Computor/Tech stuff

[Smiles Davis]

You could actually make your own cross-over cable from a standard UTP (Cat 5 or Cat 6) cable by clipping one of the ends off, changing the wiring standard from either A to B or B to A depending on which was used on the cable initially, and then re-crimping. Honestly though, cross-over cables these days are used less and less, since routers are getting smarter and smarter and networking two PCs isn't near the voodoo science it was when I got my MCSE certification.

If your unable to make or find a crossover cable, also check in video game sections of stores. They used to sell an accessory for the XBOX called a system link cable. It was a crossover cable which allowed you to connect 2 systems together for multiplayer. Its wasn't a popular accessory, so often prices are pretty low.

[Berliner]

If these rumored price plans on the Nexus One are true, then Google has really disappointed me in its lack of balls. Don't you want to take on the entire telecom industry Google? You used to be cool!

[MrDys]

I googled around to see what you were talking about only to find the most insane similie from PCMag:

I put "unlocked" in quotes because according to everything we've seen so far, the Nexus One only works properly on T-Mobile's network here in the U.S. Even though you can use it on AT&T's system, it will be restricted to 2G, which with a powerful smartphone like the Nexus One would be a little like watching famed runner Oscar Pistorius without his carbon-fiber legs.

To save you the trouble, they're talking about this guy:

[isoS]

If these rumored price plans on the Nexus One are true, then Google has really disappointed me in its lack of balls. Don't you want to take on the entire telecom industry Google? You used to be cool!

Funny how getting into the phone business turns cool companies lame.

[Berliner]

So I'm at the Nexus One store right now, and they have an option for the Nexus One for Verizon coming in spring 2010.

https://www.google.com/phone/choose?locale=en_US&s7e=

What I would like to know is how easy I can make calls and texts just using google voice and something else like gizmo or fring. If its not hard, I'd gladly buy a Nexus One for the 580 bucks, provided that I can get a data only plan with T Mobile or Verizon.

[isoS]

Good luck with that. From what I've seen, no carrier is going to let you do that -- T-Mobile is the cheapest and most liberal (plan-wise) carrier in the U.S., and even they corral you into a minimum $80/mo. voice+data plan for the Nexus One (from what I've seen). They know what you're trying to do Berliner, and they're not going to let you get away with it!

[Berliner]

Well, I do see that T Mobile allows you to have a data only plan for 40 dollars a month. If I don't buy a subsidized phone, what choice do they have over what plan I get with them?

[Berliner]

T Mobile Total Internet:

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Plans/C...ell-phone-plan

[isoS]

Well, I do see that T Mobile allows you to have a data only plan for 40 dollars a month. If I don't buy a subsidized phone, what choice do they have over what plan I get with them?

That's a good question. It will be interesting to see if Google Voice and all features therein work on an unsubsidized phone without a voice plan. My guess is that making/receiving calls and voicemail thru Google Voice will require a voice plan. They can't control what plan you get, but they can control how software is implemented on specific phones (and one of the reasons Android drives me crazy is that it seems to work differently on every phone that runs it -- all they're doing is confusing the consumer by having some phones on 1.5, some on 1.6, one on 2.0 and now one on 2.1... and I'm not sure if anyone here knows what all of this is supposed to mean*).


*that's a very subtle Pee-Wee's Big Adventure reference

[Gene George]

That's a good question. It will be interesting to see if Google Voice and all features therein work on an unsubsidized phone without a voice plan. My guess is that making/receiving calls and voicemail thru Google Voice will require a voice plan. They can't control what plan you get, but they can control how software is implemented on specific phones (and one of the reasons Android drives me crazy is that it seems to work differently on every phone that runs it -- all they're doing is confusing the consumer by having some phones on 1.5, some on 1.6, one on 2.0 and now one on 2.1... and I'm not sure if anyone here knows what all of this is supposed to mean*).


*that's a very subtle Pee-Wee's Big Adventure reference

I probably should, but I don't. Hell we have enough on our hands with the stuff we support now.

[Berliner]

That's a good question. It will be interesting to see if Google Voice and all features therein work on an unsubsidized phone without a voice plan. My guess is that making/receiving calls and voicemail thru Google Voice will require a voice plan. They can't control what plan you get, but they can control how software is implemented on specific phones (and one of the reasons Android drives me crazy is that it seems to work differently on every phone that runs it -- all they're doing is confusing the consumer by having some phones on 1.5, some on 1.6, one on 2.0 and now one on 2.1... and I'm not sure if anyone here knows what all of this is supposed to mean*).


*that's a very subtle Pee-Wee's Big Adventure reference

I would agree, but having played with Google Voice for a while now, I know it will work in combination with free VOIP services like Gizmo5 (which was just bought by google, so I don't know how that will work out). As long as they don't actually fuck with that feature of google voice, it should work.

I hope. Otherwise, its jailbreak time.

[Berliner]

Also, can you buy an unlocked iphone? I mean if you jailbroke it to work with google voice and got a data only plan with it, you would save about 1000 dollars despite the higher initial cost of the phone.

[isoS]

Yes you can:
http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-iphone...211493259.html
(Warning, do not click this link if you have any kind of liquid in your mouth. Swallow any partially-consumed liquid before viewing the linked page.)

[Gene George]

Yes you can:
http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-iphone...211493259.html
(Warning, do not click this link if you have any kind of liquid in your mouth. Swallow any partially-consumed liquid before viewing the linked page.)

That seems prohibitively expensive.

[Berliner]

If you do the math, it would still save you quite a bit money if you bought that and just a data plan, provided you could get it to work with gv and also multitask. Pretty risky bet, obviously.

[isoS]

It would have to be on AT&T, and last I checked (not recently, I admit) they don't let you do data-only unless you're handicapped. Or is that only applicable to customers who got the subsidized iPhone price? Oh, I guess you could go with T-Mob, but then you don't get 3G, because they use a different 3G frequency (but maybe the iPhone supports that bc it's designed to work around the world?). In any case, T-Mob's 3G is pretty weak...

I'm with you in spirit Berliner, but with 4G around the corner I'm not laying down big money on a current-gen handset. I think things will get shaken up in the next couple of years anyway, between 4G, Google and Apple gaining power in the phone space and the government possibly getting involved to stop telcos from unfairly locking up their customers and their handsets with contracts and unnecessary limitations.

[pissedpissedofferson]

Anyone want to give an impression on the Nexus One? I'll go first:

What kills this phone for me is the "expandable" microSD slot. Even subsidized the price point for a subsidized 4gb Nexus One is already abot the same as a subsidized 16gb current-gen iPhone.

Worse yet, to upgrade the Nexus One's memory to be on par with top-of-the-line iPhone tacks about $150 onto the price (best price I could find on a decent-looking 32gb microSD card), making it more expensive to buy a 32gb Nexus One than a 32gb iPhone.

That's pretty sour considering all the door-buster price rumors that were being flung around last week.

Beyond that it seems like the only thing on the Nexus One that's verifiably better than the iPhone's is the camera, and I barely use that anyway.

[funnyclown]

I googled around to see what you were talking about only to find the most insane similie from PCMag:

I put "unlocked" in quotes because according to everything we've seen so far, the Nexus One only works properly on T-Mobile's network here in the U.S. Even though you can use it on AT&T's system, it will be restricted to 2G, which with a powerful smartphone like the Nexus One would be a little like watching famed runner Oscar Pistorius without his carbon-fiber legs.

To save you the trouble, they're talking about this guy:

This is my favorite post on aspecialthing. I also enjoy your avatar. Happy New Year!

[Berliner]

Beyond that it seems like the only thing on the Nexus One that's verifiably better than the iPhone's is the camera, and I barely use that anyway.

Faster processor, bigger AMOLED screen, replaceable battery, replaceable memory slot, integrated voice recognition, no approval process for apps, possibly of paying forty or so dollars a month for data, talk, and text with no contract*.

*not yet confirmed.

[pissedpissedofferson]

Faster processor, bigger AMOLED screen, replaceable battery, replaceable memory slot, integrated voice recognition, no approval process for apps, possibly of paying forty or so dollars a month for data, talk, and text with no contract*.

*not yet confirmed.

My bad, but are any of those things really appreciable to 99% of consumers? Apart from maybe (but probably not) being cheaper to use the Nexus One sounds awful to consumers.

"It's like an iPhone only it costs more, its download speeds are worse, its operating system is an unknown commodity, and it has a better camera!"