What They Don’t Teach You In School

What They Don’t Teach You In School
Posted By admin on March 27, 2007
Dr. Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, hasdedicated much of his life to studying what makesmillionaires successful. His research has revealed somevery unique insight into the mindset of the wealthy.
For example, he found that millionaires contributed theirsuccess to having strong social skills, having good mentors,developing persistence, having a supportive spouse, andworking in a career that they love to be the biggestfactors of success.
Having a high GPA in school was listed as one of the leastcontributing factors of their success. So while it may opensome doors, education is not what enables you to arrive atyour final destination.
As said by motivational speaker, Jim Rohn:
“A formal education will make you a living. Self-educationwill make you rich.”
With that said, we must question the true value of college.Is it really worth it? Well, I’ll leave that question forlater.
For now, I’d like to explore areas where are schools havefailed us. Yes, there are indeed some very simple factorsthat contribute strongly to your success. Unfortunately,they’re not being taught in the schools.
The first one is the concept of failure.
In school, kid’s learn that “failure” is a negative term.However, it is nothing of the sort. There has never been asingle successful person who hasn’t failed numerous times ontheir journey to success.
In fact, the most successful people in life are those whohave failed the most.
Edison ‘failed’ more than ten thousand times before hesucceeded in creating the light bulb. As said by ThomasEdison: “I have not failed 10,000 times. I havesuccessfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Here is my favorite failure story….
In 1832 he lost his job and was defeated for state legislature.In 1833 he failed in business.In 1835 his sweetheart died.In 1836 he had a nervous breakdown.In 1838 he was defeated for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.In 1843 he was defeated for nomination for Congress.In 1848 he lost renomination.In 1849 he was rejected for land officer.In 1854 he was defeated for U.S. Senate.In 1856 he was defeated for nomination for Vice President.In 1858 he was again defeated for U.S. Senate.In 1860 he was elected President: Mr. Abraham Lincoln.
My motto is: fail as quickly as possible.
Our world is changing. We are living in a global economy.You are no longer only competing against people living inthe United States. Because of the power of technology,we are now competing at a global level.
We are competing for jobs with those living in Japan, China,and India. These three countries are gaining incredibleeconomic power and are developing an excellent educationsystem.
You may be surprised to hear the many jobs that arecurrently being outsourced. It’s not just the factoryjobs and the call centers. Not at all….
All sorts of computer programming jobs are being outsourcedto India. The computer and technology field has literallybeen transformed by the extremely talented programmers inIndia.
Accounting is another major industry that is beginning to beoutsourced.
Here’s a fact that may surprise you though. Not only arecompanies sending jobs abroad, but they are also seeing a100 percent increase in productivity. The people in othercountries are working 100 times harder for the opportunityto have a job that we take for granted.
People in China and India are starving for your job. And inour new global economy, they can have it.
Most of American students who graduate from college feelentitled to a job. In India there are millions of eageryoung students fighting for relatively few jobs. If wedon’t continue to improve our skills, we’ll be sittingon the sidelines.
So, what’s the key to staying competitive?
You must learn to learn. The world is changing at anincredible pace. Almost everything you learn incollege will be outdated in a minimum of 5 years.That is, of course, unless you major in history.
You must keep up with the changes taking place inyour particular vocation to stay ahead of the curve.
Too many people believe that graduation is the end of theirlearning journey, when in reality it is only the beginning.We must be on a lifelong journey of learning, whether it befrom books, seminars, night classes, or home study courses.
What else is missing from our schools?
Finance!!!!
About 65 percent of college students who graduated in the2003-2004 school did so with lingering debts to pay off.
This doesn’t count the number of young people in debt due tocredit cards and it certainly doesn’t help that they havethese shiny plastic cards being sent to them almost weekly.How can they resist? Well, many don’t.
After they take the plunge, they are hit with high interestrates and hidden fees. The credit card companies know thatyoung students are not educated in the world of personalfinance and they have made them their number one target.
Our young people are not being taught how to invest andspend their money wisely. Success in life is often not inhow much money you make, but rather how you spend your money.
This is what we must teach students. This is a cornerstoneto living a successful life. However, instead students arelearning who won the War of 1812 and how to conjugate verbs.All good things to learn I’m sure but not of much use in thereal world.
Let’s teach them instead about investing in a Roth IRAaccount, a 401k, or the incredible value of compound interest.
Let’s teach our students the success principles thatactually make a difference in the real world.
Let’s teach them to be leaders.
Schools, for the most part, teach us to be good followers.They teach us how to follow directions and color inside thelines. Private schools, however, are often developing leaders.They are developing the students who will lead all of thosegood followers. Private schools are teaching their kids aboutthe importance of public speaking and how to be creative.
They don’t get a picture to color, they’re simply given a blanksheet of paper to let their minds wander on.
So, if you want to become a leader, you’re most likely going tohave to develop those skills outside of the classroom. Youcertainly won’t learn them in a textbook.
However, you can learn one of the greatest leadership skillsof all in an organization called Toastmasters. This is a club that can be found in cities across North Americathat teach people how to improve their public speaking andleadership skills.
And as you can probably imagine, public speaking is one ofthe most important qualities you must have as a leader. Youmust be able to motivate your employees, brief your superiors,and ultimately “sell yourself”.
If it were up to me, I would make public speaking a requiredclass in schools across the nation. Unfortunately, theyhaven’t asked me for my opinion yet.
One of the greatet lessons missing from our schoolsis goal setting.
Only three percent of people commit their goals to paper.These are the same people who find the greatest success inlife.
It has been said that just by writing your goal down youwill triple your results. By assigning a timeframe to yourgoal, you will then quintuple your commitment to the goaland the likelihood of achieving it.
Without a goal and a plan, we will never achieve all that wetruly want for our lives.
Every one of us has 168 hours a week to live our life to thefullest. However, if we examine our lives closely, most ofus will find that we have 30-40 hours during the week thatwe are wasting with television, the computer, and a numberof other distractions.
So many people go through life content with just beingaverage. They go through life just trying to get by. Theygo to work, come home, cook dinner, take care of the kids,and then go to bed in exhaustion.
Too many of us are running a rat race. We don’t know how toslow down and enjoy the moment.
However, when we live with goals, life becomes an adventure.Our life develops focus, meaning, and purpose. Without setgoals, we end up wherever life happens to take us, which isnever at a destination of our choosing.
Goals guide and direct our lives. They give us focus. Theygive us hope. And in the end, goals help us to reach a newlevel in life.
So, let’s teach our kids to make big goals. Let’s teach our kidsthe greatest keys to success. And then, if we have time, let’steach them who won the War of 1812.
The last thing that schools do not teach is how to figureout what you really want in life.
And to tell the truth, they could never teach you whatcareer endeavor is best for you anyway. This is a personaljourney that must be explored in the solitude of one’s mind.
However, our school years are the very best time to find outwhat we really want out of life. It is then that we have timeto truly figure out what it is we want to do with our lives.
Unfortunately, far too many people never take the time to dothis. If you have been in the workforce for any time at all,then you have met these types of people. They are the oneswho spend the whole week just looking forward to the weekend.Maybe you’re even one of those people yourself.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with getting a job thatpays the bills. The danger comes when you fall into aroutine, when you don’t have a plan, passion, or goal toshoot for.
It is then that the future looks very bleak for you.
Let’s not get stuck waiting for the weekend. Let’s find whatwe truly love to do in life and make it our vocation.
As said by Steve Jobs,
“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true foryour work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going tofill a large part of your life, and the only way to be trulysatisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And theonly way to do great work is to love what you do.”
The most successful people in life are doing work which theylike best. It is very hard to succeed at something you hate.On the other hand, it’s hard not to succeed when working atsomething you love.
Everyone has a definite purpose and a vision for their lifethat could enrich the lives of others. The key is tuninginto that purpose.
There is some one thing that you can do better than anyoneelse in the world could do it. Search until you find outwhat this particular line of endeavor is, make it theobject of your definite chief aim and commit your life toachieving it. In your search for the work for which you arebest fitted, it will be well if you bear in mind the factthat you will most likely attain the greatest success byfinding out what work you like best, for it is a well knownfact that a person generally best succeeds in the particularline of endeavor into which he or she can throw their wholeheart and soul.
A definite purpose is something that you must create foryourself. No one else will create it for you and it will notcreate itself. Therefore, let’s spend our school yearsexploring what we truly want out of life while we don’t haveto worry about the bills, the job, the kids, and the weekendthat never seems to come.
When we find work that we truly love to do, it is then thatwe can live a life full of passion and purpose.
I believe that Christian D. Larson said it best:
“When you work simply for yourself or for your own personalgain your mind will seldom rise above the limitations ofthe undeveloped personal life;
but when you are inspired by some great purpose, someextraordinary project, all your thoughts break bounds; yourmind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands inevery direction;
and you find yourself in a new world, a great world, awonderful world; dormant powers, faculties and talentsbecome alive,
and you discover yourself to be a larger man by far than youever dreamed yourself to be.”
– Christian D. Larson, Business Psychology, 1912
Education serves many wonderful purposes. I am a bigbeliever in education. However, I’m smart enough toknow that learning doesn’t stop at graduation.
I’m smart enough to know that today’s technology hasprovided us with unlimited learning opportunities. Asinhabitors of the 21st century, we have a world of knowledgeat our fingertips.
I still know that the most important lessons in life are notfound in a textbook.
Although the knowledge you learn in school is important, it’snot anything you couldn’t learn in a book. The overall experienceof college and the four-year commitment are of much greater value.
In the end, your success is still up to you.
And that, is what they don’t teach you in school…

Wireless USB is here

Wireless USB is here
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 9:19 AM PT No comments
The Wireless USB is here … finally. After all the talk about using low-power wireless connections that would replace the wired USB, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today endorsed products from six companies - Dell, D-Link, IOGEAR and Lenovo. Most of these products will carry a “Wireless USB logo.” So far folks like myself have been using bluetooth-based devices to unclutter our desks (though it is a bit impossible.)
For More information: www.usb.org.

Hardware guys buying Software today

trends !! whr some1 sud plan to go
Hardware guys buying Software today

As the world becomes increasingly digital, and data continues to grow, the importance of software in managing it all is on an upswing. Hardware vendors, realizing that building specialized software isn't easy, and that is why they are busy opening up their check-books, looking to buy the software expertise. In fact, there were three such deals that hit the news wires today.
Of course, by now you may have already heard about HP buying Opsware for $1.6 billion in cash, because it would help sell HP's datacenter hardware. Hifn, a Los Gatos, CA.-based storage and security hardware company snapped up Siafu Software for an undisclosed amount. Aruba Networks, a wireless networking equipment maker bought Network Chemistry's wireless security business this morning, again for an undisclosed amount of money.
Bottomline: While Web 2.0 companies may get acquired by Google (or Yahoo), specialized software start-ups with products that enhance hardware will find buyers more often. Expect this trend to continue, and in fact gain momentum. -- - - - - Thanks & Regards,Praveen Karadiguddi

fring on the Sony Ericsson P990i

fring on the Sony Ericsson P990i
You can get fring on your Sony Ericsson P990i in 3 steps:
1. Check that you have the latest firmware. (Go to Main Menu / System Information. The latest firmware is R6D23). If you don’t have it, get it from Sony Ericsson. Go grab a cup of coffee - it will take about 15 minutes to install.2. Get an audio plug-in from fring here (takes about 5 seconds)3. Get fring via SMS as usual (fring should be up & running within about a minute as usual)
Sony Ericsson fringsters will enjoy the same fring functionality as the rest of us (except no history yet).
p.s for all those who have been asking us, fring doesn’t (yet) work on any other UIQ devices. Unfortunately the M600 and w950 won’t be compatible due to device limitations.

My comments : app works great on my P990, i have started speaking/chatting to my friends on skype/gtalk using my phone.. feel no need to switch on laptop to speak to friend :)

also twitter and sip adding is icing on top.
Killer app for P990 !! cheers SonyEricsson

Taj Mahal is one of New seven wonder of world

feel proud :)) and great

I love you India

Too Much Skype, Not Enough Product Planning

Too Much Skype, Not Enough Product Planning

Skype has launched a series of services that all seem to confuse, confound and basically befuddle.

First was Skype Unlimited--This means make all the Skype Out and Skype Forward calls you want from the USA to USA and Canada. Okay. This makes sense. One price flat rate calling. This makes your phone budget very predictable.

Then came Skype Pro--this adds unlimited calling and a bunch of bundled features, but it seems to be aimed at the NON-USA market first. It also seems to intrude on Skype Unlimited in some ways, but add some neat features at no cost. Bottom line is if have Pro you don't need Unlimited but if you have Unlimited you may still want Pro for some features.

Now there is Skype ToGo which requires Skype Pro. It looks like a clone of Mint Telecom except that it uses your Skype minutes. This is useful as a "minute stealing" defensive play. My guess is that Skype looked at Jajah and said, our customers are using that, so lets make up something simple that keeps things Skype. They also likely looked at MobiVox and saw some minutes being driven over that access gateway and said, we need to do more here.

What would have made sense would have been to just include Skype ToGO in Skype Pro and call it a day. For those who signed up for Skype Unlimited they should have been given Skype Pro for the balance of 2007. In 2008 they should be offered Skype Unlimited or Skype Unlimited Pro and that way they can decide which way ToGo.

End of the day, Skype keeps looking more and more like a phone company, albeit a 2.0 version. So where is the E911?

Trends the social use of handsets in India and China…

Emerging (Markets) Telephony

• listen

Tuesday June 5, 2007 8:57AM
by Imran Ali in News

Looks like Nokia’s heeding the research of staffer Jan Chipchase in their design of handsets for emerging markets.

Matt Web noted in his recent keynote at Reboot, that a new range of Nokia phones addresses the social use of handsets in India and China…

They’re for the emerging markets of India and China. There, the context of use of the mobile is the whole village.

• The phone tends to be shared by a family, so each one stores 5 distinct addressbooks
• There’s often one mobile per village, which is rented out. These home can have pre-set call time/cost limits, so make renting out easier. They come with a built in business model
• It turns out that after voice calls and texting, two major uses of a phone are as a clock, and as a torch. So there’s an external screen showing the time, and a torch built-in
• There’s a teaching mode
• And these phones are cheap. Like, 40 euros cheap

I’m impressed to see such a huge corporation building products in such a progressive way.

Well done Nokia :)

And finally eBay opens up, offers new APIs

Written by Om Malik
Monday, June 11, 2007 at 6:30 AM PT | No comments

You know Open Web (the trend formerly known as Web 2.0) has reached a point of maturity, when eBay, the auction giant decides to embrace it ethos. The company at the eBay Developer Conference in Boston announcedthat it has opened up its three core business units – eBay, PayPal and Skype to third party developers, hoping to catch some of the ‘open web’ magic. (This is something we had talked about earlier.)

EBay’s API offerings will give third party developers abilities to conduct searches, bids, alerts and a whole slew of other features from anywhere on the web. (Full list at the end of the post.)

The more interesting APIs however are coming from the PayPal group, which will enable mobile checkout. Similarly, Skype is going to be pushing something called Skype Extras, which are plug-ins written by independent third-party developers that let users expand Skype functionality and enrich their Skype conversations.

EBay’s moves, while welcome, show that the company is feeling the heat and losing ground to more “embrace-and-extend” services. As the web moves away from monolithic entities, eBay stands the risk of losing its core audience to social networks, blogs and other social media destinations.

The company’s decisions also indicate that it cannot be the solitary driver of innovation, and needs to tap into the web collective. EBay developers such as Unwired Buyer, Cooqy, and mpire are proof of what the developers can do for eBay.

eBay APIs announced today:

• eBay Shopping Web Services: a suite of faster, more responsive APIs that makes searching on eBay up to 16 times faster and allows developers to easily create buying applications
• eBay Bidding API: qualified developers can enable bidding on eBay from anywhere
• eBay Client Alerts: lightweight, near real-time alerts about platform activity
• New JavaScript and Flash Developer Centers: making it easier for JavaScript and Flash developers to access the eBay Web Services platform
• New Production Call Plan: access to API calls in the production environment raised from 10,000 per month to 150,000 per month, allowing new developers to rapidly scale up their applications.
• PayPal introduced a new suite of APIs, including Mobile Checkout, which allows developers to integrate any mobile website with the PayPal checkout process.
• PayPal introduced a new Name-Value Pair API that allows developers to integrate PayPal more easily and quickly into Web sites and applications, enhancing online commerce experiences and making PayPal more accessible to Web users everywhere.
• Skype Extras: are plug-ins written by independent third-party developers that let users expand Skype functionality and enrich their Skype conversations.
• Shopping.com announced plans for a re-architected API that will be available in Q3 2007, which will have a new easy-to-use interface, detailed documentation, and tools for faster implementations.

Innovate or Perish

Source :Innovate or Perish

Taking a clue from the oft-repeated notion of “publish or perish”, I talked of the need for “innovate or perish” in the Sun Technovate event in Mumbai, on the eve of Sun Founder & Chairman Scott McNealy’s second visit to India. There were nearly 200 CIO/CTO in the audience.
My pitch was simple; innovation is happening […]
-->
Taking a clue from the oft-repeated notion of “publish or perish”, I talked of the need for “innovate or perish” in the Sun Technovate event in Mumbai, on the eve of Sun Founder & Chairman Scott McNealy’s second visit to India. There were nearly 200 CIO/CTO in the audience.
My pitch was simple; innovation is happening all around in India, accelerating in the past 5 years, both inside and outside IT. It could be
Infosys Global Delivery ModelIttiam becoming the “world’s most preferred DSP IP supplier” within three years of starting in 2001 and retaining it for 3 years in a rowKashyap perfecting slowly but steadily the concept of “public toilet” through “Sulabh Sauchalay”Reliance launching Rs 777 Classic phonesRobosoft starting 700-seater Tech Park in sleepy Udupi (known only for low cost restaurants)HiCal Magnetics supplying components for NokiaCosmic Circuits re-designing low-end electronics items for ultra-low costlow cost eye surgery in Arvind Hospitalslow cost heart surgery in Narayana Hrudayalaorthe slew of low cost water purifiers.
Innovation is the only sustainable competitive advantage to serve the 5 billion people in the “bottom of the pyramid”; innovation provides 10-20 times (not percent) cost and time savings.
Naturally, without innovation India Inc cannot remain competitive in the long run

Reliance launches entry level phones at Rs 777

Reliance launches entry level phones at Rs 777
May 16th, 2007
It is interesting to see Reliance pursuing the low-cost, high elasticity market of offering new phones at Rs 777 virtually wiping out “second hand” phones in the low-end category. Such low cost option also reduces the entry barrier. It is interesting to remember the Rs 25,000 price point that the bulky Nokia 6610 had in 1996-1998 time frame; we have indeed come a long way.
Unfortunately the political establishment that talks of “aam admi” is so busy wasting money on all grandiose projects that do good neither to the Government nor to the citizens but never take a moment to celebrate the real benefits “aam admi” gets, thanks to technology. One hope to see a generation of politicians who will genuinely work for the common man and woman of India.

IMS dirty laundry

Source:http://www.oreillynet.com/etel/blog/2007/05/ims_dirty_laundry.html
We’ve talked about the controversies surrounding IMS here on ETel before (see Lee Dryburgh’s The IMS Debate for one interesting perspective). Brough Turner, one of the really smart guys out there in this field, has written up the notes from his recent talk about what he learned in porting his MyCaller ringback tones application from the Intelligent Network (IN) implementation to an “IMS” version. You may be surprised at what he found.

In Lessons Learned Implementing IMS, Brough really breaks down the details of where IMS is today, what it can offer, and some of the problems people will face in moving towards IMS. He presents a short and sweet executive summary of his findings, but the entire article is well worth a read.

For the impatient, here are the takeaways.

It’s very early days for IMS. Today’s “IMS” networks are combinations of SIP infrastructure with 3GPP Release 4 softswitch-controlled voice service.
IMS is about connection control, only. Only part of your application has to change. For MyCaller, ~90 percent of the software remains the same.
IMS enables multimedia ringback, i.e. video! So there is significant new functionality, versus today’s audio-only ringback.
Parallels with Intelligent Network are striking!
Most application–specific data remains outside of IMS. In particular, operators do not want to add data fields to their Home Subscriber Server (HSS).
Application–specific MRFs make sense. Operators tend to avoid sharing resources between diverse applications. And, for rich media, application–specific MRFs can be more cost-effective.
Operators await 3GPP Release 7. At least anecdotally, several operators have suggested that 3GPP Release 7 is the first complete, stable, and consistent version they will fully deploy.
And for more good analysis of the state of IMS and a deeper look at the R4 vs. R7 issue, check out Dean Bubbley’s response post, When is an IMS not an IMS?.

Will iPhone spark wireless wars?

Roy, a doorman for my apartment building, stopped me this morning to chit chat. Knowing my affection for all new mobile phones, I wasn’t surprised that he asked to play around with my Nokia N95. “Are you going to buy the iPhone?” he asked, seeking a second opinion since he has already made up his mind and is going to buy an iPhone.

Though he doesn’t have an iPod right now, he thinks an iPhone would give him two devices in one, despite the high price tag. He is seemingly undeterred by the questionable battery life. (One of the reasons why I have a more wait-and-see attitude towards this Apple device.) He isn’t the only one - as the interest in iPhone seems to be on an upswing.

Even if you disregard the rumors and fan sites - the population at large seems to have a considerable interest in the iPhone, indicated by the total search volume for keyword “iPhone.” According to Hitwise, a research group that tracks Internet traffic trends, iPhone related searches represent over 0.002% of total Internet searches per week for past three weeks, with iPhone release date and price being the specific information folks are looking for. (In comparison, MySpace was the #1 query and had 1.16% of the total search volume.) Just as an unscientific indicator the search volume is a good indicator of increasing commercial appeal of the device.

The big question, however, is how does iPhone impact the wireless market at large — and whether it will result in a market share shift, putting AT&T at an advantage.

AT&T is betting big on this device and is hoping to pull ahead of its rivals by riding the iPhone express. AT&T and Apple are going to be launching a big media blitz to promote the iPhone, and according to UBS Research, it will be a major reason why AT&T will be able to add approximately 2.8 million gross postpaid subscribers in the third and fourth quarters of 2007.

If Apple’s guidance of 10 million units in 18 months hits the target, UBS estimates that 2 million iPhones will be sold in the U.S. in the first six months of the launch. That works out to about 18% of AT&T’s post-paid additions and upgrades, UBS estimates. But these 2 million will have to come from somewhere - probably switchers from other wireless services.

At the end of Q1 2007, there were about 170 million postpaid wireless subscribers in the U.S., with Verizon the largest carrier (56 million) with AT&T at #2 with about 51 million, followed by Sprint (41 million) and T-Mobile bringing up the rear at 22 million. (These numbers don’t reflect wholesale and prepaid customers.)

So 2 million units don’t mean much in market share — a little 1.1% market share gain for AT&T in the first six months, but it is the residual impact that might cause the big upheaval in the wireless market.

There are some who believe that since iPhone isn’t going to get as much subsidy as other devices, AT&T can pass those subsidies to even further subsidize non-Apple phones, and making its service more attractive. That would be one way to capture the increased foot traffic to AT&T stores.

Will Verizon and Sprint take this lying down? Of course not, and will launch their own price subsidies, discount plans or whatever it takes to hang on to their subscribers. And whatever happens, consumers will come out ahead — nothing wrong with that. And even if Roy doesn’t end up buying the iPhone, he still might get a good deal somewhere else.

Six dang good reasons why you (probably) hate your cell phone provider

Six dang good reasons why you (probably) hate your cell phone provider
In the latest issue of Information Week, just out today, Elena Malykhina lists six reasons why you may hate your cellphone service.
I've been going down the list, and I gotta tellya: Elena is spot on with each reason.
Let's take it from the top:
Disabled features. Elena notes that Columbia University School of Law Prof. Tim Wu points some of these features as call timers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Advanced SMS, browsers, photo and sound file transfer, E-mail clients, and SIM card mobility. Yes, carriers work hard to get your business, but then what does that say that they disable features that would enable enhanced experiences? I think it is because they eventually want to debut their own features and nickel-and-dime you for them, rather than risk the success of third-party programs.
Phones "locked" to work on only one network. Once they have you, they have you. Sure doesn't speak well of any company that puts up electronic barriers to you leaving their lair.
"Walled garden" Internet access. Elena sees a deliberate inconsistency between the menu-driven wireless web content offered by most cell carriers, and the difficulty of accessing content from rival providers who haven't allied with that particular carriers. Sure, many advanced handset-based browserswill call up these rival sites, but not in versions optimized for mobile. Trying to view these sites often causes script-based lockups.
Unreliable service. Yup. Not only are there dead cell zones in my metro area (Portland, Oregon) but dead cell zones in my condo.
Incompatible products and services. Elena's referring to the fact that cell in the U.S. works with one of two basic standards: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) used by Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and Alltel; and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) used by AT&T and T-Mobile. "This compounds the problem of locked phones (see above), since a phone designed for one network may not work on another even if the carriers wanted that," Elena points out.
Cell phones generally can't be used as laptop modems even though it's technically feasible. This is most often accomplished by disabling the relevant Bluetooth technology that would let this happen. AT&T and SprintNextel will let you do this, but only for surcharged data plans. T-Mobile will let you do this, however.
Good on T-Mobile.

RFID tags to detect purloined school testsPosted

May 14th, 2007
RFID tags to detect purloined school testsPosted by Russell Shaw @ 8:32 am Categories: General, Security, News



The website ars technica reports that the UK-based Edexcel examination board has announced that the company will be adding electronic radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags to its GCSE (high school equivalency) and A-level (pre-university) exam papers.
These tags are going to be embedded in exam packages. These packages are delivered to schools and test centers in secure bags that are not to be opened until exams start.
Yet as I remember from my high college days, there were rich or well-connected students who tried to convince a lowly shipping clerk or fraternity brother in the mailroom to just take one exam out and photocopy it.
And I don't have to tell you how quickly those photocopies were distributed.
In this new RFID system, though, RFID tags will be able to detect if any of the bags have been opened prematurely and if exams have been taken from the bags.
I'd love to see this catch on in the U.S.

Microsoft’s (Beta!) VoIP Device Blitz

[Source : http://gigaom.com/2007/05/13/microsofts-beta-voip-device-blitz/#more-8984]
Microsoft’s (Beta!) VoIP Device Blitz
Written by Paul Kapustka Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 11:46 PM PT 2 comments
You can’t buy them yet, but if you are an enterprise IT exec who is kicking the tires on IP telephony offerings you might at least want to take a gander at the wide range of Microsoft-centric IP voice devices — phones, headsets, videocam monitors — being informally unveiled Monday at the Windows Hardware Engineering conference in Los Angeles.
All meant to work with the still-in-beta Office Communications Server software from Redmond, the VoIP device blitz from nine different vendors is Microsoft’s latest attempt to break into the corporate Voice over IP market, against established players like Avaya and Cisco.
While the devices — shown last week in pre-WinHEC press briefings in San Francisco — performed impressively in an all-Microsoft environment, many big questions remain, such as:
1) OCS still isn’t available, nor is pricing information;
2) Much of the functionality shown is already available from competitors; and
3) do you really want to trust your phone system to Microsoft software?
Despite our traditional skepticism of Microsoft’s commitment to communications, we should start out here by saying that the demo of phone systems cobbled together in a SF hotel basement last week all performed as planned, without any of the also traditional Microsoft demo glitches. VoIP phones rang crisp and clear, triggering on-screen synergy with Office Communicator, updating presence-based information for other Microsoft-based clients, etc., etc.
Impressive as it was for a Microsoft VoIP display, there wasn’t anything shown — customizable presence info, IM-to-voice-to-video call escalation — that isn’t already available from other IP players or even free offerings like Skype or Gizmo. So what’s the fuss?
For starters, the participation of tested device players — like Polycom, Plantronics, Samsung and LG/Nortel — shows that Microsoft has the pull to draw in trusted suppliers whose gear IT execs have likely already signed PO’s for. And by committing to a standards (SIP) based platform, Microsoft hopes to drive economies of scale to eventually sell itself as the low-priced alternative to Cisco’s Cadillac-priced offerings in the IP voice arena. (Again, no pricing yet from Microsoft. Trust them at your own peril.)
Certainly, toys like the USB Bluetooth headset (which Microsoft says will dual-home to VoIP and cellphones, a pledge that couldn’t be proven in the demo) from LG-Nortel will serve as momentary VoIP-candy, but there’s still a long road ahead of Microsoft in its attempts to A) convince enterprise IT that it’s serious about telephony and B) overcome products already in the market from playahs like Cisco and Avaya, not to mention the burgeoning open-source offerings in the Asterisk arena.
But while it’s easy to poke holes in Microsoft’s offerings — like, say, its five pre-configured “presence” states, which seem laughable next to the on-the-fly customizable “don’t bug me” field in Google’s Gtalk — it’s important to remember that people who buy Microsoft corporate software buy in the thousands, not by single downloads.
And with a host of interested device suppliers on its side, Microsoft might not be able to ignore its commitment to telephony any longer. Now all we need is pricing and availability to let the battle really begin.

VoIP’s “four obstacles”

Four obstacles to implementing VoIP
May 11, 2007
Source http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5102-1035-6183187.html
Takeaway: While VoIP's popularity continues to grow, it still has some obstacles to overcome before it becomes ubiquitous in corporate environments. Deb Shinder lists the four greatest obstacles and discusses how they undermine one of VoIP's biggest advantages -- the cost savings.
As the lower cost of calls -- particularly long distance and international calls -- attracts more and more companies, VoIP's popularity in the business world continues to grow. According to iLocus Research's annual report on the VoIP industry (which the company has been tracking since the late 1990s), the IP PBX market grew 52 percent from 2005 to 2006, and the number of worldwide voice over broadband (VoBB) subscribers (both consumer and business) almost doubled.
Those growth statistics are impressive, but a look at actual percentages tells a different story. Less than half of businesses use VoIP, and less than a quarter of small businesses do so. If cost savings are so dramatic, why haven't more companies -- especially small ones that don't have millions invested in their traditional phone systems -- made the switch?
In 2006, VoIP Magazine predicted that half of all small businesses and two-thirds of large businesses would be using VoIP by 2010 -- although not necessarily exclusively for all their telecommunications needs. To get there, VoIP providers are going to have to overcome the obstacles that have so far prevented many businesses from cutting the telco cord and moving to IP-based phone services. Let's explore some of these obstacles.
Reliability concerns
The performance of the long-established public switched telephone network (PSTN) has "spoiled" telephone users. While consumers and employees accept that computers sometimes go down, their expectations of the phone system are much higher. When they pick up the phone, they expect to get a dial tone. Users won't tolerate less than rock-solid reliability from their telephone systems.
Companies depend on the phones to stay in contact with customers, partners, and vendors -- as well as within the company for communication between employees. A phone outage can bring business to a halt -- or, at the least, slow it down considerably and cost the company big bucks.
VoIP is far more reliable than it was just a few years ago. However, there's still a perception of unreliability that providers must overcome before cautious managers will take the plunge.
And there's another aspect to reliability. The regular phone jacks in a building don't require electric service to work (although equipment such as PBX does). That means you can still have phone service during a power outage.
VoIP depends on both electrical power and Internet service. Interruption of either means losing phone service. You can ameliorate the problem by having redundant Internet connections and power backup such as a generator, but this adds to the cost.
Network quality of service
VoIP is far more sensitive to network "glitches" than data transmission is. If the network drops data packets, it just resends them. If the dropped packet results in an e-mail delayed by a few minutes, users likely won't even notice.
But if delays in transmission or dropped packets cause a disrupted phone call, you can bet the call participants will notice -- and complain. The data transmission process is much more transparent; because phone calls are real-time communications, problems are "in the face" of the users.
IP networks are subject to many variables, including:
Packet loss due to network congestion or corruption of the data
Variation in the amount of delay of packet delivery, which can result in poor voice quality
Packets arriving out of sequence, which can result in discarded packets and cause more delay and disruption
In addition, the analog-to-digital conversion process can affect VoIP call quality, causing users to experience unpleasant distortion or echo effects. Another culprit is signal level problems, which can cause excessive background noise that interferes with conversations.
To help prevent such problems, the IP network must support quality-of-service (QoS) mechanisms that allow administrators to give priority to VoIP packets. This means a VoIP network is more trouble to manage than a data network, and it requires a higher level of expertise -- or at least an additional skill set -- on the part of network administrators.
VoIP monitoring and management solutions are available that make it easier to optimize voice services, but that adds to the cost of deployment. It also negates some of the cost savings that motivate the move to VoIP in the first place.
Complexity and confusion
The complexity and unfamiliar terrain of VoIP communications presents another big obstacle for many companies. Network administrators well-versed in running a data network may not know much about how VoIP works, what equipment is necessary, or how to set up and maintain that equipment.
In addition, VoIP terminology quickly gets confusing -- media gateways, analog telephone adapter (ATA), audio response unit (ARU), interactive voice response (IVR), etc. Company managers and IT personnel hear about different VoIP protocols -- H.323, SIP, IAX -- and don't understand the differences or know which one they need.
Already overworked IT staffs may not be eager to undertake the task of learning a whole new specialty nor the added burden of ongoing maintenance of the components of a VoIP system. They may not be sure how to integrate the VoIP network into the existing data network.
Of course, there are answers to these problems. Consultants with the requisite knowledge can help set up a VoIP network, or companies can use hosted VoIP services to reduce both the complication and the upfront expenses of buying VoIP servers. However, once again, this ups the price tag of going to VoIP and eats into the cost savings that are one of VoIP's main advantages.
Security
Finally, reports on the security vulnerabilities of IP networks have bombarded companies, and the risk of intercepted calls and eavesdropping are a concern. In addition, providing another layer of vulnerability to a data network integrated with the VoIP network is also a worry.
While malicious users can tap traditional telephones, it's a fairly difficult process that usually requires physical access -- at least for anyone other than a government agency. Traditional phone communications travel over dedicated circuits controlled by one entity -- the phone company. But when VoIP packets go out there into the "Internet cloud," they go through numerous routers and servers at many different points.
Encryption and other security mechanisms can make VoIP as secure or even more secure than PSTN. But once again, it's perception that matters. (And, of course, extra security mechanisms mean extra cost.)
Summary
VoIP is gaining ground steadily. However, before it becomes ubiquitous, the technology needs to overcome some obstacles. VoIP providers must not only address the problems of reliability and quality of service, but they must also reduce the complexity and confusion inherent in implementing VoIP and address security concerns. And, at the same time, they must keep VoIP costs lower than the costs associated with traditional phone service.
Want more tips and tricks to help you plan or optimize your VoIP deployment? Automatically sign up for our free VoIP newsletter, delivered each Monday!
Deb Shinder is a technology consultant, trainer, and writer who has authored a number of books on computer operating systems, networking, and security. She currently specializes in security issues and Microsoft products, and she has received Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status in Windows Server Security.

I Asked myself what is IMPS

Answer was in WIKI asusual :)

IMPS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the mythological beings, see Imp.
For Star Wars fan film, see IMPS The Relentless.
IMPS stands for Instant Messaging and Presence Service. It is an OMA enabler for Instant Messaging and Presence. The Wireless Village consortium developed the first cut of the specifications. After Wireless Village was merged with OMA, its specs became OMA IMPS 1.0 specifications. IMPS is widely deployed but not necessarily marketed. Interworking between several operators IMPS platforms is being performed under a GSMA initiave that encourages interworking and deployment of Instant Messaging.
Vanilla terminals often have IMPS clients.
On Nokia, the chat client is accessed via the "My Presence" menu.
On Sony Ericsson, it's called "’My Friends".
On Motorola, it's called "IM". The phones' chat clients are generally designed to be provider neutral, so you have to put in the Wireless Village server settings.
If your phone doesn't have an inbuilt chat client, you might still be able to get a third-party chat application that runs on your phone's Symbian, Java ME, BREW, or other application environment. You need to get a chat client which is "Wireless Village compliant presence-enabled".
Note that it is still necessary for the operator to provide the IM service and/or one will have to connect to a third party server for connection with others for IM'ing

[edit] Compatible terminals
This is only a partial list. Many phones sold today support IMPS, especially phones from these manufacturers.
Nokia 3220, 6020, 6021, 6220, 6230, 6230i, 6630, 6820, 5140, 6810, 7200, 7260, 7270, 7610, 8800, E50, E60, E61, E62, E65, E70, N70, N72
Motorola V500, V600, E398, V3
Sony Ericsson K310, J300i, F500i, K300i, K310i, K500i, K510i, K600i, K610i, K700i, K750i, K790i, K800i, S700i, T206, T630, T637, V800, W550i, W800i, W810i, W850i, W900i, Z500A, Z800, Z1010
Siemens CX70, CX75, M65, SK65, S75
BenQ-Siemens S68

Great List of Open Source Telephony Projects

[Source:http://www.oreillynet.com/etel/blog/2007/04/great_list_of_open_source_tele.html]

Regular ETel readers know that we’re big on open source telephony around here. We regularly feature technical articles on open source telecom projects like Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, YATE, and OpenZoep, we like to discuss the issues around open source business models in our blogs, and O’Reilly Media has long been a champion and documenter for many of the most important open source projects. So I consider paying attention to open source telephony projects a major part of my “beat” as the editor of ETel, but even I was surprised at the depth represented in VoIP Now’s list of 74 Open Source VoIP Apps & Resources. Broken down by category, Jimmy Atkinson has collected what must be the most exhaustive list of open source telecom projects to date. I’m ashamed to admit there’s quite a few on this list I haven’t heard of. Thanks a lot for this Jimmy, now I’ve got my work cut out for me!

Research firm: cable VoIP nearly doubled in 2006

Source : http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1559
Technology market research firm In-Stat has issued a new study that maintains that due to a big assist from VoIP, cable providers nearly doubled their number of telephone subscribers last year.
Of the 9.4 million cable telephone subscribers in North America, 6.6 million are VoIP users, In-Stat said.
In-Stat added that, with 42 percent of these cable VoIP users said they signed up for service in the last 12 months.
“In a growing number of markets around the world, cable TV operators consider telephony service to be an integral part of their telecommunications service bundle," analyst Mike Paxton said in a statement released with the findings.
In-Stat's study also says that worldwide cable telephony subscriptions jumped from 15.8 million in 2005 to more than 22 million last year. According to In-Stat, cable telephone service revenues are projected to reach $10.4 billion this year, up from $7.9 billion in 2006.

The VoIP wars begins

The VoIP wars: Praveen Karadiguddi
[ Source : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/18/voip_wars_head_for_ofcom/]
Truphone boss James Tagg says his fledgling company will ask Ofcom to intervene if mobile networks continue to cripple VoIP-capable handsets.
Another VoIP provider told us today that Orange has been crippling its E61 handsets for SIP telephony "for several weeks".
As we reported earlier today, Vodafone and Orange have released a version of the hot new Nokia N95 handset with the native VoIP capability disabled. See Truphone's video here.
Tagg said he'd be making a representation to the UK telecoms regulator in a week if questions hadn't been answered satisfactorily by Vodafone and Orange. "We will formally complain within a week if we haven't got some sort of answer out of them by other routes," he told us.
The two giants are clearly flouting EU law, he said. "We're being blocked at the network level and at the device level."
Adam Beaumont, managing director of rival SIP service AQL said his company wouldn't be making its own representation to Ofcom, but gave his full backing to Truphone's complaint.
Beaumont also revealed that Orange has been crippling its Nokia E61 handsets.
"The N95 doesn't surprise me," he told us. AQL had noticed that Orange-branded E61 phones were unable to make SIP calls for several weeks.
New start-ups such as Truphone and AQL allow users to use a WLAN-aware handset with built-in SIP support - such as the E61 and the new E65 - bypassing the network. Nokia has integrated SIP calling deeply into the phone, which makes for a seamless experience for the user and better power management. The launch of Nokia's E65 and N95 handsets, combined with the growing maturity of services such as AQL and Truphone, is taking VoIP from the enthusiast market into the mainstream.
"We've got other fish to fry, but we'll be backing the Truphone complaint," Beaumont said today. "There's going to be a lot of disappointed subscribers out there."
Both Tagg and Beaumont said Nokia would be far from pleased to see the operators disabling premium features from their phones.
"Nokia's built a great handset with the E65, and are completely behind SIP and VoIP. You're not going to buy a £700 handset unless it does something cool," said Tagg.
Beaumont said: "It opens up a another can of words, really. Nokia won't be very happy supplying a phone to the networks that then had its functionality limited. They create a beautiful handset, and there's a promise to the consumer, then they get one and find it doesn't do any of those things promised."
Why Truphone and AQL aren't like Skype
"You can use a completely separate client like Fring, but it's impossible to make SIP calls using the Nokia stuff," Tagg explained today.
"We've always taken the view that the SIP client must be deeply integrated into the phone, and that these separate clients are novelties. Fring is impressive, but it's hard to write a client that's nice to your battery, and people want to use the contact book and call log that are already in the phone."
Users can still buy an N95 with a SIM from a supplier such as Expansys, but they'll pay more upfront and not enjoy the airtime subsidy.
"They're just defending their voice revenues," said Beaumont. "They say they're not worried about VoIP but this shows they are. Why remove it, otherwise?"
Ofcom had not responded to our request for comment by press time.

India's 25 best employers

[Source: http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/17best.htm ]
India's 25 best employers
Rank
Organisation
1
Aditya Birla Group
2
Satyam Computer Services Limited
3
Marriott Hotels India
4
Eureka Forbes Limited
5
Cisco Systems (India) Private Limited
6
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.
7
Agilent Technologies Ltd.
8
Standard Chartered Scope International - India
9
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
10
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
11
Wipro BPO
12
Covansys (India) Private Limited
13
Ajuba Solutions India Private Limited
14
Pantaloon Retail India Limited
15
Text 100 India Pvt. Ltd.
16
Domino's Pizza India Limited
17
Ford India
18
Becton Dickinson India Pvt. Ltd.
19
Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.
20
HCL Technologies Ltd.- BPO Services
21
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited
22
Johnson and Johnson Medical, India
23
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd.
24
HSBC
25
Monsanto India Limited

iPhone: Harder to Build than Apple Thought

[ Source : http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070413_247721.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe_technology ]
iPhone: Harder to Build than Apple Thought
Reports that Apple has moved more hands to the iPhone team may mean yet another product launch delay for the company
The announcement that Apple would delay the release of its newest version of Mac OS X, known as Leopard, didn't surprise many people. A rumor suggesting such a delay was imminent had been circulating for weeks.
But Apple's (AAPL) Apr. 12 statement that it has redeployed some of its software engineering and quality assurance personnel away from Leopard to the team working on the June launch of the iPhone suggests that some last-minute problems are cropping up and raises questions about whether Apple has had to push back the iPhone release, if only by some weeks.
Running Into Snags
Various iPhone suppliers have been told that the iPhone may not be available until the end of June, according to Jagdish Rebello, an analyst with iSuppli, a market intelligence firm in Silicon Valley. Apple had never specified when in June the device would ship, but its wireless partner, AT&T (T), had been cited in published reports naming a June 11 target date, the same day of an Apple software developers conference. "We're hearing it's mostly an issue with the complexity of the device, and that all the component suppliers are making their deliveries on time," Rebello says.
Apple hinted in the statement that making the iPhone is no cakewalk. The cell phone "contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device," Apple said. It added that the device had passed "several" of its required certification tests and would ship in "late June."
Usually with two months or less to go before market release, a device like the iPhone would ordinarily be going through a heavy battery of testing in preparation for volume manufacturing. The apparently sudden shift of personnel away from Leopard suggests that a late wrinkle has emerged. "Typically the manufacturer and the service provider are making sure the phone meets all its specifications, and that all the production glitches have been ironed out," Rebello says. "It's clear they have found some issues that they need to fix."
First Time Is Right Time
Richard Doherty, director and co-founder of the Envisioneering Group, says he's tested the phone and didn't uncover problems with it. Apple may be beefing up software developer tools and fixing security concerns, he reckons. "Putting a powerful operating system on a phone took extra hands on deck," he says. "The last thing Apple wants is for the iPhone to be vulnerable to hacker attacks."
Apple hopes customers will use iPhone for online purchases, so it's making the operating system more powerful than existing mobile systems, such as Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile or Symbian, developed by a Nokia (NOK)-led consortium. "They don't want it to be a version 1.0 of the iPhone, but version 4.9," Doherty says. "Apple wants to get it right the first time."
Another challenge is giving the iPhone sufficient battery life. The battery will have to be powerful enough to handle a variety of functions, but it must also be compact, analysts explain. "There's a lot of skepticism about the iPhone's battery life," says Paul Sagawa, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein. The iPhone is expected to have two batteries, one for the phone and the other for the music player. The phone battery, which is very small, would have to power a huge screen, Wi-Fi network connections, and many other power-hungry features.
Wall Street's Not Worried
Wall Street analysts generally dismissed the Leopard release delay, saying there are plenty of other reasons to be bullish on Apple stock. Adobe (ADBE) will soon be upgrading its flagship creative software for the Mac, giving computer users another reason to buy new Macs. And barring any major glitches, many analysts are confident the iPhone will be a hit. "Although the push-out of Leopard is not ideal, we view iPhone as the delivery of the next leg to the Apple growth story," Goldman Sachs (GS) analyst David Bailey wrote in an Apr. 13 research note. Apple stock dipped 2.1% the day after the late afternoon announcement.
The delayed Leopard is the second rollout of a major Apple product this year. Apple also delayed the launch of Apple TV, which hit store shelves at the end of March. But Leopard's four-month delay is minor compared with the many delays that beset Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista. The system was first due in 2005, but didn't hit store shelves until early 2007.
And the extra time means added weeks of speculation surrounding the features due to be included in Leopard, now slated for an October launch. "Our analysis indicates that if not for the 'secret' features, the core Leopard operating system would likely have shipped on time," American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a recent research note.
However embarrassing the Leopard delay, the release of a bug-riddled iPhone would be disastrous, particularly since expectations have been set so high. "It's not easy to make a phone," Sagawa says. "The hype has risen to such a fever pitch that to disappoint people with the product would be quite a black mark."

A new angle on distance learning

[Source: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/bangaloretigers/archives/2007/04/a_new_angle_on.html#more ]

Anything that can be done over the Web can be done in India--so why not tutoring? I recently came across a company in Bangalore that's doing just that. The company, Tutorvista, started operations in a beta sort of way in late 2005, but only started marketing aggressively late last year.
This is a really interesting company. It offers families in North America and Europe a pretty compelling financial deal: unlimited tutoring in math and English for $100 a month. This is the first Indian off-shoring service aimed at consumers.
The tutors, 500 of them so far, work from their homes in 23 Indian cities. They all have masters degrees or dual bachelors degrees in education and a specialty. The tutors conduct online sessions with their students that include the ability to speak to one another via VOIP and to share an electronic whiteboard. So far, Tutorvista has about 2000 students. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but Ganesh Krishnan, the company’s CEO, says it’s ahead of the business plan. “We’ve made something that was unaffordable to the common man affordable—thanks to low-priced Indian labor and the Internet,” he says.
The deal certainly seems good for customers. Rather than pay local tutors $40 to $50 per one-hour session, they get all they can consume in a month for $100.
The business model is pretty sweet for Tutorvista, too. It recruits and trains tutors online and pays them $300 to $400 a month. It doesn’t spend much on marketing; most of its customers come to it via word of mouth.
The company faces some stiff challenges. How does a small, little-known Indian company convince people in the US and UK to shell out $100 for tutoring over the Internet? It’s all so new and unproven.
Still, Krishnan is confident enough in a gradual buildup in business that he’s already experimenting with new services. He’s piloting an English-as-a-second-language program in Korea, and plans on eventually selling it worldwide. Plus he plans on offering Spanish tutoring worldwide as well—with the tutors in Argentina, Costa Rica and elsewhere.

Vonage cops to “no workaround”: which means they could be totally screwed if…

[Source : http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1537]
Vonage cops to “no workaround”: which means they could be totally screwed if…Posted by Russell Shaw @ 9:38 am Categories: General, Verizon, Vonage

Vonage now says they have no "workaround" that could be deployed if a U.S. Appeals Court does not grant a stay in its patent infringement dispute with Verizon.
That appeal for a stay will be heard a week from tomorrow.
"Vonage currently has no workarounds that moot the need for a stay," the company said in a statement cited by USAToday and also mentioned by BroadbandReports and on Alex Saunders blog.
"While Vonage has studied methods for designing around the patents," the company says, "removal of the allegedly infringing technology, if even feasible, could take many months to fully study and implement."
Me: If Vonage doesn't obtain a stay they are so totally screwed.
Karl on Broadband Reports.com is a bit less edgy. "As it stands, Vonage is simply hoping the appeals process works for them," he writes.
Alex adds:
The crows have come home to roost for Vonage. The company has admitted that it has no workaround to navigate past Verizon's patents, and that such a workaround may not even be feasible. Interim CEO Jeffrey Citron has declared that one of the first belt-tightening moves will be to axe former CEO Mike Snyder's dot-com era marketing programs. Customer acquisition costs have ballooned to $306 per subscriber in the most recent quarter.
Old-style telecom business model + new technology = incremental improvement, not disruption.
Jon Arnold adds:
Reading this article makes it very clear that it's going to be all or nothing with this Verizon patent claims issue. The language they're using indicates that if it all goes Verizon's way, Vonage simply does not have a future.
This just shows you how much their backs are to the wall. At this point, without a workaround, they have to convince the judge and jury that these broad, sweeping patent claims are indefensible, and that in essence, Verizon didn't invent and doesn't own VoIP. I think they have to bet the farm on it, and my guess is they will win.
Admitting they have no workaround may in fact, be true, but the way it's positioned now, this seems like a gambit to raise the stakes and show how one-sided this thing really is. If the ruling totally favors Verizon, then Vonage's days are numbered. And once that happens, they'll be emboldened to go after the cablecos. They could go after the other VoIP pureplays, but that won't be necessary, since once Vonage is vanquished, the others will simply go away on their own (mind you, 8×8 is rightly making a lot noise lately about all of its patents, so they may be spared).
The potential domino effect here is ominous, and while I don't think it will all come to pass, the possibility alone should be enough for the judge/jury to see things in a more balanced light. If Verizon gets all the spoils, competition would be crushed, the price of VoIP will surely increase, and consumers would have less choice and less innovation.
The plot thickens…
I agree with these observations, but I sort of sense that a week from tomorrow, Vonage will be granted a stay for both their ongoing services and new-signups.
What's your prediction?

BSNL plans mega WiMAX rollout

[Source : http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=17406&email=html]
BSNL plans mega WiMAX rollout
India’s BSNL is expected to float a tender to offer WiMAX services in 1,000 cities across the country. Unnamed sources said BSNL is awaiting the final policy announcement by the Department of Telecommunications on 3G spectrum and broadband wireless access. If the policy is announced this month, it hopes to finalise the tender by July so that deployment can begin by September. The planned tender would be for 1,000 base trans-receivers, which would be a mix of both non-line of sight (NLOS) and line of sight (LOS) BTSs.

Why Google bought DoubleClick

[Source : http://gigaom.com/2007/04/16/why-google-bought-doubleclick/#more-8752]
If there was any need for proof that Google considers advertising its core competency, then last few days provide ample testimony to that fact. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has partnered with Clear Channel Communications to sell radio ads, a move that follows their decision to snap up DoubleClick for $3.1 billion which has been the big news of the weekend.
The DoubleClick acquisition showed that Google is willing to spend any amount of money to defend its advertising turf. The deal has also prompted AT&T, Yahoo and Microsoft to cry foul and whisper to media about an anti-trust investigation, a preposterous notion, considering that Microsoft had a chance to outbid Google.
To get a more realistic perspective on Google’s decision to buy DoubleClick, I reached out to Mark Kingdon, CEO of Organic, Inc., a leading online marketing firm that works closely with Fortune 1000 companies. Mark is an expert in Internet branding and online advertising. We met when I was reporting a story for Business 2.0, and since then I have come to rely on him as a barometer of sanity when it comes to online advertising. I did a short interview with him, to get his take on Google’s move to buy DoubleClick. Here are some excerpts.
Om: There are some who believe that this deal marks the return of the banner. What do you say to that?
Mark: Did it ever go away?
Om: Is this an attempt by Google to exert more control on the advertising market and at the same time keep competitors at bay?
Mark: DoubleClick is a very strong complement to Google’s dominant search offering. If Google develops an equally strong offering in video, gaming (AdScape), mobile and digital outdoor, they could offer advertisers a way of reaching consumers just about anywhere in the digital world.
Om: What is the real value of DoubleClick?
Mark: This was a strategic purchase. They locked out a competitor (Microsoft) and expanded their core business in a closely related area. It is Business 101. It’s about speed to competitive advantage. Google gets a leader in placing display advertising which brings along a very large advertiser base. Google has a big brain trust and will likely find new ways to aggregate, segment and optimize.
Om: If you look beyond today, how does this acqusition help Google? Does this buy them time, as the advertising industry tries and figure out its future models?
Mark: Advertisers buy what they know and they innovate on the edge so Google is expanding its relationships and market coverage. Everything that’s happening on the edge is having a gut-wrenching impact on the big middle. Think about YouTube and its impact on big media. Business models are slow to change when billions of dollars are at stake.
Om: Both Google and DoubleClick are moving ahead and setting up ad-exchanges. Are they a key component to this deal?
Mark: TBD. It sounds like an obvious direction for Google to take. Add in real- or near-real time optimization across different digital media and you have a mouth-watering concept. Everything from commodities to collectibles are sold on exchanges so why not ads? Here’s why: there is a big business built on the buying and selling of ad space. It comfortable, familiar and very profitable for the participants.

Countries i visited

http://www.world66.com/myworld66/visitedCountries

iTunes streaming to mobile phone using Slingbox and Apple TV

[Source http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/gadgets/itunes-streaming-to-mobile-phone-using-slingbox-and-apple-tv.asp]
Apple TV has become the ultimate hacker magnet allowing users to use the Apple TV in ways Apple hadn't intended. As discussed recently, Apple TV was hacked to allow Asterisk, the open-source IP-PBX to run on it. Check out the Apple TV Asterisk tut. Now it appears that just a few weeks after launch, CNet is talking about an intriguing new feature for that will allow you to stream music from iTunes on your home computer to your cell phone leveraging Apple TV and Slingbox.


Apple TV


It's a bit of a kludge since the iTunes music has to sync from your PC to the Slingbox and then to your mobile phone. Slingbox is actually working on making the Slingbox compatible with Apple TV. This would enable streaming of Apple TV content to a mobile device. In theory, both audio (mp3) and video content could be streamed from the PC to the Apple TV to the SlingBox and finally to a phone capable of running the SlingPlayer - i.e. Windows Mobile, Palm or Symbian. The Apple iPhone, due out soon supports EDGE (generally classified as a 2.75G network technology - not quite 3G) and is capable of 1 MBit/s peak speeds.

With these wireless speeds, if Steve Jobs ever permits the SlingPlayer to run on the iPhone, that could be a killer app for the iPhone when used in conjunction with either the Slingbox or the Apple TV. More likely, Apple will only permit their own DRM-infested audio/video player so you have to "pay up" to download music and videos from their iTunes store. I could be wrong. I hope I am. Though it is perfectly plausible that since both the Apple TV and iTunes run the same DRM protection, Apple could permit direct streaming from the Apple TV to the Apple iPhone. I mean you paid for the content, right? So I don't see why Apple would prevent you from streaming content you paid for to another device you own.

Vodafone selects Ericsson for European-wide managed services contract for its network spare parts

http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/releases/20070410-1117615.shtml

n a deal the companies say is worth millions ( millions! ) of Euros, Ericsson announced Tuesday that it will supply and manage the spare parts needed for Vodafone’s mobile networks. The deal covers both 2G- and 3G-flavored networks, the companies said.

Pune leads country towards Wi-Fi age with WiMax - Financial Express

Pune leads country towards Wi-Fi age with WiMax - Financial Express
[http://hcilondon.net/hciserv/NewsIndex?source=newsdetails&NewsCode=5375]
03-04-2007
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PUNE, APR 2: Pune became India’s first wireless city on Monday when Intel Technology Pvt Ltd, Pune Municipal Corp (PMC) and Microsense joined hands to commercially roll out the first phase of a 802.16d Wi-Fi and WiMax network in the city. The first phase of the ‘Unwire Pune’ project deployment would provide wireless connectivity in a 25 sq km expanse of the city. “After the completion of the first phase, in around four months, Pune Municipal Corp is planning to make services commercially available to citizens at a cost of Rs 250 offering a speed of 256 kbps,” Nitin Kareer, PMC commissioner said. Intel India has been the chief technology and programme management consultant by PMC while Microsense would roll out the network to offer broadband wireless services. The rest of the city would be covered in the next 12-16 months. Kareer said that internet access would be initially be offered to 30 odd municipal schools in the city.

R Siva Kumar, MD, Intel South Asia said that Intel has been talking to other cities including Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Nagpur, Mysore, Jaipur, Dehradun and Uttarakhand for similar projects. S Kailashnathan, MD, Microsense said that the central government had recently delicensed the 5.8 gh for outdoor use. Since the Pune project was being delayed owing to change in the Trai guidelines, he said the company would currently manage with available spectrum in the 3.3gh, 2.4gh in 2008. and 3.4gh and 5.8gh.“There is a need for additional spectrum in the proposed policy and other spectrum is in the process of being identified,” he said. The Pune project cost has been estimated at Rs 100 crore over the next couple of years for setting up the infrastructure. Siva Kumar said Intel would begin to roll out WiMax on laptops in 2008 and mobile devices a year after.

Top Mobile applications for 2007

[Source http://www.businessweek.com/technology/]
•WiFi
•VoIP
•Mobile TV
•TV-out
•GPS

In VoIP, Cisco thinks small to go big

[Source : http://gigaom.com/2007/04/03/cisco-small-biz-voip/#more-8619]
Cisco is announcing Tuesday a somewhat expected push into the small-business Voice over IP market, one that enlists resellers as key allies in the search for the ever-elusive SMB.

The networking king joins an SMB VoIP race that is getting considerably crowded, with equipment and software manufacturers (Microsoft, Nortel, Avaya) and hosted-service providers (Covad, Best Buy) all angling for part of a market that is typically estimated to be in the multiple billions. While its offering has a bit of a Cadillac price tag, it may be Cisco’s game to lose since its strategy seems well thought-out with incentives on both the customer and reseller side of the equation.


Called the Smart Business Communication System (apparently telecom stuff doesn’t get any creative naming), Cisco’s package offers more than just an integrated voice system — it allows users (and resellers) to add in wireless infrastructure, small routers and integration with vertical-application packages.

Pricing is somewhat of a grab bag, since the final sticker may vary widely depending on what pieces-parts are delivered (IP phones, routers, wireless access points), or whether or not the reseller offers the bundle as a managed/hosted type service. Rick Moran, VP for Cisco’s unified communications marketing, estimates that typical SBCS deployments would cost around $600 to $700 per seat, phone included.

Cisco’s target for its SMB offering is in the just-under-99-seat range, a market segment that may be a bit higher in functionality needs than the businesses who might look at Microsoft’s promised phone-in-a-box offering, or to Fonality’s or Digium’s no-cost open-source PBXs. While Moran said ease of installation (”Our target is to have phones working less than 5 minutes after plugging the boxes in”) is still a criteria for Cisco’s intended SMB base, it’s probably more likely that a Cisco SMB VoIP sale will come through one of the company’s thousands of reseller partners, who may want to bundle wireless, Internet access and web hosting together as part of an integrated small-business communications package.

To that end, Cisco’s new plan (scheduled to be announced Tuesday at a partners meeting in Las Vegas) includes incentives for resellers to get up to speed via training, such as co-marketing plans and financing support. Those features, combined with the designed-in ability for the Cisco products to scale or integrate with larger corporate operations, makes the Cisco VoIP-and-more a probable solid choice for the IT manager who isn’t necessarily concerned about getting the cheapest system out there.

Here’s why TI’s mobile video projector just might succeed

http://news.com.com/TI+demos+its+movie+projector+in+a+phone/2100-1041_3-6170619.html
Here’s why TI’s mobile video projector just might succeed

Texas Instruments is showing its digital light processing (DLP) "pico" projector at CTIA. This is a tiny movie projector that can fit inside a cell phone.

The goal of this unreleased device is to substantially increase the user experience of watching video on a cellphone.


Inside, we learn that the 1.5 inch-long projector has three lasers, a DLP chip and a power supply. With these components, a handset could beam what TI is claiming to be DVD-quality video from the cellphone onto a screen aor even a wall. As a result, the projector can serve as a video player and a television. A wide screen tv, at that.

To me, this technology substantially increases the desirability of watching mobile tv. Why? Because the tv experience is not on the handset itself. Instead, the handset becomes a conveyance for transferring the video to a more visually ergonomic form factor.

Symbian OS v9.5 Brings More Features for Smartphones

Symbian OS v9.5 Brings More Features for Smartphones
See left for the rest of today's 3G news from 3G.co.uk
27th March , 2007
US : Symbian Ltd. announced the launch of Symbian OS v9.5, the latest evolution of the world’s leading operating system for smartphones. Symbian OS v9.5 brings high performance features designed for richer consumer and enterprise experiences as well as significant savings to phone build costs and time-to-market, delivering a truly scalable mobile operating system for the global market.

Symbian OS v9.5 is the result of continued deep collaboration with Symbian OS licensees, the world’s leading handset vendors, and its user interface platform partners MOAP, S60 and UIQ. With over 110 million Symbian smartphones shipped, high smartphone growth in developing markets and increasing mass market requirements, Symbian’s addressable market is broadening across segments and regions.

“Symbian is driving the market by anticipating consumers’ mobile lifestyle changes – this means enabling even richer experiences and seamless multi-tasking to make the most of tomorrow’s technology”, said Jørgen Behrens, executive vice president, marketing, Symbian. “Further, by lowering phone development cost and shortening time to market, Symbian OS v9.5 delivers on the promise of bringing the smartphone lifestyle to the mass market.”

“By reducing hardware requirements which enables cost reductions of devices, many Symbian smartphones will become even more affordable and Symbian's addressable global market will expand,” said Todd Kort, principal analyst, Gartner. “At the same time, Symbian will also help handset vendors deliver much richer multimedia capabilities driving growth in the higher-end of the mobile market. With more than 70 % market share, the launch of Symbian OS v9.5 and the burgeoning smartphone market, Symbian is well positioned to continue to drive the smartphone into the mass market." Gartner forecasts that worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 159 million units in 2008, up from 73.6 million in 2006.

Symbian OS v9.5, backward compatible with all versions of the v9 family, includes the following key enhancements:

Higher performance for lower hardware cost
Symbian OS v9.5 delivers performance improvements with reductions in requirements on memory, processor and battery, enabling smartphones based on Symbian OS v9.5 to run on feature phone hardware. Key memory optimization features including demand paging and automatic RAM de-fragmentation can reduce average RAM usage in excess of 25 per cent, allowing for more concurrent applications for an even better user experience or enabling licensees to include less memory and reduce phone build cost.

These features and more deliver substantial benefits in the areas of performance and power usage: faster device start-up time, faster start-up time of popular applications such as browser, email and navigation by up to 75%, and improvements on the already highly competitive battery life of Symbian smartphones.

Faster time-to-market
Symbian is continuing to improve time-to-market for handset vendors, system integrators and developers. Symbian OS v9.5 introduces standardized support for digital TV and location-based services (LBS) making it cheaper and easier to bring these popular services to the mass market.

The introduction of a SQL database offers developers a well known interface for storing and retrieving high-cardinality application data. This, together with integrated P.I.P.S. – P.I.P.S. Is POSIX on Symbian OS - helps developers port existing applications from the desktop or server environment to Symbian OS with minimal effort and in less time.

Designed for richer user experiences :
Multimedia

Symbian smartphones based on Symbian OS v9.5 will support rich multimedia experiences with advanced camera features similar to standalone digital cameras. The 35 new camera features include support for tilt sensors, preset image enhancements, panorama stitching, and red-eye reduction.

With improved seamless connectivity to home computers, enabling the easy transfer of music, videos and images using MTP, one smartphone can replace several devices. In addition, with support for multi-standard digital TV (DVB-H, ISDB-T) and standardized LBS, the Symbian smartphone will bring true convergence to consumers worldwide.

Enterprise

New Symbian smartphones will enable users to be more productive and cost effective with Wi-Fi to 3G connection roaming. Professionals will benefit from push-email and VoIP run over Wi-Fi when in the office and automatically switch to 3G when on the move. In addition, real-time networking ensures that VoIP services are not interrupted when other IP-based services, such as web browsing or push email, make a connection.

Symbian OS v9.5 offers contacts hosted in SQL, providing better support for large database search performances, ideal for customer-facing professionals that store thousands of contacts in their phones. Support for the new GEO property will encourage innovative use of meeting location with positioning/LBS. The interoperability of calendars with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes has been upgraded and support for Exchange ActiveSync Protocol (OTA) continues to deliver remote email, contacts and calendar synchronization.

Symbian OS v9 already offers the best-in-class security model of any open mobile operating system, designed to meet the most stringent security requirements from network operators, handset manufacturers and enterprises.

Smartphone lifestyle

The introduction of Brahmic script support in Symbian OS v9.5 extends Symbian OS support of languages to cover 99% of the world’s countries and the support for global standards including HSPDA, HSUPA and DVB-H as well as ISDB-T, makes Symbian OS the only true global mobile operating system powering both mass market and high-end mobile phones.

Symbian is committed to providing the world’s leading handset vendors with the most competitive mobile operating system to meet the demands of the mass market and the rich experiences of tomorrow’s smartphone lifestyle.

Federal Judge bars Vonage’s use of Verizon’s patented technology

http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/ < Snippet from >
March 23rd, 2007
Federal Judge bars Vonage’s use of Verizon’s patented technologyPosted by Russell Shaw @ 10:05 am Categories: General, Verizon VoiceWing, Vonage

+00 votes Worthwhile?
Traveling today but this is so urgent I had to tell you.
A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against Vonage using technology included in any of three VoIP-related patents owned by Verizon.
Judge Claude Hilton said that an injunction was necessary because simply providing monetary damages "does not prevent continued erosion of the client base of the plaintiff," the Associated Press reported.
On March 8, a federal jury found that Vonage violated several of Verizon's patents and ordered the Internet-phone company to pay $58 million in damages as well sizable royalty fees. At that time, Verizon, said it would seek an injunction to block Vonage from using its patented technology.
At first take, hardly a market-confidence builder for Vonage. As more details and reax emerge, I'll be monitoring this, and offering my take later today and over the weekend.

Symbian upgrades its OS, fights off rivals

Symbian upgrades its OS, fights off rivals
This is a snippet from http://gigaom.com/2007/03/24/symbian-os-9-5/#more-8512
CTIA 2007: Symbian, the mobile OS company is expected to announce an upgrade to its OS to version 9.5 at CTIA, that hopefully will decrease its reliance on smartphones, its main patron Nokia, and also ward off competition from fast growing rival mobile operating systems, Windows Mobile and Linux.
The upgrade is even more crucial for the London-based company because large mobile carriers - Vodafone in particular - want to support as few operating systems as possible.
In 2006 Symbian had 76% share of the smartphone market, thanks to its very close relationship with Nokia (which owns 47.9% of the company, rest being shared amongst other handset makers), which had 56% share of the global smartphone market. Nokia’s E-Series and N-Series phones have been particularly popular in non-US markets. But competition from Windows Mobile and Linux is increasing according to ABI Research, a market research company. Symbian’s share of the smart phone market is going to decline to around 46% by 2012.
[ABI] Research director Stuart Carlaw remarks that, “It is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ Linux will have an impact upon this market. “
With the new OS upgrade, Symbian is trying to increase its appeal, betting that it can sneak its way into more mainstream handsets (called feature handsets in industry parlance.) The new OS is going to make more efficient use of memory, battery and other resources, making it more flexible for use in mainstream phones.
The new OS will allow Wi-Fi 3G roaming. Push-email and VoIP run over WiFi when in the office and automatically switch to 3G when on the move. In addition, Symbian has added real-time networking ensures that VoIP is not interrupted when other IP-based services, such as web browsing or push email, make a connection.
The new version will give multimedia features a major boost. The camera features would now include image orientation, image distortion correction auto-focus such as red-eye reduction - 35 improvements you find in a typical standalone digital camera.
The system will have better connectivity with home computers, via wireless and The new OS upgrade supports multi-standard digital TV (DVB-H, ISDB-T) and standardized LBS.

Skype-Trolltech deal should speed up time-to-market for Skype WiFi apps

Skype-Trolltech deal should speed up time-to-market for Skype WiFi apps


If you are Skype, you really, really want your User Interface to connect smoothly to the operating system used in Skype-certified WiFi handsets.



Best way to accomplish this is to choose an application platform that bridges what could be a chasm if not handled well.

I am guessing that's a key reason why Skype announced earlier this week that they have selected Trolltech's Qtopia as the preferred platform for doing exactly what I described.

Trolltech=mobile device software and solutions developer, based in Oslo, Norway.

As several Trolltech execs told a bunch of us have told us during the Von show here in San Jose, the advantages are not only the connectivity, but the time-to-market for Skype devices with User Interfaces containing the programs Skype users want to work with smoothly.

Will Skype save Nokia Internet Tablets?

Will Skype save Nokia Internet Tablets?
This is script from http://gigaom.com/2007/03/21/nokia-n800/#more-8476

Nokia’s Internet tablet efforts – the 770, and more recently, the N800 – have produced a mixed bag of results. While the techies have been enthusiastic about the Linux-based tablets, the consumer electronics crowd (and buyers) hasn’t been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

On Tuesday, some Nokia folks stopped by in our makeshift offices and articulated their vision for the tablet series. The company is betting that as more web services start to support the platform, the devices will gain in popularity. The Finnish phone maker believes that tablets are the next evolution of computing, and as web service matures, these Internet-centric devices will gain more traction.

And one such service is Skype. Nokia is expecting that Skype support will make the device more alluring, especially in the overseas markets.

The Nokia N800 is a nifty looking device that is very capable when it comes to making VoIP phone calls – we use Gizmo client all the time. Google Talk hasn’t exactly become our favorite, but like most we think Skype could actually make us use the device a lot more, especially for quick calls to other Skypers.

“Skype is certainly the most popular,” says Ari Virtanen, Nokia’s vice president of convergence products. Nokia will release in an early beta (without SkypeIn/SkypeOut support) in a few weeks, but the full version of Skype client is expected later this summer, Virtanen says. The Skype support, if nothing else, makes the N800 more attractive to folks who don’t want to lug a laptop along on short day trips.


We see N800 becoming a good way to consume music from subscription services such as Rhapsody and Napster. Nokia folks showed off the Rhapsody service, it was simple, easy to use and music streamed quite nicely over an EVDO-powered Wi-Fi network. Nokia wants to add more such services: Yahoo Music, MSN and Yahoo Messenger amongst others to boost the utility of the device. “It is an Internet services based platform,” says Virtanen.

“The world of computing has gone from mainframes to desktops to now laptops,” says Virtanen, “and the next step is tablets.” That future is going to take a lot longer than either Nokia or anyone else can imagine.

The sales register isn’t exactly jangling with regularity. Nevertheless, Nokia plans to add more retail outlets to its sales channel, especially in the US. Currently the device is sold online, and at Fry’s and CompUSA.

The big boost for N800’s descendants will come when Sprint launches its WiMAX network, sometime in 2008. At higher speeds, most web services are going to become easily accessible, and the N800 type devices will see their utility go up.

New way to begin VOIP/Telephony blogs

Top 5 Trends to Expect at CTIA

CTIA 2007 PREVIEW: While you’re checking out this 5 points user guide to the CTIA convention – the Super Bowl of mobile conferences – I’m likely trying to find a comfortable position on a redeye headed for hot Orlando. Hopefully it’s not too bumpy.
As if taking a cue from Helio’s ads “Don’t call us a phone company,” the rest of the mobile industry will try to rally the market around mobile data — mobile TV, cell phone entertainment, mobile social networking, and mobile ads - at CTIA which opens in a few hours from now.
Too bad, as analysts at Informa Telecoms & Media point out: “the vast majority of revenue growth – both for the operator and vendor communities - is coming out of developing markets where mobile is fulfilling a basic need for voice and text-based communications.” Yeah, but that’s not as much fun to show off in a demo booth. Anyway, on to the top 5 trends:
1) Mobile TV – Qualcomm’s broadcast mobile TV network is finally live in the U.S. and mobile TV vendors and video content companies now have a working platform to tout their efforts. Chip companies will showcase mobile TV chips, while media companies will announce content partnerships.
Verizon Wireless is the first US carrier to sell the service, and Cingular will follow soon. Hopefully AT&T COO Randall Stephenson will give us an update on the status of the rollout. Monday morning we’re picking up one of the handsets used for Verizon Wireless’ VCAST Mobile TV service. Yay.
2) Mobile Ads – Declining future voice revenues are forcing the mobile business to look at mobile ads as a way to give the bottom line a quick boost. Informa predicts mobile advertising will be around $11.3 billion by 2011. Which means, an announcement overload.
AdMob, a San Mateo, Calif.-based company will announce that it has raised $15 million in fresh funding in a round led by Accel Partners. Other startups like Xipto are showing new mobile ad-driven services like their endorsement-driven mobile advertising platform.
3) iPhone and mobile UI:– We’ll see if the iPhone makes an actual appearance (or an update from AT&T’s COO), but its presence will no doubt be felt on the UI front. We should expect more companies to showcase the fluid user interface and prototypes of touch screen phones. It looks like the much awaited iPhone and the LG Prada phone will have some new competiton.
4) Lack of compelling new handsets: Moto CEO decided to cancel his keynote, a sign that Moto’s having an uh-oh moment! But is also is indicative of how quickly winds change in the handset business. Cell phone makers can’t rest on the laurels of big hits like the RAZR for too long and are trying create the new hits of 2007.
We’ll search for innovation, but we’re not too optimistic. For some reason Chinese handset maker TCL thinks Alcatel-branded handsets are a good idea and Sprint’s getting a new music phone from Samsung, the m620 or UpStage.
5) Mobile User Generated Content – There is going to be a lot of buzz around mobile services that help subscribers create and share mobile content. We’ll be checking out StreamVerse’s MOJO service for creating mobile content like group chats and polling games. Mobidia is announcing its mobile application called CUBuddy that lets users create a real-time video call between cell phones. This is actually one part of the mobile ecosystem which could turn casual data users into 3G customers, and help goose up the carrier ARPU.