LG Breaks the Categories, but not the model

January 11, 2010 11:14 AM
"It's not a Femtocell!"
Chris Zeigler at engadget took this picture and as asked what is this thing?

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/01/lg-m13-ces-itw00-sm.jpg

If you live alone and you don't have to keep the family entertained.  Why have the Internet Access at the house and not with you.  That seems to be the reasoning behind the this terminal adapter.  That connects your LTE phone to the house and gives you connectivity. 

Given the fact that 60% of CES, was trying to move video from the Internet to the media server in the house, this would probably require some network smarts.  

In my humble opinion this places LG's LTE closer to the dual mode camp, but since they have femtocell strategies, it maybe this was an internal product that had to be different the LG / Nortel Femtocell.

Can we call it MonoMode?




Tags: , , , , ,

Continue Reading...

Its a MSlate vs iTablet

January 11, 2010 11:05 AM
Microsoft made a lot of statements, but when it came to the term tablet, the lexicon changed.  They want to call it a Slate.


Tags: , , , , ,

Continue Reading...

Google vs. Apple

January 5, 2010 2:58 PM

Google and Apple are vying for your attention today.

If you are a carrier, your bed fellows are not staying the night! Google with the Nexus One announcement that is all about the Android operating system and not a carrier. And strangely enough the Apple iTablet maybe the same thing.

Continue Reading...

The Taffy Pull of Nortel: Ciena & Ericsson

November 25, 2009 6:51 AM
If the sum of the parts is never greater than the whole,  the dividing of Nortel into various sections has interesting implications.

First of all, Ericsson is on a hot streak right now.  It's announcements with ATT , T-Mobile and Verizon.  Its outsourced services with Sprint, has made Ericsson the leader in the market.  And its reflected in the fact that it now has an extra 5000 employees in the US.  

Most importantly,  It bought a cash cow for a mere $70M as the battle for 4G and LTE heats up they will be in their customers hearts already with the GSM support.

So its a pretty strong move.

On the other side, Huawei continues to capture the cable operators hearts and it will be interesting to see where the operators link between their IMS plans and the existing structure. 

However, if integration services are the story for the future, then an opportunity probably exists for other companies to build that kind of a service.

One place where Integration will be tricky at best is Ciena.  Nortel had a long history of walking to the beat of its own drummer on interoffice facilities, as the migration to ethernet continued it had a legacy mindset that carried over and doe not match well to Ciena.

So the question of how the nearly $ 800 M acquistion of the Nortel Ethernet assets get managed will be interesting to see.   My own expectation is this may be a bitter pill to swallow and Nokia Siemens maybe grateful they did not win the bid.







Tags: , , , , , , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: The Taffy Pull of Nortel: Ciena & Ericsson
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...

I am STUNed with the Jonathan Rosenberg / Skype announcement.

November 9, 2009 3:30 PM
The appointment of Jonathan Rosenberg as Chief Strategy Officer adds a new wrinkle to a career that started in "The Labs" and now moves beyond Cisco.  He has followed voice to app side all his career, and now he is at the right place to look at the application of all he knows.

Candidly,  I was feeling like all the can SIP save Skype discussion was a waste of time.  My thoughts were that the courts were going to be the place where this got settled and not in the standards bodies.

However, I was mistaken.  While I believe much of the knowledge about NAT traversal came from the capabilities embedded in Paradial, the world was off chasing the use of SIP as a solution.

Upper management found a strategy at a deeper level.  Namely to make it so that Skype now had the benefit of Jonathan (Prior Art) Rosenberg.

If ever there was someone who had been looking at the issues of NAT traversal Jonathan has been the guy. From the development of MIDCOM, STUN, ICE, TURN and of course SIP,  Jonathan has been there.

Mind you, the addition of another Jonathan at Skype also indicates where the company is heading even after being acquired.  You can think of Jonathan as being at the beginning of SIP coming somewhat full circle.  From adapting the Web model to telecom to now guiding the SIP model into the Enterprise, Jonathan is going to be well positioned.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: I am STUNed with the Jonathan Rosenberg / Skype announcement.
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...

Clearwire Goes Live with WiMAX in Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte

November 5, 2009 9:34 PM
The long wait for WiMAX in the Windy City as well as the DFW Metroplex is over -- as we expected, Clearwire is now selling services in both cities, keeping with the company's strategy of "soft launching" markets online before staging an "official" market opening with all the attendant hoopla.

Since it's Nov. 1, time for a new map -- and the one on the Clear.com website now shows Chicago "in the green" of Clearwire services, while adding Dallas/Fort Worth to the list of cities with service in Texas.




In North Carolina, the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro are also now listed as "live," so it looks like Clearwire should be able to make good on its promise to step up subscriber numbers in Q4, simply by having lots more markets selling services.

The big ones, however, are Chicago and Dallas -- two huge metro areas where Clearwire will see how it fares against existing service providers. In Chicago, Clearwire also has its first true "commuter" city, since thousands there ride the rails every day, to and from work, play, school and in just general getting-aroundness.

Will WiMAX's ability to connect while mobile make a big impression? We are only now just going to find out. We'll have some more thinking on Clearwire market launches later this week. Continue Reading...

Did you buy your car to access the road?

November 2, 2009 8:09 AM
Roger Von Oech, the creator of the Whack Pack, often looks to spur creativity by asking questions that are not direct but would have a parallel.  So I asked the question to understand the nature of the access point to the Internet, which is your phone, home network or some other connection.  You buy a car with the assumption that your ride on roads. 

Are we at the point where you buy a device assuming it has connectivity to the Internet?

What if the device starts at Google?

What if the device only gives you Apple approved sites?

What if Microsoft made it a closed system?

Note these are not the names associated with the access fees you pay, but having everything to do with the regulations being discussed. 

We are at interesting stage of discussion in Washington about the future of the Internet.  We could make a case that it is an irrelevant discussion since the Internet has never been designed to be regulated by a single country.  However for the 200 M plus of us that live in the US, these issues are real.

In the Wall Street Journal today, L. Gordon Crovitz did a nice job talking about the goings on in Washington.  Markey and McCain giving opposite views as well as the Freedoms / Principles expanded by Chairman Genachowski.

One thing that Washington may be missing is the insight by Craig Labowitz shared at the joing meetings of NANOG/ARIN.  It was very insightful about the technological innovations that are reshaping the Internet. 

In the presentation there is cause for concern, in the fact that 50% of the Internet's traffic is aggregating into 150 sites.  It used to be thousands.  So Media control may be happening to Internet as well.  However these 150 sites are not just carriers or media companies, so the rules and roles of regulators are not a match to this next generation.  We could of course redefine Media to include them.

The reality is the Internet is progressing in its own policing with technology.  So where is the bottleneck?  And is it a smoking gun, a slow adopter, or some market power that represents the problem?

My own take is that its slow adoption, so I applaud the administration for its BTOP program, because the last mile is the place where you attach your device.  And back to the car metaphor, you want to hit the open road as soon as possible.  Trying to regulate the open road by your driveway specification seems like a bad strategy.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: Did you buy your car to access the road?
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...

May I have your Attention, Please about Smartphones

October 28, 2009 8:09 AM
The smartphone marketplace is heating up and its not just because Apple has the iTablet on the way. 

The carriers are working hard to find the right device to catch the growing market, but I am not sure that anyone knows how to catch our attention.

Palm has the Pre being marketed with and without Sprint, but last years CES darling is not exactly looking to build a ground swell of community.  Which is a shame since they still have a lot of loyal palm customers.

Likewise HTC is making an effort to support their customers with commercials.

The reality is that social networks maybe the best way to communicate to the most likely customers. 

The Fan Clubs of the devices on Facebook maybe the best place to reach early adopters. 

Its clear the carriers are anxious to avoid another breakout by rivals.





Tags: , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: May I have your Attention, Please about Smartphones
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...

China and the iPhone

October 26, 2009 11:04 AM
It may be that ATT is good as it gets with the iPhone.

I have already commented on the fact that Telefonica is not having the same dramatic impact with the iPhone as ATT (Verizon [ NYSE: VZ] announced a 30% drop in earnings and slower growth than ATT ).

In China the Nokia E71 has a good following (I am still an N95 fan) and the  cost of the iPhone is equivalent to a $1,000 US dollars over there.  The discussion of Nokia's efforts to protect patents Apple may have violated seems late, but I suspect it will work itself out like many of these do before the court has to make a decision.  IMHO, It probably has more value in the EU to show market / thought leadership than financial value.

More importantly as China continues to manage the operations of their end users the ability to use WiFi has been disabled.  Like the issues of Skype via TOM in China, a closed iPhone with only the carriers network is not as interesting as an IPhone with WiFi.  However, it allows the state to know what it wants to know.

Of course in China if you capture less than .001 of the market you are still busy, so the iPhone success is pretty much a guarantee.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Continue Reading...

Report Excerpt: Market Launches Keep Clearwire on Target

October 20, 2009 7:25 PM
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from our latest quarterly report on all things Clearwire, the CLEARWIRE NTK OCTOBER 2009 (need to know) report, available now for the low low price of $4.95. In this excerpt we talk about how Clearwire's on-time, on-target market launches in Atlanta and Las Vegas, as well as a host of smaller cities, have kept the company on target with its ambitious 2009 rollout plans. For the full report, order online here. Report excerpt follows:

Vegas, Atlanta and Silicon Valley - but where is Chicago?

Easily the most positive sign for Clearwire during the hot months was its on-schedule rollout of services in Atlanta and Las Vegas, the two bigger markets Clearwire had said it would launch during the summer -- and did. Continue Reading...

Your Huddle Masses Yearning to be Free

October 19, 2009 8:12 AM
Fundamentally the world of packets changed the model of communications forever from one of accessing a stream to establishing a session.  Streams are continual and choose to use them to transport, while sessions are virtual and you create them and send them off from your easiest access point to the ocean of packets passing by. 

Why the crude metaphor?   We are again at that point where the Internet is being challenged at its very core.

Fundamentally the pricing model of streams is being applied to sessions. 

The reason this is important is because the application war is heating up and questions about how numbers are being connected, applications are being allowed on networks and carriers are behaving are driving congressional letters.

If you do not want the sessions to be priced based on usage send me a note.



Tags: , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: Your Huddle Masses Yearning to be Free
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...

Report Excerpt: Why Dearth of Devices Hurts Clearwire

October 13, 2009 8:11 PM
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from our latest quarterly report on all things Clearwire, the CLEARWIRE NTK OCTOBER 2009 (need to know) report, available now for the low low price of $4.95.

In this excerpt we talk about why we think the lack of interesting WiMAX end-user devices (or the overpriced ones that did launch) have kept users from flocking to Clearwire's 4G wireless broadband offering. For the full report, order online here. Report excerpt follows:

 Prices and Devices: Waiting for a reason 'Why' to try WiMAX
Without a doubt, the coolest thing about WiMAX is its ability to provide a true broadband connection with cellular mobility. One of Clearwire's biggest problems, however, is a lack of a compelling reason to take advantage of that mobile connection -- and the dearth of devices that would allow you to even try.

The growing popularity and use of smartphones points to another WiMAX weakness -- the lack of truly portable devices that can take advantage of the technology's superior connectivity. Continue Reading...

Dear Congress; A Phone Number does not a Service Make

October 12, 2009 11:48 AM

In the last thirty years, the computing world has changed so much, that it is hard to remember the logic of roles and rules that existed and still drive the basis of law and leadership when it comes to telecommunication.  Telecom has always been a service that has made a distinction between service and use.  Telecom services were deliberately limited to enable the maximum amount of people to use the services for whatever activities they choose. 

Enabling the network to be ubiquitous was accomplished by aggregating the costs of service between local services and long distance services.  The cost of providing the connection (the local loop) was harmonized as much as possible with statewide loop costs and subsidization from the long distance market.  However with the ubiquity achieved the opportunity to support specialized services enabled for the early focus of the Internet to be about the signaling on top of the phone network and not inside it.

A primary reason why the issues of the phone network were of no concern was that IP was distance insensitive, and connecting at the closest point on the phone network through dial up or private line was pretty efficient. 

Now the technology and cost models of access are intertwined and efficiency in the network is not represented in any particular type of fee structure.  Nor is there a clear distinction between accessing a service via the phone network, or an "Internet" service that replaces the phone network.

Continue Reading...

As the Promoter for the Fight: I would like to get credit

October 7, 2009 3:11 PM
Yesterday, we taxed the system of a friends conference server with a call about Net Neutrality.  It was covered by many other media outlets, which did not give us credit for the call.  It included Hank Hultquist of ATT, Todd Daubert of Kelley Drye and Dave Erickson of Free Conference call.  Rick Whitt was to be on the call, but had to pull attend to other matters.  It was a great call.  And as usual I was my orthogonal self.  I may not be a lawyer, but I make any Congressman proud in confusing the issues.

If you want to listen to the call for yourself listen hear.

Of course, All parties have agreed to come back for round 2 in Miami January 20th at 4GWE

Although Dave Erickson will part of another session about the issues of Applications Compensation.




Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: As the Promoter for the Fight: I would like to get credit
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...

What Is and Isn't under the FCC Jurisdiction

October 5, 2009 7:35 AM
Can the Enhanced Service Provider exemption stay in place?

On the Google Policy Blog Rick Whitt responds to the FCC letter from ATT regarding Google Voice.  It is very pertinent to the discussion we are having on the Calliflower call tomorrow about Net Neutrality.

We could say the carriers are suffering from a little enhanced services envy, given the fact that Verizon wanted to be compared to Google at the last wall street conference they attended.  In this case ATT wants to point out that GoogleVoice admits that because of tariff anomalies, it is not servicing the rural markets, but does not consider this their battle.

So Let's see if we come to a common ground tomorrow, about what exactly the FCC is trying to accomplish.



Tags: , , , , , ,

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | 4g-wirelessevolution Home | Permalink: What Is and Isn't under the FCC Jurisdiction
Copyright 4g-wirelessevolution

Continue Reading...
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next

Blogroll

Recent Entry Images