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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JMD who wrote (8984)	3/2/1998 8:24:00 PM
From: Caxton Rhodes	Respond to of 152472

Surfer Dude- Try Netcom. I'll get you the info tomorrow. Caxton P.S. Ramsey, if you read this, there is still time to double up! Caxton

To: JMD who wrote (8984)	3/2/1998 9:42:00 PM
From: rhet0ric	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

AOL is out, out, out I tell you. The high tech guru of the Q thread is searching for a new ISP Glad to hear you're dropping AOL. Now there's a stock to short. I'm thinking that after the split is the right time. I've had a very good experience with Earthlink, btw, and highly recommend it. More on topic: if you're really the high-tech guru of this thread, maybe you can answer a question that I don't recall seeing asked before. Assuming an eventual convergence in wireless and Internet technologies, is CDMA better positioned to integrate with TCP/IP than TDMA? My amateur understanding is that code division works somewhat similarly to packet switching, and that the similarity of the two would make them fairly easy to blend. rhet0ric

To: JMD who wrote (8984)	3/2/1998 9:54:00 PM
From: 2brasil	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

JMD aol/@home www4.techstocks.com

To: JMD who wrote (8984)	3/2/1998 10:04:00 PM
From: qdog	Respond to of 152472

msnbc.com Talk to these guys.......................................

To: JMD who wrote (8984)	3/3/1998 12:32:00 AM
From: qdog	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

OK so I gave you a subscribed hyperlink. Hear is the story. Hehehehe, I love that negative press for GSM!!!! Especially Omnipoint, Ericsson's lap herring!! Technology isn't everythingThe Motorola PCS phone is incredible, but the service provider? And the price?! By Gary Krakow MSNBC This started out as a review of a miniature digital PCS phone. The current top-of-the-line precision jewel of cellular phone technology. Unfortunately, it also turned out to be a review of my local PCS service provider, and its problems with not being able to keep up with a rapidly growing number of subscribers. IN A NUTSHELL, the Motorola StarTAC phone is great. but the real story turned out to be the growing pains of my service provider. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ PCS is a new technology (in this country). It's a fully digital phone service using a portion of the microwave spectrum (1.9GHz). ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿIf you've seen the ads, you've heard the claims about better quality, more secure, cheaper phone service. They're not kidding. PCS is a winner in every category. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ The local service provider I chose was Omnipoint, a brand-new cellular phone company in the Northeast. At the beginning of the year, I bought an Ericsson phone and signed up for service that includes voice mail, digital paging, e-mail, data/fax capability and news/weather services, all for $29.95 a month plus 25 to 50 cents a minute. I could have given up some bonus services and saved $10 a month or added capabilities for $39.95 a month. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ At the beginning everything was great. The key word here is: was. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ I knew Omnipoint's start-up service area was small, but expanding rapidly. I could live with that. Hey, its service in New York City (home) and Secaucus, N.J., (MSNBC) worked fine. I also learned why it takes so long to expand its service: Each receiving antenna requires a T-1 phone line. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿEverything was fine until I tried to change/update my service. That's when the problems began. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ I called Omnipoint's customer service "888" number. I waited on hold for more than an hour. All of a sudden, a human came on the line saying everyone was busy and they'd make sure someone would call me back within 24 hours. HAH!! I went through this every few days for three weeks. Then, I decided to shoot higher and speak with the people in the home office. It took another four days of missteps (and some very VERY apologetic management) to get everything straightened out. My phone service was finally back working. Honestly, if one of Omnipoint's competitors would have allowed me to use my Ericsson, I probably would have switched services. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ Unfortunately, all this happened while I was testing Motorola's StarTAC GSM 1.9 Wearable Digital Phone. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿFor the record, the 8500g model is a dead ringer for the StarTAC phones you've probably seen, only those work on regular cellular networks. The PCS models are the same size (3.5 ounces) and same color (gray for cheaper models and black for the top-of-the-line phones) as regular StarTAC cellular phones. But the PCS phones have all the bells and whistles. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿThe Motorola is about half the size of my Ericsson phone (and mind you, the Ericsson is small to begin with). They both work perfectly as cellular phones, e-mailers, pagers, and message receivers. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿThe big differences: the size (the Motorola really does fit in your pocket), the alert mechanism (the Motorola vibrates silently, the Ericsson does not), the audio volume (the Motorola can be heard in noisy locations where the Ericsson cannot) and the display (the fonts on the Ericsson's screen are large, but the Motorola display has nifty graphical icons and better contrast). ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿBecause of the way the PCS system works, battery standby time for both phones is much better than what you've come to expect from your cellular phone. Expect two days using an extended-capacity battery. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿSo, why didn't I buy the StarTAC? I've left the best for last: the price. The top-of-the-line 8500g that I tested comes with a standard battery, an "extra cap" battery, a "slim aux" battery (a kludge of an idea: it goes on the "back" of the phone and extends standby time to four days!), a stand-alone battery charger and a belt clip. Omnipoint is selling this kit for $1,199! Miniaturization has a very high price. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿMy Ericsson cost me $50 and does the exact same thing. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿWhen I hit the lottery, the Motorola is one of the first items on my "must buy" list. Until then I'll gladly live with the Ericsson. ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿAnd, as for Omnipoint, I'd suggest its stop using its tag line "100% Digital. 0% Hassle." At the moment, it could be accused of false advertising.