Just got your iPhone 3GS recently? Here are some essential free applications which will enhance your iPhone experience!

Location Based Utilities

1. TranSGuide – Locate the nearest bus stops around you and provides you with the ETA of the SBS Transit buses!
2. Locacity SG – Locate DBS/POSB ATM machines, 7-Eleven and other Point of Interest near you in Singapore!
3. iCash SG – Locate POSB and OCBC ATM machines near you. DBS and Citibank will be included soon!
4. Carpark@SG – Locate the carpark and parking fee around your destination before making the decision on where to park your car!
5. iHealth SG – Locate Healthcare institutions and clinics around you! Pandemic Preparedness Clinics are also being highlighted!

Social Networking / Communications

1. Facebook – Upload photos and tag your friends on the go!
2. Plurk – I love the “Mark all as read” function!
3. Twitterrific – You can twitpic with this app and it retweets using standard conventions – RT username:
4. eBuddy – Get connected to Windows Live Messenger and other popular instant messaging networks on the go!
5. Ping! Lite – iPhone to iPhone messaging. Though I prefer Whatsapp Messenger, which is a paid application.
6. WordPress 2 – Blog on the go!
7. PicPosterous – Upload a picture to your posterous account instead of emailing!

Photography and Image Editing

1. Polarize – Create Polaroid like photos!
2. Photoshop.com Mobile – Scaled-down version of Photoshop on iPhone!
3. Flickr – Upload your photos to your flickr account!

Foodie’s Favourites!

1. buUuk – Locate makan places around you! It even highlight those which offer “Healthier Choice”! Can call and make reservations!
2. Hungry Go Where – iPhone version of Singapore’s No 1 Food Resource Website. Can call and make reservations too!

Music

1. Laylio – Listen to MediaCorp Internet Radio on the go! Currently offers Class 95, YES 933, Lush 99.5 and 987FM!
2. MediaCorp Radio Stations – Currently offers 93.8 LIVE and Capital Radio 95.8.

Other Utilities

1. 1-Click Wireless@SG – The name says it all! Just key-in your username and password once, and every time you launch the app, it will log on to Wireless@SG automatically!
2. iCab SG – You never need to remember the numbers of the respective Taxi Companies in Singapore!
3. TraffiCam SG – Check the traffic conditions “live” at key traffic hotspots in Singapore, including the two checkpoints!
4. DropBox – Access your files on the go! You can get a free account at Dropbox.com.

Yesterday, we did a speed test with our iPhone 3GS at Health Promotion Board. We used the Speedtest.net iPhone app to perform this test. At a count of 3, we pressed “Begin Test” simultaneously on our respective iPhone 3GS.

Speedtest.net performs three key measurements used to determine the overall quality and performance of the Internet connection.

• Download Speed – The speed at which data is sent from the Internet to your computer
• Upload Speed – The speed at which data is sent from your computer to the Internet
• Ping (Latency) – The time it takes in milliseconds for a small piece of data to be sent from your computer to the Internet and back

Results? *Drumroll*

We had a confusion earlier as the settings for the results for my iPhone was set to mbps, while the others are using kbps.

Starhub is clearly the fastest like it’s mascot Sparky, followed by SingTel the Red Brolly, and of course, M1 the scorching hot sun.

“Fast download & streaming”? How ironic!

I still remember how I tried to get myself online during my last trip to Kuala Lumpur in June 2009 and did not manage to find this pre-paid 3G Broadband package by Celcom.

The only stop-gap solution was to get connected at the free wifi spots, including standing in the middle of nowhere at Mid Valley Megamall just to leech on an internet access point. The convenience stores do not carry this pre-paid package and I only saw the Celcom shop at Sungei Wang on the last day of my previous trip to Kuala Lumpur.

This time round, I headed to Sungei Wang on the first evening of my working trip and got this Pre-paid 3G Broadband Package at RM25, for a weak week access. Little did I know that the connection is this weak! I could only get connected to 1 website at a time when I was in my hotel room at Hotel Capitol and it crawled like GPRS! My colleague who stayed in Concorde Hotel could not even get connected!

This was when I started to miss my 3G broadband connections in Singapore by SingTel and Starhub.

We were lucky that the conference venue at Shangri-la Hotel offered free wifi coverage in their ballrooms. All of us were busy checking our emails during break times.

I did switch the Celcom 3G sim card into my iPhone 3G from the third day onwards. While it still crawled, the applications that I used on iPhone 3G consumed less data and hence loaded faster (not fast).

If you really need to get connected in Kuala Lumpur, Celcom 3G Broadband is only good enough for your mobile phone, but not using it on a computer with a 3G Modem. Leeching on free wifi will be a better choice, seriously.

Of course, the whole idea of Starhub removing the package deals (ok, I hate you for this) and I have to have to pay $4 plus for the digital set up box just make the hubstation more attractive since I will get free VOD for the premium channels that I have been paying for.

So, when I got the new hubstation box last Saturday, they told me that it will take 5 working days for the VOD to be activated. But it has been 1 week and nothing has happened, so I decided to call Starhub 1633.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Customer Care consultant: How can I assist you?

Me: I got the hubstation box last Saturday and they told me that it will take 5 working days for the VOD to be activated. But it has been 1 week and nothing has happened?

Customer Care consultant: My records show that it has been activated.

*Short Silence…*

Me: Ok. Give me a solution?!

Customer Care consultant: Please give me your contact details and I will get my technical people to contact you as soon as possible.

It has been 3 hours and I hear from no one.

Wow. Starhub really cares? Good job!

Update: Ok, I heard from them 6 hours later when I was not at home. The tech guy did tell me what to do and it is working now. But the silence during the conversation still puts me off.