Browsing the web on a Windows Mobile smartphone.Having NOAA charts on our smartphone means that we have them with us no matter where we go. Sitting at the marina bar chatting with a fellow boater who mentions a great anchorage, we can take out our smartphone, look at the location on a NOAA chart and even place a marker. If either of us becomes bored while standing in line at the grocery store, we can take out the smartphone and look at our route for the next day.
Possibly our favorite use is navigating to and from the boat, using the smartphone as a navigation device for our dinghy. It has been a godsend when coming back from dinner in the dark, and we always mark our position on the smartphone before leaving the boat. Whether using it to navigate up a stream or to a nearby beach, it allows us to explore our surroundings with added confidence. With the many car navigation applications available, you can also use the smartphone to get to the nearest grocery store or find your way back to the town dock after a hike.
Of course, there are many, many other applications you may wish to use. You can do document creation, bill paying, list creation, maintenance reminders and we can't forget games. A game of solitaire can go a long way to keeping you awake during a midnight watch.
ActiveCaptain Mobile on a Palm smartphone.CHOOSING A PHONE
The first step on this journey is to assess the phone and the plan that you have and decide whether to upgrade. We will be covering the different types of smartphones and platforms in more detail later in the series. For now a definition of each type will give you a basic understand of what is available.
Feature Phones offer very limited capabilities for adding software other than simple programs called JAVA apps, which are usually games. Most users will be limited to what the phone manufacturers equip their phones to do. The applications included are general in nature, such as calendars or contact lists, and they don't include boating specific applications.
These phones may still be feature rich; that's why they're called Feature Phones and not Dumb Phones. But they generally do not allow you to access your email, browse the web and do many other productive tasks. Many users find these phones simpler to use, because what runs on the phone is limited.
However, if you have read this far, we're assuming you are interested in using your mobile phone for more than making phone calls and playing games. You want access to the boating specific applications that are emerging, and for this you will need a smartphone.
Smartphones are phones with standard operating systems such as Palm OS, Windows Mobile or Symbian, which allow you to add third-party software applications, much like you can to a computer. There are literally thousands of applications to choose from, which provides you with far greater flexibility than a feature phone and lets you take advantage of new and emerging applications and functions. They generally support real email directly on the phone, as well as light web browsing.
Smartphones typically have faster processors and larger, high-resolution screens. Many now include full QWERTY keyboards. Most can be used to connect your laptop to the Internet. These phones are themselves approaching miniature laptops, with robust and powerful applications running in the palm of your hand. In fact, we saw a documentary on the first moon shot that stated there is more computing power in today's typical smartphone than there was on the Apollo 11 spacecraft!
Some examples of feature phones. While smartphones certainly offer far greater flexibility and power, they also require a bit more technical savvy and they are generally – but not always – more expensive. Care must be taken when selecting and installing software to ensure your phone continues to work properly. But with new and improved applications appearing daily, this device can easily become an indispensable tool on your boat.
CHOOSING A PROVIDER
Before you begin looking at phones, it makes sense to look at providers and their plans. All of the major carriers have a wide variety of phones to select from, so it makes sense to first look at providers and the price of their plans. Let's look at the 4 major U.S. carriers and the networks they support.
Most people are familiar with the major mobile carriers, such as Verizon and AT&T, but few people are aware that there are two main standards for all mobile phone networks: GSM and CDMA. Which one you choose can be important, particularly if you will be taking your boat outside the U.S. or if you wish to use different phones with the same mobile phone number. (For a Glossary of terms, see link.)
CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. CDMA networks are more common in the U.S. than in the rest of the world, and CDMA phones do not use "SIM" cards, which makes it more difficult to move your mobile phone number to another phone. CDMA typically has the best sound quality and data service. If you have no plans to take your boat outside the U.S. and no need to use your mobile number on different phones, a CDMA network will work fine for you.
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile communications. This is the most common networking standard for mobile phones in the world. If you travel internationally and need to use your network, this is the type of service you should consider. A GSM phone will come with a SIM card that is used to identify your phone on the network. You can move your SIM to another GSM phone and your mobile number will be active on that phone.
