Bell Mobility Carrying New CDMA Pocket PC Phone?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.bell.ca/shop/application/commercewf?origin=browse_cellphone.jsp&event=link(productDetail)&wlcs_catalog_item_sku=60956&toGoEvent=submitFromDetail' target='_blank'>http://www.bell.ca/shop/application...ubmitFromDetail</a><br /><br /></div>Canadian wireless users have long lamented their carriers' slow adoption approach to Pocket PC Phones -- especially with the CDMA carriers, due to their lack of SIMs. However, it looks like Bell Mobility is carrying the Audiovox PPC 5050 -- a 1xRTT CDMA device with 400MHz XScale/64MB of RAM, and it costs $699 with mail-in rebate. We <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6413">mentioned the unit</a> a few months ago, and it seems they're the first carrier in North America to sell it.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20040426-AudiovoxPPC5050.jpg" /><br /><br />Good going, Bell! (Note that you'll have to select a province before you can see the detailed product information.)

[thunderck]

ahhhh the more CDMA PPC PE's the better. :!: :devilboy:

[Zack Mahdavi]

ahhhh the more CDMA PPC PE's the better. :!: :devilboy:

Why do you like CDMA better than GSM? Is it because your provider uses CDMA?

[Janak Parekh]

Why do you like CDMA better than GSM? Is it because your provider uses CDMA?
In my case, CDMA provides better coverage and much faster data services (around 100kbps, compared to 30-40kbps for GPRS).

--janak

[thunderck]

No it is not just the carrier, I think it is a fundamentally more efficient data transfer method. With CDMA Voice and Data are integrated, GSM is voice and GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA for data. So with GSM you have two services doing two functions but with CDMA you have one service doing the same two functions. The different levels of CDMA are faster than the comparable levels in WCDMA (which is used on top of GSM).
1xEV----GPRS
1xEV-DO----EDGE,WCDMA
1xEV-DV----EDGE,WCDMA

In all cases the CDMA (1x) side is faster. In Asia CDMA rules and their devices rock, blow our handhelds out of the water.

In America
Verizon has 37.5 million customers---CDMA and have 1xEV now and by years end 1xEV-DO 2.4 Mbps top speed .
Cingular 24.0 million---GSM but no data worth anything
At&t 22.0 million--GPRS but with the merger with Cingular and the exodus of user their forthcoming EDGE upgrade will be hampered
Sprint 20.4 million---CDMA and 1xEV now and plan on rolling out 1xEV-DV in 2005 which is even better than 1xEV-DO because it is 3.4 Mbps and you can use voice and data at the same time.
T-mobile 13.1 million--GPRS and for my part have not seen their upgrade plans. I do like their handheld offerings better.


In America CDMA carries are adding more customers than GSM. I think this will help hardware vendors make more CDMA devices. Time will tell but I think we are beginning to see a changing of the guard with data devices.

But really it just comes down to speed for me 8)

[thunderck]

Why do you like CDMA better than GSM? Is it because your provider uses CDMA?
In my case, CDMA provides better coverage and much faster data services (around 100kbps, compared to 30-40kbps for GPRS).

--janak


strongly agree. I consistantly get 100-120kbps at my house with my cellphone or datacard.

[karen]

Good going, Bell! (Note that you'll have to select a province before you can see the detailed product information.)

Great. Given what they have done to my highly customizable cell phone, let me guess what they have done with this phone:

-- Removed all ability to download files from my PC
-- Removed all ability to customize the UI
-- Removed all ability to put ringers on it.
-- Remove ability to send or receive e-mail from any account other than a Bell High Speed account.
-- Removed active sync and make you use some unsupported piece of caca sw that is less reliable than AS.

Seriously, I will never pay $700 (which will be $800 with tax) for a phone from which I'm sure that they've wiped out all the usable functionality.

It's amazing what cojones they have with what they did to my regular cell phone.

Karen

[Jason Dunn]

This is nice to see, but in typical Canadian carrier fashion, it seems too little, too late. This is closer to a 1st generation XDA than a powerful XDA II, and with SE announced, we're on the cusp of new hardware being released, so this is already more or less obsolete. :roll:

[Jeff Rutledge]

I hear ya Jason. Don't get me started... :evil:

[Birdman]

...and then Bell (and any other interested Canadian carrier) will loudly proclaim that there is no market for these things which is why they generally don't bring them in, in the first place!

Frustrating as anything.

[Janak Parekh]

Great. Given what they have done to my highly customizable cell phone, let me guess what they have done with this phone:
I know CDMA providers are very much the control freaks, but if they had done that, it wouldn't be a Pocket PC phone. ;) If anything, Pocket PC Phones are a "backdoor" for CDMA carriers -- it enables a lot more functionality than any other phone on their networks. I speak from experience, carrying an i700 on Verizon. 8) I can do nearly everything I want with the device, including custom WAV ringtones, hooking up to laptop, etc.... the only thing that's lacking is Bluetooth.

This is nice to see, but in typical Canadian carrier fashion, it seems too little, too late. This is closer to a 1st generation XDA than a powerful XDA II
It's not that bad, Jason. It has 64MB of RAM, a transflective screen, SDIO, a 400MHz XScale, and 1xRTT runs rings around GPRS. I'd actually say this is much closer to an XDA II than an XDA I, except for Bluetooth (or, rather, the lack of it). Heck, it's better than my i700, which is actually a pretty darn decent device. :)

--janak