After RIM, its Skype and Google's turn to open up

RIM averted a ban by Indian government
by providing an interim solution that India authorities will test for another 60 days before making any further decision. Earlier India Government had warned RIM of possible shutdown if they don’t provide access to encrypted email and instant messages. Not much has been disclosed about the possible solution to intercept messages. There are even reports of installing servers locally in India for Indian Authorities to have easy access. Some are skeptical about the whole fiasco and even call this as a farce between RIM and Indian Authorities .

So with the interim solution from RIM, it looks like a face saving deal for both RIM and Indian government. With a partial victory over RIM, Indian authorities are targeting Skype and Google to open up their end-to-end secure communication for lawful intercept. Now this is where it gets interesting. Iam not sure how Skype is going to support Lawful intercept of their calls and messages. One of the reasons being that Skype is a P2P protocol and there are no servers involved between users for communication. Iam not even sure if Skype supports Lawful intercept standards. They have been having problems with law enforcement agencies for years now and don’t think there is a solution. Indian government is pushing these companies to install local servers for authorities to have easy access. Nokia plans to setup servers in India by November for its enterprise email services.

For RIM, building its own Blackberry data center within the country would cost tens of millions of dollars. Not sure if this is something RIM will consider in future given that the Mobile Smartphone market in India is gone explode. Currently RIM has roughly around 1 million blackberry users and that might change in future. Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts predicts that Indian Smartphone market will grow to 40 million by the end of 2015.

It would be interesting to hear what Skype has to say now that their IPO is imminent. Will they Comply like others Or not give a rat’s ass to Indian Authorities?

Google Voice going mainstream with Gmail

Google’s getting pretty serious about Voice business and is moving aggressively in this direction. Today they unveiled a new feature for Gmail using which users can call any phone number in USA and Canada free of charge. Yes u heard it right, its free. However the free calls will last only until end of this year. This new service will put Google into direct competition with Skype, the most popular internet telephony company. In fact they have some good pricing for international calling. According to some sources, Google is using the money they make from international calling to provide free calls to USA and Canada.

The service doesn’t need you to install a new desktop client. All you need to do is install a voice and video plug-in to the browser and voila u can make and receive calls for free. Google says the new service would work well for people in a spot with poor cell phone reception or for those making a quick call from their desk.


Another interesting news to share is the Google Voice Phone booths that Google plans to install in Airports and Universities. Now this gets interesting and has not been tried by any of the other internet telephony folks. With so much cash in bank, this might not be a big deal for Google. Also this pushes the Google Voice feature to more audience and serves as a marketing tool. Apparently Google wants more user to try out the Google Voice feature and its quality. If the call is free, iam sure there will be tones of folks who would love to use this booth.

As Om points out, launching this feature with Gmail has such a huge impact for various different reasons. So it’s a sort of one place for all communication. I think this is on of the features Facebook should be thinking off to support in future. From a user standpoint, It makes so much sense to have all communication (IM, Voice, Video, SMS, Chat, Calender, Mail etc) happening in one place instead of opening multiple apps/windows/browser etc.

So looks like Skype has got a serious competitor in Google Voice. Its not only Skype that should be worried about Google Voice, even the Telco operators should take this threat from Google Voice seriously. So until it lasts, just enjoy the free calls.

India joins the bandwagon to ban RIM

India has joined the bandwagon to ban Research In Motion’s Blackberry Smartphone unless it gives the key to decode encrypted email and messages. In fact India issued an ultimatum today that if they don’t get the code by end of Aug, they will ban RIM Blackberry phone. The BlackBerry-to-Blackberry messenger and the BES, which provides corporate intra-email services are the ones that India wants the key to decrypt. Other services provided by Blackberry like Voice, SMS and BIS already comply with the law enforcement agency. Unlike other Smartphone vendors, RIM operates its own network of servers to provide corporate email and messaging. The high security provided for Corporate email is one of the reasons why RIM is corporate’s favorite Smartphone. Will they give-up that to please Indian Government? Looks like they may succumb to the pressure as they did with Saudi Arabia government.



According to RIM, the security architecture for its enterprise customers is based on a symmetric key system where in the key is generated and owned by the customer. So their argument is that it can’t be provided since users own the key. However, based on pressure from Saudi Arabia, they did agree to handover the codes in a last-ditch effort to stop getting banned. So Indian officials are hopeful they will do the same thing with them. With the recent terror attacks and the new threat looming every now and then, Law enforcement agency are very serious about intercepting these communication devices.

For RIM, this is going to be a very critical decision to make. Any compromise could jeopardize its appeal to corporate users and politicians alike. We all know U.S President Barack Obama’s favorite gadget is Blackberry. So any changes in their security strategy would have bigger impact. Saying no to these countries would limit its ambition to grow beyond North America. In addition, competitors are eating into RIM’s dominant share of Smartphone. Some of the corporate users are embracing iPhone, which was introduced as a cool gadget for kids.

I personally feel RIM should give access to their encrypted message if Indian authorities feel that they have legitimate information about threats. Iam assuming the messages will not be intercepted for all Users and it will be on case by case basis based on user’s background. How users will be picked for interception is beyond my imagination. Last time i got lot of hate mails when i said its OK to intercept any communication as long as it is done in the interest of the country. I don't approve privacy intrusion, but at the same time if its abused by some folks then it needs to be addressed.

Google says Goodbye to Wave

Today Google made a big decision. Its bidding Goodbye to Google wave, the messaging 2.0 product that they unveiled with much fanfare . Somehow I had this feeling that the product was geekier in nature and complicated for average users. So the news is good and bad for Google. Good that they were quick to realize that the product did not attract enough users and canned it. Bad that it had to let go one of its ambitious project.

Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began. In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.

Wave has taught us a lot, and we are proud of the team for the ways in which they have pushed the boundaries of computer science. We are excited about what they will develop next as we continue to create innovations with the potential to advance technology and the wider web.

Is Google struggling to find a new cash cow other then the search engine, which is their main source of revenue. Though Google has so many different products, none of them have made any significant contribution to the company's revenue stream.

Vonage’s new App targets Facebook friends

Vonage, the VoIP Company is trying to figure out new avenues to grow its revenue. In the process the company is launching a new app for Android and iOS that lets users make free calls to Facebook friends over 3G and Wi-Fi. Finally a bigger VoIP player is embracing the social networking power. With this, Vonage can reach all the 500 million face book users. So what this means is that if your Facebook friends have smart phones then you can call them for free. What’s interesting about the service is that you don’t have to remember the phone numbers of your Facebook contacts to talk. Though the concept of making call via 3G or Wi-Fi is not new, providing voice services to social networking friends via Smartphone is a new twist.

Despite the fact that Vonage is one of the biggest VoIP provider for more than a decade, it is still struggling to maintain a strong growth in the failing Voice market. With the introduction of free International calling via its routers that features a standard telephone socket, Vonage has gained some ground. Skype is one of biggest competitor for Vonage and with more than 550 million users, Vonage still looks miniscule. Off course not all Skype users are paid users. So all these new initiative might give Vonage some leading edge for competition.

“The Vonage Mobile app for Facebook is a tangible example of our commitment to deliver extraordinary value and a better communications experience for individuals and their social networks, across broadband-enabled devices, around the world,” said Marc Lefar, Chief Executive Officer of Vonage Holdings Corp. “This is just the start. In the future we will expand on this service to include a wide range of integrated voice and messaging services that change the way people communicate.”

Below is more info on how Vonage Mobile Application for Facebook work?
The Vonage Mobile application is simple. It’s simple to download, and so simple to use that we have eliminated the need for dialing altogether. To get started, the user:
• Downloads the app from the iTunes Store, Android Market, the Vonage fan page on Facebook or vonage.com/talkfree.
• Enters Facebook ID and password (one time only).
• Views Facebook contacts after they are automatically loaded. They’ll be grouped by friends who can be called for free and friends available for instant messaging on Facebook. A Vonage logo will appear next to the names of friends who have downloaded the app.
• Invites additional Facebook friends to get the app at the Vonage Fan Page on Facebook or vonage.com/talkfree.
• Touches a friend’s name from the Call Free list to make a free call anywhere in the world; no need to be online.
• Rings the phone for incoming calls, even if the application is closed.

Check out the video below:

LightSquared LTE ambition, will it see the light?

Harbinger Capital Partner, a New York private equity firm plans to build an open Multibillion dollar wholesale 4G wireless network that will cover most of the USA by 2015. Just couple of days back the company launched the new venture, called LightSquared. According to industry sources, the overall cost to build the entire network will be between $6-10 billion. From a funding standpoint, Harbinger has secured $1.75 billion in debt and equity financing . The new financing adds to the $2.9 billion already contributed to LightSqaured. The dream is BIG. The folks running the show at LightSquared are no newbie’s. These are veterans’ in the Telco world and have run multibillion dollar networks in the past. However building an entire wireless network from scratch is a stretch and many folks doubt( here and here) if this is ever going to be become a reality. There are lot of hurdles from financial and implementation standpoint. In addition, as per FCC guidelines, LightSquared needs to cover 100 million people by end of 2012. Other operators are very aggressive with respect to 4G rollout. So competition is gone be stiff.

The clear winner out of this whole deal is Nokia Siemens, which signed an 8-year agreement worth $7 billion to deploy, install, operate and maintain LightSquared network. This will give Nokia Siemens a big boost to its ambition of becoming one of the Key Vendors for North American operators. The recent acquisition of Motorola wireless infrastructure business also bolsters its entry into most of the North American operator accounts.

Here are some highlights of the LightSquared announcement:
• Nokia Siemens Networks signs an 8-year agreement worth $7 billion to deploy, install, operate, and maintain LightSquared network
• First-ever wholesale nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband network integrated with satellite coverage allows partners to offer terrestrial-only, satellite-only, or integrated satellite-terrestrial services to their end users
• Telecommunications luminary Sanjiv Ahuja becomes Chairman and CEO, joined by a seasoned management team
• First truly open and net neutral wireless network spurring the development of new wireless devices, applications, and services
• Unique wholesale-only business model avoids conflict of interest with customers
• LightSquared is announcing up to $1.75 billion in additional debt and equity financing
• LightSquared network build-out anticipated to generate more than 100,000 direct and indirect private sector jobs within five years

Only time will tell if Harbinger will be able to execute its grand ambition of providing a wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE network. Stay tuned.

Samsung Galaxy a worthy iPhone rival

Walt Mossberg, the most popular gadget reviewer for Wallstreet journal reviews Samsungs Galaxy series which is built on top of android platform.

Please find the video below:



Competition is good and iam happy Android is steadily gaining the ground. Also the number of apps available on android platform is increasing. It’s good news to consumers. Expect to see more innovation in the Smartphone space.

Mobile Video services to make $2 billion

According to ABI research , Mobile video services is expected to generate revenue of $2 billion worldwide in 2013. This should be good news to all the Mobile video players like Skype, Fring, Apple etc. The mobile video includes Video Telephony, Video Messaging, P2P and Web 2.0 video sharing and live streaming. Apple recently launched its ambitious Mobile Video calling via FaceTime with iPhone 4. Though I don’t have an iPhone 4, I had the privilege to watch the FaceTime demo from one of my colleague and it was awesome. Already lots of folks are raving about FaceTime. Mobile Video calling is still in its infant stage and needs a big push from one of the Big Carrier/Mobile Vendor. Looks like Apple is pretty serious about mobile video and iam sure they will play a pivotal role in making this feature popular. Iam glad Apple is driving the technology.

The uptake of Mobile video service also depends on the wireless bandwidth availability, and this is one of the reasons most of the operators are moving towards LTE. Consumer’s appetite for mobile entertainment is increasing and thanks to iPhone’s and the droids. The mobile handset which was originally used for basic calling and messaging is now used as a primary entertainment device. In addition, consumers are willing to pay for the bandwidth usage. Web 2.0 services have definitely changed the Mobile industry. Information is Real-time. Be it Location, News, weather etc.

On a flip side, availability of mobile video capable handset and bandwidth can derail the growth of this service. The recent policy change of AT&T to charge for data based on usage is definitely going to hurt users while help operators make some more buck. If the service is compelling, consumers might be willing to pay some extra bucks and that might be a new avenue for operators to make money.

Some interesting tidbits from the article:

“Video services revenue will only amount to about $121 million this year,” says senior analyst Mark Beccue. “But the growth curve is very steep indeed, and will only continue to accelerate through the end of our forecast period in 2015.”

“MNOs mustn’t settle for the role of undifferentiated mobile ISPs that manage ‘dumb pipes’,” Beccue advises. “They should provide a variety of mobile video services and leverage strategic ecosystems until they upgrade their networks to provide quality video services. Partnering with device OEMs and software solution providers will help to optimize mobile devices. This will contribute to an already significant investment, but the rewards will be great.”

Though some folks are skeptical about Mobile Video calling, iam upbeat about the product and definitely think it has a bright future.

Apple’s Dream run with a Hiccup

Looks like Apple’s dream run with iPhone,iPad is going through some hiccups in the form of iPhone 4 antenna issues. Though the issue was observed immediately after the launch of iPhone 4, Apple ignored it saying it was not a big deal. And the man( Steve Jobs) of the era said consumers need to learn how to hold the phone. The irony is that during the iPhone 4 launch, he was holding the phone in the wrong way. After some more hue and cry by iPhone critics and users, Apple PR came up with some cooked up story of how a software glitch was causing these antenna signal bar issues and how a new software update would solve all the problem. So far so good. The latest report from Consumer report blog was the last nail in the coffin. This was picked up by almost all the media and blogosphere and exposed the arrogance of Apple. The impact was pretty big and it tanked Apple shares by 2%. Yes 2% of the shares were down and definitely not good news to the shareholders.

So here is my personal opinion about the whole fiasco. If Apple expects me to pay a premium price for their product, iam willing to pay as long as I get what is promised. But if there is a problem with the phone and iam asked to change my behavior or use some shit hack to make it work, Now that is ridiculous and arrogance beyond imagination. If the shit you manufacture has issue, go fix it rather than asking people to fix it. I hope the man I admire the most comes out with a common sense solution instead of stupid gimmicks.

There is lot of speculation on what could be a potential fix. A simple duct tape or an iPhone Bumper case . Some folks even suggest a recall is inevitable, which would cost Apple around $1.5 billion. In addition, every week delay would cost them $200 million dollars more.

The impact of iPhone antenna signal issue has reached its peak. Tonight show David letterman has fun at iPhone 4 expense:
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Android Gaining Momentum, Apple and RIM lose

According to ComScore’s data on Smartphone market for the three month average period ending May 2010, Google’s Android platform is making steady progress with a 4% increase in the Smartphone market share. Apple lost 1% of the market share for the same period. Google Android platform stands at number 4 with 13% of the market share. Though android is gaining momentum, it is still a long way for it to catch up with RIM and Apple. The overall gain of 4% comes from RIM, Apple and Microsoft. No wonder Microsoft lost 1.9% of the market in the same period. A total of 49.1 million people in the U.S owned Smartphone’s. Iam happy that Android is making steady progress and could become one of the biggest competitors to Apple’s iPhone. Though iam an iPhone freak, I think competition will keep Apple’s momentum in check. We don’t want to see another Motorola (Razr) story repeated from Apple.

From a manufacturer shares, Samsung is leading the pack with 22.4 percent market share followed by LG (21.5 percent), Motorola (21.2 percent), RIM (8.7 percent) and Nokia (8.1 percent).

Smartphone Platform Market Share:

OEM Market Share:

Mobile Content Usage:

More info Here.