Page 1 2 3 Page 1 2 3 | FRIDAY - JUNE 16, 2006 - ISSUE NO. 216 |
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging, Indiana Paging Network (IPN) IPN also has a new CFO—Mary Stradinger. Congratulations Mary and good luck to you. This is one company that appears to be doing things right. They are taking care of business, diversifying, trying new innovative approaches in marketing, and new technology. They have many talented people working there. Most of the "old timers" in the Wireless Messaging industry are familiar with the name, Clayton Niles, one of our industry's pioneers.
I have just received a copy of his autobiography. It is a beautiful, bound volume. In the coming months I plan to publish excerpts from the book relating to the wireless (RCC) industry. I have upgraded my scanner software so I won't have to re-type everything.
The FCC's Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks American Messaging Services
When he looks at how pagers are used by this "core group" his conclusion is that no other service "at all" can provide just what they need. Other services may provide what they need plus much more, but why pay for additional functions if they are not needed? He also said, "I don't see that sector diminishing." Consumers, on the other hand, may change to "substitute services" but there is no substitute available for the "core group." American Messaging's sole focus is Paging and their goal is to be "the best Paging company in the United States." They have not ruled out the possibility of further acquisitions, according to Mr. Pottle. I thoroughly enjoyed this interview. It was good to hear from yet another industry leader that the future of Wireless Messaging is solid and the prospects for our industry look very good. Now on to more news and views |
A new issue of The Wireless Messaging Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major Paging and Wireless Data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers—so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0/ISO 8859-1.) MORE PAGES | |||||||||||
| LLACOM S.A. DE C.V. |
My good friend for many years in Mexico City, Enrique Llaca and his partner Ricardo Tatto are authorized distributors of several exciting new Motorola products for Telemetry and Broadband Access. They are looking to set-up distribution of these products in Mexico, the southern USA, and Central America. If you want to diversify your business, and get involved in the rapidly growing field of Wireless Telemetry—here is your chance. These modules run on cellphone systems. There is a link below the following two slides, to a PowerPoint presentation to learn more and then an e-mail link to contact me. I will put you in touch with LLacom S.A. de C.V. and help to coordinate any additional information that you may require.
To see more about these telemetry products please click here and then contact Brad Dye.
LLacom S.A. de C.V. 
web site
| LLACOM S.A. DE C.V. |
| AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PAGING CARRIERS |
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| WIRELESS MESSAGING NEWS |
Ex-Verizon Wireless employee sentenced for stealing numbers
By Kelly Hill
June 14, 2006
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A former Verizon Wireless employee has reportedly been sentenced to almost six years in prison for stealing access numbers for about $21 million in prepaid minutes and selling them to retailers at a discount.
The Associated Press reported that Timothy Charles Mattos, 34, of Folsom, Calif., received a sentence of 70 months in federal prison and three years of probation after his release; he also was ordered by the district court judge to pay back $21.3 million to Verizon Wireless parent company Verizon Communications Inc.
Mattos pled guilty to two counts of fraud in February, acknowledging that he had gotten unauthorized access to the personal identification numbers, which allow customers to replenish their prepaid accounts, and then sold them, the AP reported.
Source: RCR Wireless News
Jangle lets you give out phone number, stay anonymous
By Michael Bazeley and Matt Marshall
Mercury News
Posted on Mon, June 05, 2006
Notes on Silicon Valley innovations:
Jangl is a new phone service that, initially anyway, will allow people to keep their phone numbers anonymous the same way they can their e-mail addresses when posting on places such as craigslis.
When you sign up with Jangl, you get access to disposable phone numbers that you can share with friends or strangers with whom you transact business. The phone numbers forward to your real number and make them anonymous in both directions.
The first time people call a Jangl user, they go through an approval process. It's similar to the challenge-response systems used by some e-mail services. When we tried it with Jangl founder Michael Cerda, it took nearly a minute of back-and-forth key commands before we could connect. Once you're on the white list, though, all subsequent calls go through more quickly.
Where would you use something like this? When you're buying and selling online. We see people publicize their cell phone numbers all the time on craigslist. With Jangl they could add a layer of anonymity.
TUNE IN FOR A TOUR: TurnHere, the cool little video site started by Bay Area real estate entrepreneur and journalist Brad Inman, revamped its site for an official launch last week.
Now Inman and his team are positioning TurnHere as a local video guide for both tourists and locals seeking places to go.
"Now it's very focused on destination and travel," Inman told us recently. "We said, let's use this for a travel experience or a local experience. Something that maybe I can turn to and depend on like I do craigslist or Citysearch, and say 'Hey, that's a place we're going to go tonight or this weekend.'"
TurnHere works like this: The site hires experienced, local filmmakers to make short movies about cities and neighborhoods. These are not bland, corporate travelogues. There's the drag queen giving a tour of the Lower East Side in New York and the opera singer giving a tour of the Upper West Side. Or the somewhat snarky look at Solano Avenue on the Berkeley/Albany border.
So far 400 films are in the can. Filmmakers get about $500 per film.
STAY HOME AND GO WINDOW SHOPPING: Whatsbuzzing is a Silicon Valley start-up with a new take on online shopping.
It wants you to window shop online.
Most leading shopping sites are useful if you know what you're looking for, said founder Anand Jagannathan. But what if you want to buy a gift for Father's Day, and you want to browse for men's clothes for fall fashion, but you don't really have your mind made up?
That's what Whatsbuzzing wants to help you with. So far, Whatsbuzzing is in beta testing mode, and it will include some of the latest Web 2.0 features to make browsing easy. For example, if you find shoe site, you can tag it ``shoes'' to make it easy to find the next time.
The company makes money if somebody clicks from the site to buy a product from a merchant.
GOOGLE LOOKS TO SPIFF UP ITS DESIGN: Don't look now, but Douglas Bowman is joining Google as "visual design lead."
Bowman's work includes a redesign of the Wired News site a few years ago. More recently, he punched up some of the templates for Blogger, and apparently helped with Google Calendar.
It'll be interesting to see what influence Bowman has over Google products. It's a company that's never really been known for its design sensibility — fairly or not.
Bowman notes on his blog a very cool Google Calendar feature that lets you get a daily agenda of your appointments via SMS whenever you need it. Very nice.
Bowman said he would be helping Google establish a "common visual language" across all its products including Gmail, Writely, Page Creator and other projects in the pipeline.
Source: The Mercury News
Verizon Offers Families a Chaperone
By Sue Marek
June 12, 2006
Verizon Wireless became the latest carrier to add a family tracking service to its portfolio. The company today debuts Chaperone, a service designed to help parents locate their young children.
There are two components to Chaperone. Child Locator helps parents locate children who are outfitted with the LG Migo phone. The service costs $9.99 per line and lets parents perform single location requests that will display the location of the Migo phone on a map via the Chaperone Website or on the parent’s Verizon Wireless phone.
The second component, called Child Zone, lets parents use the Chaperone Website to construct an area around locations that the child visits, such as the child’s school or playground. Different locations can be zoned for certain times of the day for up to 24 hours. When the child arrives at or leaves the Child Zone with the Migo phone, the parent is alerted via text message.
The Child Zone feature costs $19.99 per month when combined with the Child Locator service. The services can only be purchased if the parent has a Verizon Wireless Family Share plan. The child must have a Migo phone and the parent must have a compatible device. Currently, Verizon offers a handful of compatible devices, including the location-based services (LBS) capable LG VX 9800 and the Motorola V3c RAZR.
During a press briefing Friday, Verizon executives said that the service initially will be limited to the Migo phone; however, the company is considering expanding the service to older children as well.
The LG Migo phone has been available from Verizon for several months and is designed specifically for young children between ages 5 and 9. The Migo is green and has four programmable call buttons and one pre-programmed emergency call button, making it easy for children to call their parents. The Migo is available for $49.99 with a 2-year contract.
Verizon isn't the first carrier to offer a family locator service. Sprint debuted its service in April. The service lets parents and guardians list up to four phone numbers they want to locate. When the locator service is activated, an interactive map will display the location, along with the street address, on the parents’ phone or PC.The service costs $9.99 per month.
Source: Wireless Week
Arkansas Utility Places Initial Order With Nighthawk Systems
SAN ANTONIO—June 14, 2006—Nighthawk Systems, Inc. announced today that it has received an initial order for its CEO700 meter-based whole house disconnect units from Conway Corporation, which operates the electric, water, wastewater and cable television utility services for the city of Conway, Arkansas. The CEO700’s will be used to wirelessly disconnect and reconnect power to electric customers, including local college students who frequently move into and out of houses and housing complexes. The sale was made with the assistance of the Stuart C. Irby Company of Jackson, Mississippi, one of the nation’s leading electrical wholesalers.
The CEO700 gives electric utilities the ability to remotely connect and disconnect power to residential electric meters on a moment’s notice, saving them significant time and money over the traditional manual method that typically requires multiple truck rolls and field personnel.
H. Douglas Saathoff, Nighthawk’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I’m extremely pleased to receive this order from Conway Corporation, which provides 24-hour connection services for its customers. Our wireless devices continue to gain acceptance among utilities across the country, who are finding a variety of situations in which the CEO700 or our other remote power control units can save them time and money.”
About Nighthawk Systems, Inc.
Nighthawk is a leading provider of intelligent wireless power control products that enable simultaneous activation or de-activation of multiple assets or systems on demand. Nighthawk’s installed customer base includes major electric utilities, internet service providers and fire departments in over 40 states. Nighthawk’s products also enable custom message display, making them ideal for use in traffic control and emergency notification situations.
Individuals interested in Nighthawk Systems can sign up to receive email alerts by visiting the Company’s website at www.nighthawksystems.com.
Forward-looking statements
Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, including statements about plans and expectations regarding business areas and opportunities, acceptance of new or existing businesses, capital resources and future business or financial results are “forward-looking” statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, customer acceptance of our products, our ability to raise capital to fund our operations, our ability to develop and protect proprietary technology, government regulation, competition in our industry, general economic conditions and other risk factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made, and our future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements may not meet these expectations. We do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.
Contact
Nighthawk Systems Inc., San Antonio
Doug Saathoff, 877-7-NIGHTHAWK, Ext 701
dsaathoff@nighthawksystems.com
Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Source: Nighthawk Systems
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GTES has recently made the strategic decision to expanding its development activities to include wireless location technologies; a market that researchers forecast could reach $3.6 billion by 2010. In support of this new strategic direction, GTES has developed SHERLOC™ a complete one-stop wireless location service, providing the flexibility of being protocol neutral and network agnostic. Targeted at business customers who need to track their high-value shipments or better manage their service or delivery fleets, SHERLOC™ is a hosted application that combines configuration flexibility with ease of use. GTES is offering SHERLOC™ services both directly and through authorized resellers. If your company has an interest in finding out how location services can enhance your revenue stream, and has the contacts and expertise to make you successful in the location marketplace, please contact us for further information at www.sherlocgps.com and select “Reseller Opportunities,” or call us at 770-754-1666 for more information. www.gtesinc.com GTES is the only Glenayre authorized software support provider in the Paging industry. With over 200 years of combined experience in Glenayre hardware and software support, GTES offers the industry the most professional support and engineering development staff available. Continued Support Programs CALL US TODAY FOR YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS
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Gates to step out of daily role at Microsoft
By Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
June 15, 2006 5:01 pm ET
Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates said Thursday he will step out of his daily role at Microsoft in July 2008 so he can take on a full-time role at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity organization he runs with his wife.
To prepare for this move, Microsoft is enacting a plan that includes executive changes in order to make the transition as smooth as possible, Gates said.
“Obviously, this decision was a hard one for me to make,” he said. “I feel lucky to have two passions that are so important to me. Even as I prepare to shift my focus … I know Microsoft is well-positioned [for the future].”
Gates said he will remain as chairman “indefinitely,” but Ray Ozzie, now chief technology officer, assumed the chief software architect title immediately.
Another executive assuming a new role effective Thursday is Craig Mundie, who is now chief research and strategy officer and also will partner with Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, to lead the company’s intellectual property and technology policy efforts.
Gates downplayed his role as the great innovator at the company, and said Microsoft will continue to show leadership in providing software that changes people’s lives.
“The world has had a tendency to focus a disproportionate amount of attention on me,” he said. “In reality, Microsoft has had an unbelievably strong breadth and depth of talent.”
Gates founded Microsoft, then Micro-Soft, in 1975 with Paul Allen, and dropped out of Harvard University in his junior year. Five years later Gates persuaded his Harvard buddy Steve Ballmer to join. Ballmer, the first non-engineer at Microsoft, became the company’s chief executive officer in 2000 after having long been regarded as Gates’ co-pilot.
Allen left Microsoft in 1983 after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system.
Ballmer said Thursday was an emotional day for him, having worked “shoulder to shoulder” with Gates for 26 years. He said even when Gates’ role at the company diminishes, his impact will be felt for years to come.
“Bill may reduce his time here, but his imprint on the company will never diminish,” he said. “It will continue to be reflected in everything we do.”
Source: Macworld
News, opinions, opportunities, and products to help your business grow. |
I
congratulated him on the recent acquisition of the paging operation from
Verizon Wireless and asked him to look into his crystal ball and tell me
what he saw for the future of paging. His comments were all very positive.
He sees the prospects for the "core group" of paging subscribers
that come from large commercial enterprises as "very solid."
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