Of course, the month we’re talking about here is October of 2010, but this sort of data takes time to compile, ye know, and The Nielson Company’ve done quite a job doing so. According to this study done by the folks at NC, the smartphone market now covers about 27.7% of the whole pie, the pie being the Total Market Share for phones in the USA. Of that smartphone percentage, three competitors stand out the strongest and are surprisingly close in their race for dominance: RIM BlackBerry OS with 27.4%, Google Android OS with 22.7%, and Apple iPhone OS with 27.9%. After that it goes Microsoft Windows Mobile, Symbian OS, Linux, and Palm OS, with 14, 3.4, 3.3, and 1.3% respectively. After that, desire sets in, and the numbers get real interesting.
The question NC had for their group of people living in the USA next was what mobile phone users who planned to upgrade to a smartphone next year was desired the most – what would you buy if you got exactly what you wanted? It seems that iPhone is in the lead here for those people who already own a smartphone of some kind, with Android being in second place for that crowd with 28% to Apple’s 35%, and Android beating Apple by 2 percentage points in the category for people who at the moment only have featurephones. After that, you can see the scales tip from iPhone and Android to “Not Sure” as age increases, and “Not Sure” and iPhone winning for females while males have an ever-so-slight preference for Android over iPhone, leaving the rest int he dust.
There are arguments as to whether Verizon’s LTE network – as with Sprint and T-Mobile’s – is true 4G. Having been trying one of the carrier’s first 4G USB modems today, that discussion hardly seems relevant: this is undoubtedly the fastest mobile broadband experience we’ve had in the US to date. After the cut, first impressions and speed tests galore.
You’re not likely to call the LG VL600 USB modem stylish; it’s a chunky dongle, packed with both 4G and 3G radios for when you’re outside of the 38 cities Verizon says will have LTE service by the end of this year. It – together with the rotating Pantech UML290 – will be $99.99 when it goes on sale come December 5, with a new, two-year agreement. Data itself is $50 for 5GB per month or $80 for 10GB; after that it’s $10/GB.
Setup is easy, so long as you use a PC; there are no Mac drivers for the LG. Once set up we were online in seconds, and then the fun began. Per Verizon representative, "the LTE LG modem does not currently support Mac OSX but we are working quickly to make that happen."
Impressive stuff, though Verizon is careful to point out that it’s early days and hardly saturated with users right now. Speeds will inevitably take a dive as loads increase. Still, we’re enthusiastic about what Verizon is offering, even in this fledgling state. When it comes to 4G, HSPA+ and Sprint’s WiMAX have a fight on their hands.
I’ve had a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around the whole WikiLeaks affair. My first instinct was conservative, to say the least, and perhaps even jingoistic. I agreed with the sentiment that WikiLeaks, and its founder Julian Assange, was directly attacking the U.S. I hadn’t felt this way about the previous WikiLeaks revelations, but something about this recent information dump struck me differently. In the past, the revelations had always been about the wars the U.S. is fighting abroad. I have some complicated views on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I won’t get into them here. But regardless of whether you are in favor of continuing the fighting abroad or withdrawing all of our troops, I think we can all agree that war is the most dire situation in which a country can find itself. It’s not a decision to be made lightly, or ignorantly. That is why I was supportive of previous WikiLeaks actions. Americans should know the truth about the wars we are fighting, and that means the entire truth.
I’m not ignorant to the realities of how this information might endanger our troops and the informants who are helping us. I think they should be afforded some protection. But I also think that in some cases, if the truth is going to inflame our enemies and put our troops into more danger, perhaps it is the reality that the information has revealed that is to blame, and not the release of the information itself. In other words, if we’re doing something so horrible that we don’t want anyone to know about it, perhaps it’s something we shouldn’t have been doing in the first place. Revealing that horror to the world isn’t the problem, it’s the horrible act itself.
This latest document dump still had me questioning some of my core beliefs. War is one thing, but diplomacy is another thing entirely. I would like to think that our diplomats and embassies abroad are working in the best interest of the American people, and all people worldwide. I definitely think that there should be some sort of oversight, and plenty of transparency, so that we can be sure that the things we say and do behind closed doors match the things we voted for behind closed curtains.
But I also know that diplomacy can be like a game, and subterfuge and secrecy are as much a part of this game as pomp and circumstance. Sometimes, we have to be nice to someone’s face while sneering behind their backs. This is true with our closest allies or staunchest enemies. This isn’t a lie, this is etiquette. We have to work with other countries, other leaders, to move towards a better world. Sometimes that means kowtowing to unsavory characters.
I also think there are leaders who may be more open-minded than the collective world news media portrays the general populace of the countries they lead. Those leaders should be free to say and do unpopular things behind closed doors, so long as they are working towards greater peace and freedom from harm for their people. If King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia wants to take a more liberal stance towards Israel and democracy in the Middle East than popular sentiment in his country might allow, he should feel comfortable having conversations in private with American diplomats, without worrying that those conversations will be made public in a giant information dump years later.
That said, there is no right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States that I hold more dear than the first amendment. I am a true freedom of speech advocate, not just one of those people who wants freedom for the speech I consider decent and moral, and censorship when I think speech crosses the line. For me, freedom of speech comes down to one rule: don’t hurt anyone. And I mean that literally. I’m speaking of physical harm, not emotional damage. I think it’s very rare that speech can actually cause physical harm, and so I think that almost all speech should be allowed.
When can speech cause real, physical harm? If you yell “fire” in a crowded theater, and the resulting stampede causes injuries, that’s physical harm. If you’re standing before an enraged lynch mob, and you push that crowd over the line from unreasonable rage to actual physical violence, that’s physical harm, though even in that case I’m hesitant to censure speech because I don’t believe words alone can inspire people to violent acts.
Do you want to create a piece of art that offends my religious beliefs? Go right ahead. I won’t pay to see it, but I won’t stop you from creating it. Do you want to march down the street wearing white hoods and spouting hateful, racist rhetoric? I won’t like what you have to say, but I’ll fight to the death for your right to say it. Even better, I’ll organize a counter-rally of clowns to highlight your stupidity. I think that the best way to combat verbal ignorance and intolerance is with education and experience, not censorship.
At its heart, the WikiLeaks issue is a free speech issue. In fact, I think it’s wrong to even blame WikiLeaks themselves for causing these problems. WikiLeaks did not gather the documents, and they certainly did not write the problematic diplomatic cables. If there is blame to be laid upon this issue, it is upon the person who stole this information in the first place and passed it along. It is upon the lax security of the U.S. government, to allow this sort of information to fall into the wrong hands. If I can keep my parents from seeing photos of my wild weekend in Las Vegas on Facebook, certainly the U.S. government should be able to keep highly sensitive, behind-the-scenes documents a secret.
In fact, not only do I not blame WikiLeaks for this document dump, I actually admire the way they are handling it. They seem to be presenting the documents they control without editing or comment. They aren’t editorializing what they have found, though it is clear that there is a political agenda behind the organization. They have passed along the same information to numerous news organizations, across a number of countries and cultures, so that no one group has control over the information.
I worry a great deal over the people who may be harmed by this leak, the people who may be physically hurt when their involvement in U.S. government affairs is revealed. If the person who leaked these documents is found and convicted in a court of law, I think there is an argument that this leak was treasonous, especially if that person is a soldier in our armed forces. But once the information is out there, it is best to let it flow freely and openly. You can’t un-ring this bell, and even though it might have consequences for the way we interact with other countries in the future, and the way we gather and store the troves of information we collect, I don’t blame WikiLeaks for the problem.
Of course our government’s first reaction to the WikiLeaks dump was righteous indignation, even bombastic threats, but that has been tempered significantly in the past few days. As Secretary of State Clinton told reporters on Monday, as bad as it was to reveal our secret thoughts to other countries, the reaction from our allies was generally “You should hear what we say about you.” Well, maybe we should. Maybe we’ll look back on this time and realize that the truth wasn’t so shocking or damaging. Our reaction to this issue can set the tone for the rest of the world as a model of how our country respects free speech.
Oh you PlayStation phone, you sassy little lady. You’ve been walking around these internets for over a month now and there’s not a moment of you on film yet – but wait! Someone has one in Greece? Find them! Take a video! Oh goodness, who would have thought the PlayStation phone, aka what Techblog.gr calls the Sony Ericsson Z1 PSP phone, aka codename Zeus would have found it’s moving self into these internets via it’s namesake’s birthplace? What this video is, apparently, is an account of Sony Ericsson’s half gaming device / half Android phone being used in the wild by a man with hairy arms. Let’s take a look!
The fine folks over at Techblog.gr report that not only is this device smooth and sassy, it’s carrying Android 2.3 Gingerbread. There’s a hefty 4-inch touchscreen thats rather responsive, and the video itself features some really dramatic music so you can get in the mood for suave spying. Though how they know all this (aside from the suave spy music) even though the video they’ve got is called a spy video, we’re not sure.
Multi-card USB readers – why is this concept more well played? It IS played though, even though it might not be well spread. Here’s a couple for you from Elecom, available in Japan (or over the internet through GeekStuff4U, which is in Japan too, but online, and online is everywhere!) One is the multi-card stand-up reader MR-C27 which reads up to four SD/SHDC or SDXC cards at a time – supporting cards up to 64GB. The MR-SMC06 is a dual-card USB stick or thumbkey which has no internal memory in and of itself but has two microSD or microSDHC slots. Super cute and super handy!
Both of these fine items can be found on GeekStuff4U and I’m sure your everloving nerd friends would just LOVE to have them for a holiday gift – bank on it. The MR-C27 multicard is [here] and the MR-SMC06 seems to be sold out or just gone for the moment, but that link’ll find it for you when it’s back up.
Verizon detailed today the launch of their next generation 4G network. 4G has been talked about this year heavily as Sprint has been heavily promoting the fact that they were the first carrier to launch a 4G network in the United States. Sprints 4G network is based on a technology called WiMax where Verizon's launch is on a technology called LTE.
So the real question is why should anyone care about 4G and what does it mean for the broader consumer technology industry. Let's explore.
The reality is every major carrier in the country is going to move to 4G at some point in time. While the mobile phone market was maturing it was all about the voice network. Carriers competed on coverage, voice quality, network reliability etc.
Those battles will still exist however the value is moving from the voice network to the data network. This is because of the rise of smart phones and smart devices where data becomes a more central part of the device experience.
The battlefield going forward will be which carriers have the fastest data network and that is where LTE comes into play. 3G networks had a fundamental problem and it wasn't the speed. 3G networks were built for faster data but failed at handling a lot of concurrent consumers consuming data per network node. In essence if a lot of people in a particular city or area were on the 3G data network at the same time the network slowed down drastically.
LTE looks to solve this problem by not only being faster with download speeds ranging from 6-12 MBS realistically but also to handle more data consumers per network node. This is the part that is a big deal. If it proves true then the carriers will start being more aggressive with their pricing for data plans. They will want to recoup those costs of the new network and since data is where the new value is I expect very aggressive data plans as the networks get established.
These faster data networks will be key to future consumer experiences with mobile devices. Sharing video, capturing and sharing live video, multiple party video conferencing, playing multiplayer graphically rich games in real time, etc all require faster bandwidth and networks that can handle millions of people consuming that data at the same time. The Qik application for iPhone and Android, for example demonstrates all the things that 4G will make better.
This move is good news for consumers and for the industry. Faster data speeds add value to the innovations we want to crank out over the next few years. Having cheaper access to these faster data networks lowers the barrier for consumers to begin using these new innovations.
As if the fact that they’ve considered more than one operating system weren’t enough, this fantastic device is for sale on Etsy. For just $1,099 you too can own a Victorian era PC with Athlon 64 Dual Core 4400+ CPU, 160GB Hitachi SATA Hard Drive, upgradeable Gigabyte AM3 motherboard, LG 22X “Super-Multi” DVD +- RW, and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Skeleton clock and Power/HDD LED lights behind the port glass window for your pure enjoyment.
You can have this sassy lady constructed, tested, and shipped to your door in less than a week if you’d like, and I imagine any smooth player from the streets would definitely like. I’m obligated to say by my Apple-loving self that a similar device running OSX would sell off the shelves in an instant. Think about the price comparisons! Cheep!
That’s right, it’s so totally lovely. This watch changes color depending on the time of day (clear or black and inverted) and shows you the hours, minutes, seconds, days, and months, all on rings of tics that move according to the orbit they’ve got to take around your wrist. You know what that means? Six sets of tics flicking around your wrist all day long at different speeds. Splendid!
New update! Plugins for those who love plugin updates so much they sit at the edge of their seat craving the update more than the movies and such they watch with the player! Today they (and you) get a 10.2 Beta release update for Flash Player just so long as they’re on a Mac, Windows, or Linux machine. The biggest upgrade in this build is preliminary support of none other than Stage Video.
Stage Video is an infrastructure for playback of videos that should further reduce the impact playing a video with Flash Player has – on your computer, not impact on how visually spectacular it is. Previous versions of Flash Player 10 (the one you’re upgrading here) leveraged GPU acceleration for decoding video while 10.2 (this update) offloads basically all video pipeline tasks to the GPU to help with the CPU load. Less heavy lifting!
In addition to that, 10.2 improves text rendering, full-screen playback for two-monitor setups (allowing playing on one screen while the other stays open for you to continue working.) Check out the full press release below and [download the plugin here] and check out [Stage Video demo clips here.]
We're happy to announce a beta release of Flash Player 10.2 for Windows, Mac, and Linux is now available for download on Adobe Labs. Flash Player 10.2 beta introduces a number of enhancements we're excited to share, including Stage Video, a new API that delivers best-in-class, high performance video playback across platforms. The new beta also includes Internet Explorer 9 hardware acceleration support previewed earlier (in Flash Player "Square"), enhanced text rendering, and two popular requests from the community: a native custom mouse cursors API and support for full screen playback with multiple monitors.
Setting the Stage for Beautiful Video
A lot of folks want to deliver the best possible video experience to the widest number of people. Stage Video in Flash Player 10.2 beta advances that goal. This new capability will help web sites deliver smooth, beautiful video across devices and browsers by enabling access to hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline. As we showed in a sneak peak just last month at Adobe MAX, Flash Player 10.2 beta with Stage Video can deliver brilliant HD video with dramatically little processing power. Working together with hardware vendors has helped us take advantage of the GPU to offload not only H.264 hardware decoding (introduced in Flash Player 10.1) but the rest of the video rendering pipeline, including color conversion, scaling, and blitting. How efficient is hardware acceleration in Flash Player 10.2 beta? Using Stage Video, we've seen laptops play smooth 1080p HD video with just over 0% CPU usage.
Quality and performance are important, and so are richness and reach. Accordingly, Stage Video supports fully interactive, rich content combined with video. 1 billion people have Flash Player today. Because Stage Video works across browsers, when the final shipping version of Flash Player 10.2 is released, users will benefit from Stage Video accelerated content with a simple Flash Player update. We're also introducing Stage Video across devices. In fact, today Google TV already takes advantage of Stage Video in Flash Player to deliver gorgeous 1080p HD video playback on TVs. For content providers, Stage Video will work with all of the existing video viewed in Flash Player once they utilize the new API in their video player SWFs. This means their websites will continue to benefit from Flash Player's advanced streaming for smooth, higher quality playback, DVR-like playback control, content protection, and consistency, with no changes to their encoded videos or infrastructure. Developers can learn more about how to enable their sites to take advantage of Stage Video today, and sites like YouTube have already started adding early support for Stage Video. Other Enhancements
In addition to enhanced video playback, Flash Player 10.2 beta includes Internet Explorer 9 GPU support. In some of our tests this has yielded up to 35% improvement in rendering performance with Microsoft's latest browser. Some other features are less about big numbers but little details that make experiences better. Flash Player has long allowed viewers to enjoy true full screen playback with one click. With Flash Player 10.2 beta, users with multiple monitors will be able to watch videos in true full screen on one display while multi-tasking on another (we heard you!). And we're including another popular request from designers and developers: support for native custom mouse cursors. The new API allows developers to create their own cursors, static or animated, and ask the native OS to render them rather than use resources to manually draw custom cursors. This opens up new creative possibilities and can improve responsiveness in games, applications, and other content. Finally, the Flash Player 10.2 beta release also includes new sub-pixel text rendering enhancements that leverage Adobe typography research to further enhance readability of text in Flash Player, especially for complex character-based languages.
We encourage developers to install Flash Player 10.2 beta to check out these upcoming features. Developers with the beta can check out the Stage Video demos on Adobe Labs, including a demonstration of Stage Video from our friends at YouTube. If you're an end-user, you probably don't need to download the beta – you'll benefit from Stage Video with the final release of Flash Player 10.2 next year as websites take advantage of it. We've found the beta to be pretty stable and ready for broad testing, but keep in mind this is a pre-release version of Flash Player, so not everything will be fully baked. If you encounter any issues, please file a bug in our public database so we can investigate. We appreciate your help and feedback.
We're excited about what's coming, and we hope you like it! Tom Nguyen Product Manager, Flash Platform Runtimes
As all you Evernote lovers on Macs might already have expected (and requested), the new version of Evernote will be including two of your most requested additions: Notebook Sharing and Stacks! You can get this Beta release today by clicking “update to beta versions” in your software update tab of you Evernote for Mac preferences and checking for updates. Before you do so, take a look below at what you’ll be getting and be forewarned that because this is a Beta, there may be bugs that still have to be worked out.
Notebook Sharing
With this new version of Evernote, you no longer have to leave the application in order to share your notebooks with your friends and affiliates. You can access this by looking to your left, where you’ll see that your panels have been split into two, one for Account, where you’ll see your own notes, and one for Shared, where you’ll be able to access all of your Evernote sharing functions. At the top of this tab, there’ll be a Manage Sharing button which will display a list of your notebooks. Click the Start Sharing button near any notebook to begin sharing it. You may share with either a select group of people or to the public. NOTE: you may allow others to edit the contents of your shared notebooks if you have a Premium account. Cool beans!
Another Premium feature is the ability to see different versions of notes, histories of edited notes which will become useful if you’ve got your Premium editing function turned on and several people are accessing your notes. Linking notebooks is another feature, accessible at the top of the page and titled “Link to my Account” – this feature appears when you receive a sharing invitation from someone via email or visit a public shared notebook.
Once you click it, hit Sync and it will show up in your Shared Notebook panel. The first time you do this and view a notebook, you’ll be asked to configure how often you want Evernote to check for updates – this can also be adjusted manually.
Notebooks Stacks
Hooray organization! Evernote now has a simpler way for you to keep your stuff nice and tidy. This is Notebooks Stacks, a visual grouping for notebooks which act basically like folders on a desktop. To create a new stack, simply drag and drop one notebook onto another to create a new stack, or command-click a notebook and choose Add to Stack. This feature is currently synced to your account, so any changes you make now will automatically stay when this Beta release turns into a full release.
Left Panel Redesign
Finally, the left panel has a bit of a redesign. This update is, like the other features, meant to improve the way the system works as far as organization goes, helping users keep track of notebooks, tags, and saved searches. You can resize and minimize sections inside the left panel by dragging the headers up and down, and scroll within each section. The gear icon at the bottom of the left panel adds or removes elements as you wish.
Mini Review
Evernote is one of those applications you use and get heavily addicted to supposing you have a need for it – if your friends and family members use it, you’ll feel obligated and find yourself in love with the many features. On the other hand if you’re in the blogging business and want a way to share your life, times, and links with the world in a way that will make your blog reach the top 100, you might want to check out something like WordPress instead, especially if you plan on using only the non-Premium version of the software. On the other hand again, if you do take a peek at Evernote and find yourself in love with the look, feel, and functionality like so many have, you’re going to find these updates to be welcome and so effective you were surprised you ever lived without them.
You’ll find the system a bit buggy, as can happen with any Beta release, like for example the Notebooks menu under your Account tab can sometimes get stuck in closed mode, which can be a bummer when you’re trying to get a decent screenshot of the new stacks feature. New notebooks on your shared list also don’t always show up right away (and sometimes not at all) on your list – as shown below in this preview shot from Evernote:
So there’s some work to be done. But the updates are exciting! Take a look at the Beta yourself and try it out, and feel free to share your notebooks with us, or just me, here: chris@androidcommunity.com – do it! Also, everyone who isn’t on a Mac – you’ll have to wait for this update. They’re coming, coming soon. They’re working on it.
With partners like Siemens and BMW, there’s no surprise that Poland would want to go ahead and move forward with the aspirations of one day in the near future of having a completely recyclable subway car. The country has put forward plans to make the dream come true, and have teamed up with the pair of companies to make it happen. The end result, if everything goes to plan, should be a subway car that’s near 100% made from recyclable items, and is ready to carry passengers by 2012.
The subway car is being called the Inspiro, and it’s set to launch in 2012 in Poland. Those behind the design hope to create the car from an aluminum chassis, which would obviously make the new design considerably lighter than designs currently in use. The designers also hope that with the new aluminum design, that the flow of passengers will be better, if not increase, with the more spacious design.
Interestingly enough, the new subway car will also feature a demand-controlled air conditioning system, as well as electrodynamic braking. With all of that combined, including the fact it should take less energy to run the Inspiro, Poland is hoping to reduce the country’s subway energy output by 30 percent. Thinking into the future, Poland hopes to have 35 of the subway cars operational by the end of 2013.
Earlier today, we reported that some lucky folks out there were seeing that their HP Slate 500 tablet were shipping, and that they should be expecting to see it arrive on their doorstep in the near future. For at least one lucky person out there, the tablet has arrived well before they imagined, and of course they did the right thing: took photos of the unboxing.
Over at TabletPCReview‘s forums, HeatLessSun managed to not only get his HP Slate 500 in the mail, but he took the time to unbox it, and snap a few photos. He also added a few quick notes about the device to his post, pointing out that the tablet is a “solid device.” Furthermore, he says that Internet Explorer 8 works well, handwriting recognition works well, and that the device is “pretty fast.”
Not much more to go on, so go ahead and check out the few photos below, and then head through the source link below to see the entire collection.
Ever wanted to have the ability to block close-range cellphone signals? If so, and you didn’t want to do it in such a way that you draw the attention of everyone around you, then perhaps the self-proclaimed “world’s smallest cellphone jammer” should find its way onto your Christmas list. If the small size isn’t enough, maybe the device’s clever design will be enough to sway you for a purchase.
The world’s smallest cellphone jammer is designed to work within a small range, so if you wanted to take out a large swath of cellphone users, you’re out of luck. The device is able to take out GSM and 3G signals, all within a 34-foot radius. When the device is activated, and there’s a cellphone with the correct frequency in play, the user on the phone will suddenly be attacked by static, instead of the person’s voice on the other line.
As we mentioned above, the world’s smallest cellphone jammer is available to purchase right now. It only costs $46. However, here’s something to think about, if you’re in the United States and think this is something for you: it’s illegal to use a cellphone jammer in these parts. The fine? $11,000, on top of the year in prison you could find yourself in. Laws are different all around the world, though.
Samsung isn’t just focusing on in-home entertainment. The company has just formally announced their brand new Near Field Communication (NFC) chip, which features embedded flash memory. The technology will allow for devices to connect peer-to-peer instantly, and without hassle, to WiFi or Bluetooth connected devices. The hope is that the transfer of data will become faster, and more streamlined, with the new technology. It’s also meant to be a low-power solution for better RF sensitivity.
The technology behind Near Field Communication is designed around short-range, high frequency means. The result, Samsung (and other companies) hopes, is the ability to be able to transfer data in a faster, more efficient way. As Samsung’s own Tae-Hoon Kim puts it in the press release below, NFC is an easy and effective way to transfer encrypted data between mobile devices, or other NFC-equipped devices.
The chip itself is set to hit mass production in the first quarter of 2011, where Samsung will more than likely put it in a myriad of new products. Specifically, it wouldn’t be a big leap of the imagination to believe the company would put the new chips into their mobile phones (like the upcoming Nexus S, for example). However, there’s no information as to when the chip will actually make it into devices, let alone which ones. Check out the full press release below for more information.
Press Release
Samsung's New Near Field Communication Chip Offers Increased Wireless Connectivity for Mobile Handsets
SEOUL, Korea, December 1, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, announced today its new near field communications (NFC) chip with embedded flash memory. Leveraging a low power design and advanced RF sensitivity, Samsung's latest chip offers designers a competitive choice for next-generation smart phones with NFC capabilities. NFC enabled devices can instantly establish a wireless peer-to-peer connection and directly handover to Bluetooth and/or WiFi connection for fast, convenient data transmission.
"NFC is recognized throughout the industry as an easy and effective way to transmit encrypted information between mobile devices or between mobile devices and other stationary NFC-enabled devices such as kiosks," said Tae-Hoon Kim, vice president of DDI and C&M marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. "As momentum builds for adoption of NFC technology in next-generation/ upcoming smart phones, we look forward to securing a competitive footing in NFC-based solutions with our new NFC technology, offering powerful mobile characteristics such as low power design and advanced RF sensitivity."
NFC is a short-range (up to 10cm or 4inches), high frequency wireless communication technology which allows devices such as smart phones to collect or transmit data to another NFC-enabled device without manual configuration to identify devices. In addition, NFC chip can play a role as a contactless smartcard in use for public transportation payments for bus and subway fares and mobile banking payments. It can also read RFID tags in retail stores or on outdoor billboards for convenient on-the-spot data access.
By leveraging its extensive experience in low power design, Samsung developed this NFC chip to have minimal power consumption in both active and stand-by mode. With a 20 percent decrease in power consumption, Samsung's NFC chip remains active for mobile payment even without battery power.
Samsung's new NFC chip is the industry's first to adopt flash for the embedded memory which allows device designers to easily to upgrade software or firmware. For seamless integration and customer design efficiencies, Samsung also provides a software protocol stack and technology services for antenna design and tuning. Through such features and support, designers can reduce their product's time–to-market. According to market research firm, IMS Research, the mobile phone market is forecast to grow from 1.4 billon units in 2011 to 1.8 billion units in 2015 at a compound annual growth rate of seven percent. In 2011,NFC-enabled phone models are expected to gain pace and the ratio of mobile phones with NFC capabilities is expected to reach 26 percent in 2015.
Samsung's new NFC chip is scheduled for mass production in the first quarter of 2011.
The new NFC solution will be displayed at the CARTES 2010 from December 7th through 9th at the Samsung booth 3C 035 in hall 3 at Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of US$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 174,000 people in 193 offices across 66 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
Samsung and the stylized Samsung design are trademarks and service marks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
The information regarding Verizon’s 4G LTE roll-out are still slipping through the pipe, and now it’s LG’s turn to come forward and officially announce their 4G USB modem. The company is happy to announce that they’ll be the single modem at launch, bringing the LG VL600 LTE USB modem to Verizon’s stores, as well as Verizon’s website, beginning Sunday, December 5th. The same day that Verizon is set to flip the switch on LTE, and launch it in 38 markets, along with 60 airports.
The LG VL600 LTE USB modem will allow customers to see download speeds anywhere between 5Mbps, to 12Mbps. Upload speeds are said to be anywhere between 2Mbps, to 5Mbps. And, just as we had heard, the LG VL600 will only support Windows-based computers, with Operating Systems such as: Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit), Vista 32/64-bit, and Windows XP 32-bit.
Pricing hasn’t changed, thankfully. The modem will still cost you $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and once you sign over a new, two-year contract. The LG LTE USB modem features 4 LED lights on the device, letting you know the device is functioning, and your service. And it only weighs 1.76 oz. Go ahead and check out the full press release below for all the details regarding the LG VL600.
Press Release
VERIZON WIRELESS AND LG MOBILE PHONES PUT LIFE IN THE FAST LANE WITH NEW 4G USB MODEM
LG VL600 Delivers Lightning Speed and Stylish Connectivity
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and SAN DIEGO – Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile Phones today announced the LG VL600™ will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com on Dec. 5. Ideal for business professionals on the go, the LG VL600 features high-speed 4G internet connectivity, a lightweight design with flip USB cover and sleek outer finish that makes traveling a streamlined, enjoyable experience. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE will launch in 38 major metropolitan areas, covering more than one-third of all Americans – 110 million people and in more than 60 commercial airports. Staying connected with the LG VL600 is not just a business tool, it's a business revolution.
Key features: · 4G LTE – customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage area
· 3G – customers can expect download speeds of 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps and upload speeds of 500 to 800 Kbps in Mobile Broadband coverage area
· Supports Windows® XP 32-bit, Vista™ 32/64-bit (SP2) and Windows 7 32/64-bit
· 4-Color LED Service Status Indicator
· Dimensions: 3.88"(H) x 1.48"(W) x 0.58"(D)
· Weight: 1.76 oz
Pricing and availability: · The LG VL600 will be $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a 4G Mobile Broadband Plan. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
· Customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/4Glte to check if their addresses will be in the initial 4G LTE coverage area.
· For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
About LG Electronics, Inc. LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing more than 84,000 people working in 115 operations including 84 subsidiaries around the world. With 2009 global sales of USD43.4 billion, LG is comprised of five business units – Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Air Conditioning and Business Solutions. LG is the world's leading producer of flat panel TVs, audio and video products, mobile handsets, air conditioners and washing machines. LG has signed a long-term agreement to become both a Global Partner and a Technology Partner of Formula One™. As part of this top-level association, LG acquires exclusive designations and marketing rights as the official consumer electronics, mobile phone and data processor of this global sporting event. For more information, please visit www.lgusa.com.
The holiday shopping season isn't just for consumers. This is also the time of year where companies make acquisitions or start looking strategically for acquisition targets for their 2011 strategic plan. Google's $5.3 billion bid for Groupon demonstrates what is happening.
I will be writing my 2011 predictions article soon where I will make some bold acquisition predictions. I am anticipating 2011 to be one of the most competitive years the consumer technology industry has ever seen.
When I survey the market landscape for next year below the surface I see a lot of chaos. The market may look orderly to the on looker but underneath it all there is a lot of chaos and turmoil. The primary reason is because it is getting increasingly harder to make money with hardware. Those companies who have hardware only businesses will inevitably shrink over the next few years.
The value chain always moves from hardware to software and then to services. This is what we are witnessing right now. This is why HP is buying software and services companies. This is why Google is buying a services company. This is why other large companies like Apple and Microsoft will continue to buy or invest in companies that emphasize software or services.
Proprietary software and services are what make a product a solution. Solutions are what companies need to differentiate and drive customer loyalty. The more invested a consumer is in a companies software ecosystem or service the less likely they are to leave.
This is where the battle will be in 2011 and for the foreseeable future. Apple is most likely the last company in this sector who can truly make money on hardware. All of them however will battle fiercely to own the customer either through the software ecosystem or the services or both. This is why acquisitions will happen quickly. I will be watching as any and all companies that have generated mass consumer appeal with a service free or paid to become acquisition targets.
While this may not be the first “real” TRON: Legacy-inspired light cycle to hit the news, these cycles offer the name of Parker Brothers Choppers behind them. And let’s face it, seeing more real-life light cycles running around, especially those that can actually be driven on the road, is nothing to pass over. After all, deep down inside we all one.
To celebrate the upcoming release of the major motion picture TRON: Legacy from Disney, Parker Brothers Choppers decided to build ten ridiculously exclusive light cycles. Thankfully, each of the bikes are perfectly legal, which means you can drive it around to show off to all of your friends. The bikes are constructed from steel frames, and feature a fiberglass bodywork. Inside, you’ll find a Suzuki TLR-1000 V-twin engine.
It gets better, though. It will cost you $55,000 to get your body on one of these things. You can opt-in for physical gauges, but if you decide that you’d much rather have a digital read-out, they will include an iPad-dock, which will let you put your iPad right there in front of your face, and provide all the essential information while you’re out cruising around. There are only four left, so if you’re interested, you’ll have to hurry. Check out a video below to see the bike for yourself.
The details regarding Verizon’s upcoming launch of their 4G, LTE network are starting to break through. Verizon has officially released the press release for the announcement, and it not only includes the names for the 4G USB modems that consumers will be able to purchase, but also outlines how much everything will cost when it’s all said and done. Verizon is set to kick off their press release any minute, and their 4G network is launching in 38 markets (and 60 airpots) this Sunday, December 5th.
Device wise, the first USB modem that Verizon will launch for their LTE network, will be the LG manufactured VL600 LTE USB modem. This is the modem that customers will be able to pick up at the initial launch. Verizon says that the device will cost customers $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and you sign over a new, two-year contract. The other USB modem is the Pantech UML290, which Verizon says will be available soon. It will be the same cost as the LG version: $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, with your signature on a two-year contract.
The plan pricing is where the main focus is. Verizon has announced that they will be charging $50 per month for 5GB, and $80 per month for 10GB, as part of their new 4G LTE Mobile Broadband plans. If you do go over, it will be $10 per GB. One thing to note, though: we’re hearing reports trickle in that the LG VL600 LTE USB modem, and perhaps even the Pantech UML290 isn’t Mac-compatible. As far as phones go, Verizon says they expect to have a device launched in the early part of 2011. Check out the full press release below.
Press Release
VERIZON WIRELESS LAUNCHES THE WORLD'S LARGEST 4G LTE WIRELESS NETWORK ON DEC. 5
Laptop Users Benefit First from Fastest and Most Advanced Wireless Network, Arriving in 38 Major Metropolitan Areas with New Value-Priced 4G Data Plans
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless announced today it is turning on the world's first large-scale 4G LTE network on Sunday, Dec. 5. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network will be the fastest and most advanced 4G network in America. Business users will be the first to take advantage of the 4G LTE network with speeds up to 10 times faster than the company's 3G network.
With the launch, Verizon Wireless is also offering new value-priced 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans starting at $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance, as well as two new 4G LTE USB modems: the LG VL600 which will be available at launch, and the Pantech UML290, available soon.
Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said, "Beginning Sunday, Verizon Wireless is making the best network even better. Our initial 4G LTE launch gives customers access to the fastest and most advanced mobile network in America and immediately reaches more than one-third of all Americans, right where they live. That's just the start. We will quickly expand 4G LTE, and by 2013 will reach the existing Verizon Wireless 3G coverage area."
Road warriors using laptops will immediately benefit from Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network with super-fast connectivity that's up to 10 times faster than the company's current 3G network. The company expects 4G LTE average data rates in real-world, loaded network environments to be 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.
Mead continued, "We are building our 4G LTE network with the same commitment to performance and reliability for which we have long been recognized. Our commitment to superior network performance, combined with broad 4G coverage areas and the strong value of our data plans make 4G LTE Mobile Broadband the best choice for laptop users."
4G LTE Mobile Broadband Data Plans, Devices and Coverage Areas Verizon Wireless customers can choose from two 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans: $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance or $80 monthly access for 10 GB monthly allowance, both with $10/GB overage. For laptop connectivity, two 4G LTE USB modems will be initially available: the LG VL600 is available at launch and the Pantech UML290 will be available soon, each $99.99 after $50 rebate with a new two-year agreement. Both USB modems provide backward-compatibility with Verizon Wireless' 3G network. If laptop users travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, they will automatically stay connected on the company's 3G network.
The two modems harness the power of the company's 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network to help enterprise, business and government customers make their workforces more productive, providing super-fast laptop connectivity. Both modems will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, online at www.verizonwireless.com, by phone by calling 1-800 256-4646 and through the company's business sales channels.
The company expects consumer-oriented handsets will be available by mid-2011.
Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network is initially launching in 38 major metropolitan areas and in more than 60 commercial airports coast to coast – at both airports within the launch areas plus airports in other key cities. Street level coverage area maps will be available online on Dec. 5. Today, customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/4Glte to check if their addresses will be in the initial 4G LTE coverage area.
Spectrum and Network Partners By leveraging its 700 MHz spectrum for LTE deployment in the United States, Verizon Wireless is capable of quickly deploying a high-quality wireless broadband network with excellent coverage. Verizon Wireless' primary 4G LTE network vendors, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, are providing the underlying infrastructure for the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network.
Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Major Metropolitan Area Deployment (Dec. 5, 2010) Akron, Ohio Athens, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Baltimore, Maryland Boston, Massachusetts Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Houston, Texas Jacksonville, Florida Las Vegas, Nevada Los Angeles, California Miami, Florida Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana New York, New York Oakland, California Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Orlando, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Rochester, New York San Antonio, Texas San Diego, California San Francisco, California San Jose, California Seattle/Tacoma, Washington St. Louis, Missouri Tampa, Florida Washington, D.C. West Lafayette, Indiana West Palm Beach, Florida
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Commercial Airport Deployment (Airport Name, City, State) Dec. 5, 2010 Austin-Bergstrom International, Austin, Texas Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshal, Glen Burnie, Maryland Bob Hope, Burbank, California Boeing Field/King County International, Seattle, Washington Charlotte/Douglas International, Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago Midway International, Chicago, Illinois Chicago O'Hare International, Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, Covington, Kentucky Cleveland-Hopkins International, Cleveland, Ohio Dallas Love Field, Dallas, Texas Dallas/Fort Worth International, Fort Worth, Texas Denver International, Denver, Colorado Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida George Bush Intercontinental/Houston, Houston, Texas Greater Rochester International, Rochester, New York Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta, Georgia Honolulu International, Honolulu, Hawaii Jacksonville International, Jacksonville, Florida John F. Kennedy International, New York, New York John Wayne Airport-Orange County, Santa Ana, California Kansas City International, Kansas City, Missouri La Guardia, New York, New York Lambert-St. Louis International, St. Louis, Missouri Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts Long Beach/Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California Los Angeles International, Los Angeles, California Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, Metairie, Louisiana McCarran International, Las Vegas, Nevada Memphis International, Memphis, Tennessee Metropolitan Oakland International, Oakland, California Miami International, Miami, Florida Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, Minneapolis, Minnesota Nashville International, Nashville, Tennessee New Castle, Wilmington, Delaware Newark Liberty International, Newark, New Jersey Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, San Jose, California North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada Orlando International, Orlando, Florida Orlando Sanford International, Sanford, Florida Palm Beach International, West Palm Beach, Florida Philadelphia International, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, Mesa, Arizona Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Port Columbus International, Columbus, Ohio Portland International, Portland, Oregon Rickenbacker International, Columbus, Ohio Ronald Reagan Washington National, Arlington, Virginia Sacramento International, Sacramento, California Salt Lake City International, Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio International, San Antonio, Texas San Diego International, San Diego, California San Francisco International, San Francisco, California Seattle-Tacoma International, Seattle, Washington St. Augustine, Saint Augustine, Florida St. Petersburg-Clearwater International, Clearwater, Florida Tampa International, Tampa, Florida Teterboro, Teterboro, New Jersey Trenton Mercer, Trenton, New Jersey Washington Dulles International, Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C. Will Rogers World, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma William P. Hobby, Houston, Texas
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Media can access high-resolution images and video related to Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network in the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.)
About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
While the initial stock of Dell’s Windows Phone 7-based Venue Pro may have been plagued with severe WiFi connectivity issues (like not being able to connect to secured WiFi locations), that’s obviously not stopping Dell from getting on the bandwagon and finally giving the device an official launch, like it deserves. The company has issued a press release this morning, announcing that the portrait-sliding smartphone is available starting today.
The Dell Venue Pro was one of the most anticipated Windows Phone 7 devices since Microsoft officially announced the new mobile Operating System. The device features a 4.1-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, and is a portrait slider that has a full physical QWERTY keyboard. The handset also features a 5MP camera on the back, with LED flash.
Prices vary for the device, depending on how much memory you want, giving some options for customers. If you’re looking for the cheapest price, and you don’t need 16GB of space, you’re looking at forking over $99.99, after you sign a new, two-year contract with T-Mobile. But, if you do need that 16GB of space, the price tag jumps up to $149.99, as long as you sign that two-year contract with the magenta network. Check out the full press release below for more information, including prices for upgrades.
Press Release
DELL'S EXPANDING MOBILE PORTFOLIO DELIVERS UNRIVALED ENTERTAINMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCES FOR PROFESSIONALS, FAMILIES, STUDENTS, GAMERS & MORE
ROUND ROCK, Texas, Dec. 1, 2010 – Dell today announced an expansion to its mobile portfolio with the new Venue Pro, the only vertical QWERTY Windows Phone 7 smartphone that gives professionals, families, students and gamers more options to stay connected, access the content they love and applications for success. The Venue Pro is the latest in Dell's commitment to provide innovative mobile solutions, which include the acclaimed Streak 5 pocket tablet.
The Venue Pro is designed to take productivity, social networking and on-the-go entertainment to new heights. Available immediately at Microsoft retail stores, Store.Microsoft.com, and today direct from Dell, the Venue Pro is a Windows Phone 7 Smartphone featuring a cutting-edge portrait layout QWERTY keypad for faster text entry, editing and connecting with friends and family.
Any Way You Slide It In addition to the QWERTY keypad, the new Venue Pro comes with Xbox LIVE and pre-loaded work/life applications that make everything easier and more beautiful on its sharp, bright and responsive 4.1-inch AMOLED touch display, which features rugged Gorilla Glass® for exceptional durability. Windows Phone 7 Live Tiles keep priorities in focus, and the Venue Pro's single-button access delivers everything you care about including Bing for search, Xbox LIVE for games, and Zune for music and video.
"No matter how you slide it, the Dell Venue Pro with Windows Phone 7 brings a fresh new approach of doing more with less," said Michael Tatelman, Dell vice president and general manager, Dell consumer sales and marketing. "We're continuing a path of creating smart, innovative and new mobile experiences to help people discover new ways to enjoy the web, connect with friends, and navigate their lives."
Elegantly designed, the Venue Pro's elliptical, slender form factor slips easily into your pocket. A 5-megapixel camera, high-speed wireless, and cloud-based services make it easy to keep in touch, share experiences and enjoy music, movies and more.
Carrier, Pricing & Availability Information The Dell Venue Pro is available immediately at Microsoft retail stores, Store.Microsoft.com and direct from Dell by visiting www.Dell.com/VenuePro or calling directly at 1-800-308-DELL. Carrier and additional pricing information provided below.
Carrier: T-Mobile USA*, with two-year contract† and qualifying data plan are required • New Activation: 8GB = $99.99* • New Activation: 16GB = $149.99* • Upgrade Activation: 8GB = $199.99* • Upgrade Activation: 16GB = $249.99* • Without Contract**: 8GB = $449.99 • Without Contract**: 16GB = $499.99
Specifications • Portrait slider with QWERTY keypad • 4.1" WVGA AMOLED multi-touch display • Windows Phone 7 operating system • Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon solution with integrated 1GHz processor • 3G + Wi-Fi + Bluetooth • Bands/Mode: UMTS 900/1700/2100/AWS, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900; HSDPA 7.2Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps • 5MP auto-focus camera
Follow conversations on Twitter and in the blogosphere: #DellVenuePro
While Verizon may be waiting to officially announce everything courtesy of a press conference, it looks like the company just couldn’t wait to pull the curtain off their brand new website, which features plenty of details in of itself. It has the same flare as the commercial we’ve seen earlier in the month, and there’s even a nice introduction the site, with a lot of electricity. But, while the flashiness may be enough for some people to get excited about Verizon’s LTE network, it’s the details that matter to most everyone else.
Thanks to the site, we’ve got confirmation that Verizon does indeed plan on launching LTE in 38 markets, and that includes 60 airports across the United States. Furthermore, Verizon will flip the switch, barring any unforeseen hiccups, this Sunday, just as they planned. Customers will be able to access them, thanks to two brand new 4G-enabled USB modems.
Unfortunately, there’s still no word on what all of this will cost for the customer, but we’re hoping that Verizon will dish out the details on the press conference, which is scheduled for today. So, if you can’t wait to get your hands on Verizon 4G, stay tuned.
[Update]: We’ve got the official press release below, which you can read below. The two LTE USB modems will be manufactured by LG and Pantech, with the Pantech model coming soon. You’ll be able to pick up the LG manufactured modem for $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and you sign a new, two-year contract. The plans will start at $50 per month for 5GB of monthly data, or you can go for $80 per month for 10GB of data per month. If you go over, it will be $10 per GB. Check out the full release below.
VERIZON WIRELESS LAUNCHES THE WORLD'S LARGEST 4G LTE WIRELESS NETWORK ON DEC. 5
Laptop Users Benefit First from Fastest and Most Advanced Wireless Network, Arriving in 38 Major Metropolitan Areas with New Value-Priced 4G Data Plans
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless announced today it is turning on the world's first large-scale 4G LTE network on Sunday, Dec. 5. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network will be the fastest and most advanced 4G network in America. Business users will be the first to take advantage of the 4G LTE network with speeds up to 10 times faster than the company's 3G network.
With the launch, Verizon Wireless is also offering new value-priced 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans starting at $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance, as well as two new 4G LTE USB modems: the LG VL600 which will be available at launch, and the Pantech UML290, available soon.
Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said, "Beginning Sunday, Verizon Wireless is making the best network even better. Our initial 4G LTE launch gives customers access to the fastest and most advanced mobile network in America and immediately reaches more than one-third of all Americans, right where they live. That's just the start. We will quickly expand 4G LTE, and by 2013 will reach the existing Verizon Wireless 3G coverage area."
Road warriors using laptops will immediately benefit from Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network with super-fast connectivity that's up to 10 times faster than the company's current 3G network. The company expects 4G LTE average data rates in real-world, loaded network environments to be 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.
Mead continued, "We are building our 4G LTE network with the same commitment to performance and reliability for which we have long been recognized. Our commitment to superior network performance, combined with broad 4G coverage areas and the strong value of our data plans make 4G LTE Mobile Broadband the best choice for laptop users."
4G LTE Mobile Broadband Data Plans, Devices and Coverage Areas Verizon Wireless customers can choose from two 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans: $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance or $80 monthly access for 10 GB monthly allowance, both with $10/GB overage. For laptop connectivity, two 4G LTE USB modems will be initially available: the LG VL600 is available at launch and the Pantech UML290 will be available soon, each $99.99 after $50 rebate with a new two-year agreement. Both USB modems provide backward-compatibility with Verizon Wireless' 3G network. If laptop users travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, they will automatically stay connected on the company's 3G network.
The two modems harness the power of the company's 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network to help enterprise, business and government customers make their workforces more productive, providing super-fast laptop connectivity. Both modems will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, online at www.verizonwireless.com, by phone by calling 1-800 256-4646 and through the company's business sales channels.
The company expects consumer-oriented handsets will be available by mid-2011.
Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network is initially launching in 38 major metropolitan areas and in more than 60 commercial airports coast to coast – at both airports within the launch areas plus airports in other key cities. Street level coverage area maps will be available online on Dec. 5. Today, customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/4Glte to check if their addresses will be in the initial 4G LTE coverage area.
Spectrum and Network Partners By leveraging its 700 MHz spectrum for LTE deployment in the United States, Verizon Wireless is capable of quickly deploying a high-quality wireless broadband network with excellent coverage. Verizon Wireless' primary 4G LTE network vendors, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, are providing the underlying infrastructure for the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network.
Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Major Metropolitan Area Deployment (Dec. 5, 2010) Akron, Ohio Athens, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Baltimore, Maryland Boston, Massachusetts Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Houston, Texas Jacksonville, Florida Las Vegas, Nevada Los Angeles, California Miami, Florida Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana New York, New York Oakland, California Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Orlando, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Rochester, New York San Antonio, Texas San Diego, California San Francisco, California San Jose, California Seattle/Tacoma, Washington St. Louis, Missouri Tampa, Florida Washington, D.C. West Lafayette, Indiana West Palm Beach, Florida
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Commercial Airport Deployment (Airport Name, City, State) Dec. 5, 2010 Austin-Bergstrom International, Austin, Texas Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshal, Glen Burnie, Maryland Bob Hope, Burbank, California Boeing Field/King County International, Seattle, Washington Charlotte/Douglas International, Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago Midway International, Chicago, Illinois Chicago O'Hare International, Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, Covington, Kentucky Cleveland-Hopkins International, Cleveland, Ohio Dallas Love Field, Dallas, Texas Dallas/Fort Worth International, Fort Worth, Texas Denver International, Denver, Colorado Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida George Bush Intercontinental/Houston, Houston, Texas Greater Rochester International, Rochester, New York Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta, Georgia Honolulu International, Honolulu, Hawaii Jacksonville International, Jacksonville, Florida John F. Kennedy International, New York, New York John Wayne Airport-Orange County, Santa Ana, California Kansas City International, Kansas City, Missouri La Guardia, New York, New York Lambert-St. Louis International, St. Louis, Missouri Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts Long Beach/Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California Los Angeles International, Los Angeles, California Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, Metairie, Louisiana McCarran International, Las Vegas, Nevada Memphis International, Memphis, Tennessee Metropolitan Oakland International, Oakland, California Miami International, Miami, Florida Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, Minneapolis, Minnesota Nashville International, Nashville, Tennessee New Castle, Wilmington, Delaware Newark Liberty International, Newark, New Jersey Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, San Jose, California North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada Orlando International, Orlando, Florida Orlando Sanford International, Sanford, Florida Palm Beach International, West Palm Beach, Florida Philadelphia International, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, Mesa, Arizona Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Port Columbus International, Columbus, Ohio Portland International, Portland, Oregon Rickenbacker International, Columbus, Ohio Ronald Reagan Washington National, Arlington, Virginia Sacramento International, Sacramento, California Salt Lake City International, Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio International, San Antonio, Texas San Diego International, San Diego, California San Francisco International, San Francisco, California Seattle-Tacoma International, Seattle, Washington St. Augustine, Saint Augustine, Florida St. Petersburg-Clearwater International, Clearwater, Florida Tampa International, Tampa, Florida Teterboro, Teterboro, New Jersey Trenton Mercer, Trenton, New Jersey Washington Dulles International, Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C. Will Rogers World, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma William P. Hobby, Houston, Texas
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Media can access high-resolution images and video related to Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network in the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.)
About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
Today DISH Network LLC announces their DISH Remote Access app for iPad, a free application that allows DISH Network customers the ability to watch both live and recorded TV on their tablet. To use this service, DISH Network customers must have a broadband-connected, Sling-enabled device like the Sling Adapter which pairs with DISH Network’s ViP 722 or 722k HD DVRs. Sound easy enough? Well then it’s probably time to connect!
This app also allows you (just so long as you’ve got the correct DVR) to browse and search up to 9 days of shows, schedule recordings, delete shows on multiple receivers, and on the whole turn their iPad into one big huge remote control. Like comically large. Download the app for free now in Apple’s App Store, and check out the full press release below:
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — DISH Network L.L.C., today announced that DISH Remote Access, the free application that gives DISH Network customers the ability to watch their live and recorded TV on compatible smartphones, tablets and laptops, is now available for the iPad™. To enjoy live and recorded TV viewing on the iPad, DISH Network customers must have a broadband-connected, Sling-enabled™ device such as the Sling Adapter™ – a small placeshifting device that pairs with DISH Network’s ViP® 722 or 722k HD DVRs.
“DISH Network is the only pay-TV provider to offer a true TV everywhere solution, and now we’ve extended that experience to the iPad,” said DISH Network Chief Marketing Officer Ira Bahr. “Unlike mobile viewing from cable and telcos that limit access to select programs, our TV Everywhere services give consumers 24 x 7 access to all of their live and recorded content included with their DISH Network programming subscription.”
In addition to TV viewing, the DISH Remote Access app also gives DISH Network customers with compatible DVRs the ability to browse and search up to nine days of programming, schedule DVR recordings, manage conflicts, delete shows on multiple receivers, and transform the iPad into a fully-functioning remote control.
The DISH Remote Access app for the iPad can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store. For more information about DISH Remote Access, visit www.dish.com/tveverywhere.
About DISH Network
DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH), through its subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C., provides more than 14.2 million satellite TV customers, as of September 30, 2010, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including HD Free for Life. Subscribers enjoy industry-leading customer satisfaction, the largest high definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels, and award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com.
Rumors are a good way to see that a particular market is strong. Especially if the rumor mill starts picking up one rumor in particular, and you start hearing it whispered in every which direction. There’s a rumor that’s been floating around for a little while now, but it has begun picking up steam in the last few days. So much so, in fact, that Microsoft has felt the need to step in and clarify the situation. The rumor, is that 343 Industries and Microsoft have already begun work on their next yearly installment within the Halo franchise: an HD, remade Halo: Combat Evolved.
The rumor picked up speed when Games Master magazine ran a story that made a few assumptions that the Halo: CE remake was underway at 343 Industries. The development studio is the new home for the Halo franchise, so it would be expected that if a remake was being made, it would happen here. The HD-fused title would be made using the Halo: Reach engine.
But, Microsoft decided to step in, and squash some people’s dreams right out of the gate. According to the company, “Right now our focus is on supporting Halo: Reach. We have nothing to announce at this time.” Sure, that’s a denial to some people, but obviously Microsoft left some (major) room to wiggle in and out of there if they need to. So, some might consider that anything but a denial. Is a remake coming? It’s a possibility, and it would mean that a Halo title could be an “easy” launch for next year. Anyone crossing their fingers for this?
Generally it’s pretty large news when your company decides to change its name, yes? Maybe not so much when it’s such a tiny one – or is it? Announced today, but effective January 4th, 2011, Motorola, Inc. will change its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. and will change its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange from MOT to MSI. Additionally, they’ll switch over to a brand new board of directors (listed below) which includes election of Greg Brown to the “additional role” of chairman (effective May 2011) plus Dave Dorman’s transition to lead independent director.
Included in the press release from Motorola is a statement by Brown about how super happy he is with everything: “I want to thank all members of the Motorola board for their service over the years, … and I am pleased about our new board for Motorola Solutions. Additionally, I would like to welcome new members Bill Bratton, General Michael Hayden, Vince Intrieri and Judy Lewent. I look forward to working with them in building and growing our new company.” Take a peek at the giant press release below and note the giant chunk of it being a precaution about the words “believes”, “expects”, “intends”, “anticipates”, and “estimates” – neat!
UPDATE: News coming in from one of our partner sites, SlashPhone, informs us that indeed Motorola will be changing it’s name, but instead of it being one, it’ll be two! Starting January 4th 2011,Motorola will split into Motorola Solutions Inc. and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc., the latter being exclusively for their mobile matters. Said co-CEOs Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha statement regarding this matter: "Today's announcement marks another important milestone toward the upcoming separation that is expected to benefit Motorola, its stockholders, as well as each company's respective customers and employees, … We look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities before us as we begin the new year as two independent, publicly traded companies." Brown becomes CEO of Motorola Solutions while Jha will become CEO of Motorola Mobility. Check out the full press release over at [SlashPhone]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — On Jan. 4, 2011, Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) will change its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc., will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MSI,” and will have the following board members:
Gregory Q. Brown, director and president & CEO David W. Dorman, non-executive chairman William J. Bratton, named director General Michael V. Hayden, named director Vincent J. Intrieri, named director Judy C. Lewent, named director Samuel C. Scott III, director Douglas A. Warner III, director John A. White, director
Today we are also announcing that the Motorola Solutions board of directors plans to elect Greg Brown to the additional role of chairman of Motorola Solutions effective in May 2011 and Dave Dorman will transition into the role of lead independent director.
“I want to thank all members of the Motorola board for their service over the years,” Brown said, “and I am pleased about our new board for Motorola Solutions. Additionally, I would like to welcome new members Bill Bratton, General Michael Hayden, Vince Intrieri and Judy Lewent. I look forward to working with them in building and growing our new company.”
Precautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable federal securities laws. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and generally include words such as “believes”, “expects”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “estimates” and similar expressions. We can give no assurance that any future results or events discussed in these statements will be achieved. Any forward looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements contained in this release. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements about the separation of the Company into two independent, publicly-traded companies. Many of these risks and uncertainties are based on factors that cannot be controlled by Motorola and include, but are not limited to (1) market conditions in general and those applicable to the distribution and reverse stock split; (2) factors affecting the expected timeline for completing our separation into two public companies; (3) the effect our separation and the reverse stock split may have on Motorola’s stock price; (4) the risk that the anticipated benefits from the distribution and reverse stock split may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; (5) tax and regulatory matters; (6) changes in economic, competitive, strategic, technological, regulatory or other factors that effect the operation of Motorola’s businesses. A detailed description of other risks and uncertainties affecting Motorola, is contained in Item 1A of Motorola’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K, in Item 1A of Motorola Mobility’s Form 10, in Item 1A of Motorola’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These filings are available for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and on Motorola’s website at www.motorola.com. Motorola undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement or risk factor, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Motorola Solutions
Motorola Solutions is a leading provider of business- and mission-critical communication products and services for enterprise and government customers. Through leading-edge innovation and communications technology, it is a global leader that enables its customers to be their best in the moments that matter. Motorola Solutions will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “MSI” on Jan. 4, 2011. For ongoing news, please visit our media center or subscribe to our news feed.
Media Contacts:
Nick Sweers Office: +1 847-576-2462 nicholas.sweers@motorolasolutions.com Motorola, Inc. Dean Lindroth +1 847-576-6899 dean.lindroth@motorola.com Motorola, Inc., Investor Relations
Greg Brown is co-chief executive officer of Motorola and president and chief executive officer of Motorola Solutions. Brown joined Motorola in 2003 and was elected to the company’s board of directors in 2007. He became president and CEO of Motorola in January 2008. Since that time, he has served as CEO or co-CEO of Motorola. Brown served as president and chief operating officer beginning in March 2007. Previously, he headed four different businesses at Motorola, including the government and public safety, networks, enterprise and automotive businesses. Brown also led the $3.9 billion acquisition of Symbol Technologies, the second largest transaction in Motorola’s history and an important strategic move to strengthen Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business. Prior to joining Motorola, he was chairman and CEO of Micromuse Inc., a publicly traded network management software company. Before that, he was president of Ameritech Custom Business Services and Ameritech New Media Inc. Prior to joining Ameritech in 1987, Brown held a variety of sales and marketing positions with AT&T. In addition to his responsibilities at Motorola, Brown is an active member of the civic and business communities. In 2004, he was appointed by the White House to serve on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), and continues to be a member today. He is a member of the Business Council, Business Roundtable, Technology CEO Council, Commercial Club of Chicago and the Northwestern Memorial Hospital board. He is also on the executive committee of the US-China Business Council (USCBC) and is a member of the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum. Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and is a member of the Rutgers University board of trustees and board of overseers.
Bill Bratton was appointed chairman of Kroll, a business of Altegrity, Inc. in September 2010 following Altegrity’s acquisition of Kroll. Kroll is the world’s leading risk consulting company. Bratton joined Altegrity in November 2009 as chairman of Altegrity Risk International where he consulted on security for criminal justice agencies worldwide. Prior to joining Altegrity, Bratton served as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from October 2002 to October 2009. From 1994 to 1996, he served as commissioner of the New York City Police Department. Prior to the NYPD appointment, Bratton served as head of a number of other police agencies including commissioner of the Boston Police Department, chief of police of the New York City Transit Police Department, superintendent of the Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission of Police and chief of police for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. From 1996 until his appointment as LAPD chief, Bratton worked in the private sector and, in 1999, formed the Bratton Group, LLC, which consulted extensively in the United States and Latin America on policing, public safety and rule-of-law initiatives. During this period Bratton also served as senior consultant to Kroll’s Public Services Safety Group and Crisis and Consulting Management Group. A frequent lecturer, writer and commentator in the fields of security, counterterrorism, law enforcement and rule-of-law systems, Bratton is vice chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement from Boston State College/University of Massachusetts, and is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Dave Dorman is the non-executive chairman of the board for Motorola. Previously he was a managing director and senior adviser with Warburg Pincus, a global leader in private equity. He was chairman and CEO of AT&T, a provider of Internet- and transaction-based voice and data services, from November 2002 until the completion of the AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications merger in November 2005. Dorman joined AT&T as president in December 2000. He began his career in the telecommunications industry at Sprint Corp. in 1981. Dorman serves on the boards of CVS Caremark Corporation, YUM! Brands, Inc. and the Georgia Tech Foundation. In addition, Dorman previously served on the board of Scientific Atlanta. He received a bachelor’s degree in industrial management with high honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
General Michael Hayden is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who entered active duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1969 and retired in July 2008. He served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from May 2006 until his retirement from federal service in February 2009. From May 2005 to May 2006, Gen. Hayden served as principal deputy director of National Intelligence. He also was director of the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005. Gen. Hayden currently is principal at Chertoff Group, a security consultancy. He also serves on the board of Alion Science and Technology and serves as a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University School of Public Policy. Gen. Hayden received both a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in modern American history from Duquesne University. He is a graduate of the Air Force ROTC program. Vincent J. Intrieri is a director of Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc., the general partner of Icahn Enterprises L.P., a diversified holding company. Since November 2004, Mr. Intrieri also has served as senior managing director of Icahn Capital LP, the entity through which Carl C. Icahn manages third-party private investment funds. Since January 2005, Mr. Intrieri has been senior managing director of Icahn Associates Corp. and High River Limited Partnership, entities primarily engaged in the business of holding and investing in securities. From April 2005 through September 2008, he served as president and chief executive officer of Philip Services Corporation, a metal recycling and industrial series company. Mr. Intrieri is a director of American Railcar Industries, Inc. (ARI) and served as ARI’s senior vice president, treasurer and secretary from March 2005 to December 2005. He is chairman and a director of PSC Metals, Inc., chairman of Viskase Companies, Inc. and a director of WestPoint International, Inc., Federal-Mogul Corporation and XO Holdings, Inc. Mr. Intrieri is a certified public accountant and received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University.
Judy Lewent was chief financial officer of Merck & Co., Inc., a pharmaceutical company, from 1990 until her retirement in September 2007. She was also executive vice president of Merck from February 2001 through her retirement and had additional responsibilities as president, Human Health Asia from January 2003 until July 2005, when she assumed strategic planning responsibilities for Merck. Lewent is a director of Dell Inc. and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. She served on Motorola’s board of directors from 1995 to May 2010. She is a trustee of the Rockefeller Family Trust, is a life member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lewent received a bachelor’s degree from Goucher College and a master’s degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Sam Scott was chairman, president and CEO of Corn Products International, a corn refining business, from 1997 until his retirement in May 2009. Scott serves on the board of directors of Bank of New York Mellon, Abbott Laboratories and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He also serves on the board of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and as chairman of Chicago Sister Cities. Scott received a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Sandy Warner was chairman of the board and co-chairman of the executive committee of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., an international commercial and investment banking firm, from December 2000 until he retired in November 2001. From 1995 to 2000, he was chairman of the board, president and CEO of J.P. Morgan & Co. He is a director of General Electric Company, chairman of the board of managers and the board of overseers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, chairman of the Yale Investment Committee and a trustee of Yale University. In addition, Warner previously served on the board of Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. Warner received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
Dr. John White is a distinguished professor of industrial engineering at the University of Arkansas. Previously, he was chancellor of the University of Arkansas from 1997 until he retired in June 2008. Dr. White served as dean of engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology from 1991 to early 1997, having been a member of the faculty since 1975. He is also a director of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. In the last five years, Dr. White previously served on the boards of Logility, Inc. and Russell Corp. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Dr. White received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas, a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a doctorate of philosophy degree from The Ohio State University.
In the medical field, there’s a push to make robots a real presence. Whether that means they take over certain aspects of a particular job, or even just remove the need for a person as a whole, it doesn’t matter. And the new HOSPI robot from Panasonic is one of those robots. While it may not take over an orderlie’s job over night, you can see how a few improvements could indeed put the robot into every hospital in the world.
The HOSPI robot has one job: dispense, and pick up medications from nurses. There are several sensors inside the robot to make sure that it’s able to navigate the lengthy hallways of a hospital without incident, and that includes moving objects, too. And, while other robots in the hospital setting were just starting to see the light of day in some hospitals, Panasonic says that the HOSPI robot is already in full use within 50 hospitals within Japan. Check out the video below to see HOSPI in action.
For everyone in the world who uses WordPress to blog their favorite technological news and gadgets, today you’ll see a little update in your Dashboard by the name of 3.0.2. This update is what they call a mandatory security update, fixing a flaw that allowed evil Author-level users to get themselves a bunch more access than they were originally intended to, plus fixes a slew o’ smaller bugs as well. As the blogging engine has evolved to the point where it basically updates itself, WordPress should be updated as often as it says it needs to – obey it!
As this is a security update, I must appeal to you on a personal level to heed it, as my own personal blog has recently fallen victim to hacker attack, and all caution that can be taken should, especially when WordPress herself is appealing to your heart. Check out this update haiku as written by WordPress worker Mark Jaquith, written in hopes that you would update:
Fixed on day zero One-click update makes you safe This used to be hard
If you find yourself the victim of a hacker attack on your blog, as evidenced by your site suddenly being blocked by browsers, yelling, and ads popping up all over the place, I would also direct you to http://badwarebusters.org/ as they’ve more than once saved sites of your humble narrators from perilous troubles. Check out the full press release on this update below:
On November 30, 2010, WordPress 3.0.2 was released to the public. This is a mandatory security update for all previous WordPress versions.
For version 3.0.2, the database version (db_version in wp_options) remained at 15477.
Installation/Update Information
To download WordPress 3.0.2, update automatically from the Dashboard > Updates menu in your site’s admin area or visithttp://wordpress.org/download/release-archive/.
Summary
▪ Fix moderate security issue where a malicious Author-level user could gain further access to the site. (r16625) Other bugs and security hardening: ▪ Remove pingback/trackback blogroll whitelisting feature as it can easily be abused. (#13887) ▪ Fix canonical redirection for permalinks containing %category% with nested categories and paging. (#13471) ▪ Fix occasional irrelevant error messages on plugin activation. (#15062) ▪ Minor XSS fixes in request_filesystem_credentials() and when deleting a plugin. (r16367, r16373) ▪ Clarify the license in the readme (r15534) ▪ Multisite: Fix the delete_user meta capability (r15562) ▪ Multisite: Force current_user_can_for_blog() to run map_meta_cap() even for super admins (#15122) ▪ Multisite: Fix ms-files.php content type headers when requesting a URL with a query string (#14450) ▪ Multisite: Fix the usage of the SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL constant for upgraded WordPress MU installs (#14536)
A fine fellow by the name of anonymous recently emailed everyone’s best pal Apple CEO Steve Jobs with a question about the functionality of iOS’s most recent update 4.2 which features AirPlay, allowing iDevices to stream video to Apple TV. Anon’s question included suggestion of a future release of AirPlay in which it would be able to work with Safari and third party apps (this functionality currently exists, but only as a hack.) You know what Steve Jobs said? He said yep – 2011.
Take a peek at the transcript of the mail here if you’re unable to view images:
Q: Hi, I recently updated both my iPhone 4 and iPad to 4.2. I think my favourite feature is airplay. This is seriously amazing and makes sharing content seamless. I just purchased Apple TV and was wondering are you ever going to make airplay video work for videos in safari and 3rd party apps? I hope to get a response. :)
A: Yep, hope to add these features to Airplay in 2011.
HP says that due to their relatively recent purchase of Palm, they’ll be switching their business priorities away from their HP MediaSmart Server range. They’ll sell the rest of their inventory of EX490 and EX495, support their customers through the rest of their support periods, then have the plug completely pulled. HP’s MediaSmart development team is already working on further development of WebOS devices for 2011. This move is of course a blow to Microsoft’s plan to deliver Windows Home Server “Vail” to customers as more than likely they’d been banking on HP’s support through the future (they’ve been partnered with HP through the release and launch of the MediaSmart Server in 2007.) Microsoft responds to this news with promises of support for Vail from Tranquil PC, Acer, and “many System Builders.”
HP hasn’t stated that their move has anything to do with Microsoft’s recent move to drop drive extender from their home servers – more than likely lower than expected sales more than likely had more to do with the situation than they let on. HP is stressing the fact that their move only affects the consumer HP MediaSmart Server line, and nothing else!Microsoft’s released the following statement in reply:
You may have seen some blogs posts about HP's decision announcing the retirement of their MediaSmart Server line, which includes Windows Home Server. As such, HP has told us they do not plan to provide a platform for Windows Home Server code name "Vail". HP has told us they will continue to sell the existing version of MediaSmart Server through the end of the calendar year 2010 and will honor service and support agreements. This news is in no way related to recent announcements about feature changes in Windows Home Server "Vail."
Microsoft continues to work on delivering "Vail" to our customers. We are working very closely with our partners such as Acer, Tranquil and many System Builders to bring the best solution to market. From our partners:
• "Vail will have a big impact on the home media environment, providing an easy streaming and seamless digital file sharing experience for consumers, and Acer is excited to be alongside Microsoft delivering on this goal" says Gianpiero Morbello, Acer Group Corporate Vice President Marketing & Brand. • "We are entirely committed to the future of Windows Home Server V1 and V2." says D J Thompson, Managing Director of Tranquil PC, "We will also ensure that there is a suitable transition path from V1 to V2 for our existing and new clients."
HP and Microsoft have a long-standing strategic relationship across both consumer and commercial markets and will continue to work together moving forward.
For if you sweat wayyy to much or if you plan on dunking your head in the sea anytime soon, H2O Audio presents an expansion of their Surge line with these buds right here. These are their completely new FLEX All Sport Buds which offer not only a completely submersible design, but a full line of wild colors. Maybe a good choice for your Motorola Defy? Dunk em in! NOTE: These go on sale today!
In this line of buds are fuchsia, bright green, onyx black, and Super Hero Blue! Shaped to fit right in your ear there comfortably, and dunkable up to 3 feet. After that, good luck. These buds are available in three different sizes, cost around $30, and endorsed by Swimming Gold Medalist and World Champion Natalie Coughlin: “I always have my Interval Headphone system with me at the pool, and it's exciting to see H2O Audio branching out with colorful waterproof headphones! Cross training never looked or sounded better than with Flex All Sport Buds. Not only can I go for a run in the rain, but I can rinse them off after a hard workout so I always have fresh, clean headphones ready to go."
Read the full press release below:
H2O Audio Announces Flex Waterproof Sweatproof All Sport Buds Flex headphones combine H2O Audio's unparalleled waterproof technology with colorful new design SAN DIEGO, CA – December 1, 2010 – H2O Audio, the leader in high-performance, waterproof, sweatproof sport headphones and accessories, announced today a new line of headphones in fun, fashion-forward colors.
Flex All Sport Buds combine H2O Audio's unparalleled waterproof, sweatproof technology and quality sound performance with a value-driven price point.
Flex sport headphones deliver a clear, rich sound experience, without sacrificing durability. 100% Waterproof up to 3 feet (1 meter), neither sweat nor water will stop this sound making them ideal for running and working out. Users can choose from vivid color options including Envy Green, Power Pink, Onyx Black and Super Hero Blue. Three different sizes of earplugs provide a comfortable and personalized fit and with a price of $29.99, Flex headphones are as affordable as they are versatile. So…go ahead, get 'em wet.
Says, Natalie Coughlin, Swimming Gold Medalist & World Champion, H2O Audio Ambassador, "I always have my Interval Headphone system with me at the pool, and it's exciting to see H2O Audio branching out with colorful waterproof headphones! Cross training never looked or sounded better than with Flex All Sport Buds. Not only can I go for a run in the rain, but I can rinse them off after a hard workout so I always have fresh, clean headphones ready to go." "Flex headphones are another example of H2O Audio's innovation in waterproofing music for your active lifestyle. Flex provides the quality and waterproofing H2O Audio is known for, now in fun, fashionable colors for everyone," said Tom Kampfer, CEO of H2O Audio. "We are excited to expand our line of waterproof, sweatproof headphones to include an all sport earbud that delivers performance, style and value, perfect for running, gym workouts and an active, fit lifestyle."
All H2O Audio products, including Flex sport headphones, are precision engineered and individually tested to ensure 100 percent waterproof, sweatproof capability and come complete with multiple sizes of ear tips for personalized comfort and fit. They are available now for $29.99 at www.h2oaudio.com, Amazon.com and other retailers.
About H2O Audio: Established by athletes for athletes, H2O Audio is the leading provider of high-performance waterproof and sweatproof headphones and accessories for active people around the world. The company's products offer a complete waterproof solution and enable people to enjoy music during any athletic pursuit. H2O Audio products are available on-line direct as well as through Amazon.com, Apple Stores, Best Buy, The Sports Authority, and surf/sport specialty stores worldwide.
APPLE, IPOD ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF APPLE, INC. H2O AUDIO IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF H2O AUDIO, INC. ALL OTHER REGISTERED OR UNREGISTERED TRADEMARKS ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
It’s been a long time since the Twentieth Century Fox animated flick Robots hit theaters. During the time the movie was being marketed hard by the moviemaker, the company used text messages that were unsolicited to get people to see the flick.
If you got one of those unsolicited text messages from the movie house, you might be entitled to $200. That is a lot of green for a text message. A class action suit against Twentieth Century Fox has been settled and each member of the class is eligible for $200.
The text messages were sent out in September or October of 2005. The entire settlement is worth $16 million and the $200 to individuals will be sent by check. You have to submit a “timely, truthful, accurate and properly completed Claim Form” to be part of the settlement.
Blockbuster has taken a beating in the retail market at the hands of services like Netflix and others. The company was forced into bankruptcy and many of the retail stores have closed their doors. Despite the failure in the retail market for the chain, it is doing reasonably well in the on demand streaming market.
Blockbuster on Demand has announced that it is now available on over 100 different devices of all sorts. The service can be accessed on Blu-ray players, TVs, game systems, smartphones, and desktop computers. The addition of several new devices from Samsung has helped Blockbuster on Demand hit the milestone.
The latest additions from Samsung include the BD-C8000, BD-C5900, BD-C6800, BD-C7900 Blu-ray players; the C-5930W, C-6900W, C-6600, C-9950W home theater systems, and the Fascinate, Continuum, and Galaxy Tab mobile devices. The WD TV Live Plus set top box also added support for BOD this month.
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