Palm Pixi for Holidays from Sprint

Palm's new Pixi phone will be available exclusively from Sprint in time for the holidays. The Pixi essentially is a slimmed-down version of the Pre, optimized for social networking and priced a bit lower than the Pre.

In addition to linking a user's information from Google, Facebook and Exchange ActiveSync, Palm Pixi adds Yahoo! and LinkedIn integration and assembles updates and messages all in a single view, threaded.

"Synergy" on Palm Pixi makes messaging easier by showing all user conversations with the same person in one chat-style thread, so users can start a conversation on AIM Instant Messenger, Google Talk or Yahoo! Messenger and continue it by text message later.

Complementing the phone's already rich Facebook integration with the contacts, phone, calendar and photo applications, a new Facebook application will be available with Palm Pixi so you can see and comment on all the latest updates from friends, as well as easily update your status.

The phone combines both a full QWERTY keyboard and a multi-touch screen lets users move back and forth between open applications using natural gestures.

The Palm Pixi runs on the Sprint 3G network and features multimedia options including pictures, video playback and music and featuring a 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack.

Motorola "CLIQ" Uses Android, Optimized for Social Networking

T-Mobile USA says the new Motorola CLIQ, the first Android-powered device from Motorola, will be available exclusively in the United States, using the T-Mobile network, later this fall. The CLIQ uses "Motoblur," a threading system that manages and integrates communications ranging from work email to social networking activity.

Updates to contacts, posts, messages, photos and more are streamed together and synced from sources including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail and work and personal email.

Motoblur automatically delivers these updates to the home screen in easy-to-view streams so there is no need to open and close

different mobile applications to keep up with the latest content.

The 3G-capable smart phone features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a full touch-screen display and Wi-Fi capability.

Additional CLIQ features include a 3.1-inch HVGA touch-screen display, a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with video capture and playback at 24 frames per second, a 3.5mm headset jack, a music player with pre-loaded Amazon MP3 store application, Shazam, iMeem Mobile, and a pre-installed 2GB microSD memory card with support for up to 32 GB of removable

memory.

CLIQ also features multitasking capabilities and one-touch access to Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, YouTube and Picasa. Easy access to both personal and corporate e-mail, calendars, and contacts is supported by Exchange Server and Gmail. E-mail and contacts are also supported by Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail, and other POP3 and IMAP e-mail services.

It also combines instant messaging support for Google Talk, as well as AOL, Yahoo! Messenger® and Windows Live Messenger.

T-Mobile`s 3G network is currently available in 200 cities nationwide and covers more than 150 million people. By the end of 2009, T-Mobile USA expects its 3G network to be available to approximately 200 million people across the United States.

The Click is the first of several products Motorola is developing as a result of its shift in software strategy towards fewer platforms and major support for Android.

Many of the elements that Motoblur contains can be considered the new expected fundamentals of the smartphone experience. Multiple home screens, customizable on-screen widgets, and integrated views that combine relevant information from a variety of sources such as various social networks, contact lists and email, are all part of the MotoBlur experience.

Is 768 kbps the Right Minimum Broadband Definition?

Predictably, comments by satellite and mobile wireless providers to the Federal Communications Commission on minimum broadband speeds have been criticized for setting minimum speeds that are too low, generally 768 kbps in the downstream direction and 200 kbps in the upstream.

Keeping in mind that those standards are minimums, not maximums, standards that are "platform neutral," in a world where different networks have distinct advantages and limitations, must not exclude some providers that are technologically limited in terms of speed, though other attributes of service, such as mobility or extreme low cost, are quite favorable.

That is not to argue that 768 kbps is the best, or only, minimum standard that is platform neutral. It simply is a standard all providers can supply now, as a minimum, on a widespread basis.

Keep in mind that nobody has to buy such services. Fixed wireline and wireless services blew past those speeds long ago. The 768 kbps standard primarily is an issue for at least one satellite provider, and sometimes will be an issue for mobile broadband services, at some locations.

The 768 kbps definition therefore bars no contestants and preserves maximum consumer choice. The marketplace already has moved on to megabit speeds, in most locations. Where megabit speeds are not available, it typically is rural and isolated locations where the cost to provide higher speeds is an issue.

It might be wise public policy not to bar such locations from getting broadband, even at lower speeds, as fast as possible.

Mobile Market Competition is Exploding

Though regulators at the Federal Communications Commission seem to believe otherwise, competition in the mobile industry is in one of those explosive moments, when competition is escalating to new levels. In the prepaid market, multiple carriers have launched unlimited domestic calling plans at prices ranging from about $40 to $55 a month, destroying the price floor for unlimited calling plans.

Sprint has been aggressive with any number of "unlimited use" plans of its own, while AT&T two days ago launched its "A-List" program allowing users to designate five numbers, on any network, for unlimited calling. AT&T family plans can designate 10 such numbers.

Sprint responded 24 hours later with "Any Mobile, Anytime," a new feature of Sprint "Everything Data" plans that allows calling to any U.S. wireless number, on any carrier's network, at any time, without additional charge. The plan moves beyond existing "friends and family" or "calling circle" plans that typically include only mobiles on a single carrier network.

T-Mobile has been running such calling circle programs for a while under the "myFaves" program, allowing designatiion of five numbers on any network that can be called on an unlimited basis, for free.

Taken as a whole, all the moves suggest a new wave of competition now is resetting industry understanding of what a competitive "unlimited" offer looks like. Ultimately, consumer expectations of what features and services should be available on an "unlimited" basis also will change, in ways that provide lots more value.

That carriers are willing to move in this direction is partly a function of intense competition in the wireless market. Such moves also likely are the result of better data mining and lower interconnection costs.

For most users, the difference between "truly unlimited" domestic calling and "a reasonable bucket of minutes" is close to zero. And, without, question, "unlimited" is a better marketing platform. Still, off-network termination carries real costs. That carriers are willing to do so shows the extent of competition in the marketplace.

Execs See Social Media Value, but Fear It As Well

Social media, despite being viewed as a key strategy, worries 80 percent of business executives either because of potential for employee time wasting, or because social media exposes companies to risk of criticism that could damage the company reputation, says Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law.

About 51 percent of executives surveyed say they fear social media could be detrimental to employee productivity, while 49 percent say that social media could damage company reputation.

Despite these apprehensions, social networking is seen as a key strategy. Some 80 percent of respondents believe social media can enhance relationships with customers/clients (81 percent) and build brand reputation (81 percent).

Almost 70 percent feel such networking can be valuable in recruitment (69 percent), as a customer service tool (64 percent) and used to enhance employee morale (46 percent).

The most popular vehicles being used include Facebook (80 percent), Twitter (66 percent), YouTube (55 percent), LinkedIn (49 percent) and blogs (43 percent).

“Particularly as Millennials compose a greater share of corporate ranks, social networks are likely to become more popular as communication channels with customers, colleagues and partners,” says Carol Russell, Russell Herder CEO.

The majority (74 percent) of executives surveyed said that they, personally, visit social media sites at least weekly to read what customers may be saying about their company (52 percent), and routinely monitor competitors’ use of social networking (47 percent). One in three search social media sites to see what their employees are sharing (36 percent); or check the background of a prospective employee (25 percent).

About 10 percent of respondents say they have staff who spend more than 50 percent of their time on such efforts.

Respondents who have not yet have a social media program say confidentiality or security issues (40 percent), employee productivity (37 percent) or simply not knowing enough about it (51 percent) are the reasons why no program is in place.

The Russell Herder/Ethos study found that 40 percent of companies technically block their employees from accessing social media while at work. At the same time, 26 percent of companies use social media to further corporate objectives, and just over 70 percent plan to increase the use of these new opportunities.

Clearwire Offers 50% Off Promotion in September

Clearwire is offering a September promotion providing six months of service at 50 percent off on its entry-level unlimited usage plan, selling for $22.50 during the promotional period.

One normally expects pricing innovations of this sort from new entrants in a market, or competitors seeking to grow their market share rapidly. Clearwire already offers casual use pricing that is akin to casual Wi-Fi hot spot pricing.

One wonders how much more innovation Clearwire is thinking about, aside from temporary price promotions.

AT&T Adds "A-List" Calling Feature

AT&T has introduced "A-List with Rollover," allowing AT&T customers unlimited mobile calling to and from five “VIP” domestic phone numbers at no additional cost. FamilyTalk members can select unlimited calling to up to 10 lines.

The program essentially extends "free" calling from other AT&T Wireless customers to a select number of numbers off the AT&T network.

When A-List premieres on Sept. 20, customers can manage their A-List exclusively online at www.att.com/alist.

“This is an incredible value for many of our customers that essentially lets them ‘double dip’,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Not only will they not use minutes from their monthly plan when they call their A-List numbers, but our unique Rollover feature means they can keep those minutes for use in future months.

Customers with individual Nation plans of $59.99 or higher can use A-List with Rollover to select up to five domestic phone numbers to call anytime, including landlines and wireless numbers on any network, without using any of the minutes in their plan.

FamilyTalk customers with plans of $89.99 or more can select up to ten numbers which any person in the FamilyTalk plan can call as much as they want.

A-List: Numbers must be entered online at MyWireless Account at att.com/wireless.com. Only standard domestic landline or wireless numbers are eligible.

Broadband Seen as a Utility, Survey Suggests

Nearly 70 percent of all respondents believe uninterrupted broadband access should be as readily available as other utilities like electricity and water, across all ages, race, income brackets and geographic lines, according to a new survey commissioned by SuperComm and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.

A majority of respondents believe uninterrupted access is essential, while an overwhelming 75 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 want to see broadband available like other utility services.

Also, almost 80 percent of respondents in the same age group believe faster broadband speeds improve productivity at work.

The results, while hardly surprising, suggest some danger for communications service providers. Demand for broadband is nearly ubiquitous. But the analogy to electrictiy and water, both of which commonly are provided as regulated monopoly services, is potentially worrisome. That is the way the communications business has been viewed for most of its history, and there remains danger of a return to such thinking if service providers do not demonstrate that competition works better than regulation.

Most users do not remember what communications was like before the 1984 divestiture of AT&T. But low rates of innovation and high prices were facts of life back then. Matters arguably improved with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, though many might fault the results, or the amount of competition that was enabled.

Fortunately, we have benefitted from mobility, the Internet and broadband, which together arguably outweigh anything that has been done, or not done, on the telecom regulatory front. Nothing less than continued innovation and advances in consumer welfare will prevent some from attempting to turn back the clock.

Communication Spending Not a Good Economic Predictor

U.S. consumer spending on mobile phone, broadband and other communication services is not a very-good predictor of where the economy is, most of the time. The reason is that spending on such services is so stable, averaging between 2.2 percent and 2.5 percent of household spending. Though consumers might shift a bit at the margins duirng tougher times, they do not necessarily spend much more during buoyant times.

For such reasons, one cannot predict very much about the potential health of the economy by looking at consumer behavior in the area of communications spending. Credit availability, on the other hand, almost always tells us lots.

According to the Federal Reserve consumer credit report for July 2009, consumer credit fell almost $22 billion to $2.74 trillion. The figure has been dropping fairly steadily since the middle of last year.

The July number represents an annual rate of decline of more than 10 percent. Bluntly, the government still has not discovered a way to get large financial firms to loan money, and the economy is not likely to recover sharply until it does.

reviewed the data and told Reuters, “There is no way that this recovery can be sustained unless we see a pickup in household spending," says Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group.

The Fed data says a great deal about what is wrong with programs to revive GDP growth. Money spent on long-term infrastructure projects and healthcare may be well-intended and even completely necessary, but that capital does not have the capacity to put people back to work quickly or get them to spend money that they genuinely believe that they do not have.

So the 2009 holiday spending season may be the most important one in memory. If retail spending is flat or declines, it likely will mean that the hibernation of the consumer will continue well into next year.

The good news is that traditional measures of recovery seem to be perking up. The bad news is that the recovery seems fragile. Still, as the saying goes, it is "darkest just before dawn." The recovery is inevitable. The issue many raise is the glide path up from the bottom.

The good news for communications service providers is that the business is structurally stable, year in and year out. The bigger problem remains the structural change in revenue models, away from voice and towards data services. If historic patterns hold, even with a robust economic recovery, consumers will not spend very much more than they do now.

Business behavior is different, owing in part to the changes in employment that can drive spending or restrict it. Most of the revenue changes one typically sees in a downturn are caused by business spending, not consumer spending. So business spending is more contingent on employment changes.

You can make your own guess about the pace of hiring during the recovery. Even there, though, there are changes. Voice lines tradtiionally have been where we have seen the incremental changes. These days, the insistent pressure is from bandwidth demands, which increase steadily each year, almost irrespective of headcount.

If you had to make a guess, you probably would do well to pay close attention to mobile and fixed broadband as the places where growth will be steady and measurable, no matter what the pace of recovery.

Who Uses Social Networks? Everybody, says Forrester Research

Who uses social networks? "Everybody," says Forrester Research analyst Sean Corcoran. Adults younger than 35 are nearly universally involved. Only three percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 10 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds are socially "inactive."

What’s more, a staggering 89 percent read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch user-generated video, read forums or customer ratings and reviews. Nearly the same percentage maintain profiles on social networks and visit social networking sites.

Almost half create content, far higher than any other age group.

Adults ages 35 to 54 rapidly increased their participation on social networking sites Compared with last year, this group grew its participation by more than 60 percent, and now more than half of adults ages 35 to 44 are in social networks.

About 38 percent of adults ages 45 to 54 use social network sites regularly. About 20 percent of users in these age brackets produce content. About 70 percent read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch user-generated video, read online forums or user reviews.

About 70 percent of online adults ages 55 and older use social tools at least once a month. About 26 percent use social networks and 12 percent create social content.

EU Issues Report on Mobile Phone Cancer Risk

The European Commission is the latest group to issue a report on non-ionizing radiation, any type of electromagnetic radiation including near ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwave, radio waves, and low frequency RF (longwave) that does not cause heating.

The EU report basically argues there is a "significant risk of brain tumors from cellphone use." The issue has been studied for decades, and there might be thousands of studies that investigate one form or another of non-ionizing radiation, with results that might fairly be called inconclusive.

Still, the EU study says there is enough uncertainty to warrant keeping "certain establishments free of wireless device radiation, including schools, child day care centers, retirement homes and health care institutions."

Dr. George Carlo, leader of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s $25M research project, for example, is said by the EU report to have found in 1999 "a statistically significant doubling of brain cancer risk" from mobile use. But three of the five subsequent brain tumor studies published between 2000 and 2002 found “non-significant” elevated risks.

But those studies also are said to show an elevated risk as years of mobile phone usage lengthen.

"Studies led by Professor Lennart Hardell in Sweden found significantly increased risk of brain tumors from 10 or more years of cellphone or cordless phone use," the report suggests. "For every 100 hours of cellphone use, the risk of brain cancer increases by five percent," the report suggests.

"For every year of cellphone use, the risk of brain cancer increases by eight percent," while "after 10 or more years of digital cellphone use, there was a 280 percent increased risk of brain cancer."

"For digital cellphone users who were teenagers or younger when they first starting using a cellphone, there was a 420 percent increased risk of brain cancer," the report says.

The study suggests that dangers are greatest for children.

The study also suggests, as you might expect, more studies of greater rigor. That is not a bad idea. Up to this point, the studies have been contradictory, and therefore inconclusive. But it would not be fair to say no studies have suggested any danger: some have.

Right now, some of us would say that mobile technology is a highly useful technology that might carry some risk, as do automobiles, airplanes or even other household tools. As with any tool, use them wisely.

SES: Back to the Future for Satellites

U.S. and European broadband stimulus plans are dampening prospects for delivering broadband Internet access using satellite networks, SES, the largest satellite operator, says. On the other hand, growing demand for satellite-delivered high-definition television likely will grow.

In many ways that is a "back to the future" move, as satellite point-to-multipoint networks always have been optimal for delivery of linear TV signals. Specifically, SES sees a growing role for use of satellite as the delivery mechanism for multi-channel TV by telcos in situations where fixed broadband networks do not have the capacity to delivery TV signals.

That might represent a market including 40 percent to 50 percent of locations.

“I personally believe the rollout of terrestrial broadband will be such that you can’t demonstrate the viability of satellite in the long term,” Romain Bausch, SES CEO, told the Financial Times.

SES provides two-way satellite broadband to 45,000 customers in Europe but would not invest in new capacity for purposes of serving Internet access demand, Bausch says. Support for mobile voice and video is a different matter, though.

SES plans to add eight satellites to its 40-strong fleet within three years, boosting capacity 19 per cent. About 170 of the 200 new transponders will cover emerging markets where SES supplies the “backbone” to mobile networks in remote areas.

High-definition television, which requires twice the satellite capacity of standard definition channels, continued to power SES’s video revenues.

BSkyB, an SES customer, has announced plans to pioneer 3D television in the UK in 2010, which will require a third more satellite capacity than current HD programming.Ultra-HD, being tested in Japan, could consume four times as much capacity, Bausch also notes.

Gmail User Engagement Seems Higher: Why?

Behavioral differences between users of similar products always are profoundly important, either because one provider has uncovered a better end user interface, better features, some unmet user need or because end user segments are revealed by their choices.

According to a new study by ChimpMail, which analyzed about 184 million email messages , when it comes to open rates, click rates, bounces and abuse complaints, there are distinct differences in recipients' engagement with email between major webmail services.

Open rates, for example, were highest among Gmail users (31 percent) and lowest among AOL users (20 percent). Gmail also ranked highest for click rate with 7.4 percent compared to Yahoo's lowest of 4.2 percent.

Messages sent to Gmail accounts also had the lowest hard bounce rate, though other data indicates Gmail’s spam protection may be so stringent that messages disappear without producing a bounce. A 2009 Return Path study, for example, found a 23 percent nondelivery rate for marketing messages sent to Gmail.

According to comScore, Gmail is the third-most-popular e-mail property among U.S. Internet users, though it posted the highest growth rate between July 2008 and July 2009. Unique visitors to the service rose 46 percent to nearly 37 million.

ChimpMail executives suspect the data show there is some demographic difference between Gmail and other Web-based email users that accounts for the higher engagement rates.

Some also think better junk mail filtering by Gmail accounts for the difference in engagement. Perhaps fewer messages, better tailored to actual end users, are being delivered to Gmail users. It is possible that this better matching of interests and messages is having an impact.

What Makes a Business "Social"?

For the past couple of years, businesses have been trying to figure out what it means to be "social," to create "communities" of users, prospects and customers.

The concept is hard to understand, in some ways. Every business satisfies some understood end user want or need, selling products or services that are an answer for those needs or wants. So social networking is seen as a better way to connect with people, and buildconnections between people, in an environment that is conducive to the company’s success.

Some of us call this a shift from "push" marketing to "pull" marketing, from "promoting products" to "inviting people to be part of a conversation about shared interests."

Jahin Mahindra points to Chick-Fil-A as an example. The firm knew it would have a hard time competing against other giants such as Kentucky Fried Chicken. So instead of "selling chicken," Chick-Fil-A created a gathering spot for mothers with children.

Almost all Chick-Fil-A buildings are constructed with indoor play areas for children. Wi-Fi has been added to many locations to ensure the parents can flip open the laptop at the table while junior plays in the jungle gym. Employees routinely pass through and refill drinks or even clear tables as if users were dining in a more formal establishment.

What this has done, in many Chick-Fil-A locations, is create a place for the desperate housewives to gather and nosh on weekday afternoons, Mahindra says.

"It’s not about the food; It’s about the social environment created that is conducive to buying the food," says Mahindra.

"If you have a location, make visiting your location a social event," he says. "Why do you think many bookstores now have coffee shops built in?"

"If you’re a meeting place as well as a place to buy things, people will frequent your location for reasons other than buying stuff," he says.

That's admittedly a tougher thing to do in a business-to-business setting than in a business-to-consumer environment, but the principles are the same.

Verizon Exec Says "We Don't Want to Upgrade" Charges are "Absurd"

Some policy advocates are taking shots at Verizon Communications for taking the position that a workable minimum definition of "broadband," for purposes of setting national broadband policy, is 768 kbps downstream and 200 kbps upstream.

"There seems to be some confusion around Verizon’s filing suggesting that the FCC keep a baseline definition for broadband as

768 kbps down and 200 kbps up," says David Young, Verizon VP. "The implication here is that we want to keep the speed set low so we won’t have to upgrade our networks."

"This is clearly absurd," he says. Indeed, in its filing Verizon itself suggests a goal of 50 Mbps for fixed broadband and 5 Mbps for mobile broadband.

But Verizon suggests that for reporting, tracking and measurement purposes, the FCC should maintain the current definition used in

the FCC broadband data reporting program (Form 477) for a basline, while continuing to track multiple higher “speed tiers” to get

a full view of what’s happening in the broadband marketplace.

This threshold definition also has the benefit of being the same one used by NTIA and RUS for the broadband stimulus program, Young argues.

There are lots of good reasons for being consistent about national data collection, the most obivious being that it is impossible to track progress over time if we keep changing the definitions. Many important changes that happen in national communications take 10 years or more, and it can make a huge difference if, along the way, the definitions of what we are tracking have changed frequently.

The other reason is that the definitions will cover networks of very type physical properties. Satellite, fixed wireless wireless, mobile and fixed networks all have different cost and capability profiles.

Beyond that, if what we are after is the fastest possible broadband availability, from the widest array of suppliers, with the most-robust growth in speeds and quality of service, at the lowest cost to consumers, the different speeds and investment profiles have to be harmonized.

Every communications engineer realizes there is a trade-off between capability and cost whenever a network is designed. Every engineer knows a network can be optimized--both in terms of performance and deployment cost--if a single application is supported. But multi-purpose networks inherently are tougher to design because there are more trade-offs.

Broadband networks generally are more expensive than narrowband networks, and networks featuring higher bandwidth generally cost more than networks of lower bandwidth.

If definitions are too stringent in the near term, it is possible some potential users, especially users in thinly-settled areas, will find that few, if any, providers can provide them service at any price those consumers would be willing to pay.

Finally, it would strike many as odd to accuse Verizon, which has been the most-aggressive tier one U.S. provider, of not being willing to invest heavily in broadband. Its FiOS fiber-to-home network is the most aggressive program in North America, and Verizon already is ready to start building a 4G wireless network even as it upgrades its 3G wireless network.

Floors are different from ceilings, and floors for some networks are ceilings for others. Customers, for example, cannot buy satellite broadband operating at more than 5 Mbps downstream, for any amount of money. And satellite is, by anybody's estimation, the absolute most affordable way to provide broadband to isolated locations. Fixed and mobile broadband are somewhat more expensive, but can support higher bandwidth.

In an isolated area, optical fiber or even digital subscriber line or cable modem service offers the most bandwidth, but at the highest cost. Cost and bandwidth, in other words, represent a standard engineering trade-off. The highest bandwidth also comes at the highest cost.

To the extent that retail prices are to be kept relatively low, the network investment must be matched to the anticipated revenue. It might, in some cases, be necessary to trade off some capability to keep costs low.

It would be a mistake to confuse that problem, and the other need to maintain comparable statistics to measure progress, with provider unwillingness to keep pace with growing market demands for broadband speed.

Providers that fail to keep pace will lose customer share. They know that. But unreasonable near-term definitions will not help potential customers get service, or even help existing customers get faster speeds, more quickly.

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