Published by 9527 May 31st, 2006
in 流動通訊 and BlackBerry.
Vodafone Germany and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry® 8707v™ for corporate and individual users in Germany.
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BlackBerry 8707v
BlackBerry 8707v is an UMTS-enabled (W-CDMA air interface) BlackBerry handheld. With the introduction of the new UMTS-enabled BlackBerry, people can use BlackBerry not only in the countries where GSM/GPRS networks are available but also in those where UMTS 2100MHz networks are available (including Japan and South Korea thru roaming).
Technically speaking, BlackBerry 8707v is not the first 3G BlackBerry device in the market. The first 3G BlackBerry wireless handheld from Research In Motion is BlackBerry 7750. It supports CDMA2000™ 1X, which is also a IMT-2000 certified 3G technology.
BlackBerry 8707v shares the same form factor as the other models of the 8700 series. Although they have similar functions and features, there are some differences:
- BlackBerry 8707v has an unique housing design just only for Vodafone and its alliance partners. That’s why it is called “v“.
- No EDGE support.
- It supports UMTS 2100MHz networks. With the built-in UMTS modem, you can attach the device directly to a laptop to deliver broadband-speed wireless connectivity.
- Simultaneous voice and data transfer: You can send emails, access applications or browse the web while on a phone call. (Note: check with service provider for availability)
BlackBerry 8707v will be available in Germany shortly. I am so sure that it will be available in other countries in a very near future. It is just a matter of time.
Published by 9527 May 23rd, 2006
in 生活點滴, 流動通訊 and BlackBerry.
定係流動企業人？
請參閱 PC Market 電腦廣場 Vol.669 23.05.2006 第一百四十二頁。
PS. The interview was actually done with John. Thanks John for his great work. 
Published by 9527 April 24th, 2006
in 環遊世界 and 流動通訊.
StarHub, a mobile/fixed-line operator in Singapore, is now offering its wireless broadband service free of charge to all its mobile/cellular phone roaming customers across Singapore. If you travel to Singapore with your Wi-Fi enabled computer, you can connect to the Internet wirelessly for free at StarHub hotspots located islandwide in Singapore.
Step One
The first step you have to do is to select StarHub network on your mobile/cellular phone:
- Go to Settings in your mobile phone’s menu
- Select phone settings
- Select network settings and choose Manual
- A list of network names will be displayed on the screen. Select STARHUB or SGP 05.
- A message will confirm that StarHub has been selected as your desired network. StarHub will be displayed on your mobile phone’s display screen.
Step Two
Then you will need to get your username and password to login:
- On your mobile phone, key in *WIFI or *9434 (not 9394 …) and dial.
- You will hear a voice announcement. The call will then hang up.
- An SMS containing the password will reach you in a short while.
Step Three
Now, you can use that password to login and start surfing the Internet:
- Turn on your computer and enable Wi-Fi
- In Windows XP, view the Available Wireless Networks list
- Select ACCESS-StarHub and click the Connect button to connect to StarHub Wireless Broadband service
- Start your browser, and your browser will automatically go to this web page.
- In the “Step 1: Select Your Service Provider” section of the web page, select Mobile/Cellular Phone Roaming Customers. A small window will pop-up. You can close that window.
- In the “Step 2: Login Here” section, enter the user ID, which is your mobile phone number (e.g. 852XXXXXXXX if you are from Hong Kong), followed by the password which you received in the SMS
Congratulations. You can start surfing the Internet now.
Note: I don’t work for StarHub. I am a frequent traveler to Singapore. I just want to share this useful information with you. Of course, you have your rights to choose the roaming operator that you want.
Published by 9527 February 17th, 2006
in 流動通訊 and BlackBerry.
I have been using the new BlackBerry 8700g for a few weeks although it’s still not available in the market here yet (please don’t ask why I have one). It is more responsive than earlier BlackBerry devices. The experience is very positvie. I love it so much.
BlackBerry 8700g
The BlackBerry 8700g is the latest wireless device from Research In Motion. It shares the same platform/hardware as the BlackBerry 8700c (available in the US from Cingular Wireless) and the BlackBerry 8700r (available in Canada from Rogers Wireless). The only difference is the housing of the device. Everything other than that is exactly the same. The 8700g provides the ultimate balance of performance, design and function. The combined power of the BlackBerry platform, Intel processor and EDGE wireless technolog, enables faster web browsing, application performance and attachment viewing.
The BlackBerry 8700g is a quad-band device with 64 MB flash memory and 16 MB SDRAM. The integrated phone includes premium phone features such as dedicated “send”, “end” and “mute” phone keys, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dial, call forwarding, as well as speakerphone and Bluetooth(r) support for hands-free use with car kits and wireless headsets. In addition, the device features a bright, high resolution, landscape QVGA (320×240) LCD display that supports more than 65,000 colors to deliver vivid graphics. The display offers excellent indoor and outdoor readability by featuring an intelligent light sensing technology that automatically adjusts the brightness to optimize visibility in outdoor, indoor and dark environments. For a little bit of added fun, the 8700g now supports MP3 ringtones. You can simply download MP3 ringtones thru the browser, store them onto the device, and assign the ringtone to your profiles. You can assign ringtones (either MP3 or MIDI polyphonic ringtone) to specific contacts in your address book as well.
The BlackBerry 8700g is definitely a good upgrade for existing BlackBerry users. If you do not have a BlackBerry, you should start thinking about it. The 8700g will be available shortly. Start talking to your mobile carrier and reserve one.
Published by 9527 January 11th, 2006
in 流動通訊.
Finally, I have my first 3G phone (a Christmas gift from my sweetheart). It is a SonyEricsson K600i mobile phone. I like this phone because it is light (105g), compact (a small candybar), feature-packed (too many functions and features), ease-of-use (the user interface and the overall design), and inexpensive.
There are a lot of choices of 3G phones in the market but only K600i can meet all my requirements. One of my (crazy) requirements is to use the mobile phone as a remote control which allows me to remote control my iMac G5. Most of the recent mobile phones from SonyEricsson have this feature and K600i is one of them.
I have been using this phone (with 3G service from One2Free) for 2 days. I have tried watching streaming video over the phone. The experience so far is very good. I haven’t tried making any video call yet. But I think it will be fun.
Thank you sweetheart. 
Note: You can’t believe it. The phone costs HK$1,500 only (originally HK$2,480)! To what I have heard, SonyEricsson is going to discontinue K600i and now clearance them out at this special price. However, mine is already the last one available thru Sony Shop. If you wanna get one, try SonyEricsson shop then. Once again, thanks sweetheart.
Published by 9527 January 7th, 2006
in 資訊科技 and 流動通訊.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. and ATLANTA, Ga., January 4, 2006 - Lenovo and Cingular Wireless today announced plans to integrate wireless wide area network (WWAN) technology from Cingular in upcoming versions of ThinkPad notebooks. ThinkPad users will have built-in, immediate high-speed Internet access via the Cingular BroadbandConnect service without needing a separate PC card or additional hardware.
Through this agreement, ThinkPad notebooks will be preconfigured for BroadbandConnect, which delivers average mobile data connections between 400-700Kbps (kilobits per second) on the downlink and bursts to more than a megabit per second using Cingular’s third-generation (3G) network based on UMTS/HSDPA technology. With Cingular BroadbandConnect services, users can connect anywhere they receive Cingular Wireless data service and will no longer need to be centrally located near wireless hubs, or WiFi “hot spots,” an ideal situation for mobile and small business professionals who are on the go and often located in areas where WiFi hot spots are not readily available.
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3G technologies and applications are getting more mature. Especially when I first read this news, I was really excited and realised that it’s really the right time to get a 3G phone (not really because of this press release but mainly because of streaming TV news, Japan and Korea roaming, etc.). This is really a good example to let people knows that 3G applications are not limited to games, gambling and girls (that’s why we call it 3G!). A laptop computer with embedded 3G technologies is good for people to access the Internet (or private networks thru VPN) on the road at high-speed without the presence of Wi-Fi hotspots.
I guess this is an exclusive deal at this point so I don’t think we can get a 3G enabled ThinkPad until later this year or something. But this is already a good start to have a laptop computer embedding long-range packet radio technologies (most of the laptop computers nowadays come with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi which are classified as short-range packet radio technologies). If you are not familier with 3G technologies, the following references will provide you some basic idea of what they are.
References:
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W-CDMA
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA
