Pleco on iPhone in China

[tabitha]

Hello,
I am terribly new to all of this. Leaving for a year in China next week, and now in love with the idea of using Pleco, especially including the new camera recognition feature, all the time.
Now I am wondering what I should buy. I am not much of a gadget person, but now I guess I would need at least something with a built-in camera. I do use Apple products, and the new feature seems to be made especially for the IPhone 4, but if I buy it here in Europe I have to buy a very expensive phone plan I won't be able to use in China. Is the difference between iPhone 3 and 4 significant for using Pleco? And does anyone know anything about using iPhones in China or transfering internationally bought iPhones to China? The iPhone 4 does not even seem available yet. (I should have bought one when I was still studying in the US!)
Or, does anyone know of a good alternative to the iPhone that would allow me to use Pleco including the new feature?

Apologies for the newbie-type questions, and thanks.

Tabitha

 

[gato]

If your iPhone is locked to a carrier, you will need to "jailbreak" it using a program you can download from the Internet to use it in China. Google for "jailbreak iPhone" to see how it works. If you feel uncomfortable with what you read, then it is best that you buy an iPod Touch to run Pleco.

 

[chao-ren]

Hello Tabitha,

Well by the time you see this note, you are probably in China already because today is the 19th. This note is really if you are not yet in China and are traveling via Hong Kong, stopping a few days to shop and then leaving for where? Beijing? Shanghai? etc.. etc...

iPhone 4 is already available in Hong Kong and the price is roughly HK$5000 dollars for the 16GB version. It came out near the beginning of this month or August. iPhone 3Gs is a thousand HK$dollars cheaper but 8GB storage version only. Go to Hong Kong's Apple iStore for further info.http://store.apple.com/hk/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTAyNTQzMjI Don't bother buying your iPhone from Europe. It will be more expensive than Hong Kong and the Hong Kong version is un-locked as always, no need for jail breaking and you can upgrade your OS anytime. I would buy it straight from Apple's Hong Kong's iStore for the full retail version.

I am running Pleco on iPhone 3Gs/OS4.[ Pleco v2.1.2] It's superb, and its fast. iPhone4 is supposedly even better w OS4 or multi-tasking. I understand the next upgrade from Mike will concentrate on the interface improvements so it will be even better than the present experience.

3G phone service has been a failure in China, ie not many go for this service. but you don't really need iPhone with 3G service for pleco. 2G is good enough for most phones or your iPhone and you always have Wifi. I don't suppose there is much difference between iPhone and iPod when running Pleco, iPod is just cheaper and does not do phone calls.

 

[numble]

I wouldn't say 3G service is a failure--it is much better and cheaper than rates in the US, for instance, and seems to offer better coverage than AT&T in the US.

 

[chao-ren]

3G in China,

Personally I am waiting for the advent of 4G in China, since China Mobile service has already announced it is mainly going to aim for 4G. The current Apple 4 or 3Gs probably is incompatible.

What is a "failure" or success is really relative I guess. China has the biggest mobile market in the world and really only 3 or 4 licensed operators. It already dwarfs the US market by shear size of mobile phones. I would hope 3G/4G is much cheaper than the US because there are 5 times more potential mobile users than the US if you count farmers or peasants as potential users of 4G.

As to reception problems, its amazing how many people I come across complaining about HuaWei components which China is a big user. It's nice to see occasionally there is even praise.

 

[gato]

At least compared to rates in the US, it seems that while the lower-data usage plans are cheaper in mainland China, higher-data usage plans are cheaper in the US. For people earning a local income, 3G rates in mainland China aren't cheap. 2G rates, on the other hand, are very cheap in mainland China. I spend about RMB 50 per month under a pay-as-you-go plan with China Mobile that includes 200MB EDGE data / month.

http://chinabites.com/blog/2009/oct/22/ ... breakdown/ (or http://3g.10010.com/3gmore.html )
China Unicom (WCDMA 3G)
- RMB 96 (US$ 14) / month: 300MB data + 240 minutes outbound calls (receiving calls is free on most mobile plans in China)
- RMB 286 (US$ 42) / month: 950MB data + 900 minutes outbound calls
- RMB 586 (US$ 86) / month: 2GB data + 1950 minutes outbound calls
- RMB 886 (US$ 130) / month: 3GB data + 3000 minutes outbound calls

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone- ... -plans.jsp
AT&T (WCDMA 3G)
- US$ 74.99 / month: 200MB data + 450 anytime voice minutes, 5000 weekend & night minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes
- US$ 99.99 / month: 5GB data + 450 anytime voice minutes, 5000 weekend & night minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes

3G rates are cheaper in HK than either mainland China or the US.
http://www2.pccwmobile.com/portal/gen/W ... l_2ID0_2_2
PCCW (WCDMA 3G)
HK$199 (US$25) / month: 200MB + HK city-wide unlimited WiFi + 1600 voice minutes
HK$299 (US$38) / month: 500MB data + HK city-wide unlimited WiFi + 1800 voice minutes
HK$399 (US$51) / month: unlimited data + HK city-wide unlimited WiFi + 3000 voice minutes