Australia I have a 3G and data plan with Optus.

Despite technically being an overseas subsidiary of SingTel, Optus couldn't be more different. To their credit (puns are hilarious!), an Optus account is far easier to apply for than a SingTel account and has much less fine print, but you pay for this initial convenience by having far slower data speeds, spotty 3G reception and a tiny amount of data. Granted Singapore is microscopic compared to the metro area of Adelaide despite having five times as many people, but in Singapore I have full 3G reception everywhere except in lifts. I also have six times the data, for cheaper.

The other thing has to do with late payments of accounts. With SingTel if I'm late they send a series of warning letters and disconnect me, but they've always had me reconnected within an hour of my bill payment, even if it's on a weekend (yes, even Sunday!). With Optus they claim a business day before reconnection takes place, but it's taken 4 business days each time it's happened.

I'm not denying for a second it's entirely my own fault for not paying my bills, but the difference in support and service is huge. Optus needs to get their act together. I'm bullish that they're capable of it, they just need a nudge. By a huge bull. I'd be scared into changing if a bull came charging at me. Charging... like charging a phone. I'm a genius!

Given I use my iTelephone with these plans, I wonder if Neal from iPhoneUserNews.com has anything to say about this? Wonder if you get a free Guinness and a potato when you sign up for an Irish telco?

It's interesting how I'm often asked things in the street and in coffee shops here in Singapore about things that only a person who lives here would know. Tourists say they can tell I live here because I'm caucasian but not drenched in sweat when I walk around!

I was in a coffee shop this morning (no, really?) when a guy at the table next to mine noticed my SingTel EVDO USB modem poking out from my MacBook Pro. Why did that sound wrong? Anyway he wanted to know if I had the same problem as he did on his Mac when using the modem whereby it will sometimes claim no devices can be found or that a carrier can't be detected.

Given I was able to bring up a screenshot of the error message he described, it's clear I've had the same problem from time to time. The extremely high tech solution I've found is to... wait for it... unplug the modem, wait a few seconds then plug it back in again. I've also noticed it helps to wait for a good minute or so before attempting to make a connection after you've plugged the modem in.

And some people claim this blog isn't useful, can you believe it? Grilled cheese sandwiches.

I was in a hurry to get to sleep last night so I didn't talk much about this aside from posting a screenshot, but yesterday I was able to get my iTelephone unlocked and was blown away by how easy and fast it was.

I got my iPhone 3G from Optus which meant it was tied to their SIM card in Australia; travelling back to my other "home" in Singapore meant the device just became a fatter, glorified iPod Touch. Calling Optus from here though all I had to do was prove my ID and ask for it to be unlocked for it to be activated on their end. Optus claimed they usually need 10-15 business days to push through an unlock but because I was overseas already they "pushed it through" faster and promised it'd be done in 24 hours. And to their credit, it was!

Once I had backed up my iPhone in iTunes I did a complete restore, during which time I was told my carrier had some new settings to transfer which I presume changed the IMEI number to a carrier-neutral setting. When I popped out my Optus SIM and pushed in the SingTel Mobile 3G card I had from my Centro with the data plan, it worked beautifully.

I've had mobile phones for many years but this is the first time I've had to deal with the issue of "locked" phones which is more of an American phone company thing. The iPhone is an American designed phone so I guess this makes sense.

Anyway I'm super pleased I was able to get Apple and Optus to unlock it without question even though my 12 month contract hasn't expired so I can use my iTelephone here. Singapore has brilliant phone coverage, I've been walking around all morning with it and have had full signal strength for 3G the entire time. Back in Adelaide I only get a decent 3G signal in the CBD. The iTelephone was built for places like Singapore!

Is that irony or is that irony? :-)

If you haven't been following the latest Apple controversy surrounding the update to the iPhone, essentially a bunch of users have been hacking their devices to allow them to be used on other mobile phone networks and if said users updated their phones to the latest 1.1.1 version of the software provided by Apple it caused all sorts of havoc. It's been a pretty hot button issue because it raises several questions:

• As the owner of an iPhone, should I be able to do with it as I choose?
• Should I be able to use other carriers?
• Seeing as unlocking phones is not illegal under the US's DMCA laws, is Apple pulling a swifty doing this?

And herein is why I could probably never bring myself to own an iPhone, at least in the context of American or European use. As a user increasingly of open source and open standards based software because I'm paranoid about future-proofing myself, I see what Apple are doing to this device and it really rubs me the wrong way.

I know Apple are under contract obligation with AT&T in the United States and other mobile phone companies in Europe, but to me they brought it upon themselves. What I want to know is why did Apple feel compelled to launch this device with only one company in each market. I dismiss all the arguments about the extra functionality needed to get Visual Voicemail working and so forth as pure BS, and I know they get a cut from each iPhone contract that is signed with respective phone carriers, but it still doesn't explain why that would mean they have to limit themselves.

To me they are seriously damaging not only their reputation but also any prospects for stellar future sales by doing all this nonsense. Nokia have even started an advertising campaign leveraging on the iPhone's ridiculous terms of use and closed nature by saying they're open.

As a consumer and an owner of mobile phones since I was in primary school, the concept of phone locking also really irks me because I've never had to put up with it before. I've had half a dozen phones with Singapore Telecom, Maxis in Malaysia and Vodaphone in Australia and none of those handsets prevented me from using other SIM cards in them when I went overseas or even locally. To me locking a phone reeks of pure greed, arrogance and lack of respect for customers.

It will be interesting to see how all this negative publicity affects the iPhone not only in the markets where it's currently available but here in Asia where the closest we can get to one are the videos on Apple's website. Will people think twice now before buying one? Will it be as successful in future markets?

Asia is the world's largest mobile phone market and people here get new ones almost every other month. Phones here are like disposable fashion accessories, or at least in Singapore, South Korea and Japan. If you piss off people here with ridiculous prices or vendor lock-in, it won't be long before a mountain of second hand iPhones flood local eBays and garage sales as people move on to the next thing.

Don't get me wrong I think the iPhone itself is a beautiful device and I can't wait to get in iPod Touch soon for that very reason, I just wish stupid politics wouldn't get involved. It's a crying shame.

EDIT: Screenshot of the iPhone site from my Nokia e61i. Irony anyone?