3G on an Internet Tablet Would be a Mistake

There has been some talk lately regarding 3G networking on the Nokia Internet Tablets, sparked by a poll of interested users. The Tablet Guru has it right: 3G is not needed on the Internet Tablets. Ricky gives some straightforward and concrete reasons why 3G is is superfluous, but I think it would not only be a mistake, it would be a step in the wrong direction.

The tablet represents a revolution in mobile computing, giving the user the ability to access the sites and services he normally would using a laptop, but with the portability of a mobile phone. Not only that, but it can make and receive calls to any phone using Gizmo, Skype, the newly released Fring, or any available SIP service. One of the first questions I am asked when I show someone my tablet is how much does the monthly service cost. They are always amazed when I say nothing and that I have almost no problem getting connected using either the WLAN or tethering it to my phone.

But the revolution is not in the portability and wide range of uses for the phone, the revolution is in the software. The tablets run maemo, an operating system derived from Linux with much of its source completely open, giving people the ability to modify, customize, and create their own applications for the tablet. And beyond that, users can forego Maemo and install Debian, Google's Android, or Mamona on their device. The revolutionary nature of the tablets allows the user to do what he or she wants with it, rather than what the provider (i.e. the network carrier) wants the person to do.

To tie the tablet to the carriers' 3G networks would hobble the tablet, taking a giant leap backwards in the process. It would increase the cost because of additional development time and royalties paid to the holders of 3G networking patents, and it might give those same parties (which are pretty much the networks and the device manufacturers) some say into the direction of the tablet as a device, and we may even see some of the above alternative operating systems go away, or at the very least, installing one of them would render useless the 3G aspects of the tablet.

The Internet Tablet is Nokia's flagship product for the next generation of mobile computing, representing true user freedom from the network providers and it should remain this way.

Amazon Video Downloads: One step forward, Two steps back

Amazon has released its video on demand service (as reported by New York Times). This offers a reasonable price ($1.99) for recent shows (e.g. the Burn Notice première, less than a week old, is available), touted as a "play anywhere" solution, allowing you to view it on your PC or Tivo. A purchase adds it to your "Amazon Media Library" and you can view it right away or at a later time.

The problem is that this service works only on Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista computers. Sure, that is a large segment of computer users, but why is this the case? Why limit the service like this? Even if I had a Windows-based computer, how do I know that I will have it a year from now when I want to re-watch some of my tv or movies? How do I know Amazon will continue to support other devices as they come out? I want to be able to watch the TV on my Nokia Internet Tablet or my phone when I am commuting. More importantly, I want to be at a friend's house and say "you haven't seen Aliens yet? Ever?! You need to watch it right now!" and log into my account so we can watch the movie at their place, instantly.

Until these services are at least as portable as a CD or an actual download, they will never be more than a novelty. The recording and movie studios complain about piracy all the time, but until they give people what they want, bit torrent and other file-sharing services will continue to be filled with copyright-infringing content.

Mobile Warrior: using your cellphone to connect your laptop to the Internet

One of the integral parts of my "Perfect Phone" series is using your mobile phone and data plan for Internet access, saving about $45 per month in DSL or cable charges. That overview of consolidating all communications costs gave a general overview and relied on JoikuSpot or Walking Hotspot to create a local wi-fi connection through which your laptop could connect to the Internet.

This post, however, will address a very specific connection: using your Nokia Nseries phone as a modem to connect a computer running Ubuntu (or any Debian-derivative) Linux to the Internet. If you are running Windows, take a look at the Nokia PCSuite. You do not need to have wi-fi on your phone, however, as we are going to connect it directly to the computer with the USB cable.

1. Make sure wvdial is installed. It was already on my 8.04 (upgraded from 7.10) laptop so I did not have to do anything. To check, run locate bin/wvdial to see if Ubuntu finds the program. If so, skip to step 3.
2. Run sudo apt-get install wvdial
3. Connect your phone to the computer using the USB cable that came with the phone.
4. Choose "PC Suite" when the phone asks for the type of connection.
5. Run sudo wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf
   
6. You should see a line like

   ttyUSB0<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI -- Nokia

   when running this command. This means wvdial found your phone and recognizes it as a usable modem.
7. Edit the config file sudo emacs /etc/wvdial.conf replacing 'emacs' with your favourite editor. You should see that wvdial has configured some things but left others we need alone.
   
8. Keeping the Init1, Init2, etc strings in there, add a new one with Init# where # is one more than the last one. Add

   Init# = AT+CGDCONT=1, "IP", "WAP.CINGULAR"
   ISDN = 0
   Stupid Mode = 1
   New PPPD = yes
   Phone = *99#
   Password = test
   Username = test

   to your file. The password and username can be anything, AT&T does not require them, however, they need to be something and test was creative enough for me. (I have provided my full wvdial.conf at the bottom for reference. If you are using a Nokia Nseries (probably, any Symbian s60 phone) you ought to be able to just drop this config in your setup and go. The one line you might have to change is the Modem one, and you can simply point that whatever wvdialconf found or set it to /dev/modem.)
   
9. Save the file and exit.
10. Run sudo wvdial on the command line and you should connect to the Internet.
    

Make sure you have an unlimited data plan to use this. With 3G you can chew through data pretty quickly.

References:

• Tuxomatic: Airtel GPRS on Linux
• Ubuntu Forums: AT&T tethering problem
• Ubuntu Forums: Using a GSM cellphone as a modem
• My wvdial.conf:
  

  [Dialer Defaults]
  Init1 = ATZ
  Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
  Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1, "IP", "WAP.CINGULAR"
  Modem Type = USB Modem
  Baud = 460800
  New PPPD = yes
  Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
  ISDN = 0
  Stupid Mode = 1
  New PPPD = yes
  Phone = *99#
  Password = test
  Username = test

  
  

Openness and cloud computing, Part I

The word 'Open' as it pertains to technology is tricky because it means different things to different people. There is an old lawyer joke that goes something like "Ask your question to three lawyers and you will get four opinions." The same can be said of asking interested parties about Open. Then, before you even have a chance to straighten all that out, someone will further muddle the discussion and throw the word 'Free' into the mix, with its own set of definitions, some of which overlap with Open.

Personally, when I hear the word Open, I first think of Open Source, meaning that everyone has not only the ability but the legal right to view and modify the code upon which the software is based. Another person could think Open means that other, third-party applications can interact with the software in question; this is called Open Standards or an Open API. A third person may hear the word Open and his first thought would be that the software or service is Open for anyone to try or join. This is an Open Beta or a site that is free to use, however the underlying software may be completely closed and proprietary. My mom might hear the word Open and check to see if she left her clamshell-style phone open.

So, with all these differing meanings and understanding, it is no wonder why Ari Jaaski's talk and subsequent post have created quite the stir in the Open Source sphere. Apparently, some people took great offense to some of what was said, or -in some cases- reported. I came across this somewhat backwards from the majority of the people that learned of this through the media or the blogosphere. I use a Nokia Internet Tablet running the Maemo operating system, so I learned of all this through the maemo-users mailing list. Maemo itself is an interesting platform and a great example for the above definitions of Open. At its heart, it is an operating system running a Linux (Free and Open Source) kernel, with a myriad of applications, some of which are Open Source, some employing Open Standards but the source is not available, and some that are just there for anyone with a tablet to use (the software is free for tablet owners, unlike upgrades to Microsoft Windows and the Mac OSX platforms. So, when Dr. Jaaksi talks about Open, he talks about it from a corporate viewpoint. And do not take that to mean I dismiss his comments in any way. In fact, the adoption of open source and open standards by various corporate entities is an important milestone for the community. This is putting open source software into the hands of people that have no idea what it is or what that means. They do not know they are using it, however, they reap the benefits from the hard work done by the community. This is the point: to give people a choice; not merely when they purchase or choose the product, but to continue to give them choices. Most may never take advantage of it, but the important thing is that the choice exists and the underlying products continue to be improved.

I believe that in some cases and especially from a consumer/user point-of-view, Open Standards are more important than Open Source. The open standards allow for But this is a dangerous short-sighted idea. What needs to happen is the progression from closed code to open standards and finally to open source. We see this happening with products like the Symbian s60 phone OS and it appears to be happening more every day. This is a very positive trend.

Way out of shape

Somehow, working just does not lend itself to keeping in shape. And even when I am not working, I tend to do the things I ignored during the rest of the work week. You guessed it, those things that have to be done have nothing to do with exercise, either.

So, this morning, I thought I'd pull out the ole Rollerblades and give it a go. I'm not sure which was the tougher workout: lacing them up, or rolling around the neighborhood, but by the time I was home and spent nearly as long getting them off as I did getting them on, I was pretty winded.

What prompted all this? Well, I have been wanting to get out and do something, but am sort of at a loss since my second bike was stolen. And, I wanted to play with the Nokia sportstracker on my phone, which is a really cool app that keeps track of all sorts of things while you are running, cycling, and yes, even rollerblading. So, I recorded it and have put my route up on my sportstracker site. Check it out, and see what a pitiful amount of exercise it takes to wear me out these days.