Traveling abroad with your cell phone can be simple and fun or it can be a nightmare. The worst part of this nightmare is the ending that leaves you with a ridiculous bill consisting of numerous fees that will surprise you to say the least. In order to avoid these unnecessary charges there are a few things that you will want to know.
You need to know the difference between CDMA and GSM. You will want to determine which of these types of phones you are currently using. You also will want to understand “unlocking” and how it affects your ability to use your phone outside of the US. One more important part of traveling outside of the country is learning how to obtain and use prepaid SIM cards.
GSM cell phones use SIM cards. AT&T and T-Mobile are two of the major GSM carriers on the west coast. There are others but all you need to determine is whether your phone has a SIM card or not, and whether it is quad band. Different areas of the world use different “bands” i.e. frequencies so while you might be ok in some areas with a dual or tri band phone, quad band assures that you can travel to just about anywhere and have a phone that is compatible with the local network.
If your phone meets both of these criteria, you simply need to find someone who can unlock it for you. GSM phones come from the manufacturer “locked” into the service provider who sells them. Unlocking your phone allows you not only usage outside of the country, but you can also switch to another GSM carrier at home if you so choose. Finding an unlock service can be as simple as checking craigslist or asking a sales rep at one of your local GSM stores. While they do not perform this service for you, someone in the store should be able to direct you to the right place. Lastly, once you have reached your travel destination you will want to purchase a prepaid SIM card that allows you minutes on that particular network. These are available in frequently visited locations, airports, gift stores, etc. Ask your travel agent before you leave if you are able to.
Now let’s take a look at the CDMA companies. These include Verizon, Sprint, and many smaller localized services such as Metro PCS and Cricket Mobile. Here is the bad news. If you choose to deal with one of these companies when you travel your options are both limited and expensive. The main problem being that the rest of the world does not use CDMA technology so your Verizon or Sprint phone simply will not work in most foreign markets. It’s a bit like the metric system versus standard measurements. Verizon will happily rent you a “World” phone for about $250 that works in most countries. A friend of mine traveled to Europe recently and spent $2.49 per minute plus long distance fees. She ended up with a bill in the neighborhood of $500!
The good news is that you do have other options. For one, if you are in a position to upgrade your contract and get a new phone, there are a couple of CDMA phones available currently which allow you to use GSM also once your phone has been unlocked. These are both Blackberry devices, the Storm and the Tour respectively.
If on the other hand you are not in a position to renew your contract or do not care to, it is easy enough to find a used or refurbished GSM phone that you can purchase for a lot less than $250. I have seen used quad band phones for $30 and up. These are nothing fancy but they will work. Once you have obtained a quad band GSM phone you will need to unlock it. See paragraph four for details and about purchasing a prepaid GSM card.
In summary:
Obtain a quad band GSM phone.
Unlock this phone for international use.
Purchase a prepaid SIM card at your destination.
Pop in your new SIM and start calling.
Here is one last piece of advice. Don’t leave your $800 3GS iphone in your hotel room. It will almost certainly vanish and there’s not a whole lot that you can do about it.
Have a great trip!
Based on the update by FireCore, this was expected to release next week, but the GreenPois0n RC6 for Apple TV 2G untethered jailbreak has now been made available for download by Chronic Dev team. Owners of the 2nd generation Apple TV on iOS 4.2.1 can now jailbreak their devices, untethered thanks to the GreenPois0n RC6.
You can download it from the following links
GreenPois0n RC6 for Mac
GreenPois0n RC6 for Windows
Since the GreenPois0n’s service is going down, you may like to try the following mirrors
GreenPois0n RC6 for Mac
GreenPois0n RC6 for Windows
You can follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google and Apple.
You don’t necessarily need one of the upcoming smartphones with 3D displays in order to get a 3D-like effect from your phone, at least not if you check out the upcoming 3DBoard app for jailbroken iPhones.
While most people associate a 3D display with the stereoscopic illusion of depth, just as key is the ability to see “around” objects when shifting your point of view. Typical 3D display setups don’t bother with this aspect of vision, as it would require elaborate head-tracking, wouldn’t be suitable for pre-rendered content like movies, and wouldn’t support more than one viewer per screen. On the flip side, all those caveats start to disappear when you’re dealing with something the size of a smartphone; the Nintendo DSi title Looksley’s Line Up is a prime example of making it work.
3DBoard uses your iPhone’s sensors, rather than head tracking, to estimate the phone’s orientation in regards to your eyes. With this information it can pull off a subtle but impressive effect, shifting the icons on the phone’s home screen ever so slightly in relation to the background, making it appear as if they float just over it. Someone else using your phone may not even notice what’s changed at first glance, aside from a feeling that your iPhone just looks different from any other they’ve ever used.
Author Apocolipse is finishing up work on this tech demo now, and expects to add 3DBoard to Cydia’s jailbroken app store in the near future.
Source: Gizmodo
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