Today's FCC Ruling On Protecting Internet Traffic

FCC chairperson Julius Genachowski

The FCC officially ruled today in favor of a protective piece of legislation, basically stating that internet service provider's (ISPs) cannot interfere with the content and/or traffic flow of their customers.  The idea being that an AT&T customer might be getting blocked from accessing Comcast content, or a similar situation.  The truth is, this is a bit of something out of nothing.  Has anyone ever faced a situation where they couldn't access certain content, or faced extremely low web speeds due to interference from their ISP?  I don't think so.

To quote the AP - "Known as "net neutrality," the rules prohibit phone and cable companies from favoring or discriminating against Internet content and services, such as those from rivals."

"The rules require broadband providers to let subscribers access all legal online content, applications and services over their wired networks — including online calling services, Internet video and other Web applications that compete with their core businesses. But the rules give broadband providers flexibility to manage data on their systems to deal with problems such as network congestion and unwanted traffic including spam as long as they publicly disclose their network management practices."

As I said, I do believe in a completely free and protected Internet environment (I wouldn't work online if I didn't).  I do think this battle was a bit more smoke and mirrors than they are letting on.  The Internet needs to be untethered and in the consumer's hand to shape and mold.  But I do agree with the Conservative opinion in this case, which is this type legislation might slow ISPs from trying to build out comprehensive strategies to incite their customers with content and package upgrades.

Full story here...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101221/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_fcc_internet_rules.

ATT Investing Millions To Stop iPhone's Dropped Calls?

As a dedicated iPhone user who curses AT&T everyday, I'd be thrilled if this actually went down and we could go a day without dropping a call. Apparently there are too many iPhone's for the AT&T network....glad they sorted that out ahead of time.

ATT Wireless Sucks

"More bars in more places" my ass. If only I didn't love my iPhone...

The Latest iPhone 4G Video Leak

Note some of the homepage shortcuts at about the 1:20 mark...

Wal-Mart Sells $197 8GB iPhone

Yahoo is reporting that Wal-Mart is now selling the 8GB iPhone 3G for $197, $98 more than the $99 we were hoping last week let alone the $99 refurb price at AT&T. Not much else to report on this one but it is interesting to see the iPhone visit the hinterlands where AT&T and Apple stores are scarce.

AT&T Launching Touch Screen Phone For PCs

I agree, it is both confusing and silly that AT&T would launch a touch screen phone that is similarly priced as an iPhone ($199). But hey, what the hell do I know. The LG Incite comes loaded with Windows 6.1 operating system, 3G capabilities, GPS opportunities, WiFi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0, and a 3.0″ touchscreen. It has a full multi-tasking operating system with access to your Microsoft Outlook and other mailbox contacts, calendars, and tasks. You can edit Microsoft Office documents - Mobile Word, Excel, OneNote. View PowerPoint and Adobe® PDF attachments.

I get it, its a corporate friendly touch screen, which does have value I guess. But isn't AT&T already banking on the new iPhone OS being more Microsoft product friendly? Is this a secondary option to that end?

"I'm a PC" commercial lovers eat your heart out.

Blackberry Storm In 4 Days

It looks like the wait is over.... let the holiday iPhone - G1 - Storm battle begin!!

Build A Wireless Finger Phone

Blackberry Storm To Battle iPhone and G1

Considering the coverage I’ve given to both the iPhone and G1, I’ve neglected to consider the effect the Blackberry Storm will have on the touch screen phone market. The phone is contracted through Verizon, the next carrier to make an exclusive deal to try and catch some share from AT&T (iPhone) and potentially T-Mobile (G1).

Blackberry has done very little to promote the phone so far, and could be waiting for the hype over the G1’s coming release in a couple weeks to slow down.

The new touch-screen, which also works as a keyboard, supports single -touch, multi-touch and gestures to easily navigate in applications. The haptic touch-screen will let the user distinctly feel the screen being pressed and released with a gentle click, and the experience is said to be similar to that of a physical keyboard or a mouse button. Some of the other features include an inbuilt accelerometer to auto-orient the screen between landscape and portrait modes when the handset is rotated by the user.

RIM has said that it is very fast and easy to navigate web sites with the Storm's touch-screen interface letting users double tap to zoom in and slide their fingers to scroll and pan.

Mike Lazaridis, RIM's president and co-CEO has said "We are proud to introduce the first touch-screen based BlackBerry smartphone together with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touch-screen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touch-screens. Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface."