Tech News Today 283

Tech News Today Episode 283

Tech News Today 283: 4G Is Meaningless

Amazon's Android tablet, 4G is meaningless but fast wireless rolls on, how to ditch Netflix, and more.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com

Hosts

• Tom Merritt (@acedtect)
  • TomMerritt.com
• Sarah Lane (@sarahlane)
  • SarahLane.com
• Jason Howell (@raygun01)
  • JasonHowell.net
• Iyaz Akhtar
  • thisoldnerd.finitecomedy.com
• Jason Hiner
  • techrepublic.com

Topics

• Amazon to Release Android Tablet This Fall
  • The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is readying a 9-inch Andorid based tablet before October citing the often cited "people familiar with the matter."
  • Outsourced the manufacturing of the tablet.
  • Tablet will not have a camera, but will work with Amazon's video, music, and ebooks.
  • Amazon will also refresh the Kindle reader with two new versions in the third quarter of this year.
  • One Kindle is a touchscreen device.
  • The other Kindle, no touchscreen, but cheaper version current kindle

• PayPal Brings Wireless Cash Transfers to Android Phones
• PayPal Announces Phone-To-Phone NFC Payment Support For Android
• PayPal Enables Peer-to-Peer Payments on Android With NFC
  • PayPal introduced its money transfer widget at the MobileBeat technology conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
  • allows for money transfers between two NFC-enabled phone holders. No plans for POS installations.
  • eBay's recent purchase of Zong now seems to fit right in here.
  • PayPal’s NFC widget will debut later this summer.
  • P2P transactions through PayPal are free if using a bank account or existing balance in the customer’s PayPal account.

• Can RIM turn things around with 7 new BlackBerry smartphones?
• No Angry Mob at RIM Shareholders Meeting
• RIM Promises Seven New BlackBerries This Year
  • From the TC piece: Jim Balsillie closed the session by saying “If there’s anything I can do to make you sleep better at night, I’ll do it.”
  • At the Canadian company's annual shareholder meeting this week, co-CEO James Balsillie told investors that RIM plans to launch 7 new phones, with BlackBerry OS 7
  • Including including the Bold 9900, the 9860 and 9850.in May RIM showed off the Bold 9900/9930
  • Quiet shareholders meeting. Entire board re-elected.
  • Dual leadership left unquestioned
  • “RIM’s foundations are very strong,” Balsillie said. “We’re on the verge of one of the biggest global product launches in our history … We’re not perfect, but we give our very best every day. We literally don’t take a day off.”
  • 4G Playbook in the Fall

Discussion Stories

• PhoneGate Forces News Corp. to Pull Plug on BSkyB Deal
• Murdoch's News Corp. drops bid for satellite broadcaster
• Markets’ Reaction Mixed To News Corp.‘s Withdrawal From BSkyB Bid
• James Murdoch To Stay On As BSkyB Chair After News Corp Abandons Bid
• U.S. Senator seeks Murdoch investigation
  • News Corp. pulled the plug on its proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of BSkyB
  • “It has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate,” News Corp. COO Chase Carey said in a statement, referring to the ever-widening PhoneGate scandal
  • Murdoch, his son James and News Corp. executive Rebekah Brooks are all scheduled to appear in front of the British Parliament next week to answer questions about the scandal.
  • Rumours that News International will spin off as separate company, Shares fell sharply
  • Senator Jay Rockefeller is calling for an inquiry based ont he possible access of voicemail of 9/11 victims.
  • James Murdoch will stay on as Chairman and non-executive dirctor of BSkyB. He is also Co-COO at News Corp.
  • If you want to avoid caller ID spoofing being used to access your voicemail you must set a PIN on your voicemail even when checking from your mobile device.

• Reed Hastings Doesn’t Want You To Pay More For Netflix. He Wants You To Stop Using DVDs.
• Up to 41 percent of Netflix users plan to cancel
• Editorial: Netflix was too cheap before, but now it's just wrong
• Why I'm keeping Netflix, even after the dumb price hike
• Angry Netflix subscribers--so, who has a better deal?
• Netflix, NBCUniversal Extend Programming Deal But No More Next-Day ‘SNL
• Netflix Facebook page
• Twitter hashtag #Netflix
  • VOICEMAIL comment on Netflix by Todd Murray
  • Evidence of backlash - informal surveys
  • Evidence of backlash - Facebook comments - CNET reports 96 percent of them were negative, 3 percent were neutral, and 1 percent defended Netflix.
  • Evidence of Backlash - Twitter posts (HBO Go is a promoted Tweet on this search right now btw)
  • Overseas users think we're crazy for complaining.
  • What's the alternative? Is there a better one?
  • Netflix is already used to fairly high churn rates of about 4 percent, which means that about a million of its 24 million existing subscribers are going to go, anyway. **Red Box $1.19 per rental
  • Amazon - Amazon Prime is $79 a year which includes free streaming. $2.99-$3.99 for rentals
  • Hulu (free) Hulu Plus $7.99 a month $95.88 a year
  • YouTube $2.99 - $3.99 for rentals (Apple iTunes similar but slightly more expensive up to $4.99)
  • $15.98 a month for Netflix is $191.76 a year: $7.99 a month is $95.88 a year --- also take into account where you can access the service. Hulu Plus not available on as many platforms. YouTube and Apple even fewer.
  • Blockbuster on Demand is separate from Blockbuster by mail. On demand as low as $1.99, on per transaction basis. By mail: 1 disc at a time (includes games), $11.99/month
  • Listener feedback summary:
    • A few were ticked: "What I love is the way Netflix assumes we're all idiots and will believe that they're actually doing us a favor by raising our rates." - Dwayne
  • Some were more understanding:
    • "If they want to get into more streaming, why not keep the B-Rated movies subscription plan and add streaming of New Releases/A-Rated movies with a small fee of say $2.99" - Scottix
    • "Netflix may appear to be stuck, but this is a necessary transition from where they were 5 years ago to where they want to be 5 years from now" - Nick the economist
    • "While I can understand why people would be upset, I think for the majority of people it won't be a big deal. Also to consider, this is a benefit to people who don't get broadband internet at home, now they aren't forced to pay for a service they cannot use." - Rich in Cleveland
    • Use the library for DVDs - Justin

• Confusion and Skepticism May Impede 4G Adoption
• brings 42Mbps HSPA+ to 56 new markets, now tops 150 locales
• Verizon Wireless's 4G LTE network to reach 100 markets
• Sprint to confirm LightSquared network deal
  • In a recent Retrevo Gadgetology study only a little less than a quarter of the respondents say they’re going for 4G. -- The sample size was over 1,000 distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States.
  • 34% of iPhone oweners say they have a 4G phone, 24% of BB owners, and 29% of Android owners -- Android owners are the only ones who possibly DO own a so-called 4G phone
  • 30% think 4G data plans cost too much
  • T-Mobile turned on 42Mbps HSPA+ in 50 more cities today. Category 20 Rocket 3.0 USB modem is the only device that works with it. (test show it getting around 25-28 mbps in real life)
  • Verizon: Tulsa Oklahoma is expected to become the official 100th Verizon LTE market on July 21st.
  • Sprint Nextel will confirm its network-sharing agreement with LightSquared in conjunction with its earnings announcement on July 28, according to people familiar with the situation.
  • WiMax roll out has stalled at 70 markets. Sprint wants to move beyond partnership with Clear
  • Sprint's ability to handle multiple wireless technologies allows it to offer up its infrastructure to the likes of LightSquared. Clear can also handle LTE
  • The plan could allow Sprint to strike similar network-sharing deals with other potential partners
  • ATT: yesterday we mentioned ATT hopes to be in 5 LTE markets by end of summer."

News Fuse

• Wired.com has published the complete text of the logged IM conversation between hacker Adrian Lamo and Private Bradley Manning, who is accused of leaking confidential information to Wikileaks. Lamo has taken heavy criticism for turning Manning in. Wired claims they witheld the full text until now because it contained irrelevant personal information, but have changed their minds because so much of the information has started to leak out in other publications.

• SocialStatistics.com has been tracking the most popular accounts on Google Plus, but today a few notable names are gone from the list. Apparently folks like Larry Page, Vic Gundotra, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg have decided to close off a part of their accounts so they can't be tracked. Of course, everyone is pouncing on the idea that Mark Zuckerberg of all people is looking for a little bit of privacy.

• Virgin Mobile says that if you exceed 2.5GB of data in a month, that's a throttling for you starting in October. Virgin had previously dropped its unlimited $40/month plan in January, with throttling occurring after 5GB of usage. Additionally, Virgin Mobile has altered its pricing structure for calling plans, two fees were increased, but the unlimited calling plan got a $5 price cut.

• Sony's dual-screen clamshell Android tablet will come exclusively to AT&T. The S2 will run on ATT's HSPA+ network, but there's no info on pricing or availability yet. Sony is also working with Adobe on a contest to spark Adobe Air app development for Sony's tablets with cash prizes totaling $200,000.
• Adobe and Sony create contest to put Air apps on Android tablets
• Over at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said to expect 75 more Microsoft Stores to open in the next 2-3 years around the United States. There will be a bunch of the stores on the coasts, with a few spread around the middle of the country. Alaska, you may be the biggest state in the union, but you will not get a Microsoft Store.

• Apple will be bringing its iPhone 4 to a telecom in China called China Telecom (creative, huh?) by the end of the year - possibly November. China Telecom is the third largest carrier in the country with 105.7 million subscribers. According to Ticonderoga analyst Brian White, Apple could stand to gain $8 to $9 Billion in revenue with this deal.

• Yesterday there were reports that Sony would disable component output for the PS3. Ars Technica contacted Sony to clear up the matter. A Sony representative said that video game play will be available via HDMI or component. Blu-ray movie playback will only be accessible via HDMI. This will affect the new CECH-3000 series of PS3s.

• Here's a story about a not-so-friendly neighbor. Barry Ardolf repeatedly hacked into his neighbor's Wi-Fi network, tried to frame the neighbor for child pornography, sexual harassment, threatened Vice President Joe Biden and more. For his misdeeds, Ardolf was sentenced to an 18-year prison term. He was caught after his neighbor set up a packet sniffer on his network, which led investigators to Ardolf.

• Maybe tablets and smartphones aren't killing PCs after all. IDC found that during the second quarter of this year that PC shipments were up 2.6% with 84.4 million units. In the US, PC shipments were down, but there was huge growth in the Asia region excluding Japan. HP was a big winner shipping out 15.2 million PCs around the world.

Randomizer

• Microsoft to connect Kinect and robots

Calendar

• Engadget reports Spotify launching in the US tomorrow, they say the story is developing
• Amazon Kindle 3G gets AT&T-sponsored ad-supported option priced at $139, that's down from $189 for the ad-free version
• an Engadget tipster passed along shipping confirmation from Office Depot that the Lenovo IdeaPad K1 is lined up for delivery today. it's happening, it's really happening!
• Motorola Droid 3 officially hits Verizon tomorrow July 14, priced at $199.99
• Google's 2nd Quarter earnings will be announced tomorrow July 14 after market close.
• Call of Duty Elite Beta coming tomorrow July 14
• Motorola Photon 4G comes to Sprint July 31st for $199.98

Sponsors

Slingbox

• ad times: :36-:46 and 18:55-19:55

Production Information

• Edited by: Jason
• Notes:

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