BIT320 Remix — phone
December 17, 2005
Google offers mobile phone version of Gmail e-mail - Yahoo! News
Topics: Technology google phone
Google has created a special version of its Gmail e-mail service that provides mobile phone subscribers with quick access to their e-mail
In del.icio.us/supermatt, 12/17/2005 | Original | Archive
December 13, 2005
I want a cell phone with a camera and a planner and a mp3 and a…
Topics: Opinionslug WishList phone weblogs
Tigerlily23 brings up many topics for discussion in her articles about movies on Cell phones. I want to take it into a new direction. Cell phones are starting to offer more and more features: cameras, planners, mp3 players, etc. However these Swiss army devices are thought of as phones with other features. Mainly because these secondary features do not measure up in quality to devices that specialize in these features. For example the 1 mega pixel cameras in cell phones do not come anywhere close to the 3-8 mega pixel that are on the market, and I don’t think a cell phone could ever complete with Apple’s Ipod. The reason I feel this way is not because of technological reasons but for business reasons. If Apple wanted to they could partner up with a cell phone manufacturer to produce a great cell phone / mp3, but what would be Apple’s motivation all this would do is a cannibalize Ipod sales. I think that this ultimately hurts the consumer because I would rather have a cell phone/Ipod/camera in my pocket as opposed to all three separately. I searched for articles about this on the net, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. What do you think? Are there reasons for firms to collaborate? What would be the long term implications for the industry? Have you seen any articles about this on the web?
In SuperMatt, 12/13/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati
December 11, 2005
What time is it?
Topics: Technology ajax calendar fun google googlemaps internet maps money phone reference search service tools web web2.0 webservices
Click anywhere on the map to see what the local time is
In del.icio.us/supermatt, 12/11/2005 | Original | Archive
December 4, 2005
VCAST, Videoconferencing, and 3G networks
Topics: Technology phone
Zee’s blog recently talked about Verizons new vcast service offering. She brought up some good points when she says.
1) A mobile phone screen is too small. You know they aren’t going to be getting any bigger. People are constantly looking for the next way to make it even smaller (may it even be implanting it in your ear)
2) It killed my battery. Watching two minutes of something basically meant my phone would have to be charged again otherwise it would die. I’m sure Verizon cell phone makers (I think its Qualcom who is going in on this venture) are aware of the battery issue, but really how much longer can they extend the battery? Is that going to increasingly raise the price of the phone itself?
However there are some important things that are left out. The first is the technology that is used to make the vcast service happen. Verizon has spent over $1 billion dollars in the past 3 years creating 3G service. This upgraded network can support true broadband with speed at 150 kilobytes per second (average is 40-60). This new network offers consumers real speed which they will eventually be able to harness over and above the limited service offering now.
The second is the wireless service providers. In the marketplace wireless service providers are making less and less profits from their voice services. For this reason, these providers are looking to their data services to generate revenue for the customer. VCAST is one such service. They have the fixed cost of the network already paid for so they can offer this service at very low cost.
Third, TMobile can not do this! Tmobile, although the only service provider that offers the Sidekick, does not have a 3G network, and the installation of their 3G network will not be finished until the middle of 2006. By this time Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint will be focused on release their 4G networks. I have TMobile data service and they are incredibly slow (less than 10kps) from my experience.
Also remember that no one will like everything. I know that to you this may seem like a waste but to a business traveler stuck at the airport this can provide some entertainment. I think it is service like these that bring us to potentially the next level where we will actually video conference on our cell phones. It would appear that now that cell phones have video cameras and a high speed network it is only a matter of time before people can video conference.
In SuperMatt, 12/04/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati
November 29, 2005
CNN.com - Internet phones might get hung up over 911 - Nov 29, 2005
Vonage might lose internet phone business because it failed to provide adequate 911 service to all customers by the required deadline
In del.icio.us/jbartko, 11/29/2005 | Original | Archive
November 25, 2005
