Sprint Leads the way - 4G with WiMAX

Sprint has finally decided to go with WiMAX after months of testing different technologies and since the have joined forces with Nextel they have all this 2.5G infrastucture laying arourd. We'll see if Qualcomm can keep up the pace. Hopefully they can be competitive since Sprint is working with Motorola, Samsung Electronics and Intel Corp. to help develop the underlying network. Sprint is expecting to complete the infrastucture by 2008 with a budget of $1 -$4 billion

New Motorola Handsets Announced

Motorola have announced details of five new products they will be releasing over the next little while. Two of the products are new handsets, which feature Motorola's naming convention of 'very few if any vowels', with the announcement of the MOTOKRZR and MOTORIZR.

Motorola MOTOKRZR
Available in both GSM and CDMA, the MOTOKRZR will be available globally during the second half of 2006, regardless of their network preference. The GSM MOTOKRZR features a high resolution 2.0 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth audio, an updated phone directory and new messaging applications. While both versions offer integrated music players and expandable memory up to 1GB, the CDMA MOTOKRZR beats to a slightly different drum boasting touch-sensitive music controls, advanced EVDO data services* and location-based services capabilities.

Motorola MOTORIZR
Merging an innovative slider design with an impressive feature set which is accessible either opened or closed, the MOTORIZR offers intuitive functionality. This slider optimizes on-the-go imaging with its expansive landscape display, 2.0 megapixel camera and programmed point-and-shoot keys. The built-in music player supports a variety of formats and its video capabilities complete this dynamic package.

Alongside the new handsets are accompanying bluetooth headsets

Motorola to Bundle Yahoo! Go for Mobile

Motorola and Yahoo! have announced a new agreement wherein starting Q1 next year, Motorola will bundle the Yahoo! Go for Mobile application on selected handset ranges for the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Yahoo! Go for Mobile includes wireless access to Yahoo!'s leading services including Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Address Book, and Yahoo! Local, and will prominently feature on the Motorola handsets. The deal is expected to cover tens of millions of handset units across the selected regions.

Motorola and Yahoo! announced their alliance in July last year, and the companies say they will jointly market the handsets with Yahoo! Go through their respective online networks, device packaging, and other target channels.

Cingular Playing Tough on Content Payment

Debi Jones over at mobilejones has a good post today about mobile billing for content and services, specifically Cingular's policy that all partners must use direct billing and not offer payment through systems such as PayPal. Goldpocket Wireless, a mobile content solutions company that among other things sits underneath the billing for text voting for the US version of the Apprentice, got a nasty-gram from Cingular, which it opted to share with customers according to the post, saying, among other things: ".... the current Cingular Wireless Policy prohibits the options of credit card and/or Paypal services for payment of content to Cingular Wireless customers. ... be aware that Cingular customers should always and only be offered the Direct Bill option for payment of content and/or services. Any programs that offer Paypal and/or credit card options to Cingular Wireless customers will be escalated and reviewed by Cingular Wireless for possible immediate shut off." Brrr....it's cold in here. Debi points out that one outcome of the recent kerfuffle about whether EA Games would begin selling mobile content direct and not via operators was a reiteration by EA management that operators know best. Sounds like kowtowing to operator pressure. Sooner or later the dam will break and big content providers will start to go around these gatekeepers. Already the handset companies are doing that, with Nokia and Motorola opening their own retail because their high-end handsets are just being commoditized sitting on a dusty shelf in some Sprint store in Oklahoma. What do you think? When will the operator hegemony break down?

Abuse-Resistant Cell Phone

I don't go out of my way to destroy phones, but my absent-mindedness makes it seem as if I do. Also, I want a phone to be primarily a practical device, not a fetish object loaded with gimmicks. Hence my enduring affection for the humble Motorola v.60.

Protected by a metal clamshell case, this phone has survived more abuse than any other that I've owned. I have dropped the v.60 on wood floors, kitchen tiles, and concrete parking lots (many times). Once, while I was in a distracted frame of mind, I dropped it, then trod on it (hard), and then kicked it inadvertently across the room. When it hit the wall its back panel flew off and its battery fell out, but after reassembly, everything still worked. The phone is now scuffed, scratched, and dented (see photos) but I think its battle-scarred look adds character.

Also I like its unfashionable retro functionality: It doesn't take photos and has only a small monochrome screen with limited back-lighting (thus a long battery life). It lacks an extensible antenna yet performs better than my friends' phones in marginal reception areas in Northern Arizona. It does have speakerphone built in. Motorola doesn't make them anymore but you can still buy them on eBay--in fact they're so cheap, I bought a second one to keep as backup, pending the day when my inconsiderate treatment finally destroys the first one.

If 1960s cars can be fashionable in Hollywood, surely late-1990s phones must stage a comeback at some point. When people look with surprise at my "piece of junk," I tell them I'm just ahead of my time.
Motorola v.60
$30 approx.
Available from eBay

Motorola Phone Secrets

IMEI
*#06# displays IMEI on 8700, NOT on 6200, 7500, 8200

To activate RBS:

(pause means the * key held in until box appears)

[pause] [pause] [pause] 1 1 3 [pause] 1 [pause] [ok]

You now have to press the [MENU] and scroll to the 'Eng Field Options' function with the keys, and enable it.

To de-activate RBS,

[pause] [pause] [pause] 1 1 3 [pause] 0 [pause] [ok]

This only works with some versions of software. Please report what works and doesn't for you.

Reported working, by country:

• d460: IT
• 6200 Flare: UK (Orange), AU
• 7500: IT (model: F16 HW: 5.2 SW: 2.1)
• 8200: ES, AU, NL, BE
• 8400: IT, NL
• 8700: AU, IT, SG, DE, ES, ZA

Uses of RBS:

• Distance From Base Station - Place a call, when it is answered, press [MENU] until 'Eng Field Option' is displayed, press [OK], select 'Active Cell', press [OK], press [MENU] until 'Time Adv xxx' appears, where xxx is a number. Multiply this number by 550, and the result is the distance from the RBS (Radio Base Station), in meters.
  
• Signal Quality - press [MENU] until 'Eng Field Option' is displayed, press [OK], select 'Active Cell', press [OK], press [MENU] until 'C1' appears. This is the signal quality. If it becomes negative for longer than 5 seconds, a new cell is selected.

Cell Phone Hacks

A comprehensive forum of Nokia. Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens, Samsung, LG, Blackberry, etc. Phone Hacks, Service Provider Hacks, Security, Mod Chips, Discussion, Cellphone ring tones and hardware!