This is the age of true mobility

Today is launch day for the Android G1, the first of what will be a series of Google phones. Some early reviews have been out, but only now can we see what the market thinks of it.

Early reports seem to indicate that sales are good, but not great. It’s understandable as this first phone is restricted to T-Mobile, and the company is only selling them in 3G markets, which currently is 22 US areas.

As for the phone itself, it’s a very impressive device. It’s made by HTC, which is one of the oldest smartphone manufacturers. The hardware is solid, it has a real keyboard, a large screen, a touch screen, and a 3MPx camera.

On the connectivity side, the phone supports both EDGE and 3G, although the T-Mobile network is not yet providing 3G in many places. It also has Wi-fi, and USB syncing. The USB port is also used to connect headphones.

The Google OS itself is also very nice. It uses a clean, icon based interface, with all the usual features a phone should have, such as a calendar, media player and messaging functions. It also ties in directly to your Google account with full integration with Gmail and other Google services.

Where the phone breaks down a bit is on software support. While there is an applications store, and people can download addons and gadgets from the web, there are few available, for now at least. As for the applications on the device, they seem bare bone in some respects, and could use more work. This should change soon, as developers start coding for this open source platform.

The obvious comparision to be made is with Apple’s product. However, I would say that overall this phone has a different audience than the iPhone. While the iPhone is a great media player, and an easy to use phone for the masses, Android is the open solution, aimed for the more advanced user, the people who pass the iPhone and want something more.

The wait has been long, but now that the summer is almost over, the Blackberry Bold is starting to get out of the door. As the latest smartphone from the leader in enterprise mobility, the Bold from RIM is expected to be a huge step up over previous models and may end up being the smartphone of 2008.

Since January we’ve had various leaks, showing deployment plans, pictures and stats. During the summer, RIM launched its presentation site, in the usual full multimedia style. Some of the new features includes an improved interface, a 2MPx camera, Wi-fi, 3G and full multimedia support.

The phone finally launched last week on Rogers at $399 with contract, and will be coming to AT&T in the US at the end of the month. Reviews have started to appear everywhere, along with lots of photos. Overall, it seems the Bold lives up to its promises, and is amonst the fastest Blackberries to date. Its new user interface is also very intuitive and well done.

While it may not have the visual appeal of some other smartphones, the Blackberry Bold is exactly what RIM needs to stay the leader in business phones, and based on early hands on reports, there’s no reason to think this will change.

In yet another display of cutting down bandwidth, there are now reports that Telus, which has been providing an Unlimited data plan for some time now, is trying to force contract customers who use more than 5GB down to a 1GB service plan. Following many others before, it probably won’t be the last.

They are using a rule in the contract that says no streaming media is allowed, and applying it to YouTube, Flash, and any type of streaming download. This is, of course, ridiculous, as most web sites on the Internet have some type of multimedia. The reason is that they want to cut down on downloads, and keep adding more people without upgrading their equipment, or said simply: Greed.

It’s the same story as the scandal that went on with Comcast throttling P2P users, Rogers putting up very strict limits for the iPhone release, and so on. They are all symptoms of the same basic problem, which is the fact that western Internet and cellphone providers (usually the same companies) typically refuse to invest in their networks to allow for future growth, and instead prefer short term profits.

Compared with some providers in Asia, such as Korea, who have been investing for years, we now see why there is such a big difference in download speeds and available bandwidth. Nothing will be solved until either customers push the companies to change their greedy behavior, or governments step in.

Now that the iPhone App Store (along with iPhone 3G) has been out for over a month, there are many sites out there that decided to list and review apps. Should you get that $15 app or is the one at $6.99 good enough? I’ve been checking them out, and here I’ll list the most useful ones. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch you may find those interesting to bookmark.

The first link is the official one, the Apple App Store page. There’s not much to say about it, the directory lists the most popular ones, with the price and the official description. It’s not a complete list, since it only lists the top 10 in every category. It also does not offer reviews.

A user-created site is AppRater, which does include reviews, but has a somewhat difficult navigation. It allows users to include apps so there is no guaranty of what the site will be telling you.

The obviously named iPhoneAppReviews site provides very long and detailed reviews on a series of apps, with ratings. The apps are picked by the site, but people can request that they review a specific app.

The last site I’ll mention is the iPhone Application List which provides another list of apps for you to check out, along reviews, and very big screenshots. The site also provides many ways to share the reviews.

The common words from iPhone users is that the Apps Store is the best thing that firmware 2.0 brought them. There’s really no reason to not try out all the free apps and maybe some paid ones. One mention however is that some people have experienced increased unstability with their phones when many apps were installed. There’s 2 tips that usually seem to improve this: First, do a hard reboot and format the phone if need be, and second, make sure you install your apps via iTunes and not over the air, this also seems to cause issues for some. Have fun playing with your apps!

The first HTC phone based on the Google Android platform is starting to get noticed. It doesn’t have anywhere near the hype that other phone from the company in Copertino had, and it’s sort of too bad, since Google has the money and influence to create that type of hype if they wanted to.

As far as technical features go, it will be from T-Mobile, and be a similar form factor than the iPhone, with a large touch screen. The usual will be found, including maps, video and music player, wifi and 3G. It is set to launch before the end of the year.

It’s too bad that it’s taking phone manufacturers so long to adapt to the new market, and that none of them manage to get anywhere near the market hype as Apple does. In this world of colors and glamor, something that’s become as mainstream as a cellphone has can’t push a device based on features. That’s just not what the mass market is looking for. Cuteness, pretty colors, a large screen, an easy interface and an attention-grabbing marketing campaign is where it’s at. That’s what sells, and whoever is the best at those things, will win the gold.

Download caps is something we’ve had to live with for a long time in this country. My cable Internet provider imposes a 20GB download limit, and every cellphone provider in Canada imposes ridiculous limits on standard contracts in the order of 5MB, 20MB or at the most 100MB. The problem, obviously, is that as web sites become more complex, they take more space, and as more services start appearing online, such as video streams and Peer to Peer (P2P) transfers, people need to use more bandwidth.

The big issue is how network providers want to make as much money as they can, and spend as little as they can. They refuse to upgrade their pipes to allow more bandwidth through, and as such view anyone who wants to use more than the average as a threat to their profits. The rational they give is always that a few people abuse the network and it impedes on others, but the fact is those few are not so few anymore, as plenty of people now watch media streams like YouTube, or download using P2P.

The troubling part is that lately, everything we see in the news has been going the opposite way of what should be happening to satisfy those growing bandwidth needs. Caps are not going up, they are coming down. While they are common here, in the US many ISPs had none, and are now adding them, with some going as far as saying people should only use 5GB per month!

When they are not capping people, they are putting in equipment that monitors the use of their network and then throttling, or degrading, the connections of people who use certain applications, such as VOIP software (like Skype) or P2P transfers. Comcast was famous for degrading BitTorrent and recently got reprimended by the FCC for doing so. When they aren’t throttling, some providers go so far as treatening to disconnect users who decide to use certain applications on their network.

Net neutrality says the Internet should be free from interference by the providers. It means whether you use a cable link, DSL or dial-up, wherever you are in the world, you should be free to use any lawful network application you want. Every month, new restrictions are put in place by companies, and the network is less and less neutral. The real goal of the providers is to make the Internet like TV is: A series of approved web sites, those who pay the various providers for exposure, for a flat fee, and any other web site would be blocked and unavailable, unless each user pays extra for access to more sites. All I can say at this point is it’s a sad trend, and hopefully people will speak out enough so that net neutrality can be restored.

Friday, July 11. For most people, it’s a friday as any other. For Apple fans, however, it’s the big day. iPhone 3G release day. People are lining up to the store fronts, and talking about it on blogs and forums. There’s also the controversies, such as contract lengths, data plans, text messages, and other such details.

Meanwhile however, the world keeps turning. The fact remains that Apple only has 11% of the smartphone market, with RIM leading at 42%. So what are the other guys doing? There’s actually a lot of innovation and new interesting releases coming soon.

The first obvious thing is that companies have noticed what Apple has done. It’s obvious with all the new phones with the word “touch” in them. One of the most popular ones is the HTC Touch Diamond which just got updated. Samsung also has a popular device with a nice large touch screen called the Instinct.

Nokia in its usual way releases new smartphones every few months, with the N96 being the hot toy right now. On the business side, Blackberry has it’s Bold phone. CNet has a nice video review of some of these. And interestingly enough, it seems pretty much all of the manufacturers also got the idea that full screen, heavy multimedia web presentations is the way to go to advertise their devices.

As far as features go, again things have improved. 2-3MPx cameras used to be the norm a year ago, now most new smartphones are expected to have a 5MPx camera, usually with flash and auto-focus. Advanced image and video handling is also standard, and a full featured web browser is of course part of the standard features.

Wi-fi and 3G are also no longer things found only on a few models, and even FM radio chips are becoming a typical feature that many devices now throw in, just because. Most smartphones have either a touch screen, or a full QWERTY keyboard, with some models having both.

The smartphone market is very active and the road ahead is really exciting, with most device makers doing extra efforts to innovate and provide more to the customers. Unfortunately the network providers are still in the dark age, and that’s something Apple hasn’t managed to change (why, oh why didn’t they release an unlocked phone in the first place) with companies charging per text message, having capped data plans, and charging ridiculous fees. Thankfully with wi-fi becoming more ubiquitous it’s less of an issue, but that’s one area that could use some of that Apple influence right now.

So, the Apple WWDC happened on Monday, and the iPhone 3G was announced, as everyone expected. Many of the predictions came true, some didn’t. One thing is for sure, a lot of confusion remains, and some information is still unknown, or at least only partially known. Here I will try to hopefully dispel any of the misinformation, and remove some of the confusion about what was announced, and what remains to be seen.

First, 3G. The phone has high speed connections, and is now worthy of being called a 21st century phone. It was also a requirement for Apple to sell this phone in many other countries, because let’s face it, many countries expect all their phones to be 3G. One thing to remember obviously is that 3G mostly applies to data, not calls. So that’s mostly useful if you are a heavy web user over the cell network, or want to download videos and such.

Then, there’s GPS. That one was predicted on blogs by many people, but some were skeptical. The main issue people bring up with GPS is battery life. For those who watched the keynote, Steve Jobs showed a slide with the battery life times for talk, data, web browsing, and so on… and then he started talking about GPS. It’s likely that this was intentional, because GPS will probably be a heavy hit on battery life.

The form factor stayed very similar. The phone looks very much like iPhone version 1, except for a few minor details. The back is made of plastic, and that’s probably to improve the reception. It may scratch more easily, but it’s probably a good decision since talk quality is more important in the end. The headphone jack is also fixed so all headphones fit, finally!

Firmware 2.0 is also a big deal. Enterprise support, while it may have seemed boring during the keynote, is actually very important for Apple. The main reason people stay attached to their business phone is because of Microsoft Exchange support. Now the iPhone will be just as wired as any other phone, and that will bring in a lot of new customers. The App Store is also a nice addition, and so is the new Mobile Me service.

The biggest surprise came when Steve announced the price. At $199, it’s a big price drop. The original iPhone started at $599, then dropped to $399, and the iPhone 3G is going to be $199. Now the picture is more complex than that. For example, the contract with AT&T will require a more expensive 3G plan, which if counted over 2 years, will bring the price higher than the original iPhone. However, you do get 3G, so it’s still worth it. Compared with some other AT&T plans, such as the Blackberry ones, it’s cheaper.

Finally, the part where we don’t have all the informations is on how the transition will go for people who have a current iPhone and who want to upgrade. What we do know is you will be able to keep your phone number and SIM card. In fact, AT&T will provide a tool to switch your SIM from the old phone to the new. However, you will have to take a new 2 years contract. We know they will force people to activate phones in the stores, so it’s not known if things like Jailbreak will still work.

In the end, is the new iPhone worth it? It depends. Many current iPhone users will line up on July 11, and buy the new one. Apple will get a lot of new customers too with the new features, both in hardware and in software. I personally won’t be getting one, even if Canada is getting the iPhone (along with 22 countries, 70 before the end of the year) for several reasons. First I’m not a fan of contracts. There are rumors that the phone will be available without a contract, but no one knows in which countries yet (not the US, that’s for sure) and rumors say it will cost $800. Comparatively, my $250 Nokia E51 does everything the iPhone does, albeit it doesn’t look as cool and doesn’t have nearly as big a screen. I’m also not a big fan of on-screen keyboards, but that’s a personal preference. I do admit the iPhone is looking better and better, and Apple is now truly a big contender in the field.

Every mobile enthusiasm has it. The itch to buy that next smartphone. To get the latest and greatest as soon as it comes out. I used to have it to. When I had my N73, I wished it would have wi-fi. I waited eagerly for the next, better phone to come out, that would be the perfect phone and have everything I need, in the form factor I want, at a decent price.

Every smartphone I had, I knew I would be upgrading it, sooner or later. I hoped sooner, because that meant a better mobile experience sooner. It’s not for no reason that at every new release, even at every rumor of a possible sighting of a phone that may someday be released, there’s thousands of forum posts, blog entries and discussions started. Everyone dreams of their own little version of the perfect device.

But now, I don’t have the itch anymore. Ever since I got my E51, I haven’t thought about upgrading, or that I may even want to upgrade someday to some new product. If you read my previous review you can see that I gave it a perfect score, and I still stand by it. For me it was and still is my dream phone. The perfect form factor, with every feature that I need, without any extra bloat, or anything to bring up the price past a very reasonable amount.

Now of course I still follow the threads, the discussions about new releases, and I see the new technologies being implemented, but I just don’t have a need for it. This isn’t to say I won’t ever upgrade to a newer phone, because as we all know, 640K of RAM isn’t what everyone will ever be needing in a PC. But now I hope it won’t be for several years. I don’t feel any part of this smartphone could be different or better. The itch is gone.

If you’ve been reading here before, you may know that I’m not a fan of cellphone contracts. Well a local TV program exposed yet another way network providers are trying to get every cent out of users’ pockets: the scam called “Network Service Fees”. You may be familiar with it if you have a contract, it’s that line on your bill that says fees or network access, or something like that, and usually is not a small amount.

Here it can easily be a $7.50 surcharge on a $25 monthly contract. The way it’s worded, you may think, and most people do, that it’s some type of government tax. That’s what the show investigated, and it turns out that’s not the case. Simply look at the full terms or contract on your provider site, and you may find out what these fees really are.

For all four providers here in Canada, these fees include simple things like network maintenance, providing service to rural areas, expending their campaigns, providing services of various types, basically, their day to day operations. It’s just as if your bill included lines saying they have to pay for heating, marketing, and so on, and charge you extra for it. Operating cost is something every business has. It has to be included in the base cost, not charged as some type of extra.

The most ridiculous charge is the “911 surcharge” which, at least here in Canada, can cost $0.90 per month per customer. Yet when asked, the Police department said that only the land-line providers pay them a tax for the 911 service. Cellphone providers do not. So that charge is completely false. What they actually mean is that you pay a surcharge to your network provider so THEY will agree to connect you to the 911 service if you ever need it.

The program ended with the funniest thing of all this. There’s a new virtual provider starting up in the region called Koodo Mobile who spends a lot of marketing dollars boosting that their service has no extra charge of any type. Yet who owns Koodo Mobile? Telus, one of the big Canadian providers charging these fees.