Could I Use This As A Phone?

[Schprlock]

You can make a small program to play a rind sound at random intervals between 2 hours and 8 hours, for example, and drop that frequencia to once or twice from 11pn to 10am. You can program it to stop the sound when you press a key. Then you hold the Pandora next tou your ear and talk into it. Nobody will really know

Sorry, I don't mean to sound rude. I just couldn't resist. But really, why do people want everything to be a phone? I'm really happy with the Pandora the way it is (will be...).

 

[andyB911]

Can't say I want a phone in it... I'm one of those most hated on here iphone users and that meets my needs nicely.

But, the interesting thing about it (theoretically) being a phone would be that you could potentially get the network operators to subsidise and distribute it.

I personally hate people talking about a version 2 when we haven't even got the first one - but arguably if you want to go main stream then what better way than adding a phone that would therefore provide a distribution channel and lower purchase costs. I don't think (or particularly want) it to happen, but from a purely business perspective there are some good arguments.

And arguably if I'm going to have to carry a phone, blackberry and pandora, the ability to carry one less wouldn't go amiss.

 

[TaG]

And arguably if I'm going to have to carry a phone, blackberry and pandora, the ability to carry one less wouldn't go amiss.

That's the main reason having a phone would have been useful. When you go somewhere and have to take the phone, it might be the P that gets left behind. Hideous thought.

In other ways it is nice to know that just because you have your P doesn't mean you are contactable.

 

[riosingh]

could you use a psp or laptop as a phone?

 

[TaG]

could you use a psp or laptop as a phone?
Just looking at my laptop, the mic is near the keyboard and can only be used with it open, the speakers are on the outside edge so not very private. I'd look a right plonker walking down the street having a conversation into my keyboard.

 

[sterling976]

I'd look a right plonker walking down the street having a conversation into my keyboard.

Bluetooth. Headset.

Although that would look ridiculous, too. I just had a terrible thought after reading km2783's post. Tether my Pandora to my 3g phone for an internet connection, fire up a VoIP client, and use a bluetooth headset paired with the Pandora. But I guess that idea's better off in this thread.

Ugh. Mental image of Samir Nagheenanajar saying, "Yes, this is horrible, this idea."

Edit: Removed unnecessary quote.

 

[TaG]

could you use a psp or laptop as a phone?
Just looking at my laptop, the mic is near the keyboard and can only be used with it open, the speakers are on the outside edge so not very private. I'd look a right plonker walking down the street having a conversation into my keyboard.

Bluetooth. Headset.
Yeah, of course I got that, but that wasn't the image conjured up by "could you use a ... laptop as a phone?", hence the smiley.

 

[Tor]

Flashback. ITT is full of these 'could the Nokia tablet be a phone' threads. Now we'll just have to wait for the dozen-a-week iPhanBoi threads. Argh.

 

[jdh2550]

nor the type of thing you would want clamped to the side of your face

Errr, have you not heard of bluetooth? It's all the rage these days.

Using it as a phone is very doable and possibly a GOOD addition to the portable functionality - as others have mentioned (Bluetooth headset + Network Connection + VoIP). If you live in a country where you can get good 3G coverage at a reasonable price then adding a 3G modem for internet access makes this perfectly portable. It likely won't be as "instant on" as a phone (phones don't take long to boot or acquire a connection - but your pandora may).

It was a good question (it was practical, it was reasonable, it WASN'T ABOUT THE FREAKIN' DELAY/REFUND ISSUE) - why folks have to turn this into a rant on phones and/or belittle the original questioner (either intentionally or unintentionally) is beyond me... C'mon folks - how about encouraging good questions?

 

[Capn_Fish]

Yup.
That could be weird, but one reason i chose the pandora is because it's not a phone.
Am i the only one ?

Definitely not.

 

[riosingh]

nor the type of thing you would want clamped to the side of your face

Errr, have you not heard of bluetooth? It's all the rage these days.

Using it as a phone is very doable and possibly a GOOD addition to the portable functionality - as others have mentioned (Bluetooth headset + Network Connection + VoIP). If you live in a country where you can get good 3G coverage at a reasonable price then adding a 3G modem for internet access makes this perfectly portable. It likely won't be as "instant on" as a phone (phones don't take long to boot or acquire a connection - but your pandora may).

It was a good question (it was practical, it was reasonable, it WASN'T ABOUT THE FREAKIN' DELAY/REFUND ISSUE) - why folks have to turn this into a rant on phones and/or belittle the original questioner (either intentionally or unintentionally) is beyond me... C'mon folks - how about encouraging good questions?


Sorry dude,
its just where I live voip over 3g just don't work.
I use voip at home with the wifi.
but its not quite a phone.
and to tell the truth where ever I am my friends and family usualy ring my mobile.
thats not to say Voip does't have its place, while I worked out in Africa I used to use skype all the time. but I would arange skype calls via email.(because not every on sits by a computer all day). Kind of like the way we book confrence calls with forign customers and supliers even today.

 

[Eniko]

Anything that doesn't play stupid musical ring tones in the middle of public places, and doesn't involve loud-mouthed jackasses making sure everyone can hear how "important" they must be .. is a good thing. A very good thing.

I hate phones. Always did, always will. My cell phone is a $30 POS that does everything I need and nothing more. And I like it that way.

Sorry for the unwanted rant.
Agree with the unwanted rant. My cell is this free Nokia they were giving away. The only feature it lacks is letting me upload midis as ringtones, the default one is pretty lame.

Anyway am I wrong to suspect that it's a lot harder to get VoIP on the go than to just bring a cell? Doesn't VoIP require a sufficient amount of bandwidth, and internet on the go still goes over that one network type that's really rather slow most places?

Plus wouldn't that also be a lot more expensive than just having a cell?

 

[sterling976]

Yeah, of course I got that, but that wasn't the image conjured up by "could you use a ... laptop as a phone?", hence the smiley.

Yeah, I know. The mental image I got when I read your post was this handsfree kit.

@Eniko -- You've got valid points, but they're all overriden by the geek ethos. We don't do these things because they're practical, or even because they're useful. We do them because we can.

EDIT: There was something horribly wrong with that link the first time around. Fixed it.

 

[TaG]

Yeah, of course I got that, but that wasn't the image conjured up by "could you use a ... laptop as a phone?", hence the smiley.

Yeah, I know. The mental image I got when I read your post was this handsfree kit. :lol: That's twice this thread has given me a laugh.

 

[Hyperpc]

If you could only phone using a headset that would be good it would be nice to send texts sometimes on a full keyboard.

 

[jdh2550]

nor the type of thing you would want clamped to the side of your face

Errr, have you not heard of bluetooth? It's all the rage these days.

Using it as a phone is very doable and possibly a GOOD addition to the portable functionality - as others have mentioned (Bluetooth headset + Network Connection + VoIP). If you live in a country where you can get good 3G coverage at a reasonable price then adding a 3G modem for internet access makes this perfectly portable. It likely won't be as "instant on" as a phone (phones don't take long to boot or acquire a connection - but your pandora may).

It was a good question (it was practical, it was reasonable, it WASN'T ABOUT THE FREAKIN' DELAY/REFUND ISSUE) - why folks have to turn this into a rant on phones and/or belittle the original questioner (either intentionally or unintentionally) is beyond me... C'mon folks - how about encouraging good questions?


Sorry dude,
its just where I live voip over 3g just don't work.
I use voip at home with the wifi.
but its not quite a phone.
and to tell the truth where ever I am my friends and family usualy ring my mobile.
thats not to say Voip does't have its place, while I worked out in Africa I used to use skype all the time. but I would arange skype calls via email.(because not every on sits by a computer all day). Kind of like the way we book confrence calls with forign customers and supliers even today.


A couple of points:
- the OP asked is it possible. The answer is yes.
- you can use Skype and other VoIP services to call out to any phone - it's not free, but it's usually pretty cheap
- the "I don't have coverage" argument applies to cell phones too
- as far as I understand it the bandwidth requirements for VoIP aren't that high? Doe a 3G connection introduce too much lag or something? Please can you clarify "VoIP over 3g just don't work"? Drop calls? Bad quality? You just don't like it?

Personally I won't be doing VoIP with the panda - but that wasn't the question asked by the OP.

Oh, and if the question was "should I forgo buying a cell phone and rely on the panda with a 3G connection?" I'd say hell no! But then I won't even replace my land line with a cell phone. Give me a solid bit of copper please!

 

[cbox]

Anything that doesn't play stupid musical ring tones in the middle of public places, and doesn't involve loud-mouthed jackasses making sure everyone can hear how "important" they must be .. is a good thing. A very good thing.

I hate phones. Always did, always will. My cell phone is a $30 POS that does everything I need and nothing more. And I like it that way.

Sorry for the unwanted rant.
Agree with the unwanted rant. My cell is this free Nokia they were giving away. The only feature it lacks is letting me upload midis as ringtones, the default one is pretty lame.

Anyway am I wrong to suspect that it's a lot harder to get VoIP on the go than to just bring a cell? Doesn't VoIP require a sufficient amount of bandwidth, and internet on the go still goes over that one network type that's really rather slow most places?

Plus wouldn't that also be a lot more expensive than just having a cell?

I'm the same way about cell phone, I got the cheap one they give away for free, and I have a pay as you go plan that you only have to put 20 bucks in every 3 months. I prefer a land line and use that for most of my talking, cell phone is more for emergency and getting in contact with of people who are only on cell.

 

[riosingh]

nor the type of thing you would want clamped to the side of your face

Errr, have you not heard of bluetooth? It's all the rage these days.

Using it as a phone is very doable and possibly a GOOD addition to the portable functionality - as others have mentioned (Bluetooth headset + Network Connection + VoIP). If you live in a country where you can get good 3G coverage at a reasonable price then adding a 3G modem for internet access makes this perfectly portable. It likely won't be as "instant on" as a phone (phones don't take long to boot or acquire a connection - but your pandora may).

It was a good question (it was practical, it was reasonable, it WASN'T ABOUT THE FREAKIN' DELAY/REFUND ISSUE) - why folks have to turn this into a rant on phones and/or belittle the original questioner (either intentionally or unintentionally) is beyond me... C'mon folks - how about encouraging good questions?


Sorry dude,
its just where I live voip over 3g just don't work.
I use voip at home with the wifi.
but its not quite a phone.
and to tell the truth where ever I am my friends and family usualy ring my mobile.
thats not to say Voip does't have its place, while I worked out in Africa I used to use skype all the time. but I would arange skype calls via email.(because not every on sits by a computer all day). Kind of like the way we book confrence calls with forign customers and supliers even today.


A couple of points:
- the OP asked is it possible. The answer is yes.
- you can use Skype and other VoIP services to call out to any phone - it's not free, but it's usually pretty cheap
- the "I don't have coverage" argument applies to cell phones too
- as far as I understand it the bandwidth requirements for VoIP aren't that high? Doe a 3G connection introduce too much lag or something? Please can you clarify "VoIP over 3g just don't work"? Drop calls? Bad quality? You just don't like it?

Personally I won't be doing VoIP with the panda - but that wasn't the question asked by the OP.

Oh, and if the question was "should I forgo buying a cell phone and rely on the panda with a 3G connection?" I'd say hell no! But then I won't even replace my land line with a cell phone. Give me a solid bit of copper please!

theres not enough bandwith.
it works where theres wifi. and the IM service works ove 2g or 3g but voice doesn't.
the programme I use is gizmo. its realy cheap for ringing the states and canada. but only works over the wifi.
which programme do you use, and works over 3g. Do you have experience with it.
which network are you geting the 3g from.

I use GIZMO on a NOKIA E71 on the VODAPHONE network. and like i said VOIP over 3g doesn't work.

 

[OrR]

VoIP is usually banned on 3G data connections and I'd guess that's the main reason it doesn't work. I'd expect lag and possibly instability to be a much bigger problem that bandwith. A GPRS connection should provide enough bandwith for voice (if it was fully used).

 

[kattle87]

I know that I might be speaking about a "version 2" of the panda and this is "bad" since we have not the first batch yet, but:

-there are some really, really slim phones nowadays (9mm); you could just glue it to the outside of the shell, and you are done.
-if anyone has the ability needed for doing it, he could get a slim phone, remove the battery, place the board of the phone on the upper part of the shell (behind the screen) by modifying the shell itself so that only the screen and the keyboard of the phone are exposed to the air; then you solder the microphone to the panda's one, you do something similar for audio output, and link the phone to the panda's battery.

You now have a PandaPhone. Estimated tickness increase: 5-6 mm;

...But I want the Pandora without a phone, so I'm not gonna attempt this