My Digital Life

Apple – Another Quarter, another Blowout!

Apple and the iPhone just keep trucking along with a record quarterly sale of 7.4 million iPhones and 440,000 Macs. The only disappointing news was slightly lower iPod sales, but Apple still holds 70%+ of the MP3 player market. Maybe the Zune HD is having an effect! (I had to say it)…

The interesting tidbit in all of this is that smartphone competitors are throwing everything they have at the iPhone and are barely dinging it. It seems that even the mighty Verizon is growing concerned and have now started to attack the iPhone with the Motorola Droid TV ad.

 That said Apple still has a formidable opponent; Research In Motion's BlackBerry holds 51% of the smartphone market (IDC), while the iPhones is at less than half with 22%. The basic reason is that Apple has neglected corporate functionality especially on the email front (when do we see full Exchange ActiveSync functionality?). Tim Cook's (Apple COO) response is that iPhone is being piloted or deployed in 50% of Fortune 100 companies and he is very pleased. From my contacts in the Federal government and corporations, IT is begrudgingly allowing the iPhone but they are not supporting it. This means users are on their own, which is very problematic for most users. Until Apple can show they are serious about corporate requirements they won't make a real dent in RIM's lead.

My International Roaming Experience – Credit Card Alerts and Fees

I know this is a bit off subject, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Most credit card companies have now implemented alerts systems which allow you to define a transaction limit amount that triggers an email or SMS. Since most thieves attempt to charge high value items this is a great way to find out if someone has gotten a hold of your account number. On my last trip to Europe I received an alert from Chase for a high value transaction which was made in Japan. I did not even have the card with me, but was able to call Chase collect, and have them cancel the card. By the time I got home, I had a new card waiting for me.

On this trip I used my Capital One credit card. They have an international transaction alert option. It was extremely helpful and unbelievably fast. Every time we used our credit card, I would receive an email within 30 seconds of the transaction's completion with the US Dollar amount and location. When you are abroad you are always guesstimating the amount in US Dollars, but with this feature you can easily validate that you were charged a valid amount while you are in the vicinity of the retail establishment.

 

Email alert on my iPhone.

On the fee side, it amazes how diverse international transaction fees can be. I chose Capital One because they have no transaction fee and from my calculations the bulk foreign exchange rate follows what you find in the Wall Street Journal. I found this great WIKI which lists what providers charge on international debit and credit transactions. As with everything, you should always call the institution directly to make sure your account provides the benefits described.

My International Roaming Experience – Today’s Cruise Ship = Connected for a Price

I have taken 2 cruises in the last 3 years, one to Alaska and this recent one in the Mediterranean. The cruise in Alaska was on Holland America, a cruise line owned by Carnival Corp. and this recent cruise was on Regent Seven Seas owned by the Apollo Group. Both cruise ships had internet and cell phone service. Both services are offered via a satellite link provided by SeaMobile, although the cellular service ([email protected]) is managed by a subsidiary called Wireless Maritime Services which is joint venture with AT&T Mobility.

The cellular functionality on Regent's Seven Seas Navigator provided GSM/GPRS and CDMA/1XRTT voice/data services. As I remember it the Holland America ship only had GSM service, but by now it probably has been upgraded to handle CDMA traffic as well. The ship's cell site only operates when the ship is out of range of local cellular service. It is a roaming service where your cellular carrier bills you for all voice and data. The costs seem to be fixed across all US carriers at $2.49 per minute for voice calls, $.50 to send an SMS, $1.30 to send an MMS, and $.0195 per KB for data. The fact that all carriers are charging the same seems like price collusion but who am I to say. The Bottom line it is expensive, but much cheaper than using the wired phone in the cabin at $6.95 per minute. Also carriers offer data plans which can be very beneficial for heavy email users, Verizon offers a global unlimited email plan for $69.99 per month and includes cruise ships. AT&T International Data plans do not include cruise ships which is a real shame. I talked to both AT&T and Verizon customer service before I left. They gave me detailed information, provided me with alternatives and more than once warned me about the costs. Given the articles that have surfaced about surprise bills (especially with the iPhone); it is clear that carriers are going out of their way to educate consumers. The catch you have to call them. Even if you think you understand it all, I strongly urge everyone to call their carriers before leaving on trip abroad. AT&T emailed me an FAQ about the iPhone, and Verizon emailed a detailed rate chart with the list of countries I planned to visit.

On the internet front, both cruise ships I have been on had Internet cafes with workstations, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator even had WIFI throughout the ship. The service is run by another arm of SeaMobile called MTN Satellite Services. They charge by the minute and the cruise line can offer several different plans to its guests. On the Seven Seas Navigator I had the option of 250 and 500 minutes. As part of Regent's loyalty program, after you cruise 21 nights you get free internet which is a very nice benefit. The 250 minute plan was $87.99 with a first time registration of $3.50. The 500 minute plan was about double. Additional minutes on the 250 minutes plan were $.35 and $.25 on the 500 minute plan. I find it interesting that they charge by the minute rather than the Kilobyte, but given all the activity I saw in the Internet Café I can understand why; minutes should get people off of the workstations faster but I was amazed how many people seemed oblivious and where typing email tomes in web based editors. I was told by the Internet Café manager that the average speed is about 65Kbps per user. Unfortunately I neglected to run a speed test, but from an end user perspective it was not broadband but response times where decent. If you want to see the world and have some IT skill they are looking for people, here is the job description.

I ended up purchasing the 250 minute plan which over 11 days gave us about 22 minutes a day. Since I had problems with my Sony VAIO P's wireless drivers, my wife and I ended up using our iPhones. We would connect to download email, disconnect, respond off line, then connect again to send. One of my major pet peeves with the iPhone's email application (ActiveSync/Hosted Exchange) is its inability to deal with deletions offline (you get an error message). I would love to know how Apple thought that was a good idea…Anyway, the plan worked out well and I even had some minutes left over to go to the Internet Café to check in with United Airlines online and print our boarding passes. I also tried Skype on the iPhone using the $2.95 per month unlimited subscription plan to call phones in the US and Canada. It worked well, the person on the other end heard a little breakup (I would expect that with constrained satellite uplink speeds), but we heard them very clearly. This made calling much cheaper ($.35 per minute on our plan) than using the in cabin wired phone or on board cell system, but still more expensive than the calling card (although you need a dry land wired phone!). During the entire 12 day trip we only had a couple hours one evening where we could not get connected. The default web page told us that interference was blocking the satellite signal.

I think bringing your own computing device makes a lot sense so you can perform tasks off line to save your minutes, and then connect for data transmission. I saw a couple of Dell Mini notebooks, and a Mac book. On the mobile device front, the BlackBerry was king (looked like mostly corporate types), although iPhones were around. I did see one bulky satellite phone (it reminded me of early cell phones), why someone would think you need one on today's cruise ship intrigued me, maybe they owned it or their company wanted them to have failsafe communication. The gentleman had to stand outside on the pool deck to make a call. I also thought that newer satellite phones could switch between cell and satellite.

The bottom line is that staying connected on a cruise today is possible and easy. You just have to do a little research on plan options with your cell phone carrier or purchasing an on board internet plan (I suggest bringing your WIFI enabled smartphone or netbook) make to cost manageable if you need to stay connected without needing to be online 24/7…

My International Roaming Experience - What I Took With Me

My goal when traveling is to minimize what electronics I need to take with me to ensure some level of connectivity for voice and data. Since this trip was a vacation my computing requirements where email, basic multimedia entertainment (no HIDEF video playback required), basic photo editing (EXIF tag management), surfing, and flash media backup/storage. I also brought a Verizon HTC Ozone (thanks to the folks at Verizon Wireless for providing me the device and service) to test international roaming for an upcoming pocketnow.com article on how well you can travel with a Verizon Windows Mobile device.

Here is what I decided to pack:

1. Sony VAIO P 1.6GHZ Atom/128GB SSD. My experience was disappointing. For some reason the network drivers failed early on and I could only get connected in safe mode. I tried using a restore point but that did not work. I ended up just using it as my flash media backup and EXIF editor. I am now rebuilding it. I will be very happy to get the production Windows 7 drivers from Sony (hopefully they will release them on 10/22).
2. PowerBright XR100/12 mini power inverter. I have never been a big fan of power inverters, I would rather purchase the correct power supply for the job, but Sony does not seem to care about providing traveling power chargers for its notebooks so I was forced to purchase one. That said I actually used it more as a USB charger for my iPhone in a rental car (used Navigon) and on the United (EmPower plug required) flight back home. On our Lufthansa flight over to Europe we had 110V plugs (very nice touch).
3. iPhone 3GS 32MB
4. Jawbone BT headset. I never used it but it was good to have and small enough to carry just in case.
5. iPWR battery backup iPhone charger. This battery backup has been a life saver in the past but with email push turned off on this trip, I never used it but it is small enough to carry as insurance.
6. Griffin PowerBlock Dual Universal Charger. I bought this at BestBuy for $20. It is small and charges 2 USB devices at once. It worked great and worth $20.
7. Sony HDR-CX12 HD Flash based video/still camera. I love this camera for the good quality 1920 HD video, the 10.2MP still pictures, the great 12x optical zoom and its diminutive weight in my hand.
8. And of course the Verizon Wireless HTC Ozone CDMA/GSM Worldphone.

The one item I did not bring and missed was my old D-Link Travel Hotspot device. Our hotel in Athens (AVA Hotel, by the way it was very nice) had wired internet and all my devices were WIFI only. Our remaining accommodations had WIFI.

On the services sides I signed up for the following before I left:

1. Boingo Mobile $7.95 per month. This was a total bust, never found a Boingo HotSpot I could use. I cancelled the service since with my Verizon FIOS WIFI feature (Verizon/Boingo relationship) and the iPhone's AT&T data plan I get plenty of WIFI coverage in the US. Bottom line check locations before leaving and look into iPass, I think they are more popular in Europe.
2. Skype Unlimited US/Canada landline/cell calling plan for $2.95 a month. It worked well (more on that later).
3. Verizon/Costco $30 international calling card. Worked well when we had access to a land line.
4. AT&T 50MB international data plan. I used the same iPhone strategy I posted about before and it worked well for me. I think this strategy along with Skype is a winner for getting around high roaming fees. I will update my post.
5. Verizon International plans (article on pocketnow.com coming soon).

The only connectivity service I purchased while on the trip was 250 minutes of Internet on our Regent cruise ship (more on that tomorrow).

Back After a Two Week Hiatus

I am back at work after a two week whirlwind vacation around Greek, Egyptian, and Roman sites in the Mediterranean. I am still getting over jet lag and a cold I must have caught on the flight back. I have a lot of material to write about international digital roaming, how Verizon makes it work well with its dual standard (CDMA/GSM) Worldphones (I used an HTC Ozone), and managing the high cost of being connected.

The Pyramid of Khafre. It is too bad about the parking lot, but tourism is Egypt's second largest source of foreign income after the Suez Canal fees (according to our guide).

AT&T Implements A-List to Call Non AT&T Numbers Without Using Plan Minutes

The AT&T A-List feature is now live, but you must add the feature to your account to use it. The A-List feature allows you to call non AT&T numbers without using you plan minutes. You can list 5 numbers on an individual plan and 10 shared numbers on a family plan. This is a free feature for eligible plans which consist of a minimum of $59.99 (900 min) per month for individuals and $89.99 (1400 min) for family plans exclusive of data charges.

The feature can be added on line by going to manage your features (right side of web page) and selecting the A-List feature. A new link will then be available on the right hand side to manage your a-list. It takes 24 hours for the numbers to become active. You cannot use international numbers or paying numbers like 900, etc.

I think this is great additional value for AT&T subscribers, but it pretty much matches what other carriers are doing. However along with rollover minutes they now outdo the other carriers.

I already have more minutes then I use, I guess this will just add to my rollover…

My Rant of the Day: WSJ Charging Current Online Customers for iPhone App (update)

I have not ranted in a while, but this one needed to be documented.

I already think that the $119.00 I pay for my annual subscription to the Wall Street Journal is high, but I do find it provides me with good business news, although sometimes more biased than I would like.

Yesterday, Dow Jones announced that, on October 24^th, they will start charging for access to their full content when using their WSJ Mobile Reader applications on the Blackberry and iPhone/Touch devices. I have no issues with that, if we are going to continue having a professional press core, they need to find a means of generating revenue. This idea that all content should be free is ridiculous and people need to understand that there is a cost to generating content.

The source of my rant is that Dow Jones wants to charge $1.00 per week ($52 per year) in addition to my online only subscription of $119.00 in order for me to have access the exact same contact using the WSJ Mobile Reader on my iPhone as I do on my PC and via the iPhone's Safari browser. That would be a total of $171.00 per year and for me a bridge to far. I understand charging more for a print and online subscription because of the additional paper and distribution costs. I don't get the print subscription because I don't need it and it would be a waste of paper that would need to be recycled (my eco message). I just think that if you have an online subscription it should be available to you on any compatible online device. Could you see Apple charging individually for playing or viewing content on each iPod/iPhone/Mac/PC/Apple TV you own; I think not.

Note: The WSJ Mobile applications themselves are free and WSJ will provide selected free content, but access to the full content is by subscription. I don't think they use the iTunes subscription model since they already have a billing back end system in place. I wonder what Apple thinks of that.

Please voice your opinion by emailing WSJ at onlinejournal (at) wsj.com.

Update: I did file my complaint with WSJ, and received a polite response that they will pass it on to upper management. We will see what happens…

Happy Labor Day USA...

Happy USA Labor Day to all, it is a rainy day here at Deep Creek Lake, but the end of summer festivities will go on…

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday of September.

The origins of the American Labor Day can be traced back to the Knights of Labor in the United States and a parade organized by them on September 5, New York City. They were inspired by an annual labor parade held in Toronto, Canada. In 1884 another parade was held, and the Knights passed resolutions to make this an annual event. Other labor organizations (and there were many), but notably the affiliates of the International Workingmen's Association favored a May 1 holiday. With the event of Chicago's Haymarket riots in early May of 1886, president Grover Cleveland believed that a May 1 holiday could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus, fearing that it might strengthen the socialist movement, he quickly moved in 1887 to support the position of the Knights of Labor and their date for Labor Day.

Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States since the 1880s. The September date has remained unchanged, even though the government was encouraged to adopt May 1 as Labor Day, the date celebrated by the majority of the world. Moving the holiday, in addition to breaking with tradition, could have been viewed as aligning the U.S. labor movement with internationalist sympathies. Labor Day is generally regarded simply as a day of rest and, unlike May Day, political demonstrations are rare. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water activities, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer. Some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school. However, of late, schools have begun well before Labor Day, up to the 15th of August in many urban districts, including Nashville and Atlanta.

One of the largest modern traditions of Labor Day in the United States is the annual telethon of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, hosted by Jerry Lewis to fund research and patient support programs for the various diseases grouped as muscular dystrophy. The telethon raises tens of millions of dollars each year.

 From WIKIPEDIA, an excellent historical fact sheet on the holiday.

 

International Travel and AC Power Outlets (Update)

With all of our rechargeable battery powered gadgets the need to access a AC power outlet while traveling is critical. One key to international travel is to know which type of converter plug to bring with you. I stumbled across the World Electric Guide web site which provides you with the type of voltage, frequency, and a picture of the type of plug(s) used in the country you are visiting. The other important factor is voltage; you need to check the label of all of your power chargers to insure that they meet the country's requirements. Most chargers these days are rated for 100-240 volts AC and 50 or 60 Hz. If yours does not meet the standard you have two choices; purchase a new power charger or a compatible (check amperage or wattage requirement) power converter (Radio Shack is usually a good source).

Update: I also found this helpful Wiki by Jeff Sandquist which provides locations of power outlets in airports.

Sony VAIO P Power Plug Travelling Solution

In my continuing quest to minimize what electronics I travel with, cords and power supplies are a big target. I thought I had found a great compromise with the iGo Juice system which allowed me to charge my laptop and gadgets with on power brick. Unfortunately it does not support the Sony VAIO P and although the VAIO P's power brick is small, jamming all of the required cables in my accessory case can be a pain. After reading some posts on the pocketables.net VAIO P forum, someone mentioned using an Apple style AC plug rather than the AC cord. This is a great solution since it takes up less room than the cord, but Apple charges $39 for a set of 5 international plugs (a pretty ridiculous $7.80 per plug). I found a knockoff on eBay for $11 which includes a USB power supply. It works well and the US plug folds to save even more room.

The eBay Apple World adapter knockoff kit with the USB power charger (left). The US foldable plug is attached to the VAIO P power brick. For now I have no need for the power charger but you never know. Bottom line the price was right.