Mereja

Author: Tricia Duryee

  • AT&T To iPhone Users: Our Network Is Good Now, Please Don’t Sign Up With Verizon


    Happy iPhone User At AT&T

    This time the rumors that the iPhone will be sold by Verizon Wireless sometime around the end of the year must be true.

    On Monday, anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal that there were two new iPhones in the works, including one for the Verizon Wireless network. Now, there’s additional unnamed people leaking information to the publication that defends AT&T’s network quality, saying that the second-largest operator has taken drastic measures to prevent dropped calls. Not only that, but AT&T (NYSE: T) is quoted as saying that it believes any rival that picks up Apple’s smartphone for the first time will experience the same growing pains.

    Is it a coincidence? No one knows for sure, but the back-and-forth publicity stunts in the WSJ hint that the battle for the iPhone subscriber is heating up for the first time in U.S.

    Never before have we known what it’s like to have the iPhone available on multiple networks here. Since the first iPhone rolled out in 2007, AT&T has had a firm grasp on its exclusivity. Now, analysts and these unnamed sources are saying that one of two upcoming iPhones will be slated for Verizon Wireless and will come out closer to the end of the year. The other one will be released in July, which is the typical timing for a new iPhone release (and in this case, will likely still be an exclusive to AT&T).

    But if today’s article in the WSJ is any indication, AT&T is afraid that consumers, who have heard horror stories from their friends about dropped calls and connection difficulties, will hold out and wait for the Verizon Wireless version later this year. Instead, AT&T wants you to know that it is doing everything it can to improve the network experience, including tapping Apple’s expertise on the phone.

    According to people familiar with the situation, in mid-December, AT&T executives set up a 100-day plan to dramatically improve the company’s network in densely-populated cities, WSJ reports. Since then, AT&T has added new spectrum to better handle traffic, repositioned antennas to improve reception and wired more neighborhood cell towers with faster connections. AT&T routinely says that its network handles more data than any other in the world. This year, it will spend $2 billion more on building twice as much capacity as it did last year. Help also came on the handset side. AT&T provided a “crash course” in wireless engineering to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) designers to help limit the load that iPhones put on the network.

    AT&T’s problems have been almost comical at times. Verizon Wireless launched a very successful ad campaign around AT&T’s coverage flaws with the phrase, “there’s a map for that,” and AT&T lost a lawsuit over it. AT&T launched an iPhone app that let’s you mark the spot, where you dropped a call. More solid solutions came as recently as last week when AT&T said it was launching a femtocell in April that allows you to install a mini-cell tower in your house to receive better coverage.

    While this is likely all good news for consumers, as we’ve cautioned before, don’t look to as iPhone competition as the end to all of your problems. In Europe, where exclusives have pretty much vanished, there have been two noticeable trends: First, increased competition has not translated into lower prices. In fact, some carriers even charged more, and competition did not lead to better network coverage.

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  • Video Could Drive A 40-Fold Spike In Mobile Data Over Next Five Years


    Social Media And Smartphones

    A UK consultancy is predicting that tiered pricing plans for mobile internet are inevitable, given the dramatic rate at which mobile data—and especially video—is expected to rise in the near future.

    By 2015, U.S. mobile consumers are expected to consume 327 petabytes of mobile data a month, rising at a compound annual growth rate of more than 117 percent, according to Coda Research Consultancy, which released the 87-page report today. As Mobile Crunch points out that represents a 40-fold increase in data consumption over five years.

    At the core of this massive growth is mobile video, which Coda predicted will rise even faster. In 2015, video will consist of 224 petabytes of data a month, representing a compound annual growth rate of 138 percent.

    One of the biggest topics at this year’s CTIA was how to keep up with consumers’ increasing mobile appetite. Whether this particular forecast turns out to be right, most carriers are looking at obtaining more spectrum and rolling out 4G to handle the curve. Steve Smith, co-founder of Coda, said carriers will cope by offering different rate plans for different levels of consumption. In a release, he said: “Flat-rate pricing has helped drive mobile internet adoption, but we envisage that as smartphone penetration rises and as carriers roll out 4G, carriers will have to move toward tiered pricing.”

    Coda said that peak capacity is not as much the main concern as general capacity—which makes it even more scarier because that means the networks could be tapped out all the time, not just at big events, like a conference or baseball game. “As carrier networks now stand, network utilization will reach 100 percent in 2012 during peak times,” Coda said. At that same time, smartphone penetration will reach 40 percent in the U.S.

    Other findings:
    —the number of people accessing social networks from their phones is supposed to rise 21 percent annually between now and 2015.
    —the number of mobile video users will rise by 34 percent annually to reach 95 million in 2015.
    —non-SMS data revenues will climb at 17 percent annually, and will form 87 percent of all data revenues in 2015.


  • Two Ways Google May Solve The Fragmentation Issue On Android


    HTC Android Evolution

    There are at least four different versions of the Android operating system currently in the market, which has raised concerns that the platform will become fragmented and difficult to develop for.

    With each additional version, developers must support and tweak applications multiple times—a burdensome process that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has warded off by making few device types and only a handful of OS updates. But now there’s some relief in sight, or at least according to Engadget, which heard multiple reports at CTIA that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is working on at least two ways to alleviate some of these problems. None of them will be immediate, but they could fall into place before the problem gets any worse.

    Google is intimately aware of the problem and has devoted a web site to illustrate which platforms are being used the most. Based on devices that have accessed the Android Market within a 14-day period, Google said nearly half of Android devices are running the 1.6 OS version, and the latest release—2.0.1—has only 20.4 percent of the users, which even falls behind the 1.5 version, which has 31 percent of the total.

    What’s the solution? Often Google and others talk about the mobile web being the solution. Soon everything will be accessed through the browser, and not through applications. In the meantime, Google has two plans:

    The first move is simple: Google may be slowing down the pace of innovation, giving handset makers and carriers a chance to catch up and push out the latest updates to consumers. In the past 18 months or so, Google has quickly pushed out at least four OS updates—and most of them were badly needed since the OS was in its infancy. Engadget said things are expected stabilize by the time we get to Froyo (remember, the code names are tasty treats by alphabetical order so this marks the sixth iteration—cupcake, donut, eclair, frozen yogurt, etc.).

    Google’s second move is a bit more complicated: Engadget says Google will be disconnecting many of Android’s standard applications and components from the OS to make them downloadable through the Android Market. This will enable major parts of the Android experience to be updated on Google’s timetable (and directly by consumers). This will likely start occurring with Froyo and continue with Gingerbread, it says. More importantly, this wouldn’t be limited to applications, like maps, but also components, which mean it could extend to virtual keyboards, browsers, or other more concrete features of the operating system.

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  • CTIA 2010: Review In Photos


    CTIA 2010 Review In Photos

    At the annual CTIA event in Las Vegas last week, more than 40,000 people turned out to listen to the keynotes, walk the show floor and see some of the next big devices to hit store shelves.

    Some of the highlights included the unveiling of several Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S and Sprint’s announcement of the HTC EVO 4G. Here’s some of the pictures in review, including behind-the-scenes shots from some of the press conferences. Below are five of the top stories:

    —Sprint Builds On 4G Momentum With First WiMax Phone

    —Samsung Stresses Mobile Content With New Smartphone

    —European Operators Even Concede That The U.S. Is Leading In Mobile

    —AT&T Solves 3G Coverage Gaps One House At A Time

    —Yahoo Extends iPhone Push To Search


  • Verizon Wireless’ Wait May Be Over; New iPhones Coming This Summer


    Apple's CEO Steve Jobs

    Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is developing two new iPhones that will debut this year, and one of them is reportedly slated for the Verizon Wireless network, reports the WSJ.

    If the rumors are to be trusted this time around (because a lot of them have been way off the mark), it could mean the iPhone would be for sale for the first time in the U.S. outside of AT&T’s network in a matter of months. The timing falls in line with an Apple tradition of unveiling a new iPhone every June or July since launching the first in 2007. The WSJ notes that the CDMA version for the Verizon network may not be produced until September.

    In most countries, the iPhone has become available on multiple carriers. Perhaps part of the delay has been because of the complexities of the U.S. market. The phone’s hardware would have to be tweaked to run on Verizon or Sprint’s network. It would have to be tweaked once again to work on T-Mobile’s 3G network. For the iPhone to work on Verizon Wireless’ network, it has to come with a CDMA chipset. AT&T (NYSE: T) uses the predominant global standard, GSM, but T-Mobile uses a different radio frequency in the U.S. that makes it incompatible.

    Many speculated that the Verizon version would come soon after AT&T announced a slew of other smartphone devices for its network at CES in January. AT&T announced it would carry multiple Dell, Android and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) phones—all due out later this year.  However, others surmised that AT&T and Apple’s partnership was rock solid after Apple said the iPad would be available exclusively for the AT&T network when it launches with 3G sometime in May.

    Engadget was able to track down some additional information, and hesitantly reported that the next iPhone would be announced on June 22, and will be called the iPhone HD, which would imply higher resolution capabilities. They won’t believe it until they see it.


  • Vodafone Is Looking For Ways To Juice Its Stake In Verizon Wireless


    Vodafone logo

    Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) has an on-again, off-again relationship with Verizon Wireless. Despite owning 45 percent of the largest U.S. wireless carrier, Vodafone hasn’t been happy with the returns on its investment.

    On some level, Vodafone should feel pretty good that it owns 45 percent of the largest U.S. wireless carrier. But Verizon Wireless hasn’t paid a dividend to Vodafone since 2005, and instead has used the unit’s proceeds for other purposes, including paying off debt associated with last year’s purchase of Alltel (NYSE: AT). As an annual ritual, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone are now holding informal talks on next steps. The possibilities include combining the two phone companies, having one carrier sell its stake in Verizon Wireless to the other, or starting to pay dividends, according to Bloomberg, which quoted people familiar with the situation.

    While a merger with Verizon could make sense for both parties, it will be a few more years before they are using the same network technologies.  Verizon Wireless’ U.S. network has worked on CDMA, while Vodafone’s network has been primarily based on GSM technologies. Going forward, both will transition to LTE for 4G. Meanwhile, Verizon and Vodafone, the largest carrier in the world, have launched a handful of devices together that have chipsets that are compatible with both companies’ phones, so that customers can travel between the U.S. and Europe.


  • Updated: Android’s Secret Sauce? Google’s Advertising Rev-Share Deals With Carriers


    Android will be very big at CTIA 2010

    UPDATE: Google (NSDQ: GOOG) provided a statement today, saying that it is sharing advertising revenues with carrier and handset partners, but clarified that it is limited to search and does not extend to other applications, like YouTube or Maps. They said it was a pretty standard deal, and works across all Android devices that have Google search. “We share revenue on search, not on mobile applications,” a Google spokesperson said. “The same is true for non-Android devices that use Google as the default search engine.”

    In just 18 months, the number of Google Android phones being shipped has soared to 60,000 a day, and over that period countless new devices have been released by handset makers for sale by carriers worldwide.

    Nothing typically moves this fast in wireless. So how has Google done it?

    Well, at least part of the answer appears to be that Google is sharing advertising revenues with carriers that use Android, according to multiple sources who are familiar with the deals. In some cases, sources said, Google is also cutting deals with the handset makers. The revenue-sharing agreements only occur when the handsets come with Google applications, like search, maps and gmail, since that is not a requirement of Android. Google declined to comment, and said terms of its agreements with partners are confidential. A number of carrier and handset makers that I spoke with about this declined to comment.

    For other handset makers, this will make the playing field significantly more competitive and may change who the carriers and handset makers decide to work with. Some handset makers may be forced to do similar deals, but for those who aren’t in the advertising business, it could spell trouble. On the flip-side, this is good news for carriers, which have been looking for new revenue sources that could help pay for the next generation of networks that will cost billions.

    To be sure, any checks that Google sends today are likely small. Advertisements in applications like gmail and maps are nearly non-existent, with the vast majority being displayed in search results. However, by many estimates mobile advertising is set to take off. Google has agreed to pay $750 million for the mobile ad network AdMob. That deal is still under regulatory review. Google has been clear from the start that it planned to give away the operating system and make money on advertising, but it hasn’t said that it was willing to share in those riches.

    The deals put Google’s rapid accomplishments in the space into a whole new light. Already Google was sharing a portion of the applications sales from within the Android Market with the carriers, but this sweetens the pot even more.

    Android had a busy week at CTIA, which ended today, with the announcements of a bunch of new phones that run the Google operating system. Samsung announced the new high-end Galaxy S, while Sprint (NYSE: S) announced its first 4G phone developed by HTC, and AT&T (NYSE: T) announced that the Dell phone will be available soon. Kyocera, which hasn’t made a smartphone in six years, came out of retirement to make its first Android device, a low-end phone that could easily be free with carrier subsidies.

    And it’s only been about a month since the Mobile World Congress in Spain, where numerous handsets were also unveiled; Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt had a keynote address there. At the show, he said the company doubled the number of phones it was shipping over the past quarter to 60,000 handsets a day. By our calculations, if that rate stays constant, Google could ship roughly 22 million phones this year. If it continues to double every quarter, it could hit 27 million.


  • Verizon Wireless Launches App Store Of Its Own


    Verizon Wireless (Large Logo)

    Verizon Wireless is rolling out its very own app store called V CAST Apps as a way of getting a slice of the revenues from applications sold on smartphones.

    The launch by the largest U.S. carrier launch is expected Monday, and initially will be available on a very limited basis. It will first be on the BlackBerry Storm with other RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) devices coming shortly, reports Engadget. The store would presumably spread to other mobile operating systems over the next weeks and months.

    The downside for the customer is that it means RIM’s own BlackBerry App World won’t come loaded on the device, but Verizon touts a list of other perks for both customers and developers as reasons why they won’t care.

    Verizon will follow Apple’s lead, by sharing 70 percent of revenues with developers and by keeping 30 percent for themselves. Developers who choose to use the V CAST Apps store will also have access to the carrier’s billing platform, and other APIs, such as a user’s location. Presumably, customers will enjoy these conveniences, as well. For instance, BlackBerry’s App World is connected to PayPal, not the carrier’s bill. Verizon also said it will help market the applications, including on its web site, which is the No. 26 web property in the U.S. and has 60 million registered users (half of which visit the site every month).

    For Verizon, the launch is critical as more of its customers move from feature phones, where it got a cut of applications sales, to smartphones, where users can access applications, content and other entertainment services from a variety of third-parties. Verizon announced the launch of the App store last week at CTIA, where it also launched the new Skype application that let’s its customers talk to other Skype users on an unlimited without using minutes from their plan.

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  • RIM Acquires BlackBerry-App Maker Viigo


    RIM Acquires Viigo

    Research In Motion has acquired Viigo, a Toronto-based company that has built a platform that makes it easy for publishers and other content companies to develop applications for the BlackBerry platform.

    Viigo posted a short statement on its web site today acknowledging that it is now apart of RIM (NSDQ: RIMM). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mark Ruddock, Viigo’s CEO wrote: “Our team has joined RIM’s global organization and will continue to bring our expertise in BlackBerry application development and real-time content delivery to the BlackBerry platform.”

    The acquisition is smart since increasingly handset sales are tied to how many applications the various platforms have. Frequently, RIM helps partners, such as Facebook and others, to make their BlackBerry applications. It would make sense for BlackBerry to want to acquire any additional tools that would make that process faster or cheaper.

    Viigo has its own application that has several different modules that users can pick from like an RSS reader, weather, news, etc. It also has been pitching media companies with an easy way to create an ad-supported application. Customers include Federated Media, Business Wire and others.


  • Second North American Carrier Taps Into GetJar’s Free App Catalog


    GetJar

    As the trend moves toward more applications and content stores, GetJar has benefited. The independent, Lithuanian-based application has partnered with Rogers in Canada, just a month after landing its highest profile deal with Sprint (NYSE: S) in the U.S.

    GetJar has signed up others worldwide with Carphone Warehouse, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) and Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM) France. Today, it distributes 67,000 free applications, so its revenues come from developers and content owners that pay for better placement in the storefront. GetJar VP Patrick Mork, who is at CTIA this week wearing a “Get Appy” t-shirt, said: “It’s a sign of the times. Carriers are being pragmatic, and are asking whether they really need to manage the entire catalog, or should we take a different approach to things.”

    GetJar offers both a white label version or a GetJar-branded version of its catalog. Both Sprint and Rogers have opted for the GetJar branded version. In that scenario, GetJar manages the catalog and customer service, which Mork said is limited to a couple of emails a month—despite the fact that it supports 60 million downloads a month.

    Just recently, GetJar commissioned a study that found the the application market is set to grow to $17.5 billion by 2012, which will be greater than the value of all CDs estimated to be sold that year. Additionally, it found that application downloads—across all types of handsets—are expected to increase from more than seven billion downloads in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2010.


  • AT&T Solves 3G Coverage Gaps One House At A Time


    AT&T Bars

    Frustrated iPhone users, who can’t access the AT&T (NYSE: T) network reliably from home, look no further: AT&T has announced a “microcell,” which allows you to use your home broadband connection to create a mini cell site right in your house.

    AT&T’s network problems have been well-documented as the iPhone and other smartphones have maxed out the company’s capacity. Now, it’s providing some relief—without having to fix every single gap in the country itself—by selling a 3G MicroCell. It will start rolling out in mid-April, and will be available for $150.

    The microcell will allow access to up to 10 approved phone lines. It’s free on a monthly basis, but for $20 a month, users can get unlimited voice minutes when in the home. If users opt for the monthly unlimited plan, they can receive a $100 mail-in-rebate for the device. Additionally, if customers sign up for AT&T’s broadband service (DSL or U-verse), they are eligible for a $50 mail-in-rebate.


  • European Operators Even Concede That The U.S. Is Leading In Mobile


    US Wireless Data Growth

    Ask anyone who has been in the wireless industry for several years and they will tell you that the U.S. has been trailing behind Europe and Asia in terms of adopting the latest technologies and consumption.

    But at this year’s CTIA, speakers have been clear to dispute that image, and in fact, are saying the U.S. is leading the way by any measure. The unlikely speaker to deliver this message today was German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT). The company’s CEO René Obermann, said: “The U.S. is the driver and is becoming bigger than Europe.” U.S. data revenues are growing at 29 percent vs. 11 percent in Europe, he said, and non-voice revenues total $15 a month on average in the U.S. and only $9 in Europe.

    Deutsche Telekom also has a stake in the U.S. market through its T-Mobile USA subsidiary, but the viewpoint this morning provided a nice outsider’s perspective. Yesterday, AT&T’s Mobility Chief Ralph de la Vega delivered a very similar message. He said the U.S. adoption of 3G services is unprecedented. The U.S. has 33 percent of the world’s advanced 3G customers (despite only having 7 percent of the world’s wireless subscribers).

    In Obermann’s keynote, he skirted the issue of Deutsche Telekom’s plans for T-Mobile USA in the near future. The company has been said to be considering spinning off the company through an IPO, or is seeking outside investors.While the U.S. is one of the more advanced networks, T-Mobile USA has been slow to roll out its 3G network, and now is pouring millions of dollars into building a high-speed network. Yesterday, T-Mobile USA announced at CTIA that it is upgrading its network to support speeds up to 21 mbps. The network is available in parts of of New York City, New Jersey, Long Island and suburban Washington, D.C., with Los Angeles coming soon. It plans to cover more than 100 metro areas and 185 million people by the end of the year.


  • Fox Mobile Group Unveils Hulu-Like Video Streaming Service For The Phone


    Fox Mobile Group's new mobile video streaming service, Bitbop

    Fox Mobile Group has finally unveiled the long-delayed mobile video streaming service it has been working on for years, but don’t get too excited because this doesn’t sound like the Hulu for mobile that everyone has been waiting for.

    While programming is expected from “numerous top-notch content partners,” there’s no mention of Hulu or News Corp.‘s joint venture partner, NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), in the release. Fox Mobile said this morning as part of CTIA that the service will be called Bitbop and that it will be an on-demand video subscription service for $9.99 a month. Subscribers will be able to watch full-length content on a smartphone over WiFi and 3G.

    The service is expected to launch this Spring, but since many deadlines have not been made in the past, it’s unclear how much you can take away from that. It did not specify what carriers or handsets would be supported. The announcement comes at a time when Fox Mobile Group is undergoing some restructuring pains. Not only has it lost many executives recently, but it is also considering spinning off some of its assets, including Jamba/Jamster.

    In a release, Fox Mobile Group’s CMO Chris Hoerenz said: “Bitbop is an on demand subscription-based service that delivers on the promise of making the smartphone an easy-to-use entertainment device for television programs and movies. We are able to give mobile audiences the wide range of content they want, when and where they want it, with all the customer friendly features they expect.”

    Bitbop will allow users to either stream the video, or temporarily download it, so that they could view it without internet access. It said that it will work on the most advanced handsets with nearly every carrier, rather than being a entry-phone mobile content play like its Jamba and Jamster brands that sell mostly ringtones. Fox will have to compete against the many applications that are already available for download today that offer free access to full-length content, and many more paid video subscriptions are available, too, through providers, such as MobiTV, FLO TV and the carriers.

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  • RealNetworks Offers New Way To Mass Produce Mobile Video Apps


    RealNetworks Mobile Video

    RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) is rolling out a new mobile video service that will help entertainment and wireless companies tap into consumers’ increasing demand for watching video on the go.

    As networks and devices get better, users want to watch news, sports and other video content on their phone. But getting applications to market can be expensive and time consuming. With one-time events, like the Olympics or March Madness, often only one application is developed, and usually its for the iphone. RealNetworks will be demonstrating a new platform this week at CTIA that aims to make video apps for all platforms much easier to produce. The mobile video service leverages Real’s technology that is being used today by AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless for their respective video-streaming services.

    Video can either be streamed live or played back on-demand and Real supports the iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Java, as well as, the mobile web. “Consumers have gone from watching five-minute snacks to wanting to see full-length episodes,” said Vincent Guytan, RealNetworks’ director of product management.

    The Mobile Video Portal (MVP) service provides the media company or carrier with the tools to make the application (via an drag-and-drop style web interface) and even billing and advertising services through a partnership with Omniture (NSDQ: OMTR) and DoubleClick. Real will also submit the apps to the various app stores, and provide editorial services to the company if they don’t want to be responsible for updating the content in the applications. Neither AT&T or Verizon Wireless are using the new platform, and no customers have been announced.


  • Sprint Builds On 4G Momentum With First WiMax Phone


    Sprint launches first 4G phone, the HTC Evo 4G

    Sprint (NYSE: S) is in third place when it comes to the number of subscribers it has on its network, but it wants everyone to know that it is the first to roll out a 4G network in the U.S.

    To add to that momentum, Sprint unveiled the first WiMax-based phone, HTC Evo 4G, at CTIA today. Although the phone won’t be available until summer, Sprint still may beat all other carriers to market with a 4G phone by a year or more. Verizon Wireless, which is rolling out a competing LTE network, said phones won’t be ready until 2011. Sprint is live with 4G in 27 markets and expects to quadruple its footprint this year.

    The HTC Evo 4G runs Google’s Android operating system and has a 4.3 inch screen and a 1 Ghz processor. Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse said the phone will also allow users to connect eight other devices using WiFi to gain mobile broadband access—that’s three more than the company’s previously announced Overdrive modem that allows five.

    Sprint had no problem coming up with applications to demonstrate 4G. Here are just some highlighted during today’s press conference:

    —YouTube high quality: Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has worked with Sprint and HTC to automatically launch high quality content when 4G is detected. The browser has not been released. In a side-by-side demonstration, the video is much more crisp than the 3G streaming version.

    —Kick-stand: Video is obviously a big feature on the device. It comes with a kickstand to watch hands-free.

    —TV connectivity: The phone easily connects to a plasma TV so that you can watch a HD movie on a big screen.

    —Cameras: There are two on the device. The one on the back is 8 megapixels, and the one on the front is 1.3 megapixels. Photos taken with the one on the back can easily be uploaded over 4G, and the one on the front can be used for video conferencing that can be streamed to your Facebook page using Qik.

    —Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash: The Evo supports full Flash capabilities.

    —Modem: Users will be able to connect eight different devices to the Evo using WiFi to gain internet access to the 4G network. In a humorous demo it connected Verizon’s Droid device.

    Sprint said it’s withholding some details about the phone until closer to the launch.


  • Samsung Stresses Mobile Content With New Smartphone


    Samsung Galaxy S Unveiled at CTIA 2010 in dramatic stage presentation

    Samsung unveiled a new smartphone for the U.S. market today at CTIA that combines the company’s latest hardware with content such as books, full-length movies, augmented-reality browsers and an integrated social-networking hub.

    The pairing of hardware and content is a recognition by the U.S.‘s largest handset maker that you can no longer rely on hardware alone to differentiate. In fact, Samsung’s head of mobile, JK Shin, said they now factors three things into making smartphones: screen, speed and content. Samsung used a dazzling and dramatic story-telling technique to show off the features of the Galaxy S in a press event just following the morning’s keynote. The presentation is the second splashy event in just two months, showing how much resources the Korean handset maker is dedicating to the space.

    In an intense 15-minute multimedia event at CTIA, Samsung showed off a day in the life of the new phone, called the Galaxy S, through the eyes of a young, active business professional. A ton of the features were highlighted including the phone’s maps and navigation abilities, the HD video recorder, the smart alarm that wakes you up to chirping birds, and the augmented reality browser that overlays thousands of points of interest on a map. Paramount Pictures went onstage to say it will contribute full-length movies to the phone; however, details on those services are still forthcoming. More content relationships coming with e-reader applications from Skiff.

    While content was the star, the hardware was not neglected one bit. The Android-based phone has a large 4-inch display, a very bright “Super Amoled” screen, a 1 GHz processor, a 5 megapixel camera, HD video recording a play-back, TV remote control functionality and 16 gigabytes of internal memory. The phone won’t be available until this summer. No details on pricing or carrier partnerships.

  • @ CTIA: U.S. Leads In Mobile Broadband Subscribers And Investments


    AT&T's Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega at CTIA 2010

    The theme at CTIA in Las Vegas is mobile broadband and the shift to 4G. In this morning’s keynote, AT&T’s CEO Ralph de la Vega said that the U.S. is facing unprecedented demand for mobile broadband and that the U.S. is moving faster than any other country in the world to deploy the fastest networks. “Almost any way you look at it, the U.S. is leading the way,” he said.

    Here’s how the U.S. is ahead on mobile broadband:

    —The U.S. has 117 million 3G subscribers, or 18 percent of the world’s 3G subs and more than any other country in the world.
    —When looking at the fastest 3G networks, the U.S. has 33 percent of the world’s advanced customers.
    —The U.S. only has 7 percent of the world’s subscribers, and yet, one out of five 3G subscribers being added today are in the U.S., according to Morgan Stanley.
    —In the last five years, WiFi hotspots tripled, and the U.S. has twice as many than the next closest country, or roughly 70,000.

    At the show this week, we’ll hear from Sprint (NYSE: S) and Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR), which are rolling out a joint 4G network based on the WiMax standard; Verizon Wireless will talk about building the world’s first large-scale LTE network; and T-Mobile USA is is cranking up speeds on its 3G network.

    Clearwire, which already has 4G running in 27 markets in the U.S., announced this morning the markets where it will build in next. In 2010, the company expects to cover up to 120 million people. New markets being launched this year include: New York City, Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City. Additional cities will be announced later this year.

    Tomorrow, Verizon Wireless is hosting a press event that will answer questions on its latest efforts in rolling out an LTE, and Sprint Nextel is also on hand to give drive tests of its WiMax network in downtown Las Vegas, which is considered a very difficult market because of all the large casinos. During a tour, network speeds ranged between 3 and 6 mbps, but also dropped to as low as 1 mbps and soared to speeds as high as 11 mbps. The company is expected to make additional announcements at its press conference this afternoon.

    Iyad Tarazi, Sprint’s VP of network development and engineering, helped to put into perspective why we need a 4G network today. He said networks used to be more advanced than the phones people, but now phones have leap-frogged the networks: they have high-speed processors and are capable of taking high-resolution photos and video, but you have to wait until you get home to upload them to the web. He said Sprint users who have upgraded from a BlackBerry to an Android phone, use 10 times the bandwidth than they did before. These are all signs that the networks are starting to lag behind, he said, “This is an indication that the network could do more.”


  • Motricity Plays Catch-Up: Rolls Out App Stores For Carriers


    Motricity mCore Marketplace announced at CTIA 2010

    At CTIA last year, Motricity’s Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Jim Ryan grabbed headlines when he said, “Shame on us…My hope is that the mobile internet does not go down the path of re-creating the internet.”

    Unlike with the internet, he believes users should pay for content and services they access on mobile devices—and the carrier should get a cut of the revenues. Fast forward six months, and Ryan says that he’s still getting grief for making those comments, but now he can fully explain what he met. Today, Motricity is taking the wraps off a three-part overhaul of its carrier offerings that attempts to bring them up to speed in the areas of applications, advertising and social networking.

    To be sure, carriers are looking for the silver bullet, however, it remains to be seen whether these efforts are too late, and consumers are already programmed to go elsewhere for their needs. Motricity will also have to compete against all the noise in the space, which has a decibel of at least 38 app stores. Clearly, Motricity, which is seeking $250 million in an IPO, is banking on it.

    Motricity works with carriers, including AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless, to provide storefront infrastructure that allows them to sell games and other mobile content to subscribers. However, as the trends shifted toward smartphones, carriers were edged out as handset makers and mobile-OS companies, like Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), BlackBerry and Palm (NSDQ: PALM), got into the business of selling applications and providing high-end internet browsers to consumers.

    Motricity’s new services focus on the carrier regaining some ground in the smartphone market, by helping carriers roll out new storefronts and social networking services across all of their entire portfolio of phones, ranging from low-end to high-end devices. While the move makes sense, and carriers are looking for a solution, Motricity has a tough job in front of it. It will have to sell carriers on the idea and also lure developers to its platform, which is getting increasingly difficult as the number of platforms multiply.

    —Motricity’s mCore Marketplace: The app store will aggregate carrier content, carrier services like additional minutes, applications and even hard goods. Motricity will manage all aspects of it for the carrier from content management to uploading additional content, merchandising and billing. A carrier can also use demographics, location, prior activities and purchases to customize the experience. It will be cross-platform, running on Wap, Java, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, laptops, netbooks, eReaders and operating systems including Symbian, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile and Palm webOS. No carrier partners are being announced today.

    —mCore Connect: Motricity has had a number of social-networking aggregation tools for carriers in the past, but this one is more on par with what Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is doing with its Blur technology. The application will integrate all the top sites, like Facebook, mySpace and Twitter, along with e-mail sites like Gmail, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), MSN and AOL (NYSE: AOL) Mail. But rather than making the user click each one to see if they have any updates, Ryan said they will be alerted to any updates or new emails right within the user interface. In addition to saving the user time, Ryan said it also uses less network bandwidth. Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) will be the first carrier to the service in the UK.

    —Campaign Manager: This tool provides marketers with a simple means to create and manage mobile marketing campaigns. A&E has implemented Campaign Manager to integrate mobile messaging programs into live broadcast TV events. Motricity previously was in the business of delivering the messages, but did not help the agencies create the campaigns. Now, a marketing department can create the campaigns themselves.


  • Quick Hits: CTIA Edition 3.22.2010


    Android will be very big at CTIA 2010

    »  Verizon Wireless has partnered with Danal to roll out Danal’s BilltoMobile payment service later this spring, which will let Verizon Wireless customers charge online purchases of digital goods directly to their monthly Verizon Wireless bills. It will have a limit of $25 a month.

    »  Opera Software (OSL: OPERA) says that its widgets will now be available on nearly any mobile phone. Benefits to developers include speed to market and the ability to deploy on nearly any platform. It costs $9.99 a month.

    »  AT&T (NYSE: T) will be selling the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus for $149.99 and $49.99, respectively. It also said that it will offer the first Dell Android-based smartphone in the U.S. The phone will be called the Dell Aero, and it will feature a custom user interface developed by Dell and AT&T.

    »  New York-based Thumbplay has officially made its subscription full-track music service available to the public in beta. The service, which is limited to the BlackBerry platform for now, costs $9.99 a month.


  • CTIA Energizes This Year’s Show With Focus On Developers


    CTIA 2010

    Wireless carriers typically take center stage at CTIA, but this week in Las Vegas expect it to be a bit more balanced: Event organizers are doing more than ever before to cater to the changing landscape of the industry.

    The show will focus much more on application developers and start-ups with keynotes and at least two additional multi-day conference tracks aimed at them. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) may have kicked off the application trend with the iPhone, but it has since become top of mind for every part of the ecosystem from the carriers to handset makers and content companies. At CTIA this week, we will be reminded of that more than ever.

    Pre-show events kick off today with special sessions focused on topics, such as mobile advertising and mobile payments. The main show kicks off tomorrow with keynotes for the week coming from AT&T (NYSE: T), Sprint (NYSE: S), Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR), Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT), Cisco (NSDQ: CSCO) and others. The day three keynote even includes a presentation from Twitter’s Co-founder Biz Stone.

    As for the application developers, there will be at least two multi-day tracks specifically tailored for them. Much like App Planet at Mobile World Congress in Spain this year, CTIA will have Apps World, which is being described as “a place for developers to network, be educated….and stay caffeinated.” Another track, which is being produced by Open Mobile Solutions, is hosting a number of pitch sessions, which will give five companies an hour to present their mobile application to a panel of industry experts, who will provide feedback. CTIA will also have WIP Jam, the long-standing developer-focused event.

    Over the past couple of years, attendees to the two CTIA shows often complained about the lack of news and the refusal by organizers to recognize how important applications and developers were to the ecosystem. The Spring show, in particular, often fell flat after following two heavy-hitting shows like CES in January and Mobile World Congress in February. But this time, it seems like there’s potential for a lot of buzz. What wasn’t ready to release in Spain will be announced this week in Las Vegas. For example, Verizon Wireless announced its partnership with Skype in Spain, and this week they are expected to unveil the VoIP product. Plus, there will be press conferences from Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Samsung, Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) and others. One of the bigger news stories expected include the launch of the first 4G phone running over Sprint’s WiMax network.

    Expect start-ups to also play a more central role. At the 2008 Fall show, I specifically noted the lack of start-ups, like Twitter and Qik, despite it being hosted in San Francisco. Qik attended the following show in the Spring of 2009, and now a year and a half later, Twitter is making its way on to the scene. It may have taken awhile, and it still may not be perfect, but it’s progress.