Bank of America & Visa Testing Cell Phone Payments

August 20, 2010

The Bank of America and Visa are testing cell phone payment plans that will make it possible for customers to pay bills and do more transactions on their smart phones. A test program will begin next month with designs on allowing customers the ability to pay for items in stores with their smart phones.

The program is being called a “digital wallet,” which is interesting given the availability of debit and credit card options in almost every single purchase point.

Banks, tech companies and cell phone providers are lining up to become the first to develop the technology, with designs on transforming how consumers pay for things in North America. The technology has existed for years in Japan, but America has been a little slow on the uptake.

The technology essentially allows users to install chips into their smart phones that emit radio signals over short distances. Users then “bump” their cell phones with point of purchase locations and bank account data is collected to enable the purchase to be made. Sound like a potential for disaster? That’s because it probably is.

Of course, the big goal behind this is that of “contactless payment.” Visa and the other companies involved are hoping that users will take to the idea of simply “waving” their phones near products they want to purchase. Apparently the use of a simple card is too complicated.

With identity theft continually on the rise, this project should be raising a lot of alarm bells and red flags. Imagine the opportunity for wireless robbery should this technology really take off. There is so much potential for disaster here that I’m having a hard time getting excited about the possibilities. And nevermind the potential for lost jobs and the continued move towards a completely impersonal society.

Imagine stores filled with quiet drones simply waving their phones in front of products they want to purchase. No more cashiers, no more check-outs. Sound like a utopia? Hardly.

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Section: Concepts & Designs | Opinion: Voice It

Cell Phone Makers to Include Mandatory FM Tuner?

August 18, 2010

It looks like the cell phone makers may soon be dragged into the middle of a long-running dispute between radio broadcasters and the recording industry. The plan involves a “compromise” among radio broadcasters, recording labels and artists that could impose a federal mandate on cell phone makers that would make them have to include an FM radio chip in all new cell phones.

The deal is currently being considered and the cell phone makers are somewhat put off by the idea of regulations telling them how to manufacture phones across the board. The cost, too, could be an issue.

Now the proposal does include what is being termed as all “relevant media,” so other media players could also be included in the mix.

For some, this battle means the survival of a dying form of entertainment. FM radio is dwindling as people turn to media devices and MP3 players to get the music and entertainment they want on demand. Sifting through the lack of choices on the FM dial is a less than thrilling prospect these days, especially with annoying “shock jocks” and mindless banter filling most of the airwaves.

This is a sort of lobbying tactic used to keep old industries afloat in the wave of new ones. It is also coached in the recording industry’s long-standing dispute with getting paid properly for its work, although the terms of those arrangements appear to change weekly. This time it’s about territory and radio, next time it’ll be about something else.

So will cell phone makers have to include mandatory FM tuners in all of their products? It’s probably too early to say, but a little subsidizing might grease the wheels. If the makers can cut some sort of deal with with the broadcasters for payment for the installations, this could actually fly. The theory follows that the broadcasters make more money by having their “products” exposed on mobile devices. It’s possible.

Of course, there are some who feel that FM radio still has value and they may well enjoy the options with a tuner on a cell phone. But there are plenty of ways to stream radio already, so it’s questionable if this will make any sort of difference whatsoever.

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Section: Legal, Technology | Opinion: Voice It

Engineers Testing Sign Language on Cell Phones

August 16, 2010

Engineers at the University of Washington are testing MobileASL, a tool that uses motion detection to identify sign language. The goal is to transmit images of American sign language over U.S. cell phone networks.

“Sometimes with texting, people will be confused about what it really means,” says Tong Song, who is studying at Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf in Washington, D.C., and participating in the summer pilot test. “With the MobileASL, phone people can see each other eye to eye, face to face, and really have better understanding.”

MobileASL’s study team features 11 students and is the first team to examine how deaf and hearing-impaired people can use mobile video phones. The plan is to employ a much larger field study in the winter.

The engineers are currently at work on optimizing video signals for sign language, a task that should involve the increasing of the quality of facial images and hand images to reduce the data transfer rate. They are also working on reducing the amount of battery power used by these sorts of phones, employing motion sensors to take part in the task.

Many phones already do use a form of video conferencing. The problem is that broadband companies currently block the conferencing from their networks and offer high prices because of the heavy bandwidth used. The goal for the MobileASL team is to have the phones reduce the amount of bandwidth used.

“We want to deliver affordable, reliable ASL on as many devices as possible,” University of Washington professor Eve Riskin says. “It’s a question of equal access to mobile communication technology.”

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Section: Concepts & Designs | Opinion: Voice It

Canadians Pay “Draconian” Fees

August 13, 2010

According to an analysis by the SeaBoard Group, Canadians are trapped by some of the most restrictive cell phone contracts in the world. On top of that, the fees we pay are downright “draconian.”

“We have no doubt that local carriers could shorten the duration of contracts and still make a profit, but until now Canada’s incumbent carriers have had no reason to do so,” said Amit Kaminer, author of the analysis for the SeaBoard Group.

Kaminer blamed the oligopoly of Bell, Telus and Rogers are a big component to the issues, adding that the notion of “charing what the market will bear” also plays a role in the sour state of Canada’s telecommunications sector. The analysis also revealed that the most consistent complaint among consumers relating to their cell phone service in Canada is, you guessed it, the contracts.

The majority of contracts in Canada are three-year contracts. Compare that with the average contracts in Japan at 12 months or the majority of contracts in the United Kingdom at 18-24 months.

“The economic value of a contracted iPhone 4 customer in Canada is $3,689. Contrast that figure with the $1,598 value of a customer buying the same phone from a carrier in the U.K. Poor Canadian consumers are paying 2.3 times more for the same device – if they keep the device for the full term,” says Kaminer.

With 95% of the market share tied up by three companies, it’s hard to imagine things shifting any time soon. It’s almost a broken record, but the Big Three have run the telecommunications sector into the ground by offering little choice and little distinction for consumers. The upstarts have broke in to the market, sure, but with Rogers and Bell cranking up discount brands to tackle that problem, it doesn’t look like the likes of WIND or Mobilicity could be equipped to offer much by way of hope.

Of course, carriers use contracts because they work. It means that there’s guaranteed income to support costs. But part of the problem in Canada is that breaking a contract, for any reason at all, is a ridiculous process bordering on the absurd. The contract cancellation fees are “draconian,” says the SeaBoard Group study, and they go far beyond covering costs for carriers – especially when contracts are near their conclusion but the fees kick in anyway.

So what can change? Not much. Canada’s sector is locked in this pattern and will remain so for the immediate future at least. We can hope that the competition will break things down a little, but the Big Three hold too much market share to really consider any sort of shifting to be logical anytime soon.

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Section: Corporate | Opinion: Voice It

HTC Reaches Top 10 for Mobile Sales

August 12, 2010

Taiwan’s HTC has been accumulating market share at a relatively steady pace for quite a while now and it’s been paying off. For the first time, HTC has entered the top 10 of mobile sales worldwide.

The data comes thanks to Gartner and finds that HTC moved 5.9 million units in the second quarter of 2010. That puts the company at eighth on Gartner’s chart. HTC comes in with double its second quarter figures from 2009 and has reached an impressive market share of 1.8% for 2010′s second quarter. This is due in large part to the use of the Android platform and their branding strategy.

At the top of Gartner’s chart is Nokia with 34.2% of the market share in 2010′s Q2, down from the company’s 36.8% market share from Q2 of 2009. Samsung is second with 20.1% of market share in Q2, up from the 19.3% of the previous year’s same quarter. LG ranks third with 9.0% of market share in Q2 of 2010, down from 10.7% in the previous year’s same quarter. Waterloo’s RIM ranks fourth with 3.4% of market share, up from 2.7% of the previous year’s same quarter. Rounding out the top five is Sony Ericsson with some 3.4% of the market, down from 4.7% of the previous year’s same quarter.

Android’s rise in market share has a lot to do with the increase in HTC’s numbers. They’re third in the world with 17.2% of market share in this year’s second quarter, up an astounding amount from the 1.8% of last year’s same quarter.

HTC has a lot of work to do in order to catch Apple, sure, but their numbers have got to be impressive. Apple’s obviously sold a boatload of iPhones and will likely continue to do so, even with antenna issues and some bad PR as of late. It seems the public’s attachment to the product goes without saying, so it’s going to be tough for anyone to crack that market.

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Section: Corporate | Opinion: Voice It

Coast Guard Cell Phone Policy Needed

August 11, 2010

Federal accident investigators revealed that Coast Guard officers were using cell phones during a deadly collision between their own vessel and a pleasure boat. The collision took place December 20 in San Diego and marks one of two recent incidents in which Coast Guard officers were using mobile devices on the job.

The incidents have caused the National Transportation Safety Board to call for an examination of Coast Guard practices with respect to cell phones.

“The use of wireless communications devices while operating vehicles in any mode of transportation poses an unacceptable distraction,” NTSB Chairwoman Debbie Hersman said. “Lives are being unnecessarily put at risk and lost.”

It seems only reasonable that the NTSB’s admonishments, generally carried out to drivers of automobiles, would also apply on water. But a Wednesday letter to the Coast Guard marked just the first time the Board has brought up issues of mobile phones and safety with water-based vehicles. Unfortunately, the NTSB has no regulatory power and it’s hard to imagine that anything swift will come out of this beyond a slap on the wrist for the Coast Guard.

The fact remains, though, that watercraft operation requires just as much care and attention as the operation of any other vehicles.

The Coast Guard issued guidance covering the operation of their vessels in July of 2010, showing some progress. And the Coast Guard’s own findings on collisions in the water reveal that a vast majority of them occurred due to “operator inattention” or “improper lookout.”

The NTSB has asked the Coast Guard to further tighten its own restrictions and has requested that they issue a safety advisory to the entire maritime industry pertaining to cell phone usage on watercraft.

The December 20 accident under review took place when a Coast Guard vessel was responding to reports of a vessel in trouble. The Coast Guard vessel crashed into a pleasure boat, killing an 8-year-old boy.

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Section: Legal | Opinion: Voice It

WiMax Operators to Offer Mobile Services Soon

August 8, 2010

A majority of operators of WiMax plan to offer mobile services by 2012, but there’s a problem: there aren’t enough smart phones that offer support for the technology.

WiMax today is mostly used for fixed or nomadic broadband, meaning in cases where the user connects to the internet, accesses their connection, disconnects, and connects again in another location. According to a survey by Infonetics, two-thirds of the 25 service providers using WiMax are planning to move to mobile broadband by 2012. 90% of those hope to be using VOIP over WiMax networks by then.

In order for this to occur properly, smart phones that can use WiMax must be available. And right now, that’s not the case.

A lack of WiMax-enabled devices is the biggest concern for those service providers hoping to enter the fray. According to the survey from Infonetics, it is believed that Sprint’s launch of the HTC Evo 4G is an example of “pent-up demand” for WiMax network smart phones. NPD Group says that the Evo 4G was the third most popular Android-based smart phone among American consumers during the second quarter, so they may be on to something.

Without the smart phones to cover it, is WiMax a viable option right now even with the 2012 goal in mind? Doubtful.

There are other obstacles, too. A lack of distribution opportunities, along with retail, makes getting the products out there an issue. Low-cost options are not on the table, either, and that means trouble for gaining new customers.

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Section: News & Information | Opinion: Voice It

Telus Launching HTC Desire

August 5, 2010

On the same day that Bell Canada is planning to launch the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant, Telus will be unveiling the HTC Desire. August 6 marks launch day for both phones and Telus’ HTC Desire is geared to take on the other Android offering of the day in style.

With a 3.7-inch touchscreen, a 5-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, a 1GHz processor, and Android 2.1 as its O/S, the HTC Desire is an impressive product. In fact, it’s a lot like the Nexus One in terms of specifications only without the optical trackpad and, of course, the Sense GUI overlay.

Telus is planning on selling the HTC Desire for $79.99 on a three-year contract. Other plans will sell it for $349.99 on a two-year basis or $399.99 for one year. The full retail price, sans contract, will be $499.99.

The HTC Desire is actually less expensive than Bell’s Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant, but it also lacks the features that the more lucrative phone has. Some analysts even consider the HTC Desire to be a bit outdated already, but in the ever-changing world of mobile devices that’s not always a bad thing.

For the money, the HTC Desire is a decent phone. It may not be top-loaded with the best of features, but it does look like a heck of a purchase on a three-year contract for under $100. It’s hard to go wrong with that price, unless of course you consider the fact that you have to be tapped in to Telus for three years. Still…

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Section: News & Information | Opinion: Voice It

Motorists Still Ignoring Cell Phone Laws

August 4, 2010

Taking a trip to downtown Vancouver is always an interesting social experiment. You really get to see how various people behave in traffic and, what with cell phone laws now in place to prevent people from driving and dialing, it was interesting to see just how many Vancouverites pay little to no attention. It’s not uncommon to see several people still paying more attention to their mobile phone conversations than the road, always a disconcerting sight when it appears that you’re the only one paying any attention to the task of driving.

And now in Ontario, it looks like the police are observing similar things.

Durham regional cops are saying that they continue to catch people with cell phones behind the wheel routinely. Durham Regional Police reported issuing some 94 tickets to motorists found using cell phones on the highway. That’s 94 tickets between July 24 and August 2.

Food for thought, eh?

It doesn’t appear at all that the laws are working, as people seem to feel invincible behind the wheel and are willing to take chances that they shouldn’t. Bad drivers are common and adding cell phones to mix just stirs the pot to a rolling boil.

So what can be done? Higher fines? More enforcement? How can we convey the message of the dangers of cell phones to a population that seemingly doesn’t care?

In the end, it’s hard to say what it’ll take to get drivers to pay attention to the road and not to everything else but the road. Maybe it’s just a fact of life that people don’t take driving seriously, which could explain why so many people are just to bloody awful at it. The act of pointing a vehicle in a certain direction is apparently complicated enough on its own for many, so it stands to reason that adding cell phones to the mix is just a horrible idea.

I’m not sure what it’ll take to get people to wise up and obey the cell phone laws. But something has to be done to enforce these laws more effectively. Increasing public awareness would be a good start.

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Section: Legal | Opinion: Voice It

Inside the GSM Cell Phone Hack

August 1, 2010

At the Def Con security conference in Las Vegas, a researcher showed that he could actually “impersonate” a GSM cell phone tower. What’s more, he could intercept mobile phone calls with only $1500 worth of equipment.

Security researcher Chris Paget was able to create an IMSI or International Mobile Identity Subscriber. The IMSI cost about $1500 and can be configured to “impersonate” a cell phone tower from a specific carrier. Through this rig, he was able to snoop on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) based cell phones in the area because they would attach themselves to his more powerful signal.

The calls are intercepted and can then be routed to the intended receiver, enabling the “spy” to snoop in on the calls without any knowledge of the caller or recipient. The real carrier considers the call as being no longer connected to the network, so the call gets routed over to voicemail.

It is true that calls are encrypted, but that doesn’t mean that Paget and his glorious IMSI can’t turn the encryption off. Paget said that there should be warnings in place when encryption is turned off, but most GSM cell phones simply don’t provide those warnings. Paget blames this on the cell phone makers themselves, saying that GSM specifications require the encryption security features but makers don’t include them in the phones.

The good news is that CDMA carriers, like Sprint and Verizon, don’t connect to GSM towers. So they’re safe from this particular brand of hacking. Other major carriers, like T-Mobile and AT&T, are GSM carriers.

Now, the IMSI hack doesn’t work on 3G networks, but Paget did say that the 3G network can be simply knocked offline by an amp and a noise generator. With the 3G offline, the calls are routed through to the 2G network and the GSM cell phone hack can begin.

With this information out there at the Def Con conference, it’s possible that ambitious hackers could be trying it out. $1500 worth of equipment is a little more than what most hackers can generally borrow from their parents, sure, but that’s not to say that it won’t be done. The truth is that this technological age always carries with it considerable risk for invasion of privacy.

If this GSM hack wasn’t out there, there would be other methods for people to intercept calls and so forth. The safety and privacy we can latch on to in our everyday lives is becoming more limited by the day, so it’s tough to define any piece of tech as genuinely safe.

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Section: News & Information | Opinion: Voice It