But Netflix also is adding 3D titles, which generally use up double the bandwidth for the same video length. That should be interesting, given average broadband speeds in U.K. markets., not to mention U.S. access markets.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Netflix 3D Will Have ISP Implications
Netflix “Super HD” content, and new 3D content, should prove an interesting development for Internet service providers. Super HD is intended to provide a better picture quality than is currently available for streaming on 1080p HDTVs.
But Netflix also is adding 3D titles, which generally use up double the bandwidth for the same video length. That should be interesting, given average broadband speeds in U.K. markets., not to mention U.S. access markets.
But Netflix also is adding 3D titles, which generally use up double the bandwidth for the same video length. That should be interesting, given average broadband speeds in U.K. markets., not to mention U.S. access markets.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Google Launches Free Wi-Fi in Chelsea, New York
Google is offering: free public Wi-Fi in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, which spans Gansevoort Street and 19th Street from 8th Avenue to the West Side Highway, including the Chelsea Triangle, 14th Street Park, and Gansevoort Plaza. Google and Boingo had earlier in the summer of 2012 collaborated to provide free Wi-Fi at some subway locations and Boingo hotspots in Manhattan.
Some will continue to hope that Google will get into the Internet access business more fully, as an ISP, but many of us think that is highly unlikely. Google's objective is to goad all other ISPs to upgrade their access networks.
Diverting huge amounts of capital into its own ISP facilities would be a low-value way for Google to spend its own money.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Maintenance Now Driving Fiber to Home Conversions
Verizon has for some time been deploying optical fiber for maintenance reasons, such as when a customer has two trouble calls in any six-month period, and where optical fiber trunking already is in place.
In some cases, an entire neighborhood might be converted to FiOS access if a sufficient number of households in an area are hitting the "two calls in six months" threshold. In 2012, Verizon converted about 200,000 households to fiber, based on that standard.
In some cases, an entire neighborhood might be converted to FiOS access if a sufficient number of households in an area are hitting the "two calls in six months" threshold. In 2012, Verizon converted about 200,000 households to fiber, based on that standard.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Europe Mobile Voice Calling Minutes Declined 4.5% in 3rd Quarter 2012
In most countries around Europe, mobile voice minutes of contracted up to 4.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, in the third quarter of 2012. Similarly, text messaging was down between -0.5 percent and -7.8 percent, quarter over quarter, ABI Research says.
Monthly average revenue for Western European service providers also continued to decline in the third quarter of 2012.
Significant regional variations can and do exist in the global telecom business, though. The largest U.S. mobile providers, for example, seem to be able, at least for the moment, to turn in predictable growth in revenue, quarter after quarter, as third quarter 2012 Verizon financial results indicate.
In Western Europe, competition is having the opposite effect, reducing revenue. In fact, argues STL Partners, mobile service provides in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom stand to lose as much as 50 billion euros over the next seven or so years.
Verizon, in contrast, reported double-digit increases in operating income and earnings. Wireless segment revenue grew more than seven percent, year over year, while prepaid wireless revenue grew nearly 43 percent, year over year. Fixed network revenue in the consumer segment also grew, despite the ongoing trend of voice line abandonment.
Monthly average revenue for Western European service providers also continued to decline in the third quarter of 2012.
Significant regional variations can and do exist in the global telecom business, though. The largest U.S. mobile providers, for example, seem to be able, at least for the moment, to turn in predictable growth in revenue, quarter after quarter, as third quarter 2012 Verizon financial results indicate.
In Western Europe, competition is having the opposite effect, reducing revenue. In fact, argues STL Partners, mobile service provides in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom stand to lose as much as 50 billion euros over the next seven or so years.
Verizon, in contrast, reported double-digit increases in operating income and earnings. Wireless segment revenue grew more than seven percent, year over year, while prepaid wireless revenue grew nearly 43 percent, year over year. Fixed network revenue in the consumer segment also grew, despite the ongoing trend of voice line abandonment.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
AT&T Announces Record Smartphone Sales
AT&T says it sold more than 10 million smart phones in the fourth quarter of 2012, topping its previous record quarter of 9.4 million, set in the fourth quarter of 2011. This included best-ever quarterly sales of Android and Apple smart phones.
That said, the rest of world is where smart phone growth will be most extensive over the next decade.
In part, that is because there are so many feature phones in use that can be upgraded.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
CES is "Post Smart Phone"
It is starting to look as though CES is not a "mobile" show, in the sense of it being a venue where major mobile product, software or service introductions should be expected. In that sense, it makes more sense that CES staffers talk about having reached the "post smart phone era."
What they might really mean is that CES has reached the post smart phone era. To be sure, there will still be reasons for many whose business is consumer electronics other than phones and tablets and mobility to be there.
But the time when either computing devices or phones were key elements of the meeting likely has passed.
I learned many years ago that when a smart and experienced executive says "something cannot be done," that statement has to be interpreted. It means "my organization cannot do that."
Such statements never reflect another firm's ability to achieve something, only one specific entity's inability to do so. One might note that CES also is "post PC" in the same sense. What is really important for the future of computing probably does not show up at CES, either.
In a similar manner, CES now appears to be unable to sell itself as a major venue for "mobile" interests. So there is a reason why CES staffers might say the "world has gone post smart phone."
What that really means is only that CES has gone "post smart phone," in the sense of not being a place smart phone interests "need to be."
What they might really mean is that CES has reached the post smart phone era. To be sure, there will still be reasons for many whose business is consumer electronics other than phones and tablets and mobility to be there.
But the time when either computing devices or phones were key elements of the meeting likely has passed.
I learned many years ago that when a smart and experienced executive says "something cannot be done," that statement has to be interpreted. It means "my organization cannot do that."
Such statements never reflect another firm's ability to achieve something, only one specific entity's inability to do so. One might note that CES also is "post PC" in the same sense. What is really important for the future of computing probably does not show up at CES, either.
In a similar manner, CES now appears to be unable to sell itself as a major venue for "mobile" interests. So there is a reason why CES staffers might say the "world has gone post smart phone."
What that really means is only that CES has gone "post smart phone," in the sense of not being a place smart phone interests "need to be."
2. Mobile devices will exceed PCs and Internet Desktops over time. Morgan Stanley expects 10+ Billion devices till 2020:
Mobile devices are not limited to smartphones or tablets. It is a broader range like eReaders, MP3, Cell Phone, Car Electronics, Games, Wireless Home Appliances etc.
3. Tablets are the biggest driver today and gain momentum in the enterprise as well.
4. The majority of time spent on PCs is consuming content which has a significant usage overlap with mobile devices. Tablets will reduce the PC consumption usage over time.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Mobile’s Future is Changing "Offline," Not "Online"
Some, including entrepreneur Edward Aten, think mobile will be disruptive to the extent it solves "offline" problems for people, not "online" issues.
In other words, the big opportunities are not so much in making the smart phone a better screen and experience, but making it a tool to solve problems of friction, inefficiency, incomplete information, tedium and excess capacity in the offline world.
So the real value is less in the way a smart phone functions as a smaller-screen version of a PC, and more in the way mobility gets applied to solve a wider range of real-world problems in real time.
Unlike some who casually say the "smart phone era is ending," Aten and others believe it is just beginning. That would tend to match past experience with really transforming technology. The benefits frequently are not seen for quite some time.
The perhaps classic example is the "productivity revolution" personal computers were supposed to bring. Lots of people have studies the matter and been puzzled as to why the expected gains were not seen, even after decades of heavy investment.
Technology adoption only improves productivity if it is accompanied by concurrent changes in the way work is done, way work is organized.
For example, many would note that there was a substantial increase in productivity during the twenty-year stretch from 1980 to 2000, fueled by companies' investments in enterprise-wide information technology.
But some research has found scant evidence of major change in the 1980s, and highly-concentrated changes in the 1990s. In other words, a decade passed with very modest apparent gains, and even in the 1990s, when some vertical markets saw big gains, many other sectors really did not benefit very much.
In fact, just six industry segments showed clear evidence of productivity impact: semiconductors, wholesale, securities, retail, computer manufacturing and telecom (specifically "mobile").
But McKinsey analysts point out that there were several driving forces in each industry, that those forces were not the same in each industry, and that information technology was but one of several apparent drivers of productivity growth.
'However, McKinsey research on the returns generated by these investments found that productivity growth occurred only when the technology was accompanied by thoughtful business process innovations tailored to sector- and company-specific business processes.
In fact, technology adoption alone, without the accompanying changes in work practices, had little or even a negative impact on productivity.
One might therefore argue that mobile technology's ability to significantly disrupt various industries will hinge on how much each of those industries can reorganize its processes to adapt to mobility.
History suggests progress will be uneven.
In other words, the big opportunities are not so much in making the smart phone a better screen and experience, but making it a tool to solve problems of friction, inefficiency, incomplete information, tedium and excess capacity in the offline world.
So the real value is less in the way a smart phone functions as a smaller-screen version of a PC, and more in the way mobility gets applied to solve a wider range of real-world problems in real time.
Unlike some who casually say the "smart phone era is ending," Aten and others believe it is just beginning. That would tend to match past experience with really transforming technology. The benefits frequently are not seen for quite some time.
The perhaps classic example is the "productivity revolution" personal computers were supposed to bring. Lots of people have studies the matter and been puzzled as to why the expected gains were not seen, even after decades of heavy investment.
Technology adoption only improves productivity if it is accompanied by concurrent changes in the way work is done, way work is organized.
For example, many would note that there was a substantial increase in productivity during the twenty-year stretch from 1980 to 2000, fueled by companies' investments in enterprise-wide information technology.
But some research has found scant evidence of major change in the 1980s, and highly-concentrated changes in the 1990s. In other words, a decade passed with very modest apparent gains, and even in the 1990s, when some vertical markets saw big gains, many other sectors really did not benefit very much.
In fact, just six industry segments showed clear evidence of productivity impact: semiconductors, wholesale, securities, retail, computer manufacturing and telecom (specifically "mobile").
But McKinsey analysts point out that there were several driving forces in each industry, that those forces were not the same in each industry, and that information technology was but one of several apparent drivers of productivity growth.
'However, McKinsey research on the returns generated by these investments found that productivity growth occurred only when the technology was accompanied by thoughtful business process innovations tailored to sector- and company-specific business processes.
In fact, technology adoption alone, without the accompanying changes in work practices, had little or even a negative impact on productivity.
One might therefore argue that mobile technology's ability to significantly disrupt various industries will hinge on how much each of those industries can reorganize its processes to adapt to mobility.
History suggests progress will be uneven.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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