When choosing a carrier, it is important to realize that not all these
carriers are the same. The main differences between carriers are not just
customer service and service quality, but also their compatibility factors
with downloadable media such as ringtones. For example, the more popular
carriers such as Sprint, Verizon, Cingular/AT&T, and T-Mobile support
more ringtones than the lesser known carriers, which include Alltel,
CellularOne, Boost Mobile, and others as well. It is therefore important
to understand the advantages and disadvantages of going with one carrier
versus another.
We have provided you with an abundant amount of information regarding
each carrier, and the important factors to consider when choosing a cell
phone carrier. Since you may be a music fan and would like to download
ringtones to your cell phone, this should also be an influencing factor in
your decision of a cell phone carrier. On one hand, you have the larger
cell phone carriers such as Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile that offer a
myriad of ringtones, but tend to be more expensive. This is opposed to the
smaller cell phone carriers such as CellularOne, Boost Mobile, and Alltel
that may offer more competitive prices with higher minutes than the
competition, but have less compatibility for ringtones. Although you may
not know it now, ringtone compatibility issues are very real, and will
affect you if you do not do your research beforehand. If you are
especially interested in the more trendy tones, as such as the Mosquito
Tone, it may be in your best interest to go with the larger carrier since
the potential for them providing support for these kinds of ringtones are
much higher. However, in the end, a lot of this depends on your carrier
preference and also consideration to other factors such as availability in
your area.
It is sooooo wonderfully understated and Scandinavian to include an accelerometer in the flagship N95 and not make a fuss about it. Apple included exactly the same feature in the iPhone and made it one of the central parts of their advertising strategy:
"WOW... LOOK... A phone that knows when you are moving AND has internet browsing"
The Finns, in their understated way, just put it in there and didn't really do anything with it. Third Party developers (you don't get them with the iPhone) have gone wild with the device and you can now use the N95 for such varied tasks as... err... playing starwars, playing bouncy ball and.... umm... playing Space Invaders. Nokia's own Activity Monitor app is quite cool, although it won't do your battery life any favours.
Anyway, this is just another reason that I love the N95. Thanks Nokia!
(Sorry if this blog has got a bit boring of late... you know how people get when they are in love. Normal business will resume once a younger model comes along =)
Nokia Tube Nokia has announced an iPhonealike preliminarily called the Nokia Tube.
Details are sketchy but it does look rather like the return of the mac, doesn't it?
This is Nokia's return to touchscreen technology after the unpopular 7710, which was painfully slow and generally a bit crap.
There are no more details available at the moment, but as a dedicated Nokia fan I am really looking forward to this one. The only question is...
To be honest, I was holding out for an N82 but there's every chance that this little beaut will never make it all the way to Vodafone. I can't change network either because Voda is the only one to cover both my office and flat.
Still, I didn't even bother asking for an upgrade, just went straight to the "You really want to leave Vodafone?" department and said I wanted to change networks. For some reason they are much more receptive to negotiation that way!
Why would I have preferred an N82? Well, look at it:
Some bloggers have been a bit critical of the design. James Burland's review on Youtube is very positive about the phone's features but quite negative about the design. I, however, am not a big fan of sliders and would much rather have an old school block in my pocket.
Having not played with one yet (O2 has bad reception in this part of the world, hence no N82s to investigate) I can't confirm or deny what the review says about the fiddly buttons.
Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now. I'm going slidey for the next twelve months.
Now I'm just waiting for Vodafone to deliver the thing...
My trusty 6630 is really in it's dying days now. It still calls ok and sends text messages. The alarm still wakes me up bright and early in the morning for my work as an SEO copywriter. The screen still works and the ringtone still scares people. That, however, is about all.
The camera died a death before I left the country. The video camera passed away long before that. Since my return, the menu system also appears to have come unstuck. It is rather like driving through a large city in rush hour traffic.
The good news, however, is that I am now out of contract and free to hunt down the best contract and handset. Well, within limits... there is no reception in my flat for Orange and O2, leaving me the options of T-mobile and sticking with Vodafone.
Both of these present their own problems. Firstly T-mobile. Now, I'm not normally one to bear a grudge, but I have had some experince with T-mobile in the past and I'm afraid to say it wasn't good. My first ever mobile phone (a dearly departed Siemens which was so heavy that it has left me walking with a limp ever since) was registered with 0ne-2-one. The deal included free evening and weekend calls for two and sixpence monthly, which seemed like a clincher.
The problem, and my lasting resentment, stems from the fact that you had to stand on top of a towerblock in the middle of London to get one bar of reception. Honestly, it was like a bloody Rabbit phone. Even the one-2-one store in my native Watford didn't have reception, which struck me as enduringly crap.
My problem with Voda is that they won't offer me any decent handsets as an upgrade, depsite my having been a loyal customer for 5(ish) years and always paying my bills on time with minimal fuss.
All I want is an N82!!! Or even an N95. EVERYONE HAS AN N95. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?!?
Anyway, I'm keeping my eyes open for good deals. Any advice please let me know. Anyone working for Voda want to explain why you're not nicer to loyal customers? Anyone from T-mobile got reception?
Nokia Prism Nokia is eschewing the curves which they arguably brought to mobile phones in the first place and going all angular.
The Nokia Prism was unveiled at a fashion show in China. Yes, a fashion show, not a technology conference as might be expected. To be honest, the technology under the surface of this handset really isn't anything to write home (or a blog entry) about: Bluetooth, USB 2.0 (I like), EDGE, GPRS and Tri-Band.
But the design is rather original, no? I love it when visions of the future from decades gone by actually come to be realised, rather like this lovely slab.
I do, however, have one concern about the angles and this is:
Every pair of jeans that I own has a white line around the lefthand pocket where my phone has sat. It makes me all nostalgic, looking at an old pair of 501s which no longer do up to see the outline of my first ever mobile - a Siemens S8 - which this page informs us has such groundbreaking features as a "large 4 line display" and "99 name phonebook".
Look at those sharp edges on the new Nokia! A recipe for denim disaster, no?
Looking remarkably similar to the K510, this is a lightweight 3G phone with a QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera and expandable memory. It is the first Sony Ericsson handset to work with the HGE-100 GPS Enabler, which is an exciting development.
As you have probably gathered, I am a big fan of 3G technology and firmly believe that the public should be more aware of its usefulness. Tied in with the GPS enabler, phones like the K530i are nudging us towards locally targetted mobile internet services, which is where we will see the next great breakthrough in mobile technology.
Another new handset revealed by Sony Ericsson is the impressive W960i.
A walkman phone, the W960i has 8GB of memory and features a touch-screen display which is sure to set hearts racing. Another model aimed at crossing the boundaries between electronic devices, this handset offers TV quality video playback and a 3.2 megapixel camera to boot.
This is a straight upgrade to the W950i and is surprisingly feature laden, while not compromising on style.
iPhone is popular (no surprises there then) Apple´s iPhone has caused the biggest fuss of any new mobile for as long as anyone can remember. In the wake of iPodmania, it should be unsurprising that the world is waiting with bated breath to see what the computer manufacturer can add to the already huge range of phones available. After all, the iPod revolutionised the world of mobile music players more than any single product since the original Sony Walkman. It was all a matter of usability, much as it will be with the new phone.
A phenomenal amount of free publicity has been given to the phone, from such unlikely sources as the BBC, which ran repeated features on the phone on television news bulletins and online. Similarly, newspapers around the world have been gripped by the progress of the device, again providing incalculable free coverage for the multinational. Clever stuff, no?
In the States, the iPod starts shipping next month and has already recieved, wait for it... one million enquiries from customers who wish to receive information when it is released. On AT&T alone.
Apple hope to sell 10 million iPhones and it seems their canny approach to marketing is doing the job nicely. Basically, they are saying nothing very much and letting the buzz build to phemonenal pre-release levels. No other mobile phone manufacter has the power to reach the mainstream media in this way, which probably sticks in the throat of Nokia and Sony Ericsson, who have been producing truly innovative handsets for years.
Now, all we can do is wait and see if it lives up to the hype.
The only thing open about LiMo is that it runs on Linux and that the APIs are relatively open, but the APIs only allow very limited functionality.
A fee of $400,000 a year is required to be able to contribute source code to the project.
You can only use commercially-friendly Open-Source licenses in your code.
Sounds a bit like what people thought about Verizon Wireless: they say they want to be open, but really, they're not going to open up. This surprise any one?
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Perhaps I'm just in a bad mood, but the latest news from Nimbuzz does not excite me. Oh sure, the client does multi-IM support-including Skype, and either supports VoIP calls over the PSTN or even VoIP with the new S60 3rd Edition client, but so what? Fring does this.
The problem I have with both Fring and Nimbuzz is that neither one seems to do anything truly revolutionary, nor do they seem to have a business model to speak of. Am I blinded by my bad mood or am I right?
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The headset has four hours of talk time, and I proved it last week by using it on at least four hours worth of conference calls in a single day! It was at that point I discovered that the "out of battery" tone and the "mute" tone sound identical. Bad design choice, as is having to hold down a button five seconds to turn the headset on or off. Three seconds is probably more than enough.
The headset comes with a desk charger that can either get power from a mini USB cable or from a wall wort that provides mini USB power. Retails for under $60.
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I can name at least a couple of places where I get zero bars on AT&T. And you know what? They're inside buildings, much like the bar in this commercial.
The voice over on this commercial says "for the best coverage," to which the text disclaimer on the screen says "based on global coverage." That may be true, but it still doesn't mean you'll have coverage everywhere. For example I frequently have zero bars when I'm in the locker room at the YMCA or at the gymnastics place I take my kids sometimes.
Bottom line, folks, even the coverage maps don't tell the complete tale. You've gotta try the service out to see where the service works or doesn't. Take advantage of whatever trial period the carrier offers to ensure it has more bars in more places-places you actually go on a regular basis.
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A number of teachers are adding cell phone features to their online classes. Today's cell phones can do more than store numbers and play games. Many students receive online class updates via programs like Twitter. Here are a few other ways the Teach 42 blog suggests phones can be used:
"1) Check the spelling/definition of a word
2) Research a topic
3) Look up reference images
4) Pull up maps (even with satellite imagery)
5) Document a science lab with built in digital camera/video
6) Fact check on the fly
7) Mail questions to the teacher that they might be embarrassed to ask"
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As I reported elsewhere, Qwest is looking to get out of it's MVNO deal with Sprint. Instead, they will be simply reselling Verizon Wireless service. Qwest customers with more than one service will be able to retain combined billing once Verizon Wireless and Qwest get their billing systems talking with one another.
The obvious question that came from this: what's going to happen to the existing Qwest Wireless customers? Their PR folks told me that the Sprint MVNO agreement doesn't expire until February 2009 and existing customers will continue to receive service without any need to take action. Existing customers will be given a choice to change their service to Verizon Wireless, though the exact details of how and when this will occur is still being developed. No customer will be switched to Verizon Wireless without their consent.
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Jeb Brilliant over at Brilliant Expos is putting together a competition for mobile software development companies and individuals that make software for smart phones of all kinds. The name of the event: TopMobile20.
The goal of this event is to give exposure to great smart phone applications that don't have as much exposure and awareness as they deserve. The top mobile applications will be determined by a combination of industry experts and voting by the general public. The contest will conclude with an award ceremony where guests from application developers, buyers, and resellers will be able to network.
It will be interesting to see what applications come out on top. Wonder if The Mobile Technology Weblog sponsor cellity will participate in this?
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Pat Phelan, the mastermind behind Cubic Telecom and MAXroam has launched a brand new service called Twitterfone. It uses speech recognition to turn your voice into tweets on your Twitter account.
A number of services also provide a similar service: Jott and Spinvox come to mind. However, Spinvox is a pay service and Jott is "free in beta." However, this is focused only on twitter, and it's bog simple to use.
Local country numbers are available in 10 different countries, including the US, UK, and Ireland. Local numbers in 40 countries are expected within the next 6 weeks.
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Today, Trolltech is announcing the availability version 4.4 of the Qt framework. While Qt-pronounced "cute"-has always been a great cross-platform tool for generating a consistent UI across many different platforms, Trolltech has added a number of features to advance their vision of Qt everywhere.
While you can read the press release for some of the other cool things Qt 4.4 will enable, perhaps my favorite is the ability to mix elements of DHTML and C++ thanks to integration of the Webkit into Qt. Webkit is the browser built into Apple's Safari web browser, the Apple iPhone, and many millions of Nokia smart phones. It's possible to easily mix web and native code to provide a more consistent user experience.
See full article.
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cellity is taking the free SMS functionality from their mobile software and bringing it to Facebook, the second largest social networking site in the world. The application on Facebook has all the same functionality as the freeSMS client that runs on your mobile phone. You can even send and receive messages between the two!
One nice thing about using freeSMS is that text messages aren't limited to 160 characters. This is because the text messages travel over the data networks, meaning you will need to have some kind of data service with your mobile phone to use freeSMS. Using the application from Facebook eliminates that requirement.
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