Handphone videos capture violent attacks by schoolgirls

TWO countries, two teenage girls, two attacks captured on video.

One of these videos was eventually posted online, where it was discovered by the victim's elder sister.

The footage was taken on a handphone camera at a mosque in Terengganu, Malaysia.

There are conflicting reports about the incident.

The New Straits Times (NST) reported that two 13-year-old girls were beaten up by a group of schoolgirls.

Azani Juasharmiela Mohd Jaaffar and her friend were allegedly forced to get on motorcycles ridden by three of their schoolmates and taken to a mosque.

There, they were reportedly beaten up for 30 minutes while one of the attackers filmed them on her handphone.

The Star, on the other hand, reported the incident as a case of teen jealousy.

Azani Juasharmiela was allegedly scratched on the face by her best friend because the latter was jealous that she was getting many compliments on her good looks.

A classmate recorded the fight on her handphone.

While the details differed, both newspapers reported that the video was posted online.

It was discovered by Azani Juasharmiela's 23-year-old sister, Ms Azani Juhaiza.

The younger girl had tried to keep the incident a secret, but told all after being confronted by her older sister.

The victim said she was traumatised by the incident.

The sisters lodged a report at the Kuala Terengganu police headquarters on Sunday morning.

In Hong Kong, an unrelated and more serious attack was also recorded with a handphone camera.

In May, a group of schoolgirls allegedly stripped and abused a classmate.

The incident was captured in a handphone video and sent to the rest of the class.

The Sun reported that the 12-year-old victim was beaten by nine other girls aged 11 to 13.

They allegedly stripped her naked, stuck hard objects into her private parts and burned her hands with cigarette butts.

The victim's family learned of the incident and made a police report. The case is under investigation.

Fined for making obscene video call

A 35-YEAR-OLD man who revealed himself to an unknown woman via a mobile video call was fined $2,000 yesterday for insulting her modesty.

Diver Wee Boon Kiat pleaded guilty to making the obscene video call to the 29-year-old’s mobile phone, showing her his private parts, on April 4 this year.

A magistrate’s court heard that the woman executive was at Shenton Way at around 1am when she received a 3G video call from Wee on her mobile phone.

Wee told her in Mandarin that he was waiting for her to come back. She hung up the phone.

He then used the video call function and called the woman again.

This time, the victim saw him committing an obscene act and lodged a police report.

Pleading for leniency, Wee, who is married with two children, said he made a mistake and promised to be a responsible citizen.

District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said third-generation mobile phone technology was meant for better means and advised Wee to seek medical help.

Wee, who has a theft conviction, could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined for the offence.

New iPhone 3G S price plans out

The new iPhone 3G S from software giant Apple will be available on Friday and telco SingTel has released the pricing plans for the hotly-anticipated mobile phone.

Like the iPhone 3G launched last August, the iPhone 3G S can be bought only with a data and mobile package from SingTel for up to $678, depending on the plans.

This contrasts with up to $848 for the existing iPhone 3G.

If the subscriber is contracted to a monthly $95 plan, he can get the new iPhone 3G S with 16GB or 32GB memory for free or $138, respectively.

The 16GB and 32GB versions can otherwise go for up to $548 or $678, respectively.

The cheaper the SingTel plan subscribed to, the pricier the iPhone 3G S.

The cheapest plan is the $39 a month iFlexi Lite plan, which comes with 500MB of bundled data for surfing online with the phone and 100 minutes of outgoing talk-time.

The most expensive plan is the iFlexi Premium, priced at $205 a month. It comes with 3GB of bundled data plus 1,500 minutes of outgoing talktime.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 3G S can be made at www.singtel.com/reserve with a $50 deposit.

Phones that have been pre-ordered can be collected with a free $30 iPhone accessory voucher at SingTel Comcentre along Exeter Road this Friday, from 8pm.

Existing 8GB and 16GB iPhone 3G users can trade in their phones for the new iPhone 3G S and expect to top up at no cost and up to $738.

However, upgrades are not available for the cheapest iFlexi Lite plan.

The new iPhone 3G S comes in black or white, and looks similar to the iPhone 3G. But it comes with a faster processor, an upgraded operating system and a better camera.

Logistics manager Danny Lim, 32, was excited over the launch of the iPhone 3G S.

"I can't wait to get the new iPhone. With my subscription eligible for extension soon, it'd be the perfect time to get it," he said.

Visit www.singtel.com/iphone for more details.

Mad rush for iPhone 3G S downs telco's system

BARELY a day after telco SingTel released its pricing plans for the much-anticipated iPhone 3G S, would-be customers ran into problems trying to pre-order the phone.

Many were unable to access the SingTel website for pre-orders for hours on end. When they managed to do so, there were other problems, such as being unable to pay with their credit cards.

Call the customer service hotline? Unreliable. Sometimes, calls could not be put through or went unanswered.

Contacted yesterday, SingTel apologised for the inconvenience. Its spokesman said the pre-order website had seen an "unprecedented number of orders since it went live on Monday evening". He declined to reveal the exact figure.

The company has since increased the capacity of the registration website to handle more traffic.

Marketing manager Daniel Chong told my paper he spent 12 hours trying to get onto the website and make a pre-order payment. All came to nought.

Mr Chong, 28, said: "The first time I called customer service, they said there was a problem with the account and reset my password. It didn't work. After two more calls I gave up and searched for help online."

He eventually reserved the phone yesterday morning.

The frustration has spilled online onto several forums like HardwareZone, while many others tweeted about it.

Netizen gongchen posted on HardwareZone on Monday: "I have been calling for the last 30 minutes. Finally they (SingTel) answered but they told me their system is down, and asked me to try again tomorrow morning."

Netizen deep3lue posted on the same forum yesterday morning: "If they (SingTel) want to do the registration online, make sure the system can support it."

Mr Chong agreed, saying: "SingTel should have anticipated the demand after all, similar problems happened when they launched the 3G last year."

Phone: $455 Bill? $1,116

FOR months, the Indonesian man had been eyeing the Nokia handphone.

BAD DEAL: Mr Buchari (far left), his sister-in-law Madam Oriza (middle), and his wife, Madam Irawati were charged $1,116 for a Nokia E71. TNP PICTURE: CHOO CHWEE HUA

If Mr Gustaferi Buchari were to buy it without a contract in Indonesia, he would have to fork out about 4 million rupiah ($600).

So when he saw the same Nokia E71 phone on sale at $450 (without contract) at a basement shop in Lucky Plaza in Singapore last week, the 44-year-old company director thought it was a good deal.

Mr Buchari, who was here last Tuesday to visit relatives, said he managed to bargain the price down to $420.

He got the salesman to upgrade the 512MB memory card to a 4GB one for an extra $35.

He told the salesman that he was going to use the phone in Indonesia.

He then paid $455 in cash, but claimed he was not given a receipt. He said it did not occur to him to ask for one.

'(The salesman) then took the phone out of the box and told me he was going to go somewhere to remove the SIM-lock and to register the Internet connection,' Mr Buchari added.

SIM-locking is when the mobile operator locks the handset to work only with SIM cards they have provided. (See report on right.)

When the salesman returned 10 minutes later, Mr Buchari was handed a bill for $1,116.

This meant he had to pay $661 on top of what he had already handed over.

He said the bill did not include any breakdown of the cost.

'I asked the salesman why I had to pay $1,116 when we had agreed on $455,' he told The New Paper.

He said the extra costs were for 'unlocking the phone and registering the Internet connection'.

The two men then got into a heated argument.

Mr Buchari said he called his wife, Madam Feny Irawati, 40, who was shopping nearby. She and her sister, Madam Oriza, then went to the shop.

Mr Buchari claimed that the salesman offered him a partial refund of $300 but he would not get the phone.

Mr Buchari did not take the offer as that would have meant paying $155 for nothing.

Madam Irawati claimed: 'We told them we were going to call the police, and they said we should go ahead.'

She did. A police spokesman confirmed they received a call around 5pm on 30 Jun asking for help.

'We advised the parties involved to settle the matter amicably and they complied,' the spokesman added.

No comment

In the end, Mr Buchari said he agreed to take the 4GB memory card for $30, and the balance of $425 was returned to him.

When we approached the salesman for his side of the story, he declined comment.

Mr Buchari said: 'I think vendors should tell people what the full price is upfront, rather than showing them the bill at the end with all the costs included.'

Handphone stolen? Tech tools help you get it back

THIEVES are increasingly going after iPhones and other 'smart phones' but victims now can fight back with technology.

One device allows a user to remotely activate a loud siren designed to rattle the thief. Another application, designed for iPhones, can reveal the phone's location.

New technology helps owners of expensive gadgets to get them back after they are lost or stolen.

The Find My iPhone feature from Apple, which declined to comment for this report, enables users to determine the phone's location and erase the data on it, among other things.

A Chicago blogger who tried the feature after his iPhone disappeared tracked the phone's movements from a friend's computer.

According to his post at happywaffle.livejournal.com/5890.html, he got his phone back - and a handshake from the surprised culprit.

'You're lucky you didn't get shot in the face,' read one comment on the blog.

Indian company Maverick Mobile Solutions' system allows victims of theft to activate a siren and send a text message to the phone - perhaps to offer a deal to get the phone back.

Fear of a gadget-related crime wave is not new. In 2005, as Apple's signature white earphones were becoming ubiquitous in US cities, the New York Police Department reported an increase in subway crime linked to iPod thefts. Before that, victims were targeted for their expensive sneakers.

But hand phone theft is a particular concern because of the risk of identity theft, said City Councilman Peter Vallone.

'It's bad enough losing your phone and that's all it was a few years ago,' MrVallone said. 'Nowadays, if you lose your phone, you can very quickly lose your identity.'

Many iPhone users agree that, given the amount of personal data stored on phones, losing one could be devastating.

'The damage would be extensive,' said MrJoshua Deutch, 32, a freelance IT consultant. He said he would 'not think twice' before wiping data - including bank account numbers and multiple passwords - if someone stole his iPhone.

But he said pursuing a thief would be going too far. 'Obviously, there's some excitement with that but I have insurance.'

After data has been wiped clean, the iPhone is 'just a brick', he said. -- Reuters.

Online Only - New iPhone will be launched in S’pore on July 10

Good news for those waiting to lay their hands on the latest iPhone. SingTel will launch the newest version of the smartphone on Friday, July 10.

Dubbed the iPhone 3GS, it sports new features such as video recording and editing, a built-in digital compass and voice control, according to its maker Apple. And it is up to twice as fast as the current model, Apple added.

Mr Chia Boon Chong, SingTel’s deputy director of corporate communications, told Today demand for the new model had been very high:

"Interest in the iPhone 3GS remains very high, comparable to last year. Tens of thousands of people have already registered their interest in the phone on our website," he said.

Details on pricing and upgrading are expected to be announced early next week. Launched in the United States on June 19, the newest version currently retails at US$199 there for the 16GB model and US$299 for the 32GB model, with a subscription plan.

The first version of the touch-screen based smartphone was not released here. Its second version, the iPhone 3G was launched in Singapore last August.

Mr Chia said the 16GB version of the current iPhone 3G model had already sold out and only the 8GB version remained available.

SingTel is the sole distributor of the iPhone in Singapore.

Brand manager Ms Lauretta Fletcher, who is waiting to get her hands on the latest iPhone said: "I’d definitely want more options now that I’m not on a contract. Each telco has its own advantages. But it looks like I’ll still be sticking to SingTel. The iPhone has a clean look and compared to other smartphones, it has tons of mobile applications available for it. I’ve pretty much made up my mind."

For more information, visit www.singtelshop.com/iPhone3GS or www.apple.com/iphone

Want free songs? Get AMPed

SINGAPORE, our iTunes moment may have arrived.

TNP PICTURE: MOHD ISHAK

We finally have SingTel's AMPed service.

It joins other music-on-your-mobile services like Nokia's Comes With Music and Sony Ericsson's PlayNow Plus.

But it is arguably the most promising replacement for a full-featured iTunes store that seems unlikely to reach our shores anytime soon.

Like PlayNow Plus and Comes With Music, AMPed has the very attractive proposition of letting users download songs for free.

But it holds only 500,000 songs, compared to Comes With Music (4 million) and PlayNow Plus (3.5 million).

You can access AMPed on your phone or on the web, as long as you are on one of SingTel's three 3G Flexi plans, or you've signed up for their $9.90 BroadBand on Mobile service on top of your existing plan.

You can download as many songs as you want. But SingTel allows you to permanently keep only 15 songs each month. The rest will automatically be made inactive. If you don't use all 15 credits, they will be rolled over to the next month.

A point to note here: The music is not in MP3 format, but in copy-protected Windows Media Audio format. It means you can play these songs only on a Windows media player.

Interactive space

Getting started with AMPed is a slight hassle.

Since it's meant as an interactive space for music fans, it's essential that you login from a computer and create your profile.

Once you've done that, you're all ready to browse music on your AMPed-ready phone.

The AMPed application, which takes just a few seconds to load, brings you a homepage with highlights of the day's top downloads and featured artists.

Downloading is a breeze and, at SingTel's 3G speeds, not too much of a hassle. Songs can be browsed by recommendations, artist, albums, genres and shared playlists. When you've made your selection, the song downloads in the background, while you continue to browse the store.

As part of its interactivity, SingTel allows users to keep and update profile pages, Facebook-style, with your current mood.

But at this stage, the interactive functions are mostly confined to the web portal. You can't create, edit and share playlists on your phone.

Another gripe is that, unlike iTunes, you can't download a whole album in one click. Songs must be downloaded individually, which can be frustrating.

But clearly, AMPed is not just a music download service. It integrates interactivity with music news and, as 2,000 lucky fans experienced last month with pop sensation Lady Gaga, opportunities to meet up with their favourite artistes.

I was particularly impressed with how the service responded to Michael Jackson's death.

They created a tribute playlist with old favourites like Ben, I Want You Back and I'll Be There - all ready to be downloaded into phones.

But this is also where AMPed showed its limitations.

Where was Thriller? Billie Jean? Or the rest of Jackson's later hits?

SingTel currently has only one music partner, Universal Music Group, which doesn't own the rights to Jackson's later works, which are on Sony's Epic Records.

With AMPed, there are no additional data charges for either browsing the store or downloading songs on the phone, unlike Nokia's and Sony Ericsson's services.

While AMPed is currently available to 11 handsets from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, the telco is working to get the service as an application to more brands and models.

Enjoying Nokia's Comes With Music plan essentially means upgrading to a Nokia phone every year. Even then, only certain models come packed with the service. PlayNow Plus comes only with the W705 phone.

Once SingTel gets its music partnerships in place and the service is extended to more phones, who needs iTunes?

Man in 30s watch porno on mobile phone on MRT train

A STOMPer was shocked after he happened to catch a glimpse of what the man was watching on his handphone.

In an email to STOMP today (June 20), the STOMPer wrote:

I was flabbergasted by this man on June 18.

“I was taking a Northeast line train from Dhoby Ghaut to Kovan in the afternoon. There was this chinese man, age around thirties dressed in red shirt and white burmunda pants.

“He was looking down at his pants, at a small portable cellphone.

“He was smiling silently, and gave a sort of pervert look. So I tiled my head in such an angle to peek at what he was watching.

“I was shocked when I saw the content inside his phone. The video he was watching was a pair of couple engaging in sexual activity. In short, he was watching pornography in a public place.

“I stared at him hard for a very long time, hoped that he would stop such nonsensical act.

“Apparently he was so engrossed with his sexual video that he did not realise I was staring at him.

“Lucky for him, I am male and I not that offended by his act. But what happen if it is a lady? Seriously, he may want to consider watching such video privately at home.”

Great Singapore Sale

All You Want is Music

Phone for the e-mail junkie

Nokia's E75 is a functional tool for road warrior who wants to stay connected

BUSINESS phones are no longer just for the busy executive.

With an overcrowded handphone market offering all sorts of mobile devices catering to every personality type, choosing a phone really boils down to what tickles the fancy of individual consumers.

So, getting a piece of the market has become intense competition.

Feeling the heat, Nokia upped the ante with the latest addition to its E-series - the new E75 offers both a numeric keypad and a Qwerty keyboard.

That is arguably the phone's main attraction.

You can choose to type with the numeric keypad for a short SMS or slide out the Qwerty keyboard if you need to type a longer e-mail or edit a document on the go.

The novelty of having the best of both worlds is great - until you find it can be a tad difficult working on the Qwerty because the keys are flat to keep the phone compact.

It takes some getting used to, especially if you aren't already used to a Qwerty.

The numeric keypad is also flat and the keys on the bottom row are smaller than the rest, making it a little more difficult to hit them.

Even so, I found it much easier to use the numeric keypad.

Chic

In the looks department, the E75 has maintained the chic factor of the other E-series phones.

The stainless steel back cover characteristic of the E-series remains, and the glossy plastic front gives it a stylish yet less serious look compared to the E71.

At 139g and measuring 11cm by 5cm and 1.4cm thick, the E75 feels sturdy in the hand, which is great for someone clumsy like myself.

The phone's home screen interface can be customised and allows users to have different settings.

For example, you can personalise a 'business mode' and place your favourite work-related icons, such as e-mail and calendar, on the home screen for easy access, complete with a professional wallpaper picture.

After hours, just press on the 'switch mode' icon and it changes the home screen to 'personal mode' settings.

When switching between modes, though, and when opening up applications, there is a noticeable lag.

Best feature

Nevertheless, one of the best features of the E75 is the e-mail function. It's fast and easy to set up and access is just one button away.

It gives the busy executive who just can't keep away from e-mails an easy fix. You can access multiple e-mails accounts from the phone - Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. Even most corporate e-mail accounts can be easily set up for access on the go.

It took me all of one minute (or less) to set up my Gmail account on the phone. All that is required is your user ID and password.

Other features like the 3.2-megapixel camera is standard and the 2.4-inch display screen isn't as large as other smart phones, but I found it acceptable.

All in, the E75 doesn't come cheap at $768, but it is nonetheless a nifty functional phone to have.

Simply MAGIC

Korean actresses, Japanese magicians and local personalities show up at Sony Ericsson handphone launch

IN A community where Transformers and Skynet are spoken of as if they're friends of ours, an invitation to meet W995 and C903 is certain not to raise an eyebrow.

In fact, skirts yes, eyebrows, no, but less of that later.

Sony Ericsson, those clever people whose little green ball of a logo has practically replaced the heart icon for 'love', had a big bash to launch their latest phones.

Typically, the Japanese love to give their techie items two-syllable cutesy handles - in this instance, Satio, Aino, Yari. You don't anyhow SAY!

For the majority of Singaporeans, who can be accused of being a nano robotic, W995 and C903 work better on our wallets.

And so a few hundred people, fans, regional media, trade partners and well-placed personalities assembled in Red Dot - the building on Maxwell Road that looks like a ginormous ang koo kueh - for the event. Talk about being shunted from pillar to post.

There were time tags (for when you could view W and C and their numbers up close) and press passes and waiting under this and that tentage while catering crew tried to serve nibbles on trays right in the carpark.

The carpark was turned into a sports arena of sorts, where a team of Frenchmen on amazing pogosticks for legs bounced and leapt and hooped the hoop. Here is where you don't make jokes about leap-frogging, kodok.

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Red Dot Museum, name guests were striking poses (this is the raised skirts part). Then suddenly we were herded into a dark enclosed space of white noise and red lights and blue cordons.

I used to buy my phones off brand booths pitched up outside Orchard Road malls, but this 'roadshow sales style' has the advantage, if you have time.

The time to check out the addresses from the Sony Ericsson bosses, models parading the new phones, the appearance of a Korean actress Miss Lee Min Jung, and the spellbinding performance by Cyril- no-surname, quite the coolest-looking cyber-magician this side of the Pacific.

Magical

The dude is California-born, to a Japanese father and French-Moroccan mother and an illusionist of the highest order. Judge that yourself when his show debuts on AXN later this year.

And now a bit about the phone. It's entertainment unlimited to give you 100 games to play, 300 music videos to vibrate to, and 50 blockbuster movies to watch, from Angels And Demons to a film titled Quarantine.

Quarantine, aarrgh, delete that word!

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