This brief bit shows the paradox between rapidly falling cellphone prices and the large increase in revenue they generate. What is startling is that the average cellphone costs 40% more than it did one year ago. Meanwhile, new technology is introduced so quickly that phones depreciate after a year.
Cellphones Get Cheaper, So People Pay More
By Saul Hansell
New York Times
Nov. 20, 2007
There’s no place that the relentless reduction in prices for technology products is more visible than cellphones. It seems like only months between the time a phone is offered for sale at $300 and it is ready to be given away free in cereal boxes. (O.K. not quite, but that’s not a bad marketing idea.)
What’s odd about all this is that according to new data from the NPD Group, people are actually spending more on cellphones than a year ago. Americans bought 38 million phones in the third quarter up only 4 percent from the third quarter of 2006. But they spent a total of $3.2 billion on those phones, up from $2.2 billion a year earlier.
Doing the math, that means the average phone cost $82.81 this year, up 40 percent from $58.95 a year ago....
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/cellphones-get-cheaper-so-people-pay-more/index.html?ref=technology
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
The Latest Trend in Social-Networking
Mobile-networking is an inevitable extension of networking online. It allows users to stay connected and informed, from wherever they are, using device most of us carry already. Though it is difficult to estimate how financially lucrative mobile interface will become, large players like Google and Facebook are gearing up to take advantage of the hugely popular social-networking trend by extending applications to cellphones.
Social Networkers Reach Out More With Cellphones
By Edward C. Baig
USA Today
Nov. 14, 2007
The cellphone in your pocket or purse is becoming fertile territory for the hugely popular - some say overhyped - social-networking trend. Though social networks take different forms, they typically link folks with common interests and values. The mobile variety tends to appeal to the throngs of young people who have an insatiable desire to stay connected at all times.
Just as you receive e-mail and instant messages on your cell, you can now access the "status updates" and buddy profiles that are a fixture on social networks. Some start-ups are using location-based technologies to let cellular subscribers keep tabs on pals close by. Yet wireless carriers, handset makers and social-networking upstarts confront a challenge: turning mobile networking into a profitable venture....In many respects, mobile is a natural extension of the PC social-networking experience. Phones provide an immediacy not typically possible on a PC. "I think it's going to be more pre-emptive, more spontaneous," says Padmasree Warrior, Motorola's (MOT) chief technology officer....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20071114/tc_usatoday/socialnetworkersreachoutmorewithcellphones;_ylt=Ao7V.P.Y4P1skOafR4ygTvis0NUE
Social Networkers Reach Out More With Cellphones
By Edward C. Baig
USA Today
Nov. 14, 2007
The cellphone in your pocket or purse is becoming fertile territory for the hugely popular - some say overhyped - social-networking trend. Though social networks take different forms, they typically link folks with common interests and values. The mobile variety tends to appeal to the throngs of young people who have an insatiable desire to stay connected at all times.
Just as you receive e-mail and instant messages on your cell, you can now access the "status updates" and buddy profiles that are a fixture on social networks. Some start-ups are using location-based technologies to let cellular subscribers keep tabs on pals close by. Yet wireless carriers, handset makers and social-networking upstarts confront a challenge: turning mobile networking into a profitable venture....In many respects, mobile is a natural extension of the PC social-networking experience. Phones provide an immediacy not typically possible on a PC. "I think it's going to be more pre-emptive, more spontaneous," says Padmasree Warrior, Motorola's (MOT) chief technology officer....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20071114/tc_usatoday/socialnetworkersreachoutmorewithcellphones;_ylt=Ao7V.P.Y4P1skOafR4ygTvis0NUE
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Lingo is Favored VoIP Service
Reputable tech publication, Wired Magazine, rates the leading broadband service providers and gives Lingo their highest seal of approval. Lingo offers excellent call-quality and great customer service for the lowest price. If you were considering which company to choose, you should read this and act quickly. Lingo has a November Special: One month free + free delivery.
Wired Magazine: Test
VoIP Services
By Aoife M. McEvoy
Oct. 23, 2007, Test Issue - Winter 2008
If you've been skeptical about deep-sixing your landline, it's now time. Talk is cheap, and call quality is fab... mostly, anyway....
[Editors' Pick] Lingo
Looking for a bargain? Lingo's low monthly fee covers unlimited calling to the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and more than 20 other countries, including Australia and most of western Europe. Although we initially encountered an annoying echo with overseas connections, after contacting the company for help, the problem went away. Domestic calls were superb, soundwise.
WIRED: Most inexpensive plan. Tidy online account manager. No hold time for tech support. Optional mobile plan lets you save big bucks when making international calls on your cell phone. (First dial a designated number to connect with Lingo, then make your international call.)
TIRED: Some cable-futzing required during setup.
$22 per month, http://www.lingo.com/?agent=2144
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/test2007/mp_voip_services
Wired Magazine: Test
VoIP Services
By Aoife M. McEvoy
Oct. 23, 2007, Test Issue - Winter 2008
If you've been skeptical about deep-sixing your landline, it's now time. Talk is cheap, and call quality is fab... mostly, anyway....
[Editors' Pick] Lingo
Looking for a bargain? Lingo's low monthly fee covers unlimited calling to the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and more than 20 other countries, including Australia and most of western Europe. Although we initially encountered an annoying echo with overseas connections, after contacting the company for help, the problem went away. Domestic calls were superb, soundwise.
WIRED: Most inexpensive plan. Tidy online account manager. No hold time for tech support. Optional mobile plan lets you save big bucks when making international calls on your cell phone. (First dial a designated number to connect with Lingo, then make your international call.)
TIRED: Some cable-futzing required during setup.
$22 per month, http://www.lingo.com/?agent=2144
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/test2007/mp_voip_services
Sunday, November 11, 2007
No Panic for iPhone Competitors
Rivals of the iPhone are keeping their eye on Apple's progress while making plans of their own. This article features a few leading competitors and reveals innovative ideas that challenge the iPhone.
Who's afraid of the iPhone?
By: Darren Waters BBC News Nov. 7, 2007
Apple's iPhone may have only been on release for a few months but it is making waves in the global mobile industry. So how are competitors responding?
More than 285 million handsets from a plethora of manufacturers were sold globally between July and September this year, according to recent figures from research firm Strategy Analytics.
The figures are up 12% on last year, and each and every week new handsets and services are launched into a burgeoning market ever hungry for more features.
Apple is the new kid on the block and managed to sell 1.4m iPhones in the first 90 days on sale. The device goes on sale in the UK and Germany on Friday.
It is an impressive number but a fraction of the global market.
And the companies who dominate the global market are putting out handsets that are serious competitors....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7081636.stm
Online Word Game Fights World Hunger
The online game FreeRice tests your vocabulary and donates 10 grains of rice for every correct answer you get. When you play the game, money generated by advertisements is used to buy rice. By playing, you actually help feed hungry people. Donated rice is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). Read more about www.freerice.com in this article:
Web Game Provides Rice For Hungry
BBC News
Nov. 9, 2007
An internet word game has generated enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said.The game, FreeRice, tests the vocabulary of participants. For each click on a correct answer, the website donates money to buy 10 grains of rice.Companies advertising on the website provide the money to the WFP to buy and distribute the rice.FreeRice went online in early October and has now raised 1bn grains of rice.That is enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the WFP said on Friday.
Story from BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7088447.stm
Web Game Provides Rice For Hungry
BBC News
Nov. 9, 2007
An internet word game has generated enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said.The game, FreeRice, tests the vocabulary of participants. For each click on a correct answer, the website donates money to buy 10 grains of rice.Companies advertising on the website provide the money to the WFP to buy and distribute the rice.FreeRice went online in early October and has now raised 1bn grains of rice.That is enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the WFP said on Friday.
Story from BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7088447.stm
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Illegal Device Enforces Cellular Silence
An illegal gadget, the cellphone jammer, that interferes with cellular signals has gained popularity in the United States as the use of cellphones has invaded more public places.
Cellphone Vigilantes Try Signal Disobedience
By: Matt Richtel
International Herald Tribune
Nov. 4, 2007
As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half a conversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels is turning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget that renders nearby mobile devices impotent.
The technology is not new, but overseas exporters of jammers say demand is rising and they are sending hundreds of them a month into the United States - prompting scrutiny from federal regulators and new concern this week from the cellphone industry. The buyers include owners of cafés and hair salons, hoteliers, public speakers, theater operators, bus drivers and, increasingly, commuters on public transportation.
The development is creating a battle for control of the airspace within earshot. And the damage is collateral. Insensitive talkers impose their racket on the defenseless, while jammers punish not just the offender, but also more discreet chatterers.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/04/business/jammer.php?page=2
Cellphone Vigilantes Try Signal Disobedience
By: Matt Richtel
International Herald Tribune
Nov. 4, 2007
As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half a conversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels is turning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget that renders nearby mobile devices impotent.
The technology is not new, but overseas exporters of jammers say demand is rising and they are sending hundreds of them a month into the United States - prompting scrutiny from federal regulators and new concern this week from the cellphone industry. The buyers include owners of cafés and hair salons, hoteliers, public speakers, theater operators, bus drivers and, increasingly, commuters on public transportation.
The development is creating a battle for control of the airspace within earshot. And the damage is collateral. Insensitive talkers impose their racket on the defenseless, while jammers punish not just the offender, but also more discreet chatterers.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/04/business/jammer.php?page=2
FTC Targets Online Marketing in Privacy Debate
Internet advertising is the latest hot-topic in the consumer privacy debate. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission held meetings to discuss online privacy and tracking techniques of corporate marketers. Questions they addressed include how much control people need or want over the information that is collected as they click from site to site. Privacy advocates argue that the government needs to establish guidelines for digital privacy; while some executives in the advertising industry do not see anything wrong with online targeting. This article is an informative briefing of the two-day forum on behavioral targeting, the increasingly popular tactic of delivering ads to people based on personal choices made while surfing the web.
F.T.C. Member Vows Tighter Controls of Online Ads
By: Louise Story
New York Times
November 2, 2007
A MEMBER of the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that the agency would be exerting a tighter grip over online advertising, partly because of increased tracking by marketing companies of people’s activity on the Internet. Jon Leibowitz, the commissioner, said he was concerned about ads being shown to children online and about the tactics advertisers are using to collect data about people. “When you’re surfing the Internet, you never know who is peering over your shoulder or how many marketers are watching,” he said....
At the forum, privacy advocates and executives from companies like Google and Microsoft debated the trade-off between the personal information that marketers collect and the relevance of the ads that people are shown. While most consumers would prefer to see an ad for something they might possibly buy rather than something irrelevant to them, even within the advertising industry there are disagreements about the kind of data that is appropriate for marketers to use.
Executives from several Internet companies said they could easily improve the quality and accuracy of their online advertising campaigns without compromising basic privacy principles....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/technology/02adco.html?ref=technology
F.T.C. Member Vows Tighter Controls of Online Ads
By: Louise Story
New York Times
November 2, 2007
A MEMBER of the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that the agency would be exerting a tighter grip over online advertising, partly because of increased tracking by marketing companies of people’s activity on the Internet. Jon Leibowitz, the commissioner, said he was concerned about ads being shown to children online and about the tactics advertisers are using to collect data about people. “When you’re surfing the Internet, you never know who is peering over your shoulder or how many marketers are watching,” he said....
At the forum, privacy advocates and executives from companies like Google and Microsoft debated the trade-off between the personal information that marketers collect and the relevance of the ads that people are shown. While most consumers would prefer to see an ad for something they might possibly buy rather than something irrelevant to them, even within the advertising industry there are disagreements about the kind of data that is appropriate for marketers to use.
Executives from several Internet companies said they could easily improve the quality and accuracy of their online advertising campaigns without compromising basic privacy principles....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/technology/02adco.html?ref=technology
So Much for Net Neutrality
Verizon uses mistyped domains to redirect internet subscribers to their own search engine and advertisements. Such action raises the question of whether or not internet providers will also filter consumer results. Preferential results from internet providers is a major concern for supporters of net neutrality.
Verizon Overrides Internet Searches With Its Own Results
Web search "tinkering" raises net neutrality concerns
By: Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com
Nov. 3, 2007
Subscribers to Verizon's high-powered fiber-optic internet service (FiOS) are reporting that when they mistype a Web site address, they get redirected to Verizon's own search engine page -- even if they don't have Verizon's search page set as their default.
The change has been advertised by Verizon as a way to help users reach the site they were trying to get to, but some are concerned that it's done more to gain revenue from advertisements placed on the Verizon search site.
"It was the very first thing I noticed when Verizon finally got FiOS installed here the other day. Very annoying and hardly in the spirit of net neutrality, eh?," wrote one Webmaster World user, who originally had Google set as his default search engine....Although Verizon opposes net neutrality, it has also said repeatedly that it would not block content or favor its own offerings over rivals--although it now appears to be doing just that....
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/11/verizon_search.html
Verizon Overrides Internet Searches With Its Own Results
Web search "tinkering" raises net neutrality concerns
By: Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com
Nov. 3, 2007
Subscribers to Verizon's high-powered fiber-optic internet service (FiOS) are reporting that when they mistype a Web site address, they get redirected to Verizon's own search engine page -- even if they don't have Verizon's search page set as their default.
The change has been advertised by Verizon as a way to help users reach the site they were trying to get to, but some are concerned that it's done more to gain revenue from advertisements placed on the Verizon search site.
"It was the very first thing I noticed when Verizon finally got FiOS installed here the other day. Very annoying and hardly in the spirit of net neutrality, eh?," wrote one Webmaster World user, who originally had Google set as his default search engine....Although Verizon opposes net neutrality, it has also said repeatedly that it would not block content or favor its own offerings over rivals--although it now appears to be doing just that....
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/11/verizon_search.html
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