NOKIA 9290 - The
greatest or what?
October 11, 2002 - By Grant W Laird Jr.
Yes, I have Nokia Communicator 9290 (see pciture below) for few
month. Here what I’ve finding so far. They are in same category (sort
of) as another type like HandSpring Treo and RIM BlackBerry.
NO VIBRATION MODE?
Unfortunately, this device is not what I expect. No vibration mode!
I've
reported to Nokia to add it on next model because I am not interested to
carry and not able to know when someone tried to call me. Now, I am not
sure if older model which they widely used in Europe (non-color version)
have vibration mode or not.
Loopset is not support either. (designed to aid people who wear
hearing aids)
TTYs
I’ve been talking with a company called Aspiro from Europe who has
been successfully setup and running for deaf community there with older
model of Nokia Communicator. They informed me that they’ve been working
with FCC to get approved then they probably will try to market their
Aspiro TTY software to US in 1-2 years. This is for TTY software ONLY.
About TTY, (hardware) I believe it offers headphone plug which can be
used for connecting to TTY hardware but unfortunately it is not support
yet according to T-Mobile and Nokia representative.
In case you did not know, you can make phone call directly, it have
10-key pad on front of the phone (it looks exactly like regular Nokia
cell phone) and I was told that audio system is very good.
INSTANT MESSAGING
I
was unable to setup instant messaging (IM) such as Yahoo or AOL in any
format under Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) or internet itself.
Since Symbian operating system (OS) and Opera browser are not compatible
to Microsoft applications which make it difficult to find one. With WAP,
I was unable to connect to wim.aol.com (for AIM) like it should work
with another like T-Mobile or Nextel phone. Instant Messaging (IM) is
now big part of deaf community these days.
However, I learned that there is third party software called Mercury
Instant Messaging (Jabber-based) that allow you to connect to any IM on
this product at additional one-time cost. I haven’t tested it yet.
RELAY ONLINE SERVICE
About relay service online, I was unable to go Sprint Relay Online or
MCI IP-Relay online via internet at all. I kept getting errors while
trying to connect to them. I was told that those relay service online
are compatible to Microsoft Internet Explorer only. So, we need to push
all relay service provider to make it more compatible to all browsers
including Opera. It may involved more than just browsers itself - not
sure why its not working correct
INTERNET
Yes, you can go straight to Internet instantly with Nokia
Communicator 9290 but it is pretty slow with dial-up service. You can do
whatever you want to surf internet generally.
MORE FEATURES
There are so many features that offer from this product such as
email, short messaging system (SMS), games, documents, PDF reader, power
point presentation, mp3, real player, etc. It may be too advanced for
consumer population. Email can be configured to corporate email, pop3,
other type of email system. The color and resolution are awesome.
BATTERY AND SIZE
Nokia have extended battery at additional fee for longer life and it
works real well. It can last 3-4 days without charging. About size, it’s
kind of bulky and requires using leather-made holder for carrying
however I don’t like it. I prefer clipper-type and they don’t have
anything like that. Oh well...
COST
It
cost $599 plus monthly fee under T-Mobile provider. My company is paying
for it but as far as I know that it will charge you every minutes you
are on line plus you must use your own dial-up provider such as
Earthlink or MSN. AOL dial-up will not work according to Nokia web site.
So, you can see how expensive it can be. If you have high-speed internet
at home, you are out of luck unless you’re willing to pay another $20 a
month for dial-up service.
COVERAGE
In Dallas, Texas where I live have pretty good coverage and I have no
problem getting online most of the time. You can look up T-Mobile
coverage on their web site if you want to know if they have good
coverage in your areas. I am not crazy about T-Mobile but as far as I
know they are only one that supports Nokia Communicator at this time.
LAST COMMENT
There are so many important features that deaf and hard of hearing
people needs are being left out. Apparently it is still not mature yet.
Please feel free to share information with your people and share your
opinion with me. Bottom line, I do not recommend it to anyone at this
time.
To learn more about Nokia and Nokia Communicator 9290, go to
http://www.nokiausa.com/communicator/
Any question or comment, email to Grant W Laird, Jr. at
[email protected]
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