So today I’ve got a bit of news about Cumbria leading the way in the internet (well, sort of) and something you might find interesting if you use a Doro smartphone.
First, have you heard of 5G? Not sure what it is? Well, the short answer is it’s one better than 4G…
Do you know what I mean by 4G? It’s the type of mobile connection you usually use for browsing the internet nowadays, if you’re not at home or using wi-fi in a cafe or wherever.
There’s also still 3G in some areas, which is a little bit slower (and older).
And of course there are some areas where you struggle to get any of them.
Anyway, when they started developing the new, improved type of mobile connection they called it 5G – sensibly enough.
(I’m still confused by Microsoft having named their versions of Windows 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10.)
The aim is to have 5G running around a lot of the country by 2020. And this year there are some tests running in a few select locations – including Cumbria.
Part of the difference is simply that 5G will be faster than 4G or 3G. And for most people, that might not make much difference. But the aim is also to make it usable for more things.
So for example they plan to make it easier to use as a replacement for home broadband, for example if you live in a place that doesn’t have broadband (or where it’s really slow or unreliable).
They’re also testing using it in farming – using drones (little helicopter things) that can be controlled from the ground by 5G, which means they can fly further away than existing drones. That could be useful for anything from checking the state of fields to check on sheep that are spread right across the fells.
There are also some uses in tourism, to use it to give information about places wherever you are more quickly and easily.
Oh and on top of that, the aim is that the technology will use far less power than existing technology, both for the transmitters and what-not and for the phones connecting to it.
The only snag for now is that you can’t actually use it until the tests are done and it’s set up “for real”…
If you use a Doro Smartphone
I’ve mentioned before about Doro smartphones. They’re designed to be easier to use than normal smartphones and to be honest I suppose they succeed – up to a point.
But they’re still not always as straightforward as you might like… and they can still leave you pulling your hair out when you can’t get it to do what you want!
Which is why we get a constant stream of people asking on the phones “Do you do a book on Doros?” and when we say “No, sorry” we then get “Please can you write one?”
We’ve tried mentioning one or two of the manuals currently available from other places and some people do get on with them. But plenty of others don’t, saying they’re just not as helpful – what they want is one of my books.
Well, that’s pretty flattering! So I’ve finally put aside some time to take my existing smartphone book and make a Doro version of it.
It’s not in stock yet but I’ve sent it to print and it should be here shortly, so it is now available to order.
You can read more, including what’s covered, who it’s suitable for and how to get a copy here.
Of course, if you don’t have a Doro (and don’t have friends who have one that you might want to tell about this), then you can ignore this completely!
Hi Tim, this isn’t really a comment as such, because I just want to say “thank You “ to explain further, I am in my eighties and though I can use my iPad in a minimal way, e mails being my main concern, I am certainly
not clever or knowledgeable about it. The reason for my heartfelt thanks is because, you do us oldies the courtesy of realising that old age doesn’t necessarily equate with stupidity. I sometimes wish thar I were six years old, it would be part of my normal life then !. Thank you once more for not talking down to us. Sincerely, Audrey Harland.