August 26, 2005
Man killed over answering cell phone in charger
In any case, apparently the Nigerian man got electrocuted by his cell phone charger. In NY, someone's house fired up in a blaze after a charger short-circuited. Moral of this story? Don't buy cheap chargers. Oh wait... they're all cheap.
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July 09, 2005
Howto unlock a Treo
Here is a step-by-step on how to unlock your Treo to work on any GSM carrier.
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June 28, 2005
Motorola i860 Flickr Easter Egg
Nextel has it made again with a Motorola easter egg on the Motorola i860. From Geosnapper allows you to take geostamped photos to the website. The easter egg allows you to upload the photos directly to Flickr.
The phone adds tags of the city, state, and zip code of where the picture was taken as well as adding a link to a MapQuest map of the location. To enter your flickr email press # *your pin* 8 7 5 0 # from the first start-up screen. So if your pin is 1234 you would press the keys # 1 2 3 4 8 7 5 0 # and a screen will pop-up that lets you enter your flickr email and password.
Posted by darkmoon at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 20, 2005
DIY Cell phone repair
Repair4MobilePhone has user submitted repair guides instead of going to your local provider store to pay and arm and a leg to breathe life back into your precious phone. Still up and coming with guides, but definitely has potential.
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June 17, 2005
Skype beats mobile? Uhh. wrong technology
Dan Gillmor compares two different technologies. One is the wonderful VoIP by Skype versus a mobile phone. As an engineer that works in the telecommunications industry, I
The comparison is as wrong as comparing your Ferrari to the next guy's Yugo. Both are automobiles, but they're on performance levels that differ so greatly that they're not even compared to each other.
Likewise, comparing VoIP to cellular is ridiculous. Sure the end-user seems the same thing, but the technology is vastly different.
Let's look at what Skype does not have to deal with as opposed to cellular:
- Skype does not need to pay for cellular spectrum.
- Skype does not operate base stations or towers
- Skype does not use the same vocoding.
- Skype does not deal with pilot pollution or pilot surprise.
- Skype does not deal with fickle RF optimization.
- Skype has no hardware operating costs
The list goes on and on. Perhaps it's better to compare Skype with Vonage, but wait... you still need Skype-out to gateway into landline world.
Cellular is a totally different creature to VoIP. There are more intricacies that I have to deal with so that the end-user doesn't even realize the existence of the infrastructure. The late nights at BTS stations, driving back and forth between cellular sites to make sure that every sector was covered, going over quality numbers that could make you go insane, it's all there.
In fact, not only do I have to deal with all of this, but I have to deal with the provider since we make equip them to do their business. This is the life of an RF engineer in the field. So while I do not speak for the rest of the telecommunications industry, I voice an opinion that rings true to many RF engineers' ear... VoIP != Cellular.
UPDATE: Roger comments on Dan's blog:
Skype is a form a VOICE COMMUNICATION OVER A NETWORK.
Mobile phones are also VOICE COMMUNICATION OVER A NETWORK.
It's entirely appropriate to compare the two, especially when it comes to voice quality, and reliability of service, neither of which is particularly stellar in the mobile phone networks.
So while we're on this analogy, let's compare Macs with PCs since they're both computers. How about dogs with cats under the pet category? I'm sure a lot of people would really be ticked off if I told them that a Protestant was the same as a Catholic since they are all Christians.
If it was that simple, then I better go trade in my Dell for that G5 since it's "all the same".
As far as voice quality goes, that's a matter of cellular technology. CDMA is newer, and carries quality better than GSM which is more mature. Then there is a coverage issue. Ever wonder why your phone might work when it's next to your head, but when it's in the cupholder, it doesn't? RF environment. Interference. Uh. No.
UPDATE 2: Dan updated his blog. Thank you.
But it's scandalous that mobile phone service, here in the heart of Silicon Valley, remains outrageously flaky. The carriers would rather sell new subscriptions than offer reliable service. What's more, they all suck, as far as I can tell.
Can't help you there. I'm sure you realize that GSM is not the same as CDMA and applicable 800Mhz(CDMA) or 900Mhz (GSM) or 1900Mhz CDMA makes a whole lot of difference. I can tell you one thing. There are certain providers out there that are not concerned with coverage anymore as much as capacity. That particular provider also leads in the coverage base for CDMA. Being said, if you are using a GSM based phone, no wonder your coverage is shoddy. If not, I'd call and launch some major complaints if it's in suburbia. If you live out in the country, then I have no sympathy. Can't have all the technologies and live out in nice countryside too! *grin* I doubt that's the case in Silicon Valley though.
Posted by darkmoon at 03:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2005
Bill Gates says that cell phones will kill the iPod BUT...
I was doing some morning reading of Glenn Reynolds an I noticed that he said at Blog Nashville, Dan Gillmor was showing Glenn his mp3/cellphone and how he didn't carry his iPod anymore. Until Motorola actually releases the Apple iTunes phone, I have a few comments for those that think likewise as Mr. Gates:
1) Battery life: Working in the cellular technology, size and battery life are inversely proportional. Your drain time for your cell phone is never quite the same amount as your iPod. Obviously these people, although well traveled, do not have a wide expanse of music to listen to nor care about battery life.
2) As said before, size and battery are inversely proportional. My cell phone is about half the size of my iPod.
3) Yet my iPod has more than seventy-eight times (yes, that would be a 78x) the amount of space in my cell phone.
Working in the telecommunications industry, I have to say that there are a lot of obstacles to overcome with only the battery and size issue. Many people are happy that they can store their entire CD collection onto one device and listen for a full day's worth of work without having to recharge. There is no way that could happen with a cell phone's Li-Ion.
Seeing how battery technology hasn't improved much in the last fifty years, I wonder how exactly those people that are early adopters of cellphone mp3 players feeling the pain of battery life.
Personally, I'd rather just deal with a BT enabled phone that can switch between phone and iPod tunes any day of the week until they (mobile device divisions of my employer and others) find the holy grail method of fixing this issue.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 06, 2005
Morse code makes SMS whimper in speed
In the latest war of fastest text messaging, a 93 yr old man whips a young 13 year old whippersnapper into shape by blowing the socks off the SMS text messenger in speed and completing the transfer of the message verbatim. Who said Morse is out?
Via Engadget
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May 01, 2005
Howto make a EVDO-WiFi Hotspot
Here is a very good step by step on how to make a EVDO/WiFi hotspot. This is a costly solution and also takes a bit of Linux experience to hack these Soekris boxes, but they are all the more worthwhile when you understand what you're doing.
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April 19, 2005
Those wanting the Motorola iTunes phone, think again...
Nothing wrong with the phone. But people that have been battling the Verizon Bluetooth scenario will love this one. Both Sprint and Verizon have said no to Motorola's iTune phone. Reason being? Plans are in the works for downloadable music on air. Why make available phone service that people can transfer their legal music onto their phones when you can charge them via downloads?
Obviously no one cares what the consumer wants, judging by the carriers trying to beat this dead horse some more.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:48 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 01, 2005
Time Warner getting into cellular
Time Warner is keeping quiet for now, but they are testing cellular service in Kansas City, MO. It's basically repackaged Sprint. The idea is to provide package deals to the consumer, something that SBC and Verizon is already doing. Time will tell, if the cable giant can surf the cell waves.
Posted by darkmoon at 06:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack