Tag: Verizon

Preparing Your Phone for Global Use

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dead SIM
Image by Yaisog Bonegnasher via Flickr

Back in October, we discussed some of the thoughts we were having regarding smartphone use abroad. Now we’re back to talk about how it played out.

We’re Verizon customers, and Verizon Wireless is a CDMA carrier. The majority of the world uses GSM. One of the things about GSM versus CDMA is that GSM uses a SIM card. SIM, or Subscriber Identity Module. The SIM card is tied to the network, as opposed to the phone itself. You can thus move the card in between phones, and thus the number. There is a CDMA equivalent, but it is not currently used in the United States. SIM cards are also used on the LTE network that Verizon used

This was surprisingly easy, but you can’t do it at a store. We tried. You have to call Verizon Global Support(1-800-711-8300), as opposed to regular tech support. They will allow one unlocking per line every ten months, as long as you have been a customer in good standing for at least sixty days. We unlocked multiple global phones, even ones not being brought along, as long as we were on the phone with them. To ensure this works, have a SIM card ready to test before you leave. We used a $5 Telestrial Passport Lite to do this.

AT&T is apparently not as cooperative. You can always buy a fully unlocked phone, but that will be at an increased price.

There are other options to be aware of. If you frequently switch between countries and providers, there is such a thing as a dual SIM adapter, which would allow installation of two SIMs at once. We have yet to try one of these, but it is said you can switch them in software, with an Android phone. There are also card adapters that will, if put inline with a SIM card will allow it to work on a locked phone.

Now that your phone can be used anywhere, you need to start researching options in the country you wish to travel to. If you go there frequently, it makes sense to have a contract. But if this is an infrequent trip, such as a few times a year, or a one-off, you can visit PrePaidGSM.net for some advice. Their forums and pages provide a chance for you to get firsthand advice and experience.

From all the research we did, it seems that the best move is to try and secure a SIM card locally after arrival. There are companies that will provide international cards, or will provide international cards, but they often offer less favorable deals, or at an increased cost. Most international airports nowadays have shops that sell prepaid SIMs and will set it up for you.

If data is more important to you than voice, then you can always turn off the radio in your phone and use wifi only. Although finding wifi hotspots may also be an issue, depending on where you are.

What have you done in the past to maintain your need for cell?

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Downstreaming: The Future of Bypassing the Cable Box

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Central cable box
Image by Lars Plougmann via Flickr

Last month, one of the things that went up on our cable bill was the rental of our cable box. It now costs over $14 a month to rent a cable box. Can it cost more than a year or two’s worth of rental fees to actually buy a box? Yet cable box manufacturers insist there is no market for direct consumer purchase of cable boxes, and thus the cable card system is nearly a failure.

At CES, Time Warner Cable announced that they had made a deal to make live and on demand programming available over IP, eliminating the need for a cable box. The new service will be integrated with Sony and Samsung TVs, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Tab. For now, this will only be available to customers who have their broadband services, but going forward, there is no reason why such a service could not be provided over any network.

Verizon FIOS has similar ambitions. it wants FIOS TV on everything from iPads to BluRay players.

Time Warner Cables CEO insists the demand for online-only viewing is small. We’re not so sure. A full online-only version of the offerings of a cable company has yet to be tried. Most online services have serious limitations in terms of content. Some of the biggest complaints about cord cutting has been the fact that no one service offers what the cable company does. That may become different if it is a cable company providing the service. or it may be that the cable company will do an inadequate job simply because they do not wish to challenge their core business.

What seems inevitable is a transition from conventional cable delivery systems to an IP based delivery system. The design of the HDHomeRun and the Ceton InfiniTV TV tuners are both IP based. Each decode the stream and stream it to the computer(although the Ceton device uses a virtual ethernet connection). Imagine a future where a cable box is installed in a single location in a house and multiple devices can access that box over your house network to stream channels, including your computer and your network-connected television.

The step beyond that is the so-called TV Anywhere, where you can access your content over the internet anywhere. That is what companies are looking at, but the concern is that bandwidth is not at the point at which high-quality streams can be sustained.

Either way, hopefully change is going to come, and this news is very promising.

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We’re Going to be Trying Epix HD

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Image representing Epix as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase

Over the weekend, Epix HD launched. The network is a joint project of MGM, Paramount, and Lionsgate and offers some of their not-yet-on-DVD movies. One of the nice things is their website will offer on-demand 720p streaming to all subscribers.

Of course, Verizon FIOS is the only network offering the channel, which will cost $9.99 a month. Epix had hoped the channel would be on the standard tier. Meanwhile, to try to find out how many people are interested, Epix is offering 72-hour passes to anyone.

We don’t have FIOS. It would be a serious consideration if we could, considering our issues with our current provider. However, we can try out the service, as can you. We’ll be giving it a shot this week and will keep you posted.

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The Problem with Verizon Wireless Apps

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Cellco Partnership D/B/A Verizon Wireless
Image via Wikipedia

On Friday morning, we were sitting around with our Verizon phone and discovered a new Twitter app had appeared as available. Called Tweet-Tweet, it costs $1.49 a month or $3.99 for unlimited.

Get It Now/Media Center is Verizon Wireless‘ implementation of Qualcomm’s Brew technology, and the basis for applications on most of their phones. The program locks content rigidly and prevent unapproved data to be loaded onto the phone. This is to ensure the usage of their data plan, the ala carte version of costs $1.99/MB. Verizon is known for crippling features of its firmware, such as Bluetooth file transfer and unrestricted GPS access to ensure these services must use their applications.

We have a regular Verizon phone, but have considered upgrading to an organizer phone because portable data seems to be the way things are going. The problem is phones that are not phones. Phones are now cameras, music players, internet devices…everything in your hand. Having a Swiss Army Device is not always the answer. It can’t do everything well.

The most popular phone out there is the iPhone, which has mixed, even sometimes negative reviews as a phone. It is more a multimedia and networking device. Verizon doesn’t have an iPhone killer. Part of this is the Application problem. Verizon is too locked down, and its application store is limited.

The worst part is for the phones we use. You have to subscribe to an application? And pay data charges on top of that? For all we find Apple just as limiting as Verizon, they’ve approved thousands of apps you can download, and the creation process is extremely open. We don’t mind an approval process, but Verizon is shooting itself in the foot.There are rumors this may change, but innovation is slow.

Tweet-Tweet is useful for us. It is a simple, uncomplicated Twitter application that adds some functionality to our phone. We won’t be using it all the time, as the cost would be prohibitive without a data plan. But it allows us to check up on current status while away from our homebase. But it is not enough for everyone.