Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Mobile Tech » Patent Wars: DoJ May Take Preemptive Action as Giants Build Stockpiles

Posted by echa 12:23 PM, under | No comments

Patent Wars: DoJ May Take Preemptive Action as Giants Build Stockpiles | Patent Wars The six companies that scooped up Nortel's patent portfolio may have some explaining to do if the DoJ goes forward with its plan to question them about how they want to use their winnings. In the meantime, Google, which lost out in the Nortel patent sale, may have figured out a strategy to defend itself from any potential litigation against Android. It just purchased 1,000 patents from IBM.

A consortium of six major tech players calling themselves "Rockstar Bidco" won a US$4.5 billion bid for 6,000 Nortel (NYSE: NT) patents in June. The deal closed last week, but all is not said and done, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The Department of Justice reportedly intends to ask the consortium members -- Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY), Sony (NYSE: SNE) and EMC (NYSE: EMC) -- just what they plan to do with their new patent stash.

Generally speaking, the Nortel patents mainly support 4G and WiFi technologies -- areas that are vitally important to Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), creator of the Android operating system, and virtually every other wireless vendor.

The agency did not respond to the E-Commerce Times' request to comment for this story.

It could be that it fears the portfolio will be used to support patent litigation -- now the weapon of choice among wireless and mobile device providers -- aimed at Google, which lost out to Rockstar Bidco with its $3 billion-plus offer.

Perhaps Google also has this concern in mind. The company just acquired more than 1,000 patents from IBM (NYSE: IBM). Earlier this year, Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel for Google, flat out said the company was gunning for the Nortel portfolio for defensive reasons.

The patents Google acquired from IBM are largely concerned with fabrication and architecture of memory and microprocessing chips, servers and routers, relational databases, object oriented programming, and a wide array of business processes, according to SEO by the Sea, which first reported the sale.

Google did not respond to the E-Commerce Times' request for comment.

Where Is Google Vulnerable?

Assessing Google's position or vulnerability regarding Android -- along with its purchase of the IBM portfolio -- is complicated, John Skinner, partner with Michelman & Robinson told the E-Commerce Times.

"The use and development of the Android software and operating system is somewhat convoluted in that it comprises both open source licenses and proprietary intellectual property," he noted.

Any lawsuits aimed at Android software butt heads with the scope and content of such open source licensing, and the presumptively valid current intellectual property that Google has in Android, said Skinner.

Despite the mix of public open source and proprietary technologies, Google does have some vulnerabilities that it clearly hopes the IBM portfolio will patch, he surmised.

"The patents purchased from IBM are perhaps being viewed as applicable to specific portions of the technology that are either not covered by the open source software or the proprietary technologies already owned by Google," Skinner speculated.

How Deep the Ocean

In truth, though, it is difficult to ascertain what is in these portfolios. "I doubt even now the consortium has a complete understanding of what it bought," Casey Griffith, senior partner with Klemchuk Kubasta, told the E-Commerce Times.

Google most likely acquired the portfolio with its own defensive positioning in mind, in his view -- and possibly the hope that it might unearth a patent that could be used offensively.

If the Justice Department is indeed planning to dig deep, "there will be depositions and formal discovery as to what the scope of the portfolio's patent is and what the consortium's intentions will be," Kelly Kubasta, also a senior partner with Klemchuk Kubasta, told the E-Commerce Times, adding that it's possible it might place limitations on what the consortium can do.

"If this group of patents were to be licensed on a nonexclusive basis on fair terms it probably wouldn't be an issue at all," Kubasta said, "but since Google is not part of the consortium and if they are excluded while everyone else is allowed to cross-license -- that is where the problem might be."

Reviews » Capture for iPhone Puts Johnny a Little Closer to the Spot

Posted by echa 12:18 PM, under | No comments

Capture is a video camera app that doesn't add special creative filters or enable artistic adjustments. Instead, it offers a shortcut to video capture. The iPhone's main Camera app often takes a few seconds to get going, and when video-worthy action is taking place right in front of your eyes, those seconds count. Capture cuts straight to recording video from the instant the app is started.

Capture, an app from Sky Balloon, is available for 99 US cents at the App Store.
Capture for iPhone
The settings window for Capture for iPhone



Depending on how often you find yourself in bizarre, hilarious or thrilling situations, many events in life deserve to be caught on video. But the unexpected moments tend to pass right by, undocumented, simply because it's usually pretty cumbersome to whip out a video cam and get it going in time. Unless you've already got a camera in your hand with your thumb on the Rec button, that ridiculous person / automotive near miss / crook (or cop) behaving badly will never be digitally immortalized.

Consider the steps you have to go through to start recording video on an iPhone:

  1. Bring up the lock screen.
  2. Slide to unlock.
  3. Passcode, if applicable.
  4. Find the Camera app.
  5. Wait for the camera app to pull itself out of a coma.
  6. Switch to video.
  7. Wait for the app to slap the video recorder awake.
  8. Hit record.

If whatever spontaneous thing you wanted to record is still going on, there's a very good possibility that the best part is now over. So what are you going to do? Just remember it with your own squishy little brain? Pah! Nobody will believe it. Vids or it didn't happen.

Short of implanting CCTVs in our eye sockets, there are ways to be a little more on the ball when it comes to fast-draw videography. One is an app called "Capture."

Roll Tape

A few months ago I looked at an app called "Precorder." Essentially it's an app that constantly keeps a buffer of whatever went on in the previous few seconds. Cue up the app, point it at something that might be worth looking at soon, and when something happens, hit Record. The recording that's created actually begins several seconds before you hit the button.

It's basically just a way to avoid filling your phone with useless footage. Because it just uses buffering rather than certifiable magic, Precorder can't actually record events that happen when the phone's in your pocket (I mean, it can, I guess, but it'll just record them from the point of view of the inside of your pocket).

Capture doesn't do magic tricks either, but it does get to the business of recording much faster than Precorder or the iPhone's own Camera app. The idea is dead simple: When you launch Capture, it starts rolling video. There's no fooling with buttons, no having to tell it whether you want this kind of image or that, no waiting for a virtual iris to open up. It just starts recording. A one-second lag is the longest I've had to deal with so far.

And when you close the app with the Home button, it stops. The video is sent to your Camera Roll immediately, and it comes through in 720p, 29 frames per second.

Austere Interface

Obviously, this doesn't eliminate all of the steps outlined above, but it will take care of steps 5, 6 and 7. If you opt not to lock your phone with a passcode, 3 is eliminated. And if you absolutely, positively must have a hair trigger on your video cam, you can give Capture a place of honor on your iPhone's bottom dock, eliminating step 4. There, now an eight-step process has been whittled down to three, and maybe you were able to catch the action while all those watermelons were actually exploding, rather than the grisly aftermath. Worth a buck to you?

Capture may be simple, but it does allow for a few settings and adjustments. In the app itself you have the option of turning the LED flash on and off (iPhone 4 only). And you can manually stop and resume recording without exiting the app.

That about takes care of it for the main interface. In the iPhone's top-level Settings menu, other options are present. You can turn off the Record on Launch option (though that would kind of defeat the purpose), toggle the default orientation (autodetect or any of the four main orientations), and pick which camera to use (front or rear-facing). You can also toggle autofocus and grid lines, and opt to save to Camera Roll or to the app's own memory (in which case you'll offload videos through iTunes).

Bottom Line

Capture doesn't add special features to the iPhone's video camera or offer creative filters or image enhancements. It just makes quick-draw videography that much easier.

You never really know when something amazing's going to happen right in front of you that you'll want to have on video. But if you put yourself in a situation in which the odds are raised significantly (concerts, big events, the championship "parades" that happen each and every time the Lakers win the big one), then consider loading your phone up with Capture and giving it a seat on the main dock -- at least temporarily.

Mobile Tech » RIM Blazes Into Smartphone Market With New Torches, New Bolds

Posted by echa 12:07 PM, under | No comments

RIM Blazes Into Smartphone Market With New Torches, New Bolds | RIM Blazes With five new smartphones debuting at once, it may seem as though RIM is throwing everything at the wall to see what will stick -- but one thing it's already stuck on is a couple of old names: "Torch" and "Bold." That seems a risky strategy for a company that's been lagging seriously behind the leaders in the smartphone market. Still, the phones have new functionality and a new OS, and early reactions seem positive.

Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) announced five new smartphones based on its new BlackBerry 7 operating system on Wednesday. AT&T (NYSE: T), Sprint (NYSE: S) and U.S. Cellular will all get new devices that maintain some of the feel of earlier products while offering functionality competitive with the leading smartphones on the market.

BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860 | BlackBerry
BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860
AT&T will get the BlackBerry Torch 9810, which looks similar to the existing AT&T Torch. The Torch 9850 and 9860 will be available for AT&T, Sprint and U.S. Cellular. These represent RIM's newest stab at touchscreen technology, and the company claims they respond five times faster than earlier models. The screens, which use Liquid Graphics technology, are also larger.

In addition, RIM introduced BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, its thinnest phones. They feature a traditional Blackberry keyboard and near field communication.

All five phones run the BlackBerry 7 OS, which is not compatible with earlier models. The platform comes with preloaded apps and integrated functionality for increased productivity and collaboration. RIM says browsing on the new line will be 40 percent faster than on its BlackBerry 6 models.

T This new generation of BlackBerry handsets will be available from carriers around the world starting in late August. Exact dates will be announced in joint releases with the carriers.

RIM did not respond to TechNewsWorld's request for comments by press time.

Stacking Up to the Competition

In the past, RIM has avoided direct competition with the leading smartphones, a strategy that coincided with a steep loss of market share in North America.

"I think for a long time, RIM has been a bit complacent and has not fully acknowledged that it completes directly with the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Android phones,"Allen Nogee, principal analyst for wireless technology at In-Stat, told TechNewsWorld.

"But recently I think that has changed, and RIM is now making devices which are much more competitive with other devices out there," he noted. "For example, the processor speeds were always much lower on RIM devices than on competitors' phones. That has changed, and they are now getting on parity with others."

While RIM was in a huddle to make these changes, many enterprise users were asking their employers for the slicker iPhones and Droids.

"Even a large number of enterprise customers are starting to move over to other devices," said Nogee. "BlackBerry messenger and faster processors, it is hoped, will better compete with other devices."

New Phones With Old Names

BlackBerry Torch 9810 | BlackBerry
BlackBerry Torch 9810
The new devices come with familiar, if not tired, names. While the new line of smartphones are a significant leap ahead in functionality, RIM has retained the existing brand names, "Torch" and "Bold."

"I think by keeping many of the names the same as the past, RIM is attempting to take advantage of its heritage and build upon that," said Nogee. "Like 'Droid' or 'iPhone,' companies have learned that customers want refined devices and not just new devices."

Using existing brand names for the new smartphones is also a new strategy.

"This their first new device under an old name," said Michael Morgan, senior analyst for mobile devices at ABI Research.

"I'm confused about why they did that," he told TechNewsWorld. "Every one of these has an upgrade. They have quite a bit of processing power. RIM tried to enhance all of the graphics. They really want to make it snappy -- to give you that smooth, fast scrolling experience."

RIM is keeping some of the look and feel of the Torch and Bold even as it adds new features.

"Bold looks and feels like you've always known it, but it will now have enhanced functionality. Torch is still going, but this one is more of a quintessential smartphone," said Morgan.

The new BlackBerry 7 OS will force the purchase of new devices, he pointed out. "All of these are going to work on 7 OS, not 6 OS."

Enterprise or Consumer?

With the new functionality, RIM's offerings could be competitive with leading consumer-oriented smartphones, but the company has a mixed record when it comes to attracting consumers to its traditional enterprise market. So who is it targeting?

BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 | BlackBerry
BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930
The enterprise, according to Morgan.

"What they tried to do is retain the base they already have," he explained. "They're keeping this familiar while trying to enhance the experience that is already BlackBerry."

However, the young user is the target demographic, in Nogee's view.

"It's definitely the younger, more active device users that they have lost in large numbers in recent years," he said. "BlackBerries started as a purely enterprise device, but RIM was successful in bringing the BlackBerry to the masses. Then Apple and Android came on strong and took away many of those newly acquired customers -- and then some."

Ramping Up the Apps

RIM needs to quickly grow a flurry of new apps or upgrade its BlackBerry 6 OS apps, suggested Morgan.

Since older devices cannot be upgraded to the new operating system, "they going to be moving people to new devices for 7 OS," he said.

New apps could add a new layer of sheen to the Torch and Bold lines. Even with a new sheen, though, RIM will be facing new competing devices as the holiday season draws near.

"RIM's line is old. When it was released, it was a bit below maximum horsepower," said Morgan. "Now they're taking their existing feel and giving it today's maximum horsepower. But a lot of the big players will be releasing new phones around the same time, in time for Christmas."

Mobile Tech » Apple Reaches Global Smartphone Summit

Posted by echa 11:47 AM, under | No comments

Apple Reaches Global Smartphone Summit | Apple Reaches Apple has climbed onto the top perch in the global smartphone market and is sitting pretty, although its competitors will likely do their best to knock it down a peg. Samsung has a strong wind behind its back, and good give Apple a serious run. Meanwhile, Nokia and RIM have faltered badly, but both companies are scrambling to regroup and may be able to offer serious competition in the not-too-distant future.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is now the world's largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, according to new IDC statistics. Its iPhone accounted for 19.1 percent -- or 20.3 million -- of the 106.5 million devices shipped around the world during the second quarter.

Following Apple is Samsung, with 16.2 percent of global shipments, and then Nokia (NYSE: NOK), with 15.7 percent. Nokia held the top spot a mere year ago.

RIM and HTC brought up the rear.

Samsung Nipping at Apple's Heels

Apple's dominance is by no means secure, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas told MacNewsWorld. While the iPhone is clearly very popular, Samsung could easily minimize the gap between the companies with a few well-placed strategic moves.

Samsung "has a broad and deep portfolio with a strong brand," he noted, "and from a quality point of view, no one complains about its devices."

Also -- and this will perhaps be key to Samsung's success in any head-to-head competition with Apple -- it is going into the mass market, said Llamas.

Indeed, Samsung's momentum is strong now, perhaps even stronger than Apple's, based on IDC's figures.

Apple's rate of growth in terms of global market share was 141.7 percent, compared with the same period last year. Samsung's was 380.6 percent.

Whither the Competition?

Though lagging, Nokia is a company in transition. Until it solidifies its management and product strategy, it is difficult to say what the company needs to do to regain its momentum, Llamas pointed out.

The key to RIM's resurgence will be in the overseas markets, he continued. "RIM's value proposition is its messaging platform, a technology that is very popular overseas."

What RIM needs to do is develop more stickiness around its platform and add some sex appeal to its devices, which are typically called sleek or cool -- but never sexy, observed Llamas.

"There's a difference," he remarked.

Apple's Advantages

From another perspective, what Apple's competitors do isn't as significant as Apple's clear advantages in the market right now, Azita Arvani of the Arvani Group told MacNewsWorld.

"There are three main reasons why Apple did so well in the quarter," she said. "It had an impressive expansion of carriers and geographies -- 42 new carriers and 15 new countries."

Its China operations are doing well, having posted US$3.8 billion in revenue, and Apple store revenues in general were up 10 percent year over year, she noted. The company also plans to add an additional 30 new stores.

A General Road Map

If any manufacturer is going to overtake Apple, it will need to focus on the areas where Apple is weak, said Llamas. That would be the mass market, which Apple has traditionally shunned.

"Feature phones are dropping in popularity, yes, but not everyone wants a high-end smartphone device right off the bat," noted Llamas.

There is strong demand for midpriced smart devices, he said.

At the same time, a manufacturer will have to compete against Apple's strengths.

"It will have to have something for the high end of the market," said Llamas, "and a broad and deep portfolio would help tremendously."

Mobile Tech » TouchPad's Weekend Blowout Sale: Make It Permanent?

Posted by echa 11:44 AM, under | No comments

TouchPad's Weekend Blowout Sale: Make It Permanent? | TouchPad HP attempted to woo tablet buyers with a heavy discount on its TouchPad webOS device last weekend, nearly halving the price on the product, which first hit the market just a few weeks ago. While it may have caught some consumers' attention, will a temporary price cut really be enough to help the TouchPad gain traction against the similarly priced Apple iPad?

Shoppers for HP's (NYSE: HPQ) TouchPad tablet were treated to a special bargain over the weekend -- after coupons and promotions, the 16 GB tablet was available for US$299, a $200 drop from its original price.

The price cut came relatively early in the device's life on the market.The TouchPad debuted in June to a largely chilly response. Many first users liked the virtual keyboard, multitasking capabilities and webOS operating system, but they felt the design was cumbersome. The most common complaint was the lack of apps.

Like every tablet, the TouchPad faces the burden of being constantly compared to the iPad, especially because the two products start at identical price points. HP's bargain on the TouchPad was only available for the weekend, but it could be an indication that prices will need to be kept lower in order to stay competitive.

HP did not respond to the E-Commerce Times' request for comment by press time.

Marketing Strategy

It's not uncommon for prices to fluctuate greatly among PCs, or for companies to offer short-term deals in order to get consumers talking about a product.

"In PCs, pricing is typically discounted fairly often. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is an exception in the way they have a stranglehold on keeping the price constant," Richard Kugele, analyst at Needham & Company, told the E-Commerce Times.

With the TouchPad, though, the product may suffer without a consistent lower price. Many customers likely would choose the iPad over the TouchPad if the two were the same cost.

"Consumers buy iPads not only because they are extremely powerful, elegant gadgets with tens of thousands of apps, but also because they are Apple devices, with all the cachet thereby implied. Coming in with higher specs but at the same price and no apps is a recipe for no share, in our view. The stakes here are high," Kugele wrote in a note.

Keeping the price more affordable is alluring not only to customers, but also to the developers HP is hoping to draw to the platform to improve its webOS app selection.

"With the network effect of more users attracting more developers attracting more users, we believe it's appropriate, or even necessary, for HP to use price to drive adoption," Jayson Noland, director and senior analyst at Robert W. Baird, told the E-Commerce Times.

Stakes High for WebOS

HP also needs the TouchPad to stay competitive in the tablet market to continue to develop a consumer base for its newly acquired webOS platform.

The promotion was all about building new relations though webOS, according to a tweet from Stephen Dewitt, head of the business unit for webOS at HP.

The company needs to get tablets in customers' hands in order to introduce the platform and to help it attract popularity and developers. Users have been receptive to the platform so far, so the lower price is key to developing the base further.

"We like webOS and believe the market would welcome a portfolio of solid, low-cost tablets as an alternative to the iPad," said Noland.

Mobile Tech » Clearwire Coils for the Leap to LTE

Posted by echa 11:35 AM, under | No comments

Clearwire Coils for the Leap to LTE | Clearwire Coils Clearwire is forging ahead with its LTE network plans -- and not a moment too soon, given Sprint's recent deal with LightSquared. "By adding a TD-LTE network to its portfolio, Clearwire can leverage its strong spectrum assets and expand its wholesale offerings portfolio and hence the total addressable market, opening doors to newer prospective customers," said Strategy Analytics' Neil Shah.

Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR) said Wednesday that it intends to add "LTE Advanced-Ready" technology to its 4G network. The announcement follows the successful completion of 4G tests that clocked download speeds above 120 Mbps. The deployment is subject to additional funding, the company said.

Clearwire also reported its second quarter financial results and posted net wholesale subscriber additions of 1.5 million, representing 31 percent sequential growth.

Clearwire achieved a record pro forma revenue of US$293.7 million, up 151 percent from last year. The 4G provider also saw an $85.7 million sequential improvement in pro forma adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The company's stock plummeted 28 percent after the announcements. Sprint (NYSE: S) owns nearly half of Clearwire and has been using its WiMax technology to power mobile broadband to its customers. However, it recently announced a long-term partnership with another provider, LightSquared.

Sprint's multi-modal "network vision" base station plan could possibly allow support from LightSquared, as well as Clearwire and others. However, Clearwire's future is far from certain.

Clearwire's initial implementation of the LTE technology will be targeted at densely populated urban areas where 4G demand is already high. The LTE 4G network is set to become the company's wholesale offering to other carriers, and there is no word yet on Sprint's interest in the upgrade.

Long Time Coming

Upgrading to LTE could be an important step for Clearwire, opening doors into the global mobile ecosystem.

"To me, this is no surprise. Clearwire has been talking about going LTE for a while, and they have the spectrum to do it," said Philip Solis, research director for mobile networks at ABI Research.

"They are going to LTE. They could also tweak the software to LTE Advanced. They want to be a part of the global ecosystem that will require LTE," he told TechNewsWorld.

An upgrade to LTE would also give Clearwire a chance to move beyond Sprint and into the open market.

"They joined WiMax at first because that was what everyone wanted," said Solis. "But now there are more devices involved in LTE. With that technology, Clearwire will be compatible with other wholesalers they can sell to. Right now, they're basically selling only to Sprint."

The adoption of LTE technology is key for Clearwire.

"They have the spectrum, which is good," said Solis. "The only thing they don't have is capital, and that will be an issue as they move forward to LTE."

With more providers shifting toward LTE, Clearwire has to take action so it won't be left behind.

"WiMax will always be around," said Solis. "It won't disappear in the world or even in the United States. But it is going to shift away from a large number of mobile devices to fixed-use networks for enterprise and private networks. So it will be around, but it won't be heavily used."

WiMAX network technology will likely end up serving a boutique market of specialized customers.

It "will remain a niche and in the shadows of TD-LTE," predicted Neil Shah, analyst for wireless devices strategies at Strategy Analytics.

"WiMAX enjoys a tighter synergy with TD-LTE technology and will thus co-exist with TD-LTE and be strategically deployed in suburban and rural areas," he told TechNewsWorld.

Moving Beyond Sprint

The move to LTE will give Clearwire more oomph in the market, especially in the cities where mobile device usage is strong.

"By adding a TD-LTE network to its portfolio, Clearwire can leverage its strong spectrum assets and expand its wholesale offerings portfolio and hence the total addressable market, opening doors to newer prospective customers," said Shah.

"Clearwire's strategy is thus to build a parallel, denser TD-LTE network in targeted urban areas and sell this capacity to the customers who are facing capacity crunch in these high-data-consumption densely populated areas," he explained.

Clearwire covers a population density of almost 132 million, roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population. The company grew almost 365 percent in the last year, recording 7.6 million WiMAX subscriptions compared to last year's 1.6 million.

"The firm is sitting on a gold mine of spectrum and market opportunities, and it is registering healthy subscriber growth," said Shah. That may not last forever, though. "With competition cropping up in the LTE and WiMAX space, Clearwire has to first, improve its average revenue per user, and second, its profitability, to cover its future capital and operating expenditures," said Shah. "Otherwise, the future looks less bright."

Internet » Of Horseshoes, Hand Grenades and Broadband Advertising

Posted by echa 11:28 AM, under | No comments

Of Horseshoes, Hand Grenades and Broadband Advertising | Of Horseshoes A new FCC report indicates that the average speeds ISPs give their customers are about 80 to 90 percent of what they advertise. That's an improvement over a couple of years ago, but is it good enough? "Given what I know about the broadband infrastructure in general, that's acceptable," said IDC's Matt Davis. "There are a lot of variables involved, and I'm surprised that the test results came back that close."

Broadband service providers in the United States are celebrating the results of the Federal Communications Commission's findings on the contentious question of broadband speeds in the country.

The FCC has found that actual sustained download speeds are much closer to the speeds advertised by ISPs than was the case in early 2009.

Sustained speeds refer to speeds averaged over a period of several seconds, and the FCC used this measure because broadband Internet access service is "bursty" in nature, meaning there are some periods where it's faster than others, due to network congestion.

Various factors impact download speeds, and performance varies significantly by technology and provider, the FCC said. Overall, fiber-based services were faster, cable services came next, and DSL-based services were the slowest of the three.

On average, during peak periods, fiber-to-the home services such as Verizon's FiOS, delivered 114 percent of advertised download speeds -- meaning the average delivered speed was actually faster than advertised. The average for cable-based services was 93 percent of advertised rates, and DSL-based services averaged 82 percent.

Is 82 percent good enough, or are consumers still being short-changed by their broadband service providers?

FCC spokesperson Mark Wigfield pointed TechNewsWorld to sections of the commission's report that state the FCC has issued a notice of inquiry on the topic of general consumer information and disclosure requirements.

This seeks comment on the types of information consumers need to make informed choices.

Figures and Findings

The FCC study looked at services from 13 of the largest broadband services in the U.S. Together, these companies account for roughly 86 percent of all U.S. wireline broadband connections.

The services were monitored at the homes of thousands of volunteer broadband subscribers through the month of March.

They were measured by SamKnows, which won the FCC contract for the task.

The findings in the FCC report were for performance during peak consumer usage hours of 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time during weekdays, because this is when performance degrades the most, the report states.

The average actual sustained download speed during peak periods was calculated as a percentage of the ISP's advertised download speed, and the calculation was performed for different speed tiers offered by each service provider.

Are Consumers Getting Shortchanged?

With actual sustained download speeds often 10 to 20 percent lower than what ISPs advertise, are consumers being cheated? Could the industry do better?

Industry members contend that the FCC's findings show they're doing a good job.

One of them is the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, or NCTA. Organization spokesperson Brian Dietz pointed TechNewsWorld to a blog post by NCTA Executive Vice President James Assey that calls the results in the FCC's report positive.

AT&T (NYSE: T) spokesperson Mark Siegel pointed TechNewsWorld to a blog post on the company's site by Senior Vice President Robert Quinn in which he states that the results of the FCC study show American consumers are getting the broadband speeds they are paying for.

While 80 to 90 percent is certainly a different figure than 100 percent, it's close enough for Matt Davis, a director of research at IDC.

"Given what I know about the broadband infrastructure in general, that's acceptable," Davis told TechNewsWorld. "There are a lot of variables involved, and I'm surprised that the test results came back that close."

Granted, the results aren't as good as those of Finland, but they're not that bad, Davis pointed out. "They're better than what you get in Canada, for instance," he added.

Finland, a highly wired nation, is often held up as the poster child for a digital society.

More Testing Needed?

Perhaps the FCC should continue testing broadband speeds.

The test involved a small fraction of the ISPs in the United States and only covered wireline providers, the NCTA's Assey pointed out in his blog post.

Further, only a few customers of each ISP were selected for testing, and the report covers only one month of performance data, Assey added.

Further analysis of the data is needed, he contended.

Broadband Access and Competitiveness

Relations between the United States federal government and broadband service providers have been strained for some time.

The bad blood between the two groups intensified when the Obama administration came up with its National Broadband Plan and stated the U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world and is losing productivity because it doesn't have adequate broadband access.

The FCC subsequently asserted in its Sixth Broadband Deployment Report, issued in July 2010, that broadband services offered were well below advertised speeds, sparking outrage among the industry.

It also changed the definition of what "broadband" actually means, raising the minimum speed for a connection to be considered "broadband" from 200Kbps (kilobits per second) to 4 Mbps (megabits per second), stating the previous standard was set in 1999 and the increase was overdue. This further irritated the industry.

The situation remained strained -- at the Cable Show 2011 in June, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski reportedly said the level of broadband adoption in the U.S. was far from good enough.

Washington's claim that lack of broadband access is hindering America's competitiveness might be overstated, IDC's Davis suggested.

"I don't think it's true that we're falling behind the rest of the world and we're going to lose productivity," Davis said.

The FCC is conducting a power grab, Davis opined.

"Essentially, the FCC wishes to have greater control over broadband deployment and the rules governing its use," Davis said. "They've approached this from a few angles, but the most recent has been to compare U.S. broadband capability to that of other countries, deem it second-rate, and argue for the teeth to impose stricter rules."

Tech News » Whine, Whine, Whine ... Oh, RATs!

Posted by echa 11:11 AM, under | No comments

Whine, Whine, Whine ... Oh, RATs! | Cyber World War McAfee's "Diary of a RAT" report is one of the most frightening things I've ever seen. Many of us have warned we were going to be in a Cyber World War. It appears that war started months ago, and we weren't even aware of it. You see, this isn't a U.S.-only attack -- every major geography has been affected, and the total amount of data taken is in the petabyte range.

Last week was kind of an amazing week. Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) chief counsel earned himself a new title: chief whining officer. He tried to blame Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) (missed EMC) as companies that were colluding to force Google to stop stealing other people's stuff. Google's whiny argument made me wonder if anyone over there actually reads what they write.

Also, McAfee released its RAT report, which basically says there are two types of organizations in both the private and public sector: those that know they've been hacked and those that haven't found out yet.

Yes, everyone evidently has been penetrated for months, according to the results from a command-and-control server McAfee accessed. Homeland Insecurity clearly had an "oh crap" moment and was hardly alone.

I'll get into both of those developments and conclude with my new favorite Laptop: the Lenovo ThinkPad X1.


Chief Whining Officer

It is hard to read the blog post from Google's new chief whining officer (otherwise known as its chief counsel) without smoke coming out of your ears. But here it is, just to show I'm not making things up. Basically, it says that there is something huge happening because Apple and Microsoft are collaborating.

Apparently he wasn't aware that the two companies have collaborated on and off since their founding. Microsoft developed the initial productivity layer for Apple, invested US$100M in its turnaround, and continues to make Office for the Mac. Apple defended Microsoft in the EU antitrust case. Yes, when something is in their common interest, they collaborate.

However, you may recall that Eric Schmidt was on Apple's board, and Steve Jobs actually mentored the Google founders while they were basically -- and secretly -- creating an iPhone clone using information Steve Jobs shared with them in confidence.

Stealing from Steve Jobs while he is helping you is pretty... Well, I'll leave the choice of word up to you, but that is likely why Apple and Google won't be partnering anytime soon.

The CWO eloquently whined that Microsoft and Apple formed two consortiums of companies in order to buy patents to put Android out of business, and that Microsoft has been making $15 on many Android device sales but wants to make $15 from all of them. Apparently, he felt he needed to leave out the part about Microsoft being able to do this because Android infringes on its patents as well as Apple's.

The pools of patents Microsoft is relying on are "dubious," according to the CWO, but he left out the part about Google itself bidding more than $3B (I kid you not -- it actually bid unique prime numbers, including Pi, or $3.14B for one of the pools). That suggests either that they weren't "dubious" to Google, or that Google has no money sense, or that it was just momentarily insane.

In this plot to go after Google, Google itself was asked to participate in one of the consortiums -- and this is the crazy part, it said no, because it would somehow put open source at risk if anyone owned them. Except this is the pool that Google bid more than $3B on itself, suggesting the truth is it wanted to own them exclusively. Poor Google, my ass.

Finally, Google's primary point is that this was all done to stop Android, and that these companies that spent billions have this as their goal -- ignoring the far more likely cause, which is that they wanted to get the company who's benefiting from the patents to stop stealing their stuff and giving it to others for free.

Having been there, nothing pisses you off more than having to compete with the stuff you paid for or developed.

So, to net this out: A number of companies allege Google stole their stuff; Google didn't want to participate in buying more stuff it was also using without permission; Google is now whining because the companies that did buy that stuff may want to sue Google for the additional things they paid for that they think Google is stealing.

Google wants to make this about poor Google and the evil companies that want to stop them, when it is really about a firm that stole a bunch of stuff and both wants to keep using it and doesn't want to pay for it. Seriously, Google stole from Steve Jobs while he was both helping them and struggling with cancer, which alone suggests it's on the wrong side of this one.

Google has historically been really creative, and I give it one-handed applause for trying to redirect what it's doing by creating the Office of the Chief Whiner. However, I kind of hope others don't follow their lead.

Living in an Insecure World

The McAfee "Diary of a RAT (Remote Access Tool)" report is one of the most frightening things I've ever seen (more on this here).

It showcases that attacks against firms have been ongoing, have been averaging nearly nine months per attack, and have been incredibly invasive. They've had both financial and political goals. They may have altered elections and significantly contributed to the global economic collapse. And they have hit every size of organization in both the public and private sector.

Many of us have warned we were going to be in a Cyber World War. It appears that war started months ago, and we weren't even aware of it. You see, this isn't a U.S.-only attack -- every major geography has been affected, and the total amount of data taken is in the petabyte range.

Now, when you steal that much data, it still has to be parsed and consumed or altered, which takes time -- but the fact that these attacks have been so pervasive indicates that their full impact hasn't been felt yet.

It kind of makes you wonder about the market collapse last Thursday coming so soon after the published results of this study. It's almost as if someone wanted a distraction, was doing a test, or was providing an example of what could happen.

The attack method being used is called "spearfishing," which entails targeting an individual with specifi information that makes the attacker look like a trusted source. As you may recall, the RSA breach earlier this year -- which resulted in a semi-successful attack on Lockheed -- was a spearfishing attack. RSA was breached, but Lockheed was not.

Once in, the attacker appears trusted, so the attack can continue for months without being identified. McAfee details what can be done (but generally isn't) to mitigate the exposure, including the use of email and Web security tools; comprehensive endpoint protection; firewall tools; network and database monitoring tools; and centralized management. Through the use of these measures, an attack, once discovered, can be quickly blocked. McAfee did omit one tool though, and that is the user. Proper user training can cause these attacks to more reliably fail.

Wrapping Up: Google Needs to Grow Up, and You Need to be More Careful

We truly live in interesting times (and that is a Chinese Curse), when large vendors seem to translate "open source" into "license to steal" and feel that whining is a strong competitive response.

Google has to learn it really can't have its cake and eat it too. If it wants to build something "innovative," then maybe it should start by not copying someone else.

When faced with a consortium bidding on something it needed, it was free to form its own consortium. Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), Samsung, HTC, Lenovo and Motorola might have participated if they'd been asked, but then Google would have had to share control of the result -- and Google doesn't share. Also, the other companies would have had to trust Google, which is proving to be increasingly problematic.

On the security side, the RAT report is frightening. It recognizes that spearfishing can be used to compromise your employer's or your own assets. You need to recognize that the email or phone call that seems to be coming from someone trusted may not be, and restrict access to any personal information until you can be sure about the identity of the caller.

Remember, IT knows your password or can use administrator privileges to gain access to your stuff, and banks have other ways to get to your account information -- they don't need your PIN. If folks are asking for something they shouldn't need, there is a good chance they aren't who they pretend to be. Keep that rule close to your heart and be safe.

Product of the Week: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1

Rob Enderle
Let's call the Lenovo X1 the strongest argument against a post-PC world the market has yet delivered.

This is truly a beautiful laptop, with sleek lines and updated features.

These features include a Core i3 processor, a superbright 13.3" screen, 4 GB of memory, a carbon fiber roll cage, Gorilla Glass (Mil-Spec), a lighted keyboard and HDMI out. Finally, it has an HD-level built-in camera and a digital array microphone for VoIP (Skype) calls.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Notebook | LenovoIt represents one of the boldest moves a PC OEM has yet made with a business-focused laptop. Other business features are a fingerprint reader for security and a battery that will charge to 80 percent in 30 minutes for those of us who forget to charge our laptops before a plane trip.

It starts around $1,200. The optional slice battery that gives it around 10 hours (iPad range) of battery life is $180 more. This comes out to about $500 more than a fully loaded iPad and, OMG, you can actually use it to create things, not just consume them.

This is one beautiful laptop, and I'm looking forward to using it while it is on loan to me. The Lenovo X1 is the strongest argument yet for why the PC is far from dead and, as such, it is a natural for my product of the week.

Smartphones » Sprint Conquer Breaks the C-Note Barrier

Posted by echa 10:41 AM, under | No comments

Sprint Conquer Breaks the C-Note Barrier | Sprint Conquer 4G Cheap smartphones can be found lots of places if you know where to look, but it's not exactly common to see a new 4G model that launches at less than $100 yet boasts a fairly well-rounded spec sheet. The Sprint Conquer 4G doesn't offer any frills or unique features -- but it is a 4G Gingerbread Android phone at a double-digit price.

Sprint (NYSE: S) on Friday unveiled the Samsung Conquer 4G, an Android smartphone that will be available for purchase Aug. 21.

Sprint Conquer from Samsung
The Sprint Conquer from Samsung

The Conquer 4G is the first 4G smartphone from Sprint launched at less than US$100.

It has a 1 GHz processor, front and rear cameras, runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and comes with Sprint ID widgets, shortcuts, ringtones and wallpapers.

Despite the price, the Samsung Conquer 4G is not just a cheapo smartphone that will offer only basic services.

"From a hardware point of view, it's a smartphone people can glom onto easily," Ramon Llamas, a senior analyst at IDC, told TechNewsWorld.

The Conquer 4G is "a good device that's on par with other devices," Llamas added. "It's basically what people would expect."

"The Conquer 4G enables us to bring a great 4G device to our customers," Sprint spokesperson Natalie Papaj told TechNewsWorld. "We have been offering 4G for over a year now and have realized some cost savings."

The Samsung Conquer 4G's Tech Specs

The Conquer 4G has an enhanced 3.5-inch TFT touchscreen, a 3.2 MP rear-facing camera with flash and zoom, and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera for video chat.

It's a dual-mode 3G/4G device, meaning it runs on 3G and, where 4G is available, on the faster network.

The Conquer 4G can serve as a mobile hotspot for up to five WiFi-enabled devices on either Sprint's 3G or 4G networks.

It has a Sprint ID customizable user interface.

The Conquer 4G also comes with various Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) mobile services preinstalled. These include Google Search, Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail and YouTube.

Further, the device syncs with Google Calendar and provides owners access to Google Goggles.

The Conquer 4G supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and GPS. It has Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology. It has a microSD card that supports up to 32GB of storage and comes with a 2GB card. It measures about 4.6 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches and weighs just over 4 ounces.

Measuring Up in the Smartphone Market

In terms of its spec sheet, the Conquer 4G doesn't seem to have any standout, glaring deficiencies compared to most other Android phones.

"The 1GHz processor and Android 2.3 are normal," IDC's Llamas said.

"The 3.5-inch screen is a bit small; most other smartphones have 4-inch screens," Llamas pointed out. However, it's the same size as the iPhone's screen, he added.

That won't really be a disadvantage because "first-time smartphone buyers probably won't shy away from the device because of its screen size," Llamas remarked.

A $99 smartphone doesn't necessarily have to be inferior to more expensive devices, Llamas suggested.

"The mindset for what a $99 smartphone should be is a little skewed," Llamas said.

The HTC Inspire, which was launched by AT&T (NYSE: T) at $99 is "the same as the Verizon Thunderbolt 4G, with the exception of LTE capability, but the Thunderbolt costs $250," Llamas pointed out.

Too Pricey?

Although a $100 4G smartphone may sound like a good deal, stiff competition may make the Conquer 4G less of a bargain than it may appear at first glance.

A quick check on the Internet showed an HTC Evo 4G listed for a single penny at Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and for $20 at Wirefly.

The white HTC Evo 4G is available from Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) at $100.

Some of the Evo's specs outgun the Conquer's. The HTC Evo 4G has a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive multitouch screen, an 8MP rear camera with auto focus and 2 LED flashes, and a 1.3 MP fixed focus front facing camera.

It has an HDMI port, and supports Amazon MP3 music downloads.

The HTC Evo 4G measures 4.8 by 2.6 by 0.5 inches and weighs six ounces.

DefCon Welcomes Kids: Hacking Fun for Everyone

Posted by echa 10:33 AM, under | No comments

DefCon Welcomes Kids: Hacking Fun for Everyone | DefCon Hackers ages 8 to 16 had the chance to participate in the DefCon security conference last weekend with DefCon Kids, a program aimed at the next generation of computer experts. The program's goal is foster kids' interest in white-hat hacking -- using computer skills for good rather than evil.

The twenty-somethings arrested by the FBI in July on suspicion of partaking in criminal activities tied to the Anonymous hacker community may soon be regarded as geriatrics.

The first annual hacker conference for kids, DefCon Kids, was held in Las Vegas last weekend as part of DefCon, which bills itself as the world's largest hacker conference.

DefCon Kids included sessions with representatives of United States federal agencies. Its goal is to convince children aged 8 to 16 that it's cool to be a white hat -- a hacker who fights crime.

The federal government has been reaching out to kids for some time -- the National Security Agency (NSA) runs the CryptoKids site, which teaches kids about the NSA and cryptography.

"This education could help kids make the right choices both to protect themselves and in terms of what they do, so they're less likely to be threatened or be a threat," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.

"Kids could easily be victims or, because they don't often think through the consequences of their actions, hackers," Enderle added.

Catching Them Young

The schedule for DefCon Kids included a keynote speech, a talk about the history and future of DefCon, puzzle solving and a talk on hacking.

Hackers CedoxX, Riverside and FS ran the Wall of Sheep workshop. The guiding principle behind the Wall of Sheep, founded by Riverside and CedoxX more than 10 years ago, is being cruel to be kind.

Wall of Sheep volunteers hack into unprotected computers and mobile devices of DefCon attendees and publicize the results.

Jennifer Wilcox, museum administrator and educational coordinator for the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic Museum, ran the Secrets Revealed workshop. This taught attendees how to solve simple cipher messages and create their own secret codes, among other things.

The Meet the Feds session had representatives from various federal agencies and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency.

The End of Innocence?

Are we introducing kids to computer security concepts too soon? Shouldn't we just let them be kids? Could these concepts be too much for them to handle?

The NSA has the CryptoKids site for kids, which indicates it doesn't seem to think so. And Ely Eshel, who got hooked on programming as a junior in high school and worked for a defense contractor and some large banks, doesn't think so either.

He has written a book, Kids Can Program Too!, which also has a website. for which he set up this website. It's for computer-literate kids in grades 6 through 12.

"Kids can absorb computer security concepts and ideas very well because their minds are set in learning mode," Enderle said./technewsworld

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