Peterbe.com

Finally I got my phone working. This time it's a Sony-Ericsson T610.

Fortunately I get to keep my old number but I've lost all my contacts so I probably don't have your number anymore, so please text me and I'll be able to save it to my new baby-fresh phone book.

I haven't explored the phone very much yet but actually I haven't been able to figure out how to send text messages. When I click the Messaging menu item and then select Text I get three options: Inbox, Options, SMS Memory. Inbox can't be pressed because there's nothing in there. When I pressed Options nothing happens and it seems to stall a little bit. SMS Memory just shows how much space I have left on the memory.

Today as I was lying in Regents Park when two young girls approached me and my friend pretending to sell something when in fact they just distracted me from protecting my mobile phone which I had bluntly left open. As soon as they left and we check that nothing was stolen I realised that they had stole my mobile phone. I started running after them but very near from where we were there was a road crossing and from there they would have been able to run any direction so it would be impossible for me to catch them.

I have now reported it to the police and I will now shortly phone Orange to render the phone useless and claim my insurance. Hopefully I'll get a new phone from the insurance company but I'm not sure that I can keep the old number. So for a little while now I won't be reachable on my mobile number. Until then use: mail_AT_peterbe_dot_com

UPDATE:
I called the Orange customer support number that the police officer gave me. So I did, from home, and after having selected the correct options through the voice menu they disconnect me and say: "Sorry. This service can only be used if calling from an Oranage phone". How stupid is that? It's like having your car stolen and when you drive to the dealership to report it they refuse you unless you drive in the car that was stolen from you. Pisses me right off!

I tried twice; both times the same stupid refusal. A third time I selected to go straight to a customer representative. On my way there the voice menu system asked for me phone number, but when I finally got through they asked me for my name and mobile number again. They said they would cancel the subscription and when I explained about being refused on the customer support system they wouldn't believe me.

Apparently I'm liable for any phone calls made with my phone from the time it was stolen until now when it's been cancelled. I admit that I didn't run to the police office but the nearest police office was closed so I had to go to another one in Holborn where they were very helpful. The police officer was held on queue with the Orange customer support so long that we had to give up and he adviced me to try again later from home.

UPDATE AGAIN

This post is old and stupid. DON'T POST COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR LOST PHONES. Idiots!

Today I finally got the phone I wanted. The Nokia 7250i. My old Nokia 8210 has been broken for a while so I haven't been able to talk to people. Only to send messages.

I decided to get a contract phone. So now I'm stuck with Orange for 12 months. However, in the insurance plan I bought into, there's an option to opt-out of the contract after 3 months completely free! I bet there's a catch to that that I have missed because otherwise I would be able to get a free phone and without be stuck to the contract for another 9 months.

My first impression with this phone is that it's clear and crisp. Got a lovely bright screen and easy to use keypad. Some of the buttons, like the 4-directional pointer, were too small for my big fingers. Hopefully I will grow into it and get better precision.

It's got a built-in camera but I don't have an infrared port on my computers to receive the images. Where can I buy an external infrared port or other USB simple device to connect the phone with my PC?

Another nuisance is that there is no predictive text in Swedish! Gahh!! Every second message I send is in Swedish. Does anybody out there know how I can get a Swedish dictionary onto the phone?

The number is the same as before. However, to make that transfer cost me £29.99!! Why? They should be happy that I don't use up another number and that I stay with Orange. Bad Orange!