Facing Risk of Cyber War !

New technologies have revolutionised warfare, sometimes abruptly, sometimes only gradually: think of the gunpowder, aircraft, radar and nuclear fission and some have been working alongside computer information technology. The internet have transformed economies and given Western armies great advantages, such as the ability to send remotely piloted aircraft across the world to gather intelligence and attack targets within accuracy of a few meters range after travelled few thousand kilometers. However the spread of digital technology comes at a cost and it exposes armies and societies to “digital- 010010110” attack.

The threat is complex and potentially very dangerous and modern societies are ever more reliant on computer systems linked to the internet, giving enemies more avenues of attack. If power stations, refineries, banks and air-traffic-control systems were brought down, people would lose their lives. Yet there are few, if any, rules in cyberspace of the kind that govern behaviour, even warfare, in other domains. As with nuclear- and conventional-arms control, big countries should start talking about how to reduce the threat from cyberwar, the aim being to restrict attacks before it is too late.

Cyberspace has become one of the domains of warfare, after land, sea, air and space. Imagine the failure of the systems that keep the modern world turning and as computer networks collapse, factories and chemical plants explode, satellites spin out of control and the financial and power grids all come to a halt. That seems most threatening to all, yet most agree that infiltrating networks is pretty easy for those who have the will, means and the time to spare. Experts know this because they are such enthusiastic hackers themselves. Spies frequently break into computer systems to steal information by the warehouse load, whether it is from Google or defence contractors. The cyber-attacks on Estonia in 2007 and on Georgia in 2008 (the latter strangely happened to coincide with the advance of Russian troops across the Caucasus) are widely assumed to have been directed by the Kremlin, but they could be traced only to Russian cyber-criminals. Many of the computers used in the attack belonged to innocent Americans whose PCs had been hijacked. Companies suspect China of organising mini-raids to ransack Western know-how: but it could just have easily been Western criminals, computer-hackers showing off or disillusioned former employees. One reason why Western governments have until recently been reticent about cyber-espionage is surely because they are dab hands at it, too.

As with nuclear bombs, the existence of cyber-weapons does not in itself mean they are about to be used. Moreover, an attacker cannot be sure what effect an assault will have on another country, making their deployment highly risky. That is a drawback for sophisticated military machines, but not necessarily for terrorists or the armies of rogue states. And it leaves the dangers of online crime and espionage.

All this makes for dangerous instability. Cyber-weapons are being developed secretly, without discussion of how and when they might be used. Nobody knows their true power, so countries must prepare for the worst. Anonymity adds to the risk that mistakes, misattribution and miscalculation will lead to military escalation—with conventional weapons or cyberarms. The speed with which electronic attacks could be launched gives little time for cool-headed reflection and favours early, even pre-emptive, attack. Even as computerised weapons systems and wired infantry have blown away some of the fog of war from the battlefield, they have covered cyberspace in a thick, menacing blanket of uncertainty.

One response to this growing threat has been military. Iran claims to have the world’s second-largest cyber-army. Russia, Israel and North Korea boast efforts of their own. America has set up its new Cyber Command both to defend its networks and devise attacks on its enemies. NATO is debating the extent to which it should count cyberwar as a form of “armed attack” that would oblige its members to come to the aid of an ally.

But the world needs cyberarms-control as well as cyber- deterrence. America has until recently resisted weapons treaties for cyberspace for fear that they could lead to rigid global regulation of the internet, undermining the dominance of American internet companies, stifling innovation and restricting the openness that underpins the net. Perhaps America also fears that its own cyberwar effort has the most to lose if its well-regarded cyberspies and cyber-warriors are reined in.

Such thinking at last shows signs of changing, and a good thing too. America, as the country most reliant on computers, is probably most vulnerable to cyber-attack. Its conventional military power means that foes will look for asymmetric lines of attack. And the wholesale loss of secrets through espionage risks eroding its economic and military lead.
Maybe the economic crisis and oil spill saga are the least to worry for now, let's start looking at our IT infrastructure, our network lines, our fast speed cable, etc.........  and who knows, the North and South Koreans may not be looking at "solid" weapons launching but "soft-launch" attack through the cyberspace.

Recently early July2010, DBS Bank's computer system broke down with a technology glitch and has disrupted business and raised some customers' hackles.  But it is a timely reminder that systems can - and do - go down and such incidence could be linked to "cyber attack" or either techno fault and till the investigation result is out, it is either a good guess.

A quick scan of news headlines reveals the downside of the technological workhorses that businesses, governments and the general public have become so dependent on. 'Asia stock plunge raises alarm on trading'; 'Nikkei slump caused by bank system fault'; 'Computer glitch slows air travel'; 'FAA computer glitch delays flights across region'; 'Million users hit by Yahoo/Google/Baidu shutdown'; and on and on.

Computer failure has caused city-wide power outages, aborted rocket launches, forced large-scale vehicle recalls, and triggered airplane and train malfunctions and crashes. Seen in that context, the loss of access to bank ATMs and online banking facilities might not seem as critical.  What if all these are triggered by someone out there who has hacked into the system vault and managed to carry out an attack on the software system ?

And what if, despite all reasonable effort, a system glitch occurs? The principle remains the same: a contract has been broken, trust has been breached, and immediate steps should be taken to redeem the contract and restore that trust. Restoring the system in the shortest possible time is an essential first step; but equally important is keeping the customer in the know - not in the dark - right from the beginning. An immediate announcement that the system is down, accompanied by an apology - it's not so difficult, really.

And going forward, the post-mortem, the search for the reasons for the breakdown, should be transparent. What were the exact factors that caused the crash? What could the organisation, and the technology provider, have done better? The customer deserves to know. Of course, prevention is better than cure. So, hopefully, the recent bank system breakdown will provide fresh impetus to other organisations to review their own networks and processes. Not just dollars would be saved - possibly lives too if the extent of hacking into the vault is tantamount beyond ones imagination.

Lessons to learn from IPAD evolution......

In early 1980’s the personal computer and graphical user interface (GUI), with keyboard, bulky and heavy CPU unit and mouse for input, and a separate display monitor using CRT as output, was developed. At that time, with all these bulk of equipment hooked up by bunch of wires, it was for the purpose of creation of soft documents, such as word processor, spreadsheet, or desktop publishing program and gaming software application was not yet in the pipeline then. It then started to surface at later stage of the PC evolution and now gaming has gone wireless with 3D moving fast to our living hall. In word or number crunching processing PC, unlike text-based systems such as MS-DOS, the "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) GUI allowed you to see on screen something that closely resembled what you should get when you send or press the print button either through the printer interface or nowadays with WIFI wireless technology.

With increasing penetration of the Internet, the percentage of computing use spent creating documents has jumped in leap and bound and very much non-stop in speed. Also alot of the time has been spent either communicating (originally just email, then adding IM, Skype audio and video, and social networking) or consuming media (text, images, and video). But our computing tools haven't appreciably changed very much from desktop and laptop, now to netbook or mininote with keypad and mouse.

This leads to the techie question what would be the best computing interface for communication and consumption? If anyone were willing to forgo legacy, and design a device specifically for these uses, you could very well arrive at something like Apple's iPad. This has been a recurring theme for Apple. Whether it was the original Macintosh, or iMac, or iPod, or now iPad, Apple is surprisingly cavalier about supplanting an existing cash cow with a next generation product that responds to how the market is moving.

The one thing to learn from iPad is to ponder and ask, what assumptions and the rest of our industry, making about consumer’s behavior that might simply no longer be true and the new way the consumer is going to live with the everyday “must-have” IT tool ?

Southwest Airlines thwarted convention by not offering meals or assigned seats, instead ensuring low prices and a high on-time percentage. It turns out people are willing to bring their own food on board, and little is as important as on-time arrival. Southwest now carries more people in the United States than any other air carrier and probably the only money making budget airline company in the US and survive the up’s and down’s of the economy.

Many industries still have room for significant evolution. Many bank branches seem optimized for supporting basic transactions, even though there are many other ways to handle such things like online, ATM and internet banking. The bank should feel like a service center, geared toward supporting conversations between you and bank representatives about how to better handle your money and not just the simple daily service that are served at the counter.

Retail outlets ought to move beyond the boring and typical stuff-on-shelves. If I just want to buy stuff off of a shelf, I can do that online, though not so popular in Singapore here. Physical stores have a great opportunity to extend the purchase experience, whether through creating communities of purchasers with similar interests or providing service and support when things go wrong.

As we have approached 2010, we still likely to see many of our companies continue to operate as if they were in 1980. If we take a dispassionate and clear-eyed look at present companies and their behavior of its customers, we probably would realize many new business opportunities that have been obscured by “historical” and backward thinking. As for the offshore industry, can it be as evolutionary as the IPAD and transform the offshore drilling into a high tech world where drillers use less effort at the drillfloor ??

The Rise or Fall of Internet use .......

The internet was an extraordinary invention, with the greatest potential to usher in social change since the old days of the printing press or the railway steam engine.

Built upon a technology that is not fully regulated, it empowers everyone with ability to access to the internet to be creators of information.

It is also an enormous library of global information with consciousness and knowledge from the past and the present and presented in an easy-to-access format commonly HTML.

As a result, we now have the liberty to create our own information, either personal or public, and share it with everyone across any part of the continent in this global world. It permits the equality of access that we have never seen in the past where hardcopies of information being the mainstream media in circulation.

But has its potential as a great leveller for the whole world already passed?

Twenty years ago, the web was colonised by a group of early adopters who believed that the ideal society was equal - every individual had a right to get involved, there should be no hierarchy, and rules would be mutually determined for the common intent and purpose.

People believed the sanctity of the individual was superior to that of the governing state, and that getting in touch with people from across any region in the globe would be enough to solve the world's ill intent.

But the idealistic web pioneers maintained that the new digital frontier would provide an avenue for intellectual ground on which to create a freer “information exchange” society.

The original loose approach to social behaviour online has clashed with the essential features of our nature - our desire to take control, to own and to profit.

Implicit inequalities emerged early, but once the Internet became a space for commercial gain in the mid-1990s and its population exploded, being at the top of the pile - translated as holding the first position in Google's search results - became the benchmark for offline financial returns. The vast multiplying effect and increase in content on the web during the late 1990s and throughout the last decade has meant that reliable, trustworthy and credible information is increasingly difficult to verify and certify to be genuine or true.

InterNet hope

At an individual level, we rely on colleagues, friends and family members for what to trust and what to believe, but we also look to intelligent experts and professionals with high track record status to point us in the right direction and correct use of the information in the web.
Jimmy Wales, founder of the online-user generated encyclopaedia Wikipedia, admits that despite being the current poster child of information levelling, Wikipedia has explicit hierarchies that determine whose knowledge is more worthy than others'. It seems that, for all its talk as a great leveller, the web is as unequal as we are. Indeed, despite the medium, human beings seek hierarchies to help us make sense of our world.

It turns out that this is as relevant online as offline. After all, we can only bring to this digital age what we already know and what we have gained from our existing experiences.
The search engine works on a principle of the "wisdom" of crowds, basing its results on which searched sites receive the most links to their pages. And how does this reinforce the inequalities that exist between the developed and the developing world?

Ultimately, the internet is a reflection of humanity, not a humanity-changer. We bring to it all of our other human foibles,weakness, warts and all.

Android Mobile phone storming the market ??

Lately I gotten the Samsung Galaxy and dumped the HP912C with small touch screen and keypad that makes reading and texting a bit difficult for me. The Galaxy with “faster and more powerful performance” comes with some handy features, including being the first Android phone with built-in DivX support.

For an initial rundown, the Galaxy comes with an 800 MHZ application processor, 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Phone Scoop also reports that the 13.2mm device also has quad-band GSM/EDGE and 900/2100MHz HSDPA 3G at 3.6Mbps. Then, of course, there will be the usual Google features like GMail, YouTube, Maps, Search, etc. The speed is well fast and easy to use with lots of applications to be downloaded from the store. This phone needs to sign with Iphone plan with 12G of dataplan limit per month at $30plus should be enough for usage including surfing the net,etc.

The Google Android mobile operating system seems to be catching the market by storm though currently runs on less than 2 percent of the world’s smartphones, but research firm Gartner predicts the platform will grow to 14 percent of the global smartphone market in 2012 — beating Apple’s iPhone, Windows Mobile and RIM’s BlackBerry platforms. I think partly the reason being the amount of applications available and the ease of downloading with fast speed is pulling the crowd.

Android will pale only to the Symbian OS, installed mostly on Nokia devices. Nokia is the world’s No. 1 phone manufacturer worldwide, and Symbian runs on about half of all smartphones.

Symbian’s share will fall to 39 percent by 2012, Gartner predicts.

Some reasons why Android will probably beat iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile on the global stage :

Google backs Android, a major pipeline for its cloud services. Android is improving rapidly. The Cupcake 1.5 release was well-received, and Donut 1.6 has already been sent over the air to handset owners. [ Though I have not downloaded this latest version ]

Android is open, making it easier to quickly gain developers’ support. Android will run on phones from several manufacturers, which will help it quickly spread through the marketplace. HTC ( first model the Tattoo ), Motorola ( first model the DEXT ) and Samsung are already supporting handsets.

Android combines the best of what’s out there. It’s open, but it offers iPhone-like menus and apps, with Windows Mobile-esque icons, with Palm Pre-like multitasking. There’s another arms race afoot — the battle among Android handset makers as to which company can squeeze the most out of the OS.

Gartner forecasts the following market share in 2012:

Symbian: 203 million handsets, 39 percent of the market;
Google Android: 76 million handsets, 14.5 percent of the market;
Apple iPhone OS: 71.5 million handsets, 13.7 percent of the market;
Windows Mobile: 66.8 million handsets, 12.8 percent of the market;
RIM BlackBerry OS: 65.25 million handsets, 12.5 percent of the market;
Linux variants: 28 million handsets, 5.4 percent of the market;
Palm webOS: 11 million handsets, 2.1 percent of the market.

The main takeaway: Android’s the biggest gainer of the bunch, at the expense of RIM’s BlackBerry OS.

WATCH OUT, Mr NOKIA, Your Symbian platform maybe outdated ! !

The HP 912C which I had regretfully dumped recently, though quite useful and fast, but screen size too small for me and keypad with one or two keys starting to act insensitive to pressing. China assembled product ........ compared to what the Koreans can do........ read further below..........

Latest News :   The Samsung Wave was unveiled in Barcelona ahead of Mobile World Congress - the world's largest mobile phone trade show.

The Korean manufacturer is currently the world's second largest producer of mobile phones - behind Nokia - but wants a larger share of the rapidly expanding smartphone market, which is dominated by Apple's iPhone.Samsung's latest smartphone is packed with a specification to impress. Featuring a hi-tech organic LED screen (AMOLED) which is thinner, less reflective and more energy efficient than traditional LED displays which require back-lighting.

The Wave is also the first handset to run Samsung's new open source operating system (OS) Bada and features an iTunes-style apps store for downloading games, mapping, eBooks and lifestyle applications.
Bada, which means ocean in Korean, is the latest mobile phone OS to be launched in an increasingly congested market - joining Apple's iPhone OS, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Blackberry's RIM and the class leading open-source Symbian OS.

Watch out iPAD ! !

Watch out iPAD. Google Chrome OS, an open-source operating system is set to debut in the second half of 2010 a mock tablet design on the developers' Web site chromium.org.
The design was actually unveiled two days before Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave the world its first glimpse at the iPad.  According to chromium.org, Google's operating system would be optimized for a tablet that has a 5-inch to 10-inch screen, but it could work on larger devices.
The designs includes large, square icons and controls, navigation tabs on the side and the ability to run multiple programs in separate, side-by-side windows at once ( seems like a much better "toy" than the PAD ?? )
The tablet running Google Chrome OS include a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen or a keyboard that could be opened in a separate window that could be placed in different areas of the screen ( WOW, another plus factor ! ! ! ). Applications would be placed at the bottom edge of the screen and could be opened with an upward dragging motion.
When Google first announced that it was building an operating system, the company said it was focusing on the netbook market. Though Chrome OS' developers said they are still primarily focused on netbooks, the operating system could get to a wide variety of devices including an iPad-like tablet computer.
Google Chrome OS is still in development and currently experimenting with various user interfaces to determine what designs would produce the best.
Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) probably won't design the tablet hardware itself. Instead, as with its Nexus One smartphone, which is made by HTC but runs Google's Android operating system, Google would probably look to partner with one or more hardware makers ( Good for hardware makers now running dry on orders and maybe saturated market sentiment ?? )
With a Chrome OS launch slated for the the holiday season, it is unlikely that a Google tablet would be released until next year ?? Taking too long and no OPTION otherthan the PAD ??

Mobile devices more mobile ! ! !

Smartphone trends, which in one way or another made their way into our lives last year will see them more important in coming years and ever changing.

- Android speed

Google's Android will come in a close second to iphone. RIM's BlackBerry will trail in third placing, while Symbian Series60 and Windows Mobile will take fourth and fifth spots, respectively. A number of Android devices have already been announced by HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson and increasing number will start from 2010 onwards. The system will become more refined as application development for the platform gets into tuning up. Hardware for Android devices has already broken the 1GHz processor barrier and there will be larger and higher-resolution screens to look forward to. Google is expected to unveil more exclusive content for Android this year. We may even see Android move beyond mobile devices if they are successful in the short term.

- Faster mobile broadband, higher bandwidth enable more services

There will be more bandwidth for consuming content and data packages will become even more affordable. Enabling these will allow consumers to experience more online services without worrying about the cost. Internet telephony and mobile banking are two areas that will benefit the most, and cloud computing won't be simply a dream. As we move forward, users will become more conscious of the need to protect their devices and data, while companies will experiment with more "green" components and manufacturing processes.

- Enhanced search algorithms put the complete "encyclopedia" in your pocket

It's not a breakthrough concept, but it'll make search a lot easier, well, once the service addresses teething beta issues. Goggles is currently available on devices running Android 1.6 and above and reality is another possible area which may complement voice and image search. This feature uses an overlay, global positioning and the handset's camera to help users identify attractions, landmarks and even nearby tweets.

- Social-networking services 
Facebook, Friendster,Twitter, etc., are services which should be familiar to many people.We should see more social-networking platforms but existing ones will gradually provide more niche services, e.g. LinkedIn for business professionals. Users are already able to share content across various subscribed platforms, but they'll have more control over the content and privacy.

- Services get more close to personal

Services such as those become more in demand as more people embrace always-on connectivity. Global positioning features are already standard smartphone features, but their usefulness will be compounded as more applications are tweaked to become aware of the user's location, both outdoors and indoors. We will see e-coupons and mobile transactions very soon to kick off and NETS already started working on this. So when a user can make cinema ticket booking or buy grocery automatically receive information of the day's offerings and pay using his device.

I think the next thing would be to worry on the devices power usage with so many applications running at one go and the longer power it provides with minimal charge would be one that is going to win the user's heart, not just ease of mind.

Another of Steve's money-making toy ??

Those living in the old age, you will be waking up to see the new Apple "toy of century" soon to release in the US market and everywhere perhaps, as everyone in the industry waits to see what Apple's response to netbooks, competitor tablets and E-Book readers will be. The rumour mill has been running and here is some of the news from the grapevine:

- The tablet may or may not be called iPad or iSlate [ To me, the "ipad" does not sound so nice as it sounds like the lady sanitary piece, hope Steve has given some thoughts on this. iSlate also does not sound hi-tech at all ]

- The tablet may basically be a hybrid of between a MacBook and an iPhone. It'll most likely have a metal unibody construction with a glass front that might make it look like a much larger, flatter iPhone.
- The tablet likely has Wi-Fi connectivity, and will be an E-Book reader on steroids (watch out Kindle, Apple's gunning for you). It'll probably be a terrific gaming machine, plus the capabilities for web browsing, e-mail and the ability to multitask.  Hope battery life is not an issue here ! !

The only time in recent history where the hype approached the levels of this announcement was for the introduction of the iPhone 2-3 years ago. The big question on everyone's mind is whether the new tablet will have the same type of response the original iPod and iPhones. I believe personally it will still have some market impact looking at the pricing of this new product, if set at less than S$900 or S$1000.  Manufacturers of E-Book readers are most likely having the feeling of impending doom with their product of limited features and same pricing strategy....
There's also talk of a new, improved contact and calendar synching system for the ipad so it will be similar to that used on the PC tablet.
Another rumour is the possible announcement of a touch-screen version of the iMac. The iMac has become one of the most popular computers in Apple's fleet, and touch screen capability would add tremendously to its appeal with consumers.

Is Google going into right direction with Nexus ?

Is Google in the right strategic business path going into the foray of making cell phones?
Google finally completed their product test dubbed the “Nexus” and just recently launch it in the US –the highly anticipated android phone against Apple "Iphone" which Apple has been flourishing in the market for the past 2 years with millions sold. But does Google's move into territory dominated by specialists like Nokia and Motorola and consumer electronics stalwarts like Apple and Samsung make any business sense?  If you ask MBA graduates, nothing is too late as long you have the right strategy and applying all the business theories, marketing tactics, R&D, etc, you will still get a substantial market share which is still a “big pie” in the phone business to be captured by many players. Technology advancement is key to success as long you come with an “extra edge” in the mobile user platform.

Google is an Internet advertising company, after all, trafficking in search terms and text ads, the company has partnered with myriad handset makers and carriers to bring its Android operating system for mobile devices to consumers. Why would it ever want to bypass its partners, putting out its own phone

Here's an interesting peek into the free Web-based mobile phone downloads.
It comes from Myxer, a Florida-based website that claims one of the Internet's largest catalogs of free ringtones, wallpapers, videos, applications and games.

In its inaugural report on the behavior of its 30 million users, Myxer's compares the traffic it's getting from users of Apple's iPhone and Google's Android devices. From 1 billion downloads over the last three months of 2009, Myxer discovered several trends that may be less significant than they appear:

• Visits from users on the Android operating system grew almost 350% from December 2008 to December 2009, compared to iPhone visits which grew 170%

• Roughly 70% of the ringtone downloads made by Android users, and 48% of downloads initiated by iPhone users, came from the Hip-Hop/R&B genre.

• In total, Myxer delivered seven times more downloads to Android devices than iPhone devices in Q4 2009.

No explanation for why Android's traffic is so much higher than the iPhone's but the reasons could probably lie in the fact that creating original wallpaper and ringtones is relatively easy on the iPhone. Besides, the Apple's App Store offers many more games and other diversions than Google's.

Whatever happens, the mobile phone users will expect to see more applications available in both Android and Apple store and it could be an era of “Application-addiction” growing to take over other kind of human interest and whether is going to be bad or good to each individual, time will tell.

Will Google Phone create impact ?

Google Nexus is competing against handset partners like Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung, which have been rolling out their own smartphones running on Google's Android operating system software.


“Android is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel. It was initially developed by Android Inc., a firm later purchased by Google, and lately by the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries. The unveiling of the Android distribution in late 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 47 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license”.

Android phones are now making an impact and are expected to surge from their current 2 per cent global market share of smartphones to 14 per cent in 2012 - placing the search giant in second position behind long-time market leader Symbian (most commonly found in Nokia phones).

Google selling the N1 directly to customers through its new Web store, Google is ruffling the feathers of telcos globally which might see their direct relationship with consumers using lock-in contracts weakened.

SingTel, is launching a Motorola Android phone here (new to Singapore, but already launched months ago worldwide). But with the latest top-of-the-line N1 now available via a three-day DHL delivery, it has taken the shine off the impending launch.

Google has proven itself to be a master strategist in the way it works. When it was a dwarf, it played its role as a humble free search engine for the Web, making friends with everyone and enemies with no one. But since becoming a public-listed behemoth, Google has pulled out all the stops to compete and is not afraid to ruffle feathers. Google looks set to disrupt the tech world by giving out free software to consumers. Unlike other tech companies which make money by selling products, Google earns money from online advertisements, and the more people get online, the more Google earns.

Integral to that, Google will try to grow the base of Android phones. If Android becomes a dominant phone platform, then Google can make its apps and ads optimised for the phone. At the same time, it is insurance against other phone platforms blocking its apps, as Apple did when it blocked Google Voice from the iPhone's App Store in 2009.

The N1 is designed by Google but made by HTC, so if the phone sells well, HTC benefits. But by choosing HTC over other handset makers, Google risks alienating them. Will Google work with all of its key handset partners to roll out the N2s and the N3s ?? Wait and see.

Fight over patents - Nokia

Nokia fired another salvo in its patent-infringement battle with Apple. Early Jan2010, it filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission alleging that Apple's products infringed multiple Nokia patents. The infringements relate to user-interface, camera, antenna and power management technologies that Apple uses in its products. Apple declined to comment on Nokia's filing with the ITC.
Nokia first sued Apple in October claiming that the iPhone infringed 10 Nokia patents like GSM and Wi-Fi. Apple countersued claiming that Nokia was infringing on 13 patents pertaining to the iPhone.
The legal wrangles point to the keen competition in the smartphone segment where every handset maker is trying to make devices as cool and sexy as the iPhone.  How long will the faze of iPhone going to last with the technology consumers after having flooded the market for almost two years and with more Telcos bringing it into the region, seems like it is going to continue selling for a while until some maker like Sony, Google, HTC fight hard to bring in one good "iPhone equal".
Analysts fault Nokia for being slow to unveil slim touchscreen phones in the last two years when all its competitors were doing so.
However, do not discount Nokia. Of the four billion mobile phones in circulation today, one billion of them are from Nokia.
It has the widest range of cellphones, from the simple candy bar entry level phone to the sophisticated N900 running Linux. It is also active in areas where its competitors are almost absent.
In India and in developing countries in Africa, Nokia's handsets there help farmers and villagers get weather updates, the price of rice and learn English through the use of SMS.
It has rolled out Nokia Money for people in these countries to help them transfer funds or pay bills and suppliers using SMS. These efforts are not cool or sexy but they are much needed by people in developing countries who cannot afford smartphones or newfangled apps.

Nokia is still a force to be reckoned with but its window of opportunity is small and it must move fast.

Is it the right IPhone rival ?

I thought it was time out for Apple's Iphone "monopoly" in the cellphone market capitalisation and was quite happy to hear that Google's is out to challenge the almighty Iphone. Sad to read today's paper that Google's first attempt at retail has encountered a speed bump.

Scores of buyers of its first 'own brand' smartphone, the Nexus One, seem to have experienced 3G connection problems.

The much-hyped phone is sold directly through its website at google.com/phone. Google started selling it just four days ago to consumers in the United States, Britain, Singapore and Hong Kong. Already, some eager users gotten their hands on it have been posting their problems on the Google Mobile Help Forum.

Their complaints centre on the phone constantly switching between 3G and the slower EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution) networks, resulting in tardy responses when they surf the Internet. Voice and SMS functions are unaffected.

At press time, Google had yet to reply to these complaints.
Google's touchscreen phone, touted as a rival to Apple's iPhone, is made by Google's manufacturing partner, Taiwan's HTC. It seems that HTC is clueless about the cause of the 3G connection issues. Technology publication nexus404.com reported that one user had contacted HTC about the problem but was referred to US mobile network operator T-Mobile instead. Although the phone is sold by Google on its Web store, HTC provides customer support in Singapore from its care centre.

The phone - which costs US$577.31 (S$807) and comes with a 12-month warranty - was not sent to local telcos for testing, but Google had given an assurance that the handsets would work here in Singapore.

I think the way Google launches it product fail in its marketing effort in making the "right note" to buyers and either they are rushing in time to soft launch or not looking more seriously in the advertisement and proper retailer backup support with proper media promotion on it's handset, already showed sign of poor product marketing tactic and this may lead to users losing confidence when snag appears, although such could be easily rectified with less uproar if handle in proper professional manner.
Wake up Google ! Get the right partner and not HTC ( Hard to Connect ) perhaps.... :)

E- Readers _ Next wave of high tech "electronic toys"

E-readers: Target and appeal

Que by Plastic Logic

Features: The device weighs 500g and is 7.6mm thick.
Target: Those who read digital newspapers and business documents.
Price: US$649-US$799 (S$908-S$1,117)



eDGe by enTourage

Features: The 1.3kg device has two 25.4cm screens, a Web camera and microphones.


Target: Those who want to record lectures, read and browse the Web.

Price: US$500



Cool-er by Interead

Features: The 178g device is 10mm thick. It comes in a range of colours but does not have a touchscreen.



Target: People above 45 years of age.
Price: US$299





Skiff by Skiff

Features: Weighing less than 500g and 6.8mm thick, it is shatter-proof and crack-proof, and its battery can last a week.



Target: Newspaper and magazine readers.
Price: Not yet fixed.

 
 
 
Dell, Samsung and other tech heavyweights launched their e-readers at the four-day Las Vegas consumer electronics show(CES), which started on Jan 7. Pitched against them are upstarts like Plastic Logic, Interead, enTourage, Demy and Notion Ink, all of which also unveiled devices at CES.

Watching closely from outside CES are competitors from the traditional book world, such as online store Amazon and chain Barnes & Noble. It was Amazon's Kindle, unveiled in 2007, that popularised the e-reader, reportedly the hottest gift last Christmas.
According to CES, 2.2 million e-readers were shipped to stores last year, nearly four times as many as the year before. With the popularity of e-books growing rapidly, the group expects 5 million e-readers to be shipped this year.
Over the next few months, a cascade of new e-readers will hit the market, taking the devices beyond black-and-white screens to colour and other features like touch navigation and video chatting.

Singapore is yet to be a target country for e-readers due to a number of reasons, of which book licensing rights is one. But the good news is that upstarts like enTourage are interested in expanding their markets to Asia, including Singapore, this year. I think anyone who is able to get their imports of such gadgets, will likely to make a quick buck, but has to be fast and first in making the deal, else, everybody will start follow suit and margins will erode as war pricing will kill every importers of different models, types,etc.

But all the buzz could fizzle out later this month when Apple launches the iTablet. Envisioned as a slate-like device larger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop, it is expected to be a computer- cum-e-reader with music and video capabilities.
Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled its Hewlett-Packard tablet.   Watch out for these devices soon to be found in local shops........