UPDATED: Added Nokia & BlackBerry into Malaysian launch dates comparison.

Everyone wants to get their hands on their latest models right after it is being announced. With strong demand, manufacturers would want to get their devices into market before the competition comes out with a better model. So how long have we waited for the latest smart phone in Malaysia? We have compared global announcement and local availability dates of various iPhone and Android smart phone models to give an illustrations on our wait times.

Historically Apple has been reducing the roll out waiting time for Malaysia with the exception for iPhone 3GS which took a rather short 53 days. After that, the iPhone 4 took slightly more than 100 days which is then shorten to 72 days for the 4S.

For those still waiting for the illusive availability of the iPhone 5, so far we have waited about 59 days to-date. If Apple wants to beat the iPhone 4S in terms of waiting time, they have 13 more days to go which can be indicated if the telcos start their Registration of Interest by next week.

Apple isn’t the only one doing this as the other smart phone contenders too have been busy shortening its roll out wait times. As seen above, the Galaxy S II had taken more than 4 months for it to reach Malaysia but has shorten it to as little as 27 days for the Malaysian launch of the Galaxy S III. Other players too have strive to bring down the wait time under 2 months. The fastest roll out we’ve seen for Malaysia is the Motorola RAZR which took just 3 weeks to reach our shores.

Nokia and RIM in the other hand have taken more than 100 days to make their current models available after its initial announcement. Hopefully they can do better with their upcoming line up.

Overall we have been getting our latest gadgets quicker than before. Now it all depends on manufacturers if they can supply as quickly as possible while demand is still strong. Otherwise, it is their own loss if consumers are spending their money with something newer in the market.

The latest firmware update for the Nokia Lumia 800 is now available for Malaysian users via Zune. If you’ve registered your device with Nokia, you should be getting an email to inform you about this. You will need to install Zune on your PC to receive the update (someone should challenge the Smoke by Windows guy on this one – OTA firmware update).

Nokia says the update promises better battery performance and WiFi connectivity. If you’ve updated your Lumia 800, hit us up in the comments section and let us know if you noticed any improvements.

For details, check here.

Last week, the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign has hit Malaysia during PC Fair. So how did it fare? Watch the video above where a HTC One X and Galaxy Nexus was smoked. Whether this is a fair comparison is debatable as the challenges are performed by a person that’s well versed with specific scenarios.

With a total of 98 challenges, the Windows Phone had 92 wins and 6 losses. Head after the break for another footage shot at Metropolitan College.

Microsoft has been promoting its mobile platform with its Smoked by Windows Phone campaign. If you’re heading to PC Fair this weekend, you can catch them and see if your device is faster than a Windows Phone. RM100 vouchers will be given out if your phone is faster.

Over at Nokia, they are running their own version that’s called “Blown away by Lumia” in India. Samsung obviously wasn’t too happy about this and called the campaign unethical. Nevertheless, Nokia claims that there’s nothing wrong as it is a voluntary exercise.

Head after the break for several clips from the “Blown away by Lumia” challenge that’s happening in India.

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You probably have heard about the “Smoked by Windows Phone” challenge that has been going on in the US. Now the challenge is happening right here in Malaysia this weekend (14th & 15th April) at PC Fair.

Microsoft is betting a RM100 voucher that their Windows Phone 7 is faster than yours. After all, Nokia claims that the “Smart Phone beta test” is finally over. So calling all iOS, Symbian, Bada, BlackBerry, Android & Meego users. If you’re up for the challenge, head over to PC Fair which is happening at KL Convention Centre.

For more information on the challenge, head over to Windows Phone Malaysia Facebook page.

Watch the teaser video after the break.

UPDATE: We have checked at a Nokia Store and stocks for the White Lumia 800 will be arriving sometime next week.

If you’ve been waiting for the white version of the Nokia Lumia 800, this is it. Nokia has started advertising on the papers that the White version is now available alongside its other cyan, magenta and black colours.

Price remains the same at RM1,499, which is a RM151 less from its initial launch price of RM1,650 two months ago. So far no news yet on its larger Lumia 900 sibling.

Thanks to @jnoathan for the alert via twitter!

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The Nokia Lumia 800 outright priced has been slashed from RM1,650 to RM1,499 (RM151 less) as indicated at IMCC and various on ground stores. The Lumia 710 price appears unchanged at RM999.

This may also be indicative that the larger Lumia 900 with a 4.3″ AMOLED screen, bigger battery capacity & front facing camera will go on sale very soon. The Lumia 900 that we are getting in Malaysia is the non-LTE version that supports DC-HSPA up to 42Mbps.

In terms of Telco bundling, so far only Celcom has revised its bundled pricing from as low RM868 (previously RM998)with 18 months contract of Celcom Exec 250. For more information, head over to Celcom’s Lumia 800 page.

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About a couple a weeks ago, U Mobile dropped the hint that they will be offering the Nokia Lumia 800. Today, you can get one of the top-selling Windows Phone device for as low as RM1,049 when you subscribe to a U Mobile postpaid plan.

As with all U Mobile device offerings, your options are straight forward, choose from three available plans and depending on your monthly subscription fee, the operator will subsidise the phone pricing to match.

Full details on the U Mobile plans here. Also, check out our plan-for-plan comparison on Nokia Lumia 800 offerings from Celcom, DiGi and Maxis here.

Big thanks to @khainiz94 for the tip!

When an operator talks about a device on its official social media sites, you can pretty much bet that the operator will offer plans for the device. That’s what U Mobile is doing with the Nokia Lumia 800.

We noticed that U Mobile has been talking a lot about the Nokia Lumia 800 on its official Twitter account and that’s an almost certain sign that the operator will be offering plans for the device very soon.

In terms of pricing, while we don’t expect a great deal of difference in the subsidised pricing of the device itself compared to what other operators offering, you can expect U Mobile to offer its trademark high data quota plans at rates lower than industry standard

At the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710 here in Malaysia last week, Sirpa Ikola Head of Smart Devices Product Marketing, Nokia SEA said that the white version of the Nokia Lumia 800 will be available locally but declined to give a firm date on when exactly the device will be released here.

She did however indicate that Singapore will get the white Lumia 800 earlier and the device could be in Malaysia by the second half of the year. We think four months is too long a time to wait. June is when manufacturers are expected to make available in the market their new flagship devices, we’re expecting Nokia to have something to launch by then as well. So a white Lumia 800 is not going to fly in June.

We feel that the white Lumia 800 will hit Nokia Stores in Malaysia sooner, possibly a month from now. In terms of pricing, the white version will not be priced differently from the other versions.