What is GPRS/G3. Is it anything to do with mobile satellite networks?

Sorry I took so long to answer, I didn't see this thread tucked away. I'm not too well informed but I'll tell you as much as I know.

GPRS is General Packet Radio Service. It's an 'always on' mobile connection which is piggy-backed onto the usual dial -up service. I think it uses the same frequencies but it allows me to access the internet, well WAP really, and I can remain connected all the time. I pay only for the amount of data I transfer irrespective of the time I spend online. If I'm surfing using GPRS and I get interrupted, I can put the phone down and come back hours later to pick up where I left off without any delay. It is seamless.

G3 is 3rd generation mobiles which will be introduced later this year, or early next year. This will be a much faster 'always on' system. G3 phones will be internet freindly and I think they will access WWW sites as well as WAP. I'm not sure though. They will also do weird things like put sales information on a about a shop as you pass the shop doorway.

went into CPW today. Unfortunately their engineer isn't in on saturdays and so I would have had to wait till monday. I should be getting it done on tuesday though.

LC wrote:
G3 is 3rd generation mobiles which will be introduced later this year, or early next year. This will be a much faster 'always on' system. G3 phones will be internet freindly and I think they will access WWW sites as well as WAP. I'm not sure though. They will also do weird things like put sales information on a about a shop as you pass the shop doorway.


It's actually called 3G, not G3.

Yeah, sorry.

Just a not to let you know you can send sms over GPRS well I can O2 and 6310...only trouble is instead of instant send it takes about 30 secs to send a message. Dont know if you can use it with chat though...

I thought they were out already, and i know the 7650 is coming out this month and that is a 3G phone, me getting ready to BUY!

If it was a true 3G phone, it would support UMTS - which it doesn't (at this time). It may support GPRS, but to be honest most phones do now - it's not a big feature any longer.

This phone isn't even tri-band!! Great use for international travellers!

The 7650 is NOT a 3G phone. Its just looks as ugly as one.

If It were 3G it would support either UMTS or EDGE. It supports neither. Dont expect anything close to 3G soon unless you live on the Isle of Man. Hutchison 3G (The people that brought us Orange) are scheduled to launch a 3G service on mainland Britian at the end of the year. The 4 existing networks should be launching 3G services in 2003/2004. The earliest services will probably use SonyEricsson and Motorola handsets as Motorola already have a 3G handset ready and Ericsson are quite far in the development of they're 3G products and also produce alot of the equipment the operators use.

Well, MMS & GRPS are certainly not 2.5G or 2.0 G Services.


Not everybody goes a traviling to the states. If your network is decent, they will allow you to hire a phone that works on 1900 so you can use it in the states, thats if you go to a part where mobile phones actually work, unlike the X-Files would like to make you believe Phones do need to be charged and they do not work everywhere!

This phone is like SOOOOO COOL! Plus its Nokia!

Yes they are! GPRS is the very definaition of 2.5G! MMS is almost just an extension of SMS. Just using a different format and larger file sizes. Believe me, the 7650 is NOT 3G. It is 2.5G!
Not like it really matters. But it is.

True, but for a high end phone a lack of Tri-band facilities is pretty poor show. And GSM 1900 is becoming pretty common in America too.

Quote:
“This phone is like SOOOOO COOL! Plus its Nokia!”

You do know Nokia are notorious for being bad with new technology. For example, the 8310 still AFAIK doesnt have PBCCH. Because of this Orange doesnt promote it as a GPRS phone for fear that Nokia hasnt relaeased a firmware update by September and the 8310's GPRS features would no longer work on Orange when PBCCH is turned online. Surely being a Nokia is a reasonably bad thing for a phone with so many new features.

BTW: Sorry for the Anti-Nokia view and long reply. Im just very pro SonyEricsson

O dear, me anti-SonyEricsson so we are DEFINATLY not going to get along!


After looking at detail at Nokia's web site, it does seem its not 3G. So i am wrong, (last time i listen to my mate about phones)have a peice of cake!

If WAP is a 2.5G feature, shorly there must be somthing between 2.5G & 3.0G as GRPS, MMS are new to mobiles, and WAP is getting old now. Japan has 4G (i saw that on TV), and they can watch Video on there phones, what is 3G going to offer?

Yeah, probably not

Wap didnt exactly make 2.5G, it was just quite close. All the features coming now are the true 2.5G features. Between 2.5G and 3G theyre should be EDGE. But most service providers have stated theyre not going to support this. I suppose Orange would as they seem to support all new technology and never 'skip' steps in the ladder (ie: Only ones supporting HSCSD instead of jumping straight to GPRS) O2 definately wont be. Japan doesnt offer 4G as such but went with theyre own propriety standard. Instead of using GSM with wap they use theyre own version of TDMA with DoCoMo's i-Mode technology. That is what allows all the video streaming and such. Strictly speaking the same could be done over HSCSD or GPRS, just the limitations of Wap rather than speed that stops this. Japan is on 2.5G same as us. In fact, O2 launced the first 3G service a couple of months back on the Isle of Man. Im pretty sure it was a couple of weeks before Japans DoCoMo did the same. And 3G is floppng quite badly in Japan due to the fact i-mode offers so much no one really sees the need to upgrade.

Why would you be anti-SonyEricsson ? I can understand why you might not want to buy a SonyEricsson phone but to be anti-SonyEricsson is more than that. It suggests that Mr Sony or Mr Ericsson may have stolen your pet dog and eaten it with a warm red wine.

If you don't want to buy or use a SonyErcisson phone, then fine, but that is a neutral emotion, not an actively ANTI emotion.

I have as yet to see a good looking phone made by them, i hate the menu's , and do the words Water Damage mean anything? I have no mate who has actaully had an ericsson working by the time they got there new phone(we talking more than 5 phones here), they have all been broke, because of water damage, yet i can get along fine using my Nokia's in the rain, all my phones still work.

The first 2 points are to do with my preference, but the 3rd one could very well get you too. Its not just me, after 1 mate going through 2 ericson phones, he avoids them like the plague now.

We can all throw around horror stories about what's happened to all of our mates and their Ericsson phones all not working when they get them out the box and how our Nokias are just the best thing since sliced bread . Heck, I have plenty of stories about our companies' Nokias dying with screen problems, earphone or microphones dying, buttons falling off, cracked fascias etc, and we're talking more than 5 here. Enough to make our telecoms department switch from a Nokia only site, to what I can only describe as an 'anything but' Nokia site.

Safe in the knowledge that I'd rather make decisions based on my own knowledge (not fiction), and not some 'anti-anything that's not Nokia' person who would argue the fact that black is in fact white just for a row, I think we should agree to disagree.

No i am going to disagree with that

Fair play!

Now that's sorted...

I finally received my Sony Ericsson T68i yesterday and from what I've seen of it so far, I'm impressed. Had always been a Nokia man up until now (I loved the phones and the simple menu system) but with my last phone (a 7110) packing up and having all sorts of firmware issues, I decided to try something else. I was going to wait for the 7650 but ended up going for a small phone with all the features I need now as well as some for the future.

Just waiting for my SIM to be activated

Does it matter what it looks like ? It's a phone, a communication device. It should spend almost all its time in your pocket or handbag. I'd rather judge a phone by its capabilities and never by the way it looks. I don't care which make of phone I buy. Doesn't matter to me whether it's an Ericsson, Nokia or Motorola.

I for one can't stand Nokias. There as common as anything, even the high end ones. Ive seen 4 8310's in the last 2 days and I dont care to remember how many 3310/3330's. I prefer a phone thats a little bit different. To me the design isnt that impressive and is easily matched by Motorola and SonyEricsson. Also, I really dislike the menu system, I dont like the whole context sensitive thing. And most of there phones are ugly. The 3310/30 seem dull, the 6210/6310 seem a bit ugly but acceptable but the 7650 is unacceptable. Compare that to the SonyEricsson P800 and tell me that the SonyEricsson doesnt look better? Remember they have VERY similiar features and Ericsson at least have a good record with new technology. If they mess up at first a firmware update is usually released pretty snappy to fix the problem.

Oh yea, and Mr Nokia eat my pet dog!

Whe you get your SIM activated, you must contact your network provider to enable the GPRS features. The card will only allow your phone to work as a normal phone when you first get it.

Thanks. Noticed something was a little odd when the status screen kept saying "GPRS not allowed". Everything up and running now

Took my T68 in to be upgraded today
Software version R2E now

Seems quite sluggish but I can feel it quickening up.

Check out this new Ericsson phone.

I can't upgrade till the end of December.