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and have some cash to burn do what my employer does and set yourself up with Verizon and Color BlackBerry 7750's. It's nice having my email everywhere I go and the browser is handy for important sites (THough, you need the $5000 BlackBerry Enterprise Server for web iirc). Plus it has a calendar, games, messaging clients, etc. The only thing I don't like doing with it is talking to people - it just doesn't fit my hand right!

I just wanted to point out the obvious (but apparently not so obvious for many) that almost all of the mobile providers offer phones without some degree of features such as cameras, MP3 players, and the kitchen sink. It makes me wonder if anyone's actively looking for one...

T-Mobile - Nokia 6010
Cingular - Nokia 3595
AT&T Wireless - Nokia 2260
Alltel - Nokia 3585i
Verizon Wireless - Nokia 3589i

OK - now perhaps you're one of those who feels that color screens are over the top for mobile phones... so what to do? Why not look around on eBay?

With that said, I wholeheartedly appreciate the trend of adding features to phones.

Rotary phones "just worked." Why did they even bother adding that newfangled touchtone button dialing or even eliminate operator-connected calling? They always "just worked." The reason: progress.

I love Caller ID and SMS... they're infinitely useful and convenient. Sure... features like Push-to-talk and loud ringtones are annoying... but only when they're blantantly misused or inappropriate... like for personal conversations and in classrooms, respectively.

I just had to say this because I really dislike comments like "just give me a phone that works" because if telephone tech never evolved and never incorporated any new features, we'd all be using AMPS. We've come a long way from the days of car phones. And I, for one, LOVE being able to check my eMail on my 3650. Granted, network reliability should be paramount, but I've never had any lingering issues with my T-Mo service.

I guess I'm less spiteful of the industry than I used to be.

From the pictures, this looks suspiciously like the old one. I am going to stick with my brand new Verizon Wireless Treo. With a VGA camera, keyboard, Palm OS 5, and 144Kbps download speed, an added 512MB SD card from Kingston, it's got everything I need. Seriously not a troll, if you can get one and you've got the $500 (with a one year activation), it's definitely worth the money. Like the new advertising will say, my laptop does feel really heavy now. (There's nothing like switching away from Yahoo! chat to take a picture and going back with no interruption - while on your phone!)

It's all well and good that Verizon is offering Yet Another last-mile solution, but for us insensitive clods out in the rural areas, we'll still never see any of it in our lifetimes. I live right on the border of two counties, which do not share some sort of necessary agreement to share cable providers. (I don't know the details other than Comcast telling me "We can't cross that line.") But all my other lines (Power, phone) come in from the adjacent county because there is no right-of-way cut alongside the road coming in from county I actually live in. So I'm stuck in some sort of mythical no-man's land of can't-get-cable, can't-get-DSL and I know ain't no way in hell Verizon or anyone else will ever lay cable out to us rural folks. What Verizon needs to push is not this damn fiber that'll only be deployed in the major cities and 'burbs, but their own wireless broadband option which could work anywhere. (And while I'm complaining, make it competative to DSL in pricing, at least.)

Nonetheless, despite being obviously a small-fry customer, the Verizon rep called to let me know that in the past month I had received in excess of 800 text messages. My phone is at the receiving-end of a pretty large Big Brother monitoring system, so I'm not surprised.

He was calling me to offer to upgrade me to a $9.99/month plan for 1,000 text messages, and to do so at once to avoid overage charges on my account.

That's what I consider to be impressive customer service. I've been with other cellular providers in the past, and Verizon is the first one that actually seems to care about keeping me as a customer.

Consider me a satisfied Verizon customer.

As Sun says, the network is the computer. We're not going to have phones as computers until the phones are on the Net, and I don't mean 2400 baud GPRS.

Give me, in a Treo package (i.e. with thumbboard), a 320x480 screen (like a Tungsten, not a 160x160 like the Treo 600), high-speed Internet, and a video recorder with sound (because the failure of the mainstream media demands that the citizenry does its own reporting). Give me that now. Don't wait for the translation. Don't wait for 1X EV-DV.

Ask yourself this: What if you bought a cell with a contract that said it had essential coverage, and it didn't (as often cell companies do)? What if you got crappy reception at your own home even though it clearly says that you are clearly in the footprint? What could you do?

The answer? NOTHING FOR A YEAR. Buy another contract and pray. Smells like bull to me.

Not sure about other carriers 'cuz I use Vz, but they prolly have something similar.

The results?

1. Everyone that used the i-700 (including myself) hated it. It was too big to be carried around like cell phone, and didn't have much for accessories to add-onto it for a PDA. Plus their was connectivity issues and all were returned after their evaluation period to Verizon.
2. The i-600 became one of our phone standards for some of the IS staff that are a director's level and above, but required them to give up their PDAs. The i-600 was tested some more by our IS for 2 more months before allowing some of the high end users (senior VPs and above) to use it to replace their existing cell phone and PDA.

   Ever since the last firmware update, the phones don't crash every 2-3 days like they uses to. Also, these phones can eat through batteries. One of their typical large batteries will last about a day and half. We had to buy all the SmartPhone users duel batteries so they can rotate them.

   What is even worse is Verizon doesn't make any accessories for these phones; they all are made by some 3-rd party, who has 1-2 week delays at times on simple stuff like batteries and chargers.

   Besides those quirks, my IS team loves them. However, their price keeps them reserved to the higher ups since they are under 2 year contracts.

The results?

1. Everyone that used the i-700 (including myself) hated it. It was too big to be carried around like cell phone, and didn't have much for accessories to add-onto it for a PDA. Plus their was connectivity issues and all were returned after their evaluation period to Verizon.
2. The i-600 became one of our phone standards for some of the IS staff that are a director's level and above, but required them to give up their PDAs. The i-600 was tested some more by our IS for 2 more months before allowing some of the high end users (senior VPs and above) to use it to replace their existing cell phone and PDA.

   Ever since the last firmware update, the phones don't crash every 2-3 days like they uses to. Also, these phones can eat through batteries. One of their typical large batteries will last about a day and half. We had to buy all the SmartPhone users duel batteries so they can rotate them.

   What is even worse is Verizon doesn't make any accessories for these phones; they all are made by some 3-rd party, who has 1-2 week delays at times on simple stuff like batteries and chargers.

   Besides those quirks, my IS team loves them. However, their price keeps them reserved to the higher ups since they are under 2 year contracts.

I want broadband, not TV. When are business execs finally going to figure this out?

Well if it works in the areas that are important to you, then you're fine. Unfortunately in California the GSM coverage is pathetic. Cingular users especially are derided by the rest of us because no one can understand them. About every third syllable gets eliminated.

(A girlfriend I had in Massachusetts was also on Cingular and it was equally hard to understand her on her Cingular phone, but it's an older phone and probably on their TDMA network, and thus I probably can't speak for that area's GSM coverage one way or the other.)

In California AT&T still operates both, and if you demand it, they'll sell you a new TDMA phone. It pays. Their TDMA service is pretty respectable, but the GSM, like the others here, just doesn't cut it.

Meanwhile, Verizon CDMA is crystal-clear pretty much everywhere I've been (most of CA and much of New England). Judging from their coverage map, they're pretty much the only service out there that can truly claim national coverage. GSM is cool in all the major markets, but if you ever need to use your phone outside them, VZW is the best deal.

I do like Bluetooth and the concept of SIM cards, but besides that I don't have a problem with the CDMA phones. Until GSM provides the broadest coverage available in the US, I'm staying on CDMA.

Exactly. They have put in wifi, a kickass screen, and everything else one could want in a PDA, but it lacks a phone. This could be a replacement for one of these if only it had a phone...

The link provided says it has short battery life

I know, I don't know what they're talking about, though. I routinely go 2-3 days without charging and with moderate use; my phone hasn't run out of juice yet.

cellphones are almost all available for free, depending on the plan

So are ours, but we also typically get locked into a 1-2 year plan when we buy phones. In my case, I lost my phone 6 months into the plan and didn't have a warranty on it, so I had to replace it. All the prices you see on the Verizon Wireless site are with a plan...the price jumps by about $200 without a plan. I could get a considerably better phone than the one I have with a plan, but already having plan, that wasn't an option. Speaking of 'better' phones, that leads me to...

but why not get the camera and color screen(s) and radio's as well when you can? ...another post I just wrote was about where I work. The firm I subcontract to won't let any phones with cameras into secure areas (which, in most cases, is the entire building). As a company policy, you must check your camera phone with the guard *every day* on non-secure contracts. This is a pain, I'd rather just have a good, dependable telephone, sans camera + frills, that I don't have to routinely check with the guard.

--trb

I know a guy working through his MBA, sitting in class hooked up to the net wireless through through Verizon Wireless. He's getting a minumum of 144kbps both ways most of the time. Considering that most of the US and world is connected vi dial up, that a bit improvement. He says it works well in most areas, but it has trouble if you're moving, such as while on the train. He said he does get the burst speeds in many situations, but the average speed is quite acceptable (and he's used to a oc-3). Cingular has this too, as well as, Sprint and At&t wireless. The nextel specs cliam to be high, as the other web sites I cites also make their claims, and they all charge premium prices for this service. Given Nextel's pricing, this will also be at a premium rate.

I just don't understand how the last big name to get in the game is considered news. Was their hyped numbers are bigger than the other hyped numbers? Or was it just general ignorance about the market.

A true geek is always connected. The price of cellular internet has come down, and the speeds are going up, to the point where its feasible for full time use.

Links:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions /b roadband/index.jsp

http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/5668

http://www.patents.com/pcs/

My wife has a Samsung SPH-i700 wireless phone from Verizon Wireless (motto: I am your father, Luke), and while it is a great tool to retrieve email remotely, it is an absolute JOKE as a wireless phone. To make a call, you must tap the start menu, then select "Phone" from the menu. My wife, a relatively small woman, finds the handset clunky and impossible to hold for more than a few minutes, so she uses speakerphone for almost every single conversation. The thing also loves to be tethered to an electrical outlet at every opportunity, battery life is dismal.

People who want to create features for wireless phones need to realize that ringtones in the workplace or in the presence of anyone over 14 make the owner of a ringing phone look asinine, camera phones are for perverts, and that anything that chews batteries generally makes my phone less useful.

Give me a phone that is lightweight, gets decent talk time off a single charge (I'd LOVE to be able to carry my phone an entire work week without charging), and that has features I'll actually use, and I'll be a customer for life.

Give me a PDA with a sorry excuse for a phone built-in, and I'll go find another vendor.

I used to use Verizon's prepaid phone service before switching to a annual plan.. I pretty much always had reception, but not necessarily the best sound quality (compared to GSM). They cover pretty much all of the US, but it looks like their prepaid service charges extra for roaming if you're out of their coverage area. I was also able to sell my phone on Ebay when I was done with it.

If you know the general areas you'll be, check out the coverage maps and prepaid services. I know Tmobile, Cingular and AT&T have prepaid services. AT&T also has a Go Phone service which is a rate plan without the annual contracts.

Verizon is launching 1xEV-DO nationwide. This is a cellular (fully mobile) data technology that delivers 300-500 kbps average downstream thoughput, and 30-70kbps upstream. Peak rates are 2.4Mbps downstream and 153.6 Kbps upstream. The service is already operational in San Diego and Washington D.C and is marketed as Broadband Access.

Think Richochet on steroids. The US has caught up with and surpassed Europe on wireless with this one.

I tried to submit this story yesterday thinking this will of high interest to the slashot audience, but it was rejected. Oh well.

Magnus.

Verizon is launching 1xEV-DO nationwide. This is a cellular (fully mobile) data technology that delivers 300-500 kbps average downstream thoughput, and 30-70kbps upstream. Peak rates are 2.4Mbps downstream and 153.6 Kbps upstream. The service is already operational in San Diego and Washington D.C and is marketed as Broadband Access.

Think Richochet on steroids. The US has caught up with and surpassed Europe on wireless with this one.

I tried to submit this story yesterday thinking this will of high interest to the slashot audience, but it was rejected. Oh well.

Magnus.

The future is "wireless broadband" (somewhat tied to "3G"), available since October in Washington, DC and San Diego with speeds advertised as up to 2mbps, 300-500kbps typical.

WiFi's not going away, of course -- people will still want to connect their homes that were built before 2002. It could also serve as a tool to building a separate Internet away from excessive corporate/government control, though it seems to me it would be too easy to jam -- laser would probably be better.

All this hype about WiFi reminds me of 1997, when 1.5mbps DSL was available in limited areas around Washington, DC, and the rest of the country was harping on how to boost modem speeds from 40kpbs to a "full" 56kpbs.

Verizon has thier own retail stores also, check out Verizon Wireless's homepage for a local verizon store.. no radio shack involved.

If you're the type that doesn't care for speed, and only cares for such things as SSH, mail, etc. then you definately want to look into Sprint's older Wireless Web.

Its pretty slow, actually its pretty damn slow, its about 19.2kbps. BUT .... its also only 5 dollars a month. AND, you do not get charged for how much data you transfer. Your wireless internet time comes out of your normal cell phone plan. So you can use it during the night and weekend for free. (NOTE: you need a standard dialup company to dial into). Also Sprint has some phones that act as standard AT modems (a whole bunch actually), so linux users need to worry about such.

Verizon also has a great offer. They have Mobile Office which is pretty much the same as Sprint's service. However verizon provides you with a virtual ISP to dial up into. (*No extra* cost to anyone either)

For a little more info, take a gander at this tread

Sunny Dubey

Check out the Samsung i700 on verizon wireless HERE

Almost the same thing but less of it. It has 300mhz xscale instead of 400, has 64 ram instead of 192 and .3 Mpixel camrea instead of 1.1.

I have it, and before that had an i300(which was a Palm OS based phone). This device is amazing!

If you carry a PDA and a cellphone around all the time, these device are perfect. But don't kid yourself on the size, it the same size as any small pocketpc.

Battery life isnt like a phone only (Last a whole day, so its in the cradle every night), but how many phones you know have a 300mhz processor?

Its powerful enough to play 300kbps video, any kind of music format you wish, has sdio slot for mem or wifi or bluetooth, etc.

Has 144kbps 1xrtt modem, which I can sucessfully vpn into my office and remotedesktop into any server I need to (telnet/ssh and vnc also for you Linux). Or use as a modem for my laptop via usb.

Sure you could buy this separately, but like the other guy said I never did like the Batman look.

Palm Zire 21 - $99 USD

Kyocera 7135 Smartphone - $499 USD.

Until they can close this gap, PDAs aren't going to be dead. And a $400 difference is going to take more than 1 year.

Propz to GNAA

> three different types of cell networks out here (CDMA, TDMA, Sprint PCS, and now GSM).

Clearly, that is a list of four, not three, but SprintPCS* uses CDMA just like VZW.

Anyway, you were right with the number, but wrong about SprintPCS.

-------
*Not that you asked, but the difference, and it's a key difference, is that SprintPCS is one of those "Don't leave the huge metro areas, because we have no coverage there" networks*. In other words, it's useless if you ever leave the city (or God forbid, if you don't even live in the city). If you don't believe me, look at this map. Those light-green areas? The ones comprising about the whole continent? Yeah, that's roaming. The kind you have to pay n cents per minute for.

Contrast.

Hope is on the Verizon!

Dear god make it stop.

From their site:

Express Network is capable of data speeds bursting up to 144 kbps, delivering average speeds up to 40 to 60 kbps. You may experience slower data speeds.

And get a card like this for your laptop/desktop.

Sierra Wireless Aircard 555

ya I can see your point... someone can SHOUT a broadCAST all over the world. now all we need is cheap digital receivers... *cough* verizon $79 unlimited broadband cellservice *cough* now if they could only make it work on a PDA
*please pay no attention to italics

*Note sarcam may disrupt some computers*

Verizon can do it, if you can deal with 40-60kbps averages. $80/month (plus $0.20/minute for calls, or less if you use voice over IP).

I'm very happy with the Kyocera,
the new smartphone from Verizon

IMHO it's worth time looking at individual apps
on wireless PDA sites like Handango.
The right apps that fit your needs can make
a huge difference in your satisfaction.

Cheers, Joel

3 options. The free, the limited, and the expensive-but-oso-cool option.

Free: Plug in the USB cable and make sure you have the necessary drivers and the phone set to the right setting. Typically, you're limited to 14.4k but it only uses normal airtime with NO extra charges.

Limited: You can pick a plan with either limited airtime for data or limited usage (like 40mb a month for example).

Expensive but oso cool: $99.99 a month gets you unlimited, any time of day, bandwidth at constant ~140kbps at peak time and ~170-180+kbps at offpeak hours. I've heard great things about this if you plan on using this a lot.

You'll need a phone capable of doing this. Most newer phones support it. Check Ebay for a USB cable. It shouldn't cost you more than $11 especially if you check eforcity.com

For example, my Motorola T720 is recognized as a usb modem when I plug it into my computer. Since I don't pay for any of the plans I mentioned above, I get 14.4. Still good for checking email or browsing low-graphic sites.

The official info about this kind of stuff can be found here at Verizon.

They never stop working for you or something like that.

I've been all OVER BFE, and I've never had Verizon not work.

Of course, this is assuming that you are in the U.S. somewhere.

Spectrum.

Telcos have only a limited amount of spectrum for their networks, both 2g and 3g. 3G is an overlay network, on top of the 2G network. So the telco has 2 networks using their allotted spectrum. This is why 3G phones are listed as 850/1900, 800/1800/1900 (trimode) capable.

I love reading about how everyone bitches about coverage, look at a coverage map before you ever buy wireless phone service.

Coverage Maps.

ATT Wirelesss CDPD http://www.attws.com/personal/buy/pop_coverage_map .jhtml?national=pn
ATT Wireless GPRS http://www.attws.com/general/coverage_maps/coverag emaps.jsp
and http://www.attws.com/press/GSMCoverage.jhtml
tmobile/voicestream - http://www.goamerica.net/coverage/tmobile.html
Verizon - http://verizonwireless.com/mobile_ip/coverage.html
Sprint - http://www.sprintyp.com/coveragemap.html
Qwest - http://www.qwestwireless.com/service/coverage.html

Heres a site with some coverage maps http://www.cellular-news.com/coverage/usa.shtml

I think many many people dream of just using a laptop of PDA for true wireless internet access -- if the costs are reasonable.

Right now the wireless telcos are pricing themselves out of the market.

Early on in college, I got diabetes, which I ended up treating with an H-Tron Plus insulin pump, from Disetronic. After trying a few different schemes for securing it to my person, I decided to park it on my belt.

Shortly thereafter I switched to a different blood glucose meter, which I discovered had a belt loop on its pouch. This made carrying it around much easier and more reliable. Sometime in here I found I needed my Leatherman more often than I happened to have it around. On the belt it goes.

The Palm and its belt case came shortly thereafter, rounding out the utility belt. It's served me well, but I'm not a student any more, and it's starting to get a bit awkward. (Yes, I probably ought to have realized this sooner.)

I'm hoping to consolidate, using a Visor and a FreeStyle Tracker for the meter (coolest device ever), but I'm also looking at a wireless telephone . . . maybe I should just give up and get a nice vest instead. Hmm.

Oh--yes, going through airport security is a royal pain.

I use the Motorola V Series 120c phone and it's not hard to get it to work as a usb modem with linux or OS X.

If you're talking about phones made by a US company, Motorola T720i is probably the first one to come out. Eweek says that it's an 1xRTT Java phone that has an optional camera attachment. If's seems to be available for sale at Verizon's website, however no mention of the camera attachments there. Maybe Eweek confused T720 with A820... Anyway, the relevant links are below.

• Article describing recent phones supporting multimedia
  
• new 2002 handsets from Motorola
  
• Verizon selling T720i
  

I just got the new Audiovox CDM9155-GPX Phone from Verizon,
it has a single chip GPS reciever in it that can transmit your position when needed by the Cell Carrier
for future E-911 compliance (you can turn it off in the options).
I don't understand why they need to do anything but mandate new phones !

what I would really like to see is someone come up with a way to use the GPS unit in the phone with a Palm/PocketPC through the data connector

And another to Sprint's recyling program.

Sprint donates the money from recycled phones to Easter Seals, Verizon sells recycles and gives airtime free phones to sufferers of domestic violence.

Either way, my $.02 going for a good cause,

Kyocera Wireless had the first 3G (CDMA2000 1X) phone launched over a year ago. The 2200 Series have sold in excess of 3 million units at Verizon, Sprint, and Virgin Mobile USA. Nokia really isn't doing anything special here.

Unlimited Express Network: Express Network data sessions may be used with wireless devices for following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) e-mail; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, e-mail and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force and field service automation). Express Network Unlimited Service and Calling Plans cannot be used with server devices or with host computer applications. Examples of such prohibited uses include, without limitation, web camera posts or broadcasts, continuous jpeg file transfers, automatic data feeds, telemetry applications, automated functions or any other machine-to-machine applications. Such data sessions cannot be used as substitute for private lines or frame relay connections. "Always On" capabilities and static Internet Protocol addresses are not available in connection with Express Network Unlimited Service and Calling Plan. We reserve right to deny or terminate service, without notice, to anyone who uses Express Network in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels. We also reserve right to terminate service upon expiration of Customer Agreement. You will not see Express Network data session information on your bill.

Mesh networks are still a dream. High speed mobile internet is here now. At $99/month, it's not quite worth it yet though, especially because you agree not to use it for your home network.

Anyone want to help me set up a WiFi network in Pitman, NJ? Somehow I doubt it.

Considering the availability of huge fucking 3G networks. Highspeed wireless shit that is available in even towns less than 120,000 population.

I own a Z and think that wireless access would be great. But CDPD is so slowwwww! And outdated. Plus, check out their coverage chart...

http://www.verizonwireless.com/mobile_ip/svc_avail ability/index.html

Not much to talk about. They say most major US cities. How did they come to that?

Agreed, the prices stink.

Verizon may not have as much coverage yet, but their Express Network 3G data service has a $99/month unlimited usage (day and night) plan.

Sprint wants $120 for 120MB, with $1/MB overage. Those rates STINK!

Maybe on a PDA you can do likttle 1MB downloads, but what is the point? The 14.4 service is almost as fast for your slow little Palm Pilot.

Sprint really needs to reconsider the pricing. There are millions of geeks with laptops looking for wireless (like Richochet) used to have, but not at these prices.

The major SNAFU is that there is no off-peak pricing. I bet most geeks would go for a "weekend and night unlimited plan" for $70/month.

And I firmly believe that Verizon isn't giving it away at $99/month... I mean just how much are you going to use it? Verizon has been giving away unlimited voice + 14.4 data night+weekends for $5 a month... as they realized that with "Unlimited" there is only so much you are going to use it.

Sprint had a chance, so far, they have blown it.

It monitors speed (how fast they were driing), seat belt status (if they had the seat belts buckled), how many people were in the car (pressure-sensitive switches in the seats), and can be configured remotely by the parents--I don't have kids myself (only 22), but it's a great 'rule enforcer' for kids who have broken their parents trust when it comes to driving, but situations (e.g., school, work, etc) prevent the parent from totally acting the 'take the keys away and lock the doors' approach for punishment.

We have some companies who use these in their fleet vehicles or secondary finance market vehicles so they can look online and see where their cars are, prevent the cars from starting, see how many people have been riding with the driver, and send/receive text messages to/from the driver.

We market the product as informational use only, but people are using it in a Big Brother kind of sense. That bugs me--but that's another story for another day.

Um, not to repeat myself but there's something called BREW that will let you download a game to your handset for a fee, then play whenever you want without using your minutes.

Check it out

Too bad it's only in Japan right now.

Coming to the US faster than you think.
Check it out

Verizon's feedback form is Here (Nb. URL contains a ZIP code - replace it with your own).

Select "I have a question about Network/Coverage" as the subject
and "How do I report a network service or coverage issue?" as the question.