• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Do you have Video Conference mobile's in the America's?

DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Diamond Member
They have just been released over here in the UK under a new network called "Three".

Just wondering if anyone has one, or if they are even in the US yet?

Typically you guys in America have had them for the past 50 years
rolleye.gif
😛
 
Video conference mobile? Like a book-mobile? Do they actually come into your office and set up a conference room for video conferencing to another office with the same setup? I guess that's a good service, I don't know what sort of market there is for occasional video conferencing -- there'd be a pretty low cut-off point where it's cheaper to just set up a permanent system than to "rent" the service again.
 
Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
Video conference mobile? Like a book-mobile? Do they actually come into your office and set up a conference room for video conferencing to another office with the same setup? I guess that's a good service, I don't know what sort of market there is for occasional video conferencing -- there'd be a pretty low cut-off point where it's cheaper to just set up a permanent system than to "rent" the service again.
Click to expand...

No its not really video conferencing. More like a video call / video phone.

The phones are just slightly bigger to a normal mobile because they have the same screen size as say the Nokie 7650, and have an inbuilt camera.

If 2 people have one then they can have like a webcam chat on their mobile phones.

You understand what i mean?

Just wondering if you have them in the USA yet?! 😉
 
For once, I think that this may actually be one of the things that the UK has before the US 😉

The UK has paid many billions of pounds to get the necessary radio frequencies, and I haven't heard of anything like this in the US.

Of course, feel free to prove me wrong :


Confused
 
Oh, you people call cell phones "mobiles". 🙂 I don't think we've gotten that far yet. Current phones are just becoming popular with built-in cameras for still shots. Europe and Japan I thought have always been ahead of us with cell phone services.
 
We had the camera phones have been out for about 9 months to a year over here, so maybe you'll be about a year behind there?

LE, do you know whether you have any 3G operators there, as that's what our video ones are running on, due to the much higher bandwidth it allows


Confused
 
Originally posted by: Confused
We had the camera phones have been out for about 9 months to a year over here, so maybe you'll be about a year behind there?

LE, do you know whether you have any 3G operators there, as that's what our video ones are running on, due to the much higher bandwidth it allows


Confused
Click to expand...

I also read that the reason 3G have started was due to the fact a couple of the other networks (Vodafone i think to be specific), do not have the neccesary funding YET, to upgrade their networks for video "Cell phones" 😉

Im amazed we have something before the US 😎

I suppose though, the UK is a dot compared to the size of the US, and things would take much longer to build the infrustructure required for such a network, at least one to cover the entire country that is 😉

 
Don't think 3G has rolled out at all here yet. But I couldn't say for sure, I don't give a damn about cell phone features and don't follow much of it. All I care about is being able to make a phone call and get voicemail...and having a cool looking phone, not one of the ghey colored faceplate smaller than my finger phones with a 35 second ringtone based on a crappy song. 🙂
 
My friend has a Sprint PCS phone with that capability and he's had it for some time. PCS Vision is the name and it doesn't put a dent in his pocketbook. If it was out in Europe before the USA, that is totally understandable to me. North American companies dragged their feet quite a bit with the thought of upgrading to 3G. However, I think cell phones in general typically caught on more quickly in the beginning than in Canada and America and that is evidenced by the number of cell phone users in, say, Finland or Sweden. Perhaps there is more of a use for cell phones than over here? I could have gone for the PCS vision thing, but I personally thought I'd rather simply use my cell phone for talking instead of video 🙂 maybe a lot of people here think the same way.

My two cents (or more) on that topic 🙂

Edit: If anyone is curious, my phone is the Samsung A460 (I think that is the model #) and I got it in November of '02 and it is cool 😀
 
PCS Vision is only a still-image capable service. I suppose using the data-transfer service, some level of video phone function could happen, but the phones themselves don't yet support full video, and I don't know what sort of bandwidth it would require or what is available on the Vision network.

I just love how so many of the features available for a phone service don't even have anything to do with service at all, like you're supposed to love the high speed data transfer because you can download ringtones for your phone, or you can get screensavers for your phone. Who leaves their phone open and actively drawing battery power to show a screensaver? Granted, a lot of the tech industry is self-serving and circular (buy a new item A to make item B work faster so that you can use item A better), but that takes the cake to me.
 
Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
PCS Vision is only a still-image capable service. I suppose using the data-transfer service, some level of video phone function could happen, but the phones themselves don't yet support full video, and I don't know what sort of bandwidth it would require or what is available on the Vision network.

I just love how so many of the features available for a phone service don't even have anything to do with service at all, like you're supposed to love the high speed data transfer because you can download ringtones for your phone, or you can get screensavers for your phone. Who leaves their phone open and actively drawing battery power to show a screensaver? Granted, a lot of the tech industry is self-serving and circular (buy a new item A to make item B work faster so that you can use item A better), but that takes the cake to me.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just thought that I wasn't sure if it was video, but the network is definitely 3G, that is easily confirmed. Personally, I don't know what use I would get with video on a phone 😛. I agree...who really does that? Sounds kind of foolish to me. However, mine has a graphic that is constantly moving but probably only when it is flipped open and it isn't a screen saver of any kind. This aside, in the PCS Network it has 10 days of standby time. I hardly ever find myself outside the PCS Network.
 
I just bought a phone that uses the "new" AT&T GSM "next generation" system. I gather that it's 2.5G, but I can never keep track of what is 3G and what is 2.5G. It doesn't have a camera, but it does have one neat feature. I can put the phone in front of my laptop, they detect each other using infrared (or bluetooth, but my laptop doesn't have bluetooth) and then I can surf the internet at fairly fast speeds (>100kb/s or so) through my phone. It works well except that it cost me a lot more to do this than I thought that it would due to the plan that I'm on. But still it seems kinda like magic to me that I can do this.
 
Originally posted by: pm
I just bought a phone that uses the "new" AT&T GSM "next generation" system. I gather that it's 2.5G, but I can never keep track of what is 3G and what is 2.5G. It doesn't have a camera, but it does have one neat feature. I can put the phone in front of my laptop, they detect each other using infrared (or bluetooth, but my laptop doesn't have bluetooth) and then I can surf the internet at fairly fast speeds (>100kb/s or so) through my phone. It works well except that it cost me a lot more to do this than I thought that it would due to the plan that I'm on. But still it seems kinda like magic to me that I can do this.
Click to expand...

>100kb/s? :Q

Like nearly a 1mbit downstream? :Q
 
It's nearly 1Mb/s in the UK? I'm not sure that AT&T has even advertised their speeds on "mMode" which they are positioning as a 3G network, but my brief experience on it was that it was around 100kb/s. It was faster than dial-up, but it wasn't anywhere near as snappy as my 1.5Mb/s cable modem connection that I have at home.
 
Man, we suck over here with cell phones. Freakin' Sprint only has a 2.5G network set up now. Couldn't even go full 3G..at least that is what they said they had.
 
I've just had a look at the specs for the PCS Vision 3G system, and it is pretty uninspiring - considerably inferior to the UMTS system used in Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Current 3G phones only offer data rates of up to 384 kbps - though the technology can support datarates of >2 Mbps. Unfortunately, the current 3G provider in the UK (Three) is very limited in its data services - there is no internet access, and no data calls. The only 3G services apart from video calling, are a limited selection of video/sound clips which can be downloaded from their clip library (at extortionate cost). They do support e-mail, through some sort of "webmail" system, but this also incurs high costs, to the point that it isn't worthwhile.
 
Originally posted by: DannyBoy
[Q
I suppose though, the UK is a dot compared to the size of the US, and things would take much longer to build the infrustructure required for such a network, at least one to cover the entire country that is 😉
Click to expand...

Well America is a very large single market - which provides economies of scale I would assume that far outstrip the potential to be found in the UK.

America is not always at the forefront of technology, however, I do believe that the American business spirit is far better than back home in the UK (I'm Scottish - but currently live & work in the USA). I think that there is often too much red tape back home and the costs for certain services are often ridiculous by comparison (this may be due in part to the economies of scale?)

One thing that really winds me up back in the UK is where the Government does not allow companies like BT etc to cut the costs to the consumer - in order to allow competition to grow. They keep the costs high so other companies can join the market to create "fair" competition....this is absolute madness!!! I'd rather have a monopoly that gives better prices to the masses!!!

The other thing that winds me up back home is the price of fuel - it is frigging ridiculous. True, the weather also sucks but we can't demonstrate against that really can we 😉

 
Originally posted by: gtd 2000
Originally posted by: DannyBoy
[Q
I suppose though, the UK is a dot compared to the size of the US, and things would take much longer to build the infrustructure required for such a network, at least one to cover the entire country that is 😉
Click to expand...

Well America is a very large single market - which provides economies of scale I would assume that far outstrip the potential to be found in the UK.

America is not always at the forefront of technology, however, I do believe that the American business spirit is far better than back home in the UK (I'm Scottish - but currently live & work in the USA). I think that there is often too much red tape back home and the costs for certain services are often ridiculous by comparison (this may be due in part to the economies of scale?)

One thing that really winds me up back in the UK is where the Government does not allow companies like BT etc to cut the costs to the consumer - in order to allow competition to grow. They keep the costs high so other companies can join the market to create "fair" competition....this is absolute madness!!! I'd rather have a monopoly that gives better prices to the masses!!!

The other thing that winds me up back home is the price of fuel - it is frigging ridiculous. True, the weather also sucks but we can't demonstrate against that really can we 😉
Click to expand...

Im Scottish as well 😉

Yes your right about BT. A friend of mine works for BT and always keeps me informed of the latest news on what offtel are telling them. Your right, offtel wont let them bring prices down, which I also agree is absolutely bloody ridiculous.

There is a new thing due out in the UK within 2 months time. Something called BroadDial. Basically you use your cable modem to make upto 10 phone calls at a time?! 😕 And if you call someone with another broaddial phone, the call is free!

I think this will hit off in the UK, because costs are just too expensive nowadays due to the strength of the pound 🙁

All sorts of things come into the equation when you discuss the UK's economy, unfortuntely the pound's strength is always the first. Its what keeps this country going.

Fuel prices are a pain in the neck as well. Luckily I am not driving at the moment as I sold my car last year, it works out cheaper for me to use public transport 🙁

 
Originally posted by: Mark R
I've just had a look at the specs for the PCS Vision 3G system, and it is pretty uninspiring - considerably inferior to the UMTS system used in Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Current 3G phones only offer data rates of up to 384 kbps - though the technology can support datarates of >2 Mbps. Unfortunately, the current 3G provider in the UK (Three) is very limited in its data services - there is no internet access, and no data calls. The only 3G services apart from video calling, are a limited selection of video/sound clips which can be downloaded from their clip library (at extortionate cost). They do support e-mail, through some sort of "webmail" system, but this also incurs high costs, to the point that it isn't worthwhile.
Click to expand...

You say 3G is limited in its services?

I spoke to a friend that works for carphone warehouse today, you can download ringtones (Upto 60 a month) for nothing, as in free.

They DO have an internet service, and e-mail is done through webmail on e-mail which is not overly expensive at all.

Prices in the UK are high enough as it is, so typically in the UK, the prices are seen as normal for these types of services.
 
e-mail is done through webmail on e-mail which is not overly expensive at all.
Click to expand...

5p to read a very short e-mail.
25p to read a 500 word e-mail, and 50p to send.

Who knows how much if you start attaching files.

You can get up to 50 'events' inclusive each month - of which ring tones count, but so do e-mails, and media clips, etc. After that you're paying £1 per clip and considerably more for ring tones.

Maybe 3 do now have internet access - but a couple of weeks ago, they certainly didn't.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top