Archive for category Mobile
Getting Connected, Staying Connected
Posted by Rex Pechler in Mobile on April 29, 2008
So, I’ve been using a Sprint Mobile Broadband card (it’s actually through a reseller: Millenicom – great deal btw), for awhile now. I use it in the car, by the beach, in my hotel room, and actually quite often in class – because unfortunately CruzNet (the UCSC WiFi network) is definitely not ubiquitous on campus, even in Engineering classrooms and other lecture halls. Now, this might be intentional (to "help" students focus), but frankly I find it quite frustrating… because I’m much less likely to go to class at all if I’m going to be sitting there, fidgeting, trying to force myself to pay attention. It’s not all the time, but I guess you could say I’m addicted.
Anyway, so I’m sitting in this lecture hall right now, and I keep getting disconnected from WiFi, and my Sprint card won’t stay connected either. It’s such a PITA. I can’t wait for WiMax, or whatever. Obviously, I’m not holding my breath, but it feels like I’m treading water, waiting for the WiMax rescue boat.
When’s it gonna happen?
Blogging from the iPhone
I’ve been looking for a way to blog from my iPhone, especially because I wasn’t having much luck with the WP-mail plugin that allows you to post by email.
Anyway, I’m writing right now on my iPhone using a plugin called WPhone, which you can find here: http://wphoneplugin.org
You can now expect a lot more posts from me here!
Facebook for iPhone… Still Incomplete
Posted by Rex Pechler in Mobile, Web on January 3, 2008
I just saw a post by Robert Scoble, where he mentions the iPhone interface for Facebook that Joe Hewitt created. Facebook for iPhone looks pretty slick, I’ll admit that. But it is also missing a ton of essential features.My top wishlist / feature requests:
- Commenting on photos
- Edit Profile info
- Message people from their profile
- Groups
These are all things that don’t work on the current iPhone interface, but seem like a serious missing feature. Now, I’m not sure who to point my finger at, but I’m disappointed that there’s been no apparent improvement to the iPhone interface since it was released about 6 months ago.
Sprint XOHM Will Soft Launch “In A Few Days”
Posted by Rex Pechler in Found, Media, Mobile on December 5, 2007
I spent a lot of time searching for a mobile broadband card that I could get without a contract (I found Millenicom, a Sprint reseller charging $50/mo). Anyway, the reason I wanted a card without the normal 2 year contract is because of the upcoming XOHM service from Sprint. This will be a nationwide WiMax network… and it’s set to launch in early 2008. Just read the below article at Techmeme, and it looks like XOHM is coming sooner than we thought. Seems like a perfect network for the Google Phones.
Sprint Nextel will soft launch its XOHM WiMax network in the next few days according to Bin Shen, VP of Product Management and Partnership Development. Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore will all go live at soft launch, and though Shen did not discuss what devices would be available, a number of data cards have been tested on the network. XOHM will officially launch in the second quarter of 2008 as will several laptops with WiMax embedded in them. Later in the year a number of special purpose devices will launch, as will dual-mode CDMA / WiMax handsets.
from: Sprint XOHM Will Soft Launch “In A Few Days” (Phone Scoop)
My iPhone Won’t Turn On
Posted by Rex Pechler in Mobile, Personal on October 8, 2007
So my battery got low yesterday afternoon. I was away from home and didn’t get to charge it until after dinner. It wouldn’t turn on, so I plugged it in. It still wouldn’t turn on, even after 10 minutes. I tried doing a reset unplugged, plugged into my MacBook Pro, and plugged into the wall adapter… all to no avail. I left it plugged into my Mac all night and it’s still dead. I googled “iphone won’t charge”, “iphone won’t turn on”, but it looks like no one else is having this problem.
I decided to call Apple iPhone support (1-800-MY-IPHONE) this morning, and talked with a nice woman named Christina. She had me try a couple resets again, and was surprised that didn’t work. I’m back at school in Santa Cruz without my car now, and it would take a bus and a train to get to the nearest Apple store, so I opted for repair by mail. She offered a temporary service phone for a $29 fee which I agreed to because it “may take up to 10 days” to get my phone shipped back. Oh, and the ’service phone’ is an 8GB iPhone… =D
Anyway, although I’m not too excited to not have a phone for a day or two, this repair service so far sounds pretty convenient.
Update: Apparently they couldn’t fix my phone (?!) so I got a brand new one. Maybe they couldn’t tell that I had installed AppTapp and a bunch of other apps and messed around a bit (I didn‘t ever unlock it though). Anyway, they send me a brand new phone, and it was all very easy. What other phone makes you want to plug it in to your computer all the time so you have a complete backup? Seriously… All I had to do was swap out the SIM and it was like I had my phone back again! Thanks Apple!