Everything went smoothly. She had free incoming calls and texts while in Germany. And she kept her outgoing texts and calls to a minimum.  I decided that once she returned I could use the Ortel Sim in an older Sony Ericsson w300i phone that was just sitting in a junk drawer.  However I discovered that the phone was SIM locked to the old Suncom network, therefore I had to first figure out a way to unlock the phone.  After some extensive googling of discussion forums, I found a software tool that allowed me to overwrite the ROM and apply an unlock script. That did it, and then the Ortel Sim worked, roaming on AT&T’s network.

I used the prepaid credit that I still had on http://voipgain.com to test sending an SMS to the German Mobile Nr. and it worked perfectly. I then checked the credit to ensure there were no hidden roaming fees for incoming SMS messages. The credit amount remained the same.

However outgoing SMS messages were too expensive according to the tariff listing on www.ortelmobile.de ‘s website. And of course the incoming/outgoing calls are too costly as well.  So the only value this setup will have is permitting my wife’s family in Germany to send text messages to her without paying the International SMS rates.  I then registered the German mobile phone number with http://sipgate.de and http://voipgain.com .  That way she can send and reply to outgoing text messages through these sites inexpensively instead of using the mobile phone, but they can respond and the messages are received on her German number. The phone can still be used periodically to send text messages as well, since any unused credit expires every 6 months.

The trick with prepaid International SIM cards is that they have to be initially used in their originating country. In other words, a person can’t buy one over Amazon.com or some other online vendor and simply use it in the USA. The first time it’s used, the person has to be in that country or it could render the SIM card useless.  But afterwards it should work outside of the originating country.

Most of the prepaid providers want you to add credit periodically in order to keep your mobile number from expiring. Ortel’s website only permitted German issued credit cards but I found another site http://aufladen.de that did permit me to pay through them.  They sent me an SMS and an email with the code that I needed to replenish my account.

I will monitor this over the next 6 months (the maximum length of time before I have to ‘top up’ again) to see if this avails itself to much use between my wife and her family. Perhaps this information will be useful for others trying to maintain connections between Europe and the USA.

The great thing about phones in Germany and I believe in all of Europe is that incoming calls and SMS messages are free.  She would only use her prepaid minutes if she initiated a call to me or sent me an SMS.  Whereas, here in the USA, with most carriers if someone calls your phone it counts against your allotted minutes and you even have to pay for any SMS messages that they send you.

However, after looking at different VOIP rates, I quickly realized how expensive it could get for me to call her cell phone.

Google Voice rates show an international rate of only .02 cents per minute calling a German landline, but between .17 cents to .23 cents per minute to call a German cell phone. Skype charges 2.1 cents per minute to landlines, but 24.6 cents per minute to a German mobile phone.

So I searched for other options and finally found one that was more affordable at http://voipgain.com . Their rates were actually free to Germany landline, and €0.04 to German mobile phones.  The SMS rates were really great too as to what you’d normally pay. As the company is based out of Europe, the currency quotes are in Euros rather than dollars. They take many payment options including credit cards and Paypal. I uploaded a credit of €10 and that has proved ample for my calling my wife during her visit.  They do have different access numbers to initiate the call, but the easiest method for me was using their software. I added my home phone and my wife’s mobile to it, and could easily initiate the call. It would ring my phone first, then my wife’s phone.  The ‘free’ phone calls to landlines listed in a number of countries appear to be only introductory rates, so I think they’ll revert to some rate after 90 days of having an account with them. I really didn’t care much about the landline rates though because I already have a US based Google Voice number VOIP solution established in my mother-in-law’s home that I can call for free.

Because of their great rates, I’d highly recommend checking them out if you need to be able to call  or SMS International mobile phones.

With the new SL Viewer 2.0 beta that has all changed.  Any object face can have a media texture. It’s not limited to parcels, and any prim can have a different shared media texture.  Individual avatars can carry their own shared media object, without even renting or owning land.

Currently I have the Damani MediaPRO Viewer in my virtual office which allows me to display YouTube videos and provides limited website viewing functionality. But with the introduction of the shared media in the new viewer, I believe that this viewer will soon be obsolete. That’s not to mention, a lot of my office inventory that runs on note card systems and RSS hovering text will soon be rendered obsolete as well.

I’ve also been experimenting with creating shared media objects that will permit someone to send me an IM from in-world to my Yahoo Messenger or other IM client using simple URL’s that point to flash sites.  However, it seems that the zoom in on these objects is limited and that causes the fonts for these applications to be to small in the display.  The idea is to permit someone who visits my virtual office to be able to IM me using the display. If I’m not online, then Yahoo would redirect the IM to my mobile phone and we could still connect to have a conversation.

Of course PhoneMyPC wasn’t specifically built for accessing Second Life, but I logged in, looked around my office, looked at inventory, etc.  Navigating isn’t easy as there are no dedicated arrow key, so I turned on the visual ones in the Second Life viewer.  I could read and type in chat and utilize it as if I were sitting in front of my computer.

I’ve only tried it over WIFI, but it should work over 3G as well. I’m not sure it would work that great over EDGE.

To me, the mobile software is of great use as it enables me to not only access my virtual office, but my computer and network at home as well.  Currently the software will permit you to connect to 3 different PC’s as well.

*** Update: One problem I’ve come to realize with this program is the fact that that if your workstation is locked then the program can’t be used. I always leave my workstation locked when not in use so this poses a problem. The developer says that this is to be fixed in the future, but until that happens I can’t use this program.

My initial gripe was the fact that the software is not a one time purchase, as it is with similar applications in the iPhone market (i.e. Sparkle IM and Touch Life).  However, the Mobile Grid Client is currently the only option in the Android Market filling this niche, and their subscription prices are quite reasonable. After the 14 day trial, the subscriber can opt for either the 250L$($1 USD) for the standard version or their professional version at $450L$ ($1.75 USD) per month.

The primary features that differs the standard subscription from the professional is that the standard does not permit you to change your active groups, make payments, and the application only remains idle for 15 minutes in the background versus 8 hours for the professional subscription.

As an ‘Augmenter’ versus ‘Immersionist’ in Second Life I tend to look for tools such as these to compliment my real life Internet presence without having to remain tied to my computer at home. This application seems well designed and it appears that the author is actively adding new features and functionality.

I’ve also setup an irc channel in my office that permits me to monitor what’s going on in my  SL office when I’m not logged in. I can now monitor activity using any IRC client and have even installed the AndChat IRC client on my Android phone for when I’m not near my computer.  It permits me to view conversations and even chat with the people within range of the IRC device.  This is using QuickFox’s SL Gateway Service.

In October we flew to China and adopted our daughter and she is adjusting to her new home in the U.S.  There are more details on our family blog at http://timandheike.com .

Since that time, I sold my HTC S621 Windows Mobile phone and am now an owner of the HTC MyTouch3G. I immediately rooted the phone and flashed the ROM with one of Cyanogen’s custom ROMS.

Although I thought I would miss having some sort of physical QWERTY keyboard I haven’t missed it, and there are so many great things going on with the Android OS that I can’t say I miss my old phone at all.

I look forward to getting back to posting my views regarding technologies that interest me and perhaps even regaining a small audience.

Thank you,

Tim

“Click, Click, Click”, the Western Digital My Book hard drive continued to churn as it denied it’s presence to my computer.  So I unplugged the firewire cable from the hard drive and plugged it in again. “Click, Click, Click”, it continued it’s dysfunctional state. I tried plugging it into different firewire ports, unplugged the power cable and reconnected, and even rebooted the PC.  My episode suddenly became reminiscent of an Edgar Allen Poe story wherein the clicks became more audible to my ears, laughing and sneering at my situation.

Lest you think I’ve gone mad, and as reassurance to myself that my sanity was still intact, I searched the indexes of google to see if my incident was an anomaly.  And in a twisted sort of way, I found comfort in a group of individuals that had fell victim to the same heckling of the clicking sound.

You might think that I’m being quite unfair and despondent to the suffering of a dying hard drive, except that I can speak to the souring of our relationship before this particular day.

I was initially enamored with my external WD My Book hard drive, relishing in it’s bountiful storage space. It’s flashing blue eye tempted and beckoned me to fill it’s vast spaces with the contents of my plentiful data. I gladly obliged, filling it with music, pictures, and videos. And even so, it’s satiety was lacking and I dutifully began using it to backup the other computers on my network. With it’s enormous appetite I established it as a storage area for my PVR, feeding it vast amounts of video to fill it’s longing sectors.

Little did I suspect the drive to have any ill intent, at least not initially. But in hindsight I now sense the foreshadowing of it’s evil plan.  At first it tempted me with it’s flashing eyes to trust my data to it’s 500GB of space. It worked diligently to become a respected device in my network, earning it’s trust in it’s utility. Once it had sensed my reliance upon it, it began it’s taunts.

It taunted me with sudden disconnects as a network drive! Just when I planned to copy a file, the drive mapping was suddenly gone.  This was sporadic and it’s timing seemed to be in correlation to how urgently it felt my need.

It taunted me with it’s disappearance to the PVR’s scheduled recordings! I could feel it’s glee from knowing that in it’s absence it caused me to miss an episode of 24 or Prison Break.

It celebrated my frustrations in attempting to reconnect, enjoying my trials of unplugging the firewire cable in and out, repowering it on and off, until it suddenly would reappear of it’s own accord! There seemed to be no logic or reason as to when it would work or wouldn’t, no methodology could be discerned. It would begin working again upon it’s own accord.

And then it’s final taunt, it bore out it’s fiendish plan, something I now suspect was preconceived. As the My Book hard drive self-destructed with my precious data, it heckled and laughed with his flashing blue eye, and sounds of “Click, Click, Click”!

Several google searches later, I came upon an old freeware program called MobSync. I was concerned that it might not work as the website indicated that it was for PocketPC, and often that means it’s not compatible with Smartphones. But to my delight it functions just fine.

There is a bit of initial configuration as you need to specify the source folders and the destination folder on the phone and/or storage card.  I’ve set mine up to align with output folders from iTunes.  Via iTunes I’ve subscribed to various podcasts. I then open up iTunes, so it downloads the latest podcasts. Afterwards, I then launch MobSync which synchronizes them to a folder on my storage card.  One thing I have noticed is that it is important to right click on the MobSync icon in the system tray and exit before disconnecting the phone.  For some reason there seems to be a bug that launches a lot of error windows if you don’t.

But for a free solution to synchronize music, podcasts, pictures, or whatever folder to your Windows Mobile storage card, this works quite well.

If you have other methods for synchronizing (freeware and paid), share your ideas here.

Lucky for me, I had a GrandCentral account, and after a week of checking my account a gazillion times, I finally got the message that I could upgrade to Google Voice.  I checked out the different features offered by Google, some which were already there from GrandCentral, and then the additional features that Google added.

As those of you who are versed in Google Voice know, Google lets you pick a new phone number from a pool, in your local calling area (with the exception to a few states like Hawaii, Alaska, and Maine). And then you setup your other phones that you want it to ring. It’s very customizable and can even have different incoming numbers ring only certain phones.  The idea is to give you one number that you provide to everyone and they can call that number and reach you however you’ve setup your other phones.

One of my connected phone numbers is my mobile number of course. So people can dial my Google Voice number and it will ring my cell phone number.  But if I want to call them back from my cell it suddenly becomes more complicated. Well not really, but hold on for a minute and I’ll explain. Google Voice’s idea is to give people a universal number where friends can reach you. Your friends expect that when you return their call that they’ll see your new number, not your ‘device end’ numbers. And you want them to see and use the new Google Voice number as well if you’re going to benefit from all of Google’s features. Otherwise here is what will happen.

1. You excitedly inform friends and family of your new Google Voice Number and ask them to start using this number instead of your other numbers.

2. Slowly your contacts start using the new number to reach you.  However, they notice that everytime you call your pre-existing house and cell number show up on their caller id.

3. In a very short time, they abandon your new Google Voice number and resume calling your home or cell number directly. Your Google Voice number becomes irrelevant in the structure.

On your cell phone, there are ways to dial out projecting your Google Voice number to the receiving party rather than your mobile number’s caller ID.

a.) Call your Google Voice number, press 2, then dial the recipient’s number, and press #. (This is dumb as it’s manual and you can’t even use your phone’s address book).

b.) If you’re near a computer, login to your Google Voice account and initiate the call from there. It will ring your mobile, then it will ring their phone.

c.) Use your phone’s Internet / data plan and visit http://google.com/voice/m . Login and select your contact from there.

d.) Use a calling card number that will utilize your contact list and automate solution a.) that’s listed above.

Point d.) made the most sense for me, so I sought out a solution.  I noticed that there seemed to already be a free Blackberry program.  There might be an iPhone program (if there isn’t I’m sure someone will be creating one really quick.) But I started searching for a Windows Mobile Smartphone application for my HTC S621 Excalibur (aka HTC Dash).

I learned quite a while ago that compatibility between PocketPC, Windows Mobile Professional (touch screen) and Windows Mobile Standard (non-touch screen) is nearly non-existent. Not only that, but Windows Mobile Standard seems to always come up short.  Many times there will be programs advertised for Pocket PC and/or Windows Mobile that only work on the touch screens. The developers seem to often forget to delineate as well between the touch and non-touch screens.  Anyway’s, I digress.

I found a program called Calling Card from a company called Sunnysoft that seems to work  perfectly in automating the dialouts using Google Voice in tangent with my existing contact list.  Currently I’m using their trial demo, but it seems definitely worth the purchase price of $19.00.  I’d prefer an open source or freeware  solution, but I do understand that there’s a group of people that would actually like to earn some money from their work and I can’t say I blame them.  On the other hand, I do fear that I might purchase this program and then Google introduces some free application that will make this software quickly obsolete for my purposes.