GSM is in it's infancy in the US. Once it catches on more (and they have to build more transmitters) the quality will approach the quality I have experienced in Europe and the South Pacific.
GSM works somewhere around 30-40km from a transmitter CDMA works somewhere around 100-150km from a transmitter
Therefore GSM requires more transmitters. (But I hear the operating cost is lower once the infrastructure is set up)
Basically, dont let it's US behavior sway your opinion... it is better in most other countries.
Other than distance, both technologies have their pros and cons (too many for me to go into) but I will list a few relevent facts:
GSM works worldwide and is used by 500 million users.
CDMA has only 80 Million users and works in only a few countries. Most of its users are in the US but some others are compatable (Austrailia, parts of China and South Korea and Taiwan) and a few others yet (like Japan which you mentioned) use a version of CDMA that is NOT compatable with the US CDMA. For example, Verizon is a CDMA-1X technology. Its counterpart in Japan is KDDI-AU which is currently operating at 800MHz for CDMA2000-1X and CDMA-1XEVDO, though the 1XEVDO might be ported to 1900MHz or 2100MHz in later years. Docomo and J-Phone (Vodaphone) are using W-CDMA which is currently not compatible with CDMA-1X technology.)
My assumtion is that the reason W-CDMA works better in Japan is because they have a LOT of CDMA cell towers or most users are in the cities that have 100% coverage (less rural subscribers) or the modfied CDMA frequencies they use are better than the ones the US has. In any case though, it is apples and oranges because your CDMA phone wont work there. Different type of CDMA.
Unfortunately for US CDMA users, Verizon is not going to install enough towers to give you complete coverage and they are not going to change frequencies:)
So, you ask, why do I want GSM?
Although CDMA could be considered a "better" technology (some will argue this), so was betamax. Bteer doesn't aways win. What WILL win is having LOTS of users.
Also, most Americans do not travel internationally. BTW, I am an exception to this rule, as I have moved to New Zealand (where I use GSM - Vodafone). Before that, I travelled in Europe a lot for work and used GSM exclusively there.
Lastly, The SIM card issue. If not for all the other issues, this one would win me over. I store my contacts on my sim and I prepay 20$ at a time onto my sim... I can put my sim in ANY SGM phone and I have all my contacts, and my number comes with me. If you have a CDMA phone and want to change phones, it is a pain to change your number to the new phone.
Anyway, Im not in the US any more so have fun with your CDMA:)
Bah
While I do like Borland products, and agree the C++ Builder is the way to go for cross platform GUI C++ apps, I think it is unfair to compare it to Visual Studio or Visual C++.
Visual C++ is so poor that comparing it to C++ Builder tarnishes C++ Builder's image:)
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GSM is in it's infancy in the US. Once it catches on more (and they have to build more transmitters) the quality will approach the quality I have experienced in Europe and the South Pacific.
:)
:)
GSM works somewhere around 30-40km from a transmitter
CDMA works somewhere around 100-150km from a transmitter
Therefore GSM requires more transmitters. (But I hear the operating cost is lower once the infrastructure is set up)
Basically, dont let it's US behavior sway your opinion... it is better in most other countries.
Other than distance, both technologies have their pros and cons (too many for me to go into) but I will list a few relevent facts:
GSM works worldwide and is used by 500 million users.
CDMA has only 80 Million users and works in only a few countries. Most of its users are in the US but some others are compatable (Austrailia, parts of China and South Korea and Taiwan) and a few others yet (like Japan which you mentioned) use a version of CDMA that is NOT compatable with the US CDMA. For example, Verizon is a CDMA-1X technology. Its counterpart in Japan is KDDI-AU which is currently operating at 800MHz for CDMA2000-1X and CDMA-1XEVDO, though the 1XEVDO might be ported to 1900MHz or 2100MHz in later years. Docomo and J-Phone (Vodaphone) are using W-CDMA which is currently not compatible with CDMA-1X technology.)
My assumtion is that the reason W-CDMA works better in Japan is because they have a LOT of CDMA cell towers or most users are in the cities that have 100% coverage (less rural subscribers) or the modfied CDMA frequencies they use are better than the ones the US has. In any case though, it is apples and oranges because your CDMA phone wont work there. Different type of CDMA.
Unfortunately for US CDMA users, Verizon is not going to install enough towers to give you complete coverage and they are not going to change frequencies
So, you ask, why do I want GSM?
Although CDMA could be considered a "better" technology (some will argue this), so was betamax. Bteer doesn't aways win. What WILL win is having LOTS of users.
Also, most Americans do not travel internationally. BTW, I am an exception to this rule, as I have moved to New Zealand (where I use GSM - Vodafone). Before that, I travelled in Europe a lot for work and used GSM exclusively there.
Lastly, The SIM card issue. If not for all the other issues, this one would win me over. I store my contacts on my sim and I prepay 20$ at a time onto my sim... I can put my sim in ANY SGM phone and I have all my contacts, and my number comes with me. If you have a CDMA phone and want to change phones, it is a pain to change your number to the new phone.
Anyway, Im not in the US any more so have fun with your CDMA
add GSM and you might be on to something
Bah While I do like Borland products, and agree the C++ Builder is the way to go for cross platform GUI C++ apps, I think it is unfair to compare it to Visual Studio or Visual C++. Visual C++ is so poor that comparing it to C++ Builder tarnishes C++ Builder's image :)