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Open Handset Alliance Profile: LG

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Company Name: LG Electronics

How the OHA site classifies them: Handset Manufacturer

What the OHA site says about them: LG, the brand that is Delightfully Smart, is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. LG’s vision is to supply top-of-the-range innovative digital products and services and ensure customer satisfaction.

What they do: They’re a South Korean super company that makes all kinds of electronics stuff and then employs cute little Korean girls to have their photos taken with that stuff in order to convince males that if you buy the stuff you might be able to sleep with a cute Korean girl. And they make lots of money doing this (according to Wikipedia, revenue is currently somewhere around $70 billion US dollars per year), because building the electronic devices and paying the Korean girls does not cost as much as guys are willing to pay to own the electronics and dream of sleeping with the Korean girls.

Of course, not all the credit should go to the Korean girls, no matter how cute they are; all indications are that LG makes pretty good electronic stuff. They sure do make a variety of electronic stuff: microwaves, TVs, monitors, USB memory, Home Theater systems, DVD players, computers, MP3 players, karaoke, etc., etc., etc.

Oh, and they make mobile handsets, too. Some very desirable handsets: Chocolate, Prada, Shine. Phones nearly as pretty as the Korean girls that market them. This site has some figures showing LG to be the fifth largest handset manufacturer in the world, which ain’t too bad.

LG is an abbreviation for the literal English translation of the company’s name, Lucky-Goldstar (which sounds more like a brand of cigarettes than an electronics company), the amalgamation of the names of two companies that merged: Lucky, a chemical company, and GoldStar, an appliance manufacturer. They might try to convince you that it stands for Life’s Good (life is good, given a sufficient supply of Korean girls), but don’t believe them.

The girls and the electronics have made LG one of the world’s top brands, part of a shift in recent years that has seen Korean companies ascend to a position rivaling those of Japan as a mark of quality in electronics.

What they bring to OHA and Android:

I was having a look at my HTC Windows Mobile handset, and a thought struck me: what this handset really needs more of is cute Korean girls. Built in cute Korean girls; I mean, I could go out and download some Korean girls off the internet and have them everywhere if I wanted, but the convenience of Korean girls straight out of the box cannot be denied. Google and the OHA know this, which is the main reason why LG and their largest Korean girls competitor Samsung are both members. Everyone wins: LG gets the hottest, flashiest new mobile OS on their phones, Android gets an infusion of Korean girls, and the consumer gets both.

Who can deny the appeal of a Korean girl: they look nice, they dress well, they probably smell good (I once tried to confirm this supposition, and experience for myself the pleasant smell of a Korean girl, but all I got for my trouble was a handbag in the face and a restraining order placed against me.) Furthermore, Korean girls speak Korean, and I would imagine a good portion of them have Tae Kwon Do skills, as well, both handy to have on your side during the forthcoming Dark Times.

The three biggie handset manufacturers in the OHA–Samsung, Motorola, and represent sales figures that rival those of Nokia; Nokia and its little puppy Symbian are the monster badass in the mobile world that Android must go up against. Furthermore, LG specifically seems to have the design chops necessary to pull eyes away from the oh-so-beautiful-though-oh-so-locked-down iPhone (the Shine, anyone?).

LG has indicated that it will release its first Android handset in late 2008 or early 2009. Korean girls included.

Open Handset Alliance Profile: Intel

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Company Name: Intel Corporation

Okay, so the alphabetical order is messed. Last week I did KDDI, this week I do Intel. This is not alphabetical order, this is blogger-who’s-gimped-in-the-head order. I missed one, I can admit it, I’m person enough; and now, I’m doubling back to correct my error.

How the OHA site classifies them: Semiconductor Company

What the OHA site says about them: Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live.

What they do: They’re frickin’ Intel, that’s what they do. They hang around making semiconductors, toppling foreign governments, inventing x86s, controlling minds, sabotaging not-for-profit educational laptop makers, screwing with AMD, confounding the properties of matter, and formulating laws of computing.

They make network cards and cheap-ass video chipsets and motherboard chipsets and stuff. Mainly, though, they’re known for their processors. Very well known, in fact; since the Pentium chips came along in the early nineties and the company launched the Intel Inside advertising campaign, they’re about the only semiconductor manufacturer that most people know by name. Qualcomm, Broadcom, Via, Transmeta, and even AMD are largely unknown outside the tech world, but Intel as a brand is nearly as recognizable as Microsoft, an immense achievement given that 90% of people will probably never lay eyes on, never mind handle, the CPU in their PC.

However, for my money the most interesting thing about Intel is not what they have done before, but rather what they have not done (at least for the most part): mess with cell phones. Just what are they doing in the OHA?

What they bring to OHA and Android:

Intel is savvy. They know what’s going on. They can see the future of personal computing as surely as you or I: smaller, more personal, pocket-sized computing platforms. They know where the action is.

Intel also has a history of chip designs intended for more mobile platforms. Names like Centrino, Pentium M, and Santa Rosa are the marketing front ends for a number of low-power-consumption processor and/or mainboard and/or video chipset combinations intended for use in laptops. My current laptop runs a Santa Rosa platform (even the video card, which was a little bit of a mistake, but I was attracted by Intel’s healthy open-source driver support; unfortunately just because a driver is open-source doesn’t mean it’s good open source).

Intel was a part of the initiative that gifted us with the UMPC (which stands for Uber-Mini PC or something) devices, many of which use the chip maker’s low-voltage processors. Now, I’ve never actually seen one of these in the wild, although I know manufacturers keep revealing new models, hoping someone will bite. They look like a neat concept on paper: take a laptop, make it really, really, small, add some dedicated-function buttons, make it almost as powerful as a full-sized notebook, and sell it for business use. Problem is, they’re pretty expensive for something that is too small for full-time use but too large to fit in a pocket, and I think they’re getting squeezed out by Blackberries and smartphones on one end and low-cost ultra-portables (like the EEE PC) on the other end.

Intel seems to have some to a similar conclusion, and is now behind an initiative to re-purpose UMPCs for the Internet-browsing media-viewing consumer crowd. They’re calling this new class of device the MID, or Mobile Internet Device, and basically it’s a UMPC minus office apps with a couple of inches shaved off. In other words, it’s even closer to a smartphone. Intel has indicated that these devices will run Linux; they’ve even partnered with the Ubuntu folks to create an Ubuntu for MIDs distro.

There’s also a new chip spec coming down the pipe for these things: the Intel Atom. Tiny little ultra-low-power 45nm x86 jobs in the 1.6-1.8ghz-ish range, intended for MIDs and, wait for it… mobile phones.

So Intel is in the middle of a push to own the chips-for-handheld-computing market, and its involvement with the OHA and Android is one piece of that movement. This is why the link on the OHA site under the Intel blurb points to the MDI-specific Intel page, not just the main company site.

And I say bring ’em on; my current phone has a 200mhz processor, but Intel’s talking close to 2ghz for the Atom processors, literally an order of magnitude more powerful. I realize that the picture is more complicated than simply a question of hertz, but you can’t tell me an Atom processor wouldn’t whip my little OMAP’s ass. And that’s cool.

What to Expect From Android

Scott Webster
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A lot of the hype around Android comes from developers and their geeky community. The main reason for this is because they “get it”. They understand just how groundbreaking an open-source operating system is, especially for mobile devices. But what about the average guy with no idea what Android is or how it could benefit them? That’s where I come in. I’m here to help you, the typical AndroidGuys visitor, gain an understanding as to what Android truly is and how it will change your life.

Forecasting the Future Using History

The easiest way for me to illustrate my points is by comparing how Firefox changed your internet experience with how Android will change your mobile experience.

Remember a few years ago when Mozilla was a relatively unknown, untested company who dropped an alternative web browser on us? Do you recall how at the time, pretty much everyone using the internet was using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer? We had been told time and again that it was the best experience we could get from a browser. But was it? We soon found out that not only was Firefox capable of a better experience, but it was also more secure, lighter, and more scalable. The long and short of it was this: It took less to run and held more promise for updates and implementing features. This is the exact situation Android is in right now. The requirements needed to handle Android are minimal by today’s device standards, but the long-term capability is considerably more far-reaching.

Think about all of the add-ons available for you today. With over 2,000 to choose from, you could download and install features to enhance rss feeds, weather, chat, tracking stocks, sports, etc. Need something to organize your bookmarks more efficiently? You got it. How about a better way to manage your downloads and/or uploads? Go get it. For free.

So Tell Me What it Does Already!

The same thing will apply for Android. Even if you solely base Android around GPS and mapping capabilities, you’re in for some real treats. Wonder what restaurants nearby serve sushi? Pull out your phone and look! Not only will you find the restaurants along with their address and phone number, but you’ll also be able to see who is actually open and who is closed. Using the map, you can get turn by turn directions.

Why not install a utility to locate all of the Fifth Third banks around the world so you’ll always know where the nearest ATM is? If you have a fantasy baseball team, plug your players into the tracking program so you can see how well they are performing. We’re talking about real time stats pushed to your device, not pulled. Forget logging on to see how LeBron and the Cavs are doing. Just watch the scrolling ESPN ticker you installed at the bottom of your phone.

Like Firefox, you’ll also be able to dress your phone up in any way you want. Instead of looking at the address book that comes with it, perhaps you want to use the most recent pictures from your MySpace friends. How about a nice weather program or traffic utility that gives you an idea as to how early to leave for work today? You can bet that someone out there is already working on this.

It Will Take Time

Now, it may take a few years before the true Android experience hits its stride. Firefox did not turn into the preferred browser overnight. And even though Mozilla’s program doesn’t have the same market share as the blue ‘e’ next door, everyone knows it’s a better interface. Why is it? because it’s open-source, that’s why. I’ve always been of the opinion that the hive mind is the way to go when working on projects. It’s what drives the web 2.0 phenomenon we’re in the midst of. Run through some of the most popular web sites today and you’ll see the impact. Digg, Wikipedia, Flickr, etc. These are programs and utilities that work best when you have as many hands in the pot as you can.

Who has their hands in the Android pot? On the hardware side, you have names like Intel, Texas Instruments, and nVidia. These guys are helping shape the cutting edge phones due out from HTC, LG and Samsung. And who is going to provide access to these devices? Why, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, China Mobile, and NTT DoCoMo of course! What, you haven’t heard of the Open Handset Alliance?

Open Handset Alliance Profile: KDDI

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Company Name: KDDI Coporation

How the OHA site classifies them: Mobile Operator

What the OHA site says about them: KDDI is a telecommunication operator that provides wide-ranging services from mobile to fixed in Japan.

What they do: KDDI Corp. is a Japanese telecom company, formed after the merger of DDI Corp., KDD Corp., and IDO Corp. (I’m not making this up) in 2000. They offer ISP services, ADSL broadband, land-line telephone, and mobile services. In America they operate as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator on the Sprint network under the KDDI Mobile brand, offering packages designed to meet the needs of Japanese people living in the US, including calls to Japan.

They offer a suite of services known as Ezweb, which is a horrible name to a native English speaker, but I’m sure sounds fine to the Japanese. Ezweb includes eznavigation (location-based services), ezmovie (movie clip delivery), ezappi (BREW) and Chaku-Uta-Full (!!! — a music download service). Much of this stuff was introduced by KDDI back in a time when the average North American handset was still struggling with color displays.

Basically, they’re just another carrier. Not much to see here. Except for one thing: about a month before the OHA and Android announcement, KDDI issued a press release that opened with this paragraph…

KDDI (TSE: 9433), Japan’s only comprehensive communications service provider from fixed to mobile, has announced the fall introduction of an advanced behavioral targeting advertisement system, which analyzes … cellphone users’ website logs and visit frequency to provide them with advertisements tailored to their needs…

What they bring to OHA and Android: Most of the Mobile Carrier stuff is boring as hell, so I’m gonna skip any further discussion of it here.

That bit about the ads however, is extremely interesting. Advanced behavioral targeting is how SkyNet started out, don’t ya know. And, it sounds very similar to what we hear Google is looking to do with Android.

The system will initially cover mobile websites on “au one” only, but KDDI and its partners plan to utilize other types of data, excluding personally identifiable information, to provide behavioral targeting advertisement solutions beneficial to both customers and advertisers…

Of course, we don’t know if KDDI is sharing its targeted ad tech with Google, and I’m sure Google has the resources to R&D its own mobile ad systems, but it sounds like an awfully nice fit. Google and KDDI have a history together; in 2006, KDDI signed a deal to incorporate Google search into EZweb, and later decided to use Google Mail as the foundation for its own mobile mail offering. Does the relationship extend further? What exactly do KDDI’s system and Google’s eventual system have to each other. Is Google looking to the KDDI example as a test case? Will the two systems share algorithms? If I wanted to start a rumor, and drive traffic to this site, is this a good basis for wild conjecture?

Or is it coincidence? There are other carriers in the OHA, presumably involved simply because it looks like a good bet for the future of mobile; is KDDI just another forward-thinking mobile service provider? You be the judge.

Additional Link: KDDI on Wikipedia

Could Google Learn from App Store Business Model?

Scott Webster
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If you’re a prospective developer for Google’s Android platform and trying to figure out the best way to distribute your application, you might be intrigued by how Apple is handling their App Store. Announced last week with the Software Developer Kit (SDK), it offers a different approach to distribution. As a developer, you can pick your price and allow Apple to provide the one-stop shopping for iPhone and iPod Touch programs. The rub is that they take 30% off the top.

It works on one hand as consumers will know specifically where to go to look for new applications. There’s going to be a built-in audience chomping at the bit when the doors open. On the other hand, pretty much all applications available for other platforms (Windows Mobile, Symbian, etc) are readily available through many channels. You can get a program at the developer’s web page, Handango (or similar store), or even at physical stores. I’ve never heard one person complain to me “Gee, I wish there was one place I could go to get all the WinMo apps I want. There’s just too many choices out here.”

Perhaps Google could offer a trusted site where people can go to look for programs that have signed certificates. Doing this would put people at ease who are weary of quality control issues. Sure, you can still get an application at the developer’s personal blog or corporate website, but by being officially given the “all clear”, end users can be assure that there will no compatibility issues. Creating an online superstore where anyone can submit their offerings would also give the developer peace of mind knowing that there is definite exposure opportunity. Raise the bar just set by Apple (again) and allow the developers the right to take home 100% of the money.

It wouldn’t be the first time Google offered things for free.

Some Thoughts on Apple

Scott Webster
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First a little preface because I’ve got to give credit where it’s due. Steve Jobs and Apple have done a tremendous job of selling people over the last few years. Be it, the iPod, Macbook, or iPhone, somehow they always seem to get people to buy into their ideas and products no matter what. Even though the new Macbook Air has nowhere near the power or capability as other models in its price range, it’s still selling like hot cakes.

Adopting their own business model, Apple has pretty much done whatever they want. And for those partnered or associated with them? They either play ball or lose out. Much like Wal-Mart, if you don’t do what Apple asks, then you’re just skipped over and left behind. Ask yourself if you’d let them take the iPhone to the next carrier if you were AT&T. The problem that is arising from all of this is that Apple is getting to be a little bit too bossy. Let’s look at the situation with getting Flash on the iPhone and why it’s not likely to happen very soon.

Using the allegory of Goldilocks is the best way to equate what’s going on. The version of Flash that’s currently available is allegedly too weak to run well on the iPhone whereas the full-fledge version commonly used on PC’s and laptops supposedly uses too many resources. Steve and the other Apple cronies are essentially demanding that Adobe create a mama bear version for their device.

With the release of the iPhone SDK happening as I write this, it’s unlikely we’ll see any Flash apps or utilities coming soon. This raises another point – Apple has choked off development before it was even available to other companies. See, if you create an application for the iPhone, Apple gets to decide whether or not it will even make to iPhones or iPod Touches. Let’s just assume they give your program the okay though. The only place for people to access it is through iTunes. That’s right, you can’t pick your price or method of distribution. They’ve become the rude bouncer at your favorite night club. “You wanna get in? You’ll have to come through me.” Of course if you are a part of a larger company, you’ll stand a better chance.

And that is exactly where the freely available open-source developer kit for Google Android shines. The club’s open all night long and the drinks are free.

Open Handset Alliance Profile: HTC

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Open Handset Alliance Member Profiles (Week #9 – HTC Corporation)
For 34 weeks, each Tuesday, Jordan from fandroid.net will be joining us to offer a profile of each of the 34 members of the Open Handset Alliance.

Company Name: HTC Corporation

How the OHA site classifies them: Handset Manufacturer

What the OHA site says about them: Our mission is to organize all the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

What they do: Build pretty badass handsets.

I have an HTC S621, which is basically the same as the T-Mobile Dash and the Excalibur. I really like it. It’s slim and good-looking. I think it’s the nicest full-QWERTY candy bar phone. The rubberized plastic makes it smooth to hold and reduces the plastic creaking sound. The keys are easy to use and typing with thumbs is simple despite their small size. It has a 200mhz processor, but it feels fast enough for most apps. I use it a lot for browsing, reading eBooks, listening to music and podcasts, checking emails, making lists, and more. I also make calls using both the regular cellular connection and VOIP over WiFi.

It’s not perfect. The JOGGR touchpad slidy thing is just silly. The battery life is not great, which is not helped by the Direct-Push email sucking juice. It doesn’t have a touchscreen, which I know is not the norm for this form factor but is still is on my wish list. The EDGE data connection is poky. The 1.3 megapixel camera gives a slightly purplish hue to everything. Oh, and there’s the Windows Mobile part… I’ll get into that in a bit.

In the end, I’m proud to lay this thing down along side my friend’s Motorola Q or the Blackberries that are so common in the corporate environment in which I swim daily. People admire it, ask to hold it, make nice comments. And then the inevitable comes out: Who is HTC? Never heard of ’em.

Unfortunately, in the electronics business the unheard-of brand carries a stigma, that of the cheap-knockoff, Made in China (which these days is actually a sign of quality), Radio-Shack no-name crap.

So who is HTC?

The High Tech Computer Corporation, established in 1997, initially focused on producing devices for other companies such as T-Mobile, Verizon, Dell, and HP. Many people I work with were unaware that HTC manufactured the Palm Treo 650s they were using until recently. There are rumors that Palm is returning to HTC for manufacturing, and reports suggest that the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, which gained attention at the World Mobile Congress, is designed by HTC. HTC is a leading original design manufacturer (ODM).

It was the decision to produce HTC-branded Windows Mobile handsets, however, that brought the company out into the open. It was a smart choice for both Microsoft and HTC: HTC got Microsoft and the recognizable Windows brand behind them, and Microsoft got probably the best smartphone maker on the planet.

Truthfully, Windows Mobile sucks. In my experience, it’s buggy, ugly, and hard to get around in. At least once a week I have to do a hard reset on my phone ’cause something’s locked hard. There are a couple of good points…okay, not a couple, one: there are plenty of folks out there building apps for Windows Mobile, so its relatively easy to find programs to do almost anything I want (an SSH client, eBook reader, a better media player). But, basically, Windows Mobile is ass. Really.

It’s a good thing that the elegance of the HTC hardware is there to save the day.
To an unsuspecting public, however, the Windows name is a selling point, and that has served HTC well, to the tune of $3.7 billion in revenue in 2007. The HTC touch, which saw the company’s TouchFlo interface apply a serious coat of paint to the Windows-Mobile-interface-of-the-devil, has sold 2 million units, which ain’t too bad at all.

What they bring to OHA and Android: As I said above, these guys are likely the best makers of smartphones in the world. The problem is Windows Mobile. If we take WM out of the mix, and replace it with a sexy, open, LINUX-based mobile OS, the results just may be brilliant.

The buzz is that HTC will produce 2 or 3 Android phones in 2008. Let’s conjecture that we’ll see a candy bar full-QWERTY sans touchscreen (a la my S621), a primarily-touchscreen-interface job with a small form factor (like the Touch), and a slide-out or clamshell full-QWERTY + touchscreen ultra-handset (The Kaiser, the XPERIA X1).

Are you telling me that thought doesn’t get you excited?

Open Handset Alliance Profile: Google

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Open Handset Alliance Member Profiles (Week #8 – Google)
For 34 weeks, each Tuesday, Jordan from fandroid.net will be joining us to offer a profile of each of the 34 members of the Open Handset Alliance.

Company Name: Google

How the OHA site classifies them: Software Company.

What the OHA site says about them: Our mission is to organize all the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

What they do: Cackle gleefully as the money comes rolling in. The Wikipedia entry doesn’t quite seem to do it justice:

Google is an American public corporation, earning revenue from online and mobile advertising related to its Internet search, web-based e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies.

Kind of an inadequate description, because the thing about Google is this: it makes a sh!tton of money, and is worth an insane amount. Current Market Cap? According to Yahoo, $159 billion dollars. This site claims that $160 billion dollar bills stacked on top of one another would be 55,333,200 feet high, which wouldn’t quite get you to the moon or anything but is still a whole lot of one dollar bills.

Most of this money comes from ads attached to search results. Google does other things, some well, some not so well: Gmail, Google Reader, Google Docs, etc., etc. It’s the search stuff that made Google what it is, however 75% + market share worldwide, such a dominant position that were Microsoft to acquire Yahoo its combined market share wouldn’t even be a third of what Google has.

Everything else Google does can be seen as an attempt to add other profitable ad platforms to their core search functionality. Their in-browser email, document editing, RSS feed reader, chat, etc., are not only cool bits of cloud computing produced by an engineer-centric corporation, they also offer Google the opportunity to build a profile around you and more effectively target ads.
What they bring to OHA and Android: Well, they own the thing.

They bring clout, the will to innovate, and a suite of web-based apps that, in many cases, seem custom fit for the mobile platform.

The more interesting question is: why are they producing Android? The easy answer is: “For the potential ad-revenue, of course.” But they already have mobile apps that are widely used, why go to all the trouble of doing the actual OS, an area they have never attempted to infiltrate before?

Well, there is this concept that it gives them more hooks into the user. If they own the OS they can access the SMS subsystem, the GPS subsystem, the Contacts subsystem, and the Browser subsystem, so that when you text message a friend asking where the two of you should go for lunch they know that you have 5 pizza places in your contacts and are currently standing at the corner of 5th and 134th, so that when you go online to try and find a place to eat they can offer a custom answer — Pagliacci’s Pizza is two blocks away and a favourite of yours — and thereby get a few bucks from the Pizza Place owner for their trouble. Of course, the user can opt-out if they so choose; its an option Google must offer if they want to avoid doing evil.

Check out these quotes a USA Today article from a few weeks back, in which they interview Cole Brodman, T-Mobile’s chief development officer:

By combining “unique information about consumers from the Web,” he says, with “other information” from mobile devices, such as location, “Google believes search responses can be much more targeted for Google, and that the value they can bring back to advertisers can be quite a bit higher.” …Android won’t favor Google over Yahoo and other search-engine rivals. [Brodman] says consumers also can “opt out” of Google’s “cookies,” used to track their movements on the Web.

In my heart of hearts, however, I don’t really believe its all revenue motivated. Google is an engineer’s company. It’s a bunch of folks rather like me: coders, hackers; they’re just a lot smarter and a lot better paid. Google’s folks are, in the end, into cool-ass tech. The ad stuff is placed on top to keep the money flowing, but many of these guys come up with this stuff just ’cause its a cool idea. Android as we know it, the open source OS, running on Linux, rocking its own Java virtual machine, promising to free up phones everywhere, is the product of a bunch of Google geeks sharing the cool toy they built.

But then, I’m a Google apologist, which is why I write these articles. If you feel so inclined, just ignore my hippy-happy, love-and-clean-code, Richard-Stallman rantings, and go ahead persisting in the belief that it’s all motivated by money.

I feel sorry for you, you sad, cynical person.

Consumers Will Emerge Victorious in War of Providers

Scott Webster
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It’s been said before that 2008 will go down as the year of the mobile device. Cell phones are getting smarter every generation and the rate of adoption is skyrocketing. Many of the smart phone buyers will probably tell you that they never pictured themselves buying one. Why is this happening? What has spurred this trend? One can’t really point the finger at one particular reason as it’s a combination of many things happening in the industry.

Everyone knows that customer satisfaction is what drives people to buy or use certain products and services. Now, more than ever, these satisfaction rates are climbing. There are three things that have happened over the last year within the cellular industry that have started changing things forever. Commitment to being open, pro-rated early termination fees, and the price war of 2008 are going to be looked at as the events responsible for the sea-change.

Lately each company seems to be mimicking the next, afraid to get left behind. After all, if 3 out of 4 companies are providing something you’re not, then your customers will be looking to go elsewhere. Taking a look at what Sprint did two weeks ago with their announcement of the $119 unlimited plan. While I am not an expert in the field, I can still add a few things up. Sprint was essentially forced to do something dramatic to keep from hemorrhaging customers. Maybe by dropping their prices and offering something so unique, people will forget their less than stellar customer service.

Sadly, that idea will never come to fruition as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all announced similar, if not better deals within a week. My thought is that Verizon and AT&T made the plan announcements just because they’d rather not be beat at a game they are currently winning. T-Mobile is in no position to jump Sprint anytime soon if things continued at current pace so maybe that is why they were so aggressive in their plans to offer unlimited calling and texting for $99 a month.

How will Sprint combat these other plans? The latest rumor is that they are considering a $60 unlimited calling plan. This could not come at a better time as early termination fees are set to be prorated if they are not already. Customers will be able to switch carriers without that $200 hefty cancellation cost. The burden to retain customers gets heavier every day.

By offering an open network, users have the capability of switching to other carriers without being forced to buy a new phone. On top of that, they don’t have to wait until their 2 year contract is up. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that you could be switching providers every few months. That is at least, until the dust settles a little bit.

Balloons Full of Hydrogen and Possibility

Scott Webster
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When I first read the article on the Wall Street Journal yesterday afternoon I immediately thought to myself “Wow, this would totally make sense.” It’s a logical move that couldn’t come at a better time for the cellular industry. Google is on the verge of revolutionizing the cellular industry twice in the same year. First with Android and now with a potential contract with Space Data Corp.

This is one of those cases where it should have been thought of a long time ago. By putting up roughly 330 balloons a day, they could blanket the country with radio signal and provide users with coast to coast coverage. By beaming down from 20 miles up, the signal would be free from interruptions typically caused by mountains, trees, water, etc. Imagine being able to use a cell phone out on the ocean! If this deal goes through, you’ll not have to worry about the limitations caused by zoning restrictions.Depending on how the 700MHz auction falls out, there could be even more potential. Think along the lines of mobile television, gaming, Wi-Fi, and plenty of other cool scenarios. Google could find themselves partnering up with an actual carrier like Verizon to offer floating virtual cell towers. It could even end up being an Open Handset Alliance deal with Google sharing their radios with T-Mobile and Sprint users only.

Regardless of who wins the auction, nearly $5 billion is needed to come out of pocket before building tower number one. This is where Space Data Corp. is hoping to be called on. Whether the spectrum gets used to provide cellular network, television, or internet services, this is by far a much cheaper alternative to building up a traditional network. How much money and time do you think would be involved in erecting 22,000 towers? An average of 6 balloons per state seems much practical. Google could have these balloons in the air by the time the ink finishes drying on the contract. It should be fairly obvious by now, but I’m a big fan of this one.

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