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Slow week ahead

I’m heading south to sunny Florida for vacation with the family today and will likely be blogging very lightly if at all. I’m leaving the laptop at home and only taking my N800 (though with Keyboard). I”ll probably do most of my reading on the smaller screen (which I do plenty of) though have not blogged much from the tablet. It’s all good.

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Joost’s commercial

I’m not going to give a full critique on this one, but I have to say I think it’s pretty weak. I’m not sure if they had a cooler than you Creative Team working on this or perhaps it’s a European flavor I’m just not used to seeing. The sad thing is that WITHOUT ACTUALLY SEEING THE PRODUCT, most people still have no idea what it is or why they should care. It’s not interesting enough to be a full :60 and I’m surprised they’d choose to go that length at all. I recognize it’s running on YouTube and not NBC prime-time so media costs are nil. Maybe the point was to get people talking – but the group chatting about this was already aware, so I’m not sure how that’s really helping get new interest. And with that, here it is…

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AT&T to speed up HSDPA, adding dozens of new markets … just not for the iPhone

Can we start getting seriously frustrated now for real that the iPhone won’t do 3G? Steve said there is not enough coverage… well not anymore and with a 2 yr contract locking you into EDGE, I think people are going to be pissed. BTW — The iPhone is allegedly due on June 11, just in time for WWDC. There’s always the opportunity for One More Thing at the keynote but I’m not holding me breath.

According to Kris Rinne, AT&T’s executive vice president of network planning and architecture, the company will be rolling out the software upgrade over the course of 2007 and will likely begin offering compatible PC cards by mid-year.

HSDPA focuses on downlink speeds, and the HSUPA upgrade speeds the uplink from the device to the network; AT&T’s wireless network would then be considered HSPA. Rinne said that from current uplink peak speeds of 384 kilobits per second and averages of 150 to 200 kbps, the HSUPA upgrade will put uplink peak speeds in the range of 1.5 megabits per second.

AT&T executives said separately yesterday that the carrier expects to add another 58 to 65 HSDPA markets by the end of the year. RCR Wireless News:

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Intel modifies Wi-Fi and massively extends range

Just caught this from News.com … Intel has developed massively long range WiFi via some updated software.

Academics and researchers from the company’s labs have created a system that lets Wi-Fi signals, which ordinarily carry a few hundred feet, instead travel 100 kilometers, or more than 60 miles, said Eric Brewer, director of Intel Research Berkeley, a lab owned by the company that cooperates on research projects with the University of California at Berkeley.

“It is regular Wi-Fi hardware but with modified software,” he said.

To show it works, Intel has set up a link between its labs in the downtown section of this Bay Area city and the university’s Space Science Lab, about 1,200 feet up and about 1.5 miles away on Grizzly Peak Boulevard. The receiver in the office consists of a directional antenna linked to a modified–but otherwise standard–wireless access point. [CNET News.com]

Apparently, this won’t be coming to the end use any time soon – at least in this country. Intel has their sites set on emerging markets. This seems like a cool play to me. Instead of relying on WiMax and other technologies to come to market, Intel will be able to roll out enhanced base station software and antennas and enable people to use standard Wifi systems on their computers… seems like a natural fit for the OLPC project.

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Nokia N95 Coming to US as the Euro version…

Some disappointing news coming from CTIA this morning ….

Nokia isn’t building a special US version of this phone – they’ll just be selling the European version direct and unlocked through NokiaUSA.com and at their own stores. That means the N95 will work on T-Mobile and Cingular’s EDGE networks, but won’t be able to access higher-speed HSDPA cellular networks in the US. The phone will ship in the second quarter of this year for around $700 in the US, according to Nokia. [Gearlog]

As much as I want the N95, it’s going to be hard to swallow the bill on a non-3G capable phone and makes the iPhone that much more competitive in my opinion. Perhaps some future deal will still come forth … Gearlog only references CTIA, but not a formal press release or announcement.

Update – The has been changed $500-600 (Thanks Mark!), but is still disappointing without 3G.  I love the wifi and 5MP camera… don’t get me wrong, this is an awesome piece of kit. The price is actually pretty interesting considering that puts it just a tad higher than unlocked N80 or N73 units…

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Is the Nokia N95 going to Cingular?

Oliver Starr just posted something on his blog at the Guidewire Group that has me VERY excited:

Guidewire Connection has just learned via a trusted source within Nokia that the new N95 Smartphone, which is just now beginning to be released across the pond in Europe, is also being produced with a 1900-MHz model – the band that HSDPA runs on here in the USA. [Oliver Starr @ Guidewire Group]

Nokia and Cingular are apparently still working out the final details, but consider this… Nokia’s uber-smartphone running on a Cingular/ AT&T’s US 3G network! This multimedia computer seriously does it all: HSDPA(3G), WiFi, GPS, 5MP images and DVD Quality video, Video Center (RSS enclosures and YouTube) a killer browser, S60 FP1, gorgeous screen (2.6″ QVGA (240 x 320 pixels)) and opens with a dual slider (one for media and one for calls / txt). It can also handle 2GB of memory through miniSD and of course (thank you Nokia!) can make VOIP calls via SIP. There’s also an amazing universe of applications available to run on S60.
Nokia N95 Press Image
I’ve been lusting after the N95 for a while and if this rumor is true, will have to own this one.
I’ve been asked countless times now what I think about the iPhone and whether I’ll own one… It’s an obvious competitor here and as an equal-part Apple fanboy, I am torn. There are two things that kill me about the iPhone – NO 3G (ridiculous for a device at this price in 2007) and no access to WiFi for VOIP (also ridiculous, but at least I get the business reason from Cingular’s perspective). The other glaring omission from Apple here is the lack of a replaceable battery. In my experience dual-mode phones (cellular and wifi) eat battery like nothing else. If you use the data connections available, it can be hard to make it through a day…
The N95 is shipping today in Europe and the All About Symbian guys have theirs nicely unboxed. Interestingly enough Nokia chose a very Apple-like box design which just makes me think more that these two companies are eyeing each other with their vision for the ultimate converged device.
I hope your source is good Oliver!

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Verizon Wireless Unlimited Data Plan Limitations

I was just reading up on Verizon Wirless’s plans in light of their pending test drive (EVDO is so tempting) and found this lovely note:

Unlimited Data Plans and Features (such as NationalAccess, BroadbandAccess, GlobalAccess, Push to Talk, and certain VZEmail services) may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month.

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And we’re back…

WordPress updated to 2.1.2.  Kind of a pain and scary to delete everything, but it’s all back online now and hopefully something I don’t have to do for a long time.

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Justin.tv

Justin.tv: is live and pretty crazy. Justin and crew are live streaming to the web… you can even call in and speak to them while they are cruising around.

I just sent a txt from AIM to Justin and he read my question, answered in voice with the guys in the car and then sent me a text back. By far the most interactive TV I’ve certainly ever seen…

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Fring could be a great mobile Twitter client…

Once IM support gets back into Twitter that is…

In case you don’t know Fring can let you connect to GoogleTalk, MSN, Skype and now SIP accounts all in one. It does eat a fair bit of memory and works the battery over pretty well while it’s running, but overall it’s a really nice application. If you have 3G data or wifi on your device you can make VOIP calls which is always a good thing.

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