QuantumConvergence

A New Day, Two New Blogs

2006-01-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Well, been on a bit of an hiatus here as a dispute with the management at Creative Weblogging coupled with the ongoing technical issues that made posting there a daily exercise in frustration boiled over and caused me to rethink the relationship.

As the news of my "issues" made the rounds of the blogosphere I got two amazing opportunities; join Mike Arrington's "TechCrunch Network" and start a new blog "MobileCrunch" and join Russell Buckley and Carlo Longino at "Mobhappy" both were too good to pass up so now I have two new gigs.

Please make it a point to update your blogrolls accordingly. I am no longer writing for either The Mobile Weblog or The Wireless Weblog, I am writing for MobileCrunch and Mobhappy and of course here.

Nokia N90 First Full Photo Session

2005-12-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

Had a lot of fun the other day testing out the new Nokia N90 I've been given as part of Nokia's Blogger Outreach Program. I posted a bunch of the images over at my other site The Mobile Technology Weblog . You can also check out the full set of images posted to flickr: HERE.

While you're at it, pay a visit to the site dedicated to the blogger outreach program: The N90 Bloggercom Blog

Looking across the courtyard from the old machine-shop to the main building (this was my second favorite shot on the day)

Well, I finally got the chance to really put the new Nokia N90 I've been entrusted with through a few of its paces, and while I'm hardly the photographer my brother's wife is

I was pretty pleased with the images that this masterpiece of technology rendered.

Interior of the building, lots of interesting light, used Automatic settings and this result was surprisingly good.

By Oliver-Starr

Technorati Tags :, Nokia, N90, Photographs, Camera-Phone

Powered By Qumana

Nokia N90: The User Experience

2005-11-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

By Oliver-Starr

Barely time to breathe right now as I'm trying to get out the door for a pre-event breakfast at DEMXPO, where I will be enthusiastically testing a new Nokia N90 that has been generously provided by Nokia.

The testing program is the brainchild of Andy Abramson and Brooke Davidson of Comunicano. Who deserve endless praise (not only for having the wisdom to choose a phone phanatic like me) but for creating a promotional modality that is certain to do far more for the Nokia brand and the recognition and sale of these extraordinary phones than sending thousands of them to the popular press.

Of course there are some caveats to this. First of all, when sending something like these phones to hard core geeks, you'd better be awfully confident that your product is exceptional. We don't have Nokia advertising plastered all over our blogs, and while these phones are awfully nice, not a one of us would sully our reputation by giving an undeserved glowing review; if there are things about these devices that we don't dig, you can count on reading about it.

Of course if they're good, you'll hear that too, and you can be certain that the rigourous real world testing that these phones will survive (or not) will be as strenuous as anything the typical buyer could ever imagine.

This is real grass roots marketing, but what Brooke and Andy have devised (and which Nokia has bought off on) is a way to reach right to the heart of the mobile mind-trust. The NokiaN90 blog is a stroke of genius for what it comprises are the sum total experiences of some of the most luminous of all authors to clench a mobile camera in their mits and wonder why oh why it takes such crappy photos. And the joy that is clearly expressed in posts when, for the first time, a mobile portrait resembles the subject and not some Picasso-esque parody (and not in a good way).

I'm looking forward to seeing what this baby can do. As I commented late last night on the N90 Blog, this is a whole lot of phone. I hope I can handle it ;-)

size=1>Powered By Qumana

Cingular = Painful Payments, Backwards Phone Routing, and Offers for Services You Can't Have.

2005-11-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

By Oliver Starr

This is another one of those posts I wish I didn't feel the need to write. Somehow I feel like a whining little brat when I bring up issues like the ones I'm about to mention. On the other hand, I feel strongly that if I don't make my thoughts known then I have no right to complain when the situation doesn't resolve itself.

Here's what happened. I live in Los Angeles, which means, among other things, that a good portion of my driving is spent on roads wider than football fields that are nevertheless so packed with cars that many times it resembles a parking lot more than a thoroughfare. Fridays are the worst and Fridays between 3PM and 8PM are the worst of the worst. So of course I have to drive to Orange County right at 5PM on a Friday. Perfect.

So I'm sitting on the Interstate 405 parking lot and I realize that I may as well make good use of my time so I decided that I would call Cingular to check my mobile phone bills and pay them. I won't bore you with the details, but I have several phones, some belong to other people so I don't have them all in my possession.

Anyway, I work my way through their IVR...incidentally, if anyone knows why you have to either speak or physically enter your information while they route your call and then the first thing the customer service person does is ask you the same questions you've already been inconvenienced to answer; why is that? Can't they just get it off the same system? It's annoying.

Ok, moving on. (well, I wasn't moving, but was trying to make progress paying my bill) I get my balance via the IVR and I need some additional information so I press ZERO for the next customer service person and I'm treated to a hold time of about 5 minutes during which I hear...nothing. Except about every 30 seconds the words "please wait". This is also annoying, but nothing worth blogging.

I finally get my call answered and get to repeat the information I've provided to the IVR and then the representative asks me for my password I put on the account. I give the rep a string of numbers he says that I am incorrect. I try again; still wrong. A third time. Nope. "Am I really Oliver Starr?" I ask again if he's certain it's not the first string I had provided. Turns out it is. I should have realized at this point it would be better to do this whole thing another time for obvious reasons, but instead I push on.

Now those of you that have read this blog for a while might recall my trials and tribulations with this carrier, but let it suffice to say I am no stranger to this, as I used to spend a couple hours a month dealing with problems with my bill. As a result, I don't ever pay these bills without at least a rundown of the charges; they're always billing me for something that I shouldn't have to pay for and at this point I no longer believe this is merely an oversight. In fact, I suspect that this is symbolic of corruption in this industry on a vast scale as I have never once seen a phone bill were I couldn't get a credit for some mistake or other -which over the course of a year could add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. From the carrier's perspective (since the mistakes are ALWAYS in their favor) this amounts to quite a substantial source of revenue though I don't think they'll ever admit this.

In fact, I have a question for a carrier's representative (I know there are a few that read this blog); what does the carrier do when they've received funds for charges that don't belong on a customer's bill but for which the customer has not made an inquiry? Please don't tell me they issue a credit. In a decade and a half of paying for mobile services I have never ONCE received a credit I didn't demand. Can you say "slush fund"? I thought so.

Due to this issue, I have the representative read me my bill item by item. When he gets to the charges for SMS messages I am surprised that I am being billed for each message rather than the lump sum I expected. The month before I had received a notice in with my bill that said that if I texted *smspromo (or some such) to their short code I would be subscribed to unlimited SMS messages for just a few bucks. I had done this and even received the "subscribed" response back from Cingular that was supposed to be my confirmation. But now I'm finding that I didn't get the deal I was promised.

The representative explained that I couldn't possibly have this promotion as it was for Cingular customers and that as a former AT&T customer I wasn't eligible. I asked why I had been mailed the promotion at all then. The rep explained that the company that did the mailing had no way to distinguish between AT&T and Cingular customers so everyone got them, and AT&T customers got shafted. The rep told me that I was far from the first customer annoyed that I didn't get a promotion to which I'd thought I was subscribed.

Cingular; TIP NUMBER ONE. Save time, your CS Rep's Mental Health and avoid customer ire...learn to use the asterisk! If you can't discern your customers from a mailing perspective (which is ludicrous) then at least put an asterisk next to promotions for which certain groups aren't eligible and let them know. It's simple and it won't cost you a penny (unless of course you wanted the extra money generated by people like me using twice as many SMS messages because we thought we'd purchased an unlimited plan when in fact we were still paying per message. Silly me...that's exactly what you want. Why would you EVER use an asterisk and miss out on that found money? I mean, you're not going to lose me over that right?

Well, I finally get my bill paid for that number and now the fun begins. The third phone I have to pay for is no longer an AT&T phone...my pal Freedom (who's phone bill I seem to have inherited though I don't know why I am still paying it), wanted a newer snazzy phone so he went in and upgraded to a new plan. Now all the AT&T side of Cingular sees is an account closed record for that number. The rep is going to transfer me to the Cingular customer service to pay that bill.

After clicks and beeps and ten minutes on hold the line goes silent and I realize the call has been dropped. Luckily I have the direct Cingular number committed to memory. I call, work through IVR hell once more, enter the numbers...but wait...the phone I am calling from does not match the number of the account I've dialed. I must speak to customer service!

Please hold...after five minutes I get my call answered and explain the situation to another CS Rep. Although he is pleasant enough, I don't think he was trained to deal with the likes of my problem and perhaps he wasn't having his best day. After about ten minutes of going in circles and being quoted the amount I had previously paid on my AT&T lines it becomes clear that he can't access my other record for the Cingular number. Why? He's on the AT&T side of the business.

Get this: Cingular's customer service closes at eight. So where do they route their inbound customer service calls? AT&T! Only AT&T reps can't access Cingular account records. Brilliant! An endless loop. What Cingular's rocket scientists that came up with this routing need is a cyclic redundancy check. Or maybe a simple IQ test? In any case, this is where my annoyance with the carrier goes from hovering to pegged in the red.

CINGULAR TIP #2: make it possible for a customer service rep to handle accounts if you are going to route the calls to them! (this should be a no brainer. I am not a mechanic, that's why I don't put up a sign in front of my home that says car repair; yet the way your system is routed this is EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND CUSTOMERS!

I request a supervisor to whom I am eventually transferred. I explain the situation. She's a bit defensive but does listen, and, thankfully, is able to process the payment I want to make. Only took me an hour and thirty seven minutes to pay my phone bills this month, which was less time than it took me to reach my destination.

During the call, I explain to the representative that although it certainly isn't her fault, her employer really needs to fix some things. I tell her that I am a person that has something of a following on the Internet for topics of this type and that I am going to be writing about this today. I do. I am. I have. Christian (this is the name she provided) this post is for you. Please run it as high up the flag pole at Cingular as you possibly can. I'd gladly talk to a few executives there if they want to do more than annoy me with a survey at the end of a call. I promise I can tell them a dozen places where things are broken.

Heck, I won't even charge them my usual rate. If they can just get my bill right so I don't ever have to call again, that would be payment enough!

Technorati Tags : Cingular, Mobile+Phone, Cellular, Bill+Payment, Customer+Service, Mobile+Operator, Carrier, Dissatisfied+Customer, Frustration

Powered By Qumana

Will Disrupting Carrier Domination Free Content?

2005-11-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

By Oliver Starr

My recent post on Walter Mossberg's thoughts had the good fortune of catching the eye of none other than Tim O'Reilly, founder of O'Reilly Media, Inc who re-blogged it over at the O'Reilly Radar blog.

In the comments there, a reader by the name of Douglas Turner (sorry no link provided) made the following astute comment:

"Since the carrriers so completely suffocate innovation in the mobile wireless space, I'd like to hear from folks about scenerios for how they get disrupted, routed around, etc.

Mossbergs prediction are essentially meaningless unless there is a way to displace the carriers."

-Doug

Posted by: Douglass Turner at November 14, 2005 10:21 AM

You can read my lengthy response here: Mobile Weblog

Technorati Tags : Mobile+Content, Carriers, Mobile+Operators, Mobile+Phones, Cellular, O'Reilly+Media, Tim+O'Reilly, WiMax, Cable+Operators

Powered By Qumana

Wall St. Journal's Mossberg says "Mobile Phone Most Important"

2005-11-13T06:56:00.000-08:00

You can't help but know who Walter Mossberg is if you've got any tech pedigree whatsoever. Even my Mom has probably read the words of Mr. Mossberg. His Wall Street Journal Personal Technology column has appeared every Thursday since 1991 and he's been a part of the technology scene almost as long as there's been a technology scene.

As talented a speaker as he is a writer, I was eagerly anticipating Walter's lunch time Key Note at the Venture Wire Consumer Technology Ventures conference. Speaking to a capacity crowd...in fact the biggest crowd I saw assembled during the entire conference, Mr. Mossberg made my day when he echoed a number of things I've just recently predicted including the fact that mobile devices will far exceed the PC in importance for most people, that security is something that must be addressed before the enterprise will be able to successfully accommodate mobile devices and that the ultimate incarnation of the ideal mobile device is something that still hasn't been realized and which might end up being quite surprising when it finally is.

Among the other comments that I felt were important to be reiterated, Mossberg's views on the role of the carriers was interesting and could be crucial to consumers though it probably didn't make any representatives of Verizon, Cingular, or Sprint terribly happy as he feels that these companies have spent quite a lot of money to build out their network infrastructure and that they do deserve a return on their investment, but that's it.

He continued by saying that he didn't think it was right or reasonable for the carriers to exert control of the devices that use these networks. He feels that unless this changes it could stifle innovation and put the brakes on progress.

Another trend Mossberg identified is wireless...by this he means all wireless, but particularly WiFi and how much range and speed has improved. He also spoke about the deployment of Verizon's National Broadband Network, claiming that he has been online with this network, that it is 3 times as fast as the European 3G and that it is available essentially nationwide. (I haven't been a Verizon subscriber in a few years and never with their EVDO product, so if someone has some comments on this statement I would love to hear them and so, I'm sure, would all the readers of this blog.

I think it is worth mentioning as we begin to see more and more kinds of content migrate to the mobile device that Walter made some very strong statements about copyright laws in this country. He feels that they have the potential to negatively influence advancement of technology and he believes that they need to be changed. While he agrees that some form of protection must be in place, his view; that copyright laws only protect the publisher were certainly popular with the audience though I am sure that others in positions of power might not agree with this opinion.

Personally, I think we are going to see huge challenges mounted in this space over the next decade or so. Every time a technology is deployed to limit the consumer's ability to use, share, morph or duplicate content, before the standard can even begin to become entrenched, some brilliant geek smashes the encryption and publishes the hack on the Internet.

It was exactly for this reason that Sony is in the news right now. For those of you that have somehow missed the news, Sony's new DRM for CD's installed a rootkit, which is essentially a covert program installed in such a way that it is invisible to the end user and can't even be viewed via the registry editor.

Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals (an amazing FREEWARE program that you really ought to try) has written on this extensively. The point being that it is this sort of draconian behavior that can have incredibly negative consequences for both the consumer and the company that DRM and Copy Right need some serious revisions.

All in all Walter Mossberg's keynote was entertaining and informative and I considered myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear his thoughts on the future of consumer technology.

Technorati Tags : Mobile+Phone, Content, PC, Google, Microsoft, Venture+Wire, Keynote

Powered By Qumana

MultiMedia Phones, MobileTV, Music Drive Increased Mobile Data Use

2005-11-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

Youthful users with high-tech phones and an appetite for music, mobile TV, ringtones and other custom content are driving increased adoption according to a new report from Management Consulting Firm A.T. Kearney. The report, quoted below, and comprised of some 4000 users of mobile data services has some surprising statistics that clearly show a trend towards increasing data utilization (though nothing approaching my couple gig a month) with a particular slant towards games, music and to view and send pictures (are MMS finally catching on? Perhaps a topic for another post, what do you, the readers think?)

To see the rest of my thoughts on this study and what it portends for carriers and handset manufacturers, go HERE...

o Report: Mobile Data Service Adoption Rises; Cost Remains Factor

Chicago - A global survey of 4,000 mobile phone users who subscribe to mobile data services found that over half now access the Internet monthly, and one-third download music to their phones, while mobile data costs are an obstacle to wider adoption, according to a report from management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. Thirty-three percent of users with multimedia phones said they downloaded music monthly, up from 21% in 2004, while 16% said they downloaded mobile games monthly. Seventeen percent of all users -- and 27% of those under 24 -- said they were interested in mobile TV. The survey also found that one-third of multimedia phone owners now use MMS to send pictures, photos and video clips monthly, a service that is used regularly by nearly half of all 19 to 24 year-olds. However, half of mobile users surveyed said they are not willing to pay more than $5 per month for a mobile data service; currently, U.S. mobile data services cost between $10 and $20 per month. "The growing penetration of new multimedia phones is the catalyst for mobile data adoption," said, A.T. Kearney vice president Mark Page. "There is a clear relationship between the average revenue per user and the age of the phone the customer uses. People who have recently replaced their handsets are more likely to be heavier users of data services."

Technorati Tags : ARPU, Mobile+Data, MobiTV, mobile+music, Sprint, MMS, MultiMedia, phones, cellular, music, data+survey, mobile+gaming, gaming, XHTML, WAP, WML, mobile+data+services

Powered By Qumana

Nokia Successfully Test UMA: Seamless Voice and Data Calls Passed between Cellular and WiFi

2005-11-02T02:05:00.000-08:00

by Oliver Starron Convergence

Nokia Achieves Convergence Milestone
As a significant milestone in its fixed-mobile convergence strategy, Nokia has completed both voice and data calls with Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology in a Nokia Solutions Experience Center in the United States. ~WirelessIQ

This is the news I've been waiting to hear. Combine this with the announcements yesterday by Sprint, Comcast, Time Warner and Cox and you have a recipe for a major shake up in the near future....

to read the rest of this post, please click here

Powered By Qumana Technorati Tags : UMA, Nokia, VoIP, Data, Voice, Seamless+Roaming, Seamless+Hand-off, Cellular, Wi Fi, fixed-mobile+convergence, convergence

Fuel Cells Finally Here?

2005-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Fuel Cells seem to be finally coming of age. So says I over at the Mobile Weblog.

If you've been reading this blog and been disappointed at the paucity of posts lately, you should pay a visit to my two principal blogs these days: The Mobile Technology Weblog and The Wireless Weblog

There is enough overlap in the content between this and those that I haven't found much to post just over here.

However that looks likely to change as I am considering refocusing the content of this blog in my experiences as an Executive in Residence at a $300 Million Venture Capital Fund that is focused on a huge array of early stage start-up ventures.

If you're in favor of this idea, please comment and let me know.

Cheers,

Oliver Starr "stitch"

Man Becomes Machine

2005-07-25T05:42:00.000-07:00

RedTacton: An innovative Human Area Networking technology that uses the surface of the human body as a transmission path:
- Communication through natural human actions: touching, holding, walking -

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT, headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. President and CEO, Norio Wada) is pursuing research and development of an innovative Human Area Networking technology called RedTacton (*1) that safely turns the surface of the human body into a data transmission path at speeds up to 10 Mbps between any two points on the body. Using a novel electro-optic sensor (*2), NTT has already developed a small PCMCIA card-sized prototype RedTacton transceiver (see Fig. 1). RedTacton enables the first practical Human Area Network between body-centered electronic devices and PCs or other network devices embedded in the environment via a new generation of user interface based on totally natural human actions such as touching, holding, sitting, walking, or stepping on a particular spot. RedTacton can be used for intuitive operation of computer-based systems in daily life, temporary one-to-one private networks based on personal handshaking, device personalization, security, and a host of other applications based on new behavior patterns enabled by RedTacton. NTT is committed to moving RedTacton out of the laboratory and into commercial production as quickly as possible by organizing joint field trials with partners outside the company, under NTT's comprehensive producer (*3) program."

Stitch says: this is the kind of stuff that Matrix fans dream of..."Jack me in, I wanna learn Kung Fu" is a vernacular understood by many but only embraced by a few. As the reality of augmenting human capabilities far beyond natural endowments becomes more possible and augmented humans more prevalent, we'll have to come to a better understanding of ourselves and what it means to be truly "human". For myself, I would love to think more faster and process information more efficiently, see better, and in the dark, be able to lift object three thousand times my size and...oh wait...that's my alter ego talking...but seriously, if the option to increase various aspects of my physiology became available, I'd partake.

To learn more about this technology and the applictions envisioned for it today, go here.

News: Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper: Paper and Digital Media Converged

2005-07-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

Reblogged from Overclocker's Club

News: Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper: "Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper
Posted: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 01:52:18 GMT
Author: Matt Cameron

Fujitsu today announced their joint development of the world's first film substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with an image memory function. The new electronic paper features vivid color images that are unaffected even when the screen is bent, and features an image memory function that enables continuous display of the same image without the need for electricity. The thin and flexible electronic paper uses very low power to change screen images, thereby making it ideal for displaying information or advertisements in public areas as a type of new electronic media that can be handled as easily as paper. The jointly developed electronic paper will be showcased at Fujitsu Forum 2005, to be held July 14 and 15 at Tokyo International Forum.

Electronic paper offers all of the same characteristics of paper such as being thin, flexible, and lightweight. It also boasts low power consumption in that it does not require electricity except during screen image changes, making electronic paper especially suited for advertisements or information bulletins in public places for which paper is currently used. Electronic paper is especially convenient for use on curved surfaces, such as columns. In addition, electronic paper can be conveniently used in conjunction with mobile devices as an easy-to-read and portable display device.

Numerous R&D efforts are in progress in the field of electronic paper. However, thus far there had been no color electronic paper available that uses flexible film substrate capable of being bent without affecting the screen image and which features a memory function.

No electricity required for continuous display, minimal power consumption when changing screen image

* Features an image memory function that enables continuous display of the same image even when electricity is turned off therefore no electricity is required for continuous display.
* Screen image can be changed using minimal electricity consumption equivalent to the weak radiowaves used in contactless IC cards.
* Fujitsu's new technology significantly conserves energy by consuming only one one-hundredth to one ten-thousandth the energy of conventional display technologies.

High-level display performance

* The new electronic paper is constructed of three displaying layers - red, blue, and green. Since no color filters or polarizing layers are required, it features color that is significantly more vivid than conventional reflective-type LCDs.
* Proprietary Fujitsu technology ensures that screen color is unaffected even when the screen is bent or pressed with fingers.
* Because the screen image does not require repetitive updates to be maintained, the screen does not flicker.

Flexible film substrate

* The film substrate employed in Fujitsu's new electronic paper can be flexibly bent and thus significantly widens the range of potential applications.

Anticipated Applications
By leveraging the features of this technology, a wide variety of applications can be envisioned for Fujitsu's new electronic paper as a digital medium that can be handled like paper. Following are some examples:

Transit advertising on trains, information displays on curved surfaces, and other public display applications that could take advantage of its light weight and flexibility. Information displayed can be updated based on the time of day, enabling more effective advertising and informational signage.

Electronic shelf display tags, point-of-purchase displays, restaurant menus, and other in-store uses. Can also be used for pricing displays or product information displays that stand out in full color and can be readily updated.
Operating manuals, work orders, and other short-term information displays, facilitating the trend toward paperless offices or factories.

Text or images from mobile phones or other mobile devices can be transferred wirelessly to larger displays for easy viewing.

Use in the home can offer more convenient digital-media devices that can be carried from room to room.

Future Developments
Fujitsu will conduct test marketing and practical-use testing, targeting commercialization within fiscal 2006 (April 2006 to March 2007) to promote field innovation using its new electronic paper.

Stitch Says: I could stay up nights thinking about potential applications for this. If they can make it flexible and durable enough you could suddenly totally change the mobile web. Your cell phone becomes a modem for downloading any newspaper in the world in full color a section at a time, but with fully searchable, indexable, taggable results. Truly, if the capabilities of the paper support navigation, and the phones have enough processing power to deal with full blown html/xml the possibilities are endless...

WiMax VoIP Delivered : Converging Acronyms?

2005-07-14T02:54:00.000-07:00

WiMax VoIP Delivered: "*

WiMax VoIP Delivered

By samc on 802.16 News

WiFi Planet notes that San Francisco based Soma Networks has completed interoperability validation with Broadsoft's BroadWorks, paving the way for VoIP application delivery over WiMAX.

Broadworks is a VoIP application platform that manages call routing and provides a number of core web-enabled telephony services including voice mail, call waiting, conferencing, and auto-attendant functions. Soma Networks' part of the equation includes a wireless end-to-end IP telephony solution that offers a fully integrated VoIP wireless broadband gateway that allows VoIP application bandwidth efficiency over a broadband wireless infrastructure.

Soma's wireless broadband gateway is a converged device that integrates a SIP User Agent (SUA), analog terminal adapter (ATA), wireless broadband modem and WiFi route into a single unit. According to Soma, users can plug any standard analog voice phone or FAX line into the device and use their web browser to register for VoIP services.

The SOMA solution is targeted at service providers looking to offer landline quality voice and high speed data services to residential and SoHo customers. Broadband Wireless (WiMAX) based VoIP compares favorably from a price, technology, and security point of view with wired VoIP solutions according to Soma."

Stitch Says: better get your notepad out, we've got a new acronym coming...any guesses? Possibilities include VoMax, VO-WiMax or they could depart from the standard, try something different and fun and go with MaxVox, Wi-Vox, or how about VO-Wax? Their are so many new acronyms being generated today you need a dictionary to keep them straight. And if you want to actually tell someone what some of the acronyms stand for you'd better have your engineering degree. How about orthagonal freququency division mutiplexing?

Seriously, though, WiMax is starting to show some promise. More than one company has managed to demonstrate real-world functionality for fixed and mobile acess deployed over not one but multiple different frequencies. As analog broadcasts vacate large swathes of the airwaves, the rapid deployment of new high speed data services is going to be a boom for consumers looking for better service offerings and competitive prices.

Handheld Wireless Gambling: Now Slot Jockeys and Poker Fiends Can Converge on the Casinos from Home

2005-07-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Nevada Legalizes Wireless Handheld GamingBy Peter Rojas

Wireless gambling handheld

We can already tell that next year’s DefCon is going to be a hoot: the state of Nevada just passed a law that would make it legal to gamble using a wireless handheld device in any part of a casino except a hotel room (because it’d be tough to for them to stop kiddies from playing, and you know how much the kids love video poker). It’s actually illegal to gamble online here in the States, so the idea here is that casinos can offer their patrons handhelds that connect up to a local wireless network and which would allow them to continue, uh, winning and losing (well, mostly losing) money even when they’re hitting the buffet or watching Zumanity. Then again, if you’re just going to go all the way to Vegas to play Texas Hold ‘Em on a tiny PDA screen, you could probably save yourself some time, trouble, and expense and just kick it at home, but hey, we’re doing our best to understand your addiction.

Stitch Says: and you thought kids of PlayStation Portable were bad...I'm not much of a gambler myself, I have enough stuff to do without adding poker to my vices, but for those that are, I'm curious about things like user experience, bandwidth, security, etc. Anyone? What's the table limit? What happens when a call drops fbefore the ball does? Is static grounds for failing to pay up when you lose a big pot? Anyone? Anyone?

Mobile Pipeline | Trials Start On Hybrid Wi-Fi, FLASH-OFDM Network

2005-07-08T01:23:00.000-07:00
Mobile Pipeline | Trials Start On Hybrid Wi-Fi, FLASH-OFDM Network: "Trials Start On Hybrid Wi-Fi, FLASH-OFDM Network

Courtesy of Mobile Pipeline...

Japan Telecom said it will begin trials on a wireless network that combines Wi-Fi and FLASH-OFDM wireless broadband technology.

The telecom operator said it will conduct the trials with a research center in Tohoku University.

'The technology trial objectives are to verify high-speed Internet access and seamless roaming, as well as mobile-to-fixed handoff with wireless LANs using the IEEE 802.11b/g/a standard and FLASH-OFDM, 'Professor Kazuo Tsubouchi, said in a statement. 'Our goal is to help prove the ability of IP-based technologies to work in harmony to help create a seamless broadband experience for people, government and public safety organizations, using fixed and mobile networks.'

FLASH-OFDM is a wireless broadband technology, championed by Flarion Technology, that competes with WiMAX. Japan Telecom noted that it already has deployed public Wi-Fi service in a variety of locations. It is aiming at providing a more ubiquitous wireless network to its customers, the company said in a statement. It did not say, however, when it might commercialize the combined technologies.

Stitch says: I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of these announcments soon. Carriers are beginning to realize that voice over Wi-Fi or other IP based protocols is not going to go away and that by responding proactively they'll have a much better chance to innovate ahead of the curve and find themselves in an advantageous position relative to fighting the trend with every ounce of strength and then losing the battle only to find that meanwhile, they've lost time and marketshare to opponents that are suddenly the ones playing on their own turf.

Moreover, the adaptation can actually serve to reduce traffic costs; backhaul of voice to the ip core will free up the cost and capacity sensitive network components making it possible to handle more simultaneous voice and data traffic and as the networks move through and beyond 3G, the carriers will have the opportunity to reshape themselves to make money off of content, and other services.

Get the latest Mobile news, product info, and trends every week.

Related Content

Florida Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal

T-Mobile, Cingular Team On Multimedia Messaging

After The Hype, Where Is WiMAX?

Qualcomm Calls Broadcom Anti-Trust Suit 'Meritless'

What's Next For Mobile Data After 3G?

Symbian Smartphones Hit By New Trojan

KVM-over-IP: Centralized, Simplified Management
Educate visitors considering infrastructure/KVM solutions.
What the future holds; how Avocent is advancing this market.
Innovations in Wireless
Hear key considerations for deploying Voice over WLAN,
location-based services, and campus-wide coverage.
Derive Bottom-Line Value AML and Fraud Investments
Learn about AML technology.
Hear fraud schemes and how to address them.

Editorial and vendor perspectives
Upcoming TechWebCasts
On Demand TechWebCasts
Deploy the right mobile messaging solution
Practical strategies and expert advice for better mobile software

10-Minute Online Demonstration of NetSuite
Customer Success Stories & Video Testimonials

What major mobile applications will emerge in the next few years?

Mobile music.
Mobile TV/video.
Wi-Fi location and positioning services.
Use of cell phones as payment devices.
Other.
Maximum 3900 characters

Product Finder
Leave Your Wires Behind
Click here for a wide assortment of WLAN network interface cards and adapters.

Find Your Handheld

Become a Hotspot Spotter

Editor's Picks

Travel The World, Stay Connected
Traveling overseas? Before you go, read our expert tips for staying in touch from anywhere in the world.

Mobile WiMAX In Laptops - Eventually

Sneak Peek: The Nokia 9300 Smartphone

Review: A ThinkPad That's Also A Tablet PC

Sneak Peek: Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet"

Rajesh Jain on the Future: (Convergence Conference)

2005-06-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

Emergic.org, on Convergence:
"Two words that were heard a lot at the conference were 'convergence' and 'ecosystem.' Convergence is finally becoming a reality as the next-generation networks with all-IP cores are making it possible to have triple play services (voice, data and video) flow over the same network. Convergence is also happening in terms of the fixed line and wireless worlds - in both the networks and handsets. Convergence technology drivers include SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and IMS (IP Multimedia System). There will be a time soon when our handsets will support WiFi and GSM/CDMA, such that in hotspots they would use WiFi to make and receive calls, while at other locations they would use the cellular networks.

Ecosystem is about the realization that there is no single company which has all the answers, and there is a web of relationships to deliver valuable services to consumers and enterprises. Operators control the networks (and the customer relationships), but they need a combination of cheaper access devices and compelling services to drive traffic and revenues. An ecosystem approach is about creating win-win scenarios for the entire value chain.

The three panel discussions identified the hot issues: content, 3G and VoIP. The biggest success stories in mobile value added services have been unexpected - SMS, ringtones and increasingly, ringback tones. But there are still plenty of opportunities in the content space to deliver useful services to consumers on their always-on, always-available, always-connected, personal devices, and over broadband networks. Operators have begun 3G rollouts across the region - but there is no clear business plan on how money will be made! WiMax looms as a possible threat - or opportunity. VoIP is hot and happening - it is clear that voice will just be another application on the IP network.

The vision for the future is simple, seamless and personal communications from wireline and wireless networks. Tomorrow's world will be one where users will be able to communicate anytime, anywhere from the device of their choice. Users will be able to define their own experiences, and the network will become more intelligent to bring highly personalised services to users. All of this will bring about a significant lifestyle change for consumers and also enable the real-time enterprise.

The dream of this world of seamless mobility has been there for many years. But the work that has been happening in the background is now making it all possible. Parallel trends in digitisation are making a huge array of content available to us on any of the screens - TV, PC or the mobile. The focal point is now shifting from the network to the user. What people really want is to be connected, informed, entertained and do so in their own way. Whether one is at home or work, commuting or in public places, the networks will connect us to friends, family, colleagues at work, and our business information."

Stitch Says: I pulled this extended quote below from Rajesh Jain's exceptional blog, Emergic. There are few posts on my blog upon which I DO NOT feel a comment is merited. This is one.

iPod Sales Affected by Music Phones - Softpedia News (Convergence Casualty?)

2005-06-28T01:39:00.000-07:00

iPod Sales Affected by Music Phones - Softpedia News: "iPod Sales Affected by Music Phones
Category: SOFTPEDIA NEWS :: Trends

Barron’s says

If cell phones are transformed by the wireless into music players, iPod sales might record a significant decrease, Barron’s says.

According to the same
magazine, by 2006, most of the handsets will implement the necessary hardware and software to allow them to download music in the same way an iPod does, but also by using cellular telephony.
Some analysts estimate that next year, Apple will sell approximately 45 million players. This figure is huge, but it pales compared to the 750 million handsets which will be sold in 2006.

Nokia already has a competitor, the N91, which will work as a cell phone, but also as a MP3 player, thanks to the incorporated 4GB hard disk which can be used by users to store MP3, AAC or WMA files.

However, we are a little bit circumspect regarding the producers’ ability to cram so many functions into a device designed for cellular telephony: digital camera, audio player, radio player audio, radio etc."

Stitch Says; Bill Gates, I believe, said it first, and Barron's follow on seems to be sensible considering the amazing leaps in technology we've seen at the handset in just the past year. Clearly, people love having their music (and I mean ALL their music) with them any time the fancy strikes. But it's almost equally obvious that given the choice, people will tote fewer things with them. All things being equal the idea that people won't embrace the convergence of IPod and Mobile Phone is almost silly. That said, I don't believe that mere convenience is going to drive an abrupt migration from one technology to the other. Take LCD displays as an example; clearly they are better, lower power consumption, more esthetic, much smaller foot print, lower weight (and shipping cost), but what we saw in the real world was a gradual change as people upgraded or replaced failing CRT monitors. The whole world is not going to toss out millions of good cellular phones and iPods just to be the first on the block to have the iPod/Mobile combo, but when one or the other breaks down, or it's time for a new cellular plan, then the novel technology will influence decisions and purchases.

we make money not art: gadgets Archives: (Now THAT'S Convergence!)

2005-06-27T03:21:00.000-07:00
we make money not art: gadgets Archives: "I'm hoooome
07:44 AM gadgets telephony

�zgur TASAR, from Umea Institute of Design in Sweden, has developed Nokia One, a home communication interface that unites home entertainment and communication, incorporating Instant contact into the home entertainment system (TV/Music).

The Nokia ONE Digital Home Convergence System/>

The system consists of a main unit with projector and a commander for interaction.

The main unit has an induction charging surface, a central harddisk, light system based on OLED flexible screen system, wireless system for data transfer and microphone for Âtalking in the air.Â The Controller does all the interaction.

When you come home, you throw your mobile phone into NOKIA one. This action makes you digitally at home too. Mobile phone syncronizes with NOKIA One. Contact, message, photos and other media updates are exchanged. If you get an SMS, it will pop up on TV. When you get a call youÂll see it on TV, and talk in the air without phone. You will also appear 'at home' in your friends list in instant contacting application.

Induction Charging NOKIA One charges the battery of the mobile phone by induction charging.

Stitch Says: This one sort of came at us out of thin air. I'm truly curious about the specifications of the device, it's limitations, security attributes (or lack thereof) and what else is required to make it interact with the rest of your wired home...

Phone Rumors! (3G Sony Ericsson Smart Phone) SE's most recent convergence effort?

2005-06-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

Rumor or Revelation?
These images appear to be either artist's concepts or pre-production templates for two new Sony Ericsson Smartphones; the P915 and P100.

From what I've read on the BB's devoted to Sony Ericsson's much-loved P800-P910 models, these phones are rumored to include 3G support, Wi-Fi, possibly EDGE, better GPRS, a higher resolution screen, 2MP camera and support for Blackberry mail...

From the images, it appears that the P915 may be more of a clamshell design while the P1000 seems to have a "slider" type design in a "candy bar" form factor. Battery life, which is already one of hte P-series strengths in comparison to most smart phones, is also allegedly improved.

LET me Stress, this is pure conjecture on my part based on images from a highly questionable source so please don't hold my feet to the fire if this turns out to be inaccurate.

Interestingly, a Google search for "Sony Ericsson P1000" turns up a number of UK online stores that have prelimary sales pages up for these phones but with no price and no additional details.

NTT DoCoMo 4G test hits 1Gbps (Convergence Leaders)

2005-06-24T04:40:00.000-07:00
NTT DoCoMo 4G test hits 1Gbps: "NTT DoCoMo 4G test hits 1Gbps

By Staff on DoCoMo

Japan's NTT DoCoMo is busy testing 4G wireless technology (we're still using 2G here in the US) and has achieved a milestone, a 1Gbps data download speed while moving at 20km/h.

[This is a content summary only. Click through to read the whole story (including any links or images). ]"

Stitch Says: Holy Rocket-Phones Bat Man! The agonizing wait for 3G deployment here in the good old US of A is killing me; while just a hop, skip and a jump away, NTT DoCoMo is showing us how it should be done. Hey! Carriers! Wake-Up Already! We want our 3-G and we want it now!"

Barcode TV? (Camera Phones and New Colored BarCodes Converge TV/Wireless Web

2005-06-22T16:41:00.000-07:00
picturephoning.com: "Tele-Barcode: The Case of ColorCode"

Found on Textually.org which found this on RFID in Japan;

So, how is the Korean ColorCode being introduced in Japan? ColorZip (the company who owns the technology of ColorCode) announced recently that they are collaborating with two Japanese TV broadcasting stations (TBS and Fuji TV) to develop a system for integrating TV programs and wireless websites.

The system that broadcasts ColorCode will likely be put into real use this summer. Consumers can easily access wireless websites related to TV programs by simply taking a picture of a broadcasted ColorCode. For example, such websites may allow consumers to participate in voting, download sample music clips, buy products, or apply for free gifts.

It sounds like ColorCodes can be read from a distance more easily than other 2D codes.

Stitch Says: in the US, if these small codes were displayed on the television screen during a program the station would receive thousands of calls and complaints about a program error or worse, some obscentity! Seriously, though, we're so out of step with some of these advances that it's going to take a tremendous amount of education on the part of the first companies to deploy this new technology to raise general awareness to the point where there is any sense in making the investment. That said, this is probably a very good intermediate step for interactive broadcast television particularly for homes that have begun using some kind of media hub with integrated PC/Web access.

I can even foresee a time when there'll be a code-capture feature built in to remote controls that lets you navigate the codes displayed on screen, click them and via a picture in picture display view the additional information, or even make a purchase, all without significant interruption of the on-screen action. In fact, capturing, storing (bookmarking) these codes could be a great way for advertisers to gain a foothold in the living room. The more I think about potential applications for this technology the more value I see for advertisers once the initial obstacle of consumer education is overcome.

Of course, the ultimate goal, and in my mind best final result would be that this technology is sufficiently developed that taking a picture of the code in a mobile phone can mash up the code against the location of the person taking the photo as well as their m-commerce profile, and thus would serve them via their phone (instantly) and later via their pc (if their profile supports the action) information and options geared specifially to their tastes, buying habits, resources and other preferences. Now that's the kind of marketing I want. I see a vacation to Tahiti offer pictured in a travel agency's window; I take a picture of their colorcode, and within moments, I have the option to book a trip that has been bounced off my calendar, and checked against the rules for the fares offered. Before I'm half way down the block, I have first class seats (I always fly upgrades, and with a companion) for a 10 day trip during my next vacation (which has been blocked out on my calendar since last February, but which hasn't yet been allocated for a specific trip), I've got King size beds in all my hotels, vegetarian meals on the flights for my companion, and transportation via my favorite car service scheduled both to and from the airport for the dates of my trip. My email "away" message has been preset, critical services (like pet care and plant watering arranged via automatic calendaring with my service providers or I've got reminders waiting for me to make those arrangements if they're not pre-set), and my co-workers (either that I want to make jealous or that have a genuine need to know) have been notified of my pending trip.

No that's the vision. One shot could do a lot! In fact. I'm claiming copyright on that last! That's a great marketing slogan for a company that could offer that suite of services. Wow. Now I want to go to Tahiti...

Ah well, when I get back from the blogosphere, I still have work here on my desk; but I will definitely be monitoring this development to see when my vision comes alive.

Mobile Pipeline | Positioning System Uses Wi-Fi, Not Satellites

2005-06-21T00:43:00.000-07:00
Mobile Pipeline | Positioning System Uses Wi-Fi, Not Satellites: "June 20, 2005

Positioning System Uses Wi-Fi, Not Satellites

Skyhook Wireless Monday launched a positioning service that uses Wi-Fi instead of satellites, which it claims will be simpler and less expensive in many environments.

The Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) initially is being rolled out in 25 metropolitan areas, the company said in a statement. It enables the monitoring of any Wi-Fi-enabled device such as smartphones, PDAs and laptops, the company said. The client software access a database of more than 1.5 million WLAN access points in the initial 25 coverage areas, which it uses to calculate location within 40 meters, the company said in a statement.

The company said that the old GPS systems required separate hardware and line-of-site access to satellites. Such systems also are unreliable in some urban areas, according to Skyhook. The WLAN-based location system eliminates those problems."

Stitch Says: I reported this company a while back, when I noted that this concept, which clearly offers some convenience and cost reduction for metropolitan navigation, is interesting for a number of other reasons as well; their aggregation of such a substantial number of HotSpots (claimed at 1.5 million each with a location plotted) represents a fairly Herculean task in itself, although the payoff could be that even if their GPS model fails, they have some nice data that they can resell. However, I have yet to hear how they plan to account for the strong possibility that any number of these hotspots might be relocated, thus rendering information less than accurate. To be fair, I have not had a chance to speak with a company spokesperson so it is plausible that they have a solution that works around this potential issue.

Personally, I can see this as a nice ad-hoc subscription service that would be doubly useful for a Wi-Fi enabled smartphone. What I envision is the visitor to an unfamiliar city logging on to their service during a visit to aid in navigation, site seeing, etc. Come to think of it, this is exactly the kind of thing that I'd be presenting to conceirge's at nice hotels; they're the kind of people that would really appreciate some help getting needy tourists some no-brainer directions...now they just have to hope that install and use (for said tourist) is easier than following directions, otherwise the poor concierge might need to be an IT consultant on the side.

In any case, I'm going to keep an eye on Skyhook. I want to see how this model plays out.

Cell Phones Now Playing Role of Wallet - Yahoo! News (More Convergence Towards a True Digital Wallet)

2005-06-19T04:51:00.000-07:00
Cell Phones Now Playing Role of Wallet - Yahoo! News: "Cell Phones Now Playing Role of Wallet

By BRUCE MEYERSON, AP Business Writer Sat Jun 18, 5:27 AM ET

NEW YORK - Already a device of multiple disguises, from camera to music player and mini-TV, the cell phone's next trick may be the disappearing wallet. After all, since more than a quarter of the people on the planet already carry around cell phones, and hundreds of millions are joining them every year, why should they bring along credit and debit cards when a mobile device can make payments just as well?
ADVERTISEMENT

At the simplest level, all that's needed is to embed phones with a short-range radio chip to beam credit card information to a terminal at a store register. It's not unlike the wireless system used to pay tolls on many highways or the SpeedPass keychain wand used to buy gas at Exxon Mobile Corp. pumps."

Stitch Says: is it just me or is this space heating up lately? Yesterday we had confirmation of Google's entry into the financial fray, alternate payment methods like C-Sam are coming online at a rapid clip as well. It's only logical that the technology find it's way into mobile phones. Far better security, convenience and flexibility can be developed at the handset level than any other commonly carried item. I wonder, are the carriers going to wake up and grabe a piece of this action before it's too late? Cingular, Verizon; if you want to know which companies you should partner with (to grab a piece of First Data's Multi-Billion dollar market) ask me.

Intel integrates 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi onto a single chip

2005-06-18T04:05:00.000-07:00
Intel integrates 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi onto a single chip: "Intel integrates 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi onto a single chip

By Thomas Ricker

Intel Centrino logoToday Intel announced details of their new all-in-one wireless chip ? integrating 802.11a/b/g and ready-for the yet to be ratified 100Mbps 802.11n ? something that currently requires several chips. They even figured out a way to integrate formerly extraneous bits like power amplifiers. Neato, but really, why should you care? Well, using a single chip reduces the manufacturing costs and extends the battery life of our portable electronics. And since these CMOS-based chips use the same manufacturing technology as their microprocessors, Intel will be able to quickly saturate the market once production begins. Now, Intel won?t be pinned down for an availability date, but there?s little doubt that we?ll see the new chips packaged in Centrino systems. And as consumers demand Centrino like Pentium in days of yore, Broadcom and Texas Instruments will be left wondering what the hell happened to their market share. Intel, a WiFi company?my my."

Stitch Says: I am amazed this bit of news, which I noticed first on Engadget, isn't a major headline. Not only is this an incredible innovation with far reaching ramifications for both end users and lots of enterprises, but it's also a significant business statement. In my opinion, Intel, which has shown an increasingly obvious strategy to dominate the next generation of wireless broadband infrastructure, has really thrown down the gauntlet with this announcement. Their previous statements concerning operational interactivity testing with Alvarion, a leader in WiMax basestations, is further evidence that the semiconductor giant has it's sights set squarely on this market segment as a core initiative. Further, this will push other develolpers to not only move quickly to respond with offerings of their own, but could conceivably push the carriers into opening up more of their GSM/3G networks to hybrid connectivity. Yesterday, Nokia, today, Intel...Who'll it be tomorrow?

textually.org: Google Zeros In On Mobile Web

2005-06-18T04:03:00.000-07:00
textually.org: Google Zeros In On Mobile Web: "Google Zeros In On Mobile Web

Google Inc. on Thursday started testing a mobile-phone service that searches websites that have been designed to deliver content customized for the small screens of cellular phones, reports TechWeb via Moco News.

To use the Google Mobile Search, people go to the company's homepage via the web browser on their phones, type in their search query and select 'Mobile Web (Beta)' as their search option.

Along with the latest service, Google's other mobile features include the ability to search for images and the general web and for products and services offered locally. Google also offers a text-based messaging service.
emily | 08:18 AM

Stitch Says: we knew this was coming. Still, even with a reasonably large display, and a higher end smartphone, searching the web via phone is still a largely painful and tedious experience. Much faster are the SMS based query engines that provide a simple interface and a more responsive feel in many instances. Besides, SMS works on nearly any phone. That's not to say that I'm not a fan of improved WAP and XHTML for the mobile. I love the idea of having always available Internet. We just need to see true ubiquity in high speed data for mobile as well as intelligent design standards that understand and accomodate individual display capabilities better than today's pages do.

Nokia Announces VoIP Plans, Hints at Wi-Fi Phones (Phone Scoop) (and in more GSM/Wi-Fi Convergence News)

2005-06-17T03:39:00.000-07:00
Nokia Announces VoIP Plans, Hints at Wi-Fi Phones (Phone Scoop): "Nokia Announces VoIP Plans, Hints at Wi-Fi Phones

Nokia today announced they are working with leaders and first movers to bring enterprise VoIP to Series 60 phones. Nokia has licensed Cisco CallManager and will work with the company to extend it to mobile devices. They have have signed agreements with IBM and OnRelay to create and distribute systems that connect PBX phone systems to mobile phones over 3G or Wi-Fi. As part of the announcement, Nokia admitted they will be launching Series 60 handsets with Wi-Fi in the future. Series 60 Version 3 has support for Wi-Fi built in.

Full Story..."

Stitch Says: Caught this one on Phone Scoop; thanks guys! As I said in the prior post; this transition is inevitable. The only question is how long it will take for the carriers to accept their fate?

First UMA Service Launched (Phone Scoop) (Convergence Deployment Update)

2005-06-17T03:37:00.000-07:00
First UMA Service Launched (Phone Scoop): "First UMA Service Launched

Date Posted: Wednesday, 10:12 AM
Source: Reuters

British Telecom (BT) today launched a new service called Fusion which seamlessly transfers calls between a cellular network and a home VOIP base station, providing cheaper calls and better reception for mobile subscribers at home. Subscribers will use a Motorola V560 handset which has quad band GSM/GPRS for connecting to cellular networks (sold with a Vodafone subscription) and Class 1 Bluetooth for connecting to a base station up to 100 meters (about 330 feet) away. When the phone comes within range of a paired base station, it transfers calls (even live conversations) from the cell network to the base station, which transmit calls over broadband using VOIP. The reverse happens when a subscriber is on a call and goes out of range.

Full Story..."

Stitch Says: This is just the first of many. It will be interesting to see how BT's metrics prove out this model. Stay tuned for future updates.

How Lance Armstrong Gets His Unusual Energy - New York Times (Of Topic, but Hey...I know this guy!)

2005-06-17T03:18:00.000-07:00
How Lance Armstrong Gets His Unusual Energy - New York Times: "How Lance Armstrong Gets His Unusual Energy

Robert Pratta/Reuters

Lance Armstrong can cover 32 miles in one hour of cycling.

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE
Published: June 14, 2005

Lance Armstrong's strength and endurance sometimes seem too extraordinary to be believed.

Armstrong, a six-time winner of the Tour de France bicycle race who next month will try for his seventh straight victory, can cover 32 miles in one hour of riding. In contrast, the average cyclist covers 16 miles; a top marathon runner can cover 21 miles on a bike.
Skip to next paragraph
Robert Pratta/Reuters

Lance Armstrong can cover 32 miles in one hour of cycling.

Armstrong can ride up the mountains in France generating about 500 watts of power for 20 minutes, something a typical 25-year-old could do for only 30 seconds. A professional hockey player might last three minutes - and then throw up.

So how does he do it?"

Stitch Says; you'll have to forgive me for going way astray here, but as a former professional cyclist myself, and former team mate of Lance's on the US team, I can answer that question much more specifically; he is simply the best. And he hates losing more than any human I have ever encountered. People simply have no idea how astonishing his achievements truly are. In a sport that is arguably one of the most difficult of them all, this man has managed to put together six streaks of 23 perfect days. Perhaps this is reasonable for server management, but when you take into account the sheer number of variables that go into his job, the idea that he has ALREADY WON SIX GRAND BOUCLE's (read, Tours de France) is so staggering that there are not superlatives capable of doing justice to his record. I for one hope that he dominates for a seventh tour and can rest on his laurels knowing that what he has done will likely never be eclipsed. How often can anyone go to bed at night thinking that? GO LANCE!

"Location Based Services and all about Mobile Marketing" - (More Mobile/Financial Convergence)

2005-06-16T01:51:00.000-07:00
The Mobile Technology Weblog - "Location Based Services and all about Mobile Marketing" - Comics and Mobile - The Perfect Marriage: "Mobile Payments
Filed in archive Analysis

We seem to be getting nearer to a working Mobile Payments system, these days. There's a lot happening in the sector and I expect it to be one of the major battle grounds in mobile in the next 5 years.

Mobile Payments is simply the ability to use your phone as a way of buying something.

Unlike most wars, there are actually three sides in each battle:"

Stitch Says: As someone that's directly involved (I just helped author a business plan for a company that I can't name, but which just recieved a one billion dollar commitment from the Mexican Banks and Vincente Fox) in alternate payment methods (the one above being stored value on unbanked credit cards), I can tell you that many of the points made are right on the money (pun intended), however, one thing to keep in mind is that there is a precedent for success in this arena; PayPal. OF course Western Union/First Data would also be a relevant example.

At one point in 2000 when I was with a company now called FSV Payment Systems, I suggested to their CTO (I was CIO) that they consider a joint venture with PayPal. At the time, PayPal had around 20,000 accounts.

The CTO told me in no uncertain terms that I was off my rocker to even suggest it, that no webmaster in his right mind would EVER put something like that into their site. Moreover, he suggested that unless an innovation was driven by MasterCard, Visa or AMEX, it would get no traction at all.

FSV is now in grocery stores, courtesy of their relationship with CoinStar, and you've never heard of them, whereas PayPal is well...I don't need to tell you.

New Media Convergence; why the handset is all that matters

2005-06-16T00:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, a fellow subscriber to AdRants requested comments relatng to the future direction of media and advertising.in response to that request, I started thinking about this topic and came to a fairly strong conviction; the mobile handset is all that matters.

I honestly beliieve that mobile marketing will change everything. There are now almost 1.6 billion (with a B) cellular handsets on the planet. This number is skyrocketing every year as less-developed countries like India and China and even Mexico leapfrog the wired infrastructure and move straight to wireless.

New technologies are being developed that make it possible to reliably locate any individual handset to within less than 10 meters with no change to the underlying handset, no subscription, in fact, without the approval, awareness of or event consent by the consumer. This technology will open a new world to the marketer; highly targeted location based advertising straight to the phone.

This has the potential to be, with apologies to Dickens; the best of advertising or the worst of advertising. IF driven by a permission based model where the consumer has established preferences and controls about who gets to market to him or her, when, where, and how often, the consumer will have a degree of granular control so precise, so convenient, that it will actually change the way people shop and buy. At the opposite end of the spectrum, out of control unsolicited messages to the consumer could render the phone a useless permanent "pop-up" buzzing mindlessly in your purse or pocket, interrupting your calls, your thoughts, and your conversations to attempt to hawk goods and services that you don't want, don't need and probably will find offensive.

The power to determine which future we will see is largely in the hands of 3 groups; the advertisers and their ethics, the carriers and their conflict between revenues and responsibility, and the consumer and their immediate and negative vocal reaction to anything other than a completely permission based approach.

There are many ways that this could go down, just as there are many ways that these new marketing paradigms could manifest themselves. The key issues will be determined in the next few months as the early adopters make decisions that will influence the market and the mechanics of the technology for the next decade at least.

I truly hope that those of us in a position to make good decisions do so, that those of us capable of making ourselves heard when we witness decisions that are not good speak up quickly and loudly, and that at the end of the day, the best of advertising is a far far better thing than any advertising we have ever known.

World's Smallest IP Phone : Gizmodo (USB Convergence Take 2)

2005-06-14T03:26:00.000-07:00
World's Smallest IP Phone : Gizmodo: "WorldÂs Smallest IP Phone
Software filed under Software : VoIP

usb_ipphone.jpg imageAnother nice application of USB memory devices comes from ÂAny User Global,Â who slapped IP phone software in one, added a earphone-mic jack, and called it a day (and the ÂWorldÂs Smallest IP PhoneÂ). Called the ÂImPhone,Â"

Stitch Says: Uber cool! a tiny VoIP phone in a nifty Wrigley's Gum lookalike package! Seriously, this is some very clever hardware that will save certain travelers a bunch of cash on calls. Looks like the days of dialing down the middle to save money are a thing of the distant past.

TV Stick : Gizmodo (USB HDTV Convergence)

2005-06-14T03:24:00.000-07:00
TV Stick : Gizmodo: "TV Stick
filed under Peripherals

tvstick.jpgLaptop owners tune in. Compro has released a USB TV ÂStickÂ to allow for analog and HD television viewing via only a USB port."

Stitch Says: another must have technological convergence; this nifty gadget is capable of turning USB port equipped machines into high end tv's...one more reason I can never be far from my computer... ;-)

Skype Yahoo? (Converging Giants?)

2005-06-13T05:31:00.000-07:00
Skype Yahoo?: "Skype Yahoo?

In Software: VoIP

The world of instant messaging is exploding with emoticons as rumors are surfacing regarding Skype and Yahoo. According blogs there are discussions going on between Skype and Yahoo. Just imagine the possibilities of instant messaging and voice over IP possibly combining to redefine the meaning of LOL. Everything is still rumors so nobody knows whether it will be a merger or if Yahoo will be buying Skype
outright, but regardless it will a big step up in the world of instant messaging.

Skype, Yahoo in talks? [GigaOm]"

Stitch Says: I'm not sure whether to say Skypoo or Yahkype about this, though carriers might be more inclined to the former. I think people may be underestimating the potency of this possible convergence. Millions of users, an Internet brand people have faith and confidence in, and the ability to access the POTS network with Skype Out and at cheap rates? Is video telephony about to gain a lot of momentum? Are WiVoip Phones about to become the next must have gadget?

One thing is for sure, in areas with widely distributed WiFi AP's (and especially free, open, AP's) this is going to make a lot of geeks and a llot of not quite geeks very happy.

picturephoning.com: Coming Soon - Movie previews on your cell phone (Cellular-Cinematic Convergence)

2005-06-13T04:10:00.000-07:00
picturephoning.com: Coming Soon - Movie previews on your cell phone: "Coming Soon - Movie previews on your cell phone

98m.jpg Mobile entertainment and technology firm Urban Mobile has partnered with UCI and Odeon Cinemas to provide movie fans with promotional film content downloadable to their mobile phones, reports Netimperative.

'Cinema-goers can receive a mobile entertainment pack at the UCI cinema box office, that relates to the film theyÂre about to watch.

Mobile packs are already prepared for the forthcoming summer blockbusters War of the Worlds and The Fantastic Four.

Currently, the content available includes ringtones, colour images and games.

A new service is presently in beta test where customers will be sent a message containing a video preview of a new film, from which they can visit the WAP site'."

Stitch Says: I can foresee this becoming quite popular. There are many movies I've seen where the coming attractions were the best part and given the fact that previews now seem to run a good 10 minutes as opposed to the 1 or 2 minutes of my youth, people seem to truly enjoy this advertising medium. Additionally, if they're formatted well and delivered in a non-invasive and cost free way, I can imagine those bus rides, waits in long lines, and other tedious every day moments filled with movie previews that have conveniently and nearly magically become one with my cellular experience. Honestly, I think this will have a pretty substantial impact...conditioning people to receive advertising to the phone, encouraging them to subsequently visit the movie's WAP website (where you just KNOW there will be other advertisers), and generally nudging people along the path towards acceptance of marketing on the last and most valuable piece of advertising real estate; the tiny screen of the mobile phone.

If Google and MSFT are smart, they'll take fast steps to be the frontrunners in developing additional connections here. Want to know how?

AlwaysOnGPS: bridging GPS and WiFi - (Converging Services; Wi-Fi & GPS a match made in subways?)

2005-06-11T19:17:00.000-07:00
AlwaysOnGPS: bridging GPS and WiFi - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "AlwaysOnGPS: bridging GPS and WiFi

Posted Jun 10, 2005, 5:27 AM ET by Barb Dybwad
Related entries: GPS, Handhelds, Wireless

AlwaysOnGPS

One of the more common issues with using GPS is its line of sight requirements Â if youÂre in an urban area with substantial skyline, indoors or elsewhere without a good line to the sky, you could be out of luck in the accurate coordinates department. The AlwaysOnGPS service is designed to bridge that gap in global positioning by automagically switching your WiFi enabled PocketPC or PDA over to a WiFi Positioning System, obviating those line of sight requirements. ItÂs simply a piece of software and not a third-party service, so itÂs a one time licensing fee of $19.95 to purchase the application; 30-day trial available, as well."

Stitch Says: I remember reading something about this a few month back; seems a few guys were busily cataloging every WiFi access point in their home city, Boston, I believe it was, to create an alternate positioning system based upon getting telemetry from WiFi access points and and using the signal delay differential to calculate location in areas were satellite GPS didn't work, such as indoors, in tunnels, and in urban areas with density that blocked satellite signals.

I'm not sure if this is an offshoot of their concept or a competitive product, nor am I convinced of the utility; it seems to me that most of the places it works you are more likely to know where you are already, however, with improved accuracy I can see certain interesting alternative uses for LBS including marketing possibilities.

Mobile Pipeline | Hope Emerges For Wi-Fi-Cellular Convergence

2005-06-09T23:57:00.000-07:00
Mobile Pipeline | Hope Emerges For Wi-Fi-Cellular Convergence: "June 09, 2005

Hope Emerges For Wi-Fi-Cellular Convergence

By Frank Bulk Courtesy of Network Computing

A few weeks ago, I covered the major mobile (and fixed) convergence groups--SCCAN, UMA and MobileIGNITE--as well as two of the dual-mode products--Wi-Fi and cellular--available from Motorola and NEC. I was generally pessimistic about the progression of dual-mode technologies, but a few developments since then have given some cause for encouragement."

Stitch Says: Read the article. Good summary of the current status of WiFi/GSM convergence and the associated companies, devices and supporting technologies.

Wireless Developer Network - Advertising Information (Can Satellite, Multipath Convergence Solve the E911 GPS Issue?)

2005-06-09T23:41:00.000-07:00
Wireless Developer Network - Advertising Information: "Response to WDN Article on positioning technology developed by SnapTrack/Qualcomm

Posted by WirelessDevNet, November 06, 2001

Last month, Nicki Hayes, WDN's European correspondent, shared her views on the FCC mandate regarding Phase II e911 compliance and Monday's e911 mandate deadline. In particluar, she examined why carriers may need to look for a non GPS solution to E911. This response comes from John Cunningham of SnapTrack (a subsidiary of QUALCOMM�) a leading location technology solution provider.
The Oct. 4th Wireless Devnet article, ÂCarriers Need a Non-GPS 911 Solution,Â was incorrect in its cost, performance, and availability assertions about the Assisted GPS mobile phone positioning technology developed by SnapTrack/Qualcomm, and incorporated into our commercially available gpsOne solution. Our gpsOne mobile phone location system is not only the >first< high precision system to be deployed for Phase II E911 in the U.S. (via Sprint PCS), it is also the >only< high precision system commercially available to consumers today, and has been in service since April 2001 with SECOM via the KDDI network i Japan."

Stitch Says; interesting response here by John Cunningham, Marketing Manager for Qualcomm's "SnapTrack" subsidiary to a prior devnet article (Oct. 4th Wireless Devnet article, ÂCarriers Need a Non-GPS 911 Solution,Â ). Implications of this piece would suggest that prior estimates by wireless carriers for the E911 location issue are grossly overstated and that a combination geo-spatial positioning via satellite combined with multipath analysis for low signal environments such as in heavy structures, will allow rapid and very precise device location. It seems to me that this same solution would be equally, if not more valid for VOIP and VoWlan scenarios.

U.S. Army to Deploy RFID Listening 'Rocks' (Conglomerate/RFID Convergence?)

2005-06-09T15:38:00.000-07:00
Spy Rocks Coming to the Ground Near You: "May 29, 2005

rfidrocks.jpg The U.S. Army plans to deploy in as early as 18 months new RFID-enabled rocks that are dropped by the thousands over battlefields and 'listen' for approaching enemies.

Though they look like small, natural rocks they're actually embedded with microprocessors and listening electronics that are so sensitive they can hear a person stepping on the ground 30 feet away.

Stitch Says; Whoa...listening rocks, smart dust what's next video rain? Seriously while I appreciate the innovations in technology, I think we should all be very concerned at the alarming ways in which RFID enable devices are being deployed. The ways in which our individual freedoms and personal privacy can now be violated without our knowledge are growing in leaps and bounds and they've become so subversive and yet so pervasive that we have virtually zero chance of anticipating--let alone detecting--instances in which our privacy has been materially compromised.

I for one think this is an intolerable development, but also, a very obvious area for new business...counter surveillance. So yeah, you can put up RFID Spy Wallpaper in my hotel room, but I'm going to bring along my stealth, nano-microfiber countersurveillance carpet and bathrobe (which is not only white, but also generates white noise across all known RFID radio frequencies; that or it can be set to broadcast recordings of fighting ferrets). Take that you spies!

Seriously though, this is an issue that merits attention and as these devices become widely distributed, intelligent approaches to preserve our individual rights.

picturephoning.com: AmEx Adds RFID to Blue Credit Cards (More Credit Card Convergence)

2005-06-08T03:51:00.000-07:00
picturephoning.com: AmEx Adds RFID to Blue Credit Cards: "AmEx Adds RFID to Blue Credit Cards

amexblue.gif Starting this month, all Blue cards issued by American Express will come embedded with an RFID transponder that allows customers to pay for goods with the tap of the card against an RFID reader, reports RFID Journal.

'The cards will retain the traditional magnetic stripe, so they can still be used as regular credit cards when RFID readers are not available. The Blue card's RFID-enabled feature will be accepted by all merchants participating in American Express' ExpressPay program'.
emily | 09:20 AM | Barcode Technologies / RFID Tags / NFC | permalink | trackback (0)"

Stitch Says: Well, we knew it was only a matter of time before more companies added RFID to their products. People seem to be enamored of the idea of just flicking their cards at the register and whisking their goods off on their busy way. Once again, I have to emphasize the lack of mention about security. This is an issue that is going to explode in myriad ways if we're not careful. I'll devote a future post to my thoughts about why RFID's pose such substantial security threats and how the compromise of RFID security or worse, databases of RFID/USER pair databases will beget a level of fraud and identity theft, let alone outright violence, that is a totally unintended consequence of wide scale deployment and subsequent breach of this technology.

Advanced IP Pipeline | Alcatel Launches Cell-WLAN Handoff Capabilities (Converging standards, devices)

2005-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:00
Advanced IP Pipeline | Alcatel Launches Cell-WLAN Handoff Capabilities: "Alcatel Launches Cell-WLAN Handoff Capabilities

By Mobile Pipeline Staff Courtesy of Mobile Pipeline

French telecommunications vendor Alcatel said Tuesday that it has started offering technology to wireless operators that enables data and voice handoffs between cellular, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks."

Stitch Says: I'm seeing an acceleration in this trend that borders on suprising. Clearly, the demand for ubiquitous broadband for mobile devices is driving innovation and the need for seamless connectivity. This is obviously a double-edged sword for the carriers. A rapid reduction in their fees for voice will most certainly occur as more and more consumers opt for lower cost VoIP where available, and the fast network switching that Alcatel and others are deploying will foster least cost routing at the handset. In many cities where lucrative voice markets flourish, this could eradicate revenues in a heartbeat. It will be interesting to see just how reliable these switching systems are, how effective the new devices are at routing to VoIP, and of course, how the carriers respond to this threat.

Cingular WiFi Camphone: Convergence Comes Stateside

2005-06-06T13:05:00.000-07:00
Cingular WiFi Camphone: "Cingular WiFi Camphone

By samc on Cellular Technology

Cingular Wireless and HP today introduced the Pocket PC h6320/6325, a voice and data Pocket PC that uses Windows Mobile software and incorporates GSM quad-band 'world phone' capabilities.

The HP iPAQ h6320/6325 features three-way wireless capabilities via Cingular's nationwide GSM/GPRS network, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It automatically connects to the fastest available network and automatically switches to an alternate network if the initial connection is lost. The $599 camphone uses the older 2003 Mobile Windows OS.

The HP iPAQ h6320/6325's international capabilities gives mobile professionals the ability to use its voice and data features within the United States or abroad. Cingular roaming agreements give customers the ability to use their device in 160 countries when making phone calls and over 80 countries when accessing data. It is available beginning today online at and through various HP and Cingular sales channels.

The HP iPAQ h6320/6325 is powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP(TM) 1510 processor and has SDRAM 64-MB, 64-MB ROM memory (55-MB user accessible) bolstered by up to 20 MB iPAQ File Store featuring non-volatile memory used to store critical data, databases and other important files. An integrated Secure Digital (SD) slot supports SD and Multimedia Card memory cards. The 6325 has a built-in VGA camera.

WI-FI PRICING BY CARRIER CARRIER PRICING
Nextel Unlimited national (annual) $39.99/month
SBC Unlimited national (annual) $19.95/month
T-Mobile Unlimited national (annual) $29.99/month
Unlimited national (month-to-month) $39.99
Cingular Unlimited national (annual) $39.95/month
Sprint Unlimited national (annual) $49.95/month
Source: Company Web sites"

Stitch Says: Great, just great. Two days AFTER I purchase a Motorola A1000 Cingular (my carrier) announces this! I'll probably break down and buy one anyway, just for the Wi-Fi capabilities and to play with Voice over IP over Wi-Fi. This is a really significant leap forward for a US carrier, IMO. Although, there could be an unintended consequence; if enough carriers embrace the Wi-Fi model, it could dramatically reduce the incentive for those carriers to make the massive infrastructure investments that are going to be required to deploy true 3 and 4G networks on any wide-spread basis. This means that instead of a ubiquitous wireless broadband network, we'll have a continuation, and even increase in the disparity between major metropolis technology and rural technology. Unless a fully meshed quilt of Wi-Fi/WiMax literally blankets the US from sea to shining sea, we're looking at a patchwork of "lit" cities and lots of big, dark, GPRS only backwaters. Not exactly the vision I hope to see for the future of always on, always available mobile computing. In fact, this sounds a lot like the Ricochet Network, CIRCA 2000.

Advanced IP Pipeline | DoCoMo To Converge Wireless, Landline Service ( A most logical convergence)

2005-06-06T04:41:00.000-07:00
Advanced IP Pipeline | DoCoMo To Converge Wireless, Landline Service: "June 03, 2005

DoCoMo To Converge Wireless, Landline Service

By Mobile Pipeline Staff Courtesy of Mobile Pipeline

Japan's NTT DoCoMo has plans for a new service that will converge cell phone and fixed-line voice access, The Japan Times reported this week.

The Japanese news source quoted DoCoMo's president Masao Nakamura as saying the new service will be launched next year. The service will use a single Wi-Fi-enabled cell phone to combine standard mobile voice access and voice-over-WLAN in the home, Japan Times reported.

The voice-over-WLAN service will be less expensive than cellular service. NTT DoCoMo is the largest wireless carrier in Japan."

Stitch Says: I don't really need to say anything here. Pretty much this move, by one of the acknowledged leaders in communications says it all. The only question I'd ask is when are the other carriers going to see the writing on the wall and move to accomodate VoIP and Wi-Fi?

Why AOL is Coding-Out (Failure to Converge?)

2005-06-06T03:58:00.000-07:00
AOL's Convergence Failure

Stitch Says: I just did an experiment. I clicked on AOL A to Z and in the little box typed "RSS" the response I got was:We found no results for your search.
We recommend you try the following:

Check your spelling. Remove double quotes. Quotes indicate and exact phrase, removing them broadens your search. Try using fewer words, your search may be too specific. Example: Instead of typing "tax free municipal bonds", try searching for "municipal bonds" or "bonds." Try different words Rephrase your search using synonyms or related words. Example: Instead of "italian cuisine" try "italian cooking"

Okay...maybe RSS was a stretch. I tried again. This time "newsfeeds" was the term. Same result. And you wonder why subscribers are defecting like rats leaving a sinking ship?

Come on guys! RSS? Newsfeeds? How can you possibly expect to run a technology company, and particularly one that caters to a youthful demographic and not have a single link for RSS or Newsfeeds? I'm gonna try "blogs"...hold on a second...okay..website not responding, hit the f5 key...ah here we are: AOL from A to Z Search Results Page 1 of 1
Blogs - Create a public or private online journal (or blog)
Related: Home PagesJournals - Create a public

2 links. Wow. Should I be impressed? Well, at least it's better than the prior to efforts that yielded zero; which, incidentally is what AOL is going to be worth if they don't wake up and smell the aggregators and other technological advances that seem to be passing them by.

AOL? Knock, knock! You want some suggestions? Ring me up.

Local News and Ads: Convergence Opportunity?

2005-06-06T02:35:00.000-07:00
E M E R G I C . o r g: Rajesh Jain's Weblog on Emerging Technologies, Enterprises and Markets: "Local News and Ads

O'Reilly Radar writes:

An article [recently] in the New York Times, Big Papers Find National Ads a Tough Sell, opens with the assertion that advertisers, inspired by the success of targeted advertising via services like Google's AdSense, are starting to turn away from large national papers, and spending more on local or regional papers.

This started a train of thought for me. Why is this trend just 'inspired by'? Why isn't it 'powered by?' Between Google News, Google Maps, and Google Local, Google might just have the right information to help advertisers place targeted ads in local newspapers. Where is there more interest in particular topics or products? What kinds of searches are most associated with particular ad click-throughs? What if newspapers, and not just web sites, could sign up for Google AdSense, mirroring Google's collective intelligence into offline media? I'm sure the targeting wouldn't be nearly as good, because it would be leveraging yesterday's clickstream for insight rather than a current page view, but it could be a lot better than the 'pin the tail on the donkey' game that print advertisers play today."

Stitch Says: I think O'Reilly makes some great points. In fact it begs the question as to when we'll see the first company that sells their successful AdWords data to print media advertising agents that are attempting to sell a similar product. People underestimate the data an AdWords campaign generates for the businesses that are using them successfully. Not only are we capturing rich data about which words work, but if you lay that on top of your sales data and your web site statistics you can parse out some extraordinary information. In just a few hours of data mining, I can determine when which words work, where the people are that use which words for the best sales, which browsers they use, how they like to pay for their goods or services, do they want standard or priority mail, etc.

In fact, now that I think about it, it seems this is a business all by itself; AdWords Analytics. It would be a simply matter to augment your back office sales data with a web statistics package and the results of each AdWords campaign. Google, already makes it possible to generate detailed campaign reports, and they'll even allow you to set up chron jobs with different reporting components. A simply lash up in xml is all that you'd need to parse it out and make it simple for advertisers dealing in print.

Imagine calling a paper to place a classified if the paper had that data? "Sir, we've found that home generates a 10% improvement in response in your zip code and if you choose the evening edition, you can expect an extra 5% on top of that. Also, if you add the following words to your advertisement you'll..." get my point? It changes everything.

Of course, as soon as digital paper becomes commercially viable, it goes pure AdWords/AdSense anyway, but for the next couple years we could see a very real and quantifiable means of improving results in ways heretofore impossible for the average advertiser.

SMS.ac Corporate: (Convergence YouthQuake: and the poll results are in SMS is king)

2005-06-05T05:39:00.000-07:00
SMS.ac Corporate: "RSS 2.0"

Stitch Says: came across this today on SMS.ac and although a bit light on certain critical information about polling practices, demographics, etc., the results were powerful, sometimes surprising, but on the whole clearly in agreement with my views and those of certain other folks with whom I've discussed SMS, convergence, the next suite of killer mobile applications and the future of computing in general. Particularly, VanGorilla of The Pondering Primate and Rajesh Jain of Emergic.org.

Spend a moment scrolling through the results; check out the stats relating to m-commerce, coupons, the use of SMS in general, and if you're working for a carrier, be alarmed at the crucial lack of loyalty generated by simply offering up new phones. Even number portability or really, lack thereof, will keep youth loyal to carriers if a free device is in the offing.

This Poll is worthy of discussion and analysis. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Federal report warns of RFID misuses - New York Times (RFID Abuse; An Unintended Consequence of Convergence?)

2005-06-04T04:35:00.001-07:00
Declan McCullagh, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: May 27, 2005
Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said.

In a report published Friday, the Government Accountability Office said that 13 of the largest federal agencies are already using RFID or plan to use it. But only one of 23 agencies polled by the GAO had identified any legal or privacy issues--even though three admitted RFID would let them track employee movements.

'Key security issues include protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data and information systems,' the GAO said. 'The privacy issues include notifying consumers; tracking an individual's movements; profiling an individual's habits, tastes and predilections; and allowing for secondary uses of information.'"

Stitch Says: I predict we're going to be hearing lots more about this topic. Both knee jerk reactions and fear mongering and then, more critically the first conspicuous RFID security failure and then the next and the next. If this technology is widely deployed with personal information, the target is too rich to not be hit and hit hard. Beyond the fact that the data is enticing, the notoriety gained from the first black hat hack of a complex RFID data system will be a worthy goal for the serious ill-intentioned hacker. Personally, I am concerned about the lack of security information supplied by Chase coincident with their Blink Card Announcement which I discussed here. Not to mention the Real ID plan that really should terrify anyone that values any true measure of personal privacy. (If you're unfamiliar with the Real ID issue, you owe it to yourself to go here and learn the facts).

Although I honestly believe there's incredible utility inherent in RFID devices, it seems to me critically important that basic security needs are addressed and serious measures are undertaken for any incarnation of RFID that either enables the capture and aggregation of individual information (and then only with knowledge and consent), or that allows financial transactions to be initiated via an RFID enabled device. What do you think?

2005-06-04T04:35:00.000-07:00
Declan McCullagh, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: May 27, 2005
Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said.

In a report published Friday, the Government Accountability Office said that 13 of the largest federal agencies are already using RFID or plan to use it. But only one of 23 agencies polled by the GAO had identified any legal or privacy issues--even though three admitted RFID would let them track employee movements.

'Key security issues include protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data and information systems,' the GAO said. 'The privacy issues include notifying consumers; tracking an individual's movements; profiling an individual's habits, tastes and predilections; and allowing for secondary uses of information.'"

Stitch Says: I predict we're going to be hearing lots more about this topic. Both knee jerk reactions and fear mongering and then, more critically the first conspicuous RFID security failure and then the next and the next. If this technology is widely deployed with personal information, the target is too rich to not be hit and hit hard. Beyond the fact that the data is enticing, the notoriety gained from the first black hat hack of a complex RFID data system will be a worthy goal for the serious ill-intentioned hacker. Personally, I am concerned about the lack of security information supplied by Chase coincident with their Blink Card Announcement which I discussed here. Not to mention the Real ID plan that really should terrify anyone that values any true measure of personal privacy. (If you're unfamiliar with the Real ID issue, you owe it to yourself to go here and learn the facts).

Although I honestly believe there's incredible utility inherent in RFID devices, it seems to me critically important that basic security needs are addressed and serious measures are undertaken for any incarnation of RFID that either enables the capture and aggregation of individual information (and then only with knowledge and consent), or that allows financial transactions to be initiated via an RFID enabled device. What do you think?

The Cell of the New Machine: (Convergence at the "Cellular" Level

2005-06-04T03:48:00.000-07:00
The Cell of a New Machine
By Erick Schonfeld, May 18, 2005
Related Articles
Â· Can Multicore Chips Save Moore's Law?
Â· Sony's Trojan Horse
Â· Multicore Processors Mean Multi-Headache Pricing
Â· The Amazing Sony-Man

IBM (IBM), Sony (SNE), and Toshiba engineers have spent four years and more than $400 million toiling in secret on a computer chip that, if they are right, will usher in a dramatic new era of electronics...

Stitch Says: Pretty strange to be "wowed" by a chip these days. But my jaw is still on the keyboard having just read this Business 2.0 piece by Erick Schonfeld. If the claims are accurate, and I have no reason to believe they're not, Sony has a strategy that will fundamentally alter the playing field of the "digital, networked home".

Gaming has always been province of power-hungry tech. No where else do so many high demand applications come together in such a performance sensitive environmentmont , nor one where an experienced user can discern almost instantly whether she's tethered to an albatross or on the wings of an eagle. A gamer given a chance to play with a "Cell" powered machine will think they've found nirvana. Forty (yeah, you read it right 40!) times faster than the chip that powers Sony's PS2, IBM's new chip is capable of 256 billion operations (256 gigaflops) per second.

I won't bother to recant the rest of the specification in the original article, it's worth reading for yourself, but I will comment on the direction Sony's strategy portends; a centralized "brain" that supports multiple networked devices operating either independently, or when required, in concert. In a nutshell, Sony's vision, courtesy of Computer Entertainment Chief Ken Kutaragi, is a true symphony of convergence. A bold and broad stroke to redefine the computational environmentment of the home and reshape it with a more fluid and dynamic standard. Or as Keven Krewell, editor-in-chief of the Microprocessor Report says: "This is a battle over who owns the living room." The winner will define the next stage of computing.

While I am not sure that this statement a given, I do believe that this advance, and others like it will drive the rate of convergence ahead at an even greater rate and with that advance will come like advances in unthered technologies that can benefit from massively increased computing power served up on demand over the network; whatever network that might happen to be.

I'd love to hear thoughts on this one; please comment.

The New York Times > Technology > Free Internet Site: A Portal to AOL's Future? (is AOL ANTI-CONVERGENCE?)

2005-06-04T02:48:00.000-07:00
The New York Times > Technology
By SAUL HANSELL and GERALDINE FABRIKANT

Published: June 3, 2005

Last month, America Online convened a meeting broadcast on the Web to its 14,000 employees. The purpose was to show off the free Internet portal that it is about to introduce at AOL.com, the third attempt in three years to offset AOL's steady loss of subscribers."

Stitch Says: Have these guys gone mad? Once one of the most valuable media franchises on the planet, AOL is slowly bleeding to death on subscriber at a time. A move to attempt to become a full blown portal, replete with advertising revenues as a driver is like coming to the prom after school's out for the summer. The troubling thing is, AOL has a huge potential lead in the one area that is really heating up and the one area that is positively going to matter to the consumer in five years. I'm not going to spell it out for the company unless they come asking, but I'd love to hear the thoughts the readers of this blog have about this issue; what is AOL's advantage and why don't they see it? How could AOL take the lead in an emerging market? And why don't they see that this move is the worst and not the best thing they could do with the equity of their brand and the value of their subscriber base?

Mobile Pipeline | Converged Mobile-Landline Networks To Grow, Researcher Says: Convergence Confusion?

2005-06-02T02:05:00.000-07:00
Mobile Pipeline | Converged Mobile-Landline Networks To Grow, Researcher Says: "Converged Mobile-Landline Networks To Grow, Researcher Says

By Mobile Pipeline Staff Mobile Pipeline

About six percent of the revenues that telecom operators collect by 2009 will be from services that converged mobile and fixed, or landline, services, according to a study released Wednesday by Pyramid Research."

Stitch Says; not sure I understood this correctly. As written the article maintains that users are substituting landlines for mobile voice access, but that seems to be in direct opposition to what I've seen and heard, that is, that mobile voice costs have dropped to the point where mobile voice is replacing wired voice...I can see how broadband which is still faster wired, particularly with fiber or new VDSL2 could replace (in the near term) wireless data, but I haven't seen wireless data from the provider to the customer ever supplant wired, have you? Someone help me here...I don't get it...

Skype Video? Is Skype Converging into a Dominant Next Generation Communications Company?

2005-06-01T12:03:00.000-07:00
Spymac :: World :: Magazine: "Skype brings video calling to users
06/01/2005 09:41 | Judy Westcott
Skype has partnered with Dialcom to enable video conferencing using the Skype P2P engine.

Users can download a free plug-in from Dialcom, the Spontania Video4skype, which allows any users with a webcam connected to their PCs and a Skype account and broadband internet access, to make video-calls using the Skype client. Skype is the first third party VoIP system to use Dialcom’s Sponania video plug-in."

Stitch Says: Haven't tried this yet, but plan to right away. Having been involved in selling video telephony at BackBone Communications in Los Angeles I have experience with dedicated video telephony and am interested to see how this compares. Stay tuned for a future report on this channel!

Seiko Epson shows off e-paper; Yoga and Digital Converge? (not quite)

2005-06-01T04:03:00.000-07:00
Seiko Epson shows off e-paper: "Seiko Epson shows off e-paper

By Peter Rojas

Seiko Epson e-paper

Still gonna be a couple of more years before they commercialize this, but Seiko Epson announced at this yearÂs SID International Symposium that they had a working prototype for a 2-inch e-paper display thatÂs just 0.375mm thick and has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels."

Stitch Says: A pipe dream of mine since I was a kid, I've always wanted digital paper.There's's simply something so incredibly cool about a "screen" that you can roll up... Note quite ready for consumers, but there's clearly (pun intended) been progress in this area.

ZyXEL WiFi Phone Wins Award: Convergence Minus Cellular?

2005-06-01T03:56:00.000-07:00
ZyXEL WiFi Phone Wins Award: "ZyXEL WiFi Phone Wins Award

By samc on General News

ZyXEL Communications, announced today that its Prestige 2000W v2 VoIP Wi-Fi Phone won the 2005 SUPERQuest Award for Most Promising New Technologies of 2005 at SUPERCOMM, the world's premier annual exhibition and conference for communications service providers and private network managers which opens next week, June 6-9, in Chicago."

Stitch Says: It's official, cellular providers need to be downright afraid. The incredibly rapid proliferation of WiFi phones that don't connect to cellular networks but support an array of IP functions including email and centralized administration could mean a much more substantial bottom line impact on cellular provider's revenues than anyone expected. The main defense cellular providers have is the ubiquity of their networks vs. Wi-Fi hotspot distribution, but the heavily populated areas; you know, the ones with the greatest concentration of business users that could benefit from mobile VoWLAN are in the cities, not in sticksville.

Considering business rapid embrace of and equally quick migration to VOIP in the workplace and you have a clear indication of their sentiments toward the cost and ease of administration of VOIP. Add to that office-extension-like behavior of the phones and you have a recipe for massively scaled adoption of this technology.

The consumer is sure to follow. With $39 handsets, and nearly free calling (and free via Skype), how long before kids stop nagging their folks for more minutes and figure this one out for themselves?

I can't speak for Sprint or Verizon or Cingular, but if I could, I'd be cozying up to WiFi and VOIP companies in no short order.

Mobile Search Is Getting Hot: Is Google Going to Miss the Boat as Computing and Mobility Converge?

2005-05-31T04:55:00.000-07:00
Mobile Search Is Getting Hot: "Mobile Search Is Getting Hot

By Om Malik on Unwired

Earlier this month I had attended the Google Factory Tour, and one of the things which wasn’t addressed by the Google brain trust was the opportunity beyond the PC. There was no clear direction for capitalizing on the mobile boom. Yahoo, on the other hand is making it a top priority. Overture has started offering paid-listings on Yahoo’s WAP site. In addition, Overture is going to be working with a major UK mobile carrier and launch a mobile search offering, though its not clear what it will be."

Stitch Says: The Pondering Primate has paid ample attention to this topic and posted not a few remarks that are well timed and aimed at Google. Is the king of the Internet seach world listening? Om Malik is questioning their intentions and it seems that as Ferris Beuhler once said, "the world moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and take a look around once in a while, you could miss it"...maybe Google should heed the advice...

Rumors Converge at HTC: can we have some real spec's please?

2005-05-31T04:44:00.000-07:00
Will the real HTC Wizard please stand up?: "Will the real HTC Wizard please stand up?

By Peter Rojas

HTC Wizard

Remember yesterday how we mumbled something about how some semi-reliable info surfaced about that new HTC Wizard Pocket PC Phone? Yeah, well, maybe that info wasn’t quite reliable enough, because a second set of specs, along with a new pic, have turned up. And while there are some discrepancies between today’s specs and yesterday’s specs (today’s list the HTC Wizard as running on Windows Mobile 5.0 and having quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, a 2.8-inch LCD screen, 64MB of RAM, 128MB of ROM, a 2.1 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 802.11b WiFi, and a miniSD memory card slot), the most significant difference/improvement is that today’s pic shows the phone with a mini QWERTY keyboard that slides out horizontally. No way of saying for sure which is the real Wizard (must… resist… cheap… AD&D… pun…), but there’s definitely something going on here; we just don’t know precisely what yet."

Stitch says; okay, time for a mini rant about the perfect phone. I want one. I need one. I demand one and I am tired of waiting! The problem is that for me that phone doesn't seem to exist! Perfect would be Quad Band GSM, PDA Functionality, Java/Midp2, 262 color display of at least 320x208, WCDMA, EDGE, WiFi (or two of the three), standby of at least 72 hours, talk of at least 5, IRDA, Bluetooth and USB compatible, with the ability to charge the phone via USB, good handwriting recognition (UIQ for Sony Pxxx is perfect as far as I'm concerned), I could take or leave the qwerty keyboard, but it's nice for most people, touchscreen (of course), support for at least 1 gig of memory, 1.3 megapixel camera (minimum), full email capabilities, ability to view and edit MSFT documents and PDF files, decent sound and MP3 support, oh yeah, and really running a Symbian OS so that there are a huge array of applications as well as the ability to develop my own if I want to...anyone comes up with this exact combataion (and I have to say the specifications on the HTC above if they're not vaporware seem close), let me know. Preferablly for sale at less than 600 bucks...

Convergence Reverso?

2005-05-30T16:05:00.000-07:00
textually.org: "Ericsson Pictures Fixed-Line Sales As Growth Market

After cementing its position as the world's leading wireless network equipment maker, Telefon AB LM Ericsson aims to make a comeback in its fixed-line business, according to The Wall Street Journal.

'Ericsson's push follows other moves by companies such as France Telecom SA and Telecom Italia SpA to integrate their fixed and mobile units. They have added to expectations for convergence, under which fixed-line and mobile core networks are combined into a single system that will enable new revenue-generating services. Combined systems will also be cheaper to operate.'"

Stitch says: sooner or later it all has to come down. And at least for the foreseeable future, the cost and bandwidth for data transport at the core is cheaper via terestrial means. The move makes perfect sense as more cross carrier data transfer and more data rich server to mobile transactions are initiated.

textually.org: Cell-phone-like radio wave to communicate with your prostate: More medical convergence

2005-05-30T04:56:00.000-07:00
textually.org: Cell-phone-like radio wave to communicate with your prostate: "Cell-phone-like radio wave to communicate with your prostate

prostata.jpg File under below the belt.

This is a nice example of Italian technology that can be useful, patented and sold abroad.

The probing device emits radio waves similar to the cell phones that are reflected by the body, returning a signal that indicated the health state of the tissues.

Stitch says: I always knew they'd come up with another reason to keep a cell phone in my pocket. More seriously, though, is the concept that we've just scratched the surface of the possible new uses for the technology that can fit in a package the size of a box of cigarettes, and with future advances that are reducing the size of storage and microchips, that may well be a box of matches before long.

Incompetent users give IT managers brain strain: User Support and Headaches for IT Managers Converge

2005-05-29T16:20:00.000-07:00
Executives can't handle the IT

By INQUIRER staff: Wednesday 25 May 2005, 15:31
THERE ARE over two million Brits working from home but that's posing a huge problem for IT departments, a report claims today."

Continuing: Executives, said Touchpaper, have mobile devices "that they lack the technical skills to operate correctly".

Added to that, claimed the firm, working from notebooks or PCs at home posed problems such as family members tampering with their machines, the end result being a loss rather than a gain in productivity.

The biggest problems are security breaches and virus protection, which 90 per cent and 85 per cent of the IT managers said were the biggest problem.

Stitch Says: If you've ever supported a group of non-technical executives, you'll relate to this utterly; If you're CEO has a "blueberrry with blacktooth" (I swear I am not making that up), you've had this headache. Even the most carefully constructed user interface, and the simplest security requirements (ASP protection for viruses, automated firewalling, etc) is no match for the CEO with no patience. The issue magnifies itself exponentially when that same executive gets a Wi-Fi enabled PDA and suddenly "discovers" the mobile Internet.

Digital Wallet: convergence that might portend a security nightmare?

2005-05-29T04:40:00.000-07:00
News Story - NCBuy: "Ga. Credit-Card Holders 'Blink' Cards
By SORAYA NADIA McDONALD
Associated Press Writer

About 400,000 credit-card holders in Georgia will be the first in the country to use a new technology that allows them to pay for items by waving their card near a terminal instead of swiping it through a machine.

Residents of Atlanta and 160 other cities in the state will test drive the new 'blink' cards, which JPMorgan Chase & Co. will begin mailing to its customers June 1."

Stitch Says: Love the concept; who does't hate waiting an extra minute while someone counts thirty three cents in pennies out on the counter at 7-11? But I've still not seen any dialog related to security features in these new cards. While blue bugging and blue snarfing might cause more aggravation than actual damage, you can bet that people will "sniff" these broadcasting credit cards and take damaging advantage. The IT community would love to hear how the security features on these cards will protect the funds (and information) of their owners.

Sensor allows remote pulse taking: Convergence in medicine

2005-05-29T04:32:00.000-07:00
Sensor allows remote pulse taking: "Sensor allows remote pulse taking

Hitachi first? Maybe not

By our Health Correspondent: Wednesday 25 May 2005, 11:31
HITACHI HAS made a remote wrist sensor that will send data about pulse rates to remote locations."

Stitch Says: people will be well served by innovations such as these that allow remote monitoring and care for patients. Applications for this kind of technology have far reaching implications, from improved quality of life for the seriously or terminally ill to entirely new business models that could come to life as a direct result. Sufficient advances in remote patient care and monitoring and we'll see the rise of the "HOME" (Human Operational Monitoring Environment)...a "medical NOC" with a fortuitous acronym which permits the ill to stay in their own home without sacrificing the availability of life saving intervention in the event a dramatic change in the patient's condition goes unnoticed by family or home care nurses.

Carriers Should Love the Next Gen Gaming Consoles: Convergence Inflection Point

2005-05-27T21:04:00.000-07:00
Carriers Should Love the Next Gen Gaming Consoles: "Carriers Should Love the Next Gen Gaming Consoles

By Om Malik on Articles

Business 2.0: The next generation of gaming consoles Â MicrosoftÂs (MSFT) Xbox 360, NintendoÂs (NTDOY) Revolution, and SonyÂs (SNE) PlayStation 3 Â were the talk of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the giant industry show held in Los Angeles last week. Attendees couldnÂt get over the machinesÂ eye-popping graphics and supercomputer-level processing muscle. But the real story here is that the new crop of consoles is superconnected in a way earlier generations could only dream of. Armed with Ethernet and Wi-Fi, these devices are designed to serve as launchpads for widespread online gaming, a potentially lucrative business that so far has failed to attract users beyond the hard-core. If all goes according to plan, not only will the videogame industry get a boost but the broadband business will too. Continue reading at B2 website.

Stitch Says: I've been talking with a few friends including VanGorilla at The Pondering Primate about this eventuality. I contend that the triple or even quadruple play (if you roll cellular or VoIP to Off Net minutes) into the package can actually play a secondary role that may equal or even exceed the benefit derived by the user of the box itself. There are massive opportunities here. Does anyone else see them?

LG Cyon KP4000 Everything Cell: Convergence Qubed + 1

2005-05-27T05:27:00.000-07:00
LG Cyon KP4000 Everything Cell: "LG Cyon KP4000 Everything Cell

In Cellphones: LG

cyon_3.jpgThe Age of Aquarconvergance is upon here. This LG cell has an MP3 player, QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel camera, FM tuner/transmitter, bluetooth, GPS, and herpes. But it won't kiss you when it has a cold sore.

No word on pricing or US availability, but we can expect a lot of these in the next few months. Amazing form-factor and amazing list of specs.

LG's (Cyon) KP4000 - crazy cell/GPS/camera/MP3 player [DAPreview]"

Stitch Says: Usually phones by themselves don't merit posts, but this little guy is bloggable just for the trend it represents. Micro form factor, multi application devices being converged into handsets. They said it in "Smart Mobs" the cell phone will become "the remote control for your life" Nice to meet you Mr. Phone, I'm Stitch...

I bet more than a few people are realizing that Mr. Gates iPod remark from a week or so past wasn't quite so ludicrous as they would have had you think.

The Quadruple Play" Convergence Qubed!

2005-05-27T05:09:00.000-07:00
The Quadruple Play: "The Quadruple Play

By samc on Commentary

A new study from the Ipsos-Insight market research firm says people want wireless minutes added to the 'triple play' bundle.

Bundles that add wireless phone service to VoIP, television and Internet services will become highly popular, according to the study released Wednesday. Telephone and cable vendors have recently been touting the so-called 'Triple Play', bundling broadband internet access, television and voice-over-IP."

Stitch Says: Perhaps people are surprised? We've been converging technolgies ever since we put two outlets on one wall cutout so why should this upgrade to the triple play be anything but expected. I found the analysis of which companies could claim a stake in this space to be interesting, however, I felt that two very obvious enterprises (both which I believe could combine to own this space) were left off. I'd love to hear your thoughts as to which ones and why.

Nanotech Wireless (where clothing, the human body and telecommunications converge)

2005-05-26T04:10:00.000-07:00
Nanotech Wireless: "Nanotech Wireless

By samc on General News

At the Nanobusiness conference in New York yesterday, (May 24), Bell Laboratories President Jeff Jaffe predicted that nanoscience could make ubiquitous communications a transformational technology on the order of the telephone and television. 'Nanotechnologies applied to communications will transform other industries in a way that no other technology has done in the past', he said."

Stitch says: talk about transformational change. Many of the things mentioned are truly hard to imagine, but then so too were many of the devices we take for granted these days. One thing is for sure; nanotechnology is one arena were creativity and science are coming together with astonishing results. When they figure out a way to implant new synthetic nano-lenses in the human eye for super-human vision, sign me up.

Daily Wireless - Skype: Voice Will Be Free: A convergence the telcos wish wasn't gonna happen

2005-05-25T03:18:00.000-07:00
Daily Wireless - Skype: Voice Will Be Free: "Skype: Voice Will Be Free
Posted on Tuesday, May 24 2005 @ 09:18:33 PDT by samc

General News

Voice over IP will force traditional telephone companies to stop charging for voice calls, says Skype CEO Niklas Zennstr�m.

Speaking at the VON Europe 2005 conference today in Stockholm, Zennstr�m said the fact telephony has morphed from a network to a software application 'is a game changer'."

Stitch says: Times are certainly changing and it's the underestimated outside the box thinkers that are paving the way. This post has huge implications and it telegraphs some very important issues to come; the tables might be turned on the telecos sooner than they think. If the last stand against VoIp is political wrangling related to emergency calls to 911, they're in fairly serious trouble. Especially if points such as Zennstrom's about text to dispatcher gains any traction. I can just imagine trying to text from an old rotary phone...

MyKey 2300 RFID door lock: convergence that could give losing your cell phone a whole new dimension of inconvenience

2005-05-24T01:50:00.000-07:00
MyKey 2300 RFID door lock: "MyKey 2300 RFID door lock

By Donald Melanson

RFID Door Lock

This bit of tech first popped up on our rader almost a year ago and now looks to be implemented by at least one manufacturer. The MyKey 2300 is an RFID-enabled digital door lock that can be opened with an RFID-equipped cellphone, although it also has a slide-out keypad if youre too paranoid to carry around an RFID chip with you all the time. But who needs a lock? That HAL 9000 eye should be enough to scare off any sci-fi savvy burglar."

Stitch says: while the convenience of having just about everything you'd leave the house with integrated into your cell phone is arguably both convenient and in my opinion somewhat inevitable, we do need to think of the consequences. Losing your phone and being forced to break into your own home being one obvious new issue...

WiMax: On The Move: Standards Convergence

2005-05-22T13:52:00.000-07:00
WiMax: On The Move: "WiMax: On The Move

By samc on 802.16 News

Australia's largest '4G' provider, Unwired Australia, is preparing to move to Wi-Max technology early next year, investing in 802.16e-programmable equipment, reports ZD Net Australia.

Unwired Australia currently uses Navini's proprietary broadband wireless gear for baseband and semi-mobile clients. But Unwired apparently is getting new receiving equipment from Navini Networks early next year that could either be programmed to 802.16e or use a 'proprietary Wi-Fi technology' [whatever that means...proprietary MIMO clients maybe?]."

Stitch says: The standards end game is on and no punches are being pulled as companies and even countries are vying for their particular standard to be ratified. In some instances this amounts to a wireless land-grab as companies attempt to acumulate subscribers and standardization momentum by virtue of general acceptance.

Other companies have been smart to benefit by playing "Switzerland"; "TeleCIS Wireless, a California chip designer, has strategic alliances with Samsung and Korea Telecom. It's developing integrated, multi-protocol chipsets supporting combinations of Wi-Fi, WiMAX and WiBro simultaneously.
"

XTen contemplating Sony PSP VoIP Softphone? (Converging the two things teens love most, gaming and talking)

2005-05-22T03:31:00.000-07:00
XTen contemplating Sony PSP VoIP Softphone?: "XTen contemplating Sony PSP VoIP Softphone?

By Om Malik on Asides

XTen CEO on his blog is wondering if it was time to develop a softphone client for Sony PSP. Since we can browse the web on this thing, and it has a USB port, Wi-Fi and a TCP stack you would think we should be able hack together a softphone for VoIP. Video will come later, camera attachment. I will keep you posted. Yo Erik. this is a slamdunk, dont wait too long. How about one for Symbian phones as well? via"

Stitch Says: a truly bright idea, and with the demographic of this market, a brilliant play to capture what will ultimately be a key consumer. It's concepts like this where the nature of multi-platform convergence reaches an apogee of cost/benefit/utility.

WiFi/Cellular Roaming Overview (More on Cellular/Wi-Fi Convergence)

2005-05-22T03:02:00.000-07:00
WiFi/Cellular Roaming Overview: "WiFi/Cellular Roaming Overview

By samc on Cellular Technology

WiFi Cellphones, using both cellular and Wi-Fi networks to transport voice calls, may be on the way -- despite kicking and screaming cellular providers. An ABI Research report predicts that annual global sales of these handsets will exceed $100 million in 2010. But there are still 'issues'. Seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular networks, for example."

Stitch Says: one day we won't know or care which network our phone or computer is using; ubiquity is best defined by invisibility. When something is so pervasive we no longer identify unique components but simply use it; like oxygen. Today, however, many questions remain unanswered about how we'll transition from legacy networks and systems to a fully integrated always on broadband world completely available anywhere we might need it. This terrific rundown is a small map of the possibilities.

BrundlePhone! MP3 Player Meets VoIP Phone

2005-05-21T02:26:00.000-07:00
GB25 EZMP4200P MP3/VoIP Phone : Gizmodo: "GB25 EZMP4200P MP3/VoIP Phone
Portable Media filed under Portable Media : Flash

20050502095431_MZ4200P.jpgSheer madness! GB25, an SK ODM, has created a tiny flash MP3 player that acts as a VoIP phone."

Stitch Says: another weird convergence; mp3 player meets VoIP...haven't heard a review yet from either the music or telephony side...file under wait and see...

Alternate Payment Methods at the Grocery.

2005-05-20T23:49:00.000-07:00
Cub Foods introduces biometric scanning - Engadget - www.engadget.com.: "scanning

Posted May 19, 2005, 1:30 PM ET by Thomas Ricker

pay by touch (biometric scanner)

Not to be outdone by Albertsons Shop n Scan system, Cub Foods introduced yet another hi-tech shopping solution when they began testing biometric payments on Monday. The Pay By Touch system reads the shoppers finger (its unique heat signature, not the fingerprint) and then accesses their electronic wallet. While this will help reduce latency in the twinkie-to-couch mean round-trip time, supermarkets are most stoked at giving those darn credit card companies (and their transaction fees) a real drubbing. Please, do not steal your rich friends fingers."

Stitch Says: They need these where I shop. Nothing like holding 3 things in your hand while the guy in front of you in the "fast lane" writes a check for a pack of cigarettes... But seriously, there's a rapid trend towards novel methods of payment and while I'd still make the argument that at this point most of them have been deployed to attempt to attract customers via the novelty factor, sooner rather than later, the new security, convenience, speed and cost savings will encourage greater and more standardized adoption.

Could Sony Have a Plan for the Future of mCommerce and Communication?

2005-05-20T22:47:00.000-07:00
Sony introduces the PlayStation 3 - May. 18, 2005: "Sony unveils PlayStation 3
New system set for Spring 2006 launch, boasts 35 times the power of the PS2.
May 18, 2005: 9:55 AM EDT
By Chris Morris, CNN/Money
Sony's PlayStation 3

LOS ANGELES (CNN/Money) - Sony won't have a new console on the market this holiday season, but it's doing all it can to convince consumers to wait a bit longer before buying their next video game machine.

The company unveiled details of its PlayStation 3 Monday, showing off a machine with enormous horsepower, stunning graphics and a slew of multimedia elements.

Due in spring 2006, the PlayStation 3 is powered by the 'Cell' processor, which Sony boasts makes the machine 35 times more powerful than the PlayStation 2. It will support Blu-Ray storage devices, which hold significantly more data than today's DVDs, as well as seven wireless controllers, and has outputs for two high-definition televisions (HDTVs)."

Wireless controllers using Bluetooth technology will be standard. Sony (Research) said the system will support up to seven simultaneous players, a significant boost from the four standard today.

Additionally, PSP owners will be able to use their handheld gaming device as either a controller or an additional screen, perhaps viewing tactical or statistical information that ties in with the game on your television.

The PS3's ability to display data on two screens can be used for a multitude of purposes, said Sony. Players might be able to create a panoramic view by attaching two TVs, high definition or standard definition. Players might also be able to leave a visual chat window open with their online competitors as they play.

Sony said it will offer a high definition camera as a peripheral to the PS3, allowing players to use the game machine as a makeshift video phone or let them broadcast their own programming, whether live or from the machine's detachable 2.5-inch hard drive.

Graphically, Sony showed a number of clips running on PlayStation 3 hardware, including "Devil May Cry," "Metal Gear Solid," "Gran Tursimo" and "Tekken" and had live interactive demos of several games, including Electronic Arts' (Research) "Fight Night: Round 3".

The PS3 will include slots for a number of consumer electronic digital storage devices, including Sony memory sticks, SD memory cards and compact flash cards.

In addition to playing games, it will allow users to access digital video and audio files, view digital pictures, offer video chat and allow users to access the Internet.

As with Microsoft's (Research) Xbox 360, online functionality will play an important role with the PS3. The system will ship with a built-in gigabit Ethernet port and can handle both types of wireless Internet access, 802.11b and 802.11g.

Sony hinted it, like Microsoft, would offer an online marketplace, where users can buy games online.

Stitch Says: Is this a move to dominate more totally online gaming or should MSFT be looking at this as a bigger potential threat; control of the new desktop, the Media Center/TV? With Wi-Fi, the possibility to produce reasonable quality video teleconferences and computing power to spare, Sony just needs to ice one relationship and they could move from dominance in one category to possible dominance in three.

Want to know what the missing link is? Email me with comments.

A Phone's future's so bright (I gotta wear headphones)

2005-05-20T19:26:00.000-07:00
Nokia nseries, N91
This phone is so new, so hot, so ahead of the curve, registration with the FCC hasn't even been completed yet. The drool-isious specs: 4 GIG internal drive, enough for over 2500 songs, slick slider design, smart phone functionality, and best of all, full Wi-Fi connectivity. It's phones like these that should make the traditional carriers very nervous.... (the only question is when can I have one of my own?)

"Stop Touching Me!"

2005-05-20T03:20:00.000-07:00
New credit cards: The 'wave' of the future - May. 19, 2005: "The 'wave' of the future
J.P. Morgan Chase set to issue new 'contactless' credit card that you wave instead of swipe.
May 19, 2005: 11:39 AM EDT
Credit cards

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Tired of swiping your credit card over and over because the magnetic strip is worn? Help is on the way: cards that you wave, rather than swipe."

Stitch says: I can see arguments on both sides; ease of use, convenience, novelty (especially for a youthful market), but the other side of the coin are questions about privacy and security. Can a "digital snoop" capture my information in passing? Can people with packet capture devices "listen in" on the negotiation and authentication process during a transaction and record the event to replay later effectively stealing the card? Can a consumer turn the service on or off at will? How difficult will it be to prevent the card's use by an unauthorized person who has physical possession of the card?

Nokia, Symbian, Series 60, UIQ, rush towards converged wireless

2005-05-19T01:02:00.000-07:00
"Peer-to-Peer Comes to Mobile: Now You Can Make VoIP Calls on Your Nokia Phone"
Written by SCN Ltd
Tuesday, 17 May 2005
SCN LTD, a leading creator of VoIP Wireless LAN technology, today launched Truphone, the world’s first fully converged solution - allowing people to make VoIP calls on the Series 60 Platform. Developed by Nokia, Series 60 is the world’s leading smartphone platform, with millions of devices already in the market."

Stitch Says: Hardly a day goes by without another major player in telephony or mobile devices making a convergence related announcement. It's time to start asking new questions now; which companies will be the biggest beneficiaries of these new technologies and how can savvy technologists take advantage of this changing landscape?

The Next Home Theatre; coming to a cell phone near you

2005-05-18T18:41:00.000-07:00
http://www.pdatoday.com/archives/A2005011/: "Consumers Ready for Multimedia Mobile Phones

:. Consumer News

A new report from consumer technology think-tank, The Diffusion Group, finds that consumers are increasingly comfortable with the idea of listening to music of viewing video on their mobile phones. This should come as welcome news to the hundreds of IC, software, and hardware vendors looking to exploit this space.

Media Phones: The Next Portable Media Player?, the latest report from TDG Research, finds that among Internet households who also use a cell phone, 42% would be comfortable listening to music and 30% would be comfortable watching TV or movies on their cell phone.

'More than 70% of US households in general, and 93% of Internet households in particular, now own at least one cell phone,' says Dale Gilliam III, analyst with The Diffusion Group. 'Among Internet households in particular, enjoying digital mobile multimedia is becoming increasingly attractive. Consumers are looking for convenient ways to access their digital media and the mobile phone offers an intuitive, familiar, and comfortable form factor through which to enjoy this content.' More..."

Stitch Says: the trickle of news about multimedia applications as well as the radical increase in public acceptance of the cell phone as music player, newsreader and now TV and movie player has become a flood. Once the epitome of geekdom for my ability to actually play a DVD movie on my Sony Ericsson smart phone, I've become practically passé. Next stop, satellite content, Wi-VoIP and full motion video streaming...

An Idea that saves lives

2005-05-18T03:17:00.000-07:00
AMBER Alerts come to SMS: "AMBER Alerts come to SMS

By Donald Melanson

Amber Alerts

Starting today, AMBER Alerts, the service for bringing attention to missing children, will be available on cellphones via SMS. Cellphone users simply have to sign up on the Wireless AMBER Alerts website and enter the areas they would like to receive alerts for. Apparently, 90% of US cellphone subscribers are currently covered by the service, with most of the rest receiving coverage in the next two months. There’s no charge for the service other than the usual carrier imposed SMS fees."

Stitch Says: Amber alerts work. One of the smartest and most humanistic uses of technology I've seen in a while.

DoCoMo puts dingaling in your bling

2005-05-18T03:15:00.000-07:00
DoCoMo puts out FOMA 901iS "mobile wallet" series phones: "DoCoMo puts out FOMA 901iS 'mobile wallet' series phones

By Barb Dybwad

Docomo F901iS mobile wallet phones

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo is putting out a slew of these new mobile wallet-enabled phones in hopes of driving nationwide adoption of the technology, which allows you to make purchases as shops, buy event tickets, check in at public transportation, etc. The FOMA 901iS “Mobile Wallet” series is the first series by DoCoMo in which all the units come equipped with mobile wallet functionality. They’ve also got some security features in place to prevent misuse, like being able to call the phone from elsewhere and lock it if it’s stolen or misplaced."

Stitch Says: laugh all you want. You're looking at the currency of the future. No more lost wallets, no more missing funds. Instant location of the device when it goes missing and total control of your kids spending habits. In the not too distant future, your kid's phone might even call you for permission before charging that tattoo...

When RSS Goes Truly Mobile...

2005-05-18T03:06:00.000-07:00
Google Ads for RSS Feeds: "Google Ads for RSS Feeds

By Erick Schonfeld on Weblogs

Google announced today at Syndicate, an RSS conference in NY, that it is launching a beta of AdSense for RSS feeds. So your news feeds will now start to come with text ads. Shuman Ghosemajumder, business product manager for AdSense, notes that 'the lack of a business model has been a hindrance for RSS feeds.' He's got that one right. Google hopes to rectify that by opening up RSS feeds to its network of advertisers. Others on the same panel cautioned, however, that the industry needs to be careful not to kill this nascent marketing channel like it has previous ones like e-mail and even search. 'This market will be utterly thrilling for the next three years until people figure out a way to utterly destroy it,' predicts Stephen Messer, CEO of LinkShare, an affiliate marketing Web company. Heed those words. When people start to find spyware in their RSS readers, they'll move onto the next thing."

Stitch Says: well, here's a love hate convergence. One the one hand, we now have a way to monetize the model, on the other a way to destroy the model's value in the long run. At what price progress?

The Mobile Technology Weblog - "Location Based Services and all about Mobile Marketing" - BlueBlitz Proves Power to the Bloggers

2005-05-18T01:40:00.000-07:00
Interview with a VC
Filed in archive Analysis

Jason Purcell is CEO and Founder of London based of First Stage Capital. If you're looking for funding, check out their website as there's plenty of great advice and resources for entrepreneurs.

I interviewed Jason about his views on the VC market and mobile, especially.The Mobile Technology Weblog - "Location Based Services and all about Mobile Marketing" - BlueBlitz Proves Power to the Bloggers: "Russell adds: I agree with Jason on that. One of my constant themes is that Microsoft just don't understand the potential of mobile and that it's poised to wipe out desk top culture as surely as the desk top wiped out the mainframe."

Stitch says: This is what a few of my favorite bloggers and some of the smartest folks I know have been talking about; once the applications make sense for the typical user, the rate of uptake and the staggering economic shift that will occur (to the benefit of those companies smart enough to have adapted) is going to make Internet Phase 1 seem like the model T when compared to the Ferrari Enzo..

I have to disagree with Russell, however, on his comment about Microsoft failing to understand the potential of mobile. Gates gets it. And along with the statement he made concerning their mobile platform and its support for multiple connecitivity platforms, his comments about the cell phone vs. the iPod, and their recent interest in other seemingly unrelated industries and technologies lead me to believe that they understand very well the significance of mobile and have focused some serious energy on capturing as much of the market in as many ways as they possibly can. If you're curious what leads me to believe this, drop me a line.

Holy Handsets, Batman! I want my Wi-VoIP Cell Phone!

2005-05-17T04:51:00.000-07:00
Make VoIP Calls on Your Symbian Nokia Phone - Symbian mobile phone news software guides reviews and cellular community.: "Make VoIP Calls on Your Symbian Nokia Phone Print E-mail

SCN LTD, a leading creator of VoIP Wireless LAN technology, today launched Truphone, the world’s first fully converged solution - allowing people to make VoIP calls on the Series 60 Platform. Developed by Nokia, Series 60 is the world’s leading smartphone platform, with millions of devices already in the market. Truphone allows you to carry only one phone for both fixed and mobile use - seamlessly roaming between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G - connecting via SIP to the public phone system."

When an idea's time has come you suddenly go from zero to zero gravity in no time flat. After talking about the convergence of VoIP, Wi-Fi and Cellular for three years, I'm finally starting to feel vindicated. If only my associates had been listening...

More RFID...

2005-05-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Japanese Use Cell Phone QR Bar Code Readers to Check Food Safety

QR codes are reducing the fear factor for foodstuffs in Japan as agricultural associations embrace the new wireless technology tagging fresh produce for quick access to mobile information web sites. Gail Nakada reports for Wireless Watch Japan.

"A new English language report [.PDF] released this month by NTT DoCoMo on QR code use in agriculture reveals the growing popularity of this medium.
In the supermarket, consumers use camera equipped cell phones to scan the QR code on the label. The code links to a mobile website detailing origin, soil composition, organic fertilizer content percentage (as opposed to chemical), use of pesticides and herbicides and even the name of the farm it was grown on".

Stitch Says: culled this from Howard's "Smart Mobs Blog"... a few people, and The Pondering Primate Blog in particular have really piqued my interest in this area. Right now though, I seem to have more questions than answers. There are some big pieces of the Internet 2 puzzle falling into place right now, and this is clearly a biggie...

RFID: Deployment and IP

2005-05-15T02:18:00.000-07:00
The RFID Weblog - "Implementation and Application of RFID technology " - RFID Tags for CD and DVD Jewel Cases: "* May 20, 2004

RFID Loyalty Cards
Filed in archive Software Applications

Sprint has developed 2 RFID customer-loyalty card applications:

'The applications use an RFID-enabled loyalty card that can identify a customer as he or she walks through a store. The chip in the loyalty card transmits to a nearby reader when the customer is within 8 feet of the reader, triggering an avatar to appear on a nearby computer screen. The RFID reader identifies the information in the loyalty card and feeds the data to the avatar, which welcomes the customer to the store in an animated fashion.'

And here you thought the movie 'Minority Report,' in which the store walls greet Tom Cruise's character by name, was science fiction."

Stitch says: I've got to wonder, does this violate the IP of another company with serious interests in this space? Assuming that Sprint can offer this, where? In phone stores? Do we really want to be greeted by "Max CellPhone" when we come into an automated venue? Well, I'm not a Sprint guy, but Maybe that is better than the clipboard sign up sheet and 45 minute wait I've endured where I used to shop cellular. Which makes me wonder; how is it that the place you go to buy some of the most advanced technology that gets into the hands of the average consumer, would have about the most low tech means of servicing customers that I've ever witnessed. I mean even the service deli has a digital display for your "next customer" number...

Google ponders Blogger, Gmail integration | InfoWorld | News | 2005-05-11 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service

2005-05-12T01:03:00.000-07:00
Google ponders Blogger, Gmail integration | InfoWorld | News | 2005-05-11 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service: "Google ponders Blogger, Gmail integration
Company also considering enterprise version of Blogger

By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service
May 11, 2005

Google is contemplating various improvements to its popular Blogger Web logging service, including native image uploading and deeper integration with the company's Gmail Web-mail service, according to a Google (Profile, Products, Articles) executive."

Is this another step towards the "GOOGLE GRID" and "EPIC" or simply better integration of offerings for an improved user experience? Will Microsoft view this as an elevation in threat level as Google builds a more complete integrated user-experience a la the MSFT Office Suite? Just how long will GOOG wait to introduce a completely web based set of productivity tools? Is GOOG becoming a bigger badder version of big brother or simply the world's most forward thinking and altruistic corporation?

Dual-Mode VOIP Handsets Could Take Off

2005-05-11T03:07:00.000-07:00
Dual-Mode VOIP Handsets Could Take Off: "May 9, 2005
Dual-Mode VOIP Handsets Could Take Off
discuss Discuss this now (2 posts)
It's a long way off, but dual-mode phones combining Wi-Fi and cellular technologies could make a huge splash by the end of the decade.

According to a new study from ABI Research, annual global sales of 'dual-mode' mobile phones -- which can connect to either a conventional cellular service or a Wi-Fi network -- are likely to exceed 100 million in 2009.

Such dual-mode handsets have been virtually unknown to consumers until now, and have not penetrated the enterprise space to any degree either.

According to ABI Research senior analyst Philip Solis, some of the giants of global telecommunications -- notably British Telecom and Korea Telecom -- plan to offer dual-mode services by the end of 2005.

'The advantages of dual mode handsets and services, when they arrive, can be summed up in two words: seamless and economical,' he said. Though the full spectrum of capabilities won't appear in the first generation of products, when these services are mature you will be able to start a phone call at home (where your phone connects to your residential Wi-Fi network and then to your broadband Voice over IP phone service), continue it in your car (where the phone switches to your cellular provider's network), and wind it up at work, where the phone once more switches to your organization's 802.11 LAN, and VoIP. Through all this, the handset would sense the available signals and switch automatically from one network mode to another, keeping you connected and saving you (and your company) money.'"

Now this is what I've been talking about! IMO, with the rapid adoption of VoIP in general and the per minute reduction in cost (towards zero) these numbers are low. Particularly if handset sales begin to have an even more critical impact on the bottom line for providers, dual standard phones would give them a quick way to boost revenues.

FlynnMobile : Cell Phone Recycle - News, Innovation, Software, Ringtones � Blog Archive � Mobile Search Tools

2005-05-10T03:49:00.000-07:00
FlynnMobile : Cell Phone Recycle - News, Innovation, Software, Ringtones � Blog Archive � Mobile Search Tools: "Mobile Search Tools

Mobile search tools are beginning to be released onto the net. Although hard to find still and in their promordial infant stages, mobile search for the 2 inch screens do exist.

Search Engine Watch’s (SEW) Gary Price has the round-up of mobile search tools online and available today.

* Google Mobile Local
* Google SMS
* 4info - SMS search services
* Synfonic - Also offers SMS search services
* Vazu - Allows you to copy & paste text and send it as a SMS search
* YP - Offers yellow pages and white pages look up. Also, you can reverse phone and address look up, including neighbor lookup
* Yahoo Mobile
* MSN Mobile
* AOL Mobile
* Infospace Mobile"

I just came across this great list of mobile search tools by Gary Price of Search Engine Watch...I'll be doing more research, and possibly authoring a piece on SEO for Mobile Search in the near future. Stay Tuned. Drop me a note and I'll let you know where and when anything might run

mobile search

Globetechnology: The Good God Google

2005-05-09T17:26:00.000-07:00
Globetechnology: The Good God Google"Google Grid"

By MATHIEU BALEZ

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 Updated at 8:58 AM EDT

Special to Globe and Mail Update

Front Lines is a guest viewpoint section offering perspectives on current issues and events from people working on the front lines of Canada's technology industry. Mathieu Balez is vice-president and co-founder of Syllogix Inc., a management science consultancy based in Montreal and should know better than to think he can plagiarize anything that appears on the web...someone...like me...is going to notice

Google Inc., Silicon Valley's latest garage-to-riches story, is metamorphosing before our collective eyes into the single most important company on the planet, if it hasn't claimed that title already.

And if you haven't been following its (near) weekly parade of new Web-based software tools, then it's time you took notice: The Internet ... nay, the entire computing experience ... nay, the fundamental way in which we access and interact with information, is soon to become radically different.

Whether it be under Google's benevolent technological hegemony or within its sinister monopolistic grasp, however, remains somewhat unclear....
You can read the full piece by clicking the link above, but the summary is that Google is positioning themselves to be far more than search, and mail, etc.

Google's self-proclaimed mission is simple, almost child-like, to paraphrase. "To organize all the world's information." Sweeping it is however in vision, and if the company succeeds in achieving this noble quest, all of humankind will reap the rewards for years to come (if not, more speculatively, until the end of days, given the potential immortality of digital bits). Imagine the entire history of human thought and experience indexed, catalogued, and not only made eternal, but proffered to society with the tools needed to decipher and access it in the most intuitive and efficient ways possible — now that's something to shoot for.

But how to get from here to there?

clip more discussion about Google and the web...

Yet the extraction of meaning from the existing Web is but one facet of the much larger goal. After all, Google never said it would limit its information-organization expedition to only the World Wide Web.

So where are they going? The best way to divine the path ahead is by examining some of the more important technologies Google has recently released, and the acquisitions it has made.

The company has released two desktop tools: one for searching and organizing images, the other to search for files of all kinds. This points to Google's increasing interest in gaining some kind of presence (if not entire ownership) over the desktop, at least in the short term.

It has purchased a satellite imagery company (Keyhole), added local search functionality to the standard Web search, and created Google Maps — a jazzy new Web-based application that allows you to interactively use maps to get directions and find places (like a slicker, more intuitive version of MapQuest). This signals Google's intent to leverage geographical data to increase the revenue-generating potential of AdWords. Months (maybe weeks) from now Google will combine Maps with Keyhole and Local Search to provide a truly amazing (if not a little scary) way to locate destinations and be presented with relevant ads.

It has purchased Blogger, a popular Web logging service, and created Orkut, a social-networking site that allows users to link networks of friends. This points to Google's interest in knowing more about who its users are. The sterility and static nature of the Web search experience has thus far frustrated Google by not providing a great sense of who its user are and what they like, in an individualized way. (Conversely, its publication of the Zeitgeist bears witness to their knowledge of societal interests in a broader sense.)

To make further inroads into the average user's mind, the company recently released a personalized version of Google search whereby you can customize how you'd like search results delivered, based on your varied interests. Soon Google may know everything about you, and exploit that information to help merchants sell you pertinent goods - through AdWords of course.

It has created Google News — a Web-based software application that automatically gathers and presents breaking current-events, from a wide array of media outlets. If Google views this as more than just a nifty idea, this could place it on a collision course with the entire mass-media superstructure.

The company created Google Scholar, a tool to quickly search databases of academic journals, and approached some leading colleges with offers to scan and index all their public domain tomes. This highlights Google's progress in its quest to provide instant access to all recorded human knowledge, but raises questions about the future of bricks and mortar libraries and, more widely, about the library model itself and the role Google will play in such a future. (Surely not relevant ads in library books?)

It has released a free, Web-based email service called GMail, arguably the first real salvo fired across its competitor's bows, showcasing its ability to change the rules of the game. By offering 1 gigabyte of free storage, an innovative interface and integration with its trademark search, this software is more than simply a good piece of technology, but hints strongly at a new network-centric application paradigm that Google may unveil more widely, to try and unseat its chief rival, Microsoft (more on this later).

The company is increasing the ease with which web-programmers can access its services. Google recently released a new application programming interface (API) so that developers could interact directly with AdSense, and will surely continue to open up such interfaces. By doing so, Google aims to become the de facto standard method of conducting all manners of business on the Web.

There Google's service called Froogle which helps consumers find, rank and compare on-line product purchases. How long before Google is leveraging this information against the personal information it's gathered on your shopping preferences and then cross-referencing this to its database of advertisers? Not long.

This whirlwind of hot new tech is but a sampling of the stuff Google has brought public in recent months. Even more interesting are some of the rumors swirling about upcoming technologies Google has under wraps. If anything, some prognostication will make evident the bald genius and uncompromising aptitude with which Google might pursue its goals.

First of all, Google has been noted to be purchasing large quantities of 'dark' fibre-optic capacity, on the cheap (much excess capacity was laid during those heady days of irrational exuberance) to increase its proprietary network bandwidth. To what end? Some of the most far-out rumors say that Google is developing a Skype-esque software that will allow high-quality voice communications over the Internet, costing virtually nothing to the consumer. If Google is making a play into the telecom arena, it would be a relatively late-comer in an arena that is widely populated.

Granted, having its own network capacity would allow the company to offer quality-of-service guarantees that some of its competitors could not, but there may be more here than meets the eye. Imagine for a moment what it might do with all those flashing bits lighting up its optical cables. What if the company recorded, and kept on its servers, a record of every telephone conversation ever made? (Ignore, for the nonce, the plethora of privacy concerns that jump out of the page). Now imagine it had technology that made those digitally-recorded voice calls completely searchable, as you would today search a past MSN Messenger conversation. What we're talking about here is the eventual creation of a perfect digital record of your entire memory, at your fingertips and searchable, all emblazoned with the Google logo and, certainly, some pertinent and unobtrusive advertisement. Scary? Maybe a little.

It is also most likely developing a Google-branded version of Firefox — the up-and-coming Web-browser. There is no dearth of well-supported evidence on the Web pointing to this fact. Having its own browser out there grants Google the opportunity to package all of its services in one tidy delivery channel. It also further encroaches upon Microsoft's territory.

Most significantly however, it will be the opening move on the chessboard of next-generation desktop computing. I believe Google is vying to dethrone Microsoft as the potentate of PC dominance by pulling the rug out from underneath its feet, by changing the very rules of the operating system game itself. Not unlike its e-mail and mapping software, which are entirely Web-based, Google will release an operating system that will be completely networked and centralized on its servers. You will literally no longer need any software running on your local computer (except the Google Web-browser of course, and a network connection). The computing experience will involve booting your computer, logging into the net, and having access to all your programs (and most of your data) which will reside happily in the ether — all protected and secure, we will be assured, by the good god Google.

Google will realize the vision originally put forth by Sun Microsystems (which failed to really give it any meaning) — The Network is the Computer. The reason this model is so powerful is that it greatly simplifies software distribution — when there's a problem or an upgrade, only one copy of the software must be patched and everyone benefits from the update. Users will likely benefit from a more stable computing experience (if we ignore, for the moment, network congestion issues), since the OS will be configured and optimized for high-performance on massively parallel servers.

This paradigm also does away with software piracy, since any paid applications would now become subscription-based and thus impossible to hack (barring password theft). This means a huge opportunity for most software companies and a huge downer for the warez community.

It may also spell a sunshiney future for open source software, which Google smiles upon (its servers are powered by Linux). Recall that in its rapid rise to prominence, Google has amassed one of the largest networks of hardware on the planet. Leap forward a few years, when processing power and network bandwidth are essentially infinite, and you have the perfect pre-conditions for a completely virtualized operating system and application server environment.

Why does Google want to be there? Because it leaves Microsoft out in the cold. Microsoft has structured its company around Windows — its flagship operating system that is necessarily PC-centric. To do away with the need for local software (and thus a local OS to manage its orchestration), Google would catch the Seattle giant flat-footed and hopelessly behind. Sure Microsoft has been touting its .NET application model for some time, but that model still relies heavily on the user running a local copy of Windows. Google, by one-upping Microsoft in the internet programming game, would now control the medium by which software is distributed and sold, and no doubt leverage it to dish relevant and unobtrusive advertisements.

Now, Microsoft may very well be playing this smart and developing its own network-based OS as a pre-emptive move, but that would be undermining its core Windows product and be incongruent with the company's historical 'wait-and-see' copycat approach. Unfortunately, I think this is one instance in which being slow to respond might cost Bill Gates & co. the farm.

So it's 2010. Google owns the telecom market. They've become the primary media source. They own the virtual desktop market. Where else could they be? Home entertainment of course.

Again, more copy clipped but the point is simple. This has all been said before. you can see the original thought-provoking montage here: "EPIC: A FUTURE HISTORY OF MEDIA" Even though he has some novel thoughts and has put his statements together eloquently enough, it seems only fitting that credit should be given where it's due. Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson gave their thoughts to the world under the Creative Commons license. The least we can do is acknowledge their original work.

| Breaking News | AT&T Exec Offers Top 10 Predictions

2005-05-08T18:27:00.000-07:00
CRN | Breaking News | AT&T Exec Offers Top 10 Predictions: "AT&T Exec Offers Top 10 Predictions
by Dan Neel, CRN
8:12 PM EDT Tue. May. 03, 2005

Borrowing a trick from The Late Show's David Letterman, Hossein Eslambolchi, CTO and CIO of AT&T, delivered a visionary keynote at Interop in Las Vegas in the form of a Top 10 List.

Working without the format's characteristic drum roll, Eslambolchi -- who is also president of AT&T Global Networking Technology Services and AT&T Labs -- read his Top 10 predictions for networked communications in descending order."

Somewhat surprising for the lack of surprises. Although, I would have expected at least some passing comment related to the migration of voice to IP networks, I suppose that this is included in his mind as part of his tenth point.

No mention of marketing or advertising driving search, or adoption of new web standards for ASP (read the post on AJAX for the rise of next generation ASP) and the fact that he didn't specifically address the rise in utilization of ubiquitous smart-devices (PDA/Phone Hybrids) that are going to be the real enablers in "pervasive computing".

Azulstar Launches 'World's First' Metro-Wide Wi-Fi VoIP service (this is what I've been talking about)

2005-05-08T16:55:00.000-07:00
Azulstar Launches 'World's First' Metro-Wide Wi-Fi VoIP service : TomsNetworking :: "Wireless News: Azulstar Launches 'World's First' Metro-Wide Wi-Fi VoIP service
Posted by Tim [ 2005-05-04 12:24:25 ] Send this story to a friend Printer friendly page

VoIP

Azulstar Networks today announced the launch of what it says is the world's first metro-wide Voice over Wi-Fi telephone service in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

The network uses around 200 Meru APs connected via a Proxim 'pre-WiMAX backbone' to Azulstar's network operations center (NOC). Azulstar partner Ecuity Networks provides call transport and termination from the Internet onto the traditional phone network and vice versa. The service is based entirely around the SIP protocol and uses both G.711 and G.729 Codecs for voice compression.

The Azulstar service is available to residential, business and mobile telephone users and customers can select from a variety of fixed and mobile handsets, choose a local phone number or keep their existing number. Features included with all calling plans include caller ID, call forwarding, voice mail over e-mail, multi-party calling, call waiting and Web based call control manager.

Pricing for residential fixed/mobile phone service has been set at $29.95/line for unlimited calling within the USA Canada.

The Azulstar Business phone services adds 4-digit inter company calling, a fax line and a Soft-PBX, which eliminates PBX hardware and provides a suite of centralized call control. Azulstar expects typical small business to save between 40-60% off of their current bill and in most cases can leverage existing hardware. Later this year, Azulstar plans to add seamless roaming in and out of cellular CDMA and GSM networks."

The other day I wrote a few words about the future of telecommunications and why the incumbent voice carriers should be terrified. There's nothing like a disruptive technology shift to disintermediate the major providers from their primary sources of revenue. And while I'm not claiming that a few city-wide Wi-Fi deployments that run VoIP over their networks is about to rock the boats at Spring, Verizon, or Cingular, these little pin-pricks had better wake the sleeping giants or they might be hemorrhaging revenue before they have a plan to stop the bleeding.

Azulstar's announcement is interesting in that it basically defines the service that I've been predicting. A key difference, however is that this is not a true hybrid. It's more like a cordless phone on steroids with super cheap pricing. They do say they have plans for interconnectivity between cellular (GSM/CDMA) and Wi-Fi (802.11 b, g and n) but there are some technology hurdles and probably some pretty significant business ones as well before that happens. It would be interesting to know if adoption rates take off AND if they get good customer retention and satisfaction.

Google Search: "Can't Reach the Cops When you Need 'Em"

2005-05-07T23:28:00.000-07:00
Google Search: category: Police Dept near los angeles, ca Google doesn't get it. That's my new conclusion about Google's new "local search" application. I live in Venice, CA which although it butts up against the haughty Santa Monica to the north and Marina del Rey to the south, is still a little bit on the "hood" side. Although that's changing, there's still enough of the "element" around that it behooves one to be careful.

Now I don't mind the "hood" aspect, in fact, I like places that are rough around the edges, but I don't like it when others are subject to unnecessary risk. Tonight when I pulled into the garage where I live (a reasonably high rent 5-unit complex) there was a homeless person crashed out in the alcove adjacent to the back door to the building. Now, this wouldn't concern me except that I'm the only male in the complex and the idea of someone getting into the garage or attacking one of the other residents of the building was enough to prompt me to want to call the police to have them move. Hence, Google Local Search. I also tried the SMS version. It's good thing it isn't an emergency. The list is long. And great if I live anywhere but Venice. Like Hawthorne. 3 tries to sms:46645 and no response, and scrolling through 60 results (which would have been a lifetime on a mobile device, I guess people are still going to be shelling out for 411-info for a while to come...

Japanese stores use RFID to let customers bookmark their favorite shops - Engadget - www.engadget.com /

2005-05-07T19:02:00.000-07:00
Japanese stores use RFID to let customers bookmark their favorite shops - Engadget - www.engadget.com /: "Japanese stores use RFID to let customers bookmark their favorite shops

Posted May 7, 2005, 7:00 PM ET by Barb Dybwad
Related entries: Cellphones, Wireless

rfid

Tokyo-based TechFirm is launching an RFID-based service that lets stores and customers exchange information. By pairing a shopper’s RFID-enabled phone with RFID readers in the stores, customers can download and save information about the store — a bookmark of sorts for favorite shops. The incentive for the stores is that the exchange is two-way, and shops can collect lists of potential repeat customers in order to send them spam special offers and bargains. Maybe stores in Japan will actually make sensible usage of their customers’ data, but we would be the first to opt out if something like this ever hit the States."

This is exactly the sort of thing that The Pondering Primate is talking about...constant dynamic interacation between the mobile-device enabled consumer and the physical world and Internet. While this is a pretty mundane and really not too appealing incarnation, it does illustrate the point that we're constantly leaving digital footprints that have a very significant value to merchants and advertisers. The question I'm asking is; do we have the right to control who's keeping track of these footprints and a right to limit how the information might be used?

Google's new web accelerator seems to me to be another (and ugly) incarnation of this trend. Sure, it might speed up the browsing of some pages, but at what cost? The archiving of everywhere you've ever been? To me, Google is starting to look more and more like big brother every day. Just visit the Google Groups beta...everything you've EVER posted to a usenet group is there in all its glory to remind you that you were once younger, dumber, and had a dirty mouth...

Wake Up and Smell the Wi-VoIP

2005-05-07T02:48:00.000-07:00
Vanilla Gorilla at The Pondering Primate: writes: "What If.....
I have been pondering with the idea that service providers could one day be in big trouble. I mean with Wi-Fi/Wimax being adopted everywhere (Starbucks, airports and even an entire city like Philadelphia), what happens if you can just hop from hotspot to hotspot with your 'cell' phone. Would you even need a service provider?"

Well, VG, here's your answer. Yes. I've been thinking about, and talking about with whomever would listen, what I predicted would be a huge trend and another deep wound in wireless voice carriers most lucrative revenue stream, Voice over IP over Wi-Fi. It already exists in many places. That's because plenty of intrepid home users have plugged their VOIP phones into PC's connected to their broadband via wireless access points. I know. I did that a year and a half ago just to see if it would work. It does. Better, in many cases, than my cell phone.

A number of companies Motorola included realize the potential power of a phone that's capable of handling both traditional cellular protocols, (GSM, TDMA, CDMA) and Wi-Fi with Voice over IP...or VoWi-Fi as some pundits are now calling it. Motorola claims that their new phone is capable of maintaining connectivity through the handoff from one network to the other, but only with certain types of calls.

It's an interesting concept and the applications for business are exciting both from a cost standpoint and from a unification one. Though the details are a bit scarce, it makes perfect sense that a hybrid phone would maintain the functionality of a typical office phone...extensions, conferencing, local transfer, on-net one key dialing (soft keys), and more; basically any feature a reasonably advanced office phone system would have, PLUS the highly desirable VOIP pricing and greatly streamlined administration since most of the best VOIP systems have great GUI driven administration that any network admin can easily support.

For companies that provide cell phones to employees this also has some pretty heavy economic implications, instead of two or more phones per person, one phone does the job of two, AND you get least cost routing as part of the deal. Like I said, cellular carriers had better wake up and smell the Wi-Fi cause if they don't move quickly to capture this traffic, even at a fraction of their typical voice revenues, other providers will feast on their leavings.

As far as the fast hand-offs are concerned, researchers at UCSD have been working on software to speed the handoff from one wi-fi access point to another. Using Skype VoIP with a test network on campus, they were able to achieve a decrease by a factor of 100 the time to switch AP's, fast enough that handoffs took place with no packet loss. Whether this software will also support multi-protocol hand offs is unknown but there are already patents for this technology so devices and/or software are clearly in the works.

As I said earlier I've been predicting this trend for some time. It might become something of an underground or ad-hoc phenomenon initially, but eventually, some company will get serious about these kinds of deployments and the consumer will be the happy beneficiary.

Quantum minutiae...

2005-05-05T20:53:00.000-07:00
Mobile Technology's biggest flaw.

Have you ever heard the saying "a team is only as good as the worst player" or "you're only as strong as your weakest link?" The truth is that saying is...well...mostly true. Any well traveled tech road warrior knows the truth; all the high tech devices in the world won't help you a bit on a desert island with no power supply. Chances are every battery you've dragged with you, up and down stairs from one airline concourse to the next have already been sucked dry by devices that are faster more powerful, and more power-hungry than ever before.

Hats off to those that have tried to make speedy devices consume less power, like Trasmeta, for example, but still, battery life has been the real road block to truly wireless mobile computing. And as development rockets forward in nearly every other aspect of technology, batteries, by comparison, seem to be mired in the dark ages. As a 3 battery per trip guy, the following article was certainly an eye opener. If the claims are accurate; and my fact checking indicates they are, things might finally be turning around. Much to the relief of my, and doubtless many other road-warriors aching backs.

Electronic Products: "Have you ever seen a turtle run? Take a good look at the rechargeable
battery industry and you may be surprised at what you see. Battery
manufacturers have been criticized for years for not keeping pace with
Moore's Law and being one of the key bottlenecks in the advancement of
a wireless world. Recent advancements in technology have this
slow-moving industry accelerating at a pace never before seen."