Last week I flew to Detroit to set up the testing for our annual Fastest Mobile Networks project, where we're testing six wireless carriers in 21 cities across the U.S. Here's a peek into the test setup.
In Detroit, I met our first two drivers and picked up our two cars, a green Ford Fiesta—which is heading west—and a blue Ford Focus, heading east. The cars are equipped with different versions of Ford's Microsoft-based telematics software. In the Fiesta, a small orange Ford SYNC screen hooks into the driver's phone to provide turn-by-turn directions, make calls, and manipulate the music player by voice commands. In the Focus, the more advanced MyFord Touch system adds visual GPS directions and more voice commands, including climate control.
After bidding the drivers farewell, I spent a few hours on Ford's campus checking out some of the company's research projects. Ford is intensely interested in technologies that help drivers keep their eyes on the road while staying online and entertained; one of the biggest challenges, we all agreed, is to figure out how to deal with the growing volume of text messages while keeping drivers looking at the road and holding the wheel, not their phones.
Back to our project: our test kit consists of eight phones Velcroed to two wooden boards in the back of each car, then attached through a 400-watt Duracell inverter to the car's 12V power outlet. We have devices for AT&T, Cricket, MetroPCS, Sprint (3G and 4G), T-Mobile, and Verizon (3G and 4G). Check out the slideshow for a look at our equipment.
The phones are running field-test software from Sensorly, a company which also makes crowd-sourced coverage maps that you can help participate in creating. You can download the software from the Android App Market, or check the company out at www.sensorly.com.
The drivers tool around a city for about eight hours a day, stopping for stretches of at least 15 minutes at various locations. Then it's on to the next city, grabbing stats about rural network performance on the long open stretches of highway and at rest stops. The data gets uploaded to Sensorly's servers, and then we'll analyze it to hand out awards for our Fastest Mobile Networks feature in June.
Our drivers have already scribbled their way around Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. They're tweeting from the road at @pcmphones. Have any suggestions for where they should go? Drop them a line.