Need iPhone info....

[Henning]

Ok, some of you know I've taken a new job on a boat. I'll be in Indonesia and the SoPacific searching for the best waves in the world to surf and reefs to dive. I'll have a full time satellite broadband connection. I am currently with T-Mobile, and am getting a new Blackberry 8900 or 8990.. something like that, from them because it and they support UMA which basically gives me a satellite telephone anywhere through the boats Wifi and people can call my regular phone number and if I'm wifi'd in the middle of the ocean, my phone rings and I can take the call. I wouldn't mind having an iPhone, and would prospectively pay cash for a "bricked" (WTF ever that is supposed to stand for besides unlocked from a service provider) for one if someone could definitively and accurately tell me if I slipped my T-Mobile SIM card into it that it would be able to do the same thing. People have told me that there is an app that will allow the iPhone to VoIP when it's not on AT&Ts network since AT&T blocks VoIP on its 3G network. (When I was shopping and asked back in 07 they said "Not yet, but go with us now anyway because it's coming soon!"). So, What's the story, if I slide my T-Mobile SIM card into an unlocked iPhone and I have it Wifi'd to the ships broadband, and someone dials my number, would it ring like my Blackberry will?

Also looking for a video camera and have come up with this: http://sanyo.com/xacti/english/products/vpc_wh1/index.html
although I would prefer a waterproof bullet type cam that cables to a seperate waterproof recording device so I can rig a helmet cam type thing and have the recording device at my waist. Anybody have a clue on that?

 

[Richard]

Well, ****ty job but someone has to do it. As you know, you could spend the rest of your entire life just in Fiji scouting the best waves. And you're gonna' need many layers of protection from all kinds of contractable, uh, never mind. You know.

As far as the phone, I think you'd want the taser/laser long range ballistic option. Good for onshore and at sea.

 

[Henning]

Well, ****ty job but someone has to do it. As you know, you could spend the rest of your entire life just in Fiji scouting the best waves. And you're gonna' need many layers of protection from all kinds of contractable, uh, never mind. You know.

As far as the phone, I think you'd want the taser/laser long range ballistic option. Good for onshore and at sea.

We'll have a Twin Otter on amphibs for scouting the days' waves so we don't have to use up a lifetime finding them, that's a known, the unknown is whether I can get UMA or equivalent service on an iPhone....

 

[SCCutler]

Waiting for Scott's definitive answer, but you are ringing a couple of different bells here, Henning.

If you are using wifi through th eboat's sat connection, then the SIM card won't matter, because you'll be connecting the phone through the wifi, not the GSM or other cell network.

I'll look forward to reading more about his, but think you'll be answering some more questions before getting some answers.

 

[mikea]

You mean "jailbroken." "Bricked" is a bad thing. It means the phone is a brick, a doorstop.

 

[jkeesaman]

How about an iPod Touch or an iPhone without a service plan, and use Skype? The advantage of the iPhone would be the built in speaker & mic. I haven't used it but it looks interesting.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Do you know what the bandwidth of the shipboard satellite Wi-Fi connection is, both up and down speeds? That's likely to be the limiting factor to satisfactory voice via UMA.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

So, What's the story, if I slide my T-Mobile SIM card into an unlocked iPhone and I have it Wifi'd to the ships broadband, and someone dials my number, would it ring like my Blackberry will?

If you are using wifi through th eboat's sat connection, then the SIM card won't matter, because you'll be connecting the phone through the wifi, not the GSM or other cell network.

Kind of an unusual setup! Like Spike says, I wouldn't think your sim card would be doing anything when you're on WiFi but I can't say definitively because I'm not sure how that setup works (and knows that you are there on your number).

If it actually is dependent on the sim card, then no it will not work because the iPhones use special sim cards.

 

[wabower]

Your rich guy must not be as rich as my rich guy was. He always had an IT guy traveling with us, nothing that dude couldn't handle.

You might want to do some background on your guy, he may be running light.

 

[gkainz]

Your rich guy must not be as rich as my rich guy was. He always had an IT guy traveling with us, nothing that dude couldn't handle.

You might want to do some background on your guy, he may be running light.

Hey! No fair! I wanna rich guy, too!!!!

 

[Henning]

Do you know what the bandwidth of the shipboard satellite Wi-Fi connection is, both up and down speeds? That's likely to be the limiting factor to satisfactory voice via UMA.

It's latest and greatest using a 1 meter dish. I have used my current Curve over shipboard broadband before, it works very nicely which is why I stay with T-Mobile.