Slashdot Mirror
Looking For Wireless Handheld E-Mail And Web?
"I see Blackberry has an offering but it appears to be e-mail only. It uses the RIM Interactive Pager from Research in Motion. It looks like you can use the same device and get Internet email service through RCN. Price is about $40-$45 including rental of the box? To get web access, it appears you can do it through GoAmerica but they make you buy the RIM box (about $299). Service is $60 per month, ouch! Service is provided by Bell Atlantic Wireless Data and coverage is excellent. I saw these guys and played with the unit at Sring Internet World last week and I really liked it but the cost is too prohibitive. Wolfetech also appears to support the RIM with their PocketGenie software and their service is only $29.95/mo but they don't say if that includes the wireless access or if that fee is just for their content.
I already have a Palm III so don't want to purchase a Palm VII because their service is pay per character only and the coverage is lousy. I would rather not get a Minstrel as it's too bulky and the coverage is lousy in my area. Although GoAmerica has a good deal on it at $99 and $49.95 for the service.
I would consider getting an Internet Ready phone, but my provider, Cellular 1 SF, doesn't offer any service. I don't want to switch to PCS because the phone quality is awful out here. The display on the phones is also really limiting.
There are services (usually free) that e-mail things to your text pager or text messaging cellphone, but I don't like the push model. Web Wireless Now has a neat hack, where you call a number and it picks up your caller ID and text messages you your preselected content but it seems really limited and I doubt it works when you're roaming. The added cost of the text messaging feature which could get expensive with heavy use."
If there are any current users of these services, I'm sure there would be readers here interested if the assesments here match with your experiences. What other alternatives for wireless Web and e-mail access exist and what do you all think of them?
The PalmVII now has an unlimited plan. The minstrel is nice but the coverage is spotty. I have a Minstrel V with my OmniSky service and if you aren't in a major city you're out of luck. But, at least you get full IP support unlike the Palm VII or other devices.
I was going to be good, but this phrase just kills me:
"...RIM with their PocketGenie..."
Please stay away from my RIM device with your PocketGenie. I don't swing that way.
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You can make your own content, just not what they have on the page, I hacked together the "backdoors" for slashdot etc at landsberger.com/infolinks. True it's not instant - but it's still very cool :)
I've used a Rim device. An acquaintance of mine works for RIM and he was given one with service, and I have had the opportunity to play with it.
I managed to send a few quick emails to my inbox and tested the amount of time it takes for a message to reach it's destination. It was just like most email, as it only took seconds to reach my land-based account.
The machine comes with 2 megs of Non volatiale memory, and the more programs you have stored, the less you have for storing email. (even though, say, you have 800k free space.. that's TONS of room for text-emails)
If i'm not mistaking , the devices have very programmable features, so stocks, news, should not be very tough to do.
There was also games, like Tetris: Just turn the device over vertically and you play tetris using the scrollbar and one or two of the buttons. The screens resolution and number of grayscale 'colours' impressed me.
Also, don't be fooled by the small 'keyboard'.. It still allows you to 'type' in your email/etc VERY quickly and effectively.
The scrollbar (like ones on a mouse, sorta) is placed very intuitivbely.. you use your thumb to move around the menu systems in their propriety OS and once you get used to it things become very quick and productive.
Concluding: I wanted one very bad after playing with it. The sheer possabilities of instant-email-in-your-pocket is enough for me..
bring on the newer models!
They're reviving their AT&T PocketNet plan, only this time it looks more like the Sprint offering. It has WAP-only options, or you can go full-bore for $15/month to access any web site.
They have a $100 Ericsson and $200 Mitsubishi phone (the Mits is pretty nice, with the bigger display), but you do have to sign up for AT&T wireless voice service.
See AT&T's Web site on the topic. There's also a story over at the SJ Mercury.
Something I've been wanting to try is my Palm III with a Ricochet (sp?) wireless modem. I know they work together (with a little serial adaptor). Something to stay away from, though is the Palm VII - they don't give you real IP access, just their imitation brand, so you're at their mercy. You see basically what people pay them to let you see, which, IMHO, is never a good position to be in. Just think AOL.
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Pacific Bell Wireless provides GSM in SF, and here's a map of their coverage. Digital data service at 9600 bps for $5/month + 0.15/minute. Connects to PCs or PDAs with a $50 cable. Even their low-end Nokia 5190 will work.
There are descriptions of cables available, and the Linux interface is at gnokii.
Socket makes a compact flash "Digital Phone Card" for CDMA... The Bell Atlantic (or MCI WorldComm) uses the CDMA network which is data ready. Any device notebook (with adapter) or PDA hooked up to a cell phone will get you 56k connection to your ISP.
Here in the UK, we have WAP already, and despite the industry's best efforts to prove the contrary, it's damn boring. Ok, great, I can surf "webpages" for 5 pence a minute (~ 8 cents) in 96x96 pixel resolution. Now what.
;-) For UK users, email to SMS is free and (semi) reliable at Genie.
Incidentally, if you have a cellphone which can send SMS messages, check out Excell which converts SMS to email for free (150 character limit, though). Also, I think Quios convert email to SMS for free, although I can't ever seem to get it working properly
Lots more gory info at MobilServer, which seems to be written in Czech sometimes *frown*
Ok, enough advertising
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At least in the U.S., that is. In Finland, people have had hand-held e-mail for quite a while now.
Got Rhinos?
Whether you consider Sprint or not, PCS is probably the way to go because it's a device you're carrying around anyway, rather than an extra device. It's also a rather small addition to a monthly expense that you're probably paying already, rather than a completely separate service. If you end up buying the next Palm or the fabled Transmeta web pad in a few years, just turn off the feature and you still have a nice cell phone.
"What I cannot create, I do not understand."
Oh, and I stuck on a goVox digital recorder thingy too.
I absolutely love my Ricochet modem and will always have it.
I know of one guy who has his hooked up to a (iirc) a psion handheld and telnets to his linux box to read e-mail and surf the web. Personally, I prefer a real laptop, but I have big fingers.
So, if you're in one of their covered areas, I strongly recommend them.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
What about a Handspring Visor? I have one and love it, it's cheap (relitively speaking) and it has the Springboard port. Right now there are a number of companies working on wireless Springboard modules. For instance there is Xircom, who is in the process of building a wireless modem, bluetooth modem and an ethernet module. According to their site, they should be released later this summer. Innogear also has some cool products for the Springboard available and under development.
In the meantime if you want movie times and maps there are some apps for Palm OS that you can install. For movie times there is a little program called Showtimes that allows you to download movie times for you favorite theaters from Yahoo! and stores them in a database, on your Visor or Palm, that you can access very easily. It's an awesome program and it is free!! As far as maps go, there is software available from Mapblast.com, called PocketBlast, that allows you to import maps to your handheld device of choice.
The email application is great, it allows you to view your inbox and delete emails without downloading them, but the web browser is not too hot. Good enough for simple stuff, though.
data offers;
demo thing
CDPD is Cellular Digital Packet Data, which crams data packets around the TDMA digital cellphone space, giving 19.2kbps always-on IP data service. AT&T offers a flat-rate service for about $55/mo, and there are various other service providers that offer per-packet pricing.
Metricom Ricochet radio modems are cool - depending on the model, they range from about 28kbps-equivalent to 128kbps performance for radio-based Internet access. They're mainly located in high-tech areas and big airports, but they've gotten recent investment from MCI, so they're starting to grow a lot. It's a microcell system with pole-top radio pods connected to the network either by radioing to each other to reach wired pods. I'm not sure about the new service - the older modems could switch cells easily at walking speed, but not very well at driving or train speed. Hang one on your laptop and you can work wherever you feel like, or at least stay connected when you head out for coffee, meetings, work in the park, etc.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
No no no, it's like "olah" or "absotoutely"...
;-)
I can see that my wacky sense of humor interests you not.
A year ago I was looking or the same thing. Here in NYC, Omnipoint and AT&T didn't have a clue about wireless data, but Bell Atlantic Mobile had some sweet deals. I ended up buying a Sierra Wireless Aircard and a Mitsubishi Amity sub-notebook onto which I installed Mandrake (OK, I know it's not the form factor your interested in) and I now have 5 hours of wireless 640x480 web for a price of $25 per month and less than 2 lbs in my briefcase. I literally use it every day for email, web and ssh.
The last time I was in the BAM shop, they had Palm divices, so there are definately options out there.
Anomalous: inconsistent with or deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Anomalous: deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
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The selection of phones is too confusing for me, but I've used the browser over a plain old modem, and I understand it works pretty well with a cell phone that does modem stuff.
It's a nice idea; 640-pixel wide screen, fonts, zoom control for dealing with small fonts, email...
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
[disclaimer: I, also work at XYPoint - home of webwirelessnow]
You want slashdot via wwn? I threw together a few infolinks at landsberger.com/infolinks
Why aren't mobile-phone makers implementing a simple text-oriented web broswer on their phones (or on palm-tops)?
A big reason is that html is way overkill for a pocket phone. Modern browsers have gotten to the point where they are correcting html tag errors on the fly, handling various types of scripting languages, etc. The cost for a phone to be html 4.0 compatable would be probitive. XHTML is supposed to fix this, but it is not ready yet.