Sep

8

Mobile observations in Cairo & Istanbul

Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile, Travel | Comments

I recently spent a week in Cairo and a week in Istanbul and I wanted to highlight a few of the things I noticed with current mobile trends in these two major middle eastern cities.

egyptnokia

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Cairo

  • By far, most people carry Nokia but the latest models are rare.
  • Most people are on prepaid accounts: data usage is charged per KB and texts are charged per sent/received instead of having a monthly allowance so people are overall careful with their usage.
  • I used local provider Mobinil while there – 3G coverage was widely available and speeds were great (even around the pyramids).
  • The iPhone is available on two local carriers (with MMS support) but considered very expensive.
  • Somehow even though Egypt is still behind on widely available and affordable broadband internet access, most people are on Facebook and actively using it (mainly through mobile access). Minimal Twitter use as far as I could tell.

Istanbul

  • Same as Cairo: saw mostly Nokia handsets being carried, a majority of which are Nseries devices.
  • I used local provider Vodafone Turkey and got ZERO 3G coverage the entire week (even though customer support told me to make sure I turned on 3G in the settings during activation). This was around the entire city and even some areas outside of city center.
  • The iPhone also available in Turkey on two carriers but along with BlackBerry’s not nearly as commonly used as here in the U.S.
  • Staying in a hostel, it was interesting to see everyone accessing Facebook & Gmail during downtime via laptops and sometimes their phone on the hostel’s WiFi.

Other Tips

If you have a GSM phone, travel frequently, and like to stay connected I highly recommend you unlock your device and use local carries like I did. Besides the iPhone, I believe most carriers will help you unlock a phone before you travel. The fact that prepaid accounts are the norm here and in some foreign cities makes it very easy to walk into any major carrier’s store once you arrive with your passport and within 10 minutes you have a newly activated SIM card. And you will avoid being charged “affordable” international roaming charges. When possible, just use Skype to make much cheaper international calls back home over WiFi (or 3G with some extra work on the iPhone).

I honestly don’t see the iPhone being a dominant device in Egypt and think it will take a while before it’s big in Turkey. This recent Fast Company article highlights Nokia’s efforts on how they plan to remain a leader in these global markets. What I witnessed in Cairo and Istanbul verified what I have always been hearing and reading about when it comes to their global dominance outside of the U.S.

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Oct

22

How To: Getting started with an unactivated T-mobile G1

Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile | Comments

As of right now, there still no quick way of unlocking or “jailbreaking” the T-mobile G1. But, it’s fairly easy to set up the phone to be used for everything besides making calls (unless a VoIP app becomes available in the future like the iPhone). I was able to purchase a G1 earlier today without signing up for a new 2 year contract with T-mobile (at the $399 price). The store manager was reluctant to sell it at first without a contract but finally agreed after some convincing. The fact that it didn’t look like the launch demand was as high as they thought it would be, definitely helped. It seems that the stores have been given specific instructions not to sell any G1’s without a new 2 year contract, at least until the first couple of shipments are sold. It’s a hit or miss.

The G1 was purchased for my company to use for testing purposes only, so we just wanted to be able to access all the phone features, apps, and internet browsing whenever connected to a nearby Wi-Fi network. And we did not want to get stuck paying for 2 years of monthly service to do so. Here are the steps we followed to get past the initial setup without having an activated SIM card. (Note: You will need a friends activated T-mobile SIM card for only a couple of minutes – data charges may apply.)

  1. Insert friends activated T-mobile SIM into G1 along with battery
  2. Power on and wait for setup screen
  3. Go through setup process to link any Gmail account
  4. Go to Settings > Wireless Controls > Wi-Fi Settings > Enable Wi-Fi
  5. Connect to nearby Wi-Fi network if one is available
  6. Optional: Stop the phone from syncing with Gmail account by going to Data Synchronization and unchecking Auto-sync, Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts
  7. Once done, take out friends SIM card and insert unactivated SIM that came with G1

If you already have T-mobile service, you should be able to pop your SIM right in and get going. You can also do the same with a G1 purchased from eBay and using a prepaid T-mobile SIM card. I doubt T-mobile will do anything to change this because you are paying full price for the phone! One other thing to note is if you would like to change the Gmail account in which the phone syncs with, a soft reset is necessary and you must follow these steps again. For a comprehensive review of the G1, check out Engadget’s hardware and software posts which are very detailed. Also, check out my colleagues initial thoughts on how Google is becoming more evil because of this.

If you know of any other ways, please leave a comment. I will also be keeping an eye out for unlocking instructions as they become available. Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr.

Update: Got linked to by Engadget and Gizmodo! Please see my comment below if you are confused about the difference between ‘unactivated’ and ‘unlocked’.

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Sep

26

Next iPhone Contestants: BlackBerry Storm and T-Mobile G1

Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile | Comments

It’s been approximately a year and 3 months since the iPhone was released here in the U.S. During that time, there has been lot’s of hype for competitor phones like the LG Voyager and the Samsung Instinct, but that’s all it was, hype. How many people have you seen carrying one of those phones today? Pretty soon, we will have two new contestants on the market…

The BlackBerry Storm is looking great and I like the sounds of the T-Mobile G1 running Android but both have major weaknesses. It’s too bad we can’t combine the strengths from both and make what I think would be the first real iPhone competitor to put out Apple’s fire. The iPhone is far from perfect, but I don’t think anyone else has yet been able to offer a package close enough to really compete.

Things I like about the BlackBerry Storm: great design, large screen, Verizon network, and 3MP camera.

Major flaws: no multi-touch, no application store (Update: Looks like there is plans for a BlackBerry marketplace which is great), won’t be easy to store/play music and videos.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with the BlackBerry OS (I would take it over Windows Mobile any day), but they still have not announced any plans to offer an open marketplace for third party apps. It will be more difficult since BlackBerry offers their devices on several carriers, but they need to do whatever they can to figure out a similar app solution quickly. It took them a while, but Google will soon have their own app market with some amazing apps like ShopSavvy, which will allow people to scan bar codes and compare product pricing information from their phones.

BlackBerry has always been very successful at targeting business users. The problem is the iPhone now handles the business functions BlackBerry users need while also providing the storage and features to playback hours of music and video, something BlackBerry needs to start doing. They may not have cared about this when they first started, but they need to suck it up and realize their market share will continue to get smaller if they don’t.

Otherwise, Blackberry clearly stepped up their game for the Storm. Everything from the teaser website to the flyer I got the other day in the mail is well done and actually has me looking forward to being able to play around with it. The fact that it will be available on a more reliable network is a major plus.

Things I like about the T-mobile G1: open source marketplace, free apps, and the ability to run multiple apps at once.

Major flaws: no desktop syncing app, no multi-touch, no internal storage for media playback, and no headphone jack.

This device looks like it was designed by geeks for geeks. The hardware design and user interface (from the pictures I’ve seen) is where it’s definitely lacking a polished look. An Ex-Google Product Manager even came out and said the design didn’t change in the 2.5 years it took to release the phone.

With a $180 price tag, many people are quick to automatically assume that cheaper will equal more sales, but I disagree. I don’t think I need to go into detail here, just think about why any high end brand does well. Most people just want a nice looking phone with cool functions and they will pay more if need be.

I attended an iPhone vs. Android iBreakfast event the other day and the general response was positive on how the mobile industry in general is advancing. Allowing developers to be creative has really begun changing the way people are using their mobile phone for things like travel, social networking, and commerce. You can watch the full T-Mobile G1 press event here, which will also give you a very good idea of what Android is about. Also, many more great examples of apps can be found here. It will be interesting to see how Android evolves on other handsets around the world and if more manufacturers will jump on board to support Google. If that happens, will Symbian and Palm just disappear?

Other Thoughts

It’s important to remember that when Apple announced the iPhone, they started a wave of innovation that has had a huge impact not just on the mobile industry, but also the marketing and advertising industries. Although there is not enough solid data yet, the responses we are starting to see and hear about from the brands and developers who have gotten on the iPhone early have been better than expected. One developer even made $250,000 in just two months from selling a simple game. Who could have ever predicted that?

I still recall being on the phone with the Verizon rep about a year ago while he was trying to convince me to stay with Verizon and consider the LG Voyager that wasn’t even available yet! I was still locked into a 2 year contract with Verizon at the time, but because I already had my mind set on the iPhone, I did what I needed to do to get out of that contract. If either the Storm of the G1 were as compelling, I would do the same.

I’d love to see just how many people left other carriers to get the iPhone. Now more than ever, I see the full benefit of why Apple keeps their product release details under strict secrecy and I think it really paid off for them more than ever with the iPhone. They gained a huge advantage in the smartphone market here in the U.S. How long do you think it will take before their fire is put out, if ever?

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Oct

9

Upgrade to Verizon Pearl or wait for unconfirmed Curve?

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Verizon Blackberry Pearl 8130I have had my Treo 650 on Verizon Wireless for over two years now and need a replacement. I am eligible to upgrade with the new every two and would like to get a new smartphone but my choices are slim as usual. It looks like Verizon is set to launch the Blackberry Pearl 8130 early November. I was a little skeptical about getting a Blackberry but I have lost all faith in Palm delivering an awesome new Treo with the Palm OS.

I need a new phone bad, not because I don’t like my Treo anymore, but because I am just getting tired of lugging the thing around. The iPhone would definitely be one of my top choices, especially since I am a Mac user, but I am unwilling to switch to AT&T for many reasons, most being obvious.

If I do go with the Pearl, it will be nice to go from a big Treo to a much smaller device, but I know I would miss having a full QWERTY keyboard. If the Curve was coming out at the same time, I would most likely go with the Curve because of the full keyboard, but I cannot wait any longer for a device that is only rumored to be coming to Verizon. I will not be using the Blackberry for a lot of email, but I do text a fair amount. My favorite things about the Treo are the Calendar, SMS, DocsToGo, Tasks, and Memos. The one thing I am hesitant about is the Blackberry’s not being touch screen which was essential to me when entering and editing text in the Palm’s calendar among other things. But I am sure with time, I will get used to navigating the Blackberry quickly with the trackball.

I would like to be able to sync all my info seamlessly with most importantly iCal and Address Book. Up until now, I have still been syncing my Treo with my old Windows desktop to save myself the headache of syncing it with the Mac. For Blackberry’s, it looks like my two software options for syncing would be PocketMac or The Missing Sync. After doing some research on the Blackberry and Crackberry forums, I found out that both have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to syncing and neither is perfect (at least yet). I am not too excited about most likely having to do a lot of trial and error to get everything to sync up correctly.

I will continue to keep an eye out for rumors and updates on the possibility of the Curve on Verizon and depending on the sources, I will make a decision once the Pearl is out.

Update: I bought an iPhone.

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