The latest from Telecom-Funda
- Exploring Android - Part 1
- Relation between 3GPP Release-8 and Release-9
- Will GSM Become the FM of Mobile Telephony?
| Exploring Android - Part 1 | Top |
| With Nokia's decision to back away from an open ecosystem and freedom of choice for users with their future devices it's time I had a serious look for an alternative to Symbian. One doesn't have to look very far, Android is very open, their app store is not as tightly bound to corporate policy as those of others and applications can also be installed from SD card. The one thing that is an issue for me is that I don't want to use Google's cloud services such as email, calendar and contacts for my private data. My data is mine and I don't want to see it in the cloud. Fortunately enough, Android has evolved tremendously in the past two years and from all reports I have seen it is now easily possible to use the built in applications or replace them with third party apps and not synch to the Google cloud. So I've got myself a Samsung Galaxy S which is in about the same price range as my Nokia N8 to experiment hands-on with Android and see how I can use it abroad, i.e. how to restrict data usage to a minimum without shutting data services down completely and how I can migrate my personal data locally, i.e. not over the Internet. As I will look at quite a number of things I've decided to write down my experiences in several parts. Note that this exercise is not about whether Symbian or Android is better. This exercise is about how to get Android up and running for my personal purposes and for my personal requirements (no cloud services, low data use while roaming, etc.). That said I have not decided yet when I will make the switch to Android. I'm not quite ready yet for an Android device as my main mobile as there are still two things that keep me with my N8: The 12 megapixel camera with unsurpassed optics and a Xenon flash Ovi Maps with navigation, maps for all the countries I need worldwide downloaded to the memory card and hence usable without incurring massive roaming charges for large map downloads. Yes I know, there's a new Google maps version that can download maps material. Still, quite far away from Ovi maps functionality I'm afraid though. Also, I'd like to say a few words on cost and hardware. The N8 and the Galaxy S cost nearly the same with the N8 being slightly cheaper. But as far as the hardware is concerned the Galaxy S lacks many features of the N8: Only a 5 megapixel camera with a tiny sensor, indoor shots are light-years away from the N8 No flash, not even an LED No 'alert' LED (at least I haven't noticed one so far) so I can see that new email is waiting. The N8 has a permanent 24h clock on the display when it is switched off. A cool feature for me and I hope someone in the Android world does something similar soon. The N8 feels solid in the hand due to the aluminum casing compared to the all plastic Galaxy S. When holding the Galaxy S my hand gets sweaty quite quickly due to the plastic, something that just doesn't happen with the aluminum casing of the N8 No FM transmitter built in like in the N8. Another must have feature for me now that I have used it in the car for a while. No penta-band UMTS. Quite a pity when traveling internationally. No HDMI out I really like the fast lock/unlock slide button of the N8. Perhaps I will get accustomed to the lock button of the Galaxy at some point. Let's hope. And with this all said now I will start looking into how I can make an Android based phone fit my needs starting with part 2. | |
| Relation between 3GPP Release-8 and Release-9 | Top |
| Will GSM Become the FM of Mobile Telephony? | Top |
| Today I read an article about how for many years many countries have had plans to replace FM radio with a digital replacement such as DAB. There has been some success in some countries such as the UK, but by and large everyone admits that FM is here to stay for another decade at least. It's not that the digital systems aren't better or deliver advanced audio quality but it's difficult to beat that FM radio that only costs a couple of cents and is built into everything from cars to mobile phones with technology that still costs an order of a magnitude more. This left me wondering if things will be similar with GSM!? We are soon going to celebrate it's 20th anniversary in the wild and still, this technology shows no signs of being replaced and being made redundant anytime soon. My predictions for GSM I made back in 2007 still hold . | |
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