[jsully]

Does anyone know when Handspring will release the official GPRS patch for Voicestream/T-Mobile? I spoke to a Handspring sales contact last week and she said, "Before the end of the year". By the way, I already know that I could use the Asian patch to get it to work but with some of the problems I've read on this site, I can't take the risk. Thanks in advance.

[boardoe]

Did she mention which year?

[Felipe]

Originally posted by boardoe
Did she mention which year?

the year when it is ready. :-)

I would love to know what t-mobiles excuse is now. Now that we know it is available on other carriers.

[lokuanyu]

Originally posted by Felipe
I would love to know what t-mobiles excuse is now. Now that we know it is available on other carriers.

It's probably because they just spent a crap load on money to get Catherine Zeta Jones to be their spokes person not to mention having her leave a completely pointless voicemail message on everyone's phones.

[PerihJ]

Because T-Mobile doesn't threaten to break arms or legs or poke out eyeballs to get GPRS, like another well-known carrier in Canada who's name starts with 'R' does....

[gabriellevy]

as a nyc t-mobile user, i also find it exasperating that t-mobile is behind schedule with the patch release when so many other carriers are already moving ahead.

this sense of exasperation is only rivaled by that which is caused by actually speaking with somebody from t-mobile's cust serv department: not only do they not seem to know anything about ANYTHING (even regular cell phone-related issues), but they also are rude and defensive.

if i weren't shackled to a 12 month contract, i would immediately switch away (and i may still do that yet, penalty or not).

just my $.02,

gabriel

[Distrachi]

i'm also a nyc t-mobile user. I've had good experiences with the customer service dept though. I've called almost ten times and everytime the CSR has been friendly and polite. I agree with you that they're not always very knowledgeable but they always seem to try their best to resolve any issues I have. Just don't ask any Treo specific questions cuz they'll no idea.

[gabriellevy]

interesting distrachi...maybe i've just been unlucky with the cust serv reps i've spoken with. i don't mind people not knowing answers to questions, but i do mind when they pretend to know answers when they do not and then get defensive when inconsistencies are pointed out.

separately, are you a gprs user? if so, can you let me know how your experience is (i.e. does gprs service drop at times and other bugs, are you on the $20/month plan, how fast is the service, etc.) - i'm considering upgrading.

thanks.

[rklosinski]

I m a CA t-mobile user. Just signed up and left cingualr for 1000 minutes for 39.95. So far, my expeiences are no different than Verizon (2 years ago) and Cingular (1 year ago)... there are good times and bad.

i have gprs running here, and sol...err aol, email, wap works fine. blazer will not work, but eudora works fine. i can access my work computer using LoudPC, which gives me access to everything in Outlook (email, contact, etc) as well as files.

[NYMaestro]

I wanted to address some of the questions that have appeared on this thread.

First of all, GPRS on TMobile/Voicestream in the US works pretty well. The Asian upgrade works perfectly (my advice is to perform a soft reset every time the screen asks you to press the "reset" button on the screen...).

The major issue with TMoble's version of GPRS is the accellerator using port 80. In plain english, this means that any client software that requires port 80 WILL NOT WORK unless you do the following:

-dial up, bypassing GPRS
-shutoff the accellerator using Eudora to access getmorespeed.tmobile.com
-if the client software allows you to use a different proxy, you can get around this with proxy.pocketdev.org on port 9666. So far the only software where this is useful is Blazer. Corsoft requires 80 and there is no way to change it.

The interesting thing about this port 80 stuff is that TMoble suggests that users of its GPRS service change the default port from 80 to 8080. Unfortunately, the only devices that allow you to do this are the one(s) that use MS PocketPC. There is no way to do this when you access getmorespeed.tmobile.com and when you view the instructions for doing this on pocketpc, it is clear that the ability is part of the handheld config, not on the web.

I anticipate that part of the REAL upgrade with TMobile will include a way to change the getmorespeed port from 80 to 8080

Also, GPRS works great when you restrict your movements to areas of good coverage. If you pass through bad spots (which is frequent in the US--you guys in Europe have it SO GOOD) even if you end up in a good spot, you may be forced to "disconnect" and then "connect" tmobile.

On one business trip, I travelled on Amtrak from NYC through Phili to DE. When I arrived in DE it seemed that there was no GPRS coverage at all (no triangle at all). After a conversation with tech support it appeared that I needed to "turn off wireless mode" and then Turn it back on.

So the bottom line is that GPRS still has a few hurdles to overcome before it can truly replace the blackberry in terms of always on access to the internet. But it is still useful and the Asian upgrade (with the wonderful instructions on this site) is a piece of cake to install.

Ciao for now

[ixtab]

T-Mobile GPRS rocks. I use it in NYC in NJ and also while roaming to Seattle and Illinois.
Don't just blame T-Mobile for not releasing the patch, it's Handspring! We all know the far eastern patch works great, they (Handspring) just need to decide to release it globally.

I agree with NYMaestro, as long as you are located in a place with proper GSM/GPRS coverage you should be fine.

We are not as advanced as Europe (and that's a pitty) but hopefully GPRS will take off (more users) and the carriers (among them T-Mobile) will invest more.

[yardie]

Handspring has been saying all along that the GPRS patch has to be approved for use on the carriers network. So far all the carriers that approve it have it working. Its T-Mobile that should get the blame.. not Handspring. I am sure that they want to get it rolled out and pver with. The upgrade is working just fine in the markets where it is available now.

Originally posted by ixtab
T-Mobile GPRS rocks. I use it in NYC in NJ and also while roaming to Seattle and Illinois.
Don't just blame T-Mobile for not releasing the patch, it's Handspring! We all know the far eastern patch works great, they (Handspring) just need to decide to release it globally.

[Insp_Gadget]

Originally posted by yardie
Handspring has been saying all along that the GPRS patch has to be approved for use on the carriers network. So far all the carriers that approve it have it working. Its T-Mobile that should get the blame.. not Handspring. I am sure that they want to get it rolled out and pver with. The upgrade is working just fine in the markets where it is available now.

I agree with this. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that T-Mobile probably is in no hurry to make this happen since it would enable capability in a non-Microsoft device. Remember that T-Mobile is in bed with Microsoft on their PocketPC-based phone they are selling. So don't be surprised if T-Mobile moves slowly to support a PalmOS-based solution.

They (when the site was VoiceStream) have BEEN saying that their GPRS solution is only supported on a PocketPC device, or the phones they sell. (Of course, we know better.) But those kinds of statements just go to show where their allegiance lies. In fact, the only mention of Palm OS technology on their site is in their FAQs for the Visor & VisorPhone. The Treo isn't mentioned anywhere.

That thinking is misguided, IMO. They may not want to "offend" Microsoft, but they can't ignore the thousands of new GPRS customers that they would gain by approving the patch. I would hope that somebody working there would see this and get on the ball.

Palm OS-based phones have always been "red-headed stepchildren" when it came to getting support from wireless carriers. They don't understand our phones, and really don't seem to want to know about them. That's fine as long as they don't limit our ability to use them by holding up new capabilities due to partnerships with rivals.

Of course, this all assumes that there is no technical reason for the delay in releasing the patch to the U.S. market.

Just my two cents.

[NYMaestro]

TMobile clearly has a bias towards PocketPC since they have a branded device with that technology. I am thinking that they are delaying release of the patch so they can maximize revenue on the PocketPC device. If you were in their shoes, you would do the same thing. Remember we are all capitalists....

However, there will be pressure on them to support this patch, especially if Cingular gets into the act. The key here is if Handspring's marketing strength can exceed Microsoft's. Who will win the CIngular relationship? I have a feeling if Handspring wins, you are going to see a patch very soon...

[silverado]

I would like to suggest another reason for the staged release of the patch by Handspring on a carrier-by-carrier basis.

Blazer changes EVERY HTTP request such that it goes though proxy.handspring.com, regardless of whether you use a proxy or not. Every piece of data you see in Blazer has to pass through proxy.handspring.com!

So it's not only a patch readiness issue, it's an infrastructure readiness issue on the part of Handspring. They have to make sure their proxy setup is ready to handle the worldwide demand for GPRS data through Treos. This is not a small undertaking.

I think this is a big factor in this whole saga!

[Insp_Gadget]

Originally posted by silverado
I would like to suggest another reason for the staged release of the patch by Handspring on a carrier-by-carrier basis.

Blazer changes EVERY HTTP request such that it goes though proxy.handspring.com, regardless of whether you use a proxy or not. Every piece of data you see in Blazer has to pass through proxy.handspring.com!

So it's not only a patch readiness issue, it's an infrastructure readiness issue on the part of Handspring. They have to make sure their proxy setup is ready to handle the worldwide demand for GPRS data through Treos. This is not a small undertaking.

I think this is a big factor in this whole saga!

Well.... You make a valid point, but if I were Handspring and I had set up a proxy server, I would have scaled it (actually an array of servers, pointed to a virtual address) to be ready for a world-wide rollout of Treos. So I'm not sure that Handspring would be at fault for the delay considering the nature of the rollout.

If capacity WERE an issue, wouldn't Handspring roll out the technology to the U.S. market first, which has a significantly less developed GSM/GPRS infrastructure (and less demand) than the rest of the world? The U.S. may be a technology leader, but it isn't a wireless leader by any stretch of the imagination. Europe and Asia are heavier users, by far (when it comes to GSM/GPRS). The U.S. is playing "catch-up". So by that observation, if lack of capacity on Handspring's proxy were the reason for the delay in a T-Mobile rollout, why would the patch be released to a GSM/GPRS-savvy market first?

Okay, I'm up to five cents now.

[silverado]

Originally posted by Insp_Gadget

...
If capacity WERE an issue, wouldn't Handspring roll out the technology to the U.S. market first, which has a significantly less developed GSM/GPRS infrastructure (and less demand) than the rest of the world?

Well, the patch is only officially released for Australia, New Zealand and Roger's in Canada. Curiously, all of these places have relatively very small populations (~19M Australia, 4M New Zealand and Canada as a whole has something like ~32M).

Also I am not saying that this is the only reason, but it's an important one to consider. It certainly takes a significant committment of resources to deploy such a world-wide proxy infrastructure, something that one wouldn't usually associate with a smallish PDA company like Handspring.

[Insp_Gadget]

Originally posted by silverado

Well, the patch is only officially released for Australia, New Zealand and Roger's in Canada. Curiously, all of these places have relatively very small populations (~19M Australia, 4M New Zealand and Canada as a whole has something like ~32M).

Also I am not saying that this is the only reason, but it's an important one to consider. It certainly takes a significant committment of resources to deploy such a world-wide proxy infrastructure, something that one wouldn't usually associate with a smallish PDA company like Handspring.

Yup. Like I said, you have a valid point. I suppose we'll never know for certain.

I just hope that when it is released for the U.S. market that it works! If the rest of the world is the "test bed", that's fine with me. When I get an OFFICIAL release for my market, I expect it to be fully tested and supported.

So, I'll be patient and wait if it means getting a good product. I was just speculating on the delays.

Okay, my two cents turned into a dime...What do I get for my money?

[Dieter Bohn]

Originally posted by gabriellevy
not only do they not seem to know anything about ANYTHING (even regular cell phone-related issues), but they also are rude and defensive.

You're not kidding. I've also repeatedly had them out and out lie about how to solve technical issues I've had in attempts to get me off the phone faster. T - Hostile customer service is worse that Sprint's or At&T's, I never would have thought that was possible.

[ixtab]

Blazer bypass Accelerator solution is on it's way.
Matter of a week or two.