iPhone- Favorite Nautical Apps

Henning · 11-05-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seafarer

That's data roaming most likely. There is a selection in settings to shut off data roaming so the phone is not regularly polling for new email and such.

Many people have been caught by that.

Yeah, that's why I bought a jailbroke iPhone. I have my Blackberry that I have on T-Mobile because that gives me UMA service (a type of VoIP so when my BB is on wifi, it doesn't go through the cell network) which allows me to have my Ft Lauderdale phone # ring world wide, even on the boat in the middle of the ocean (so long as we have a satellite link). When I'm going to be somewhere for a bit, like Europe, I just get a "pay as you go" SIM for my iPhone from a local provider. In Europe I usually use O2, and here in Oz I'm on Optus. You can find the instructions to jailbreak your iPhone in various internet forums or have a geek do it for $100. The caveat is you can't update the software. I'm not an Apple fanboy, but having had many of the Pocket PC Phones, Blackberrys and such, I do find the iPhone to be the superior product. For straight up communications device, the BB is better, but for an all around informational device, there isn't anything that competes with an iPhone at this point.

Henning · 11-06-2009, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYCAP123

Hate to point out the unfortunately obvious but that still leaves $1,367

That's about my mortgage payment and I get a house out of the deal. Think I'll be sticking with my old razor for awhile and get the rest from my computer. Between purchase, plan, and one good roaming hit you're talking about $4,000 in a year for a phone. Thanks for the education guys & girls. That's why YF is great.

Razrs drive me nuts, I need a qwerty keyboard Since texting is store-forward, my clients and I use it continuously for updating when I am running that way when I come into phone range, I receive/send my messages that have been waiting, and texts come through clearly when voice is broken at best. Trying to text using a alphanumeric keypad has induced several "float tests" of phones in the past. You can avoid all the roaming expenses by just getting an unlocked "jailbroke" version and getting a local provider SIM card when you travel. The "MAPS" feature alone on the iPhone made it worth its cost while I was travelling in Europe, and I use it frequently sourcing parts and suppliers here in Aus. I hit Maps>search, type in my search, a bunch of pins pop up on the map, I can tap on it and I get the phone number which I can tap and connect to. If they have what I need, I can then tap "Directions" at the bottom of the screen and up come the directions to get there, and I can direct my blue dot along the Magenta line to the shop. Here in Australia, where communications fees are wildly exorbitant, I get a $100 "top up" about every month and a half and that covers my voice and data. (but here you don't pay for incoming calls, although outgoing is on the order of $ .30-.60 a minute). An unlocked iPhone also allows you to use VoIP services like Skype (AT&T blocks it) With just a small bit of savvy, you can use an iPhone quite economically world wide if you're willing to pay full cost for an unlocked one bought outright. It's a lot easier than having to carry a laptop with me, plus I'd still need to pay for its data connection anyway. If there is wifi available, the iPhone will ask if you would prefer to use it rather than your wireless data connection. The iPhone is also the only handheld appliance I have found that has a realistically usable browser.