It’s no secret that a key feature for my next phone is a large screen. But James Kendrick’s iPhone 4S small display: Tablets eliminate the need for screen explains why he, another lover of large screen phones, nevertheless has ordered the iPhone 4S with its seemingly miniscule 3.5” screen. He always has with him a tablet whose screen is larger than that on any phone.

I respect JK’s opinions, so I am giving this some thought. But I do have concerns.

I am not getting any younger. Consequently, my old eyes have some difficulties reading a small screen, even one as crisp as the iPhone’s.

As a practical matter, when doing a quick web search, it’s just more convenient for me to use my phone. My phone is already on. It’s also always on me. By contrast, I don’t always take my tablet with me.

Finally, my phone is always connected to the Internet. With a WiFi tablet, if there is no available WiFi, I need to tether, use a MiFi, etc.

Thoughts?

Unless you’re hanging out with the Taliban in a cave, you heard that yesterday the Verizon 4G LTE network had a nationwide outage. You’d think that in that situation smartphones and mobile hotspots should drop down to the next best connection, Verizon’s EVDO (3G) network. You’d think …

Not so, according to the redoubtable James Kendrick in Verizon 4G LTE network outage: not all devices are created equal (picture source). This lucky guy has 4 Verizon 4G LTE devices, 2 phones, 2 mobile hotspots:

HTC Thunderbolt
Droid Charge
Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot
Novatel 4G LTE MiFi

The HTC Thunderbolt wouldn’t connect to an available EVDO network, only to the slow lane of the 1xRTT network.

The Droid Charge was worse – no data network connection.

The Samsung Mobile Hotspot worked correctly, connecting to EVDO.

The Novatel MiFi couldn’t see the EVDO network either so had no data network connection.

JK’s verdict (with which I concur):

“No network is going to stay up 100 percent of the time, and Verizon’s 4G network is no exception. That’s why the devices that access the networks are designed with redundancy to allow connections to slower networks. Slower connections are better than no connection, and mobile professionals depend on that to work. My experience shows that is far from the case, and Verizon and its partners need to get this straightened out so in the rare instance of a network outage, customers can depend on devices to deal with it properly. Only one device handled the stoppage properly out of the four currently available to work on the Verizon 4G network; that’s a pretty poor success ratio in my book.”

I told you almost 2 years ago – May 2009 – I had ordered Novatel’s MiFi 2200, which ran on Verizon’s 3G data network. 2 years is a lifetime and then some when it comes to gadgets. With LTE, time for a change.

Today I ordered the Novatel MiFi 4510L 4G LTE. I had waited for it instead of springing for the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH–LC11, which had been available a couple of weeks earlier. Why? I just trust Novatel more than Samsung when it comes to mobile hotspots, primarily because mobile hotspots and USB data modems long have been Novatel’s specialty, as opposed to just another side business for Samsung.

I chose month-to-month for the data plan and therefore paid full retail rather than locking myself into a 2 year contract. Did I say that 2 years is a lifetime and then some when it comes to gadgets?

I’m receiving the 4510L tomorrow and will put it into use. I’ll let you know how it feels to be driving down the LTE fast lane.

[via Slashgear]

Tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab usually are sold with a GSM or CDMA radio. Some tablets are sold WiFi only. However, others are not, at least until months after the tablet was offered with the GSM or CDMA radio. Additionally, even if a WiFi only version is available, I may want the GSM or CDMA radio included. I’m often in locations with either no WiFi or flakey WiFi. Yeah, I could bring my MiFi, but that’s another article.

Being a guy, I have a fear of commitment – to carriers. So I’ll explain how I have my cake and eat it to, avoid any long term commitments but still use the GSM or CDMA radio.

(more…)

Yesterday I was at court all day for hours of oral argument of several legal issues in a complex multi-party construction case. A veritable forest had been slain for all the papers filed by the various parties. However, I did not have to lug pounds of paper with me. Instead, I saved PDFs of all the papers on my Dropbox account, which is synced with my various computers, including the Lenovo X201t Tablet PC I had with me in court.

I also saved on my Dropbox account electronic copies of several key cases among the scores cited. However, I did not save all of the cited cases; that would take too much time.

As fate would have it, one of the opposing attorneys characterized, in my opinion incorrectly, a case which I had not saved on my tablet. The case was readily available online. But that of course requires online access.

Not surprisingly, the court does not permit you to plug in to its LAN. The courthouse does have WiFi access. It is pricey. More important, like many things run by the government, it doesn’t work real well.

I do not have embedded 3G on my tablet. Having embedded 3G on each of my myriad devices would put me in another Court; Bankruptcy Court.

However, I do have a MiFi. I quickly fired it up, connected my tablet to it as a WiFi access point, went online and grabbed the case. When it was my turn, I was able to quote from the case to explain my disagreement with the comments of opposing counsel. Being able to quote from the case was much more effective than having to tell the court what I thought or recalled the case said.

Of course, a USB modem would also provide online access. However, a MiFi is more flexible. I can’t use a USB modem with my Android devices, such as my Galaxy Tab. Also, a USB modem can be used for only one device at a time. A MiFi can support up to five.

Currently the carriers each promote their own flavor of “4G.” There are some 4G USB modems available, but no 4G MiFi devices quite yet. But there should be soon, my guess being February 2011. Then I will trade in my MiFi to attain LTE nirvana.