consultaglobal

While I’m writing this blog from my laptop, my connection to the Internet is enabled by my Samsung Blackjack. My laptop is connected to my 3G phone via Bluetooth. So, for all that matters, this is an actual moblog.

I must confess something though, I wished the initial set up process was smoother. While 1.- my phone and my laptop were already paired (as far as Bluetooth was concerned), I had installed 2.- Samsung’s modem driver in my laptop (for which I had to use the CD provided with the phone) and had also managed to set up 3.- a COM port as a Bluetooth serial port… it took me a while to figure things out.

I ended up using a WiFi network to get to a chat room where I found someone else who had already gone through this.

It turns out that the fastest setup involves the phone’s File Explorer application to get to the Windows folder, where the “Internet Sharing” application happens to be located (in case you wondered, the 200+ page user manual doesn’t cover any of this).

Once there, I selected “Bluetooth PAN“. The other option was “USB“, which would require plugging in the USB cable… that was not in sync with the “fully wireless” experience I was going after.

A couple of things to take into consideration. The first one is that you would have to disconnect ActiveSync (if you happened to be using it at that time). The other thing is that you still have to go back to your laptop to get things up and running.

From the laptop’s “My Bluetooth Places” window I double clicked on the icon for the Blackjack. Then on the icon for “Network Access Point on Blackjack“. From that point on, I get connected to the internet via 3G, which pretty much means ubiquitous access. So now you know how this mobile blog came about.

Bluetooth is a PAN, a personal area network, delivering 2Mbps per second. My laptop and my phone will connect provided they are within 10 meters of each other. The 3G network I’m using is an HSDPA version, the speeds advertised by AT&T are: 3.6Mbps downlink (download) and 384Kbps uplink (upload).

By doing this I’m putting my phone’s battery to the test. The battery meter shows around 75% power left, after a couple of hours. Just in case, luckily, I have a spare fully charged battery. You get two batteries when buying a Blackjack.

Palm’s Foleo (left picture) was announced earlier this year as “mobile companion”. This is Engadget’s first impression:

“Boasting a 10-inch widescreen display and a full-size keyboard, the device is intended to be used in conjunction with your smartphone, with any edits to documents made on one device automatically reflected on the other thanks to the device’s Bluetooth connectivity“.

“The device also promises to turn on “instantly,” boasts built-in WiFi, and should last about 5 hours on a single charge. The pricing and release info leaked out earlier also look to have been spot on, with it now officially set to be released sometime this summer for $500 (after a $100 mail-in rebate)”.

José de Francisco Lopez Chicago, 30 June 07

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This blog’s Long Tail:

• Building a mobile website
• Moblogging from Chicago
• Consultaglobal web 2.0 (and mobile 2.0)
• Mobile blogging, why?
• Mobile blogging (3) and podcasting
• Mobile blogging
• Mobile blogging (2)
• Mobile blogging (3)
• Mashup tools, now mobile

References and picture credits:

• Palm’s Foleo
• Engadget