Post: #26

(02-09-2011 05:17 PM)torontokid Wrote:  Mixx, do you have the Tru sim card or just the app?

I just have the iphone app - and love it!

Mixx

Post: #27

(02-09-2011 04:34 PM)Moma Wrote:  Why not get a 3 year contract? I like my company anyway and I don't see any other that comes close. My plan is great.

No-contract rates are better; I'm saving roughly $20 a month on T-Mobile by not using contract plans.

Post: #28

The truphone.com sim looks sweet. This could save a lot of hassles if you are on a whirlwind tour like I am planning. Nice find Mixx! As far as phones i did save about $350 off of an iphone4 for the same storage and with a faster processor with my Global 2 without any jailbreaking though. It all comes down to what you want/need.

How are you saving your Pandora's to MP3?

Post: #29

(02-09-2011 08:36 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  No-contract rates are better; I'm saving roughly $20 a month on T-Mobile by not using contract plans.

How would a no-contract rate be better? The fact that you are committed to a contract usually means they will bring the price down. Please bear in mind that I am in Canada and the deals suck compared to the US.

My plan with Fido is pretty sick. For about 55 bucks a month, I get unlimited calling and texting to anywhere in North America while I am anywhere in CANADA. I really find that hard to beat since it is my only line and with my business, I need to be constantly making and receiving calls.

I might just pay the extra to get a data plan, maybe 6 gigs or something and put the home internet on hiatus and tether off of my laptop whenever I need to use the net.

Anyone else do that?

Post: #30

(02-09-2011 05:31 PM)MiXX Wrote:  

(02-09-2011 05:17 PM)torontokid Wrote:  Mixx, do you have the Tru sim card or just the app?

I just have the iphone app - and love it!

Mixx

If I'm thinking correctly, the app uses VOIP. Does that mean you can only use it in wifi? Or do you get a local sim card with data and use it with that.

I'm somewhat confused by this, but it does sound interesting.

Post: #31

(02-10-2011 10:12 AM)Moma Wrote:  How would a no-contract rate be better?

Because here in US we have number porting, which means you can charge your phone carrier and keep your original phone number. Do you have it in Canada?

This means that if a competitor carrier provides a better terms than I have now, I can switch easily with about 3hr downtime; there is no hassle to notify everyone about your new phone number. Which means that my carrier must match the cheapest offer around to keep me. However if you have contract, you cannot switch, so the carrier has no incentive to provide you with a better plan until you renew the contract.

Quote:My plan with Fido is pretty sick. For about 55 bucks a month, I get unlimited calling and texting to anywhere in North America while I am anywhere in CANADA.

I'm paying $90 for three lines, two of them with unlimited traffic with 700 min cap (of which we never go over 400). Blocking all text messaging is free.

Post: #32

(02-10-2011 06:21 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  Because here in US we have number porting, which means you can charge your phone carrier and keep your original phone number. Do you have it in Canada?

This means that if a competitor carrier provides a better terms than I have now, I can switch easily with about 3hr downtime; there is no hassle to notify everyone about your new phone number. Which means that my carrier must match the cheapest offer around to keep me. However if you have contract, you cannot switch, so the carrier has no incentive to provide you with a better plan until you renew the contract.

The problem with Canada is that there is not as much competition as the states. There is number porting but the competition out there have inferior technology to the main carriers which are Rogers, Bell and Telus. The competition sucks so much that the main competition won't even cut you a deal in general so I am not impressed.

I used to live in Europe and I found the technology in Canada very appalling. I used to have two phones on me in Europe with my original company and another company for those who were on one 2 one.

Can't do that here.

I'll call them soon and rig up the iphone 4 with a 3 year contract. I see no other choice and I'll be dammed if I am paying 800 bucks for a fcuking phone that will become redundant in half a year.

Post: #33

After reading the Playa Phone thread below and the article that Tynan wrote on his Life Nomadic blog about his rather elaborate phone system setup, I got to thinking about what would be the ideal set-up. How would you setup up your version of the best phone system?

Say the parameters are that you would like to be able to call back to the USA (or whatever your home country) very often for business/pleasure, that you would like to be able to keep the same local numbers that you collect on your local phones you get while traveling, and that you would like to be able to keep working the numbers you collect even when you have returned home so that when you come back to the countries that you still have a social circle thing going with the people you met on your previous travels.

Picture it as being able to be dropped in London , Prague, or Tokyo on a moments notice and still being able to have a pack of women and friends ready for you when you get there. What phone system would best facilitate that ideal?

Post: #34

A phone with dual sim.

Post: #35

(02-13-2011 10:26 AM)achilles616 Wrote:  After reading the Playa Phone thread below and the article that Tynan wrote on his Life Nomadic blog about his rather elaborate phone system setup, I got to thinking about what would be the ideal set-up. How would you setup up your version of the best phone system?

Say the parameters are that you would like to be able to call back to the USA (or whatever your home country) very often for business/pleasure, that you would like to be able to keep the same local numbers that you collect on your local phones you get while traveling, and that you would like to be able to keep working the numbers you collect even when you have returned home so that when you come back to the countries that you still have a social circle thing going with the people you met on your previous travels.

Picture it as being able to be dropped in London , Prague, or Tokyo on a moments notice and still being able to have a pack of women and friends ready for you when you get there. What phone system would best facilitate that ideal?

What I have been using for years is this VoIP service called Call With Us (http://www.callwithus.com) This is hands down the most feature rich telephony website out there. Its like having your very own TelCo company. What I like the most about this service is that it is SIP compliant unlike Skype, Magic Jack and TruPhone meaning that it will work with any SIP complaint VOIP adapter. VOIP adapters come in all shape and forms and can be software or hardware. Android for example has a ton of them that work quite well. It also supports VPN in case the network or country you are with blocks VOIP, Skype ports. It is strictly pre paid and the only monthly service you pay is if you want a DID(Direct inward dialing) number.

For example, let's say you have a stable of hoes in Dominican Republic, Argentina and Brazil. You can go to that site and order a local # in each one of those countries and have those calls forwarded to just about any phone number or VOIP adapter you want. There are DID numbers to just about any country in the world. The cost of those DID varies according how entrenched the local Telco is but its usually $4 to $7 a month and includes 2,000 "free" incoming minutes. The free incoming minutes only apply to VOIP adapters, if forward calls to a "real" # they will charge you whatever the per minute rate is(http://www.callwithus.com/showrates). You can use this for pipe lining girls who don't have internet at home. Just give them a local # to call you on and you are good to go(you'll get a local landline number not mobile so its even cheaper for her to call you so no text messages). This also works in reverse, you can have a local # in the US and will forward the calls to your local cell phone.

Also, you can use the local # as a sort of mini calling card system. You can configure you DID so when you call your local # it prompts you for a number to dial and then it will connect your call to whatever number you want. This is good in places where the Internet is too unreliable to support a VOIP session i.e. Satellite Internet, over saturated Wifi
connections. There have a shit load of more features Call ID spoofing, SMS messages, etc.

Post: #36

Good stuff PWP, sadly, Colombia is not a country where I can get a DID, my primary hunting grounds. I think with all the information on this thread, there is no reason why ANYONE is paying top $$$ for International calls today!

Btw, your link above for rates is broken:

http://www.callwithus.com/showrates

Mixx

Post: #37

(02-23-2011 10:14 AM)MiXX Wrote:  Good stuff PWP, sadly, Colombia is not a country where I can get a DID, my primary hunting grounds. I think with all the information on this thread, there is no reason why ANYONE is paying top $$$ for International calls today!

Btw, your link above for rates is broken:

http://www.callwithus.com/showrates

Mixx

Didx has DID numbers in Colombia(http://www.didx.net/did/ShowCountry/Country/46). You can configured DIDx to foward your calls to Callwithus servers and then have those calls forwarded to your voip adapter and/or IPhone SIP program( I heard Acrobits is good and works over 3G and WiFi) so when the ladies call your Colombian DID # your iPhone will ring regardless where in the world your are provided you have an internet connection. just keep in mind that call quality is only as good as your underlying internet 3G/WiFi connection.

Post: #38

(02-23-2011 03:19 PM)playa_with_a_passport Wrote:  

(02-23-2011 10:14 AM)MiXX Wrote:  Good stuff PWP, sadly, Colombia is not a country where I can get a DID, my primary hunting grounds. I think with all the information on this thread, there is no reason why ANYONE is paying top $$$ for International calls today!

Btw, your link above for rates is broken:

http://www.callwithus.com/showrates

Mixx

Didx has DID numbers in Colombia(http://www.didx.net/did/ShowCountry/Country/46). You can configured DIDx to foward your calls to Callwithus servers and then have those calls forwarded to your voip adapter and/or IPhone SIP program( I heard Acrobits is good and works over 3G and WiFi) so when the ladies call your Colombian DID # your iPhone will ring regardless where in the world your are provided you have an internet connection. just keep in mind that call quality is only as good as your underlying internet 3G/WiFi connection.

Oohh this is MONEY!!! +1

Hey, I was browsing through the didx site, and it looks like you have to be an Internet Phone service provider to sign-up for a DID. Did I understand that right?

Mixx

Post: #39

(02-25-2011 09:57 AM)MiXX Wrote:  

(02-23-2011 03:19 PM)playa_with_a_passport Wrote:  

(02-23-2011 10:14 AM)MiXX Wrote:  Good stuff PWP, sadly, Colombia is not a country where I can get a DID, my primary hunting grounds. I think with all the information on this thread, there is no reason why ANYONE is paying top $$$ for International calls today!

Btw, your link above for rates is broken:

http://www.callwithus.com/showrates

Mixx

Didx has DID numbers in Colombia(http://www.didx.net/did/ShowCountry/Country/46). You can configured DIDx to foward your calls to Callwithus servers and then have those calls forwarded to your voip adapter and/or IPhone SIP program( I heard Acrobits is good and works over 3G and WiFi) so when the ladies call your Colombian DID # your iPhone will ring regardless where in the world your are provided you have an internet connection. just keep in mind that call quality is only as good as your underlying internet 3G/WiFi connection.

Oohh this is MONEY!!! +1

Hey, I was browsing through the didx site, and it looks like you have to be an Internet Phone service provider to sign-up for a DID. Did I understand that right?

Mixx

My bad, Fly Number does retail ( http://www.flynumber.com/pricing ) This site has a comprehensive list of DID providers ( http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/DID+S...+Providers ). What I wrote before still applies.

Post: #40

I just wanted to add something new to this thread for Iphone 3GS and Iphone 4 owners. You can now download an app called "talkatone"

http://www.talkatone.com/

Now, what this app does, is it allows you to take the flynumber suggest by PWP above, and forward it to your google talk/voice account, which now rings your iphone. The beauty of this, is that it is free to forward it to your iphone talkatone app using google talk account i.e [email protected] (not my real e-mail guys, just an example), and it works on both WI-FI and 3G extremely WELL with a yearly subscription of 20USD. When you receive a call, your cell phone will ring as any other call.

If you choose, you can even downgrade your AT&T plan to the lowest plan available, and use Talkatone to make/receive calls too. I cut my cell phone bill in haff by doing this.

** You can also forward it to a regular google voice (not google talk) number or any US phone number, but it will charge a per minute rate for this option.
Now, my set-up is complete. I have girls locally in Bogota, Cali calling me as if I were in Cali/Bogota myself.

** Do not confuse this with the Google Voice app. The GV app MUST have a regular number to call you back, and then make your call - which of course, will eat up you local cell minutes. Talkatone fixes this.

Mixx

Post: #41

My Set Up -

Iphone 3G - Unlocked & Jailbroken was using this 100%

Unlocked Blackberry - new addition only because I'm in the Dominican Republic and everybody an there mother has a blackberry, and I finally figured out why.

BBM (Blackberry Messenger) which is basically a IM for blackberries only but the main point is it's FREE to send and receive all the time.

Does not use text from minutes or cell plan, so many of the woman have no credits on their phones but they can use BBM all the time, and BB works worldwide so lets say I'm in the states or europe and I want to send a message to my stable it's free and free for me to respond. Alot of latin countries women have em, because it is free, they can keep in touch with family all over the world with BBM free.

I have missed a few bootycalls cause the chick didnt have any more credits on cell and me either and I wasn't gonna run around looking to buy a refill card at 2am. But with BBM its not a problem.

Also I can get numbers faster, I just give em my pin and go, if they send a message its 80% chance I'm F$*$ing, if they don't no worries.

Plus when I pull out the iphone its draws alot of unwanted attention because the phones and the plans are alot more expensive for iphones than blackberries.

To Make Calls to USA

Skype - for business only

Google Voice - for family & friends (unlimited free calling to usa, canada, plus free text and I get email notifications, then when I'm in the states I use google voice app on iphone so still same number)

Post: #42

Also use google sync on iphone and BB to keep contacts backed up to gmail in case I lose one phone and I always have access to my numbers.

Post: #43

For travel I just use my Nokia unlocked non contract phone and pick up local SIMs wherever I am. It's not a smart phone but it works for texting and calling locals and it's pretty much non existant for me to call home when on the road anyway, email works fine.

Have been considering picking up a smart phone because of the ton of useful features they have on them, such as having your boarding pass on the phone, language translators, google maps, GPS, currency converters etc, all the sort of things that can be useful when in a foreign country. However, I don't want to get locked into a contract and the price charged for most of these smart phones is scandalous tbh.

Say I did by an iphone 4, can I get it unlocked easy enough and stick any SIM card from around the world in it? When I'm using a local SIM can I still access the net and apps n stuff or not?

Post: #44

Ok guys im finally getting a phone today.

I was choosing between the Iphone4 and the Galaxy S2 but think im gonna go with the Iphone4.

For it being better for listening to music, better re-sale value, smaller, and better quality materials.

Mixx what was the app for downloading directly off Pandora? Also is there something similar like that for downloading Youtube songs to your Iphone?

Now Im gonna need to get it set up right.

So far these are the things I know I need to do off the top of my head:

Unlock/Jailbreak it

StrongVPN account for accessing things outside of the US

MSN Messenger for all my Colombianas

Skype

Truphone

Google Voice

So much shit I gotta learn about this, will be very busy the next coming days! lol

Post: #45

(09-21-2011 09:26 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  Mixx what was the app for downloading directly off Pandora?

http://www.bitcartel.com/pandorajam/

(09-21-2011 09:26 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  Also is there something similar like that for downloading Youtube songs to your Iphone?

If there is, I've never heard of it, so do post if you find one.

(09-21-2011 09:26 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  So far these are the things I know I need to do off the top of my head:

Unlock/Jailbreak it

StrongVPN account for accessing things outside of the US

MSN Messenger for all my Colombianas

Skype

Truphone

Google Voice

So much shit I gotta learn about this, will be very busy the next coming days! lol

Yup. Everything above, I have set-up for myself.

Mixx

Post: #46

Good look Mixx!

Post: #47

For my local 4 band cheap GSM phone, I use a Samsung B2100 (B2710 is also good). For $90-140 you get a WATERPROOF unlocked phone that can take abuse (and has a flashlight). Very helpful when your travelling, especially in wet area's like south east asia. After travelling around there, I want everything to be practically waterproof. Waterproof backpack, waterproof phone, waterproof camera, etc.

Waterproof camera's are also really nice when you want to take pictures of snorkeling or on the beach and not have to fucking worry about the thing. A good one is the Panasonic DMC-TS3. It also has GPS so you can automatically catalog your photos by cities, and 1080p videos, very nice. Even if you have something like a Sony NEX or other large sensor camera/SLR, bring the waterproof camera for the beach and snorkeling, you'll regret not doing so when your there.

Also something rather subtle but really useful when your travelling in a bind is a Alkaline/Ni-MH AA battery -> USB charger. Lets you charge your phone in a bind with world wide available & cheap AA batteries. MAHA POPS is one that's available on ebay for ~$20. I would of preferred the Eneloop Stick Booster, but it only accepts Ni-MH batteries to charge other devices. This device is actually pretty hard to find.

Real power surge protectors are also another thing, but you'll need to carry two sets to travel the world that the extra weight would probably not be worth it.

I used call with us. The quality sucks bad and the interface annoying. Just use local SIM cards and unless you have a business, have people just call your SIM card number with skype or similar.