Team-BHP - The Mobile Phone Thread - Queries, decisions, discussions all here

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digital Vampire (Post 1345980)

Guys...I need suggestions on purchasing a few GSM phones for my project. The following are the requirements.

# Must support Bluetooth, Java (MIDP 2.0, Java 3rd party applications)
# Should have expandable memory (Min 1 Gig)

if this is an academic project, then just use the Emulator that comes with Symbian SDK.

SDK is a free download and emulates all this out of box.

Beyond that, I would suggest buying second hand N series phones since they have almost all APIs. And they can emulate missing API with hotfixes from Nokia. E.g. If you want to "simulate" road navigation whle sitting in your office for debugging, Nokia can give you a hotfix to simulate that. You can control that from IDE.

For lower level work, Symbian development boards are available for 600$.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay (Post 1346919)

Thanks for your response NFB.

This is not an academic project, but is an End-2-End Tool development project for feature testing BSC's and MSC's. So will necessitate use of real mobiles since the radio (RF) side is more important. In fact SW development isn't so important since the requirement is fairly basic and could be implemented easily using J2ME.

My team has already developed some test suits which can run on S60 phones. But since ~128-384 mobiles are simultaneously involved, its imperative that we keep the terminal costs really really low.

Development boards are totally out of question (costly). I've checked the M2M module side of things, but as per our evaluation, using consumer grade handsets seems to be the cheapest option by FAR.

So I'm still looking for the cheapest handsets with Bluetooth, Java, and SD, SDHC storage support. S60 phones are a good investment for future activities, but the key is to keep the costs as low as possible.

Would it be possible to do testing at a lower level?

Instead of generating RF signals, go a level deeper and simulate inputs that are generated by RF.

I am out of touch in hardware side, but older Alcatel solutions had complete network emulation in S/W.

Of course this is meaningless if your project is about "actual field testing" (or certification) for networks that have already been deployed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay (Post 1347046)

Thanks NFB.

We've gone that path before with another product for the same customer. But in the present case, real handsets/terminals are important since among other things, even roaming (soft handoff, hard handoff, switching towers...) need to be tested. But they will all be done in the lab itself with another product of ours which simulates real world air interface subscriber roaming by varying in synchronization multiple RF power levels based on real world driving/motion parameters and environment models.

There is a Motorola offshoot that caters to this kind of needs, but only caters to Motorola phones as of now. They have an array of phones hard-wired to a control setup, which can be interfaced to over web. They allow upload of custom software incl. firmware into the handset from remote. They support S60. This is a hosted solution, and makes a lot of sense when one needs to test on multiple devices simultaneously.

Thanks DerAlte for the lead on DeviceAnywhere. Excellent solution for SW developers who wants to test their application on multiple devices. I never knew about it before.

But I guess it wont suit my needs since we need to control the network as well from our own BSC's and MSC's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by discobiscuit (Post 1341952)

I have heard that BSNL and Reliance are now offering 3G...
..is this only for select cities? if yes, which ones?

Is there an official date when the other providers (namely, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata) will be getting the same?

I want to downgrade to Blackberry Javelin 8900 because of its size (smaller), but its only drawback is that it doesn't support 3G.

So are these other providers going to establish 3G networks asap, which will make sense to not give away my 3G Blackberry

3G in India is only available from the govt. operators currently i.e. MTNL and BSNL. 3G from other operators will be available when the 3G auctions are held and the networks comes up to support 3G. Not all operators might get 3G license. It depends on who manages to win the spectrum as it a scarce commodity right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesal (Post 1345816)

hi i have one. very nice phone. battery for 3 days. awesome, the best part is i got it for rs. 8000 haha cheapest in the country i bet

Hi
My battery seems to run out by around 10-12 hours.Do you mind telling me, how long you charge yours for.I charged mine for around 3 hrs
Also, can some one tell me how long the battery should be charged when it's new.Some say it should be kept for 6-7 hours??
thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 1345722)

Hi,I got the Samsung star today,it cost 9500 + 500 bucks for a 4 GB card.
Its a nice touch screen phone,decent value for money.
:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesal (Post 1345816)

hi i have one. very nice phone. battery for 3 days. awesome, the best part is i got it for rs. 8000 haha cheapest in the country i bet

I too got one today. Paid 9800/- And that 2GB card cost me Rs 400/- :mad:

I found this touch interface much better than the cookie, and much faster too.

I had to litrelly hunt it down, looks like there is an artificial scarcity in Bangalore, and they all try to push LG cookie. Found one when i was checking out Samsung showroooms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 1348158)

Some say it should be kept for 6-7 hours??

I follow this regime, the first time I recharge a phone I let it charge for 7hours. Dont know the funda behind it, may be the chemicals in the battery needs to get a longer jolt before they behave. :D

Now dont jump on me, dont know much about Li-ion battery.

Do this, you wont regret. My SE phone still lasts for 2 days, its about 3 years old. 1st set of battery, and I am a moderate user.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 1348158)

Ok guys hopefully my samsung battery woes have gone away.My battery was getting discharged within a day of very moderate use,so last night i did a couple of things.I removed the battery and refitted it again thinking may be it was placed loose or something.Then i let the mobile charge for straight 6 hours from 12:00 AM to 6 in the morning.
The result, i had a full bar the entire day.. clap:

About Samsung Star 5233

Do you guys think that the cover at the back, which you remove to access the battery is flimsy?
I think i have damaged mine already. The top portion near the camera is not locking properly. Had tried opening and closing it 5-6 times. I guess I will take it to the samsung showroom some time this weekend.

But I have a feeling that I have already damaged the locking mechanism. If that is the case, then I shall soon post the price of a new cover. ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesal (Post 1345816)

hi i have one. very nice phone. battery for 3 days. awesome, the best part is i got it for rs. 8000 haha cheapest in the country i bet

Would you mind disclosing the dealer name? I am interested in purchasing the same. You can send me a PM.