I have no idea if it takes a mem card at all, or what type. It's also possible that the Euro and US versions of the phone could differ there.
One of the features they removed from the N95 8GB model was the card slot. Obviously they wanted to make it more like Apple. I'm surprised they didn't weld the battery in too.
Two ways its difficult to compare this to the iPhone is that the N95 does not have WiFi and no free WiFi access. Which will be valuable selling point.
The N95 DOES have wifi and O2 will be offering exactly the same tariffs without an iPhone on October 1st for use with other handsets. They said so in answer to a question at the press launch.
It remains to be seen how much they charge for the N95 itself but currently they're charging nothing for it on a £30 tariff with more minutes, more text but no unlimited data or hotspots.
The problem with WiFi is that it is only as fast as the internet connection is
Yes I agree it can depend on the speed of the internet connection, how many people are using it at the same time, how much bandwidth each connection is using. But its not as bad as you are making it out to be.
A large public wifi system would generally use more bandwidth than we have at home, more nodes to handle the traffic, and most usage would just be in short bursts outside of video streaming. Few people would be constantly using bandwidth.
A neighborhood coffee shop you are generally only sharing wifi with around 5 to 10 other users. That doesn't kill bandwidth speed.
The next iteration of the iPhone could have 802.11n. Which would bring 248Mb, when Evolved HDSPA moves to 42Mb.
Do you really think an ARM chip can keep up with a theoretical 248Mbps connection?
The reason people emphasize the 3G over WiFi is because it can far more easily have a significant footprint. Given how many city-wide WiFi attempts fail, it looks like it's easier to deploy 3G over 20 cities than it is to deploy one city-wide WiFi network.
As an aside, I think huge mesh WiFi networks is a fundamental misuse of technology, trying to force a technology into a niche that it simply isn't designed to do, or is capable of doing without excessive inefficiency.
One of the features they removed from the N95 8GB model was the card slot. Obviously they wanted to make it more like Apple. I'm surprised they didn't weld the battery in too.
That's a shame. It's not like microSD card slots take up a lot of room.
For the upcoming wave of iPhone clones, if Apple drags ass on intro'ing a 16GB model, it would be a selling point for the clones to have a good amt of internal memory AND the ability to add on more memory easily via microSD.
After all, the 8GB microSDHC cards will be here by year's end, and they're only gonna get bigger, fast.
It's also nice to only pay for the memory you use... having it be all internal kinda screws over the guy who's only gonna have moderate to minimal content on his phone.
Do you really think an ARM chip can keep up with a theoretical 248Mbps connection?
I'm sure today it won't, but someday it will. Real world "n" is more like 100Mb, I only brought it up to emphasis my point.
Quote:
The reason people emphasize the 3G over WiFi is because it can far more easily have a significant footprint.
Yes I recognize and agree with that. But at the same time when you are at a hot spot WiFi is a lot faster than 3G. Which is why Nokia and Blackberry are beginning to use it.
Quote:
Given how many city-wide WiFi attempts fail, it looks like it's easier to deploy 3G over 20 cities than it is to deploy one city-wide WiFi network.
That has more to do with the politics of business than it does the technology itself. The companies who have invested in paid hot spots don't want free municipal wifi.
Quote:
As an aside, I think huge mesh WiFi networks is a fundamental misuse of technology, trying to force a technology into a niche that it simply isn't designed to do, or is capable of doing without excessive inefficiency.
That is true also. But The Cloud in the UK seem to have made a good business from it.
That has more to do with the politics of business than it does the technology itself. The companies who have invested in paid hot spots don't want free municipal wifi.
That is part of it, but the other part of it is that technology truly doesn't scale well. Several networks have gotten past the political hurdles but I've only heard of one that actually delivered an acceptable network, and I think that was Ann Arbor, MI. Even Google's attempt was tepid at best, with poor signal strength everywhere and a slow network when you do get a connection.
Yes I recognize and agree with that. But at the same time when you are at a hot spot WiFi is a lot faster than 3G. Which is why Nokia and Blackberry are beginning to use it.
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Nokia and Balckberry (among others) are not implementing wifi as a replacement for 3G, the only reason why Wifi is being included in high end enterprise handsets is as i said earlier for the ability to use a corporate IP Telephony solution on your mobile phone - it is seen as a fixed place data connection to use with a SIP client on the internal voice network.
So the senario is you have a Cisco IPT solution in a large office building, using wifi you extend that voice network across the building, putting SIP clients on wifi enabled phones enables you to discard your desk phone and have a single phone in dual mode. Mode 1 is internal using your mobile as a desktphone, free calls to other extensions in your office, people calling you by dialing your ext no. etc... Mode 2 is using the phone as normal and that includes 3G for mobile data.
This is the reason for the big push into wifi enables phones, this is the future of enterprise telephony, 3G will still play a massive part in that.
Nokia and Balckberry (among others) are not implementing wifi as a replacement for 3G
I cannot see anywhere I said that WiFi is, will, or should replace 3G. My point is that it has its advantages, its not my point to over shadow the 3G's own advantages.
Yeah second that. Nokia have always included WIFI as an addition. Blackberry though being American havent really done much on the 3G front either or WIFI for that matter.
i was in paddington station yesterday and saw a big banner showing what wi-fi networks were in the station. one of these was the cloud. having free wi-fi for when i get out of the tube and am waiting for my train will be almost worth the contract price alone!
my wife and i were discussing the iphone last night. she is a designer too and a closet apple geek. she wants one ("if you are getting one then i am too"). BUT she was dismayed at no MMS. she sends MMS of our kids to the family all the time and that may be a deal breaker for her. i said "software update" to her, but that could be a while off. as i said in an earlier post, in the UK the lack of MMS could be a real problem for apple.
People keep saying "software update", "software update" but have Apple ever actually said themselves that any of these things will be fixed via updates? Or is it just more a case of well wishing.
People keep saying "software update", "software update" but have Apple ever actually said themselves that any of these things will be fixed via updates? Or is it just more a case of well wishing.
Apple has said it would have major software updates that would bring new functionality to the phone. The unknown is exactly what those functions will be. People are hoping if they complain loudly enough Apple will include what ever function they want.
Of course Apple will include some and exclude others. Some people will be happy, some will complain.
my wife and i were discussing the iphone last night. she is a designer too and a closet apple geek. she wants one ("if you are getting one then i am too"). BUT she was dismayed at no MMS. she sends MMS of our kids to the family all the time and that may be a deal breaker for her.
i said "software update" to her, but that could be a while off. as i said in an earlier post, in the UK the lack of MMS could be a real problem for apple.
I wouldn't gamble on a software update fixing MMS support, unless Apple actually publicly says they're going to address the issue. After all, perhaps Jobs has some ideological thing against MMS... he's been known to be like that on occasion with certain technologies he considers 'outmoded'. \
That's why things like the 30-day trial period are so important... you get to check out the network and the phone, to see if they're right for you. But that's the US, not sure what they let you do in the UK on that one.
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Well, if you buy things over the internet then there's a 7 (or 14, I can't remember) day money back guarantee, by law, on anything (except perishables like food). The company's not even allowed to charge a restocking fee, or charge you for return postage.
I have a feeling that Apple and O2 will soon run into trouble over their lock-in policy, and then some. As far as I know, it has been Ofcom's (Oftel's) view that SIM locking is indeed a barrier to consumers' choice and its removal would benefit competition. Locking could be justified for a limited period of time, normally the duration of the first contract, .i.e. 12 months (there were no 18-month contracts back then), however, and this is crucial, that view was rather explicitly based on the assumption of a phone subsidy that had to be recovered. Moreover, it would appear that even this position was withdrawn as far back as 2001. Obviously, with the iPhone there is NO subsidy, hence any justification of a lock-in looks shaky.
It gets better. Ofcom's position is closely linked with that of the European Commission, which issued the following guidance in 1996:
1. end-users should be made aware at the time of purchase whether their handsets are locked;
2. network operators/service providers should tell end-users that unlocking is possible, or provide upon request the information necessary to unlock;
3. the existence and amount of the handset subsidy (and any conditions for repaying monies due under the contract) should be made clear to customers at the time of purchase; and
4. handsets need not be unlocked until the subsidy has been repaid.
But, again, there is NO subsidy in the case of the iPhone.
So far Ofcom chose to refrain from a heavy-handed legislation approach, instead preferring to issue guidelines and outline its views that the operators could follow. Who knows how long they're going to stick with it. Plus, there has been a precedent when 3 (operator) was forced to change contract terms that were deemed unfair, and, as far as I can remember, one of the terms reviewed concerned unlocking. I'm not a lawyer, but it looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Comments
Hmmm..... considering the population of ALL of Europe is 700 million or so, how can they have 800 million GSM users?!
Well, I've got 3 phones, so that accounts for 3 of the GSM subscriptions in use.
I have no idea if it takes a mem card at all, or what type. It's also possible that the Euro and US versions of the phone could differ there.
One of the features they removed from the N95 8GB model was the card slot. Obviously they wanted to make it more like Apple. I'm surprised they didn't weld the battery in too.
Two ways its difficult to compare this to the iPhone is that the N95 does not have WiFi and no free WiFi access. Which will be valuable selling point.
The N95 DOES have wifi and O2 will be offering exactly the same tariffs without an iPhone on October 1st for use with other handsets. They said so in answer to a question at the press launch.
It remains to be seen how much they charge for the N95 itself but currently they're charging nothing for it on a £30 tariff with more minutes, more text but no unlimited data or hotspots.
Complete Nonsense!
The problem with WiFi is that it is only as fast as the internet connection is
Yes I agree it can depend on the speed of the internet connection, how many people are using it at the same time, how much bandwidth each connection is using. But its not as bad as you are making it out to be.
A large public wifi system would generally use more bandwidth than we have at home, more nodes to handle the traffic, and most usage would just be in short bursts outside of video streaming. Few people would be constantly using bandwidth.
A neighborhood coffee shop you are generally only sharing wifi with around 5 to 10 other users. That doesn't kill bandwidth speed.
The N95 DOES have wifi and O2 will be offering exactly the same tariffs without an iPhone on October 1st
That's the new N95 8GB. That ad was for the older model that did not have wifi.
The next iteration of the iPhone could have 802.11n. Which would bring 248Mb, when Evolved HDSPA moves to 42Mb.
Do you really think an ARM chip can keep up with a theoretical 248Mbps connection?
The reason people emphasize the 3G over WiFi is because it can far more easily have a significant footprint. Given how many city-wide WiFi attempts fail, it looks like it's easier to deploy 3G over 20 cities than it is to deploy one city-wide WiFi network.
As an aside, I think huge mesh WiFi networks is a fundamental misuse of technology, trying to force a technology into a niche that it simply isn't designed to do, or is capable of doing without excessive inefficiency.
One of the features they removed from the N95 8GB model was the card slot. Obviously they wanted to make it more like Apple. I'm surprised they didn't weld the battery in too.
That's a shame. It's not like microSD card slots take up a lot of room.
For the upcoming wave of iPhone clones, if Apple drags ass on intro'ing a 16GB model, it would be a selling point for the clones to have a good amt of internal memory AND the ability to add on more memory easily via microSD.
After all, the 8GB microSDHC cards will be here by year's end, and they're only gonna get bigger, fast.
It's also nice to only pay for the memory you use... having it be all internal kinda screws over the guy who's only gonna have moderate to minimal content on his phone.
.
Do you really think an ARM chip can keep up with a theoretical 248Mbps connection?
I'm sure today it won't, but someday it will. Real world "n" is more like 100Mb, I only brought it up to emphasis my point.
The reason people emphasize the 3G over WiFi is because it can far more easily have a significant footprint.
Yes I recognize and agree with that. But at the same time when you are at a hot spot WiFi is a lot faster than 3G. Which is why Nokia and Blackberry are beginning to use it.
Given how many city-wide WiFi attempts fail, it looks like it's easier to deploy 3G over 20 cities than it is to deploy one city-wide WiFi network.
That has more to do with the politics of business than it does the technology itself. The companies who have invested in paid hot spots don't want free municipal wifi.
As an aside, I think huge mesh WiFi networks is a fundamental misuse of technology, trying to force a technology into a niche that it simply isn't designed to do, or is capable of doing without excessive inefficiency.
That is true also. But The Cloud in the UK seem to have made a good business from it.
That has more to do with the politics of business than it does the technology itself. The companies who have invested in paid hot spots don't want free municipal wifi.
That is part of it, but the other part of it is that technology truly doesn't scale well. Several networks have gotten past the political hurdles but I've only heard of one that actually delivered an acceptable network, and I think that was Ann Arbor, MI. Even Google's attempt was tepid at best, with poor signal strength everywhere and a slow network when you do get a connection.
Bring on the 2008 iPhone, Steve!
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That is part of it, but the other part of it is that technology truly doesn't scale well.
Oh OK I hadn't read about technical problems. Most of what I've read was about political squabbling and Earthlink's financial troubles.
I'd wondered if Earthlink was the best company to attempt to give away service. Doesn't seem they have very many paid customers.
Yes I recognize and agree with that. But at the same time when you are at a hot spot WiFi is a lot faster than 3G. Which is why Nokia and Blackberry are beginning to use it.
.
Nokia and Balckberry (among others) are not implementing wifi as a replacement for 3G, the only reason why Wifi is being included in high end enterprise handsets is as i said earlier for the ability to use a corporate IP Telephony solution on your mobile phone - it is seen as a fixed place data connection to use with a SIP client on the internal voice network.
So the senario is you have a Cisco IPT solution in a large office building, using wifi you extend that voice network across the building, putting SIP clients on wifi enabled phones enables you to discard your desk phone and have a single phone in dual mode. Mode 1 is internal using your mobile as a desktphone, free calls to other extensions in your office, people calling you by dialing your ext no. etc... Mode 2 is using the phone as normal and that includes 3G for mobile data.
This is the reason for the big push into wifi enables phones, this is the future of enterprise telephony, 3G will still play a massive part in that.
Nokia and Balckberry (among others) are not implementing wifi as a replacement for 3G
I cannot see anywhere I said that WiFi is, will, or should replace 3G. My point is that it has its advantages, its not my point to over shadow the 3G's own advantages.
my wife and i were discussing the iphone last night. she is a designer too and a closet apple geek. she wants one ("if you are getting one then i am too"). BUT she was dismayed at no MMS. she sends MMS of our kids to the family all the time and that may be a deal breaker for her. i said "software update" to her, but that could be a while off. as i said in an earlier post, in the UK the lack of MMS could be a real problem for apple.
People keep saying "software update", "software update" but have Apple ever actually said themselves that any of these things will be fixed via updates? Or is it just more a case of well wishing.
Apple has said it would have major software updates that would bring new functionality to the phone. The unknown is exactly what those functions will be. People are hoping if they complain loudly enough Apple will include what ever function they want.
Of course Apple will include some and exclude others. Some people will be happy, some will complain.
my wife and i were discussing the iphone last night. she is a designer too and a closet apple geek. she wants one ("if you are getting one then i am too"). BUT she was dismayed at no MMS. she sends MMS of our kids to the family all the time and that may be a deal breaker for her.
i said "software update" to her, but that could be a while off. as i said in an earlier post, in the UK the lack of MMS could be a real problem for apple.
I wouldn't gamble on a software update fixing MMS support, unless Apple actually publicly says they're going to address the issue. After all, perhaps Jobs has some ideological thing against MMS... he's been known to be like that on occasion with certain technologies he considers 'outmoded'.
.
That's why things like the 30-day trial period are so important... you get to check out the network and the phone, to see if they're right for you. But that's the US, not sure what they let you do in the UK on that one.
.
Well, if you buy things over the internet then there's a 7 (or 14, I can't remember) day money back guarantee, by law, on anything (except perishables like food). The company's not even allowed to charge a restocking fee, or charge you for return postage.
It gets better. Ofcom's position is closely linked with that of the European Commission, which issued the following guidance in 1996:
1. end-users should be made aware at the time of purchase whether their handsets are locked;
2. network operators/service providers should tell end-users that unlocking is possible, or provide upon request the information necessary to unlock;
3. the existence and amount of the handset subsidy (and any conditions for repaying monies due under the contract) should be made clear to customers at the time of purchase; and
4. handsets need not be unlocked until the subsidy has been repaid.
But, again, there is NO subsidy in the case of the iPhone.
So far Ofcom chose to refrain from a heavy-handed legislation approach, instead preferring to issue guidelines and outline its views that the operators could follow. Who knows how long they're going to stick with it. Plus, there has been a precedent when 3 (operator) was forced to change contract terms that were deemed unfair, and, as far as I can remember, one of the terms reviewed concerned unlocking. I'm not a lawyer, but it looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen.