On Safari browser, the maximum number of tabs open at once is 8. For Opera Mini iPhone app, the maximum total tabs I managed to open is 38. Maybe that’s the maximum tabs, set by Opera. Maybe, it’s because with more tabs, the add-tab section becomes narrower until it becomes the untouchable zone.

With 10 tabs, it’s still easy to switch between tabs (see image below). But beyond 15 tabs, it’s becoming harder to tap the tabs. Also, tabs arrangement tends to disarray whenever you switch tabs. So, it doesn’t mean you can have many, many tabs open, you should. For Opera Mini iPhone app, the optimum number of tabs lies in between 10 and 15.

On Becoming Untouchable Tabs on Opera Mini iPhone

tab tab Opera Mini: how many is too many on iPhone? originally appeared on GreyReview on April 13, 2010.

Competition is intense in Malaysian cellular market. Pricing no longer an effective competitive advantage; price war can only go so far. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has eliminated the hassles of changing carriers. Differentiation takes different forms. Tactics are being deployed by three key players – Maxis, DiGi and Celcom – to enhance its ecosystems and content play is a popular one – DiGi with its DiGi Music, Maxis with Music Unlimited and Celcom with Channel [X].

Maxis venturing into applications with 1Store, quite similar to the strategy adopted by smartphone makers – Apple with App Store, Nokia’s Ovi, BlackBerry’s App World and Google’s Android Market. Smartphone players use the apps to enhance the perceived value of their phones and enhances lock-ins; Maxis is planning to use applications to enhance the perceived value of the Maxis ecosystem and ultimately, increase subscribers and decrease subscribers’ churn rate.

Expect Maxis to continue to use its scale to corner the market with first-mover advantage and DiGi with late-comer strategy i.e. let the market play out and then find missing gaps to position itself. Think Broadband Done Right campaign. DiGi is a late-entrant in the Malaysian mobile broadband market but the company is gaining market share with its pricing and service quality. For DiGi, it’s launch-and-learn strategy with a twist – let-others-launch-first-and-learn-from-them approach. As for Celcom, it will continue to position itself as No. 1 in all Celcom territories.

Maxis Unveils Its Platform Play originally appeared on GreyReview on January 25, 2010.

If you’ve missed the fun on Twitterville yesterday with #iphonemalaysia, here the Top 5 interesting ‘moments’ of Maxis iPhone 3G Pre-Launch Day, spotted on Twitter (and elsewhere on the Web).

TRUEmor

At 10.25 am yesterday, Twitter user @blogjunkie tweeted about an imminent iPhone 3G announcement by Maxis later in the day.

However, as early as February 23 2009, @kamal already heard from his sources about iPhone 3G launch in Malaysia.

I Saw the Sign

The iPhone 3G pages on Maxis’ website went live just after 11am. This is probably the first ‘official’ sign confirming the impending annoucement.

Oops! It’s Temporary Unavailable

However, the iPhone 3G site went offline after it went live. When it came back online in the afternoon, its pricing plan is slightly different from its earlier version.

Amusing Ads

It’s quite amusing to read the copy of this Google Ads of Maxis iPhone 3G (particularly “Malaysia Phone from Maxis.”

Opinionated Tweets

There are over 250 tweets with hashtag #iphonemalaysia; the hashtag made to the Top 10 Trending topics on Twitter Search.

It’s quite a challenge to create marketing buzz around iPhone 3G phone, as it’s on the market since July 2008. Maxis should instead create a buzz around what it can control, such as its pricing plan. But, based on reactions from many Twitter users, its pricing plan failed to excite. What do you think? How do you think Maxis can leverage on social media for its iPhone 3G official launch in Malaysia on March 20 2009? Share your thoughts on Twitter; find me @limyh

Top 5 Moments of Maxis iPhone 3G Pre-Launch Day originally appeared on GreyReview on March 12, 2009.