Talking on Phone and Surfing at the same time

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Why is it that Sprint with the Palm Pre can do both at the same time but Verizon with the Droid cannot?

 

[Slick5150]

You can't w/ the Pre on Sprint either, unless you're browsing via WiFi. It's a limitation of CDMA

 

[bigboxes]

You can't w/ the Pre on Sprint either, unless you're browsing via WiFi. It's a limitation of CDMA

Wrong. I can do both at the same time. I have my wi-fi turned off to save power since the Pre is a poor power usage. I just turn the speaker phone on and launch the browser. I find information while talking to people all the time, all over my Palm Pre on Sprint.

 

[deputc26]

Wrong. I can do both at the same time. I have my wi-fi turned off to save power since the Pre is a poor power usage. I just turn the speaker phone on and launch the browser. I find information while talking to people all the time, all over my Palm Pre on Sprint.

I didn't think this was possible either but apparently it is. Are you using 3g or EDGE while you're doing this.

 

[bigboxes]

I didn't think this was possible either but apparently it is. Are you using 3g or EDGE while you're doing this.

I'm sure it's 3g (EVDO).

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

See. I thought it was a limitation with CDMA/EV-DO. But if people on Sprint can do it why can't Verizon?

 

[slicksilver]

I dont think it is possible. I'm on GSM and my packet data connection always is temporarily disabled when using voice. The phone itself notifies me saying the data connection is lost and when the voice call is finished it reconnects back.

 

[Slick5150]

Wrong. I can do both at the same time. I have my wi-fi turned off to save power since the Pre is a poor power usage. I just turn the speaker phone on and launch the browser. I find information while talking to people all the time, all over my Palm Pre on Sprint.

Umm. Sorry, but you're mistaken. It simply isn't possible on a CDMA/EVDO netowrk. There's a newer revision of the standard knows as SVDO that does allow simultaneous data/voice, but neither Sprint or Verizon have implemented it (or likely ever will as they're working on replacing their networks with WiMax (Sprint) or LTE (Verizon) anyway).

See this announcement on it from August:
http://www.wmexperts.com/cdma-development-group-announces-svdo-handle-calls-and-data-same-time

 

[Slick5150]

I dont think it is possible. I'm on GSM and my packet data connection always is temporarily disabled when using voice. The phone itself notifies me saying the data connection is lost and when the voice call is finished it reconnects back.

It's only possible on GSM if you're in a 3G area, as then it's using 2 different radios essentially (1 for data, 1 for voice). If you're on an EDGE network it won't work.

 

[PlatinumGold]

How practical is this feature really? How often are you going to talk and surf at the same time when you don't have access to wifi?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

how practical is this anyway? are you going to be just going to be saying "yeah... yeah.... okay..." as your fingers are busy pinching zooming, typing on your phone?

I think diverting a call is already enough. Basically EVDO can do that where your internet gets suspended as you divert your connection to the call, but 3G UMTS/HSDPA can accommodate an ongoing data connection AND a voice connection simultaneously. For me that's a stupid advertising point on behalf of ATT. It's a feature, but to me as long as you can pick one or the other, that's good enough for 99.9% of the people.

 

[Nebor]

how practical is this anyway? are you going to be just going to be saying "yeah... yeah.... okay..." as your fingers are busy pinching zooming, typing on your phone?

I think diverting a call is already enough. Basically EVDO can do that where your internet gets suspended as you divert your connection to the call, but 3G UMTS/HSDPA can accommodate an ongoing data connection AND a voice connection simultaneously. For me that's a stupid advertising point on behalf of ATT. It's a feature, but to me as long as you can pick one or the other, that's good enough for 99.9% of the people.

Really? I spend a lot of time talking on my bluetooth headset while I'm browsing facebook or this forum on my phone.

 

[Spoooon]

how practical is this anyway? are you going to be just going to be saying "yeah... yeah.... okay..." as your fingers are busy pinching zooming, typing on your phone?

I think diverting a call is already enough. Basically EVDO can do that where your internet gets suspended as you divert your connection to the call, but 3G UMTS/HSDPA can accommodate an ongoing data connection AND a voice connection simultaneously. For me that's a stupid advertising point on behalf of ATT. It's a feature, but to me as long as you can pick one or the other, that's good enough for 99.9% of the people.

I could see where it could be useful on occasion. The commercial makes it sound like a killer feature or something though.

 

[Bateluer]

I could see where it could be useful on occasion. The commercial makes it sound like a killer feature or something though.

Its not as big a feature as AT&T makes it out to be, when you consider the plethora of weaknesses of their premiere phone. I've never even had a desire to do it with my Droid.

I did think this was a limitation of CDMA though, and that the Pre was also unable to do voice and data at the same time. I would be curious to see conclusive evidence that this can be done with the Pre, a Youtube video showing a phone call in progress while the user surfs the web.

 

[Slick5150]

Its not as big a feature as AT&T makes it out to be, when you consider the plethora of weaknesses of their premiere phone. I've never even had a desire to do it with my Droid.

I did think this was a limitation of CDMA though, and that the Pre was also unable to do voice and data at the same time. I would be curious to see conclusive evidence that this can be done with the Pre, a Youtube video showing a phone call in progress while the user surfs the web.

It is. I have a Pre, and the data cuts off when the phone rings, and re-establishes itself when the call ends. The only exception is if you're using data over WiFi.

And I agree that it isn't a big deal. I've yet to encounter a scenario where I wished I could do both at the same time.

 

[DivideBYZero]

The only advantage to having data while on a call, for me, is being able to receive an email from the person on the phone and confirm you have received it. Not really a big deal, IMHO.

 

[GoSharks]

Huge benefit when tethering.

 

[Deeko]

I never did this once when I was on T-Mobile with my Dash, N95, Curve, or G1. The fact that I no longer can with my Droid on Verizon does not affect me in any way. I have a lot of friends with iPhones, when these ads first came out, I asked a bunch of them if they ever did this, 1 out of the maybe 20 or so I asked said yes.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I think it might be useful if your friend is asking you to look up stuff for them. You know when people call you asking if you're in front of a computer and can look something up for them? I suppose now you can do it with your smartphone.

Of course it requires you to:

A) Already be on BT
B) Be willing to go on speaker (which is an issue if you're in public)
C) Or just flat out hold on (which in case you might as well you just call them back defeating the purpose of talking and surfing).

I suppose it can come in handy, but it's not a killer function so to speak. But it'll get more useful as surfing is more and more convenient on the phone. Do I want to do this on my N-series? Probably not. On my 3GS? More likely.

 

[Nebor]

What about navigating somewhere with google maps while you're talking to someone you're meeting?

 

[Deeko]

What about navigating somewhere with google maps while you're talking to someone you're meeting?

Google maps caches its map/directions ahead of time. I've been on the speakerphone in the car while using the Google Navigation turn-by-turn.

 

[Cobalt]

I use the feature on my 3GS all the time, usually when looking up something for a friend. My phone is my main access to the internet because I'm never at home so I find myself looking stuff up on the phone about 80% of the time.

 

[Nebor]

Google maps caches its map/directions ahead of time. I've been on the speakerphone in the car while using the Google Navigation turn-by-turn.

It only caches the map at the resolution that it originally maps out your route in. If you want to zoom in on your location as you get closer, you need a data connection.

 

[Deeko]

It only caches the map at the resolution that it originally maps out your route in. If you want to zoom in on your location as you get closer, you need a data connection.

Firstly, you still have a map and directions. its not like the app becomes useless.

Secondly, I'm pretty sure with the voice guided turn-by-turn navigation it caches the automatic zooms it will do when you get closer to a turn.

 

[bassoprofundo]

Huge benefit when tethering.

Ditto... I can get a complete extra hour of work in from the bus on my commute due to this (can be on a conf call AND connected to a Web conference, email, etc. at the same time)