bioneural.net » gprs

Mac-friendly alternatives to Apple's 1G iPhone

Bruce — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:04:28 +0000

The iPhone has arrived in the US. Even if it were available in New Zealand I still wouldn't buy one. I'm happy to wait for the large beta-test program (i.e. 1 in 5 US adults) to refine the product first. That said, I've been looking for a way to converge my mobile devices (phone, PDA, iPod) for some time. Sadly the 1st generation iPhone does not look like the device to fill this need. Relative to other Mac-friendly alternatives it comes up uniquely short in a number of areas on my feature wish-list. But of course I haven't seen or held it in the "flesh", and it is only a 1G device—so I can't be overly critical. Or can I? Most of the pre-launch focus has been on iPhone's interface (not unimportant), but what about comparative features? It's clear that while the iPhone offers few unique features (iTMS DRM playback, bookmark syncing) it's also immediately apparent that, relative to comparable products, the iPhone has the most limitations. I've been a Palm user since 1999, owning a Palm V, an m505, and (currently) a Tungsten T3: I also use an ageing Sony Ericsson T610 and an iPod (1G deceased; currently an iPod Photo). It would be nice to carry around one device instead of three (ditto on the chargers); I had hoped that device might be the iPhone: So the iPhone has arrived. I posted on the perfect PDA + phone back in 2005—it still hasn't arrived. With Palm OS so obviously stagnating ...

Internet via T610 + Axim X50v on Vodafone UK

Bruce — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:22:26 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Use your T610 as a GPRS Bluetooth modem paired with an Axim X50v to send and receive SMS and e-mail, browse the Web, receive faxes, update WorldMate weather and currency rates, etc... Step 1: Linking to the Bluetooth modem Turn on Bluetooth on both devices and from the Today screen open Bluetooth Settings by tapping on the Bluetooth icon in the bottom right corner of the X50v screen. Make sure the Accessibility tab looks like this then tap (OK): From the Today screen open Bluetooth Manager by tapping on the Bluetooth icon in the bottom right corner of the X50v screen. Tap New and in the Bluetooth connection Wizard that opens tap "Connect to Internet via phone": In the next "Step 1" screen just tap Next to leave the default phone selection "Unknown, or phone not listed". The following "Step 2" screen is informative, so tap Next again. See an icon representing your T610? Good: Now tap the icon and enter a passkey at the prompt (e.g. a 1-4 digit number): When you tap Next your T610 should ask you if you want to add DELL AXIM X50 to My devices. Hit yes on the T610, enter the same passkey you just entered on the Dell, and push (OK). Eyes back to the X50v and you should see the following screen, asking if you want to make this your default connection to the Internet. I left this unchecked since I'll mostly be using WiFi (details here): Tap Next and then Finish. You should be taken to My ...

Visiting the other PDA platform (first 48 hrs)

Bruce — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 14:31:03 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Palm or Windows Mobile? I've been firmly in the Palm camp to date, but have just acquired a Pocket PC together with Missing Sync for Windows Mobile. This is not a review of the Dell Axim X50v, but rather a functional comparison with my Palm T3 from the point-of-view of a Mac user. How did a Palm user making a trial transition to Pocket PC fair when pairing the device with Mac OS X? For given applications and functionality, does Palm or Pocket PC have the winning edge? Will he or won't he become a "switcher"? First impressions count, so I decided to document my experiences during the first 48 hours with a Pocket PC. There will be plenty to revisit in subsequent bloggings... The outgoing Dell Axim X50v Now superseded by the X51v, Dell were having a 20% off clear-out of the previous model, now 1 year old. The hardware is the same aside from double the ROM. Buying direct saved £77 over Expansys (shop around!) and avoided having to fight it out on eBay for a similar price. It cost me less than a Fujitsu Siemens Loox 720 "Grade B" stock which seemed like a similar spec alternative. I chose a "Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Second Edition" device because Missing Sync (see below) doesn't yet support Windows Mobile 5.0 (free update pending); Dell has announced that there will be a WM5 upgrade for the X50v (not free), so I have options. The X50v doesn't match my recent wish-list, but then ...

Internet access via T610 to Palm on Vodafone

Bruce — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 14:22:48 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Use your T610 as a GPRS modem to send and receive e-mail, browse the Web, update WorldMate weather and currency rates, etc... This information is in part based on an e-mail I received from Vodafone Customer Care concerning pairing a Palm OS 4 device and and a Seimens S55 (click here). This is a modified walkthrough for the T3 (OS 5) and SE T610: it worked for me. Prepare your phone Let's assume you've already configured your phone for MMS and/ or WAP-over-GPRS e-mail/ web access—so you know you have a working GPRS service. You can active Bluetooth on the T610 by going to Connect > Bluetooth > Turn On. Tip: create a Shortcut for future use. You also need to make sure that the T610 can be "discovered" by another Bluetooth device. Go to Connect > Bluetooth > Options > Visibility and select Show Phone. Recap: You have GPRS working and the T610's Bluetooth turned on and discoverable. Prepare your T3 Maybe you've already played around with a Bluetooth PAN between your T3 and Mac, using it to share your Internet connection or to send files to/from the Palm to the Mac—so you know about pairing Bluetooth devices and how to activate/ deactivate the Bluetooth radio on the T3. Maybe not, so we'll go through pairing the T3 and T610 anyhow. Using the Prefs app, turn Bluetooth On, making sure the Palm is discoverable and connectable: Pair the T610 and T3 The Phone Link app on your T3 already included drivers for the T610 when it shipped. Open the Phone Link ...

Set up T610 for e-mail/ web on Vodafone UK

Bruce — Sun, 11 Jan 2004 16:44:01 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Send and receive e-mail from your POP/ IMAP account and browse the web using just your T610... Assumptions You bought a SIM-free T610 and have a Vodafone pay as you talk (PAYT) SIM card. You called Vodafone and asked them to activate GPRS for your account. Set up your T610 for Mobile Internet Use Vodafone's online configuration tool: http://wapota.vizzavi.co.uk/ This will send the settings to your phone as a text message (SMS). There are no manual instructions available for GPRS accounts (they are only for CSD/ GSM). What this does is create a new WAP Profile and Data Account for use with the "pp.vodafone.co.uk" APN, using these settings (on PAYT): WAP Profile name: Vodafone GPRS APN: pp.vodafone.co.uk User name: wap Password: wap Data accounts name: Vodafone GPRS IP address: 212.183.137.012 Some of these settings will be different if you are on contract (i.e. the APN you'll receive is "wap.vodafone.co.uk"). Does it matter? I don't know. Note: These settings are the same as you need for setting up Vodafone live! (MMS and other WAP services)—except for a different (but seemingly unimportant) WAP Profile and Data Account name. So if you've already set up Vodafone live!, you don't actually need to use this configuration tool: you already have the Mobile Internet! Although you are not limited to viewing WAP sites, most standard websites look bad and load slowly on a mobile phone. Dedicated WAP sites are written in a sub-set of HTML designed specifically for WAP phones called WML. Configure your T610's e-mail client On the T610 go to Messages > Email > Options > Edit account > ...

Set up T610 for MMS on Vodafone UK

Bruce — Sun, 11 Jan 2004 11:06:17 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

So you want to set up your new SIM-free T610 for picture messaging and other WAP-over-GPRS services on Vodafone UK? Assumptions You bought a SIM-free T610 and have a Vodafone pay as you talk (PAYT) SIM card. You called Vodafone and asked them to activate GPRS for your account. What is Vodafone live!? Vodafone promotes a "revolutionary new service" called Vodafone live! This is not a new technology, just the name under which several mostly-standard WAP-over-GPRS services are marketed—including picture/ photo messaging (which utilizes MMS; FAQ here). You don't need to have bought your phone from Vodafone in order to use picture messaging or any of the other live! services on offer. When you have set up picture messaging this will reset the homepage on your phone to the Vodafone live! homepage rather than to Sony Ericsson, giving you access to the Vodafone menu. When you are connected a little world icon will show that a GPRS session is in progress: Set up your T610 for Vodafone live! Use Vodafone's online configuration tool: http://mmsota.vizzavi.co.uk/ This will send the settings to your phone as a text message (SMS). There are also manual instructions available. What this does is create a new WAP Profile and Data Account for use with an APN for MMS, using these settings (on PAYT): WAP Profile name: Vodafonelive! APN: pp.vodafone.co.uk User name: wap Password: wap Data accounts name: Vodafonelive! IP address: 212.183.137.012 Message server: http://mms.vodafone.co.uk/servlets/mms Some of these settings will be different if you are on contract (i.e. the APN you'll receive is "wap.vodafone.co.uk"). Does it matter? I don't know. Note: These settings are ...

Paring a SE T610 with a Mac (Bluetooth)

Bruce — Tue, 06 Jan 2004 06:47:33 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Info that isn't in the User Guide... First, pair the Mac and phone Use the Bluetooth Setup Assistant in /Applications/Utilities/ to pair the T610 with your Mac. Just follow the wizard's self-explanatory instructions: You will also need to follow the corresponding instructions on the T610's screen when prompted: That's all there is to it! Synchronize contacts and calendars When you set up pairing between the T610 and your Mac as above, you had the opportunity to add the newly-discovered T610 to iSync, Apple's contacts and calendar synchronization software (an integral feature of Mac OS X). With synchronization enabled, any editing you do in Address Book or iCal will be transfered to the T610 next time you click Sync Now: Likewise, if you edit this data on the phone, the changes will be reflected in Address Book and iCal. Tip: If you don't want all your contacts on your phone, create a contacts Group "Handy". Handy is the German word for mobile phone—but the double-meaning here is that you can use this Group to keep certain phone numbers on hand. Get files from the Mac to the phone Use Bluetooth File Exchange (/Applications/Utilities/) to send pictures, themes, software, and MIDI ringtones to your phone. Tip: If you put Bluetooth File Exchange in the Dock, you can send files to the phone simply by dragging them from the Finder onto the BFE icon and letting go A progress window will pop up in the OS X Finder; you will need to accept the file on the T610 to start the transfer: Get files from the ...

Pairing a Siemens S55 & Palm on Vodafone UK

Bruce — Sat, 29 Nov 2003 15:27:00 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

So you have a Siemens S55 on Vodafone UK, enabled for GPRS and Bluetooth. Just use the Phone Link app on the Palm T3 and you'll have them talking the same language in no time, right? Err, no actually... Using Phone Link to choose the pre-configured Vodafone UK GPRS option (Network Service), and a Bluetooth connection to your S55 (Phone Connection) doesn't work—assuming you have correctly enabled GPRS on the S55 and Bluetooth on both devices. The following "how to" is courtesy of Vodafone UK Customer Care. The Palm instructions are for an OS 4 device I think, but they still make sense on the T3 under OS 5. I was able to establish an Internet connection by manually setting the "Bt to Siemens S55" (for Bluetooth) and the "Ir to Siemens S55" (for infrared) connection settings (as pre-configured on the Palm, as an alternative to "IR to Phone" as below). The Siemens instructions are likewise for the SL55, but the menu structure seems identical to that of the S55: The Palm side Tap the Home icon (the round icon at the bottom of the screen with a house on a white background). Tap the downwards-pointing arrow in the top-right of the screen and select All from the drop-down list. Tap on the Prefs icon. This will bring up the Preferences screen. Tap the downwards-pointing arrow in the top-right of the screen and select Network from the drop-down list. Tap Preferences (top-left of screen). Tap on the field to the right of Service and enter Internet (use upper- or ...