« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
February 29, 2008
Sprint Brand New Management
The Wall Street Journal today reports the guidance that Dan Hesse gave to Wall Street. The story was not pretty. But there were some interesting glimmers in the discussion. The first was the dose of reality. The troubles are real and there is no easy fix. Sprint is losing market share to Verizon and ATT. Next the opportunity, Intel may choose to invest $2B in the Sprint WiMax initiative. Other strategies discussed were the adoption of a RIM dual mode phone. Not mentioned in the article was the Femtocell trial in Colorado. The commitment to wireless broadband is in tact and that’s the best news.
Spring VON starts off with Intel’s Anand Chandrasekher followed by Sprint’s Ben Vos.
I am also hearing rumblings that some of our morning speakers may have some Interesting announcements.
Posted by carl at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2008
Interoperability – May I have it wrong.
I am down here at VON Mexico today, but before I left for the airport the wife had the honey – do lists. On that list was the migration of a printer to the basement for later use for the college bound daughter.
So what does this have to do with interoperability?
Well the reason the daughter gets this new printer is because my wife still has cartridges for the old printer. In other words the lack of inter operable ink cartridges.
Now thanks to drivers almost all computers can talk to almost all printers. Shouldn’t that be enough?
This can be juxtaposed to the problems we have in SIP Standardization, where nearly everyone wants to make nearly everything standard that touches SIP.
So I ask the question…
Should a phone be like a printer’s ink cartridge? Or the printer?
I have been advocating for the use of DIAMETER to be the equivalent of a driver for configuration of almost any phone to almost any service.
If you want to help me make my phone like a printer, I need to hear from you.
Because right now most of my friends are making money developing ink cartridge software. Where is the software? Configuration tools, middleware and signaling tools are where you see this.
And of course CODECs. As we watch video over the Internet the diversity of the codec’s used to broadcast increases. As we make voice calls with a variety of VoIP clients the dream gets more remote.
I will make room in the basement.
Posted by carl at 08:17 AM | Comments (1)
February 25, 2008
Jeff is going to Camp. VONCamp
Jeff is going to Camp!
VONCamp is the name for the unconference that is going to be done ad hoc at Spring VON. Our presenters are gathering their thoughts and the community is blogging about their intentions. I recommend visiting http://www.voncamp.net and subscribing to the RSS to keep track.
Here are the topics that are currently planned
1. Recruiting the Web guys: How to create and grow your developer ecosystem - lead by Dave Nielsen (PayPal/StrikeIron etc..)
2. Facebook the perfect sandbox for applications - lead by Alec Saunders
3. Google's Android; Where do we stand? - lead by Tom Howe
4. Business model mayhem.. Is there a VC or 2 or 3 in Silicon Valley willing to talk about this topic?- lead needed.
5. Will a US telco follow BTs lead with APIs?
6. Rethinking Broadband Internet Connectivity - lead by Brough Turner. Look at the image on Rethinking Broadband Internet Connectivity.
7. Does AWS, Google, Microsoft, or someone else provide all the application layer infrastructure that is needed?
8. Can Telephony Be Free? Lead by Gene Cohen, VoodooVox.
9. Is there any benefit on connecting Social Networks via telecom networks? If not, why? If so, how? - Arjun Roychowdhury (HSC)
10. Topic to be announced later - Ken Camp - http://stardustglobalventures.com
11. Unified Communication; do we have the technology for business? - Paul Sijben (Perzonae) - Great topic. Count me in (Ken Camp) - http://www.realtime-unifiedcommunications.com
If you are about networking the show floor is certainly valuable. If you want to be near all the people working on making new services and asking the big questions, you should be at http://www.voncamp.net
To register for the ridiculously low price of $495 go to http://www.springvonx.com
PS Can you tell which topic is Jeff’s? I know but I heard him say it on blog.tv and on the webinar about it here.
Posted by carl at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2008
The Egg does Hatch.
VONCamp/Unconference
I just got mad at about a post to VONCamp. This is the name for our version of the unconference and man I am annoyed. The unconference is deliberately unorganized.
No marketing slickness, Just a Wiki with some posts. It’s a great place to chat and get ready. The fact that its not being overly hyped is out of respect to audience. The goal is to be dynamic and self organizing.
Tom Howe and I talk about this all the time. Tom does a great job being the net head and I do my bell head view. And while I would like to see struggling artists take over the world, my experience is that even the mona lisa requires logistical support for people to have access to see it.
VONCamp is going to have some of my favorite people in it and its going to focus on the big topics.
So I am here to help the Leonardo’s of the world display their masterpiece.
If you are the artist post your topic and come to VON as our guest. If you want to view the masterpiece the price is $495 and you can register here.
Posted by carl at 03:17 PM | Comments (1)
February 21, 2008
- Eating My Own Lunch - Spring VON
Its interesting how VON has evolved over the years, and its always interesting to experiment with new ideas. In chatting with the advisory board, we built the VON Tracks to be very specific about topics. In doing that, the VC session was misplaced, but now its back and it should be more fun than ever. We have made it a lunch time dias where I expect the delegates at the show to benefit from some networking.
So far Eric Zimits of Granite Ventures and Fred Wang of Trinity Ventures with some other friends are going to share their views about what makes sense in these turbulent times.
These are folks that put their money where their mouth is, so its appropriate that they talk during lunch.
So if you are looking for some guidance on starting up or taking the next step to grow, this is a perfect place to network.
Looking forward to breaking bread with you at Spring VON in San Jose March 18th.
Posted by carl at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2008
- Danger Danger Steve Balmer
Normally I quote the robot from Lost in Space when I see bad things coming. In this case, I am seeing something formindable in a positive sense. I am becoming a Balmer fan big time. We will ignore my MSFT stock is getting depressed as Wall Street and Silicon Valley continue to dicker over the value of a faded flower. As Blue Bulbs go, Yahoo is quite beautiful and I will probably be a user of their’s regardless of what they do to next.
But in these days of economic slow downs, I am not looking for 11th hour heroics. Mr. Ballmer is driving towards goals that make sense to me and the acquistion of Danger, the developers of my Sidekick is another great move.
In the end Navigating software is the key to success for any product in the future. And my full expectation is that we are going to see a revolution in our hands over the next three years. I have no idea if Danger has some patents on flexible screens (hmmmn, where is Radius’s Pivot screen these days), but I would be looking at their IPR.
What do I like about my sidekick? The trackball, the IM connectivity, browsing. Imho, Its better than the iPhone for IM. Its also more rugged. So its needs to be energized to get the wow effect again. But Microsoft should be able to do that in the near future.
Posted by carl at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2008
Guest Blog - Jonathan Askin
Askin’s Back in Town
Hello Carl’s friends and followers (and stalkers and nemeses, monitoring his activities). Jonathan Askin here. Some of you might remember me from my old pulver days. Maybe not so old. I left pulver last year, primarily to pursue a career in academia. I’m proud to say that I am now a Professor at Brooklyn Law School, teaching Internet, Telecom and New Media Law. I am also returning to pulvermedia as a fellow blogger and VON gadfly. My blog (“Who’s Askin? -- http://blogs.pulver.com/whosaskin/) launches today and Carl was kind enough to allow me to introduce myself to his community and to provide me some linklove.
I’m also pleased to announce that we are bringing back the VON “Town Hall Meeting” to kickoff Spring VON in San Jose on March 17 at 5pm. We’re bringing back a lot of the regulars, but with some new perspectives. The goal of the Town Hall is to build our community, to find common ground and common objectives, to make sure that each of us has the opportunity to play a role in shaping the ever-evolving policies that are shaping the Internet and communications industries. There is simply too much going on for us to sit by idly while the rules are set by those that might not share our vision for an Internet-enabled communications future.
So, here are the details for the Spring VON Town Hall Meeting:
Register
Town Hall Meeting: “Back to the Future”
(Monday, March 17, 5pm-6pm)
The VON Town Hall Meeting is back … with a vengeance.
When Internet communications was new, no one cared if we lived or died. We were not an immediate threat to any existing revenue streams or business models … we were cute … like a baby tiger cub just being born. The industry has grown up, untamed, and is now disrupting, disrupting communications providers, disrupting vendors, disrupting regulators, disrupting users. We know this disruption is ultimately for the public and private good, but folks always tend to be wary of disruption.
Because communications can now be delivered from anywhere to anywhere, over any transmission facilities, everyone is playing on everyone else’s turf and no business, old or new, is immune from disruption. But, we, as the innovators and entrepreneurs and vendors and providers and thought-leaders, across the spectrum of the communications world, need to understand one another and figure out ways to get along, so that we, as a community, may revolutionize communications and the capabilities of the Internet to maximize the utility and good, for us and for society.
The Town Hall meeting, with respected advocates on all sides of the communications policy debate, come together to kick off VON, to build bridges, to understand where technology, business and policy are going, and to appreciate the ultimate value and the revolution that is occurring.
I’ll serve as a facilitator, along with some of the major policy thought-leaders like Rick Whitt (Google), Kathy Brown (Verizon), Larry Irving (former Director of NTIA), and a few surprise guests. But, the goal is open dialogue with the members of the VON community.
I look forward to reengaging. The world of academia can be a stifling place. I miss the VON buzz and the reality check that only returning to VON could offer me.
Posted by carl at 10:02 AM | Comments (1)
February 07, 2008
The Problem with Customers
In the Wall Street Journal yesterday a new lower end iPhone was discussed which is aimed at giving higher data speeds as people browse the Internet. This phone is probably going to end up in Europe far quicker than the US and is priced in a way that will reduce the iPhone purchases by European tourists. Given that it is 3G it will probably have announcements for new partnerships in Asia.
It’s important to remember that the Internet is what sells Apple’s phone. Canalys has created this categorization of converged smart devices and places Apple in third place ahead of Motorola.
Motorola’s proxy fight is about to play out. Carl Icahn feels that the Ed Zander should split off the Wireless unit. The problem I have is that the wireless unit has been building for carriers based on the carriers specifications. In a conversation a friend heard a Nokia exec share that they had over 2000 phones in the market.
This is the problem with the categorization of Canalys. They took some products that were built for very different needs and bunched them together. I agree a new category is needed, but not sure its defined based on convergence, but on consumer list. The real story is bandwidth for wireless apps. Track the total category and we probably get the full story.
Posted by carl at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2008
YahWho??? Wall Street versus Silicon Valley
I am full of stories I try to use to extend analogies. Like the woman, in a town near me who was a whistleblower about Radon problems in her home town. After years of seeking out the press and claiming that the problem was pervasive in her community. She then complained when she sold her house that the price was depressed.
Silicon Valley is full of people that have stated that the Microsoft’s offer for Yahoo is problematic. Wall Street is listening and its not just depressing Microsoft’s stock price but Google’s as well.
If you look at OpenAds you can see that Silicon Valley knows how to eat its own young. Which is an adage that Intel’s Andy Grove lived by. I have a hard time believing that after all the acquistions made in the Valley, this is the albatros of the industry? Look at Cisco, HP, and Oracle. Now explain to me why this deal is more troublesome then any these folks have made.
Having watched Microsoft redesign themselves twice, (once for Office apps and once for the Internet) I don’t see why the industry believes it can’t swallow Yahoo!. For me, this deal works. And I think the more the nay sayers argue the less value YHOO can claim. And if this deal disappears entirely the price is going to be far less than 18.
Posted by carl at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2008
Customer Service Achilles Multiple Heels
I was listening to NPR this morning give approval for Luddites’ everywhere to not take the Triple bundles. I was shocked how bad the reporting was. No discussion of the Quadruple play. No mention of the tax breaks, by going with the triple play of cable operators. And concerns that HDTV was going to eat up the pipes for voice calls. I was incensed.
But then they talked about the call center phone calls and the unbundling issues associated with the service. This part rang true to me. I was thinking of Dan Hesse’s recent move back to Sprint from Embarq, and it occurred to me that he was in the ideal position to help with help desks. I have no proof of what I am about to say.
But traditionally the local service is the place where calls center reps are associated with the charge. Now think about the divestiture of Embarq and the complaints about Sprint’s call center staff. The shedding of the local cost, did not properly take in the customer good will to the call center.
I am not a big fan of call centers and phone stores. I have stories about better treatment at my Grocery store’s deli counter than at the wireless store fronts. I also have called call center problems that transfer my call like they were a peer to peer network messing with my mind.
In the irony of life, it maybe the phone company’s obsession with single number service, is a misplaced view that the customer wanted a single number for themselves, when what they wanted was a single point of contact from their carrier.
Posted by carl at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)