Wireless Information for RVers
Below are links to web pages with information on wireless communications issues of interest to RVers.
Wireless e-mail - Using a cell phone and laptop to access e-mail on the road
EMail2ME - New way to wirelessly access e-mail from a cell phone
GPS2ME - NEW! Connect a GPS directly to a cell phone and find nearby businesses.
RV version of GPS2ME
We need your suggestions. We are planning a version of GPS2ME (see link above) specifically for RVers. This means by connecting an inexpensive GPS to a Java enabled cell phone RVers could easily find the nearest camp ground, state park, RV service center, etc. And since the information comes directly from the Internet, you don't have to worry about it being dated like you do with CD based information on a PC. We also plan to add real-time diesel fuel price information in our next release.
GPS2ME can easily be used in an RV and/or a tow vehicle too. GPS2ME even works without a GPS attached. It will "remember" the last location it read from the GPS and use it for searches or you can manually enter any city/state/ZIP for searches.
GPS2ME (and our planned RV version) allows a user to send his location to someone else via a text message to their cell phone. A great way to let the folks back home know where you are...exactly where you are. We intend to add the ability to send the user's location via e-mail in the next version. This e-mail would contain a link that displays a map of the sender's location.
So....we would like you to e-mail us (see the e-mail link below) with any GPS/Internet enabled feature ideas you might have for our dedicated RV version of GPS2ME. Like finding the nearest state park, cheapest diesel fuel near you, etc. Think "out of the box" and give us some ideas.
Wireless E-mail with a Java enabled cell phone
We will be releasing a new Java enabled cell phone application called EMail2ME in April. So far we have successfully tested it with several free e-mail servers (and others that charge for e-mail).
For example, E-OmniNet offers free e-mail (and other services). By signing up with them (there are others) you would have the ability to either access your e-mail from their web site (like some RVers do from PCs in libraries or their own PC) or wirelessly from your cell phone.
So what will this cost? Our EMail2ME application is $19.95 (one time purchase fee, no monthly charges), an e-mail service such as E-OmniNet is free, you won't need to pay an ISP's monthly access fees but you will need to pay for data service from your cell phone carrier. Data service costs will vary from carrier to carrier, but starts as low as VoiceStream's $2.99/mo for 1MB of data up to around $60/mo for an "all you can use" data plan offered by some carriers.
What is a Java enabled phone anyway?
If you haven't seen one yet, get ready because they are taking over the cell phone world. A Java enabled cell phone is one that allows the user to load and run small Java programs. They typically have enough memory to hold a half dozen programs of the user choosing. Most of the available applications today are games and simple calculators. But that's changing rapidly as companies like FutureRoads developes content delivery, productivity and business applications.
The first carrier to offer J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) enabled handsets was Nextel in the Spring of 2001. Nextel now has a half dozen Java enabled handsets starting as low as $50 and has just announced a color display version to be available this summer. Why would you need a color display? Well, besides the obvious use by games, how about being able to view the current weather radar or even a live traffic cam. We can do this now with our J2ME applications but color displays will make these capabilities much more useable.
Since Nextel released their Java phones it seems everyone is getting on the bandwagon. Other carriers such as VoiceStream, Sprint and Cingular will be offering Java enabled phones later this year. This link will show you a list of the latest Java enabled phones.
How is a Java enabled phone different from Internet enabled WAP phones?
WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) enabled phones have not been well received. Do you know anyone that regularly uses theirs? The reason is that WAP is not user friendly. WAP is menu driven, so getting to information you are looking for usually requires going through menu after menu after menu. Access to web sites require them to be "WAP enabled"...and not many are.
A Java enabled phone can be viewed like your PC. You can load whatever programs fit your needs. So you get to decide if you want games, calculators, e-mail programs, GPS enabled programs or business programs on your phone. And Java applications can be created that are very user friendly, display graphics like digital pictures, web cams, maps and weather radar. Applications can run totally in the phone (no Internet connection required), like calculators or games, or be Internet enabled and linked to selected web site content or even "talk" to attached peripherials like a GPS.
And this of course is just the beginning. Phones you will be seeing later this year will have color displays, play MIDI sound files, have FM radios built-in and even digital cameras. That cell phone on your belt will soon be used for much more than making voice calls.