Problems with Hutchison 3; D-Link's new Boxee Box; and DNS flaws
When we, as consumers, sign up to a telecommunications provider for mobile voice and data, chances are they want their pound of flesh for about 24 months. In the world of technology, this is an incredibly long time. Just take a look at the handset you were using two years ago, and compare it to the gadget you’re currently using. But it’s not just the technology you hold in your hand or plug into your computer… the door swings both ways.
Have you considered the technology and service that you receive from your telco which connects you to the world? The contract you enter into with your telco is all about tying you to them, and what you’re allowed to do with the services they provide, not the quality of service they provide to you. Some even go to the extent of what they call a “fair use policy” which in plain speak means they can limit or even disconnect you from their network if they feel the urge. But what happens if their service deteriorates to a point where it becomes unusable where once it was rock solid?
When Telstra turned off their CDMA network a few years back to make way for the 3rd-generation mobile network, Next G, there was quite a song and dance from both government and consumers to ensure that the new network performed just as well, if not better, than the outgoing CDMA network.
Earlier this month, Hutchison 3 switched their roaming partner from Telstra to Vodafone, a switch which certainly saves 3 money, but at the cost of "call drops" to a point where the only way to use a mobile phone connected to 3 is to be stationary. If you’re driving through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, it is no longer possible to keep a call connected for any longer than a few minutes – something which until the switch, was never an issue. Maybe 3 don’t have their in-call handovers working just right yet, but the chorus of anger and willingness to switch back to Telstra is starting to become hard to ignore.
So what about the contract between the phone company and you? Because 3 is a city-centric carrier and does not have the reach and coverage of the incumbent, it probably won’t raise the attention of politicians or the general public, but if you’re a Hutchison 3 user, there’s not much you can do apart from churn to another carrier. After all, the contract you’re in will say nothing about the level of service they have to provide.
So what’s it to be 3? If you don’t restore the network usability to what it was, in quick-smart time, the mass exodus will start… and we all know how hard it is to retain customers in a saturated mobile communications market.
Also in this episode
- Adam Turner talks to D-Link about the new Boxee Box (please note that D-Link is a financial sponsor of Tech Talk Radio);
- Lidija Davis talks to Dan Kaminsky about flawed DNS;
- Twitter takes action on spammers and scammers;
- 'X-ray vision' coming soon to Nokia phones;
- Joe Hockey praised for his filtering stance; and
- the Do Not Call Register is about to expire.
Gadget of the Week
The Sprint Overdrive 3G / 4G mobile hotspot
Affectionately known as “the puck” according to our US correspondent Mark Diggins, the Sprint Overdrive 3G / 4G mobile hotspot is a personal mobile data network hotspot manufactured by Sierra Wireless. It connects to either WiMAX or EVDO, and broadcasts a WiFi signal for up to five devices.
It has an awesome blue LCD, which shows the numeric wireless password and data throughput; and second, the bandwidth, which (when tested by the guys and girls at Engadget) peaked at around 4mbps down over WiMAX in Vegas. (Uploads were slower at around .8mbps, though.)
The best price Dr Ron could find was AU$170.00, unlocked on eBay.
Read more: Engadget and Sprint.
Website of the Week
http://www.evernote.com/
Evernote wrote:Welcome to your notable world. Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free.
Evernote works across the computers and phones you use daily, allowing you to capture something in one place and then access it from another.
1.Chances are, if you can see it or think of it, Evernote can help you remember it. Type a text note. Clip a web page. Snap a photo. Grab a screenshot. Evernote will keep it all safe.
2.Everything you capture is automatically processed, indexed, and made searchable. If you like, you can add tags or organize notes into different notebooks.
3.Search for notes by keywords, titles, and tags. Evernote magically makes printed and handwritten text inside your images searchable, too.
Evernote will collect all of your ideas, experiences, thoughts, and memories into an always-accessible place.
Monthly upload allowance for free accounts is 40 MB.
Thanks WauloK!
Odd Spot
A German woman fearing the Earth would be sucked into the oblivion of a black hole - by scientists tinkering with the Large Hadron Collider - has failed in court to have the powerful atom-smasher shut down.
The Constitutional Court in the west-German city of Karlsruhe threw out the woman's appeal because she was "unable to give a coherent account of how her fears would come about."
The court said, "The overwhelming scientific opinion is that the experiments carried out at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) present no dangers".
Read more.
This Week's Panelists
Andrew McColm,
Dr Ron,
Graeme Callaghan,Justin Dunlop, and
Special Guest: Jason Oakley - via Skype!
How to Listen to Tech Talk Radio
- Free-to-air radio - click here for a list of stations and broadcast times.
- Watch this episode on UStream.TV.
- This episode - on the pod.
- This episode - full 2-hour show.
- This episode - bandwidth-impaired version.
