I wanna new phone!!!

[Seero]

But I don't know which one to buy.

Here is the story, my existing phone doesn't work at work because the stupid Network Admin don't really know what he is doing and killed the wifi of my phone. My phone is a Moto W388 (or the old version of it) and connects to wifi in a weird way. So the long and short of it is I can't use my phone at work and my wife is getting so upset that she don't have a problem for me to get a new phone.

Just when everything looks good, with the fido dollars I have saved I can buy 2-3 Iphone 4 but one problem. Out of stock! Yes, they offered me iphone 3, but I feel that it is out of date and don't want to get stuck with it, wife won't allow me to get another one for another 100 years.

So I am stuck. While my wife don't really care if I am spending fido dollars or not, I have the opportunity to buy other smart phones. So this is what I am thinking:

Wait for iphone 4
Wait for LG Optimus
Hack the company's network...

Yes, i am a layman in the world of phone, so I don't know what those are other than the fact that they can hook into a normal wifi. Brothers/sisters, please shard me some lights.

/beg

 

[YoungGun21]

Why wait at all? If you need a new phone now, there really shouldn't be a hesitation on your part. I suppose waiting for the IP4 to come in stock may not be too long, so that is a viable option. Other than that, why wait months for a new phone to come out?

 

[Seero]

Why wait at all? If you need a new phone now, there really shouldn't be a hesitation on your part. I suppose waiting for the IP4 to come in stock may not be too long, so that is a viable option. Other than that, why wait months for a new phone to come out?

This will sound dump, but I am dump when it comes to phone. All I do with my phone is to call. I had my phone for years and took about 20 pictures in total and never played a single song on it.

All those phone apps are like rockets to a caveman, so I really don't know what is what. I am so confused.

I guess my requirements are simple. First the phone must look sexy. Second it must be a smart phone so I can receive calls at work via wifi. Third fast OS, it will be my phone for the next 100 years if it doesn't break. Other then these, I know nothing about phones. If I am to go to a store, those salesman would probably sell me a brick and tell me it is a good phone so...

 

[pm]

Do you have a preference for network? Do they all get good reception?

iPhone 4's are usually in stock in Apple stores nowadays you can try calling your local Apple store and then you may not have to wait.

I was thinking... one way to go would be to buy one of these Verizon MyFi gizmos, and then just use your Motorola phone, or get an iPod Touch running Skype as a background task. It depends if you are walking around a lot or something... but you could set up your own 3G WiFi with a MyFi and then tie your Motorola to that. It's $40/month for 250MB which is a lot of time when you are just talking photo calls (which use about 22MB/hour... ish) So that's over 11 hours of Skype per month... roughly.

Or just buy an Android phone - older model is fine for what you want - and then sign up for this $30/month unlimited data plan that was just announced, and then use Skype on that.

 

[yacoub]

FYI: "wanna" is short for "want to" not "want a". Your thread title thus reads "I want to new phone!!!".

 

[Raduque]

pm: he keeps saying "fido" so I'm thinking he's in canada. A Verizon mifi isn't likely to help him.

 

[Seero]

Do you have a preference for network? Do they all get good reception?

iPhone 4's are usually in stock in Apple stores nowadays you can try calling your local Apple store and then you may not have to wait.

The wifi signal is better than the phone signal. In short, I used to be able to use my phone through wifi until the Network admin. decided to fix something that isn't broken, and now I can't receive any calls.

I guess this is phone 101, but what is iphone good for? I heard that apps on iphone are not free, but then I heard of jailbreak. Can you tell me something about those?

FYI: "wanna" is short for "want to" not "want a". Your thread title thus reads "I want to new phone!!!".

Thank you for your English lesson. I will be appreciated if you too have something about phones you can teach me.

 

[pm]

pm: he keeps saying "fido" so I'm thinking he's in canada. A Verizon mifi isn't likely to help him.

Ah. I couldn't figure out the "Fido" reference... so... I just ignored it as a word that I didn't recognize.

Thanks, that makes sense.

Seero, if you are in Canada, please ignore my references to Verizon.

I guess this is phone 101, but what is iphone good for? I heard that apps on iphone are not free, but then I heard of jailbreak. Can you tell me something about those?

Apps on the iPhone can be free, or can cost money. Skype, for example, is free. Others cost money with the majority costing less than $5. You can view the app store for the iPhone by downloading iTunes and installing it on a PC or Mac and then browsing the App Store and see what apps you might want and how much they cost. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how many are free.

Jailbreaking is a way of opening up the phone for Apple-unauthorized apps, usage models (like tethering) and customization. It can also be used to pirate apps (ie. steal apps by not paying for them), but discussion of piracy is against Anandtech's forum guidelines, and were the thread to start talking about that it would be locked or deleted. That said, jailbreaking is not inherently a bad thing, and offers a legitimate competition to the iPhone app store by offering apps (like Google Voice) that Apple rejected.

 

[Seero]

pm: he keeps saying "fido" so I'm thinking he's in canada. A Verizon mifi isn't likely to help him.

yes, I live in Canada.

 

[Seero]

Or just buy an Android phone - older model is fine for what you want - and then sign up for this $30/month unlimited data plan that was just announced, and then use Skype on that.

I have a phone plan, and I can afford a data plan. If i am to get an iphone from fido, then i am more or less forced to get the data plan. If I get something else, then I will probably not get a data plan as I have wifi at work and home. Am I wrong in assuming that I can access the web without a data plan through wifi?

 

[pm]

I have a phone plan, and I can afford a data plan. If i am to get an iphone from fido, then i am more or less forced to get the data plan. If I get something else, then I will probably not get a data plan as I have wifi at work and home. Am I wrong in assuming that I can access the web without a data plan through wifi?

You are right, you can access the web without a data plan through WiFi on an iPhone - or an iPod Touch.

On a semi-related note, I was looking over the phone list at fido.ca and was shocked to see that Fido doesn't offer any Android phones at all? I was really surprised - they have to be the only carrier that I can think of who doesn't have any Android phones.

 

[Seero]

You are right, you can access the web without a data plan through WiFi on an iPhone - or an iPod Touch.

And with Ipod Touch, I can use skype right? So Ipod Touch is an good palm pilot right? Yeah sorry, but I am very very outdated.

On a semi-related note, I was looking over the phone list at fido.ca and was shocked to see that Fido doesn't offer any Android phones at all? I was really surprised - they have to be the only carrier that I can think of who doesn't have any Android phones.

Yeah, and I am smart enough to say yes when they called and ask for another 2 year contract...

On the bright side they give my 100 dollar more fido dollar.

 

[Spicedaddy]

You are right, you can access the web without a data plan through WiFi on an iPhone - or an iPod Touch.

On a semi-related note, I was looking over the phone list at fido.ca and was shocked to see that Fido doesn't offer any Android phones at all? I was really surprised - they have to be the only carrier that I can think of who doesn't have any Android phones.

Fido is the value brand for Rogers, and their smartphone selection sucks. The only one worth getting is the iPhone 4...

The good news is they do have the 6GB data for 30$ promo right now, so I'd get an iPhone 4 and add that to your plan. You can upgrade and use your Fido Dollars at the Apple store, which is the place that gets the most stock.

Is the iPhone 4 still hard to find?? I got mine over a month ago at the Apple store in Montreal.

 

[pm]

And with Ipod Touch, I can use skype right? So Ipod Touch is an good palm pilot right? Yeah sorry, but I am very very outdated.


Yeah, and I am smart enough to say yes when they called and ask for another 2 year contract...

On the bright side they give my 100 dollar more fido dollar.

Yes, the newer iPod Touch's works pretty well with Skype. You can have inbound and outbound Skype calls on the newer Touch's if you are running the latest OS release (which you can download and install with iTunes).

I only mention the iPod Touch because it seems like an option for you, and it's cheaper (at least there's no required voice or data plan and it works over WiFi).

So if I understand your situation, Seero:
1. you live in Canada and you have a 2 year contract with Fido.
2. you do not get Fido service in your office (which I gather from the comment about making calls over Wifi and wife being upset that you can't do this any more).
3. your network guys blocked your WiFi calls.

So it seemed to be that there are two possibilities - the first is to somehow get WiFi back where you are. And one possibility for re-enabling WiFi would be a dedicated 3G WiFi box which would let you keep your current phone and your current calling method.

Another way is a new phone which has a data plan and making WiFi-like calls over that - but if you don't have current reception with Fido with your Motorola, I can't see how this would work. If you don't have voice service, you aren't going to have data service there either.

I mentioned the iPod Touch because a third possibility might be Skype on a Touch since it doesn't look like standard Voip packets and routes on port 80 instead. And if that sentence didn't make any sense, then in plain English I mean that Skype might not be blocked on WiFi by your admin. The advantage of a Touch on your WiFi network would be that you could make and receive calls, and there's no data or voice plan with it - although there's a very small fee for using Skype itself. So you pay ~$250 for a Touch, and you'd be able to make and receive calls for nothing.

The problem with the iPod Touch Skype idea is that it's not clear how the admin blocked your current WiFi method...? Did he/she stop allowing your phone to connect to WiFi? Or did he/she block phone calls over WiFi? What method were you using to make phone calls over WiFi before it stopped working?

As far as the iPod Touch being like a modern Palm Pilot, you could think of it that way, although the Palm Pilot was more of a business device and the iPod Touch is more of a consumer device.
http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

And then beyond iPod Touches, if you have that many Fido points, then maybe just get an iPhone 4 and just wait? Did Fido say how long it would be? The iPhone 4 is way better than the Optimus... they aren't even in the same league.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Ah. I couldn't figure out the "Fido" reference... so... I just ignored it as a word that I didn't recognize.

Thanks, that makes sense.

Seero, if you are in Canada, please ignore my references to Verizon.



Apps on the iPhone can be free, or can cost money. Skype, for example, is free. Others cost money with the majority costing less than $5. You can view the app store for the iPhone by downloading iTunes and installing it on a PC or Mac and then browsing the App Store and see what apps you might want and how much they cost. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how many are free.

Jailbreaking is a way of opening up the phone for Apple-unauthorized apps, usage models (like tethering) and customization. It can also be used to pirate apps (ie. steal apps by not paying for them), but discussion of piracy is against Anandtech's forum guidelines, and were the thread to start talking about that it would be locked or deleted. That said, jailbreaking is not inherently a bad thing, and offers a legitimate competition to the iPhone app store by offering apps (like Google Voice) that Apple rejected.

Why is it a crime to talk about jailbreaking here if the government has said its legal

 

[zerocool84]

Why is it a crime to talk about jailbreaking here if the government has said its legal

It's legal to jailbreak it but it's still against Apple's TOS if I remember correctly.

 

[Seero]

...

Thank you very much for the clear explanations you have given. I have a better vision about the apps and stuffs.

Okay, so what is with iphone can't run Flash? Does it mean no youtube?

What about android phones? Aren't they better since they don't have as much limitations?

 

[MrX8503]

Thank you very much for the clear explanations you have given. I have a better vision about the apps and stuffs.

Okay, so what is with iphone can't run Flash? Does it mean no youtube?

What about android phones? Aren't they better since they don't have as much limitations?

The iPhone has a youtube app already installed. It can view youtube without the need of flash. You can also open the web browser and go to m.youtube.com to view youtube.

Android has less limitations which results into more customizations of your phone. This is up to you if its a benefit or not.

 

[Seero]

The iPhone has a youtube app already installed. It can view youtube without the need of flash. You can also open the web browser and go to m.youtube.com to view youtube.

Android has less limitations which results into more customizations of your phone. This is up to you if its a benefit or not.

thank you for the explanation.

Now, Fido only have iphone 3 in store, but not iphone 4. Are there differences between the 2?

 

[DivideBYZero]

As far as I know the iPhone doesn't have UMA, meaning you cannot make regular calls over WiFi. I only mention this as one of your posts seemed to suggest this is what you did with your old moto.

 

[Seero]

As far as I know the iPhone doesn't have UMA, meaning you cannot make regular calls over WiFi. I only mention this as one of your posts seemed to suggest this is what you did with your old moto.

My moto can use wifi as VoIP, and calls that are made through VoIP are don't count towards airtime. It can also serve the web, but it will count as datatime.

My believe is all smart phones can connect to Wifi and make VoIP calls. Doesn't matter if it counts towards airtime, I only need it to be able to receive calls when I am at my work desk. Other than that, I believe (please correct me if i am wrong) smart phone acts like a PDA when there are wifi signals, so I can download stuffs at work and won't count as datatime.

 

[pm]

Why is it a crime to talk about jailbreaking here if the government has said its legal

It's not a crime to talk about jailbreaking. I was talking about pirating apps after jailbreaking - there was a line in the original post that said something about apps costing money and then jailbreaking as an alternative which implied that this could degrade into a discussion of how to pirate apps on the iPhone through jailbreaking.

Discussions of how to pirate software are against forum rules, specifically rule #3.

 

[pm]

As far as I know the iPhone doesn't have UMA, meaning you cannot make regular calls over WiFi. I only mention this as one of your posts seemed to suggest this is what you did with your old moto.

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure about how he was talking over WiFi. UMA makes a lot of sense. And you are right, iPhone doesn't have UMA, so to do something similar Seero would need to switch to SIP/VOIP.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure about how he was talking over WiFi. UMA makes a lot of sense. And you are right, iPhone doesn't have UMA, so to do something similar Seero would need to switch to SIP/VOIP.

Yeah, UMA is a different animal, TMobile has implemented it in their Blackberries, and has talked about adding it to Android phones they sell. the rom developers are hoping they do, and will port the software to various Android custom roms if they can...

They (TMobile) did say the Moto Charm (the BB looking Android device) would have it prior to it's release, unfortunately, they didn't release it with a UMA solution.

I toyed with using a BB Curve at work with UMA, but I just can't get the hang of using a BB, seems counter intuitive, and the screens are too damn small for me to find any utility in them...

 

[Seero]

It's not a crime to talk about jailbreaking. I was talking about pirating apps after jailbreaking - there was a line in the original post that said something about apps costing money and then jailbreaking as an alternative which implied that this could degrade into a discussion of how to pirate apps on the iPhone through jailbreaking.

Discussions of how to pirate software are against forum rules, specifically rule #3.

Use private program is not my intention. I read able iphone and come accoss jailbreak which opens up things that iphone cannot execute, and wonder what jailbreak is and what are those things that iphone can't do. The way i put it may confuses ppl.

About that UMA business, does it mean I am screwed even if i get an new smart phone?