When i was choosing which PSP to get – my answer was pretty straightforward.
‘The one with the Crisis Core skin!’

That was for the PSP 2000 series.

If i were to get a PSP 3000 series, guess what my answer will be? (I never did get this of course, since the 2000 is already good enough for me)
‘The one with the Dissidia skin, of course!’

And if i were to look for my best christmas present for the PS3… I’ll definitely choose this:

I’ve always liked personalizing my stuff, but I can never get myself to go down to those Skin shops to let them place a huge sticker over my laptop or my handphone, for fear of the residue that might be left behind when you tear it off later on. When I get myself an electronic item, I usually think about how I might be able to resell it afterwards, since the gadget world changes so fast and I find myself always wanting to ‘upgrade’. However, when you have the companies officially customising a bundle for you with a professionally carved in text and laser-skinned graphics, my worries about which colour to choose and whether the resell value would be high melts away.

Final Fantasy is the MAIN reason why RPG lovers like me would get the PS3, and I’m pretty confident its value would still be pretty decent 5 years down the road (assuming my console is still in workable and scratch-free condition of course).

I quite hope that maybe next time, we can customise and pre-order such console sets from the companies or whichever stores would carry them. Won’t it be great if you could tell the store that you want your PS3 to have say, Grand Theft Auto skin, with which the store can bundle with Grand Theft Auto 3 game or something, and you get all of what you want in a go? Not only would it help bring a sense of ownership, but it may actually help incentivise people to get their own machines just for the love of the games itself.

There is actually a website that does this sort of customization, but they only help modify your colours and nothing more. There are also engraving websites which can help you put pictures of what you like on your consoles and gadgets, but I just do not trust them as well as the company that produces the system itself. Would you actually pay more to get a colored PS3 or an officially skinned console from Sony? The answer is pretty obvious.

Just so you know such customization is not only limited to Sony, here are other official release samples from Nintendo:

Can you tell which series they are from?

Of course, this is only a christmas wish, and we should see if Santa comes to deliver it when the first snowflake falls (hmmm, not in Singapore of course).

On November 28^th, after months of rumors and speculations, nearly 2 years since the official global launch, the iPhone 3G and 3GS finally reached the consumers in Korea.

Interesting phenomenons are arising from the launch of the iPhone in the Korean market. Because 2 of the leading mobile phone makers in the world are Korean, and because almost all foreign mobile phone brands that entered the Korean market were unsuccessful, everyone is curious as to how the iPhone will fare in such a hostile market. The news media is comparing Samsung’s Omnia II with the iPhone in order to position it as a legitimate alternative. But in a time when reporters are not privileged with exclusive information, online communities are in heated debates as to whether this comparison of the 2 phones is even justifiable, or just media propaganda being endorsed by Samsung and Korean telecom companies to shoot down the iPhone. Those who defend the iPhone are being accused of being blatant Apple brand loyalists, while those who defend the Omnia II are being mocked as blind nationalists. Here are some concrete facts and developments that have occurred, and is expected to happen in the near future, all because of the launch of the iPhone in Korea.

Because of the rumors that the iPhone was going to be launched at the end of November, Korean consumers delayed purchasing existing mobile phone models, resulting in the decline of sales in October for both Samsung (56% decline) and LG. Samsung still dominates the domestic market with 50% of the market share, but the iPhone is expected to own 5% of the market within a month. The iPhone has sold 90,000 units in 10 days.

The iPhone is expected to ignite the mobile internet and smart phone market in Korea, which has been slower in growth compared to other countries. Smart phone market share in Korea is currently only 5%, compared to 13% in other parts of the world.

Profits made from mobile internet usage by telecom companies in Korea is only 17.4%, compared to 41% in Japan, 32% in Australia, 27% in the UK, China and Hong Kong, and 25% in the USA. Because mobile phones in Korea do not have Wi-Fi function, consumers are reluctant to use the current mobile internet service provided by the mobile telecom companies.

The Wi-Fi function was one of the obstacles that prevented the iPhone from being launched in the Korean market. While the iPhone had it, all of the other mobile phones in Korea didn’t. Most of the Korean phones that were being sold overseas had it, but the same mobile phones sold in Korea didn’t.

Mobile phone makers justified leaving out the Wi-Fi function on mobile phones for the Korean domestic market to the consumers’ need and use. They said Korean consumers preferred the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) function to the Wi-Fi function, and they could only fit in one or the other into the phones. Hence, none of the mobile phones available in Korea had a Wi-Fi function.

Because the Korean mobile telecom market is more so controlled by the telecom companies, the specs of the mobile phones sold in the Korean domestic market are discussed with the telecom companies before the phone makers assemble them. The Wi-Fi function being left out was probably not just about the consumers’ needs, but about the profit the telecom companies were making with the mobile data usage as well.

The iPhone was launched in Korea by KT, which is second to SK Telecom in mobile telecom market share. KT is hoping the iPhone will convince consumers to switch over from SK Telecom. While still minute in numbers, so far it seems the iPhone is having an effect. Half of the new iPhone users have come from other telecom companies, and of the half, 70 to 80% are from SK Telecom.

Since the launch of the iPhone was announced, the price of Samsung Omnia II, the mobile phone that is currently supposed to be the challenger to the iPhone in the Korean market, was reduced drastically. Many smart phones that will be released in Korea in the coming days announced that it would include the Wi-Fi function. SK Telecom is planning on launching Android phones into the Korean market to compete with the iPhone in the smart phone market.

It has only been 2 weeks since the iPhone was launched in Korea. Regardless of how successful the iPhone will be in the Korean market, the effect it is having on the Korean market is quite remarkable. The iPhone is making telecom companies change their stance on mobile internet service. The iPhone is making mobile phone makers change their stance on functions that were excluded in smart phones for the domestic market. Regardless of the sales result the iPhone will bring to KT or Apple, it is helping to give the consumers of Korea more choices that the telecom companies and the mobile phone companies had been ignoring.