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Apple-Friendly Cell Phones and Services

G

GeorgeTheMonkey

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 14, 2004
95
0
Just a random question or two: what cell phone service providers do you use, and what cell phone models?

I'm about to buy a new one, along with a new service, and am looking for the most Apple-friendly but feature-loaded models. I'll probably be signing on with Cingular as my new provider -- it's best for the area, I think -- but am still looking for a phone. (Come to think of it, I can also be talked into a different provider too!) Cingular uses GSM/GPRS for their primary mode, so the phone would likewise have to.

Compatabilty with iSync is the first must, of course.
Bluetooth, preferably, but I'd also live with hooking it up by USB cable.
On that line of things, a full-featured calendar and address book would be nice -- not just the address book. Hey, has anybody ever been able to sync the Thumbnail Images in Address Book with their phone, as well? A lot of phones offer Picture ID, but how easy is it to get them to just automatically sync?

Lastly, melikes camera phones. I wouldn't necessarily want to email pictures taken with it (at $.25 a message? :eek: ), but I'd like to be able to sync them up to my Mac. Has anybody been able to do this successfully?

Also, I'd heard of people being able to connect their PowerBooks -- in an otherwise Wi-Fi less area -- to the internet via their phone's (I believe it was a Nokia phone's) wireless modem/internet capabilities, and bridging that with Bluetooth. Any other phones capable of that? :)

Thanks!
 
I heard from a friend that if you live in the US (not sure about outside countries) your not limited to the phones a certain carrier is carrying. For example if your partial to Cingular but really like a phone T-Mobile is offering you can call the manufacture of that phone (say Nokia) and say that you want it unlocked they will walk you through unlocking the phone.

I say just the US because of the new law thingy where you can change phone companies without changing numbers or phones. I don't know if other countries have this as well.

I have never tried it but it makes sense to me. :p
 
If you are going to continue to use Cingular, I would recommend the Sony Ericsson T616. It communicates with the PowerBook via Bluetooth.

I have the T610 and use it with T-Mobile. In fact, I am replying to your message while on the highway going 75 MPH. The GPRS service is slow (think dailup) but it gets the job done. With T-Mobile, it is free too! Supposedly, they are going to start forcing users like me to pay for it but it has been free for the last 1.5 - 2 years for me and other users.

It is fairly easy to setup the connection from the T616/T610 to the Powerbook. If you are going to use it to access the internet, you will need the Sony Ericsson Modem scripts. Just do a google search for sony ericsson mac modem scripts. I just set mine up today and it was easy enough.

As for pictures, it is very easy to "browse" the phone from OS X. You can just drag your pictures from the phone to the finder.
 
Yup, I believe you're right, Dr. Dastardly -- although you might have to call the new provider and get the right SIM chip to plug into your phone -- but unfortunately nevertheless, the phone still has to be compatible with the carrier's network.

Verizon uses CDMA networks, Cingular uses GSM/GPRS, AT&T is TDMA/GSM/GPRS, T-Mobile is GSM/GPRS.

So I think I'd be pretty safe buying any GSM/GPRS phone, and I still have a few carriers open to me if I should decide to switch, but keep the phone. :)
 
nels0360 said:
I have the T610 and use it with T-Mobile. In fact, I am replying to your message while on the highway going 75 MPH.
Click to expand...
:eek:

Should we be worried? :confused: ;)

Well that is mighty spiffy, then! So T-Mobile has "free" GPRS? Will have to look into that. Not sure what Cingular has. I've also been considering the most bloody expensive phone ever, the Motorola V600. 'Tis GSM, and takes 640x480 pictures -- which I naturally love. :D But it is expensive -- maybe I should be more practical and get the T616.
 
Do not get the V600, if you want to waste that much money on a phone, wait for the SE K700.. I have a T610, with Tmobile, and I love it!
 
I have TMobile, I hope to get the T610-6 (whatever one I can find cheapest basically) and use that to do this Bluetooth internet thing.

Mike
 
I use Cingular and don't care for their service, it could be more widespread in my area (Seattle) but it's really not that bad since I never go anywhere. I have a Siemens S56 that I boughts specifically for isync and bluetooth. It works fine. Sends all my iCal information fine, except for one problem: Every event that I have listed in iCal transfers to my phone over bluetooth and for some reason, my phone displays them all an hour earlier than they are... Not sure why, but at least it is consistent.
 
Sony Ericssons are the best phones for macs. they work perfectly andd have the best bluetooth implementation too.
 
If you look at the T610/616 you should check out its replacement, the T637, which is out on ATT and probably Cingular, too. And btw I have heard that the V600 Moto doesn't sync with iSync.
 
637 ROCKS

the se 637 mentioned above is a sweet little camera. pictures suck, but hey, the thing is the size of a snickers bar with a bite taken off the top. Ive gotten it to work just fine with bluetooth (ibook with d link adapter) but i was also able to find it no problems with a power book.

havent tried uploading anything yet, but ive used isync to sync my contacts list (it didnt copy pictures) and it seemed to have not taken all the numbers.

Going to try salling software, i was having trouble getting the sony ericson software to work, but id had a couple of beers by that point in the night,

I have singular, and am in seattle, had no real problems thus far,

sleek, cute phone with a feature pack that made my ollllddd phone (samsung a310) look like it was a wwii battlefield radio
 
Kreger said:
Going to try salling software, i was having trouble getting the sony ericson software to work, but id had a couple of beers by that point in the night,

I have singular, and am in seattle, had no real problems thus far,
Click to expand...
I thought the software was Windows only no?
 
I have Sprint Vision service for my LG5350. I connect a USB cable and use it for times that i can't find a free wi-fi spot. Just wish Sprint would offer a BT phone.
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
I have Sprint Vision service for my LG5350. I connect a USB cable and use it for times that i can't find a free wi-fi spot. Just wish Sprint would offer a BT phone.
Click to expand...

I have a Sprint BT phone- the Sony Ericsson T608. It's only available via Telesales from Sprint. Read up about it at:

http://www.sprintpcsinfo.com/

I'm thrilled with my phone, other than some small details. It works nearly flawlessly with both my PB 12" and my Palm T3.
 
marcsiry said:
I have a Sprint BT phone- the Sony Ericsson T608. It's only available via Telesales from Sprint. Read up about it at:

http://www.sprintpcsinfo.com/

I'm thrilled with my phone, other than some small details. It works nearly flawlessly with both my PB 12" and my Palm T3.
Click to expand...

Thanks, did find that there is another BT phone in the works. Hopefully this one will see wide distribution:

LG PM325

This site broke the news of the LGPM-325's existence.* The Bluetooth phone appears to match the SonyEricsson T608's feature set completely, adding an improved display, slider format, VGA camera with zoom, and SMS.
Click to expand...
 
Motorola T720i

I use a Motorola T720i CDMA phone with an original Motorola USB cable and Verizon Wireless CDMA2000 scripts from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maccellphone. The scripts are very generic, they work well with Bellsouth (Chile), they should be OK with other CDMA providers as well.

The good:
The phone has a true USB modem, i've also used it successfully with Linux with a generic USB serial driver. Performance is fairly decent with a CDMA2000 data link, about 10-12 KB/s, slightly below the theoretical 153Kbits. Latency is good enough for useable ssh2 console remote access and https web as well.

The bad:
The phone feels very fragile, although mine still works. Apple should teach Motorola one or two things about enclosure design (Or they could look at their own VHF radios). The phone user interface is also very basic. Data traffic drains the battery very fast (30-45 min).

Please note that i have no experience with the GSM version of this phone.

Regards,
RDK
 
Symbian is Key

;) I have spent a long time for just this solution,
my advice would be go for a symbian OS solution (on the phone that is :D )

Heres why have look under apple.com then software then isync and check out compatible phones - the future is clear all isync features all only supported by the symbian os phone (6.0 and later)
I am using a Nokia 3650 cheap but good!
The best will be either a Nokia 7210 or a Ericsson P900 or even an Sendo X.
Have fun with all the time you save by organising yourself by iCal & isync!

Ical + Cal + isync + Nokia 3650
 
I use T-Mobile and a Nokia 3650. I've found that internet access via T-Mobile is, at least where I live, very uneven. I can almost always get on, but, while sometimes I stay connected for over 30 minutes, other times I'm cut off almost immediately. Average connection time seems to be 5-10 minutes. I'm pretty sure this is T-Mobile's issue, not mine or my phones (could be wrong, but can't see how running the same connect script on the same phone from the same [non-moving] laptop in the same area would produce such varied results).

Still, as has been said, it's currently free with tzones pro (or maybe even just tzones), I've used in on the highway from Boston to Syracuse, NY (no, I wasn't driving) when I needed to "work at home" while travelling to my in-law's, and it allowed me to do what I needed to do.

Connection speeds, at least here via T-Mobile, are slow, though. I've seen a high of almost 27kbps, but the average is less than 20K, using cnets's bandwidth test. Which is still pretty darn fast when you're driving down the highway. ;)
 
Thanks for all the advice, guys. And also a special thanks for introducing me to the wonder of Salling Clicker! The thing is darn cool, and I can't wait until I have it! :D

I'm gonna go ahead and testdrive both Cingular and T-Mobile prolly, just to see who has the better coverage.

But as for the phone, I think I'm totally in love with the Sony Ericsson K700i. The thing is a beauty -- sure, I know Sony is coming out with a 1.2Megapixel camera phone later in the fall, but I love the look of this.

Sony says it works fine with Apple and iSync -- unfortunately I just found out it's not Symbian-based. :( Arrgh, phone buying can be really frustrating! :eek: If I could get a guarantee that Clicker will work on the K700, I'd go for it -- otherwise, I'm not to sure... (Salling doesn't say. :rolleyes: )

Thanks guys!
 
Nokia 3750

I'm using the Nokia 3750. It's not the most up-to-date model, but:

- You can expand the internal memory. I need to carry 2000+ contacts with me.
- The display is large and clear.
- Syncs beautifully with iSync via Bluetooth, even address book thumbnail pics.
- Exchanging files via Bluetooth is as easy as ?. Just start the transmission from the phone, or your Mac, and the other side will gladly join in. Works for pictures, sound files (ringtones!), and text files.
- I like the circular button placement.
- The camera is crap except for full sunlight pictures, but that holds for most cell phone cams.
 
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