Category: Wireless
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Humorous video – in how many movies is the “No Signal” theme over-used?
Continue Reading: Humorous video – in how many movies is the “No Signal” theme over-used?It’s Friday, so here’s a bit of humor… I admit that I had not really paid attention to how incredibly over-used the “my cellphone has no signal” theme has been in recent movies until I saw this video. Keep watching, though, because after the “no signal” theme, it does go into other amusingly over-used themes like dropping mobile phones in water, ripping them apart, burning them, etc….Kudos to someone named Rich Juzwiak for apparently editing together pieces of 66 movies!
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Skype launches on Android – “Skype-lite” on over 100 handsets
Continue Reading: Skype launches on Android – “Skype-lite” on over 100 handsetsNews out of CES in Las Vegas is that Skype is launching on the Android Platform:Skype today announced the release of a lite version of Skype™, a ‘thin’ client for Skype that can be downloaded on Android-powered devices, as well as more than 100 other Java-enabled mobile phones.
With more details here about the models and where to get it:
It also works on more than 100 of the most popular Java-enabled phones from the world’s top five handset manufacturers – LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. For instructions on downloading the lite version of Skype to LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones, users can visit www.skype.com/m using the mobile browser on their phone or www.skype.com/go/mobiledownload from a computer. The web page includes a directory of the mobile phones currently supported.
The news release has more details about costs, etc.
Definitely a great move on Skype’s part…. now they just need that iPhone client! 😉
P.S. And yes, I know (and applaud) that TruPhone came out with an iPhone client that includes Skype support… but it’s still not the full range of Skype functionality that I’d like to see.
If you found this post interesting or…
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Some initial impressions of the iPhone 3G…
Continue Reading: Some initial impressions of the iPhone 3G…As I wrote about recently both here on Disruptive Telephony and also over on the Voxeo weblogs, my employer, Voxeo, has made the switch from the Blackberry 8830 to the Apple iPhone as our corporate mobile phone. Employees in our Orlando office have already been receiving iPhones and mine just arrived last Thursday. Given that I’ve now been using it for a few days, I recorded these initial impressions:Initial impressions of the iPhone 3GAs I’ve documented on http://www.disruptivetelephony.com/ my employer recently made the switch from Blackberry to iPhone – these are some initial impressions…
The quick summary is:
- Typing – Better than I expected with the touchpad typing and Appple’s correction routines.
- Coverage – Pretty much what I expected. AT&T’s coverage here in southern New Hampshire is much less than Verizon’s. However, it wasn’t terribly bad and I did actually get better coverage in a few places like a local grocery store.
- WiFi – Very nice!
- Camera – While it’s clearly not as good as my normal digital camera, it seems to be adequate for pictures for posting to blogs, etc.
- Browsing – As expected, the browsing experience is excellent. I do like being able to switch…
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Voxeo switching from Blackberries to iPhones… (even as Blackberry releases the touch-screen Storm)
Continue Reading: Voxeo switching from Blackberries to iPhones… (even as Blackberry releases the touch-screen Storm)Over on one of Voxeo’s weblogs I wrote a piece yesterday, “Goodbye BlackBerry… Hello iPhone!“ that speaks to our vote in the evolving “RIM vs Apple” battle going on out there in the enterprise marketplace. It will be an interesting move that I’m very much looking forward to.
From what I’ve seen, we join a growing number of companies that are now using Apple’s iPhone for a corporate mobile phone.
Interestingly, RIM is today announcing the impending release on Verizon (US) and Vodafone (UK) networks of the Blackberry “Storm”, RIM’s touchscreen entry against the iPhone. Some links today:
- Engadget review
- Comparison with the iPhone
- Boy Genius Report post with pictures and Verizon/RIM news release
Alec Saunders also has it as the topic for today’s Squawk Box at 11am US Eastern time.
Will it be enough to stop enterprises from defecting to the iPhone? I don’t know… I’m sure it may stop some, but until RIM can come out with a development platform and distribution system rivaling Apple’s AppStore, I think you’ll see more developers choosing to go the iPhone way. We’ll see.
Regardless, it certainly is good for us as users to have the increased competition out there… in…
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Verizon allows month-to-month contracts… and the connection of any CDMA device
Continue Reading: Verizon allows month-to-month contracts… and the connection of any CDMA deviceGiven my ongoing interest in potentially using Verizon for a wireless data provider, it was interesting to see Verizon’s announcement that they will now allow ‘month-to-month’ contracts. I called the media contact on the news release and verified that this does also apply to wireless data plans, which is my personal interest. I can’t seem to find that information yet on the Verizon Wireless web site, but perhaps these plans have not yet made their way to Keene, NH.Now, being an advocate for a more “open” mobile Internet, I was pleased to see this:
Verizon Wireless’ new Month-to-Month agreement gives customers the freedom to purchase new devices at full-retail price, or use their own CDMA devices without the commitment of a one- or two-year contract. Additionally customers can terminate their agreement at the end of any month without paying an Early Termination Fee.
Not the “full-retail price”, naturally, but the ability to simply end the agreement at the end of the month and to use any CDMA device.
The caveat to the ability to “bring your own phone” is that while it is good to see from a “freedom/choice” point-of-view, the reality is that really the only CDMA carriers in…
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Google’s Android and the future of the (open?) mobile Internet
Continue Reading: Google’s Android and the future of the (open?) mobile InternetIn just a few minutes, at 10:30am US Eastern time, Google and T-Mobile will be in New York City to announce the launch of the first Android handset.Predictably, the blogosphere is buzzing with posts and articles.
I expect, quite honestly, to be a bit underwhelmed by the initial launch… after all, Android is still evolving. We’ll see – the fact that stories are out that Amazon is launching a DRM-free music service along with the Android phone is certainly an interesting dynamic.
Today’s launch aside, the launch of Android is really the next step in the ongoing discussion about what the future of the mobile Internet looks like. Will it be controlled by only the carriers? Or will we as consumers have the freedom and choice to use the apps we want? Android holds out that potential – if the carriers let it be used that way. This morning I recorded a short video on the subject:
If you would like, please do join us on today’s Squawk Box at 11am US Eastern time to discuss what all this means. Undoubtedly I’ll be writing more on this here as will others across the VoIP blogosphere in…
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Skype and SIP interop – the two sides of the issue raised by Michael Robertson
Continue Reading: Skype and SIP interop – the two sides of the issue raised by Michael RobertsonShould Skype open up it’s network to other users? to other networks? Should Skype stop preaching about “openness” when it’s network remains closed?In the middle of last week, there was quite a little storm raised in the VoIP corner of the blogosphere after Andy Abramson published a letter from Gizmo Project founder Michael Robertson critical of Skype’s openness after Skype continued to call upon the FCC to open the wireless network to applications. (See also here and this Skype blog post (and this one) for background.) Being at ITEXPO last week, I didn’t have the chance to blog about this at the length I felt it deserved until today.
First, for some context, here are some of the blog posts last week:
- Andy in VoIPWatch: Gizmo Project’s Michael Robertson Sounds Off
- Phil Wolff asks some pointed questions (of Michael) at Skype Journal: Michael Robertson says Skype should open to Gizmo Project
- Phil posts: Michael Robertson Responds where Michael responds to Phil’s questions
- Andy responds: For the Record, Gizmo vs. Skype
- Alec Saunders had a whole cast of characters on Friday’s SquawkBox, including Andy, Michael Robertson, Jim Courtney (Skype Journal) and a good number of others.
- Phil posts: A few…
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Sprint or Verizon? Recommendations for broadband access card for my Mac?
Continue Reading: Sprint or Verizon? Recommendations for broadband access card for my Mac?Who would you recommend for a wireless broadband access service for my laptop? Sprint or Verizon? (Those seem to be my main choices here in Keene, NH.) And would you recommend the USB dongle or the ExpressCard version?In heading out the Communications Developer Conference/ITEXPO next week in L.A., the show organizers have already told me there is no free WiFi access at the LA Convention Center… but I can, of course, pay for the access through the local provider. (And probably deal with the same usual headaches of getting adequate signal strength.)
I am so incredibly sick of show WiFi, both in terms of paying for it and also just in quality, that yes, indeed, even though I am a cheap Yankee… er… “frugal”, I think I need to suck it up and pay the $720/year to have wireless Internet access over the cell networks. This will also be hugely beneficial for all the wonderful times I spend hanging out in airports.
My choice seems to be either Sprint or Verizon. (AT&T and T-Mobile don’t have great coverage in my area.) Both will cover whatever limited roaming I do in my local area… and both have coverage in the…
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Is anyone really surprised the iPhone has a “kill switch”?
Continue Reading: Is anyone really surprised the iPhone has a “kill switch”?Are people really surprised that Apple has a the ability to remotely kill applications?Based on news reports about Steve Jobs statement that Apple does have a way to remotely remove/disable software on users’ iPhones, there were a good number of blog posts diving into the issue. Several posts seemed to view this as a way for Apple to remotely disable your entire phone… but let’s look at what was actually said:
But the real controversy started when Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the books iPhone Open Application Development and iPhone Forensics Manual, discovered a URL buried in Apple’s firmware. That URL links to a file dubbed “unauthorizedApps” where malicious or simply bad apps might go once they disappear from the App Store.
So essentially they are providing the application equivalent of a “Certificate Revocation List” (CRL) used in SSL (a point I was glad to see made by one commenter on a post). If somehow an application gets through Apple’s vetting process and is found to do “bad actions”, Apple has a way to tell iPhone’s they should disable that application.This very much makes sense to me… Apple needs to protect the trust users have in their AppStore. If something…
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Congrats to my Canadian friends on Rogers dropping iPhone and RIM charges…
Continue Reading: Congrats to my Canadian friends on Rogers dropping iPhone and RIM charges…Having lived in Canada for 5 years and dealt with Rogers Communications being really the only GSM game in town, I understood the jubilation yesterday of Canadians like Jim Courtney when Rogers dropped their prices for iPhone plans. Faced with a lot of negative publicity in advance of tomorrow’s iPhone launch in Canada… faced with 60,000 people signing an online petition… and facing Apple redirecting some iPhones away from Canada over to Europe… Rogers caved and dropped it’s prices.Even better for Canadians, the price drop is also in effect for Blackberry users!
Jim’s post has all the details and pointers.
Go, Canada! (You, too, can now join in iPhone mania… 🙂
Technorati Tags: iphone, apple, rim, blackberry, canada, rogers