  TZi k1L0
join:2001-07-05 Miami Beach, FL
edited
| said by juicelee: Will japanese phones work with mMode? I'd rather buy one of those than carry around an uncomfortable clunker in my pocket.
Nope, Japan uses its own proprietary standard completely disparate from IS-136/TDMA or GSM.
Furthermore, have you seen some of the GSM handsets available or due-to-be-released by Ericsson and Nokia (like the nokia 7210)?, they're far from fat and clunky. In fact, most of the GSM handsets are far more sleek and functional than the majority of TDMA and CDMA handsets offered here in the U.S. If you want fat and clunky, try looking at some of Sprint's Kyocera and Samsung phones...
It's worth noting also, that you don't necessarily have to own an "mMode" handset per-se to use their mMode service, it's just a WAP page that loads up if you use a GPRS+GSM handset on their network.
While some may disagree, I think that their new mMode service is a lot more useful and versatile than it's predecessor, Pocketnet. Finally, a wireless carrier has gotten a clue and actually compiled useful information on their wap gateway instead of leaving it up to the user to find a use for the wireless web. (though you can still go to your own sites if you want).
From my experience so far, mMode is actually quite useful and has a lot of potential. Granted, GSM is hardly AT&T's de-facto standard at the moment, it will probably take a while before the mMode "system" becomes popular. Right now for 1$/month , for example, I can enter my zip code and download a real-time full-screen color radar map for my neighborhood and it's quite accurate to boot. I haven't explored the other areas of the service since it just came up on my handset last week, but there's a lot of stuff to do and explore; certainly enough content to carry me through my 1.5 hour COBOL class I am forced to attend every day! 
If you're going to do any serious WAP browsing on AT&T's GPRS network, I highly recommend the Ericsson T68. The color screen and joystick literally adds a new dimension to browsing the internet on your mobile phone. With the T68, the wireless web emerges from obscurity into realm of actual usefulness..
PS For those of you who thought a color screen and an internet connection might come in "handy", porn is NOT an offering of mMode! yet anwyays...  -- Miami Hurricanes #1 (we're back!)
[text was edited by author 2002-04-16 21:32:12] |