T-Mobile: Get More
I finally switched to T-Mobile in January. After a month of service, I can say that T-Mobile has far better coverage areas and plans in Boston than Virgin Mobile (which runs on Sprint’s network). I called T-Mobile customer service several times to ask generic new customer questions and I never waited more than a minute to reach a knowledgeable representative. Because I purchased my Motorola A630 and T-Mobile service through Amazon.com, I received more rebates than the cost of the phone.
The Motorola A630 is smaller, lighter than comparable T-Mobile Bluetooth camera phones. The battery life is excellent and the flip-open full keyboard makes text messaging super fast. Voice dial, photo caller ID, and highly-customizable shortcut keys are nice features for everyday use. I will never pay for a ringtone again because I can transfer MP3s to the phone via Bluetooth.
My only complaint is that Apple has not updated iSync to work with any Motorola Bluetooth phones. (Or maybe, Motorola does not comply with the appropriate Bluetooth profile for such synchronization?) iSync is an amazing application, but I’m still missing out on its tight integration with the rest of my digital world. While Apple gave Motorola the boot for processors, they made a love pact for cell phones that has been just as lackluster as Motorola’s processor manufacturing capabilities. I want to buy a Motorola Razr, but I’m not going to drop cash on a phone that won’t sync with my Mac.
Update (July 9, 2005): Here is a hack for the A630 to enable iSync support over Bluetooth!
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 19th, 2005 at 12:56 and is tagged technology. 
February 19th, 2005 at 13:47
You can sync some bluetooth Moto phones with iSync, you just need to use a cable. I can sync my V600 just fine that way.
I think it’s more of Moto not completely following the bluetooth spec correctly from what I’ve read. But with Moto that doesn’t surprise me
February 19th, 2005 at 13:52
So I have to spend another $20 on a damn USB cable? That’s not acceptable. This requirement makes Bluetooth completely useless. I’m not even sure if the USB cable will work because my phone is not listed on the iSync Compatible Phone list.
February 19th, 2005 at 13:54
Jeremiah, I agree with the sync. You should not have to pay extra to sync a bluetooth phone. Welcome to the world of GSM and the ability to take your geek factor even further when you start getting cool phones from Europe that aren’t out in this country. Hang in there, I have a reliable source that tells me support for your phone is on the way for iSync. I just don’t know if it will be Bluetooth or USB.
February 20th, 2005 at 4:11
I’m jealous… u have the phone I want…
February 20th, 2005 at 6:15
Jeremiah: Your problem is with Motorola, not iSync. Motorola does indeed have Bluetooth ability with the Mac but unlike Nokia and others it does not conform to any real standard, those funky protocols Apple pulls from your device when it disovers it like mine:
Device Services: SDP Server, Bluetooth Serial Port, OBEX Object Push, OBEX File Transfer, Handsfree Audio Gateway, Salling Clicker, Fax, Dial-up Networking.
I believe Motorola only allows OBEX Object Push; which means you can send a address book entry one at a time to your phone using “Send to Address Book” in Address Book.
Not like you can control and download iTunes album art with Saling Clicker or syncronize your calendar and address book (with your iChat photos) like I do on my BOAT of a phone Nokia 3600.. soon to be replaced by a neat 7610.. YUM. In fact, you are missing out on so much neat bluetooth integration like caller ID on your laptop.. auto muting of iTunes when getting calls, dialing and SMSing from Apple Address Book, high speed bluetooth internet over T-Mobile GSM anywhere in their service area and other neat things I’d say you’re really paying a penalty for style till Motorola gets it’s act together.
February 20th, 2005 at 10:11
I got the USB cable for $2.00 of eBay a while back, I’m sure you can find one there for pretty cheap. I go do everything else bluetooth like transferring files, etc, just not use iSync so I use the cable for that.
February 20th, 2005 at 10:13
Oh and the nice thing about the Moto cables are they’re universal for all their phones. I’ve had this cable for like my last 5 Moto phones and it’s worked with every one of them.
Another nice thing about owning the cable is that you can use it with the phone unlocking sites so you can actually use your GSM phone with any GSM provider as it should be ::awesome::
February 20th, 2005 at 13:27
Actually Bruce, I *can* connect to the internet through T-Mobile with my phone. I can text message just fine on my phone’s keyboard. The only thing I want is synchronization with my address book. I don’t really care about any of that other stuff because I usually am not on my laptop when I’m on my phone.
The greatest thing about T-Mobile is that I have service through most of the underground portion of the Red Line, so I get lots of calling done while on the subway to school.
February 21st, 2005 at 7:50
I have to disagree with Bruce here. Yes Moto is a little less than standard in their implementation, but it’s also Apple to blame. They could support it, they choose not to. All those things you mentioned that you can do, I can also do about 95% of them with 3rd party programs (and I have). Both are to blame here. But I put more on Motorola for not adhering to standards.
February 22nd, 2005 at 9:05
Bryan, here are just a few reasons why Cingular would be better in some cases:
- No roaming….ever. If you’re on a national plan, you can travel anywhere and if you have a signal on anyone’s service, you won’t pay roaming.
- Mobile to Mobile is much better on Cingular simply because of the much larger amount of people who use it. I am much more likely to know people or call people with another Cingular phone than T-Mo.
- Even without free roaming, Cingular’s coverage blows away T-Mo in most areas
- Some of your claims about Cingular are just not true: I’m not charged airtime to check voicemail, it counts as M2M. Cingular’s free phones do come with a 12-month contract, not 24. I’m not too sure about the rest, I’ll need to check my bill.
- Better phones with Cingular.
Those are just a few that come to my mind right now. In the end though it should just come down to who has the best coverage where you live since in the end, that’s the most important thing with cell service anyway. Here in Cleveland, T-Mo doesn’t have good coverage so I seriously can’t think of one person I know here who even has it.
I of course am a forced Cingular customer from their buyout of AT&T Wireless so I still get my free incoming text messages ::rollseyes::. Why any company thinks it’s fair (including Cingular) to charge for incoming txt messages is beyond me since you can’t control who or how many they send.
February 22nd, 2005 at 13:10
I can also say that if you truly want to take command of your mac with your mobile. Go for the Sony Ericssons. I have several and use a P900 now. With the Sony Ericsson, you can use Salling CLicker, Bluetooth Sync and Apple has even built in mouse control support for the newer Sony Ericsson phones giving you a wireless mouse. How cool is that?
Having stated that though, I think that the Moto that you got is a decent phone if you text message a lot and IM a lot. I thought about getting it but, with out iSync, I would be forced to hand enter in over 200+ contacts. Not my idea of fun. Good luck with it.
February 22nd, 2005 at 22:19
The choices for Boston (and LA, my interning friends tell me) are either Verizon or T-Mobile. Bryan and Adam are the only people I know who use Cingulair.
T-Mobile just can’t be beat when it comes to price and plan options. It’s coverage in the areas where I’m usually located is excellent (Boston, Lynchburg, San Diego, Los Angeles). When I was in Las Vegas, T-Mobile’s coverage was excellent.
July 9th, 2005 at 18:06
[…] Despite what I previously blogged, you can synchronize your Motorola A630 with Apple iSync over Bluetooth! Thanks to Richard Feindel for showing me this hack. […]