Posts Tagged ‘smartphone’

Ultimately, wires will be involved with your wireless devices. Bloomberg reports Time-Warner wants to provide some of them:

Time Warner Cable Inc., the biggest pay-television provider in New York City, is pitching phone companies including AT&T and Verizon Wireless on a service that uses its underground cables to carry mobile calls and Web downloads — easing the congestion spurred by data-hungry users of smartphones like the iPhone.

The service, known in the industry as wireless backhaul, has become Time Warner Cable’s fastest-growing business after revenue tripled last year, said Craig Collins, senior vice president of business services. Across the cable industry, sales from wireless carriers may reach about $3.6 billion in 2012, according to researcher GeoResults Inc.

The story goes on to say, without quoting any statistics, that iPhones use twice the capacity of other smartphone (I wonder how an iPhone compares to my Android) and that backhaul may ease congestion from one cell tower to another, but won’t help between a tower and the phones in our pockets.

1992 – Technically a Smartphone is a Personal Digital Assistant. You can thank John Scully, CEO of Apple on that term. He coined it in reference to Apple joining the market by years end.

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Other Historical Events in Technology

• Mac OS X is unveiled
• Ask.com reorganizes – CEO Jim Lanzone steps down
• Verizon finishes acquisition of Alltel for $27.5 Billion

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:04 — 3.2MB)

I have been hearing this a lot – people start complaining because their 3G is shotty. Now in some cases, it’s true. I’ve been out in the middle of nowhere, and the signal is almost down to nothing. With the iPhone, I see E instead of G. Nonetheless, is this something that is AT&T’s fault, or yours?

I am going to show you 3 pictures:

This was taken from my iPhone using the ookla Speedtest iPhone application. The first test shows 52 kbps down and 128 up. The second shows 230 down and 443 up. Finally, the third is at 1.8 down and 228 up. These tests were done in the same location at a relavantly close time to each other.

Now you might say the signal was spotty, therefore you will get this difference. But I ran these tests a few times and got the same results. And I can tell you – it wasn’t because of AT&T.

Part 1: the Initial Test

This test was done simply by turning on the phone and running the speed test. Each time I ran it, I was getting very similar numbers. Yet as you can see, the bars at the top show full power.

Part 2: Getting better after reboot

I am an educated owner; I knew what to expect when I got the phone. I have read the news and support articles, as well as talked to other iPhone owners. One person, who does a lot of travelling, suggested I reboot the phone up to 3 times a day.

While I thought that was excessive, he made a very good observation: When you move from tower to tower, the iPhone will follow, but it still tries to look for the other tower. If an Application is having difficulties, then it might be adding to the pain to getting the best possible 3G signal. Therefore, rebooting the device will help.

This would be true with any device. My last smartphone had the same issues. It would be sluggish until I reset it. Then it turned around and worked like a champ.

However, in this case, 230 kbps was not much of an “improvement”.

Part 3: Make it faster!

I want you to look closer to pictures 2 and 3 and tell me what you see here:

If you said: “Hey! The Blue curvy lines are replaced with 3G”, then you would be focusing on the difference.  That symbol is the WiFi capability. Picture 1 and 2 were running on the nearby Wifi, while 3 was running on 3G.

The Wireless system at the location I was at was running slow – Even the notebook showed those same numbers. Indeed, I found the Wifi signal, which was at a local coffee shop, and checked their router. When they rebooted it, the speeds got a lot better.

But I didn’t connect to Wifi:

This is where the tricky part comes in. The router for this coffee shop was sitting in back. It was set at a standard IP address range, and had all it’s default properties (including admin password, which we won’t even get into THAT). The SSD was named “Linksys”, which is the default SSD for all Linksys routers.

All I have to do is connect up to one Wireless with “Linksys”, then every time it sees the SSD, it will connect. That can be really handy simply because Wifi speeds can be better than 3G (which is about 14 MB download and 5 MB upload on a good day). 802.11g (or Wifi) can download at 54 MB.

If I am a good distance away from the router, but just enough to be in reach to connect, we can definitely see issues. The phone will try to connect to the Wifi, then when it fails, it goes through 3G.

We forget about the Wifi simply because the iPhone asks you the question once. Just exactly like a Notebook would. The phone is always going to connect through Wifi if it’s there. Therefore, if I am on a shotty Wifi signal, the results are slow and annoying. I then start blaming 3G for absolutely nothing.

Not a new issue:

This has come across my desk in more than just an iPhone issue. Employees with laptops would connect to the network through a LAN cable and then come to me because the internet connection was shotty. I would advise them to turn off their Wifi simply because they compete to deliver a website.

Think of it like having 2 waiters ready to take your order at a restaurant. You order soup, and both of them run to go get it. At any time, they could crash into each other and spill your soup on the ground.

What to do to make it go Vroom Vroom

In the settings, under “Wi-Fi”, you can either turn the option off, or “Forget the Network”. That will switch you to 3G, where you can get things done. Don’t forget to reset the iPhone afterwards.

How ofter will you use the option? Well, really only in places where Wifi is not great. Most of the time, Wifi will be more of a friend than a foe. I would also guess that the archetecture is set so the phone will push through Wifi first, then 3G. If you think about that, it can also make 3G slower, simply because the device is trying to use the failing Wifi first. It would be like walking down the path to the left, seeing the tree in the way, turning around and taking the path on the right. EVERY TIME.

Wired Map

A couple weeks ago, Wired ran a 3G test in where they pitted AT&T with Sprint and Verizon. The test control was Bloggers around the country, who reported results. The article didn’t state if there were control factors. This would be a series of tests run in a specific way. For instance, if I was to run a test, this is what would happen:

1. Note any “Questionable” programs and if problematic (ie: if it slows down or freezes up the device), uninstall.
2. Turn off Wifi
3. Reboot the device (this will make sure all programs are closed properly)
4. Give the device a minute to find a signal
5. Open the Approved Test prgram (which would be an approved Application that any device could get). In this case, we will just say “SpeedTest”.
6. Run the test
7. Take a screen shot.

Wired stated in the article that it was not a “Scientific” Test. Nonetheless, I know if I was participating, I would want to be as accurate as possible. After all, if I falsified my data then had AT&T show that was wrong, it would be a mark on me and Wired. Instead of belittling AT&T, I would be doing the opposite.

Summary

Results vary in many instances. The farther away from a tower, the lower power the signal. The more people connecting to a tower, the slower the connection speed.It’s really a matter of physics.

Don’t take my word for it. Run the 7 steps above and send me your screen shots. Use SpeedTest for the Application. If you prefer another App, then take a snapshot of the screen with Speedtest, then re-run the 7 steps – this time using your Application.

You might remember the products. You might remember the hype. Then, you are tooling down highway 41 years later and all of a sudden you think to yourself – “Hey, whatever happened to…”

Failed ideas. Maybe it was a great idea, but wasn’t made right, or design errors brought it down. Maybe it was just a bad product. Well, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and see if we cannot repeat these errors again.

Oh yeah, why 16? Well because we could.

The Computer Watch: Whether it was the Ruputer, the MSN Direct ‘Smart’ Watches, the Timex Data Link Watch or another gadget watch – BTW – I remember having a “Transformers watch”. It was awesome!

Still, the Dick Tracey style communication watches, the “Computer on a wrist”, never really hit it off. I even remember a watch that gave you directions. You would put in the paper tape and turn a little dial to indicate where you are and where you are going.

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Back from Vegas and still going – The new Guitar – Summer of Podcasting Contest – Will be on Random Reality – My Local Interviews – Updcate to Google Voice.

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Steve Jobs Back – 1 million iPhones sold. iLiver doing well.
CardStar for iPhone – No more KeyCards
Poor Psystar – Apple is goin for the throat
Nokia and Intel – Partnership for a Smartphone
Motorola Android – Razr Smartphone coming?
Antivirus will come out – Named Morro – Bet your bottom dollar that Morrow – will be an Antivirus.
Pump and Dump Spammer – Busted!
China still Monitoring – It happens.
Google halts- We won’t Suggest it.
Gartner and Electronics – Recovery in 2010
All about .ME – New Top Level Domain

JOTW -

II
ASCAP Ringtones – Get a Clue, or do they really have one?
AMD Netbook – The $100 Laptop has finally arrived

Geekazine Logic – Notebooks are not Laptops. Netbooks are not Notebooks. Smartbooks are not Netbooks. Smartphones are not Smartbooks.

III
Mobile Flash – The Smartphone will get more complex.
FTC on Gifts for Blogs – Reaction from the Leo – Arrington Palm Pre battle?

Extras:
7 Apps that make life easier
Goodbye Kodachrome
The Ultimate Green House – It’s BioDome without Pauley Shore.
Future ET Car for sale – Forget phoning. Autobahn home.
Solar WiFi Tent – Camping at it’s best

Sneak Peek
Alice in Wonderland

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CMSExpo Videos – SDRNews

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Bloomberg considers the effect of the new Apple iPhone OS 3.0 on the apps store and predicts more apps and fiercer competition amongst developers. Read the full story here. See the apps store here.

Now, I do not have an iPhone and wouldn’t get one on a bet. I don’t like Apple’s walled garden. (Heck, if I had my way, I’d ditch my son’s iPod, just to get iTunes off the Windows box.)

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Stress and Taxes – Secret – uStream tests – 500 GB – Laptop Reload – Special Shout to Brie. Take the Geekazine Podcast Survey

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:19 — 21.2MB)

If there was one thing that rang true this year at CES, it was you don’t need a bulky setup to make a presentation. Data on a smartphone connected to a handheld projector could get your point across in a matter of minutes. All you need is a strong battery.

3M Shows off their PICO Projector

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Wow. What a great LIVE Show to end out the year. We had 2 great guests that are both in the Podcast range, therefore we talked a lot about Podcasting. Rob Greenlee is the Podcast Content Director at Zune, and Gary Leland runs the website PodcastPickle.com.

We talked a lot about Podcasting, how Zune is running podcasts, associations of Podcasts to iTunes, if MP3 players are stepping aside for Smartphones, if a Zune Phone will be out and a lot more. We also talked about Twitter, Microsoft Home Server, Vista, Quad-core Laptops and a lot more.

Hour 1

Hour 2

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In Part 1, we looked at last years predictions. The numbers weren’t too shabby. This year, we’ve expanded the list to anyone that wanted to contribute. And Contributions I did get. 250 of them.

I spent most of Friday night and subsequent morning filtering the list to a couple pages worth of information. We have CEO’s, CTO’s, Marketers, Podcasters and even a Psychic helping us with this years list.

Of course at the end of the list I will be adding my 2 cents worth for 2009 on Page 2.  So without any further ado, let’s get started.

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I saw you back in Comdex in 83 – You were a exciting new technology – a marvel to me with a touchscreen.

Ohhhh, ohhh

But times have changed and you are now put to the side – the integration with the phone makes it real nice – and you get tossed in the scrap pile to die.

Ohhh, ohhh

I used your applications

ohhh, ohhh

And all your revelations….

Earlier in the week I read the article “5 things the Smartphone Killed“. While I am not in total agreeance of the list just yet, I do agree on a lot of their items and I can see the Smartphone can totally engulf all the item replacements. Read the rest of this entry »