February 2012

7 signs that Android is faltering as iOS strengthens

Based on a growing number of data points, Android’s sales dominance may be nearing its apex while Apple’s iOS is on the rise. Even as a daily user of both an Android smartphone and tablet, I can’t deny the facts that Android’s partners are not doing as well as they used to. The conclusion that Android’s best days are behind is surely arguable, but I am starting to think that Android is on the decline for several reasons.

The early Android handset makers are free-falling.
Apple is grabbing a huge share of mobile revenues and profits.
The top three smartphones are all iPhones.
First-time buyers are picking Android, but . . .
Even now, there are still few apps hitting Android before iOS.
Android no longer has a killer app.
There is less of a lock-in cost to keep people on Android.

Why it makes sense for Amazon to open its own stores

Amazon is reportedly preparing to dip its toes into the brick-and-mortar retail market with its first boutique store in the Seattle area.

The company will focus on selling its Kindle line of tablets and e-readers and exclusive books from its Amazon Exclusives line. The store will be small and will also sell other high-end items as well as accessories such as cases, screen protectors, and USB adapters. Now some would wonder why Amazon would start paying rent on stores and getting into that market when it does so well online. But I think there are a number of compelling reasons to do so. The upside is that Amazon can let people get hands-on with their products, and they can provide a high level of customer service, especially for its Kindle line of tablets and e-readers.

Yes We Can (Profile You): A Brief Primer on Campaigns and Political Data

[Commentary] Data plays an increasingly large role in campaigning, especially in the ways that candidates communicate with the electorate. Campaigns have a vast array of new means to craft, deliver, and measure the effectiveness of strategic communications. Underlying all of this is a vast data infrastructure that makes targeted online advertising and marketing possible, as well as has contributed to a revival of field campaigning over the last decade. These data practices both increase participation and voter turnout, even as they undermine privacy and democratic practice.

The President's Vision for Our Next Economy, Hispanics, and Broadband

[Commentary] As Americans continue to struggle with high unemployment and underemployment at record levels, President Barack Obama has made building a stronger economy a central theme in his re-election campaign. This should resonate with all American's in these trying economic times. The country needs an economy built on American innovation, increased development of workers skills and a renewed investment in our education system. In this context, though not often discussed, an increased engagement in broadband access and the Hispanic community would help accomplish the goals laid out by the President for the country as a whole.

Will Netflix Kill Ratings For Pay Cable?

The launch of Netflix’s first original series positions the company right where it wants to be – competing against pay cable companies like HBO, Showtime and Starz.

But whether Lilyhammer becomes a hit for Netflix or falls flat, don’t expect the streaming video company to honor one very time-honored TV practice: disclosure about the show’s viewership. Netflix has said that it will not make any announcement about the audience for Lilyhammer, which has eight episodes, all of which are debuting on Netflix simultaneously. And with pay-cable rivals like HBO stating their own discomfort with so-called “overnight” ratings in an increasingly fragmented viewing world, it could be only a matter of time before they follow Netflix’s lead.

The Interview: Aneesh Chopra

A Q&A with the outgoing chief technology officer of the United States, Aneesh Chopra.

He hits on SOPA, open government, and MacGyvering an innovations policy for the country.

After two and three-quarter years in the U.S. CTO seat, Chopra, 39, who holds joint titles as assistant to the president and associate director for technology in the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the Executive Office of the President, is leaving the president's service Feb 8. Chopra cut his teeth in the consulting world, as managing director of the Washington (DC) health care and education think tank the Advisory Board Company. He moved into government to do a stint as Secretary of Technology for the state of Virginia, but there was still plenty he had to learn on the job once in the White House, he says, when it comes to how you go about pushing the country towards innovation from that perch.

Rural broadband via nonprofit networks

[Commentary] President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address that he wants to upgrade the nation's "critical infrastructure," including our "incomplete high-speed broadband network that prevents a small business owner in rural America from selling her products all over the world." The National Broadband Plan omits nonprofit networks as part of a universal broadband strategy.

Blair Levin, a former FCC official and Raleigh attorney, is the Plan's lead author. According to Thomas Friedman in a Jan. 3 column in The New York Times, Levin now believes that "America is focused too much on getting 'average' bandwidth to the last 5 percent of the country in rural areas, rather than getting 'ultra-high-speed' bandwidth to the top 5 percent in university towns, who will invent the future." Levin leads Gig.U, a consortium of major research universities - including UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and N.C. State - promoting "ultra-high-speed" Internet access. He has every right to advocate for Gig.U, but doing so at the expense of under-served rural communities raises concerns about his work with the National Broadband Plan. The State of the Union theme was "An America Built To Last." Rural networks are "built to last" because they are owned and maintained by the people they serve. Absentee-owned networks, by contrast, may be minimally maintained and the last to be upgraded. It's a history that telecom lobbyists would have us forget.

Comcast raises rates; competitors prices go up as well

Many of metro Atlanta Comcast customers started off the year with higher cable bills as the nation’s top cable provider raised rates for most of its TV packages. But frustrated customers may find little options elsewhere as competitors such as DirecTV and AT&T’s U-verse are bumping up their prices as well. Most of Comcast's packages, including the ones for basic services, digital cable and ones bundled with Internet, rose between 4 and 6 percent. DirecTV's rates also rose an average 4 percent, and U-verse's packages increased between 10 and nearly 30 percent.

NY State Senator Grisanti Pushes for Cable Carriage Bill

New York State Senator Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) continues to push for a new bill that would force cable program carriage impasses to the negotiating table.

That bill was prompted by the ongoing impasse between MSG Networks and Time Warner Cable that has blacked out Buffalo Sabres games to TWC customers since Jan. 1 after the two sides could not agree on a carriage deal. The bill, S. 6230, would require negotiations on fair terms between cable operators and programmers, and authorizes the public service commission to require arbitration of negotiations. The bill amends the public service law to "requiring franchisees to negotiate fairly to determine the terms and conditions under which competing independent cable channels will be carried by the franchisee and, in the event such agreement as to terms and conditions cannot be reached, provisions require the commission to conduct an arbitration of the matter."

FCC Okays Licensing of Surveillance Robot over Amateurs' Objections

The Federal Communications Commission has okayed the grant of dozens of licenses to allow police and fire departments around the country to operate a surveillance robot called the Recon Scout.

The action came over strong opposition from members of the amateur radio community, who have fought deployment of the Recon Scout at every stage. The device is the size of a beer can with a wheel on each end, and a TV camera peering out. The Recon Scout is light enough in weight for a non-athlete to throw into a third-floor window, yet survives repeated 30-foot drops onto concrete. The associated wireless hand-held controller has a joystick to drive and steer the unit, and a TV screen to show what the camera in the unit sees. The units allow users to send in “eyes” where it’s not safe for people to go. The U.S. military has been working with the device in Iraq and Afghanistan for several years to rave reviews. Police and fire departments, and security personnel in critical infrastructure industries, wanted access to the same technology. Their expected uses variously include checking a building prior to forced entry, locating hostages and hostiles before a rescue attempt, searching for survivors in a burning building, and inspecting the site of a chemical or nuclear release. Unlike military applications, which are outside FCC jurisdiction, adoption by state and local first responders requires two kinds of FCC approval. First is an FCC certification that establishes the device complies with applicable technical rules; second are FCC licenses needed to operate the units, much like police and fire departments’ licenses for their two-way radios.

Benton

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