Illegal Downloading Up or Down?

A survey from across the pond suggests that illegal music downloading has skyrocketed, at least in part because of the “democratizing” force of social networks. On the other hand, a survey earlier this year in the U.S. by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Harris Interactive found just the opposite. According to the BSA, illegal … Read more

So Much for Portable Computing

I’ve switched over to a new work laptop, and it’s significantly bigger than my old laptop. Yes, bigger. I decided I wanted a large, wide-screen device since I stare at it virtually all day long. The trade-off, of course, is that my new laptop is harder to carry around. Should I get a UMPC for … Read more

Motorola Press Event in NYC

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As you probably know, I work for Motorola – but until recently have had very little to do with the mobile devices side of the business. So it’s not shocking that when I traveled up to NYC last week for our press event in NYC, I was in store for some surprises.

Sascha Segan (gimpy from a broken toe, but witty as ever) has already covered the new IDEN phones, and I only have one minor point to add. Don’t knock the rubberized phone backing until you try it. Love the grip.

moto-music-streaming.JPGOn the other hand, nobody has made much comment about the slew of Bluetooth accessories on display. When I say slew, I mean they almost equaled mobile phones in their proliferation. And, while the Bluetooth devices are first and foremost designed for wireless communication, their expanding functionality is quite interesting. Check out this little gadget to the right for streaming music from a PC, DAP or mobile phone to your mobile phone headphones. (It’s the piece moto-bluetooth-earphones.JPGplugged in to the bottom of the iPod -yes Motorola had an iPod on display) Sure, lots of devices do this kind of thing, but I love the idea of packaging this with your phone. Your earbuds theoretically go anywhere your phone does (i.e. everywhere), and if you take along the tiny little plug-in gadget, you can stream music wirelessly from virtually any device.

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The Lost Cable Subscribers

Comcast is reporting record earnings again this quarter with growth in digital voice and digital cable customers. On the other hand, the company has apparently lost 95,000 basic cable subscribers. Where did they go? Are these most price-sensitive consumers jumping ship altogether, or are they moving to satellite, Verizon and AT&T? From the way the … Read more

Kiddies Make for Good Quarterly Earnings

The Apple earnings webcast is later today, and bloggers are waiting everywhere with fingers over keyboards to see if Apple has something better than AT&T to say about iPhone sales in the last quarter. While we’re waiting, it’s worth looking at some of the other recent earnings announcements and what trends they suggest. As a … Read more

AT&T Launches Video Share Service

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With relatively little fanfare yesterday, AT&T launched their cell phone Video Share service in nearly 160 markets. Sure the iPhone has brought in a lot of buzz not to mention revenue for AT&T (more on AT&T earnings later), but in the long run, the launch of video sharing is a bigger deal.

Years ago I worked with Motorola on the launch of the ill-fated Ojo video phone. There are many reasons why Motorola discontinued the product, but for me, the Ojo still has an important place in my living room. My almost-two-year-old talks to her grandparents on it several times a week, and has almost since she was born.

One of these days, video phones will hit the mainstream, and AT&T has found a way to ease people into the idea. Text messaging and photo messaging are common now, and video on a cell phone is simply the next logical step. I even think that sending a video clip versus talking via live video is a smart way to start with the concept. People are vaguely uncomfortable about sharing themselves live on video (think Jane Jetson’s morning face mask), but taking a quick clip of something and sharing it is as comfortable as posting something on YouTube. And on a cell phone it’s much easier, immediate, and more relevant.

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Does Anybody Read Anymore?

That is, does anybody read books anymore? Like 8.3 million other people, we bought the final Harry Potter book for our household on Saturday. The huge sales would seem to suggest that people are still engaging in the offline activity. But, beyond the Harry Potter series, I wonder how many people actually read regularly just … Read more

Why the Verizon Hub Just Might Work

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In the CE world, success is all about timing. Verizon debuted its Verizon One gadget years ago, but that was before the widget craze, before FiOS was a household word, and before streaming radio and digital photo frames raised the profile of non-computer, Internet-connected devices.

In its latest form, the Verizon One is now called the Verizon Hub, and Dave and I got a chance to see it during our recent visit to Verizon HQ. I love this thing. In brief, it’s a cordless-phone-plus-widget-station that lets you make calls, get news, weather and traffic, share photos and control your FiOS TV (Motorola) set-tops. There are plenty of things it doesn’t do, like let you surf the Web, but that’s what your computer is for. And with the Verizon Hub you won’t get distracted by all of the unread emails in your inbox when you just want to check traffic.

The Verizon Hub has a gorgeous display, a POTS connection (no VoIP), Wi-Fi and an Ethernet port. I’m drooling over the device, but ultimately I think its success will depend on cost. This is a whole new gadget category and it will take a reasonable price point to get the unwashed masses to try it out. That said, if there was ever a time when the Verizon Hub could be successful, it’s now. Lots of people use widgets and RSS feeds, and lots of people like to show off photo slideshows. This isn’t a complete paradigm shift anymore. — More pics after the jump.

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