osama i. al-dosary

OpenSync seems like a noble project. I always have a hell of a time trying to sync my devices togethor. Often I loose information and numbers when syncing with Outlook contacts because Nokia phones use different formats. Not to mention the head ache of syncing Nokia phones to non-windows. Not an easy thing to do. Although, many use iSync on Mac, I can’t seem to get it to work. Same problem with Ubuntu. If such a project makes progress it could allow for greater compatibility between platforms and devices and less synchronization troubles.

I updated the Ubuntu HCL site with my experience of the previously mentioned 3g mobile connect card. Take a look here.

Huawei E170 (Networking) - Ubuntu Linux Hardware Compatibility List

My 3g mobile connect card I got from Mobily was detected automatically on Ubuntu, which is version 8.10. The connect card is Huawei e170. The first couple of times I tried connecting it didn’t work. When I checked the settings I found that everything was empty except the “Number” which was *99# and the “APN” was “web2″.

I thought I remembered that the APN was “web1″, so I changed that and it worked. Then I configured it to automatically connect. So as soon as I connect the USB 3g mobile stick it detects it and connects right away.

Using it on Ubuntu is a breeze compared to using it on my XP partition. First the detection of the USB device is slow, then I have to start the Huawei software, then it queries the USB device to check network status, which can take about 10 seconds. Then if everything is ok, I have to click on “Connect”.

Btw, when I checked the configuration settings for the software I got from Mobily, it turns out that “web1″ is for postpaid accounts and “web2″ is the setting for prepaid accounts. I have a postpaid account.

This can be considered as negative mark on the Ubuntu HSPA driver. It should have given the choice of both prepaid and postpaid, then know the right APN for each. Where it only asked to use Mobily or STC.

Good news (BBC NEWS | Technology | Q&A: Googles Android.) I’m relieved that the rumours of a Google Phone (GPhone), were not true. This initiative is much more beneficial to the market and end-users in the long run.

Open Source/Linux has been on mobile handsets for a while, but no great successes yet. Hopefully this alliance can help push free software into the middle of where things are happening. Once an open source product has feature parity with existing mainstream products, this will fuel market acceptance, which can then unleash further creativity of open source developers. A great example of this transition is what happened with Mozilla’s Firefox.

I’m surprised that other Linux Mobile firms did not get on the bandwagon. It might make sense for ACCESS (owner of PalmSource) to join the club, as the have GNU/Linux based Mobile Operating System ALP (ACCESS Linux Platform.) We’ve been hearing about ALP for the past few years, yet I haven’t seen show up on any phones.  Since PalmOne/Palm Inc. doesn’t seem to want it (See nice Wikipedia page on this,) that might make a good partnership with this alliance.