LET'S MAKE A DEAL TV SHOW
3 hours ago
A brief-yet-ongoing journal of all things Carmi. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll reach for your mouse to click back to Google. But you'll be intrigued. And you'll feel compelled to return following your next bowl of oatmeal. With brown sugar. And milk.
Before we begin: If you haven't captioned yet, click here. I promise you it won't hurt. There, let's continue...We've been experiencing a revolving door of extended-family illness of late. My father, father-in-law and mother-in-law have collectively logged enough time in hospital these past few months to qualify them for lifetime patient-of-the-month honors. It's a status I'm sure all of them would gladly decline.
But Carmi Levy, senior vice-president at Toronto-based ARCommunications, cautioned that the wireless-driven growth engine could sputter if more entrants arrive.Make that two: I'll be posting the next Caption This entry tomorrow. Start your creative minds now.
"If you're an incumbent player, this is not good news for you because your life is about to get more difficult," he said, adding that the top three firms will have to become more flexible and responsive, as well as more affordable to customers.
Analysts see a trend sustained by a demographic shift hardly unique to the province.
"As Generation Y increases its influence on the market these numbers will only continue to grow," said Carmi Levy, a technology analyst with AR Communications.
"The understanding of what phone service is is very different among the generation that has grown up among the Internet."
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Relatively small upstarts like U.S.-based Vonage Holdings are targeting consumers with offerings - from phone-number guarantees to responsive customer service - that the giants have difficulty matching.
"Their biggest challenge is inertia," Levy said of Bell and Telus. "They're so big and so entrenched that they can't move fast enough to bring innovative new technologies to market before smaller, more agile competitors."
[Wells' lawyer, Ron] Swafford also said several witnesses were prepared to testify that Wells had very little to drink at the party and was not intoxicated when she left. He said she was swerving on the road because she was trying to find the heater controls in her new car.Yup, because we should all be surrounded by friends willing to lie on our behalf so we can get off when we're hauled in for driving under the influence (DUI). I guess celebs really do have a different legal standard, as the DUI charge was ultimately dropped. I think I need a shower.
"It's dicey at the best of times, but that's the cost of doing business in a place like India where [there is] government intervention and telecommunication dwarves our own market," said Carmi Levy, senior vice-president of strategic consulting for AR Communications Inc. "It makes Canadian government intervention look like child's play."
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"Companies like RIM can't assume that governments outside of North America will take a hands off approach to allowing their technology to be used in the market," said Mr. Levy.
The HD VMD camp “is pitching a solution at a market niche that does not exist,” said Carmi Levy, senior vice president for strategic consulting at AR Communications, a Toronto research firm. “And even if it is a niche, you will never sell enough to make it a business.”Business News Network. Interview with Michael Hainsworth. Aired live March 6. I dare ya to watch it :) Bar none, one of the most fun interviews I've ever done. Also did hits with Gary Doyle of 570News in Kitchener, and John Downs of AM640 in Toronto.
"Apple's announcement was revolutionary, while RIM's announcement was evolutionary" said Carmi Levy, senior vice-president of strategic consulting for AR Communications Inc. "The more consumer friendly [RIM] can make the Black-Berry, the better it is for its long-term growth. It's another piece of what is turning into a very large and complex puzzle for them."The Canadian Press, March 6. RIM may become much more of a social smart phone with consumers. Byline LuAnn LaSalle. Other pickups include CTV and CBC.
Getting the BlackBerry further enmeshed with the latest Internet communication trends is "one of the pieces of the overall puzzle that will make these devices indispensable to the way people communicate online and wirelessly today," said analyst Carmi Levy.Unstrung, March 6. Apple's Corporate Drive.
"The better they can integrate the lifestyle functions into the BlackBerry, the more they will be able to appeal to this new market," said Levy, senior vice-president of strategic consulting at Toronto's AR Communications Inc.
"Really what RIM is doing is positioning itself to be flexible and agile so that it can implement those services and partnerships relatively easily when it becomes apparent that they are indeed a hit."
"A lot of developers are going to be watching this announcement, to see if the cost of development is low and if Apple is committing to helping them grow their business," said Carmi Levy, senior VP for strategic consulting at AR Communications. "If those messages aren't there, they'll yawn and wait for something else."More to come. I apparently can't stop talking about technology. (This is too much fun for words!)
Analyst Carmi Levy said that SAP is positioning itself to be ready for business demand for the iPhone.More news on this front over the next couple of days, including a possible TV interview. If you want to see me be a talking head, check back here later tomorrow.
"If the iPhone never had a hope or a prayer of being adopted by enterprise, I doubt that SAP would be devoting resources to it at this point," said Levy, senior vice-president of strategic consulting for Toronto's AR Communications Inc.
"There's no question they see something," he said of SAP.
The price battle proves "data is the new voice" and that "today's cell phone is tomorrow's smartphone," Carmi Levy, senior vice president of strategic consulting at AR Communications, told InternetNews.com. Both trends, he said, bode well for corporate mobility needs.
Enterprises should call their providers and begin negotiating better price point and data service plans.
"It's time to crack open that existing deal and realize some cost savings. IT leaders should be asking their providers 'what are you going to do for me?' And they should be prepared to jump to another carrier as it could prove very cost-effective," said Levy, who expects prices to keep dropping.
"IT needs to be proactive and get the biggest bang for their technology buck. Mobility is a critical business tool," he said.
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Levy compares this type of strategy to the initial ISP approach when the Web came into play. At that time most ISPs offered minutes-based pricing plans. The industry, Levy said, finally realized that charging per minute wasn't the best business strategy.
"That was a ridiculous approach -- using a meter to charge people -- and it's the same now with data minutes," he said. "Providers need to offer an 'all you can drink' data plan for the enterprise."
And given Sprint Nextel's "brilliant" marketing move, the analyst expects such changes could come quick.
"Competitors can't afford to stand on the sidelines at this point," Levy said. "They all have to balance marketing efforts with better data plans and expanded coverage as mobile workers expect to have service wherever they are."
"How you get information into these devices and how you get the info out has been the Achilles heels for cellphones," said Carmi Levy, senior vice-president for strategic consulting at AR Communications, a Toronto-based communications firm. "That is, the clear limitations of (cell) phones are its keyboards and displays - two areas we will see significant change in over the coming years."I'll post more media hits in the days to come, because the phone keeps ringing.
Rather than having to use the keyboard, Levy said you'll be able to talk to your phone - like the way Captain Kirk from Star Trek interacts with the U.S.S. Enterprise's onboard computer - thanks to advanced speech recognition.
"Rather than learning shorthand to type text messages quickly, and even beyond the current trend of 'touch,' the long-term solution is to bypass keyboard altogether with your voice" Levy said. "Increasing power, such as the new mobile Intel chip, and better software, can together convert speech into text quickly, smoothly and accurately."
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Carmi, a technical expert and writer about the telecommunications field, said this will happen on two fronts: One solution is a dime-sized projector built-into the phone that can splash a 16-to 25-centimetre (7-to 10-inch) video on a nearby blank wall. (A Soeul-based company, Iljin Display, already has licensed the technology to fellow South Korean companies, Samsung and LG). "While this technology has been around for a while, one day you'll be able to incorporate a small-scale projection system into a phone as easy as it is to implement a camera in one today," said Levy.
A second and more private solution, however, will be a "virtual screen" that we could view on the lens of glasses. "Just like that IBM commercial a few years ago, with the guy on the bench," said Levy, with a laugh. "These may look a little odd at first, but they'll come to a point where they could be seamlessly integrated into everyday prescription glasses."
Over past couple of years we've seen phones becoming more connected, including high-speed 3G wireless technology (such as HSDPA, led by Rogers Wireless's Vision network), integrated Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS for in-car or on-foot navigation. But soon it will all come together, including RFID (radio frequency identification), said Levy. It's a trend he calls "teleconvergence."
"Imagine you're walking down the street one day, and you're hungry for lunch - not only can you do a quick search of local restaurants, but your phone will know your preferences, it will tell you how to get there and show you the menu," said Levy.
With embedded RFID information, which communicates to a wireless sensor in the area, you could be walking into a department store and a digital coupon might flash on your phone's screen for a Blu-ray Disc you were previously interested in.
Google's Android project is a huge "driver" of this wireless integration and innovation, Levy said. "They're the king of integrated online services right now, and I believe their mobile platform could fundamentally change how we use our cellphones, too, combining maps, search, documents, mail, and so on."
This glimpse into the future is fascinating, but Levy said don't trade in your current cellphone just yet.
"Battery power has been the major limitation so far - in fact, it's getting worse, as phones continue to get smaller while the numbers of features are going up," Levy said. "As a result, if you forget to power your phone in the morning, you might have a doorstopper by lunch."