Registered: Nov 1999
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 153

YadaYada, I don't need no stinking portal!

Yada Yada and OmniSky are portals using the infrastructure of others to provide you with the access. As such their service will be spotty and companies like Verizon who are their suppliers and competition will give their "issues" lower priority. Same thing is happening in the DSL market, same thing happened in the ISDN market. Pacbell allocated some switches, you know, over in that room in the back, and hooked them up when they felt like it.

With VisorPhone I can use my regular ISP, Earthlink for "raw" internet access and email. No custom browsers loading up ads for three minutes when I want to do a Google search. I can connect, and have connected almost anywhere in the world because Earthlink has local access numbers. My MultiMail and AvantGo provide all the software I need. So the only limitation is GSM. The US was dog slow in adopting GSM anyway. The fact we have it in most metropolitan areas now is great.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

And don't forget that AirPrime will me OEM'ing a CDMA version. See this news article

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Bret Snyder<BR>If you don't know where you're going,<BR>You'll probably end up somewhere else.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: New York City
Posts: 29

rates?

But don't you think that if you using the phone you will end up paying more then the $39.95 unlimited with no roaming.

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No matter where you go. There you are.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 153

Still not convinced

With my Pacbell Family plan I'm doing 4 phones, free long distance, 450 shared minutes a month for under $100/month. That includes news and email services, phone insurance. YY or Omni service won't be better. As a single phone user it sould probably cost the same- $39.95, plus I get voice.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 97

I'm waiting, too. VisorPhone looks like it will be the big breakthrough in wireless I've been waiting for.

I have a different point of view on the expense. Even though it costs $299 up front, it will actually save you money over the long term because you only need to maintain one wireless account, not two separate accounts for your cellphone and wireless modem. I figure a breakeven point in 7-8 months, based on $40 or so a month.

I'm assuming the monthly charges will be comparable to cellphone costs, maybe with the extra $10 or so that most carriers charge for wireless data access. Then it's just a matter of which plan you choose; I'm hoping for the national single-rate plan that Voicestream already offers for cellphones. They offer a lot of minutes for a pretty reasonable price, with no long-distance or roaming charges when you travel.

The only two downsides I see are slower access than the Novatel modem, and spotty GSM coverage. I recently switched my cellphone from AT&T to Verizon because of AT&T's really ****ty coverage in the NYC metro area. Verizon makes a huge difference. I'll be sorry to lose that great coverage when I switch to GSM -- but I'm pretty sure it will be worth it! (And I'm not willing to wait for Airprime's CDMA module; I'm tired of waiting for wireless!)

Anyone have any idea when they'll announce the Visorphone calling plans and start shipping the damn things already!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 97

I'm waiting, too. VisorPhone looks like it will be the big breakthrough in wireless I've been waiting for.

I have a different point of view on the expense. Even though it costs $299 up front, it will actually save you money over the long term because you only need to maintain one wireless account, not two separate accounts for your cellphone and wireless modem. I figure a breakeven point in 7-8 months, based on $40 or so a month.

I'm assuming the monthly charges will be comparable to cellphone costs, maybe with the extra $10 or so that most carriers charge for wireless data access. Then it's just a matter of which plan you choose; I'm hoping for the national single-rate plan that Voicestream already offers for cellphones. They offer a lot of minutes for a pretty reasonable price, with no long-distance or roaming charges when you travel.

The only two downsides I see are slower access than the Novatel modem, and spotty GSM coverage. I recently switched my cellphone from AT&T to Verizon because of AT&T's really ****ty coverage in the NYC metro area. Verizon makes a huge difference. I'll be sorry to lose that great coverage when I switch to GSM -- but I'm pretty sure it will be worth it! (And I'm not willing to wait for Airphone's CDMA module; I'm tired of waiting for wireless!)

Anyone have any idea when they'll announce the Visorphone calling plans and start shipping the damn things already!

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 19

VoiceStream's InfoStream

I've been using a data plan with my VoiceStream account for the past year called InfoStream that allows me to connect my pda to my Ericsson phone through IR for email and internet for $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

I'm wondering if this plan would work with the VisorPhone, as well. Will the phone/network have the ability to *understand* a data call from a voice call using the VisorPhone? If so, my bet is that VoiceStream customers can have unlimited data access for less than Omnisky and YadaYada. $29.99/month is about as good as it gets for national unlimited data calls, even on the limited coverage of GSM.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Re: rates?

quote:

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Originally posted by Max Headroom
But don't you think that if you using the phone you will end up paying more then the $39.95 unlimited with no roaming.

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Eye of Gameboy

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 19

Like I posted above, I've been using GSM for over a year, now, with VoiceStream and have been quite pleased with coverage. I travel a great deal, and coverage issues have been minimal for me. As long as you are in a metropolitan area, there are no problems with GSM.

Yes, the VisorPhone supports SMS as well as numerous other functions. Check out this link:

http://www.handspring.com/products/...e/details.jhtml

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Here
Posts: 213

Voicestream has a "DataStream" plan in which you can add 3000 data minutes to any plan for about 30 bucks. It remains to be seen how the plans will be structured when the visor phone is available.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

quote:

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Originally posted by BNelson
I travel a great deal, and coverage issues have been minimal for me. As long as you are in a metropolitan area, there are no problems with GSM.

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Eye of Gameboy