Stopping by the woods with an iPhone
CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman experienced noteworthy call continuity with his iPhone 3G in Ogden, Utah, on Sunday.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)OGDEN, Utah--I love my iPhone, but usually, I try not to depend on it keeping a phone call active for that long if I'm moving around much.
But on Sunday, I had what I thought was a noteworthy session of iPhone continuity. On my Road Trip 2009 project, I was here in Ogden, Utah, nestled at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, about an hour north of Salt Lake City.
It was a stunningly beautiful day, and Ogden features hiking trails that go straight up into the canyons of these first few miles of the Wasatches. So I drove the Audi Q7 TDI clean diesel SUV I'm testing up to a parking lot at a trailhead, grabbed some gear, and headed into the hills.
On Road Trip, I'm loaded down with cool gear that I'm testing out, but on this hike, I didn't bring any of it. All I brought was my own personal iPhone 3G and an old Canon PowerShot SD1000.
From the get-go, the iPhone was operating like a champ. It was getting a full 3G signal, allowing me to load up and listen to a terrific 39-minute interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" of John Mellencamp as I walked deeper into a wonderful canyon shrouded with trees and with a slightly ascending trail alongside a small, beautiful creek.
All the while, the iPhone kept the full 3G signal, and even when I had been in the forest for 20 minutes or so, the device was still seamlessly playing back "Fresh Air."
To be sure, the orientation of the canyon trail was a big player here. These mountains are on top of Ogden, a wide, flat city. And so I had easy, line-of-sight access to the 3G signal AT&T was putting out. Still, I've never had that good a signal that deep into a forest before, and I've been on plenty of such trails within sight of San Francisco.
Finally, it was time to head back, though, and as I did, I made a phone call. I was still in the forest, so I didn't really expect it to work, but it went right through. I started having my conversation. I emerged from the woods to a glorious vista of city below and mountains behind, and the signal was strong. Eventually, I made it back to the Q7, all the while still talking on the phone, and got into the car.
I was using my regular iPhone headphones, but when I turned on the engine and removed the headset, the call shifted over, without my having had to do anything, to the Q7's built-in hands-free Bluetooth phone integration. I kept on talking as I drove to my hotel.
When I got there, I turned the car off, put the headset back in, and the call was still active. Again, without my having to do anything. I grabbed my stuff, walked into my hotel, and went up the staircase. Eventually, a few twists and turns through a long hallway later, I opened the door to my room and put my things down. Except the phone. I was still on my call.
Amazing.
And why is it amazing? I mean, after all, it's just several systems doing what they're supposed to, right? Well, that's just it. In my past experience, I would never have predicted that this phone call could continue, from when I first dialed it to when I got to my room, without losing the signal at least once or probably twice.
So what's the lesson? Maybe, despite constantly being let down by it, I should have more faith in technology. It's not often that everything works the way it's supposed to, but when it does, it's actually pretty cool.
For the next several weeks, Geek Gestalt will be on Road Trip 2009. After driving more than 12,000 miles in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last three years, I'll be writing about and photographing the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Colorado. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. And in the meantime, join the Road Trip 2009 Facebook page and follow my Twitter feed.
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel. 
When your amazed that you can make a phone call without your signal dropping once you know your network sucks.
And also no offense to iPhone users but why does it seem like all cnet cares about this thing. I mean now were down to reporting everyday experiences that someone with any phone has... Sorry but its getting a bit out of hand.
I didn't even bother reading the whole article.
The only reason the iPhone is so popular is that the data plan is only 20 bucks, which is way less than the data plan for any other smart phone on ATT, something that I keep waiting for someone to call anti-trust violation on, and because it was the first to the party on the whole touch screen only interface thing. Nifty, but not revolutionary anymore, so let's move on already.
Having the Android powered phone is just as "nifty" and I can only imagine it's because you think open-source, anti-trust, non-megacorporate services are better?
iPhone 3G data plan = $30 + 0 SMS messages
I'm sticking with my iPhone 2G as long as it holds out.
The ability to access the web over 3g while on the phone with someone is worth the $15 a month to me.
Verizon would likely have the iPhone contract with Apple except they made a HUGE strategic blunder by picking CDMA when the rest of the world (except South Korea and a few regions in China) was going with GSM.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2007/01/verizon_turned_/
Hard to understand why Apple made the offer, given Verizon's CDMA tech. Yes, it's true that Verizon's call quality and reliability is superior, but if Apple had done that deal, they would have had to produce two models -- one for USA and another for the rest of the world. So there were significant disadvantages with both carriers.
Given all the whining about AT&T, I wonder if Apple regrets that the deal worked out this way. I'm pretty certain Verizon regrets it.
Verizon may have better coverage in some cities - but it's CDMA! Who wants that nonsense? I LIKE being able to take my phone with me when I travel.
At&t may have the iPhone, but they're doing their best to strangle it and generate a lot of bad will. No MMS, no tethering... ***?? And why lock it to your network if your network is overflowing? Why not sell it unlocked and let people run it using your competitors networks while you continue to collect the exorbitant monthly contract fee? Let those whiners in SF use T-Mobile for awhile and see how they like it. And then I could also use a prepaid local sim card when traveling!
Please realize UK and Japan are a fraction of the size of the United States meaning they have no excuse for not having total coverage.
I don't expect the reception at Furnace Creek in Death Valley to be the same as Shinjuku station, but the reception in lower Manhattan or SF should be. (And no, there is no cellular reception at Furnace Creek.)
where are the editors when you need them?
kind of surprised you didn't sense the need to tone it down a bit, and just put "some tunes" or the more detached "audio content." I wouldn't really hold where someone works and lives against them, but referencing your previous experiences outside of San Francisco doesn't really help matters here. Don't get me wrong, the very same tidbits could very accurately describe some of my own experiences, but I can pretty much guarantee you I wouldn't include them in a story about my cell reception. Such superfluous information makes it seem like lessor a story about the cell reception and effortless capability of Bluetooth technology and more of a story about just which products and services you choose to consume from whom more generally. It smacks of the sort of self-deffinition through branding that makes me want to smash my face against a brickwall. (The Bluetooth integration does sound awesome though, and since I have had basically zero problems with reception on the iPhone I'm using to read and comment on this article, the odds of my purchasing a Q7 or similarly equipped vehicle from Audi or another manufacterer have been increased.)
- by ColonelKlink July 7, 2009 1:08 PM PDT
- Regular long-distance driver. Try traveling a bit further north (or south) on I-15. Once out of the 'greater' Ogden/SLC area the GSM signal becomes intermittent/non-existent. In contrast to a CDMA phone (Verizon) which still allows a call.
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