Mobile & Wireless

The Los Angeles Times Reports: Technophiles predicted that the PDA would go the way of the dinosaurs, and it looks like the prediction is about to come true.   Thanks to the success of the MP3 player generally and the iPod specifically, cell phone manufacturers are turning PDA/phones into music-playing PDA/phones, and wireless carriers are Continue Reading →

“Still, if the dates slip further, Microsoft could take a hit to its already threadbare credibility in this arena; for nearly a decade, it has been trying to bring interactive TV to fruition. More delays also could be a setback for SBC, which hopes to use the technology to help prevent customer defections to cable. Continue Reading →

BellSouth Corp. will begin offering wireless-broadband service in Athens, Ga. Verizon Communications Inc. is expanding its use of wireless broadband, to two towns in Illinois. The telcos are dipping their feet into the WiMax water … how will it feel?   For about $43 per month, users of these pre-WiMax wireless broadband test services will Continue Reading →

Verizon and SBC lost a major legislative battle in Texas this week.  They had hoped that they could strike a deal with the state of Texas to roll out their IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services.  Instead, they will have to do what the cable companies had to do years ago — negotiate municipality by municipality.  Continue Reading →

The technical definition of the Internet is fairly unimportant to this thought experiment.  What I want you to think about is the conventional or popular definition.  To non-technical people (which is most everyone) the Internet is a means through which they browse the web and get email.  In their mind’s eyes, they imagine the access Continue Reading →

The 2005 NAB/Emmy Advanced Media Floor Tour started with an overview of Motorola’s latest offerings.  AMC member, Marty Stein, showed us why you love to say, “Hello Moto!” Next, AMC member and presenter extraordinaire, Steve Jacobs of Sony, gave us an overview of the world of HD television production Sony style.  HDV cameras, $16,000 filed Continue Reading →

The show has just started and the buzz is extraordinary.  MIP is a combination of programming and technology from around the world.  It’s interesting that the show bills itself as “The world’s audiovisual and digital content market.”  There are not many people here who know that they are in the content business.   To a Continue Reading →

Verizon was in the news again, announcing the launch of V Cast – a new service which provides almost full frame rate video to your 3G cell phone.  The service offers hundreds of feeds from popular content providers like NBC, CNN, FOX, etc.   There is a ton of experimentation going on with the format. Continue Reading →

Unless you live under a rock, you know about the Verizon-MCI deal.  I don’t want to comment about the business part of this merger, you can get about a zillion subject matter experts to weigh-in about the dollars and sense.  However, I do want to highlight the relative prominence of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) in Continue Reading →

I sat in a conference room at Universal Music Group a few months ago with some very high ranking officials and was surprised to hear one marketing executive tell me that music videos were, “valuable content” and, “UMG should be compensated when a network or show airs them.”  I asked her the obvious question, aren’t Continue Reading →