2nd iPhone 4/iPAD meetup at KLCC Starbucks

Date : 2 July 2010 @ 6 pm till 9 pm
Location : Starbucks - KLCC

I attended the above function - reached there about 7 pm and left 830 pm. About 20+ enthusiasts attended. Most of them were in their twenties to thirties. I guess I am only one of the few older chaps around. Quite a few were curious about these new gadgets and just wanted to have a look and feel of the new iPhone4 and iPads. I'd presumed all of them were "racun" or poisoned by us that night. I'm pretty sure they'd be unable to sleep that night thinking and fretting over their buying decision.
We're quite well behaved and not so boisterous as expected - if not will sure kena " throw out" by Starbucks guys.

It was basically a meetup to discuss, share opinions , programs demo and mini sale of some accessories. As this was the second meetup after a month, the enthusiasm and emphasis was more on the new iPhone 4 . I noted most of those who came are already quite knowledgeable about the iPAD. These were some of the highlights of the night :

- New owners showing the new iPhone 4 : most obvious was the retina display - just in one word " gorgeous". I compare it with my Google Nexus and I'd rate the iPhone4 a score of 10 against the Nexus a score of 8. I remember seeing 4 or 5 units of the iPhone4 on display.

- Demo of iPhone4 video conferencing aka FACETIME. Quite impressive though is only limited thro WiFi and capable only between iPhone4 and iPhone4. Perhaps by next year with a software upgrade, it can be done through 3G ; Steve Jobs had hinted this during his keynote address.

- Accessories display.
For the iPAD - Jadu Skadoosh iPad Stand and ElementCase Joule Anodized iPad Stand. Both are excellent, very classy looking ( read " expensive" )  and well make . I prefer the Skadoosh as it appear more stable. However it cannot fit my iPAD which was in a leather case. I have read from Jadu's website the newer version ( my God it costs US100 bucks versus US$60 for the older version ) has a wider slot and could fit iPAD with cases. However it can fit well on the iPAD with those silicon protective case. A member was actively promoting sale of the Apple original leather case for RM 180 - a good price I'd say compare to retail which I remember was about above RM 200. Incidentally there were many models of iPAD on show - 16 GB, 32GB and 64 GB ( with and without 3G ).

- iPhone 4 accessories : Apple case aka bumper, screen protectors. The bumper is a recommended must have as it will improve the phone reception as it acts as a insulating layer between the fingers and the metal edge antenna - well that's what Steve Jobs said. Apparently here in Malaysia, we don't seem to have such a serious problem.

- Novatel Wireless MiFi : good for those who got the iPAD without 3G. I was told the display unit costs nearly RM1000 !!! What a shocker - cheaper alternative around RM600- RM700. Some cheapo China makes perhaps RM300 ?? Anyway this is of no use to me as my iPAD his 3G enabled.

- Member Beavis68 had a sharp scissors on hand and was on standby to help anyone FOC who needs their standard sim card cut down to micro-sim size.  I'd say he displayed great skill and the cut out cards were great and all the sides were straight and well trimmed . Compared to my own cutting of the Digi simcard which was uneven and some edges not straight ; anyway it still works great on my iPAD , just need to forget about the aesthethics of it.

- Demo and sharing info of programs on both iPhone4 and iPAD ; iMovie demo on  the iPhone4. Quite few games demo on iPhone but I did not followup on it as I have no interest in games.

My thanks to stringfellow who'd organized this meetup. The discussion of this meetup is at :  http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1470748
The excellent photos above  in this post are from fellow forum members smashpOp , MangO , and azrinarizz  : many thanks to them for allowing me to post it here.

These are some of my shots on  my ancient 10 year old 3 mxp camera :

Comparing my Google NexusOne screen with the iPhone4