Random thought exchange
Technology
Today is day 5 that I’ve been using the HTC Touch on the Bell Mobility network.
So far so good. Unlimited mobile browser and e-mail. Everything is setup and working how I want.
So – I decided that I would give some “hacking”, skinning, and apps a shot and turn my HTC Touch into an iPhone.
It took me about 30-minutes to get everything done – using some great resources that I found online. The interface works pretty well, but I should admit that I MUCH prefer the today screen plugin that HTC developed and included.
Why? Well, it shows the date and time without having to read the analogue clock – easier to see if I’m in a meeting or driving or something (yes, I wear a watch, and my car has 2 clocks in it). The weather panel is upfront vs. having to open an application (you have to change “tabs” in the HTC plugin – very easy to do).
In an effort to answer some peoples questions…
Hey man, its hard to get a straight answer from the forum, so I was hoping that you could answer a couple questions for me about the new HTC Touch and the unlimited plan for $7.00.
So, can you go to like any website with this for free (ex www.ebay.ca, www.mapleleafs.com) or is it restricted to certain sites?
Can you download clips and sound waves from these sites or is this not included in the plan? Ex: if I am on TSN can I watch one of their highlight clips?. Can you download an attachment from an email etc?
How is the speed and approx what sort of kb/sec do you get?
Thanks in advance for all the help! I know – some people just don’t understand/are upset that they’re not with bell/are speculating when they have no idea.
My response….
yes… for $7 you can go to ANY website you want. It seems that using the built-in IE – the sites that have mobile versions show you the mobile site (WAP versions) – but a site that doesn’t will show you want you want. Does that make sense? If I were to go to www.facebook.com it will end up taking me to m.facebook.com (their mobile version). I haven’t tried to see if there’s a setting to disable that – but it doesn’t make that much of a difference to me.
I haven’t tried to watch clips or videos… so I can’t answer that for you. You CAN download files off the web and save them to your phone or memory card. The phone has a built-in zip decompressor too…
As for speed – it’s EVDO… what the rating is I couldn’t tell you. There is a bit of a lag as it trys to load sites – but not too bad. For $7 who can complain?
You can get e-mail from any webserver on it – you can have 8 addresses setup on the phone. You can set the e-mail to check every 5/10/15…etc. automatically for you… so it’s similar to “push” e-mail. Also, if you have an active exchange e-mail server you can get hooked into that from the phone for real push e-mail. I don’t have one – so I can’t tell you about setting it up or anything. I do use my own pop mail servers though. It also supports IMAP.
On another note, I have a bunch of screen protectors and hard-plastic protective cases that are coming to me from a supplier – so if you have a Touch and want one, let me know.
Related posts:
How to sync and browse on the Touch
Bell launches the HTC Touch
199 days to go
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
Technology
The reports are that Bell is going to launch the HTC Touch smartphone today.
Why is this big news? There are a number of reasons.
- It’s a touch screen phone – similar-esq to the iPhone
- It’s launching in Canada prior to the iPhone
- Bell is reported to have a $7 unlimited data (does not include tethering to a computer) for it
I guess we’ll see later on today if it’s true or not. If it is, I have every intention of switching my Palm Treo 700P for the Touch.
Related posts:
How to sync and browse on the Touch
5 days with the Touch
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
Palm Treo 700p
Cellular Class Action – Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, Sasktel, MTS, Aliant Class Actions
That’s right!
Ever wonder what the purpose of system access fees (SAF) are? Have you ever asked? Well, a Saskatchewan lawyer has setup a Class action lawsuit, naming the Canadian cellular providers regarding the overcharging and misleading the companies have done to the consumer regarding the SAF’s.
Back in the early stages of cell phone history, the CRTC implemented SAF’s to helpp build the infrastructure. Now, it’s completely useless, and being charged to solely profit the corporations.
On September 17, 2007, a Saskatchewan court has approved the go-ahead with a class action lawsuit against Canadian cellular service providers.
It’s about time that the big corporations stopped taking advantage of the consumer!
If you have a cell phone – or had one – go and Join the class action.
Related posts:
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
Bell launches the HTC Touch
Rogers website is ‘busted’
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
iWant… iPhone!
Well, Apple finally announced the product launch of the Apple iPhone. It’s an iPod, Telephone, and internet communicator all in one. It looks somewhat similar to the Dell Axim, but this is also a telephone!
iWant one of these… it’s the ultimate in geekdom. The phone runs a version of OS X, which means that it would be fairly easy to develop applications for it – similar to WM2005 or WinCE.
So, what’s the problem? I’m in Canada! Yup… Apple finally released a product that’s been speculated about for years, and it’s not going to be available until June, and apparently only being released in the US via Cingular.
What’s the other problem? It’s only being released in a GSM version.
Why is that a problem? I’m with Bell Mobility which is CDMA. You cannot use a GSM phone on a CDMA network. Bell – GET WITH THE TIMES!
So why not switch to Rogers or Fido? I can’t do that because in Canada the CRTC has not made phone number portability possible – yet anyways. Supposedly this is something that will be in place come March 2007. Check out the CRTC press release from December 20, 2005.
So why not switch when the phone is available in Canada as it will be after March 2007? I’m on a corporate plan that I doubt Rogers would be willing to match. The last time I spoke with someone at Rogers, the best they were able to do was $15 more a month than what I’m paying now.
Phone specs:
- 4GB ($499 US) or 8GB ($599 US) versions
- 3.5″ screen
- 320×480 @160ppi
- Quad-band
- Wifi (802.11b/g)
- EDGE
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 2MP camera w/ video
- sync via iTunes on either Mac or PC
- 4×5″ x 2.4″ x 0.46″ = 115mm x 61mm x 11.6mm
- 4.8oz = 135gr
- playback of music, photos, and video
- rotate the device, and it goes into widescreen – part of the built-in sensors
- calls, voicemail, sms
- Safari, e-Mail, live maping via Google maps, widgets
Fallout since the Apple annoucement
- Cisco announces that the iPhone trademark belongs to them, and is launching a lawsuit against Apple
- The day of the announcement RIM stock dropped $14/share
- Announcement day Apple stock went up 8%
Anyways, check out the iPhone… it’s HOT!
Relevant links:
Related posts:
Is the iPhone 4 launch in Canada a bust?
iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
iPhone 4th gen, and more!!! at WWDC on Monday
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
Well, it’s about time that Motorola released a version of the ‘Q’ for the Bell CDMA network. It’s been a few months (at least) since Telus Mobility Canada unveiled the Q for their network.
The pricing from Bell seems to be listed at $449 + taxes, however their website claims to have special promotional pricing for it’s launch. I’ve been waiting for the Q, as I think I might get rid of the Dell Axim X50v. There are only 3 downsides to the ‘Q’.
- not a touch screen
- no built-in wifi
- I’ve been seeing how much I use wifi on my Axim, and to be honest, not really all that frequently – although it’s quite cool that I can! I wonder if I get an SD wifi card if it will work on the ‘Q’
- small internal memory – insufficient for any serious PDA users.
Here are the specs:
- Dimensions: (H) 116 x (W) 64 x (W) 11.5 mm Weight: 115 g
- 1xEV-DO network enabled
- 2.4″, 65,000-colour TFT
- QWERTY keypad with 5-way and thumbwheel navigation
- 64 MB SDRAM/128 MB Flash ROM
- 1.3 megapixel camera with flash
- Tethered data support
- E-mail- and Web-enabled
- Outlook® Mobile
- Media Player 10 Mobile
- Internet Explorer Mobile
- Pocket MSN including MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger
- Bluetooth-enabled
- Stereo Bluetooth Support
- This device supports Bluetooth GAP (General AccessProfile), SPP (Serial Port Profile), FTP (File Transfer), OPP
- Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP)
- Speaker phone
- Calendar
- To-do list
- Alarm clock
- Calculator
- Text Messaging
View more info. on the Bell Mobility Canada site.
View more info. on the Telus Mobility Canada site.
Related posts:
Bell launches the HTC Touch
Is the iPhone 4 launch in Canada a bust?
Cellular Class Action – Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, Sasktel, MTS, Aliant Class Actions
iWant… iPhone!
Happy birthday Canada