Anyone put a cellphone in this thing yet?

[ethereal]

Has anyone used those usb sim card readers to make phone calls through the pandora yet? I believe I've read something about someone using one of these usb sim card readers as a wireless modem, but they said nothing about using it to place phone calls over the pandora.


Here's some links to usb sim card readers with voice that may be able to turn your pandora into a cellphone.


http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/478717357/Best_price_for_3g_usb_modem.html


http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/448318312/Cheap_price_voice_modem_HSDPA_usb.html


http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/448319123/HSDPA_usb_dongle_support_voice_call.html


Seems like it should be possible, but it just hasn't been done yet.


I guess the logical next step after getting one of these external usb modems working would be to some how implement it hardware wise into the pcb, but lets take this one step at a time.

 

[diligentcircle]

SIM card? A SIM card is just a circuit used to store some things on cell phones, placed on a plastic card. To use a device as a phone, you would need a phone service, not a SIM card.

 

[Darkknight512]

I think the easiest way to get phone functionality on a Pandora is one of those 3G modems and just do it over VOIP.


Even if you can read a sim card, you still need a GSM or CDMA modem, though these have SIM built in (well only GSM, I'm pretty sure CDMA works differently)

 

[milkshake]

someone could try modding a mobile broadband modem into the case?

 

[ethereal]

SIM card? A SIM card is just a circuit used to store some things on cell phones, placed on a plastic card. To use a device as a phone, you would need a phone service, not a SIM card.

Yes, but read the links I posted. It uses this circuit to enable wireles internet and calling features on your laptop essentially turning your laptop into a cellphone. It's not "just" a simcard reader.

I think the easiest way to get phone functionality on a Pandora is one of those 3G modems and just do it over VOIP.


Even if you can read a sim card, you still need a GSM or CDMA modem, though these have SIM built in (well only GSM, I'm pretty sure CDMA works differently)

These are 3g modems, but they also have voice enabled too so you could do VoIP or just regular cellphone calling. Read the links I posted most of them are GSM or CDMA, most of them utilize a combination of many different mobile phone standards.

someone could try modding a mobile broadband modem into the case?

Yes that would be sweet. I believe I've read that people have already successfully used these wireless 3g usb modems to connect to the internet, but I haven't read anything about an internal hardware mod yet.

 

[b1llygo4t]

this has come up a few times, search the forum. new drivers would need to be built and a new UI to actually make the calls and such. it says it supports linux but that doesnt mean the drivers are open. totally possible, esp since these things are becoming more common

 

[gadgetoid]

I dare say I'd just plumb for a USB broadband adaptor and use VOIP... if any such software is compatible with the Pandora.


They tend to be pretty bulky things; I'd love to see an attempt at squeezing one inside the Pandora.

 

[pmprog]

I dare say I'd just plumb for a USB broadband adaptor and use VOIP... if any such software is compatible with the Pandora.

There is definately one VOIP app available - Linphone. Tried it on my wireless network at home, seems to work okay. Only downside is you need IP addresses, instead of a nice portable login with contact list.

 

[ethereal]

This thread seems to be getting derailed.


I'm not talking about VoIP here. It's nice, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. What I'm looking for is making real cellphone calls through a pandora and usb 3g modem with voice. Has this ever been done before? Can it be done?

 

[ethereal]

Can I stick my sim card from my at&t phone into a usb modem with voice and make and receive calls from a Pandora? Has this ever been done before?

 

[Hoodoo]

Not yet. It is theoretically possible, since people made these work as GSM phones with desktop Linux distros. I would suggest to read about that.


However, It depends on drivers. If the drivers are distributed as source code, they can be built for Pandora in the future, but it might require some changes to the kernel. If the drivers are distributed as binary blobs - no way.


Correct me if I'm wrong.