FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 002 (23/04/96)

EUROPHONE?

I’m considering upgrading my mobile phone. Ideally I want one that will operate abroad as I’ll be travelling to Spain and Germany in the next few months. I understand it’s possible to use a mobile phone to send and receive faxes with a laptop computer, how does this work?

K.D., London SW

A

As far as the phone is concerned you have two options. The most expensive one is a satellite phone. The latest models are the size of a portable PC and cost around £5000. They work anywhere in the world, using the Inmarsat satellite network, calls currently cost £2.38 a minute. The antenna has to be lined up to the satellite every time it’s used, so it’s not possible to take incoming calls whilst on the move. Nevertheless, this is the way mobile telephony is going, affordable hand-portable satellite phones could be available within the next five years.

The practical alternative is a digital GSM phone. GSM or Global System for Mobile communications, networks now operate in over 30 countries around the world. In the UK Cellnet and Vodaphone have ‘roaming’ agreements with most of them  --  including Spain and Germany. Calls to a GSM phone are automatically routed to the country in which it is being used. 

The GSM system supports a simple text handling system, called SMS (short message service) which allows up to 160 characters to be sent to or from many phones. Several models can be used with Psion and Sharp organisers, running software packages such as Telenote and ZR Mail, which makes it easier to compose and store text messages

Most GSM phones can be used with optional PCMCIA data cards and modems, that slot into laptop PCs. In theory all GSM networks support fax and data transmissions. In practice, unless the line is crystal clear and completely stable -- a very rare occurrence -- fax, e-mail and data transmisson can be slow and unreliable. Moreover the equipment is expensive and notoriously difficult to set up and use.  It’s generally quicker and a whole lot easier to connect your PC to a normal phone line, or use the hotel fax machine.

Contacts: Magellan Satellite Phone (01722) 410800; Psion UK 0171-262 5580, Sharp UK (0161) 205 2333,

NET NATTER

I’ve read that it’s posisble to use the net for cheap international two-way telephone calls, how does this work?

M.L., Telford

A

In a nutshell, speech is digitised, compressed and sent around the net to other users with suitable software and hardware. Like any other Internet connection you only pay for the time you’re on-line to your local server, so calls to far-flung places can appear very cheap. However, compressed audio is succeptable to the same kind of bottlenecks, glitches and delays as conventional Web data. Nevertheless performance in improving all the time, and it may be worth investigating if you run up large international phone bills to other PC equipped individuals or companies. There’s more than a dozen software packages on the market, such as Cyberphone, Netspeak, Netphone and Webtalk. Direct Image, are offering their TeleVox software for free (plus the cost of a five-minute download...) drop into their web site at: http://www.directimage.com/

ALL IN THE WRIST

I work from home and sit in front of a computer, typing for up to 8 hours a day. I’ve taken all the obvious precautions -- carefully positioning the screen, comfortable supportive chair and desk -- but what else can I do to avoid developing RSI and other related ailments?

M.S., Folkstone

A

This condition is still not fully understood but it’s clear that at least some of the blame can be attributed to the design and layout of many computer keyboards. Unlike typewriter keyboards, computer key have a short stroke, and the action is  usually less well-damped, resulting in a continual jarring of the finger joints. Computer software also encourages faster typing speeds, which exacerbate the problem.

Several manufacturers have developed alternative keyboards, which are claimed to prevent or alleviate RSI. Most of them employ split-fields, where the keys are divided into two groups, angled towards the users hands. There are also designs that dispense with the traditional QWERTY layout altogether. In the former category there’s the Cherry Ergo Plus, selling for £128: The Keyboard Company 5500, this has an rrp of £145; Microsoft’s Natural Keyboard sells for around £60 (this also has Windows 95 key functions), and the Key Tronic FlexPro, costing £230.  The best-known non-QWERTY input device (it’s not a keyboard as such) is the Maltron, which is shaped and contoured to the users hand, with recesses for the fingers, this costs £395.