Apparently, the rumors are true. Later this week, Amazon is expected to announce it’s own smartphone brand.
Billions have been invested. Warehouses have been built. Tablets and other devices are being constructed. Creating, licensing and copyright deals are being done. Stock investors are cheering. Competitors are quaking. Customers…we’ll see how they respond. I’ll talk about that later. One of their hopes is that Amazon lovers will use their upcoming smartphones to buy more stuff off the Amazon website. Amazon is already branching into to areas like grocery store delivery. But smartphones aren’t groceries.
Other well respected and popular mega conglomerates have tried to excel in the smartphone world. Google had Nexus One. Little more than one persons were buying it. They moved on to Motorola, then scratched the idea. Blackberry is lucky to even be alive. And that was once one of the most popular brands in the market. The Facebook phone flopped. And even Windows Phone is holding on to only three percent of the smartphone market. Come to think of it, the only two companies running away with the smartphone game are Apple and Samsung. But Amazon, and some tech analysts, insists this is Amazon’s next logical step. I’m pessimistic. The odds aren’t in their favor. And Amazon is going to have to get very, very, very creative to offer things the smartphone kings don’t. What do you think Amazon’s chances are?
Take London cab drivers. About 12,000 of them literally took to the streets in protest of Uber yesterday. Starting in the afternoon, and through the height of rush hour, cabbies staged a go-slow demonstration, deliberately causing traffic nightmares in one of Europe’s busiest cities. London cabbies’ union says Uber will open the door for unlicensed taxi drivers. But Londoners aren’t buying it. In fact, since in the past couple of days, Uber’s usage has increased 850%. As one person put it, “Londoners are voting with their fingers…”.
There’s more to this story. Plus, Uber tallies about how much a cab fare is going to take before the trip even begins. This is why I’m cynical about the London cabbies’ motives. Now I’ve never been in a London cab. I’ve never been to London, except for layovers at Heathrow. But I’ve been in enough cities around the world to know the some drivers will milk you out of the meter if you let them. And I’m not throwing all cabbies under the bus; the vast majority of my experiences in cabs have been good ones. But Uber’s system will keep taxis honest about what they’re charging, and some don’t like it one bit. You may say, “London’s just one city”. I wonder what other major cities in the world think about Uber. Changing computer technology is everywhere now, even catching a cab.? Who do you side with in this debate: the cabbies or the customers?
The days of only the richest Americans owning a smartphone are long gone. In fact, you can get the Motorola Motor E for $130 with no contract. What does this mean for the industry?
It means a whole new era for no thrills smartphones. Phone supplier Ericsson says there were 1.9 billion smartphones subscribers by the end on 2013. By 2019, that number is expected to almost triple. Much of this is fueled by growing smartphone demand in developing and underdeveloped nations. Some of these places have no cable TV, or even electricity, so the smartphone may be their only way of modern day communication. And companies seem eager to provide. There’s Motorola Motor E, and there’s Alcatel. It has 4G, 13 megapixel camera, quad core processor, and runs Android 4.2. The Alcatel will run you as little as $80.
So you may not get the excellent features smartphone snobs demand. But this isn’t for the smartphone snob. These are for those who have always wanted a handset, but either couldn’t afford one or were too intimidated by the difficult technology…until now. I’ve mentioned it’s popularity around the world. But the cheap smartphone has a popular following in the US too. Let’s face it, the economy isn’t exactly back to it’s normal self, and it may never be again. So for many Americans, the cheap smartphone may be their only option. Will the cheap smartphone outsell the fancy ones?
Net Neutrality: It’s the hot button issue of 2014, sort of like the NSA was the hot button issue of 2013. There has been protest nationwide about the issue. And it seems the powers that be are listening.
It’s been announced online companies received lots on airspace specifically for unlicensed use.? They got a couple of channels for TV airways too. To put it in layman’s terms, they’ve allowed construction for working class housing in the richest neighborhood in town. A TV airwaves auction could bring in $20 billion. While this was a huge step in the right direction, especially for Internet companies. But the controversy surrounding net neutrality is far from over.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission) Chairman Tom Wheeler seems to be between a rock and a hard place. He’s been criticized by everyone. He first said he was cool with Internet companies charging more for faster service. Then came the protest. The protest got more intense: It went from activists bombarding the FCC with angry emails, letters, and phone calls to camping outside headquarters, causing a scene. Now it seems like Wheeler is backing off, or at least backing down. Now he’s saying things like ‘we’re looking at every way to protect an open and free Internet’. I hope so. One of the problem is net neutrality is so complex to understand. And let’s not get started on issues like Comcast merging with NBC Universal. What side are you on in the net neutrality debate?
Minnesota is known for it’s many, many lakes, extremely cold winters and a huge mega-mall. Now it’s known to take a huge stance against cell phone theft.
As of July 1, 2015, every smartphone and cell phone in Minnesota will be required to have a preloaded anti-theft functionality. In other words, every phone sold in this state starting July 2015 must have an anti-theft tool or app. Governor Mark Dayton hopes this combats cell phone theft, especially violent incidents. Governor Dayton isn’t alone in his concern. Minnesota senators are pushing to make this a federal law. University of Minnesota police say nearly two-thirds of on crime campus is cell phone theft, many of those by armed robbery. Minnesota isn’t alone in fighting cell phone theft. Back in February, California introduced a bill combating cell phone theft.
The statistics are alarming. Did you know every minute, 113 portable phones are lost or stolen? It’s competing with ID theft as the fastest growing crime in the US today. So I actually agree with Minnesota in passing this law. Now I know what some of you might say: Should the government be getting involved at all? Shouldn’t we wait for cell phone companies to take care of this? Isn’t this big? brother? In the case of cell phone theft, and how fast it’s rising, I say give this law a try. But make sure people’s rights and securities aren’t being infringed upon. Is an anti cell phone theft mandate right for your state, or the whole nation in general?
At first, it looked like major tech corporations from Apple to Yahoo were in cahoots with the NSA to take our info. Then reports came out saying they were ordered into it. Now, these tech giants are denying demands for public online data. This increasing defiance gives many Americans the fuel they need to fight criminal investigations and potentially trumped up charges. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Facebook are changing policies to inform us about government data seizures during and before they happen. Of course, many agencies disagree with these new policies. The US Justice Department says all these polices will do is hinder criminal investigations and make victims even more vulnerable.
On the surface, I’m happy these tech giants are making this step. I’m glad to know they’re stepping up for the little guy and are responding to the public outcry in this way. There’s still the eternal optimist in me that says they’re taking this stand because they’re standing with the people. But the cynic in me wonders if they’re doing it because they’re trying to distance from the NSA for their own financial security. But either way, I’m glad they’re making this move. Do you think this struggle between tech corporations and gov’t entities is over?
