Palm Will Live On at HP

NEW VIDCAST: A Message to the Palm Developer Community from HP PC on Vimeo.

The interview of HP CTO Phil McKinney by two of Palm's developer relations team reassures Palm owners that HP will continue to invest in Palm devices and WebOS under the HP umbrella. Palm will continue to exist as a subsidiary of HP in their mobile products division and Jon Rubenstein will continue to run Palm with responsibility for WebOS. It is clear that HP has other ideas for WebOS beyond just smartphones into tablets, slates, and even printers.

HP is demonstrating their support of Palm in several ways. They have lowered barriers for developers to submit apps to the App Catalog by eliminating their $50 fee for App Catalog submission.  Now even casual developers like me may finish and submit and app.  McKinney offered to provide free Pres to the first 1,000 employees that develop WebOS apps. He said that the response was overwhelming.  They are investing in WebOS development to get it on par with Android. A new release will fully create a protected sandbox for PDK applications such as 3D gaming, and Flash is eminent.  Hopefully we will seen updated API for the phone, sound, and camera so we can have voice search, visual voicemail, Skype, and video chatting.  I would expect that GPU acceleration will be coming as well.  Ars Technia, Engadget, and other sites have rumored that HP will release a WebOS slate this fall with WebOS-enabled printers not far behind.  Let’s hope that HP leverages the Touchstone for the slate too.  HP’s CTO hinted at both items in his interview with Ben and Dion. 

One of Palm’s greatest weaknesses, due to lack of budget, has been in marketing.  After CTIA two years ago, Palm lost mind-share.  I’m sure that Palm blew a ton of money on the “spooky lady” ads, but they have not been successful in raising the visibility of the phones or WebOS.  Needless to say, Palm's marketing has been very anemic. The modest success they have enjoyed has been through mainly through the carriers that sell their phones. It is almost as if the people running the channel program were disjoint from the marketing people. Palm had the opportunity to retain mind-share before Android, and they failed to do so. Their limited number of devices and carriers at that time allowed Motorola, Google, and HTC to obtain greater visibility.  Palm has a very loyal following that they failed to capitalize except for the development community.  They failed to convert all of the Treo users to Pre and Pixi users as they left for Blackberries and iPhones.  Positioning of the Pixi was a bit off too.  Instead of pidgin-holing it as a “soccer mom” device (which it is), they needed to expand it as a starter smartphone for kids and baby-boomers that are just buying their first smart phone.  I still contend that Palm should have hired me for their marketing, but that’s another story. 

Palm restarted their marketing and awareness campaign about the time of the HP announcement.  Their $1 million Hot Apps contests are a great way to excite the development community, and their advertising is more Apple-like.  Even though the Treo market has evaporated, HP needs to win-over Blackberry users for corporate use.  HP has already started down this path by adding the Pre and Pixi to their SMB store and marketing it as a no-brains enterprise device.  The next step is to create public awareness for WebOS devices.  Think eco-system HP.  If I have a Pre then I would want the slate so my apps can run on it as well.  Now if I could take a picture on my Pre and print it directly on my WebOS printer wirelessly or make a movie on my slate and store it on my home server to watch later on the TV and simultaneously send it to YouTube, I would not even need to interact with my PC unless I wanted to edit the video.  These examples are the easy ones that can lock customers into HP products and develop that loyal following similar to Apple. 

As the largest computer manufacturer in the world, HP has the clout to be just as visible as Apple and Google. The first place to start is by winning over the geek community with demos of new WebOS features and devices.  Build that grassroots support through the geek community first then building to carrier excitement by demonstrating some of these applications through HP Labs.  Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, is out touting his HTC EVO as the world’s first 4G phone.  Get Verizon to really push a LTE-capable Pre2 before they get locked in to Motorola, and do the same for a couple of international carriers.  Show the vision and sell what you have today, but keep the vision based on reality that the common consumer can relate.  Let's hope that HP starts putting some of that creativity to work to demonstrate the beauty of WebOS. Now the battle for mobile OS will be interesting to watch.

in reference to: HP CTO Phil McKinney sits down with Ben and Dion | PreCentral.net (view on Google Sidewiki)

Technorati Tags: Palm,WebOS,Rubenstein,Android,Apple,Hesse,Sprint,Verizon

I’m Back

Okay, so it has been quite a while since I have last written anything on my blog.  I have lost most of my followers, but I was immersed in a start-up venture and did not have much free time to write.  It was another learning lesson where I gained some valuable experience that I will transfer into the next venture.

As many of you know, I have been intimately involved in driving fiber-based broadband networks most of my career.  Although I was always very close to the carrier in the implementation, I was always the vendor providing the equipment.  Still I gained a keen appreciation of the economics, business models, financing, architecture, operations, and services of those networks.  Now it is time for me to move to the other side, and be the person building those networks.

In the coming months, I will write articles describing the launching of this venture and the challenges that will be posed by Big Telecom.  Net Neutrality will be discussed from the perspective of who are the real friends of the consumer.  The resurrection of Palm and Sprint will be mentioned as well because I really enjoy my Palm Pre.

I hope that you choose to follow me on this journey and provide feedback and recommendations for topics.  I welcome your participation.  Thanks for sticking with me.

Technorati Tags: broadband,Sprint (S),Palm,telecom

Bye, Bye Sprint Airave

A month ago, I was excited to install Sprint's Airave to boost my signal strength in and around my house.  I was excited about its potential to further eat into traditional POTS sales.  This type of service is ideal for T-Mobile and Sprint to increase ARPU since their companies do not own any wireline networks in North America.

After a little over a month of using the Airave, I had to take it back.  Once the unit was activated, it worked well except for the occasional dropped call.  Airave technical support in Fort Worth, Orlando, and Overland Park diligently worked to determine why the unit kept dropping calls.  They determined that the IPSec tunnel was restarting every several minutes which caused the unit to restart.  This was the source of my problems.  I was delighted that Sprint was actually securing my connection, but why was my VPN tunnel dropping?  The technician confirmed with Samsung that my Netgear WGT-624v2 router was not handling the computation/translation of the IKE key correctly with NAT.

During the course of troubleshooting, I could no longer receive any incoming any calls or text messages.  I could still make outgoing calls though.  Sprint could not explained what changed to make my unit worthless.  My solution was to buy a new router or take the Airave back.  I am perfectly happy with my router and do not plan on replacing it for another couple of years.  I suppose that I could put a Ethernet switch on my cable modem as long as I could get another IP address from Comcast, but I really do not want to keep troubleshooting the problem.

In the mean time, I received my second bill since activating the Airave.  The charges were almost incomprehensible.  I was charged a $26 activation fee that was supposed to be waved plus double charged for a month of service.  I took back the unit last weekend and tried to have the retail store give me credit.  They pushed me off to Customer Service.  My first call to customer service was a failure and the second was not much better.  I still have not been completely credited for my one month plus experiment with Airave.  It is not hard to see why 337,000 customers fled Sprint last quarter.

Sprint's Airave initiative is a bold move to capitalize on the trend for younger people to exclusively use their cell phones whether at home or on the go.  At the moment it is superior to T-Mobile's service because users do not need a new cell phone.  Once again their execution of the service is lacking and customer service makes the experience a nightmare.  I know that the purpose of the limited introduction is to work out the kinks.  I just hope that they can work out all of them before the mass market launch.

Technorati tags: Airave, Sprint (S), wireless

Sprint's Airave: A VoIP Alternative

Being on the bleeding edge is not all that it is cracked up to be. Monday I wrote about Sprint's Airave femtocell where they provide unlimited calling to and from the same CDMA phone as long as callers are in range of the cell. My personal attraction to the device was to cover the poor reception that I receive around my home. The Sprint Customer Retention department suggested solving the problem by roaming since Verizon's coverage is much better. Although their remedy would have solved my voice reception problems, I would still have limited to no EV-DO access. My response back to the representative was, "Why would I maintain an account with Sprint for a crippled service when I could switch to Verizon and have it all?" They were dumbfounded, and I gave up.

A picture of my fully functional Airave taken by my Sprint phone and posted directly to my blog through the femtocell.

Moments later Sprint's Technical Support group (Tier 1) called back and was appalled at Customer Retention's suggestion to roam on the Verizon network. "What kind of retention plan is that?" the technician muttered. She recommended picking up an Airave at my local Sprint retail outlet. A few hours later, I drove to the Longmont Sprint store to pick up a free Airave adapter. The store manager and a salesman struggled for 30 minutes to just scan the ESN and add the service to my account. Finally they gave up and just handed me the box with the instructions to dial *2.

I thought I would activate the product during my drive to Denver Wednesday evening. Of course the activation representative had no clue about the Airave, so they transferred me to EMBARQ's customer service line. Fortunately, I knew how to reach the only group in Sprint currently supporting Airave from my previous adventures with them. After almost an hour on the phone with an advanced technician, she admitted that she could not activate the device. She escalated a trouble ticket to the project manager that would get back to me within 53 hours. Does anyone know why they always say 53 hours?

Finally Friday, after many calls and hours spent with Sprint, my Airave was should start working around 3 P.M. I waited...and waited...and waited for the 4 blue lights to illuminate. I was about to put the device back in its box when shortly after 5 P.M. the GPS light turned blue followed by the System light turning blue. They stayed illuminated for a few minutes before reverting to their typical red state. I powered down my phone and powered it up again. The lights all turned blue and I could actually make calls through it. Valhalla!

For the next hour, I wandered around the house making calls, receiving calls, and testing the 1xRTT data service. I must say that the device works as advertised. My calls are clear and steady as I roam through half of my house. I can send and receive text messages plus roam the web. Sprint calls directed through the Airave remain of toll quality even when I load down my Internet connection. I wish I could say the same for my VoIP service. Funny too since the Airave is at the end of a chain of devices from cable modem, ATA, router, then Airave. My biggest complaint is that the signal falls off quicker than my Wi-Fi router. Sprint advertises an approximate coverage area of 5,000 square feet that equates to a 40 feet radius around the Airave in free space. Forty feet reaches just to the edge of our living room; not enough to cover the whole house unless I can figure a way to install it in the middle of my house. The supervisor that activated my device and set up my account informed me that they are considering increasing power levels to increase coverage.

After a few days playing with Airave, it really has the potential of replacing land lines especially for twentysomethings that have never purchased a POTS line. It offers the simplicity of a single number per person on a single device, and the cost is comparable to most VoIP or digital phone services. Families will benefit because they can each be on their phone simultaneously. No more shouting, "I'm on the phone," or purchasing multiple lines. Around our house we are always looking for the cordless phone that is ringing in the sofa cushions. E911 is supported through the built-in GPS receiver. The only reason I see why I should keep my VoIP service is the inexpensive international calling and slightly higher voice quality . I will be curious to note how our calling patterns shift over the next couple of months. Kudos to Sprint for embracing this technology instead of resisting it.

Technorati tags: Sprint (S), Airave

Sprint Releases AIRAVE to Enhance In-Home Coverage

Sprint announced today that it is releasing AIRAVE to select customers in the Denver and Indianapolis markets.  The device is intended to replace a customer's landline by offering unlimited incoming, outgoing, and long distance calls with enhanced coverage inside the home.  Sprint customers can use the same CDMA phone that they currently use on the Sprint network.  The AIRAVE is a femtocell that utilizes customers' broadband service to communicate with the Sprint network. 

The Samsung manufactured device covers approximately 5,000 square feet overlaying coverage of the CDMA network.  Up to three Sprint subscribers can use the AIRAVE simultaneously as long as they are registered with the device.  If users are within the reach of the device, calls are initiated and received through it without utilizing any of the subscriber's plan minutes.  A subscriber can initiate a call on the femtocell then continue it outside its range on the Sprint network.  They will be charged for the time on the Sprint Nationwide network.  If they originate the call outside the femtocell, then come within range, they will have to re-establish the call to stop being charged for it. 

The AIRAVE is available in Sprint stores today (my local store had 8 of them) for $49.99.  A single line costs $15 per month for unlimited calling, and $30 per month for a family plan.  AIRAVE does not work with the iDEN system or EV-DO as far as I can tell.  AIRAVE is only available in Denver and Indianapolis for the moment with Nashville later this year.  Nationwide rollout is planned for 2008.

AIRAVE is Sprint's answer to T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home without requiring a new phone.  T-Mobile utilizes Wi-Fi for its in home wireless coverage while Sprint relies on the CDMA standard which is superior because customers can keep their same devices.  Both systems require a broadband connection.

Every six months Sprint adjusts my local cell site to move a minor null away from U.S. 36 west of my house.  Sprint ends up moving the null to our development preventing adequate coverage in my neighborhood (outside buildings).  They do not really have a choice since the antennas are fixed to a building.  The phone registers with the HLR, but calls go to voicemail.  I open trouble tickets and eventually service is restored.  Sprint's coverage maps show great coverage in my neighborhood if you think that receiving voicemail notifications qualifies as great coverage. 

AIRAVE would be an answer to my voice service problems if only Sprint would waive the charges for the device and service.  So far they refuse to do anything about it.  I hoped that they would at least offer to split the bill with me.  What I really want is a repeater to boost voice and data signals.  Too bad I cannot find anyone in Sprint that knows that they offer one for such situations.  My next step is to call customer retention to see if they can help live up to their advertising that they have coverage in my neighborhood.  I am going to call customer retention tomorrow to see if they will offer an AIRAVE to augment their poor coverage in my neighborhood.

Time will tell if AIRAVE will actually accelerate the replacement of the landline.  At $30 per month, it is a cost-effective replacement to a landline with unlimited long distance.  The femtocell will certainly boost the performance and use of cell phones in home and probably reduce calls to customer service complaining about coverage.  Hopefully a future version will support EV-DO.  This service may actually reduce churn from the Sprint network.

AIRAVE Web Site

Additional articles:  Engadget, Phone Scoop, Washington Post

Technorati tags: Sprint (S), AIRAVE, Samsung, femtocell

Sprint Offers Customers Music Convergence

Until now music listeners that purchase their music on-line have been confined to playing their music on PC and portable music players or their mobile phones, not both...until now. One day before CTIA begins, Sprint announced Monday that it will reduce the price of music purchased through the Sprint Music Store to 99 cents starting in early April; the same as on iTunes or the Real Music Store. Their price reduction from $2.49 along with the ability to play songs on any WMA compatible device or cell phone has the potential of driving a significant number of purchases to Sprint.

The new Sprint Music Manager, provided through a deal with Smith Micro Software Inc. (NASDAQ:SMSI), transfers songs from a PC to phones like Samsung's UpStage through a USB cable. If this announcement sounds familiar, it is because it is.

Sprint's announcement is obviously a competitive move against AT&T/Cinglular (T) with the iPhone and iTunes. The buzz around the iPhone is as high as its price and Sprint is looking for a way to take some of the sting from their buzz. At least they hope that it may slow down the amount subscribers leaving the carrier, but it will be enough to reduce the churn to 2% that Gary Forsee predicts for this year.

Sprint is challenged to put together an ecosystem that is as easy to use and rich in content like iTunes. They have done a mighty job assembling players such as Groove, mSpot, SIRIUS, and Real to provide content, and the addition of the Sprint Music Manager provides the user interface on the PC. Hopefully they will load it full of music, audio, and video content that allows seamless transfer from the computer to the phone. Their ecosystem can offer a viable alternative to iTunes and keep more money in their coffers instead of having to split with Apple like AT&T.

Sprint is thinking in the right direction with Monday's announcement. They just need to simplify their plans. Subscribers and even customer service representatives are confused on the naming and variety of plans offered for data and music. They need to take a page from the Helio play book and make the plans simple to understand.

This move will help them preserve their customer base but it is not enough to attract new subscribers en mass unless they add video, podcasts, and other compelling programming through an easy to use interface whether on the PC or phone.

Disclaimer: This author has in the past and potentially in the future held positions in Sprint (S).

Technorati tags: Sprint (S), AT&T (T), CTIA