Telecom Providers, Alternative Energy and ISO9001 - Alcatel-Lucent , I shrunk the Node B Kids

Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary

Emerson, Social Aims

Alcatel-Lucent, the Telecom Equipment supplier for the LSY Fiber Optic Based Drop Node Microwave Radios as well as the Microwave Radios at each of the Hub and Spur Site for Telecom Provider CLARO, recently announced a design for a smaller base station size that addresses the growing concern among Telecom Providers: Power consumption. Like, really smaller. As in, it can fit in my driveway here in Milk River, Clarendon.

Alcatel-Lucent have managed to design a Node B that is so small, it can fit on top of a light post. Appropriately called LightRadio as stated in the article “Alcatel-Lucent shrinks cell tower technology”, published February 8, 2011 3:56 PM PST by Marguerite Reardon, Signal Strength - CNET News and corroborate by the article “Wireless advances could mean no more cell towers”, published Friday February 11, 2011 4:42 pm ET by PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer, Yahoo! News.

No relation to LightPeak, albeit it might one day use the Intel based standard as mentioned in my blog article entitled “Wi-Fi, LightPeak and PowerLine Broadband - The Young and the Restless”, as this technology is nothing more than an over glorified Femtocell on a stick.

Reduced, in effect, to the size of a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Router and most likely just as easy to install as a femtocell typically seen in New York Office buildings, such as the one my female friend from C&W, who now lives and resides in New York, has described to me.

Telecom Provider AT&T has provided free Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) as it upgrades it 3G Network backhaul to LTE (Long Term Evolution) “AT&T expands free Wi-Fi Hot Zone Trial”, published July 26, 2010 12:14 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength.

In fact, Telecom Provider AT&T gives them away for free as stated in the article “Ask and ye shall receive a free AT&T femtocell?” published July 12, 2010 3:22 PM PDT by Stephen Shankland, CNET News - Deep Tech.

In fact, I had written another article on an even small sized device that was travel friendly that, akin to a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) router, gave the user the ability to make calls on their regular home network without incurring roaming charges. A death knell for roaming powered by Google as stated in my blog article entitled “When in Roam (ing) carry an attocell - SnapDragon and the Tourist”.

A typical Node B uses approximately 11 KVA of power or 11 KW if Cos 0 = 1, assuming a single 220V cabinet pulling a maximum of 50amps at peak operation. The transformers from the Power Utility Company (PUC) are usually rated at either 25 KVA or 50 KVA (the little numbers on the side of the Transformer!) as an overhead to prevent the breakers on the Power Utility Company from tripping due to current overload.

It is makes the cell site to supply power to additional equipment that may be “landed” or placed for installation on the site. And thus we come to a problem I have dealt with in the past: cell site power consumption. This is because the recent upgrades from 3G to LTE by the various Telecom Providers in the United States of America.

The coming of M2M (Machine-to-Machine Communications) with a potential ten million (10,000,000) devices connected to Telecom Provider AT&T’s Network as stated in the article “Why Internet of Things will Change Mobile Networks”, published December 30, 2010, 1:00pm PDT By Om Malik, GigaOM.

Already, one Telecom Provider as far back as September 2010, has publicly been experimenting with a Solar Powered Cell site in a Residential area as an off-the-grid experiment “T-Mobile Cell Site Now powered by the Sun”, published September 16, 2010, 11:22am PDT by Katie Fehrenbacher, Cleantech - GigaOM.

Core Communications had also began a trial run with a wind startup named Helix Wind, that specializes in designing small Vertical-axis Wind Turbines (VWT) as stated in the article “Powering cell phone towers with wind”, published November 11, 2009 11:35 AM PST by Candace Lombardi, CNET News - Green Tech.

Thus there is concern as it relates to power consumption being expressed by the Telecom Providers for once, as these faster and higher speed Networks need more power “Alternative energy and 4G - Green Lantern Core”!

Plus,  as my blog article states, lower power consumption, either by using alternative energy or by making the Node B smaller would make operation costs go down, making all-you-can-eat data plan feasible and satisfying the Data Hogs i.e. streamers and heavy downloaders appetite for unlimited Data, whose number is growing as smart phone become more popular.

Alternative Energy is also a great way of marketing a Telecom Provider’s compliance with ISO9001, an international certification as to best practices, which also has a proviso for environmental impact and being “green” as is the term these days as suggested in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Telecom Providers - An Environmental Marketing Strategy”.

ISO9001, by the way, which Telecom Provider CLARO need to be able to offer LTE (Long Term Evolution) to business customers wary of their unstable Network, as business customers demand always-on and dedicated internet service, a standard which Telecom Provider CLARO is yet to achieve as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and 100MBps - Diamonds are forever”. QoS (Quality of service) + Always-On Network + Coverage Everywhere = Alternative Energy Required!

Alcatel-Lucent, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) style, much derided by the Mexicans at Telecom Provider LAROI in Jamaica, may now be the pathway forwards as it relates to reducing their power consumption and thus being economically solvent as well as achieving ISO9001 certification, which may soon be a requirement for all Public and Private Sector companies very soon.

More on this in another article!

HP and the TouchPad - Book of Revelations and The Spy Who Shagged Me

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood leads on to good fortune

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, IV, 8

Just when I thought all hope was lost for Hewlett-Packard and WebOS, after they had snapped up Palm as stated in the article “HP buying Palm for US$1.2 billion”, published April 28, 2010 1:14 PM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker () and supported by the article  “HP to Buy Palm for US$12 billion”, published Wednesday, April 28, 2010 01:43 PM PDT by Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service, PC World, the come out of their corner swinging.

A rather boring little company, HP’s fans (is there such a thing?) saw the purchase of Palm and their Deck-of-cards WebOS as a strategic reboot and a play to get back at being trounced by the Apple iPad in the Tablet market as CNET Editor Erica Ogg slyly suggests in the article “With Palm, HP reboots mobile strategy”, published April 28, 2010 5:46 PM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

The Christmas of 2010 had not been to bad for them, having hit accident gold with the Indianapolis 500-inspired HP Slate 500 as stated in the article “Hewlett-Packard runs out of Slates”, published November 15, 2010 10:09 AM PST by Lance Whitney, CNET News. For the record, the HP Slate 500 was never any challenge in my book as I had pointed out in my blog article entitled “Apple iPad vs HP Slate 500 - The Force Unleashed in the Tablet Wars”.

The Windows 7 Professional  8.9" Tablet device was packing a Intel Atom Z540 Processor 1.88Ghz 512Kb L2 cache with a 2GB DDR2 667MHz on board memory and 64 GB SSD Hard Drive with VGA front facing web cam, 3MB outward facing camera packs Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), Bluetooth, USB and a docking cradle with HDMI (High Definition Media Input).

Nice specs, but it was windows, so don’t get you hopes up as Microsoft COO (Chief Operating Officer) Steve Ballmer own nervousness gave away their lack of confidence in the product as stated in the article “HP preps its would -be iPad killer, the Slate”, published Tuesday April 6, 2010 11:13 am ET by Ben Patterson, Yahoo! News!

Thus the gasps of “ooh!” and “ahh!” ! When HP revealed specs of a coming Tablet (s) named Opal and Topaz as stated in the article “HP Opal and Topaz revealed as first WebOS Tablets”, published 19 January 2011, 12:06pm by Rich Trenholm, CNET UK - Crave.

9” Opal and 7” Topaz Tablets detailed specs as per the article “Topaz Specs! Exclusive details on Touchstone v2 and Much More!”, published Monday 24 January 2011 12:13 by Dieter Bohn, pre|Central.net.

Quickly laying the cards straight, the September 2011AD of the Topaz and Opal Tablets, also rumoured to be sporting a 1,024 x 768 resolution 9-inch screen 512MB of RAM, three (3) storage options that being 16GB, 32GB, and64GB, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and powered by a Qualcomm MSM8660 1.2GHz processor are enough to drool over in this nascent interface.

September 2011 is enough time to test the batteries without giving too much away before London Olympics 2012.

So one can imagine my surprise when these gems in HP’s crown were revealed at the San Francisco event (which I did not attend!) as reported quite faithfully in the article “HP gets official with 9.7-inch TouchPad WebOS 3.0 Tablet”, published February 9, 2011, 11:16am PST By Rachel King, ZDNet.

First then, the corrections to the above! It is actually one Tablet. No, it is not called Topaz and Opal, albeit these would have more exciting names than the rather bland TouchPad. The specs are pretty close: 9.7-inch capacitive touch screen (1,024 x 768 resolutions), which is equal to the Apple iPad but below par when compared to the Motorola Xoom. Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2GHz dual-core processor (naturally) with 16GB and 32GB storage options included!

The usual suspects with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR, Virtual keyboard, Light sensor, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Compass. Curious docking charger thing named Touchstone (the only non-boringly named part of this product!).

Weighing in at 1.6 pounds, 13.7mm thick, it surprising lack of a rear facing camera and packing only a Video-Calling capable front-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam may be HP being practical, as it is a Tablet, not a camera. Criticism for those tired of hearing of Tablets naturally follows in the article “HP TouchPad first take: some kudos, some cynicism”, published February 9, 2011 5:37 PM PST CNET News – Crave.

So HP’s boringly named Tablet, curiously enough, is now in a week that is permeated with Tablet and rumors of Tablets in diverse places, The Book of Revelations Style, with the latest being that the Apple iPad S is now in production as stated in the article “WSJ: Next-gen iPad now in production; Tablet Wars heating up”, published February 8, 2011, 4:43pm PST by Sam Diaz, ZDNet.

Truly, HP is Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me (1999) Style: totally unexpected and yet I still love the fact that Developers will be getting a crack at making some more moolah [American colloquial: money] just before the start of all that streaming during the London Olympics 2012!

Hint: the front-facing camera thing……..The Apple iPad may also be going that route, as multiple cameras and Qualcomm dual-dual core with so many doubles is a drain on battery life as predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple iPad S vs Motorola Xoom - Qualcomm Doubles the Fun”. 

Verizon's LTE Network and VoLTE - The Dead Zone meets The Machine Stops

Dreamer of Dreams born out of my due time,

Why should I strive to set the crooked straight?

William Morris, The Earthly Paradise

Telecom Provider has the Apple iPhone as per my blog article entitled “Verizon and the Apple iPhone 4 - The Golden Fleece”. Americans on No. 2 Network stating emphatically via a USAmp poll that they are planning to chuck away their Blackberrys in record numbers, technology throwaways that will wind up on the shores of Jamaica and other Developing World countries with a taste for la dolce vita as per my blog article entitled “Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android - Blackberry Shot the Sheriff”.

The Big A is now on the No.1 AT&T and No. 2 Verizon Networks, packing the “heat” [American Colloquial] with dual-mode Qualcomm Chipsets. Game Over for other smartphones!

Now news out of the US of A as reported by CNN on Tuesday February 8^th 2011 AD, for it is indeed that type of announcement! Telecom Provider Verizon suggests that they may be using their spanking new 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) to carry Voice Traffic, specifically VoIP based services as stated in the article “Report: Verizon to improve voice quality with 4G”, published February 8, 2011 7:19 PM PST by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength.  

The article “Verizon slated to launch voice-to-LTE Service”, published Tuesday February 8, 2011 3:11 pm ET by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com) backs up my statements on this one, folks. Generation Y [ages 17 to 28], bear witness to history as we move towards a world akin to the movie Wall-E (2008) and the short story The Machine Stops (1909) by E.M. Forster.

Telecom Provider Verizon service is christened with the official sounding name Telecom Provider Verizon's Voice Over LTE service or VoLTE, a homonym of the electrical measure of electromotive force called “volt” that is sure to cause confusion among Physics students such as myself – and many complaints later among science geeks such as myself!

M2M was a concept expounded in detail in my article on Geezam entitled “NFC and M2M - Cashless Society and the Internet of Things” as well as in my blog article entitled “AT&T, NFC and M2M - Cashless Society and the Internet of Things”.

M2M Traffic and Voice over Data Traffic is expected to become huge on their LTE powered VoLTE Platform, especially now as Telecom Provider Verizon has the Apple iPhone as long opined in my blog article entitled “Verizon and the Apple iPhone 4 - The Golden Fleece”.

If you are already familiar with Skype, Google Voice and Fring, then imagine being able to make Voice or Video Calls without having to start up an app on your feature phone. Once you have a LTE capable smartphone of course, specifically the LG Revolution, currently the only smartphone on Telecom Provider Verizon LTE Network that supports this feature.

Telecom Provider AT&T’s ads about being able to do Voice and Data would become Three Degree Background Noise. This as Telecom Provider Verizon has now warmed above 3K to be able and capable of doing that ol’ trick using VoLTE contrary to Telecom Provider AT&T boast back in February of 2010 in the article “AT&T ads tout advantage over Verizon iPhone: Talking while browsing”, published February 2, 2011 by Jeffrey Van Camp DigitalTrends.

LTE integration, NFC (Near Field Communication), a type of M2M and now VoLTE are now on Apple Inc’s platter for consideration as add on’s to the standard bearer of smartphones, the Apple iPhone. Long list indeed, with the battery life technology still not budging, with the exception of DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cells) as opined in my blog article entitled “Chrome OS Cr-48 and the Mobion Fuel Cell Generator - Green Lantern”.

This capability can also be achieved over WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) deployments by Clearwire – Sprint partnership, with coverage now in New York and Los Angeles as stated in the article “Clearwire brings limited 4G to New York and Los Angeles”, published September 13, 2010 2:15 PM PDT by Kent German, CNET News - Dialed In.

Problems still abound, as with dwindling Spectrum capacity to carry the coming increases in Data Traffic as stated by CNET Writer Marguerite Reardon in her article “FCC crunches numbers on spectrum crisis”, published October 25, 2010 2:37 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength (http://www.cnet.com) that have been predicted by myself in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and SMS - The Dead Zone”.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has his work cut out for him, as news is yet to emerge of devices using these “White” Space Frequencies promised back in

“Telecoms and white spaces - A Man for All Seasons and the Big Bang Theory”.

Locally here in Jamaica, there is Telecom Provider CLARO’s recent declaration of a push towards 100MBps LTE in a supposed challenge to Triple Play Provider FLOW Telecom Provider as per the article “Game on!” published Friday October 22, 2010 by Mark Titus, The Friday Financial Gleaner, Jamaica Gleaner, albeit highly unlikely as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME vs Digicel - The Truth About Charlie”.

Thus, this VoLTE Platform stands as yet another use for all that bandwidth as I had tried to trash out in my blog article entitled ‘Telecom Providers and 100MBps - Diamonds are Forever” here in Jamaica on Telecom Provider CLARO’s up and coming LTE Network, along with M2M. Sweet!

Truly, the Switched Voice Network, albeit a Digital Masterpiece, will become The Dead Zone (1983), Stephen King Style, populated only by M2M and SMS (Short messaging Service) chatter between Machines and Men as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and SMS - The Dead Zone”.

But on a personal note, this announcement by Telecom Provider Verizon is the ultimate revenge for me again my fellow co-workers and Management at Telecom Provider C&W (now Telecom Provider LIME) who oft taunted about my prediction back then as a Network Maintenance Technician (2001 to 2004), now so obviously coming to pass.

Hopefully, we will not end up like the Society in the short story The Machine Stops (1909) by E.M. Forster, as Telecom Provider Verizon shift to placing Voice and Data on a single Data Network is a push towards this ideal as a crooked path is set straight. But what of Power Consumption of these increasingly faster Data Networks? Another time, another article………..

Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android - BlackBerry Shot the Sheriff

But pleasures are like poppies spread:

You seize the flow’r, its blooms is shed!

Or like the snow-fall in a river

A moment white – then melts forever;

Burns, Tam O’ Shanter

First the Good news, as the bad news may result in Apple iPhone fans fainting. Apple popularity is so strong, that it is holding subscribers like a super strong ceramic neodymium magnet, CERN Supercollider Style to Telecom Provider AT&T’s There's a map for that - Verizon Commercial style derided Voice and Data Network.

On the flip side of that slightly burnt burger, there is the fact that it is leeching Telecom Provider Verizon’s OWN customers from their previously assumed right arm, that being the BB. Like the great Legend, Bob Marley says in the song I Shot the Sheriff , “Read it in the News”, my tribute to him in this Black History Month! My blog article on the subject, if you may so kindly click on the prior steam punk’d blog article entitled “Verizon and the Apple iPhone 4 - The Golden Fleece”.

Putting aside my steamy fantasies about the sexy Rastafarian Cedella Marley, the bad news is the twist of the knife’s hilt in one chest. Visions of Carlette Deleon aka the Pet Tales Chick aka “Dilly” of Television Jamaica fame prance through my brain, hoof-beats and hoof-prints pockmarked and blood-sodden as I now get to the point. Apple iPhone is now playing third fiddle to Google Android at 24.3% percent of the market in the Fourth Quarter of 2010, down from 25.0% in the Third Quarter of 2010.

Google Android has romped into second place sixty three million, two hundred thousand Americans (63,200,000) strong up from 21.4% in the Third Quarter of 2010 to 28.7% in the Fourth Quarter of 2010. Yes, Apple-byters, it is true: cheap Android phones can trump the Big A!

The Gingerbread Man is now ranging up behind Blackberry still clinging to pole position with 31.6 percent of the market at the end of the Fourth Quarter of 2010 but falling from grace in the eyes of the smart phone Gods (read techies on TechJamaica) at a previously heavenly 37.3% in the Third Quarter of 2010!  

Petty Fates, oh why art though so cruel?

So says ComScore, the “anal”- ist, who has their pulse on such matters as blandly reported in the article “Android tops iPhone in US: Comscore”, Tuesday February 8 2011, AFP, Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com). My angst with these analysts is now tempered, as after all, USamp, a pollster of their ilk, helped to prove that which I already knew: Apple Magnetism is a real thing!!

So how this “gwine” help us, you readers in Jamaica may gripe? Well, just like tablets are slowly killing off the Netbook, Laptop and PC as I, John Public, the One Eye Man in the land of the blind who dared to place in writing as per my blog article entitled “Tablets and the Future of the PC - Jurassic Park and License to Kill”, the popularity of the Android phones means that their cheapness will lower the price of the now slowly-becoming-unpopular Blackberry.

Eventually, this “smart” phone will become another Nokia 1208: everyone in the Developing World can quite easily afford the Developed World’s tech throwaway. And like the 3D HDTV as I had opine in my blog article on Administrator Kirk’s Geezam Blog entitled “3D HDTV - Next Big Thing or Next Big Niche”, its uptake also being accelerated by the coming of the London 2012 Olympics!

Guess I WAS right when I said that the BB is only good for Christmas Giveaways as stated in my blog article entitled “Blackberry Bashing - The Phone I hate so much that I would give it away for Free”.

Truly, the writing was on the wall for Blackberry as long ago prognosticated in yet another rants on my blog article entitled “Blackberry - Is the Writing now on the Wall for RIM?”. Not Even the Blackberry Torch 9800, which I pooh- pooed in my blog article entitled “Blackberry 9800 Torch and RIM - Its clobbering Time”, which Telecom Provider Digicel has now resorted to pimping on local Jamaica Radio Station IRIE FM in a desperate attempt to sell it, overpriced as usual.

Message to Telecom Provider Digicel: The Blackberry Torch 9800, which is an updated capacitive touch screen packing a measly 624 MHz processor, 512 MB RAM with 4 GB storage and a MicroSD Card slot expandable to 32GB does not a smartphone make.

Jamaicans, brace yourselves for an avalanche of cheap refurbished Blackberry “smart”phones coming from the likes of Amazing PC Jamaica and Watt's New Jamaica who, rumour has it,  may be gearing up to ride as the Jamaican Economy continues to show signs of strengthening as I have said in a prior blog article entitled “America, Productivity and International Labour - Dream Merchant”.

Oh, and as a requiem for the Apple-byters: fret not! Apple is packing the “heat”, The Apple Byte Style: Double or nothing, with dual-mode Qualcomm chipsets as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple iPad S vs Motorola Xoom - Qualcomm Doubles the Fun”

This is now evidenced by the very same Telecom Provider Verizon Apple iPhone, now all but confirmed to be packing a dual-mode Qualcomm chipset as per the blog article by the eagle –eyed busybody reporter Darrell Etherington entitled “Is the Gemalto SIM Actually for a Dual-Mode iPhone 5?”, published February 7, 2011, 2:20pm PST by Darrell Etherington, GigaOM. 

Verizon and the Apple iPhone 4 - The Golden Fleece

That action is best which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers.

Francis Hutcheson, An Inquiry into……..Beauty and Virtue

After three (3) years of back and forth rumors, the day of Days arrived. The Apple iPhone finally landed on Telecom Provider Verizon’s Network, a heavenly experience to be sure, according to David Pogue, New York Times Reporter as stated in the article. “For iPhone, Almost Heaven”, published Wednesday February 2, 2011, 9:06 pm EST by DAVID POGUE, The New York Times.

Thus this article is short and sweet, as words cannot describe the ode to joy of the CDMA version of the Apple iPhone on Telecom Provider Verizon’s Network. Evidence of this love, can be found in the online pollster USamp (United Sample) latest poll as stated in the article  “Survey: Half of Verizon smartphone users to take iPhone leap”, published February 4, 2011 8:28 AM PST by Lance Whitney CNET News - Apple.

USamp polled seven hundred (700) subscribers and discovered that 54% of Blackberry and Android phone users on Telecom Provider Verizon’s Network are willing to switch to the Apple iPhone, compared to 26% of users on Telecom Provider AT&T’s Network who have expressed any such strong intentions.

Such is the strength of the Apple iPhone, that not only is it holding Telecom Provider AT&T customers in place, but it is also drawing customers away from their phones on Telecom Provider Verizon Network. Clearly then, it was never about the service: it was ALWAYS the cool factor of the Apple iPhone.

They also broke pre-order sales records for the day too as stated in the article “Verizon: iPhone sets first-day sales record”, published February 4, 2011 7:26 AM PST by Jim Dalrymple, CNET News - Apple and confirmed in the article “Verizon halts iPhone 4 pre-orders after most successful sales day in history”, published February 4, 2011, 8:05am PST by Matthew Miller, ZDNet.

All this craziness over a smartphone, or should I say the defacto standard for a smartphone! CNET Reporters, saddle up! Phones go on sale on Thursday February 10^th 2011 and the lines are probably forming as I type!

It wasn’t long ago that we heard news of the Apple iPhone coming to Telecom Provider Verizon. According to the article entitled “Bloomberg: Verizon iPhone coming in January?”, published June 29, 2010 1:17 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon CNET News - Signal Strength, Bloomberg predicted the Apple iPhone coming to Telecom Provider Verizon in 2011.

So said so done, as apparently the pleading of Telecom Provider Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, quite desperate they were to beat No. 1 Apple iPhone as stated in the article “Verizon CEO has told Apple of iPhone interest”, published Tuesday April 6, 10:28 am ET, Yahoo! News.

The Motorola Droid X bumped up their subscriptions as stated in the article “Verizon signs up more new subscriber than AT&T”, published July 23, 2010 1:48 PM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker, with the 411 being told in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and Data - Verizon gets their wish”.

In the end, nothing beats the real thing. Cherry on top with unlimited Data, albeit this may be only for a time as Telecom Provider Verizon may cap LTE (Long Term Evolution) opting to use a behavioral cap, which I shall explain in another of my blog article.

Another article coming at you on Thursday February 10^th 2011, when Americans get their Gadget fix in their pursuit of the Golden Fleece after a near three (3) year journey to Telecom Provider Verizon, Jason and the Argonauts (1963) Style! CNET, get ready, the lines are already forming…. 

America, Productivity and International Labour - Dream Merchant

If there were dreams to sell,

Merry and sad to tell,

And the crier rung his bell,

What would you buy?

Thomas Lovell, Beddoes, Dream-Pedlary

Irony of ironies, I have been busy working. So much so that I barely have time to sit down as I usually do and plumb through of the past, present and future and thus thump out article after article. I now work at Amazing PC Ltd. as a PC Repair Technician, after a eagle-eyed store Manager in May Pen caught sight of my blog, My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica, and offered my a job.

My thoughts are thus cast on Americans and their loss of low paying, menial jobs to make low end products such as electronics and gadgets to the People’s Republic of China. Yet, they still retain the production leadership of the world, with high value precision engineered products such as health care products, weaponry and aircraft as stated in the article “Despite china's might, US factories maintain edge”, published Monday January 31 2011 by PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer, Yahoo! News.

Out of work since December 3^rd 2009 after being fired since my girlfriend Audia Granston had died from cervical Cancer as stated in my blog article entitled “Audia Granston, Jack Abramoff and the Culture of Innovation and the spirit of Creativity in Jamaica”, my tribute article to her.

I had been hanging out at the Amazing PC Ltd. branch in Bargain Village, from where I update, and edit before posting my long winded ditties on my blog. I did the interview at Amazing PC headquarters, located at Hagley Park back on November Friday 5^th 2011, around the same time I wrote my blog article entitled “LIME vs Digicel - The Truth About Charlie”.

I failed to get the job, being as I am a Telecom Technician, not IT, as in our field we don’t fix electronics; we mere troubleshoot, spot ‘em, tag ‘em an bag ‘em and replace cards to get the system back online. Trifling simple work, the work of a Telecoms Technician! Most of our knowledge being keyed up in manuals specific for each type of equipment, so if you dislike reading, you will be forever stuck getting advice from other workers!

It was however after I was asked by Neisha, the Manager of Amazing PC Ltd. to suggest ways to increase sales at the Branch without discounts that I wrote a proposal which I sent in to Amazing PC Ltd. Hence the callback in 2011!

Not only did I get a callback in January 2011, folks, but in the same week of the interview another company, JNAP (Jamaica Network Access Point) a contractor for Telecom Provider CLARO, also called me for an interview as a Maintenance Engineer. JNAP was a company I had prior written and designed their maintenance program using spreadsheets back in 2009.

Thus, this enabled JNAP to get the maintenance contracts for nearly a third of the six hundred and twelve cells (612) that Telecom Provider CLARO owns. JNAP has also gotten more contracts from other Telecom Providers, but as the nature of these contracts is classified, I cannot divulge details.

This, folks, was the same Telecom Provider CLARO trying to block me after firing me back in December 3^rd 2009  claiming that I was sharing information with Telecom Provider Digicel. Ironic, as Telecom Provider Digicel and their show Digicel Rising Stars, was my idea………along with all of its offspring in terms of reality shows on Television Jamaica, being as my phone numbers above are all old company numbers being monitored.

Even more interesting, I was a RF Technician, thus I constantly have to be sharing info with Telecom Provider Digicel, with whom we share tower space on some sites that we co-locate on. Now re-employed, this whole fiasco highlights the silliness of Management as it relates to secrecy of information in this post-email and post-Social Networking era. 

How this all relates to the Americans? I am a skilled worker, with training specific to Telecoms. However, I had other skills too, which I had been using since I was much younger an how I had been getting employment at places as diverse as C&W (2001 to 2004), Mother’s Enterprises Ltd, a food retailer at which I had worked as a Network Administrator (July 2004 to November 2004) and Telecom Provider CLARO (2008 to December 2009) where I worked as a Radio Frequency Technicians, with an emphasis on Generator Maintenance.

As in Jamaica, Skilled workers will continue to be employed, as the days of menial jobs are numbered, all being lost to the People’s Republic of China and immigrant labour from Latin and Central America, the usual scape goat for America’s problems.

This despite American efforts to block immigrants from gaining citizenship in the US of A as stated in my blog article entitled “American Economy and Immigration - A Day Without a Mexican”, as with a continuously ageing population, immigrant labour to be in any way competitive with China is inevitable.

Natural Gas merely makes inputs cheaper for manufacturing as per my blog article entitled “Hydrogen Economy and Natural Gas - Wall-E and the Rise of Oceanospirillales Microbes”. Not to mention ride out the effects of the coming of the Second Recession due to Peak Oil in 2015!

American worries over being competitive with China, therefore, is nothing more than a complaint by middle -Americans over the loss of low-paying easy jobs for jobs that require higher levels of skill and training. This is a sure fire indication of spoilt American people, a Developed Country, who live in a country with so many vocational institutions, yet showing a dislike for skills training or Blue collar work as the Americans are wont to call it, which they have to be sourcing from Developing countries such as Jamaica.

Thus an expansion Internationally is on the cards in order to increase employment for Americans and create businesses opportunities, the same spirit of entrepreneurship required in Jamaica, as I had predicted in my blog article entitled “JDX and PayLess - First Dove of a Coming Recovery”. We are now people on the move, in this age of The Dream Merchants (TV 1980)!

Samsung and the Galaxy of Tablet and Phones - Lucky Charms for London Olympics 2012

England is a paradise of women, the purgatory of men and the Hell of horses.

John Florio, Second Frutes (1591)

Samsung came out swinging in the early part of 2010 as the only contender against the Apple iPad as stated in my blog article on Administrator Kirk’s Geezam blog entitled “Samsung Galaxy - Apple iPad's contender for the Christmas”. To be straight honest, they have not been doing very well, having made a disastrous decision to sell the Tablet on contract as opposed to treating it like a computer.

Thus, their sales have been lackluster, having sold one million Samsung Galaxy (1,000,000) units as stated in the article “Samsung puts Galaxy Tab sales at one million”, published Friday December 3, 2010 1:58 pm ET by Barry Levine, newsfactor.com, Yahoo! News.

Samsung’s smartphone, the red hot Samsung Galaxy S, has known better days, now with three million (3,000,000) units and counting as per the article “Samsung ships 3 million Galaxy S smartphones”, published December 3, 2010 8:04 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News - The Digital Home. Either way, Samsung did not beat the Apple iPad, hence the ribbing as The Contender (2011), not a competitor as per my blog article entitled “Apple and the iPad 2 - Honeycomb, Chrome and the DragonSlayer”.

However, these articles, albeit making great reading, are spurious in their sources, so the warning of Caveat Lector applies. Thus confirmation of these numbers have now landed in my lap, confirming sales of ten million (10,000,000) Samsung Galaxy S smartphones worldwide.

Here is the breakdown, folks: four million five hundred thousand (4,500,000) units sold in North America and two million five hundred thousand (2,500,000) sold in EU and the “brawta” going to the International customers as stated in the article “Samsung moves 10 million Galaxy S phones in seven months”, published January 3, 2011 1:09pm by Phil Hornshaw, Appolocious.

The Samsung Galaxy Tablet also riding the Google Android 2.2 aka Froyo wave, helped Samsung cross the finish line with a record performance in sales, brandishing two million (2,000,000) Samsung Galaxy Tablets sold. This helped to push the Korean company into record setting territory in it Fourth Quarter with 3.43 trillion won, up 13% from 3.04 trillion won, with year on year sales of 41.87 trillion Korean won, a 7% gain over 2009.

So says the statistics in the article “Samsung's revenue, profits rise in 4th Quarter”, published January 28, 2011 6:40 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News - The Digital Home and corroborated by the article “Samsung posts record year, with help from Galaxy Tab”, published January 28, 2011 3:35pm by Phil Hornshaw by Phil Hornshaw, Appolocious.

So how do they fare against the Apple iPad S, possibly to be launched in the period of Thursday February 3^rd 2011 and Thursday February 10^th 2011, the launch window for the Verizon Apple iPhone? Which may possibly the period in which Apple’s WWDC conference will be held?

Not to mention the possible unveiling of the White Unicorn, the Apple iPhone 4.0, the newly minted Apple iPhone 5.0, the Apple iPad S and other refreshes, if any? All speculation neatly cobbled together in my blog article entitled “HTC and Honeycomb - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”!

Not good would be the answer to the initial question, if the article “Guess what could stop the Tablet Revolution?”, published January 24, 2011, 11:30am PST by Ryan Kim, GigaOM is to be believed. iSuppli, the component analyst, is expecting sales in 2011 to top fifty seven million, six hundred thousand (57,600,000) units worldwide, up from the previous years forecast of seventeen million, one hundred thousand (17,100,000) units, a whopping increase of approximately 237%.

If theses figure hold, (iSuppli is usually on the money!), this could effectively be a text book example of the London Olympics 2012 Effect, as Apple is expecting to cash in on the Pre-Olympics hype and people desire to watch the games streamed live or delayed on their Tablets.

Ditto that for any device that can be used to view the games, especially portable devices, such as smartphones, smartbooks and Tablets. 3D HDTV will also ride on this wave, with expectations also high for increased sales this 2011 as prognosticated in my blog article on Administrator Kirk’s Geezam blog entitled “3D HDTV - Next Big Thing or Next Big Niche”.

Expect streaming services, such as the Apple iTV and the premier Roku Box in the United States of America to feature their content prominently – once they lock in the content licenses.

Same too, for Jamaican free-to-air broadcasters Television Jamaica and CVM TV, who are now having to compete for advertising eyeballs from LIME TV and Net2Vu IPTV devices, now exclusively being retailed by Amazing PC! Local Telecom Provider Digicel probably knows this too; hence their strategic support of the Samsung Galaxy Tablet as noted in my blog article entitled “LIME TV and IPTV - Kill and Kill Again and the London 2012 Olympics”.

Also explains why Jamaican and American Telecom Providers are ramping up their 3G and 4G Networks as observer in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and 100MBps - Diamonds are Forever”.

More reason for Amazing PC and Watts' New to team up and begin offering these

Lucky Charms cum products before London Olympics 2012. Tickets are now on sale, as the Games are now only eighteen (18) months away, as stated in the article “London 2012 celebrates 18 months to go”, published 27 Jan 2011, London Olympics 2012!