vakkotaur | Entries tagged with phone

Last year Eric Raymond posted Smartphone, the Eater-of-Gadgets in which he mentions all the things phones can do now and wonders what else they might do in the future. I've recently experienced this firsthand. For some time I used a phone as a(n alarm) clock and watch and sometimes calculator, but that was about it.

With the form factor of the HTC Inspire 4G, it might replace a pocket watch but not a wristwatch (the previous phone was an easy flip-it-open to read while still on the belt thing, this the new phone would require being removed from a holder, I think) but that is about the only limitation:

* I've used the new phone as phone, of course. And gotten myself a Google Voice number that works well with the Google-Android integration.

* I've used it as a GPS - the time estimate in walking mode was about right.

* I've used it as an FM broadcast receiver and it impressed me with selectivity and sensitivity I don't get even in larger, dedicated radios.

* I have yet to see it against a clear night sky, but I have Google Sky so it's also an electronic planisphere.

* I've used it as a flashlight (nothing fancy, and not good on battery, but it works).

* I've used it as the portable computer it is and browsed with Opera, logged into another machine over ssh, and even been on IRC for a few minutes (for the first time, I can see a use for a bluetooth keyboard - though I doubt I'll get one just for that.)

* I've used it not merely as a simple calculator, but even have it emulate an HP48.

* I've used it, even if only testing the features, as camera[1] and a video recorder.

- There are e-book reader applications (I have yet to install any) that are meant to work like a Nook or a Kindle.

All that is impressive, but what really brought it home to me was that when I needed to make a shopping list for a rather long trip a couple days ago I didn't look for a bit of paper. I installed a note application and put a shortcut on the 'desktop' to my list. I know that's a PDA sort of thing that's been around since at least the late 1980s. But I never really saw the point of using a PDA - it would just have been carrying around some extra thing. But I carry the phone anyway, so it may as well "eat" other gadgets - even something as mundane as paper.

[1] The thinness of the phone means the optics aren't as nice as a proper camera, but two things make up for that. 1. I'll almost always have the phone (and thus the camera) with me and 2. The 8 Megapixel sensor means I can reduce the image and likely retain sufficient quality for most purposes.

Current Mood: geeky

jmaynard upgraded to the most recent iPhone and since that was going on, I got an upgrade as well. Not an iPhone, but an HTC Inspire 4G "smart" phone running Android and capable of wifi (it's already on the house network). Now that I have a "smart"phone transferring contacts and backing them up should be simple, once I have them in the phone. So far I've only done a little setup and looking around and entered just work and family numbers.

Before I enter any more numbers, I want to be sure that they are right and that they should be entered. Thus this posting. All comments will be screened so only I (and the person making the comment) will be able to see them.

Current Mood: curious

A few nights ago I answered the phone and started to get a spiel about offerings from the phone company I already have for local call, long distance (but never use as that's what Vonage is for) and DSL. I hung up on them, saying that I already did business with them. Of course, they know that, as it lets them exploit that loophole in the No Call List law.

Monday evening I got a call and checked the caller ID. It was listed as an 800 number so I was suspicious. I did answer, but said nothing. And I heard absolute silence. No office background, no call center background, no ambient noise at all. Eventually the call was dropped as the automated dialer system didn't get a signal.

Last night I got another call, which also showed as an 800 number. I answered again, and waited a bit. Then I said something like "quantum physics" and that was enough to trip the automation to switch and the spiel was on. When there was a pause and I was asked about things, I replied that I was just about to call and cancel their service. A moment of stunned silence was music to me. "Why? Switching to cell?" "Well, $TELCO keeps calling me whenever I'm in the middle of something." It is claimed that I am now on their own Do Not Solicit list, but really, how stupid does someone have to be to call a customer and sell at them when they are on the state and national Do Not Call lists? Doing business with them because they are the only choice in town does not mean I'm inviting them to sell at me.

I halfway expect I'll get another call tonight despite the claim. I'm not sure if I'll answer it and squawk about that, or just let it go to the answering machine.

Current Mood: irritated

Recently jmaynard got a new cell phone provider and a new phone (actually, what he got is more of a computer that happens to have a phone in it) and also got a low-end phone for me to use on a second line with shared minutes. We've had a similar arrangement for about a year with the last provider. The change is that the basic phone isn't a basic phone any more.

I really didn't use the last phone that much. I had it with me when I traveled and that was about it. If it did more than be a phone with a list of numbers, I didn't take advantage of that. Heck, I doubt I even added or changed any of the numbers as it was Jay's old phone and I got it when he upgraded before.

The new phone, the Nokia 6010, is considered pretty low-end nowadays. Low end includes a phone and number list, of course. And text messaging, which is no surprise. And a simple calculator, a calendar that can hold notes, an AIM client, an alarm clock, I think there might be web browser if that was enabled but I'm not sure. There's also the ability to have voice-activated dialing for some numbers. That is somewhat useful. Rather than fiddle around with the contact list to find the right name and the right number, I can hold a button for a bit and say, "Jay - cellular" for example and have it dial.

I've been carrying the phone around with me recently as Jay is traveling and the mobile-to-mobile calls don't burn connection minutes. Last night when I did laundry I used the alarm clock function as a reminder of when things would need attention. I've found that the LCD backlight throws just enough light for just long enough that it illuminates where I put my glasses down before going to sleep. Sure, both of those aren't that much, but I'm starting to see why folks would want to have a phone or PDA with them.

That bothers me a bit. Carrying a phone with me at almost all times is something I've been avoiding. Granted, only a few folks have the number and I intend to keep it that way. I prefer the house line when I'm at home and so I don't want the cell number considered my primary number. I also don't want to get to the point where I'll really want to get something fancier.

I did go and get a couple accessories to make using the phone a bit easier. I now have a belt pouch and a sort of drop-in charger which is just a stand that uses the wall-charger that comes with the phone. When Jay got the phone he also got the mobile charger and a small travel charger. The 6010 also seems to have a fairly long standby time. But I still have a 3x5 card in my wallet with a few important numbers written down. I don't have to recharge that.

Current Mood: a bit concerned

Though it was opening weekend of MNRF, I didn't go. The early weather forecast was for some rain, though like many a weather forecast it changed and this time evidently for the better. I didn't really miss going to MNRF, I found. I expect I will go a time or perhaps two this year, but I don't have "faire fever" about it. In a way, I'm looking forward more to IRF, though that's more to see folks I haven't seen in nearly a year than for the faire itself.

I didn't do much with either the older or newer laptop this weekend, despite my intent. I want to get the newer one set up before doing much with or to the older one. And I want Jay around for the Gentoo install since he has some experience with Gentoo. I did get the latest Gentoo universal CD ISO after finally getting around to installing a bittorrent client on belgian. I was surprised at how smoothly that went. Manrake/Mandriva's urpmi tool actually worked as intended and it was simple to get Opera to launch bittorrent when I clicked a bittorrent link.

I also spent some time researching, or try to research, the Nokia 6010 as I now have one. Overall it's probably more than I need and it's considered rather basic. I've got pretty much all the phone numbers I expect to use on the road programmed in, and even a couple that can be dialed by voice command. What I don't have is any custom ringtones. There are several ringtones already in the phone and none are very appealing nor all that distinctive, to me, from one another. While there are web sites that have more, what they have also doesn't much appeal to me and I'm not sure I can get anything via such sites anyway. It looks like I'm stuck with the preprogrammed rings unless I manage to find the right cable for a decent price and deal with what seems to be pretty much all Windows software, dagnabbit.

We had our phone system switched over at work. Now a fancy-schmancy digital system, rather than the aging analog system that while it ran, was starting to get difficult to repair. Overall the changes are superficial. It's a phone. It still rings and gets answered, it still can be dialed (for "poke" values of "dial") out. There are a couple new features and all the old ones, or something close enough.

The changes that affect me are a different ringer and having an LCD for caller almost ID. Now an electronic doodle-oodle-oodle-oop rather than a real ring. I can change tone and volume, but am stuck with the same doodle-oodle-oodle-oop as everyone else. One would expect the possibility of ring tone selection, to make distinguishing that much easier. The new ring will take some getting used to. Mainly as it's a new sound and I am not yet accustomed to ignoring it when someone else's phone rings. Also I now have a sort of caller ID. I can see which other internal extension is calling anyway. The first out-of-plant call I got showed up as "T1 Line3" or something like that. Oh yes, the LCD has time and date. And naturally the phone time and the computer network time disagree by three minutes...

There is no MUTE button. There is, annoyingly, a PAGE button. I expect to hear even more accidental pages or pages are someone leaving leaving it off hook and not realizing sorts of things. Before it took three buttons to do that. Now a single button allows that to happen. Since 1) I almost never page and 2) the old three button method works (so not every phone had to be switched over...or something) and 3) MUTE is more useful and less dangerous than PAGE, I may look into how to trade the functions. Yep, the phone is fancy enough to allow some button redefinition.