And without further ado:

Apple appears set to unleash the mobile device markets latest moving target with a planned iPhone event next week. While exact details of the event are of course top secret (unless you hang out in local bars), it matters little to most consumers as the words “new” and “iPhone” automatically results in people digging out their camping equipment and setting up shop in front of their local Apple retailer.

I have to admit that I still find it amazing that Apple continues to have the worldwide mobile industry wrapped around its finger with a single device. There are billions of mobile customers that don’t have access to an iPhone and yet you would think that all 5 billion-plus mobile users around the world had the device in their pocket. Hand someone in a developed country and under the age of 40 a phone other than an iPhone and they are apt to look at you like you just handed them a lump of dog crap.

The phenomenon has left mobile operators in a bind as they of course want to have all the customer-grabbing attention the device entails, yet do not want to give in to the notion that Apple is really the company pulling the strings in their relationship. But, listen to any talk given by a carrier CEO and the inevitable iPhone question is one that always shows how much they really want that device. Sure, they may try to divert attention away from the iPhone by touting the awesome features and specifications of other devices, but deep down they all know that to not have the iPhone in their lineup is to be saying goodbye to scores of customers.

As for device makers, a new iPhone is always a great way to wipe away the thought in the minds of consumers of any other device launched up to that point, regardless of the millions of dollars spent on marketing such devices. And it’s not like device makers are not trying to get out ahead of this reality. I can’t count the number of new smartphones launched in the past several weeks, all of which include the latest and greatest specifications designed to lure consumers, but all also lacking the one known quality that consumers seek first and foremost: the iPhone brand.

I also find it amusing that Apple wastes so much time during its iPhone events in unveiling the device, spending precious minutes trying to explain all of the new features of the device that make it better than the previous model. Don’t they know that people couldn’t care less about the latest high-efficiency chipsets, brighter screen, better battery life (well, maybe they do care about this), updated operating system and bigger Apple logos? All they want to know is when can they get it and who do they have to fight in order to get it. People do like to fight over stuff, especially Apple stuff.

Even the price tag for the device is irrelevant. Consumers will go without food in order to save the money required to purchase an iPhone. They will go without shelter to afford the accompanying data package that is required in order to show off all the cool applications they can download to their iPhone. It’s really quite amazing.

Of course, everyone knows that whatever Apple unveils is the most awesome device ever created and makes anything that has come before it appear made of stone. Despite that, almost immediately after its unveiled people will begin flooding the Internet, coffee shops and family gatherings with complaints about what the phone lacks and is not capable of.

Why isn’t the screen .001-inches larger?
Why isn’t it .0001-millimeters thinner?
Why doesn’t it have an espresso maker?
Why is there not a TDMA version?
Why does it not include technologies that have not been invented yet?
Why does it not fill the void in my life I was expecting it to fill?

Again, none of this really matters as whatever Apple unveils next week will be snapped up by all with, or without the means to do so. And of course the frenzy will begin again for what the next, next iPhone will be.

OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:

–I received a couple of interesting press releases this week that included facts that I have no idea what to do with.

First, Samsung claimed that it had sold 10 million Galaxy S II devices worldwide since its launch in April. Now, that seems like a big number and probably something that for Samsung is a nice milestone. But, for the rest of us, does this actually mean anything? While that does indeed seem like a big number, with several billion mobile customers worldwide, that number does not seem quite as impressive. Again, I just don’t know.

Also, following up last week on my comments about Cellular South changing its name to C Spire, the company said this week that the company experienced record traffic on Monday to its new website. The carrier claimed a 1,400% increase in daily traffic compared with a typical day and experienced greater traffic than any of the colorfully named high-traffic days that are spread out around the holidays. Again, these numbers sound impressive, but I am also still at a loss for what this all means. Maybe the old website was just so awful that no one ever went there? Maybe people were searching for “C spine” and got lost? So many questions.

–What better way to end a Friday than with news of an application that allows people to bid on over-priced bottles of wine. This ability has finally been made possible by Spectrum Wine Auctions, which launched an app that allows the snobbiest of the snobs (picky wine drinkers that own iPhones) to bid on bottles of crushed grapes while ignoring their families. Really, I am amazed this has not been developed already.

I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
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And without further ado:

Now, I agree that it seems a bit creepy that some faceless conglomerate can track everything I do in my car even after I have told them I don’t want anything to do with them. Plus, you might think that once scorned by your desire to longer do business with them that maybe they might get a little vengeful with the information they continue to collect. Just sayin.

I did also think that with these new terms that in essence OnStar is offering to provide some of their services for free. I mean, if you are in a crash and OnStar is indeed still tracking you even though you told them to take a hike, aren’t they obligated to inform someone that you have been in an accident? I guess that’s assuming faceless conglomerates have morals.

However, the to-do-edness of this whole to-do seemed a bit funny to me considering society’s ever increasing shift to want to share just about anything we do anyways, whether it’s tweeting that we are using a public bathroom to posting pictures of using a public bathroom on Facebook. It seems to me that if anything OnStar is on to something by offering to share everything that we are doing and are likely to share anyways, automatically.

Instead of someone actually having to type out that they are going to a baseball game, they can just have OnStar automatically sketch out the actual path I am driving letting people not only know where I am going, but what route I took to get there. It’s like combining Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare into a single, awesome, life-tracking application. Who wouldn’t want that?

Can you imagine the time savings being offered here? Just think of all the extra spare time we would have to play video games if we were not spending all day twittering, updating Facebook or hiring skywriters to spell out our every thought to everyone?

I think at this point OnStar is going to have its hands full trying to repair the PR damage caused by this bit of news, but if it can somehow tie in some sort of social networking angle my guess is that many people will roll over and happily accept this auto tracking.

OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:

–Regional player Cellular South this week announced a name change that in most instances would not have caught my attention, especially as the change was from a name that seems to mean something – cellular in the south – to one that means absolutely nothing – C Spire. (C Spire? What the hell does that mean? Do you “see” to “inspire” something or someone? Are you pointing out some conical structure that I just have to see? Did AT&T want too much money to re-use the Cingular brand?)

But, with AT&T noting in its attempt to purchase T-Mobile USA that Cellular South is one of its fiercest rivals, the fact that Cellular South was changing its name is now big news. Or at least bigger news than if T-Mobile USA were changing its name.

–Received word this week that the Mobile Roaming World Summit 2011 event is set to take place in mid-November in London. Not that I am in favor of any more trade shows, because I am most definitely not, but this one is of interest due to the topic. And more specifically, the ridiculousness that is what customers are charged for roaming services.

Now, I can see where roaming charges within a country can be priced at some crazy rate because there are competitive concerns between operators and I think consumer backlash in turn forces operators to bolster their coverage. But, overseas roaming charges are out of whack for all the wrong reasons.

Why do carriers think it’s cool to charge their loyal customers multiple-dollars per minute to make a phone call when traveling in a country where that carrier does not even offer service? I can guess that their responses would be that they are just passing along the costs they are being charged from that international carrier, but I am not buying it. I can’t believe Vodafone is charging Verizon Wireless some exorbitant fee for roaming charges, or if it is, it’s just moving money from one pocket to the other.
And if that is true, then there has to be a way to set better roaming rates. Thus, I guess, this event.

I can only hope that the big news out of this event is that those in attendance realize the insane nature of roaming charges and do something to fix it. The clock is ticking, and at the rate they are charging that bill is growing fast.

I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.

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In a YouTube video released Sunday night, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings apologized for the way recent price hikes were communicated – but not the fact they were implemented – and proceeded to declare a separation between DVD and streaming forever. The snail mail DVD business is now a whole different business called Qwikster, declared Hastings. The streaming service will retain the brand name “Netflix”. This all in the name of purportedly being able to advertise both services better.

The new CEO of Qwikster will be Andy Rendich, who has spent the last 11 years at Netflix and has seemingly been rewarded by being handed a dying business model.

Basically, while Netflix may be scraping by now, the firm knows DVDs don’t really have a future. A Hollywood insider told RCR the move will allow Netflix to ringfence the good and future part of its business, while allowing it to immediately look for buyers of the dying part.  “Basically it’s an amputation,” he told us.

While customers will still be able to sign up for both DVD rentals and live streaming, they will now have to do so on different websites, which may lead to some confusion.

On the upside, Qwikster will be adding video games to its stock, a service many customers have been requesting for quite some time and which would put the competitive squeeze on the likes of GameStop and other game rental services.

While there’s nothing really conceptually wrong with a streaming only service model for Netflix, the problem comes in the form of content restrictions and the hits Netflix has taken of late from studios and networks pulling programs off the site.

With Studios keen to eke as much cash as they can out of every release, Netflix’s live streaming has been reduced to a rather paltry offering for its price. The company also suffered a blow recently when Starz announced it would be pulling its content from the live streaming archives.

Whether the lack of content will be reflected in a rapid drop-off of customers remains to be seen, but with Netflix stock already taking a beating on Wall Street, it doesn’t really look like the firm can look forward to a happy ending.

Mark Wilson developed a stammer as a result of Parkinson’s disease and went from being a confident and witty communicator to being fearful of socialising in his regular circles for the dread of becoming ‘stuck.’

But the announcement of his daughter’s engagement and a looming father-of-the-bride speech spurred him into action, and after being referred to speech therapist Mike Richards at the NHS trust in Weston-super-Mare he can now speak perfectly with the help of an iPhone app.

The app itself is a very clever little program which uses a smart speech therapy trick.

Quite often people who stammer report that they can sing perfectly well and also talk or read in unison without difficulties. The DAF app, therefore, delays the sound of the speaker’s own voice by a fraction of a second, so that when it’s heard by the speaker the brain is tricked into thinking it is talking in harmony with someone else.

“To me it sounds in my ear as if the device is repeating what I say back to me, but to the listener, it just sounds as if I am speaking perfectly normally,” he said.

“It is a minor miracle and has given me my old self back again.”

According to Mike, DAF does not help everyone that has a stammer however it is successful for around one third of those who try it.

A miracle? Well it is if you are a part of that one third, and if not, well it is definitely something to talk about.

With the wedding speech successfully tackled, we wish the Wilson’s an app-illy ever after.

Rattner announced Intel had been working closely with China Mobile on a project entitled Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) which is essentially a base station in the cloud.

On stage, Rattner even demoed a prototype LTE base station powered by multicore Intel Architecture (IA) and showed how effective TD-LTE base station processing could be on software, using vector engines in Core i7 like digital signal processors.

“We achieved very good performance,” Rattner said adding that it was rather remarkable how much computational ability could be crammed into a PC shell compared to a large base station.

Throwing down the gauntlet, Rattner also announced, “We’re looking at building routing equipment and switches.” Cisco and co, you have been warned.

The goal, said Rattner was to eventually replace the custom and costly base-station hardware used on cell towers today with a fully programmable and far more cost-effective, software-based PC alternative.

“The time is now to start building multi core and many core applications,” he said.

And without further ado:

So, AT&T Mobility is finally set to commercially launch LTE services across five markets this weekend, throwing its hat into the oncoming LTE battle that is currently dominated domestically Verizon Wireless. (Sorry MetroPCS.)

(I only half kid with the use of the term “finally” as I still vividly remember an AT&T executive speaking at a 4G World event a couple of years ago basically saying the carrier was in no hurry to roll out LTE services as its plans for HSPA+ would take care of its mobile broadband needs. This plan was quickly pushed aside following Verizon Wireless’ rapid LTE rollout plans and AT&T Mobility has managed to throw up a LTE network in a relatively short period of time.)

Now, we will finally see a head-to-head battle between the nation’s two largest wireless operators using what is in essence the same network technology. Let the marketing hype begin!

Verizon Wireless to this point has done a tremendous job of getting across the point that its “4G” network is somehow superior to that of its competitors as well as to its own 3G network. Well done Verizon Wireless.

Now, it will be up to AT&T Mobility to somehow convince customers that its new LTE-powered “4G” network that should be the equal to Verizon Wireless’ is in fact superior. There are several ways AT&T Mobility could do this, including coverage claims and network capabilities.
For coverage claims, AT&T Mobility will obviously be at a disadvantage as its network will initially be limited to but five markets. (I am shaking my fist at you Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Chicago!) While Verizon Wireless has spread its LTE love to more than 140 markets across the country since its launch less than a year ago.

AT&T has said it plans to cover around 70 million people by the end of the year, which would be a good number if Verizon Wireless was not on track to cover close to 200 million potential customers by the same deadline.

This leaves network capabilities as perhaps AT&T Mobility’s only ace-in-the-hole.

With both networks using basically the same LTE technology in the same spectrum bands, this will be a tough point to prove. Sure, AT&T Mobility initially might be able to throw around some faster network speed claims as its network will be relatively bare of customers while Verizon Wireless is now serving a couple million. But, that will only get you so far.

AT&T Mobility will likely continue to press the fact that its LTE customers could have access to faster speeds when not actually on the LTE network as compared with Verizon Wireless customers (HSPA+ vs. EV-DO), but that sort of takes the wind out of LTE sail. (Hey everyone, our LTE network is so awesome because when you are not on it you will get faster speeds then those morons over at Verizon Wireless! LTE Rocks!)

I think the bigger challenge connected to this will be that some AT&T Mobility customers already think they are on a “4G” network with those HSPA+-powered mobile devices, and any sort of marketing that now claims the carrier has a “better” 4G network could be a tough pill to swallow. I am not saying that people will run from AT&T Mobility in protest, but I would not be surprised to see an increase in the number of Motorola Atrix 4G devices coming into AT&T Mobility stores with “excess” damage caused by the throwing of said devices against concrete walls or using them to make stunt ramps.

I know marketing departments are filled with sharp people that know just the right way to make me want to buy the latest and greatest product, only to then make me feel like an idiot once that product falls out of its return period as something even later and greater is now available. But, this whole “4G vs. 4G” issue that it appears AT&T Mobility will have to tackle could be touchy. (I am guessing any marketing folks that are reading this have already figured out a whole plan of attack for such an issue that includes a subtle way of calling me an idiot, and making me feel like a loser for whatever new thing I purchase moments after I purchase it. Those people are good.)

So, while I excitedly look forward to my first interaction with AT&T Mobility’s LTE network as well as the operating metrics provided by the new offering, I am really most anticipating the marketing blitz that is set to be unleashed. Let the battle begin!

OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:

–So, Google recently picked up 1,023 patents from IBM, which was on top of some 17,000 patents it expects to pick up through its pending $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. I am guessing all of these patents will be placed into Google’s current patent stash that must number in the millions.

What are the chances that just one of these is somehow related to a technology that is actually useful and not just entertaining? Like why I can’t stop playing “Angry Birds.”

–I attended a couple of industry events this week and thus was able to take in some of pricing habits of hotel Wi-Fi offerings. And if you think the price wireless carriers are charging for mobile broadband access is out of control, what hotel’s charge for their computing services is criminal. One hotel in Houston wanted to charge conference goers $50 a piece for a Wi-Fi connection, while a hotel in Las Vegas was charging guests $1 per minute to access the Internet through a business center desktop. I now apologize for ever insinuating that wireless carriers, or loan sharks, are charging too much for their services.

I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.

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Speaking to Kerry Forell, Intel’s product manager for Wi-Di, RCR learned that the technology is ramping nicely, with 15 million wireless display enabled laptops already shipped since January 2010 and plans to bring the technology to Medfield based  devices like upcoming tablets soon.

“The ecosystem for dual screen usage is expanding,” Forell told us, noting that many apps were finding a use for two separate screens, especially when it came to video editing, video chat and picture sharing.

“Consumers want different things,” Forell said, noting the breadth of Internet Connected devices Wi-Di could be enabled on and the level of integration it was reaching.

Indeed, Forell claimed, Intel’s Wi-Di was currently seeing an install base ten times larger than any of its wireless competitors, a fact that has encouraged the company to push the technology into other usage scenarios including audio to TV. Intel’s wireless music offering, in collaboration with Logitech, will be available this coming holiday season, RCR was told.

The firm is also hoping that by releasing its Wi-Di extensions SDK, developers will be able to come up with a whole host of new applications for in room content beaming, which could tie in to Intel’s new compute continuum mantra.

In terms of tablet usage, Intel envisions a type of remote control scenario where the smaller tablet could be used for pushing content to a central screen and manipulating it  on the smaller, tactile device.

A slide shown at one of the technical sessions outlined a remote display protocol, with two audio channels delivered on Android Honeycomb with full A/V sync.

When exactly we can hope to see it on shelves, however, remains a mystery.

Running on the Medfield Atom iteration, the tablet is expected to feature a 1280 x 800 touchscreen display along with GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G and even Intel’s wireless display technology Wi-Di, which can beam content from one screen to another wirelessly.

The tablet will be based on the Red Ridge reference design, which was demoed at IDF running Android 3.2 Honeycomb.

Courtesy of CarryPad

Word is that while most of the work customizing Red Ridge was done by Intel’s engineers, there’ll be a much higher level of collaboration with Google’s team of software boffins to ensure future versions running Ice Cream Sandwich will gel well with upcoming Atom releases.

Intel says the native development kit for x86 processors has already been released to developers with an emulator set to emerge before the end of the year.

At its BUILD conference in Anaheim, California on Tuesday, Microsoft showed off an early developer preview of Windows 8-based prototype PCs powered by Snapdragon processors with Gobi connectivity to the eager crowd.

Luis Pineda, senior vice president of product management, computing and consumer products at Qualcomm said it was his firm’s “priority” to “work with the developer community to optimize the Snapdragon and Gobi-powered platform for Windows 8 to provide an unparalleled mobile user experience.”

It was also a first demo for Qualcomm’s pre-certified multi-mode module 3G/4G LTE Gobi connectivity product line. Adding an extra connectivity kick, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors also bring dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM radio connectivity through Qualcomm Atheros’ WCN3660 combo chip.  The firm says the WCN3660 will be the first in a series of 802.11n wireless LAN solutions to fully support Windows 8.

“We want to make Intel architecture the platform of choice for smartphones,” said Otellini briefly showing off a mysterious Medfield based reference design phone which he claimed to already be available to Intel partners and customers. Medfield is the next generation Intel Atom chip which Intel believes will boost its chances in an ARM dominated cellular space.

Otellini called the move a “significant step” and said smartphones on Intel silicon would start coming to market in the first half of 2012.

The Intel chief then welcomed Google Android premiere, Andy Rubin, to the stage for a somewhat uncomfortable exchange.

After missing his cue and standing on the stage in stunned silence for several moments, Rubin recovered to note that Google and Intel’s design teams continued to work together to optimize a range of products.

“We’ve optimized a lot of our products for Intel architecture,” he said, though previous efforts have not centered around the smartphone space.

With the continuation of the “strategic alliance” Rubin said Google would now “work very closely to make sure Android is as optimized as it possibly can be for Intel Architecture,” a statement that can be interpreted somewhat ambiguously.

Rubin concluded by noting he was “very excited” to be at IDF and “very excited to be working closely with colleagues and engineers from Intel.”

He then briefly held the Intel reference design smartphone aloft before making a rapid retreat from the stage.