SQL to cell (Re: USB-Serial adapter success stories? )

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (Rich Braun)]

I just went through a similar ordeal under Win98.  If you've ever tried to
hook up your cell phone to a computer, you've seen that the cell-phone
industry just simply doesn't get it when it comes to open standards.

They want to rope you into a monthly payment on a 2-year plan that disguises
all the kickbacks paid to overpriced equipment suppliers.  Then on top of that
they want to lock you into overpriced add-ons for everything from batteries to
earbuds to data cables, all of which work with exactly one style of phone and
all of which you can expect to throw away and buy all over again when your
phone disintegrates of premature old age (long before your 2-year plan
commitment expires).

I invested roughly 50 hours of my time to come out with the following result: 
I can now download my address book (contained in a MySQL database on my
Linux-based mail server) by first exporting it to Outlook, then invoking Nokia
PC Sync on a Win98 box, then activating the IrDA adapter on my Nokia 6340i
phone.

This stuff should all be standardized across all phones and all computers.  It
should *not* be a major ordeal.

I'll give credit to Nokia for getting rid of one headache:  they decided to
support IrDA, which is a standard across platforms and doesn't require a
proprietary data cable.  In theory, I could ditch Windows and Outlook in favor
of a Linux-only solution.  In practice, I haven't found any way to do that.

One catch with IrDA is that it's truly obscure.  And I had to do a lot of
digging around to figure out that you have to go into network control panel to
change the "Infrared Transceiver Type" under "Advanced settings" of the
"SigmaTel USB-IrDA Dongle Properties" from default ("Infineon") to "SigmaTel
4000" which is one of 5 available options.  The symptom, if you don't change
that setting (about 3 times to make it "stick" with a reboot in between each)
is that the device comes up but acts flaky.  I went back to Microcenter about
3 times buying various experimental solutions before going back to my first
solution once I figured out that the problem was in software rather than
hardware.

An IrDA adapter is very similar to the device discussed in this thread here on
the BLU list.  It plugs into your USB port and converts a 115.2Kbps serial
data stream for use on the PC.  You can get one for about $15 off eBay (that's
what I did) or $30 at MicroCenter (they were out of stock for a week but they
did restock it).

Would love a solution that allows one to sync a MySQL list into my cell phone
via a Linux IrDA adapter.  But the hybrid Linux/Windows solution I describe
above should work for you if you've been itching to keep a current phone list
in your cell phone (it's *wonderful* having all my numbers with me all the
time, without having to carry a separate PDA or a bulky Palm-based phone).

The 6340i is a GAIT phone for Cingular's Boston-area GSM network.  Works far
better than my old TDMA phone; was surprised to see just how fast they've been
able to roll out a superior GSM network over the past 6 or 12 months.  I'm
practically always in range of a tower, which was not the case for TDMA in
most of Somerville or Boston's South End.  The phone can hold 500 names, with
up to 5 phone number slots for each.

I could probably figure out how to do a Linux direct-to-cell via USB/serial
adapter if I could get hold of the protocol specs for Nokia and/or Motorola
downloads.  Have not been able to find those, they may be unpublished but it
wouldn't be hard for someone to reverse-engineer the protocol using a data
analyzer.

When will these companies "get it" and do the right thing--support the open
source movement--so more people can do simple stuff like carry a phone list in
their cell phone?

-rich