LightSquared Proposes to Operate at Lower Power

In an effort to mollify concerns about signal interference with GPS systems and users, LightSquared now has proposed operating at lower power for a period of time. To the extent that transmitter power is what causes the interference, the lower mobile tower transmission power levels should help. Just how much help that move will have, has to be tested.


Also, LightSquared only proposes to operate at lower power for a period of time, then would ramp power levels back up. Some might consider that an odd proposal. Perhaps the thinking is that GPS receiver manufacturers and end users would then have a transition period to wean themselves off devices that currently experience interference.  LightSquared proposes lower-power solution

Some might doubt this will help LightSquared. In principle, the new user has to demonstrate it does not interfere with other existing users. If interference again becomes a problem in the future, LightSquared could be barred from operating. Permanently lower power levels would seem to be a  different matter. 

Yelp More Important than Facebook?

Busy local and small businesses often have to make hard choices about which content marketing sites they have time to support with content efforts. Facebook might be "best" for most, but Yelp arguably is best for local businesses and restaurants, especially restaurants.

First of all, Yelp is all about local businesses, things to do, places to eat and be entertained. You can assume that when a user goes to Yelp, that user is trying to find someplace to go, or something to do, and wants information before making a choice.

In other words, the odds of converting a prospect into a customer arguably are higher than for a typical search.

Yelp combines social networking with community-generated reviews. Online since 2004, Yelp helps people find and share the best (and worst) of businesses. Yelp can help build exposure, allow businesses to monitor public opinion and research what potential buyers are looking for.

Yelp can support posting of discount offers, announcements and news about events.

Yelp might be more important than Facebook

Clearwire Raises $715.5 Million

Clearwire Corporation has raised $715.5 million in new capital, including a public offering of 201,250,000 shares of Class A common stock at $2.00 per share, raising net proceeds of $384.1 million, after underwriters' discounts and commissions.



In addition, Sprint has purchased 173,635,000 shares of Class B Common Stock and a corresponding number of Class B units in Clearwire Communications LLC, which will provide Clearwire with an additional $331.4 million in net proceeds. The total net new capital available to Clearwire following today's closings is $715.5 million.



"This equity raise is a critical step for Clearwire to achieve its long-term business plan of creating the first wide-channel TDD-LTE 4G network in the U.S.," said Erik Prusch, president and CEO of Clearwire.  Clearwire raises fresh capital


Some might have been skeptical Clearwire could raise that much, so quickly, or that Sprint would again up its investment in Clearwire. But all that has happened. 

Is Distribution King?

At various times, it has been argued that content, distribution, context or some attribute actually is the crucial bottleneck, choke point or nexus of value in the media business. 


Sometimes it has seemed that distribution was king; at other times content appeared to the gating partner in the ecosystem; while during the wildness of the Internet bubble it was argued that "context" was king. 


All absolute observations are likely wrong to some degree, no matter what the prevailing view. Some might argue that in some ways, especially where it comes to online video, that "ubiquity" is king. 


There is an argument to be made. Consider Netflix, which seems to have an for virtually every popular Internet-connected digital device you can think of.  Is distribution still king?


It is true that consumers now are more in charge of when and how they watch video content than ever before. That increasingly means that getting convenient gateways to content on the widest possible number of devices is an important strategy for distributors. In many cases, that means an app. 


As a result, the distribution companies that will win are those that recognize the need to be everywhere. 


When it comes to capturing consumers’ attention now, a piece of content is only as good as its distribution, some will argue. That is true. 


It also is true that even extensive distribution is of modest help unless the distributor has the "good content" most people want. So, as usual, you can make an argument that distribution is king, or that content is king. 

Facebook Represents 52% of Online Sharing

Facebook now controls a thin majority of online sharing, according to data released today by AddThis. Facebook makes up 52.1 percent of all sharing on the web for the year 2011 to date, up from 44 percent last year and 33 percent the year before.

The statistics were gathered through the ClearSpring-owned company's sharing plugin, which is used by more than 11 million sites.


Social sharing

SkyDrive For iPhone Launches

Microsoft has launched SkyDrive for iPhone, the company's cloud storage and document collaboration service that lets users upload, store, and share things like videos, pictures, and documents.

At sign up, Microsoft gives users 25 GBytes of free storage.

SkyDrive For iPhone

Large U.S. Banks Split on Retail Mobile Payments

Large U.S. financial institutions will be introducing more sophisticated mobile banking apps in 2012, with an emphasis on transactional services such as remote deposit capture and mobile person-to-person payments, which will account for the bulk of mobile investment in 2012.

The banks surveyed remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments. While the surveyed financial institutions demonstrated a clear understanding of what it will take to make mobile point-of-sale payments a reality, many articulated a chicken-and-egg scenario in which concerns about consumer demand and merchant acceptance are hindering greater investment from their own institutions.

Plans to provide support for mobile point of sale payments vary greatly, with two of the surveyed financial institutions currently piloting such offerings, three saying they planned to support them at some point and the remaining five saying they had no plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments in the foreseeable future.

The survey, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Fiserv in September 2011, evaluated the plans of 10 banks and credit unions that in total hold more than a third of all U.S. deposit accounts. Fiserv banking survey

While financial institutions view the progress of non-traditional competitors such as technology and telecommunications providers as a validation of mobile payments, and as a promotional tool to build consumer and merchant interest, the majority of the financial institutions surveyed stated that such announcements have had no or minimal impact on their own mobile payments strategy. “This may put them at risk of delivering new capabilities too late,” says Fiserv.

In the near term, banks likely have little to fear from new competitors in the core banking services part of the ecosystem. But banking executives cannot be unaware that in Canada, Rogers, the provider of cable TV and mobile services, already has applied for a charter to become a bank.

The initial thrust there seems to be the issuance of branded credit cards. But nobody thinks it will end there. Porting those capabilities to mobile devices will likely come next. The white paper is here.

Free Gmail Calling within the US and Canada through 2012

Google has extended its "free domestic calls within the United States and Canada for 2012, says Vincent Paquet, Google Voice Group Product Manager. 


Users can use Gmail to call the rest of the world at low rates. Free calling within the US and Canada through 2012

You can  get the app here. 

NTSB Recommends Full Mobile Ban When Driving

The National Transportation and Safety Board will recommend that all 50 states and the District of Columbia "ban the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (other than those designed to support the driving task) for all drivers." In other words, no more driving and using a mobile phones.

The agency also recommends the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration engage in "high visibility enforcement to support these bans." 


The NTSB also recommends targeted communication campaigns to inform motorists of the new law and enforcement, and to warn them of the dangers associated with the non-emergency use of portable electronic devices while driving. NTSB recommends driving ban

12 Mbps Satellite Broadband at the Cost of Cable?

I've been covering access technologies and businesses for a long time, and the new ViaSat (WildBlue) satellite broadband service, promising up to 12 Mbps, and priced in line with cable modem service, in a huge advance for satellite delivery.


HughesNet plans a launch of a new satellite in 2012 that should perform along the same lines.


The big issue, some of us would think, is whether HughesNet will match WildBlue pricing. The big issue, or course, is that satellite transponder capacity, even on such advanced satellites, will come with limitations, in terms of how many customers each firm can serve.


By some estimates, if the typical bandwidth served up is "up to 12 Mbps," WildBlue might top out at about 1.5 million customers in total. For satellite customers, and potential users in isolated rural areas, this is a very big deal.


WildBlue, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carlsbad, Calif.-based ViaSat, now is offering 12-megabit-per-second broadband for $50 a month in Colorado.


Keep in mind, WildBlue's existing 400,000 nationwide subscribers are paying $80 a month for 1.5 Mbps service.


WildBlue's new service will soft launch in a few other states, including Wyoming and Nebraska, in the coming weeks and should be available nationwide by the end of February. "Historically, satellite has been for the unserved," said WildBlue chief executive Tom Moore. "We think this will transform that marketplace." This is a disruption.

What Portion of Retail Payments Can Mobile Displace?

Mobile payments suppliers might hope to shift some significant portion, up to 74 percent, of retail transactions, one might argue, as debit card payments now represent that percentage of retail transactions.

Google the "Best" Content Marketing Platform?

“Google is quickly becoming the best platform for content marketers, argues Scott Maxwell, senior managing director and founder of OpenView Venture Partners.

Google Currents, for example, “pulls everything together for content marketers who want to easily distribute content to mobile,” he says. “Google Currents is a new application for Android devices, iPads and iPhones that lets users explore online magazines and other content with the swipe of a finger, and has launched with content from 150 publishing partners including CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Saveur, PBS, Huffington Post and Fast Company.

Content is optimized for smartphones and tablets, allowing users to intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even if you’re offline.

Users also can also add RSS feeds, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions already being followed. Uers also can use the trending tab to discover related content that matches their tastes.”

For content marketers, Google has added a self-service publishing platform that allows creators to pull content together and then to distribute it to Google Currents subscribers.

Not everybody will be convinced. “The average user is going to download the Currents app and, yup, write it off as a Flipboard clone (a content curation tool) ,” says Peter Smith at IT World. Flipboard clone?

“If you want a way to read RSS feeds, stick with what you've got,” he argues. “But if you're interested in a unique micro-publishing system (complete with Googly Analytics integration) and you're comfortable assuming your audience carries iOS or Android devices, then check out Currents.”

Verizon Wants to Compete With, or Buy Netflix

The reported Verizon Communications talks to create a new steaming media service in conjunction with movie-rental kiosk operator Redbox appear to be just one set of talks Verizon Communications is having with other potential partners. 


And though the Redbox talks obviously have been painted as a matter of Verizon "competing with Netflix, Verizon also appears to be talking to Netflix as well. On Dec. 12, 2011, there were rumors that Verizon was even thinking about buying Netflix. Verizon weighing Netflix Buy?

Verizon open to Netflix Most will not remember, but earlier in 2011 Verizon Communications had said it was open to featuring Netflix as a FiOS service. 


Most observers think the recent distribution deal with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks is part of a wider effort by Verizon to get into the streaming video business in a bigger way, especially for mobile users and people who live outside the Verizon Communications fixed network regions. Verizon Communications 


Of course, getting into the online video business sets Verizon up in more direct competition not only with Netflix, but with Comcast, Time Warner and other cable and satellite video providers, to an extent. Verizon Redbox talks

Army Navy Game "Prisoner Exchange"

One of the traditions at the Army-Navy football game every year is the "prisoner exchange," where Army cadets studying at the Naval Academy, and midshipmen studying at West Point, walk on the field with their host academy, and then switch sides to go sit with their "home" academy. 


This year, my son Dylan was a "prisoner" at West Point and was exchanged for West Pointers studying at Naval Academy.

Tebow Time, Again

I don't think anybody knows how to explain it, but the Denver Broncos pulled another fourth quarter or overtime win in their latest game against the Chicago Bears. 


As has been the story for most of the last eight games, the Broncos were trailing, in this case by 10 points, until the last three minutes of regulation play. 


Then the team exploded, tying the game, before winning in overtime. 


The national story is Tim Tebow, Broncos quarterback, but that isn't really what's happening. The whole team seems to play better, when it counts. 


There is a concept known as "leadership," and a different concept called "management." 


We often speak of talented "managers" in business. But "leadership" is what happens with squads of soldiers on the battlefield. 


 Management is authority because of a role: somebody is your boss, your president, a uniformed police officer. They have "bureaucratic" authority, because of their role.


Leadership is different. People follow leaders because of some intangible charismatic quality "leaders" have. 


Tebow has that, take nothing away from him. But the team is winning, and playing so well when it counts, because of a non-objective, but very real confidence in their leadership. We need more leaders, arguably fewer "managers."