Category: News

WASHINGTON D.C. — On reports today that the Bureau of Land Management will cancel all oil and natural gas lease sales in California this year, allegedly due to fiscal strains experienced because of sequester cuts, IER Senior Vice President Daniel …

Last week, journalist Josh Stearns blogged about some LEGO stickers he recently saw while looking for a present for his son. Stearns stated that he was “stunned” when he realized one of the stickers in a construction worker sticker pack had a worker in sunglasses saying, “Hey babe!” He took it as a form of street harassment toward women and bemoaned the path LEGO has recently taken with their brand.

Nonprofit organization Stop Street Harassment (SSH) picked up the story and spread it on social media, pointing out that street harassment does not just come from construction workers and that it can often be more serious than a simple “hey babe!” From the SSH blog post:

Street harassment is normalized in our society, in part because it is regularly portrayed as a compliment, a joke, or no big deal in kids’ cartoons, television shows, comedy routines, movies, commercials, product packaging, and even in kids toys, like these stickers by Lego that are aimed at kids, particularly boys.

Now, LEGO has responded to Stearns’ cat-calling criticism, distancing itself from the content seen on the stickers. In an email sent to the journalist, a LEGO PR rep stated that the stickers were actually designed by Creative Imagination, a company that shut down at the end of 2012. It is also revealed that the stickers in question were discontinued in 2010.

Though the stickers may have been discontinued, they can still be found for purchase online, including through Amazon.

Stearns found LEGO’s response to be rather bland, and followed up with the company. His concerns finally got some real attention late last week as LEGO’s head of Outbound Licensing contacted Stearns, stating that LEGO “would not approve such a product again.”

LEGO has recently been designing and marketing toy sets specifically to girls. The company’s ‘LEGO Friends’ playsets have become a big hit, causing the company to focus more on girls as LEGO customers.

Booze and bikinis aren’t the first things that spring to mind when one thinks of Egypt, but the tourism minister says that despite a previous ban on both, visitors are now welcome to bare some skin and imbibe some spirits.

Hisham Zaazou is looking to ramp up the tourism trade in the country after stories of Muslim groups calling for a ban on all the things people on holiday love began to circulate. Travelers have been wary of making their way to Egypt since the 2011 uprising that took down President Hosni Mubarak, fearing for their safety.

Still, Zaazou admits that not everyone is okay with allowing tourists to do as they please.

“We had talks with these Salafi groups and now they understand the importance of the tourism sector, but still you have some individuals that are not from the leadership saying these things”, Mr Zaazou said.

Tourism has always been a huge part of Egypt’s economy; in 2010, 14.7 million visitors made the trip, generating $12.5 billion in earnings. That dropped to 9.8 million the following year, making income earnings just 8.8 billion. Still, leaders are optimistic that some changes will encourage travelers to rethink their worries. Their goal is to hit 30 million tourists with revenues of $25 billion by 2022.

We reported early last month that Disney shut down LucasArts and canceled all the games that the developer was working on. At the time, it was suggested that Disney would farm out future Star Wars games to outside publishers and developers. As it turns out, those Star Wars games will be going through only one publisher.

EA announced today that it has signed an exclusive deal with Disney to be the sole publisher of Star Wars games for the foreseeable future. The exclusivity deal only covers games targeting a core gamer audience with Disney’s own mobile division overseeing all casual and mobile titles.

“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau in a statement. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”

The three above mentioned studios should make Star Wars fans giddy with glee. All three are respected developers with a proven track record so any Star Wars games out of them should be good. DICE may even finally finish Battlefront III – a game many have been requesting for years now.

As for BioWare, a Star Wars game made by the core team could potentially be exciting as the studio also made Knights of the Old Republic – a title many consider to be the best Star Wars game ever made. Some may be hesitant of such a title, however, especially after BioWare’s The Old Republic failed to live up to the hype. The MMO was made by BioWare Austin, though, so some may be willing to give the main BioWare studio a chance, especially if its Star Wars game is similar to its recent Mass Effect trilogy.

[h/t: Kotaku]

The irrational exuberance that surrounded Apple shares last fall has apparently shifted over to Google. Google shares closed trading on Monday at an all-time high of $861.55, giving the company a total market cap of $285.8 billion. The surge in its share price Monday has left Google as the world’s second most valuable tech company, edging out Microsoft’s $281.9 billion market cap but still significantly trailing Apple’s $433.1 billion market cap. The rise in Google’s shares over the past few months has led to several analysts assigning the company’s stock a $1,000 price target based on optimism that the success of its Android platform will spread Google services to a wide range of markets throughout the world.

Samsung has acquired the Atlanta-based second-screen startup MOVL. The acquisition happened last month but hasn’t been reported until now. Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but it looks like a typical acqui-hire.

A MOVL spokesperson confirmed the acquisition when contacted by GigaOM, sending over the following statement:

“In April 2013, two years after inception, MOVL has officially joined forces with Samsung. We are now a part of Samsung Electronics, and we are excited to combine our multi-screen capabilities with Samsung’s scale and innovation in its device ecosystem.”

MOVL has developed a number of second-screen games for connected TVs. Some of the better-known titles include PokerFun, which lets users play poker on the TV while displaying the cards they are holding on their smart phones, and WeDraw, a social drawing game for Samsung smart TVs and Google TV devices.

However, MOVL didn’t just develop games. The company also built a second-screen development platform dubbed MOVL Connect that simplified the process of developing these kinds of multi-screen applications. MOVL’s games are based on and meant to demonstrate the capabilities of that platform, as CTO Alan Queen told me in 2011. 

One of the main capabilities of that platform has been to allow users to join a game, or interact with an app running on their TV even if their phone doesn’t reside on the same Wi-Fi network — something that’s especially important for social apps, but that also lowers the bar for less technically inclined users. The platform is also capable of displaying synchronized ads on both screens.

It’s likely that MOVL will phase out the operation of its platform in the coming months. The company has a staff of nine, all of which have joined Samsung, with plans to relocate all Atlanta-based employees to the Bay Area. MOVL had raised a modest $1 million from Bert Ellis, Kris Pinto and Mark Cuban.

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Free shotguns may be finding their way into the hands of civilians in 15 cities if a certain group has their say.

The Armed Citizen Project has already begun its campaign, handing out guns to at least four people in Houston. They want to expand to several cities, including Chicago, which was chosen because of its restrictive anti-gun laws. The founders of the group say that all they want to do is give people who live in high-crime communities a way to defend themselves and their families.

“It’s our hypothesis that criminals do not want to die in your hallway. We think that society should use that fear to deter crime,” said founder Kyle Coplen. “We’re giving folks the tools with which to defend their life, liberty and property, we’re training them how to use the weapons and empowering citizens.”

As one can imagine, the idea isn’t going over well with everyone. Tonya Burch, the mother of a murder victim in Chicago, says handing out guns will only cause more problems.

“See, that’s not going to work. More of our people, more of our kids are going to be killed. I disagree. I think more of our kids are going to be killed. I think more of our loved ones are going to be killed. No matter how much training you give them, more people are going to die,” she said.

The leaders of the group say they have a legal team to ensure they aren’t breaking any laws before they take action in any city. Their site claims they will be giving away an AR-15 on May 10th (pictured weapon).

Telcos feel like they are between a rock and hard place. When you consider the transition to all IP networks, the margin pressures associated with meeting the insatiable demand for mobile data and the threat that over-the-top services represent to their businesses; it’s clear that they are doing more than just trying to change the jet engine mid-flight, they are trying to replace the engine while others are looting the plane for parts. Meanwhile the skies are getting more crowded with more flyers demanding more routes.

Telcos must invest in their infrastructure, even as demand for their services rises. Yet they cannot ask revenue to continue rising at the pace of consumption, and in some cases, such as text messaging and voice calls their revenue is falling. So far their response has been to decry bandwidth hogs, implement new pricing plans that try to hold the line on the dollars coming in even if users choose to use over-the top-alternatives.

But some are realizing that that’s not enough. They are investing in technologies such as OpenFlow, or at least software defined networking, as they try to get a handle on their costs. And they are demanding their suppliers provide them with specialized software running on commodity hardware, as opposed to the pricey, proprietary boxes of previous generations’ of technology.

Metaswitch’s big switch for telco gear.

For example, Metaswitch, a three-decade-old company based in San Francisco has created Project Clearwater, a software-based IMS core for telephone networks. An IMS (it stands for IP Multimedia Subsystem for those who care about these things) system is the glue that connects the old analog wireline systems to the newer digital systems. The thought behind IMS was that mobile operators would use them as a bridge into the IP world, but in reality they proved complex and expensive and telcos put off making those investments.

As Metaswitch looked at the market two years ago it saw an opportunity. The company, which provides other hardware to wireless carriers, saw the world was changing. So CTO Martin Taylor said the company decided to build an IMS core that ran on commodity hardware. And if that wasn’t revolutionary enough (remember, we’re talking about telcos here) on May 8 Metaswitch will open source the software.

Taylor points out that telcos used to have the largest scale systems, but that is changing. The globe-spanning networks delivering five nines that once inspired such awe, are now common as Google, Microsoft and others build out their own globe-spanning infrastructures. And telco’s know that to keep up they must adopt the same tricks the web scale companies have, like open source software and commodity hardware. Thus Metaswitch will open source its Clearwater software, and follow a Red Hat model of supporting the software and releasing regular updates. Taylor has the right idea, but telcos need to go even further.

But the real solution isn’t open-source software

As forward-thinking as Metaswitch is with its open source business model and trying to deliver a software-based IMS core built for commodity hardware, its customers are making a mistake if they rely on Metaswitch to hold their hand. As the telco network looks more like cloud and webscale infrastructure — in that telco networks they are taking on more load without adding costs — telcos need to think like real cloud vendors and webscale companies, not like enterprise IT customers.

Telcos are providing essential infrastructure in their mobile networks. Many of them also provide cloud computing services. In yesteryear it was enough to just provide the pipes, but if you’re going to provide compute and networking infrastructure today you need to adjust to the new reality for infrastructure providers.

The new infrastructure reality

And that reality is you need to own your systems. Infrastructure is going to be a commodity, even in mobile access (look at Free Mobile’s plans in France or even Republic Wireless here in the U.S. if you want to see the future). And people are going to want more and more of it, so the build out had better be cheap. So if telcos really want to be cloud providers, and the really want to compete in an all IP world, they need to stop demanding hand-holding from their vendors, hire smart people to own their infrastructure development, and get off their butts and start innovating.

For example, Amazon doesn’t hire a company to provide help on its operating systems or databases. When it chooses an open source technology it also chooses and hires smart people to make sure that technology is up and running and maintained. Google, Facebook, Netflix, they all operate the same way in the core areas of their business. Because when you cut out the middle man you cut costs. When you have smart people on staff, you can keep innovating at your pace and in the direction you want to go.

So if you’re going to be an infrastructure provider, that mindset and skill set is par for the course. And telcos do not seem to get this.

They can’t say they want to be like Amazon and play in that world if they want their vendors to do the work. They’ve got to find a way to embrace not just the technologies but the economic realities of competing in the commodity and cutthroat business that is the cloud and IP networks. Otherwise they will begin a long decline.

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The analog-to-digital shift that has seen e-readers booting out books, smartphones trumping landlines and tablets making desktops look fuddy-duddy is also bringing new tech tools to the classroom. Last month, I read this New York Times article about CourseSmart, an app that allows teachers to track whether students have done their reading in digital textbooks, with interest. In the article, the dean of Texas A&M’s business school, which is testing out the technology, admitted it was “Big Brother, sort of, but with a good intent.” And while it did seem to undermine one of the main points of college — that reading and studying are self-motivated — it also seemed like a good way for students to be able to demonstrate to professors that, yes, they are paying attention, and for professors to get real data as to what material just isn’t clicking for their students.

The tech solutions available to teachers now go far beyond the overhead projector. Below, a look at some tools in this burgeoning category.

1. BetterLesson
   The Boston-based startup BetterLesson, founded in 2008, is a social media platform that educators can use to organize and share their curricula. Last year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded BetterLesson $3.5 million. “Considering the startup allows teachers to browse a serious repository of documents, presentations, lessons and even complete units and courses, all through a simple search interface, and upload their own lessons onto a dashboard, you can see why teachers will love this kind of resource,” TechCrunch wrote in 2011. “Add the ability to share curricula directly with international educators and receive feedback, and you’ve got yourself a goddamn deal, as Dave Chappelle would say.”
   .
2. ClassDojo
   Launched in August 2011, ClassDojo helps teachers with what many call their hardest task: classroom management. The platform, which teachers can use on a smartphone, laptop or tablet, allows them to give students points (or take them away) “in real-time, with just one click,” as the website has it. Students are notified (“Well done Josh! +1 for teamwork!”), and teachers can use the platform to generate analytics and reports to share with parents and administrators.
   .
3. PowerSchool
   PowerSchool allows teachers to track attendance, grades, and a lot more for students and parents to view at home. According to Pearson, which sells the system, PowerSchool supports 10 million students in over 65 countries.
   .
4. SMART Board
   An “interactive whiteboard,” SMART Board allows teachers to write class notes digitally, so they can be saved for students to access later. (Feel like building your own whiteboard? At TED in 2008, Johnny Lee showed how you can hack a Wii Remote to build a simple interactive whiteboard.)
   .
5. Remind101
   Started by a team of two brothers, Remind101 enables students and parents to sign up to receive teachers’ text-message reminders about assignments. It’s private—these are mass texts, and teachers can’t see students’ phone numbers. It’s also one-way, meaning that teachers can send out texts, but students can’t respond to them.
   .
6. Educreations
   Using Educreations, teachers can produce video lessons using a “recordable interactive whiteboard” via an iPad app or the website. There’s a public directory of lessons, available for browsing by students or other teachers (or you).

Share your own favorite teacher tech in the comments, and for a comprehensive list, check out the NewSchools Venture Fund’s interactive map. We’re curious—what tools here sound like a good idea and which could be problematic?

Are YouTube subscription fees almost upon us? A recent report suggests that the oft rumored feature is soon to be announced.

The Daily Mail reports that Google will introduce a YouTube subscription fee this week. The new initiative will allow channels to monetize their content with direct contributions from fans, instead of relying upon ad revenue.

The current report suggests that Google will add 25 to 50 channels to the initial rollout of its subscription service. It will also reportedly cost as little as $2 a month per channel, and doing so will provide a few perks to the subscribers. The biggest, of course, is exclusive content only available to subscribers. The videos will also reportedly be ad-free.

The current rumors, however, don’t address what YouTube intends to offer to non-subscribers. Will subscriber content only be available to those who pay? Or will YouTube allow non-subscribers to watch some content with the support of advertising?

Alongside channel subscriptions, previous rumors also suggested that YouTube would begin monetizing live events. In other words, users could pay a small fee to watch major live events, like the Red Bull Stratos Jump from last year.

There’s still too many variables to even think about with a platform as big as YouTube. The announcement is expected to come sometime this week though. We’ll continue to keep an eye for any such announcement, and bring you all the details as soon as it happens.

Jennifer Lopez endured a scare in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday when gunshots rang out near the set of her new music video with rapper Pitbull.

Adding to the drama was the fact that Lopez was actually in the middle of being interviewed when the shots were fired. Rob Marciano, co-host of “Entertainment Tonight”, tweeted about the incident live.

BREAKING:Gunshots fired on Fort Lauderdale Beach DURING my JLo interview. No kidding. Security scrambled her away.

— Rob Marciano (@RobMarciano) May 5, 2013

Can hear & see ambulances converging ~400 yards down the street.

— Rob Marciano (@RobMarciano) May 5, 2013

Heading that way hoping what we think happened didn’t.

— Rob Marciano (@RobMarciano) May 5, 2013

Police confirming: ‘shots fired. no one hit.’Whew.

— Rob Marciano (@RobMarciano) May 6, 2013

Lopez hasn’t released a statement about the shooting, but initial reports said multiple people were detained in the area soon after. Police say no one was injured.

Image: Fame Flynet

Anyone holding out for lower-cost Windows tablets may not have that much longer to wait. PCWorld reports that an image and product description for the world’s first small Windows-based tablet, called the Acer Iconia W3-810-1600, leaked onto Amazon over the weekend before being quickly taken down. From a specs perspective, the new tablet features an 8.1-inch display and 32GB of storage and was selling on Amazon for $380 before it was removed. Microsoft recently made some changes to its Windows 8 hardware certification guidelines that gave OEMs more freedom to make smaller tablets by knocking down the display resolution requirements to 1024 x 768 pixels at a depth of 32 bits for smaller devices.

Former Indiana Governor Otis Bowen, sometimes known as “Doc,” died in a nursing home in Donaldson, Indiana at the age of 95 from unspecified causes.

As Governor, Bowen served for two terms, from 1973 to 1981. He also served as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1985 to 1989 under Reagan. He also served as Speaker of the House after being elected to the Indiana House of Representatives.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence released a statement saying, “Governor Otis R. Bowen’s contributions to the life of this state and nation are incalculable, and I mark his passing with a sense of personal loss. His story is as inspiring as it is uniquely Hoosier.”

Here’s a report from IndianaNewsCenter.com:

Bowen was born in Rochester, Indiana, and began is career as an intern at Memorial Hospital in South Bend in 1942. He went on to serve in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army in World War II. He set up his own practice in Bremen, which lasted until ’72.

Bowen is survived by a wife, children and grandchildren.

Toronto-based Pure Energies Inc., which helps with the adoption by homeowners of solar energy and conservation products, has received $6 million in equity financing from U.S. venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and NGEN Partners. The company’s website confirms the deal was done in March 2013. In 2012, Pure Energies acquired San Francisco-based solar advisor One Block Off the Grid, which was previously backed by NEA. Earlier this year, the company acquired Seattle-based Cooler Planet.

PRESS RELEASE

Pure Energies Group Secures $6M Million in Funding from NEA and NGEN to Propel its Growth in the Explosive US and Canadian Residential Solar Market

Pure Energies Group (“Pure”) has closed $6M million in equity funding. Capitalizing on growth in the US residential solar market, Pure will leverage its local brands, 1BOG and Cooler Planet, to strengthen its position as a leading trusted independent solar advisor to homeowners.

“We believe a homeowner should have a trusted independent advisor who will demystify the process of going solar.” – Zbigniew Barwicz, founder and CEO, Pure Energies Group

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) May 02, 2013

Less than nine months after acquiring San Francisco-based solar advisor One Block Off the Grid (“1BOG”), and three months since the acquisition of Seattle’s Cooler Planet, Pure Energies Group (“Pure”) has closed $6M million in equity funding. Capitalizing on growth in the US residential solar market, Pure will leverage its local brands, 1BOG and Cooler Planet, to strengthen its position as a leading trusted independent solar advisor to homeowners. With its unique platform and re-sell agreements with leading US solar PPA providers, Pure and 1BOG are the one-stop-shop allowing homeowners to find the best solar deal, in minutes.

“We’re extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with such great partners as NEA and NGEN for the next phase of our growth,” said Pure Energies Group founder and CEO, Zbigniew Barwicz. “Residential Solar is a new retail category, with complicated 20-year-plus power purchase and lease agreements, and multiple-thousand dollar prepay options and escalation tables. We believe a homeowner should have a trusted independent advisor who will demystify the process and provide a one-stop-shop to help select the best offering for their specific situation. We are able to provide, at no cost to the homeowner, the best PPA or lease products available from the nation’s biggest solar providers.”

The US rooftop solar installation market is growing at over 62% per year, with falling component prices, attractive economics for solar leasing and rising electricity costs spurring increasing adoption. With the residential sector weathering the highest cost of energy, solar energy has never been more attractive for homeowners.

“With growing demand for residential solar installations, there is clearly an opportunity to help potential customers explore, compare, and select the solution that best fits their needs. Pure’s innovative processes and strong technology platform can help homeowners save real money,” said Rick Yang, senior associate at NEA. “It’s an exciting opportunity, and Zbigniew and his team bring the passion, market experience and execution excellence required to build a great company.”

“Residential solar is democratizing electricity production, and will transform the utility business. Pure Energies accelerates the growth of solar by making it easy and safe for homeowners to switch.” said Robb McLarty, partner with NGEN.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Pure Energies Secures $6M From NEA and NGEN appeared first on peHUB.

Manufacturers in the Chinese market have been using MediaTek chips in their phones for a while now, as it’s a cost-efficient solution— the only problem is that most of these companies have not yet created an aesthetically-pleasing device using the chip.

In March we reported that Sony would be bringing something to the table, and it looks like they will because the Sony C3 packed with a MediaTek chip leaked today. Rumors point to Sony building the phone using the quad-core MT6589 processor or the updated 1.5GHz MT6589T chip. We’ll let you guys know when more information is available.

Source: GizChina
Via: PhoneArena

Come comment on this article: Sony C3 leaks, possibly Sony’s first MediaTek phone

Bing has released its latest “Bing it on” challenge, a contest launched back in September 2012, and, along with that, comes new TV ads. As has become the M.O., Microsoft is going directly after the largest fish in the search sea — Google. This time, Microsoft hits directly at the heart of Google — Google, Kansas that is.

You may recall, back during the race to become the city which would receive Google Fiber, Topeka, Kansas changed its name to Google, Kansas. For that reason, Microsoft chose this as its attack venue for the new challenge and ad filming.

The Bing team is “excited to announce the next wave of the Bing It On Challenge. The challenge is simple — search for five queries of your choice and compare the unbranded web search results from Bing and Google side-by-side”. Anyone can take the challenge by visiting the Bing it on site, but Microsoft took a special interest in Topeka for the filming of its latest Bing TV and web ads.

“You’ll see these new ads popping up on TV and online over the coming weeks” the company tells us. Needless to say nobody shown in the first ad chooses Google as the winner, but the search leader’s name is mentioned several times — just to make sure you know who Bing is being chosen over.

Microsoft has made attacking Google the latest business model, though how this will pan out remains to be seen. The rivalry has certainly provided for a bit of entertainment and the competition is welcome to keep both companies on its toes.

A woman hiking in the Pyrenees mountains in France who fell to her death is igniting a debate over a protected species of vulture.

According to an International Business Times report, a 52-year-old woman fell down a 300-meter cliff while walking with friends. Vultures immediately took to the body, reducing it to only clothes and bones in less than one hour.

The event has highlighted calls by some farmers in France to be able to kill the Griffon vulture, a protected species that has been turning to attacking livestock. Recent European Union laws have required dead animal carcasses, a staple of the vultures’ diets, to be burnt to prevent the spread of mad cow disease. According to the IBT report, this policy has “critically” lowered the food available for the vultures.

Farmers are now making compensation claims for livestock killed or carried off by the birds. Hunters have also complained of the vultures stealing their kills. The birds, which can grow to have 9-foot wingspans and live over 40 years in captivity, are also reportedly spreading out further into Europe in search of food.

(Image courtesy Ingrid Taylar/Wikimedia Commons)

 

Those of you AT&T customers out there who have been itching for the 32GB variation of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone are officially in luck— the wireless carrier has officially announced it will release the 32GB version this Friday, May 10th. The device won’t cost potential customers too much money as well as the device will run customers $250 on-contract— a modest $50 increase from the standard 16GB version. Considering there have been reports of the 16GB Galaxy S 4 only having roughly half of the on-board storage space available due to the preloading of massive bloatware, the Galaxy S 4 may not be such a bad option for customers— especially those who don’t want to fiddle with the use of microSD cards.

Unfortunately, it appears that AT&T is the only carrier that will offer the 32GB version for now, but hopefully we will see other U.S. carriers with the variant sooner than later.

source: AT&T Twitter

Come comment on this article: AT&T to release the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone Friday, May 10th

Chris Mitchell promotes community networks. He’s at the Institute for Local Self Reliance, so his view makes sense. He follows broadband access closely. Late last week he posted an interesting article on CenturyLink, noting that CenturyLink’s plan for 1 Gbps service in Omaha is an outlier, not a sign of the times to come.

Chris points out that Omaha – or at least the part of Omaha getting the upgrade – needed the upgrade for technical reasons. And I think it doesn’t hurt that the area getting the upgrade sounds like an affluent area. It’s certainly positive news for Omaha that the upgrade is coming. And if it does well financially, it could be good news for other areas as well – but for the reasons that Chris points out, I agree that it’s probably an outlier, especially in terms of rural communities. Also I’ve heard the folks at CenturyLink say as much. Rural areas are a tough investment – tough terrain, low population density and managers are obliged to make business decisions that benefit shareholders.

What does this mean for local underserved communities? Chris looks at that question…

CenturyLink just doesn’t have the money to upgrade most of its communities. Will it in future years? That is a question that Phil Cusick of JPMorgan asked: “Okay. And, so we should look at CapEx as being essentially flat for the next few years?”

CFO Stewart Ewing response:

That’s our thinking now. Pretty flat, we could bring it down some, cut it off a little bit depending on. It’s really based on the success of these new initiatives, I mean, what we think we can drive in terms of revenue and margins going forward.

CenturyLink is not dumb or evil, it just has different priorities for investment than what communities need. The sooner local governments understand this, the better. Heck, CenturyLink itself has made this point in Minnesota:

We’re a public company. We have shareholders. We have rules and commitments. If you’re smaller, the shareholders are the owners. There’s more flexibility – especially if owners/shareholders are local.

Minnesota Public Radio summed it up:

Noting that CenturyLink wants every customer it can find, Ring pointed out that the company nonetheless needs a return on investment that satisfies shareholders and meets the demands of larger commitments and fiduciary responsibilities.

If you’re a community looking at broadband and you are served by CenturyLink (or CenturyLink is nearby), it still makes sense to invite them to the table to talk about broadband. They know broadband. They may know if your area is expecting an upgrade in the near future. They may be in a position to be swayed by growing interest in broadband. Most providers will talk to specific customers about upgrades to their service – maybe it’s a matter of aggregating those demands. But it’s also wise to keep Chris’ observations in mind. The key to a public-private partnership is finding a solution that meets the needs of the community and commercial provider and the first step may be recognizing that those needs are not necessarily the same.

An area/project to watch is the North East Central communities. They held a broadband summit in February – inviting community leaders and providers. One of the stated outcomes from the summit was an effort to continue discussion between community leader and providers. Brian Estrem from U-reka Broadband spoke about the moving the public-private effort forward…

With this year’s line of Galaxy devices from Samsung comes the Galaxy Core, a mid-range Android with specs at the level of a Galaxy S2.  The new phone has a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU and a 4.3-inch WVGA screen.  It also comes with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, an 1800mAh battery and a 5-megapixel rear camera.  The phone will be available in two colors— black and white.

As for UI, it’s running TouchWiz Nature over 4.1 Jelly Bean.  It’ll feature Smart Stay, S Voice, and Smart Alerts.

It is unclear which carrier(s) will make the phone available to their customers, but we do know that it will be released at some point this month with a dual-SIM feature.  A single-SIM version will follow in July.  We’ll wait for some more announcements from Samsung to update you guys on the new Galaxy Core. Hit the break for the full press release.

Samsung Introduces the GALAXY Core for Ideal Portability and Power

The smartphone combines dual core processing power, compact design, and Dual SIM technology 

 

Come comment on this article: Samsung to release Galaxy Core – a smaller, cheaper, and weaker GS3