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Celcom has launched the BlackBerry Q10 this week, and it will be ready to connect to its LTE network when it is commercially available in June, when users will be connecting up to 10 times faster than 3G, to view HD video without buffer delays, to upload and download just as fast.

Zalman Aefendy Zainal Abidin, Chief Marketing Officer of Celcom Axiata Berhad, said, “The much anticipated BlackBerry Q10 appeals to both new and long-term   BlackBerry users who rely on Celcom’s  Fastest Territory’s reliable network coverage and class-   leading customer experience to bring out their BlackBerry’s best potential. With a whole range   of customised Celcom plans and bundles that will appeal to any customer, the BlackBerry Q10   is a welcome addition to our extensive range of smartphone choices that give our customers   the best match for their ever-evolving digital lifestyles.” 

The BlackBerry Q10 has a physical QWERTY keyboard with wide culptured keys,3.1-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, and is bundled with BlackBerry 10  features like BlackBerry   Hub,BlackBerry Balance and BlackBerry Remember.  

Celcom will offer the BlackBerry Q10 from as low as RM1,388 for a limited time only when customers sign up for any of the   Celcom First Voice + mPro data plans featuring monthly data quota of 5 GB with a 24-month contract; and Celcom First   Voice with mBasic or mAdvance data plans with 12 or 24-month contracts as part of its standard offerings. 

Get the BlackBerry Q10 at Celcom’s  Blue Cube stores and Celcom   Xclusive  Partners nationwide.

BlackBerry Q5 is announced in the BlackBerry Live event in Orlando this week. It will be available in the global emerging markets at an ideal price range.

The event also announced BES 10.1 or BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1,a new “Regulated-level”  IT policy controls and settings for government agencies and customers in regulated industries who need advanced security, control and logging of BlackBerry 10 smartphones. It supports BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS smartphones from a single server.

Customers can download BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1 for free. Existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 customers can exchange their client access licenses for free through 2013.

BBM Channels is a new feature for BBM customers to create a dedicated channel and share experiences,information and updates, broadcast about themselves, or join favourite communities. For instance, BBM customers can connect and share the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team on their BBM Channels.BlackBerry is working with leading global brands to build and promote new BBM Channels.

Some good news for people using iOS and Android. Coming soon they will be able to use BBM on iOS6 and Android 4 and higher.

The event announced a BlackBerry Scholars Program offering full, four-year tuition scholarships to outstanding women pursuing degrees at accredited colleges and universities in the areas of STEM with a particular interest or aptitude in the area of mobile computing.

The ICON programme run by MDEC has become synonymous with the mobile app developer scene. Its ICON2 programme especially assisted in raising up many new mobile developers in Malaysia. Their programmes for iOS and Android developers were effective and many mobile developers active today will attest to the fact that they were introduced to mobile developing through the ICON programme.

Now that the ICON programme has met its initial goals of growing the mobile developer community in Malaysia, what are its next priorities and plans? Wan Murdani Mohamad, Director of Digital Enablement Division, Multimedia Development Corporation, the person effectively in charge of this programme speaks on where ICON is heading next.

He told us that the programme has done well thus far, “We started with giving opportunities to all budding developers. In ICON 2, we did a bit more targeting and went for the best developers. The ICON programme has more than a hundred developers in its ranks today”.

The apps that have been built under the programme have also generated healthy revenue. Wan Murdani says that mobile apps built by ICON developers have seen more than 600,000 downloads, with more than RM200,000 revenue generated thus far.

On plans moving forward, Wan Murdani says that ICON will be working on increasing commercialisation support, encourage more developers to work on supporting businesses and enterprises as well as increase the number of developers who can code for other platforms

Go to Market Support

Wan Murdani says that moving forward they want to give more opportunities to developers on the marketing side. “We have more than a hundred apps. Now it is a matter of getting them more opportunities to make money.”

ICON is working to develop new marketing channels. It is introducing the developers to local mobile operators. At the same time, it is also hoping to make inroads into the international market. “We are also pushing to get these apps to be marketed by larger publishers. These publishers are vital if mobile developers want to market their apps to other regions. We are identifying the right partners for the different regions.” However, many of the apps will have to be modified before they can be taken to other markets. “We cannot simply bring the products as they are and get the publishers to accept them. We will have to get the developers to make adjustments and modifications to make them compelling to the markets that are targeted. If we are entering China, the apps may have to be modified for that region. The app developers already have the foundation but now they have to customise to meet the demand.”

Enterprise Apps

As expected, most of the apps that have been built thus far were aimed at the consumer market. Moving forward, business apps will be targeted. “We will encourage ICON developers to look into the enterprise market. We want to get those who can to build enterprise white apps. We think there is good revenue potential there.” Wan Murdani says that mobile developers who gain a foothold in the enterprise market will have long term contracts and steady business. They can also earn more.

“Typically, mobile developers who build enterprise apps as compared to consumer types of apps earn more money.” Of course, this will require different kinds of training and exposure and Wan Murdani says that ICON will assist developers interested in this area. “Mobile developers who build business apps will have to learn about data protection and security, for example. They will have to undergo more training to be successful in that area.”

ICON is also looking to intensify its participation in highly specific markets. “We will be interested in participating in events that are targeted to specific vertical markets. For example, we may participate in a finance industry event if we feel that the right people will be there. We will bring in our app developers who specialise in that market or who have the capacity to build mobile solutions for that industry.”

New Platforms

While iOS and Android will still be the main platforms that ICON encourages developers to work on for now, it is not neglecting the other platforms. In fact, it has already started lines of actions to get more developers to become proficient in other mobile platforms.

“We want to see more developers working on the newer platforms,” he says. Currently, ICON is running a programme with Nokia to build up a Windows Mobile developer community in Malaysia. ICON also has a series of activities ongoing with BlackBerry for its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Recently, a selected number of ICON developers underwent training to become certified BlackBerry 10 developers.

ICON is also exploring other opportunities for local mobile developers. One area that is looking interesting is hardware integration. Wan Murdani says that if the right hardware can be built, more apps can be developed. “For example, we could get hardware designers to come up with specific hardware such as a device that can authenticate ICs when connected to smartphones. Mobile developers could then build solutions to take advantage of such hardware.”

Just ICON 

Wan Murdani told us that the new initiative will not be called ICON3. “We will not be using numbers anymore. It will just be ICON from now on”. Whatever the name, ICON’s commitment to the local mobile developer community will not change.

The Mobile World Road Test team visits Kuantan.

In the last issue, the MOBILE WORLD team went all the way down to Johor to survey the mobile experiences Johoreans can expect under real life situations. As expected, that round of speed tests confirmed that overall speeds have improved since the last time we did road tests there nearly two years ago. 

However, the title of Speed King of the South did not change hands as Maxis remained the speediest mobile operator there.Our next destination was Kuantan. We chose Kuantan as it is the defacto economic gateway to the East Coast. This city has certainly grown larger since we were there last as it boasts several large malls and universities now. 

Even though Kuantan is not quite the urban centre that Johor is, it has one thing in common with it. Yes, smartphones and tablets rule here too. Just about every person we met in Kuantan had a smartphone and when we were at the cafes we saw a lot of folks using tablets and notebooks. These people need high quality mobile data connections or their  mobile experience was not going to be any good. With some anticipation, we launched our road tests. 

The Mechanics

Just in case you missed the last issue, here’s how we ran the road tests. Firstly, we tested all major telcos, including P1 and Yes. We registered for high speed plans from the telcos to make sure that the speeds we get were not throttled. We took along modems, dongles, MiFis and smartphones along with SIM cards and connection accounts and did two tests in each location; one on smartphones and the other using a dongle.  Our results are reflective of actual conditions on the ground because we did not share our plans with the telcos. 

Our speed testing tool was the Speedtest application, which is a neutral and well known application and freely available for anyone to test speeds. 

Raja Kelajuan Pantai Timur

The MOBILE WORLD team tested five locations in Kuantan. The locations we chose are areas where we expected usage to be heavy. 

Just like what we saw in the south, wireless internet speeds have improved dramatically since our last road tests two years ago. In fact, we have to stress the word ‘dramatically’. We must say that we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Kuantan folks were getting more than average wireless speeds.

The battle for the title of Raja Kelajuan Pantai Timur was more heavily contested this time around. As you can see from the test results, we tested over two categories of devices; mobile broadband and mobile internet. The winner of tests for the mobile broadband was quite easy to determine. 

Yes gave a bit of a fight but Maxis was the clear winner, delivering the fastest mobile broadband speeds in most locations. Celcom’s results, though not as speedy as Maxis’ were not too bad. DiGi did not do too well. At one location, DiGi did not even register 3G speeds. U Mobile was behind Celcom but not by that much. P1 was the slowest and its service was rather patchy in Kuantan.

But before we could go ahead and throne Maxis as the champion of the East Coast, it had to face some very tough competition in the smartphone segment. Celcom was neck to neck with Maxis in our mobile internet speed tests. In some areas, Celcom was faster while in the others, Maxis edged its rival.

On balance, after taking into account the mobile broadband speed tests results we picked Maxis as the winner of the East Coast edition of our road test. Maxis swept away the competition in the mobile broadband category and fought out a draw with Celcom in the mobile internet category.

The next round

Two locations, one winner. Maxis is proving to be the most speediest mobile operator at the halfway point of our road tests. First in Johor and now in Kuantan, Maxis stood out from the other mobile operators. Our next test area results will be interesting. Our destination is Penang,  the location of our Northern Road Tests. What was it like in the Pearl of the Orient? Find out in our next issue.

Speed is something anyone using mobile internet services would be concerned about. A fast and stable connection trumps everything else in deciding whether a mobile experience is going to be enjoyable or disappointing. You may be carrying the latest high end smartphone and running the best of mobile apps but if the connection sucks, so does your mobile experience.

Mobile World was one of the earliest publications, if not the first, to run road tests to determine real life Malaysian consumer experiences. And we are happy to inform that we have just finished our latest rounds of road tests around Malaysia.

In this issue, we present our results of the southern portion of our speed tests. The following three issues will feature the results of our tests in Kuantan, Penang and finally, the Klang Valley. Yes, all the tests have been done and dusted. Over the last one month or so, the Mobile World team covered the south, east, north and the central urban centres of Peninsula Malaysia. Since our aim was to replicate a typical mobile experience, we did not tell the telcos that we were carrying out the road tests. We’re guessing they should be equally interested in finding out how they did. 

So, who’s the fastest of them all? You will find out at the end, in our July issue, but for now, we will tell you who the speed king down south is. 

The Mechanics

The mobile landscape has moved forward quite a bit since Mobile World last carried out speed road tests. Last time around, we covered just three telcos. Our 2013 tests cover all major telcos. We took along modems, dongles, MiFis and smartphones along with SIM cards and connection accounts from Celcom, DiGi, Maxis, P1, U Mobile and Yes. 

In each location, we ran two tests. The first was to test the smartphone experience. We used a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone (or another mobile device if the operator did not support that phone) for this test. After that, we used a dongle. The same dongle was used if it could run on the network. If that was not possible, we used a modem or a device that ran on that network.

We also ensured that we registered for high speed plans from the telcos. Some plans have cheap monthly commitments but these restrict the speeds offered. We did not take up those plans. To test the speeds, we used a neutral and well known application this time around: the Speedtest application which is freely available for anyone to test speeds. 

The Southern Speed King

Overall, there have been significant improvements from 2011. The last time we went down south, we got excited anytime speeds crossed 2 Mbps. This time, we were disappointed if speeds dropped below 2 Mbps. Sadly, DiGi is the operator we have to point the finger here. Their network speeds are much lower than the other operators.

When deciphering the figures on the chart, make sure you know what to watch out for. Ping speeds reflect how long sites take to respond and are an indication of the latency of the networks. As far as Pings are concerned the LOWER the figure, the better. Download speeds are the most important thing one needs to monitor as most of our internet activity consists of websites, applications and emails coming down to our mobile devices. Upload speeds are important when we send data to the Internet and reflect how long it takes for a consumer to upload a photo to Facebook or send an email with attachments.

We recorded decent speeds from the other operators, with one caveat: only in the areas where we could get their signal. Yes had nice speeds wherever we could get signals but contrary to their claims, a signal could not be obtained in every location. P1 was slower than Yes and we also had problems getting their signals everywhere.

We got much better speeds from Celcom than the ones we got in 2011. Their upload speeds were also decent but their download speeds could be improved a bit more.

Maxis shone out from the rest in the south. At some locations, we got blazing fast speeds - even better than the speeds consumers are getting at home on fibre optic connections. When speeds were above 10 Mbps - and we got 13 Mbps and 15 Mbps at two locations - it was blissful using the Internet.The speeds we got from Maxis over the mobile phone were equally exciting. Averaging more than 4 Mbps, websites loaded super fast and there was hardly any lag in response time.

From key locations in JB down to Melaka, we got consistently higher speeds from Maxis than the rest. The number one telco has not been resting on its laurels and appears to have spent the last two years putting in significant upgrades to its network in the south.

Coming up with the winner in the South was easy. Maxis won hands down. What was it like in the East Coast? Find out in our next issue.

Some happenings that were reported in the first few months of this year have really brought home the point to me that the Internet is heading in a direction that is very worrying and which will ultimately extract a very expensive toll on all users.

Free is the big catchword on the Internet and for twenty years or so now, people have gotten used to free apps and services on the Internet. Consumers have become so enamoured with free apps and services that they hesitate to pay even if a good app charges a small and very reasonable amount.

Today, a free-loader on the Internet can get just about anything free. Search is free. Videos are free. Word processors, spreadsheets, picture editors and presentation applications are just a few of the tens of thousands of free business apps on the internet. Suffice to say that if some company launches a paid application that is successful, another start-up will emerge with a similar product that is free. The tech world calls it a ‘disruptive’ strategy and wildly cheers when these apps appear.

We, the consumers love these free apps too but the time has come to ask ourselves if we are not paying too high a price for these free apps.

Recently, in the US, a young man who is gay but had never told anyone was stunned to see ads on his Facebook page that were targeted at gay users. Facebook has become very good at what it does, which is to determine your likes, tastes and pursuits, so that it can sell ads that interest you. 
Facebook’s ads will be even more effective if it knows your true self, not your public personality. And that is how, probably, Facebook’s excellent data processing algorithms had determined that the person was gay, literally before he was prepared to publicly acknowledge his sexuality.

Also, the way Facebook works is very worrying. A friend can add you to a group without your consent. You have to go and remove yourself from the group if you don’t like it. Imagine now, if you get added to a group that is completely against your beliefs. By the time you realise it or do something about it, a lot of your friends will think differently about you.

The stark reality is that Facebook knows a lot about you and me, more than what we would be prepared to reveal to other people. That is a very scary but here’s another even scarier truth: Google knows even more about you. Your searches, the YouTube videos you watch, the maps you use all reveal a lot more than you probably want it to know. Google knows where you are anytime of the day, almost to the accuracy of a few metres. Another very scary truth is that we Asians are very relaxed about privacy issues and haven’t yet realised how dangerous the game is becoming.

Both the Google services mentioned above and Facebook are free apps, in case you have not realised the connection. Facebook in fact proudly proclaims that it will ‘always be free’. Since Google and Facebook are not charities, they have to make money. And since they don’t charge users, they make money by flogging what they know about their users. Now isn’t that a very high price to pay? Of course Google and Facebook are just the biggest such companies around. All companies that provide free apps ‘monetise’ their offerings through ads and marketing tie-ups. This extends to the phones obviously. Phone brands require you to register these days and force some of their services onto you. Their aim is not just about loyalty building, they too want to become the company that has the most complete information about you.

So how can we keep our privacy and probably, our dignity? There’s no single answer. Becoming more tech savvy and aware about how our privacy is breached online can help to some extent.

One other very good way is to start supporting paid apps. Especially the paid apps that promise never to market your personal data to others. It will cost you money but the good news is that many of such apps are not very expensive. There aren’t that many apps using the paid model these days but I am certain that if users begin to support that model, more will emerge.

It may still be a losing battle but I think that should not stop all of us from starting to push back against companies that want to know everything about us and use that information to make money. I would rather they took the money from my wallet directly. What do you think?

The Kindle Fire has been a runaway hit in the United States, mostly because it carried a cheap pricetag. Now, Amazon has not only refreshed its one variant of Kindle Fire, but added two more HD choices.

The devices that were unveiled are the second generation Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD 7’’, Kindle Fire HD 8.9’’ and Kindle Fire HD 8.9’’ 4G-LTE.

All of these devices run on a dual-core processor with 1GB worth of RAM. The most interesting detail about the Kindle Fires are that they are priced competitively.

The regular version is priced at US$159 (8GB), the HD 7’’ at US$199 (16GB), the HD 8.9’’ at US$299 (16GB) and the HD 8.9’’ 4G-LTE at US$499 (32GB).

However, do not expect these devices to come to Malaysia since we do not have all the Amazon content like music, books and movies that this device caters to available to us here.

During Intel’s keynote, the CEO of Motorola was invited as a guest to speak about the deal between them and Intel.  

In essence, some of Motorola’s upcoming smartphones and tablets later this year will come packed with Intel processors. This partnership looks to be pretty big and is a multi-year and multi-device deal, although specifics are still pretty vague. Of course, these products will be based off Intel Atom Medfield Z2460 processors. These Medfield processors offer better performance, battery life and security, which are ever-growing concerns.

Scheduled to ship in the second half of 2012, more details will probably be disclosed at future events, like Mobile World Congress next month. There is also a high possibility that these phones will be running Ice Cream Sandwich when the time comes.