JLP and PNP Domain Name Routing as General Election approaches – How Apps and Crowdfunding will win over smartphone Voters

Jamaica's political campaigning for the General Elections just took an interesting turn for the Tech.

The JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) has purchased the domain for a website that's has a URL (Universal Resource Locator) that’s spells out Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s name as reported in the article “JLP’s purchase of website in PM’s name upsets PNP”, published Tuesday, September 22, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The Website, www.portiasimpsonmiller.com, doesn’t sent you to the PNP (People's National Party) website. Rather, it re-routes you to the JLP's website, which is very well designed as shown below.

 

As expected, the PNP was pissed, to quote their press release: “The party views the JLP's actions as immoral and unethical and reflective of a party that is bankrupt of ideas that will use the immense popularity of the prime minister to seek to shore up its flagging brand. Fresh on the heels of a dismal tour in the United States, the Opposition Leader has now clearly resorted to ‘piggybacking’ on the internationally and locally reputable name of the party leader and prime minister in order to get an audience”.

How the JLP is using Domain Name Routing against the PNP – Al’s fair in Love, War and Politics

Alas, this is totally legit; you can purchase domain name and use it to route traffic to your website. In fact, when I post my blog articles on Twitter using the URL shortener service bitly.com, that's basically what I'm doing.

It drives huge amount of traffic to my blog and in turn makes me more revenue from advertising. Best of all, I can customize the name of my bitly.com URL and even place it in the Newspaper, driving even more traffic to my blog article as suggested in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How Jamaicans can make Money from Referral Websites”.

It’s also a great way to get revenge against the PNP, after they had purchase the domain name www.frompovertytoprosperity.com, which also re-routes the website as reported in the article “Tit for tat: JLP says PNP started it”, published Tuesday, September 22, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.

However, instead of rerouting to the PNP’s website, it reroutes to a picture of Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna and Minister of Finance Dr. Peter Phillips apparently on stage chilin’ during a Q&A.

The JLP is campaigning under the slogan “Poverty to Prosperity”, the theme from Opposition leader Andrew Holness tour of Jamaica to spread his political party's message. It's a rehash of former JLP Leader Bruce Golding's campaign slogan and may not really bring the PNP much luck.

Apps and Crowdfunding in General Election Campaigns – Best way to win over smartphone totin’ voters

Still, this technology spin makes the Political race a mite bit more interesting, as all's fair in love and war.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Opposition Leader Andrew Holness need to step up their campaigning game to reach the Smartphone totin’ generation of Jamaicans and make some apps for their Political campaign so their party supporters can support the campaign.

Also, a Crowdfunding Campaign via Social Media as described in my MICO Wars blog article entitled  “How Jamaicans can use Crowdfunding for their Projects in 30 Days”  would also make it appeal to the younger generation, whom they'll need to vote in what may be a very close December 2015 General Election.

Now would be a great time for me to seek out their political headquarters, which are in close proximity to Swallowfield and offer them advertising on my blog, My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica as well as MICO Wars: The Teacher Force Awakens blog!

Here’s the link:

www.portiasimpsonmiller.com

PNP (People's National Party) website

www.frompovertytoprosperity.com

Jamaica Labour Party’s Website

Why CMI's Future Mechatronics Engineers need Free Housing for Robotics Programmers vital to Jamaica's Growth

“The traditional engineers are no longer relevant and we continue to evolve. The three things that should be critical at institutions are teaching students the value of a good attitude, a foreign language and inculcating critical thinking skills. Because with the rapid changes taking place, you can't be confined to any one area anymore. Those skills are transferable, no matter what area you end up”

Executive Director at the CMI (Caribbean Maritime Institute), Dr Fritz Pinnock in comments to the Jamaica Gleaner after the launch of the Maritime Awareness Exhibition held at the CMI on Monday September 21^st 2015

The face of Engineering may soon be radically change towards a more multi-disciplinary approach. The idea of being purely a Mechanical, Electrical, Power, Instrumentation, Electronics and Telecoms, Chemical or Civil Engineer in Jamaica might soon be old hat in the next five to ten years.

Folks, queue the song Automatic by the Pointer Sisters!

So says Executive Director at the CMI (Caribbean Maritime Institute), Dr Fritz Pinnock who is heralding a trend towards to Robotics and Programming on the horizon as reported in the article

“‘Traditional engineers are no longer relevant' - Caribbean Maritime Institute head”, Published Tuesday September 22, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

He made these comments to the Jamaica Gleaner after the launch of the Maritime Awareness Exhibition held at the CMI on Monday September 21^st 2015.

During that conversation, he made mention of plans to launch a degree in Mechatronics, which is basically a Degree combining knowledge of mechanical, electrical, telecommunications, Instrumentation and control, and computer Programming as explained in the article “Career Walk Mechatronic engineer”, published Tuesday, July 01, 2014, The Jamaica Observer. 

These plans have long been in the offing, as he’d previous been seeking funding from as far back a February 2014 from the PetroCaribe Fund to have Engineering firm Festo build a state-of-the-art Mechatronics Lab to train Mechatronics (read Robotics!) Engineers as reported in the article “Mechatronics lab coming”, published Sunday, February 09, 2014 BY NADINE WILSON Career & Education reporter, The Jamaica Observer. 

According to Dr Fritz Pinnock, he's already seeing signs that there is a need for such an amalgam of skills, with a yearly demand of some 40,000 seafarers from his school alone.

Already I can see many CMI students on the MICO University College Campus milling around since September 2015 and going to do courses, as there is a space shortage at the CMI as reported in “Caribbean Maritime Institute Facing Space Constraints As Enrolment Increases”, published Wednesday September 2, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

Many of his graduates from the CMI find themselves being paid well for their multi-disciplinary approach and transferrable skills, quote: “That's the requirement on a yearly basis and these officers are earning US$3,000 a month. These opportunities are out there, particularly in the shipping industry, but we have to change the traditional way of doing things”.

Yes folks you read that right: US$3000 per month as a Maritime Engineer. But the combination of all those disciplines also points to something else coming to Jamaica: Robotics Engineering and Programming.

Robotics Engineering is a field that Pays - How Robotics Engineering is vital to Jamaica's Growth

Robotics Engineering or Mechatronics as it's called in Australia, is curiously the focus of Australia as explained in my blog article entitled “Australia and Robots in Farming and Mining - Why Programming taught at Early Childhood necessary as Robots and Drones need Drone Pilots, Supervisors and Engineers”.

Australia is now developing robots to do repetitive and dangerous tasks such as mining and faming due to a labour shortage.  To this end, he’s suggesting that Jamaica start training Engineers in this new field of Mechatronics, quote: “Right now, 60 per cent of the best careers in the next 10 years are yet to be invented, and so we have to desist from seeing the Jamaican landscape separate from the world. We need to align our programmes to international standards”.

Dr Fritz Pinnock said that the Engineer who sticks to one field would have a problem, as Robotics Engineering requires knowledge of the following three things:

1.      Value of a good attitude

2.      A foreign language (French or Spanish)

3.      Critical thinking skills

Not surprisingly, he also blamed that lack of interest in Engineering on parents, many of whom focus on having their children trained in more prestigious but less rewarding fields such as Medicine and Law, quote: “Parents, too, are to be blamed because everybody wants their daughter to become a lawyer, but we have seen that the traditional way of doing things are still producing gaps”

This is an opinion I share as Engineering is made to look less lucrative, despite Engineers being top earners in the US of A as argued in my Geezam blog article entitled “Engineering Degrees are among the Top Earning Degrees in the USA for Jamaican College Students”.

In fact, there is an Engineering Hiring spree currently ongoing since April 2015 based on the stats from a poll conducted by analyst Statista on behalf of Financial Magazine Forbes as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “Why Technology Companies are Seeking Engineers”. 

Good to hear the Politicians supporting this move, as Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Dr. Morais Guy, echoes that sentiment: “Institutions such as CMI are needed, as they provide a niche in education opportunities for youths in this country. Through increased education and training, the sector here in Jamaica will not only be able to adopt new and emerging technology but to create technology locally”.

Clearly Jamaica is behind in the field of Robotics, Mechatronics as well as Programming, quote: “If we are to in any way match up to the rest of the world, we have to create something that is innovative, and the ministry is, therefore, resolute in giving the necessary support, as the career opportunities are endless”.

Already Programming is being encouraged in High Schools among girls via the Girls who Code Program as I'd reported in my blog article entitled “Girls Who Code Clubs Christmas eCard Project - Workshop for Software Coding Females creating Evangelion Pilots passing on their knowledge”.

We still have a lot of catching up to do, as all students, not just girls, need to start learning Computer languages as well as Robotics from the Primary School level!  

Robotics Engineers and Computer Programmers - Why Free Housing and Transportation needed to reduce Brain-Drain

Wait, Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing?

Could he also be offering housing solution to such graduates in a bid to have them stay in Jamaica and use their skills, in a move similar to West Rural St Andrew Member of Parliament Paul Buchanan plan to train Computer Programmer and build housing for them as reported in my blog article entitled “Computer Programming the Future of Jamaica – How Paul Buchanan plans to jump start the ICT Revolution”?

That would be great, as in order to reduce brain-drain by people leaving for better Jobs abroad after being trained on Robotics (Mechatronics if you will!) and Programming as they're suggesting, providing free or heavily subsidized housing would be a great way to keep them in Jamaica.

Many skilled Jamaicans cannot find proper accommodations and a community setting of like-minded persons to raise their children and practice their craft. It may not be possible to pay such future skilled persons US$3000 per month (albeit I'd love that!) in the next ten (10) years, but giving them free or heavily subsidized Housing and even transportation would reduce the cost of living and working in Jamaica.

Best of all, the skills in Robotics and Programming will be needed to build the next automated Factories to boost manufacturing as well as design Drones for Jamaica's Fledgling Aerospace Industry as well as other areas, such as package delivery as argued in my blog article entitled “JCAA Drones Regulations - Why GOJ Double-Standard suggest Commercial Drone Pilot Licenses are coming”.

Folks, like Australia, low-cost profitable and export-ready manufacturing sector and an Aerospace Industry based on designing Drones require trained Engineers in the Robotics and Programming Fields!

Stay tuned to my blog, as I've now added Robotic, Mechatronics and Programming to my Google Alerts search terms as more articles coming to chart these historic developements!

Preserving Food at MICO - How to make Vegetables, Eggs and Shordy Bread last forever

Folks, ever since my return to Kingston, I've had to get used to water lock-offs that last an entire day.

Just this Sunday September 20^th 2015, the water went away for an entire day! Evil!!

This led to me almost going into a meltdown like the last time as I'd logged in my blog article entitled “Water Shortage at MICO - How I'm dealing with the Water Shortage in Kingston”.

But this time I took my own advice and I was prepared. I'd filled up some three (3) containers with water a follows:

1.      50 Gallon Drum

2.      10 Gallon Drum in the Kitchen

3.      Assortment of bottles in the refrigerator

I also made sure I had some Bag juices frozen and ready to go, should this evil befall me yet again. Back in Clarendon, we don't have such water lock-offs; it's just goes away in the day time and returns at night, as Milk River is supplied by a private Spring.

This made me miss home all the more, albeit I still treasure my freedom in Kingston. So I’ve made up my mind to just get a water bottle like the slim pretty wild girls on the MICO University College have toting around, as there seems to be no rain in sight!

So now my mind turns to yet another problem, that being the fact that vegetables from my favourite Market in downtown Kingston as I’d pointed out in my blog article entitled “KSAC and NWC and the Raw Sewage problem in Downtown Kingston – How to restore order by making Downtown safe for Vendors and Shoppers” have gone sky-high in price. 

Almost every vegetable has doubled in price, making it almost pointless to travel to Coronation Market, as they're now on par in terms of price with Hi-Lo and Empire Supermarket in Cross Roads, where I usually shop for my meat substitutes. 

So how does one make your vegetables, Eggs and fruits last longer?

How to make Fruits, Vegetables, Eggs and Shordy Bread last forever

Actually there is a very simple technique; you have to remove as much moisture from them and store them wrapped up in Newspaper in your refrigerator.

Even better, if you have a large plastic container, you can line it with Newspaper, then get some silica Gel packs as described in “What is silica gel and why do I find little packets of it in everything I buy?”, published 2014, March 14 by How Stuff Works from and place them into a plastic bag, like one of those you would use to make suck-suck as shown below.

Perforate the plastic bag and place the silica Gel packs inside the container lined with newspaper.

Then place your food i.e. vegetables fruits, etc, inside and seal shut. The vegetables will stay fresh forever, as the silica gel packs remove moisture from the air, the main thing that makes vegetables and any food for that matter, go bad.

Congratulate yourself dear reader; you’ve just made a Moisture Trap. Anything, even Disposable Razor blades as describe in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to make JA$150 Gillette Double-bladed Disposable Razors last for Months”, once placed inside of this Moisture Trap, will never go bad and will last forever.

In fact, this same trick will also work with Bread, especially that infamous Shordy Bread from HoneyBun that's super tasty but moist and barely lasts a week. 

Shordy Bread! Shordy Bread! Get your Shordy Bread! #Shordybread #Shordy #Bread #HoneyBunJa #BestBread #EverybodyBread pic.twitter.com/Oz3giw3wNW

— Honey Bun Ja (@Honeybunja) September 5, 2015

Place the slices inside of the Moisture Trap I've designed and your bread will stay fresh and mildew free for months!

To make eggs last longer, merely gather some candles and a stainless steel pot. Then melt the candle wax in the pot. Using a pair of griping tongs or even a brush, dip the eggs into the hot molten candle wax and coat the eggs from end to end.

Set them to allow the candle wax to harden with a thick enough layer of candle wax. Then place them into the Moisture Trap I've designed and your eggs will stay fresh and never go bad for months, passing the test as shown below.

I'm still experimenting with how to make meat last longer. So until then, use my food preservation Moisture Trap wisely. Sharing is caring so share this with all of your friends suffering in the drought in Jamaica!! 

How Andris Atteka’s 16 Character String crashes Google Chrome – Pranks galore until Google fixes this problem

“It seems to be crashing in some very old code. In the Debug build, it's hitting a DCHECK on an invalid URL in GURL, deep in some History code. Given that it's hitting a CHECK in the Release build, I don't think this is actually a security bug, but I'm going to leave it as such”

Developer jww@chromium.org in response to Latvia-based software engineer and security researcher Andris Atteka discovery of a bug that crashes the Google Chrome browser

Google isn't having a great year at all as it relates to hacking their programs. It's almost as if a light has been shining on Google and discovering some serious flaws.

The Google Android 5.0 Lollipop lockscreen defeat discovered by Researchers at University of Texas as reported in my blog article entitled “University of Texas discovers Google Android 5.0 Lollipop hack – How to unlock any Google Android 5.0 Lollipop smartphone”. 

The latest discovery relates to the Google Chrome browser. Apparently, there is a bug in the browser that allows the Browser to be crashed by typing in a special string of characters as reported in the article “This string of 16 characters will crash Chrome”, published September 20, 2015 by Jason Hahn, Digitaltrends.

The bug was discovered by Latvia-based software engineer and security researcher Andris Atteka and made public in a blog post published Friday, September 18, 2015 entitled “A simple string to crash Google Chrome”.

The string he used was a 26 character string as follows: http://biome3d.com/%%30%30.

Even visiting his webpage and having it open on your browser causes the Chrome Tab to crash. Then, surprisingly, Venturebeat, another technology blog, discovered the 16 character string that can also crash the Google Chrome browser as reported in the article “These 16 characters crash Google Chrome”, published SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 by Emil Protalinski, Venturebeat.

That string of characters is http://a/%%30%30. 

What’s even creepier is that the user doesn’t even have to paste the string of character into the Browser address bar. If you hover your mouse over the link or press Tab then press the link to open it in a new tab it'll crash the current open tab in Google Chrome, even the entire Browser in some cases.  

How a 16 Character String crashes Google Chrome – Andris Atteka’s harmless Bug from Older Code

It is also operating system agnostic, affecting the following versions of Google Chrome Browser:

1.      Chrome for Windows

2.      Chrome for Mac

3.      Chrome for Linux

Only Google Chrome for Android seems unaffected.

Still, this isn’t a security threat, merely older code that's reacting to the string of characters it can’t process, similar to telling a computer program to divide by 0 as suggested in the article “This 16-Character Link Crashes Google's Chrome Browser”, published 21 September 2015 by Manish Singh, NDTV Gadgets.

To this end Andris Atteka didn't get a bug bounty s it’s not that serious as reported in the article “Google Chrome Crashes Instantly With Simple URL String”, published September 20 2015 by Alexandra Burlacu, Tech Times. 

But rest assured this will be a great prank to play on unsuspecting friend as noted in the article “Nasty URL bug brings Google Chrome to a screeching halt”, published Sep 20, 2015 by Nick Mediati, PCWorld. 

They may unwittingly click on the link sent to them in an email over and over for the next few days until Google issues a fix to the problem.

Here’s the link:

A simple string to crash Google Chrome

Why RJR HDTV GCML means NYSE IPO as 4G LTE heralds 5G and Content Streaming

HDTV is now in the cards for the RJR Communications Group as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “The Future of Free-to-Air Broadcasters in Jamaica as Digital Switch Over Approaches in 2015”. The free-to-Air broadcasters have basically been left with no choice, as 2015 is the year they should have switched over to HDTV.

Gary Allen, Managing Director of the RJR Communications Group all but declared this during a the panel discussion on Thursday September 10^th 2015 at the Faculty of Medical Sciences as reported in the article “RJR needs $750 m to go HDTV”, published Sunday, September 13, 2015 by Steven Jackson, Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

The panel Discussion, entitled “The RJR-Gleaner Merger: Implications for the Media Business in Jamaica” was produced by the Mona School of Business Management (MSBM ).

The gathering was basically a pow-wow for commentators on Traditional Media to comment on the way forward after the RJR Communications Group and the Jamaica Gleaner had surprised us with a merger on Wednesday August 5^th 2015 as reported in the article “RJR, Gleaner announce merger”, published Wednesday, August 05, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.

The Merger, basically an equities swap, involved some 1.2 billion shares changing hands so that both entities would become equal partners in an Umbrella company called GCML (Gleaner Company Media Limited). Each company, the 180-y-o Gleaner Company and the 65-y-o RJR Communications Group, are 50/50 partners in this new media entity.

This is similar to Google’s restructuring their various companies under the name Alphabet almost five (5) days later on Monday August 10th 2015 as explained in my blog article entitled “@Google Inc is now Alphabet Inc – Why an Alphabet Soup of Business Structure means better Engineering Project Success”.

However, unlike Google restructuring, the merger is basically to weather the coming storm of Telecom Provider entering the Traditional Media landscape suggested by the article “RJR, The Gleaner Merge Media Operations”, Published Wednesday August 5, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.  

Hence, it's not surprising that the focus of the discussion seemed to center on whether or not the Merger would allow them to whether this growing storm of the Telecom Providers increased push into Traditional Media. But are the Telecom Providers going after Traditional Media or is it just a side effect of their expansion as they ramp up to 4G LTE?

RJR considering HDTV - How Telecom Providers 4G LTE Plans is affecting the Broadcasters

Let's do a quick review as to where the players are.

Digicel has basically purchased SportsMax and seems to be planning an islandwide Sports Cable Network as reported in my blog article entitled “Digicel purchases SportsMax – Why No Games, Just Sports on Digicel's Streaming Cable TV over Bigger, Better Network 4G LTE and FTTH”.

They've also purchased Telstar Jamaica, a local Cable company, which I assumed was to provide Fiber Optic Backhaul for their 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) Network as reported in my blog article entitled “ Digicel officially acquires Telstar Cable – Why Digicel is launching IPTV Streaming over 4G LTE using 20 Years of Cable TV History”.  

However, it looks to be more than just building out a Fiber Optic Backhaul Network as based on a tip-off from an insider within Digicel, I soon realized that they're also doing FTTH (Fiber to the House) in a direct assault on fellow competitor LIME as I'd explained in my Geezam blog article entitled  “Digicel Sportsmax NBA deal means fiber and 4G LTE coming this year”.

This makes sense, as with the excess Capacity that building out a Fiber Optic Backhaul for their 4G LTE Network will create, there will be a time of low occupancy. With Voice and SMS (Short Messaging Service) usage trending down due to IM (Instant Messaging) apps and the uncertainty of how Jamaican customer will react to paying for pricier 4G LTE, providing Streaming Cable TV, specifically Sports event from SportsMax, will fill in the Traffic Void on Digicel's New Caribbean-Wide Fiber Optic Networks.

It'll make the Transition to a more Data centric company easier, helping Digicel to achieve their target of 25% of Revenue from Data services, be it 4G LTE or Fiber Optic Broadband that their Digicel Underground Fiber Optic Network in the next five (5) years as reported in my blog article entitled “Digicel's First Phase of Underground Fiber Optic Network completed - How Digicel's Tier III Data Center, FTTH, VoIP and Streaming possible in Year of the Sheep 2015”.

If true, it explains why LIME has not only purchased the operations of FLOW Jamaica but has also taken on their name. This in order to curry favour with potential Cable Customers and prevent them from defecting to Digicel SportsMax as per my analysis in my Geezam blog article entitled “LIME Jamaica Goes with the FLOW thanks to Caribbean-wide Survey”. 

The inevitability of Streaming HDTV over 4G LTE – Jamaicans getting into Content Streaming

Already, Both Telecom Providers have been providing Streaming Radio Services in the form of Deezer and Rdio, basically challenging the Free-to-Air Radio Industry as explained in my blog article entitled “@Digicel_Jamaica and @LIMEJamaica sign Streaming Deals - How HD Audio Streaming, 4G LTE and Caribbean Artiste means Streaming Revenue Bad Blood”.

So their Streaming Cable TV and FTTH with sports content, which is to stabilize their Fiber Optic Backhaul Networks with traffic as customers and businesses are introduced to 4G LTE Wireless Broadband, will affect the Traditional Broadcasters. This as the provision of Streaming Cable TV via FTTH means HDTV and other Broadband relate services are coming, forcing the now newly merged entity to have to consider going that route.

When 4G LTE is finally launched, it'll take some time for many Jamaicans to adjust to paying higher prices for Data Services. But given the addictive nature of the initial sampler, that being Digicel Zero as reported in my blog article entitled “Digicel launches Digicel Zero - How @Digicel_jamaica is testing VoLTE vs @WhatsApp's Free Voice Calling to boost smartphone sales”, they'll soon jump on board.

Jamaicans will slowly get hip to Steaming Full 4K Video wirelessly as well as via FTTH. Eventually as the economy improves in the next five (5) years, many might even begin to have improvements in income. 

This'll translate to more buying power and thus an increased tendency to shop online with their Scotia VISA Debit Card and CIBC VISA Debit Cards. And this spells trouble for both the RJR Communications Group and Gleaner Company

GCML IPO on the NYSE to raise capital coming - Why cheaper Tablets, Video Streaming, content purchasing and 5G on the horizon

So in the future among Jamaicans, buying digital Streaming content, be it Video, Music or apps may become a more common place activity. This makes it necessary for Jamaica to develope an ICT Industry based on Programming Apps, Video Games as predicted in my blog article entitled “Computer Programming the Future of Jamaica – How Paul Buchanan plans to jump start the ICT Revolution”. 

We will also have to develope the Computer Programming capacity to design drones as well, now that companies such as Qualcomm are making SoC (System on a Chip) Controller Boards for Drones such as the Snapdragon Flight as reported in my blog article entitled “Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight for Drone design - Why US$300 DIY Drones with 4K Video and connectivity options coming in 2016”.  

By then, Tablets, which have been falling in price globally as well is in the US of A due to heavy competition from the Chinese “White Label” Tablets as evidenced from the low-cost US$50 Amazon Fire Tablet as reported in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “US$50 Amazon Fire Tablet and US$50 Amazon Fire TV Stick makes Christmas bright”.

Throw 5G on that bonfire by 2020 as predicted in my blog article entitled “ITU publishes 5G IMT-2020 Roadmap - Why US Telecom Providers, @Digicel_Jamaica and @LIMEJamaica like to travel off the beaten Path”, which is mainly coming to the US of A and other Developing World Countries.

If it does come to Jamaica by 2020, it will not end well for the RJR Communications Group and the Gleaner. Cheaper Tablets, 4K smartphones, the  purchasing of Digital Content, some made by Jamaicans and even locally made Drones will be common place in 2020.  

Many will wonder why they'll even need to watch local content from the RJR Communications Group when they can stream 4K content via 4G LTE using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) as explained in my blog article entitled “Cable Providers comply with BCJ Cable Channel Removal - How to install a VPN to Stream American Cable Channels on your  Roku”.

The GCML (Gleaner Company Media Limited) therefore has no choice. As soon as the Merger gets approval, they need to set in motion plans to float an IPO on the NYSE to raise the capital needed to go HDTV, with a Caribbean wide push.

Otherwise, they'll be swamped by the Telecom Providers, who in transitioning to 4G LTE and eventually 5G, will erode their marketshare by introducing better quality content which Jamaicans in the future will be more than willing to spend their disposable income via their Scotia VISA Debit and CIBC VISA Debit Cards. 

@Nexbit Robin #Cloud #smartphone means @Motorola, @HTC, @Xiaomi, @Asus, @Lenovo and @LGus Cloud OS Revolution

“The response has blown us away, and further proven that a fresh approach to smartphones that solves real problems is something people want in their hands. With that, we are putting new stretch goals in place to keep the interest high to take us through the end of the campaign, which is in 15 days”

Nextbit, creator of the Robin Cloud based smartphone, commenting on surpassing their Kickstarter goal

The idea of a Cloud based Computer is alive and well in the form of Google Chrome products such as Google Chrome Laptops as well as the as-yet-to-be-released Google Chromebit as described in my blog article entitled “@Google launches Google Chromebit, Haier and Hisense Chromebook and @Asus Chromebook Flip - @Microsoft Productivity vs @GoogleChrome OS low Price”. 

So a smartphone that runs on web apps that are located in the cloud, albeit new, isn't novel. Still, this didn't stop Americans from supporting the kickstarter for the Robin, a cloud based smartphone from the company Nextbit as reported in the article “The smartphone with crazy cloud storage just hit its Kickstarter goal”, published September 1, 2015 by Roger Cheng, CNET News.

The Robin Cloued smartphone Kickstarter launched on Monday September 1^st 2015 has already achieved its initial kickstarter goal of US$50,000 with some 3,182 backers.

With just ten (10) days to go to its Thursday, October 1^st 2015 8:45 AM EST deadline, the Robin Cloued smartphone Kickstarter has already raised some US$1,195,070 in funding as reported in “Cloud-based smartphone hits $1M on Kickstarter -- double the original goal”, published September 15, 2015 by Steven Musil, CNET News.

They'll now be launching their Robin Cloud based smartphone on Verizon, adding to the AT&T and T-Mobile Version they've made thus far as reported in the article “Nextbit's Robin phone, which taps cloud for 100GB of storage, adds Verizon version”, published September 17, 2015 by Roger Cheng, CNET News.

So what's so exciting about this cloud based smartphone that’s got even Telecom Provider excited?

Nexbit's Robin Cloud based smartphone - Why Cloud OS smartphones may be the next evolution of smartphones

Founded by former Executives who'd worked with HTC and Google now CEO and Co-Founder Tom Moss and CTO, Co-Founder Mike Chan and Chief Product & Design Officer Scott Croyle, the Robin promises to be a smartphone that has no limitations on Storage of Apps.

Because it leverages the power of the cloud for External Storage, its measly 32GB of internal storage is augmented by a whopping 100GB of Free Cloud Storage.

Like the Xiaomi, makers of the low cost smartphone the Xiaomi Redmi as detailed in my blog article entitled “US$130 5.5” Xiaomi Redmi Note Phablet goes on sale in China on Tuesday March 26th 2014 - Low-cost Unlocked Phablets the next Tablet in China's Year of the Horse” , it's being sold directly to customers.

So although you can go to the Carriers and purchase your Robin smartphone, because it's a kickstarter, your Robin will be shipped to you by May 2016. Quite a bit of time to wait for a smartphone which may result in its specs becoming dated! So expect frequient updates of their design to challenge the latest and the greatest in the future.

The Robin smartphone is a 5.2” IPS LCD Screen made of Gorilla Glass 4 with a rather rectangular profile. It’s very lightweight at 150g which isn’t surprising, given its dimensions of 149mm x 72mm x 7mm. It comes in two (2) colour schemes as shown below:

1.      Mint

2.      Midnight

It's running Google Android 5.0 Lollipop smartphone with a 1080p screen that’s powered by a Qualcomm's hexa-core Snapdragon 808 chipsets with 3GB of RAM support. It also support USB-C port, which means no more fiddling with the microUSB cable to find which end is up.

 

It’s got a 13 Megapixel Rear-facing Camera with phase detection autofocus, dual tone flash and a 5 Megapixel Front-Facing Camera, which means this rectangular beast is perfect for selfies.

For the entertainment minded it has Dual front facing stereo speakers with support for Bluetooth 4.0 LE, making it easily pairable with a set of US$300 Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless headphones as detailed beautifully in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “US$300 Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless headphones unique Touch Interface in Wireless Mode”. 

Support for Wi-Fi A/B/G/N/AC and LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20 and 28 means you can connect to the Internet via any router or 4G LKTE enable cellular Network, a must for this smartphone to really work.

it also a very versatile smarpthone with support for 850Mhz, 900Mhz, 1800Mhz and 1900 Mhz GSM (Global System Mobile) Networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile as well as 850Mhz, 900Mhz, 1800Mhz, 1900 Mhz and 2100Mhz on the WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiplex) Networks such as Sprint and Verizon.

Fingerprint sensor and NFC suggests that this smartphone also comes ready to support Android Pay as described in my blog article entitled “1 million US Retailers for Android Pay - Why Samsung Pay Alliance with Asus, HTC, Lenovo and Xiaomi is coming”, should you opt to use it in the future.

The support for Wireless Charging is not included, but the Robin makes up for this flaw with support for Quick charging for it fairly large 2680 mAh Li-Ion Battery.

More interestingly is the internal storage of 32GB. This is augmented by 100GB of Cloud storage an special software that detects the apps, photos, videos and MP3 files you use the least and slowly backs them up into the cloud using any available Data Service it can detect, be it 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)or Wi-Fi.

This is the magic that’s got everyone excited, as that means no more running out of cloud storage space and having to choose between keeping files or deleting them.

Best of all this feature is automated and free, unlike other manually-initiated third party cloud storage options for smartphones, such as OneDrive, Google Drive and even Dropbox's Loom for Apple iPhone users as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “Dropbox acquires iOS App Loom as it steamrolls towards the launch of its IPO”.

Nextbit Robin Cloud OS smartphone - Why Motorola, HTC, Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo and LG will partner with Google and Microsoft 

The promise of this smartphone is what has many excited; unlimited storage on a smartphone. So no more deleting smartphone apps and other of your precious content!

Currently most Cloud Storage Service are third party app that you have to install and pay for storage above 100 GB as detailed in my blog article entitled “How to create and manage a 100GB Virtual Cloud Drive including Google Drive and Dropbox - My 100GB+ Cloud Drive Dream as the popularity of my blogs is Hunger Games Catching Fire”.

To get that much Cloud Storage, you'd have to pay for it; the Robin comes with free Cloud Storage built in for free, almost like a Google Chromebook.

However, due to the ease with this can be done, I'm surprised that Google hasn't thought of make a Google Chrome OS smartphone as well. Rest assured other smartphone OEM like Motorola, HTC, Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo and LG will easily copy this feature in an alliance with their Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.

But what if the OS was also cloud based as well as I'd predicted a long time ago in my blog article entitled “HP TouchPad a target for Modders - PopCaan Raving Chicken Run Lazarus Effect for Cloud-Based Chrome OS Tablet”? 

That is to say, the entire smartphone's interface was just one big browser window with Web Apps that would only work on the Internet? Quite possible, albeit that would mean that the price for 4G LTE would have to be very low for you not to worry about breaking your Data Cap or the caps would have to be set very high.

Also it couldn’t be Google Android or Google Chrome OS, which is already hosted on its own set of Google Servers. This implies a new Cloud based OS, tailored specifically for smartphones, may be in coming in the future to create this cloud based smartphone that I’m dreaming and speaking about in my article.

This may seem far-fetched, but with 5G on the horizon by 2020 as pointed out in my blog article entitled “ITU publishes 5G IMT-2020 Roadmap - Why US Telecom Providers, @Digicel_Jamaica and @LIMEJamaica like to travel off the beaten Path”, Cloud OS for smartphones and even Tablets may not be too far off in the future.

With Cloud Storage getting cheaper and cheaper, the Nextbit Robin, albeit not a Cloud OS based smartphone, may be the first step in the direction of this delightful and elusive Unicorn.

Here’s the Link;

Nextbit’s Robin Cloud Smartphone on Kickstarter