[ale] OT: Cingular, GSM and Java handsets

[Fulton Green]

Disclaimer: I am a current customer of Cingular, but not a direct
stockholder (who knows what's in my mutual funds these days).  Ditto for
Nokia.  I have no relationship with T-Mobile (or its spokesmodel,
unfortuately :).

Yep, the good news is that for the Atlanta area, Cingular is now running 
GSM/GPRS while still keeping TDMA.  Which means that the older phones will
still work, but now you can get several newer ones, including some with a
built-in camera.  The GPRS means a potentially better experience with
Internet stuff, among other things.  It's gotta be better than the WAP
crapola on my current (TDMA) handset.

The reason I bring this up on this list (besides following up on an
earlier thread inquiring about wireless plans) is that some of these
handsets appear to be "hackable", where you could download Java games and
apps, potentially even those you develop yourself:
   http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/1,6566,015,00.html#gsm
(look for the 850/1900 MHz GSM phones with developer links)

I have put in a question on one of the Nokia developer forums inquiring
as to whether or not the 3600 (the camera phone) is developable.

Anyhow, the bad news is that Cingular runs GSM/GPRS over the same
frequencies as TDMA (850/1900 MHz).  While that's also what AT&T Wireless
uses, it differs from what most of the rest of the world uses
(900/1800 MHz), and also has only one frequency in common with T-Mobile
phones (900/1800/1900 MHz).  So unless I'm mistaken, your 850/1900 handset
won't do you much good when you're tooling 'round London.

The other bad news is that if you do get a new handset, unless it's one
that speaks both GSM and TDMA:
   http://onlinestore.cingular.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/html/Maps/Southeast/nation_GAIT_map_6_30_03.htm

you're going to have a more limited service area than you had before:
   http://onlinestore.cingular.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/html/Maps/Southeast/DCS/nation_GSM_map_6_30_03.htm

I also heard a coworker say that GSM handsets produce higher RF energy
(the presumably bad stuff) than TDMA phones.  Anyone else (Jim Kinney)
know?

My personal take: the dual GSM/TDMA phones look @#)**y, so I'm not going
that route.  If I can get a definitive "yes" on the hackability of the
3600, I'll get that for my Atlanta-area service.  Otherwise, and this will
probably pain those of you that have already complained, I'm going with
T-Mobile and their Nokia 3650 (which is similar to the 3600, but appears
to be developable).

Either way, I'll put my TDMA handset on an emergency-use service plan for
those times I'm outside GSMville (which currently includes most parts of
Alabama that aren't near an interstate).

Hope this helps out those of you looking for a new or better handset
and/or service ...
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