Archive for November 19th, 2008
HP Debuts First Multi-touch Notebook — Yes HP, Not Apple (Now That’s a Surprise!!!)
From the first time Steve Jobs demonstrated “the pinch” — the two-finger gesture used to zoom in and out of photos and Web pages on the iPhone – some Apple observers assumed it was just a matter of time before a multitouch-enabled screen showed up on the Mac. That hasn’t happened yet. But now Hewlett-Packard has beaten Apple to the punch, announcing the first multitouch-enabled notebook PC, the tx2. We are all wondering — aren’t we — why Apple cou...
Meraki Seeks Money Making Outlet for Free Wi-Fi
Meraki, the Google and Sequoia-backed startup that focuses on citywide Wi-Fi networks, hasn’t let the demise of municipal Wi-Fi halt its efforts to make money or make the wireless network technology available in more places. It has scaled back considerably on its visions of open source, low-cost Wi-Fi for municipalities, instead focusing on Wi-Fi for apartment buildings, city squares and environments where someone is willing to pay to provide the service. Instead of connecting the world, ...
Nothing to Fear But Fear Mongers Themselves
Have we been talked into a recession? There’s little question that’s where the economy is now and it seems to be spiraling deeper by the day as we anxiously cut back on almost everything and, in the process, help make our worst economic fears come true. Did it have to be this way? Just a few months ago we had mainly a severe problem with mortgages that should never have been written. The people who shouldn’t have had the mortgages were losing their homes (or speculative inves...
Why Microsoft Should Bid Again — and Yahoo Should Accept
Now that Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang has finally stepped aside, removing what many saw as one of the main barriers to bringing the two companies together, Microsoft should re-ignite acquisition talks with the company. But that’s not the only reason. There are plenty of other good ones why it should do so — and why Yahoo should accept. (full story below) After his last effort to strike some kind of a deal with Yahoo ended in failure, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said categorically...
Globally, Now 400M Broadband Subscribers
A report prepared for The Broadband Forum by research firm Point Topic and released today says that there are now 400 million broadband subscribers worldwide. In 1998, there were only 57,200 subscribers — that’s growth of nearly 600,000 percent. I was there — chronicling the emergence of now-forgotten names such as Northpoint Communications and @Home Networks. There was a time when the U.S. led the broadband race. Today we merely follow. DSL is still the most widely used tec...
This Is Cool: Social News & Obama’s CTO:
Katie over on Earth2Tech just tipped me off on President Elect Barack Obama’s CTO website. They are using Digg-like social voting to figure out what are the top priorities for this new job. There are some interesting ideas there and hopefully some of them will actually make it to Washington. I like this idea — now lets hope that people actually listen and not just use these as cute tricks. (Related link: How Obama can use the net to improve the government.) ...
The Technology of Toilets
If you didn’t know already, today is World Toilet Day. At first blush, you may wonder why there’s a need for a World Toilet Day given we take toilets for granted. The sad reality is 2.6 billion people, or 40% of the world’s population - don’t have access to a toilet. When you think about it - and here’s the technology angle - the toilet really hasn’t changed that much over the past 250 years since Alexander Cummings invented a sliding valve within a toilet bow...
Quantance Gets $12M to Boost Cell Phone Reception
Quantance chip Quantance, a San Mateo, Calif.-based chip firm, has raised a $12 million second round of funding to build a component part that will improve cell phone data reception by boosting the signal the phone sends to the base station. The funding, led by the TD Fund, with DoCoMO Capital, Granite Ventures and InterWest Partners also participating, supports Quantance’s efforts to manufacture and market its analog chip. The involvement of DOCOMO Capital, the venture arm of the Japan...
Tekelec Industry Analyst Day
Yesterday I attended Tekelecs industry analyst day, which was held at their headquarters in Morrisville, N.C. That was a new stop for me, but very much worth the time, and should add this was their first such event. I really like this format its small in scale and doesnt take much time out of your week. Maybe 15 industry analysts very friendly and approachable. All of us sitting around a table with their senior management team, hearing about their roadmap for both business focus and...
PC Magazine Stops the Presses - Online Only
I grew up reading PC Magazine and I looked forward each couple weeks to picking up my copy of PC Magazine at the local grocery store. But today, Ziff Davis has announced that the legendary PC Magazine print publication is shutting down its print publication and focusing exclusively on online content. This is truly a sad day… Hold on while I grab some tissues… PC Magazine started the whole in-depth comparative reviews of PCs and Microsoft software. They expanded later to including ga...
Typical Situation
Typical Sales Situation: So I meet a prospective buyer. We exchange cards. A couple weeks later, he has a circuit need to be quoted. We have a conversation. It gets complicated. Next thing you know I am competing against the inside sales team and the Reseller. So why is an Agent in a price war with the direct account exec? No idea, but it happens more and more. Who loses? The carrier usually. Why? Because they are losing margin with each pitch and counter pitch. At some point - like in the b...
Coming Soon, Fiber to All of Netherlands
KPN and FTTH operator Reggefiber are planning to roll out a fiber-to-the-home network that could cost as much as seven billion euros. The network might take up to seven years to build out and is going to cover pretty much every part of Netherlands. KPN, which is the incumbent in Netherlands wants to acquire 41% of Reggefiber, a decision that is pending approval. James Enck thinks the Dutch fiber movement is taking off because of a “orward-looking and pragmatic incumbent,” fading ca...
Anybody Like the New Xbox Live?
The new Xbox Live look is supposed to kick off today so be sure to take a peek. The gaming platform now includes customizable avatars, an iPod-like display and easier viewing of Netflix downloads. It’s got to be an improvement over what was there before … or at least we hope so! Let’s hear the feedback! Louder! Tags: avatar, ipod, xbox live Related Entries Xbox Live Getting a Makeover - Nov 17, 2008 Belkin GoStudio Turns iPod into Recording Studio! - Nov 06, 2008 Ve...
Big Failures
In case you feel bad about things not going well, here’s a video of other failures to give you hope. (It can’t be embedded sorry). Then there’s my short list of telecom failures that I am certain will be updated in 2009. And then one last hopeful video: Did You Know? / Shift Happens by high school teacher Karl Fisch. Tags: video Related Entries PR Machine in Full Swing - Aug 26, 2008 More Communications Apps - Jun 27, 2008 More Video - Apr 15, 2008 TrackBacks | ...
Call for Speakers: [Tele]Vision! II - Another Peek into the Future of TV
On December 18th, 2008 Dror Gill and I are hosting a session about the future of TV at the Garage Geeks in Holon, Israel This is the second time such an event takes place - for coverage of the first event, see http://www.blonde2dot0.com/blog/2007/05/01/a-peak-into-the-future-of-tv/ and http://www.degardener.com/2007/04/30/jeff-pulver-garagegeeks-notes-on-the-future-of-tv/ We are looking for innovative people who are willing to share their vison about the future of TV. We are looking for pure vis...
Web Video Is Still an Inexact Science
Dave Winer wrote a poignant post this week about President-elect Barack Obama’s interview on “60 Minutes,” prompting me to actually go to the CBS web site in search of the most-watched “60 Minutes” episode…ever. It was hard to find the video on CBS.com, and only after I searched for it on Google did I end up at CBSNews.com, where the video interview — along with a full transcript — is available. That alone was an annoying experience, though the ...
Updated Jeff Pulver Event Calendar:
Nov 19th - Last day to pitch Jeff to speak at the Social Media Jungle @ CES 2009, taking place January 7, 2009 in Las Vegas. Nov 20th - Breakfast with Jeff Pulver and Friends in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nov 28th: The Green Geek Unconference in Israel Dec 1st - Breakfast with Jeff Pulver and Friends in New York City. Dec 2nd - American Israel Chamber of Commerce event, Washington, D.C. - Im co-chairing the Media & Entertainment session. Dec 5th - Deadline to submit speaking proposal for SocC...
SC08 Video: Put a Green Supercomputer on Your Desk
I’m intrigued by the idea of personal supercomputers such as the Cray CX1, which was unveiled earlier this year, as well as the Dell Workstation that was given a teraflop boost using an Nvidia Telsa card. So I jumped at the chance to chat with SiCortex, a maker of high-performance computing systems that in March announced a 72-core workstation that runs at 300 watts. The company just closed a $37 million round of funding in September and also has a larger HPC system as well. For more, che...
Skype Seeking Skype Developer Community Manager
If we go back to our early September interview with Josh Silverman where we discussed “The Way Ahead - Platforms and Partners”, Josh stated in response to our question about addressing ongoing partner communications issues: What I don’t want to do is over promise. Step one is, when you get somebody good in, lay out a plan and then when we’re ready to announce some more forward looking things we’ll do that. I take the partner program really seriously and we’r...
Bluetooth Home Automation with a Twist
The new BK-UNV01 module from startup BlueKey Wireless can turn most Bluetooth-enabled phones into home controllers. Despite the prevalence of Bluetooth solutions on the market, the company believes this product is unique because of the company’s robust on-screen programming interface. The module and companion software debuted at the Electronic House Expo Fall 2008 in Long Beach, Calif. The BK-UNV01 receives Bluetooth commands from compatible phones and other devices — up to 300 fe...
Obama’s FCC Transition Team Co-chair a WoW Player
Last week, President-elect Obama appointed Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton, and Susan Crawford, who teaches communications and Internet law at the University of Michigan, to co-chair his FCC transition team. In preparation for his incoming administration, the two, both seasoned Net Neutrality advocates, will be tasked with providing information on U.S. government Internet and telecom policies, along with advising on budgetary and personnel matt...
Skype seeking a “Manager, Skype Developer Community”
I found it somewhat fascinating to see that Skype has posted a job opening for a “Manager, Skype Developer Community”. The job description includes this: Your challenge is to drive the Skype Community program that moves the new platform forward, compliments our platform product investments and ultimately delights our partner community and users. Your success will be measured by your ability to work closely with the product teams to develop a comprehensive developer marketing plan, ...
HP Going Wild with Asia Stores
Didn’t I just blog yesterday about the wisdom of Pioneer opening its second U.S. retail store? Well, I guess these companies have a better bead on what’s going on the minds of their consumers because now HP is planning to launch 7,500 stores across Asia. (That is a serious amount of stores!) Hewlett-Packard plans to focus on China and India when it establishes these stores in 1,000 Asia-Pacific cities. One of the largest computer companies in the world, HP is striving to offer ...
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News, opinions and announcements about fast changing communication tools and technologies, from various blogs and ezine.