MobileDan’s Weblog

3G in my opinion is the 3rd generation of GSM… you can read the history line here.

This is what is getting confusing by the consumer… IMO, CDMA is an outdated technology, AT&T bailed on it, and went the way of GSM, leaving USA, Some parts of Russia and parts of South America still trying to, as my analogy goes, dump money into making a model T keep up with a Ferrarri… When, in the long run, you could just buy a Ferrarri!

Sure, you have service in places GSM doesn’t, but that’s because the system has been around a lot longer!  GSM is catching up, and CDMA is still dumping money into that old technology…

Most phones come tri or quad band, 2 bands for North America and 2 bands for Europe.  this means that it should pick up 2 bands in it’s home country and at least 1 if not 2 bands in a roaming country. GSM for voice in the US (900 and 1800 mhz) and Europe (800, 1900 and 2100mhz) These are the main GSM bands, or 2G.  where the 3G comes in is this… the voice is 2G then AT&T in the US (for instance) went to what they call EDGE, otherwise known as 2.5G this lets you get data at faster speeds then the regular 2G network… But, the downfall to that was that voice trumps all, and when you’re downloading something, or reading something, the internet connection was severed and you got “packet data on hold.” kida like dial up on your PC… remember that?

3G lets you use the same bands in your country (900/1800 for the US and 800/1900/2100 for Europe) for voice, but also lets you use a data at the same time, over the same frequency… kinda like being able to watch Cable TV while you also use your cable modem… or… a better example, being able to use your DSL modem for internet while also using your phone…

When a European 3G phone is used in the US, it reverts to EDGE (voice trumps all, and you get “packet data on hold” and the same for a US phone used in Europe…  the problem is that in order for it to work all the time, everywhere,  all 5 2G bands AND at least 2 of the 3G bands (one for US one for Europe) the phone would be huge… So the choice is made to choose a phone for each market…

This is my brief synopsys of this, and I hope you’re still with me…

done typing on this for now… Let me know your thoughts…

It’s been a bit since my last post…

I’ve been slacking…

Sorry!

Ok, in a nutshell…  in about May I received a Nokia 5800 Xpress Music… I’ve already posted about that here, but in the following months (it’s all actually been a blur) I received a N79… it was pretty nice, but like i said in my last post, I cannot go back to buttons… Maybe I am broken?

It’s actually a shame, because I really wanted to like that phone, but have found that I am completely touch screen from here on out…

Unless the N86 can win me over…

Enter the N97!

I was asked to go with the Wom World / Nokia 24/7 tour with such bloggers as

Matthew Bennett

Jonny Bruha

George Kelly

Andrew Currie

What an experience!  the task was to pretty much go 24/7 using nothing BUT the N97, its GPS, the amazing 5mp Carl Zeiss optics camera, the comfortable slide out (or pop out whichever you prefer calling it) keyboard. 32GIG! of installed memory with the option to upgrade another 16 gig Micro SD card, the home screen with the widgets which made using the phone’s features that much easier because they were all accessable from the home screen… ie. the facebook app, the weather app, up to 8 contacts on shortcut, up to 8 apps on shortcut…  all around, I fell in love with the device…

But, what was more exciting than that…

I was tasked to be the ‘wrangler’ of the above mentioned bloggers, or “voices” as they put their devices through rough and tough trials!

For those readers who didn’t happen to follow the Nokia N97 24/7 campaign, we all met in LA, traveled to SF then off to Chicago and finally ending in NYC! They were tasked to push the device to it’s fullest, we used public transportation, hiked around town, and to most of the touristy places, seeing and doing as much as we could do… all said and done, the 5 of us generated about 20 Gigabites of content!

All in the course of 2 weeks…

We drove up the Pacific Highway and had amazing conversations, we attended BarCamps in all of the cities we visited. and discussed amongst other things, where we see the future of mobile technology (usually at the expense of me being called a mobile addict, always having my eyes on my phone… (i’ve gotten better about texting and surffing while I drive guys! Which is a serious safety concern throught the world, and really isn’t worth the risks taken!)  )

It was a great experience, and I look forward to many more!  Please take the time to visit the above bloggers’ websites as well as My new employer’s website, 1000heads / WomWorld/Nokia

That’s right!  Welcomed to the UK by 1000Heads, who run WomWorld/Nokia, I am the new Voices Executive for the US!

I am writing this post, from a bus (with Wi-Fi!) from Oxford UK to Heathrow Airport, returning from my 1 week of training here at both the Milton & London offices!

I am excited to see that there are going to be exciting changes and improvements in the US market for WOM World/ Nokia and that I can be a part of it!

Expect a lot of more postings regarding this, although I am wondering if I should post this to my personal site instead… and keep the format and information found on mobiledan as it was… (with more updates of course )

With that, I end this posting, but look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!

Daniel Silvers

MobileDan

dandandan

So, I’ve been trying out Emoze for S60…

While there are a lot of applications available for s60 now a days…
the one thing that struck me was the addition of Facebook messaging…

While I Can’t assume that all of my readers are Facebook users, I cannot fathom that if you don’t use it, you still haven’t heard of it!

In general, it is a push email service that polls for your email from various clients and sends them to your mobile device…

Some services covered are:

Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook messaging. Home/Local internet account. OWA based Corporate email account.

In a nutshell this gives you email on the go, and on top of that, access to your facebook emails!

From my reading further into it, It can run all the time, or in a standby sort of mode, meaning that when something gets detected, it will wake the application up, and show the new message

Pairing this service with the wonderful mobile application palringo, you can have instant messaging for facebook. amd check your messages via emoze.

That is just my current setup, as being on the go all the time, and sometimes unable to log on to facebook…

There is a free version which lets you check one messaging service, or a paid service they call “Pro” which costs  $12.99 a year.

There is a native app, but what I tried was the Java version, which looked really pleasing to the eye, and had number keyed menus so that once you hit menu, all you have to do is push the corresponding number (you can of course hit up or down to get to your selection )

All in all I liked this app, I can’t wait to see what other services they offer, as they also listed MySpace, Bebo
Ning, LinkedIn as well as Hi5 as up and coming supported social networks.

Also listed is that they will provide support for 40 other web
communities including Orkut, Frindster, Skyrock Network and Flicker to name a few!

Also, not to be forgotten, it’s available for nearly EVERY device, I even hear that an iPhone app is right around the corner!

While I currently use many different mobile email services, this is a really simple to use application which can get all of your messages to you directly on your mobile… Because I’m usually mobile and we’re all headed that direction and still need to get our messages…

Please vote for me, Daniel Silvers for the 48 hours in Denmark contest.

It is a contest in which I am trying to use my knowledge and ability to use mobile technology and social media to promote Tourism. I believe I can show how Tourism can be shaped for the future, using mobile technology, and not some big, bulky camera!

I can do so much from my mobile phone, and that’s what I’ve been trying to show for a while now!

I will be getting a round trip flight and hotel for 48 hours in Denmark!

Please vote, because I hope you believe in me as much as I believe I can do this!

http://48hoursindenmark.com/

Voting started today, the more comments, the more “votes”

Thank you!
Daniel

So, I found this website, 48 hours in Denmark which is offering:

“… a free trip to Denmark, with all expenses paid. Plane, hotel, food and fun.

What’s the catch? We want you to show us how you use digital media when you travel as a tourist. We want you to tell us how you’ve researched the trip, how you use digital media while you are here, and how you share your experiences when you get home.

Anything goes, as long as it has got something to do with digital media. We expect blogging, twittering, lifestreaming and flickring to come together – maybe even some services we haven’t heard about…”

I really think that this is something that I can do…

Something that I am very interested in, as I am very interested in how social online media is and can be a more effective part in daily life, and where else to start, but tourism.

And, I think I would enjoy it very much!

So I applied!

Watch my video application (Daniel Silvers) and the others here:

After recently watching CNN’’s race to 1,000,000 followers on Twitter, I cannot help but feel sorry that Google has let Jaiku go to the wayside…

I believe the way that I heard it said… And I wish I could remember who it was (it seems that every time I cannot think of who said something, Stefan comes to mind… So, until told otherwise, he gets the credit…)

Twitter is like yelling out the window to strangers, Jaiku is like walking downstairs to talk to them…

I think that with Jaiku A trip like this could be more fun, people could comment in real threaded time to your updates on things you are doing, and wherever you may be, and maybe even tell you things nearby… Then again, there’s Dodgeball but, oh, Google bought and shut that down too… Just signed up for four square and will try to cross post to there as well…

Back to it… I believe that using Google Maps on the phone, I can find where it is I want to go, and can use SportsTracker, or NokiaviNe to keep track of my trip… As well as using Shozu to upload photos and video, as well as updating my blog on my way… that way, I can keep my friends and followers updated in real time…

Although I love being on a computer, I have really come to enjoy the freedom that using a smartphone, (such as the Nokias that I use) affords me, I can stay in touch with the online world, and not be tied down to a computer, at a coffee shop, in a cubicle or anywhere… And, If I need a bit more then the phone can offer me, I can just break out the N800 Internet Tablet…

So, what do you say? interested? stop by, see the entries, and if you feel so inclined, apply by April 27th!

I feel that all the current applicants are all doing different things, and all of which are very exciting for social media!

I really wish I had done a better video, but I was stranded in Denver International Airport, and just barely made the deadline (before it was extended…)

There was so much more I wanted to talk about, but hoping that by my blog speaking about myself and my belief in the future of Mobile Technology, I will still be able to stay afloat in the running!

Thanks for reading, now… Go Check it out!a

as a repost from the Nokia Daily News

I would like to point out that as I gathered, and I may be missing something…

Howard Forums has a running thread, and all that I was able to get out of it was from a user “sr1329″ who stated

“The one thing FP2 brings is a whole new access point management system that can switch from 3G to a known Wi-FI access point if you get close to one. Where it fails is that when you leave the range of that access point it isn’t very good about switching you back to 3G. It will just say connection dropped or something like that. The next time you access data it will ask you again for the access point you want to use. “

Let’s do a comparison for $hits and giggles…

Mobile user “A” purchases a brand new E71x from AT&T with a 2 year contract for $99 for the actual unit and the required data plan of $30 per month your total cost(leaving voice out because we’re assuming that Mobile user “A” and “B” will be getting the same voice plan) would be $819.99 ($99.99 for the unit, PLUS the additional $720 for just data alone, )

Compared to

Mobile user “B” (the smart and savvy shopper who purchased their unit “unlocked” from, say… Dell.com for $340)

Mobile user “B” purchases the unit, unlocked for $340, at a much higher price then user “A” of $240.01 but aside from the FP 2 I can’t see why there is THAT much of a difference, when the ends justify the means… Let’s examine further… Shall we?

Mobile user “B” now has to purchase a rate plan (we’re assuming the same rate plan as user “A” here, so the difference is the data plan…) user “B” can purchase the $15 data plan, for the same unlimited data as user “A” above for a total cost over the 2 years of the contract of $700 ($340 for the unit, PLUS the additional $360 for just the data alone…)

Wait! Did user “A” pay $720 over the 2 years and user “B” only paid $360 FOR THE SAME DATA? another example of why it pays to be a smart shopper… they give it to you cheap in the front, but you take it in the rear!

AT&T DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW THS!

Come on people, When will you wake up?  Sure, What’s a little $119.99 over 2 years when you can get FP2 on your E71?

Well, what’s to say that Nokia can’t do an OTA (Over The Air) update?

plus, you won’t have the AT&T branding of, disabled Nokia keys, un-movable (or deletable) menu items…

The device was made in such a way for a reason…

If you want it cheap, and as a knock-off, (which is how I view branded devices)

Then please buy this unit

Sincerely yours…

MobileDan

First impressions…

I like buttons… I like T9 buttons to be more precise… I don’t hate QWERTY, I just don’t like it very much…

for the same reason that I don’t like most other 2 handed devices… or things that really distract me, or my eyes from the road…

I think I’ve become a master at driving and T9 typing… My Perry Farrell vision is amazing…

Anyway…

The package arrived… turns out it’s a 5800 XM NAM!

I get home, sync the phone from the N78, seems to have taken a bit longer then usual, and I think it was because it was also syncing all my music from the 4 gig card over to the 8 gig card…

I walked around the supermarket in a daze, checking out all the neat things that could be done to change the experience of the phone… the home screen theme of contacts bar, having 4 main easy to touch and call contacts, seems cool, if I had more then my GF that I called on a regular basis… maybe more like 12, fill up the whole screen… but 4 is better then none…

I really like the feel of the screen, if that makes any sense, since it’s the screen that feels me… It reminds me very much of the screen on my N800 Internet Tablet, responsive enough for handwriting, I think I could get to like this phone!

Texting has proven to take a bit, when sitting down, I can easily turn the device to use the full screen QWERTY, but this is not so handy when driving, which I do a lot of… the mini QWERTY keyboard makes me feel like I should be using the included guitar pic or stylus, or keep going back and forth deleting my errors… there is also handwriting, but I haven’t set it up yet… but wait…. there is also the option for an Alphanumeric keypad… that is about as close to T9 as I am going to get… well, it is, but it does not have actual buttons, but… it is T9!  I am very very happy.

downfalls… no sportstracker… BOO… no contacts on Ovi, and no Conversation and no Nokia Email… so far… I need to find other things that I CAN do with this device… expect more updates as I start playing with this device more and more… for $338.39 from Dell Small Business, it’s so far sounding like a sweet deal!

I am not a market analyst, I am not a tech guru, I am not even much of a consumer, but what I am is an end user… I think that this means a lot.  It does to me… I matter a lot to me, and what I choose to spend my money on is a well thought out process of want vs. need (sometimes )

Tonight I had a discussion with my friend Serko from MobileDivide (please excuse the cursing, it was a private conversation that he has allowed me to share parts of)

SERKO: hope we get to play with the N97 on Tuesday!

Me:  That would be nice!

SERKO: I’m beginning to lose faith in Nokia too much rehashed BS

Me:  I hear you. But I don’t need a new phone, I need dependable

SERKO: definitely!

Me:  And, if the 95 is tried and true after all these years, so be it

Me:  That’s why I bought the 78

SERKO: Yeah I want an N85 in all Black with a Xenon flash

Me:  It’s exciting to see new, but I’m broke, and I can’t sell my parents, brothers or friends on something that’s not ready… Something that needs Fw updates and whatnot

SERKO: sure man totally understand

Me:  I can’t buy new yet, not patient enough. I’ve gone thru hell with this 96… So many freezes

SERKO: I want ATT to release a NAM 5800 for $99

Me:  Na, They raped the 75, I want them to NOT fu*% anything I want up

SERKO: well I flashed my mom’s N75 awhile back with an unbranded firmware build and it’s unlocked officially

Me:  Until they realize they can’t stick their d!*% in everything before they pass it out, I’ll pass

SERKO: lol OUCH!

ME: I sent 4 of them back until I got an old fw… That didn’t have their tabbed home screen. F*%k them, I’ll pay the money (for unlocked)… I think the tube will be under 300 Then practically give them away unlocked.. Without contract… If they (Nokia) can take that hit, it’ll attract a lot of people. But it had better be road ready! Don’t race to just sell it… Get the download store ready for it… Apps that work properly with it. Get everything symbian signed and verify it works with the tube

SERKO: sure man I agree, though I kinda feel weird going backwards in terms of Camera MP

Me:  I’m happy here at 3.2… Xenon is a big jump forward too!

SERKO: If they can get the 5800 to $249 on Amazon I think they’ll have a field day!

Me:  Not on Amazon! At the Nokia store

Take away any chance for people to sell for a profit

Draw people to the store… get people to see everything that Nokia has to offer… It’ll be in time for the 4th generation iPhone… (insert laugh) They can catch all the late adopters.

This started a fire that I let dwindle… A few months ago I spoke about my rant on Nokia’s attempt (or lack of one) in the US market. Amongst other things that I spoke of in that blog, I commented on my ideas on how to win over this finicky market…

The US market was lost by Nokia on so many fronts, but mostly the thing that I think did it in was the iPhone… I see too many people using it, and while I think it’s a great invention, It’s got nothing new, but things that I have seen and not marketed within S60.

Nokia is now fighting a multi-theatre war, one in trying to win consumers over with Nokia phones, and the other with trying to sell manufacturers and consumers on Symbian S60…

I get confused sometimes… I would really love to get my hands on the Samsung INNOV8 so that I could compare what Nokia and Samsung do with the same OS.

But, for now, I am a Nokia Fan-boy I guess…  I just see how the US consumer is inundated by a new phone ad daily, and it’s flash and shine… whereas I have convinced my family on how with the economy it’s less about form and more about function!  (Not that I don’t like the form of Nokia phones! they’re just not marketed as “sexy”)  My 67 year old father is using OVI to sync his calendar, contacts and photos that he was taking with my old N73, he seems to be getting by fine, and once he gets into his own routine I think he’ll figure out how much more is possible with it!

I think that the problems that I’ve had with demoing new phones is that the hardware is there, it’s flawless!  The problem is that the firmware needs to catch up, and most consumers aren’t willing to have to go through the trouble of having to do this weekly or monthly if and when there is an update…

I’m in the market for a new phone, and I want something that I don’t have to complain about, something that when I’m showing it off to people it isn’t freezing up or worse yet, restarting mid load of an app!  I think that Nokia is in a good position to release the 5800 tube, if they can get everything to work seamlessly, under normal use or under strain by a power-user! Something that shows what the download store is meant to do, show that it works great out of the box, and show that It’s possible to replace so many things that you’ve taken for granted in Nokia.  And with OTA updates, your phone will soon be able to learn to do so many more things!

Nokia: Take a price cut, and offer it without a contract for a competing price as the iPhone is with a contract!  it’s a base model, it’s NOT an Nseries, let it pave the way for the N97!

I don’t think that anyone knows how to conquer the US market, you hold your ground until something else flashy catches these consumers eyes… Grab their attention and hold it, and release something new and different, don’t release an updated version months down the road… Nokia to me hasn’t been like that, I love that my 2.5 year old N73 is still much better then most everything non Nokia, and that’s not just because of the 3.2MP camera!

The average consumer doesn’t care about their network so much as that it works!  I think that because the frequencies are so different in the different markets, it’s gonna take until we get to something like  5G (insert laugh here…) for all of the frequencies to match up, which I think is another problem, not only do manufacturers have to make one product for one market, they also now have to adapt that product to work within the US frequencies which are trying to catch up with the  GSM community…

One key reference website that I use is GSM Arena it lets me choose by manufacturer and sort results by frequencies.  AT&T for instance is 850 and 1900 GSM and 850 and 1900 UMTS… as explained here 2G is GSM and 3G is UMTS also called WCDMA and HSDPA I don’t know much about any of this but I know that I am seeing 3.5G on my screen and am happy to be able to use data and voice simultaneously! AT&T works great for me, I had problems with T-Mobile in my area and don’t foresee myself going back, but, I only use AT&T for service with voice, data and text, any other features they offer I am currently able to get through other services.  I still think that the providers should find a way and offer Spinvox, as I’ve been using it and loving it!

What I’m getting at in my last is that I understand that we are a hard market to please, and with that, it’s a gamble to make a product version for us that may or not sell as it does across the pond… once that is settled I think it’ll be easier for the companies, but for now, we need something on the high and low end to WOW us, to make us jump up and stand in line, and once we’re in line, and have the product, we don’t want a slap in the face when the same thing is re-packaged with more features and re-sold… just upgrade the firmware!

I will revisit this blog in the near future I am sure…

There’s a company out there that I think everyone should look into… I’ve been telling my “analog” friends, but I really need to shout it out here as well!

James Whatley aka Whatleydude

Has been doing a great job blogging for Spinvox

Just to get things started, I’ve been using Spinvox Memo for months now, and have found that when I  am driving I can just call a number (which is issued to me, that I’ve assigned a speed dial for) and speak my memo which is converted to an email for me that I can go back to and read later…

Lately I’ve been using Spinvox Voicemail… And it’s changed me…

I’ve been doing work for an A/V company, working in high end houses and apartments and usually there are a lot of other workers around which causes a lot of noise in the backround.  I cannot alwayt afford to walk away to take a call, even if I could drop what I am doing, like a TV or bundle of wire…

Enter Spinvox Voicemail!  I can still get the voicemails, but in the mean time, I get a text, which I can quickly view and take action…  And, If I need to hear an actual message, I get a Quick-Link™ code which I enter when I call the voicemail number.

Before, All my messages were diverted to my networks system, which left the messages in cue… I don’t know about you, but i’ve got some messages I hold on to, and when I get a new message, I have to go through them all, which takes time… all for a message that I could’ve gotten in a text… Spinvox converts it for me!

It’s not completely available yet, as seen here…

But in the United States we can Sign up to get 40 messages per month for 9.99 through UReach.com

I think it’s kind of steep but but the more people see, and use, and want others to see and want to use, it can and will be implimented and hopefully picked up by the major carriers and made cheaper or better yet, FREE!

I can remember a time using a cell phone before voicemail… (I know, I’m old… but really)

This is the next wave!

Go to the site and give it a try…

The technology has been here, and is ever evolving!

Read about how D2 does it! and makes our lives that much easier and better!

Go there, get a free  trial, see for yourself!  come back here and let me know what you think, or just let them know!

First off…

I’m kinda new here, to the whole blogging my experiences for the world to read…

and having people actually read what I write…

So, after I write something, I re-read it and I realize later that I woulda, shoulda, coulda…

put this, added that, moved that…

I need to get better at this, and you’re helping with your comments!  Keep it up!

I’ve had my Gf and others come here to check up on what I’ve been up to, and  the one thing that has come from them all, is that I tend to start conversations mid sentence, assuming everyone knows what I’m talking about…

And you, my one trusty reader, you have somehow kept holding on…

OK…

Here is a brief run down… as I try to give better stories!

2 weeks ago I received a Nokia E71 from WOM World / Nokia

It was my first experience with a Nokia E Series phone.

The E series is Nokia’s Enterprise series… Business line, (sorta like a BlackBerry… Only better)

OK, so everyone was talking about this phone… I had to see it… I wanted to try…

It came… I used it… I’m still using it… It’s amazing…

It’s just, that…

um…

I’m not a business person…

Don’t get me wrong, this phone is AMAZING, it’s got so much inside, and so much you can do with it!

it’s just too much in the wrong direction for me…

although…

The GPS seemed really fast compared to other phones (but I haven’t had any other phones in hand to compare to )

The speaker at the top did not seem to be designed as a music phone but it did play very loud and did the job… I listen to a lot of music and will need something designed as such…

The camera isn’t good for taking shots at night, I go out a lot… like A real Lot… and I need something more then that…

Camera = FAIL

The screen size is perfect…

The ability to switch modes from work to personal, really neat!  you can have apps you need for work, and switch to the other for home… the whole standby screen changes!

the Qwerty keyboard was amazingly fast to learn, I was back to texting while driving parked the same day!

The added static buttons for home, calendar, contacts and messages freed up a lot of space on my standby screen as well, shortening my need for searching through my menu…

I really like this phone a lot, and I think that any of my friends, (or strangers who hopefully stumble to my blog,) who are looking into getting a business phone, like a BlackBerry, (which I see as the NexTel craze of the late 90’s) you should do yourself a favor… Go find this phone… There’s the Nokia Flagship Store in 57th street in Manhattan, and one in Chicago and LA I believe… Get this phone in  your hand… this is a serious phone!

If you’re serious about your business, and need a phone that can do it all, I suggest you try this one out!

This phone was and still is great! I’ve got one more week with it, and this will be the test…

I’m going to be going on vacation, and will only have my N73, my N800 and this E71… (I’ll of course have my XM and clean clothes as well, but you’re not concerned about that… you’re concerned about how I am going to post to wordpress? to Jaiku, get my Gmail? reply to IM’s… and such…

Let me worry about that

The only sad thing is that I will be using my N73 as my camera

Go check this phone out… read the reviews…

this is just too much a work phone for me in some ways, and not enough play…

I wish I could have the N82 in a NAM…

maybe with a slide-out Qwerty in it wouldn’t be bad either

anyone else want this too?

Getting packed for my vacation…

I’ll keep you posted!

you keep me posted!

md