What I was going to write…

January 18 2010 by Greg in Mobile |No Comments

Well, in researching my next post about the next netbook I am looking for and what the upcoming increases in device performance and battery life will mean for easy, wireless deployment of EMRs, I came across this article at gizmodo… It pretty much says, in better detail what I was going to write, so I’ll spare you my ramblings and send you on your way. The upshot is that, the newer netbooks with the N450 Intel Atom processor are just the tip of the iceberg of new devices coming out. These newer netbooks are avaiable now and apparently offer significantly better battery life (like 10 hours vs 2-3 hours). Like all things your mileage may vary. I also found the gizmodo article useful to clarify my thinking about playing HD and flash video. Will post more links as updates here from some other articles I found.

Pixel Qi: Low power dual-mode ePaper/color touchscreen devices…wow!

January 3 2010 by Greg in Mobile |2 Comments

Coming soon to a laptop/phone near you is the Pixel Qi screen. The company just entered production in Taiwan in December and claims to be producing low-power, dual-mode screens capable of being both an eReader as well as a regular, full-color device. I stumbled upon Pixel Qi when researching webbooks as I would like to have something that can be used as an eReader (e.g. Amazon’s Kindle), but that can also do reasonable websurfing (run flash applications most critically).  Read about the Pixel Qi capabilities and comparisons with other screens and you will be impressed. There are rumors that Apple is interested in Pixel Qi’s screen for their much rumored-about tablet that is allegedly coming out sometime this year. Other chirping birds on the shoulder have Apple buying Pixel Qi before someone else does. In fact, one of Apple’s ex-iPhone guys is a major domo at Pixel Qi. See here for the original article about NotionInk’s Google Android powered tablet with a Pixel Qi screen. This is the device class I am looking for: low power, long-life screen, instant-on mobile tablet. I would like a physical keyboard as well. Anyway, 2010 will likely bring some real innovation to the mobile/webbook arena so if you don’t have to have something now, there may be some very interesting devices coming soon.

When i think about using the eRecord on a device like this, I am immediately struck by the possibility of something that I can actually type on that has enough battery life to last all day while I run around doing my work. Some of the biggest problems with EMRs in healthcare are that we don’t really have adequate devices on which to run them. Much of healthcare is just easier if I can take information with me: to have a mobile desktop that is always on and always in the state where I left it last, regardless of which device I am using or which network I am on. Most tablet PCs are flaky when it comes to touch screen functionality and are just plain clunky with inadequate battery life.  A device with iPhone like gestures/haptics in a low power/long life touchscreen form factor promises to further confirm browser-based EMRs as the platform of choice.  Many of these devices are right around the corner and will make the desktop optional.

Verizon Mifi Roadtest

December 27 2009 by Greg in Mobile |1 Comment

In my efforts to become a true mobile broadband warrior, I purchased a new Verizon 3g Mifi device without a contract from Verizon. For those of you who are not savvy in the ways of mobile tech fu, Mifi came out earlier this year to some initial hoopla, but hasn’t really taken off that well or at least is not hyped as much as the smartphones. Mifi is essentially a mobile 3g gateway/router that allows you to connect up to 5 devices via wifi anywhere. You are your own mobile hotspot. If you are like me and you use a variety of devices, being able to switch from the phone to the laptop or, better yet, use the laptop on the go WHILE ON THE PHONE is a very neat trick. What is even more interesting to me is the possibility of not having a voice plan at all and use Skype or some other VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) solution.  As I already pay through the nose for an iPhone, the Mifi $60/mo. for 5GB (the now “standard” cap …boo… more on that later), is not that shocking, especially if i can only pay that without a contract and use any device(s) I want.

Before i get to the roadtest, I should mention that as of November 2009, Verizon has doubled their ETF (Early Termination Fee) to $350 for “advanced devices” like smart phones, PDAs, and Mifi. Now this was shocking to me. Apparently, in a letter to the FCC defending it’s increase, Verizon claims that it is “fair” because of their increased costs associated with smart phones and that they will allow you to pay full retail for a device and pay month-to-month. The Mifi was either $50 with a 2-year contract and $350 ETF or $280 for a month-to-month contract. Either way, the monthly fee for the bandwidth is $60. I really hate hostage taking so I opted for the month-to-month and shelled out the cash. I did confirm with Verizon that I can sell the device without any hassle from them. Given that 4g is looming around the corner and the new ETF hike, the month-to-month seemed to give me more flexibility. Maybe not, but did I say that I hate hostage taking? If a 4g Mifi comes out in October perhaps, I will probably be able to recoup some of my costs and switch.  If you don’t care about contracts or know that you need Mifi regardless, Sprint also offers Mifi for the same price with a 2-year contract.  Just make sure that your carrier has reasonable 3g coverage in your area as both Sprint and Verizon further limit your bandwidth to 300MB when roaming off their native 3g network. Doesn’t take too many webpages to get to 300MB.  Verizon charges $0.05/MB overage if you exceed the 5GB cap so be sure to check your usage. Mifi is for VOIP calling, checking email, connecting to remote networks/servers etc. so do your YouTube HD streaming at home.

Ok, enough with the business end of things. Does Mifi work and is it worth it?

Yes. It works and it definitely seems worth it, especially if you switch devices a lot.

I live in Western Massachusetts where 3g service is pretty good, but not great, certainly not like being in New York, Boston, or DC. I guess that makes it  a reasonable place to test. To test the Mifi speed, I installed the iPhone app SpeedTest.net using a test server in New Hampshire. I have run this at various times of the day and night to get a better sample. Typically i am averaging about 1Mbps for downloads and 0.7Mbps up. Of course this is much slower than my Comcast cable (20Mbps down/5Mbps up), but is faster than some early DSL lines i have had around here. The true test for me is that i can make Skype calls, browse reasonably quickly to typical webpages, and run remote connections to our company servers. Mifi handles these tasks pretty well and it is nice to be able to be on a Skype call on the iPhone while typing an email on the laptop while sitting in the car (or in a store/airport that only offers Wifi for a fee).

The setup was pretty easy (easier if you always use Windows) but doable on Mac and Linux . The initial registration does require either Mac or Windows, but after that, you can manage the device through a wifi browser page just like what you may be used to seeing on your home network’s wireless router. The setup pages include pages for the device’s WAN (Internet connection), the LAN (your internal private network or Local Area Network) and various security and device monitoring functionality. Nicely, there is a diagnostic page that shows your total usage for the current billing period, though I recommend registering at verizon.com/myverizon so you can pay your bill and see what Verizon actually sees as your billable usage.  Once setup is complete, you connect your devices to Mifi like any other wireless network. This is really nice for Linux users who typically end up with arcane scripts and other mystical incantations to connect with anything other than Wifi or Ethernet. Another feature that is nice is that when at home the Mifi serves as ready backup to my home network (Comcast) which is sometimes flaky to say the least. I used to pay for a dial-up, but since moving completely wireless, i haven’t had a backup Internet connection at home.

Bottom line, Mifi offers the tantalizing possibility of getting rid of expensive voice plans and allowing me to connect multiple devices to my mobile hotspot for maybe 30%-50% less than what it costs to have a regular smart phone with data/voice. Of course, when I say that this could be a good deal, I mean once you have already rationalized spending at least $60/mo. on a mobile 3g device. Assuming Mifi continues to perform well over the next week or so, I plan to cancel my voice plan and move my phone over to Google Voice. Will post more on that and iPhone as a Skype-only phone later.