What LTE Means for Consumers

You may have seen or heard of LTE by now, but not quite sure what the term means. But look no further, because you’ve found the right place to find the answer to, “What is LTE?”. LTE is also known as “4G”, which is a faster medium for mobile connectivity through your smartphone. LTE is an acronym for Long Term Evolution network. LTE is the successor to what many smartphone owners know as “3G”. LTE is the technology that Verizon Wireless has adopted as its 4G network. Now while 4G has been officially defined according to the FCC’s specifications, the regulations to market 4G have been enforced very little, and as a result, wireless carriers such as AT&T use the term 4G as a marketing term for their HSPA+ network, which is faster than 3G, but cannot match the speeds that an LTE network could offer. LTE by definition, and theoretical maximum speeds, is within the FCC’s guidelines for 4G. Verizon has taken the time and effort to expand their LTE network to more than 50 cities in the past year, putting 4G on the map for many consumers. Meanwhile, AT&T tries to market their HSPA+ network as 4G, but is not meeting the FCC’s guidelines, and T-Mobile is doing the same marketing sin. Sprint is currently using a different technology, known as Wi-Max, to market as 4G, which is much closer to the FCC’s guidelines than AT&T or T-Mobile. However, Sprint has recently announced plans to completely switch to an LTE based 4G network by 2013. This means that Sprint users would be able to take advantage of really an amazing technology, which will provide them higher data speeds, than Wi-Max, or AT&T’s HSPA+. AT&T is already building out an LTE network as well, but is doing so much more slowly than Verizon, which seems to be launching LTE much more rapidly than AT&T, which has experimental LTE in only a few cities. The benefits of an LTE network may not exactly be clear to you at this point. LTE is a major upgrade over an existing 3G network that all carriers provide. 3G is very limited in bandwidth, compared to LTE, which will make any consumer’s experience much smoother and much faster. The most bandwidth intensive activities, such as streaming a movie off of Netflix on your phone and tablet, will become a notably smoother experience for consumers. The LTE network that Verizon is implementing and Sprint will soon be, will address some of the issues of a traditional 3G data network, such as spotty coverage, and low data speeds. So now that I’ve demonstrated some of the advantages of LTE over 3G or HSPA+, the question must be wondering in your mind. “Why isn’t LTE everywhere?” Unfortunately, the wireless carriers don’t find enough reason to launch their LTE networks at a faster pace. Although Verizon could be the one exception to this statement, since they have been doing a decent job of introducing LTE into new markets. Sprint can’t rush out of their contract with Wi-Max, and really they don’t see a need to, and AT&T is, for whatever reason, not motivated to rapidly launch LTE. I hope AT&T and Sprint are taking notes from Verizon’s 4G launch. There is one other problem with what the carriers are doing, with Sprint being an exception. AT&T and Verizon have introduced data caps on both their 3G and 4G networks. That translates into overage charges for consumers who pass the 2 gigabyte or 5 gigabyte data cap, depending on the carrier. Sprint still offers an unlimited data plan on 3G and 4G, but their CFO was quoted saying that Sprint will continue to offer unlimited data for as long as it’s financially feasible. My concern is that LTE will provide customers with high amounts of bandwidth, but they will not be able to take advantage of those high speeds because of the implemented data caps on Verizon and AT&T. But despite all the potential and current problems with the carriers' policies and LTE implementations, the switch to LTE will ultimately allow consumers to be connected anywhere, hassle free. And since every wireless carrier is actively bringing forward LTE to market, we can expect LTE to arrive in most major U.S cities by the end of 2012.

Google Plus Brings a New Challenger to Facebook

UPDATE: I'm now on Google Plus. I believe it is still an invite only service. However, if you manage to get in, you can add me. (Steven Styffe)

Just last week, Google announced a new social networking platform called Google Plus. Google Plus is designed to allow people to connect with friends in a way very familiar to Facebook. In fact, the media and press have even described it as a direct competitor to Facebook. There are a few key features to this new social network that I will explain further.

The first core feature of Plus is social “circles”, which allows you to make groups of friends in certain categories. For example, you could have one circle of friends be all of your co-workers, and another circle be designated for friends you have close relationships with. You can interact with certain circles of friends or with all of your friends. These social groups will allow you to organize and publish only certain content to certain circles of friends. You can control what groups have access to certain information on your profile as well. This is similar to what Facebook has attempted to do with its “lists” feature, but it wasn’t quite as successful and wasn’t quite as elaborate as Google’s social circles.

Another central feature of Google Plus is “Hangouts.” With Hangouts, the idea is that you can have a group video chat from your computer or mobile device with a certain circle of friends, or with any combination of friends. Google is trying to advertise this as a way for anyone to meet with their friends unexpectedly at any time, without barriers. This could be a great way to meet with old friends or regular colleagues without hassle. Ironically enough, Facebook is rumored to have reached a deal with Skype to do something familiar to Hangouts.

If you’ve ever used Facebook to like a certain topic or page on Facebook, then you already have the concept of Sparks, another feature in Google Plus. Sparks allows you to add topics of interest to your Google Plus profile, so when you have a moment, you can view content that is related to those interests you have added. Such content could be a video, a song, or even something as simple as a news article. It is pre-determined content based on your interests, in other words, it’s not content you choose, but rather content determined to be related to your interest.

There have been many failed attempts at making group messaging simple, but Google Plus is allegedly supposed to change that with “Huddles.” Huddles are a group messaging system that you can use to form group conversations. Currently though, it only works from a mobile device. However, Google Plus is still in its early phase and that problem, along with others, will probably be fixed over time. Huddles will allow you to let people join in on your conversation and make it a group conversation where you can all collaborate.

As you can expect with Google Plus, Google has dedicated smartphone applications available for Android. The iOS app for iPhone and iPad has been submitted to the Apple App Store for approval and we have yet to hear about a decision from Apple. (At least at the time of this writing.) Google will make great strides to support smartphones through dedicated apps as well as a mobile-device formatted website.

Based on what I have seen so far, Google Plus looks like it is aiming directly at Facebook and possibly even Twitter. Of course, Plus is still in its early phase, both literally and metaphorically speaking. Currently, Google is not handing out invitations to the service due to high demand, but hopefully, they will open it back up on an invitation basis and eventually, it will become public. If you’re still curious and would like a little more visual representation of what Google Plus is about, you can visit their website.

Windows 8 is a Major Leap Forward, and Here's Why

Credit to Paul Thurrott of the SuperSite for Windows for the images.

Last Wednesday, Microsoft began to unveil Windows 8, the next version of the Windows desktop operating system. However, this version of Windows has promise that the previous versions did not. Steven Sinofsky, the man “responsible for Windows”, according to Paul Thurrott, introduced a very interesting interface for Windows 8 that appears to be all too similar to the Windows Phone 7 “Metro” UI. In Windows 8, they have engineered a special interface designed for multitouch tablets that packs the functionality of traditional Windows and a brand new experience for tablet owners.

As a part of Windows 8, this new interface for tablet devices is a big deal. The new user interface packs true multitouch designed from the ground up for tablets. The first thing you will notice about the interface is that it looks very similar to Windows Phone 7’s “Metro” user interface. The idea of bringing live and interactive content to small or large tiles was originally brought forth in Microsoft Windows Phone 7 platform, and is now coming to the desktop in a similar fashion with Windows 8. With Windows 8, you can have applications that bring interactive content, straight to your tablet. A great example would be social networks like Facebook. You could have a tile on your screen that has live Facebook content that is refreshes at certain intervals. Or you could choose to setup a photo slideshow tile, which displays photos of your family and friends, retrieved from various sources like Facebook and Google, as well as photos stored locally.

It is important to note that the new Windows 8 experience for tablets isn’t the only option. You could still choose to run the traditional Windows desktop experience. I believe that the traditional Windows desktop is the default interface, but you could turn on the new Windows 8 UI. You might ask why someone would turn off a gorgeous new interface. Well, it’s quite simple. The majority of Windows PCs running right now are not tablets with touch screens. Since the new interface is really more designed for touch screen tablets I would like to see Microsoft integrate some of the innovative new interface features of Windows 8, into the traditional desktop experience so that even if you were using the old desktop shell, you could still receive some of the benefits of the new UI. There is no word currently on whether Microsoft will do that or to what degree they will do that.

There were some concerns addressed at this unveiling. Microsoft did address the issue of compatibility with applications and the integration of Windows 8 in businesses. The user will still have the ability to run conventional Windows applications, and you can still run the new tablet interface at the same time. So you won’t be stuck with only the new applications that will be designed for the new tablet shell. The major software giant also made note that they are designing Windows 8 so it will not be difficult for businesses to adapt it. Microsoft plans to offer businesses who subscribe to Windows in their business, the ability to switch their Windows 7 licenses to Windows 8 free.

It wasn’t immediately obvious to me, but the more I think about Windows 8 and the future of Windows on desktops and tablets, I believe this closely resembles Bill Gates’ dream of the perfect tablet PC. Windows 8 seems to have mastered the perfect touch interface for tablets, but still maintains backwards compatibility with traditional Windows applications and systems.

This unveiling of Windows 8 seems to be pretty close to what the final product will look like. And even Microsoft is confident that there shouldn’t be any more major revisions to Windows 8. There seems to be a consensus that Windows 8 will launch in mid-2012. And to backup that up, Steve Ballmer was quoted as saying that Windows 8 should ship in 2012. All we can do is hope! But from what we’ve seen so far, Windows 8 will be a dramatic step forward for Microsoft and for the Windows brand.

Privacy: More insights and ramblings

The Internet has brought forth some amazing innovations in the time of its public existence, but the debate over privacy could be the one thing that ultimately delays, or even puts a stop to innovation online. Privacy is a double-edged sword. It can bring sensitivity and alertness to consumers, but it can also “kill off” Internet produced goods such as online media. However, we can solve this severe problem by setting up a definition of what is online privacy.

The current problem with privacy online is that web services right now do not give privacy enough focus, and some services discount privacy altogether. Supposing that some companies and service providers on the Internet do consider privacy to be important, they probably still don’t protect a consumer’s right to privacy as well as they should.

Consumers on the other hand, expect complete privacy, which is ridiculous considering that that model is entirely opposite of what the web was designed for. The Internet was designed for collaboration, not isolationism. If a consumer really desired privacy, then they should not connect at all because the web was not designed for security and privacy. Albeit, there should be a certain expectation of privacy online.

There’s another reason why we can’t expect one hundred percent privacy online. Hint, it has to do with media consumption. General web users need to have the fundamental understanding that when they’re consuming online media, chances are they are being tracked by advertisements. This allows advertisers to know their audience and allows an online media organization to continue to receive revenue for these advertisements. It is ethical for Internet media companies to track you through advertisements online since it provides you with affordable or even free online content. If it wasn’t for those advertisements, chances are that the price of content would be dramatically higher. Now, when I say it is ethical for ads to track consumers, there are a big set of exceptions and rules to this.

One of those rules to ads that track consumers is that it must be clearly stated by the content producer or organization that the advertisement is tracking you. There must be full and proper disclosure that advertisements may be tracking you or logging personal data from your visits. If the organization has properly disclosed that advertisements are tracking you, then it’s not a problem.. Media sites must also comply with the rule that advertisements can only track and log certain types of data. [S1] For instance, ads on a given site could reasonably track your time and date of visit, or the amount of time you’ve spent on that site. Advertisements could also track your dynamic IP address, which is not a fixed address for your computer, but rather, is one that changes often and only provides a relative location of where you were when you visited the site. This location data is not very precise and is simply relative. This data could be logged within reason. Now what can’t be logged is another thing. Data such as an email address, if you’re logged into the site that stores your email address, cannot be logged. Phone numbers, a person’s full name, a person’s social network picture, and so forth, should also not be stored. To put it briefly, logging of data for ads is acceptable, it it’s not logging anything too personal.

Corporations and web services also have the responsibility of providing users with the option to opt-in rather than having to opt-out. In other words, users should have to explicitly accept, or opt-in to tracking services, instead of users being forced in there, and then have to intentionally opt-out, which is a corrupt privacy model. The user should understand the consequences of opting-in, which should be clearly communicated by the service providers, and then the user could make an educated decision on whether to opt-in, or deny the service altogether.

If web content providers put into practice the “opt-in model” and the “proper data collection” model, then privacy won’t become another problem for a company, but instead, just another part of their online strategy.

Why Sony and I aren't friends.

In mid-April, Sony’s PlayStation Network, which allows PlayStation console owners to play games with other PlayStation owners through the internet, was hacked. It was not immediately apparent to Sony, who owns the PlayStation family of products, that the PSN, or PlayStation Network, was hacked. The breach was detected after Sony was detecting some strange amounts of traffic coming in from a device other than a PlayStation. Sony hired an outside security firm to analyze their network for any possible intrusion. The results came in as positive. The PSN was hacked by a small group of hackers.

The PlayStation Network breach is known to be one of the worst Internet service interruptions ever, as witnessed by its customers, whom were not able to access the network for the past three weeks. Undoubtedly, this has upset PlayStation owners quite a bit. And to make matters worse, PlayStation Network users have had their data compromised. This data includes user names, email addresses, and all gaming achievements, or virtual goods unlocked on the PSN. Sony also notes the “possibility” that billing information could have also been compromised as well.

To combat this problem, Sony has emailed their PlayStation Network users to change their passwords once the service is officially restored. Unfortunately, the service has not been restored and Sony is still investigating the issue. Sony’s CEO, Howard Stringer has commented on the security breach, however, I don’t think his comment is relevant so I decided to leave it out.

I’m appalled by the poor communication of Sony and how Sony has not provided an adequate response to the security nightmare. The lack of good communication really goes to show you cannot put your complete trust into a corporation’s network. Although Sony’s communication on the matter was poor, I do not believe PSN users will leave in a mass exodus.

Sony used strange words, in their email to customers, to cover up and to make an inaccurate generalization of the problem. It was more than evident that Sony’s ability to handle PR issues is quite poor. However, if Sony would’ve had a better equipped PR team, then maybe users might’ve been less outraged.

The true reason I’m writing on this issue is because of the security aspect. Of course, I can’t speak regarding Sony’s security practices, since I have no affiliation with them, but I can say this. Sony has no intention of making security a number one priority on a free service, such as the PlayStation Network. Their number one priority is to make a good profit off PlayStations, games, and other digital content and services. If Sony would only learn from all the other security breaches that occurred in the past year, then maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

In summary, the Sony PSN breach is serious. Users’ data was compromised and left every user vulnerable. What I find ironic is that everyone including the media has taken this situation seriously. Well, everyone except Sony that is. Not that I'm bitter. After all, I don’t own a PlayStation.

The status of web development

With the launch of Apple’s iOS App Store, and the launch of the Android Marketplace, the attention has shifted away from web-based applications and content, to apps, or applications. People thought that the idea of having a centralized source for content in the form of an app, was much more convenient. To a certain extent, aggregating content such as games or video or news, through an app is convenient, but it moves us back into the “suburbs”. The application model is “a gated community”. Applications lock you into this ecosystem and move you away from the web, whether intentionally or not. If we had a centralized source for web-based applications, that was actually practical, then everyone would be using that instead. Therefore, I thought today I would describe the status of web development as it is right now, and then talk about how we, as consumers, could make improvements.

In its current state, web development is difficult due to the sheer fact that there are many display sizes and many hardware and software vendors, all with different requirements and specifications. One might think that web development would be easy since there are no strict rules or guidelines. Even though web development being an open specification that should interoperate between all the different types of devices, is still difficult for a variety of other reasons.

Another challenge in web development that exists is that there is confusion among consumers about the difference between web applications, or content on a website, and an application that you run on your device. Local applications, also known as the ones that are stored on the device or computer, are often much easier for consumers, because these applications are accessible at the touch of a button, without having to know any URL. However, even though apps might appear to be more convenient, there is a down side. When someone is using an application, they’re receiving content that is pre-packaged and is not modifiable. The user has no control over the experience or the content. People right now do not give enough attention to Internet-focused apps. People tend to have a bias for the convenient style of doing things. As well as convenience, consumers are not willing to pay as much for web applications, as they are for local applications, since they are often more affordable compared to web applications. The stereotype that application marketplaces, such as Apple’s iOS App Store, which serves iOS users with local apps, have set upon consumers is that local applications are the better way to go. It is obvious that Apple with their iOS App Store and Android with their Marketplace, want to encourage people to invest in local applications, rather than web applications because it gives Apple and Google a great source of income. However, if consumers can overcome the big corporations that are encouraging these types of “gated communities”, then we can make a confident transition into Internet content. We need to eliminate the stereotype that web apps are not worth as much, in terms of currency, as local apps. Change is most certainly necessary here. However, that change can only occur if we change people’s opinions about web applications.

Some “die hard”, or devoted developers, are weary of using the web to host their content because they are afraid that they are going to run into serious obstacles or that the web cannot provide the functionality they are looking for. I have some fantastic news for those developers, there’s no need for this concern! In fact, HTML5 alongside JavaScript and CSS3 is very powerful. In many ways, it would be easier for developers to develop in these languages because those languages are widely accepted now in most modern browsers for desktops and mobile devices alike. The overall development process would be a lot simpler, and a lot cheaper than a developer dedicating him or herself to a specific platform.

I have only described some of the obstructions in the way right now for web developers. There are much more and I could go on forever describing them, but those are just the main problems that we need to focus on as consumers, and web developers need to tackle as well. Despite these roadblocks, I am optimistic in that these challenges can be beat. The experience using web-based content will be greatly improved and may eventually be much more desirable compared to applications. Sure, it will take some time for all the changes necessary to take place, but in the end, it’ll be worth it. Consumers will just have to be patient in the meantime.

An explanation of Apple's iOS tracking fiasco

On Wednesday of last week, reports were being released by various journalists that iOS was tracking devices. The report issued first by two security researchers named Peter Warden and Alasdair Allan. They discovered that Apple devices running Apple's current mobile operating system, iOS 4 such as the iPad and iPhone, were being tracked through the wireless provider's cell towers through a process called triangulation. This process gives moderately accurate location data based on where the device is within three cell towers. This isn't perfect technology, but it works well enough. Simply stated, the possibility now exists that anyone can track you or your device.

These researchers found that the device running iOS 4 was being tracked and the data was being saved in a database file, in an unencrypted, or unsecured form, which means that anyone who had access to your computer or device could access and read the data.

This database file had the location data in the form of longitude-latitude and anyone with the right mind or the right software, could use that data to get a relative location of where the device has been. The concern was at first, rather low. However, later on, an application for Apple's Mac OS X computers could allow someone to make a map of the location data through this application. Of course, this scared the living daylights out of people, arguably unnecessarily, which I will talk about next.

Is it worth it to be concerned?

This is the big question journalists and big media types have been asking. Unfortunately, the answer is not clear yet, as Apple has not commented (at least not at the point of this post) on this issue. If Apple does come out of hiding and comments on the matter, then we can be a little more certain about whether or not this is worth being concerned about. From my point of view, I would only be concerned if hackers start using this "feature." Hackers are smart and they know how to get around obstacles. I am slightly concerned because of the fact that there are no obstacles for hackers currently. I'm not as concerned about the government having this data because they might have a proper reason for having location data about one's device. Of course, it might not always be necessary or a good idea for the government to have location data, because it is easy for anyone to abuse the use of this data, it would still be not as dangerous as hackers having this data. Since the government has a little sense of morality, they could have the location data for the right reasons. Hackers are a whole another story. They have no moral compass. They do as they please, how they please, when they please. They do not care the tiniest bit who was affected or how they were affected.

With that in mind, it is still important to understand that Apple has not commented yet on this issue. All we can do is hope. It is also important to note that Android also has this capability, and that third-party applications can get a hold of location data, but it's much more obvious, and Android itself does not record and store this data.

Before you freak out any further, keep in mind that the iPod Touch is not being tracked because it does not have 3G cellular connectivity and it does not have a GPS receiver in it.