By John R. Ghysels, Special to Technology-Report.com

You are in the wilderness, sneaking up on game with senses 1000x more powerful than your own. Or, you could be preparing your own highly trained squad of paintball commados to assault the enemy stronghold, or simply trying to rally your family at Epcot. Either way, cheap toy-grade walkie talkies hardly give you the edge in today’s digital world.  Yet, cellular signals stop in rural areas and the big monthly fees for Nextel or regular cellular can really add up once you get a few units going. In keeping with our usual fugal sensibilities here at Technology-Report, we suspect that, for a single work site or family outting, these nifty rigs may fit the bill for both the sensible cheapskate and smart small-business person alike. 

These are TriSquare’s latest and most powerful Digital eXRS two-way radios. We spotted these impressive Walkie Talkies at CES, and spent a bit of time interviewing the company president and the friendly, knowledgable team who came in from Kansas City for the show. We plan on some extensive, and challenging, comparison field tests soon. 

“Text Me”

So far, we’ve seen that these WT’s are built well, with surprisingly advanced technology. These unique radios bring cellular features to the Walkie Talkie market, without expensive cell fees, all for a price identical to most conventional 2 way radio units. Intriguing features include texting between units, offering silent, reliable messaging for fun as well as stealth.  They also incorporate real privacy by utilizing “frequency hopping” digital signals, just like most of today’s cellular phones. The bottom line is that these things are impossible to eavesdrop on by typical yo-yo’s with radio scanners, like, say, the staff at TR (and we’ve heard plenty on the open frequencies used by conventional radios).  

Like new, Digital (HD) TV, the digital signal is said to be robust and comes punching through even in crowded conditions. It would be nice to be able to get through reliably on the impossibly congested channels TR’s users have encountered in theme parks, large public events or even within the tourist areas of cities like Las Vegas and San Francisco. There, the simple “privacy codes” of conventional radios can’t cope, forcing frustrated communicators to channel hop while fighting through interference. 

Military (likely) Grades these an “A”

What’s really surprising is that these radios are nearly military grade in their ability to protect privacy. In a way, it’s a shame we didn’t see more of them during the dark, early days of Iraq (they may have been there, but we didn’t “see” them on the newsreels).

Many folks back home noticed that, during the first couple of years of the conflict, service people quickly and quietly adopted civilian walkie talkies for official convoy work and security details, in place of non-existent and non-issued military gear. 

Military commaders became concerned when it was reported that once Soldiers and Marines started sporting FRS Radios on their tunics, many enjoyed them greatly and became noisy chatterboxes, just like us civilians. Radio scanners soon appeared in many AQ hideouts, as the bad guys tracked American convoys and patrols.  These inexpensive TriSquare rigs could have easily met soldiers’ needs for security, as many commanders banned the handy, but insecure, conventional GMRS radios, even if it meant using nothing. 

Today, the military has finally issued its own digital radios. Still, privacy continues to be a serious consideration in the peace time world for many parents, companies, security firms and others. 

No Licence required

Which brings us to another interesting point with these rigs. They require no licence, and the FCC regulations for these channels place no official retrictions on their use, unlike standard GMRS radios. Many folks don’t realize that GMRS radios are limited to family and private, personal use only, and require a $80 licence from the FCC. While many ignore the requirement, it will be a comfort to some, particularly commercial users, that the licence, and its fees, are waived when using these 2-way radios.  

We are really looking forward to working with these rigs in the field soon, and will pass along what we find to our readers.

John Ghysels, 01/22/09

2 Way Radio, CES, Cellphones, Walkie Talkies, gadgets, technology, wireless 2 way radios, Cheap Cellular, commerical radios, eXRS, hunting radios, no licence radio, outdoor radios, Radios, TriSquare, TSX300, Walkie Talkies

Palm just released the product many have been anxiously awaiting, their new Smartphone the Palm “Pre” which uses Palm’s new operating system called Nova.    Engadget is reporting from the Palm press conference and has a good and postive early review of the Pre, which Palm is desparately hoping will resurrect their flagging Smartphone market share which has been dropping since the Palm Treo’s early successes in this niche.

Palm needed a knockout phone and this could be the ticket – anxious to handle one later in the conference and I’ll have more to say then.

Here’s Engaget’s first look at this amazing new mobile device.

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Although some might say the Instinct and HTC Dream rival the iPhone in terms of form and function, they clearly do not appear to pose much threat to the iPhone and Blackberry Smartphone dominance.  However in 2009 Nokia will broadly launch the N97, a virtual mini computer that some think could be a serious rival to the iPhone. As seen in this Nokia promotion video, the N97 is a stylish full featured smartphone with a full mini keyboard and some other amenities lacking in Apple’s iPhone. However, at the current street pricing of about $800 for unlocked units the N97 will have to be sold at a significantly lower price to dent the iPhone and Blackberry’s reputation as the best phones in their class.

Cellphones, mobile blackberry, iphone, N97, nokia

Finally, the Jawbone has great background noise cancellation, so people can hear you without road noise. I’m surpised how many clients ask me if I’m actually driving, while wearing my Jawbone.
In all, I would suggest you go for quality over price in getting a headset, especially if you are in a headset mandatory state. It’s worth the extra money for easy, fast pairings and a reliable signal. Cellular phones are bad enough without having to worry about a bad bluetooth adding to your connection problems.

Note that sources for Technology-Report have informed us that the traditional model, pictured above, seems to fit better on the ear than newer, smaller Jawbone models.  Fit is critical, so be sure to keep this in mind. If you are ordering mail-order, consider going with the old model, or go to a store that will allow you to try one out. 

–John Ghysels 12/4/2008

Cellphones, Product Reviews, Uncategorized, bluetooth, gadgets, headphones, wireless Aliph, bluetooth, headsets, Jawbone, te