Handset | Bradley de Souza

Apple App Store – Nobody does it better!?!

Saturday, 6th of December 2008 at 03:14:58 PM

Apparently Apple App Store has managed to achieve what many other competitors’ offerings couldn’t, namely usability, take-up, and good, value for money content.

Like so many others before it the (Mobile2Market, Windows Mobile Catalog, NGage, Nokia Download Store, etc.) App Store promises to enhance the end-user’s phone with great content and better functionality through third party content and applications.

Click to continue reading “Apple App Store – Nobody does it better!?!”

Multi-sim, dual sim, i-SmartSim 2008

Saturday, 16th of August 2008 at 05:35:40 AM

Whilst on business in Malaysia and Singapore I was surprised to discover mobile operators offering a sim service long since extinct in Europe: Multi-sim.

Essentially multi-sim enables the user to use several sim cards all bearing the same phone number. This means you can have one sim in your main phone, another sim in a data product e.g. pda, gps, a sim in your weekend phone (maybe a slimmed down Nokia,) and/or even a sim in an emergency phone stored somewhere secure.

Click to continue reading “Multi-sim, dual sim, i-SmartSim 2008″

Don’t get what you want but want what you get!?!

Friday, 8th of August 2008 at 05:16:31 AM

This is the message that the mobile phone industry has been pushing, mainly in European markets. Classic examples are Video calling, MMS, WAP and even Location based services (priced to death for the end-user.)

So why the Buddhist message, the ‘don’t worry be happy,’ ‘want what you get’ approach? The answer lies in the fact that customers often need a push to take up new technology and services. Without this so called ‘push’ we wouldn’t be using the Internet on the phone or taking/sending as many pictures.

Click to continue reading “Don’t get what you want but want what you get!?!”

LTE (Long Term Evolution, aka 4G) – some key points

Friday, 18th of July 2008 at 10:55:13 PM

LTE or 4G is the planned replacement for GSM, CDMA and 3G. It’s widely expected to usher in another period of communication harmony similar to that of the GSM era (which has now been fractured by 3G.)

Most mobile phones made today have to support a wide variety of radio frequencies, standards and antennas in order to provide users with coverage (data aswell as voice) as they move around both domestically and internationally. This includes support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (all versions,) GPS and possibly WiMAX and even FM radio. This increases costs as well as performance issues for the various technologies in use. Interference has to be managed aggressively in order to prevent problems like Bluetooth usage affecting GSM/CDMA/3G performance (a classic use case when wearing a Bluetooth headset.)

Click to continue reading “LTE (Long Term Evolution, aka 4G) – some key points”

Flash Lite versus Java on the mobile phone

Sunday, 6th of July 2008 at 01:33:21 AM

It’s a well known fact that Java on the mobile phone has failed to live up to the expectations of applications developers and mobile operators alike.

Despite being heralded as the major source of interactive content, entertainment and innovation, several issues have hampered its success. Poor control on behalf of Sun Microsystems meant that Java was loosely implemented by handset vendors, leaving application developers with a headache the likes of which not seen in software development. It’s well known that different operator versions of the same handset often have subtly different Java functions, despite what manufacturers’ may claim.

Click to continue reading “Flash Lite versus Java on the mobile phone”