Brighthand: "The Drawbacks of Cellular-Wireless Handhelds"

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://brighthand.com/article/Cellular-Wireless_Handheld_Drawbacks' target='_blank'>http://brighthand.com/article/Cellu...dheld_Drawbacks</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I've believed for years that, someday, all handhelds will have built-in cellular-wireless access. But now I'm beginning to wonder if that's true. The advantages of cellular-wireless handhelds are obvious. They allow you to easily check your email and surf the Web wherever and whenever you want. You're no longer tied to your desk or even a Wi-Fi access point, and you don't have to worry about juggling multiple devices. And as cellular-wireless networks offer faster and faster data transfer speeds, the devices connecting to them become increasingly useful...As nice as this vision is, there are some drawbacks, especially for us hard-core handheld users. Most of these aren't technological problems; they are business related."</i><br /><br />As a user of converged devices over the years, I can say that Ed has hit the nail on the head here. It's infuriating, because I love the features of the converged devices I've used. I'm also looking forward to the next big converged unit -- the HTC Universal -- but true-to-form, no one knows when it'll be released by the carriers. :|

[mr_Ray]

As a user of converged devices over the years, I can say that Ed has hit the nail on the head here. It's infuriating, because I love the features of the converged devices I've used. I'm also looking forward to the next big converged unit -- the HTC Universal -- but true-to-form, no one knows when it'll be released by the carriers. :|
I guess it's something that a lot of the world just take for granted, but it's really shocking that you guys put up with having your carriers dictate your phone device to you.

You wouldn't allow your landline phone to be dictated by your phone company, you wouldn't let AOL tell you that you had to use a Dell computer, you wouldn't let your cable/satellite supplier dictate which TV you use - why should your mobile be any different?

I guess that like so many problems nowadays there just aren't enough people who actually care, and just accept what they're given quietly.

[griph]

As a user of converged devices over the years, I can say that Ed has hit the nail on the head here.
This is truer for the USA than Europe I believe. I started out with a couple of iPaq's before adopting a XDA1 PPCPE- apart from the problems with memory and early teething troubles, the long term upgrade path just wasn't there for me, but this was mainly due to newer PPCPE devices coming out resulting in operators not bothing with further upgrades for older models. I went away from converged devices for a while only to return again at the beginning of the year. I now have a MDA Compact. I pretty much realised from the word go that O/S upgradability was going to be an issue. Bit not an ussue for me, as I have accepted that the MDA does 99.98% of what I need it to, my willingness to upgrade to WM5 was minimal. Due to WM5's memory capabilities, the upgradablity is as much to do with hardware as it is to do with the operator being willing to release an O/S upgrade. Had T-Mobile UK been willing to offer an upgrade to WM5 I dont believe that being limited to only 64MB Rom for O/S and applications would have been enough.

I am sure I will upgrade again in the future, but this will almost certainly be to a new device where the hardware has advanced (as quickly as it does) to 'TRY' to keep up with the O/S upgrades!!

Having said all that, I believe that this is less of an issue in Europe mainly due to the GSM standard. I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be in the USA! :?

[JD Silver]

Ed has hit it on the head. I have been wrestling with converging, or not, and have reached the conclusion that a PDA/Phone combo is right for me. Next decision, GSM or CDMA? Here I was forced to grudingly accept that I must select the carrier network over the device if it was to be used as my primary (and only..no landline for me!) phone.

Sigh...CDMA has better coverage (in Edmonton) and data speed with EVDO coming.

So now I am the proud owner of a Audiovox PPC6600 instead of an iJam, and there will be no WM5.0 upgrade for me. Perhaps 'down the road' carriers will become a little less conservative and allow more choices, but a reliable network is more vital than a new OS on my device.

All that being said, I find that including a phone in my device offers more to my use than VGA. So I'll always be about 8 to 12 months behind on the state of the art PPCs.

[Janak Parekh]

I guess that like so many problems nowadays there just aren't enough people who actually care, and just accept what they're given quietly.
Bingo. :(

The other thing is that most mobile devices are simply too expensive unlocked. GSM coverage in North America is growing by leaps and bounds, and I might switch back when the HTC Universal is available, but I shudder at the thought of the unlocked price. 8O

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Having said all that, I believe that this is less of an issue in Europe mainly due to the GSM standard. I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be in the USA! :?
Well, as I implied in the previous post, GSM is now pretty good here -- we have two national carriers with extensive coverage. However, cost is one issue.

The other one is distribution -- for example, HTC doesn't directly sell to end-users. I wish they did; I think we'd see a lot more devices in that case. However, carriers want exclusive agreements at the beginning... and I think that's true internationally, although moreso in the US of course.

--janak

[mr_Ray]

I guess that like so many problems nowadays there just aren't enough people who actually care, and just accept what they're given quietly.
Bingo. :(

The other thing is that most mobile devices are simply too expensive unlocked. GSM coverage in North America is growing by leaps and bounds, and I might switch back when the HTC Universal is available, but I shudder at the thought of the unlocked price. 8O

--janak
Obviously the outrageous prices for these devices is unrelated to the actual costs.

Now I doubt there's any technical reason for the price disparity. Personally I suspect there's a lot of "we'll pay you $X more per unit if you change the RRP from $300 to $3000" going on somewhere...