Back in the "heyday" of paging, there were several publications that kept us informed about what was going on in our industry. If I am not mistaken, the Wireless Messaging News is the only remaining source of this kind of information. Thanks to the Internet, the cost of getting the news out to people all over the world, is much less than the old way of printing and mailing newsletters, and magazines. Less, but not free. Along with the convenience of e-mail came the horrible inconvenience of spam. (Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages, especially advertising, indiscriminately.) Because of spam, and the steps being taken to control it, publishing the newsletter has become much more difficult and costly.
Many of the steps being taken to control spam mistakenly identify my weekly newsletter notifications as being spam. I am careful to not use certain key words that would flag my messages as spam, but try as I may, some words that seem innocent to me occasionally cause problems. Most Internet service providers will not allow a client to send out a large quantity of e-mails. They also limit how many messages can be sent by hour and by day.
So . . .
Distribution of the newsletters now has to be handled by a commercial e-mail service provider. The design, and composition of web pages gets done with a portfolio of software programs from Adobe Systems. Previously, it was necessary to purchase all of this (expensive) software, and then pay for upgrades every year or two. Now these programs can be leased, with monthly payments. In summary the recurring monthly costs of producing the newsletter are:
ISP (Internet Service Provider): $55.95 per month
Adobe Creative suite: $53.10 per month
E-mail marketing service: $30.00 per month
Web Hosting: $11.71 per month
Domain Name registration: $2.75 per month
The last four of these costs were not required a couple of years ago, and the cost of the ISP for casual browsing (without the newsletter) would be much less. For several years my web site was hosted by a couple of great guys who own iLand Solutions in Huston, Texas — at no charge. So the above totals to $153.51 per month ($1,842.12 per year) of new expenses.
Then there is, of course, the cost of the computer hardware. When I bought my first computer — over 30 years ago — I never dreamed that it would soon become "obsolete" and I would have to buy a new one every two or three years, but that is the reality how things are now.
This is the reason that I make frequent appeals for support. I love editing the newsletter every week, but it must stand on its own feet. I cannot afford to subsidize it.
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TWO CLASSIFICATIONS OF PAGING
The paging industry has always been divided into two markets — typically Subscriber or "public" Paging, and Private or "on-site" Paging. A Subscriber Paging service generally covers a large area, and the cost of the service is by subscription — paid for by individuals and companies — while Private Paging generally covers a smaller area, like a hospital or an industrial complex, and the cost of the service is paid for by a company, e.g. hospitals, fire departments, police departments, ambulance services, etc. — and not the actual user. Sometimes the pager is handed off to another user as a shift changes. Of course there are exceptions. Some Private Paging systems even cover a whole state e.g. Electric Power Utilities. Most Private Paging systems generally don't bother with billing.
The main difference is why the paging service is being operated. Public Paging systems are operated as a business, i.e. for a profit. Private Paging systems are generally operated as a service provided at no cost to the users. For example, a hospital might have many doctors, nurses, and staff people who use pagers that will work in the hospital, but also throughout the city, state, or country — depending on their needs. This outside service gets contracted out to a Public Paging service provider who owns their own (separate) paging infrastructure. This same hospital will most likely own a Private Paging system, generally located "on site" or on their property.
Ron Mercer has previously written extensively (here and here) — comparing Public and Private paging systems (including ReFLEX). Here are a few things that he pointed out about the advantages of Private systems:
Intensified/customized radio coverage with larger coverage areas, greater building penetration and fewer "dead spots", (For example, a typical private public safety system might include as many as 25 base stations as contrasted with a public system in the same geographic area which could include 10 base or fewer stations).
Small user bases that assure manageable traffic loading, particularly during emergencies.
Minimized message delivery latency (public systems often intentionally increase latency to gain longer battery life).
Customized direct connection with agency dispatch centers allowing expeditious entry of alerting messages.
I am sure some readers will want to point out exceptions, and this is welcome.
In this newsletter I address both markets — Public and Private .
A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is 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 web. 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 Messaging 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 readers' comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging 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.
I spend the whole week searching the Internet for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won't have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.
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Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association.
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Hands-on with Google Glass: Limited, fascinating, full of potential
The very first question we at CNET get about Google Glass is: "What is it?" The next two are "What's it like to wear?" and "Why would you want to?"
The frothing excitement around this prototype, titanium-framed wearable computer has the tech world tripping over itself in a mad dash for Glass access. Ten thousand or more Google Glass units are now shipping to beta testers and winners of the If I Had Glass contest — for a $1,500 price tag. But the big what, why, and how questions remain.
The answer, for now, is simple: Google Glass is Google on your face. These early frames ship with the ability to take the very most recent communications from your smartphone or Google accounts and show them to you in a head-up display. They take phone calls. They send texts, take photos and video, and show maps. They deliver search results. If you've played with Google Now , the Glass interface is strikingly similar.
Heads-on with Google Glass (pictures) 1 of 27
But the sky is the limit for Google and its army of developers. Right now, the experiences we have with these early devices are very personal ones shaped largely by the reaction of our community and daily needs. CNET got lucky enough to claim two Glass units — one on each coast — so we're going to write about this very different device in a different way.
CNET Senior Editor Scott Stein will kick off this hands-on review of Glass first, giving his initial impressions from his New York/New Jersey life. CNET Reviews Editor in Chief Lindsey Turrentine will chime in next with her own perspective from the opposite coast (and the opposite gender). We'll walk you through Google Glass' realities and possibilities. Keep an eye on this review. It's going to get epic.
Is this a real product, anyway?
Google Glass Explorer Edition is intended for developers and "early testers," and while this group of customers may include those who feel like they can afford a $1,500 wearable device, everyday people aren't the primary target yet. But yes, Google Glass is a very real product, and it really works, but its app support remains pretty limited. It looks like Google Glass — the consumer version — will arrive sometime in 2014. In the meantime, app developers and Google will be using this model to develop software and experiences that will be incorporated into the consumer version.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
What does Google Glass actually do?
Glass takes photos and videos, sends text messages, engages in FaceTime-like Google Hangouts, makes phone calls, searches Google, and gets turn-by-turn navigation with maps. It can show the weather, the time, and headlines from The New York Times that have been pushed to the device, with spoken headline summaries. For now, anyway, that's about it. Some features require tethering — GPS-based functions that use the phone, such as turn-by-turn directions. Others, like Google Hangouts and Google Search, can also be performed over Wi-Fi. When offline, Glass only takes photos and videos.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Scott: People who stare at you while you're wearing Google Glass think you're a cyborg from some "Star Trek" spinoff, scanning and doing impossibly invasive things that they aren't privy to. The illusion is greater than the reality. Google Glass could be an augmented-reality Google Goggles -like "reality scanner," but it isn't right now.
Sharing pictures and video via Google Glass is limited to your Gmail contacts and Google+ circles, but there are extra oddities: you can currently add only 10 of your Gmail contacts to Glass, and via a Web interface management tool that's not on Glass itself. Google Circles have to be set up for sharing before you start (all pictures and videos automatically upload to a private folder on Google+ , however).
That extra layer of careful social management almost feels Nintendo-like, in the sense that Nintendo's hardware has often relied on "friend codes" to manage online connections. This fixes some of Glass' perceived privacy issues, but in the end, yes, you can still record video in a very discreet manner, then share it online.
The point here: Google Glass does a certain set of tasks, and certainly not all the ones most people think of when it comes to some wearable Internet-connected display. Glass isn't a true phone replacement, or camera replacement, or tablet replacement — not yet. As a hands-free accessory, it can only do so much, and it doesn't mirror everything I can see on my phone. In that sense, I currently feel the urge to go back to my phone screen and not lean on using Glass.
Lindsey: For me, Glass is like a handy monitor for my cell phone. It pulls out the most important stuff — the camera, the maps, the texting — and makes it available to me in a relatively unobtrusive way while I live my real life, walking down the halls at my kids' school or darting between meetings. It's like a Bluetooth headset but with a display and a camera, and even the potential that Glass could liberate me from the compulsion to hold and stare down at a phone screen entrances me.
I know I won't miss a text or a call while wearing Glass, and I can check the time or a new e-mail during basic conversations without being (as) rude as if I had to stop and check my phone. (Of course, I can only check my personal Gmail at the moment — corporate Gmail or Exchange integration hasn't yet arrived.)
But I can't get over the feeling that Glass should be updating me on what my friends are doing. My Pavlovian need to know what everyone thinks of my photos and videos makes the fact that Glass only sends images and videos out disconcerting. Google+ on Glass doesn't alert you to incoming comments, and it feels one-sided as a result.
The hardware: Design and features
This product is often incorrectly referred to as "Google Glasses" with good reason. But it's really more of a lensless eyeglasses frame, with a mobile computing device built into the stem that sits on your right ear. That right arm wraps around to a small transparent display that sits above your right eye. Imagine if a wearable side-mounted camera grew a glasses-frame construct, and that's Glass.
Glass is lightweight, more so than you'd think. The titanium frame is bendable. Little nose contacts can be bent and adjusted for individual fit. The right side of Glass has a thick back part that houses the battery, and all the rest of the electronics: buttons, touch pads, and speaker.
The Glass Explorer package comes with the Glass unit itself (in a variety of colors), a snap-on sunglasses visor, a clear visor, and a Micro-USB charger. There's a rigid cloth pouch to store Glass in, but the frame can't be folded up like regular sunglasses — at least, in its current iteration. It's more like a visor, so you'd need some sort of larger bag.
Glass runs on Android, but can connect to both iOS and Android devices. It can connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to a phone, a laptop, or a home Wi-Fi network, or even work alone as a disconnected offline camera. The 5-megapixel camera shoots 720p video, 10 seconds at a time by default. It has 12.5GB of onboard storage and a battery that's meant to last a day.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Scott: Because you don't need a phone to be connected to Glass, it's more of a smart home device than any smartwatch I've ever seen. Depending on use, you'll need to recharge it sooner rather than later.
As an actual glasses-wearer, I found Glass feels more like the framework for a pair of fancy 3D glasses than a regular glasses frame. They can fit on top of my regular glasses with some flex, but they're really meant to be used glasses-free (for now; prescription versions and other variations are in the works). This meant I had to rush to get a pair of contact lenses, which was as disorienting as being fitted for Glass. But Glass has an undeniably solid build quality. It's not always the most comfortable device, but it sits evenly on my face and remains as innocuous as a pair of glasses. Adding on the clip-on sunglasses made Glass feel a little less awkward. Maybe it's the psychological framework of actual glasses.
Lindsey: I'll be honest: I struggled with the Glass frame. The titanium is light, yes, but its severe horizontal line — the arch of the frame across the brow — demands a perfectly fit Glass frame. I must have an asymmetrical face, because I spent a good 30 minutes trying to adjust the flexible frame to sit level.
Luckily, the frame is strong and flexible. A certain unnamed CNET editor dropped Glass a number of times while we were setting it up and the device didn't show a scratch.
Scott's right: The battery life on Glass is short, especially for a device most useful when you're otherwise occupied and presumably moving from one task to another. I ran down the battery completely in 1-2 hours of intermittent use.
Glass' bone-conducting speaker, which sits just behind the right ear, tickles. Its buzzy, chiming nature feels a little funny, and sounds pleasantly chipper and quiet. Unfortunately, Glass has no volume control, and hearing phone conversations in a public place was impossible. (Think of this part of Glass as fancy Bluetooth speaker functionality.)
The Glass touch pad requires more interaction than I'd like. You'll need to use it to do anything not dead simple, like read multiple-page e-mails or trigger Glass to read an e-mail aloud. Believe it or not, hair is a problem here. For anyone with hair of any length, your locks sometimes fall over the pad and interfere with operation.
Style
Glass is Google's most style-oriented device, and as wearable tech, it should be. Attention to detail in the colors, frame build, and accessories feels as precise as the actual hardware underneath. Does it pass the test with our CNET editors thus far?
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Scott: I appreciate the effort made with Google Glass, but I can't call it stylish. I felt as awkward wearing it around on my first day as I would wearing an Xbox accessory on a subway. The titanium frame has an Oakley-style vibe, and the Glass visor has a cyberpunk-meets-rave feel, but to actually wear it to a cafe or a party takes chutzpah. People either stared at me with apprehension, got excited about tech, or thought I was an insufferable geek. Maybe that'll change.
Lindsey: Here's where I disagree with Scott. I like the way Glass looks. I find that the glassless frames flatter most people, with the frame highlighting the most interesting parts of the face, calling attention to the eye without obscuring it. Not everyone agrees with me, of course, and no fewer than three people walked by my office and laughed openly at me when I first put them on. I don't typically wear glasses, so the difference shocked my coworkers.
Fashion is fleeting, and Glass still looks "weird" because very few people have it. But if more and more people adopt Glass, society will decide whether it looks cool. I mean, pegged jeans are coming back. Anything could happen.
Walking down the street wearing Glass in Northern California felt fairly natural. Around here, the Googlers have been wearing Glass for a few months, so they're not entirely novel to all parties. (Which goes to show that humans adjust to change quickly.) Some strangers stared, and a few asked about Glass, but many seemed to already know about the technology. In my carpool this morning, no one even noticed, as far as I could tell.
I do have a few fashion complaints: first, the color. Among the most first-world of Glass' problems is that its silver-tone titanium frame clashes with gold jewelry. There, I said it. If you have a complexion that looks better with warmer colors, other colors would work better — tortoiseshell, maybe, or just a warm brown. I'm hoping Google's partnership with hipster frame company Warby Parker will address the color situation.
Also, I frankly dislike the sunglass lenses that snap handily into the Glass frames. They reek of cocky race car driver to me, but once again, I can't argue matters of taste.
Wearing and using Glass
The eyepiece — that small, clear visor — is a thick stick of half-mirrored material and has a small adjustment hinge for left-to-right movement. It's meant to float above your eye, not in front of it. The screen is crisp and bright indoors, but in bright sunlight outdoors it can get hard to see over your surroundings. It's a 720p-display equivalent, which feels like a 25-inch screen that's 8 feet away.
A little lozenge-shaped raised bar above the right ear houses a bone-conduction speaker. You can hear it, but it's not as loud as a standard earpiece. The microphone has decent receptivity outdoors, but in noisy areas it's like talking loudly into a Bluetooth headset.
The wide, flat outer edge of the right side of Glass is a touch pad, capable of interpreting four-direction swiping and tapping. You tap once to turn Glass on (or, tilt your head upward to a user-determined angle), and swipe and tap from there.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Scott: Wearing Glass almost feels like wearing a video game accessory. The simple set of buttons, clean lines, and touch- and voice-based interaction resembles what Microsoft's been trying to do on the Xbox 360, but targeted to the real world.
Training in Google's Glass meeting room felt like the tutorial level of a video game like Portal. Bridget Carey (a fellow CNET senior editor and Glass-head inductee) and I were guided through various tasks in a playground-like layout. Our first interactions were like adjusting to in-game controls.
If Kinect and Siri had a baby and raised it among a family of smartphones, it would be Google Glass. If you don't like engaging with Kinect and Siri, you won't like this experience. Voice recognition works, but has its hiccups. You can see the commands you can perform, much like how Kinect's command guidance system works.
I made some phone calls to my wife (as mentioned earlier, Glass makes normal phone calls), and she could hear me, but she wondered if the call was being made via speaker phone. It's more successful at projecting video than it is as an audio accessory.
But speaking to Glass is needed to do most tasks efficiently. Swiping isn't enough. Doing both can get a little odd, and again, each interface — touch and voice — has its little hiccups.
Yes, taking pictures and videos is incredibly easy, and fast — so fast, as Bridget Carey noted, that there isn't a "cheese moment" — but everything else Glass does requires a lot of speaking and head-tilting, swiping, and a degree of patience.
The combination of voice and swiping sometimes comes off well, but it can be tedious, with occasional accidental gestures. I deleted a few videos I shot by accident, and very easily, by swiping or tapping in the wrong order. But these are still the early days; these interface elements can and will evolve. Living with a touch pad on the side of your head takes some getting used to.
Sometimes I wished the screen's overlay were more directly placed over my field of vision. I want real augmented reality. Google Glass isn't designed for that, exactly. It could accomplish elements of that, but it's more of a floating screen that stays separate from the world around you, at least as far as augmenting objects is concerned.
Lindsey: My husband put it best: Glass is like wearing a smartphone from five years ago stuck to your head (well, except for the sophisticated voice recognition). The screen is blurry much of the time, and as Scott and I have both explained above, Glass really doesn't do that much. Even its Google search results get truncated and are sometimes confusing, since they only deliver the "rich snippet" content that you see on the first page of Google search results.
But Glass hints at something so promising: the ability to share and absorb up-to-the-minute information while you keep your hands free, without looking down. It's counterintuitive from a safety perspective, but so far, my hands-down favorite use of Glass has been while driving. Glass' Google Maps integration puts turn-by-turn directions in your peripheral vision — no looking across the dash or at a phone to see the map. Glass chimes and speaks when you need to change direction, and while directions are running, Glass won't perform any other features, presumably to keep a driver focused.
It's counterintuitive from a safety perspective, but so far, my hands-down favorite use of Glass has been while driving.
It's also dead simple to send a text (to one of your 10 anointed contacts) without using your hand while driving, unlike Siri or an app that requires you to at least push one button. You just lift your head to activate Glass, then say, "OK, Glass, send a message to…" Google's voice recognition understands me better than Siri, and Glass sends the text immediately without further confirmation.
To be clear: Driving with Glass used incorrectly could be extremely dangerous and distracting. It's possible to tell Glass to Google song lyrics while you're driving, then read them in the HUD, for example. That's the kind of thing no one should do with Glass while driving. You'll crash your car. Seriously.
Glass apps and Google account integration
Glass is meant to tie in to one Google account (Gmail), and with it, Google+ and Google Now. Apps don't get downloaded; they populate seamlessly via the MyGlass app on Android. Right now, they operate more like features and push services (for instance, The New York Times' app really just seems to push headlines down to the device).
Google Now is the connected brain that pushes information to Glass. The current uses are limited, but the potential is huge. Just as Google Now engages in place-specific and predictive pushing of information from the Web to you, so could it do to Glass, which has very similar info cards that you swipe back and forth from.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Scott: Glass is not a multi-account device right now; it's meant to be your personality extension, serving your Google accounts specifically. To that end, it caches a seven-day queue of your recent activities on Glass' interface.
It's also interesting how much of Glass gets managed outside of the Glass hardware itself. The Glass settings and contacts dashboard lives on the Web, not on Glass itself, so what you get via your Glass display are largely simplified interactions. Even the settings area is bare-bones. Getting onto a Wi-Fi network involves a mediated process. You can use the MyGlass app to add networks, or you can go the slightly more complicated route, which involves going to the MyGlass site on a Web browser, entering each protected network's ID and password, and generating a QR code that you look at with Glass, at which point it logs on and remembers the network from there.
I like the simplicity and focus of the integration with your Google accounts — but it's clear that Glass lives as an accessory that requires other connected computers to truly set up.
Lindsey: In 24 hours of use, I found myself tallying a long list of tasks I would just love for Glass to tackle — I wish Glass would put a new message alert on its home screen, for instance, and could report my bank balance. I wish it read more than just a summary of stories from The New York Times in the Times app. I wish Glass came with more apps, including Twitter ( which may be coming soon ), Facebook, Rdio, and NPR. As I mentioned before, I wish Glass showed comments on Google+ posts.
My wish list just brushes the surface of Glass' functional potential. Already, developers working on Glass apps have buckled down, and developer-tracking sites are popping up everywhere. Here's one good example .
Social etiquette: Glass and everyone else
How does wearing Glass feel in public? Is it awkward, or is it fun? Does Glass feel like a social imposition or something surprisingly socially engaging, as Google seems to be promising?
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Scott: In a public place, if you're like me, you'll feel incredibly awkward. I walked to my train station in Montclair, N.J., and used navigation, but felt disoriented; my attempts to look up meant I was distracted from what was in front of me. I wonder if I would have been hit by car, or would have noticed if a clown was right next to me juggling fire. It got better when I zoned out and acted like nobody was watching, but as I got closer to people, I felt like I shouldn't be looking at them — even if Glass wasn't actually doing anything.
On the train, in close quarters, I walked down the aisle looking for a seat and felt like the new kid in school, and not in a good way. People stared, but cautiously. I didn't want to look at them. I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable. But there's no way for a camera conspicuously hovering on your glasses to not generate some level of social discomfort, no matter how elegantly designed.
Glass' gestures and controls are intended to be socially coded and visible: the eyepiece glows, you'll be speaking to yourself, you may be tilting your head or touching the side of your head. But that doesn't ease a spectator's sense that they'll be recorded at any moment.
Let's face it, though: we're in an age of connected cameras. The first camera bonded on a smartphone introduced that years ago. Cameras everywhere can see where we're going. Social revolutions have happened via Twitter and Facebook. Glass is another step in that direction. It's a significant step, but still just a step.
Google Glass feels a bit more intrusive at close quarters because it's more personal; it never comes off, whereas we'd normally put down a phone in that situation. That's a challenge, and while it's the beginning for Glass and me, I'm curious how that will be overcome.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Lindsey: OK, we can't avoid it. Let's pick up where Scott left off to talk even more about privacy. I'm not satisfied to leave it at integrated cameras being the new reality. The single most frequent question I've gotten here in the comments and on Twitter has been about whether or not the subjects of Glass photos and video can tell that they're being photographed.
Yes and no. Right now, the only way to command Glass to take a photo is to either reach up and push a button on the frame or to say, "OK, Glass, take a photo." A chime goes to indicate the action, but unless the room is quiet or the subject is close, it's hard to hear. Glass does not just film all the time, which is another common question; each photo requires deliberate action by the wearer.
The image on the right shows the shot Lindsey snapped with Glass while looking up at this public piece of art.
(Credit: Lindsey Turrentine/CNET)
There's a plus side to this subtle camera integration: The photos I've taken wearing Glass (though nothing fancy from this 5-megapixel camera) have a certain casualness that reflects real life. Subjects don't really know when to pose without a camera held up in front of them, and the candid effect is charming. But some subjects simply Do. Not. Like. The idea that I could be recording them unnerves them, and rightfully so.
A Twitter follower asked yesterday, "What are the rules? Who makes the rules?" So far, there are none, but I suspect that as Glass matures, society — and possibly the courts — will develop etiquette for the device, just as we (mostly) demand that cell phone users leave a nice restaurant before talking. The first rule should be: take off Glass in the bathroom, locker room, or doctor's office. The second: always tell people when you're taking their photo.
Into the future of the unexpected
Regardless of whether you believe wearable smart devices are the future of how we interact with the world around us, Google appears ready and engaged in taking us there. Glass is a technology, not a product. Sure, it's a $1,500 pair of wearable titanium glasses today, with a battery-powered 5-megapixel camera and bone-conducting speaker phone bonded to a hovering interactive display. It's usable as a phone accessory. It could be used around the home.
Google Glass has its discomforts and its disconnects. It's an early product that's clearly in beta, but it's also an experiment. It's a social-interaction project, it's a living debate on wearable tech, and it's an app platform in need of apps. It's not necessarily a device that needs to exist, but it could have uses for some. And some of its uses may not have been invented yet.
Over the next few days we'll be using it in all sorts of circumstances, realistically and idealistically. We'll report back with more experiences, so stay tuned for our entire team review.
STI Engineering is delighted to announce the release of the RFI-148 250 high performance paging transmitter. The transmitter features true DDS frequency generation that enables precise control and flexibility for a wide range of data transmission applications.
The transmitter is particularly suitable for large simulcast POCSAG and FLEX paging networks and can be used as drop-in replacement of older and obsolete transmitters.
Bell Canada joins Rogers, calls on Ottawa to close 'unfair' foreign ownership loopholes
LuAnn LaSalle, Canadian Press | 13/07/25 Last Updated: 13/07/25 3:50 PM ET
Tyler Anderson/National Post
George Cope, CEO of BCE Inc., speaks with the National Post in Toronto, Ontario, July 25, 2013.
MONTREAL — Loopholes would allow U.S. telecom company Verizon to enter Canada's wireless market with lower costs, concentrating on big urban markets and potentially forcing Canadian carriers to cut jobs in order to compete, says the CEO of Bell Canada.
Bell has joined big telecom companies Rogers and Telus in calling for Ottawa to change its policy on foreign ownership of small Canadian wireless companies with the possible entry of the U.S. telecom giant into Canada.
The three Canadian rivals say they have been put at an unfair disadvantage that allows foreign carriers like Verizon to buy small Canadian wireless carriers while denying them the same opportunity.
"A company of this scale certainly doesn't need handouts from Canadians or special regulatory advantages over Canadian companies," Bell Canada CEO George Cope said in an open letter.
"But that is exactly what they get in the new federal wireless regulations," Cope said.
Verizon, which has about 100 million wireless customers, has said it's still eyeing the possibility of entering Canada's wireless market. There have been reports that Verizon is planning to buy new carrier Wind Mobile while also in talks with financially struggling Mobilicity — two of the new generation of wireless carriers competing with Rogers, Telus and Bell .
Ottawa blocked major carrier Telus from buying Mobilicity and made it clear it wants four wireless competitors in every region.
Telecom analyst Iain Grant said Rogers, Bell and Telus are reacting with "fear."
"Anything that makes the three bullies a little bit afraid is something that Canadians should celebrate," said Grant, managing director of the SeaBoard Group.
Grant said wireless prices have come down for consumers due to more competition.
"This isn't really a Canadian nationalism thing. This is very much a consumer wallet thing."
The CEO of both Telus and Rogers have also called for a level playing field.
"We can't have a U.S. foreign incumbent be allowed to buy new entrants at depressed pricing by blocking the ability of incumbent Canadian players to do the same," Rogers chief executive Nadir Mohamed said this week.
Foreign ownership restrictions have been removed for small wireless companies with less than a 10 per cent of the market, which opens the door for Verizon and other foreign companies to enter Canada. However, big carriers still can't be more than one-third foreign owned.
"We do not believe a U.S. company that is four times the size of Canada's entire wireless industry combined requires special help from Canadians. It's profoundly unfair to all Canadians, and Ottawa needs to close the loopholes," Cope said in the letter.
Bell, Telus and Rogers have about 25 million customers between them.
Cope said Verizon wouldn't build out its own network across Canada to reach rural communities.
"Instead, they would concentrate on a few big urban centres, forcing Canadian carriers to do the same while potentially cutting jobs and slashing costs in order to compete," he said.
Cope doesn't like what he calls "loopholes" the federal government has in its telecom policy that would give advantages to Verizon. He said if a small Canadian wireless company seeks a buyer, Canadian carriers should be allowed to bid, just as an American company can.
He also said U.S operators entering Canada should have to build out their networks and not just ride on networks built by small Canadian companies they've acquired. Also, Cope said Canada's wireless carriers should be able to bid for the same amount of spectrum — radio waves over which cellphone networks carry voice calls and data — that Verizon will be able to bid on as a new player in Canada.
Analysts have noted the current rules on the sale or transfer of radiowaves don't allow Bell, Rogers or Telus to bid on and win more than one block of spectrum, but this wouldn't apply to new entrants such as Verizon.
BlackBerry lays off 250 employees in latest round of cuts
TORONTO | Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:20am EDT
(Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd has laid off about 250 of its employees at its headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, as part of its latest move to trim costs, the smartphone maker said on Thursday.
"This is part of the next stage of our turnaround plan to increase efficiencies and scale our company," a BlackBerry spokeswoman said.
The company, which last year cut thousands of jobs, recently hinted that more reductions were in the offing.
Last month, BlackBerry reported dismal quarterly results, which triggered a 28 percent plunge in its share price.
Sales of its make-or-break new line of smartphones came in well below some analysts' expectations. The results offered little evidence that the company could quickly win back market share from Apple Inc's iPhone as well as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy devices and other phones powered by Google Inc's Android operating system.
The company, which had roughly 12,700 full-time employees, as of March 2, said the employees being laid off were part of the new product testing unit, a team that supports its manufacturing, and research and development efforts.
BlackBerry recently said it no longer planned to migrate its new BlackBerry 10 operating system across to its Playbook tablet, as the hardware on that device was not powerful enough to provide a smooth experience for users.
Many take this as a sign that BlackBerry plans to phase out the poorly received device. It sold only 100,000 Playbooks in the last quarter.
In contrast, Apple reported earlier this week that it sold 14.6 million iPad tablets in its last quarter.
Shares of BlackBerry were flat in morning trading.
(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission.
BloostonLaw Telecom Update
Vol. 16, No. 27
July 24, 2013
Headlines
FCC Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on E-Rate 2.0
On July 23, 2013, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at modernizing the schools and libraries program (better known as E-Rate) of the Universal Service Fund. Comments are due September 16, 2013, and reply comments are due October 16, 2013.
According to the FCC, there is "strong evidence and growing consensus that E-rate needs to sharpen its focus and provide schools and libraries with high-capacity broadband connections." In response to a 2010 Commission survey of E-rate funded schools and libraries, only 10 percent of survey respondents reported broadband speeds of 100 Mbps or greater, while 48 percent reported broadband speeds of less than 10 Mbps. An annual survey done by the American Library Association (ALA) shows that in 2011-2012, while 9 percent of libraries reported connection speeds of greater than 100 Mbps, 25 percent of libraries still have speeds of 1.5 Mbps or less, and approximately 62 percent of libraries reported connection speeds of 10 Mbps or less.
In the NPRM, the FCC proposes three goals for the E-rate program:
(i) ensuring schools and libraries have affordable access to 21st Century broadband that supports digital learning; (ii) maximizing the cost-effectiveness of E-rate funds; and (iii) streamlining the administration of the E-rate program.
With regard to the first goal, the FCC seeks comment on simplifying rules on fiber deployment to lower barriers to new construction; prioritizing funding for new fiber deployments that will drive higher speeds and long-term efficiency; phasing out support for services such as long distance, paging, and directory assistance; and ensuring that schools and libraries can access funding for modern high-speed Wi-Fi networks in classrooms and library buildings. The NPRM also proposes to have schools receive funding on a per student basis, such that funds would follow students when they change school, and to allocate additional funds for schools in rural and low-income areas.
With regard to the second goal, the FCC seeks comment on increasing consortium purchasing to drive down prices; creating other bulk buying opportunities and increasing pricing transparency; increasing transparency on how E-rate dollars are spent; improving the competitive bidding process; and creating a pilot program to incentivize and test more cost-effective purchasing practices.
As for the third goal, the FCC seeks comment on: speeding review of E-rate applications; providing a streamlined electronic filing system and requiring electronic filing of all documents; increasing the transparency of USAC's processes; simplifying the eligible services list and adopting more efficient ways to disburse E-rate funds; and streamlining the E-rate appeals process.
The NPRM also seeks comment on the applicability of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) to devices brought into schools and libraries, and to devices provided by schools and libraries for at-home use; adjusting to changes to the National School Lunch Program that affect E-rate; additional measures for protecting the program from waste, fraud and abuse; and wireless community hotspots.
1755-1850 MHz Band May Become Available for Commercial Broadband Operations
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has proposed a plan by which the 1755-1780 MHz band could become available to be auctioned for commercial wireless broadband operations. The DoD plan is detailed in a July 17 letter to Assistant Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling, which the NTIA forwarded this week along with its own letter to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology.
Although NTIA is not necessarily endorsing the DoD proposal at this time (because it has not had sufficient time to study the proposal), NTIA asked the FCC to include its correspondence in the AWS-3 rulemaking docket (see related article) and to solicit public comment from all interested stakeholders. The NTIA letter also mentions two enclosures referenced in the DoD letter that had not yet been approved for public release but which are now available in ET Docket No. 10-123.
The DoD proposal is the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the federal government and industry stakeholders in an effort to make the 1755-1780 MHz band available for commercial broadband use while protecting vital federal systems that rely on this spectrum. While DoD reportedly now uses the 1755-1780 MHz band for pilot training and drone systems, it believes, according to its letter to NTIA, that if it retains shared access to a portion of this band and is given shared access to the 2025-2110 MHz band, it can make the 1755-1780 MHz band available for auction in the near term while protecting critical capabilities. DoD believes its proposal is consistent with President Obama's June 14, 2013 Executive Memorandum which directed federal agencies to look for ways to either give up or share more of their spectrum with the private sector. Among other benefits, claims DoD, its proposal would substantially reduce the relocation of spectrum costs that had previously been predicted, from $12 billion to $3.5 billion.
Proponents of spectrum sharing should be encouraged by NTIA's assertion: "…it is becoming apparent that a combination of relocation and sharing approaches are going to be required to enable commercial access and assure such protection, especially in the 1755-1780 MHz portion of the [AWS-3] band."
We will provide further information regarding deadlines for comments and reply comments once they are published by the FCC.
Public Knowledge Urges Further Examination of Verizon Request to Discontinue
Public Knowledge has asked the FCC to remove from streamlined treatment Verizon's pending 214 application to discontinue wireline services in parts of New York and New Jersey impacted by Hurricane Sandy and to "open a process independent of pending 214(a) applications to provide guidance to carriers with regard to their obligations in the event a network serving a community (or portion of the community) is damaged or destroyed and the carrier wishes to replace the network with an alternative technology." Oppositions to Verizon's pending 214 Application are due on July 29, 2013.
As previously reported, Verizon is seeking FCC authority pursuant to section 214 of the Act to discontinue interstate telecommunications services provided over copper wireline facilities in the western and central region of Fire Island in New York and portions of the barrier island communities of Bay Head, Brick and Mantoloking in New Jersey that were destroyed or rendered inoperable by Hurricane Sandy. Verizon intends to replace its wireline service in these areas with Voice Link, a type of wireless service. Verizon claims that it would be "impractical" to repair or replace damaged wireline facilities because it "would require significant work" and it would "exacerbate existing infrastructure issues," and "delay the restoration of service for many customers for several months." Verizon states that it will grandfather customers using wireline facilities that were not damaged by the storm, until those facilities no longer work, at which time Verizon intends to transition those customers to Voice Link, as well.
Law & Regulation
FCC Seeks Comment on Proposed Rules and Innovative Spectrum Sharing Model for AWS-3 Band
Seeking to make additional spectrum available for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS), the FCC yesterday adopted and released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for licensing of spectrum in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, 2020-2025 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands, known collectively as the "AWS-3" bands. Comments on the Commission's proposals in GN Docket No. 13-185 will be due September 18, 2013, with reply comments due October 16, 2013.
The item helps the FCC to meet a Congressional directive in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act with a recent Presidential Memorandum which stated that, where technically and economically feasible, spectrum sharing can and should be used to enhance efficiency among all users and to expedite commercial access to additional spectrum bands.
The AWS-3 item brings together a variety of disparate spectrum bands that are currently allocated for non-Federal, commercial use, and the 1755-1780 MHz band, which the Commission is proposing be licensed on a shared basis with Federal incumbents, if outright clearing of this band is not feasible. In this regard, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has recently proposed a plan (see related article) for sharing the 1755-1780 MHz band with commercial users, subject to certain conditions.
The FCC believes that the AWS-3 band has several characteristics that make it appealing for commercial wireless use. First, it is located adjacent to the AWS-1 uplink/mobile band at 1710-1755 MHz and thus, offers the benefits of contiguous bands. Second, it is regionally and internationally harmonized for mobile broadband, raising the potential for commercial operators to benefit from economies of scale achieved by equipment manufacturers developing equipment for a global market. Third, it could be paired with the 2155-2180 MHz band to symmetrically extend the AWS-1 band. The National Broadband Plan favored pairing the 1755-1780 MHz band with the 2155-2180 MHz band for similar reasons.
More recently, T-Mobile filed with the FCC a wireless industry "roadmap" for auctioning the 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands together prior to February 2015. The Industry Roadmap assesses Federal operations in the 1.7 GHz band and proposes a combination of sharing, relocation, and channel prioritization for the majority of Federal operations in the 1755-1850 MHz band to provide industry early access to the 1755-1780 MHz portion of the band. The Industry Roadmap also acknowledges that additional study is necessary.
"The creation of an additional AWS allocation immediately adjacent to the current AWS-1 allocation will allow for more immediate equipment development and deployment," said T-Mobile in earlier FCC comments.
We are currently reviewing the Commission's NPRM proposals and expect to develop draft comments on behalf of our law firm's clients to advocate licensing rules that provide opportunities for small businesses and rural telephone companies to participate in the AWS-3 service. Interested clients should contact us promptly.
Industry
FCC Issues Tentative Agenda for August 9 Open Meeting
On July 19 the FCC issued the tentative agenda for its August 9, 2013 Open Meeting. The meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. in Room TW-C305, at 455 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., and will be shown live at www.fcc.gov/live .
At the meeting, the FCC will tentatively consider (1) the a Report and Order addressing technical requirements pertinent to unlicensed services in the 57‑64 GHz frequency band to provide additional competition in the broadband market, improve efficient delivery of broadband services in residences and businesses, and facilitate backhaul transport to support the deployment of 4th Generation (4G) and other wireless services; (2) a Report and Order that streamlines Part 25 of the Commission's rules to facilitate greater investment and innovation in the satellite industry and promote more rapid deployment of new satellite services to the public; and (3) the Incentive Auction Task Force will present the latest update on progress towards the Commission's 2014 television broadcast incentive auction.
Calendar At-A-Glance
Jul. 25 — Comments are due on the FCC Staff Report on Rate of Return Re-Prescription. Jul. 25 — Reply Comments on the state of Mobile Wireless Competition are due. Jul 25 — Senate Committee Hearing on State of Wireline Communications. Jul. 29 — Comments due on Verizon Petition to Discontinue Service to Fire Island. Jul. 31 — Comments are due on the ONA/CEI Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Jul. 31 — FCC Form 507 due (Universal Service Quarterly Line Count Update). Aug. 1 — FCC Form 502 due (North American Numbering Plan Utilization and Forecast Report). Aug. 1 — Reply comments are due on VoIP Direct Access to Numbering NPRM. Aug. 2 — Comments are due on E-Rate Draft Eligible Services list. Aug. 5 — Comments on Competitive Bidding Procedures for Auction 96 (H Block Licenses in the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz Bands) are due. Apr. 8 — Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end. Aug. 9 — FCC Open Meeting. Aug. 12 — Reply comments on Separate Affiliate Requirements for Rate of Return Carriers are due. Aug. 14 — Comments are due on Lifeline Reform 2.0 Coalition Petition for Rulemaking. Aug. 16 — Reply Comments on Competitive Bidding Procedures for Auction 96 (H Block Licenses in the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz Bands) are due. Aug. 19 — Comments on reforms to protect VRS program are due. Aug. 19 — Reply comments are due on E-Rate Draft Eligible Services list. Aug. 29 — Reply comments are due on Lifeline Reform 2.0 Coalition Petition for Rulemaking. Sept. 3 — Comments are due on FCC's guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. Sept. 3 — Paperwork Reduction Act comments are due on E-Rate Forms 470 and 471. Sept. 8 — Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end. Sept. 16 — Comments are due on FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on E-Rate 2.0. Sept. 18 — Reply Comments on reforms to protect VRS program are due. Sept. 18 — Comments are due on FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Advanced Wireless Services. Oct. 8 — Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end. Oct. 14 — Deadline to seek extension of CALM Act small provider grace period. Oct. 16 — Reply Comments are due on FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on E-Rate 2.0. Oct. 16 — Reply Comments are due on FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Advanced Wireless Services. Nov. 1 — Reply Comments are due on FCC's guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields.
This newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice. Those interested in more information should contact the firm. For additional information, please contact Hal Mordkofsky at 202-828-5520 or halmor@bloostonlaw.com
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Thumb Injuries A Risk With Repetitive Texting
July 25, 2013 8:32 PM
credit: istock
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) — One might think that texting can strengthen the thumbs — but experts say it can cause injuries.
Kristin Crow, occupational therapist and hand specialist with Beaumont Hospital, said many people are risk these days with the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets.
"A lot of people are texting and using their phones and iPads," Crow said. "A lot of it is repetitive use so it's just kind of the same old issue of overuse syndrome."
Crow said that these thumb injuries are similar to sports injuries.
Texting Thumb , or also known as Blackberry Thumb , is when the thumb joints are repeating the same action too often and it causes a stress injury to them.
Crow said thumb injuries can be avoided and the importance of stretching the finger muscles.
"Stretching would be a good thing," Crow said. "Bending the wrist backwards and stretching out the fingers because the fingers are flexing all the time when you're holding on to the device. So you move your hand into the opposite direction that would stretch those muscles out."
Crow also said that not only is stretching important but taking breaks and getting some exercise is important as well.
"The best thing to do is take a break and maybe go take a walk around the block," Crow said. "Just get some general exercise would be the first thing."
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
From:
Frank Hackett
Subject:
Hubble pointing at nothing!
Date:
July 25,2013
To:
Brad Dye
I think that this will stun you!
In 1996 astronomers pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at what appeared to be absolutely nothing and left it there for 10 days, and then in 2004, they did it again for 11 days. This time they pointed the Hubble toward another seemingly black, empty “nothing” area. A narrator describes what Hubble revealed in those areas of nothingness. They made the images Hubble recorded into a 3-D presentation. Remember, the speed of light is 186,000 miles a second. When light travels at that speed for an entire year, that is equal to one light year. Turn your sound on.
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