Blog All Title

Hello

"Google announced Friday that it will be phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6, more than two weeks after the attacks on Google's servers that targeted a vulnerability in IE6. In a blog post, Rajen Sheth, Google Apps senior product manager, said that support for IE6 in Google Docs and Google Sites will end March 1. At that point, IE6 users who try to access Docs or Sites may find that 'key functionality' won't work properly. Sheth suggested that customers upgrade their browsers to pretty much anything else."
Source: Slashdot

Note: This is about the Dutch T-Mobile.

I ordered the brand new T-Mobile pulse a week ago and I am expecting it to arrive next week. Let me describe what made me choose this particular cellphone and make some remarks about my expectations. That will be fun to reread in a couple of month time.

History
I've never had a lot of fun with phones. Most likely that's because I'm no longer sixteen years old. But I've had 'm for some time but I seldom use the phone. Take this literally. With seldom I mean less than 20 minutes per month.
My first phone was a Siemens M55. I bought it because of the then emerging data (Internet) possibilities. The performance was horrible. It could only show real WAP sites and there were only a few of them around. Starting up the GPRS and loading the first site would take the best part of five minutes. I didn't use it a lot. I payed per kB so what the heck.
I had high hopes of the possibilities with the embedded java. I did manage to find a few games that I could download and install from within the phone. Apart from the fact that it was dead slow I was demoted by the small screen (color!). So I didn't play a lot.
This was technique in it's infancies.

Today
I have a basic Nokia, simlock free. No Internet. Phone only.

Next week
If all goes according to the promises by T-Mobile they will start shipping the Pulse from Monday October 12. Have a look at a picture:

These are the specs from the website. You find this phone at http://tinyurl.com/ydnc32q

Specificaties:

• Afmetingen: 112 x 56.2 x 14.4 mm
• Gewicht: 135 gram
• Spreektijd: tot 480 minuten
• Standby tijd: tot 750 uur
• Netwerken: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS/HSDPA tot 7.2mbps/GSM/GPRS

Functies

• Besturingssysteem: Google Android
• Scherm: TFT Touch Screen met 65.000 kleuren
• Camera: 5.0 megapixel
• Processor: Qualcomm MSM 7200A 528 MHz
• E-mail
• Intern geheugen: 288 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
• Games
• Handenvrije luidspreker
• HTML-browser
• MP3 beltonen
• MP3-speler
• Polyfone beltonen
• Geïntegreerde GPS ontvanger
• Video/Audio speler
• Uitgebreide agenda
• Trilfunctie
• USB aansluiting

It has everything a modern smartphone would want. But these specs are vague. Like what is the screen resolution (480 x 320). The other page on their site claims it runs the latest Android but I can't imagine it to be 1.6. The camera resolution is 3.15MP, not 5 as claimed here.
The phone really is a Huawei U8220. For those among you interested in more detailed specs, have a look at this site: http://tinyurl.com/y8r6f5z.

Money
This phone will cost me close to € 30,- a month in a one year contract. It includes darn slow but unlimited Internet (345kB/64kB) and 150 min for E.T. to phone home.

Choices
What made me decide for this one? Mainly it was money. This phone sells at € 257,- or thereabout and that's about the upper limit for both my wallet and my notion of what a phone should cost. The latest iPhone would cost me around € 1100,- for two years of fun. I would probably go for it anyway if it was only fun I could expect. But I don't like the software being closed source, the App store being controlled without an alternative store available. Even the case is closed so I can't add memory or a spare battery if need be.
If I would want to develop apps for the iPhone I'd need to pay a decent sum of money to start and next get in touch with Objective C. I am not an Apple fanboy. I simply don't want to be locked up into the fantasies of other people.
An alternative would be another phone with Android. Notably the HTC Hero. It's just more expensive. I tend to believe the specs are in the same range.

Expectations
I'll be phoning a lot more. But more important, I;ll have my mail around. And my Twitter. Being a profound bicyclist I have high expectations of the GPS possibilities of the phone. I hope it's got some tracking possibilities. I'll be making pictures and listen to music. I think it's all those basic tasks that keep me busy at least some time in a regular day. It has the potential to be used something like two hours a day when I'm not at home. I can live without it, so it's a pure gadget.
Will I be developing for the Android? Yes and no. I do think I'll be doing a 'Hello World' of some sort. I don't think I'll be doing a real app. I regularly lack inspiration. And things I do come up with are so specific I'll be my only customer. That's the outcome of many of my efforts. I really do know what I'm talking about!
I don't like Java. There Python bindings available but they need to be expanded. It is not expected to be any Python GUI bindings, so the Python part will be text based I presume.
Part of me believes this phone will be a disappointment. But that happened before. It's a glance into the future. The phones of today will turn out to be immature in a few years time. But that's the fun part of progress.

I'll take some time to write a review. I think before the end of the year.

This is what we're all afraid of: the H1N1 virus aka 'Mexican flu' or 'swine flu'.

Unfortunately it doesn't say how often it's magnified.
Source: CDC - Center for Disease Control and Prevention