Roland Tanglao's Weblog

Like Richard, I just added the $30/month 3G data plan to my existing Fido plan. So it should be cheaper (and faster) than  the $50/month I pay  for my current grandfathered unlimited EDGE data plan. If the SIM isn't locked, I am  thinking about buying an unlocked N95 8G NAM  because the camera on the iPhone s*cks (but the 3G lifestyle (it's great! thanks to iPhone 3G I can now tell people about ShoZu and other apps I have been enjoying with my "2.5G" lifestyle and how you can create multimedia content in real time, post it immediately to the internet and get feedback in real-time) of always-on geo-enabled consumption and creation, usability and ecosystem of iPhone apps is far superior to what Nokia and others have done! Nokia, you blew it, this could have and should have been been your market to run away with). Luckily it's early and not too late to win in mobile in the long term but unless S60 usability is improved it's not going to happen!.

And for the record, Rogers still s*cks and so does Fido:

1. Their website is inaccurate; existing Fido customers should just call 611  to get an iPhone 3G
2. The hiring of MS&L digital was a waste of money (despite their blog practice, BlogWorks, MS&L did the non social media aware thing of emailing people and didn't blog, twitter, flickr, facebook or in any way engage social media)
3. 3 year contracts s*ck; in 2010 I bet I could easily go over 6GB/month. There's no reason other than short term economic gain which in the long run hurts the entire Canadian economy by hampering innovation and experimentation and reducing productivity.
4. Giving priority to new Fido customers over old faithful Fido customers like myself who have been paying $100/month since July 2004  is unacceptable. Why should I have to wait for my iPhone unlike new customers? Why can't I go to the Fido store like new customers  and order it there rather than being forced to order over the phone?

The ongoing Fido (and Rogers) r*poff continues. The math: 0.10/0.15 = 66.67%. In a world where every other form of electronic messaging is decreasing in price, Rogers and Fido continue to raise their messaging prices. Needless to say the knock on effect for businesses and innovation and Canada is a net negative. I h*te SMS but it's essential for today's real time business and this is a tax by a member of the Canadian bandwidth oligopoly on businesses and consumers.

From Options you can add:

QUOTE

U.S. TEXT MESSAGING RATE CHANGE

Please note that effective July 15, 2008, the rate for sending a text message from Canada to the United States is changing to $0.25 (from $0.15). This change also applies to Text messaging options and certain Value packs, as text messages sent to the United States will no longer be included in the options. Pricing does not include applicable taxes.

Visit fido.ca/text for text messaging rates and other important information.

...

International text message Options

25 international text messages $4

50 international text messages $7

END QUOTE

Like Miss 604 I have a brand new iPhone (courtesy of Santa Roland not John :-) ! and my LA based bro-in-law) which i got working with Fido and Rogers with an iPhone Hellas Sim on December 24th.

Here's how I did it:

1. I followed this 1.1.2 jailbraking recipe on hackintosh, (thanks to Derek and Ian for pointing this out to me, Thanks to Paul for giving me moral encouragement).
2. I then watched the iPhone Hellas SIM cutting video about 10 times and got Barb to cut it and then inserted it (not without a wee accident resulting in a very minor bruise on my finger. I am OK but I suggest using a push pin instead of a needle to remove your SIM like I did. The first time I inserted my Fido SIM together with my iPhone Hellas Sim hack I did it wrong (not a surprise given my lack of mechanical aptitude) and it took considerable effort to extract it and it was much easier using a push pin than a needle). 2nd time worked like a charm

Notes:

1. No need to downgrade my version of iTunes to work with Independence
2. No need to downgrade to 1.0.2, just go to 1.1.1 and then jailbreak and then 1.1.2 and jailbreak

Observations:

1. Everything indeed just works. It doesn't do video and photos like I want but that's what my N95-1 is :-) for! Most people don't care about video and photos like I do and can therefore use the iPhone and its crappy photos and non existent video. I will use the N95-1 over WiFi for photos and video
2. The web browser works much better than the N95-1 webkit browser
3. Threaded SMS just works
4. Contacts just work unlike my Nokia phones which always get annoying details wrong like reversing the first and last names
5. I used Google Maps for finding directions after our Christmas flight and it works great in the dark with a rental car just fine over EDGE using my grandfathered data plan.
6. I miss ShoZu (too lazy to configure it to upload over WiFi in my N95-1 but I will)
7. Nokia please copy the WiFi / Cellular connectivity from Apple, their implementation just works unlike yours.

Conclusion: if you are a Canadian geek with an interest in the mobile space you have to get an iPhone. Just do it and get an iPhone Hellas SIM to make it work. Apple and Rogers might introduce a Canadian iPhone running 3G in early January at MacWorld but I doubt it and if they do, I am ordering one :-)

Gleaned from Howard Forums (and probably easier in Leopard)

1. Download the Nokia 3G scripts (Specifically the script you want is "Nokia 3G CID1") from Ross Barkman and copy them to Your Hard Drive:Library:Modem Scripts.
2. Add your N95-1 as a Bluetooth device to your mac as normal BUT select "Dial a specific access number for your Internet Service Provider" under "Access the Internet with your phone's data connection" INSTEAD OF "Use a direct, higher speed connnection to reach your Internet Service Provider"
3. Username is "fido", Password is "fido", Phone number is "internet.fido.ca"
4. Modem script is "Nokia 3G CID1"

Fido data has come down in price since I blogged about this in 2006 and 2005. According to Boris, it now costs $4000 for 1GB of data on Fido instead of $4000 for 250MB, a bargain, NOT :-) And although Telus only charges $400 for 1GB, it's still too much especially for a network like Telus's where you can't use cool GSM devices only the cr*ppy CDMA ones.

Boris's graph says it much better though:

Truphone-ing to South Africa was a success on the N80i but the quality wasn't as good as my call to Holland. There was no echo but there was a noticeable lag between the time I spoke and the time it was understood at the other end and vice versa.

After the call the N80i "crashed". In quotation marks because the phone still worked but it wouldn't re-acquire my cellphone provider, Fido. Instead of displaying my provider, it displayed nothing (as if the SIM had been deactivated or I was in offline mode).

A bug in the SIP stack on the N80i, a bug in TruPhone, a bug somewhere else in my S60 V3 firmware manifesting itself (I am running V 4.0632.0.38 13-10-2006 RM-92 Nokia N80 (01)) ?

I fixed it by rebooting the phone!

Here's my (very biased :-) !) notes, tips and links from Monday May 15th's HTCE What "What Citizen Journalism Means to Corporate Communications" panel with Darren, Tod and Kris:

 

• Other event photos and Roland's N70 videos uploaded in real time over the mobile phone network via ShoZu.
• Hey Nokia and Fido as Kris suggested, how about offering an "affordable unlimited data plan for bloggers" perhaps in conjunction with the existing Nokia bloggers relations program bundled with high end Nokia cameraphones like the forthcoming N93. Bloggers are influencers for others who buy phones and by offering them this, you'll get lots of free online PR and some great feedback on your cameraphones' video and photo features.
• Other Vancouver based citizen journalism experts (apologies to those I leave out) who not only are doing "it" but get "it":
• Susan Gardner and Travis Smith of Hop Studios - J school trained, worked at real newspapers, fully versed in traditional media and blogs, videoblogs and podcasting and citizen journalism
• Michael Tippett of NowPublic - Vancouver based worldwide Citizen Journalism site where you can publish text, photos, audio and video and also request coverage of events you are interested in
• Mark Hamilton - Kwantlen College journalism instructor (who is a veteran of many community newspapers and other established media outlets) - must read his blog!
• Other links and sites to check out:
  • Urban Vancouver, Beyond Robson and Metroblogging Vancouver - some Vancouver places where citizen journalism is happening
  • PressThink - Professor Jay Rosen of NYU
  • Pomo Blog - deconstructing established media from somebody who's been there
  • BlufftonToday - one of the best citizen journalism sites on the web
  • PR is dead - well not really, but worth checking out if I do say so myself :-) !
  • Poynter Online mailing list - newspaper people moaning :-) about the current state of the established media and figuring out what comes next

[NOTE: Since I don't believe in whingeing :-), this will be my last post complaining about high mobile internet rates in Canada. My last post about this was: Wireless data in Canada is ridiculously expensive | Boris is right.]

I am very lucky to have my grandfathered unlimited mobile data plan from Fido of $50. Last month I used 252 MB of traffic (I am guessing about 75% was transmitting N70 cameraphone 2 megapixel photos via Shozu to flickr and 25% transmitting N70 cameraphone videos MPEG 4 of between 1-3MB each via Shozu to roland.blip.tv)

Here's how much it would have cost if I wasn't grandfathered :

1. 500 KB plan: $5 + 251 * 30 = $7535
2. 5 MB plan: $25 + (252 - 5) * 10 = $2495
3. 25 MB plan: $50 + (252 - 25) * 30 = $6860
4. 50 MB plan: $75 + (252 - 75) * 30 = $5385
5. 100 MB plan: $100 + (252 - 100) * 30 = $4660

I guess the $50 that I pay is a lot cheaper than $2495 or even $7535 that others have to pay, eh :-) ?!?!

Not to mention the fact that you have to pay "4 ¢ per KB while roaming internationally" (which I guess includes the US). I don't have to pay this roaming fee in the US with my grandfathered plan.

Very interesting and very depressing for Canadians who actually want to create and share their mobile phone's photos and videos using the mobile internet i.e. without going through the "mobile phone to PC via Bluetooth or USB" chain of pain. Can somebody do the math for Rogers, Telus and Bell? Love to know if they are any cheaper! But somehow I doubt it!

From Options you can add.:

QUOTE

Mobile Internet options
Within Canada and the U.S.

Combine any of these options
with your monthly package. 		Monthly charge
500 KB 		$5
5 MB 		$25
25 MB 		$50
50 MB 		$75
100 MB 		$100
hiptop option - Unlimited data
hiptop device required 		$20

Note 
	

Data transmission charges of 4¢ per KB apply for downloads. Options also available without a monthly airtime package (except 500 KB option and hiptop option), in which case, a system access fee of $6.95 per month applies.


  $5 per month for 500 KB
Combine this option with your monthly package
500 KB of data transmission
Mobile Internet enabled handset or PC Card required
4 ¢ per KB while roaming internationally
Each additional MB costs $30

Taxes, international mobile Internet roaming charges, system access fee ($6.95), and other applicable charges not included.

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  $25 per month for 5 MB
Each additional MB costs only $10
Mobile Internet enabled handset or PC Card required
You can subscribe to the $25 package alone or you may, except in the case of a hiptop or world PC Card, add it to a monthly airtime package.
4 ¢ per KB while roaming internationally

Taxes, international mobile Internet roaming charges, system access fee ($6.95), and other applicable charges not included.

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  $50 per month for 25 MB
Mobile Internet enabled handset or PC Card required
You can subscribe to the $50 package alone or you may, except in the case of a PC Card, add it to a monthly airtime package.
4 ¢ per KB while roaming internationally
Each additional KB costs 3 ¢

Taxes, international mobile Internet roaming charges, system access fee ($6.95), and other applicable charges not included.

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  $75 per month for 50 MB
Mobile Internet enabled handset or PC Card required
You can subscribe to the $75 package alone or you may, except in the case of a PC Card, add it to a monthly airtime package.
4 ¢ per KB while roaming internationally
Each additional KB costs 3 ¢

Taxes, international mobile Internet roaming charges, system access fee ($6.95), and other applicable charges not included.

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  $100 per month for 100 MB
Mobile Internet enabled handset or PC Card required
You can subscribe to the $100 package alone or you may, except in the case of a PC Card, add it to a monthly airtime package.
4 ¢ per KB while roaming internationally
Each additional KB costs 3 ¢

Taxes, international mobile Internet roaming charges, system access fee ($6.95), and other applicable charges not included.

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  hiptop option - $20 per month
Unlimited data
To surf, chat, manage your e-mail, stay organized, take pictures and download.
hiptop device required

Available with the hiptop device only; must be combined with a monthly airtime package. The Unlimited data hiptop option does not include text messages and is subject to certain restrictions. Taxes, international GPRS roaming charges, system access fee ($6.95), and other applicable charges not included.

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UNQUOTE

On JuiceCaster, I successfully (well at least there was no error message) registered as 'roland' and then when I tried to get it to send me an SMS to reset my password, it complained that 'roland' is too short and that it needs to be 7 characters or more and less than 16. Beta bug I bet! Somebody please let me know when this works in Canada (I put in a fake zip code of 90210 and just entered my Canadian Fido number and JuiceCaster erroneously accepted it). Next!

The Canadian mobile oligopoly of Telus, Rogers and Bell will not innovate or produce anything in the mobile space that's innovative and hasn't been pioneered elsewhere (and they will kicking and screaming start to implement mobile number portability). They will also not introduce affordable (to the power users and geeks even) 3G and GPRS will still be a r*poff in Canada. TV phones will be a failure. But it's not all gloom and doom. Luckily cool mobile stuff will abound elsewhere in the world that the oligopoly can copy and we will start to see phones like the N91 that hopefully (fingers crossed) allow us to start routing around the Canadian mobile oligopoly.