Author: TheAppleBlog.com

Google launched a new application last night that enables users to search content on their handsets by drawing letters on the screen of their phones. But the app is another sign that users of older Android platforms are being left behind.

Gesture Search is designed to minimize the number of actions necessary to find contacts, applications and files when voice search isn’t a good option. Users simply launch the app and draw letters on the screen with their fingers to pull up corresponding contacts or other information. I’ve been playing with Google Gesture Search this morning on the Motorola Droid, and it’s pretty nifty — it does a good job of recognizing letters and immediately returning the most relevant results, especially among contacts.

Gesture recognition is another example of how touch — like voice — is becoming an increasingly important tool for mobile users who for years were forced to deal with 12-key inputs or QWERTY keyboards. As Stacey noted a few weeks ago, chip makers are recognizing the value of gesture recognition as a superior way to navigate today’s sophisticated handsets.

But Gesture Search is available only in the U.S., and only to users running Android 2.0 or later, a version of the operating system that is only six months old. Which means that while owners of the Droid and Nexus One can use the app, devices running Android 1.5 or 1.6 — including the G1 or Sprint’s Hero — can’t access Gesture Search. Android updates often require the active participation of handset manufacturers and carriers, which may not be interested in pouring resources into handsets that are already on the market. So it’s up to Google to address older versions of the OS if its apps are to be broadly accessible on Android devices.

Users have posted comments on Google’s blog introducing the new app to express their outrage at being left behind. Google experienced the same kind of backlash last month when it introduced Buzz, which wasn’t supported by the full range of Android gadgets. Google may eventually get around to addressing earlier versions of Android with Gesture Search, and handset vendors may make updates available for older phones. Until then, though, some Android users who may have recently bought their handsets are already left behind.

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I love Time Machine for its simplicity and the fact that it’s free. Apple did the right thing in creating a backup utility that was integrated into the OS and was actually useful. Anyone who has fought with Windows Backup can tell you, this has been needed for a long time. Apple created a beautiful backup  utility and then made money on hardware that seamlessly works with it. For the home user, nothing could be more simple.

In the office environment however, users tend to backup to server shares and not local external drives. So, let’s take a look at how to use Time Machine over a network.

Setting it Up

It’s easy to do this in Leopard Xserve by sharing a backup folder. Under Server Admin, you can check the box “Enable as Time Machine backup destination.”

This worked great in Leopard but in Snow Leopard, Time Machine no longer saw this as an available destination. Luckily, changing a property for System Preferences solves this.

Enter this command in Terminal:

sudo defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

This tells Time Machine to treat network shares as possible backup locations. Now, when I go to select a disk in the Time Machine preferences, I see my mounted AFP share listed.

Restoring

So that’s how you get the Time Machine backup working, but what about restoring. Most people don’t test the restore functionality but it’s the most important thing you can do. To restore a Time Machine backup over an AFP connection,  first boot off the Snow Leopard install DVD. Then, Launch Terminal by clicking on the Utilities menu. In the terminal window, type the following commands.

mkdir /Volumes/TimeMachine
mount -t afp afp://user:[email protected]/ShareName /Volumes/TimeMachine

This will mount your AFP share and make it available to restore from. Quit Terminal and then run “Restore from Backup” from the Utilities menu. You will see your backup listed and you should now be able to restore from it.

Time Machine is a very nice utility and if you aren’t using it, you should be. I even have other Xserves backing themselves up to this share using Time Machine. Sure, there are third-party applications out there can do so much more, but I’m for just getting the job done. Integration with the OS is also important to me. It’s the main reasons I use Safari as my main browser. As with all backup solutions though, you need to test the restore functionality once in a while. If anything, you might sleep better at night knowing your data is not only safe but recoverable.

Skype is about to expand its mobile footprint in a big way — and that’s not good news for network operators. The company joined Nokia this morning in announcing the addition of Skype for Symbian to the carrier’s Ovi Store, enabling users of Symbian^1 devices to make Skype calls via both cellular and Wi-Fi connections.

Skype introduced a beta version of its Symbian client in December, but the Ovi Store deal provides an enormous opportunity to tap Nokia’s worldwide footprint. The store supports more than five dozen Symbian-based handsets and has picked up momentum in recent months, delivering roughly 1.5 million downloads a day. And the ability to deliver free international Skype-to-Skype calls surely holds great appeal for users in emerging markets, where Ovi has gained substantial traction. Today’s news won’t mean much to carriers in the U.S., where Nokia continues to struggle to gain market share, but it poses a serious threat to the bottom line of carriers in a huge number of markets around the world.

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Image courtesy Flickr user Retinafunk.

The surging usage of touchscreen devices has given birth to a subset of mobile web sites designed to allow consumers to use their fingers to navigate them, according to Taptu. The UK-based mobile search firm this morning said that more than 81,000 mobile touch web sites for shopping and services now exist for users with iPhones and other touch-enabled gadgets. Which means developers on the mobile web have one more thing they must consider as they build pages.

As a company that directs users to touch-enabled sites, Taptu, of course, has skin in the game. But touch will surely play an increasingly important role as more touchscreen phones enter the market and the mobile web matures over the next few years. Touch is superior to trackballs or keypads when it comes to clicking through screens, and owners of touchscreen devices are disproportionately young, according to comScore — an attractive target for online advertisers. (Notably, the most popular touch sites in Taptu’s study related to business and real estate.) Having to create yet another site may not please mobile developers who already face major challenges when it comes to shrinking traditional Internet content down to a phone and making it accessible on as many types of handsets as possible. But building an optimized mobile touch site is a far better plan than ignoring an increasingly important class of devices — and consumers.

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Software bundle web site MacHeist has unveiled its latest offer. The ‘nanoBundle2‘ was made public as midnight struck on Wednesday, revealing a range of seven Mac OS X applications.

For those unaware, a typical MacHeist promotion sees a number of Mac applications being made available at a discount rate (sometimes even for free), but only for a limited time. Following a build-up of teasing tweets this past week, the bundle is now available, with the latest collection of software including:

MacJournal (Retail: $39.95)

Writing software, MacJournal, from Mariner Software is an Apple Design Award-winning application that claims to be perfect for any amount of writing, whether that’s just a quick small list, a more detailed blog entry or a full-on book.

RipIt (Retail: $19.95)

RipIt is a simple DVD importing tool from ‘the little app factory.’ The application aims to make the process of importing your DVD collection onto your Mac as simple as it is for CDs. You can even compress your DVDs for portable use on an iPhone.

Clips (Retail: $27)

Ever went to copy something and suddenly stopped, remembering that you may already have something stored on your computers clipboard? Conceited Software is offering clipboard management application, Clips, as the solution to just that problem.

CoverScout (Retail: $39.95)

Equinux’s CoverScout is one of several currently available apps that will take an ever-growing iTunes library, then find and replace any missing cover art. Developers Equinux claim that due to the visual nature of humans, music with no cover art is more likely to be ignored when browsing your collection.

Flow (Retail: $25)

Flow is an FTP client from Extendmac that boasts not just a fresh, clean user interface but also claims to take advantage of the latest OS X technologies. Beyond its basic FTP capabilities, Flow also has live editing and other development tools. It also is an Apple Design Award winner.

Tales Of Monkey Island (Retail: $34.95)

Although currently locked, Telltale Games’ adventure title Tales Of Monkey Island will be unlocked for all MacHeist customers once 50,000 bundles have been sold. Once that goal has been reached, six episodes of pirate based fun will be yours.

RapidWeaver (Retail: $79)

RapidWeaver, the last application in the latest MacHeist bundle, is a web site creation tool from Realmac Software. The application has similarities to that of Apple’s iWeb.

The nanobundle2 is available now for just seven days, so if you were looking to buy any of the above applications now would clearly be a good time. If you were to purchase each of the included applications separately it would cost an excess of $266. So buying through MacHeist not only donates money to charities (over $1.5 million since the heist’s began), but it could also save you up to $246!

Sources from within Apple are claiming that the iPad will be in stores starting March 10, if a recent Examiner post is to be believed.

Examiner’s report claims that the tablet devices will be hitting Apple retail stores early in order to give employees and employees only, plenty of time to get up-to-speed with using the new tablet device, ahead of its official launch.

The iPad is expected to arrive before the month is out, with many blogs increasingly hinting at a March 26 launch date. Examiner sources, which allegedly include an anonymous “Apple Store manager in Southern California,” also claimed that the iPad’s advertisement campaign will kick off around the 15th of this month. The advertisement campaign is said to be focusing heavily on the iBookstore and e-book capabilities of the upcoming device, no doubt with an intent to take some steam out of the Kindle’s successes.

Finally, the Examiner report also hinted that individuals who set up camp ahead of the launch, in order to become one of the first to get their hands on an iPad, will be rewarded. Just what this Apple related reward may be is unknown.

However, despite all the detailed dates, rumors of possible production problems could negate the planned launch. Let’s just hope it doesn’t.

Elliott Associates, L.P., a hedge fund with a significant position in shares of Novell, after the close of trading in U.S. stock markets today placed an unsolicited offer to buy the open source-focused software company for close to $2 billion. The offer places a high valuation on Novell, and is one the troubled firm will have to consider very carefully.

Elliott Associates’ offer of $5.75 per share in cash is well above Novell’s closing per-share price of $4.75, and caused Novell’s shares to rise above $6 in after-hours trading.  According to its offer letter:

“Based on our detailed review of the Company’s publicly available information and our substantial knowledge of the software industry, we are pleased to submit this proposal to acquire all of the shares of common stock of Novell for a cash price of $5.75 per share.  This price represents a premium of 49% over the Company’s current enterprise value and 77% over the Company’s 90-day volume-weighted average enterprise value.”

It continues:

“Over the past several years, the Company has attempted to diversify away from its legacy division with a series of acquisitions and changes in strategic focus that have largely been unsuccessful.  As a result, we believe the Company’s stock has meaningfully underperformed all relevant indices and peers.”

While the offer from Elliott Associates may seem high at first glance given Novell’s recent troubles, it’s worth remembering that the company has nearly $1 billion in cash, and reported $220 million of revenues in its most recent quarter. Novell has close to $1 billion in annual revenues.

OStatic has noted that the large cash positions that both Red Hat and Novell sit on have made them prime acquisition targets among the few large, publicly traded U.S. companies focused on open source software (although rises in Red Hat’s stock price have made it less attractive). Sun Microsystems, which was also focused on open source, is no longer an independent company following Oracle’s acquisition.

If Novell accepts the new offer, it, too, will no longer be an independent company, but the offer will no doubt be carefully considered. Novell has had trouble growing its Linux business, for which it is heavily dependent on its partnership with Microsoft for deals, and saw its stock pummeled during the recession.  Novell officials have yet to comment on the offer, but as OStatic notes, a shakeup could be coming.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Oswaldo.

Microsoft Vice President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney today at the RSA conference in San Francisco proposed an Internet usage tax to fight malware infections and the effects of botnets. But do users at large really need to pay for one of Microsoft’s own most costly problems?

As Computerworld reports, Charney equated his proposal for better “social solutions” to the malware problem with existing models in place in the health care system:

“I actually think the health care model…might be an interesting way to think about the problem. With medical diseases, there are education programs, but there are also social programs to inspect people and quarantine the sick. This model could work to fight computer viruses too.”

Charney proposed that “general taxation” could foot the bill for fighting malware, and discussed inroads being made battling it at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level. In particular, ISPs have been having increasing success at shutting down some botnets, which produce large quantities of globally spread malware and spam. Just recently, Microsoft was successful in shutting down the Waledac botnet, which it did by filing a legal injunction that resulted in a restraining order allowing the shutdown of over 200 allegedly nefarious Internet domains.

Clearly, Microsoft is getting more creative in battling the spread of malware, but let’s not forget that there is self-interest in such creativity, because Microsoft’s own Windows operating system and other tools are the largest targets in the worlds of botnets and malware baddies. As OStatic notes, “Few are likely to be impressed or take seriously a suggestion that a general taxation should be used to fix a problem that Microsoft is more than partly responsible for, especially when the company reaps staggering profits on its Windows licenses in the first place.”  If general taxation is implemented to pay for the costs of fighting malware, do Linux users have to pay the same tax as Windows users?

Charney did suggest numerous creative strategies to fight malware going beyond general taxation, including public education programs and public service announcements. But these suggestions, too, raise questions as to who is going to pay the bills at the end of the day. Hopefully, taxpayers at large won’t get stuck with them.

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Image courtesy of Jacreative on Flickr.

The prepaid guys pummeled each other during the fourth quarter of 2009 while the nation’s two largest carriers enjoyed their view from the throne. Users continued to move toward prepaid thanks to an ultra-competitive prepaid market that encourages users to switch providers at the drop of a hat. Leap, MetroPCS, T-Mobile USA and Sprint claimed a combined 1.5 million net prepaid adds during the period, showing strong momentum of a trend that picked up steam last summer. But that growth had mixed results on the bottom line: Leap posted a wider loss for the quarter despite lowering its churn from the previous three-month period thanks partly to cheaper plans, while MetroPCS doubled its profits during the period as churn dropped.

Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T — the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 carrier, respectively — continued to expand their bases of postpaid users at the expense of T-Mobile (which lost 117,000 contract customers during the period) and Sprint (which lost more than a half-million postpaid users). Verizon got a boost from the debut of the Motorola Droid, of course, which benefited from a $100 million marketing push. And AT&T — which did little during the quarter aside from working to shore up its inferior network – once again managed to post an industry-leading average revenue per user thanks to the iconic iPhone. It will be interesting to see whether AT&T and Verizon can continue to add subscribers this quarter after rolling out new price plans that effectively create two tiers of competition among postpaid providers.

Leap Wireless: Reported Feb. 26 Wireless Service Revenue: $547 million Operating Income: 4.5 million Wireless Data Revenue: N/A Net Prepaid Subscriber Adds: 297,000 Total Subscribers: 4.95 million Prepaid Churn: 4.7 percent Prepaid ARPU: $38.66	Metro PCS: Reported Feb. 25 Wireless Revenue: $930 million Income from operations: 130 million Wireless Data Revenue: N/A Net Prepaid Subscriber Adds: 317,255 Total Subscribers: 6.6 million Prepaid Churn: 5.3 percent Prepaid ARPU: $40.70
T-Mobile: Reported Feb. 5 Wireless Revenue: $5.4 billion Wireless Net Income: 306 million Wireless Data Revenue: N/A Net Prepaid Subscriber Adds: 488,000 Total Subscribers: 33.8 million Blended Churn: 3.2 percent Postpaid ARPU: $52	Sprint: Reported Feb. 10 Wireless Revenue: $6.8 billion Wireless Operating Loss: 635 million Wireless Data Revenue: N/A Net Prepaid Subscriber Adds: 435,000 Net Postpaid Subscriber Loss: 504,000 Total Subscribers: 48.1 million Churn: Postpaid 2.11 percent, prepaid 5.56 percent ARPU: Postpaid $55, prepaid $31
Verizon: Reported Jan. 26 Wireless Revenue: $15.7 billion Wireless Operating Income: 3.6 billion Wireless Data Revenue: 3.9 billion Net Prepaid and Postpaid Subscriber Adds: 2.2 million Total Subscribers: 91.2 million Churn: Postpaid 1.06 percent ARPU: Postpaid $50.75	AT&T: Reported Jan. 28 Wireless Revenue: $13.8 billion Wireless Operating Income: 3.4 billion Wireless Data Revenue: 3.9 billion Net Prepaid Subscriber Adds: N/A Net Postpaid Subscriber Adds: 910,000 Total Subscribers: 85.1 million Blended Churn: 1.44 percent ARPU: Postpaid $61.13

Image courtesy Flickr user Daniel Y. Go.

For years, at various times, tech giants such as Microsoft, Google and Apple have all been referred to as “benign monopolies.” Companies tend to earn that moniker when they reach a certain level of dominance in global markets, and have command over widespread standards. But now, more than ever, it’s worth remembering that extreme market dominance introduces trends that are far from benign.

As I look through many of today’s biggest tech headlines, and popular interpretations of them, I’m struck by how unpredictable people are at both leveling criticism against and showering praise on tech companies that command extreme global market power. Antitrust concerns, for example, are seen as a “mark of Google’s success.” And Adobe Flash apparently doesn’t need a kick in the pants or a challenge from competing and possibly better technologies; instead, it has worked beautifully for over 15 years. And just look at the flame war I incited in a recent post on Apple, when I suggested that it is increasingly pursuing closed policies, with the iPad shaping up to be the company’s most closed product ever.

In a post today titled “Is Monogamy Good for Technology?” Matt Asay describes the conundrums he is facing as he takes on his new job as COO of Canonical, which, of course, requires him to use Ubuntu Linux. A longtime user of all things Apple, Asay notes that Apple COO Tim Cook has recently suggested “that the magic of Apple is its seamless interoperability with other Apple technology.” Certainly, I have heard many Apple users praise the company’s products for working so well together, even as critics argue that closed technology is the byproduct of that phenomenon. Google, meanwhile, draws much praise for open policies, but has also made clear that its attitude toward openness isn’t entirely altruistic.

It’s worth noting that big commercial technology companies throw their weight around the world in increasingly anti-open, and dangerous, ways. As OStatic notes today, the powerful International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has just produced a 498-page report for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative arguing that government mandates to use open-source software must be “carefully monitored.”

The IIPA report recommends that numerous entire countries be placed on international watchlists because their governments favor such software, which it characterizes as a threat to innovation. A closer look at the report, though, shows that its recommendations are made in conjunction with the Business Software Alliance, which counts among its members Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, IBM and many other large commercial software providers.

I’m in agreement with Asay that “no vendor dominates innovation once and for all.” While it is true that the most powerful technology companies have helped establish standardized ways for things to work together, it’s also true that closed policies and total market dominance must be questioned — always.

Innovation all around the world depends on countries, governments, companies and users finding harmonious ways to work together. Just ask the Chinese science community, which has made clear that without Google’s technology, its research efforts will suffer enormously. Now, more than ever, there needs to be a healthy and open global ecosystem for technology innovation, and the most dominant technology companies bear great responsibility for protecting it.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Mark Strozier.

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Palm has cut its revenue forecast and said its third-quarter numbers will disappoint, sending its shares plummeting. In the meantime, there’s plenty of speculation about potential suitors, but scant evidence that anyone is actually considering buying the venerable manufacturer. So if no company want to buy Palm and consumers don’t want its phones, what does it do now?

After Sprint’s disappointing run as the exclusive carrier of Palm’s webOS gadgets, Palm had pinned its hopes on Verizon Wireless, which recently launched the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. But the nation’s largest carrier failed to provide much of a boost — thanks to a consistent lack of effective marketing — forcing Palm to concede that consumer uptake has been slow and carrier orders have been weaker than expected. And while AT&T is set to launch webOS devices in the next few months, Palm’s hardware has little chance of attracting much attention in any lineup that includes the iconic iPhone.

It’s a nightmare scenario for Elevation Partners, which has poured $425 million into Palm to keep it running. The Palm operating system, webOS, has garnered praise as a worthy rival to iPhone OS and Android, but a lack of traction in the marketplace has prevented Palm from building out its app store, as Kevin noted last week. PC vendors such as Dell or Hewlett-Packard could step up and take over Palm, which at last check had a mere $1.12 billion market capitalization, but thus far no one appears to be nibbling.

Palm still has $590 million in cash vs. $392 million in debt, so it can hold out a while longer even if it continues to lose tens of millions per quarter. There’s almost no reason to think it can reverse course soon, though. So unless a buyer steps up or Elevation Partners throws more cash into this particular money pit, Palm is doomed.

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Using a Mac is a treat for many, and after years of living on Window machines, I appreciate the little things OS X provides. There’s no point preaching to the choir here about how OS X is better…most of us already feel that way. But what I’ve realized while working in IT, is that I have to be adaptable since not everybody can run OS X. Perhaps they are scared of the change or have an application that doesn’t have an Mac counterpart. Whatever the reason, not everyone will jump on the bandwagon. This is especially true in a more corporate environment.

So as an IT support technician, I have to be flexible. As much as I hate spending hours removing spyware from users machines using tools like AdAware, HijackThis & Malwarebytes; this is my trade and I need to be proficient in every aspect of it. This is why I need to live in both the Apple and Microsoft world at once. There are many options out there such as VMWare Fusion or Parallels, but Oracle’s VirtualBox offering is different in that it’s free.

Free is always good, especially if you only need to access Windows once in a while. VirtualBox can run all flavors of Windows, Linux, Solaris, OS/2 & BSD. If you need to support some random piece of software that only runs in Windows 3.1, VirtualBox will do it.

For my example below, I will run through installing Windows 7 in VirtualBox.

1. Download VirtualBox from Oracle’s site.
   
2. Run throughout the Install.
   
3. Launch VirtualBox for the first time and it will ask if you want to register. It is not required.
   
4. Once the Virtual Machine list comes up, we need to make a new VM.
   
5. This will start the New Virtual Machine wizard. Enter your machine’s name and select the OS you will be installing.
   
6. Set the amount of RAM you want to be available to your VM. I chose 1GB since this will be Windows 7 and I have 4GB to spare.
   
7. We also have to create a new Virtual Hard Disk for the install to run off of.
   
8. Choose whether it’ll be a dynamic or static disk. Dynamic is the default since it saves space until it’s needed.
   
9. Choose your size, save location and your new virtual disk is done.
   
10. Now we can launch our VM and start our OS install.
    
11. The First Run Wizard will start and we need to insert our Windows 7 media so it can be installed.
    
12. The Windows 7 setup process begins. To switch your mouse out of the VM and back to OS X, hit Control + Command.
    
13. The Virtual Hard Disk we created earlier is available for Windows to install to.
    
14. Go grab a bite to eat or a few drinks while you let Windows install. When it’s done, all should be well.
    
15. Now we need to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions. Click on Devices in the VirtualBox menu bar and select Install Guest Additions…
    
16. The install will finish and then let the VM reboot at the end. You no longer need to type Control + Command to switch mouse controls. You can also resize the VM window and the desktop resolution will adapt.
    

Having VM’s available to you in the support environment is a godsend. I still use Snow Leopard on my iMac, but I have the ability to launch a VM with whatever OS the troubled co-worker is using. People seem to think you must know everything about Microsoft Office since you’re IT. I am constantly reminding people, this is not the case. But I can launch Outlook on my end and walk them through the process.

If there is a Windows app that your job requires you to run then it’s time to use Seamless Mode. This allows you to have a Windows Start Bar on the bottom of your screen and Window applications will float on top of OS X.

We also have used VMware Fusion in the past. But so far, VirtualBox does everything Fusion does in our environment. If you haven’t dabbled in VMs before, give VirtualBox a try.

MetroPCS today rebounded from a sluggish third quarter by posting a fourth-quarter profit that beat estimates thanks in part to the addition of 317,000 net new customers. But those net adds mark a 39 percent decrease over the year-ago period, and its increasing churn rate is further evidence that the prepaid space is more competitive than ever.

The carrier, which is reported to be eyeing a merger with Leap Wireless, capitalized on heavy price cuts over the holidays, which contributed to its customer adds. And last month MetroPCS upped the ante with even more aggressive new price plans, further escalating the brutal prepaid price war. The bargain-basement deals have led to a market in which users unbound by contracts often switch providers overnight to take advantage of the latest offering. MetroPCS seems to be holding its own in the cutthroat market, but if the company can find a way to lure more loyal postpaid users it could begin to separate itself from the prepaid pack.

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Image courtesy Flickr user Jeremy Brooks.

Microsoft is getting a lot of attention over its decision to streamline the OS and deliver only three main chassis designs with its upcoming Windows Phone 7. But if the company is to regain relevance with the Apples and Googles of the mobile world, it’s the first chassis design that will be key.

As Mary Jo Foley first reported this morning, the first Windows Phone 7 chassis is designed for manufacturers building big-screen, touch-only devices, while the second will support gadgets with sliding QWERTY keyboards in addition to touchscreens. While the third chassis isn’t specified, it’s expected to be targeted at traditional, candy bar-style handsets.

The strategy allows Microsoft to all but guarantee a consistent user experience and performance across devices, as Kevin noted over at jkOnTheRun. Chassis No. 1 will be used on the first smartphones to run Windows Phone 7 when the devices come to market before this year’s holiday season. And the first chassis will also be crucial if Microsoft is to expand beyond modern handsets to leverage the wave of tablets that will come to market over the next several months.

That’s a strategy Apple is pursuing with its iPad, which runs the iPhone OS. It also is Google’s plan for Android, which is so versatile that Om envisions the Androidification of everything. Microsoft already has vast experience in the PC and laptop world, of course, so bridging the gap between phones and other connected devices shouldn’t be all that difficult. If it can truly produce a world-class mobile OS — and if it can attract developers to the platform — it will suddenly find itself competing with the most influential players in the space. Which seemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago.

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Image courtesy Microsoft.

Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski today offered some details regarding the National Broadband Plan the agency will present to Congress next month. But he likely failed to assuage fears that the FCC won’t be able to free up enough spectrum for mobile network operators and their customers.

Speaking at the New America Foundation in Washington, Genachowski said the U.S. “is lagging behind” other nations when it comes to broadband, and he cited mobile as the most promising segment “for transformational innovation.” The key will be unleashing enough spectrum to meet the ever-increasing demand for mobile data, he said. From his speech:

For starters, although the potential of mobile broadband is limitless, its oxygen supply is not. Spectrum –- our airwaves –- really is the oxygen of mobile broadband service. Without sufficient spectrum, we will starve mobile broadband of the nourishment it needs to thrive as a platform for innovation, job creation and economic growth. And the fact is America is facing a looming spectrum crunch.

Genachowski said the FCC plans to help address that threat by releasing 500 MHz of spectrum over the next decade. It will hold a “mobile future auction” that will enable existing spectrum licensees — in other words, TV broadcasters — to give up spectrum in markets that need it in exchange for a share of auction proceeds. Such a move would allow mobile carriers to tap broadcast spectrum that is currently being used inefficiently, Genachowski said, and give broadcasters “more flexibility to pursue business models to serve their local communities.” Genachowski also cited the value of unlicensed spectrum in spurring innovation, and vowed to deliver a comprehensive public safety strategy that will leverage public-private partnerships between safety agencies and 700 MHz commercial providers, including licensees of the “D block.”

A mobile future auction may not actually free up much spectrum, though. The plan might be effective in rural areas, where carriers don’t need more bandwidth anyway; meanwhile most broadcasters have already indicated they’ll balk at selling spectrum they use to reach over-the-air viewers in urban areas. And even if such a plan were successful, Genachowski’s goal of delivering 500 MHz of new spectrum falls far short of the 800 MHz mobile network operators say they’ll need to meet increasing demand for data by the end of this year. So while both the mobile industry and the FCC agree that the National Broadband Plan must make new spectrum a priority, the commission’s efforts as revealed so far won’t meet the industry’s needs.

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Images courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission.