iPhone Launch at Singtel Comcentre, Singapore

Pic: The iPhone launch at Singtel Comcentre

First an iPhone price cut left early buyers feeling foolish, and then came reports that some iPods were spitting sparks. Now the new iPhone 3G has been marred by bugs, spotty service, disappearing programs for the device and a veil of secrecy over software developers trying to broaden its appeal.

Such a string of mishaps and missteps might throw another electronics company into crisis. But of course, Apple Inc. isn't just another electronics company. Even as iPhone griping rages online, it looks like Apple's sterling reputation will emerge untarnished. "The objective reality is that Apple does plenty of wrong," said Peter Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. However, Fader said, the company's loyal fans, and even casual users, have come to identify so strongly with Apple's high-end, individualistic vibe that they're willing to look the other way. "Very few companies have this kind of iconic status where anything they do, even if it is mediocre, will automatically have a halo around it," he said. Kern Bruce, a 25-year-old Web designer in Boston, waited in line for 13 hours to buy an original iPhone. He sold it to upgrade to a 3G."

There was no going back at that point, but after I sold it, I quickly started to regret it," he said. Bruce's complaints echo countless Web forum posts: The device gets uncomfortably warm. Programs crash. And it so seldom connects to AT&T's speedier third-generation, or 3G, data network that Bruce carries the iPhone around with 3G turned off
Here in Singapore, Singtel is going to launch the iPhone.
Industry sources said Apple's iPhone will be launched in Singapore by SingTel this September, but the telco has neither confirmed nor denied this.
So on 22 Aug, 2008...

At exactly 12am, after some pyrotechnics and some fanfare, they started selling the iPhones to the customers in line. We thought we could be getting the iPhone very soon, but we still had to wait for about an hour before actually getting into the store. When we were in the store, we waited for about half an hour before we were served by the staff. The process of setting up the phone was pretty swift, and we were already ready to pay in less than 15 minutes.
It is estimated that gadget fans here have gotten about 10,000 iPhones through different avenues, with some paying over S$1,000 to be the first in Singapore to own the device.

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