Colin Charles Agenda

I picked up the 3 Skypephone the day it got released. I figured I’d get a new prepaid number to boot. Rather than reviewing it the moment I got it, I decided to play with it for a little while, and formulate opinions on the phone. Generally, I like it, and think its going in the right direction. I can’t wait for improvements to this product line.

Size and Build Quality
Its actually much smaller than the Nokia N73. Very thin, and smaller in size. Looks very much like a toy phone, and easily slips into the pocket. The build quality is quite impressive for a cheap AUD$179 phone. I did however note that sometimes I’d slip the back cover off (the back cover covers the battery, and beneath it is where the microSD and SIM cards are stored. I’d also be very weary of the one port on the phone - its a USB port, that allows you to plug in the hands-free kit, or the charger (this phone, charges via USB just fine as well). The cover, of multi-purpose port, seems to be very flimsy, and I’m quite certain it will break eventually.

Operating System
This is a Qualcomm BREW based phone. You can write BREW apps for it, however, you actually need to run Windows as the SDK is only written for that silly OS. The phone does support Java, so that in itself must be saving grace for writing applications for the phone.

Camera
Its supposed to be a 2MP camera (supporting 1600×1200 resolution), but as with most mobile phone cameras, this one generally sucks. It doesn’t come with a built-in flash, so taking photos using the night mode has got some serious digital manipulation. During the day, shots are passable, but you won’t be making any great art pieces from it. There’s a video recorder too, but its all just as bad.

Skype
The reason this phone is cool, is because of Skype. You have an always-on Skype connection wherever you are, as long as you are within the 3 Broadband Zone. When you’re roaming to Telstra, you’re obviously out of luck - which is kind of silly at this stage, since 3’s coverage is pretty dismal if you’re not within city/metro areas. I spent last weekend in Port Pirie (3 hours away from Adelaide, in South Australia) and there was absolutely no 3 coverage there.

SkypeIn or SkypeOut calls do not work. Initially, synchronising my Skype contact list was problematic, but that’s probably because I had Skype running on my laptop as well. Quickly shutting it down and restarting the synchronisation seemed to have fixed the problem.

Audio quality with Skype over 3G is actually very good. A drop out happened once after about 8 minutes into the call, in where I saw a message that my session expired. It reconnected automatically, and I made another call, and it just worked fine.

You can’t initiate a Skype call with multiple parties. However, you can participate in a Skype call with multiple parties, and I verified this with 4 people on a Skype chat. It seemed like the audio generated from the 3 Skypephone was actually very good, in comparison to most laptops, where their mics are nowadays pretty second rate, and you can’t get anywhere without a headset.

Chatting via Skype is pretty easy, though you kind of wish you had a full-featured keyboard (like on the e61i).

When Skype is set to forward to a number with the regular client, it does seem like there can be confusion and I might get one ring on the Skypephone before it just cuts off, and gets forwarded to my actual mobile phone. This can get quite annoying, as its pretty expensive everytime a call is forwarded! Disabling Call Forwarding seems to help.

Not having Caller ID on incoming Skype calls, seems kind of silly. You should know who’s calling you, as the regular Skype client has support for this, with no issue.

USB Mass Storage Device
I like that the phone is just treated as a USB mass storage device in Linux. I’ve not trying synchronising it, as the software provided on the CD is completely Windows only (I didn’t even notice any Mac support).

Interface
The phone works very much like a Nokia. Keypad shortcuts all seem very similar, so if you’re a regular Nokia user (like of the N73 and the like), you’ll never have a problem getting used to the interface for SMS or Skype Chats.

Misc.
Its worth noting that the Skype client itself, comes from 3’s partnership with iSkoot. I know that I get 4,000 Skype minutes and 10,000 Skype chat messages, all of which, seems really reasonable. Consider reading 3’s Forum, if there are questions, and to follow the discussion. More photos at the wp-s1 tag.

Technorati Tags: 3 skypephone, skypephone, brew, skype

I’ve been a big supporter of Zimbra, because I think they’re one of the few projects/companies that get email/calendering/a groupware solution, right. Sure, I don’t necessarily like the model where they cripple the open source version in terms of say, backups (but this I guess will be fixed when MySQL supports online backups natively). No AdSense zimlet? Its easy enough to write one (with spare time).

What’s annoyed me of late with Zimbra, is its lack of ability to work with my Nokia E61i. Its a known problem (since February this year?), as it also affected the E61 (and probably other Series 60 phones, when you’re trying to access the Zimbra server over IMAP). You get the certificate being displayed, you get the headers, and when you try to open any email bodies, it just stops working.

The target for this fix, seems to be Zimbra 5, and according to their roadmap, we should see it in Q3/2007. The betas are already out, though I’m not about to load it on a production system. Watch zimbra#14850 - Nokia E61 sync with imaps if this affects you. There’s also a reference forum post. And here’s hoping to a good release, this quarter (2 more months to go!).

Technorati Tags: zimbra, zimbra collaboration suite, zcs, bug, nokia e61i, sybmian, series 60, imaps, email

It seems that for $29/month, I’m not getting my meagre 200MB quota on the 3 network, but can now get 1GB! Wanting to not fuss with a laptop card or USB modem (because they only support Windows and OS X), I decided that its time to setup a connection via my mobile phone, i.e. use my phone as a modem, via Bluetooth.

Ubuntu has got some amazing documentation on getting Bluetooth based dial-up networking working. I followed everything there, till the Configuring PPP session. Right upon there, I hit a bit of a snag, but my trusty LUG list pointed me to Using T-Mobile Nokia E65 as a Bluetooth modem guide. Using the gprs, gprs-connect-chat, and gprs-disconnect-chat from that website, I was able to use my phone as a modem. One important thing to note is that the gprs-connect-chat and gprs-disconnect-chat must be executable (fix this by doing a chmod +x).

The APN (access point) for the 3 network is “3netaccess”. So the one line I changed in the gprs-connect-chat reads as: OK              ‘AT+CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”3netaccess”,”",0,0′ \.

Now, a simple pppd call gprs in a terminal works. Of course, it would make a whole lot more sense if there was a GUI for this (I’m surprised that Ubuntu hasn’t figured this out yet).

E61i has registered the WiFi connection and the phone as a modem

A quick word of warning: the phone doesn’t register how much packet data you use when its acting as a modem (so you can’t find it in the logs later, under packet data, from what I can tell). Also, keep in mind, that 3 counts both uploads and downloads as part of the quota you get per billing cycle. I’ve not started wanting to do usage accounting, but I’m sure its what I’ll conquer next.

If you’re wanting to do this via Optus, consider Menno Smits guide for Optus 3G.

Technorati Tags: ubuntu, modem, bluetooth modem, e61i, nokia e61i, s60, series 60, 3, three, dial-up networking

For those not following the Fring blog, and you’re annoyed by their volume control difficulties, you’ll be pleased to know that they’ve released fring 3.20 for your Symbian 9 devices.

The E61i is running it, and volume control (really, the only complaint) works well. Only caveat is that you don’t increase the volume like you’d do on a normal call - you need to use the scroll button to move the volume up or down. Silly, but it’ll make do.

Previous users of fring will still have to go thru the SMS process - register online, send the SMS to your phone, download the software and replace it.

Technorati Tags: fring, voip, series 60, symbian 9, s60, nokia, e61i

Skype

• Skype is on the Nokia N800. This makes it interesting to own - video still doesn’t work, and it took them about six months since release to get Skype going. I felt beta-tester-y enough with the n770, so maybe I’ll just wait till the N900 launches next year?
• In Skype related news, I’ve been running the 1.4 beta for over a month now, and it works remarkably well. Its better, seems a little like the version on OS X, and manages my USB headset a lot better (i.e. I don’t need to manually change to use it everytime). Of course, Linux itself seems to be retarded - every time I plug the headset, the microphone is muted - silly.

Gizmo Project

• If you’re upgrading Gizmo, and are using the Debian packages, and you’re running Ubuntu Feisty, get the version linked against libstdc++5 and not libstdc++6 - the latter gives sexy errors like gizmo: error while loading shared libraries: libXss.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory. It used to be one DEB or RPM, but clearly they’ve changed things.
• I installed Gizmo for S60 from the Nokia Beta Labs on my E61i. Now when I visit my Contacts, and scroll to the right, I see a Gizmo menu. Let it go online (via 3G or WiFi, I take the latter), and you can chat with Gizmo Project users, or even make calls. Best thing is, if you’ve enabled Gizmo VoIP in the Internet telephone settings, you can also make VoIP out calls to people’s numbers that they’ve listed in the Gizmo profile - these are usually free if you’re going after a landline. Make sure your all call’s free status is active, and you’re bound to save money.

VoIP

• I’ve played around with Jajah. The rates seem higher than I’d expect, but maybe this is the future of VoIP? With ISP’s starting to get sneaky with regards to their quotas, having a website that calls you, then calls your party, plus displays advertising features in the web browser window, just seems smart. Plus, if you’re calling another Jajah user, you get free calls - 150 minutes a week, not exceeding 500 minutes a month. If you ask me, that’s a lot of talk time, and I’m all for it. My Jajah username is byte if you’re so inclined to find me in the address book. So far, call quality has been amazing, all connections have just worked with one try (so the service is reliable), and they’re beta testing conference call features (which I intend to try soon).
• PennyTel is an Aussie VoIP provider, that’s got a twist - you can get dial in direct (DID) numbers from any state in Australia, and also, if required, a number based in Kuala Lumpur, all for AUD$5/month! They’re also fully SIP based, so Ekiga and my Nokia e61i are pretty happy.
  • Quality of the service however, is another question - its a tad bit unreliable, apparently people get busy tones when they try to dial my number, and if I make a call via the e61i, I get a lot of “connection time-out” errors. Annoyingly, the other side picks up, and hears nothing, thus hanging up. With Ekiga, its quite the opposite - it rings within a few seconds, I get connected, but the other party seemingly can’t hear me! Calls within Australia seem to be somewhat tolerable, from what I can tell though.
  • This could also be because the DID I chose was a Malaysian based number.
  • Support is pretty good - they even have a Live Assistant online, who can chat with you via IM, to give you support. They’re also quite responsive with regards to writing support requests, though I have a lot of “Work In Progress” messages sitting in the queue (so initial response is good, but actually getting things going, isn’t quite so).

Et al.

• There’s also an OpenMoko beta phone available for a ridiculous sum, that still does not have WiFi, and they claim that running VoIP over GPRS will not be so good - really? I run it on my e61i just fine, so I smell a rat, maybe with the processor or software. Again, time to wait for this in a few more months, I guess.

Technorati Tags: telephony, skype, n800, internet tablets, gizmo, gizmo project, gizmo s60, s60, series 60, jajah, pennytel, sip, malaysian did, openmoko

As more of my tech-savvy friends start purchasing Nokia E61i’s, it only makes sense for me to actually document my experiences with the phone. I’ve had the privilege of using it for a few weeks now, and find that its rather useful for a lot of things. The SIM in it belongs to the 3 network, so I might be able to provide some war stories of the network, as well.

The Phone
Build quality looks pretty good. Its quite wide, but is thinner than my Nokia N73. Both phones fit quite nicely in my pocket, side-by-side. It comes with a wide screen (display resolution set at 320×240 pixels, with 16 million colors), that makes it very efficient for web browsing. The QWERTY keypad is a more efficient way of entering text, and you slowly get very used to using your thumbs for text input. I guess if you’re a Blackberry person, the E61i is a no-brainer.

Its a Series 60 phone. 3rd Edition. The edition is important, because a lot of freeware you see out there might only be compatible with the 2nd editions.

The Camera
There’s a camera, rated at 2 megapixels. No flash in sight, and there’s no cover for the camera lens (like on the N73), so eventually its probably going to get quite scratched up. The camera is nothing to shout about, its actually pretty weak in comparison to what the N73 can offer. I’ve been taking a few photos with it, so don’t hesitate to check the NokiaE61i tag on Flickr, to see the somewhat horrendous quality of photos.

It also does video, and like all modern 3G mobiles, its meant to allow you to video-conference (i.e. make video calls). I’ve never found the video call feature terribly useful (having it for over 3 years), except when shopping last month. Since there’s no camera on the front, either you see whom you’re talking to and let them see what you’re pointing your phone at, or you turn it around and your other party sees you and you don’t see them. Not very intuitive.

My conclusion is that the camera is a gimmick. Look at the quality. It doesn’t go far. Its just there to be like all other phones that are being sold. Don’t use it if you can avoid it (I know I can, since most times my N73 is in my pocket).

Bluetooth
Worked without a hitch. I’ve sent images to Linux and OS X, and there was no problem whatsoever. If you need to find out the Bluetooth adapter’s MAC address, enter *#2820#. On OS X, when you add a new mobile phone, it also automatically asks if you’d like to configure it as a modem for data transfer. I declined, and will look into using the E61i as a modem later.

WiFi
Connected to several WiFi networks successfully. 802.11g, 802.11b, WEP keys, WPA keys, MAC based authentication, it has all worked for me so far. If you need to find the MAC address of the wireless adapter (its on your box), enter *#62209526#.

SIP (and VoIP)
The phone natively supports the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). So all sensible VoIP providers, including your Gizmoproject account will work, natively on the phone. Once configured, you can receive incoming phone calls on all your active SIP profiles, however, you can only make Internet calls via your currently active SIP profile (you can check which this is via Menu -> Connect -> Internet tel.). The only way to change it is via the Internet tel. option as well.

I have been told that SIP should work on any WiFi network. I’ve tested it on two access points (an old D-Link and a Linksys WRT54G) and since I know my router allows SIP traffic, it worked. I did attempt trying to connect on another network, which was based on a Netgear router - I failed. More extensive testing is clearly needed on this feature, and I’ll report back when I have more information.

You can’t initiate in-phone SIP calls via your 3G/GPRS connection. It only allows you to connect via a WiFi access point. You can work-around this via Fring (as some countries have unlimited data plans, making all calls over SIP might be cheaper).

Proof that Google Maps Satellite View is ancient (~3 years+) - my house doesn’t exist!

Essential Software
Considering you have access to a WiFi connection, there are bits and pieces of essential software that I have installed:

• Fring - If you need Skype, or MSN, this is clearly a useful application to have installed. The current version (3.02 - built March 15 2007) is a little buggy - i.e. it doesn’t allow you to increase the volume, so Skype calls are painfully soft. This is fixed in Fring (at least on some platforms) and will make its way for Series 60 3rd Edition (Symbian 9) phones soon enough.
• Gmail - I don’t use my Gmail account much, but I can see it being useful for some emergency emails and so on. Most people are hooked to their Gmail accounts, so this is probably a must have.
• Google Maps - This might not be so useful if you’re not in a location that allows for Google Maps, but in Australia, the maps are ready and excellent (at least for Melbourne). Real-time traffic doesn’t work, but its impressive nonetheless.
• Screenshot - you want to take screenshots of what’s on the screen if you plan on writing about it later.
• jmIrc (screenshot)- because there are times you may be bored, and want to hop on an IRC network. It doesn’t look like the official version supports SSL (so getting on some private networks are impossible), but I’ve seen a version floating around that has built-in SSL.

Driving directions, assuming I’m GPS-less

Bundled Software

• Beware RealPlayer. By default, it wants you to connect via your mobile Internet settings. Change this if you’re not on an unlimited data plan, especially if you’re going to be playing with m.youtube.com (YouTube Mobile).
• Flash Player is pretty stock.
• WidSets - for the life of me I can’t figure out its usefulness. Maybe someone else can tell me what its good for?
• Email via built-in messaging - works a charm, speaks IMAP, and I’ve written an email or two when I’m on the road.
• Web browser - does what its told to do. Will crash if you try to load a Zimbra login page (because its so huge). Has the ability to bookmark, and my most viewed sites are probably m.twitter.com or google.com/reader/m. Google’s Mobile Calendar is useful as well. The browser renders websites pretty well, but you also then realise that the web itself, isn’t made for mobile devices (that rant for another day).

WidSets

What else is there to look for
I personally would like a mobile blogging tool. Maybe if I took a photo, I’d like that uploaded to a blog, where I write about today’s zeitgeist. I’m unsure if Azure is a good tool, or if KABLOG will even work on the device. Bonus points for supporting multiple blogs and multiple blog APIs.

A tool like GAIM Pidgin that supported multiple IM networks. I’d ideally like my AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, Gtalk, Jabber all in one.

Planet 3 to actually work. This isn’t a phone problem, its a 3 problem. They do browser detection, and if you didn’t buy a phone from them, they just disable your access to Planet 3. Seems kind of daft, but at least for my main usage, I found a solution on the Web (see what my monthly account usage is like).

I have yet to try out SSH (via s2putty) or even the new Gizmoproject client for the phone. There’s bundled QuickOffice, though I’m unsure of its usefulness. Syncing always gives me nightmares, and its not something I’ve attempted (or honestly want to attempt); I think the future of syncing will happen via the Web, so maybe ShoZu for contact backups? Are there more cool software packages to try out? I have no (or limited) interest in commercial software, free and open source is preferred.

Technorati Tags: nokia e61i, e61i, nokia, review, phone, mobile, camera, cameraphone, bluetooth, wifi, sip, voip, google maps, gmail, fring, jmirc, widsets

The other day, my friends and I decided we’d like to participate in a video-conference. At this point, I was the only stumbling block - the Luddite on Linux, with Skype 1.4 Beta, and no webcam. I proceeded to move to my Mac OS X powered laptop, that are all now coming with built-in iSight’s (and thinking back, I’ve been Intel-Mac for a little over a year now).

Shiny happy people, video-conferencing

Guess what? Skype does not do multi-party video-conferencing. Sure, you can do multi-party voice chats (these work on Linux too, obviously), but they only do one-on-one video conferencing. This is where Global IP Video comes to the rescue… In a nutshell, its a Flash-based application that harnesses your webcam and allows multiple parties to video conference. From what I gather, it doesn’t do voice - for that you still need Skype.

Everyone else had no problem working it, except me (as always, the non-Windows running person). To make Global IP Video work with the iSight, you need to right-click the Flash application, click Settings, then go to the 4th tab, which has a graphic that represents a webcam. Choose the appropriate Camera - for the built-in iSight its USB Video Class Video. Close the tab, and like magic, you’ve got a working webcam now!

The correct Camera allows everyone to video-conference

Bandwidth usage for both video and voice seemed to taper around 20-30KB/s, so you have a pretty clear picture that video is taking about 15-25KB/s. Everyone was on a DSL (or Cable) connection of some sorts, and this spanned countries far and wide. No real delay in the video, so we were all pretty impressed.

Technorati Tags: voip, skype, video-conference, video, conference, video conference, macosx, windows, linux, flash, global ip video, ip video

Reading Dave Hall’s experience with 3, I can attest to their horrendous service. I never looked at Virgin offering cheap rates, but from their website, it seems that on a post-paid account, I can get 300MB of data for $10/month. I’m currently paying 3 $29 for 200MB of data (and yes, they’re cheaper than what Optus can offer).

Which certainly has me interested in becoming a Virgin post-paid customer. From their website, it seems that if I just want a SIM, I’ll be a pay as you go customer. Which works out well for me, as all I really want is data + any excess (at 1.5c/KB).

However, what Express Card can I buy outright or via eBay, that will work with Linux (and preferably, OS X)? The Novatel Merlin U530 that Dave has is a PCMCIA card, not something that most newer laptops have. What are my ExpressCard options? And does Virgin charge for roaming rates? 3 charges you extra if you’re not within their 3 Broadband Zone and are Roaming [via Telstra]. 3’s advertised MobileBroadband card now apparently offers an Express Card option.

Technorati Tags: data, 3g, virgin, 3, expresscard