A Detailed Review Of A 3G Phone And Network

An anonymous reader writes "The NEC e606 and 3's recently launched 3G network has been reviewed at Mobileburn. They seem to be happy with the network, but the phone is buggy and unfinished. One cool thing is that you can download sample videos to see what 3G is really like."

Comments

3G Rollout

[aerojad]

Just wondering, I haven't really heard much more about in a while, but whatever happened to the huge rollout of 3G services that we were promised back in 1999-2000. I remember one company in particular, Qualcomm, had wonderful times in 99 on the 3G hype, but it never really delivered as much as promised, and only had a huge rollout in Japan. Is that finally changing, and are these 3G phones that we look at actually ready to be used nationwide yet, or are we still talking major-city-only deals?

Re:3G Rollout

[ChilyWily]

Well there are two major reasons why 3G hasn't taken off (atleast in the US):

* The spectrum sales were done in years when money was no issue - unfortunately the dot com bust hit and suddenly the operators who had spent all their dough getting the spectrum had none left to actually build the infrastructure. (that's not to belittle the whole other issue of a seriously fragmented spectrum range here in the US where getting enough band to support 3G is pretty difficult for large operators - and almost impossible for new entrants)

* 3G is a major step ahead as far as the wired backhaul of the cellular infrastructure is concerned. With major companies (e.g. Lucent, Motorola) still cringing from the shock of vendor financing it's upto the operators (Sprint, Verizon et al) to buy the (expensive) upgrades themselves. In this climate today that's increasingly difficult - though there is some hope with people adopting intermediatry technologies. (I believe Verizon is moving ahead steadily on that one too).

But the fundamental questions remain: Do we really need 3G? What is the compelling reason? And will it be cost effective for end users or so overpriced that no one will be able to get it?

Obligatory

[Wesley Felter]

That site was slashdotted so fast it must be running on a 3G phone.

Poor coverage?

[Archon-X]

A pilot friend of mine recently looked into getting a 3G phone, it'd be nice to be ableto see his wife and kids when doing long haul etc, but the major flaw that he could see wasn't the phone, but the covereage.. the 3G coverage is not global, in fact it's limited to a handful of countries apparently..

Re:Poor coverage?

[superpeach]

Make that a handful of cities in a handful of countries. 3 have different types of coverage, there is the voice only coverage (so, normal mobile phone) which is pretty much the whole of the UK and then there is the video coverage which you can get when you are in certain towns/cities.

Sample Videos

[Psychic Burrito]

This is a direct link to the 3G sample videos.

I think it's funny that one needs to install another video player considering that the videos are supposed to be .MP4 files which should just play fine with Quicktime according to the Apple PR department... especially 3G phone files... strange... :-(

java

[akb]

The most intersting point I found in the article was the one about how the reviewer talked about being disappointed that it was hard to load 3rd party apps onto the phone and how much value he placed on that.

Its good to see phones supporting java, cell phones will be an increasingly crucial platform its good to see some openness.

Anyone have links to any development sites or places where 3rd party apps might be available. Ogg vorbis on a cell phone?

3G is all hype...

[WIAKywbfatw]

Never have I seen a new technology that was more hyped up but less uselss than 3G.

The marketing people behind these products seem to have forgotten that the whole point of having a mobile phone is so that you can talk to people.

Why do I need video calling when audio calling works just as well at a fraction of the cost?

Why do I need picture messaging when text messaging (SMS) works just as well at a fraction of the cost?

Why do I need to be able to slowly download movie trailers, news and sports clips to watch on a tiny screen when I can watch those things on my TV or PC at a fraction of the cost?

Right now, with no decent applications, 3G is a joke. The only thing I've seen that even demonstrates a good use of this technology is doctors sending each other picture messages of patients' X-rays when looking for a second opinion. I guess it could be useful to other professionals too, such as estate agents, but for the price you pay to send a picture message right now you'd have to be mad to use it constantly like it was a digital camera.

If you've got money to burn then go ahead and buy one of these phones. But if you've got that much money to waste then you can send me some too at the same time.

Re:3G is all hype...

[Kenshin]

Why do I need video calling when audio calling works just as well at a fraction of the cost?

Why do I need picture messaging when text messaging (SMS) works just as well at a fraction of the cost?

Why do I need television when radio works just as well at a fraction of the cost?

Why do I want a phone when a telegraph works just as well at a fraction of the cost?

Yes, things are expensive and buggy when they first hit the scene, but give them a few years and they will go down in cost and go up in reliability.

Personally, I think a video cellphone would be wonderful. Cellular is the perfect platform to introduce it to, since POTS tech is kinda at its limits.

3G Distorts Gravity?

[Freddles]

From the article:

> Weighing in at 150g, the e606 is no lightweight,
> but it certainly didn't feel as heavy as other phones
> that weigh this much

Huh?