I’m amazed by how hard it is to get GPRS when you’re traveling. Prepaid GSM cards don’t seem to support it unless you subscribe to some special service, and even then it’s crippingly expensive (altho not as expensive as roaming). I know 3G is going to replace this intermediate technology sometime, but given the popularity… Read More »
One of the things I noticed at last week’s CommunicAsia expo in Singapore was the range of phones. And not just fancy handhelds touted by dancing, skintight woven women, although that did claim some of my attention. But China, for example, is pumping out machines that run the gamut of needs, including desktop GSM phones.… Read More »
This week’s Loose Wire column is about mobile phones and how they are not just changing us, but the world we live in: The thing about mobile phones is that they have changed how we communicate (via 160-character bursts of text), how we perceive the world (it’s never less than a phone call away, unless… Read More »
More on the health effects of handphones, this time for 3G: Reuters quotes a Dutch government study that found users exposed to base station signals “felt tingling sensations, got headaches and felt nauseous”. There was no negative impact from signals for current — i.e. GSM — mobile networks. The kicker: cognitive functions such as… Read More »
Pointed out by OnlineJournalism.com, the daily news Weblog of the USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review, there’s a problem with your GSM phone. An Israeli scientist and his team, Reuters reports, have found a way to break into mobile phone calls, enabling them to know the calling party’s identity and even listen to the conversation. The… Read More »