iPhone is fancy, it has great web browsing capabilities almost as good as on your desktop, but… No SKYPE, and you CAN NOT use it as a modem to connect your laptop to the Internet. That is a big failure.
I just moved to a new house in Nottingham and unfortunately I end up without the Internet connection and with no phone line. I began to look for quick, cheap and easy broadband solution and found Skypephone S2. This is a great phone, it keeps amazing me. It has HSDPA, so access to the Internet is really fast. I have got 300 Kbps download speed. It is good enough to watch YouTube videos. The 3G speed and the fact that you are getting it through your mobile phone is really amazing. Especially when I remember those old days of dial-up modems.
Skypephone has got three things out of 4, which I use the internet for. That is email, Skype and internet connection itself which is possible to share with laptop or other device over bluetooth or cable. Skypephone has got web browser itself, but it is poor compared to the iPhone one. However it is good enough to check your email, or browse your RSS feeds or get the latest news. I will not count the built in web browser however it is usable for 50%. 3 out of 4 features than. iPhone on the other hand got just 2 things out of 4 things I use and that is just solid web browser directly in the phone and email. You can not use the phone to connect your laptop to the Internet unless you hack it and there is no Skype.
I am very happy with the new Skype phone. I got features which I need, mobile internet, ability to connect my laptop, skype and email on the go for just €60 one time payment. With the iPhone (around €500) you can’t get this, you will get just decent mobile web browser. No free Skype calls, no fast Internet for your laptop. Apple should do this right, at least enable full potential of 3G inside the iPhone, should make it possible to share the connection with the laptop and enable VoIP services like Skype to use the iPhone. When these things will be done iPhone will be very good device, till than I stick with my cheap Skype phone.
PS: I had a bit of trouble to make Skype phone work under Mac OS X Tiger. So here is a quick note for people using it on Macintosh. Forget about System Preferences : Networking. I set it up over System Preferences : Bluetooth and run wizzard for setting up Bluetooth device where you can choose it to act as a modem for the Internet connection. Turn off wait for dial tone option.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
[...] positive review is from a user who is happy with the functionality especially when you consider pricing compared [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
No one seems to comment about the supporting software package; if one exists. I am concerned about synchronising with my contacts and calendar in outlook on my laptop. Does this supporting package exist, and if so it is any good. Finally is there any hope of push email. I bought the 3 dongle on a pay as you go scheme. I am summitting this comment from right by the sea in San Pietro in Bevagna, Puglia Southern Italy where there is currently no ADSL. Previous to this I was in a smallish town in land up in the hill called Cisternino again in Puglia, Italy. In both situations I got 1.5 bars on the signal strength indicator which was good enought to surf the Internet and send/receive emails on my laptop using IE 7 and XP sp1. With 3 network there are no roaming charges and for £15 I get 3Gb of data for which I only use about half with continuous surfing and sending about 20 emails/day. All rates are identical to the UK as long as your connect to 3’s sister site 3ITA. Don’t forget also 3 has a much larger UK 3G network capture zone, than anyone else. My only real grip is that you have to use th 3Gb of data within a month.
Anyone who has any experience of synching with outlook please reply.