Risotto’s weblog

I recently got myself an Asus eeePC 4G. I wasn’t that impressed with the pre-installed Xandros linux, so I went on installing a brand new Ubuntu 8.04. I also got myself a Novatel Ovation MC950D USB HSUPA modem, which allows me to connect to my local 3G carrier, Sunrise T@ke Away, Switzerland. I had no problems running the card with Ubuntu, since it was detected and auto-loaded immediately without any problems and allowed me to access the modem through the serial device /dev/ttyUSB0.

After a while though, I got a little bored with Ubuntu, especially by the fact that it took about two minutes to boot, compared to a mere 10 seconds that the original Xandros distribution required. So I decided to go back to the original Asus distribution and give it another try.

I then realized, that I wasn’t able to load the kernel module for my modem anymore and that the built in connection manager wouldn’t allow me to choose my Novatel modem for a GSM connection.

I know that the Huawei E220 would load without any problems and since the Novatel modem is just another USB serial device, I started tinkering with the usb-serial kernel module. After a while I found out, that loading the “option” module would load the device driver correctly. The only problem was to tell the driver, which device to connect to. The vendor and product ID for the Novatel modem is 0×1410 (vendorId) and 0×4400 (productId). I read on a forum post, that these settings could be supplied after the module had been loaded. So I went on and added the following two lines to my /etc/rc.local file, after opening a terminal with ctrl-alt-t:

sudo vi /etc/rc.local

Add these two lines before “exit 0″:

/sbin/modprobe option
echo "0x1410 0x4400" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id

For those not proficient in VI, just hit “ESC :wq” and the file saves and closes. Now, enable the execution of rc.local at boot time:

sudo echo "rc.local" > /etc/fastservices

Save the file and reboot your machine. You could also supply these two lines manually on the shell every time you restarted your machine. Now you’re able to select the Novatel USB modem in your connection manager and setup up a new 3G/GSM/HSDPA connection.

If you have another modem which uses the same option module, you can simply exchange the vendor and product id by your device’s ids. To find out your device’s id just look at this file:

less /proc/bus/usb/devices

Locate your device and use the vendor and product id that you find there. This should work for most Novatel devices, such as EVDO and 3G modems. Novatel devices should always have 0×1410 as their vendor id, so look for a device with that denomination.

After successfully installing the modem you can move on and configure your network connection. HINT: You might want to disable the PIN code on your SIM card before trying to establish a connection. I think the configuration wizard will not prompt you for the PIN, though I might be wrong.

The following pictures show you how this looks like (German version of the eeePC OS):

1. Select the appropriate connection type:

2. The modem is now showing up:

3. Scanning for GSM networks:

4. Select GSM network:

5. Select your provider’s network settings:

6. Name your connection:

7. Summary of your new connection:

8. Finally, the connection is set up and running smoothly. We’re online :

Thanks to “neilmc” to pointing out the option module behavior in his post on http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=940241&r=15131419#r15131419 .

Because it seems like just everyone is making wild predictions about the next iPhone, let me share my very own insider story.

The next iPhone will not have a 3G radio, it will come with a pre-installed 4G IMS radio. 3G will be skipped in benefit of gaining an edge over fierce competitors. IMS is the forthcoming cell phone standard enhanced for multimedia support over IP networks. Apple is said to include a Wimax antenna along with the WiFi and WCDMA radio for cell phone communication. This information comes from a very credible source inside Apple whose identity, I can neither confirm nor publish of course.

Also, a high AT&T representative, that also requested to stay unnamed, is confirming, that AT&T will sell the next 4G iphone for just $1 with a 24 month contract, similar to many offerings in Europe. This comes just after some other source at AT&T leaked earlier, that the iPhone could be sold for just $199. Well, let me say this, that according to common wishful thinking, the latest report must be the most accurate.

The next iPhone is also expected to come in a new encasing. Reports say, that it could come in a 7.5mm thinner case compared to the original and that it would include a polished backplate, similar to a mirror, due to common request by female users of the original device. It’s also said to be available both in the original brick form factor, as well as in a more popular clamshell casing.

From unwiredview.com.

Neither Apple, AT&T nor the Pope were available for comment.

Appelinsider is announcing a 3g iPhone launch for June. While I think there will be an announcement about a 3g iPhone, I don’t think the 3g iPhone will be launched in June. First of all, the FCC filing did not show up yet. Apple has to file devices with new GSM radios with the FCC. This filing has not come up yet, which makes a launch in June very unlikely. I would say, if the 3g iPhone is announced in June, it might be available by the end of September or October, not any earlier.

I also think, that the 3g iPhone will either come out for Europe or the US first, though it won’t be available at the same time in both markets for launch. The reason for this is, that WCDMA 2100 (for the US) and the HSxPA standard (Europe) are not compatible. These standards use different radio bands, and while there are quad-band radio chips support both, they usually support high speed access only on one of the compatible bands.

I guess, the 3g iPhone could be launched in markets that have excellent 3g coverage first. Markets like Switzerland, Austria or Luxembourg might be the first to get the 3g iPhone. These markets are rather small, though in Switzerland’s case, they might be very profitable. Orange does not have an EDGE network in Switzerland and they won’t build one for the iPhone either, though it is likely that Orange will be Apple’s partner for the iPhone in Switzerland. After all, Orange did get the exclusive rights for France, and for the sake of simplicity and economies of scale, Orange would be a first-choice launch partner, for countries where the company is present. This would be consistent with the example of Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), which got to launch the iPhone in Austria after they successfully launched the iPhone in Germany first. The 3g iPhone, not depending on EDGE anymore, might allow Orange to finally launch the iPhone in those markets as well.

Apple just recently announced the iPhone SDK including a roadmap for the next iPhone firmware functionality. Interestingly, Apple will be adopting ActiveSync for over-the-air synchronization with Exchange and compatible servers (Zimbra?). The firmware update will also include enterprise WPA2 and VPN support. The update is announced for June (read, the end of the month).

The new feature set will most likely make people wonder if there might be a hardware revision waiting as well. Everybody is talking about a 3G (HSxPA) version of the iPhone, and frankly, this would be great for a few geeks and early adopters.

My opinion though is, that Apple won’t change the hardware till late 2008 and will be waiting to introduce new hardware revisions ready for the holiday season. There might be an announcement for new hardware on WWDC, though I don’t expect the new iPhone to come out before the end of the year.

The iPhone can absolutely deliver the new features that have been announced for firmware revision 2.0 without a hardware upgrade. Push e-mail and synching technology does perfectly work over EDGE - it might as well work better over EDGE!

3G does consume a lot of power compared to EDGE and it doesn’t really deliver a positive impact on the application anyway. Furthermore, 3G availability is still very spotty across the world (and incompatible too, USA WCDMA 2100MHz vs. Europe&Asia 1900MHz). Also, bear in mind that 3G network deployments require a much denser network of cell towers and thus make it economically unfeasible to cover rural areas. If you’re a road warrior, you specifically want to be connected where everybody else isn’t. You don’t need great coverage in cities where you can find a WI-FI hotspot at every street corner and bandwidth is all over the place anyway. You want reliable coverage where everybody else would be disconnected.

The lower latency and higher bandwidth available with 3G is not mandatory for push e-mail. E-mail messages are relatively small and can be delivered over EDGE at least as well as over 3G. E-mail messages aren’t real time media streams.

EDGE’s added benefit over 3G is power consumption. Since push e-mail will require the radio to be always on, this is a very important thing to think about. The higher speeds available with 3G won’t justify the higher power consumption. You can see, this makes a lot of sense when you compare Apple to its competition. How come RIM, the biggest manufacturer of push e-mail devices yet, is still delivering most new devices without 3G? They probably recognized that 3G is just a power hog and does not at all deliver any benefits in a push e-mail and OTA synching scenarios.

Given these premises, it is most likely Apple will stick some more time to it’s EDGE powered iPhone. The market currently wants push e-mail, OTA synching, enterprise WI-FI and other features, that all do not require 3G at the moment. It is much more profitable to refine the iPhone’s software instead of launching a new product. The longer Apple sticks with the first generation iPhone, the bigger the profit margins will get. As long as the broad public doesn’t request technical features (i.e. the addition of 3G), but just asks for new applications and software implementable features, Apple will definitively be better off to serve the market with the current iPhone hardware.

Maybe, looking forward towards the end of the year, Apple could be delivering a 3G iPhone introducing new application scenarios. Currently, there are still no widely adopted usage patterns that would require 3G. Your local geek might say, of course there are applications scenarios that require 3G, though listening to streaming web radio and video on the go is not something that the broad public is yet looking for.

The market that requires 3G on the move, has just not been invented yet.

UPDATE: The new beta firmware seems to work with the latest version of Zimbra 5.0, when using a Zimbra Network Edition account with ActiveSync support enabled.

Update: As you may know, widespread unlocking methods are available now to unlock an iPhone from it’s SIM lock. 

As I just read on the new AT&T FAQ for the Apple iPhone it looks like it won’t work in Europe yet. From the FAQ (notice the typo? ):

Q. I’m an existing customer. Can I swap out my current SIM card and start right away?A. No. iPhone must be activated befroe it can be used. iPhone includes a pre-installed SIM card for your convenience.       

So, it’s official now. The iPhone will have a pre-installed SIM card. Simply put, SIM cards are used by GSM providers to identify a user on the network. The SIM card usually associates the phone number to the device. The SIM card itself is associated to a user’s contract and is thus bound to a specific carrier.Phones with SIM card slots allow to change the number as well as the carrier by simply swapping the SIM card. Some phones, usually subsidized by the carrier, won’t allow you to insert the SIM card from a competing carrier and are thus called SIM-locked. This effectively forces the use of a phone on a very specific carrier. Subsidized phones can usually be unlocked after a certain period of time (like the minimum contract period) or by paying a fee, which allows to use the phone on a new network, should a user decide to do so. SIM-locking is bad, but at least it won’t degrade the phone to a paper weight, should you decide to change your carrier.Even worse than SIM-locking though, when a carrier like AT&T chooses to pre-install the SIM card, the phone will most likely be SIM-locked and the SIM card may not be swappable at all! This means that people won’t be able to buy an iPhone and simply swap the SIM card to use the phone on other networks or even use it with a local carrier in Europe. To bad, because it looks like we will have to wait another 4-6 months until we will get the iPhone on the old continent. Also, who knows if Apple will again choose to stick to an exclusive carrier like Vodafone. If so, they will probably have a hard time selling the phone over here, even though the demand would be pretty high. In Europe cell phones are even more regarded as a status symbol than in the U.S., but people in Europe are quite reluctant in changing their carrier, so if the phone is not available to be bought in retail without SIM-lock, sales will definitely be much lower than the actually could be. Sticking to one carrier not only limits the availability to a few countries (there is almost no carrier omnipresent in every EU country, not even Vodafone) but will also exclude lots of customers from other carriers even when an iPhone exclusive carrier is available in a specific coutnry.Since Apple seems to have a hard time to find a suitable carrier anyway (reports are, Apple’s demands for distributing the phone in Europe are too “arrogant” anyway), I really can only hope Apple fails to sign an exclusive contract with any European carriers. This would at least allow the customers to buy the phone - unsubsidized - for a higher price, but give them the flexibility of choice when it comes to the carrier.I really hope Apple will listen to the EU consumer as well and won’t be doing such mistakes over here!

I just got myself a new Nokia E61i, so I wont need the much heeded E61 and E65 anymore. Both phones are up for sale at ricardo:

• Nokia E65 auction
• Nokia E61 auction

Both units are in a mint condition, have no sim lock and both are still covered by warranty! Take a look, if you’re looking for a bargain ! The auctions are scheduled to end the 3rd of June 2007 at around 9pm CET.

I just rescued a friend’s Nokia E61 which was not booting anymore. There was no way to flash the phone with the Nokia Updater since it wouldn’t boot and the Nokia Updater needs a working E61. A Nokia Repair center also told us they couldn’t do anything for us and that they would have to send the unit in to Nokia for repair.

Well, I happened to stumble across a site on the net which would describe how to reset a Nokia 6600 which is running an old version of the series 60 OS. It was using both *#7370# (hard reset) and *#7380# (soft reset) for resetting a working unit but further more it also showed, that you could format the unit by pushing the “green phone key”, 3 and * together while powering on the unit. Since the E61 powers up immediately when you insert the battery you will have to push those three keys before you insert the battery. As soon the battery is inserted to Nokia logo will show up for a while. You must hold the buttons until the pin code entry comes up. While you hold the keys the unit will reformat its flash memory and revert to a factory default state.

By doing this I was able to recover an apparently broken unit without having to send it in to Nokia for repair. I thought I’d share this as it might come in handy for someone else. Let me know if this worked for you too!

BTW: I think this works with other models like the E50, E60, E70, N-Series and others too.

I just found out that the Nokia Software Updater (v 1.0.88en) now recognizes the E61. Almost a week ago this was not the case yet. Is Nokia possibly going to roll out the 2.0618.06.05 firmware via NSU? This really would be awsome! BTW: FW 2.0618.06.05 is still not available at Nokia Service Centers.

Nokia has released a new blackberry client for the old firmware 1.610.04.04 of the Nokia E61 smartphone. This release (v 6.28.1) was released for the new, yet unavailable firmware version 2.618.06.05. Nokia seems to have finally realized that this firmware is not yet available and seems to have back-ported the new blackberry client to the older firmware. I can confirm that the installation of the new blackberry client works on the old firmware. After upgrading you will have to restart your phone and re-setup your account in the messaging section of the phone. Don’t forget to request the registration from the blackberry menu. It will take a while until the phone is registered with the network.

As for the changes in the new release, things like opening urls from an email into the browser now work. I don’t know yet what else has been changed. It would be nice if Nokia provided some kind of changelog, as it is common practice in the industry.

The new client can be downloaded from the Nokia business software site: http://www.businesssoftware.nokia.com/blackberry_downloads.php .

I recently scratched my Nokia E61 quite badly. I decided to order replacement parts and to replaceme the cover and the case. I don’t like service points so I took the freedom to replace to cover on my own. The procedure will probably void your warranty, but then, how should they find out you changed the cover? As long you don’t brake things it probably wont void your warranty from an effective point of view.

In order to change the cover of my Nokia E61 I had to take it apart. I took a few moments to make pictures along the process. If you need instructions on how to remove the cover of your own E61, then follow the link to the E61 gallery.