Disqus - Latest Comments for sreedy

Re: CES: Wi-Fi Direct gains momentum, consumer acceptance

sreedy — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:54:38 -0000

Approved

Re: How secure is your smartphone?

sreedy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:27:42 -0000

A reader email:

Your point about keeping Bluetooth open is very valid. I have a laptop with Bluetooth, and i can search for devices, and where i live there are so many that keep the Bluetooth open for all.

There is one huge security block in the mobile network that you forget: here there is no routing of IPX/SPX protocol - so it is not possible to make a "logon" to your phone. So, i "troyan" cannot remain undetected as on Windows and you have to use regular TCP/IP packets to "report back" the findings. Since you cannot gain full access, it is possible to protect.

The mobile banking should be very difficult to tamper with, so I do not share your view here. However, the point is valid, since there are two places on earth where you can intercept a GSM mobile: at the handset itself and at the HLR/VLR. So, once a worm is installed you are exposed. There is a reason for Symbian hiding the network access from the application - it is not only to make life hard for those that want to make better drivers, but its to avoid that the phone part is tampered with by any application. I do not know if this is the same with Android, iPhone and Windows Mobile - but you can ask them directly. Since the drivers are not accessible on Symbian, the banking application can use these to not expose the passcode even to the application - the handset with the SIM can encode it.

You have to distinguish between applications that you are notified is being installed, and is malware versus code that just installs itself without notice. I doubt that the "virus" has installed itself without alerting the user on the iPhone. I still use Nokia. they have had Smartphones since the 9000 series was launched - 1996?

Re: NFC mobile phone set to explode

sreedy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:02:11 -0000

NFC has already made its way to the iPhone from Zenius Solutions. Read Howard Wilcox's blog on the advancement: http://tinyurl.com/yd84xc6

Re: Will mobile navigation spell doom for PNDs?

sreedy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:16:12 -0000

A reader comment on the viability of PNDs:

As to the demise of standalone navigation devices, I'm wondering if there won't be a market still for these among specialized users. At the same time, the software and hardware designs developed by the likes of Garmin and TomTom could be licensed by makers of handheld computers (that's what these "phones" are in reality). The handheld computer makers generally are companies more atuned to the typical consumer's needs, while Garmin and TomTom are more geared to the power user of navigation. There's probably room for both, no?

In a world where everyone soon will have some kind of handheld computer that is connected to a wireless broadband network, it seems there should be room for a lot of players serving lots of different market sectors.

Re: CTIA IT wrap-up: The wireless evolution

sreedy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:02:12 -0000

From a senior analyst at Beecham Research:

Smart metering and wireless healthcare are both found within longstanding M2M "verticals" or Service Sectors. (Beecham Research tracks nine such service sectors.)

Seen in that light, the combination of the Wireless Healthcare Pavillion, anything to do with smart metering, and the venerable M2M Pavillion together took up a decent amount of floorspace, suggesting that M2M is gradually taking over the CTIA Fall show.

Re: Grid Week: Stimulus funding just a down payment, DOE says

sreedy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:55:25 -0000

Hi Marty,

Thank you for pointing out the typo. The number was in the billions, not millions, so the article will be updated to reflect that.

Sarah

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Re: Why premium mobile TV needs free-to-air

sreedy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:34:30 -0000

They are similar...broadcast TV in the sense of today's digital TV services are all free-to-air, but broadcast as it applies to mobile won't have to be free-to-air. For example, Qualcomm's MediaFLO is a broadcast/multicast technology, but it's not free to air.

Re: Why premium mobile TV needs free-to-air

sreedy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:25:29 -0000

Yes, free-to-air is the same analog and digital terrestrial broadcast TV that you get in your home. It has the same programming and commercials whereas other premium services offer mobile-only content, unique channels or shorter-form clips.

Re: Should Nokia stick to the low end?

sreedy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:40:15 -0000

Thanks for the comments. You are both right that Nokia has the dominant smartphone position outside of the US, but has been met with challenges in North America. Please note, we changed the headline of the article to reflect that.

Re: Is prepaid growth an illusion?

sreedy — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:19:11 -0000

Thanks for the comments. Different carriers have different policies for tracking churn. Here's a hypothetical example that Moffett provided to illustrate the double-counting point:

John Doe is currently a pre-paid customer with AT&T (but it could be any carrier). In February, he saw a Boost Unlimited advertisement (the one with the two pigs eating ham at dinner while discussing Boost service) and he decided to give their $50 plan a shot. He did not port his old telephone number.

Come March 31, when all the carriers compile their subscriber data, John would be recognized as a Boost customer. But he would also be counted as an AT&T customer, as well. Under AT&T's churn recognition policies, a pre-paid customer is only counted as churn if they are inactive for 60 days. In our example, John Doe would be counted as a subscriber until April.

(Verizon and T-Mobile use 90 days of inactivity, Leap and Metro use 30, Sprint uses a couple of months and Virgin Mobile is 150 days of inactivity. When a customer leaves for a new carriers and ports their number, however, they are immediately counted as churn.)

Re: NRTC freezes IPTV rates

sreedy — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:21:24 -0000

The NRTC, along with the NTCA, are making it clear they are not abandoning the IPTV market. The two announced today that they can offer more than 80 channels of HD programming, a number that has more than doubled in recent weeks.

Re: How Verizon built the 'Hub'

sreedy — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:19:25 -0000

Verizon is at it again with more announcements around its recently launched touch-screen home phone system, the Hub:

• National Geographic’s newly launched mobile division will make its video content available on the Hub, along with E! Entertainment, which will launch an E! video channel on the device.
• Acme Packet’s Net-Net session border controllers are providing the security for the VoIP system – ensuring reliable voice, allowing for easy customer installation of the device and connecting other service providers, including E911, to the home.
• Networks in Motion will synchronize locations with the VZ Navigator service through NIM’s web-to-app API.

Re: Verizon experiments with the home phone

sreedy — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:18:35 -0000

Verizon is at it again with more announcements around its recently launched touch-screen home phone system, called the Hub:
• National Geographic’s newly launched mobile division will make its video content available on the Hub, along with E! Entertainment, which will launch an E! video channel on the device.
• Acme Packet’s Net-Net session border controllers are providing the security for the VoIP system – ensuring reliable voice, allowing for easy customer installation of the device and connecting other service providers, including E911, to the home.
• Networks in Motion will synchronize locations with the VZ Navigator service through NIM’s web-to-app API.

Re: AT&T, DirecTV give credence to partnering

sreedy — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:03:21 -0000

1. DirecTV merges with Dish: It wouldn’t be the first time Dish and DirecTV attempted a TV merger (although the first attempt failed back in 2002), so I think this is a possibility. Plus, the satellite companies did merge their XM and Sirius radio businesses after a long wait and a lot of regulatory meandering. I don’t think monopoly concerns would override a potential merger here – they would clearly dominate the satellite space, but they have sufficient competition from cablecos and now telcos on the TV front. Dish has struggled lately, losing part of its customer base after AT&T cut ties and posting satellite’s first subscriber loss. In an economic client where only the strongest survive, this merger could make a lot of sense.

2. AT&T buys DirecTV: AT&T already has an advantageous relationship with DirecTV for its satellite service, but like Stephenson said, U-Verse is the core of its consumer strategy. Once the economy picks back up, the carrier will likely focus as much of its efforts as it can on U-Verse. I don’t see DirecTV being a strategic buy for them considering this. I also don’t think DirecTV would be interested in this route. The company is doing quite well on its own as the dominant provider of satellite, which a good percentage of TV viewers still subscribe to.

3. AT&T buys DirecTV after merging with Dish: That sounds more like the start of a monopoly to me, but I don’t see it happening (see #2).

Anyone else care to weigh in?

Re: How Verizon built the 'Hub'

sreedy — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:10:34 -0000

Verizon added several updates to the Hub today:

http://blog.telephonyonline...

Re: Verizon experiments with the home phone

sreedy — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:10:16 -0000

Verizon added several updates to the Hub today:

http://blog.telephonyonline...

Re: Avoiding the ‘cable-guy problem;’ customer service as differentiator

sreedy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:24:57 -0000

Below are links to the rest of this short series, but also check out our page on "Surviving the Recession" for related articles: http://telephonyonline.com/...

#2: http://telephonyonline.com/...
#3: http://telephonyonline.com/...

Re: Betting on the netbook

sreedy — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:16:25 -0000

One carrier's strategy: Frontier Communications is giving away free Dell Inspirion mini 9 netbooks as part of a promotion to get customers to sign up for Frontier high-speed Internet and unlimited voice calling with ehanced features.

Re: Nokia counts on smartphone, services combo for recovery

sreedy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:47:29 -0000

Mark Sue, managing director of RBC Capital Markets, echoed Milanesi’s sentiments that Nokia’s brand, scale and distribution strength will enable it to better weather the current malaise. From a financial perspective, he anticipates Nokia’s shares to sidetrack for the next few quarters until its visibility improves and the company readies more mid-tier products and smartphones.

“We look for Nokia to leverage its international scope and size to pressure suppliers for favorable terms as the year plays out,” he said today in a research note.

Re: Countdown to Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

sreedy — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:28:14 -0000

Here's a link to the CES site for all the logistical information on the show: www.cesweb.org

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Re: Will BlackBerry�s touch-screen gamble pay off?

sreedy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:42:46 -0000

From speaking with analysts who've used the phone, there are both pros and cons to the BlackBerry Storm - as there are with any mobile handset. Although judging by how quickly the Storm has sold it today, it looks like most consumers are happy to give it a try. Check out the following links for a sampling of the reviews, both positive and negative.

But, you got me, I am an iPhone owner.

http://gigaom.com/2008/11/2...
http://www.jkontherun.com/2...
http://www.computerworld.co...
http://www.mlive.com/flintj...
http://www.engadget.com/200...
http://www.blackberrycool.c...