Ditching my iPhone and going T-Mobile + Android

[ua549]

Have you considered just using the WiFi part of you iPhone and terminating your cellular service.
I have friends that use an iPod touch and they are quite pleased with the results.
There is free WiFi almost everywhere in a metro area.

[taggart6]

Have you considered just using the WiFi part of you iPhone and terminating your cellular service.
I have friends that use an iPod touch and they are quite pleased with the results.
There is free WiFi almost everywhere in a metro area.

And maybe get a prepaid SIM card for emergencies.

[Farmer_BOB]

I'm seriously thinking about just getting rid of my phone all together. I tried out T-Mobile but service is just as shitty as AT&T.

****ing hell.

If you want to talk to me, call/text my Google Voice number and leave a message. I'll call you from Skype when I get a chance.

LoL I told you so!

You're still right though, it's still more affordable than the others.

[Timman_24]

OR, big or... You could just use the phone for what it is meant for, talk to people. Most carriers offer bare bones plans that are extremely cheap. When you start getting in trouble is when you "have" to have their flagship phone with their flagship services, this is where they make the bulk of their money. I've been using normal phones my entire life. I never need all the stuff they push on you, hell I'm never more than 5 mins away from a real computer.

[ImaNihilist]

Well, I ultimately decided on T-Mobile and a BlackBerry Bold 9700. I was able to buy it on a 20mo installment plan at zero interest, and I can tether as much as I want. After 30 days, they said they'd unlock it for me no questions asked.

I'm going to pick up an AT&T pre-paid SIM for when I travel to places where T-Mobile has no coverage, but so far the coverage on the Bold is WAY better than my iPhone on AT&T.

For $80/mo I got a new phone with unlimited data and tethering. I can also make calls over WiFi.
With AT&T I had to pay $100/mo for 2G service and no tethering.

So far, I'm happy with it. And if it turns out that T-Mobile sucks too hard I'll just go back to AT&T I guess.

Really love this BB though.

[MrDigital]

Still gonna sell me your iphone?

[ImaNihilist]

Unfortunately, T-Mobile gave me a $50 credit on the spot for handing my POS iPhone over to them.

Sorry man.

[ewitte]

Be prepared for what happened to me on Sprint: If they catch you using PDANet, or you go over the 5GB allotment, they'll terminate your service and charge you $350.

I'm assuming the $350 is with contract. I can not see how it would be possible to do without a contract.

[Brahma]

I'm hoping google goes ahead with this....

According to another source, Google is not working with any particular carrier on the Google Phone but instead will sell the device through retail channels. A carrier negotiation isn’t out of the question but at this point, isn’t in the cards. In addition to Wi-Fi it will likely have either EDVO Rev A or HSDPA which are the data connections for CDMA networks like Verizon and Sprint and GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile (respectively). Representatives from the latter already allow customers to enter into data-only agreements that don’t demand a mobile phone service plan, so the idea is that the Google Phone would use these data connections to send and receive calls (VoIP) isn’t outrageous. In fact, several applications on Android Market do that now already… and I’m sure Google will be leveraging their new acquisitions (Gizmo5 and Admob) in this process.

So theoretically speaking, you could buy the Google Phone from a retailer at an electronics store, activate it on any carrier of your choosing (with regional limitations), enter into a drastically reduced monthly plan that is based ONLY on data connections, and use your phone just like you would your current phone. At home it would make/receive calls through Wi-Fi and on the go through a data connection. Yes… that is the kind of game changing move that might be worthy of a Google Phone and I think Peter Chou would be right to call that “destructive”. But hey, to build a much better bridge sometimes you’ve got to knock over the current one and start from scratch.

http://phandroid.com/2009/11/19/goog...tc-early-2010/

I'm not going to hold my breath though.

[ua549]

You can already do that over the iPhone you already have.

After unlocking the handset, you can install a VoiP app and even use a T-Mobile sim or any other sim for use on a given network.

[Vindir]

Carrier lock-in is where the pain point still lays. There was some initial excitement for the Nexus One where the rumours and early specs were showing likely support for the T-Mobile and AT&T 3G bands. That fell apart with the FCC filing though that showed the first gphone will be using Tmobile bands.

Being able to switch our phones over to another network for an Edge connection really isn't worth it when we still get boned by their pointless technology spread and can't take advantage of 3G.

Oh speaking of the Nexus One (aka/google phone), the current word is it's set to be invitation only for the initial roll-out and then T-Mobile subsidized when it goes fully public. I think I saw someone had opened a thread mentioning it and of course phandroid/androidandme/etc are all following it closely.

[ua549]

There are 5 UMTS (W-CDMA) bands in common use - 850MHz, 900MHz, 1700MHz, 1900MHz and 2100MHz.

Even the best handsets only have 3 of them. Unfortunately T-mobile uses the 1700MHz band in the USA. It is only available on T-Mobile North American handsets and not on the iPhone. Outside of North America, T-Mobile doesn't use the 1700MHz frequency band so an iPhone will work on its network. The 900MHz band is used in mostly rural areas of non North American countries so it is hardly needed today, but its use is growing rapidly.

[Brahma]

Google is setting up it's storefront.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/...-but-a-url.ars

[Soul Assassin]

I'm kinda disappointed in Google's "superphone". It's only "as good as" the iPhone, and that's not acceptable when you're playing against Apple. Engadget had a video showing the iPhone, Droid and Nexus One all loading the Engadget webpage (using wifi): spoiler - the iPhone killed the two Droid phones. Absolutely destroyed them.

I'm not sure how hard it is to come out with a smartphone better than the iPhone, but if even Google can't do it I don't think it can be done.

[Brahma]

I'm kinda disappointed in Google's "superphone". It's only "as good as" the iPhone, and that's not acceptable when you're playing against Apple. Engadget had a video showing the iPhone, Droid and Nexus One all loading the Engadget webpage (using wifi): spoiler - the iPhone killed the two Droid phones. Absolutely destroyed them.

I'm not sure how hard it is to come out with a smart phone better than the iPhone, but if even Google can't do it I don't think it can be done.

IMO that all depends where the test is run. In my area, AT&T 3G isn't available, so the IPhone is crippled.

Besides, this particular phone isn't what's important here. It's busting up the major carriers grip on phone/carrier lock. It's time they were forced to improve the networks instead of keeping this country in the third world of cellular communications.