My Digital Life

AT&T decides to follow T-Mobile's innovation in providing better in home signal with different technology

Since switching to AT&T for my iPhone 3G, one the few technologically advanced features T-Mobile USA has these days that I miss is their HotSpot@Home feature. This feature allows you to make unlimited calls (for a monthly $10 fee) with a T-Mobile router and/or a HotSpot@Spot enabled cell phone using a broadband Internet connection. The technology is based on UMA which I wrote about back in 2007. The specialized cell phones incorporate WIFI with special programming which wraps a cell call into Internet compatible data packets. The downside of the technology is that it requires a special cell phone and there are very few models. T-Mobile has not even enabled the G1 with this technology, something I don't understand.

Now a new technology called Femtocells is being deployed by Sprint and is in testing with AT&T. The principle is basically the same as UMA (use the Internet to transmit cell phone calls), but it differs in one big respect, you can use an unmodified cell phone. This means I could use it with my iPhone 3G. This would be great and very exciting on two fronts. First I do get a fair amount of failed calls in my house when 3G tries to switch back to 2G and second with unlimited calling in my house I could reduce my monthly minutes. I am quite excited about using this technology and plan to call AT&T to see if I can get in on the testing (I know, good luck in making that happen), but probably worth a shot. Femtocell deployment is more problematic than UMA since the devices use the same frequencies as cell towers and the carriers need to ensure that there is no interference, however it looks like the technology is ready for prime time. Hopefully AT&T will move quickly...

T-Mobile G1 has no data roaming on/off switch

According to a post on Gizmodo, a G1 user traveling to the UK incured over $100 worth of data roaming charges while never using the device to access data. Apparently the G1 sends some type of heartbeat every 3 - 5 minutes regardless of your location. Could this be push email or just some OS feature that requires the G1 to call home. It is unbelievable that someone would design such a feature without an on/off switch. The on/off feature has been there since day one in Windows Mobile devices. In version 1 of the iPhone firmware there was some confusion about how to turn off data roaming but at least the feature was there, for the G1 the T-Mobile CSR response was to leave the device at home.

I have been a T-Mobile fan from the Voicestream days but over the 18 months their lack of any decent devices has left me less than enthusiastic, even if their pricing model is generally cheaper. I don't think the G1 is very innovative compared to the iPhone, the HotSpot@Home feature which I think is a key differentiator and a big cost saving was left out of new phones like the G1. I am sure the data roaming issue will fixed in a future update but somebody really missed the boat on this one.

On the cost front AT&T has data roaming plans which you can purchase on a month to month basis (T-Mobile does not). This helps to lessen your cost while traveling internationally if you need to use data. I wrote about my experience with the iPhone in this post.

T-Mobile G1 with Google finally officially announced

T-Mobile has finally provided details on the G1, they have published a pretty good web site which contains links to most first hand account of the device. It is being called a real competitor to the iPhone but from the press conference T-Mobile is only targeting consumers with this device. The consumer is T-Mobile's USA bread and butter. Over the years they have done an excellent job at providing great value with MyFaves and HotSpot@Home (BTW I did not see either of these features on the G1), their top selling smartphones have been the SideKick and the Blackberry curve. In contrast to T-Mobile in Europe, the USA subsidiary has not provided any advanced Windows Mobile device and unfortunately in its current form the G1 does not currently offer very much for the business user. The Android OS does provide the means for software development and distribution which could fill the gaps making the G1 a business device. However, it seems that T-Mobile and Google are waiting for third parties to fill this gap. In response to the lack of Exchange ActiveSync at the press conference the answer was that this would be a good application for third parties to implement, but will developer's flock to Android the way they did to the iPhone. From my unscientific research it does not look like it, the marketplace is still too iffy at this point. Compared to the millions of iPhones being sold, the analysts have estimated G1 sales to only be in the hundreds of thousands.

The "open" mantra being touted by Google could be a free for all and could lead to very different user experiences by device and by carrier thus diluting the Android brand name. Developers are also concerned that each carrier could have its own app store which could be a real headache when dealing with applications suited for the international marketplace. Even though there are still issues to be ironed out with the Apple app store, the advantage of having a single marketplace for users and developers is a major plus.

There seems to have a ground swell of protests against the 1GB cap (the AT&T cap is 5GB) then reducing throughput language in the contract which T-Mobile has relented on yesterday. I find this topic quite interesting since most of my data usage comes from WIFI and currently my iPhone 3G usage is about 100MB per billing cycle. I agree with the protests,  however on the other side of the coin I don't want individuals hogging bandwidth to my detrement. Tethering will also not be allowed, it is clear that the voice market is saturated and the carriers look at data for revenue growth. They want you to pay extra for tethering because data usage on a PC is far greater, but at an average of $60 per month, I find this to be somewhat predatory.

T-Mobile appears to be willing to SIM unlock the devices after 90 days for account in good standing. AT&T should take a lesson, although they have no incentive to so...

At this point, given the very small T-Mobile 3G foot print (I don't even see Washington, DC in the current list) this phone is no threat to Apple, but from an overall marketplace I see the G1 as good competition which will hopefully help keep Apple on its toes and may force some loosening by the control freaks in Cupertino. Yes, I do believe that control gives Apple an edge in providing a uniform user experience, the issue is how much control.

In the end the G1 looks like a pretty good consumer device with excellent technology compared to a Sidekick or Blackberry and even the iPhone. We will have to see how the marketplace reacts since technology alone won't guaranty that it is a hit. As I mentioned before it is about the eco system and on that front, even if they are far from perfect, Apple wins.

Windows Mobile group steps up marketing

With a slew of new devices coming the Windows Mobile group is stepping up its marketing campaign in the main stream media. Here is a video interview with Scott Rockfeld, the Windows Mobile Product Manager and the Wall Street Journal.  He does leave out what I think are two key new devices, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and the HTC Touch HD.

The field is also becoming crowded, today T-Mobile officially announces the HTC manufactured Google Android based G1. From the rumored specifications it does not look too exciting but I think competition is good. I can't believe it will not support T-Mobile HotSpot@Home service which I think is a killer differentiator. We will have to wait until 10:30AM EDT (live press conference) to see the exact details.

T-Mobile to roll out @Home service nationwide July 2nd

T-Mobile will roll out its land line replacement @Home program nationwide July 2nd. This option will only be available to current T-Mobile customers with current plans of $40 per month or more. The service will cost $10 per month. A $99 customized Linksys router which bridges the Internet and your home phone wiring will be required.

This is an easy way for T-Mobile to generate more revenue without having to heavily invest in infrastructure. I would be willing to try it out if I knew that the occasional call drops I have with the WIFI HotSpot@Home service would go away...

Back from my 2 week hiatus

 I thought I would blog during my vacation but I never found the time or inclination to write...It did give me a chance to ponder what my upcoming blog posts should be about. Here are some of those thoughts:

The big announcement while I was away was the release date and specification of Apple's 3G phone. I still have not watched Steve Jobs keynote, but from all the blog posts, I have perused, it looks like it was mostly about the price and 3G performance. On the price side, I found the new agreement with AT&T to subsidize the 3G iPhone very interesting. Finally someone at AT&T has realized that they were not going to stop the hackers, you have to change the economics to make it less appealing to SIM unlock the iPhone. In the end, Apple does not care, they get their money one way or another. It also looks like AT&T made sure that the T-Mobile USA 1700 3G network band was not included. Even if I forgo the economics of signing a contract with AT&T and terminating it, the fact that I can't use the iPhone on the T-Mobile 3G network is a real negative. In the end I will have to wait for July 11th to see all the fine print before making any decision. All that said, at $199, this device is going to fly off the shelves. It was to bad that there was no announcement or inkling of any MID type computer.

I used my Tilt with the HTC Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM update extensively (I found it very stable) during my vacation and found it to be very stable. I had my iPhone with me but never really used it. I was in France for 10 days, purchased an SFR (Vodafone) pay as you go SIM card. Windows Mobile 6.1 detected the 3G network instantly, although the APN was wrong. It was configured as SFRWEB when it should have been SFRWAP. With the SFR pay as you go plan, you only have access to a subset of the Internet, however I was able to synchronize with Exchange via ActiveSync. I ended up not using data very much because of the cost. All in all it was convenient having a local number but with the Dollar's exchange rate it is more of a luxury than a necessity.

Every hotel we stayed at had free WIFI. This made accessing the web to synchronize my email and watch some US news (via SlingPlayer) from the Tilt a breeze. Another valuable benefit was using HotSpot@Home with my wife's T409. We were able to call back to the US for free. We were able to do this at 2 of the three hotels. I kept getting a connection failed at the one hotel. In the two hotels we were able to use HotSpot@Home, the connection at one was much better but at both hotels the service was usable. I can't emphasize how great a feature this is even if it is not 100% stable.

My other pet project while on vacation was to use my new Fujitsu U810 MID Tablet PC. I mentioned earlier that I ended up not using the iPhone I brought with me. I think the biggest reason was having full browsing access on the U810. With the current iPhone's ROM version, what makes it appealing to use is that it is fun and that Safari works very well. If you take that away, other than having iTunes, I had no real need for the device. Obviously the 2.0 ROM and all of the potential applications will be a game changer. The other piece of my project was the ability to easily transfer pictures from my camera which I will blog about later.

My review of the Cellpoint Flamingo Music earphones was published on pocketnow.com while I was away.

 

Ramblings for the week of May 26th in My Digital Life

Last week I signed up for the T-Mobile Family 4-Pack promotion and so far I think it will work out very nicely. Here is a summary of my observations:

• The selected 5 My Faves numbers are tied to the phone and not the account. The bottom line is that you can't share My Faves number across your Family plan (too bad).
• Once the My Faves numbers have been validated by the phone's My Faves application, you can swap your SIM card into a phone which does not have the My Faves application (like the iPhone). Your calls  to your My Faves numbers still count in you My Faves unlimited bucket.
• You can only modify My Faves numbers once a month. The message I received was that I could change them on June 1.

All in all this looks to be an excellent promotion...

With the official release of Windows Mobile 6.1 from HTC Europe for the TyTn II, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my AT&T Tilt this last weekend. After backing up my unit with Sunnysoft's Backup Manager, I decided to try Dutty's 6.1 test ROM from xda-developers. I was unable to restore my backup and the ROM had several issues, the most troublesome was that I could not get the GPS to work. I decided to try the official release of the HTC ROM, I had to download it via MoDaCo, since HTC won't allow the download to a non HTC branded device. At this point I decided not bother restoring and I installed all my applications from scratch. I will have to update my Windows Mobile application list with my current configuration. All seems to be working well, GPS included...

I received my Fujitsu U810 and so far I am very impressed with its build quality. It is not the fastest machine (it gets a 2.1 Vista processor score), but I think it works quite well for web, email and text processing. The tablet functionality works very well (this one area where Vista shines). The size and weight  are just about perfect for my shoulder bag. I will be traveling soon and will report back on how useful this little machine will be.

This week:

• Working on a review of CellPoint's Flamingo Music earphones.
• Update my Windows Mobile application list

Ramblings for the week of May 19th in My Digital Life

Back in February I ranted about T-Mobile's lack of news and direction (link), however as comments pointed out they are tough to beat from a value perspective. This month they have again upped the ante on value with a special promotion through June 24 called the Family 4-Pack (link from tmonews.com). The Family 4-Pack adds:

• Unlimited HotSpot@Home
• Unlimited calling to each family members 5 favorite poeple
• Unlimited T-Mobile to T-Mobile
• Unlimited Nights and Weekend

All of this for $9.99 per month in addition to your base Family plan charge and since it is an option, it has no contractual commitment. I was paying $19.99 for the HotSpot@Home option, replacing it with the Family 4-Pack saves me $10 per month. Since I have 5 phones on our Family plan we can call up to 25 My Faves numbers for free (5 per phone which can be shared). In order to get this promotion T-Mobile checks to make sure that all of your phones are compatible with My Faves, they do not care so much if they are HotSpot@Home compatible. It was interesting to find out that they knew I had connected with my iPhone, Wing, and currently HTC Kaiser (aka AT&T Tilt). They were concerned that the HTC Kaiser did not have the My Faves application. I tried to explain that I could install the My Faves application on the Kaiser but they did not think it would work so I told them I would use the Wing. I downloaded the My Faves application from xda-developers (link), installed it and it works just fine. I have been wondering how My Faves works, at first I thought the software on the phone added a code to the number called, but I am thinking that it is the billing system that handles the matching of numbers so you do not get charged. The only function the software on the phone seems to do is activate the number in your account profile by sending SMS messages. Without the software on the phone the number does not get validated and it is not active as a My Faves number. I am assuming it only does this once when you initially enter or modify the number. I will have to test my theory with my iPhone. If I make a call to one of the activated My Faves number on the iPhone, it should show up as a V call (My Faves) in my account on the T-Mobile web site. Obviously I can't add or modify My Faves numbers with the iPhone since it has no application to validate the number. Maybe someone will write one...Bottom line, I think this is a great promotion and it will keep me as a T-Mobile customer. I am now just waiting for 3G. Also it seems you can only modify a My Faves number once a month which makes sense, since if you could change the numbers at will, the plan could be viewed as totally unlimited...

I have decided to try a UMPC this month, the Fujitsu U810 to see how it might fit in with my travel gadgets. It is a Tablet PC with Vista that has a 5.6" screen and weighs 1.56lbs. This would definitely solve my photo sharing dilemma since I could easily transfer files from my camera and upload them to the Kodak Gallery for sharing. Costco is currently selling the 40GB model with Vista Home for $849 and adds 1 year to the base 1 year warranty for free. It will be interesting to see how useful this UMPC is.

This week:

• My review of SBSH Mobile Software Facade application for pocketnow.com. should be published this week. This is a smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) today screen replacement.
• Finishing on a review of SBSH Mobile Software Pocket Weather.
• Working on a review of CellPoint's Flamingo Music earphones.
• Update my Windows Mobile application list

T-Mobile plans to unveil 10 HotSpot@Home (UMA) handsets this autumn

An article on cnnmoney.com (link) summarizes an interview with David Beigie, vice president of marketing at T-Mobile. The two key points he made were:

• 50% of the HotSpot@Home subscribers are new to T-Mobile which helped them boast one of the fastest subscriber growth rate along with AT&T last quarter.
• 10 new UMA HotSpot@Home handsets will be available in the fall. Hopefully that will include 3G Windows Mobile devices...

The week of March 10th in My Digital Life

We only have 3 months to wait until Exchange ActiveSync is available on iPhone. There are a few lucky Apple partners that are apparently using it now in beta form. But what's 3 months, I have been waiting for T-Mobile's 3G network for over a year now...All that said I am still happy with my unlocked AT&T Tilt running on T-Mobile. Today I will be loading SPB Mobile Shell 2.0 (pocketnow review) on the Tilt.

It looks like T-Mobile has made some additional upgrade to the HotSpot@Home service. The call drops seem to have dissapeared, although I have noticed some conversation pause, but the call does not disconnect. Although still annoying I would rather have a pause in the conversation, then a dropped call.

All of my Verizon SMT5800 video reviews segments have now been posted on pocketnow.com, this week I will post the summary review. If you are looking for a Verizon Windows Mobile Standard device, I would take a hard look at this one, it is a solid performer.

My review of Altec Lansing's SoundBlade Bluetooth speaker should get posted this week on pocketnow.com. This is a good sounding Bluetooth speaker that doubles a full featured speakerphone.

I still need to update my iPhone to 1.1.4, hopefully I will have time this week. The problem with firmware updates is not the time it takes to perform the upgrade but the time you have to schedule in to deal with issues...

This week:

• Work on trapster.com article.