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This site is no longer maintained.
My current weblog.
Saturday, August 10, 2002NewsFactor: Why Wireless Woes Should Worry Consumers
Many experts have predicted that the field of major national carriers is likely to go from the current six players to perhaps three or four within the next 12 to 18 months. Crowding in the market makes mergers a distinct possibility, bringing with them the prospect of higher consumer costs.
CNET: Say hello to higher cell phone fees
When Lois Bass called Sprint PCS customer service earlier this year with questions about her bill, she didn't know Sprint would charge her $3.50 for the call. When she saw the charge on the following month's bill, she was shocked and called customer service again to question the charge. Bass was charged $3.50 for a second time.
Reminds me of the time that I bounced a check because my bank charged me for talking to a teller when their ATMs were down.
On Tuesday, 802.11b News noted a 70.5 kilometer WiFi link between two of the Canary Islands. That's about 40 miles, a record?
InfoWorld: Cars will drive consumer Bluetooth adoption
"We believe the catalyst for increased consumer penetration [of Bluetooth] will be in-vehicle hands-free communications devices," says the report, whose lead writer was UBS Warburg Equity Research Global Technologist Weiyee In.
Bluetooth hands-free systems were #1 on my list of telematics that consumers will pay for, and are the one Bluetooth accessory that I actually want.
Related: Jabra might actually be shipping their headset next month, Mobile Planet lists it as due on 9/15. This is the only headset I've seen that I might be willing to use.
allNetDevices: Sony Ericsson Inks $142 M Telematics Deal
infoSync: Active Desk for the Nokia 7650. It's like the PPC's Today Screen, but for Nokia's latest Smart Phone.Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, and Chapman Technologies announced Monday that they have signed a $142 million agreement to collaborate in the development of an in-vehicle services platform for the vehicle security and telematics marketplace.
The platform will be marketed based on Sony Ericsson's CDMA 1X RTT module and Chapman's Safeguard Security Systems digital application under the brand name Chapman Vehicle Locator(CVL-D). The platform will include CDMA communication, GPS positioning functionality and an automotive factory security interface linked to the vehicle's control systems.
CNET: Ricochet set to bounce back. Denver will go back online this month, San Diego soon, other cities over the next 6-12 months. Flat-rate $45/month for roughly 128kbps.
Mac Net Journal questions Ricochet's relevance in the WiFi age. A reader commented that Ricochet's network had been ubiquitous in the SF Bay area, something that WiFi may never achieve. Unfortunately for me, South Florida lacks Ricochet and WiFi coverage. GPRS and 1xRTT are my only options...
Related: infoSync's Editor-in-Chief laments the lack of flat-rate GPRS in Europe.
Sprint is getting ready to roll out 1xRTT, and has announced that they will be offering the $500 Handspring Treo 300 (a CDMA version of the 270) and $800 Toshiba PS2032 (re-badged Audiovox Thera).
Coverage at: infoSync | PDA Buzz | PocketPCHow2 Log | NewsFactor
Also, more T-Mobile PPC PE reviews: MSNBC | PDA Buyer's Guide
PocketPC-Phone.com is dedicated to Pocket PC Phone devices [via Pocket PC Thoughts]
infoSync: GSM and GPRS in CompactFlash format. This is the Audiovox RTM8000. No timeframe for North American release, but expected to cost around $300 (ouch). Frank McPherson wonders if Type I Extended cards will work with Type II sockets. My suspicion is that the Type I spec requires cards to be a certain length, so they cannot call it Type I. PPCW: Microsoft Portrait 1.5 Released. This is the video- and voice-conferencing software for PPC/HPC devices.
