Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM, Sony Share Nortel Patents

Nortel Networks Corporation has sold about 6,000 patents to a consortium of bidders including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion and Sony. Google is not on the list.

The sale includes more than 6,000 patents and patent applications spanning wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, internet, service provider, semiconductors and other patents. The extensive patent portfolio touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and additional markets as well, including Internet search and social networking.

Given the amount of patent infringement activity in the mobile business these days, the deal essentially means Apple, Microsoft, RIM and Sony Ericsson have gained some protection against such lawsuits, the typical resolution being cross licensing between the parties. But a firm needs a trove of patents to have something to trade.

The sale increases the likelihood of patent infringement suits against Google, because Google will not be seen as having sufficient protection in the form of intellectual property to cross license.

Nortel Announces the Winning Bidder of Its Patent Portfolio for a Purchase Price of US$4.5 Billion - MarketWatch:

Smart Phones Outsell Feature Phones in U.S. Market

It was only a matter of time before sales of smart phones eclipsed sales of feature phones, and according to Nielsen Wire, that time is now. It will take a while before the installed base of smart phones becomes a majority, but that, too, is inevitable.

$4 Billion North American Backhaul Market in 2015

The market for wholesale backhaul services in North America will grow from $2.45 billion in 2010 to $3.9 billion in 2015, with the majority of this growth coming from Ethernet backhaul, according to Yankee Group analyst Jennifer Pigg.

Average macrocell backhaul requirements were 10 Mbps in 2008 (seven T1s, five E1s). Today’s requirements are 35 Mbps in 2011, and by 2015, Yankee Group predicts they will demand 100 Mbps.
The Yankee Group analysis suggests 66 percent of rural cell towers support at least two mobile operators while suburban towers house up to six antennas, while urban towers can house 12 to 20 antennas, belonging to multiple operators and networks.

LightSquared GPS, Aeronautical Communications Interference Could Easily be Fatal

If you have been around spectrum policy long enough, you will early have learned that existing licensed users have enormous political leverage. So the fact that LightSquared interferes with both aeronautical communications and the GPS system could be a fatal problem. A spectrum owner simply will not be allowed to launch a new service that is shown to disrupt existing users, and given the public safety angles to both GPS and aeronautical communications, the demonstrated interference to both types of applications will continue to face a very-high burden of proof.

LightSquared believes it has solutions, but it will have to prove those solutions work to the satisfaction of the existing users who want certainty there will be no interference. Vacating spectrum closest to the GPS frequencies should help, in principle. The issue is that the transmitted power differences between LightSquared signals and GPS satellites is so enormous that even that protection could be problematic.

If adjacent signals transmit at equivalent levels, filters and spacing are effective. The issue for LightSquared is highly unequal transmitted power levels. Cellular networks such as LightSquared's transmit at much higher power than do satellite-based systems, as much as one billion times as high, according to some critics. In tests, the LTE network overwhelmed GPS receivers, such as in-car navigation systems, that were trying to lock on to weaker signals coming from GPS satellites.

GPS device sales total $20 billion per year, and about $3 trillion worth of commerce each year relies on the U.S.-built system, said Roy Kienitz, under secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

One initiative that would be endangered by LightSquared is NextGen, a new air traffic control system designed to improve safety that relies on GPS, Kienitz said. The Federal Aviation Administration and airline industry have already invested $8 billion in NextGen, he said.

LightSquared faces more turbulence over GPS - Computerworld

"Insane Demand" for Google+

Google wants a controlled launch of Google+, its suite of social applications. On June 29, 2011 it was allowing some users to give "invites" to people. Apparently so many people were signing up that Google had to close the invite process.

“We’ve shut down invite mechanism for the night. Insane demand,” Google’s head of social Vic Gundotra said. “We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way.”

Google launched on June 28, 2011 to a small cadre of users. That the demand was strong enough for Google to turn off invites is telling. For Google, a company that has previously failed with social projects like Buzz and Wave, it’s a sign that consumers haven’t yet written it off when it comes to social services.

Google opens up, then closes Google invites due to “insane demand” | VentureBeat

U.S. Smart Phone Sales Eclipse Feature Phones

It was only a matter of time before sales of smart phones eclipsed sales of feature phones, and according to Nielsen Wire, that time is now. It will take a while before the installed base of smart phones becomes a majority, but that, too, is inevitable.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28237

Okay, You've Got "Google+": Now What?

Thanks to my daughter, I now have Google+. So the next issue is to figure out how to use it in a way that is different from Facebook, right after I get thorough all the hygenic stuff of loading up profile information and navigating a bit.

One thing is clear: I don't need another "Facebook" experience, where there is no ability easily to create natural groups around friends, family, work, interests and so forth.  That is what Google+ is supposed to fix. So before I start with "circles," I've got to figure out what "circles" make sense to me, and aren't already taken care of on Facebook.

Since Facebook now seems to be the repository for most friend, family, high school and college buddies and work associates, I'm not sure it makes sense to try and move those contacts over to Google+. But I can think of natural circles that I haven't pursued on Facebook that relate more to hobbies, intellectual interests and so forth, that might make much-better sense on Google+, as Google clearly intends.

I already notice a feature that reminds me of the way I track stuff I'm interested in, largely for work, up to this point. I rely heavily on RSS feeds for that sort of thing, but I notice Google+ has a "Sparks" function that allows a user to set up topics and subjects of interest, and then Sparks automatically creates a feed. Sort of like RSS, but drop-dead simple.