3 USB modem
October 21, 2007 | CommentsSo I'm giving this little fellow a go: it's a USB modem which purports to give broadband access over 3G (or if you're within coverage, over 3's "Turbo" HSDPA network).
The thought of paying a tenner a month for connectivity at home without all the attached and unused furniture of a BT line etc is attractive - and the idea that my connection goes with me wherever I am *just makes sense*; I suspect the idea of pumping bandwidth into homes over cables might seem a tad quaint one day soon. But the proof of the pudding etc etc.: in Ireland folks had problems with this service when 3 launched it, so I'm going to give it a go for a while before I tell Virgin where to go.
So far, the experience is decent: the device installs OK, suffers being disconnected and reconnected just fine, takes a few seconds to login to the 3 network (and manages to do so on first attempt about 80% of the time, 100% the second time). Connectivity is OK so far; I don't get blisteringly fast broadband (Brighton being outside Turbo coverage for now), but it seems unmediated - I haven't discovered anything I can't do yet - if a little slow compared to my old wired broadband. I get the impression that at some level I'm travelling through an HTTP proxy somewhere which makes me nervous, but SSH and mail being collected on weird ports seems to be tolerated.
How long before we have laptops with embedded 3G connectivity and SIMs, just as we have Bluetooth and Wifi today? For me this is certainly a wi-fi killer: I'll not be paying T-Mobile, Starbucks, BT Openzone or the Cloud a penny from now on, which given that I do this once or twice a month as it stands makes the device pay for itself.
Update: if you're using something like this on capped bandwidth, I thoroughly recommend SurplusMeter for the Mac.
links for 2007-10-20
October 20, 2007 | Comments-
"a story of everyday folk who know how to breakdance and then go breakdancing in the nearest run-down urban environment."
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Lovely flashy chat roomn
links for 2007-10-19
October 19, 2007 | Comments-
Quite US-biased stats overall, but the UK ones are enlightening: Sony Ericsson as the top handset vendor eh?
links for 2007-10-18
October 18, 2007 | Comments-
"You can also download free our other new product, Wiley Nautical’s Mobile Weather service."
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Presentations from the games summit which took place in Lisbon earlier this month
links for 2007-10-17
October 17, 2007 | Comments-
"Basecamp was developed alongside client work and was treated as essentially a third client. It had to compete for resources on equal footing with other clients, which meant that every hour we spent on it had to really count."
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"being bad is a requirement in doing new things. To start anything new I have to concede badness: the first weeks of learning to speak Greek or taming alligators will be ugly"
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"We think it clever for foreigners to do our dirty, and now our practical and even creative, work for us. Eventually, though, we will lose out to nations willing to shape and make things"
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"A recent Telephia survey says that out of $118 million spent on downloadable mobile applications during Q2 2007, slightly more than half (51%) were LBS apps." Is this true? The survey was US-based but even so, that seems phenomenal...