AT&T

eBay Items

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I go through phases where I sell a bunch of stuff on eBay. I always say eBay is my enabler to buy more gadgets. It is kinda true. I sold 3 things this week and I boxed them up and they will ship out tomorrow.

I am parting with my G1 that I bought second hand in December. I was hoping to like Android and that T-Mobile would have worked by my apartment and at work. T-Mobile didn’t work well in either locations and I wasn’t such a fan of Android so far, so I am sticking with my iPhone and AT&T even if I have signal issues at work. Honestly I had this G1 sit around for a while since I only used it for about a week in December but was lazy to sell.

I am also selling my Archos 5 Internet Tablet. This was another Android experiment. I was hoping for something with a bigger screen than the iPhone to use as a tablet. Well I wasn’t a huge fan. It was a great device but, just not for me. I am going to wait for the much larger iPad instead.

I am also finally selling an extra magic mouse that I got by accident.

Next up on the to sell list is some larger stuff.

The Android Experiment

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A few weeks ago I purchased a used T-Mobile G1 on eBay. It was party to see check out the Android OS, as well as check out T-Mobile service near where I live and work.

Firstly the G1 I got was a bit more beat up than I would have liked, but for the price I paid I kinda knew what I was getting into. I found it harder than I originally expected to separate my experience with the Android OS with my feelings about the G1 hardware. I was not a fan of the G1 at all. It was big, heavy, and I could not stand the curved bottom of the phone, nor could I really use the keyboard because of that uncomfortable bulge at the bottom of the phone.

The Android OS on the other hand was OK. I looked for equivalent applications to what I typically use on my iPhone. I didn’t do a complete search but looked for the top 5-10 apps that I use every day. I was able to find apps that performed the same functions. That was the good news. The bad news was that several of them were just not as polished as the iPhone equivalent. Maybe I am biased, but the iPhone apps just seem more polished than the Andriod counterparts. There were a few exceptions, but in general I wasn’t too impressed with the Andriod apps. On the up side I was happy with some of the types of applications that I couldn’t get on my iPhone. I loved the call blocking app especially since the T-Mobile number I got seemed to have a lot of people calling it. I also loved the Google Voice integration. For me as a Google Voice user it was perfect. I didn’t even tell anyone I got a new #. I just routed calls to the G1 and then used Google Voice to make outbound calls. For me that was the best part of the Android OS. I really miss that functionality on the iPhone.

The second part of my experiment was how is the T-Mobile service. The short answer is it is just as poor as AT&T is where I use it most. I don’t get any reliable signal inside my apartment with T-Mobile. By my window I get 3-4 bars but inside I only get 1-2 if any. Without a signal booster the service is useless in my apartment. If the Android phones supported T-Mobile’s Wifi calling like some of the Blackberry’s do that wouldn’t be an issue, but right now it is a major show stopper. At work in mid town I got slightly better results. I sometimes got decent signal at my desk, but other times it was spotty. Not consistent enough for me.

The bottom line is as tempting as T-Mobile’s no contract plans are, the service where I spend 75% of my work week (home and work) I had spotty service. That means if I want to stick with a GSM carrier I am stuck with AT&T. As much as I refuse to use Verizion I might need to consider. I may end up getting a Verizon Mifi anyway so that might be the trade off that keeps me with my iPhone an AT&T but more on that later.

I will keep my T-Mobile SIM until after my vacation but I don’t see myself keeping it long term. As for the G1, I am going away at the end of the week so I wont have time to sell it before I go, but it will go up on eBay before Christmas. If a AT&T compatible 3G (85mhz & 1800mhz) Android phone comes out I may give it a try again but until then I am sticking with the iPhone. Like I tell anyone when they ask if i like it, the iPhone is the best phone I ever had, but I would love to be able to get rid of it!

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T-Mobile Again

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My frustration with AT&T has finally come to a head. I had another week of not really being able to use my iPhone at the office, so I finally broke down and went to the T-Mobile store. I signed up for an Even More Plus plan. I figured with no contract I had nothing to lose from trying it out. I am testing the service at home and work with an old Motorola Razr I have had since 2005. So far I am having signal issues in my apt, but I already knew that non-3g service would be spotty in my apt. Friends with T-Mobile have had problems there before.

To really test the system out I just bought a used G1 Android phone from Ebay. I will see if T-Mobile 3G is as good as their map says it is in my neighborhood. I also need to be happy with the G1’s Android OS. I am skeptical about that, but hopeful I will like it enough to give up my iphone. There is a lot of “if’s” but I am willing to give it a try since the iPhone may be nice and slick and a great all around device, but if it doesn’t work half the time I try to use it I don’t care how nice it is.

I really hope this works out. I really like the no contract concept even if the phones are more money (thanks ebay). I also like the fact that I can get unlimited voice for $50. I currently pay $59 for 900 minutes that I can’t use since the phone doesn’t work most of the places I need it to. I always liked T-Mobile. I only got rid of them when I gave up my own mobile to use the Partsearch issued one. After that I got AT&T because of phone selection and the iPhone.

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Apple Are You Kidding Me?

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I have been a huge fan of Apple and the iPhone. I have always had my criticisms of the company. I have also said that I love my iPhone but would love to find another phone to replace it due to the restrictions Apple puts on the iPhone. This latest stunt by Apple may just get me to drop the iPhone and get something (anything) else. GV Mobile is an app I have used since it came out. It is an app that works with Google Voice. Before GV Mobile I used Grand Dialer that did similar things with the old Grand Central before Google turned it into Google Voice. Why then did Apple just decide to pull all apps that work with Google Voice? I paid for this app, now basically it is killed off? Yeah it will still work for a while but if anything in the OS breaks the app it wont work. This is crazy. How is this not big brother that Apple (or AT&T through Apple) just come in and turn off an app? And why, because it mimic’s iPhone features? So what, I choose to use those mimicked features. Thoughts are it is more likely that AT&T doesn’t want to lose revenue by free SMS via these apps. So can someone explain to me how App Stores are better for the consumer if the handset maker and the provider say what can and cannot be put on my phone? I prefer the day when i can find an app, download it and run it on my smart phone. Worked for years with Palm, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile. Now everyone has their own app stores. How is this progress for the consumer?

I was tempted to pre-order an Android powered My Touch with T-Mobile today. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that the My Touch doesn’t offer Wifi Calling (no android phone does yet). Apple / AT&T get your act together or you will lose a good customer, and I bet I am not the only one.

On a related note I was kind of pissed about what I consider similar crazy tactics by Amazon regarding the Kindle. At least Amazon apologized about what they did, and it doesn’t look like they will do it again. Apple you should learn something from Amazon!

UPDATE 7-31-2009: Finally the FCC is doing something. Questioning Apple, AT&T & Google about what is going on.

iPhone 3GS First Thoughts

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I got my iPhone 3GS on Friday. I was eager to get it when they announced it, but when it arrived I didn’t even want to rush home to take a look. I usually can’t wait to play with new electronic gizmo’s. Either I now have luke warm feeligns about it or I am getting older. I hope I just have low expectations of the new device. In any event I have had the device for a few days and I have early impressions since I can be opinionated about my gadgets.

One major reason to upgrade for me was the doubled capacity that I get with the 32gig unit. I would have gotten a 64gig one if they offered it. I wanted 32gigs last year when I bought my 3G. Ironically since I purged many videos from my 3G before upgrading I don’t even need the entire 16gigs I had. I know that in a few weeks I will use up the new space I have but right now it is weird seeing all that free space in the bar graph when I sync the phone.

I haven’t done that much to notice the speed improvements. Every once in a while I think it might be a bit zippier, but nothing major just yet. The camera is a great improvement, but still didn’t do so hot for me in low light when I was out on Friday. Video was nice, and I used it a few times with Zachary on Sunday but to be honest I am not going to praise that since a phone of iPhone’s class should have had that function already.

I have to say I am not a fan of the cut and paste function. I know I want it when I need it, and it is another one of those things that should have been around for some time, but I have problems with Apple’s actual implementation of cut and past. I have selected text to cut and paste while scrolling through items i was reading. It is actually very annoying. The amount of times that has happened vs actually using the cut and paste function is making that feature more of a detriment to me than a bonus.

The compass function was neat, but i haven’t really had a chance to use it. One downside I did notice was when I brought up google maps when I got out of the Lincoln tunnel on Sunday the Google Map app started spinning around and I had a semi-transparent warning box telling me that the compass couldn’t work and i needed to get away from interference. This wasn’t good since i couldn’t see where i was (approximately) on the map, where the old version on the 3G would at least just give me a blue circle that showed my margin of error. With the map spinning around and the warning box I couldn’t really estimate my location. Hopefully this was a fluke but I am not so sure I saw the last of that message especially in Manhattan.

So far you might conclude I don’t like the new phone. That is not true. It is a great piece of equipment. In my opinion it has unfortunately it has yet to live up to the cost I paid for it. What will improve my opinion is seeing all the new software that utilizes the push technology in the 3.0 software. I know I could have gotten that with my old 3G, but this new functionality on top of the new hardware was the reason for me to upgrade. For now I have to wait since it seems the hardware is a bit ahead of the software written to utilize it. Once a true push IM client comes out, and other nifty new apps such as the Zip Car app and the Tom Tom GPS app then the new phone will start paying for itself. I am also waiting for a push version of Facebook, and a twitter client (Tweetie I hope since I like it and paid for a copy). It is still a great media device that I take with me everywhere. That hasn’t changed, but for an incremental upgrade it has a bit to go before it becomes worth the upgrade.

For now the new iPhone 3GS is just like my iPhone 3G. I love it, it is probably the best phone I ever had, but I would love to get rid of it if I could. What I mean by that is it is a fantastic device but Apple is still too restrictive on the OS, and I would love for someone to come out with something that truly rivals it (Android, and S60 are nice but not there yet by far and I have tried both). Till then I await updated software for my 3GS!

iPhone 3GS Conundrum

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When the iPhone 3GS was announced I was very interested. It solved many but not all of the issues I have with my 3G. When I found out I could pre-order one and have it delivered to me on the day it comes out I went and ordered one from Apple. I was slightly aggravated after my order went in to read that they estimated my order would ship on the 19th (the day it comes out) and not arrive on that date as the original statement said. This was about an hour after they announced the phone so I wasn’t too worried about it being sold out, but I was a bit miffed by the delay.

About a day or two later I received an email from apple telling me they are sorry for the mix up but I would in fact receive the new phone on the 19th like they originally said. The odd thing is that my order status page still says ships on the 19th. What is also concerning is that on my status page it says “custom configuration”. That makes no sense since it is a phone. It comes in one option. When I click on details it says the custom configuration is “With AT&T Rate Plan-Upgrade”. Not sure what upgrade it means. The plan on the order is the exact plan I currently have. Now I could simply ignore all these facts and wait for the phone Friday since I have a nice reassuring email from Apple, but I wont because I have dealt with enough computer systems like this. When something smells fishy it tends to be fishy. Other anecdotal evidence that I wont be happy on Friday is reading that others who are supposed to receive their order on Friday already have received tracking information.

Now waiting the weekend isn’t the end of the world, and I don’t need the phone first thing Friday. On the other hand I want it Friday and I only ordered it online because I was told that is when I would get it. If I knew I would have to wait I wouldn’t have ordered it online. I would have gone to the 5th Ave Apple Store and wait like I did last year. If they are shipping units to people I assumed the purchase process this year would be allot easier. Unfortunately the conundrum is that I can’t cancel my existing order and goto the store to buy it on Friday. I now have to wait and see what apple system is right? Will the phone arrive on Friday or simply ship out on Friday?

On the plus side it is only a phone and either way life will go on. It would be cool to have a new toy (productivity tool) to play with this weekend. Let the waiting commence.

Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 3, The Palm Centro

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Due to the Nokia E61i’s poor performance with its core organizer functions I recently began to look at alternatives. I sold my Nokia 6120 Classic and N810 Tablet since I found I didn’t use them that much. With that money I bought a Palm Centro from AT&T. I was hoping that the newer Centro would not have the same bugs as the older Treo 680. It was still buggy when I installed the software I typically use. The screen and keyboard on the Centro were too small for me. A screen smaller than a 680 is just not usable for me. I also got spoiled with the nice large screen of the E61i. I wasn’t even a fan of the plastic white case of the Centro, so I returned it yesterday after work. It was worth a try, but the Centro experience didn’t get me anywhere.

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Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 2, The Nokia E61i

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I have been using the Nokia E61i for a few months now and I like allot of features of the phone, but its shortcomings are starting to bother me allot. Where the Treo 680 would freeze for a few seconds every once in a while, the E61i’s biggest problem is just slow all the time. Launching applications or moving through screens is noticeably slower than on the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, or Blackberry. The E61i is very stable. I almost never have to restart the phone. In fact it was almost 2 months after I got it when the phone froze on me. I think the problem was related to something I installed that was a Beta. I removed it and have been fine since then. The other issues I have with the E61i is it’s PIM functionality. More specifically its tasks program is horrible. The phone doesn’t support categories, the search functions are all but useless, and it takes me around 5 times longer to enter a task on the E61i than it did on my Treo 680. Because there is no category support for the PIM (Personal Information Manager) Software, I cannot easily filter calls with calling groups out of the Address Book. I also have to edit every single calendar entry I make on the phone to put it in the correct calendar on my computer. The lack of a touch screen bothers me, but is a minor issue compared with all my other issues. I haven’t found a good email program, but I limp by with what comes pre-installed. What is good about the E61i is it has no issues syncing with my Mac, especially over bluetooth. It works flawlessly with Bluephone Elite, the phone control software I use on my Mac. It also has great internet functionality especially since it has built in Wifi. Bluetooth also works flawlessly. I paired my Motorola Bluetooth Headset to the phone with no problems. I am able to turn on the headset and it always finds the phone and works. I stopped using Bluetooth headsets on my Treo because it wouldn’t work all the time and I would lose calls because I tried picking them up with the headset.

To sum it up the E61i is a nice reliable phone with a decent selection of software, but its basic functionality is lacking and the phone is just slow. If I could fix most of my issues with the tasks program I might be able to overlook the other issues I have with the Nokia’s Symbian S60 software.

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Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 1

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Since October I have had a minor problem left unresolved. I have been unsuccessfully searching for a wireless phone I could use every day. I have written previously about how my Treo 680 had been causing me too many problems so I was on the outs as my day to day mobile. The issue is I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. As much as I jump from phone to phone (I do about 1 a year and maybe toy with an alternative one during that time but never switch over to it) over the years, I have been sticking to Palm based Treo’s relatively consistently. I did go from a Treo 270 on T-Mobile to a Treo 600, then to a Treo 650. From there I went to the Treo 700 on Verizon. When I left my last company I switched my number to a Treo 680 on AT&T. It has been several years using the Palm OS on Treo phones. As I have said in the past it has been a love / hate relationship.

So even though it sounds kind of silly I am stuck on what phone to use day to day. I guess it is such a big deal because I use it for allot more than making calls. In fact I use it for other stuff more than I use it as a phone. I check my mail on it. Read the news on the way to work. I keep track of my expenses on it. I use it as a calendar, and more importantly I track all the tasks I need to accomplish on it. I use it to track notes, and I take notes with it more than I use pen and paper. If I am in a meeting playing with my phone, it is because I am actually taking notes or updating tasks related to what we are talking about on it. There is tons more things I use it for, but that is enough for you to get the point. Because of all my requirements I am a bit picky.

The Palm OS on my Treo 680 did everything I needed it to. It just would freeze up for no reason I could identify (maybe due to loss of cell signal but if it was that it is a retarded problem) and would crash or reboot at least once a day. Recently I also had huge issues syncing my Treo to my Macbook. The Missing Sync is a great product, and I have used it for years but since they updated the Palm version it has been buggy. I have had to reset the data on the phone dozens of times due to corrupt data or the software simply crashing on syncing some conduits, especially my task lists. So I can have everything I want, but deal with problems all the time. It kind of feels like WIndows, but I solved that problem by getting a Mac.

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Blackberry Pearl Hard Reset Update

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Apparently RIM is not as smart as other hardware vendors. When you do a hard reset of a Pearl you don’t actually get all the programs refreshed to the factory default. I would argue that it isn’t a hard reset, but whatever. It boils down to the fact that when you mess up an install you can’t fix it. It took me a while, but i was able to get the lost applications back after following the instructions from this forum post.

My issue isn’t even 100% resolved since i lost the new AT&T phone theme i had with my Pearl and instead have the older not as nice looking Cingular theme on the phone since the software I was able to get the restore to work from must have been older than what was on my phone. In any case I am all better for now.

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