It’s interesting how married to Operating Systems people can become. My first computer was an Apple IIGS, but then we swiftly moved to Windows. I used to join in deriding Macs, then I got one. Mac OS, especially 10 and up, became my OS of choice. However, I still used Windows (and occasionally Linux) on a daily basis. I’m basically platform agnostic. A platform is a tool, and the one that works best for you is the best… for you. There is no perfect platform for everyone, for computer or phone.
I mention this because of discussions I’ve been having with some fellow techies. This week I finally broke down and bought a Pre. The reactions from my iPhone, WindowsMobile and Blackberry using friends (Sort of sad, but I don’t personally know a single Android user – no I’ve never met Justin) were almost comical in their predictability. I even got complaints about the Pre from a fellow Pre owner… because he’s really a Blackberry user. I’m not saying they’re wrong – I’m just saying the Pre is closer to my “ideal” phone than most of those other options (In fact, I recalled a doodle I drew ten years ago and it resembles the Pre to the point of scariness).
Every phone does its job in one way or another and every phone does it for someone. The cell market is really big enough for everyone. So how about we all just calm down and let people find the right solution?
So, why is the Pre my “perfect phone” (so far, anyway?)? Click the read link and find out.
[Warning – this thing is a fricking essay. I clearly have no life.] (more…)
In one of the strangest stories to hit the mobile space in quite some time, T-Mobile USA’s parent company, the mobile giant Deutsche Telekom is rumored to be in talks with Sprint/Nextel about an acquisition.
This sounds hardly likely for a multitude of reasons- first and foremost, the technology isn’t compatible with their current GSM networks. Sprint, being a CDMA carrier, uses completely different frequencies and protocols- the network could never integrate together into one, and would have to be operated as two independent providers. Sound familiar?
Yeah. Sprint did that when they bought Nextel. Nextel was built around yet another competing technology, called iDen, which was famous for its excellent push-to-talk service. When Sprint’s own attempt at a Push-to-talk service didn’t catch on (anyone remember ReadyLink?), the company made a bold move and just bought up their competitor Nextel.
Not only did the move baffle users everywhere, it apparently baffled themselves as well. What was Sprint supposed to do with Nextel? Consolidate into one network? Not possible!
How do you juggle two networks that have nothing to do with each other? The phones aren’t compatible, the towers and infrastructure are different… you’re basically left with one company trying to run two independent networks along with a totally separate lineup of phones.
Sure, Sprint/Nextel tried to make it work with their hybrid phones (superior voice & data of CDMA, instant walkie-talkie chirp of Nextel), but that unfortunately didn’t catch on as well as planned, and it didn’t help solve the infrastructure problem of maintaining towers for both.
In fact, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was recently interviewed by Charlie Rose, and asked if he thought the Nextel aquisition was a bad idea. His response? “In 20 / 20 hindsight, it was, yes… the premium that Sprint paid for Nextel was too much.”
There is a lesson to be learned here. Competing technologies don’t blend together well. So why on earth would one of the largest GSM providers in the world be interested in purchasing the very same US provider guilty of that very mistake?
What could they possibly do with it?
Imagine- T-mobile, together with Sprint, together with Nextel. Three totally different, totally incompatible technologies with different phones and different towers, trying to be maintained by one parent company.
No, this sounds like a hoax.
But isn’t it true that Sprint was planning on selling their Nextel division? Perhaps Deutsche Telekom is interested in just that?
Still rather unlikely. Even though iDen and GSM both use SIM cards, their similarities end there. They would still have the dual-network problem to tackle, although admittedly this is better than a triple-network to tackle. Still, why would D.T. want to take on Sprint’s headache, especially when they admit it wasn’t worth it?
Numbers.
It could very well be that D.T. wants a stronger US presence. T-mobile USA is currently in 4th place as far as subscribers for national carriers. Unlike Sprint, D.T. has very deep pockets due to its worldwide presence, and the sheer number of subscribers may be worth trying to maintain both networks, even if it is not profitable at first. Still, it sounds far fetched, and besides the rumor circulating is about Sprint/Nextel, not just Nextel.
So, no one will ever buy Sprint?
No, I’m not saying that. Sprint has been losing money according to its financial reports, however Deutsche Telekom seems like a poor suitor. Fellow CDMA carrier Verizon seems more like a viable option, especially seeing how they recently bought and are merging networks with CDMA carrier Alltel.
Still, despite financial reports, Sprint appears to keep on pushing ahead with new technology and exclusive handsets… and has no sign of slowing. It is my personal opinion that Sprint itself will be around for some time still.
Still, at the mere mention of this news, Sprint’s stock jumped 11%. While I find the whole thing very unlikely, it would seem that at the very least some investors have reason to believe. Or… like so many other rumors in the wireless industry, this could just dissipate and be forgotten a month from now. We shall see…
This coming Monday September 22nd. Mobile Monday New York is having a unique event. Titled Broadband Everywhere – The Mobile Opportunity the events hope to spark a serious discussion around the issue of 3G, 4G, Wifi and Wimax.
The panelist so far are stellar and it hopes to be a discussion on the impacts of mobile broadband on carriers, content providers, laptop manufacturers and infrastructure vendors. So If you are any of those you need to attend.
Well, it appears T-Mobile is finally playing catch up in the data network arena.
The folks over at tmonews.com have managed to get a picture of a sign posted outside a meeting, presumably of T-Mobile execs or some such. The sign clearly states that T-mobile will be rolling out its high speed 3G network in 27 major cities across the country, with service officially on Oct 1st.
This makes T-Mobile officially the last of the big national carriers to get 3G. This is sad because other carriers have had 3G for years, and are already announcing plans for 4G data. T-mobile’s rollout by Oct only includes 27 cities, and a fuller rollout will probably take them well into 2009- But by then, I wouldn’t be surprised if some form of 4G were already here.
The irony as I blogged about here recently, is that T-Mobile was once regarded as up at the top of the data network game. Back in the days when 2G was standard, they brought us the first Blackberry with voice, the first Pocket PC phone, popular exclusives like the Sidekick and Dash (Excalibur), etc…
The other big GSM networks got EDGE (2.5G) first, and then T-mobile sorta dragged its feet into last place with that too. Now its like they’re reluctantly bringing 3G because they’re the only ones who don’t have it yet.
I was sort of hoping that they’d just skip and jump straight to 4G or something. *Sigh*
Its almost like, why bother, T-Mobile? Your network will be obsolete by the time you finish!
Maybe its just me, but I feel like the whole world has an iPhone and I don’t. Everywhere I turn, there’s another iPhone user. In fact, at my last staff meeting, two were given away just because (while cool, its not quite as awesome as Twitter giving ALL employees a new iPhones). The only thing stopping the purchase is the fact I am on a different carrier. But Congress is working on making the switch just a little bit easier.
Consumers have been able to take their phone numbers with them to another cell phone operator since late 2003. And since then millions of people have exercised their right to keep their numbers and switch to another carrier. But the process has not always been smooth. And the Senators say that if the process is burdensome or slow, it will likely deter many consumers from changing providers even when they dissatisfied. Ultimately that hurts competition and pricing for all consumers.
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation to expand number portability rules. The bill is called the Same Number Act of 2007, and it aims to help consumers keep the same phone number when leaving one voice service for another–regardless of wireless or landline. The bill also aims to expedite the number portability process because extended waiting periods for number porting could deter some consumers from making a switch.
“This legislation would require the FCC to revisit its number portability rules and extend them to all applicable voice communications services, not just telecom services. As a result, consumers will be able to take full advantage of new choices and cheaper prices as they become available,” Stevens said.
Just to make sure cost does not stand in the way of you telling your mother you love her on Mother’s Day, T-Mobile is offering free SMS all day May 13th.
For the fifth straight study, T-Mobile ranks highest when it comes to customer satisfaction in all six regions of the US (including 3 ties), providing outstanding results particularly in customer care, cost of service, and billing. Verizon Wireless is tied for first in three of the six regions.
Study results by region are:
Northeast: T-Mobile
Mid-Atlantic: T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless (tie)
Southeast Region: Alltel, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless (tie)
North Central Region: AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon Wireless (tie)
Once again two worlds that are part of my life that I never thought would collide have collided. As many of you in the cell phone industry probably do not know the East Coast United States has recently lost 70% of its commercial bee population, with the West Coast not far behind those numbers to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
In other words, beekeepers are coming back to their hives only to find that during the winter some of them have just up and disappeared.
I only know this because my father and I are beekeeping hobbyist and some people very close to me are professional beekeepers. Id love to hear their thoughts on this .
Well, apparently one theory has attributed the mysterious occurrence (which has devastating effects on our agriculture by the way since bees are key to pollination) to cell phone and cell phone towers.
A limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby….Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: “I am convinced the possibility is real.”
This, by the way, in a very high school policy debate fashion allows people to make claims like some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world’s harvests fail.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
The article then also goes on to point out the other possible dangers of mobile phones in terms of cancer and mens sperm count, but the latter is a different type of pollination concern, isn’t it?
I was watching TV last night and much to my shock a Cingular commercial came on. I must say, I was pretty confused, seeing how one of the biggest “de-branding†campaigns began this past Monday, converting Cingular to AT&T.
From what I have heard, AT&T will not be resurrecting “AT&T Wireless,†but instead will call service formally known as Cingular, “wireless service from AT&T.†They will also be dropping Cingular’s “raising the bar†slogan and morphing the logo into an orange version of the AT&T globe. AT&T has not released the budget for these efforts, but I can say that a campaign last year to promote AT&T as the new brand name of SBC Communication cost about $1 billion.
In one of the strangest stories to hit the mobile space in quite some time, T-Mobile USA’s parent company, the mobile giant Deutsche Telekom is rumored to be in talks with Sprint/Nextel about an acquisition.
Well, it appears T-Mobile is finally playing catch up in the data network arena. 
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