The mobile phone system

Mobile user.
Handoff problems.

Extremely-mobile roving user (compare with semi-mobile user of wireless LAN).

• Mobile phone standards
  • GSM
  • CDMA (and here)
  • 2.5G
  • GPRS (and here)
  • EDGE (Enhanced GPRS)
  • I-Mode (and here)
  • 3G (and here and here)
  • 4G

• Data transmission on the mobile phone network.

• SIM cards

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WAP mobile phone

Can browse the Web, sort of.

Public domain image from here.

• GPRS (and here) - "2.5G" - dialup speeds, e.g. O₂ offers up to 53 k bps

• WAP (and here)
• WML

• Limitations of WAP

• Google translates HTML to WML on the fly, so WAP users can view the Web, sort of.

• My links for my mobile phone (simple GPRS phone) shows how to view HTML pages, and how to make a phone number clickable.

Web access on a WAP phone will look something like this.
Quite difficult to use, but ok if you want to look up something quick.
Public domain image from here.

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Smartphone / PDA / Pocket PC

Medium to high speed Internet through 3G when roaming.
High-speed Internet at Wi-Fi hotspots.

XDA Exec (and more images).

• 3G (and here and here)

• 3G speeds in Ireland
  • HSDPA high-speed 3G, up to 7.2 M
  • I have seen 5.7 M on O₂ Ireland. Has anyone seen 7.2 M?
  • speed tests
  • mobile speed tests

• PDAs
  • Handheld PC
  • Tablet PC
  • Pocket PC
  • Smartphone

• Operating System
  • Windows CE (also here)
  • Windows Mobile

• Web browser
  • Microbrowsers
  • Pocket IE - Browse the web on PDA running Windows Mobile.
  • Opera Mobile - Browse the web on PDA running Windows Mobile.
  • Opera Mini - Browse the web on a simpler Java-enabled phone.

Web access on a Dell Axim X30.
See terms of use of image.

Web access on a Sharp Zaurus.
See terms of use of image.

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iPhone

Web access on an iPhone.
From mes-newslive.blogspot.com.
See also here.

The iPhone is an amazing machine.
Some issues that put me off:

1. No keyboard. I find the touchscreen too small for my fingers.
   There should be a clamshell option. But Apple are famous for demanding one-size-fits-all.

2. No SD card slot. Only built-in storage.
   I want to sometimes carry 2 G of files to the library, but I don't want to have to have them on my phone all the time then. An SD card is the perfect solution for me.
   Even with the built-in iPhone storage, copying your PC files to and from iPhone is made deliberately hard.
   • pc2me - iPhone / iPad can access personal files on your remote PC (remote desktop) - don't need SD card?

3. Central control of applications. Only apps that the Apple corporation approves of are allowed. You are at the mercy of Apple's censorship.

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Tablets

Again, touch screen only, no keyboard.
But much larger (and hence more usable) than the tiny phone touch screens.

• iPad
  • App Store (Apple iOS apps)

• Samsung Galaxy Tab (a bit smaller than iPad)
  • Android Market (Android apps)

Samsung Galaxy Tab.

iPad v. Samsung Galaxy Tab.
From PCWorld.
iPad 2 now has cameras.

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What I want

What I want in a Handheld computer	What I had	What I have now
device	XDA Exec = HTC Universal - released Sept 2005 Windows Mobile	Samsung Galaxy Tab - released Sept 2010 Android OS (based on Linux)
hand-held or pocket-size	yes	just about
Quality color graphics	VGA screen (640 x 480)	1024 × 600 screen
Keyboard	yes	no - but touch screen is huge
Wi-Fi	yes	yes
high-speed 3G	no - only does older speeds - up to 380 k bps	yes - HSDPA - 5.7 M seen
Pay small fixed price per month for high-traffic use	yes	yes
camera	yes	yes
Software	See software (and here)	Android Market (and in) Samsung Apps
Full-function web browser	Pocket IE	Android browser
YouTube / video	no	yes
Skype	no	yes
ssh	PockeTTY	ConnectBot
ftp browser (put remote ftp site on filesystem path, like WebDrive)
Large (gigabyte) hard disk	yes SD card slot	yes microSD slot
normal file system	yes FAT32 with Long File Names can copy website, browse it on disk, relative links work
Battery lasts long enough	no only lasts 1/2 a day of regular use	yes lasts over 1 full day of regular use
Works abroad	need to organise other package for abroad	need to organise other package for abroad
Sturdy, shockproof, waterproof	not really	no

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Mobile development

• Mobile development
• Emulators (so can develop on PC)