Cell phone news

With all the talk of the Apple iphone coming out it is easy to miss any other cell phone news. But today Rogers announced they were going to be carrying the Palm Centro. The cost is expected to break down something like this
Monthly term… $399
1yr term $399
2yr term $349
3yr term $299

The smart phone runs on it is own Palm Os operating systems making syncing with things a challenge. The Rogers version of this phone will be cobalt blue. And be 107.22mmx53.5×18.6 and weigh 124g.
I was impressed with a lot of the specs of this phone, 320×320 pixel screen that is said to be touch screen. It also has full keyboard so to have both inputs a keyboard and touch screen is nice.
It is a quadband phone with edge technology. But no HSDPA. It also sports 64mb ram on board but expandable to 4gb. Of course as well it is Bluetooth capable. In ideal conditions it has 4hrs talk time and 300 standby which really is not bad.
From a multi media standpoint it has a small 1.3 mega pixel camera that also plays video and the ability to play music via pocket tunes. Included in the start up disc.
I do think the biggest draw for phones like this is the internet capablities. I mean is this really a good phone to have if you can not get your emails when you need them? And as far as that goes, it has push technology so you can get your emails as they come. It also allows you to view most Office documents and pdf files.
Considering Apple announced today they are coming out with a 3g version of their phone I hope this one does not get lost in the shuffle.

            One of the newest phones to hit the market in Japan is the “Fullface” Softbank 913sh by Sharp. On first glance it looks to me like the LG Shine we have here.  As the picture from the Softbank website shows. As with most phones from there it is only available in Japan for use there only as it is a 3g phone.

            It looks like a very attractive phone.  The face is totally flat, giving it a smooth and sleek appearance. The face also has what is known as Sensor keys to allow you to operate the phone even when closed which is a neat feature to have. Of course it is also Bluetooth capable so some things you would not need to open the phone for anyway.  When the phone is closed you are also able to use it as a audio video device with camera and media player.  Or browse the internet with it’s wide screen and high speed 3g.  The projected download speed is 3.6Mps so it is great for viewing many sites and as is common with Japanese phones, television.

            Unlike the Lg we have here it is available in many different colors but that is understandable in fashion conscious Japan.

            It also boasts

·         2mg camera

·         Micro sd

·         Video call

·         Graphic mail

·         English/Japanese bilingual

As the table below shows it is light at 125g but still heavier then the Shine at 104. The physical size is about the same however. The battery life is about the same as the Shine as well. However like a lot of phones in Japan it is not what you can see that makes this phone stand out. But what is under the hood or in this case the slider.  The launch date for this phone is late July which in a way surprises me as we always hear how much better the phones are over there. And yet the Shine was the first out. It is important to keep in mind that the extras this phone has over the Shine are because of the 3g network not the phone itself.

            But never the less it is a very stylish phone and will be popular among females who most of the new phones are marketed to anyway. There is a  thought out there that Softbank wants to concentrate more on making their phones stylish and leave the technology to their competitors.

Good news for the Canadian cell phone user. Liberal David McGuinty introduced a bill into the House of Commons of interest to cell phone users. Bill C-555 or the “Telecommunications Clarity and Fairness Act.” was brought before the House recently.
McGuinty is the brother of Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty. He quotes on the CBC today “we are talking 21 years and billions of dollars of misleading payments. My bill will end fictitious surcharges on cell phones” I would like to ask him what a fictitious charge is but regardless this is exciting.
McGuinty is the MP for Ottawa south presents his bill at a very good time, as spectrum auctions are also going on now which could open the air waves to more competition. He would like to “include a prohibition against levying of any additional fee or charge that is not part of the subscriber’s monthly fee or monthly plan rate” on the face of it this seems great. How many people have been so very surprised to find their first bill twice as much as they expect. But I have to wonder if the system access fees will now just be included in the monthly fee. His bill would also make it mandatory for cell phone contracts to include a fact sheet disclosing every service and cost. I have long felt that cell phone companies are less than honest about what the customer can expect to see on their monthly bill often not mentioning their system access fee or 911 fee not to mention their activation fee. It is not uncommon for the first bill to be twice what they expect.
The biggest aspect of this bill to me is a prohibition on locked phones. In a CBC press release it says so cell phones can work on other carrier’s networks but this is limited in Canada. For Bell and Telus this is a big deal as one phone can work on another network but Rogers is the only major GSM carrier in Canada. It will allow Rogers customers to change easier to Fido or Ice Wireless however. But still the advantage of this in Canada is limited. But it will allow for people from outside Canada to bring their phones here and easier for us to take our phones there.
The bill would also look into the effectiveness of the “Commissioner for Complaints of Telecommunications services” a consumer watch dog set up in Sept 2007 but has not been widely publicized.
It is no wonder the big 3 have not commented on this bill at all. But Peter Banes of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association is speaking out against the bill. He says the system access fee was originally a tax collected from the consumer by the government for airwaves licenses. Barnes says the fee is used to pay for airwave spectrum and licensing costs and are spelled out in the contract. I have to disagree being a cell phone dealer for a number of years often people would tell me “I went to ___ and they told me it would be $20 a month so now why is my first bill $40 and I would explain to them all the extras. Even in advertising all advertising says $20 a month in big letters only referring to the real cost in the fine print.
The idea for the bill came when McGuinty’s daughter got her first bill with $50 charges of unsolicited text messages. It used to be that incoming text messages were free unless you had signed up for a joke of the day text or something similar so this charge came as a shock. Looking at her contract he found the extra charge provision buried in the contract and like many of us encountered early cancellation fees.
McGuinty has introduced this as a private member’s bill so it is not going to be easy to pass but if enough people here about it and make noise. Mark Goldberg wrote in his blog “Bill c-555 is a sign of frustration with anti-consumer practices such as unilateral changes of terms and fees outside contracts.”
And they are right frustration runs big now with cell phone users. A Quebec consumer watchdog L’Union des consommaterus filed a class action suit against Bell for violation of consumer contracts. Also in Quebec a suit was filed against Videotron for putting on data limits in the middle of consumers contracts. Videotron disputes this saying they gave 2 months notice. But they fail to see a contract is a contract. And Tony Merchant a Regina lawyer has opened a 20 billion dollar class action suit to try to get more openness with the system access fees.
So Canadians are fighting back. And while the squeaky wheel gets the grease I can see this ending up like gas prices. How many times have we had a federal commission look at price fixing with gas and nothing done? But at least when you pull up to the pump you know what you are going to pay.
http://www.davidmcguinty.com/english/Archives/Latest_News/Banning_Cell_Phone_Fees.html

    Ok so the cell phone has enabled some of us to get rid of a lot of things we used to carry. No longer do we need to always carry a digital camera, an address book or agenda. Smart phones have made a lot of things obsolete. Now a new application from a Markham Ontario company wants to extend that even further.
     Unity4life has developed software so that Blackberry users can control entertainment devices from in their home. Ditch that remote. The software is downloaded to the Blackberry and then the infrared port sends commands to the TV to change the channel. Just like a universal remote. So you can turn on the TV or the stereo or the radio from your phone. In the future it hopes to permit controls of thermostats and intercoms and even lights. Not only will it power them for you but will act as an onscreen programmer as well. So load in that cd, look at the play list on your Blackberry and choose your song! Check out this picture from their web site!

     The picture on the left shows the hub station that would sit on top of the tv and the other pictures are of the different options that would show on your Blackberry device. A 2yr subscription will set you back $99US. So it is not cheap compared to a remote. But it is still very cool. I also worry about what happens if while you are watching a show your cell phone battery dies. Are you then stuck on that channel? For people who will not get up to change the channel on the TV, expecting them to get up to get their charger and go to where the phone is charging to turn off the TV maybe asking a bit. If you go to their web site you can order this now but it will not be delivered till September just in time for your favorite show to come back on after reruns.
And I must admit I love the idea of this being a Canadian company. The 2008 Wireless Enterprise Symposium thinks this maybe the thing to have in 2008. A big pat on the back that would be to Canadians!

http://northcentralcommunications.ca

Today May 23 2008 exciting news came out. A fairly unknown company Hop-on out of California introduced what is being billed as the “Anti-iphone” it is very simplistic in nature. The Hop 1800 is the perfect GSM phone for traveling around and the best part of it all is it is not only unlocked but $10. Just $10! All you need to do is buy a sim card and away you go.
• Size: 96.6mm(D)x41.6mm(W)x14mm(H)
• Weight: 77g
• Bands: Dual-band 850/1900MHz or 900/1800MHz (2 different models)
• Battery: Standard Li-Ion 600mAh
• Battery Life: Talk time 4 hours; Standby time 150 hours
• Ringer: Polyphonic (16 Midi)
• Embedded Vibration: Yes
• SIM Lock: Yes
• Keypad Lock: Yes
The specs are nothing to get excited over but then what did you want for $10. My first concern about hearing this phone was how much it would contribute to waste in this already disposable society. The company thinks it has the answer with a $5 rebate to encourage recycling in an effort to go green. I am really not sure how that would work as how many people would just pocket the money and go? But I am sure they have worked that out somehow.
The other thing that jumped out at me was it is only dual band. Which limits the countries it can be used it but is set to work with T-mobile, Cingular and AT&T as well as Rogers in Canada. Because of the low cost of this phone though look for exciting co branding opportunities; you could have a phone with your favorite team’s logo on it. Or stores could put their own logo on it. Picture the 7-11 phones. Perhaps even car manufactures could put on in their cars for emergencies. Not sure if I like advertising for a company everytime I use my phone but it is $10.
The thing that I noticed as well is there is no display on this phone. So there is no stored contacts. If you don’t know that phone number off by heart you are in trouble. But one major use I can see for this phone is with the family vacation. Imagine mom and dad and the 2 kids going to Disneyland. Each has their own phone so nobody gets lost. To many parents that is priceless.

USA/Canada 1900
Europe 900/1800
Middle East 900/1800
Africa 900/1800
Asia 900/1800
Australia/New Zealand 900/1800
Caribbean 800/900

North Central Communications

Recently Rogers introduced the Sony Ericsson W200 to pay as you go. After rebate the phone should sell for $109.99. The phone is a very basic phone, but comes with some neat accessories in the package. Aside from the normal battery and charger, it comes with a stereo handsfree, USB cable, software, a 128mb memory stick. That is neat. Most phones just come with the basic charger and battery.
The phone itself is very basic. This is one of the few phones out there these days not to have Bluetooth ability. It does have an infrared port for basic data transfer but to not have Bluetooth is unusual. Almost archaic. The phone tri-band working on 850/1800 and 1900 with no 3g but not being a high end phone this is no surprise. It has a central joystick to navigate but the joystick has been known to break down and stick over time which could make playing games hard on it after time.

-General GSM 850 / 1800 / 1900 - W200a
-Size Dimensions 101 x 44 x 18 mm 85g
-Display Type UBC, 65K colors
-Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches
-13 Wallpapers, 5 themes
-Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels), 10 embedded ringtones
-Memory Phonebook Yes, Photo call
-Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2) 27 MB internal memory
-USB Yes
-Software Adobe Photo Shop, Sony Ericcson file manager, Mobile Network wizard,photo dj and others
-Camera VGA, 640×480 pixels 4x zoom
- FM radio with RDS
- Walkman Media Player 1.0 mp3/aac/wav
-Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion
-Stand-by Up to 300 h
-Talk time Up to 7 h

The biggest selling point of this phone is the fact it is considered a walkman phone. Considering Sony started the whole walkman thing they know what they are doing. the sound quality is good for the price and having the stereo headphones is a nice touch. The sound quality has gotten good reviews. But the lack of Bluetooth and the camera are the biggest drawbacks of the phone.

http://northcentralcommunications.ca

Rogers Wireless comes to Prince Rupert.
March 13 of this year, Rogers GSM service officially launched in Prince Rupert. This is the first stage of a 10 million dollar investment by Rogers to give full GSM service between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
With the recent growth of Prince Rupert with the port and cruise industry bringing GSM in only makes sense. Gordon Nelson a Rogers Vice President is quoted as saying “You have a lot of activity going on in the city with the expansion of the port, the cruise ship industry growth ant it’s a great tourist destination. The Prince George corridor is very, very important to our customers. This level of expansion will enhance our connection to the world”
Currently there are four operational sites in Prince Rupert stretching to the Terrace area. It is hoped by June that this will increase to 17 including enhanced Terrace coverage. It is hoped that Smithers, Kitimat and Hazelton will be up next year.
This is a huge deal for Rogers as until now truckers hauling in this corridor leaving Prince George have not been able to use their phone outside of Vanderhoof and even then only if they are lucky. This has put Rogers at a huge disadvantage in Northern BC. It has been the primary reason Rogers has often been the last choice among consumers when looking to buy a cell phone in this area.
But the addition of Rogers GSM between Prince George and Prince Rupert will go a long way to changing that. It will mean that not only can people in Smithers for instance enjoy GSM data speeds but that people in Prince Rupert will be able to use the iphone when it hits the Canadian market. It means people in this area now have a choice of subscribers they did not have previously and more exciting a choice of phones as well as smart phones.
If Prince Rupert takes off and becomes the international hub everyone expects and people from all over come with their GSM phones in hand this can only help both Prince George and Prince Rupert in the long run gain on the international stage.
I think the big question will be in my mind can Rogers stick to their stated time table? All this was originally thought to be in place last year, while weather prevented the start they thought they would get surly poor weather on highway 16 should not come as any surprise in November when they were first looking at doing the work. I would also like to see them with the same commitment heading north beyond McKenzie. The mountains and the passes make getting coverage everywhere in this area difficult. As providing cell phone coverage to the Praries is much easier then through the Pine Pass or isolated areas out west however more can be done. And thankfully is.

http://northcentralcommunications.ca

Rogers has announced that starting Apr 25 it will be carrying the Nokia 6086 on a 3yr plan it will be $24.99 or $169.99 to buy out right. It is a very basic phone with 200 name address book, calendar, to do list, world time and alarm clock. It also has all the basic features a vga camera, video capablities, and mp3 capable. There has been some complaints about the sound quality of this phone but it is a basic entry level phone. What makes it interesting is that it is wifi capable making it great for internet usage.

Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz, UMA
Size 92mm x 46mm x 23mm
Weight 84g (2.96oz)
Battery Life 240 hours GSM, 96 hours UMA standby time
5 hours GSM, 6 hours UMA talk time
Main Display 262k color CSTN LCD, 128×160 pixel resolution
Sub-Display Black and white FSTN LCD, 96×68 pixel resolution
Camera Yes, VGA resolution
Video Video capture/playback at sub-QCIF (128×96 pixel) resolution
Messaging MMS/SMS
Email Yes
Bluetooth Yes
Memory Unknown on board memory, microSD memory expansion
Availability Q1 2007
Other 802.11b/g WLAN connectivity

Say it ain’t so Ted Say it ain’t so!
After waiting for over a year while our American counterparts drooled over the iphone, Ted Rogers announced Apr 29th that Rogers would be bringing in the iphone sometime this year. Nothing has been announced as to officially when or how much it will cost but techies have been waiting for this for a very long tme. Rumor has it that part of the delay was caused by Apples pending release of a newer faster 3g Apple iphone (note 3g allows for faster data but does not impact calls). Data speeds and packages have long been a sticky point with Rogers they tend not to like the unlimited data that Steve Jobs and iphone desire. Rogers has long had very expensive data plans and with a phone geared to data use like the iphone that has made it hard to bring in.
But Rogers has also had time to wait being the only carrier for now capable of carrying the iphone. But as customers get more and more impatient and unlocked black market iphones becoming more popular the time was now for Rogers to jump in.
Apple has already faced an uphill struggle as the name iphone was previously trademarked by another company Comcave telecom out of Toronto. But that was soon dealt with.
So be happy Canadian’s we will soon have the coveted iphone. The iphone first came to the United States June of 2007 and the lineups for it were massive. Its fancy touch screen interface made it a hit with the techno crowd. The biggest advantage the iphone has is its data capabilities. Data usage on the iphone is thought to be 30 times higher then on any other phone. With its Safari web browser full html web surfing is easy. So imagine being able to watch those Youtube videos on your phone in amazing clarity and colour. Or get your email (yahoo or gmail) and view those excel files or PDF files without being in front of your desktop computer, with full synchronization with your Microsoft products. Blackberry users can already do a lot of this but there is no doubt this will give them some strong competition. A 2.0 mega pixel camera and full picture viewing makes this a very fun phone.
It does have its down side though; the headset is not unlike those you find with the ipod but of course with a microphone. Making it hard to use like a regular phone held against you ear. There is a 3.5mm headset jack and of course Bluetooth is always an option. Of course Apples lack of a decent battery is still a problem with this phone and many people in the States had to get it replaced in the first few months of use. It is built in similar to the ipod so replacement is not easy. But there is an external battery available after market. There is also no place for a memory card but does come with 16GB. The iphone comes with a sim card that is only activated through itunes so you can not put in another sim card when you travel overseas. Forcing you to use your Rogers sim card while traveling wracking up heavy roaming fees when calling.
But even the drawbacks have done little or nothing to squelch the popularity of the iphone, within 30hrs of being on sale in the States over 270,000 had been sold and big numbers were also seen in Germany and the UK when it launched there so it is going to be nothing but popular when it comes to Canada whenever that maybe.

With the Olympics coming in Beijing and numerous recalls, China has been in the news a lot lately and not for good reason. But it is interesting to look at what China is doing in the cell phone industry. Hi-tech Wealth Company a Chinese telecommunication company is one of the world leaders in green cell phones. Recently they introduced the HTW S116 Solar Mobile phone. It is a flip phone currently only available in China. The top side of the phone is solar panels that recharge a battery that has a lifetime of 2.5hrs longer then the Li-Ion we know here in the rest of the world. Sources say that for every hour charge 40 mins of talk time is gained. So you could put the phone on your dash solar powered up and always have a full charge. But despite getting its power from the sun this is a full feature cell phone. It has a 1.3 mega pixel camera, mp3 player as well as flash memory options. At $510US it is not cheap but environmentally the impact is huge, China has over 400 million cell phone users so to think if even ½ of them went to this phone the impact on our globe would be huge, as there is no need for electrical recharging. With all the talk right now of China being such a big environmental polluter this is encouraging. Right now this is just available in china but manufacturers hope to have as many as 30 solar powered models out there by the end of 2008 and so it is only a matter of time before they catch on globally. Right now American manufactures are working on solar powered back up chargers like the Solio universal charger which has 3 solar panels that fan out with the battery in the middle. So it resembles something like a daisy. So that if your phone dies any needed power is picked up from the sun but it is hard to see someone carrying something like that around with them all the time.
China’s advancement in this area can come none to soon for the rest of the world. As cell phone use grows throughout the world so does the need for Lithium batteries. This is especially bad news for the African nation of the Democratic nation of Congo. The Congo is home to the worlds deposits of Colton an ore used in creating a heat resistant ore that stores electrical charges. Often found in electrical capacitors. It is smaller and lighter then aluminum so as phones get smaller and lighter this ore becomes more valuable. Colton is available in Canada and Australia but 97% of the worlds supply exists in the Congo. But mining for it has come at a horrible price. Large scale deforestation has robbed the native gorilla of its home making them prime target for poachers over the past 5yrs this has contributed to a decline of their population by as much as 90% in some areas. In an effort to combat this, American companies such as Kemet a capacitor manufacturer has begun to require its suppliers get their goods from other places. But that is just one company as so many other companies do get their supplies from the Congo civil wars have broken out over competing groups eager to mine what at one time was gorgeous national park area.
As new phones with the new bells and whistles come out people are upgrading their cell phones an average of about once every 2 years so our dependence on Colton only grows. A company called Eco-cell has partnered with zoos to try to not only recycle phones but save the gorilla. You bring your old phone to a recycling center, where they refurbish it and sell it to low income families who otherwise many not have a phone, with the proceeds going to gorilla conservation agencies. Right now Eco-cell is only available in the States but many such companies exist in Canada and many cell phone dealers have the facilities to do it themselves. Considering most of us just place their old cell in a drawer and forget about it, it is really not costing us much and can save so much more in the process. Both for the recipient of the new cell phone and for Mother Nature.