While we're all patiently waiting for
UMA to go national (any carrier want to step up to the plate here?), Samsung's taking a decidedly different approach to mobile VoIP with its
Ubicell product unveiled this week. Carriers are apparently keen on embracing it, too, with Sprint planning on offering it later this year at a to-be-determined price. We had a chance to check it out this morning, and it looks decent enough; it's reasonably small and it won't stand out in most decor (especially if you can just set it next to your wireless router). The craziest feature might be the integrated GPS that -- get this --
locks you out if you try to get all clever and take the Ubicell outside of US territory. In other words, Sprint has no interest running a femtocell in, say, Madagascar.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Frankenstein Black @ Mar 28th 2007 4:12PM
MEH, so I cant take it to South Korea the other CDMA market (besides North America). Who cares. If this was GSM (which covers 98% of the globe) that "GPS control" would be something to hack, um, talk about ;^)...
John Stracke @ Mar 28th 2007 7:12PM
"MEH, so I cant take it to South Korea" -- that's not the only way it would be useful. If not for the GPS lockout, you could use it to enable your CDMA phone to work anywhere in the world where you could get IP.
I suspect Sprint just doesn't want to get into the legal issues of international telephone service.
1w @ Mar 28th 2007 9:06PM
No. South Korea and North America are not the only markets of CDMA. And the GPS lock is to prevent people using their cell phones outside US as if they are in US.
Frankenstein Black @ Mar 29th 2007 12:48PM
US/Canada/Mexico/Brazil/South Korea. Thats it...
(WCDMA is not the same as CDMA, its actually UMTS)...
Rob @ Mar 28th 2007 4:21PM
You could just block the GPS antenna. Seeing how this device is meant for indoor use, not getting a GPS lock should be pretty normal.
Frankenstein Black @ Mar 29th 2007 12:45PM
JS you are right! I stand corrected! With a GPS hack, um, tracking blocked ;^) this could indeed be used anywhere you could get an IP... Once again Sprint showing their true color (yellow) by attempting to back haul their traffic over competitors DSL/Cable IP networks for free. Hey Sprint why would you need this? I thought you had the "largest digital network" in the US (yea right ;^). Verizon/TW/Comcast/CV/AT&T will be all over this with the quickness!
John Stracke @ Mar 28th 2007 7:13PM
I love it. Wake me up when they release the GSM version.
Tom @ Mar 28th 2007 8:10PM
The GPS lockout doesn't seem that surprising: the box has to comply with the FCC-equivalent regulations of its country. Different countries use different bands (and many may not allow femtocells).
This makes me suspect that it will not work at all if it can't get a GPS signal.
My question is this: if I get this thing from Sprint, will I use minutes if I'm in range? Will I be providing Sprint service to my neighbors?
Jason @ Mar 28th 2007 10:59PM
This is absolutely brilliant, as Sprint is offloading the cost of network backhauls to residential broadband providers. Sprint needs to be careful, or they are going to be on the fast track to getting "de-peered", as carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and Time Warner are now going to be handling their backhauled traffic.
Jamar @ Mar 29th 2007 7:30AM
All right... this has just killed any appeal this device might have had for me (it would be a boon for those who always complain about Sprint reception in their homes). I want to be able to take this to other countries and use my CDMA phone as I would in the US (I live in China, though- I'd rather have China Unicom carry this device because it costs less to call to the US from China on China Unicom's CDMA service than to roam in China on Sprint CDMA) and it wouldn't hurt in places like Japan and Russia that have a funky form of CDMA that no one else in the world uses. After all, it's going over the internet- why should it cost more). The easy way would be to block GPS data from getting to the unit (easy enough- just keep it far indoors). Sprint wouldn't risk this thing not selling- they'd have an override of some sort ready for those who keep it indoors in places that don't get a GPS signal.
(Note- I apologize for the slight incoherency- I've been up a little late).
TomDelayIsAwesome @ Mar 31st 2007 7:22PM
You forgot Japan, where KDDI runs a nationwide EV-DO network. Australia and New Zealand both have CDMA networks as well. Especially in AU where gsm can't cover as large of an area as CDMA can with less cells. Many other countries have CDMA networks, you can go to www.3gtoday.com to get the current list.
Mark @ May 5th 2007 2:37PM
Any word on when this will be available for purchase?