Review: Mobile High Speed (Mac OS)
Score:
88%
Version Reviewed: 1.00
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Mac users always feel slighted by the world of third party developers and sadly feel no different toward Nokia. Companies develop for the greater market share holder not the better computer and that means Windows PCs get the options and Mac users often get the cold shoulder. Despite having some solid products with their Series 60 line of phones and offering PC users the option of using some of these phones' GPRS connections for internet content when they're out and about on their laptops, Nokia has not created any drivers to allow Mac users this same option. Yes, we can use them as dial-up modems over a bluetooth connection but who wants to keep a dial-up account going for the few times you would ever need one. Enter Nova Media and their Mobile High Speed software.
Like a knight in shining armor Nova Media has come to the rescue of Mac users everywhere with Mobile High Speed for Mac OS 2G. This beautiful little program allows Mac-heads like myself to enjoy the mobile connection that PC users have been able to enjoy from their mobile devices since release and without needing to pay for a separate dial-up account. Perhaps most impressive is how simple it makes the convoluted, confusing world of making such unofficially supported connections. Case and point my 12" PowerBook G4 and my N-Gage.
While the PowerBook works better for almost every other feature of the N-Gage than my Win XP box does (look forward to allaboutngage.com's upcoming Macs N-Gaged article this month) it wasn't able to connect to the internet using my N-Gage's GPRS connection. It needed an old-school dial-up number and the fact is I don't have one. So after struggling with scripts and complicated how-to's on the internet I came across Nova Media and "WOW!" is all I can say.
After installation you simply configure your mac to use your phone as a dial up modem and then run Mobile High Speed. You choose your phone device (some 70+ to choose from) and network (supports 50+ countries worth of networks ranging from Taiwan and China to the US, UK and Israel, you name it) and it does the rest. It configures your standard dial-up system to not dial-up using your phone but to tell your phone using the dial-up interface how to share it's GSM or GPRS connection with your computer. It works beautifully.
The shareware version only works on a GSM network and only at a low connection speed sufficient for little other than e-mail checking but it is totally free. The full version will set you back just under 40 Euros but at that price you get full speed connections using GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and/or HSCSD. My PowerBook running the full registered version now hums along hotspot or not checking e-mail, surfing the net and being connected just as I like.
In short this program combined with a compatible cell phone is THE solution for the Mac user looking to stay connected without the irritation of hunting hotspots or paying the monthly for a dial-up account they rarely need. If that wasn't enough Nova Media also makes a version for the Palm OS allowing the same wonderful connectivity to the Palm user (but whisper it quietly round these parts!). Bravo to you Nova Media. You are in a league of your own and have earned your 88% rating and an AAS "Recommended" Award.
Reviewed by Chris Rydberg at