LG VX6100 via eBay

Just as a reminder, I’ve been on a quest to live a carrierless life for almost a year now. I’ve tried a bunch of stuff, including a hacked Android G1 running SIPDroid, an iPhone running Skype on wifi, and iPalm, and most recently, a 3rd Gen iPod touch with Skype and Google Voice and an EVDO 3G card. This last combination has worked out so well that I’ve hardly touched my Palm Pre in the past 3 weeks, turning it on just twice, once to check voicemail, and again today to switch the service to the LG phone.

Pick a phone, any phone...

The reason for the switch is that Verizon (and AT&T) require a data plan on all smart phones, in addition to basic voice features. This get expensive. Ah, whatever, just cancel the plan… Oh wait, the early termination fee for the Pre is $310. Three hundred and ten dollars. I knew this going into the contract, but it’s still kinda shocking. Well, what about downgrading? Hmm… I talked to Verizon and they told me I could in fact downgrade my phone and keep my old number, without extending my contract. Awesome.

Long story short, I’m now paying $20/month for 50 minutes of voice a month. No text. No data. And after all, that’s what the iPod data phone is for! (btw I had Verizon block incoming texts as well as web access, just in case Justin Beiber broadcasts my number on twitter and text messages jack up my bill.)

The Dream Team

3rd gen iPod Touch with Skype and GV

Hopefully one of these days Google will support mobile safari calls through their recently launched Google Chat VOIP service. Until then, iPod touch + skype backgrounding + Google Voice SMS + backup flip phone are faring pretty darn well. Hold that thought, I’m getting a call…

The Mobile Freedom Project continues with this latest iteration. After hearing about Skype with multitasking, I purchased an 3rd Generation iPod Touch (the only iPod that currently supports multitasking), and got to work.

ipod 3rd generation and no contract EVDO card from DataJack

I already have Google Voice and a Skype number setup, and I purchased an no-contract EVDO card from DataJack a few months ago, so this round of setup was pretty simple. I setup Google Voice to forward calls to my Skype number. Connected the iPod to the datajack wifi. Call forwarding and multitasking are working fine, ringing the iPod as expected.

Skype ringing on incoming call

The only problem solving I had to do was push notifications for Google Voice SMS. I did a cursory search for an app that does this, but none of them were satisfactory. The solution I came up with was pretty simple. Text messages to Google Voice get forwarded to my email, and I’ve installed the Push for Gmail app to give SMS like alerts for emails.

Battery drain with Skype backgrounding is likely the biggest pitfall, but hopefully future updates will address this.

My next step might be to set up a separate email account for Google Voice only, so that the notifications only pop up for SMS and voicemail, instead of all email.

Please feel free to post comments or questions, or check out the other Mobile Freedom Project posts for background and ideas.

Skype on iPod touch via Palm Pre Plus wifi from Cameron Cundiff on Vimeo.

With these points in mind, I plan to make the home screen a list and simple map with markers showing all locations, with three filter tabs: Food, Arts, and Shops. Each tab will narrow the map markers and the list to that category. If the user taps a marker or list item, they will see a details page with the location name, subcategory (i.e “cafe” or “gallery”), address and phone number, and directions from their current location in list form. Preview to come.

Acrobits Softphone works on 3G

Exploring a couple of new options for my carrierless life. Datajack + SIPDroid on the G1 is treating me well (minus a nagging echo for the other caller). I have been missing the iPhone some, so went scrounging and found acrobits softphone. I was excited to see that it allows calls over 3G (whereas Skype does not), and the call quality is great with good 3G. The downsides:

• still requires setting up a SIP number
• you have to jailbreak your phone to get the datajack sim card to work
• the app has to stay open to receive calls (jailbreaking may solve this one)

I think it would be a great alternative to iPhone users who don’t mind getting their hands dirty. Certainly beats Skype’s limitations, and doesn’t require an Android phone.

I’ve discovered a better way. The missing links were SIPdroid for Android and Datajack 3G. SIPdroid allows calls via Junction Networks OnSip service (per minute VOIP), and datajack gives me unlimited 3G at $40/month, no contract. The datajack is a usb device that is intended for use with laptops, but I discovered that it has a T-mobile SIM that can be popped out and inserted into an unlocked phone (an Android G1 dev phone in my case). I have Google Voice setup with my OnSip number, and the GV app on the phone. I have yet to determine how to make calls from GV with the OnSip number, but for now I simply specified my caller id as my name and GV number in the OnSip admin panel.

All in all, feeling good about the move. Good riddance, ATT.

After experiencing the AT&T’s tyranny and crappy service, I’m ditching my contract and setting up an array of services and devices to do what I need, with no contracts and at half the price. I signed up for a Boingo wireless for my iPhone, getting lifetime Peek, and exploring Skype, SipDroid, and Google Voice. Right now I pay approximately $85 a month for AT&T service only to get a lot of dropped calls and a rigid contract. I’m estimating that all said and done I’ll be paying about $45 a month (over 2 years), factoring in the ATT contract cancellation fee and the cost of the Peek device. (This all follows a move from Time Warner Cable to Netflix streaming with a Roku box).

These are significant changes, not simply because of the savings, but because it’s even possible. It’s an exciting and palpable reminder that tech startups can effectively compete with massive companies.

The major advantages I can identify for native apps are speed and visibility (in app stores). These are strong arguments for native development. Also, access to the phone hardware, e.g. bluetooth and accelerometer, is possible only in native apps.

We’re creating a prototype for BeeMe using a Ruby on Rails web app, mostly because I’m better and faster with web development than obj-c or Java. In the long run it probably makes sense to create a native version for iphone and android, but perhaps over time we will see a departure from proprietary app stores to web apps, which would bode well for cross platform availability and development.

BeeMe Demo video from liesjeh on Vimeo.