I notice there are not many people here who have actual experience in using a Nokia Communicator in this forum, so I'll add some info of my own experience.
I own the 9110 Communicator, which is the predecessor of this new device and I'm absolutely addicted to it. I have owned a HP 100LX (DOS), HP 200LX (DOS), HP 320LX (WinCE), Palm V and several Motorola phones, and I am very satisfied with my 9110.
I'm special, because:
- I have a strong preference for a keyboard
- I always carry around my PDA & GSM phone
- I really need mobile E-mail, WWW & SMS
The 9110 has (AFAIK) the following disadvantages:
- It is quite large & heavy (I find it acceptable)
- It uses a not well supported OS (Geos)
- It is rather expensive
- It has no color
- It is rather buggy (it crashes about once a week for me, no data loss tho...)
- It does not support the US 1900 GSM band
- It has no spreadsheet (there's a bad 3rd party attempt)
- There are few 3rd party apps.
I am very happy to see that Nokia has switched to Epoc (This OS has been agreed upon by many GSM phone makers such as Ericsson, I believe it was based on the Psion PDA's). I hope that this will mean more and better 3rd party apps. I am also very pleased with the Word.DOC and spreadsheet support. The color display looks very cool.
Maybe the new OS will also mean better stability.
I also saw some misconceptions about the communicator, which I will address (based on my 9110).
- You cannot take notes and phone at the same time: This is not true, because the 9110 has a speakerphone which activates automatically when you open the shell.
- It cannot use encryption: The 9110's WWW browser supports SSL encryption (I think it's 80 bits, tho). I use it regularly to access my company's database over the web.
I hope the Epoc OS means we will have an SSH client (there's a telnet client for the 9110 which works well). And I really hope someone will find a way to run Linux on it!
I am always puzzled why Nokia supports the US GSM frequencies so badly on the Communicators. Th US is the only country I don't have mobile Internet when I travel.
Regards,
Xenna
Re:Fact: The COmmunicators have a speakerphone.
on
New All-In-One Nokia
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· Score: 1
1. Try looking something up on it while making a telephone call -- "uhm, yeah, uh, can I call you back, I have to look it up in my phone..." 2. Too small to type, too small to read, too big to hold up to ear for extended length of time.
I have been using the predecessor of the 9210, the 9110 for almost two years. If I want to make notes during a phone conversation, I open the device and it switches automatically to the (excellent) speakerphone.
It's true that the Comunicators are quite large, but they're also very powerful. For me the size is worth it (YMMV). I'll buy the new one as soon as it's available.
What other uses are there for wireless keyboards and such?
I use a Logitech set (mouse+kbd) on my work PC. Believe it or not, it's actually pretty comfortable to have no cables on you (physical) desk top. It would be even better if I cleaned it up once in a while;-)
Yeah, I've used the 'light' setting too, but I think it's still not well suited to mobile devices with small displays connected at 9600 bps. The 'home' page is just too long. A list of story subjects that link to a story abstract would be a better choice IMO.
I'm not interested in all topics anyway so why shuld I wait for them to download?
On a related subject, isn't it time for a Slashdot HTML 'view' formatted especially for small screen low-bandwidth devices? I know you can do a lot by setting your display preferences, but it could be a lot better.
On the subject of WAP: I know the/. consensus is that it sucks, but a WAP version of Slashdot would definitely be welcomed by (admittedly non US) readers. WAP may suck, but the phones are cheap and capable enough to read headers and article abstracts when you're wasting your time in a queue or something. I wouldn't want to take part in a discussion typing on a phone, though...
WML pages are easy to implement too, I think I could do a reasonable WAP version in a day or so.
Sure but the next time I write something wouldn't all these bits be changed?
Also from what I know about error correction it's not very efficient on a single bit level, you may make backup copies of the bit. More efficient methods work on more than one bit at the same time.
But still, any of these methods would overwrite the prevous EC data, right?
Now suppose you can read previous data, how far back in time is this feasible? 1 overwrite? 2 overwrites? 3 or more?
If I stretch myself I can imagine being able to read a zeroed out disk with an electron microscope, but you'd probably have to do a lot of work to read a Meg...
I'd personally feel pretty secure doing a cp/dev/random/dev/hda2 (don't do this now) 2 times, naive perhaps?
[[The other advantage is that hackers can't touch it. What if a hacker recompiled the binaries for your software encryption with a backdoor? Bad news, your formally encrypted partition is now fully accessable to the hacker or anyone who is aware of the backdoor. With a hardware solution, it's almost impossible to trojan and/or modify the hardware.]]
The backdoor code in your software would most likely intercept the password as it is entered by the user. How do you suppose a password (key) would be passed to a hardware device? By pure hardware? A HD with a keypad attached would be quite a sight and rather impractical for remote access.
My guess is that you would still have to enter your key/password into a piece of software that would pass in on to the (software within) the hardware.
Recovering previous data is a topic that never ceases to amaze me. Could someone describe how it works?
And could someone explain that, since disks appear to be able to hold far more than just the amount of GB on the label, why manufacturers don't just sell them for twice the size they do now and make a killing? Or is this just one of these computer myths?
Educate me, please?
Men is inclined towards evil
on
Geek Flavor
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· Score: 1
This experiment just demonstrates the fact that, without rules, the people who create something will always lose to the who know how to type 'rm -rf'.
I have a Linux based webserver running for 600 users (PII-200 with 128MB RAM). When I set it up I went with Qmail and the Cyrus Imapd server. A short test with UW imapd showed it to be useless with large mailboxes.
I built a webbased management interface for it that allows administrators to add and modify accounts. Cyrus' folder sharing options are very cool indeed. The systems authenticates it's users against an NT domain using the Cyrus option to run an external 'pwcheck' process.
Qmail is very flexible and works very well together with Cyrus. I have a virusscanner (NAI) that scans all incoming messages before they are passed on to the user's mailbox.
All in all these components make for a very flexible solution, but IMO it is necessary to build a user friendly frontend for them, otherwise I would have had to do all administration myself.
Unfortunately Cyrus is not GPL'd or we would have been able to sell plug and play MS-Exchange killer Linux boxes with it.
I have a Nokia Communicator 9110 and I'm pretty sure it's not sold in the US. There is only a 900 Mhz model whereas the the US GSM networks use 1900 Mhz.
Nokia USA does sell an older bulkier & heavier GSM 1900 model, the 9000il
Several of my friends and family use a Communicator and it really is an ideal device. I have no idea why Nokia doesn't market it more aggressively in the US. It's really convenient to have fax + phone + Internet completely integrated. I use in to make a PPP connection to my Linux box, login with the builtin telnet client and connect to my other machines via ssh.
I'm planning a holiday in Thailand and I came across the following text on the 'Net:
RCFoC reader Chris Sunseri recently spent three weeks traveling to the roof of the world, Nepal, and while passing through Thailand on the way, he found that their CS Internet is now offering free Internet access to any GSM (cellular) phone user! Register for the service, use the IR ports in your phone and notebook (or purchase a cable to connect them together), and you're on the Internet for the cost of the airtime.
I own a Nokia Communicator PDA/GSM 9110 Phone combination so this is ideal for me (no extra hardware needed).
In case anybody wants to know the details: Just dial 900-937 (No login name, no password) and you're online.
I've never seen anything like this in the western world, let alone a -supposedly- backward country like Thailand.
This post is evidence that you don't need one as it was typed on a Win95 laptop with an Aviator PCMCIA card. My Linux server in the attic has the other Aviator card and the Cable modem.
The connections are masqueraded by the Linux server.
The Aviator's manual talks of an 'infrastructure' mode of operation for which a base station is required but I'm not sure about the advantages.
They're offering 11 Mbps Aironet PCMCIA cards for $139 and PCI cards for $179. Not a bad deal. Does anyone know if the Aironet stuff has Linux drivers?
I just received my Webgear Aviator 2Mbps cards last week and they work well but 2 Mbps is a little slow for my desktop machines. With 11 Mbps I'm tempted to get rid of all those nasty cables...
When I traveled the US (years ago) I used a HP 200LX DOS palmtop PC with a 14k4 PCMCIA modem to phone home. Most US hotel/motel rooms have phones with an RJ11 connector on the side that connects to your modem, otherwise you just use the phone's own cord nd plug it into your modem (most modems even 'European' models have RJ11 connectors AFAIK). I always used my Compuserve account to dial in via an 800 number which is free in most hotels.
Next time you're shopping for a GSM phone you might want to consider the Ericsson SH888i phone which contains a built in 'modem' (yeah I know it's not really a modem) accessible via infrared. It also supports the US 1900 MHz GSM standard as well as the 900 & 1800 Mhz used in the rest of the world. You could be connected world-wide with a Palm Pilot and just the phone. Small package...
I could use a serial cable running from my (noisy) server in the attic down to my living room stereo. The decoder is connected to the stereo. Now I can play MP3's on my server and hear them on the living room audio. I could control the server with a laptop in the living room or maybe some remote control solution.
Quite nice, although I would prefer an ethernet based decoder, that could have some other applications as well. Also I wonder if a 128 Kbps stream would run well over my serial ports.
Slashdot Mirror
I notice there are not many people here who have actual experience in using a Nokia Communicator in this forum, so I'll add some info of my own experience.
.DOC and spreadsheet support. The color display looks very cool.
I own the 9110 Communicator, which is the predecessor of this new device and I'm absolutely addicted to it. I have owned a HP 100LX (DOS), HP 200LX (DOS), HP 320LX (WinCE), Palm V and several Motorola phones, and I am very satisfied with my 9110.
I'm special, because:
- I have a strong preference for a keyboard
- I always carry around my PDA & GSM phone
- I really need mobile E-mail, WWW & SMS
The 9110 has (AFAIK) the following disadvantages:
- It is quite large & heavy (I find it acceptable)
- It uses a not well supported OS (Geos)
- It is rather expensive
- It has no color
- It is rather buggy (it crashes about once a week for me, no data loss tho...)
- It does not support the US 1900 GSM band
- It has no spreadsheet (there's a bad 3rd party attempt)
- There are few 3rd party apps.
I am very happy to see that Nokia has switched to Epoc (This OS has been agreed upon by many GSM phone makers such as Ericsson, I believe it was based on the Psion PDA's). I hope that this will mean more and better 3rd party apps. I am also very pleased with the Word
Maybe the new OS will also mean better stability.
I also saw some misconceptions about the communicator, which I will address (based on my 9110).
- You cannot take notes and phone at the same time: This is not true, because the 9110 has a speakerphone which activates automatically when you open the shell.
- It cannot use encryption: The 9110's WWW browser supports SSL encryption (I think it's 80 bits, tho). I use it regularly to access my company's database over the web.
I hope the Epoc OS means we will have an SSH client (there's a telnet client for the 9110 which works well). And I really hope someone will find a way to run Linux on it!
I am always puzzled why Nokia supports the US GSM frequencies so badly on the Communicators. Th US is the only country I don't have mobile Internet when I travel.
Regards,
Xenna
1. Try looking something up on it while making a telephone call -- "uhm, yeah, uh, can I call you back, I have to look it up in my phone..." 2. Too small to type, too small to read, too big to hold up to ear for extended length of time.
I have been using the predecessor of the 9210, the 9110 for almost two years. If I want to make notes during a phone conversation, I open the device and it switches automatically to the (excellent) speakerphone.
It's true that the Comunicators are quite large, but they're also very powerful. For me the size is worth it (YMMV). I'll buy the new one as soon as it's available.
Regards,
Xenna
What other uses are there for wireless keyboards and such?
;-)
I use a Logitech set (mouse+kbd) on my work PC. Believe it or not, it's actually pretty comfortable to have no cables on you (physical) desk top. It would be even better if I cleaned it up once in a while
Yeah, I've used the 'light' setting too, but I think it's still not well suited to mobile devices with small displays connected at 9600 bps. The 'home' page is just too long. A list of story subjects that link to a story abstract would be a better choice IMO.
I'm not interested in all topics anyway so why shuld I wait for them to download?
On a related subject, isn't it time for a Slashdot HTML 'view' formatted especially for small screen low-bandwidth devices? I know you can do a lot by setting your display preferences, but it could be a lot better.
/. consensus is that it sucks, but a WAP version of Slashdot would definitely be welcomed by (admittedly non US) readers. WAP may suck, but the phones are cheap and capable enough to read headers and article abstracts when you're wasting your time in a queue or something. I wouldn't want to take part in a discussion typing on a phone, though...
On the subject of WAP: I know the
WML pages are easy to implement too, I think I could do a reasonable WAP version in a day or so.
Sure but the next time I write something wouldn't all these bits be changed?
/dev/random /dev/hda2 (don't do this now) 2 times, naive perhaps?
Also from what I know about error correction it's not very efficient on a single bit level, you may make backup copies of the bit. More efficient methods work on more than one bit at the same time.
But still, any of these methods would overwrite the prevous EC data, right?
Now suppose you can read previous data, how far back in time is this feasible? 1 overwrite? 2 overwrites? 3 or more?
If I stretch myself I can imagine being able to read a zeroed out disk with an electron microscope, but you'd probably have to do a lot of work to read a Meg...
I'd personally feel pretty secure doing a cp
[[The other advantage is that hackers can't touch it. What if a hacker recompiled the binaries for your software encryption with a backdoor? Bad news, your formally encrypted partition is now fully accessable to the hacker or anyone who is aware of the backdoor. With a hardware solution, it's almost impossible to trojan and/or modify the hardware.]]
The backdoor code in your software would most likely intercept the password as it is entered by the user. How do you suppose a password (key) would be passed to a hardware device? By pure hardware? A HD with a keypad attached would be quite a sight and rather impractical for remote access.
My guess is that you would still have to enter your key/password into a piece of software that would pass in on to the (software within) the hardware.
So, that just leaves the speed advantage.
Recovering previous data is a topic that never ceases to amaze me. Could someone describe how it works?
And could someone explain that, since disks appear to be able to hold far more than just the amount of GB on the label, why manufacturers don't just sell them for twice the size they do now and make a killing? Or is this just one of these computer myths?
Educate me, please?
This experiment just demonstrates the fact that, without rules, the people who create something will always lose to the who know how to type 'rm -rf'.
Sad, isn't it...
I have a Linux based webserver running for 600 users (PII-200 with 128MB RAM). When I set it up I went with Qmail and the Cyrus Imapd server. A short test with UW imapd showed it to be useless with large mailboxes.
I built a webbased management interface for it that allows administrators to add and modify accounts. Cyrus' folder sharing options are very cool indeed. The systems authenticates it's users against an NT domain using the Cyrus option to run an external 'pwcheck' process.
Qmail is very flexible and works very well together with Cyrus. I have a virusscanner (NAI) that scans all incoming messages before they are passed on to the user's mailbox.
All in all these components make for a very flexible solution, but IMO it is necessary to build a user friendly frontend for them, otherwise I would have had to do all administration myself.
Unfortunately Cyrus is not GPL'd or we would have been able to sell plug and play MS-Exchange killer Linux boxes with it.
Nokia USA does sell an older bulkier & heavier GSM 1900 model, the 9000il
Several of my friends and family use a Communicator and it really is an ideal device. I have no idea why Nokia doesn't market it more aggressively in the US. It's really convenient to have fax + phone + Internet completely integrated. I use in to make a PPP connection to my Linux box, login with the builtin telnet client and connect to my other machines via ssh.
I own a Nokia Communicator PDA/GSM 9110 Phone combination so this is ideal for me (no extra hardware needed).
In case anybody wants to know the details: Just dial 900-937 (No login name, no password) and you're online.
I've never seen anything like this in the western world, let alone a -supposedly- backward country like Thailand.
I bought one july '99 on a holiday in China (PRC), they sell them in every department store. The company that makes them is called Shinco.
I don't expect you to believe me, so here's a picture of my $99 MP3 CD/VCD player:
And here's a closeup of the MP3 label.
I believe they sell 4 different models, even one with a built in Sega game console ;)
This post is evidence that you don't need one as it was typed on a Win95 laptop with an Aviator PCMCIA card. My Linux server in the attic has the other Aviator card and the Cable modem.
The connections are masqueraded by the Linux server.
The Aviator's manual talks of an 'infrastructure' mode of operation for which a base station is required but I'm not sure about the advantages.
Xenna
I just received my Webgear Aviator 2Mbps cards last week and they work well but 2 Mbps is a little slow for my desktop machines. With 11 Mbps I'm tempted to get rid of all those nasty cables...
Dell article: http://www1.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,1
I always used my Compuserve account to dial in via an 800 number which is free in most hotels.
Next time you're shopping for a GSM phone you might want to consider the Ericsson SH888i phone which contains a built in 'modem' (yeah I know it's not really a modem) accessible via infrared. It also supports the US 1900 MHz GSM standard as well as the 900 & 1800 Mhz used in the rest of the world. You could be connected world-wide with a Palm Pilot and just the phone. Small package...
Regards,
Xenna
The weakness of the DVD encryption is that the actual encryption key is embedded in the DVD players (even in the software ones).
It doesn't matter how strong your encryption protocol is if you leave your keys lying around. Mitnick is evidently not *that* stupid.
I could use a serial cable running from my (noisy) server in the attic down to my living room stereo. The decoder is connected to the stereo. Now I can play MP3's on my server and hear them on the living room audio. I could control the server with a laptop in the living room or maybe some remote control solution.
Quite nice, although I would prefer an ethernet based decoder, that could have some other applications as well. Also I wonder if a 128 Kbps stream would run well over my serial ports.
Unfortunately I'm no good with hardware kits...