phone with facebook/email access help

gilbert de jong

for business in Indonesia, Blackberry is on the rise... and for 100K rupiah a month with whatever provider you desire (telkomsel/IM3/XL?etcetc..), you can be online with twitter/FB/BBM and ofcourse email.

thinking_about_it

Looking at helping a local friend set up Facebook to help thier business. We have decieded that the best option is for them to have Facebook access via their mobile as they aren't keen to use a computer. Trying to work out if it is best to buy an iPhone 3GS or a blackberry in Australia or in Bali. They will pay for it, just trying to work out how they can get the best deal. For example the Apple store has an unlocked iPhone 3GS for AUD$449 (still has the normal sim card so they wouldnt have to get a new cut down sim card/phone number). Haven't looked into blackberry's yet as I dont know much about blackberrys and how data plans work. If anyone can help it would be much appreciated. The best outcome would be to have a new phone with data (wifi access at the very least) for facebook and emails whilst still using old sim card/phone number. Thanks!

BKT

Agree with Gil, Blackberry is the only way to go here, depending on what kind of business you have a lot of it can be done through BBM alone. I'd maybe look to buy one here, not sure but I would think prices would be cheaper as the demand for them is higher.

scout

Also agree, iphone is not good here and everyone in the "know" has blackberry, I was quoted 1.5 mill just recently, have not purchased yet, doing the same as you setting up a friend for business etc. Best IMHO to buy here, and then they dont need to be jail broken!!!

mat

My wife uses Facebook on a Samsung Galaxy mini with Axis sim card. As long as you put 70,000 credit a month it has unlimited access. Or can use at wireless hotspots. Works very well with fast upload and download times. The phone cost about 120 GBP. Excellent phone at a good price and according to reports, more reliable than Blackberry .

calitobali

Everyone will have their own thoughts about what sort of smartphone is better than another. When it comes down to it Indonesia is an entirely different market and Blackberry is King here. I can't tell you how many people I know of whom I don't even have their phone numbers but we communicate everyday by BBM. My girlfriend just bought a Blackberry too and it has really kicked up here business about 3 notches. I hate Blackberry but I say get them a Blackberry.

thinking_about_it

[b]Thanks[/b] Is BBM the main benefit of a blackberry over iPhone, Galaxy etc? Is there any other feature that is making them so popular in Indonesia? My friend is already a successful driver and also co-ordinates a few other drivers/cars/buses. So its not to start a business but to keep up with other businesses so they don't lose customers because they don't have a Facebook page. They just want to be able to keep in touch with clients and post photos of Bali and I guess ultimately keep his driving services in peoples mind. So I was leaning towards an iPhone because in my opinion it takes better photos.. Could use photo apps etc too.. I will speak to them and see if they think that they would benefit from having access to BBM. Also, not being familiar with Blackberrys, can you use Skype on a blackberry? Because I could see that coming in handy too. If they want a blackberry from what I now understand they are cheaper in Bali. Thanks for all of your input, you have given me a few things to think about!

spicyayam

I bought a Galaxy 5 and liked the phone for the price and very compact. A little difficult to text however because of the size of the screen, but a great entry into the smart phone market. The only problem was that after about 8 months the battery would die very quickly and charging it up made the phone overheat. Couldn't find a replacement battery in Singaraja to try and I don't think there is anywhere here that can do service. I did some research on forums and couldn't find anything to fix the problem. I like the Android platform however, so many apps and most are free. For me an iphone is a lot of money just to send emails and update Facebook.

motormouth

The only reason Blackberry is so popular here is the free push mail.Personally l prefer an iphone. I was given one for free and wouldn't use any other... Mind you, we also have 3 ipads in the house, the kids never use the laptop any more. I recently bought my wife an iphone4 in Hong Kong for about $520 Aussie, she sold her Backberry as soon as she used the iphone. We have telcom flash sims in each phone...rp 50.000 per month. All my music is on the phone, l also have APple TV, which allows you to stream videos and photos direct from your phone to the TV, no cables...so cool Also, the apps on apple are way better than android.....more than 4times the choice, as most developers making them for apple...the market is way bigger.Apple sold 3 million ipad3's in 2 days...no one is within a mile of them

ronb

It's true that Blackberries are very popular with Indonesians now, but I reckon this will change over the next few years. Worldwide, sales of iPhones and Andriod phones are growing strongly, while smartphones from Nokia, Blackberry and Windows are falling. So I think that Indonesian preferences are just lagging a bit, and that soon they will be switching more to iPhone and Android. I recall that a few years ago, Indonesia was very big with Friendster - but then they really turned to Facebook. Something similar is likely to happen with smartphones.

BKT

motormouth wroteThe only reason Blackberry is so popular here is the free push mail.Personally l prefer an iphone. I was given one for free and wouldn't use any other... Mind you, we also have 3 ipads in the house, the kids never use the laptop any more. I recently bought my wife an iphone4 in Hong Kong for about $520 Aussie, she sold her Backberry as soon as she used the iphone. We have telcom flash sims in each phone...rp 50.000 per month. All my music is on the phone, l also have APple TV, which allows you to stream videos and photos direct from your phone to the TV, no cables...so cool Also, the apps on apple are way better than android.....more than 4times the choice, as most developers making them for apple...the market is way bigger.Apple sold 3 million ipad3's in 2 days...no one is within a mile of them

What sort of Blackberry was it? I've tried using the standard version blackberries and don't like them, too much clicking and scrolling with the little undersized ball roller thingy. I've got one of the new touch screen ones and its awesome, its more like an iPhone than a blackberry. Whats push mail? you mean BBM?

motormouth

Yeah , BTK, BBM....go out with a group of Indonesian women and all you here is , ping, ping, ping, with those bloody messages going off.They spend more time messaging and checking messages than they do interacting with real people. As for which model...dont know, the old style with the miniscule keypad. Yeah the new touch screen one looks better, but with the music and all the apple devices syncing, l am hooked on Apple. GO HEAT

ronb

BKT wroteWhat sort of Blackberry was it? I've tried using the standard version blackberries and don't like them, too much clicking and scrolling with the little undersized ball roller thingy. I've got one of the new touch screen ones and its awesome, its more like an iPhone than a blackberry. Whats push mail? you mean BBM?

Back when Blackberries were fairly new (about 10 years ago), "push" technology was what they boasted, and what got frenetic business people excited. The phone was always listening for incoming emails, the Blackberry servers then just "pushed" them out as soon as they arrived on the server and the phone beeped or vibrated or whatever. This contrasted with "polling" technology where you needed to fire up an email app that would check to see if there were any emails waiting. High-end Nokia phones at that time did that. Now all smartphones can notify you of incoming emails as they arrive (if you want), so the term "push mail" has become pretty meaningless.