3g to not 3g ?

[Guest paulmottley]

Ok it's contract time again.

Now do I go for the new SPV and sell my old one, or get a 3G phone?

Anybody got an idea on the advantages/dis-advantages for each one?

[Guest fozzie]

Have a look in the Off Topic forum - hint hint ;) There's been plenty of discussion there.

(From my persepctive - not 3g)

[Guest [email protected]]

Raises one of my biggest queries: When will we see Windows Mobile OS on 3G-enabled hardware?

[Guest morpheus2702]

Isn't it more a question of hardware rather than firmware? A 3G phone has specific 3G circuitry that the current crop of Smartphones lack.

[Guest [email protected]]

Yes, like I said "3G-enabled hardware". From what I know, even Smartphone 2002 supports 3G hardware. Maybe it uses a HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) to make the type of radio device irrelevant.

[Guest ajb3000]

If I were you i'd stick with 2G until another provider roll out 3G (Hutchinson 3G really suck)

[Guest hk]

Not a big fan of 3g personally, mono was raving about it when he got his PAYG 3g phone, I still dont see the big deal, if they opened up the network so that you could access content from all over the web fair enough, but your still bound to your providers content. Bit sh1te if you ask me.

[Guest [email protected]]

Is it the network that constricts the content on the Internet? I would think it's browser- or proxydependent. I guess that limiting "web access" to their content is a way to squeeze more moolah out of Joe Consumer, but I would prefer all-access Internet on a pay-per-MB solution.

To answer my own question (see above):

-Handset manufacturers are very dependent on service providers to sell subsidized handsets on a large scale.

-The Windows Mobile OS takes away the service providers control over the conssumers network usage. (E.g. Windows Messenger v. SMS)

-The service providers lose revenue.

-Handset manufacturers lose partners.

Take e.g. video telephony which in 3's case is a pay-per-minute solution. On a Windows Mobile handset this would be an Internet-based service visible to the service provider only as data usage. With data compression or the users choice of lower quality, I'm sure the service provider would lose revenue.