Wireless Muse: Reiter's Wireless Internet Weblog

Verizon Wireless discusses "open network" requirements for developers, vendors

Verizon Wireless this morning is holding an “open development” meeting with manufacturers and developers in New York to discuss the requirements for certifying cellular phones for Verizon’s new “open network” service.  Verizon has an “open development” Web site (see below).

The Wall Street Journal reports handset manufacturers may either buy airtime minutes and data usage at wholesale prices and sell them to consumers along with phones or have consumers purchase just the phones and deal with Verizon for the airtime/data plan.  Verizon won’t sell these phones, but manufacturers may sell them any way they want, such as online and in retail stores.

CNET News reports consumers “will be able to choose from Verizon's existing rate plans.”  That’s a bit of a surprise.  I thought the airtime/data prices would be more expensive.

Consumers with these “open network” phones would deal with Verizon online, not in stores, to activate the phone, obtain billing information and receive support.  Verizon will offer a “limited” toll-free 800 number, although the WSJ doesn’t report what “limited” entails.

No Verizon contracts

Subscribers will not have to sign two-year contracts with Verizon, but this means the phones could be considerably more expensive without Verizon’s handset subsidy.  For example, Nokia sells a variety of unlocked GSM phones at its two retail stores (New York and Chicago) as well as online, but they are much more expensive than if offered by a cellular operator.

However, some manufacturers might be able to offer inexpensive phones, based on volume.  Top-brand vendors as well as lesser known vendors are developing a variety of low-cost phones for developing nations.  Perhaps such inexpensive products would appeal to people who want Verizon’s network and don’t care about advanced features.

Verizon continues to say that consumers may download any application onto these “open network” phones.  This approach offers fascinating possibilities.

Update (3/24/08):  I discuss those "fascinating possibilities" in my latest CMP "Internet Evolution" column about Verizon's open network conference.

Sony Ericsson debuts slider phone with touch, QWERTY keyboard

There's a lot of excitement over Sony Ericsson's new Xperia X1 slider phone (see below) with a full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen that runs Windows Mobile and includes a 3.2 megapixel camera with a "photo light" (not an LED or Xenon flash), video recording, WiFi, A-GPS and HSDPA/HSUPA, as the company's press release says.

I got a chance to very briefly touch the keyboard at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where it was introduced (see below).  The keys are small, although they are slightly "bumpy" for a better touch.  If you're a keyboard fanatic, as I am, I don't think you'll be impressed.

I didn't get a chance to test the keyboard -- or anything else -- so text entry might be better than I'm assuming.  I can type on just about anything, although the experience is often terrible on cellular phones and other mobile communications devices.

There are many videos about the Xperia X1 on YouTube, including this one.

RIM BlackBerry 8320 Curve WiFi works well at public hotspots

Ever since I received Research in Motion's new BlackBerry 8320 Curve at the company's Industry Analyst Summit in early September I've been playing around with its WiFi capabilities.

I've been using it more for consumer-type rather than business oriented environments.  For example, I've used the 8320 in homes using WiFi with DSL and a cable modem and have had no problem connecting quickly after the BlackBerry scanned for networks and I entered the security code (such as WEP).

I also connected at several public hotspots, including Panera.  At Panera, as with many public hotspots, you have to first open your browser that then should default to Panera's WiFi log-in page.

Necessary to turn off EDGE

Although the 8320's browser doesn't display the Panera page well, it does a good enough job so you can scroll down to the required check box and also the connect bar.  If I remember correctly, when the 8320 was set to access both GSM EDGE and WiFi, it did not default to the Panera page.  It connected via EDGE instead of WiFi and opened a Web page I selected from my bookmarks rather than Panera's.

However, when I turned off EDGE (and it's very easy to do with the "Manage Connections" menu), the browser defaulted to Panera's WiFi page, regardless of the Web page I opened.

I also tried connecting to a few free public hotspots, such as a hotel's, and I didn't have any problem.  I wasn't able to connect to a couple of free sites, such as at a bookstore, but it's possible the  WiFi service was down.

Faster than EDGE

I read a report on one weblog about WiFi not being significantly faster than EDGE.  Typically that hasn't been my experience.  I use different BlackBerrys to frequently browse the Web, and pages on the 8320 usually load faster via WiFi than EDGE.

I haven't yet used T-Mobile's UMA VoIP service at home.  The 8320 would use WiFi, rather than cellular,  for voice conversations and then switch automatically to cellular when out of range of WiFi.