Pogo No Longer Vaporware

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Posted by timothy on Wednesday October 30, 2002 @07:38PM from the eentsy-weentsy dept.

nicu writes "Back in April the Pogo device has been regarded with scepticism by many of the slashdot users. People should have a look to see where are they now, as it is the fastest wireless web browser around. The claim for 56k was made for ordinary CSD at 9.6k baud. For GPRS it claims more than 120k and it really feels that way. Customer reviews are available at the Pogo Portal."

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And? by evilviper · 2002-10-30 19:58 · Score: 4, Insightful

The question is, how much are ISPs charging for the service? That's what really decides if a device is going to live or die.

--
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
1. Re:And? by frp001 · 2002-10-30 21:23 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  It's Pogo only ISP... And they charge £7.99/month for access.
  Besides this extract from the FAQ does not make it look that good.
  Pogo works well with millions of web pages, but pages that use the following may not work as intended by the designers: audio and video streaming (Real, Quicktime, MPEG), animated GIFs, DHTML, CSS, plug-ins, ActiveX and Java applets (except Flash 4). JavaScript requiring anything more than the level 0 DOM or a mouse action (e.g. mouseover) may also experience some confusion.
  Doesn't work as expected with GIFS, DHTML, CSS, plug-ins, java, javascript... So, just plain hypertext hey?
  
  --
  May I use your sig please?
2. Re:And? by evilviper · 2002-10-31 11:53 · Score: 2
  
  What do you mean 'we should reconsider zipping the web page to save bandwidth' ??? I would say that most servers currently support compress & deflate compression methods.
  
  What I think is needed is a network for data traffic... not one where data is an afterthought. Just look at how well some 802.11 services are doing for just a small fee.
  
  --
  Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
GPRS by BrookHarty · 2002-10-30 20:36 · Score: 2

GPRS capable but this is not enabled yet...

Well, humm, then what good is it?
1. Re:GPRS by BrookHarty · 2002-10-30 20:50 · Score: 2
  
  Should of said in the USA no GPRS, no use for it. No GSM.
2. Re:GPRS by Twirlip+of+the+Mists · 2002-10-30 22:02 · Score: 2
  
  Huh? GSM service is widely available in the US. When I first got it, it was through Voicestream, but I believe they're doing business as T-Mobile now. It's priced pretty reasonably, too. Tri-band phones have come way down in price, from over $1000 a year ago to a couple hundred bucks now.
  
  --
  
  I write in my journal
and? by lingqi · 2002-10-30 21:59 · Score: 3, Informative

check this out. notice the 384k download speed in the spec page.
quick rundown: video-enabled cellphone / dictionary / evenything including the kitchen sink / etc, etc, etc...
too bad only in japan.

--
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Pogo Vapourware? What? by Mr_Silver · 2002-10-30 22:01 · Score: 5, Informative

(disclaimer: I live in the UK)
On the 26th September I was at the Mobile Choice Awards (big telecoms do where they eat and drink a lot and pat each other on the back for winning such awards as "best UK NOP", "best customer service" etc) and I met several people from Pogo (have their business cards to prove it).
Naturally being from a NOP myself, they were eager to show their product. I can assure you that the Pogo hasn't been vapourware for at least 6 months (they've been selling in Carphone Warehouse for ages).
In fact, they're already released an updated version of the software.
I'm not going into the specifications because someone else can probably do it better than me, but in short it's flash based running on a custom OS with a very pretty interface. It's main problem (for me) is that it's too big and bulky.
However, I can't see my company selling their products through the distribution channels since the US arm sells something made by their closest rivals.
But, Pogo hasn't been vapourware for 6 months.

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Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
1. Re:Pogo Vapourware? What? by WhaDaYaKnow · 2002-10-31 07:29 · Score: 2
  
  On the 26th September ... ... they were eager to show their product. I can assure you that the Pogo hasn't been vapourware for at least 6 months
  
  No offense, but I fail to see how the 26th of September was 6 months ago.
Re:So... by CrapShark · 2002-10-30 22:53 · Score: 2, Informative

It doesn't do Java. But it does do Javascript, so webmail and online shopping work (mostly!). Slashbot works fine - I'm submitting this from my Pogo!
Yeah cool, but .... by lushman · 2002-10-30 23:31 · Score: 4, Insightful

I don't know about the UK, but in Australia phone companies charge around 3c/KB or even 16.5c/30sec + 16.5 sec flagfall for WAP or GPRS services. Just perousing the trolls on /. is going to cost you are large sum of money.

I don't understand cellular network providers ... they upgrade their network so people can take advantage of new services, but charge so much for them that end users ignore the new facility. Now that's what I call progress.
Pity about North America by shadowj · 2002-10-31 00:29 · Score: 2

From the specs: Modem: Dual band GSM/GPRS module (900/1800MHz)
Oh, well. GSM networks in North America run on 1900 Mhz (except, apparently, for some segments of AT&T's new GSM network that use 850 Mhz. Idiots.). That rules out Pogo-ing over here.
Pity. I was looking forward to using this toy as a cheap alternative to the Sidekick, which T-Mobile has managed to cripple (they've arranged matters so that you can't use the same SIM in a Sidekick and another GPRS device).

--
--Larry
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence
1. Re:Pity about North America by jelle · 2002-10-31 09:07 · Score: 2
  
  After you find out how much they charge for a megabyte of GPRS bits, it doesn't matter anyway.
  
  --
  --- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
2. Re:Pity about North America by shadowj · 2002-10-31 11:22 · Score: 2
  
  They're idiots, from the consumer's point of view, because they're further complicating an already complex problem. It looks like they'll be the only people using the 850 Mhz band; that means that you're going to have to buy a handset made for them and them alone, which may or may not work outside North America (depending on how many other bands it supports). This negates one of the best features of GSM phones... the ability to buy a phone from almost any vendor and use any network's SIM card. Any move that reduces choice while potentially keeping prices high is a bad one, in my opinion.
  I'm sure that from AT&T's point of view it's a stroke of genius... it allows them to retain iron-clad control over the type and brand of handsets used on their network.
  
  --
  --Larry
  Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence
3. Re:Pity about North America by shadowj · 2002-10-31 11:26 · Score: 2
  
  After you find out how much they charge for a megabyte of GPRS bits, it doesn't matter anyway.
  That's changing very rapidly... Sprint recently announced very attractive pricing for data over their 1XRTT CDMA network, and T-Mobile has responded with a price slash on GPRS service. It's still too expensive, but it's a big improvement on their earlier price structure.
  Besides, isn't the Pogo still a circuit-switched data device? The web site said that GPRS will be "coming soon".
  
  --
  --Larry
  Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence
4. Re:Pity about North America by jelle · 2002-10-31 13:30 · Score: 2
  
  They did? It seems you're right, but even when they get only 56kbit, and if you'r actually using that, then that $39.99 is blown away in 49 minutes of heavy surfing (or a 49 minutes tiny 56kbit realvideo stream for that matter).
  
  fourty bucks for fifty minutes just doesn't sound even close to right yet, neither does eight and a half hours for a hundred bucks.
  
  I'll stick with CSD for now.
  
  --
  --- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
5. Re:Pity about North America by shadowj · 2002-11-02 08:47 · Score: 2
  
  I understand the situation quite well; I simply don't like it. AT&T's decision makes sense from a business standpoint, but it's anti-consumer.
  Furthermore, if you care about roaming, you aren't going to get a GSM phone anyhow from any of the existing providers, because AFAIK, they don't support analog, which is the only service which is fairly universally available in the U.S.
  I've had cellphones of one kind or another since 1985., and changed products many times. I've used every technology available in North America; I've had service from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Cellular One, Sprint, T-Mobile, Bell Mobility, Cantel and a couple that are more obscure. I'm quite aware of what works and what doesn't. Until a couple of years ago you would have been right... analog service was about all you could count on. However, that's improved a great deal recently... I travel for business weekly, use a T-Mobile GSM digital-only phone, and I've been satisfied with the coverage. About the only large region where I have coverage trouble is Vermont, which is very poorly served in general.
  As I understand it, the US Federal Communications Commission now has a much more relaxed attitude towards legacy analog service, and may approve its discontinuation in some areas in the near future. AT&T and Cingular are the leaders in analog networks, and they're abandoning their combo analog/TDMA product line in favor of GSM-only handsets. Sprint and Verizon still offer analog/CDMA combos, but their newest and fanciest products are CDMA-only (and Sprint charges a stiff roaming fee for analog use). It appears that analog coverage is not that much of an issue anymore... if you're going to go without analog service anyhow, why not use a technology that works outside the US, and that allows you to own several handsets and switch among them at your convenience?
  
  --
  --Larry
  Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence
Is this really what USERS want? by uradu · 2002-10-31 03:25 · Score: 2

Or what phone companies want? Because this particular user would much rather have a Pogo with 802.11 connectivity that can roam around the house and backyard. The form factor is perfect, the functionality is perfect, the connectivity is useless. Of course, I do realize that they're doing the old razor-and-blades thing here, expecting to not make much money on the device and instead tying it to a lucrative perpetual service. But that's their problem, not mine, and I certainly won't be buying this one. As soon as it has WiFi, I will.
1. Re:Is this really what USERS want? by uradu · 2002-10-31 06:55 · Score: 2
  
  > So why not make it GSM based, use anywhere and pay a single fee to one vendor?
  
  Because I would be using this device 90% of the time at home, and why should I pay (VERY HEFTY) usage fees for SLOW GPRS when I have an idle broadband access point sitting there that wouldn't cost me any extra? The answer is because me using my broadband with the Pogo device doesn't generate any revenue for either Pogo or their wireless service partners. It's just like TiVo--we have the technology and infrastructure to not charge you monthly fees for the guide service, but we won't do that because it would earn us no money.
Re:Of course... by YrWrstNtmr · 2002-10-31 04:20 · Score: 2

Made in America like Nokia, Seimens, Philips, Sony, Sanyo, Ericsson...
works using pogo proxy :( by lo_fye · 2002-10-31 04:39 · Score: 2, Interesting

The compression technology that allows full web browsing over a gsm network is contained on pogo's proxy servers and not the device itself. Therefore to access the internet you need to pay the £7.99 monthly charge. Have a look at the pay thread for more details of what this covers
From the pogo board

--
geeks are cats who dig a certain kind of cool
The CTO of Pogo by pommiekiwifruit · 2002-10-31 07:20 · Score: 2

...goes out with a gorgeous vision of loveliness, so they must be doing something right!
Re:T-Mobile Sidekick - Available Nationwide in U.S by shadowj · 2002-10-31 11:50 · Score: 2
Sidekick issues:
- Monochrome 240x160 screen
- Screen is not touch-sensitive; dialing phone is very difficult without opening the screen and using the keyboard
- Organizer integration with PC is poor... can't synchronize
- Rated at only 60 hours of standby time
- T-Mobile has only one plan that supports the Sidekick, with too few minutes and unlimited data as a temporary promotion
- Can't move SIM to a different GPRS phone if the mood strikes you... if the SIM is provisioned for the Sidekick, T-Mobile won't allow any GPRS traffic if the phone is in a different device
I don't know if the Pogo is the answer to any of these issues, but the Sidekick is too limiting for me.
--
--Larry
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence