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Telecoms Winning the WiFi War
Before yesterday's 11th-hour deal was announced, Reuters ran a piece on the clash between Philadelphia and the telecoms. If Verizon and its telco brethren are arguing that Philly and other cities are encroaching on their domain, here's one point of view to shut that contention down: "They've had this opportunity to deploy for years and they haven't done it," Philadelphia Chief Information Officer Dianah Neff told Reuters. "They in my opinion don't want competition."
• Reuters: Philly Broadband Clash Pits Cities Against Telecos
Philadelphia might provide a test run that other leaders in the state want to see play out before debuting their own WiFi programs. Pittsburgh's plan "is still a long way off," the Post-Gazette reported this week. "We're still debating whether or not it's a good idea," said attorney Alex Thomson, chair of a telecom group for the city. "Certain constituencies think it's a great idea and others think that it's stupid."
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Citywide Wireless Internet Connection a Long Way Off
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Cingular's Speed Play
In other wireless news, Cingular is beefing up its plans to offer faster wireless Internet service. The SBC Communication unit, now the largest wireless provider after its merger with AT&T Wireless, will begin rolling out the faster service next year, "a move made possible by the network capacity gained with the recent acquisition ... as Cingular tries to catch up with rivals led by Verizon Wireless. The nation's biggest cell phone company provided few details with Tuesday's announcement except to say it would launch the service in a 'substantial' number of markets by the end of 2005 and 'most' major markets by the end of 2006," the AP reported. The New York Times also noted Cingular is making the move to stay competitive with Verizon. "Industry executives said it could cost around $1 billion, though that figure did not include other enhancements to the underlying network that may cost the company significantly more."
• The Associated Press via washingtonpost.com: Cingular to Offer Faster Wireless Service (Registration required)
• The New York Times: Cingular to Upgrade Data Network (Registration required)
Apple in Sony's Eye
Sony is continuing to play catch-up to Apple's iPod, the wildly popular digital music player. Remember how cool the Walkman was in the 1980s? It was THE gift to get for the holidays (with cool blue foam headphones). If only that was the case this holiday season. Now Sony is having to make its Walkman work with the MP3 music format, something it has tried to avoid until now, and it is trying to nip at the heels of the iPod. Good luck.
An article in China Daily, picked up by the MacNewWorld site, however, still gives the upper hand to Apple. "Japan, home to four of the five top electronics companies by sales, advance orders made Apple's iPod mini the top-selling portable player three weeks before its July 24 release. It still is. Tokyo-based Sony's embarrassment at Apple's hands is another setback for the company that in 1979 invented the world's first portable music player, the Walkman. Sony's profit from consumer electronics has fallen in five of the past six years as Sharp and Matsushita Electric Industrial grabbed the digital initiative with flat-screen televisions and DVD player,"the article said. "Sony was the pioneer with the Walkman," Alexander Shalash of Swissca Portfolio Management in Zurich told the publication. "This time they're late. There are no alternatives to the iPod right now."
• The Wall Street Journal: Sony Puts MP3, a Rival Format, on a Walkman (Registration required)
• China Daily via MacNewsWorld: Apple Deepens Sony's Woes as iPod Takes Off
Too Much of a Good Thing?
Sony's PR team is surely focusing attention instead on the success of its PlayStation 2 video game unit, but success can be bittersweet. The device is selling so fast it is in short supply with many retailers, CNET's News.com reported, noting the "company said it's ramping up production and doing all it can to get more consoles in stores quickly. 'Consumer demand for the new PlayStation 2 has exceeded our expectations, and we are doing all we can to fulfill the wish lists of people who want a new PlayStation 2 unit under their tree this holiday season,' a representative of Sony Computer Entertainment America said. The shortage stems from the new slimmed-down PS2 design Sony announced earlier this year. Sony has been clearing out supplies of the original PS2 configuration for the past few months, and the company has been unable to push units of the new design into the market fast enough to meet holiday demand."
• CNET's News.com: PlayStation 2 Shortage Rattles Shoppers
The Los Angeles Times today reports that some PS2 marketing efforts have hit some snags, causing Sony to backpedal even more. "A glitch in promotional game discs sent by Sony Corp. last month to 1 million PlayStation 2 owners had the effect of wiping out all data stored on the video game console's memory card. The card, the size of a matchbook, records how far players have progressed in dozens of games," the paper reported. "For those who don't play video games, this is the equivalent of, say, accidentally taping over your wedding video," the paper said, quoting one analyst who said the flaw "doesn't quite rise to the level of tragic. ... But it's close."
• The Los Angeles Times: Flaw Proves Fatal to Player's Memories (Registration required)
CGI in HK
An update on China's growing stake in the technology world: The New York Times has a fascinating piece today on China's reach into the animation industry, a trend that Pixar and friends are surely watching closely.
"Early next year, Global Digital Creations Holdings, a fledgling animation studio that has mostly labored in anonymity, is aiming for the big time with the worldwide release of its first 3-D feature film, 'Thru the Moebius Strip,' a science-fiction adventure about a determined boy's time travel to another galaxy to rescue his stranded father," the article said. "In manufacturing, this country already rules the textile world, the production of computer parts and countless other items that Americans all but take for granted. Now, with the sophisticated images coming out of this studio, China seems to be serving notice to the Disneys and Pixars of the world that its day is arriving in the lucrative business of 3-D computer animation. But GDC executives, who have invested heavily in computer animation, a business notoriously difficult to crack, say that no matter how the global market treats their first feature-length foray into 3-D computer animation, commercial success is not the most important thing. 'This film is more of a calling card for us,' said Anthony Neoh, the Hong Kong-based chairman of the company. 'Our goal, within five to 10 years, is to be much less involved in the production side, and much more on the creative side, in order to really get this industry off the ground in China.'"
• The New York Times: China Hurries to Animate Its Film Industry (Registration required)