Nokia N80: the good, the bad and the ugly.
By Rob Scovell, in
WiFi VoIP, posted: 21-Jun-2007 14:42
A client (http://www.coms.com/wifi-mobiles.html) has provided me with an N80, in order to integrate it into their voip service. It works very well with their service, after some not inconsiderable work on OTAP (over the air provisioning).
(The SIP client only has a limited number of user-accessible settings. Settings for particular services have to be provided by OTAP.)
The good ... I have signed up to 2talk.co.nz and I can register my N80 with it using WiFi. I can use both Coms and 2talk. This means that I have a local (07) number that I can carry with me to any wifi hotspot, as well as my Coms London number. Local callers can call me free on my 'mobile' when I'm in a hotspot, and when I'm not, I can choose to redirect messages to my Vodafone number (at my cost) or have the voicemails emailed to me. When I next go to London, my wife will be able to call me from our landline as though I am in Hamilton! Folks in London can call me at local London rates, or free if they're on an included-minutes plan, using my Coms London number. Plus, I could use my main Vodafone SIM in it, if I chose to. However, I have that in a cheapo handset (see below).
If I had friends with 3G video phones, I could do video calls with them ... but actually, I don't like video calls.
I can download podcasts and listen to them in the street using a bluetooth headset.
The bluetooth, usb and infrared ports allow me to carry files around and easily transfer them, so I don't need an extra USB thumb drive. (Although I don't think I could boot a PC off it just yet ...)
I can also watch Sky Mobile -- but I got bored with that after about 5 minutes. (Why does the Discovery Channel only show 5 minute tasters of programmes, instead of full programmes?)
The IMAP email client gives me push email that I can use over wifi (of course) or 3GSM (if I really need to).
I have even found an ssh client so if there's a real emergency on one of the servers I deal with, I can just about work on them from the beach/bush, as long as there is a GPRS signal.
I have a 1 gig card in it which means I can record my choir practices and go over the trickier passages later on. (I might even create a podcast for the other choir members ... )
The bad ... every so often I have to reboot my phone because it's frozen ... and it takes ages ...
Battery life is also bad, especially when Wifi is on for any length of time. But that is just basic physics ... conservation of energy and the second law of thermodynamics.
I just have to think of it as a 'palmtop' computer that, by the way, acts as a phone.
The ugly ... the keypad slides down from the bottom. They could easily have had it slide out from the side and put a full qwerty keyboard on it. Considering that it's a computer that also does phone calls, this was a bad design move.
Final word: although it's great as a wifi phone, I still much prefer my cheap Nokia 2118 as a GSM mobile phone.
It boots rapidly, holds its battery charge for days, and just behaves as a phone, reliably and predictably. It doesn't claim to do anything else.
Rob
(The SIP client only has a limited number of user-accessible settings. Settings for particular services have to be provided by OTAP.)
The good ... I have signed up to 2talk.co.nz and I can register my N80 with it using WiFi. I can use both Coms and 2talk. This means that I have a local (07) number that I can carry with me to any wifi hotspot, as well as my Coms London number. Local callers can call me free on my 'mobile' when I'm in a hotspot, and when I'm not, I can choose to redirect messages to my Vodafone number (at my cost) or have the voicemails emailed to me. When I next go to London, my wife will be able to call me from our landline as though I am in Hamilton! Folks in London can call me at local London rates, or free if they're on an included-minutes plan, using my Coms London number. Plus, I could use my main Vodafone SIM in it, if I chose to. However, I have that in a cheapo handset (see below).
If I had friends with 3G video phones, I could do video calls with them ... but actually, I don't like video calls.
I can download podcasts and listen to them in the street using a bluetooth headset.
The bluetooth, usb and infrared ports allow me to carry files around and easily transfer them, so I don't need an extra USB thumb drive. (Although I don't think I could boot a PC off it just yet ...)
I can also watch Sky Mobile -- but I got bored with that after about 5 minutes. (Why does the Discovery Channel only show 5 minute tasters of programmes, instead of full programmes?)
The IMAP email client gives me push email that I can use over wifi (of course) or 3GSM (if I really need to).
I have even found an ssh client so if there's a real emergency on one of the servers I deal with, I can just about work on them from the beach/bush, as long as there is a GPRS signal.
I have a 1 gig card in it which means I can record my choir practices and go over the trickier passages later on. (I might even create a podcast for the other choir members ... )
The bad ... every so often I have to reboot my phone because it's frozen ... and it takes ages ...
Battery life is also bad, especially when Wifi is on for any length of time. But that is just basic physics ... conservation of energy and the second law of thermodynamics.
I just have to think of it as a 'palmtop' computer that, by the way, acts as a phone.
The ugly ... the keypad slides down from the bottom. They could easily have had it slide out from the side and put a full qwerty keyboard on it. Considering that it's a computer that also does phone calls, this was a bad design move.
Final word: although it's great as a wifi phone, I still much prefer my cheap Nokia 2118 as a GSM mobile phone.
It boots rapidly, holds its battery charge for days, and just behaves as a phone, reliably and predictably. It doesn't claim to do anything else.
Rob
Gumstix around the world in 80 days
By Rob Scovell, in
Asterisk, posted: 21-Jun-2007 14:40
My Gumstix has had an eventful journey ... and it's not here yet. It got returned to London because of NZ Post stupidity. They claim they couldn't find my office. They obviously didn't try ... or the receptionist on my floor had a moment that lived up to the politically incorrect stereotype of a person with fair-coloured hair ... and it got sent by boat back to London ...
It's on its way back over the by FedEx ...
I don't think I've every spent quite so much on shipping for anything, and remember, this is a device the size of a stick of Wrigley's.
I even had to pay UK import duty on the thing ... all because the UPS API that Gumstix uses wouldn't let me put in an NZ shipping address.
Argh.
It's on its way back over the by FedEx ...
I don't think I've every spent quite so much on shipping for anything, and remember, this is a device the size of a stick of Wrigley's.
I even had to pay UK import duty on the thing ... all because the UPS API that Gumstix uses wouldn't let me put in an NZ shipping address.
Argh.
Asterisk on Gumstix
By Rob Scovell, in
Asterisk, posted: 12-Apr-2007 12:16
Well, having installed Trixbox on an old Dell Optiplex, and successfully set up a PBX for my small (2 person) office, I decided I needed to try something a bit more difficult. I don't like things that are too easy, and Trixbox almost falls into that category!
There is a more serious point to this than just geeking around, as a client wants me to build my Asterisk skills and develop some proofs of concept.
I decided to try to run Asterisk on a tiny Gumstix computer. This is not exactly pioneering stuff, although there are some rough edges to the existing process for installing AstLinux on the device.
I am still awaiting arrival* of the Gumstix. When it arrives, I will document the process of installing Astlinux on it and getting it to work as a PBX, on this blog.
* There were strange problems associated with shipping the unit to NZ so it has had to come via London, which added extra problems, including a rather hefty £34 VAT and duty charge, despite the fact it was only touching down in London before coming here. Grrrrr ...
There is a more serious point to this than just geeking around, as a client wants me to build my Asterisk skills and develop some proofs of concept.
I decided to try to run Asterisk on a tiny Gumstix computer. This is not exactly pioneering stuff, although there are some rough edges to the existing process for installing AstLinux on the device.
I am still awaiting arrival* of the Gumstix. When it arrives, I will document the process of installing Astlinux on it and getting it to work as a PBX, on this blog.
* There were strange problems associated with shipping the unit to NZ so it has had to come via London, which added extra problems, including a rather hefty £34 VAT and duty charge, despite the fact it was only touching down in London before coming here. Grrrrr ...
