Speaking at a T-Mobile media briefing, Illinois Institute of Technology Vice Provost and computer science research professor Dennis Roberson presented a study that accused Verizon of using flawed math when it made its efficiency calculations. He stated that once that math is corrected – surprise, surprise – T-Mobile comes out on top.
You can look at Roberson’s full regulatory filing and presentation on T-Mobile’s Website, but basically his argument is this: Verizon treats all of its connections as equals in its analysis without accounting for the number and usage levels of smartphones consuming most of the bandwidth; and Verizon treats all spectrum as equal though some frequencies are more efficient than others.
What it boils down to, though, is that Verizon is crunching its numbers one way, and T-Mobile is crunching them another way. I’m sure if he so chose, Roberson could finagle that data to correlate Verizon’s spectrum use to an increase in tooth decay.
The pathetic thing about this situation is that T-Mobile isn’t wrong. T-Mobile is the most efficient user of spectrum in the country, while Verizon is probably the most inefficient. T-Mobile’s argument is sitting right in front of it. Verizon is parked on loads of Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) and 700 MHz licenses that it has yet to touch and – in the case of 700 MHz – actually plans to sell. The Federal Communications has even started calling Verizon on its spectrum warehousing practices.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile has put practically every megahertz of spectrum its has every bought to use either in its GSM or HSPA+ networks. In fact, T-Mobile is so strapped for airwaves, it’s cannibalizing its 2G networks to make room for more efficient mobile broadband technologies such as LTE. T-Mobile couldn’t make a better argument than that to show it’s making the most of the limited resources it has.
T-Mobile is angling to get this deal killed so it can get a shot at buying up the cable operators’ penthouse airwaves. I have little doubt if T-Mobile were to prevail it would make immediate and good use of those frequencies, while its competitors might sit on them for several years.
T-Mo has basically done a complete 180 in the space of a year, and now it’s asking the FCC to accommodate its new role as industry savior. It may be the everyman’s carrier today, and that’s great. But who knows what T-Mobile will be tomorrow.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock user Picsfive
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Smartphones get tough with the Motorola Defy Mini and Sony Xperia Go - Silicon Republic
Smartphones get tough with the Motorola Defy Mini and Sony Xperia Go
The Motorola Defy Mini
The pocket-sized device that goes everywhere with us is now seeing new models that are tougher and more durable, so your smartphone can stand up to just about anything.
The latest smartphone from Motorola Mobility claims to have style, strength and brains, too, plus it sports a reasonable price tag.
The Android Gingerbread-powered Motorola Defy Mini is ‘life-proof’, which means it’s dust-proof and water-resistant, and the 3.2-inch display is made from scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. Compact in size (109 x 58.5 x 12.6 mm) but big on power, the handset comes with a large-capacity 1650 mAh battery that offers up to 10 hours of talk time.
Other features included a 600MHz processor, 3MP camera, front-facing VGA camera, pre-loaded social networking apps, GPS navigation and MotoSwitch technology, which means the device can learn which songs you love, who you talk to most and which apps you most frequently use and makes these things readily available to you.
Though it’s lower on specs than more high-end models, this handy little number could be ideal for those of us who aren’t so delicate with our devices. Available in Ireland from today, you can pick up a Motorola Defy Mini from Vodafone Ireland starting at €129.99 on pay as you go or from free on bill pay.
But wait, there’s more
Motorola Mobility isn’t the only smartphone manufacturer tapping into the smart but durable market and Sony will follow suit later this year with the Xperia Go. This 3.5-inch display smartphone has received the highest rating for dust and water resistance (IP67) and can withstand immersion between 15cm and 1m for up to 30 minutes.
More powerful than the Defy Mini, the Xperia Go will feature a 1GHz dual-core processor, plus a 5MP camera, but, chances are, these extras will come in the form of a higher price.
Elaine Burke 
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Motorola’s smart watch gets social with improvements - Gigaom.com
I like Motorola’s approach to this class of device because while I’ve seen and tested a number of wearable connected devices, few have delivered either a positive experience, wide range of useful features, or both. Instead of putting out a half-baked product, Motorola designed and marketed the MotoActv to fitness enthusiasts from the beginning and recently added golf functions while a few smart watch functions went along for the ride. And even those — notifications for email, text messages and caller ID — were first limited to Motorola-branded phones.
motoactv_mr7_facebook
Eventually, the smart watch features were extended to all Android phones, not just those made by Motorola. The company also fixed initial battery issues and at that point, I bought myself a MotoActv for my daily running: The integrated GPS provides route, elevation, pace and time. Once I realized the accelerometer could track steps, I ended up wearing the MotoActv every day, and I still do. But I haven’t been using the phone notification feature. Now that the updated device includes support for Facebook and Twitter, I may enable that feature.
I’ll also be taking full advantage of the more detailed golf tracking included in this software update. Ironically, I just played 9 holes with the watch yesterday, using it to track every shot on the course (and there were quite a few of them!). Here’s an example of the data tracking:
But I had commented to a fellow golfer during the round that I wish the MotoActv didn’t treat all putts the same: It only captures how many putts used on each hole. Lo and behold, just a day later, the new software update allows putt tracking for short, medium and long putts, making the data capture even more useful.
Interesting to me is how Motorola still isn’t positioning the MotoActv as a smart watch, although I think most would consider it one if they knew the capabilities. Then again, many people haven’t yet heard of smart watches. It’s a clever move to instead market the device as a known item — a fitness tracker — and then keep adding smartphone-assisted functions and other improvements. Motorola’s MotoActv may be the best smart watch to date; just don’t call it a smart watch!
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