This page looks plain and unstyled because you're using a non-standard compliant browser. To see it in its best form, please upgrade to a browser that supports web standards. It's free and painless.

Paul's Time Sink

«Previous 
| Main | Albums |
Next» 

links for 2007-07-22

Paul Westbrook | 22 July, 2007 02:23

Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

iPhone Walkthrough

Paul Westbrook | 22 June, 2007 15:34

Apple has posted an iPhone guided tour video on their web site.  I like it a lot, but I am still unsure of the usability with out any tactile feedback.  Also I am concerned about the screen getting scratched.  In addition to those two concerns, I don't want to switch to AT&T for cell service.

[via The Macalope]

Technorati tags: , , ,

Electronics , Gadgets , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

links for 2007-06-03

Paul Westbrook | 03 June, 2007 02:20

Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Comcast Digital Voice

Paul Westbrook | 03 May, 2007 00:40

About a month ago, we switched to Comcast Digital Voice for our phone service.  Comcast has bundled pricing packages for customers who also have TV and broadband services.

The install was pretty easy.  The installers brought a new cable modem that replaces the old one, and includes a phone jack.  In addition to this, the modem includes a battery for use in power failures.

So far, I am pretty happy with the service.  The quality is better than we experienced with Vonage.  The quality problems that we had previously, was not a problem with Vonage, but a problem with the network.  All voice packets went over the public network from the Vonage ATA to the Vonage servers, and this could add latency.  Comcast has the luxury to own a fast connection between the home and the server, so the latency is a lot lower.

 (More)

Technorati tags: , , , ,

Phone :: Comment (2) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

SNL/Steve Jobs on the iPhone

Paul Westbrook | 14 January, 2007 13:01

This is pretty funny:

[via TUAW]

Technorati tags: , , ,

Gadgets , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Alpine KCE-300BT

Paul Westbrook | 13 January, 2007 15:10

Kce-300BtI have mentioned that several car headunits that allow hands-free talking on your cell phone over bluetooth.  These usually were missing some feature that I wanted like, iPod controls, or satellite radio controls.

Now Alpine has announced the KCE-300BT.  This is an Ai-NET component that will connect to any of the newer Ai-NET compatible stereos, and allow you to have hands-free conversations on your Bluetooth cell phone.  The caller id information will appear on the headunit display.

Since most of Alpine's headunits are Ai-NET compatible, this will allow the hands-free functionality, with all of the other extra features that I want.

[via Engadget]

Technorati tags: , , , ,

Cars , Electronics , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (1)

iPhone Alternative?

Paul Westbrook | 11 January, 2007 08:50

Neo1973 Open Moko DialerA new line of Linux-based phones is scheduled to be available soon.  The Neo1973 is the first phone from this family of phones.  The GSM phone has a 640x480 touchscreen, and an A-GPS receiver. In addition to the standard applications, you can install new applications using an "application manager" interface.

They are expecting a follow-up model that includes both WiFi and Bluetooth.

I think that something like this has the potential to be a challenger to Apple's iPhone.

[via Razvan Antonescu's link blog]

Technorati tags: , , , , ,

Electronics , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

iPhone

Paul Westbrook | 10 January, 2007 20:19

IphoneSo yesterday Apple announced the iPhone.  Personally, I want this device, but before I would purchase this, I would want some questions answered:

  1. How much would the Cingular charge for the data plan?  Potentially this would use a lot of network bandwidth.
  2. How usuable is the UI with a the touch screen, especially without feedback?  I didn't like our Philips Pronto as a remote, as you really couldn't use it without looking directly at it.
  3. How are the mail account settings configured on the device?  I don't want this device to check all of the mail accounts that I have configured on my Mac, but only a subset.
  4. How durable is the screen?  I normally keep my cell phone in my pocket.  Will the screen get scratched?
 (More)

Technorati tags: , ,

Electronics , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Cell phone wish list

Paul Westbrook | 30 December, 2006 14:59

I have been using the Motorola E815 for a little over a year, and I have been pretty happy with it.  Recently there have been some annoyances, and some things that I haven't be able to do with it.  For example,

  • The E815 can not run the Gmail for mobile application or any other Java application
  • The built-in browser doesn't retain cookies across power cycle, so you have to re-enter usernames and passwords for web sites.

So now when I am ready for a new cell phone, these are the features that I want:

  • Java capable
  • Full Bluetooth support, including file transfer profile
  • Web client, with persistent cookies.
  • Full iSync support over Bluetooth
  • Camera with lens cover to protect against pocket lint.
  • Voice dialing capable.

Technorati tags: , , , , , , ,

Electronics , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

EV-DO and E815

Paul Westbrook | 17 May, 2006 23:30

In February, Verizon started allowing some cell phones to be used as broadband modems.  Unfortunately, they are not officially supporting the Motorola E815 for this. 

I tried the steps that I mentioned before to see if they increased the speed for all devices, even unofficially.  The download and upload speeds that I am seeing now is 112kbs/62kbs, which is faster than I saw when I first tried.  Though it does appear that Verizon is capping the speed, as there have been other users of the speed test tool that have had faster reported speed.

Speed Report Text

Speed Report Graph

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Computer , Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Verizon and EV-DO

Paul Westbrook | 07 February, 2006 01:54

Verizon is now allowing customers to use their cellphones a broadband modem.  They are supporting this on the LG VX9800 and VX8100 and the Motorola RAZR V3c and E815.

Officially Verizon is only supporting this when connecting to the phone with USB.  I haven't tried the Bluetooth connection since this change, so I don't know what the speed would be.  I will try it out when I get a chance.

[via Engadget]

Technorati Tags: ,

Phone :: Comment (1) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

more Speakeasy VoIP thoughts

Paul Westbrook | 03 February, 2006 04:08

We have been using Speakeasy VoIP for about a week now.  And I have been pretty impressed.  There are some interesting things that I have noticed.

  1. The voice that speaks the time that a voicemail is received is reporting the time in EST, even though we are in the Pacific time zone.  (Speakeasy is also located in PST, so I assume that who ever is providing their VoIP service is located in the eastern time zone.)
  2. Even though they are using the same Motorola VT1000 that Vonage uses, they have disabled the internal web server, and the NAT gateway.  It appears that they don't want customers to mess with the devices options, or even connect a computer to the LAN port.

Technorati Tags: ,

Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Switched to Speakeasy VoIP

Paul Westbrook | 27 January, 2006 21:01

Today, I finally switched to Speakeasy VoIP service.  I finally got upset about Vonage, as they decide to start blocking incoming phone calls that have CallerID blocked, without warning us.

The switch was very easy.  I just connected the ATA to a switch connected to my DSL modem.  Speakeasy had allocated a new public IP address for the ATA, so I didn't have to switch the configuration of my firewall.

 (More)

Phone :: Comment (3) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (2)

V Cast Video

Paul Westbrook | 29 December, 2005 10:56

VcastSince I enabled V Cast on my phone, so I don't have to pay for data access when I use my phone as a bluetooth modem, I wanted to check out what content was available with V Cast.  In their video selection, they have clips from several different news networks.  Also they have some clips from The Daily Show.  Our kids love the clips from Sesame Street.

I did find a "bug"  if you use a bluetooth headset, you can not get the audio played through the headset.  It will only play through the internal speaker.  I have not tried a wired headset.
 (More)

Phone :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Still problems with Vonage

Paul Westbrook | 02 December, 2005 18:09

I thought that I had fixed the problems with my Vonage phone line.  The same problems happened again today. 

I moved the Vonage ATA to the outside of my firewall.  I gave the ATA it's own public static ip address.  When I did this, everything works fine.  I think that there is some other port that needs to be opened for incoming connections, that is not specified in this document.
 (More)

Phone :: Comment (1) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (1)
Powered by LifeType
Design by Book of Styles