AGiLE ANiMAL™

My First Phone

Do you remember your first phone - I remember mine. It was 1998 and ClearNET only had one phone at the time - the SONY (ClearNET Branded) CMB1207CNT0.

It had this awful black neoprene “Body Glove” case and I would wear it on my belt.

I am embarrassed just thinking about it.

It was the way to communicate back then.

Only my friends from the University had email, computers were still thousands of dollars and 14.4 was considered a fast connection to the internet. It was a world without Facebook and Twitter, there was very little digital photography (never mind camera-phones that shot high def movies) and if you wanted to communicate with someone you called them on the phone.

Caller ID was special back then. SMS was just becoming popular.

At that time, if I am not mistaken, the only carrier with SIM cards was Fido and it would be years before even GPRS data was available. (Although I do remember the GPRS revolution starting with a Sony phone too - the T68i - but that is another story…)

My iPhone 4 and Nexus One simply can’t imagine that world. It is distant and foreign like a place from a book you’ve read about but not seen.

The Phone is Dead

Lets face it, the phone is dead.

Asynchronous communication such as email and SMS work better in some situations and video calling works better for everything else. (Can you imagine how technology like “FaceTime” on phones and Skype on TVs is going to change how we communicate? You will call your TV from your phone to tell your kids that you are on your way home from the office.)

Already I only use a phone to call someone when there is no other option. If I want to talk to you I’d like to see your face. If email or SMS will do (or are needed so that we both remember the conversation) then I’ll use them.

The writing has been on the wall since the Jetsons. Saturday morning cartoons have had video based communications as long as I can remember. For a generation that grew up with them it is only natural. My son won’t know a world without video based calling.

If the Phone is Dead, then Who is the King

Right now, Smartphones. But they will need to change if they are going to make it. Especially the display technology.

Everyone is walking around with larger and larger screens in their pockets. It is ridiculous. The Dell Streak for example - to big to fit in a pocket, too small to replace anything but your phone.

Fine, the Smartphone is the Steward, but Who is the King

I think we are going to see devices like the iPad (with a front facing camera) replace at lot of phones in houses. Skype on TVs will do the rest.

But that is at home, what about mobile?

Devices will get smaller once screen technology improves. I expect two solutions: heads-up-displays in glasses and bendable displays. There will be some sort of video over Bluetooth technology where the screen could be a peripheral. That could give way to some gesture based technology but I think more that likely there will a some sort of configurable interface device that will keep in our pockets or on our wrists.

At this point I think the limit is simply imagination.

Because when I think back to my childhood and I think about the coolest possible communication device that I could imagine back then - and then I reach into my pocket and pull out an iPhone 4 - I am holding something better than I imagined.

Rogers 3G/3.5G runs on 850/1900

No matter what people tell you about phone compatibility, you need both bands to be sure you will get full coverage. Full details on the GSMA website.

If you poke around you’ll see that Rogers also owns some 1700 spectrum. It is not in use at this point in time.

Also, the GSMA seems to think that Fido operates their 3G on 2100 but I am under the impression that this is not the case - they use 850/1900 just like Rogers.

The Punchline

If someone is trying to sell you an unlocked phone and you want to use it in Canada it needs to have the 850 and 1900 bands.

The Nexus One WiFi Issue

I read an article on BGR on users reporting WiFi issues with the Nexus One.

I actually am experiencing the issue - so let me provide some insight.

The Problem: Reconnecting to WiFi

When the Nexus One goes to sleep (turns off it’s display) the default behavior is to disconnect from WiFi - I assume to save power. When you wake the device back up it is supposed to connect to your WiFi network automatically. The problem is that this never happens.

The Nexus One gets itself into a state where is disables reconnections to the WiFi network and won’t try to connect again unless prompted: this can include rebooting, turning WiFi off then on again, or telling it to connect to the network.

Part of the issue seems to involve leaving the home-screen before WiFi connects. Could be coincidence - not sure.

Another potential coincidence is that I don’t seem to experience the issue at my office. Pretty much the same WiFi both places though, Apple AirPort Extremes. The only difference might be Airport versions.

This is Actually a “New” Issue

What do I mean by that? The Nexus One in question is actually my second and my original Nexus One did not exhibit this behavior. It would connect to WiFi without prompting.

This doesn’t mean it is hardware related. But it could very well be. Equally likely that a firmware issue can fix it.

The Solution

There isn’t one at this point short of installing a 3rd party app that reconnects you once your WiFi drops out.

Hope Google gets to the bottom of this one soon.

UPDATE

It appears to be a chipset issue after all involving the WiFi sleep mode and certain routers. It is also the case that it should be fixable in software.

Dear Steve,

(I hope it is okay that I call you Steve.)

My iPhone 4 works great. Better than advertised, actually. Not sure what the big fuss is about.

You don’t need to buy me a bumper.

Thanks for continuing to innovate.

Mark