October 20, 2009
Apple iPhone 3G best for call quality: Blackberry Storm worst
By Patrick Mannion

With all the additional multimedia and work-saving functionality smartphones bring to the table, it's easy to lose track of the one basic requirement by which all handsets are ultimately judged: how well they keep that all-important voice link. It turns out that Apple and its iPhone 3G has that angle covered too: better than anyone.

Typically, one tends to blame the network or carrier for dropped calls, but the network's not always at fault. According to Nigel Wright, vice president of marketing for UK-based Spirent, a provider of wireless test solutions, up to 10 percent of dropped calls are due to deficiencies in the handset itself.

These issues can vary, from poor handling of hand-off between 2G and 3G networks, poor mobility capability and in the specific case of smartphones, poor firmware to handle push emails while on a voice call, causing the call to get dropped.

The iPhone 3G initially had a voice call problem when it debuted, but a quick-turn firmware upgrade from Apple solved the problem. "If you're focused on call quality, you can do quite a bit in firmware," said Wright.

It turns out that Apple did such a good job on that firmware upgrade that it came out on top of a number of popular handsets when it comes to call quality. Using equipment from Spirent, UK-based Broadband-Testing, an independent test lab, tested the ability of leading handsets to set up, maintain and handoff a call between networks. The handsets tested were the Apple iPhone 2.2 (3G), Blackberry Bold and Storm, Nokia E71, Samsung SGH F48, and Sony Ericsson (SE) c905.

In a prior test, performed by Signals Research Group, a phone from Icera came out on top, but Icera was not on Broadband-Tests list, so Apple came out on top, as shown below.

The handsets were tested under a host of circumstances and under a range of parameters, mostly to do with network-to-network handoffs, static vs. pedestrian vs. moving, and initial call setup performance. For the full report, click here.

According to Steve Broadhead, founder and director of Broadband-Testing and the man behind the report, there are a number of interesting insights to be gathered from the tests he performed. Primarily, it's clear that not all handsets are created equally and that even with the same vendor, chipset and/or firmware differences can have a large impact on call setup and maintenance quality. For more conclusions and further insights, including a full table of test parameters, see the full report.

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August 10, 2009
Nortel and Ericsson... and RIM
By Gregory Quirk

Times are tough at Nortel... and getting tougher.  When the company started going downhill they sought a way out by selling off major portions of their product lines, and recently Ericsson was approved to buy their

July 27, 2009
How small is too small?
By Gregory Quirk

Phones have been getting smaller and smaller all the time, even with more features being implemented. In the 80s phones were huge, but that was largely due to the excessive (and still short lasting) battery packs and large components inside.

As technology has increased, in every aspect, phones have been getting smaller and smaller. Process lithography is now in the 40nm range and shrinking every year. Battery power has been getting longer in smaller spaces, and is even going to be paper thin.

I laughed when I saw the cell phone in Zoolander, but it is getting to be almost to that point now. Samsung has demonstrated a cell phone watch which is only 11.98 millimeters thick, and it still has Bluetooth, e-mail synching, an MP3 player, voice recognition and a speaker. The touch screen is 1.76 inches with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels.

There is always a trade off between making a smaller product and still making it usable for the consumers. Can you imagine reading your e-mail on a 1.76 inch screen? How about pushing the buttons on a touch screen to make a call.

Sure, I know I had a calculator watch growing up, but my fingers were also a lot smaller than they are now. I am not sure I would be able to hit the buttons properly any more, let alone read anything more than one line on the LCD screen.

Are we at a point where we have to say "stop" to the ever increasing shrink of products, or should we keep designing to see how far we can push the envelope?

July 20, 2009
Reduce, reuse, return
By Gregory Quirk

People are switching the cell phones more often today. In the past, prices and contracts had made it difficult for a person to decide to change their cell phone for a newer model, but with the quick changing in technology, a newer, better cell phone with must have features can be in the market only months after you made your purchase.

Take the iPhone for example. You had to have the original iPhone when it first came out and waited in line to get it. A year later a 3G version was released, and since you are in a 3G area you upgraded. And now the 3G S model is available, and with the faster processor you figured you should keep up with the times and pick up that one as well.

In some cases you can upgrade your phone by returning the old one and paying some fee to get the newer one. But that is not always the case. For me, I had a cheap Motorola phone that worked fine for a few years, and then had to get a BlackBerry for work. I was not using my cell phone much and my company does not mind if I make the occasional personal call on my work phone, so there was no need for me to pay the monthly bills on my Motorola phone.

I do not want to simply throw the phone out, so right now it is sitting in a box with other obsolete gadgets that I have. A Samsung MP3 player from 2001. A GameBoy SP (upgraded to the DS). An 802.11b router.

Where do I go to get rid of these things? There are a number of options. For the cell phone, most service providers offer a way to return obsolete phones.

Some big box stores take obsolete electronics as well, including batteries, ink cartridges, and portable electronics. At certain times they even take old TVs (and give you a credit towards a new one).

So don't forget to dispose of your gadgets in a safe and environmentally friendly way!