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I’m sure you can see the relationship with brand power and a product’s price tag now, when you look at the C-segment with cars like the Civic, 308, Lancer, Focus, Altis, and the newly launched Mazda 3. A product with a strong brand somehow can command a higher price yet not really offer much in terms of specs. A brand does not get built out of thin air and the higher price tag will pay back some of the efforts put into brand building, whether it is A&P or the money invested into the product build quality or service network.
This applies everywhere and in the world of mobile phones there seems to be a kind of T-badge of sorts. You know, that device that doesn’t even have a camera in front for video calls, no tethering ability (until recently), or even a changeable battery. It is really something to worry about, because the world of electric cars opens up the possibility of car manufacturing to companies that you would not even consider to make cars before. Battery and electric motor technology is something quite unrelated to the internal combustion engines that have been developed by the big brands over the years.
Anyway I digress. I’ve been looking around recently for a mobile phone to potentially replace by existing phone which has gone out of warranty and from what I hear, is quite screwed up inside now. Too many drops it seems. A good mobile phone with good internet connectivity helps me manage this blog whenever I am on the go. A large and readable screen is very important to browse the comments moderation section of the blog’s WordPress system so I’ve been looking at a few touchscreen phones. The Blackberry Storm and the iPhone come to mind.
The Blackberry Storm has the advantage of Blackberry technology and they’ve pretty much perfected push email so that’s a plus point. Various tests around the internet have also shown that the Storm’s browser is pretty much one of the quickest performing browsers, rendering pages quickly and with proper Javascript support, something important with the long comment list pages in my WordPress. The Storm also has built-in tethering support which means I can use it as a modem for my laptop to update my site on the go.
Most importantly unlike the iPhone, it has a changeable battery, which is something I feel is very very important. Battery life generally goes down over time and you have to perform certain charge cycle rituals to keep it up. I simply do not have time for this, so knowing I can change my battery when it finally conks out (it’s happened to me before!) is important. That way I do not have to change my device if my battery dies.
Coming from a world of phones with regular buttons, it’s also worth nothing that the Storm’s touch screen is “smarter” as in it employs a haptic touch keyboard technology. It means the touch screen is tactile or should i say “clickable” – it provides feedback to your finger when you are typing on it. I’ve tried some Windows Mobile touchscreen phones and just felt weird touching something that did not provide me feedback.
The other thing that a motorist can take advantage of is the fact that that the Storm has an internal GPS antenna. Many swear by Garmin and Malsingmaps and there is actually a version of Garmin Mobile for Blackberry mobile phones. You can easily mount it on your windscreen with kits such as these.
The iPhone is currently only sold by one telco but with the Storm it’s a non-exclusive offering. Two telcos currently offer it and it so happens that my two SIM cards are from each of the two telcos. Celcom offers a shorter contract of only 12 months and there are two packages according to your usage, RM1699 and RM1399. The other telco is selling it for RM2199 with a 24 month commitment. Celcom is subsidising more in this case – it makes sense having trouble picking between a more expensive Civic and a cheaper Focus because it is two completely different products but in this case the product is one and the same so it’s a bit of a no brainer.
The only issue with the Storm at the moment right now is the lack of Wi-Fi, but I’ve been subscribing to an unlimited 3G service so that should not be an issue in Malaysia. I’d not be able to take advantage of the hotel Wi-Fi or an outdoor free Wi-Fi service like the one in most parts of Singapore in case I am anywhere overseas though!
