Saturday, November 12, 2005

Macedonia leads world with wi-fi


Macedonia leads world with wi-fi


By David Reid
Reporter, BBC Click Online

Formerly part of Yugoslavia and previously better known as a potential ethnic trouble spot, Macedonia is now rapidly becoming a wi-fi hotspot.

more

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Wireless Operators in BRIC Countries Not Doing Enough to Sell Mobile Data says Pyramid Research Study

Wireless Operators in BRIC Countries Not Doing Enough to Sell Mobile Data says Pyramid Research Study

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 2005--Pyramid Research estimates that 42% of the roughly 1.05bn new mobile subscribers over the next five years will come from the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China. According to a recent study, 20% to 50% of mobile subscribers surveyed in BRIC countries said they had not received much information from their service provider about the types of mobile data services available to them or how to use them. In India and China, roughly 20% of the wireless subscribers surveyed reported they hadn't been educated by their carrier about mobile data services, while in Brazil and Russia, nearly half felt they hadn't received much information about available services or how to use them.

'It appears that operators should not be hasty in making positive assumptions regarding subscriber awareness of mobile data services; our survey suggests that as many as half of subscribers in some countries simply do not know about mobile data,' comments Pyramid Research senior analyst Nick Holland. 'With 3G on the horizon in most regions, it would be unfortunate if data revenues didn't materialize as anticipated due to nothing more than a lack of end user education.'

The majority of wireless subscribers interviewed in the survey identified themselves as wireless data users, with only 20% saying they had never used a wireless data service. The reasons for not using mobile data varied, but roughly a quarter of non users said they saw no value to the services. More alarming to wireless operators should be the 12% of non-wireless data users in the survey who said they didn't know if the services were available to them, 20% who thought they were too complicated or difficult"

Carriers Adopt Content Rating for Cellphones - New York Times

Carriers Adopt Content Rating for Cellphones - New York Times

By MATT RICHTEL
Published: November 9, 2005

The nation's major cellular phone carriers said yesterday that they had adopted a content rating system for video, music, pictures and games that they sell to cellphone users - a development that could pave the way for them to begin selling pornography and sex-oriented content on mobile devices.

more

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Free American Broadband!

By S. Derek Turner for Salon

In France, you can get super-fast DSL, unlimited phone service and 100 TV channels for a mere $38 a month. Why does the same thing cost so much more in the U.S.?

Next time you sit down to pay your cable-modem or DSL bill, consider this: Most Japanese consumers can get an Internet connection that’s 16 times faster than the typical American DSL line for a mere $22 per month.

Across the globe, it’s the same story. In France, DSL service that is 10 times faster than the typical United States connection; 100 TV channels and unlimited telephone service cost only $38 per month. In South Korea, super-fast connections are common for less than $30 per month. Places as diverse as Finland, Canada and Hong Kong all have much faster Internet connections at a lower cost than what is available here. In fact, since 2001, the U.S. has slipped from fourth to 16th in the world in broadband use per capita. While other countries are taking advantage of the technological, business and education opportunities of the broadband era, America remains lost in transition.

How did this happen? Why has the U.S. fallen so far behind the rest of its economic peers? The answer is simple. These nations all have something the U.S. lacks: a national broadband policy, one that actively encourages competition among providers, leading to lower consumer prices and better service.

Instead, the U.S. has a handful of unelected and unaccountable corporate giants that control our vital telecommunications infrastructure. This has led not only to a digital divide between the U.S. and the rest of the advanced world but to one inside the U.S. itself. Currently, broadband services in America remain unavailable for many living in rural and poorer urban areas, and remain slow and expensive for those who do have access.

more

Apple iPhone

Where does this lead to? iphone.org

There seems to be no love lost for Motorola by Apple, but nothing but praise for Cingular. Steve Jobs cozying up to the MNO's while preparing a iPhone? It's the next logical move.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Palm Will Team With Microsoft for the Next Version of the Treo Organizer

By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: September 24, 2005
New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 23 - Microsoft will achieve one of its longest-held ambitions on Monday when its rival Palm Computing plans to announce that it will use Microsoft's Windows Mobile software in a new version of its popular cellphone-organizer, the Treo.

Verizon Wireless, which will market the phone, will join in the announcement at an event here, according to several people involved. Emphasizing the significance of the alliance for Microsoft, Bill Gates, its chairman, will be present.

more

Friday, September 23, 2005

The Palm Treo 700w - Exclusive first look!

Check it out: we got our hands on the new Windows Mobile-powered Treo, but it ain’t called the Treo 670 anymore (if it even ever was called that), it’s the Treo 700w (which implies—but doesn’t guarantee—the existence of a Palm-powered Treo 700p). We haven’t spent enough time with the 700w for a proper review — we’ve literally had it in our hands for only a few hours — but we couldn’t resist posting up this first look.

more, with pictures

LA to test parking meters with SMS and credit-card payments

LA to test parking meters with SMS and credit-card payments

Parking meter Sure, smart parking meters are catching on nationwide. But many are like the “muni-meters,” which have begun replacing traditional parking meters in New York, and take specialized debit cards called Parking Cards. Unfortunately, the meters don’t include Parking Card dispensers; you have to buy the cards by phone or online. So, you end up paying with — you guessed it — quarters. But, hopefully, this will all be replaced soon by a new system now being tested in the heart of car culture, Los Angeles. The new ATM-style meters accept cash, debit, and credit cards, and can also use SMS to send a message to your cellphone when your time is about to expire. You can then purchase additional time simply by replying to the message. Of course, this will bomb in LA since everyone uses valet parking there—let’s hope that doesn’t discourage the developers from pitching it to New York officials as soon as freaking possible. In the meantime, here’s an idea for New York: scrap the Parking Card, and let the meters take MetroCards. Most New Yorkers already have those, and you can pick them up in any subway station."

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Sprint Nextel MUST provide WiBro to 30M to protect spectrum license

Sprint Nextel, the US carrier that has been mandated to cover at least 30 million households with wireless broadband Internet access ASAP or lose its 2.5GHz spectrum, is reported to be testing Samsung’s proprietary WiMax killer technology, WiBro, which they claim can offer 1Mbps/s throughput even moving at 50mph.

Sprint Business - PPC-6700

Sprint Business - PPC-6700

MS Mobile PPC with EVDO, WiFi, Bluetooth connectivity and 1.3Mp camera and GPS.

This is a comparable form-factor to the Blackberry or Treo.

BlackBerry 8700 EVDO

The BlackBerry 8700? - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "BlackBerry 8700?

Posted Sep 12, 2005, 9:31 AM ET by Peter Rojas
Related entries: Cellphones, Handhelds

RIM BlackBerry 8700 Electron

It’s been a year since we first spied the “Charm”, that new cellphone-style BlackBerry from RIM that eventually turned out to be the 7100t, now the rumor mill is humming once again, but this time about a new EV-DO BlackBerry called the 8700. Nothing’s confirmed, but the BlackBerry 8700 supposedly will come in two flavors, an EV-DO version for Verizon and Sprint and an EDGE version for Cingular, and will have built-in GPS, 64MB of RAM, and the ability to natively view email attachments (rather than require third-party plug-ins). No digital camera or WiFi, but the prospect of an EV-DO BlackBerry almost makes up for it."

Sunday, September 11, 2005

SMS for Charity

Phone Scoop: "CTIA And Carriers Cooperate For Katrina Relief Code

Wednesday, 3:26 PM source: CTIA / IM Planet

The CTIA announced that US mobile subscribers can now send a text message to 2HELP (24357) to donate to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. Each time the message 'help' is sent to the short code, subscribers will be asked to confirm a $5 donation that will be deducted from their prepaid account or added to their monthly statement. Each users can donate up to 5 times for a maximum of $25. Nearly every national and regional carrier has confirmed they are participating in the 2HELP program."

EDGE Disappears From High End Motorolas

Phone Scoop: "EDGE Disappears From High End Motorolas

Thursday, 2:39 PM source: Motorola

Motorola has been quietly revising the specs on many of the high end models they've announced but haven't yet released. Well publicized phones including new design models such as the PEBL and SLVR, as well as the E895 and A910 will no longer launch with EDGE data. They will be GPRS only. A Motorola spokesperson explained that the chipset Motorola choose for their top of the line models does not have a stable EDGE implementation, and does not meet Motorola's quality standards. It is too late for Motorola to swap out chips, so the company has been forced to disable EDGE on the new phones despite their high end placement in their lineup."

Friday, August 12, 2005

TelecomHub serves as a good barometer for the telecom climate

If the scene in front of Tysons Corner night spot eCitie Restaurant & Bar in any way reflects the health of the local technology economy, then things aren't looking too shabby.

At 6:15 p.m. Monday night, a line of BMWs, Mercedes and Range Rovers waited to be parked by the valet at $3 a pop, even though a spacious parking lot surrounds the building. At the door, half a dozen people stood patiently as name tags were handed out and admission fees were collected for a networking happy hour.

A one point, a man with a cigar actually uttered the sentence: 'Good times are here again.'

And this was a telecom gathering, no less.

Two years ago, TelecomHub events had a mood to match the funeral of a beloved great aunt. Topic A was: 'How long you've been laid off.' Topic B followed suit with: 'Number of times your résumé has been rejected.'

Not so anymore. The 220 people who showed up at the organization's event this week were much more interested in discussing hot deals and new cars than career woes.

'I really think the Hub serves as a good barometer for the local telecom climate . . . and we've seen a lot of optimism,' said Barry Toser , the group's president and general manager of telecommunication services for Reston-based Transaction Network Services Inc .

During the depths of the downturn, finding sponsors for TelecomHub was like 'pulling teeth,' Toser said. But just in the first half of this year, seven companies pledged $5,000 a year as gold sponsors.

The group's monthly meeting for out-of-work techies regularly drew 50 to 75 people during 2001 and 2001. These days, it's rare to have more than 10 or 20 people show up. (We'll wait to see what the fallout of the Nextel/Sprint merger does to those numbers.)

As for eCitie -- a restaurant that was once the epicenter of high-tech flash and then the target of scoffing disdain because of its indelible link to dot-"

Friday, April 29, 2005

T-Mobile offers up the truth. Kudos!

T-Mobile is the first US operator to offer up true network coverage maps, so that consumers can make informed decisions. This is long long overdue. The operators have had this type of information available internally since day one and have purposefully withheld with the intent to sell consumers the proverbial "pig in a poke". T-Mobile is to be congratulated for taking their relationship with customers seriously and being proactive in stemming the tide of consumer dis-satisfaction with mobile services.

http://coverage.t-mobile.com/

Friday, April 22, 2005

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Big bucks in micropayments

The mobile network operators continue to miss opportunities to provide a value added service for micropayments, leveraging pre and post paid billing systems.

The volume of potential transactions is staggering and digital content is not the only items that are saleable.

I'd really like to be able to order and pay for a cup of coffee and have it made moments before I arrive (using location based services, I authorize the operator to disclose my location within a certain proximity to the store) and display a digital receipt to pickup my beverage. Ahhh, no more waiting in long lines. How many times have you passed by because the line looked so long?

http://www.internetweek.com/allStories/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160902325

Friday, April 08, 2005


A sign of the times...

Sunday, February 13, 2005

How can anyone dictate "NO SURFING"!


Florida, Vero Beach, South Beach Park