Connected E-Reader Sales: 6.6 Million Units in 2010

Worldwide connected e-reader sales to end users are forecast to total 6.6 million units in 2010, up 79.8 percent from 2009 sales of 3.6 million units, according to Gartner, Inc. In 2011, worldwide e-reader sales are projected to surpass 11 million units, a 68.3 percent increase from 2010.

'The connected e-reader market has grown dramatically during the past two years, driven by sales of Amazon's e-readers, primarily in North America," says Hugues De La Vergne, principal research analyst at Gartner.

North America is the dominant region for e-reader sales, accounting for sales of just over four million units in 2010. North America also will remain a key market through 2014, although its dominance will decline significantly as regions such as Western Europe and Asia/Pacific become the leading locations for growth.

Growth in North American and other markets will remain constrained by the success of media tablets, such as the Apple iPad, which will provide e-reader functionality in addition to more-robust PC-type support.

Gartner Says Worldwide Sales of Connected E-Readers on Track to Reach 6.6 Million Units in 2010

Smartphones Becoming "Data-First" Devices

A new analysis by network analysis firm Arieso suggests that smartphone users do not make more phone calls when they switch to using the devices, but obviously consume lots more data, suggesting that smartphone subscribers use their devices first and foremost for data consumption rather than making phone calls.

It appears the trend intensifies with new generations of devices, as well. Apple iPhone 4 users engage in 44 percent more data sessions, compared to iPhone 3 devics, for example, and also consumer 41 percent more data to their devices, and spending 67 percent more time connected to the network for data.

Google Android OS users also are particularly “data hungry”, scoring higher than both the iPhone3G and iPhone 4 in terms of data sessions, time connected to the network, and data volume (in kilobits per subscriber) uploaded and downloaded.

Android-powered smartphone users also score highest in both the “uplink data volume” and the “downlink data” categories. For example, Samsung Galaxy Tab users typically upload 126 percent more data than iPhone3G users, and HTC Desire users download 41 percent more data than iPhone3G users. The Tab, though, is a tablet PC, not a smartphone, and PC users virtually always consume more data than smartphone users.

Arieso reveals hungriest users of mobile data

New Zealand Telecom Faces Uncertainty

Telecom Corp. of New Zealand faces uncertainty about its future because of a big change in regulatory environment. New Zealand is structurally separating Telecom New Zealand into separate retail and wholesale businesses, which will mean New Zealand Telecom will henceforth be a retail marketer of service, but without ownership of its own facilities.

As in Australia, the issue is whether the new broadband network New Zealand wants to build will substantially involve the wholesale part of Telecom New Zealand or not. If the future wholesale company can substantially participate in building and operating the new network, it has a brighter future. But it remains unclear how big a role regulators might let the former Telecom New Zealand entity play in building and operating the new national broadband network.

'There is still plenty of uncertainty about its involvement in the UFB (ultra fast broadband),' said Craigs Investment Partners broker Belinda Stanley."

NZ Shares End Lower As Fiber Uncertainty Plays On Telecom - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Marketing Has Changed from "Push" to "Pull"

Will 4G Change Your Life?

http://www.businessinsider.com/verizons-4g-service-is-fantastic-in-sf-anyway-2010-12?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Falleyinsider%2Fsilicon_alley_insider+%28Silicon+Alley+Insider%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Wireless Carriers in Europe Seek to Avoid Dumb Pipe Trap

It might or might not be possible in the United States, depending on shape of expected net neutrality rules.

http://gigaom.com/2010/12/08/euro-wireless-carriers-flog-a-bad-idea-charging-content-providers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29

Comcast: No Plans For Usage-Based Pricing - At least not 'right now,' according to President Neil Smit | DSLReports.com, ISP Information

Bandwidth barons can use "unlimited" access as a marketing tool.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-No-Plans-For-UsageBased-Pricing-111741

Netflix Gets Disney Streaming Rights

Netflix and Disney-ABC Television Group have announced a new licensing agreement between the two companies that will allow Netflix to stream hundreds of episodes from the ABC Television Network, Disney Channel and, for the first time, ABC Family content over the Internet.

Once made available to Netflix from Disney-ABC, no earlier than 15 days after initial telecast, episodes can be streamed instantly with Netflix memberships starting at $7.99 a month.

In some ways, it is not surprising that Disney has moved in a bigger way than other TV networks. As evidenced by its early support of iTunes, Disney has shown a more-embracing attitude towards Internet distribution than other networks have been.

Included in the agreement are prior season episodes of "Grey's Anatomy,"  "Desperate Housewives" and, for the first time on Netflix, "Brothers & Sisters."

Every episode of  "Lost" and "Ugly Betty,"  "Scrubs" and "Reaper" also will available.

Disney Channel content includes the "Phineas and Ferb," "Good Luck Charlie," "The Suite Life on Deck" and "Wizards of Waverly Place."  "Hannah Montana" and "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." also are part of the deal.

"Greek," "Make It or Break It," "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and "Melissa & Joey" will also be available.

read more here

Guy Who Loves His Evo

Sprint Looking at Multi-Device Mobile Access Plans

If you just pay attention, executives at the biggest telecom and mobile companies will tell you what they are going to do.

For a few years, executives at companies that own both fixed and mobile assets have been saying that we are heading towards plans that allow devices on both networks to use access sold as a single plan.

"The trend is toward one plan for all of your devices, like tablets, phones, PCs," Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse says.

In fact, the move already is underway, in a round-about way. A wireless hotspot service already means a user can, to an extent, buy one connection and then connect as many as eight devices with Wi-Fi access to a single router.

The next step is simply to create service plans that allow users to use a number of devices on a single broadband access plan.

Three years ago, simplicity for Sprint meant giving a user all services on one device, for one simple price. In the future, it might be about providing broadband access to multiple devices using one single plan.

Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse

WiMAX Effort Did Not Bring Benefits As Great As Once Hoped, Says Sprint CEO

Sprint had hoped to build a bigger market lead by launching fourth-generation services in 2008. In a sense, it partly encouraged Verizon Wireless to launch its own 4G network sooner, and fro that reason 4G no longer appears to give Sprint an automatic marketing advantage.

Where Did the Lost DVD Buyers Go?

As important as DVDs have been, and remain, as a key part of the movie revenue ecosystem, studios no longer make as much from DVDs as they used to.

U.S. consumer spending on DVDs is down about 20 percent in 2010 from 2009, to $7.8 billion, according to media-tracking firm IHS Screen Digest. DVD spending is down 43 percent from its 2006 peak of $13.7 billion.

At the same time, consumer spending on video-on-demand services rose 17 percent in 2010 from 2009, to $1.4 billion, according to IHS. So that leaves a gap of up to $4.5 billion that simply seems to have disappeared.

One would have to conclude that consumers have found other ways to spend that money. Netflix could not have gotten it all. Netflix annual revenue might be somewhere in the $1.7 billion range.

First-Run Movies at Home—for $20,000 - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Typical Comcast User Consumes 2 Gbytes to 4 Gbytes a Month

The typical Comcast residential broadband user consumes 2 Gbytes to 4 GBytes of bandwidth per month.

So the reason ISPs are worried about the impact of increased online video consumption is that that level of usage is roughly equivalent to two or three or iTunes-sized movies per month, some argue.

A widespread shift to significant movie viewing online would disrupt usage patterns fairly quickly.

It isn't a customer's problem to figure out how the additional network capacity is added. That is the ISP's problem.

But if video has the potential to suddenly increase network demand, it could affect user experience even for users who don't watch video, since most of the ISP's facilities are shared.

One shouldn't expect any user to be happy about costs that roughly reflect usage, whether the product is water, electricity, gas or Internet access. But neither should any user suspect that any provider can, over the long term, simply ignore the impact of higher demand.

Comcast Doesn't Plan To Charge Bandwidth Hogs Extra... Yet

Google Shows First Chrome OS Laptops

One thing about an Internet-optimized laptop, such as the coming Chrome-powered devices: they won't do much if they aren't connected to the Internet. So look for Verizon-supported Chrome notebooks to be sold in the same way e-readers are: with built-in Internet capability.

To ensure that Chrome laptops always stay online, Google said it is working with Verizon Wireless to offer free wireless Internet connectivity, allowing users to send and receive up to 100 megabytes of data every month for two years. More robust Verizon data plans are available for purchase starting at $9.99 a month, Google said.

Google Shows First Chrome OS Laptops - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Visa Mobile Contactless Payments Solution Certified for Commercial Use

Visa says its mobile contactless payments system, enabled by DeviceFidelity's In2Pay microSD solution, is ready for deployment in the United States.

Following 18 months of technology development in partnership with Texas-based DeviceFidelity, and trials with leading financial institutions in the United States, Europe and Asia, Visa has tested and supports commercialization of In2Pay microSD for use with leading smart phones.

Smartphone models compatible for use with this landmark technology include the BlackBerry Bold 9650, the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and the Android based Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S.

Visa expects to add additional phone models for use with this technology, including phones based on the Symbian and Windows operating systems.

Visa Mobile Contactless Payments Solution Certified for Commercial Use