CUT YOUR PHONE CORD…AND YOUR INTERNET CORD!

Newest Wireless HSPA Internet Hubs Rock
Cutting the cord on landline phones, in favour of cellphones, may soon not be the only cutting going on.
Folks who get Internet via cable or ADSL may be cutting those cables too.
Why? Because of some pretty cool new technology from Bell and Rogers that is making fast Internet access easier, even possible in rural areas. Imagine downloading a 100 MB movie file in two minutes, wirelessly!
Rogers’ Rocket Hub, $149.95 with a plan, for example, is a cellular device in disguise. It looks like an upright modem with a power cord, four Ethernet connections and a phone plug. It uses Rogers HSPA network, like cellphones, for data-based wireless Internet from anywhere. Up to ten WiFi equipped computers (including four Ethernet cable desktop PCs) can access the Internet for email, surfing, gaming and more, at speeds equal, if no better to my current Shaw or Telus land connection.
You need to subscribe to a very reasonable data plan from Rogers, starting at $35 monthly for up to 3 GB, up to $60 for up to 10 GB. If you lowball your subscription, Rogers simply charges you the next level for going over for the month.
But it gets better.
You can plug any home phone into the Rocket Hub and talk and receive calls. You can port your home phone number to it and subscribe to a Rogers combo data-voice plan, starting at $50 for up to 3 GB data, unlimited local calling, voicemail, caller ID and call waiting.
Can your current home phone and Internet service beat that?
Rogers is selling the Rocket Hub for folks who live in fringe cellphone coverage areas with less capable and pricier Internet options. I think its for anyone who needs a “phone” and Internet package at a good price.
BTW, one GB of data get’s you 5,000 text emails + 1,000 web pages + 400 photo upload/downloads + 50 minutes on YouTube.
The MiFi 2372 from Bell, $99.95 with a plan, doesn’t have as many features but is ultra portable. It is rechargeable and works with up to five WiFi equipped computers. It comes with a USB cable and software to connect to desktop PCs too. The micro SD slot can hold up to 16 GB of memory as well. It doesn’t do voice (other than Internet based calls you run on computers) but you can carry it in your pocket wherever you go in Bell’s HSPA cell coverage area and have Internet access for computers and cellphones with WiFi capability.
The one downside to extreme portability for the MiFi is its data plan, considerably higher than Rogers, at $30 for 500 MB, $40 1 GB, $65 3GB and $85 5GB.

Which is faster? I tried both units from various parts of my home, as well as parking in different areas in town. Overall, I found the Bell MiFi to be a bit faster (maximum download speeds of 650 KB/sec versus 580 KB/sec.) The MiFi only dropped to 450 KB/sec when locked in my car’s trunk, parked inside my garage. Impressive. But the Rogers Rocket Hub did a better job of keeping connection speeds up, when hooking up several laptops with simultaneous downloads.
So, if you are not a hardcore Internet user, consider the convenience these unique hubs offer.
Both units come with pre-configured security, with passwords printed on the back or battery cover. After all, you don’t want your neighbours running down your data plan, do you?
For more information got to:
http://www.rogers.com/web/content/internet-mobile/rockethub
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/Novatel-Wireless-MiFi-2372/69136.details
Check my cellphone gift guide roundup in today’s www.edmontonjournal.com

CELLPHONE HEAVEN IN CANADA

Finally, cellphone heaven in Canada!

With this week’s launch of the Telus and Bell HSPA wireless network, Canadians can finally enjoy, not just a blazingly fast network, but a great choice of new phones, previously available outside Canada, even North America.

Also known as 3G+, the new network will show a doubling of performance to previous networks, all things being equal. Like faster media downloads, faster mapping programs and for HSPA “stick” models, faster browsing on laptops.

But, some explaining on how the HSPA works, is in order. HSPA phones will only work on the new HSPA network, pretty much covering what the older existing Edge network does.  In Europe, it will work with the growing HSPA network, and revert back to Quad Band Edge when not available.

This means when you go to a Telus or Bell store, you need to decide which network you want to be on. Your deciding factour will likely be based on the model phone. If you like the BlackBerry Storm for example and the yet-to-be officially confirmed Storm 2, you will have to forgo the HSPA network, which for a lot of folks is not a big deal.

But if you want HSPA for the fastest online experience, BlackBerry offers the new Bold 9700 available at  Telus and Bell. They will still appeal to current RIM fans with its improved keyboard layout, smooth touch pad instead of ball, faster processor and more memory.

But more choices of phone models with more operating systems, will make choosing the right phone challenging.

Some HSPA phones are exclusive to either cellco. The new LG New Chocolate from Telus, for example,  is exclusive in North America. This is not a phone for the timid. “This is the phone for the person who want’s to be noticed,” said Hilen Wong, director of director of Product Marketing at TELUS. It’s thin, narrow and long with a stunning 4.12” multitouch  touchscreen that shows full width web pages. The HD video play impresses.

Competition between cellcos now is good for the consumer, especially on the popular iPhone 3Gs which now availabe in from three cellcos.

TELUS and Rogers, offer cheaper (but less data and voice) than Rogers. This competition is opening the doors to cool new and cheap services for consumers. Bell is offering the Video Calling service for just 5$ per month, or included in several plans.  Users get Unlimited Video Calling with no data charges and it doesn’t come out of your voice minutes. Concurrently, Bell’s Facebook app  lets users receive video calls from friends from anywhere in the world. All they need is a Web cam. There is no cost to the friend and there are no long distance charges. Sweet.

Folkd who live in rural areas will be able to have affordable and fast access on their PCS, by tethering their HSPA phones for speedy Internet access.

Here is a brief rundown of the new HSPA phones I previewed with TELUS before launch this week.

HTC Hero – This new version leaps ahead where it left off in its Rogers version. It has seven panels to choose from with lots of smart widgets for more personalizing. Running on Google’s Android, it has everything at your fingertips and lets you take all the great things about Google in your pocket.

BlackBerry Bold  - This is an expensive phone , but it’s the  BlackBerry flagship.  It’s used by most of the RIM brass, with many big and small improvements that will likely be noticed and appreciated by current Bold users. The fret keyboard is slightly curvier and easier for most fingers (mosly thumbs) to hover over while the touch pad is awesome and looks like it will never break down. The screen is crisp and the battery life is longer. This is a fast phone that snaps on your command.   

LG New Chocolate – As mentioned above, this a fashion and geek magnet. Unusually long, thin and narrow, it’s awesome on HD movies, great full width web experience, and even has room for dual frame display when handling your email. Nice.

Nokia E-71 – Similar to Rogers version this smartphone is indeed clever, an example of Nokia’s craftsmanship, engineering and practicality. It features two home pages, one for office and a switchable home version, each accommodating the demands or work and play. It has a crisp screen, a well laid out QWERTY keyboard even fat fingers can use.

Sierra Wireless 306 Mobile Internet Key – You know what this does. Plug into your laptop USB, the built-in software installs and you now have fast Internet. It even accommodates micro-SD cards, currently maxing at 32 GB, for carrying your digital stuff around.  

BELL to come soon, as I get my hands on some of their phones.

BLACKBERRY HAS FEELINGS

The Storm senses physical orientation, automatically adjusting the screen to work best, as in the full QWERTY touch and tactile feel keyboard shown here.

This was an exciting week for BlackBerry lovers who secretly suffer from touch screen envy. The big surprise wasn’t that the new BlackBerry Storm (up to now, it was called Thunder) was out so soon, but that Canadian CDMA cellphone providers were carrying it.

 

This means that Telus and Bell have more clout than Rogers when it comes to getting the next hottest smart phone – even one from Waterloo-based Research in Motion – or that Rogers simply passed. What do you think?

The best news about the Storm to me was that it is a World phone with full GSM capabilities right up to 3G, so who cares who carries it? I know Rogers and Fido have a good thing going with being GSM, available even on the moon, but CDMA, for all its battery guzzling features, offer better quality voice. Did you know that the already impressive talk and standby time on the Storm is even longer when in GSM mode? You will actually get the best of both cellular worlds with the Storm.

Telus was first to announce the new Storm in Canada but it didn’t take long for Bell to play catch up with a “me too” release later in the afternoon last Wednesday. The two competing CDMA companies, who are also partners in implementing the 3G and future 4G infrastructures in Canada, got into a contest of sorts on who would be first to actually deliver the phone.

Like, who cares folks? They both will have it before Christmas, so what’s a week here or there?

The Storm will not have the two-finger pinch effect of the iPhone – that’s a killer patent feature for Apple – but it’s kind of funny that RIM is so going out of its way to make its touch screen Storm behave… like a real keyboard, with fewer touch mistakes. You will have to press a little harder once the letter highlights on the first touch to actually make that key work, accompanied by a tactile feedback sensation.

I hope the Storm gives a better HTML experience than previous BlackBerries that can’t play most of the online videos. Despite it being the newest gee-whiz RIM gadget, it should not sell for more than $200 (with a 3 year contract) if it wants to be embraced by everyday consumers. Don’t forget, it has a bigger screen but does not carry pricey items like a real keyboard, trackball or WiFi, the later being a let-down for me. Sure, I get a great deal with Rogers data plans, $25 for 500 MB, for my Bold (not long ago, Rogers would only give you 4 MB for the same money) but I find that in WiFi mode, the online experience is much faster than 3G cell mode.

Still, can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Google “BlackBerry Storm” for the online RIM, Telus and Bell sites. 

 

CTO can’t keep TV out. Hot phones coming to Canada

XEROX CTO LOSSES BATTLE WITH TV

Here’s a few tidbits from my recent trip with Xerox at the PARC research centre in Palo Alto, California. I quoted Xerox’s chief technology officer Sophie Vandebroek in my PARC tour story in the Edmonton Journal, but her most interesting comments came from our dinner the night before. Sure, the single and very determined single mother of three can handle the thousands of Xerox research minds with a $1.5 billion budget. But Sophie’s biggest challenge has been keeping TV out of her house. Despite her efforts to raise her children with wholesome family values, opting for reading, the outdoors and weekly family movie rental nights, TV has crept in her home via, you guessed it, the Internet.

“It’s impossible to keep TV away from a computer today,” said Sophie, a BlackBerry fanatic. “I even took the modem away a few times but the kids got back online with the neighbours’ wireless Internet connection.” The energetic Sophie who travels ten days a month and still has the curiosity of a child, can slacken the TV rules a bit now. Two of her children are college-bound. 

 

Check out my quick “workout” walking interview with Sophie at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg4Ee8VALxs

 

My Journal story on the PARC research was an organized event with lab managers from nine different projects. But the one that moved me the most was the Rare Cell Detection which oddly enough was presented by PARC administrator Nitin Parekh. Only when I asked to see the scanning device, did I meet the brains behind the project in a room tucked away in the farthest basement room. Dr. Richard Bruce who manages PARC’s biomedical systems research area and directs the Scripps-PARC Institute for Advanced Biomedical Sciences, was hard at work, forgoing all the media hoopla a few floors up. His comments, in my story, on what went through his head when the Rare Cell Detection project worked were moving.

 

HOT PHOTO PHONE

Rogers Canada announced the hot Nokia N95 5 megapixel cellphone. I tried one out at CTIA in Vegas last month and must say this multi-media phone with 8 GB built-in memory is one piece of engineering. It’s available on May 6 for $399.99 (ouch!) with a three year plan. I will write about it in next Saturday’s Journal comparing it to the 5 megapixel CyberShot camera phone from Sony Ericsson. Is it worth the money and can it replace your point-and-shoot digital camera? Check out the demo at: http://www.nseries.com/index.html#l=products,n95

 

iPHONE  IN CANADA

So, finally Rogers brings the iPhone to Canada, well not yet, but a deal has been signed. No doubt it’s a cool phone and I am surprised how many PDA users have converted to the iPhone. I still think its too nichy a phone for business. Got to see how it works in Canadian winters, closer to release date. Meanwhile, there are other touch phones from Samsung and LG I will be checking on before the iPhone is released here. One thing for certain. The iPhone will bring about the “all you can eat” fixed monthly plan, something Bell had until recently but I can’t seem to find anymore. Is it gone?

CTIA 2008…cellphone heaven!

I saw some great cellphones at CTIA 2008 in Las Vegas, but many of them won’t make it to Canadian cellphone providers. Samsung quietly showed more than half a dozen European models at the private Showstoppers event Monday night with sophisticated features like your own widget-dragging onscreen featured on the gorgeous SGH-480 and a cool morphing screen feature on the “Soul” slider that changes onscreen button functionality depending on what you are doing.

The Moto Rokr E8 which should be a no-brainer for Candian Cellcos, hides buttons that are not needed for specific functions. Like when pressing the music shortut, the numeric keypads go dark and the player control buttoms light up. The circular Omega wheel, ala iPod, allows you to quickly scroll through any lists in many apps. I bet you it will be out by this summer.

Sony Ericsson showed improved features on its Canadian “shake” phone. The W760 handset has all the smart moves and is a world phone to boot. You can control volumes, change to next or previous song strack or scramble the song play order, all by shaking the phone in certain directions. I have to hand it to Sony Ericsson. Just minutes before the CTIA Wireless 2008 show closed I ran into Sony Ericsson’s channel and product marketing analyst Farhad Esmail check out the competition at the LG booth. It pays to know your enemies! 

 Nokia announced a non-cellphone device, the N810 Internet Tablet WiMax Edition, a 4.13 inch horizontal ultra-sharp screen and ready for Internet connectivity and easy typing on a well layed-out slide-out keyboard. Nokia hoisted a bunch of us tech scribes strapped on a large platform 180 feet high. They called it the Nokia Internet Cafe in the Sky and I tell you, I had a tough time trying out the bolted  N810 with my feet dangling and little people far below. Nice idea for a product launch but this cafe only served up fast Internet, no coffee or dessert.  Check my self-shot stevoidstickcam video link on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/v/aSkKa2jNqBY“

I tried out Nokia’s soon to be released Maps 2.0 on a Nokia’s N95 8 GB 5 megapixel GPS slider phone. Its pedestrian mode kept track of my walks down the strip to meter-accuracy. I followed my virtual “bread crumbs” the program leaves onscreen to find out where I started from and it was bang on.

Pepcoms put son great technology showcases at major tech events, including the recent CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas. Not only did their mobile focules show serve up great technology but also an awsome martini ice bar…cheers! http://www.youtube.com/v/pjhLS2-oZU4 On the way back home from CTIA 2008 I was impressed with the frankness of a US Airways flight attendant who left me speechless. While she was explaining the ins and outs to me and fellow passengers about our required duties sitting on the emergency exit row, I jokingly asked her if there was a test to follow. Her reply: “No test, just a final exam and it will count.” Touche’

Check out my Edmonton Journal Story on CTIA 2008 cool gizmos I saw at  www.canada.com/technology

Cellphone News

 

TICKET ON A SCREEN

Your cell phone is now your ticket stub to Canadian concerts. Rogers in association with Live Nation, let’s you buy select seats for upcoming concerts using your cellphone. Any Rogers phone will work as long as it is WAP 2.0, MMS and SMS capable. Once you go online to the Rogers Music & Tones web site with your phone and order your tickets using a credit card, you get a confirmation text and picture message of a 2D bar code which is scanned at the concert site. You can even send that image ticket stub to any other carrier MMS capable phone for someone else to use instead. Currently only Simple Plan concerts in Canada are available with Rogers Wireless Box Office, with more performers to come. You also pay standard SMS and MMS rates as well as a $1.00 processing fee. No more losing or misplacing your concert tickets, unless you lose your phone! For more information go to: www.rogers.com

CTIA COVERAGE

I will be attending the big cellphone CTIA show this week in Vegas. The last time I was at a CTIA show, with some 60,000 active cellphones in one building, I couldn’t get a call out due to wireless networks limited capacity to handle the traffic. Ironic.

  

WHERE’S THE PHONE?

LG just launched its “First True Touch Phone” series In Canada, along with a survey that says:

•18 per cent of Canadians would like to touch the Stanley Cup (of this group, more men than women would be eager to do so, 24 per cent compared with 11 per cent).

•11 per cent would like to touch the Hope Diamond, and of those more are women than men (14 per cent compared with 8 per cent).

•When asked about forbidden items they would like to touch given the chance 29 per cent would have a hard time resisting freshly poured cement on a sidewalk. A nearly equal 27 per cent wouldn’t be able to resist the allure of the gleaming finish on an Aston Martin. Of those most attracted to the Aston Martin, the majority were men (34 per cent compared with 22 percent).

•Eighteen per cent of respondents wouldn’t be able to resist touching the hat of a guard at Buckingham palace, while 15 per cent would be tempted by a perfectly decorated wedding cake. And 11 per cent have to fight the urge to sneak in the touch of a nude sculpture in a museum.

I won’t tell you more about the phones since I haven’t touched one and you can’t buy them yet.

A Telus insider told me how frustrating it is when phone makers strut their new hardware before cellphone carriers have any in stores.

I wonder what the survey would say about how many Canadians would be disappointed if a new cutting-edge phone was “announced” but not available in stores yet.

Anyways, the currently “untouchable” phones will eventually be at Rogers, Bell and Telus shops. For more info go to: www.ca.lge.com.