The Samsung Galaxy Note

With the steady proliferation of mobile technology the next thing customers are going to need is not another phone or tablet, but some sort of Batman-esque utility belt to hold all this stuff. The fact is many on the bleeding edge of technological innovation are discovering they have a problem, too many devices and not enough hands.

In today’s mobile market it seems there’s a device for everything, with tablets proficient in certain tasks and smartphones in others, with every tech company quickly looking for ways to unify these devices into one seamless user experience. But Samsung is taking this drive towards integration one step further (or perhaps one step backwards), ignoring advanced Cloud technology in favour of a simpler, more straightforward solution, a tablet/smartphone hybrid.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is set to hit shelves on February 19^th, touted as a new type of smartphone that blends the convenience of a smartphone with the functionality of a tablet. But such a hybrid device is really nothing new, and I would guess that even those looking to simplify their digital existence would still rather have one useable smartphone and one useable tablet, instead of one partially functional hybrid.

It was a little almost five months ago when the world got its first look at Samsung’s hybrid Galaxy Note device at the IFA tech conference in Berlin. The company touted its cutting edge hybrid device as a brand new class of smartphone set to fill that void between the conventional—and not to mention portable—smartphone and the versatile and functional tablet computing platform…if such a void really exists.

At the time the company stated, “The Galaxy Note is a new category of product, developed through Samsung’s deep consumer understanding and insight…It combines core on-the-go benefits of various mobile devices while maintaining smartphone portability to create a whole new user experience.”

I had to laugh when I first read Samsung’s effusive self-glorification (or perhaps self-delusion) when it spoke about the Galaxy Note as “a new category of product,” and of the company’s own “deep consumer understanding and insight,” given the fact that we’ve seen exactly this sort of hybrid device before with the Dell Streak and given the fact that consumers, in general, hated it.

According to Samsung, the Galaxy Note is targeted specifically at those looking to condense their proliferating device portfolio into a single product. Beyond that, I’m sure that the Galaxy Note will find its niche market, especially among certain professional and artistic crowds who will find value in the ability to scribble notes, drawings, or thoughts onto the phone with the included stylus, but I would guess that such a market still won’t be enough to keep the Note around for very long.

The issue with hybrid devices has historically been that they’re a Jack-of-all-trades but a King of none, functioning as a mediocre tablet and a mediocre smartphone. As I’ve said before, the problem with hybrid devices is generally that they combine the major weaknesses of the genres they are trying to marry, meaning that a device like the Note is too small to be a tablet, way too big to a smartphone; lacking the power or functionality of a tablet and, since it obscures half your face while you talk on it, I would say lacking the convenience of a mobile phone as well.

I’ll be interested to see if the Samsung Galaxy Note is able to overcome these weaknesses and actually succeed where others have failed when its released on February 19th–$300 on a two year contract with AT&T.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

Gaming on a Quad-Core Mobile Processor

Work it, make it, do it, Makes us harder, better, faster, stronger!  While I’m told this line is part of the lyrics to a popular Kanye West song (and for the time being I’ll pretend to know who that is), more importantly it seems to be the anthem for smartphones around the world…that is if smartphones could rap I suppose.

Joking aside, according to industry analysts 2012 will likely be the year the smartphone will indeed get significantly better, faster, and stronger as it looks like the popular handheld computing platform is set to receive the much anticipated mobile quad-core processor.

Although this year’s CES didn’t show much in the way of quad-core smartphones, many are looking to next month’s Mobile World Congress to be the real unveiling for the next generation of smartphone processors. In fact, thanks to an over abundance of leaks and inside source material, it seems that the coming of the quad-core smartphone is imminent, and its arrival will mean big changes for what your smartphone can do and how fast it can do it.

If you’re at all familiar with computing parlance I don’t need to explain to you what quad-core means but for those who aren’t, simply put instead of having one or two processing units (in the case of single and dual-core phones respectively) the handset’s CPU will contain four distinct cores for dividing up and completing tasks.

Although the benefits to such improvements in mobile technology are numerous, they can be distilled into two primary changes: faster performance and increased battery life. It has long been thought in the mobile realm that these two factors are diametrically opposed, meaning that if you wanted a powerful phone you had to suffer through limited battery life and vice versa. But with the quad-core things may finally be changing for the better as smartphones continue their inevitable journey towards usurping the personal computer.

In regards to faster performance, the quad-core processor will allow your phone to render photos, load Web pages, view video, load apps, and play mobile games better than ever before because the work to deliver all those things is now divvied up over four processors, each one working simultaneously in conjunction with the others to process data faster than every before.

It is exactly this same principle that allows the quad-core to theoretically maintain longer battery life, as each separate core is able to work less to accomplish a task and thus requires a smaller contribution from the battery to operate, as opposed to what a single or dual-core processor would require doing similar strenuous tasks.

So just how fast is fast and how strong is strong? Popular processor manufacturer Nvidia claims that its next generation Tegra 3 chip is an astounding 5 times faster than its dual-core Tegra 2 chip, and that’s nothing compared to Nvidia’s long term road map where subsequent chip iterations will see speeds increase 25, to 75, to 100 times faster than the current Tegra 2.

While the early winners in the quad-core smartphone race will likely be Android smartphones, I would hope that Apple would include such advancements in its iPhone 5—slated for release sometime in summer 2012. But never fear, soon all phones will operate on quad-cores as the mobile market continues to close the gap to our desktop computing standard.

iPads in the classroom: Apple hopes its the future of education, but questions remain whether its practical or affordable.

As expected Apple unveiled its latest technological advancement geared specifically to the education sector yesterday, digital textbooks. Part of its newly revamped online book service, dubbed “iBooks 2” Apple’s upgrades will allow textbook manufacturers to create fully interactive titles for the iPad in an effort to bring education to life.

While many are praising Apple for adapting its popular tablet for educational purposes—no doubt soon to be followed by adaptations for the medical community and other public sectors—there are some that see this sort of technological “progress” as nothing but a bottomless money pit dressed up to look like a sound investment.

Here’s a quick look at some tentative numbers: To outfit a student body of 700 students at current prices schools would need to spend approximately $350,000, and that’s just for the hardware. To outfit one particular class, say Chemistry, with the needed textbooks—at Apple’s quoted $15 per book price—would likely cost a little over $10,000, to outfit the entire school with every textbook they needed for every course would cost significantly more than the hardware itself.

All told, an average size school would need to find approximately $500,000 to equip its entire study population with iPads and digital textbooks, and with most schools struggling to find funding for programs like art, music, and physical education, current financial priorities may be elsewhere.

In an era where almost every educational institution across North America is strapped for cash, lacking the necessary funding to supply things like, oh, teachers, it certainly seems ill-timed for Apple’s digital textbook release. That’s not to say that schools across the continent wouldn’t be delighted to get their hands on enough money to supply their respective student bodies with advanced iPads, but knowing that such technology is out of reach amidst stiff budgetary restrictions feels almost like a slap in the face.

Even if the necessary budgetary surplus existed to allow schools to purchase iPads for their students, I would still consider it to be a poor investment simply because of the hardware.

If you have ever worked in a corporate IT department I don’t have to tell you about the daily headaches dealing with employees who have found unique and creative ways to destroy their various devices. Many of my closest friends who work in that industry lament every day that while adults should know how to properly treat their gadgets, the reality is quite different. The bottom line: devices break (and break often), and if adults struggle to keep their smartphones, tablets, and laptops in one piece, what hope do elementary school children have?

The issue, at least as it stands now, is that Apple is hoping its consumer oriented iPad tablet will fit seamlessly into the classroom while the reality is that it would need to be commercial—if not military—grade to be able to survive a single school year.

In the end, I’m sure the classroom of the future will feature tablets for interactive learning, I’m just doubtful that they’ll be Apple’s expensive and fragile iPads.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

I’ve always been amazed by Apple’s simple and straightforward marketing strategy for its relatively paltry line-up of mobile devices. The Cupertino Company has built a reputation on designing consumer friendly products and bringing them to market with a metronome-like consistency, a point that has Apple’s dedicated horde of die-hard fans salivating like Pavlov’s dog whenever certain key dates draw near.

In fact, Apple has trained its followers so effectively that Apple really doesn’t even need to upgrade its latest device, it simply need to slap an ‘S’ on the end for users to riot in order to get their hands on one.

With that said, the next date on the Apple addicts’ calendar is March, when the company is slated to release the iPad 3. But while I considered the overwhelming consumer demand for previous devices like the iPhone 4S to be outrageously unwarranted, the initial rumours regarding the iPad 3paint a picture of a power next generation tablet, proof perhaps that Apple doesn’t always lazily rest on its laurels.

In a report issued by Bloomberg it looks like Apple is working hard to advance the tablet market, despite the fact that it rests comfortably atop that market space with well over 90 percent of the tablet share. According to a Bloomberg source, the iPad 3 will feature a crisp high-definition screen, run a faster, beefier processor, and thankfully work on next generation 4G LTE networks.

Unlike the iPhone 4S, which I considered to be a disappointing incremental upgrade designed solely to bolster Apple’s lagging iPhone sales in the Christmas season, it truly looks like the iPad 3 will significantly advance the tablet market, once again setting the benchmark for all other tablets.

What I find the most surprising, however, is what markets Apple chooses to advance and what markets it chooses to stand pat in. Now I can’t really argue with the sales numbers of the iPhone 4S, but it seems to me that Apple faces a great deal more competition in the smartphone sector than it does in the tablet market, the latter which it effectively created with its original iPad and has dominated ever since.

Logic seems to dictate that you would want to advance your product in the competitive market and produce cheaper incremental upgrades in the market you monopolize…but again, who am I to argue.

With the proposed iPad 3 it’s clear that Apple isn’t taking any chances in the tablet sphere, one that I would wager is a significant source of income for the tech giant. Although no other company has produced anything close to a competitor for any of the iPads, with more affordable tablet options coming to market Apple needs to give both its loyal clientele and prospective consumers a reason to fork over hundreds of dollars more than the cost of that Amazon Kindle Fire they’ve been looking at.

For now, however, much about the upcoming iPad 3 remains unconfirmed; what we do know for certain, though, is that Apple’s Chinese manufacturing partners have their sweat shops working around the clock to produce just enough tablets to spark mass riots here in North America at the March release.

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The annual Consumer Electronics Show doesn’t officially open until Tuesday, but that hasn’t stopped the tech world from fawning over the latest and greatest gadgets that will be unveiled this coming week. But as I waded through the myriad of press releases about the new Ultrabooks or the next wave of smart TVs, one particular story caught my eye; a story not about new technology per se, but about conscientious, environmentally responsible technological advancement.  

To that end, while the prefix “e” in techno-speak has long meant electronic, it could soon mean eco-friendly, as SolarFocus is poised to unveil the newest accessory for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader at this year’s CES, the solar-powered SolarKindle cover.

Designed to fit standard size Kindle e-reader models, the SolarKindle cover is the perfect choice for the eco-friendly technophile, ostensibly creating a device that that has little in the way of an ongoing environmental footprint, using no trees for paper or fossil fuels for batteries.

While I won’t damper anyone’s environmental enthusiasm by going into details about the negative impact manufacturing these sorts of eco-friendly devices has on the world in general, the reality is that no mobile gadget—be it a smartphone, tablet, e-reader, laptop—is actually good for the environment. That said, of course, there is the possibility to make devices less harmful, and that’s in essence what SolarFocus has done here.

Designed as a stylish cover for one’s Kindle e-reader, the SolarKindle panel is certainly the most eco-friendly option to date, a device that will undoubtedly make Al Gore and Leonardo DeCaprio proud. The combination solar-powered system provides users with a recharging system and LED for the Kindle e-reader. The solar-powered battery can be used to transfer power to your Kindle’s main battery or to power the flip-out LED lamp or any combination of the two.

The company has promised that the solar recharging system will provide up to three months of unplugged use under “normal light conditions,” a guarantee that suddenly has Canadians wondering just how eco-friendly they can be during winter.

The cover itself comes with a price tag of $79.99 (USD)–available for purchase on January 15th–making it as expensive as the cheapest Kindle e-reader itself. But in a world where everything sucks power, even when it’s turned off, its refreshing to see a product that makes an attempt at reducing our carbon footprint.

But as refreshing as it is, it does make me wonder why we haven’t seen these sorts of technological accessories before. For the most part e-readers are known for their frugal power consumption, making the device an ideal choice for solar technology. Nevertheless, I continue to hope that accessories like this achieve consumer success, as unfortunately that’s truly the only way company’s will begin to explore clearer, greener, more eco-friendly technological options.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

While many are predicting that 2012 will usher in the end of the world due in large part to interpretations of some esoteric Mayan calendar, my predictions are less of the doomsday variety—unless you’re RIM—and more of the tech and telecom sort, my musings about what stories will dominate the headlines here at TheTelecomblog in the year to come.

For its part, the year 2011 was one of Android, of failed AT&T acquisition deals, of tablets (mostly tablet failures), of unified communication platforms, the continued downfall of RIM, and the emergence of next generation 4G wireless network technology, just to name a few. While I would guess that some of these stories and trends will carry forward into 2012, look for some new stories to emerge.

So what will 2012 have to offer? Below I’ve compiled a number of disparate predictions, some my own and some not, covering a wide range of topics in the tech and telecom sectors. Some of the predictions are based on my own observations regarding market trends, some rely on analyst research, and others simply on industry rumours. My predictions regarding the end of the world, however, will have to wait for another time.

NFC

Over this past year one of the great emerging technologies has been near field communication, the short range wireless technology that allows devices to communicate with each other. While still in its infancy, NFC is the technology that will drive the mobile payment revolution in 2012, as more smartphones will come NFC equipped and more vendors across the continent will adopt the technology—either Google Wallet, ISIS, or one of the other leading projects—as yet one more method of easy payment.

RIM

What has happened to Research In Motion? Once a dominant company in both the corporate and consumer mobile markets, the Waterloo-based RIM has suffered through a year of miscues, poor decisions, and once again a distinct lack of innovation. These struggles have left RIM future hanging in the balance, with some analysts predicting that 2012 may be the last year for RIM as an independent company. Will RIM be able to pull itself out of this funk in 2012? Don’t count on it.

With the announcement that the company is still struggling to get its new Blackberry 10 OS to market, it doesn’t look like anything will change for RIM in the New Year. While I would be surprised to see RIM pack it in this year, I can certainly see the writing on the wall for the struggling mobile brand.

LTE

Aside from the fact that 2012 is shaping up to be the year of abbreviated names, one technology that will surely continue to grow in 2012 is 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution). Since its release in 2011 we’ve seen LTE quickly become the market standard for next gen wireless networks, with many other competing technologies like WiMax already admitting defeat. In fact, while LTE still remains an emerging technology look for it to infiltrate most corners of our technological existence this next year, replacing carrier’s 3G service in many markets.

That’s really only the tip of the iceberg, however, as there are countless other predictions running through my mind. Will Microsoft finally break into the mobile market, will Google start defending Android against the veritable onslaught of lawsuits being brought against it, and will we see a successful tablet not made by Apple?

To read part 2 of this post click here.

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Written by: Jeff Wiener. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

In the pre-launch marketing campaign for its new Kindle Fire e-reader/tablet its clear that someone at Amazon had paid attention to Apple’s own marketing machine, as the Amazon tablet was the focus of a media blitz, a veritable firestorm of positive vibes and over-hyped expectations. The result, as we’ve seen so many times with Apple, was an early surge in sales from a consumer base practically salivating to get its collective hands on the device.

Unfortunately for Amazon its marketing team forgot to read Chapter Two in Apple’s How-To-Sell-Technology manual, the one titled, “Maintaining the Momentum.” Had Amazon read that chapter it would have seen the invaluable contribution Steve Jobs brought to Apple, build a device that people want, build a device that works. It looks like Amazon has done neither.

In fact following strong initial sales, the Amazon Fire, initially touted as the only real affordable alternative to the iPad, has seen consumer interest turn to anger and unfettered praise from market analysts turn into unbridled criticism. So is this the end of the Kindle Fire?

The firestorm of resentment towards Amazon’s Kindle Fire began last week when influential usability expert Jakob Nielsen lambasted the Fire, stating that it offered “a disappointingly poor” user experience, warning that many consumers would be frustrated by the poor touchscreen interface and slow processing speed. Since then, as is so often the case with product reviews, the tide has turned against the Fire, with many in the media changing their tune entirely.

Negative media hype aside, however, and there remain some serious issues with Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Complaints on Amazon’s site, where many of the device’s ratings are poor, range from the absence of external volume control, a poorly located off switch, slow processor speeds, and a distinct lack of privacy and security.

The latter point, it seems, is one that will likely have many worried, as Amazon’s quick one-touch purchase feature has made it remarkably easy for anyone, say children or thieves, to purchase whatever they want with the touch of a button and easy for anyone, say noisy spouses, to see what you’ve been up to.

These complaints coupled with Mr. Nielsen’s recommendation to not purchase the Kindle Fire has many consigning the affordable tablet to the bin of product failures, the dreaded garbage pail, “where the Apple Newton, the Edsel, New Coke and McDonald’s Arch Deluxe languish.”

In fact, should the Fire fail it would have some notable tablet friends there as well, as HP’s TouchPad has already been damned while RIM’s Playbook sits in tech purgatory awaiting its eternal fate.

While such failures often doom products, I wouldn’t count the Kindle Fire dead just yet. Despite the fact that criticism abounds, Amazon steadfastly maintains that the Kindle Fire is doing very well and is, in fact, the company’s best selling product to date. Obvious propaganda aside, I would take that to mean sales remain robust.

For its part Amazon has promised a significant software upgrade in the next two weeks, one that will address many of the interface and usability complaints. Of course the upgrade won’t do anything for the ill-designed form factor of the Kindle Fire, as those changes will have to wait for the Kindle Fire 2, that is if the product survives that long.

Beyond that I don’t think anyone should ever underestimate the lure of affordable technology, a feature that will still draw many to the Kindle Fire this Christmas.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

In the race to become the default form factor for the burgeoning mobile payment revolution Google recently unveiled its Google Wallet platform, an NFC-based payment system that currently works with one phone, the Google-inspired Samsung Nexus S. Aside from the fact that NFC phones won’t be widely available until sometime in 2012 Google has seemingly hit another snag in its Google Wallet rollout…the carriers themselves.

In an unprecedented move Verizon has broken the Nexus tradition—one that has seen the phone sport a pure version of Android, with no carrier tweaks or modifications—and has requested that all Nexus phones on the Verizon network have Google Wallet removed before they are delivered to the company.

Ostensibly Verizon claims this request is for security reasons, as NFC technology is unproven, and denies it has blocked anything, yet given the fact Verizon has publicly backed ISIS, a rival mobile payment platform, perhaps we’re seeing the first posturing and backroom politics of the mobile payment revolution.

While I may be sceptical about Verizon’s supposed security concerns, there is some legitimacy to those claims. For its part Google Wallet is still in its infancy, having only seen use in limited trials across the country. Such a dearth of exposure has left many carriers unable to truly gauge the platform’s security measures, thus justifiably leading them to view Google Wallet with a sceptical eye.

But the real problem, I would wager, is not security, but profits. If Verizon did allow Google Wallet on its upcoming Nexus phones, the carrier would be completely cut off from a lucrative revenue stream on its own mobile devices, having no access to any fees or profits associated with the payment platform. I would assume that Verizon, and the other carriers, will seek an agreement with mobile payment companies like Google in an effort to get a share of the pie.

Aside from that, however, Verizon has already publicly backed a rival payment system, namely ISIS. Although scaled back from its original grandiose billing as the bane of all other payment systems, ISIS has been quietly developing in the background, still with support from major carriers like Verizon and AT&T. Should ISIS come to market with an agreement that sees carriers get a piece of the mobile payment market, look for Google Wallet to increasingly see such resistance.

Beyond that, I would guess that Verizon simply doesn’t want its users getting used to Google Wallet as the default payment system before ISIS is ready, as one need only to look at Apple to see how difficult it is to unseat the default consumer choice.

That said, I would guess that it won’t be carriers that determine the ultimate winner in the mobile payment revolution, but consumers, as there really aren’t any options widely available enough right now for anyone to really care. The day that consumers are informed and have to make a choice is the day we’ll see battle for mobile payment dominance truly begin.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

1. The Battle for Control of our Technological Future

As history has shown us, today’s technology, telecommunication, and mobile success stories could soon be tomorrow’s flops, their current domination saying nothing about their ability to continue their momentum into the future. Thinking about this trend I began to wonder, what will the technology market look like in 2050?

Will Apple be able to continue its market dominance? Will Microsoft emerge as a true mobile competitor or simply fade away? Will Google continue its Android success, or will its disparate focus lead the company astray? Will Facebook morph into some SkyNet-like project that ends up controlling the entire world?

Who will win the fight for the technological dominance of our future?

2. Telecom Complaints Double In a Year, That’s what ‘Healthy Competition’ is all About?

When studying Economics there’s one primary lesson ingrained in every student’s head: Competition leads to high-quality products and services, thriving innovation, reduced prices and last but not the least – improved customer service. Although I’ve applied the same rule with great success in a number of industries, the Canadian wireless segment continues to defy my hard-earned conventional wisdom.

Despite several new players joining the fray last year and the so-called ‘cut throat’ competition in the Canadian wireless market, one thing hasn’t changed – the number of customer complaints continues to rise exponentially with every passing year. In fact, complaints from Canadians about their telecom (mostly wireless) services more than doubled in a year.

3. No End in Sight: RIM’s Troubles Continue

Optimists have tried to suggest that Waterloo’s Research in Motion may be ready to put the last six months behind it. A few unacceptable quarters, listless sales and trouble transitioning to BBX have all helped RIM’s reputation weaken over the last while, but some glass-half-full folks have argued that the company can and will recover.

But with JMP Securities downgrading RIM, with a resultant 5% dip in stocks, and RBC Capital Markets’ Mike Abramsky cutting his per share profit estimate to $1.20 from $1.28, setting a share price target of $23 (down from $29) the trouble is that the odds continue to be stacked against RIM.

4. Spectrum Blues: Wind Mobile Threatens Boycott

The Canadian wireless spectrum auction circus is now in full swing. The drama officially began in March when the CRTC announced the deadline for submissions to Industry Canada as to how to handle the event. Back then perhaps the most pressing question facing Industry Minister Tony Clement about this whole thing was whether or not he should be setting aside spectrum for the new entrants.

While the new entrants have been requesting the Government to set aside a portion of the 700 MHz, the Big Three have been lobbying to preserve their vested interests. As things stand, the battle for “beachfront” property of the airwaves in the upcoming wireless spectrum auction is getting uglier with time.

5. AT&T Faces FCC Opposition

It would be an understatement to say that the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger has been unpopular. While its clear that AT&T was supremely confident in its chances of getting the deal approved, going so far as to agree to pay T-Mobile $3 billion if the deal fell through in addition to promising several billion in assets and spectrum, it wasn’t long before the voices of opposition starting the seemingly endless stream of lawsuits.

Now, already reeling from the news that the Department of Justice is pursuing legal action to block its intended merger with T-Mobile, AT&T may have received the knock-down blow as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski officially weighed in on the controversy, stating that the merger is not in the public’s interest and should be voted down.

What’s happened to the enterprise tablet market? The question came out of a conversation I had with a customer last week who was exploring the full gamut of telecommunications solutions on the market. I smiled because while the enterprise tablet market is alive and well, it seems like almost no one knows about it.

Take, for example, the Cisco Cius tablet. I would guess that few public or enterprise consumers are aware that Cisco has been developing an enterprise specific tablet for nearly two years and quietly released this past summer. The business-grade device, designed to compete with Avaya’s Flare Experience, is a strange sort of hybrid beast, lacking the aesthetic appeal of a consumer tablet while simultaneously running the consumer-centric Android OS.

The reason you likely haven’t heard of the Cisco Cius, however, is because it seems Cisco doesn’t want you to hear about it, having only made the device available through its standard business channels. But if you think a lack of awareness correlates to a weak enterprise market, we’ll you’d be wrong, as Cisco is already planning the launch of the next generation Cius tablets.

The strange thing about the enterprise tablet market is that it exists in a world of its own, almost completely separate from the popular consumer tablet segment that boasts the iPad and the myriad of powerful Android tablet competitors. The enterprise tablet market isn’t particularly concerned with eye-catching tablet designs or sleek and sophisticated consumer features, choosing instead to focus on business-grade security rich features and integration with one’s existing communications solutions.

Since the Cius can’t be found at the local Best Buy one might assume that it is likely not doing well in the tablet market. While Cisco its mum about the actual sales numbers, the company has gone on record stating that, “The adoption has met our expectations…It has done well in terms of reception from the enterprise community.”

In fact it looks like the Cius is doing so well in the enterprise tablet market that Cisco has announced it is working on not one, but two follow-up tablets to the Cius, proof enough that the tablet market is booming…or that Cisco lacks business sense. The next generation of Cisco tablets will see the two tablets, one larger than the current Cius and one smaller, available mid-2012.

While I jokingly mentioned Cisco’s business sense, there is some truth to my good natured jibe as perhaps the enterprise tablet market really isn’t as successful as Cisco would make it seem.

The longstanding issue with the enterprise device market—be it smartphone or tablet—is that when compared to the devices enterprise users want to use, tablets like the Cius simply don’t stack up. As RIM has experienced of late, people want a device that can be used for both the personal and professional, and although Cius runs Android, it’s an antiquated version that will appeal to few for use outside the enterprise sector.

For its part, Cisco has launched an awareness campaign for the Cius in order to clarify the purpose of the device, hoping to generate more of a buzz and convince prospective buyers why they should pay a staggering $725 when comparably priced consumer tablets are able to do so much more while comparably equipped enterprise tablets (like RIM’s Playbook) are priced hundreds of dollars less.

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Written by: Jeff Wiener. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

After years of growth and change executives at Avaya’s Evolutions 2011 were promising channel partners, well, more of the same. While I unfortunately had to miss last year’s Evolutions event, and thus was unsure of what to expect there this year, I quickly discovered that Avaya is clearly evolving, coming of age in an ever-changing telecommunications market.

At this year’s event Digitcom had the privilege of being an exhibitor, allowing me to meet with current and prospective customers, and with Avaya reporting 1,200 people in attendance, there were plenty of both. Beyond that, however, I was also afforded the invaluable opportunity to hear from Avaya in regards to the current state of the market and to gain some insight into the future roadmap of the company.

The first glimpse of Avaya’s ongoing evolution came early in the day, with Rob Daleman, Marketing Leader Avaya Canada, and Ross Pellizzari, President of Avaya Canada, announcing that the heavy lifting from the post Nortel acquisition is now over and is already producing some excellent end results, including a new revitalized dealer base and a large Nortel customer base that is slowly migrating towards an integrated Avaya/Nortel roadmap.

In addition, we heard that Avaya is the number one player in the SME and Enterprise voice market in Canada, hardly a surprise considering the Nortel integration.

Following that we heard from Phil Edholm, VP of Technology, Strategy and Innovation, who discussed the changing face of communication using technologies like the Avaya Flare Experience. The key point to his message, surprise surprise, is that communication is changing, with Edholm suggesting that by the end of 2012 over 50% of office users will be using their personal devices to communicate in the corporate market. But not to worry, Avaya has solutions in both the SME and Enterprise markets to support the changing face of the market, but more on that shortly.

Let me state the obvious one more time, the communication world is changing; what was once a TDM world is moving rapidly towards a world of open standards SIP. Frankly, SIP is allowing for never before seen inter-compatibility between disparate devices from different manufacturers, and with open standards like SIP trunking and SIP stations, the way the world communicates has been forever altered.

To the point, I’ve been preaching for years about the imminent demise of the office desk phone, a casualty of a move towards an open standards device agnostic market where everything is integrated. To observe this paradigm shift towards open standards one need only to look at Avaya Flare, which now works on the iPad and various Android devices, or Avaya Aura or IP Office, both  advanced middleware product suites designed to support this next generation of integrated device agnostic telecommunications.

There was some discussion about Avaya’s data network, switches, and routers; this product line coming, of course, from the old Nortel. Avaya can now support an end-to-end solution: call control server, switch, and phone on the desk, although ironically the phone on the desk is becoming obsolete and is being replaced by software apps at the desk. It’s a new generation, a paradigm shift in technology.

At the Evolutions event we were also introduced to Avaya’s new slogan, “The Power of We.” To illustrate the message Avaya brought out a chorus of singers–one singer singing alone produces a lonely tone, but together, when everyone sings a chorus, music euphony is created.

The message, as best as I understand it, is this: We’re all best served when we work as a team. Together we are stronger than one person alone. How exactly does that relate to Avaya? According to Renzo Dipasquale, who I spoke with about this very issue, “We’re in an era where we need to collaborate for success, both at the corporate and at the technology level. When WE work together WE produce results. That’s the POWER OF WE.”

The day ended with a one hour session hosted by Don Tapscott, an author, speaker, and advisor on Media, Technology & Innovation; a very appropriate conclusion to an eventful, information packed day.

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Written by: Jeff Wiener. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

Concept devices have always fascinated tech enthusiasts. They offer a glimpse of the future possibilities. However, most of these devices remain a concept and hardly a few actually make it to the stores. Nokia’s flexible phones are the latest example of such concept devices. Although the product is still under research, the concept is generating a lot of interest in the tech world.

The Finnish company proved that it can think out of the box by demonstrating a prototype featuring flexible display at this year’s Nokia World event. The prototype was called the ‘Nokia kinetic device’. The flexible display of this prototype offers customers a completely new way of interacting with their mobile phones. Users can operate the device by bending, twisting and bowing it instead of the usual touchscreen swiping and tapping. For instance, you can scroll through your photo albums or music files by twisting the phone’s corners in opposite directions. Similarly, it is possible to zoom in or out and pause or play songs by bending the phone away from you or towards you.

Flexible phones can offer a number of advantages over conventional smart phones. One of them is durability. Such devices are less likely to be damaged, if you sit down with the phone in your back pocket or drop it on the ground. But Nokia’s main focus is not durability, it is improved user interaction. According to Stephen Shankland, who has been working on the technology for the last two year, unlike conventional smartphones, such a phone can be easily controlled blindly from the pocket. For instance, you can quickly ignore a call or pause a song. Also it can be used while wearing gloves.

But several issues still remain unanswered. The accuracy of bending and twisting is unlikely to be comparable to swiping and touching. The technology can be slightly cumbersome to use. Also, it will not be easy to market twisting and bending devices as it seems unnatural compared to the conventional multi-touch technology.

Last month Nokia uploaded a concept video on YouTube offering a glimpse of what its research department is really targeting – Human Form. The 2 minute video features a flexible tear drop shaped device with transparent display. Apart from kinetic controls, the device also features a touch sensitive casing and gesture based navigation. It makes use of nanotechnology. The device also offers electro tactile display, which enables users to feel the image. The natural interface, which gives an appearance of free floating icons, is also impressive. Although many questions remain unanswered, Nokia seems to be headed in the right direction.

Nokia is not the only company perusing the idea of flexible devices. Samsung has plans of offering flexible displays in the coming year. At CES 2011 the South Korean company offered a glimpse of its own flexible displays. Samsung plans to offer both smartphones and tablets featuring flexible displays. The flexible display technology offers many possibilities. In the future we may be able to roll up our tablets and smartphones for easy storage.

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Written by: Yuyutsu Sen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

It looks like competition in the newly formed affordable tablet niche market is growing, and just in time for Christmas too. With the Kindle Fire burning up Amazon’s bottom line it looks like the e-commerce giant will soon be feeling the heat from other sources, particularly its media rival Barnes and Noble.

When Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire many cast an uncertain glance towards B&N, quietly wondering how America’s oldest print media retailer would respond to the formation of an e-reader/tablet hybrid device, and now it looks like B&N has responded in kind, unveiling its own Nook tablet.

But in a tablet market dominated by the iPad, will there be any room left for the likes of the Kindle Fire or the Nook tablet? Will people want an affordable tablet, even if it lacks the full suite of features found on the significantly more expensive iPad or the numerous less popular Android options?

Truly if there’s one thing that the epic collapse of HP’s Touchpad showed us it’s that people want affordable tablet alternatives…of course the Touchpad was a fully functional iPad alternative with a suite of features head and shoulders above anything you’ll find on the either the Kindle Fire or the Nook tablet.

That said, it looks like Amazon and B&N are creating a brand new niche within the tablet market itself, offering affordable e-reader/tablet hybrids with a relatively bare bones list of features. But the question remains, are people interested in this sort of tablet?

When Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire I addressed this very question, stating that I can envision the Fire finding its niche as people’s second tablet, especially those looking for a more than just an e-reader to take travelling. While clearly the iPad does some things well, it truly seems like the Fire picks up the slack, giving users an e-commerce and e-reader platform in a modestly equipped Wi-Fi enabled tablet.

So will B&N’s new Nook tablet be able to fill the same void? On paper both devices seem relatively on par, both featuring 7-inch touchscreens, 1GHz dual-core Texas Instruments CPUs, both claim 8 hours of battery life, and both run custom versions of Android. As I mentioned in relation to the Fire, neither device offers a camera, Bluetooth, or 3G connectivity—although both are Wi-Fi enabled.

The difference that has me scratching my head is cost, as B&N has priced the Nook tablet ($249) a full $50 more than the Kindle Fire ($199). B&N isn’t worried though, as CEO William Lynch said, “This is the best media tablet hands-down on the market. We’ve done some things to optimize performance that just aren’t available on the Kindle Fire.”

Truth be told, the Nook tablet does offer some appealing extra features, most notably 16GB of built-in storage (twice that of the Kindle Fire), a supposed better viewing angle, a microSD expansion slot (the Fire has none) and 1GB of RAM (again twice that of the Fire), which helps with multi-tasking, but whether any of this is worth the extra $50 remains to be seen. Further, partnerships with Zulu and Netflix guarantees access to quality content.

So which one is better? It’s a tough question, one that really depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a versatile platform that gives you access to a veritable media empire that contains e-books, streaming video, and the world’s most popular e-commerce site I would say the Kindle Fire is the clear choice. If you’re looking for a competent and speedy e-reader/tablet hybrid that offers better multitasking and don’t mind the added price, the Nook is clearly for you.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

Touting itself as the antithesis of Facebook’s draconian system, a rebellion that counters Mark Zuckerberg’s demand for obedience, a vessel for inspiration that flouts Facebook’s demand for control, and a place to lead instead of a place to blindly follow, the new social network Unthink certainly has a lot to live up to.

The self-styled social revolution—which launched in Beta this past week—is taking aim at the current quagmire of social networking options like Facebook and Google+, sites that at times seem solely designed to use our personal information against us.

So if you find yourself worried about what Facebook is doing with your personal information, if you spend hours trying to make sense of its ever changing user agreement, if you’ve suffered through a privacy breach and are wondering how to protect yourself, it’s time to emancipate yourself from social networking controls…its time to Unthink.

At first glance the Orwellian name “Unthink” seems to be an odd choice for a social rebellion, imbued with overtones of shutting off one’s brain, of blind obedience, and Big Brother-like dictatorial control, but the vision of Unthink founder Natasha Dedis could not be more different.

For her, the name “Unthink” refers to breaking the control that Facebook exerts over our lives, ignoring the message that Facebook is the way social networking should be done, and opening our eyes to the true potential of user controlled social networking. While Facebook wants us to think that it holds the keys to social networking, what we really need is to unthink everything we think we know about social networking, and only then can we truly be free.

It’s a bold philosophy; one that competitors like Facebook will surely put to the test now that Unthink has officially unleashed its social revolution.

So how does Unthink differ from other social options? To combat privacy intrusions, Unthink allows users to operate in different spheres, thus affording them, for instance, the opportunity to separate professional contacts from personal ones. The ability to clearly demarcate one’s various contacts will in turn allow users to closely control their own privacy standards, allowing them to share certain information with some of their contacts but not with others. For anyone who’s had their personal life come back to bite them in the ass at work, I don’t think I need to further expound the usefulness of this feature.

But is a social network with a strong undergirding ethic and mission really something that will catch on with the general public? As I wrote in late August when Unthink first burst on to the social networking scene, its no secret that there are serious systemic issues that plague current social networking options, from privacy compromises, the endless stream of pointless advertising, the always fluid and changing user terms, and of course the endless redesigns and pointless additions, so having a social networking choice that gives you the freedom and power to control your information will certainly appeal to some.

That said, much like the robot overlords in The Matrix Facebook has most of us firmly captivated in its exploitative fantasy world, so much so that the majority of us will never even know that Facebook is taking advantage of our personal information for financial gain. Truly, unless we see some sort of monumental blunder from the social networking giant, one that can’t help but rouse us from our social slumber, its doubtful Unthink’s laudable social revolution will ever take hold.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

It is becoming abundantly clear that while technology analysts and consumers alike continue to laud Amazon for the production of an affordable yet functional tablet (available in November), investors are less than enthusiastic. The e-commerce giant saw its stock dip sharply following the company’s lacklustre Q3 financial report and a gloomy forecast for Q4, and market analysts are saying that the upcoming Kindle Fire is responsible for the less than stellar numbers.

Amazon’s “spend now, profit later” plan for the Kindle Fire involves selling the tablet at a bargain basement price, meaning profit margins on each device are razor thin, with hopes of recouping its investment later on through content purchases. Needless to say, such a plan involves risk, and risk is the enemy of the wary investor.

But where the market sees the downside to Amazon’s strategy, there remains a significant upside, none more so than the fact that this Christmas people will be flocking to the stores to get their hands on the market’s only truly affordable tablet device; but will this be enough to restore investor confidence?

Touted as one of the big players in the modern technology market—alongside Apple, Google, and Microsoft—Amazon has a lot riding on its new Kindle Fire, and the fact that many investors were scared off due simply to the hit the Fire’s R&D budget had on Amazon’s bottom line does not bode well for how much confidence the market has in Amazon’s ability to compete with the other Big Three.

The worry began when Amazon released its Q3 earnings report, which saw the ecommerce giant miss market profit expectations. Amazon reported earnings of US $63 million, which translates into 14 cents per share, while the market was hoping for earnings of 24 cents per share.

If you’re looking at these numbers and wondering what the heck everyone is worried about, you’re not alone. In its Q3 report Amazon recorded a 44 percent increase in revenues to $10.9 billion, meaning that sales for the company have grown and its missed expectations can be attributed to spending, most of which was on R&D for the Kindle.

On the one hand, perhaps investors are concerned about the profit timeline for Amazon’s tablet, given the fact that since the Kindle won’t generate revenues on its own it  may take the e-commerce company years to recoup its investment as it waits for Fire-related content to begin to sell. On the other hand, perhaps investor concern is based on the fact that many don’t think the Kindle Fire can compete with the iPad, and with Amazon’s tablet sporting a relatively barebones list of features, they might be right.

That being said, of course, I do firmly believe the Kindle Fire will find its niche as people’s second tablet, especially those looking for a more than just an e-reader to take travelling. While clearly the iPad does some things well, it truly seems like the Fire picks up the slack, giving users an e-commerce and e-reader platform in a modestly equipped Wi-Fi enabled tablet.

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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.