MiFi from Three has been around for a while now but its only in the last week we have managed to get our hands on one to review. It certainly sounds a good bit of kit but is it a good alternative to using a normal dongle?
Three MiFi
The 10 second review:
Device: MiFi
Cost: From £9.50 per month with a contract or from £49.99 PAYG
Summary: A mobile wireless router that will connect to numerous devices simultaneously.
Buy it now from: Three
Please see Matt’s unboxing video for more details.
What’s in the box:
- Device
- USB Charger
- Instructions
Review:
If your not totally sure what MiFi is let me give a quick explanation. MiFi is a small device that connects to a laptop/netbook to provide wireless internet access.
You may be thinking that that’s what a dongle does. Well the difference here is that the MiFi is also a mobile broadband modem that acts as a wireless network access point. So. if you are out and about the MiFi will act just like any other Wi-Fi hotspot. You can connect numerous devices to it so both you and your friends can all use the same internet connection. The other use for it may be that you are out, or at home and you have no network coverage on your phone. Connect your phone to the MiFi and use 3s 3G internet instead. Its quite clever but is the device as good as it sounds?
3s MiFi works for sure and im pretty impressed. It does however have a few bad points that hopefully will be rectified in future models.
Connecting a laptop or mobile to the MiFi was my first frustration. There are three buttons on the right side of the device and you need to use all three to get connected. First off is the power button. Then you need to press the Wi-Fi button to activate the wireless connection. Finally you then have to press the connect button to get the device connected to the internet. Each of these presses must be for two seconds. Although this procedure works it was a bit temperamental and I just found it to be a bit of a palaver!
MiFi Right Side
The next thing I was not that overly impressed with was its speed. The MiFi can handle a maximum speed of 7.2Mbits/s. Sounds great, but unfortunately the Three network only has a maximum of 3.6Mbits/s.
As you will see in the video below although the MiFi does its job its not always the most reliable.
Conclusion:
The concept of the MiFi is a fantastic one and the Three one works pretty well although sometimes its great and sometimes its a bit slow. As I said in the video this will be the network and not the hardware. Would I buy one: yes but I would rather get one on another network to be honest. If I was relying on the MiFi on a regular basis I would want its performance to be consistent and it;s not on Three. As you can see from the video above, there are times when it romps away and turns in an impressive performance but then there are others times that it just about works. Comparing that to my Orange connection Orange is much more consistent.
Now I wonder if Three will let me take this over to Mobile World Congress next month for a roaming test?
Posted by: James
There have been a couple of news items about the rumoured HTC Supersonic over the past few weeks. Early information from US carrier Sprint’s inventory list has the HTC Supersonic down as an Android 2.1 device. However, Boy Genius has some screenshots of a device claiming to be the Supersonic and claiming firmware version 3.0.
There’s now some ongoing discussion about this device, as it was originally believed to be a Sprint exclusive but with shots of the screens of the device also appearing with T-Mobile as the carrier it’s looking unlikely to be a carrier exclusive.
The HTC Supersonic is slated to be the Android version of the HD2 complete with 4.3″ display and Snapdragon CPU. There’s also said to be a Nokia N900 style kickstand on the back too.
We’ll be keeping our eyes open for more news on this one!
Who can tell us what advancements Android 3.0 brings us then?
Posted by: Matt
Motorola has asked US regulators to ban Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian firm behind the Blackberry, from importing its products into the US.
VS
The phone company claims that the Blackberry maker has been illegally using its wi-fi related technology.
A court case is already pending in the US but Motorola has accused RIM of "delaying tactics".
Motorola has lodged its complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in the hope of a quicker result.
"Motorola has no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM’s continued infringement" said Motorola’s legal representative, Jonathan Meyer.
The ITC typically takes about a month to decide whether to launch an investigation, which takes 12 to 14 months to complete. It can’t award damages but it can stop products from being shipped into the US.
The complaint stems from the two companies failing to renew a cross-licensing agreement.
"These patented technologies are important to Motorola as they allow for more comprehensive connectivity, a better user experience and lower product costs," Motorola said in its statement.
Can you imagine the uproar in the USA if RIM were stopped from importing BlackBerry devices?
Even if it did happen, which I’m sure it wont, I cant see BlackBerry users switching over to Motorola devices, that’s for sure.
Comments on the forum please.
Posted by: James
Direct from Precentral comes a video of the Palm Pre Plus and the original Palm Pre go head to head to illustrate the notable performance increase. Still no word on international options. Check out the video after the break.
We tend not to review a tonne of software on tracyandmatt but I have been using TrafficTV for over four years now and as I drive a lot I couldnt or wouldnt want to be without it.
TrafficTV
By using the TrafficTV application on your Smartphone it allows you to view any incidents or delays on the UKs major road network.
TrafficTV is now available for Android, Windows Mobile, iPhone and BlackBerry Smartphone’s. I have used the software on WinMo for four years and now on BlackBerry and both platforms work a treat.
TrafficTV from MXData is a requires a paid subscription of either £39.99 per year or £14.99 per quarter and if you rely on driving a lot on motorways and A-roads then its money well spent.
Orange support TrafficTV and if you are an Orange customer you can download a free 30 day trial from them on your device. After that you will be billed £4.00 per month.
Once launched the application revolves around a map of the UK. You can set your home location so when the app is opened its where you want it to be.
TrafficTV Map
You will see on the image above of London that the map is filled with markers. These are highlighting problems and the colour of the marker dictates how severe the incident is. Red being most severe, Orange is medium and Yellow being minor.
Traffic TV Icons
You have the option to zoom into the area you wish to see and this will then show you one of two things. You can either set the icons to show how many minutes delay is occurring (which I use) or alternatively the icon can show the current average speed of the traffic on that stretch of road.
So to give you an example if you see a red 99, this is the maximum delay, and this will mean the road has been closed due to an incident.
You will also notice on the maps a lot of small icons with a number inside. These are CCTV cameras and if you wish to you can actually view the cameras. The images are refreshed every five minutes so are pretty accurate. If you think you can use this though to view carnage on the motorways then I’m afraid you are wrong. With very serious road traffic accidents the highways agency move the cameras slightly or switch them off. However you can view many other cameras prior to incidents to see how far back the traffic jam is.
TrafficTV CCTV
TrafficTV Camera List
The cameras are listed as above so if you know the area well its pretty easy to find the one you want.
You can also view the incidents as text and by clicking the incident TrafficTV will give you further details.
TrafficTV Incidents
The user interface on the app is dead easy to use and there are several options within the settings to get the app running just how you want it including different coloured maps.
TrafficTV Settings/Options
On the latest version of TrafficTV you will find a menu bar at the bottom of the screen which disappears when not in use. Here you can scroll left or right to the different options within the software.
TrafficTV Menu Bar
Conclusion:
TrafficTV is without doubt the one app that I rely on most. Facebook and Twitter are cool but they don’t stop you from spending hours stuck in a traffic jam!
If you drive for a living and you need to get to your destination by a certain time then TrafficTV is a must. I drive between two and six hours a day and I very rarely get stuck in a jam as I check the traffic on a regular basis.
Give it a try.
Posted By: James
Just a quick post this. As many of you know I’ve been using the Nokia N900 for a while and quite like it so have been keeping my eyes on the web for news of new apps or updates for the N900.
So here’s something pretty cool that might turn out to be great new for anyone that likes the N900 hardware but is not a fan of Maemo.
Nokia N900 fan Brandon Roberts has managed to get the N900 dual booting Maemo and Android! Head on over to Slashgear for the full news item and video to see the proof of concept!
I’d love to see this move forward!
Posted by: Matt
Samsung are no stranger to Windows Mobile and given that the Omnia was a bit of a hit Samsung have taken the name and produced a whole rake of mobiles that cover all form factors. We take a look at the Executive model, the Omnia Pro.
Great news if you own a French Motorola Milestone for today Motorola made Android 2.0.1 available to French Milestone’s via an over-the-air update.
The update promises to not only bring the French MILESTONEs up to Android 2.0.1 status but also introduce all the bug-fixes that build contains. American DROID owners have had this update for quite some time, which, according to Eurodroid, fixes the embarrassing camera lag and glitches, beefs up Exchange email support and apparently enhances audio quality of calls.
If you select “France” as your region you can see the update on Motorola’s support site.
Let’s just hope that Motorola make this update available here in the UK soon!
Posted by: Matt
Since its launch late last year there have been countless and frequent updates for the HTC HD2, I suspect that the HD2 is one of the most frequently updated handsets, it’s impressive how quickly HTC are responding to customer feedback in terms of problems they are experiencing.
So HTC released another ROM update for the HD2 yesterday which according to their site ‘this update delivers fast and reliable SMS messaging.’ Which makes this the 3rd update for SMS issues with the HD2?
This is a full ROM update so will wipe any content you already have on your device so make sure that you back up all the important stuff you have on your handset before performing the update.
You can find the update here on the HTC HD2 support page.
Posted by: Matt
A consumer watchdog has called for more customer choice, after news that T-Mobile will stop offering 12 month contracts from February.
Government watchdog, Consumer Focus telecommunications expert, Nick Hutton said: ‘We need to see mobile-phone companies offering a range of contract-lengths, which suit consumers’ needs, rather than the existing trend towards longer contracts. Longer contracts may limit consumer choice and could potentially lead to higher prices for consumers.
He added: ‘Longer contracts suit some customers and allow providers to offer discounts on handsets. However customers who find they need to leave their contract may face high termination charges. If consumers are tied into such contracts and rarely switch it may also give less incentive for suppliers to offer the best price deal.’
There are now a limited number of 12 month contracts available, with one of the remaining being through offered through MVNO Tesco Mobile, for the iPhone.Others are available through Orange and Vodafone.
One industry source said: ‘Operators are concerned about churn and one of the ways to diminish opportunities for customers to move is if they are tied in. There is a definite trend towards longer contracts.’
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