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July 28 Going Mobile #23In this issue
No one believes in WiMAX, right?That would be why AT&T has filed a protest with the FCC to block the merger of Sprint/Nextel’s Xohm WiMAX network with Clearwire. Or it could be that without the partnership, Sprint looked like easy pickings for AT&T and Verizon to consume and the new 4G network might reverse that trend. Of course the stated reason is that the new Clearwire joint venture has not fully disclosed the amount of spectrum it will use in the 2.5 GHz frequency band. Specifically, it has not revealed how much spectrum it is leasing from the block of 2.5 GHz frequencies held by non-profit and municipal organizations, which forms an integral part of the proposed JV’s plan to roll out a nationwide WiMAX network. The fact that Clearwire will be in direct competition with AT&T for wireless broadband customers some day in the future when AT&T can actually get around to rolling out its own LTE-based 4G solution, is a minor item, says AT&T. The filing states that “While AT&T does not fundamentally oppose the underlying transactions, the regulatory process must be consistent for all entrants. The applicants themselves have positioned their company as the single largest holder of broadband mobile spectrum in the country.” This seems to be why the network pledging support for an open network, wholesale access, 6Mbps speeds, and good coverage has received endorsement from Stanford University, the Catholic Television Network, Vonage, and the Wireless Communications Association. Just not from AT&T. http://tinyurl.com/6boyvy, or http://tinyurl.com/68cz7n, or http://tinyurl.com/636jbt A Symbian-based Android?In spite of a notable lack of comment from either Google or Nokia, analyst J. Gold Associates has made an open declaration that a merger of the Android and Symbian operating systems will begin within three to six months. They are destined to provide a single open source operating system for smartphones the analyst said Thursday. The basis of this declaration is that Nokia and Google are pursuing similar open source strategies with their respective technologies. Apparently J. Gold Associates is assuming that if Sprint/Nextel and Clearwire can do it, everyone else with similar technologies will too. http://tinyurl.com/5pg5vo Of course, Nokia is pleased that a different, longstanding battle has drawn to a rapid conclusion this week. Nokia and Qualcomm agreed to end their lon-running patent dispute and have acknowledged that the door is now open for the two companies to work more closely together. Both Qualcomm and Nokia shares rose on the news. However, the agreement is fueling speculation that the agreement will lead to further collaboration between the two companies and could pull market share from one of Nokia’s largest chip suppliers, Texas Instruments, and others itching to provide chips to the mobile phone giant. “While not explicitly stated, we think this sets the stage for Nokia to source Qualcomm for chipsets,” Citigroup analyst Glen Yeung said in a client note. http://tinyurl.com/65apbh and http://tinyurl.com/5py623 Nokia researchers, meanwhile, speculate that someday you might grow your own—phone that is. You can already make calls on the go, shoot photos and pinpoint your position on a map. Maybe one day you’ll be able to grow your phone in a pot! Reminiscent of a Neal Stephenson book (The Diamond Age), Nokia researchers indicated that their job is to speculate on what seems impossible today. In 2007, Nokia spent about 11 percent of its €51 billion net sales on research and development, funding more than 30,000 people who work on research and development. But what makes companies want to invest vast amounts of money in experiments that will only bear fruit many years down the road, if at all, at a time when investors are increasingly focused on quarterly profits? "Futures research can help companies evaluate coming risks and possibilities, while giving them time to react and a competitive edge over their competitors," Sirkka Heinonen, a professor at Finland Futures Research Centre at the Turku School of Economics, told AFP. She noted the three main principles of futures studies -- the future cannot be precisely predicted, it is not predestined and people can have an impact on it. "Today's choices and decisions make the future.” http://tinyurl.com/5qzyk4 A lot of companies could take a lesson from that. New devices
What would happen if you mooshed the two together? An 8 megapixel camera phone that played superior music? It would be like a peanutbutter cup, right? This isn’t a setupVodafone warned Tuesday last week that its revenue would be hit by an economic downturn and would be at the bottom end of the outlook range of £39.8-40 billion. Predictably, the stock fell 14%. Wednesday, Vodafone announced that the Board believes that the share price significantly undervalues Vodafone. So they announced a £1 billion buyback of its shares. Shares will be purchased on market on the London Stock Exchange in accordance with shareholder approval obtained at the Company’s Annual General Meeting in July 2007. Stock prices immediately rose 3.3%. http://tinyurl.com/5s2ngx and http://tinyurl.com/5jpeya Did you think that it was only AT&T that was gaining new customers, thanks in large part to the Apple iPhone? Not so. In a preliminary report, Verizon Wireless reported an add of 1.5 million customers in Q2 ’08. This was coupled with the parent company’s report that it is losing land-based subscribers, including DSL subscribers, as it gains Wireless subscribers. No wonder Verizon wants to buy out joint venture partner Vodafone. http://tinyurl.com/69tlpg And in our last bit of Mobile operator news, Sprint Nextel announced that it is offering a software update for the HTC Touch andMobul smartphones to add support for EV-DO Rev. A data speeds as well as Windows Mobile 6.1. The upgrade also includes enhanced GPS capabilities, allowing support of popular applications such as Sprint Navigation. http://tinyurl.com/5kw4cy Speaking of NavigationI’ve been collecting interesting tidbits regarding GPS and mobile navigation for a couple of weeks, since Telecom Analysts in Europe reported that social networking could enhance usage of GPS and other personal navigation devices (PNDs). Proliferation of social networking sites that allow users to exchange GPS tracks and their outdoor experiences via geotagged pictures and other multimedia content, as well as geocaching and location-based entertainment applications are contributing to the success of outdoor GPS solutions. http://tinyurl.com/5h7wfu Some of those solutions might include Nokia’s recently completed acquisition of US-based NAVTEQ. With this deal, the two largest map suppliers for PNDs cease being independent players. TomTom announced in June that it acquired TeleAtlas, a rival player to NAVTEQ. Nokia boasts on its Web site that you can see the world in a new way with Nokia Maps, downloadable for more than 200 countries and millions of points of interest. http://tinyurl.com/5lnn2x and http://tinyurl.com/57bqyw When the phone goes with you, everyone else can tag along. Among the new iPhone’s downloadable applications are many that take advangate of location abilities. You can find out where your friends are at the moment, or what bars they think are cool. You can pull up “geotagged” photos snapped and uploaded by others of your location. Mark Rasch, a security consultant and former federal prosecutor, said the social network aspect of location technologies poses risks. “As these things integrate into Facebook and buddies lists, suddenly I’m not sharing information with five or six people, but maybe with 200 or 300 people,” he said. “If the cops want to find me, they don’t have to find out where I am; they can go to somebody on my buddies list.” The big issues are transparency and user control, said James X. Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology. “How easy is it for the user to turn the location function on and off, and how easy is it for the user to delete past location information?” he asked. These are among the fundamental questions. http://tinyurl.com/6hsca9 On Tuesday, AT&T introduced the AT&T Navigator Global Edition, a service that for the first time allows some of its phones to provide GPS navigation overseas. AT&T said it is the only plan of its kind from a U.S. carrier. The service uses data connections to download maps, so an international data-roaming plan is strongly recommended in conjunction with the service. It’s not uncommon for people who don’t have international roaming plans to come home from trips to find charges of hundreds of dollars. http://tinyurl.com/5zvroy And Sony, determined to make the PSP a multimedia gadget, is adding GPS to the PSP. “It changes the dynamics of GPS, but also changes the way developers think about games on PSP because you can start integrating GPS into it.” So, if you are a member of the Renegade Squadron, you should be able to tell Han exactly where you are, anyplace in the galaxy. http://tinyurl.com/6f8c3u What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?There has been a hot debate as to whether the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted by phones increase the phone user’s cancer risk. But Dr. Ronald D. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, last week warned mobile phone users to limit exposure to mobile phone radiation and also alerted parents “to beware of possible effects on their kids’ developing brains.” http://tinyurl.com/637ges "Now we hear about this possible medical risk," says Marybeth Hicks, an author, columnist and mother of four. "I couldn't possibly know if it's real or not. But I know that it's probably not necessary for most children to have a cell phone." Hicks, whose book "Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid's Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World," is about just such problems, has her own personal experience with persistent children. "My 10-year-old daughter thinks she's deprived," says Hicks. "She's been saying she's the only one at school without a phone, and it's actually getting to be true." And her son, she says, was the only kid in his 8th-grade class without a phone. (He just got one, right before freshman year in high school.) http://tinyurl.com/6dsz36 Really, the chances of getting cancer from a cell phone must be about the same as getting struck by lightning, right? Well, Russian officials are putting the blame for a sudden surge in deaths from lightning strikes at increased mobile phone ownership. Various Russian newspapers have cited several instances in the past couple of weeks where the victims were using mobile phones when hit by a lightning strike. However, there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that the fairly tiny radio emission from a mobile phone could affect the likelihood of a lightning strike being formed in storm clouds that are on average some two to five thousand feet above the phone user. More likely, the country has simply had a higher than average number of storms in the past few weeks. A quick Google search actually found more reports of people being struck by lightning while walking their dog—which presumably suggests that dogs have an affinity with lightning strikes. http://tinyurl.com/67mv35 But before you go out wearing a lead helmet equipped with a lightning rod, Japanese mobile carriers are promoting cell phones for your health. Eager to discover the next new trend in cell phone technology, the carriers are developing and rolling out services that tie a user’s desire to keep fit with their cell phone and network-linked services. First off the starting block has been KDDI's Au unit, which launched a service earlier this year called Smart Sports. Most of its new handsets incorporate the service to some degree but three recently-launched models are fully equipped to take advantage of the technology. Inside the phones, a motion sensor and GPS work together so that when you're running, the number of steps taken, distance, and calories burned are measured and recorded -- and the phone does this even if the phone's dedicated "Run&Walk" application isn't launched. http://tinyurl.com/5noqry MastheadThis is issue #23 of Going Mobile. The stories that I refer to are all among the 200+ publicly published articles I scan each week, but the commentary is entirely my own and does not represent the views, opinions, or official position of Microsoft or the Windows Mobile management team or any of the sites or companies referenced herein. You can refer stories to me or make other comments below. I'd like to make this better each week. Thnx, Nathan Everett July 24 Going Mobile Special: Review LG KS20 Smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.0
Do-over. I did a hard reset of the device and cleared everything out of it after I found the instructions of what buttons to hold down while I hit the power button with my nose. Most of the newer devices just have a menu or program selection to clear storage these days. When the device started from the hard re-boot, it behaved like I expected a Windows Mobile device to work—which means it might not have been perfect, but it was expected. I had to align the stylus with the screen first, set the time zone and correct date, and then set up my EDGE/GPRS connection for T-Mobile. That last one is a price you pay for getting a SIM-unlocked phone on-line. You have to know your connection address. Fortunately, I’ve done this so many times that it was easy to remember what contact point to register.
The device is flat-out sexy. It is gloss black, including a great screen background. Weighing about 95 grams, it is one of the lightest-weight phones I’ve ever used. There are only two buttons and a joystick on the front of the device, but it has all kinds of buttons around the sides. I’m still occasionally hitting an accidental button when I pick it up, but it is much less frequent than I anticipated. The right side includes a power button, Internet button, and camera button. The left includes volume up and down. The one that surprised me was the bottom edge of the phone. A button there just says “Push.” I did. Imagine my surprise when the battery fell out and the phone went dead. The good thing is that the battery is actually a part of the back cover, so you putting it back together was one smooth operation. I started trying out the included applications, and I have to say I’m in love with the FM radio. Easy to set up, easy to store favorites. The only downside was the fact that you have to use the included wired stereo headset because the cable acts as the FM antenna. So much for using my Bluetooth S9 stereo headset. Also, a meeting reminder chimed and cut the radio off completely. Had to restart the application. However, the headset connection includes a standard mini plug, so listening to music with my noise-cancelling Sony headset was a real pleasure! The 2 megapixel camera is sharp and includes autofocus, but the overall focus still seems a little soft. The sample pictures attached were autocorrected and cropped on the device, then sent directly to the Going Mobile blog from the device. The first picture is taken without the built-in flash, and the second picture with it. July 21 Going Mobile #22In this issue
We’re #2!It’s a little funny to hear an industry giant cheer itself for being second. I’m not sure there’s been an effective second place campaign since Avis tried harder. Nonetheless, Scott Rockfeld, Microsoft’s group products manager for the Mobile Communications Business made proud declarations of Microsoft’s #2 standing in the mobile device market in the wake of Apple’s million-seller weekend last week. And he wasn’t talking about being second to Apple. Nokia still ranks as the highest selling phone systems in the world. But during Microsoft’s most recent fiscal year, 325 enterprises purchased at least 500 Windows Mobile phones, with many buying many more. Of the 10 largest companies in the world, as ranked by Fortune magazine, bought Windows Mobile phones, including one enterprise that bought 100,000. Technology research firm IDC predicted that Windows Mobile will continue to outsell the iPhone 2 to 1 in the consumer market by 2012, and in the business space by 9 to 1. Rockfeld also stated that of the 325 companies buying Windows Mobile in large quantities, about a third of them also “decommissioned” RIM’s BES servers at the same time. Rockfeld further compared Microsoft’s partner structure with Apple by noting that Apple had limited the number of developers in the Apple Store to 4,000 with 500 apps available when the store launched while there were is no limit to developers on the Windows Mobile platform and over 18,000 Windows Mobile apps are currently available, including the newly released Guitar Hero 3. http://tinyurl.com/5tcn32 So here’s to you, Number 2! Everybody loves an underdog. Verizon’s open network gets its first deviceA wireless device from SupplyNet Communications has been certified under Verizon’s Open Development Initiative, but don’t expect to rush out to your local retailer for a sexy little number with innovative design, cheap international calls, or Google applications. The first device is a battery-powered modem that connects to a sensor that dips into large storage containers, like construction-site diesel tanks or tanks of shortening at a food factory. When a tank runs low, the modem sips off a text message to SupplyNet, which alerts the customer that it needs a refill. Tony Lewis, Verizon Wireless’ vice president of open development, affirmed that “Most of the devices that we are seeing are of the machine-to-machine (M2M) type.” The M2M products are ideally suited to the barebones model of the Open Development Initiative. The carrier will sell wireless service wholesale for the devices, but won’t provide customer support. http://tinyurl.com/5jt5cc So next time you are in a vat of shortening and need to make a call… The history of telecoms
In Germany, The Museum Foundation for Posts and Telecommunications was founded in 1995. It operates Communication Museums in the afore-mentioned cities plus Nurnberg and Hamburg. You may also find some amusing exhibits here, like the exhibit of telephone sheep at the Frankfurt museum. http://tinyurl.com/6otrlv and http://tinyurl.com/5tqw68 Now there’s a ringtone for you. We may not get the bank robber, but we’ll get the driverIf you think the rash of laws forbidding using cell phones while driving are toothless, think again. The UK governments Sentencing Guidelines Council has issued new guidelines to Judges and Magistrates for use where people are convicted of causing an accident while driving and using a mobile phone. The Council is advising that if the offender was distracted by a handheld mobile phone when the offence was committed, they should serve up to seven years in prison. That’s a little more than a $200 fine. Recently, a woman involved in a fatal accident while talking on a handheld mobile in Manchester was sentenced to six years in prison. And her driving privileges were suspended for five years. There is no word as to whether these were to be served simultaneously or consecutively. http://tinyurl.com/59wn6v Cell phones as currencyI was told a year ago that people in Zimbabwe, where inflation was advancing at a staggering pace, were using cellular minutes as currency because a minute was a minute no matter how much you paid for it. Now we find that Burmese border guards are accepting PrePay TopUp cards as bribes when people cross between Bangladesh and Myanmar. One trader told the Narinjara newspaper that “we have to pay 300 taka, 50 taka in a mobile prepaid phone card, two kilograms of rice, and one kilogram of cooking oil to the gate guards whenever we cross to the Bangladesh side through the border point.” It is illegal to use an unauthorized mobile phone in Burma, and certainly not to use one connected to an overseas network. But most of the phones are connected to the Bangladeshi networks, which leak across the border for a short distance. The government is particularly keen to control the mobile phone supply as they are able to shut down the networks if political trouble arises, as occurred with the Monks last September. http://tinyurl.com/62o76t Mobile phones can be used in many activities that a government doesn’t approve of, and as a result people are becoming more and more clever in circumventing the letter of the law. In Jammu and Kashmir, militants are reported to be using mobile phones which belong to high ranking officials as they are not routinely monitored by India’s security services. The phone call recipients then pass the messages to the militants by other means. http://tinyurl.com/5h63te Communications Services of the FutureEuropean researchers at the EU-funded SPICE project are putting the final touches to a total solution that advances wireless telecommunications services beyond that of current 3G technologies. The researchers also sought to develop the appropriate tools and middleware to make it easy to develop and deploy compelling new services and a complete universal architecture for advanced communications services. For example, a user watching a movie in her hotel room leaves the room and the movie starts playing on her mobile device. In another demonstration, a mobile device becomes a security token for a user’s Internet passwords. It is easy to forget which password applies to which service, but with the SPICE solution, the proximity of a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device acts as proof of a person’s identity. In the 1990s, the adoption of GSM propelled Europe to world mobile telecoms leadership. SPICE, which focuses purely on services, could be regarded as a pre-standardization exercise for the services layer of next-generation communications. http://tinyurl.com/6qsn9e LG sells 7 million touchscreen phones
We’ll take a look at how well LG is doing in that market in a special report Wednesday this week. Yesterday I opened the box on a brand new LG SK20 touchscreen phone, LG’s first device to run on the Windows Mobile platform. I’ve got some initial impressions already, but you can find the full report Wednesday at http://goingmobile.spaces.live.com. MastheadThis is issue #22 of Going Mobile. The stories that I refer to are all among the 200+ publicly published articles I scan each week, but the commentary is entirely my own and does not represent the views, opinions, or official position of Microsoft or the Windows Mobile management team or any of the sites or companies referenced herein. You can refer stories to me or make other comments below. I'd like to make this better each week. Thnx, Nathan Everett July 14 Going Mobile #21In this issue· The iPhone, the iPhone! Yay! · RIM-shot, please! · Reduce, Reuse, Recycle · A little humor in your life? · Masthead The iPhone, the iPhone! Yay!
Unfortunately, technical glitches stalled portions of the widely anticipated launch as customers buying the device (some having waited in line at least overnight, or standing in lines over half a mile long) were unable to synch their new phone to Apple’s iTunes service in retail outlets. That last step is required for the activation process. Customers were told to take their handsets home and attempt to synch with their iTunes account later in the day. Reports held the delay at as much as seven hours. (http://tinyurl.com/6knhuz) Perhaps part of the problem was the million people who were seeking activation on that first weekend of sales. Yes, in a very Hollywood opening way of counting, Steve Jobs said the opening weekend saw “one million devices sold” in 21 countries. (http://tinyurl.com/5a95f6) Presumably these were the legal variety that were activated according to the accepted procedures which would bring the number just about equal to the number of illegal copies in China. Kevin Li, an analyst with In-Stat China, says the number of unlocked iPhones potentially in use in China has more than doubled in the last six months. (http://tinyurl.com/5rjlbv) Of course if you were out to get a legal SIM unlocked iPhone and were willing to pay, say €575-615, you would head to Belgium to make your purchase. Belgium is one of those half dozen or so European countries where forced bundling and device exclusivity are outlawed on networks. As a result, consumers have to pay a hefty price for the hardware, but they can use it on any network. (http://tinyurl.com/6z5e43) Was it worth the wait? In general reports indicate the voice quality is outstanding, the GPS is cool, and the Application Store is nothing less than “insanely great,” as Mr. Jobs would say. On the downside, customers complain of battery drain (mostly from the said GPS) and sluggish performance where blazing 3G speeds were expected. Notably missing from the App Store amidst applications from Salesforce, Oracle, and Google, were any Microsoft applications. (http://tinyurl.com/5v4quz) RIM-shot, please!
Reduce, Reuse, RecycleMy 15-year-old has been reciting that eco-mantra since third grade. And people do at least separate their plastics and paper for recycling on Thursday morning, especially as more cities offer incentives for doing so, or laws requiring it. But a Nokia study published on Tuesday says that only 3 per cent of consumers worldwide recycle their old mobile phones. We are given great incentives to buy new phones at least every two years, but no one ever says anything about getting rid of the old ones. I’ve got a desk drawer full of the old beasts, going back to my first AT&T brick from a dozen years ago. According to the survey, based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries, that is where the majority of old handsets end up. Nokia found that consumers around the world have owned an average of five phones in their lifetimes, yet only 4 percent of these devices end up in a landfill. The majority are kept at home while some are passed on to friends or resold. Markus Terho, director of environmental affairs at Nokia believes that if each of the 3 billion mobile phone owners worldwide recycled just one unused device, it could save 240,000 tons of raw materials and reduce greenhouse gases by the same effect as taking 4 million cars off the road. –or one politician out of Washington. Nokia has collection points for unwanted mobile devices in 85 countries around the world, with drop off points at Nokia stores Care Centres. (http://tinyurl.com/6csulh) And while we are on that green kick, how about following the lead of Papua New Guinea. Digicel Pacific, the local wireless carrier has started an experiment to run one of its mobile radio sites on coconut oil fuel. The base station located in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville at Lontis has been operating successfully purely on coconut oil fuel for over 2 months now. Digicel Pacific, Chief Operations Officer, Fiona McGloin said of the project, “If it is successful we are planning on rolling out more sites operating on coconut oil fuel. (http://tinyurl.com/6km7m5) While economical and eco-friendly, doctors are watching the base station’s cholesterol count.
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