Tech Industry Stories January 20
Apple creating demand for UWB applications, but company hasn’t joined alliance
Interest in developing UWB applications has been significantly boosted by Apple’s decision to adopt the ultrawide band standard in its products, says a new report today, with other smartphone manufacturers following the company’s lead. Samsung and Xiaomi have already included UWB in high-end smartphones, with two other Android brands likely to do so …
Tech Industry Stories April 19, 2012
Apple Marketing SVP Phil Schiller dumps ‘Instagram’ over expansion to Android
Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey is not the only photo-loving business executive upset by Instagram in recent weeks. While Dorsey stopped posting photos on Instagram after Facebook reportedly beat his Twitter to an acquisition of the app, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller quit Instagram for another reason: Android. A reader noticed Schiller deleted his Instagram account (@schiller), […]
Tech Industry Stories April 23, 2012
Adobe officially launches CS6 suite, offers $30/month introductory pricing on Creative Cloud
Adobe today begins taking pre-orders for its CS6 line of its popular line professional design products. Adobe combines 14 different individual applications, including its venerable Photoshop CS6 (free Beta download), Illustrator CS6, and InDesign CS6, in a variety of bundles. United States pricing is as follows (matrix below): Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design and Web […]
Tech Industry Stories May 25, 2012
iPad claims another victim: Cisco kills Cius Android tablet due to BYOD (read: i-P-a-d)
From 9to5Google: Cisco is killing off its Android-based Cius business tablet less than a year after launching due to the “BYOD trend.” Translation: iPad:
There’s no denying iOS devices and cheaper Android solutions are taking the place of Cius. Recent studies show Apple with 97 percent of tablets in the enterprise, while 94 percent of the Fortune 500 arecurrently testing or deploying iPad. The result is no further investment in the Cius tablet line and only limited support for what is currently available. The company will instead “double down” on Jabber and WebEx
Tech Industry Stories August 19, 2012
AT&T’s FaceTime blockade: Does the FCC need to get involved again? Public Knowledge thinks so
AT&T recently revealed to us that they were going to block Apple’s built-in FaceTime over cellular unless users sign up for an expensive Mobile Share plan. Does this reek of loyal customer exploitation?
John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at advocacy group Public Knowledge has this to say:
“By blocking FaceTime for many of its customers, AT&T is violating the FCC’s Open Internet rules. These rules state that mobile providers shall not ‘block applications that compete with the provider’s voice or video telephony services.’ Although carriers are permitted to engage in ‘reasonable network management,’ there is no technical reason why one data plan should be able to access FaceTime, and another not.
“‘Over-the-top’ communications services like FaceTime are a threat to carriers’ revenue, but they should respond by competing with these services and not by engaging in discriminatory behavior.”
Sure, FaceTime over cellular is a “new feature” of iOS 6, but so is Apple’s new Maps Turn-by-turn navigation. So is the PassBook Application and Photo Streams. They all will use more data. What is stopping AT&T from blocking those too?
What justification can AT&T give for such a move when it allows competing video chat apps to be available over its network? The most popular video chatting app, Microsoft’s Skype, has been available on the iPhone over 3G since AT&T allowed it –with some significant coaxing – from the FCC in 2009.
But with the FCC not only investigating AT&T and Apple’s Google Voice ban — but wireless industry competition overall — AT&T has miraculously had a change of heart and will now allow iPhone Skype traffic over 3G:
Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity…AT&T this afternoon informed Apple Inc. and the FCC of its decision. In late summer, AT&T said it was taking a fresh look at VoIP capabilities on iPhone for use on AT&T’s 3G network, consistent with its regular review of device features and capabilities to ensure attractive options for consumers.
Skype added the ability to video chat over 3G in 2010. We estimated the data usage to be at 3.4Mb/minute at the time. Many other video chatting apps on the iPhone and iPad exist including: Fring, Google Plus (which also works native on Android phones FWIW), ooVoo and many others.
AT&T can’t claim network usage penalties for a couple of reasons:
1. As mentioned above, Skype and other Video chatting applications aren’t blocked by AT&T and they use just as much data.
2. AT&T has moved just about all of its customers over to tiered data plans and even those who are left on “Unlimited Plans” are still subject to throttling that would eliminate the ability to use video chatting applications. Users are paying for data that they use.
3. FaceTime over Wifi uses about 3 Megabytes per minute of talk. For someone to use up a 3GB monthly allotment of data, they would need to FaceTime video chat for almost 17 hours (and the data usage over 3G would likely be less taxing). Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Amazon Video all use roughly this amount of data without regulation from AT&T.
As for the competition, Sprint already announced that it will not hinder FaceTime over cellular, and Verizon is being forced not to mess with it because of a Net Neutrality agreement.
Tech Industry Stories August 22, 2012
Spotify expanding into Canada soon, with further plans for Asia and South America. Hulu gets a facelift
Spotify made a huge stride when it launched in the United States in July 2011, which opened a partnership with Facebook that has paid off. The music streaming company looks to be expanding even further, as the Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Spotify is expected to launch in Canada soon. Furthermore, Spotify may also expand into Asia and South America. Spotify’s latest annual accounts tipped WSJ off on the news:
Last year, Spotify established subsidiaries in Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, all places where its service isn’t yet available. Spotify is currently available in 15 countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, and recently launched in Australia and New Zealand. Company spokeswoman Sofie Grant declined to elaborate on the details of the company’s expansion plans, but said Spotify “of course plans to launch in new countries.”
Many ditched Apple’s iTunes and services like Pandora for Spotify, including me, because the ease of building playlists and finding new music on Spotify is certainly impressive. The only downfall is that the premium plan costs $10 a month, which offers unlimited music without ads, but I find the money to be worth it. Spotify recently introduced a free unlimited radio — launched on its Android — in July.
In other media news, Hulu, which just recently came to Apple TV, got a bit of a facelift on the web.
