[kwlug-disc] android phone, anyone?

[Khalid Baheyeldin]

Oh, and when I was with Bell several years ago, not even SMS text messages
made it outside their network! That was appalling! My brother could not send
me SMS from Egypt nor could I send messages to him! Switching to Rogers
(which uses the worldwide standard GSM) solved that problem.

That was sometime back, so Bell could have this solved by now.

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 9:15 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:

> HSPA seems like a data protocol. I don't think it is worldwide.
>
> GSM is for voice, and is worldwide.
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 3:48 PM, Dave Cramer <davec at visibleassets.com>wrote:
>
>> HSPA that bell is selling is not world standard ?
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>> > If you ever travel, specially outside of Canada/USA, then GSM is the
>> > standard to have. If you have a handset that can do GSM (tri-band or
>> > quad-band) then you are good for most of the world.
>> >
>> > What this means is that you can buy a local SIM card and pop it
>> > into your handset and you are good to go.
>> >
>> > Prices are far cheaper in other parts of the world than here, for
>> example
>> > I am told that a SIM card (effectively a phone number and a prepaid
>> plan)
>> > is 10 LE in Egypt (that is CAD $1.92), and you can load it with 25 LE
>> (that
>> > is CAD $4.81!) for 100 minutes.
>> >
>> > This beats roaming charges which can rack up in the 100s.
>> >
>> > Only Rogers and Fido have world standard GSM in Canada.
>> >
>> > A new player that opened for business yesterday is WIND Mobile. I was
>> > initially happy to hear that a new entrant is coming the the market.
>> They
>> > are backed by an Egyptian magnate who made lots of money putting cell
>> > phone networks in many parts of the world.
>> >
>> > My enthusiasm was dampened after I found out that they operate in the
>> > AWS spectrum which is non-standard in the rest of the world (i.e. not
>> > GSM compatible). What this means is that unlocked phones will not
>> > work with them, meaning they have less handset choices and you have
>> > to buy it from them (something that is totally alien elsewhere).
>> >
>> > It is good ot have competition though. Perhaps Rogers will lower their
>> > prices eventually.
>> >
>> > For handsets, there is a new Android "Droid" phone that is getting good
>> > reviews. There is also the Nokia N900 which is Debian Linux.
>> > --
>> > Khalid M. Baheyeldin
>> > 2bits.com, Inc.
>> > http://2bits.com
>> > Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
>> > Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
>> > Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> 2bits.com, Inc.
> http://2bits.com
> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
>



-- 
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
2bits.com, Inc.
http://2bits.com
Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
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