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Testing the Smartphone’s Smarts

Some user notes from a new user coming from the Sony Ericsson T-616 (the north american version on the T-610)… Should be interesting to follow along in the coming weeks and see if the phone lasts given the 30 day return policy the author notes.

Some early observations: The MPx200 isn’t for everyone. The software is as much data-centric as phone-oriented. For people that want to do lots of SMS, instant messaging or Web surfing from a cell phone, Microsoft’s software serves up good features. Phone features are good, but I find the T616 more straightforward for making calls or receiving them. The MPx 200’s display resolution is refreshingly clear and crisp. [Microsoft Monitor]

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One or Two pieces…

Are you a one or two piece person??

Do you want it all (phone, PDA) in one or would you prefer the potential flexibility of two devices?

As I have been writing, I really dig my T-610 phone… It’s very powerful and can serve as a modem with the right data plan for my laptop as well as a bluetooth PDA with and without wires. My current PDA, the Palm Tungsten C will never connect to my phone unless I use IR, which will work but is slow and you actually have to have the devices lined up.

The current options for bluetooth enabled Palms are basically the Tungsten T2 or T3 or the Clie UX-50. Only the Sony has a keyboard, but the T3 has a killer screen. The Sony is $600 with a $50 rebate which is pretty expensive, though it also includes WIFI.

Thinking back to the Treo 600… I’d be able to use one device as phone and data connector (email and web) and swap the SIM card back to my T-610 for bluetooth connectivity on my laptop when needed.

I would still retaining my “other” phone keeping me a two piece (or even three piece) guy.

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Feature Discovery…

The more I’ve messed with the T-610, the more I really like it.

I tried my Bluetooth Headset this morning after a full charge (needed 8 hours!). It was very easy to pair and seems to be a good addition, though I am wondering if instead of the Plantronics, I should have just gotten a Sony Ericsson model. It’s lighter but the battery only gives you about 2.5 hours of talk time instead of the Plantronics 8 hours.

While doing some reading on my phone I discovered a feature built-in called QuickShare. QuickShare lets you use Bluetooth or IR to transfer ANY file between phone, PDA and computer. I tested this by beaming a picture I snapped yesterday to my Palm… it opened right into my Photos app. I then beamed a bunch of events from my DateBook to my phone… awesome – right in! With bluetooth and iSync, this beam action won’t be necessary, but very cool to know it works. QuickShare immediately makes the phone much more friendly in a multi-device world…

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iPod Rocks…

Great idea for a great product…

iPodrocks.com is Apple’s latest effort to win the hearts and minds of teen consumers interested in its iPod digital music player. It’s a new Web site and a fierce bit of guerilla marketing that combines high-impact graphics and animation along with several popular music tracks, and is chock full of creative ways that teens can try to convince their parents of how much they want, need and deserve an iPod this holiday season. [MacCentral]

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Phoning Home

I received my Sony Ericsson T-610 phone on Thursday and charged it up, and activated my T-Mobile service… So far I have to say this is a very impressive device, in fact the the T-610 phone is killer…

It can pretty much do anything — browse, email, bluetooth, photos, SMS, MMS, contacts, calendar and oh yes make phone calls. It has actually made me question or at least rethink my somewhat intense desire for the Treo (for now…). This phone is so much smaller than I expected it to be. I had actually not seen one in person until mine arrived from Amazon. It’s like the T68 series though a tad longer and the screen is much bigger. If I had a keyboard/bluetooth palm device I could easily use the phone as GPRS modem when I needed to and check do email on the palm. This phone very easily fits in any pant or shirt pocket so you can easily carry it anywhere you need to be.

I am still waiting on my T-Zones (flash) Pro service which allegedly will allow me to get my Lotus Notes email over the phone. It can take T-Mobile up to 24 hours to authenticate so I probably know if it works until tomorrow.

I picked up a bluetooth headset which is now charging…Now that I see how small the phone is I felt I needed to have a wireless headset so I could voice-command certain dials and easily answer the phone from wherever it might be stashed at the time.

I can’t wait now for my machine to come back so I can do an official bluetooth based iSync. I used PhoneAgent to transfer a group vcard from my address book to my phone over IrDA which is very slick. No way unfortunately to do calendar over IR… so I will be waiting to get a handle on the calendar functions. I did add a note about an appointment I had today and while it was easy enough to do, it will be much better to have iCal be the originating source.

I feel as though I’ve been living in the cellular dark ages a bit. While my Nextel i90c phone has had good data services and generally speaking a nice set of features, it’s immediately clear how much ahead the Series 60 OS is and in general the overall design – hardware and software.

The other very cool aspect of this and many other new phones is the camera! It’s only been one day, but already I can see using the camera all the time! It’s so easy…and right there. Too bad the resolution is not better, but I guess you can’t have everything… not yet anyway! I took a shot as Ashley and I were heading to her doctor’s appointment today and was able to add that nicely as my screen background.

Next… get the moblog thing happening. It’s great to have a connected smart device!

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My old Friend…

I am back with my old 15 inch TiBook for a few days while the white spots get removed/replaced by Apple on the newer Aluminum. It’s actually nice (though damn slow) to be back with a machine I am so familiar. Not nice enough that I want to use it permanently of course! When my newer system returns it will have a fresh install of Panther in addition to a nice clean screen.

Through the magic of iSync, I have my current address book, safari bookmarks and calendar. My new phone arrived today (tracked through Fedex) and I will be looking forward to connecting it via Bluetooth for some wireless sync and connectivity.

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Swap videos and music for the Treo 600

Just makes me want it even more…though I want it more for messaging that for AV. Of course that may all change when I get a picture phone…

One of our favorite features of the new Treo 600 is that we can watch videos on it (they’re a bit pixelated, but it works). So you can probably understand why we’d be happy to discover that just this past Monday someone created a Yahoo group specifically for talking about creating and sharing music and video files for the Treo 600. [Gizmodo]

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Consumers Ready and Waiting for ‘e-Hubs’

Picture this: You’re sitting in your living room at home, watching a digital movie that you ordered wirelessly from your laptop computer. Your son barges in the room with some friends and pauses the flick so he can show his buddies a home movie he’s taken and stored on the family entertainment server. Undeterred, you head for the bedroom, where with the flick of a few buttons on your remote, you can access the very same digital movie your son had turned off, and pick it up in the exact spot you lost it when he barged in. [internetnews.com]

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Cablevision adds VoIP to broadband menu

Cablevision said Tuesday that it now offers Internet phone service to all of its cable broadband customers, giving it one of the largest potential markets for commercial voice over Internet protocol service in the United States.

As of Tuesday, the company’s $35-a-month Optimum Voice dialing plan is available to 1 million high-speed Internet customers in the lucrative New York market, which the company claims is the most widely available so-called VoIP plan in the United States. Cablevision launched Optimum Voice on N.Y.’s Long Island in September. [CNET News.com]

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YATR

Yet another Treo review…

In his first review for Mobile Burn, Marcelo Lopez gives us the low-down on one of this year’s hottest devices, the Handspring Treo 600. While not quite perfect, it addresses many of the Treo 270/300’s issues. [Mobile Burn]

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Having my cake and eating it too…

I believe I’ve mentioned how much I want the Treo 600…

One issue I have, is that in order to get it with T-Mobile (they have a great $20/all you can eat data plan) I will have to get a different phone to start out with in time to maintain my existing mobile number which I am planning on porting over when the clock flips. Even if T-Mobile confirms service with the Treo 600, it is likely that there will be a few delay in shipping…

This actually works out for me… I am planning to get the Sony Ericsson T610 phone which will actually enable me to have a bluetooth data connection to my laptop as needed… not sure how much I will want to do that once the Treo is in effect, but it might be my only way to connect on the go with Lotus Notes. All this will be possible with the flip of a SIM which both devices support.

There are two rebates of 100 bucks each from Amazon and T-Mobile…which make this phone free! Gotta love it.

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FCC: Number-switching rules apply to all

The agency issues an order that requires all landline phone companies to allow customers to transfer their numbers to cell phones when signing up for new services. [CNET News.com]

The FCC has required porting for several years, but the telephone industry has managed through lawsuits and other tactics to delay any firm deadline. Monday’s order clarifies the remaining questions that carriers had on the policy and is expected to silence the last gasp of protest from landline phone companies.

“By firmly endorsing a customer’s right to untether themselves from the wireline network–and take their telephone number with them–we act to eliminate impediments to competition between wireless and wireline services,” FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in a separate statement issued along with the ruling.

Commissioner Kevin J. Martin said he was disappointed by the order’s timing, which arrives two weeks before the deadline for carriers to implement it. “The commission has an obligation to minimize the burdens our regulations place on carriers, and I wish we had provided the guidance in this order considerably sooner,” he said in a statement.

I like how the Commish, claims there is not enough time when they have clearly been playing games trying to push off the inevitable. There is a reason MCI wants back in the wireless game, which is that once you cut the cord, there is no going back. The long distance wars may be over, but the war for your handset is really just beginning.

It will be very interesting to track the offers and bundles carriers create to maintain and attract us.

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MotionApps for Treo

MotionApps has a set of utilities for Treo Smartphones….

  • mSafe lets you lock your Treo via SMS should it be lost of stolen.
  • mRIng lets you set different ring tones per person in your address book.
  • mLights controls the backlight in the keyboard so you can save battery power during the day.

    Look good – I’ll definitely want to try these out when I eventually get the Treo 600.

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    Sony’s Personal Video Player is a reality

    The Giga Pocket PCVA-HVP20 Personal Video Player has a 3.5-inch LCD screen, a 20GB hard drive, and play Windows Media, MPEG1, and MPEG2 video files (where’s support for MPEG4 and DivX?). [Gizmodo]

    Looks good… hopefully will make it to the US. I’d love to see larger drives available as well. Wonder what kind of DRM is on this…