a multi-tasked stream of consciousness or perhaps just emails to myself
The first Danger HipTop with a color screen has turned up, but the catch is that it’s only going to be sold in Europe at first. Danger wants to sell more of its monochrome HipTops before they introduce a color one here. Word is that the color HipTop should go on sale in Europe within six months, no word on when it’ll show up in the US, probably sometime just before Christmas is a safe bet.
Read
[Gizmodo]
Handspring may be in trouble, but at least the company’s left a lasting legacy: keyboard entry on the Palm. We never managed to master the funny writing that Palm used to insist upon. So it’s good to see Sony’s new Clie — leaked by PalmInfocenter — will have a keyboard.
Read
[Gizmodo]
F – the Tungsten… this is one new sleek Palm-based PDA. Can’t wait for this one…
The latest phone to be announced by the British mobile phone maker runs neither on Smartphone 2002 nor Series 60, but still sports advanced features and a color display.
[infoSync]
SBC’s possible play for DirecTV is, well … not sane. Do I have to point back to AT&T? World Com? Enron? Well, ok that was a bit different but you see the point I am trying to make. Have we all forgotten the aforementioned debacles? How many telecommunications companies have to get into the content distribution game and fail before others will stop? While I understand the need to try and compete with cable and their bundled offering, look at the situation logically. Adding data to video is easy; adding video to data is not. These are two very different products with different product life cycles, pricing and deployment infrastructures. Come on people, put the pipe down.
The emergence of small, embedded processors is also contributing to a shift away from products and toward higher-margin services, he said. For example, cellphone providers practically give the handsets away and make most of their money on the service they offer.
“The next industry to fall will be the automotive business,” Saffo said.
For example, the Mercedes C-Class sedan has 153 microprocessors and features an optional satellite-based communication system that enables drivers to contact car companies to get map and other driving information, stock updates and help in emergencies.
“It’s not a car, it’s a computer,” Saffo said.
“Soon, they’ll be selling cars at or below cost” because they will be able to make up the difference with service fees.
Interesting… I would love to get a car below cost. I would be game for a few services I’m sure…
[infoSync: First 3G phone from Sony Ericsson]
The Z1010 is Sony Ericsson’s first GSM/UMTS 3G phone, and has it all. Dual displays and cameras, Bluetooth, Memory Stick Duo, J2ME, MMS, Wireless Village, WAP 2.0 and more.
Think about this for a second –> THIS YEAR, it will be possible to stream music or video from a server to yourself via phone… all we need are bluetooth headphones and this can be done (music anyway) while the phone is in your pocket, briefcase or purse! It is also the first, but certainly not the last phone to be able to handle this….mmmm
[infoSync: Big 3 join on GPRS, EDGE push-to-talk ]
Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens have joined forces to promote a unified solution for push-to-talk solutions over GPRS and EDGE networks, based on the IP Multimedia Subsystem.
Aiming to provide an alternative to numerous proprietary solutions from smaller players, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens are now teaming up to define specifications for an open standard to speed the adoption of direct-call push-to-talk service over GPRS. The technology uses the capabilities of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) as specified by 3GPP for enabling IP connections between mobile phones, and initial trials are expected to begin in the second half of 2003.
IP Multimedia System (IMS) is a technology standardized by 3GPP, broadly viewed as a key development of the mobile communication into IP technologies by adding the ability to deliver integrated voice and data services over the IP-based packet switched network, using SIP to initiate a session.
Obviously Nextel has something that everyone else wants. The more quality services, the better the ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit) earned each month. This is a business idea and strategy, not some frill like MMS, which is cool,but not exactly focused yet on making money for the carriers since people don’t quite get (or want) it.
The mobile phone OS maker cements its relationship with another hardware maker in a $27 million deal. [internetnews.com: Top News]
Interesting… don’t think I have even seen any Samsung Symbian devices on the horizon…
A group of leading technology companies will meet this week to further develop an emerging wireless networking technology aimed at home automation. [CNET News.com (20 stories)]
“There are a mind-boggling number of uses for wireless networking, so we’re focusing on the building and home environment,” said Venkat Bahl, vice chairman of the alliance. “This is not meant for heavy-duty multimedia or high-quality voice (needs), there are other standards that already do that. We want to focus on simplicity.”
While Multimedia messaging (MMS) is being touted as the next killer app in wireless, and carriers are pinning their hopes for a telecom recovery on this service, there are still major hurdles to be overcome.
Carriers are hoping that MMS, a multimedia successor to SMS that allows consumers to send picture messages and audio clips to each other, will match or even surpass the revenues and profits generated by the runaway success of SMS. [AlwaysOn Network]
The two carriers both plan to have a copycat of Nextel’s walkie-talkie feature this year. But who’s going to win the race for No. 2? [CNET News.com Communications]
Who will beat the latency issue first is what this race is really about. Only Nextel has figured out how to keep PTT connection timings between handsets less than a second even with a national range. More than than and the service becomes to frustrating to consider using.
The only thing keeping me from rushing to do this right now is that I only have one hand to use with it for the time being. It would be very difficult to do e-mail with only my left hand. Argh!
Color must right around the corner if this is finally free…
With Amazon and T-Mobile rebates, the Danger Sidekick and camera attachment is now free with a one-year service plan. Link)
The digital video recorder company is allowing existing service subscribers to transfer their membership when they purchase a new Series2 recorder. [CNET News.com Personal Technology]
The company officially kicked off the promotion Tuesday, according to TiVo spokeswoman Rebecca Baer. Customers must purchase their 80-hour Series2 boxes directly from TiVo for $349 after a $50 mail-in rebate. The promotion ends March 10.
The motivation for such an exercise is the attempt to break away from classical TV production requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars in specialized infrastructure and enable immediate and on-the-fly transmission from remote locations to the TV network, ultimately leading toward creative production of programming from within a P2P network.
Source: MNN.org
Time Warner… where are you?
Company: Cox Communications announced this week the commercial deployment of an integrated DVR/STB, the SA Explorer 8000, in Gainesville, FL.
Key points: 50 hours of capacity two tuners, and Picture in Picture (PIP). Cox DVR service is available only to Cox Digital Cable customers for $9.95 per month, in addition to the customer’s digital cable service. Incidentally, this is the same price as the standard digital set-top box.
Take: Smart move from one. Our research has shown, time and time again, that DVR functionality is the number one or two service that consumers are most interested in from their cable operator.
Obstacles: DVR functionality has always been hard to market but revolutionary on TV watching behavior once adopted. Cox, and other operators that are deploying integrated DVR/STBs, still need to be mindful of how they are going to translate the value of this technology to the general TV population.
While no word on price or availability in the United States, this baby looks totally outrageous! (20 GB hard drive… wifi enabled)
There are actually two concerns about 802.11g. Concern No. 1 is whether the technology will work with legacy 802.11b clients; the big fear is that legacy 802.11b clients could be knocked off the air in favor of 802.11g kit in crowded networks. Concern No. 2: whether all 802.11g products will be able to interoperate, particularly with the number of pre-standard products being announced.
[unstrung]
Samsung recently showed of its new Palm-powered smart phone, the SPH-i500 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The SPH-i500 runs on CDMA 1xrtt networks and uses Palm OS 4.1. The handset features Graffiti handwriting, a 16-tone polyphonic ringer, a GPS-based locator called gpsOne, voice dialing, and voice memo. The phone also has connections for an external keyboard or camera. No word yet when the phone will be available in the U.S. market.
[FierceWireless.com] More on the Samsung Site…