Connect Your Mac to Your Mobile Phone
Posted 07/12/2007 at 11:34am
| by John Brandon
Use Wi-Fi on a Nokia N80
The Nokia N80 ($499.99) can connect to the Internet over Wi-Fi from anywhere a signal is present, such as a public hotspot. Wi-Fi is a better option for copying music and video files to a phone than Bluetooth, since it has a much wider coverage area (about 600 feet, compared to only 30 feet for Bluetooth) and much faster speed (about 3Mbps from this phone, compared to only 200Kbps for Bluetooth).
First make sure your wireless network is running and your Mac is connected to the Wi-Fi signal. On the phone, select the WLAN Scanning option on the main screen, and then select the option for Web Browsing. The N80 will prompt you to select your Wi-Fi network. After selecting it, choose Yes. On your Mac, copy the files to a .Mac account using the HomePage feature. Now, on the N80, browse to your .Mac HomePage and click the link to download files.
Another way to transfer files without Wi-Fi: Insert the microSD card that came with the phone into the phone (if it’s not already inserted) and connect the phone to your Mac via the included USB cable. The microSD card will appear on your desktop as a storage device—you can just copy files from your Mac to the phone this way.
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Use a Palm Treo 750 as a Modem
If you’re stuck in an area where there isn’t a wired or wireless Ethernet connection, a phone connection can at least help you get online to check your email. You can connect to the Palm Treo 750 ($650) using Bluetooth, and then access the Internet using the phone’s wireless network.
On the phone, click Start, then Settings, then the Connections tab. Click Bluetooth. Place checks next to “Turn on Bluetooth” and “Make this device discoverable.” On your Mac, click the Bluetooth icon in the Finder’s menubar, then select Set Up Bluetooth Device. Follow the prompts to pair the Mac and the Treo, and then select Access The Internet. Click Continue. Enter your username and password (provided by or already established through your wireless carrier) and your mobile phone number. Click Continue - now you’re ready to surf. Speeds on your Mac will typically run about 600Kbps on a 3G network such as EVDO.

Once connected, you can use the Treo as a modem to access the Internet.