Humans are essentially post-rationalizers.
We go off into the world and do things and then work out reasons why we've done them in order to create some sense of, well, order in the mess that we continually create. We claim that the reasons we have for doing as we do are good. But how good are they really?
Which is why I wonder what will happen when people come face to face with Verizon's new Motorola Droid.
I have been staring at CNET's pictures of the smartphone. I have scoured the Web for pieces of footage. To the point at which I have even watched the only tech reporter in Indiana, yes, Indiana, to have successfully wrapped his fingers around it describe in some detail what advantages it might have over the iPhone. (I have embedded this lovely piece of film.)
The gentleman talks about power and megapixels. He talks about memory and search and operating systems. But there is one thing he fails to mention, something I fear may be vitally important. He doesn't say that it's pretty.
Perhaps it's my sense that we humans are, in the depths of our being, not merely post-rationalizers but terribly superficial. However, I'm concerned that the Droid isn't cute.
I know you'll tell me phones aren't supposed to be cute. They're supposed to be fabulously functional devices that liberate you from your daily grind.
And I will tell you that if the iPhone wasn't such a fabulously pretty little thing, they wouldn't even sell a tenth of the number they have.
I will also whisper that the Droid talked revolution in its initial ad--the one in which it tossed a little snake juice at the iPhone.
Yet it doesn't look revolutionary. Just as Che and Fidel had to have beards in order to lead revolts, shouldn't a revolutionary phone look a little less like, well, other phones?
These are merely fears. Images often lie. Perhaps, when one espies this new device and takes it into one's palms, they will sweat uncontrollably as it radiates a charm that has not yet been exposed by lenses.
Yet right now the Droid feels utilitarian rather than breakthrough. It seems to have all the sex appeal of a middle manager.
It's not necessarily right that the world should be this way. But humans are who we are--ridiculously susceptible to the surface pleasure.
And satisfying that pleasure can, ironically, often be the hardest trick of all.
Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.
I've managed to slog through the 107-page "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" (PDF) issued late last week by the Federal Communications Commission.
Let me save you the trouble of reading the 185 numbered paragraphs, 310 footnotes, and three appendices, including separate statements from each of the five commissioners: there's nothing to see here, folks.
First, let's be clear about what has not happened. No new law was passed. No new federal regulations were enacted. No decisions were made.
Instead, the FCC proposed draft rules to codify the six Net neutrality principles Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined in his speech on September 21. Now begins the process of gathering comments and other testimony. Later, the FCC will vote on whether to adopt the rules or to amend them, or just call the whole thing off.
The basic thrust of the proposed rules, as nearly everyone knows by now, is to keep broadband Internet access providers from managing last-mile network traffic in ways that discriminate, pro or con, based on content, applications, or devices. Access providers would be banned from restricting or throttling services that the provider doesn't like, for example, perhaps because they compete with more expensive alternatives the provider or one of its business partner offers. The proposed rules would apply to all broadband access, including wireless.
The comment process, which runs until March 2010, is open to anyone. The FCC is clearly expecting lots of comment. The document itself asks more than 100 questions, including whether the new rules are necessary, whether the commission should enforce them without detailed regulations but instead on a "case by case" basis, and even whether the commission has the legal authority to enact new rules in the first place.
1. We don't need no stinking jurisdiction
The last question hints at one of many ticking time bombs. Although the FCC has for years published policy statements regarding open networks, the commission's authority to enforce those policies is far from clear. Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act--the last major rewrite of federal communications law--only traditional phone services delivered by traditional phone companies are regulated as common carriers.
If the FCC has any authority to regulate broadband access, it comes from what Genachowski calls the agency's "ancillary jurisdiction." But Comcast has already challenged that jurisdiction, in a lawsuit pending in a federal court of appeals. If the FCC loses that case, the proposed rules may come to a quick demise.
In arguing against ancillary jurisdiction, Comcast has found a surprising ally: the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The advocacy group--strong supporters of the principles of neutrality--believes that the commission has no authority to issue these rules without sweeping new authority from Congress. Regulating neutrality under ancillary jurisdiction, the EFF worries, is a cure far worse than the disease; a "power grab that would leave the Internet subject to the regulatory whims of the FCC long after Chairman Genachowski leaves his post."
Exactly.
What's the risk? For one thing, "ancillary" jurisdiction could also be applied, as the EFF points out, to the creation of new Internet decency standards. (Congress has tried repeatedly to regulate Internet content since 1996, only to be overturned by the courts.) The same FCC that now casts itself as savior of the open network, after all, has grown increasingly aggressive and prudish in policing content in its traditional job as regulator of over-the-air television. A federal court, for example, recently threw out the $550,000 fine levied in the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction case from the 2004 Super Bowl.
Speaking of power grabs, recall that the FCC has tried repeatedly, at the strong urging of media lobbyists, to force electronics and software manufacturers to implement the so-called broadcast flag. Responding to a signal embedded in programming, TVs, DVRs, and computers would be forced to limit the ability of consumers to time-shift programming, a capability we've enjoyed since the invention of the VCR.
Another federal court stopped that madness. Mandating the design of electronics and operating systems, the judges sneered, was no more in the FCC's power than "regulating washing machines." That rebuke hasn't stopped the FCC from trying again and again.
Maybe that's why the EFF isn't the only surprising voice calling for caution. Microsoft and Yahoo, leading application providers, have both pulled out of a coalition formed to advance Net neutrality, with Microsoft issuing a statement last year that "Network neutrality is a policy avenue the company is no longer pursuing."
2. Swallowing the rules
Even if the FCC has the power to issue new rules, there are enough exceptions to render them toothless. All the rules are subject to "reasonable network management" by broadband providers, a sensible limitation that is mentioned (though not yet defined) 66 times in the document.
As drafted, the new rules also allow access providers to prioritize performance-sensitive content, including voice and video, and to offer higher-price access options. This falls under the category of what the proposal calls "specialized" or "managed" services. That's nothing new. Harvard professor and open-network supporter Lawrence Lessig, who told the press that he was "thrilled" with the FCC proposal, has always believed that "broadband providers should be free...to price consumer access to the Internet differently--setting a higher price, for example, for faster or greater access."
The new rules, moreover, say nothing about discrimination by applications and Internet services. Even though access providers would not be permitted to block voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, telephone access from Skype and Vonage, in other words, the proposed rules would do nothing to stop Skype and Vonage from blocking calls to certain area codes, offering priority service to paying customers, or limiting the devices (e.g., cell phones) through which users can access their service.
There's no need to regulate applications, according to pro-neutrality groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology, because applications "do not suffer from the same bottleneck problem that the underlying broadband service inherently has." In other words, if Google searches prioritize Google content, and you don't value that kind of discrimination, you can use a different search engine. But today, in many parts of the United States, consumers effectively have only one or two choices for broadband access--their phone company and their cable company.
3. Avoiding the real problem
That, of course, is the real reason everyone, including me, worries about non-neutral behavior. In the absence of real competition, monopolies and duopolies have strong incentives to discriminate in ways that can severely burden some classes of users--whether consumers or service providers or both.
Despite a few isolated incidents of clumsy interference, however, no one really believes that the lack of competition has created true market failures. At least not the kind of failure severe enough to justify the intensive federal regulation visited, with mixed results, on U.S. railroads a century ago or of the telephone monopoly from 1913 until 1982. Pro-regulation advocates, including Chairman Genachowski and Google Vice President Vint Cerf, speak in the conditional tense. The word "could" appears 55 times in the FCC proposal.
Regulating ahead of a market failure makes little sense when, as everyone acknowledges, the underlying technology for access is evolving rapidly and models for making money in Internet provisioning are still in the early stages of development. The risk of non-neutral behavior is significant, but the cost of regulation and the potential for unintended consequences may be higher. "Have we correctly identified the costs and benefits of the alternative approaches?" the commission asks. The answer is that it hasn't even begun to identify either, correctly or otherwise.
And if the real problem today is broadband bottlenecks, why is so little being done to encourage competition? Municipal wireless Internet projects have largely shut down, in large part because state governments and their lobbyist friends maintain that the law allows them to prohibit cities from competing with private-sector communications companies, a view supported by the FCC in 2001.
Offering broadband over power lines, another promising option, has been stymied, with the FCC receiving still more abuse from the federal courts in 2008, for their failure to adequately support the development of the technology.
Net neutrality advocates may be celebrating the start of a process they have argued for since 2005, but here, as with all technology regulation, it's wise to be careful what you wish for. For now, the proposed rules look to be dead on arrival--and of multiple causes.
That's one more reason to wonder why, if there is a problem to be solved sometime in the future, anyone thinks the FCC is the organization best-suited to solve it.
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Updated 8:32 a.m. PDT with information from the conference call.
Sprint Nextel is still losing customers, the company said Thursday as it reported a third-quarter loss.
Sprint's losses widened to $478 million, or 17 cents a share, during the quarter that ended September 30, from a loss of $326 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell nearly 9 percent to $8.04 billion.
Results were slightly worse than analysts had expected. Analysts had been looking for Sprint to report a loss of 15 cents per share on revenue of $8.09 billion.
Sprint continued to lose customers, as it has for several quarters. But it lost fewer customers than analysts had expected. Sprint lost a total of 801,000 subscribers in the quarter. Analysts had expected the company to lose 870,000 so-called post-paid customers.
Meanwhile, Sprint competitors AT&T and Verizon Wireless added 2 million and 1.2 million customers, respectively.
That said, Sprint lost fewer customers than it has in the past quarters of 2009. In the second quarter it lost 991,000 subscribers and in the first quarter it lost 1.25 million. And Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse said during the conference call that he saw even more improvement toward the end of the third quarter due to a new service plan called Any Mobile, Anytime. This plan, which starts at $69.99 per month, allows subscribers to call any cell phone in the U.S., regardless of the carrier. The plan also comes with Sprint's Simply Everything Data plan, which includes unlimited text messaging and data services. Subscribers also get 450 voice minutes for calls to landlines.
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse
(Credit: Sprint)Sprint's churn rate, or the rate at which customers dump its service, was 2.17 percent, up from 2.05 percent in the second quarter.
"We finished the quarter stronger than started it with the launch of Any Mobile, Anytime," Hesse said. "So the trajectory leaving the third quarter did improve. We are hoping that this will help us keep the base of people on our Simply Everything plans and get customers to migrate. So we think it will make a difference in churn."
Hesse explained that before Sprint launched its Simply Everything plans, which bundle, data and voice services into one flat price, its highest churn came from the customers who spent the most money every month. After it launched the Simply Everything plan, it reduced churn of these valuable customers. And now the highest churn rate are among customers who spend less money per month on services.
"We know these plans make a difference," he said. "And we are moving down the rate card, hoping to improve churn and our brand."
These new plans may help with reducing churn, but it hasn't helped the company grow average revenues per customer. In fact, customers with contracts spent on average $56 a month, about the same as they've spent for the last several quarters. Data revenue accounted for almost 30 percent of that.
Reducing churn is critical for Sprint, but Hesse also noted that it's important for the company to add new customers as well. In an effort to keep customers, Sprint has added a new touch-screen Google Android phone, the HTC Hero. And it will soon add another Google Android phone, the Samsung Moment to its line-up. It is also the exclusive carrier for the Palm Pre, at least until the end of 2009. It will add the Palm Pixi to its lineup later next month. And it has launched new BlackBerry devices, including the BlackBerry Tour.
Hesse said it is important for the company to have a strong lineup of phones to compete against rivals, such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. But adding smartphones comes at a price. In order to make devices more affordable to consumers, Sprint said it paid about $950 million to subsidize equipment, which includes high-end smartphones. A year ago it spent $700 million on equipment subsidies.
'Doubling-down' on prepaid
"Competition is getting tougher among postpaid competitors as we all go after each other's base of customers for growth," he said. "But that is why we are also doubling down on our prepaid business. Because we think there is more growth there."
Indeed, Sprint did much better in the third quarter adding prepaid customers than it did adding new postpaid, contract customers. Much of this growth was helped by Sprint's Boost Mobile brand, which includes unlimited calls and texting for a $50 a month. Sprint added about 666,000 prepaid users.
Hesse said he expects the Virgin Mobile USA service, which Sprint acquired in July, to also help grow this business. The Virgin service uses Sprint's CDMA network, while Boost uses the company's iDEN network.
"We are looking to prepaid service as a potential growth engine," he said. "But still intend to get postpaid back to growth, and to do that we must focus on churn, but we also have to add customers. You can't win the game with just defense. You need to have a two-pronged attack."
But analysts and investors question this strategy. They worry that Sprint is becoming too dependent on prepaid customers, a business which has typically been less profitable than the postpaid market.
Hesse also said he was hopeful that the company's investment in 4G wireless will begin paying off in 2010 and beyond. The company has partnered with Clearwire to build a nationwide 4G wireless network using WiMax technology. The network is already up and running in 17 markets. And Sprint is offering a dual mode 3G/4G service that provides full nationwide coverage to wireless customers today.
"Another important area of growth is in 3G and 4G data," he said. "And I think the industry's best days are ahead."
Beleaguered handset maker Motorola on Thursday had some good news to offer investors, reporting a small profit for the third quarter.
For the three months ended October 3, Motorola reported net income of $12 million, or a penny per share, compared with a loss of $397 million (and a loss of 18 cents per share) for the year-ago period.
Revenue, however, was down year over year, coming in at $5.45 billion for the third quarter of 2009, versus $7.48 billion in the same quarter of 2008.
Analysts polled by Reuters had been forecasting, on average, a break-even quarter on revenue of $5.54 billion.
For the fourth quarter, Motorola is forecasting earnings from continuing operations of between 7 cents and 9 cents per share. Analysts have been expecting, on average, 6 cents per share.
The earnings report found a favorable response on Wall Street. In early trading Thursday, shares were up roughly 9 percent to around $8.68, following Wednesday's closing price of $7.96.
The company, now some years removed from its glory days with the Razr phone, is pinning its hopes on Google's Android software for mobile devices. In September, it unveiled its first Android device, the Cliq. On Tuesday, several weeks into the fourth quarter, Motorola and Verizon Wireless unveiled the Android-based Droid smartphone.
"We delivered on our commitment to improve the financial performance of Mobile Devices and to commercially launch two smartphones in time for the fourth- quarter holiday season," Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Mobile Devices, said in a statement. "The introductions of our new products powered by Android are important milestones as we begin to address the mobilization of the Internet and the growing demand for modern smartphones. Next year, we will continue to expand our smartphone portfolio and deliver improved financial results."
For the third quarter, sales for Motorola's Mobile Devices segment came in at $1.7 billion, down 46 percent from the year-ago quarter, but the company did compress its operating loss for that segment to $183 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $840 million.
Motorola says it shipped 13.6 million handsets during the third quarter, giving it just under 5 percent of the worldwide market share.
In its Home and Networks Mobility segment, Motorola saw third-quarter sales of $2.0 billion, down 15 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Operating earnings were $199 million, down from $263 million a year earlier.
The company's Enterprise Mobility Solutions segment logged sales of $1.8 billion, down 13 percent from the year-ago quarter, while its operating earnings were $306 million, compared with $403 million in the year-ago quarter.
Also on Thursday, Motorola said that Edward J. Fitzpatrick, who has been serving as the company's acting chief financial officer since February, is now its permanent CFO.
This story was updated at 5:15 a.m. PDT with additional information from Motorola's Thursday statements, and again at 7:25 a.m. PDT with the stock market response.
Initial response to the new Motorola Droid smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network have been very good, thanks in large part to the updated Android 2.0 operating system.
A look at how multiple accounts are handled in the contact list of an Android 2.0 phone.
(Credit: Google)The new updated version of the open-source operating system offers new Android phones a series of enhancements as well as improved performance. The updated software is being credited with enabling many of the cool new features, such as the updated version of the Google Maps service, which allows for voice command turn-by-turn directions.
The Motorola Droid for Verizon will be the first device that will use the new software. Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA will also be selling Android devices this holiday season, but neither carrier has announced a device that will use the updated version of the operating system.
But that doesn't mean that the Droid will be the only device running the 2.0 software this year. A Google representative said it's very likely at least one other phone will be introduced that uses the new version of the open source operating system.
One of the features that the updated software has added allows for the integration of multiple social-networking and e-mail accounts into the phone's contact list. This means that contact and calendar information can be synced with Microsoft Exchange e-mail services and also other Web e-mail accounts, as well as, social-networking sites like Facebook.
The new version of the software has support for Microsoft Exchange, which is a huge deal because it means that corporate users can sync their work e-mail with their phones. A search function was added to the SMS and MMS messaging feature. The software has also been updated to support a camera that includes a built-in flash, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect, and macro focus.
A look at a user's combined email on the updated Android 2.0 operating system.
(Credit: Google)The new software has also improved the virtual keyboard layout to make it easier to hit the right keys as well as improved the typing speed. The 2.0 version of software supports an enhanced browser that allows users to directly tap the address bar for instant searches and navigation. It allows bookmarks with Web page thumbnails. It offers double-tap zoom. And there is full HTML5 support, which among other things allows for geolocation applications to be developed to provide location information about the device.
Overall the new improvements to the software should make the Android devices operate much faster than the previous generation of software. A Google representative said the software is backwards compatible with older versions of Google Android hardware. But it is up the carriers whether or not they allow users to upgrade their devices to the new operating system. And the carriers will be controlling the timing of these upgrades.
As for the new Android devices coming from Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, they won't likely immediately have the Android 2.0 operating system, but it's likely these devices, along with new Android phones will come with the new version of the OS.
A Sprint representative said that traditionally the company pushes out or allows users to upgrade software when it's made available.
T-Mobile, which was the first carrier to offer an Android phone, will have four Google Android phones available for the holidays. Two are available today: the original T-Mobile G1, which launched in October of last year, and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, which went on sale this summer and is available now for $149.99. T-Mobile is adding two more devices to line-up in time for the holidays: the Motorola Cliq which goes on sale November 2, and the Samsung Behold II, which does not yet have a launch date but will be available before Christmas.
As of November 1, Sprint will have two Android-powered devices as part of its lineup: the HTC Hero and the Samsung Moment, which costs $180 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year Sprint contract.
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SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Sometimes it's easier to build anew instead of trying to fix what's broken. At least that's the tune Sprint is marching to these days.
Here at the third and final day of the company's Open Developer Conference, Sprint's general manager of wireless applications, J.P. Brocket, made it quite clear that the carrier knows what works and what doesn't--and that much of the company's future growth is going to revolve around a complete reboot of its application store, set to launch as the Sprint Application Store in the first quarter of next year. The company is selling it to developers as a simple way to sell and manage their creations for multiple devices.
A big part of that simplification is accelerating its application approval process. "If you want to get something onto the (current) Sprint Software Store, someone has to review it, someone's got to test it. By the time those things happen through long lead times, we've seen that some of the content completely loses its relevance," Brocket said. "We've got to stop. We've got to get out of the way so that content can get here faster."
How fast? While Apple is currently running two weeks or more on app approval, Brocket said Sprint is aiming to get the job done in less than a week. Brocket said that much of that depends on what the app does, citing that an app for finding a local pizza place would probably slide through quite quickly, but that an app with turn-by-turn directions, or one that changed the phone's native dialer, would take a little longer.
Sprint's general manager of wireless applications, J.P. Brocket, talks about what's in store for the company's upcoming universal app store.
(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)The company is also bucking some of what Apple and Google have done with their application storefronts by charging developers to have their apps re-reviewed--that is, if there are problems with it. Sprint still hasn't said what this fee will be, but Brocket said it will be "low" and that the company would be making it quite clear what the problems were, so that developers could fix them before resubmitting.
Other things the company plans to offer with its new app store are multiple payment methods, especially from third parties like PayPal, Amazon, Google, and others, though Brocket said carrier billing (or being able to charge a purchase to your monthly cell phone bill) could take a little longer.
Also to be included (though at the discretion of Sprint) will be a recurring payment system. This is one area in which Sprint has been pulling back with its own apps for several years, Brocket said, but one from which some developers could benefit, if used correctly.
"For certain products, recurring payments makes a lot of sense, but it's a small subset," he said. "One major reason for that is, (when customers buy multiple applications at once), what seemed like a small $2.99 purchase all of a sudden (is) seven $2.99 purchases. I start to notice that on my bill, and now I'm calling someone about my bill to get a disconnect or because I'm dissatisfied."
That's another thing the company is trying to change with the universal application storefront: its customer service responsibilities. Brocket made it clear that the only customer service the company should be doing is in regards to its own billing and service quality. "Support is best performed by the application providers," he said. "If there are network or device or system things in the way that keep that from happening--that's on us."
Brocket concluded by saying that Sprint has "heard what you've said for eight years. Now it's time that we're going to give you an enabling channel and a path to the customer. And it's up to you to create the great content and succeed--with our help, where we can."
NEW YORK--Verizon Wireless customers will soon be able to get their hands on the much anticipated Google Android phone called the Droid.
The companies officially unveiled the device at an event here. Like most smartphones of its class, the phone will cost $199 with a two-year contract. And it will be available to consumers starting November 6. Customers can pre-register for the device now. John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, said at the event that the device could be pre-ordered, but Verizon's public relations team said he mispoke, and users can simply put their name on a list to get more information about the device.
The Motorola Droid
(Credit: Motorola)The device offers voice-activated search that allows users to speak a query and the Google-powered search engine will deliver Web results or results from the device such as contacts, music, and photos. The voice search also works with the new turn-by-turn directions for Google Maps. It allows users to view geographic information, such as My Maps, Wikipedia entries, and transit lines on the map.
Stratton said he had used the navigation service just yesterday on a trip to Arkansas. He said he simply spoke "gas station" into the phone and it quickly found nearby gas stations. When he clicked on one of them, it activated the turn-by-turn directions and he was given spoken directions right from the phone.
While the new Droid is loaded with lots of cool Android apps and has access to the more than 10,000 applications available in the Android Market, it does not have many of Verizon's branded services. For example, Verizon's VCast music service is missing in this version. But Stratton said that will be added eventually. And the phone does not have Verizon's VZ Navigator, since it comes bundled with the Google Android navigation.
The good news is that some of the services, such as navigation that Verizon charges for on devices running VZNavigator, will be free to users of the Droid.
In terms of the specifications, they are exactly what had been expected thanks to multiple leaks about the product. ... Read more
One App Store to rule them all?
(Credit: Apple)Apple has an app store, of course. So does Microsoft. Google has two, one for Android and now one for Wave. In fact, it's hard to find anyone who doesn't have an app store these days.
We're swimming in app stores. Or drowning.
I'm serious. At the Symbian conference in London on Tuesday, I attended a panel that was overrun with app stores. Nokia, Symbian, GetJar, Sony Ericsson, Handmark, and Handango were all promoting their respective app stores, each talking about how great theirs is.
They're probably right. They probably are all great. But how am I, as a lay consumer, going to figure out which one to use?
More particularly, how will developers decide which platforms to target?
After all, everyone wants to be a platform these days. Does that mean that no one is?
Developers may be spoiled for choice, but "choice" in this case may not be what they want. Developers need to feed their families and will follow the money. Money is more easily made when choice is manageable (which is a euphemism for "limited").
This means we'll see plenty of application developers remain with Apple (though it's debatable whether the iPhone is the land of milk and honey for anyone but Apple), but we'll also continue to see a stampede to Google Android.
At present, every other mobile platform is playing for third place, but this could change: Symbian, as a foundation, is in a good position to launch an effective challenge to both Apple and Google if it can get its marketing and execution right.
Outside of mobile, it's unclear what role app stores will play. It's nice that Google Wave is getting an app store, but it's just one more "forge" among many. Every vendor (my employer, included) seems to feel an irresistible urge to create a forge/app store where third-party developers can "add value" to their "platforms."
Do we really need these? Or do we need more general repositories like Google Code and SourceForge?
I wish I had a definitive answer. I'm just not sure that these competing app stores do anything more than appeal to vendor vanity, and they could end up causing customer confusion.
As a consumer, I don't want to have to think about sorting among competing app stores. I just want applications.
Presumably, if I use a Sony Ericsson phone, I'll automatically find myself within its app store (unless my wireless provider doesn't slot me into its app store first, that is). But if that's the case, what's the point of making a big deal over a glorified catalog of applications that work with my given device/software/etc.?
It strikes me that app stores, like the cloud, are simply a way to dress up old ideas. If they help to organize potential buyers and sellers of software, great. But I still think I'd prefer meta-repositories of applications, similar to SourceForge, than individual application repositories for every single device or piece of software that I happen to buy.
How about you?
We love the unified in-box.
(Credit: Google)As Verizon Wireless prepares to unveil its new Motorola Droid smartphone tomorrow, Google today released the SDK for the much-anticipated 2.0 update to the operating system. Code-named Eclair, Android 2.0 offers a number of feature improvements and interface tweaks. As expected, we will get multitouch support (yay!), but Google has some surprises up its sleeve. Here are the highlights that users should see.
- Syncing for multiple e-mail accounts, including Exchange accounts and contacts. According to the small print, however, "handset manufacturers can choose whether to include Exchange support in their devices." Ick.
- Developers can create sync adapters for additional data sources.
- The capability to e-mail, text, or call a contact by tapping their photo. What's more, this "Quick Contact widget" can reside in multiple apps such as such as e-mail, Messaging, and the calendar.
- A combined e-mail in-box
- Improved camera controls with digital zoom, a scene mode, white balance controls, color effects, and a macro focus
- A revamped Android virtual keyboard layout for faster, more accurate typing. Also, as Google puts it, "the multitouch support ensures that key presses aren't missed while typing rapidly with two fingers."
- A smarter dictionary that will include contact names
- Bluetooth 2.1 with object push and phone book access profiles
- Refurbished browser user interface with improved search and navigation, bookmarks with Web page thumbnail support for HTML5, and support for double-tap zoom
- Text and multimedia message search
- In the calendar app, the agenda view has infinite scrolling. Events indicate the attending status for each invitee and you can invite new guests to events.
Verizon's Droid will offer the new OS, but it's unknown at this time when, and if, it will push out to existing Google Android devices. Once we get a Droid review model, we'll consume Eclair and report back on how good it tastes.
The creator of PhoneSnoop shows how the free spyware app works in a video on his blog.
(Credit: Chirashi Security)The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team warned BlackBerry users on Tuesday about a new program called PhoneSnoop that allows someone to remotely eavesdrop on phone conversations.
The PhoneSnoop application must be installed on the phone by someone who has physical access to it or by tricking the user into downloading it, the CERT advisory said.
The author of the app, Sheran Gunasekera, director of security for Hermis Consulting in Jakarta, Indonesia, says it wasn't written to do any actual harm, but rather to warn of the dangers that still exist with the BlackBerry.
The application can be used by anyone to spy on any BlackBerry user's phone. However, Gunasekera says it is not hidden on the device after it's installed, so users should be able to easily see it.
"My intention was to raise awareness that even though the BlackBerry is one of the more secure platforms, there are still means where its users can be spied upon," Gunasekera wrote in an e-mail on Tuesday. "I wanted to highlight that even with such technical security controls, the human element can be exploited through social engineering."
To aid BlackBerry users who asked him how they could protect themselves from being snooped on, he said he released on Tuesday another free tool called "Kisses" that will detect and display hidden programs on the device.
On his blog, Gunasekera explains how PhoneSnoop works.
"PhoneSnoop sets up a PhoneListener and waits for an incoming call from a specific number. Once it detects a call from that specific number, it automatically answers the victims' phone and puts the phone into SpeakerPhone mode," he writes.
US-CERT said BlackBerry users should only download applications from trusted sources and password protect and lock the devices to prevent someone from installing unwanted software.
The issue of BlackBerry snooping made headlines this summer when Etisalat, a carrier in the United Arab Emirates, sent SMS messages to BlackBerry subscribers encouraging them to download a patch that security experts said was spyware.
SMobile Systems did a technical analysis of the software and concluded that the "true nature of the spyware is to intercept BlackBerry users' email messages and forward the messages to a monitoring agent inside the Etisalat network," according to the BlackBerry Cool blog.
