Tech Notes from the Field

The two year plan was up. Wow, I have had the Blackberry Bold that long?  Usually I will break a phone within a year. I went through 3 Blackberry’s in 6 months once. This time we decided to jump to 4G.  The decision was to try the new HTC Thunderbolt.

The bottom line is I like it. Nice screen size. Quick. Touch screen is one of the best I’ve user.  The list of applications on the Android Market keeps getting better. At this time I can do pretty much all my work on this device. Will I is the other question.  Oh, did I mention the 32GB microSD card that comes with it? 

After a week of poking around I still like it. I just downloaded a Mind Mapping app to try. I started using a desktop app and this one is claims compatibility. This post is being typed on my device. This gives me the feel of the keyboard and I can check the auto correct feature. So far I like it better than the Apple key pad.

Technically speaking it is fast. 4G wireless and WiFi keeps you connected. It does drop to 3G when 4G is unavailable. It uses WiFi over wireless when available. We did discover, and Verizon is checking it, is what I call wireless confusion. I have gone to a place where both WiFi and wireless are available and the device indicates all good, but I receive a “no data service” available. The trick we use to break this confusion is to with to “Airplane Mode” and the back. As I said Verizon is working on that.

We are experimenting with the WiFi hotspot. We have used tablets, computers, and an iPADs for testing. Surfing and basic stuff works well, but we did find an issue:  VPN connections through the hotspot.
A VPN tunnel is created, but we cannot do anything across it!  No VNC. No telnet. No ping. Needless to say, Verizon is working on that.  I believe they are quite surprised at that finding.
The other thing that bugs me is the VPN client that is on the device. It does not connect to Cisco VPN concentrators!  What is up with that Android folks?  Apple can do it, so what’s your problem?  In either case I still need native Flash capabilities. Apple won’t do it. Android claims it can, but I cannot get to the device I wish to control to test it!  Crazy.

Overall I really like the Thunderbolt. It should make Apple a bit squeamish. As I learn more I will pass along my findings.