How Much Will An iPhone 11 Cost?

Our society encourages the untouchable association people have with their phones. Picture a get-together with friends. Once the food is laid out nicely, you will notice the smartphones rise up to capture the perfect #foodporn moment.

This association and dependency with the smartphones led to the increase in smartphone shipments per year. However, consumer insight research firm Strategy Analytics stated that global smartphone shipments fell 3% in the second quarter of 2019. This is in comparison with the same period and statistics last year.

Apple captured about 11% of the global smartphone market share in the second quarter of this year. This is a drop from the 12% of share during the same period last year.

Will this percentage change as they launch a new set of iPhones? Let us wait and see!

Last Sept 10, Apple announced its new set of iPhones during a media event held in Steve Jobs Theatre. The launch introduced us to the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

With prices starting at S$1,149, the beaming iPhone 11 is available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storage capacities. While, the iPhone 11 Pro starts from S$1,649. This is available in the storage capacities of 64GB, 256GB and 512GB. Lastly, iPhone 11 Pro Max starts from S$1,799. Sales for this new series will begin on September 20 (Friday).

The iPhone 11 will be available in six colours including the glistening purple and green. While, the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max will come in white, rose gold, space grey, and midnight green. These new colors can excite many Apple enthusiasts.

The main difference between the iPhone 11 and the two Pro models is that the former uses LCD display while the latter uses OLED display. Choose which one suits your preference and needs. One thing is for sure, they all come with an extra camera. This extra camera has been a subject to many memes. Don’t get me started with the Terminator phone case!

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller highlighted that the new triple-camera system is the first mechanism that the company can claim to be “professional”. These cameras feature an ultra wide-angle and wide-angle camera.

What’s more? The iPhone 11 series’ camera system comes with a Night mode. This is similar to Google Pixel 3’s Night Sight feature, which allows high dynamic range with sharp details in night photography. All models contain the latest A13 Bionic processor, which the company claims to be the fastest chip on a smartphone.

Ultimately, the starting cost of the iPhone 11 series (S$1,149) can buy 105 boxes of Panadol capsules or 410 McDonald’s Cheeseburgers. Isn’t that amazing?

Sources: 1 & 2

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Ways You Are Flushing Money Away Without Noticing It

1. BY NOT CLAIMING YOUR REWARDS

A credit card is utilized at the point of sale as means of paying for services or goods. Credit cards come in different looks and sizes, much like assorted chocolates. What’s more? They vary in the rewards they entail. Some give discounts whenever you shop while others give you travel miles. If you are confused with how the rewards scheme of your credit cards works, it is best to ask your issuer openly on how you can maximize its use.

Take a cash-back rewards card to your advantage by putting the sum to your emergency fund. Or, gather up all the miles you can get (e.g., by offering to pay for your friends and later reimbursing it with cash) to enjoy a free trip in your dream destination. To put your “power” into good use, utilize your rewards wisely.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

2. BY NOT CONTROLLING YOUR MOBILE PHONE USAGE

Millions of people around the world overpay for their postpaid plans because they underestimate their usage in minutes, in messages, and in bytes of data. When you are paying for minutes, messages, and gigabytes that you do not use then, you are flushing away money every single month.

For your convenience, I shall impart how much you will pay for excess usage in SingTel and StarHub plans. For Singtel users, excess local 3G data is charged up to S$10.70/1 GB and excess data beyond the bundled plan is charged at S$0.50/100 KB. While StarHub 4G users get to pay S$10.70/1 GB in excess. Considering that almost every place in Singapore have free WiFi, paying this much is really costly!

To intelligently estimate your total usage, analyze your mobile phone billing statements for the past few months and average each factor. Then, you can select a postpaid plan best suited for your needs. Keep track of your data usage better by installing an App like My Data Manager (free to download on iOS and Android). My Data Manager App enables you to know how much each App consumes and alerts you whenever you are close to hitting the limit.

3. BY NOT CHOOSING BUNDLED SERVICES OR POLICIES

If you are getting a TV, landline (home digital line), mobile phone, and a wireless broadband plan, it is best if you consider getting all of these services under the same provider. This process is called bundling.

By bundling the services or policies, the telecom companies are able to offer you discounts and promotional packages to help you save more. For example, SingTel’s Fiber Home Bundle will cost you as low as S$49.90 a month (Terms & Conditions apply)!

Image Credits: facebook.com/SingTel?fref=photo

Image Credits: facebook.com/SingTel?fref=photo

With the help of this list, may you stop “flushing your money down the drain” by increasing buyer’s awareness. 🙂

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

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Handphone Scams Are Soaring; Here’s What You Must Do

As shopping and payment transactions can be smoothly done through the power of your fingertips, about S$443 billion were spent in 2014’s mobile transactions – all over the world. But while digital wallets increase in popularity, so does the risk of scams.

What are handphone or mobile phone scams anyway? Handphone scams involve a variety of dishonest tactics, such as persuading you to buy a non-existent product or making you sign up to expensive subscription services, that are done for the scammer’s own profit.

According to Scams Singapore, a blog dedicated to identify and relay information about the existing frauds, common handphone scams occur when an unknown number contacts you and tells you to collect your prize or to pay for your kidnapped relative. With innovative ways to communicate and connect, the risk of scams rises. This is why it is important to stay vigilant and take preventative steps such as these:

1. PICKING PASSWORDS

When deciding which password you can use for your phone, do not choose the common ones such as 1234, 1111, or 0000. Also, you must change as often as possible.

For your mobile banking, maximize the use of your privacy settings by using two-factor authentication. Furthermore, do not make the security questions easy to answer because the scammers can just access your social media accounts.

2. OPENING ATTACHMENTS

To avoid downloading virus or other malware, only open attachments that were given by your friends, family, partners, and clients. Avoid phishing messages (i.e., when an unknown number asks for your bank account details). Simply, if you do not recognize the sender’s number and the area code is not +65 (i.e., Singapore’s area code) then, it is most likely a scam.

Image Credits: Antti Kultanen via Flickr with Creative Commons

Image Credits: Antti Kultanen via Flickr with Creative Commons

3. DOWNLOADING APPS

When downloading Smartphone Apps, opt for the Apps that are available on the official retailers such as the iTunes or Google Play stores. Otherwise, there is a possibility of downloading bugs, virus or other malware. Downloading a tracking App for your devices is helpful in case you get robbed.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

 

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4 Tips To Reduce Your Phone Bill

Can’t live without your smartphone? You’re not alone. Singapore is one of the most wired countries on the planet, with 88% of Singaporeans owning at least one smart phone. With smartphone usage being such an important part of your daily life, phone bills at the end of the month can sometimes get rather monstrous.  We want to help you out. Here’s 4 tips on how to reduce that phone bill.

Sign Up For A Corporate Or Student Plan

Companies often tie-up with phone service providers to offer special corporate plans for their employees. These special plans can entail reduced rates, additional data and more! While it can be certain that most large companies have such mobile plans for their employees, some smaller businesses also provide such benefits as well. Sometimes these special corporate plans aren’t very well communicated by the company management, so remember to take the initiative to ask.

If you’re a student, there are plenty of student plans abound from each of the phone service providers, so feel free to take your pick. Some of them offer free campus calls, or unlimited text messages, so choose your plan wisely

Use Free Apps

Why text, when you can use Whatsapp, Line or Telegram? Why call someone using the conventional calling function when you can use Vibre or Skype? There are plenty of free apps abound on the Apple App Store and Google Marketplace that allow you to make full use of the internet connectivity of your smartphone. Most, if not all, of the functions which make use of your normal mobile plan features such as texts and calls can be replaced by these apps. Doing so would definitely minimise your phone bill, as you would be using less of what can be charged to you.

Do take note of your 3G/4G usage, as all these apps would make use of the wireless connection. But hey, you’re in Singapore, one of the most wired countries on the planet! This means you should…

Use Wifi Whenever Possible

Remember to make sure you log in to your home wifi whenever you reach home. Imagine the rude shock you would receive if you were watching videos all night, only to realise you had forgotten to connect to your house wifi! Most malls now have wifi as well, so visitors just need to create and account and log in to use it. The government is also in the midst of installing wifi accessibility in 36 MRT stations, so you can eventually even use wifi when while waiting for the train!

Use Prepaid

Sure this might not be the coolest thing around, but if you’re someone who can survive without being on Youtube and Facebook 24/7, this is a very viable option. You only need to pay a small minimum amount to get started with using a prepaid, after which you can top-up if you need to! Using a prepaid card also means you can better regulate your phone usage, because once you run out of prepaid credit, you literally can’t use your phone anymore to call, text or surf the net. If you use a mobile plan, you run the risk of going overboard each month if you don’t make the effort to track your usage regularly

 

 

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Confide: A Free App to Keep your Business Secrets from Getting Hacked

These past few days, the news of a huge entertainment company being hacked shocked most of us. This big company is no other than Sony Pictures. A hacker group called LulzSec sent out a message on Twitter saying: “1,000,000+ unencrypted users, unencrypted admin accounts, government and military passwords saved in plaintext. #PSN compromised. @Sony”.

Image Credits: TRF_Mr_Hyde via Flickr

Image Credits: TRF_Mr_Hyde via Flickr

Various collections of data were accessed and stolen easily without the need of outside monetary support. Among these data are admin details including their passwords. Truly, it is very scary.

This is not the first time Sony has been hacked. In 2011, hackers stole the personal information of over 24.6 million Sony Online Entertainment users with more than 20,000 credit card information. This is such an embarrassment for a company as big as Sony.

This “simple” attack by LulzSec will surely make Sony paranoid to the extent of further improving their technological restrictions, security, and privacy. Luckily for Sony, a private messaging company offered their services to them for free.

Confide, a relatively new private messaging App for Android and iPhone, mimics the capabilities of Snapchat. The only difference is that, Confide does not let the people you send messages to take a screenshot. It’s a way to send messages to your contacts without having to worry about the information getting hacked or leaked out.

Screenshot Credits: Confide App via Google Play Store

Screenshot Credits: Confide App via Google Play Store

Other features of the Confide App include: messages disappearing forever once they have been read, messages being encrypted, messages can be sent to email addresses or phone numbers, and getting notifications once your message has been read.

Best of all? It can be downloaded for FREE in Google Play or ITunes.

Along with Sony, Confide App is now trying to capitalize on the Sony hack by pitching its services to other big companies. If you asked me, I would say that perhaps Confide App has an association with the recent hack in order to market their business, but that is just my crazy conspiracy theory talking.

Image Credits: michael davis-burchat via Flickr

Image Credits: michael davis-burchat via Flickr

The main agenda of the hackers was to warn the nation of how “simple” it could be to access information with security flaws, and how it is paramount to tighten privacy measures in this age and time.

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