The company is NOT changing its corporate name to Xfinity -- it's just the product offerings that will carry that new brand.
So, if you're a subscriber to any of its services, you may see the new name on your bill, but your money will still most definitely be going to the same ol' Comcast.
Comcast basically said the new name reflects all the changes and upgrades they've made to their cable, voice and Internet offerings in recent years.
Other markets that will see the name change and Xfinity-branded services include: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Hartford, Augusta, Chattanooga, parts of the Bay Area and San Francisco, with more markets to come later this year, Comcast says.
The Washington Post has an interesting story today about Google and the NSA secretly starting to work together to figure out who targeted the search engine giant in cyberattacks last month that originated from China.
If you read the comments, you'll get a taste of the skepticism that some feel about Google -- the world's largest search engine and catalogue of Web user activity -- getting in bed with the U.S.'s top electronic surveillance agency. Are the concerns justified?
Who says libraries can't be cutting edge, fun and experimental? Not me.
The Enoch Pratt library system in Baltimore is starting to use Foursquare, a mobile location-based network/game that allows users to "check in" to a spot, collect points and fun badges, and share tips and information about locations. They're giving away prizes, too. See their tweet above.
Many think that Foursquare (and other apps like it) represents the next phase of the mobile Web -- on-the-go users virtually interacting with their surroundings -- that could be a boon for businesses and nonprofits, such as libraries. (There are rumors that Facebook is building a Foursquare-like app, too.) You're starting to see companies (i.e. a Canadian newspaper) and now the Enoch Pratt library system, tapping into Foursquare.
For now, the Pratt is running the promotion primarily through Twitter. In one tweet, they notified a user of her prize winnings:
@prattlibrary Congratulations to @miha007 ! She's won a Pratt mug for being the mayor of Southeast Anchor on @foursquare.
Are there any other companies and organizations in your area running promotions through Foursquare? Let us know in the comments below.
R2Integrated of Baltimore released their own mobile marketing survey last week, which signaled that marketers will play it a little conservatively in the space in the coming year. Basically, it seems, marketers still need to teach themselves how to best take advantage of the different tools mobile marketing has to offer. Afterall, it's a new way to reach people who are usually on the move -- which is different than marketing campaigns devised for TV and even the desktop Web.
“It appears that 2010 will be a year of experimentation and education on mobile marketing as marketers struggle to come to terms with its practicality and ROI,” said Matt Goddard, co-founder and CEO of R2I, said in a statement. “This shouldn’t suggest that marketers ought to table their mobile marketing plans, but that they should pay considerable attention to how they can connect the dots back to driving revenue.”
Below is a summary of the survey, for your perusal:
Nothing casts a chill in the heart of a fancy-free Web surfer than all this talk lately of Hulu incorporating some type of a subscription model.
Yes, you heard me right. That free site of the latest (and even archival) programs you love to watch is trying to figure out how to squeeze a buck or two (or more) out of you each month.
Fight the tyranny of the subscription rate! Free Hulu!
But seriously, Hulu shows some of the best video content on the web. This stuff is in demand and people are watching -- you're telling me they can't command healthy advertising rates due to all their users? Come. On. Or are they just getting greedy?
Here's a Tribune story on the topic, titled For Hulu, Free May Soon Turn Into Free. Looks like whiney cable companies are at least partly behind the push to make people pay for the content. But of course.
The Apple iPad could be huge for the nascent mobile advertising market -- now advertisers can expect to have ads that display in tens of thousands of iPhone apps displayed on a new portable device. And, it appears Apple has positioned itself to take full advantage of the growing industry with its recent purchase of Quattro Wireless.
Another big mobile ad company, based here in Baltimore, Millennial Media, is also bullish on the iPad's prospects for mobile advertising. Paul Palmieri, Millennial's co-founder and CEO (left), shares his thoughts below:
As the CEO of the leading independent mobile advertising network and technology provider, I am excited about the opportunity to extend our market-leading advertising solution to the new iPad ecosystem of application developers, publishers and advertisers.
I wanted to share a few of my initial thoughts on the iPad after yesterday’s announcement:
The iPad is a big mobile device, not a stripped down PC. This isn’t a surprise to us. We have been predicting for years that tablet devices would ultimately be based on mobile platforms. Why? I see a couple of reasons for this:
* First, the mobile experience is inherently different from the desktop experience. Devices and applications (and ad networks) built from the ground up to serve mobile users deliver a far superior experience. Trying to cram the wired web into smaller, mobile devices just doesn’t work for mobile consumers.
* The other primary reason is that mobile users are more willing to pay for content and are much more responsive to advertising (if done correctly) than web surfers on the wired web. Publishers and application developers see the potential of extending the smart phone ecosystem of pay and advertising- supported applications and mobile web-based content to a new category of device that is from its inception, inherently mobile.
In general, I think, it was about what people had come to expect after months of speculation. As always, I expect Apple to add more bells and whistles to the thing -- and drop prices -- in six to 12 months. I might be a relatively early adopter, but I'm not bleeding edge, preferring to mull over a tech purchase and consider closely my own use patterns and needs.
That said, I sketched out some preliminary pros and cons of the iPad, as I perceive them. What am I missing? Of course, there's a little irony that I used a cheap Office Max yellow-lined pad in my analysis of a $500 pad-like machine. (Here are Apple's official tech specs for the iPad.)
The way I see it, if Apple managed to eliminate just two of my cons -- I'd say any two -- I'd feel more excited about the iPad. Til then, it's entered "wait, see and touch" land in my thinking -- which means many more future visits to the local Apple Store. (Aside to wife: Sorry, honey.)
That said, I think natural customers of this device will be iPhone and iTouch users, as well as those looking for netbooks to use primarily as a Web browsing device. I think that if most iPhone and Touch users are honest with themselves, they use these gadgets to do a LOT of Web surfing and content consumption -- and they may unconsciously be pining for more screen real estate to do these tasks on.
The iPad may not be an instant success, but I think the new category that Apple is taking a gamble on is here to stay.
Whenever possible, BaltTech will be featuring live reports from the Web to participate in covering Apple's big event today, where the company is expected to unveil a new "tablet" computer. Other sources of info include Engadget and Gizmodo.
PLEASE HELP: I will be looking to feature (and embed) live streaming video OR audio of the Apple event in this blog, so you can watch it in real-time. So if you find such a feed, please shoot me a Tweet with the link at @gussent or leave in the comments. In the meantime, check out The Sun's Read Street blog for a live Twitter feed!Many thanks!
IF a tablet is announced today, here are some questions I'll have about it:
* How much will it cost?
* How does it interact with existing iPhone apps? (And does it run a version of the iPhone operating system?)
* What kind of e-book experience does it offer?
* What kind of gaming experience does it offer?
* Does it do live video-conferencing?
* How will the iTunes store change to accommodate it?
What other questions do you have about the device? Drop a note below.
Live blog updates:
1:00 pm... Huge applause
1:03 pm ... Steve Jobs... we have over 140 apps on app store and 3 billion downloads from users.
1:04 pm ... Jobs talks about huge revenue gains for apple in last quarter....
1:04pm... revenue from ipods, iphones, macbooks... "apple is a mobile devices company... that's what we do." Jobs.
1:05pm Jobs: Apple, by revenue is the largest mobile device maker in the world... (when you talk about mobile/portable in total)
1:06: Now let's get to the main event (jobs teasing the crowd... instead, takes crowd back to 1991 and the first powerbook, as the first modern laptop computer)
1:07 Is there room for another category of devices? Of course we thought of this question for years as well (brief outage
1:09: third category of device have to be better at gaming, e-media than a laptop or a smart phone... some people say 'that's a netbook.' the problem is that netbooks aren't better at anything... they're just cheap laptops. (big laughs)
1:10: We call it the iPad
1:11... it's the best browsing experience you've ever had... (it looks like a big fat iPhone, folks)
1:12: describes how to email... almost lifesize keyboard.. "it's a dream to type on."
1:12: iPad is an awesome way to enjoy your music collection... (Jobs running through the various applications...i.e. YouTube in high-def...)
1:13: Jobs making lots of comparisons and saying it's better navigation experience than a smaller smartphone (Leo Laporte's feed just fuzzed out)
1:14 Jobs shows how easy to easy to buy movie tickets with iPad ("grab the tablet that's in the kitchen...")
1:18: Jobs shows off closeup of the virtual keyboard
1:19: shows off how to manage photos on the iPad
1:20 (Editorial: So far, folks, I think we're about par for the course here. .. No huge surprises if you've been following the tablet rumor mill the last few weeks)
1:21: Built in ipod in the iPad... no surprise there. (Leo Laporte's audio feed is glitchy again)
1:22: Jobs showing off the calendar function
1:24: Jobs showing off Google Streetview and how to find restaurants (sushi in San Francisco, for example)
1:24: Showing off video now, i.e. Youtube in HD.
1:27: movies, tv shows, music videos [so far, this device is heavy on pushing iTunes and YouTube content]
1:28: ipad is half an inch thin and weighs 1.5 pounds. 9.7 inch display ("super high quality", Jobs says)
1:29: Jobs going over tech specs of the iPad [appears to be around same size as Amazon's Kindle DX]
1:30: wireless networking
1:30 Ten hours of battery life [commentator asks, are those Apple hours or real hours?]
1:31 Now talking about the Apps and the Apple Apps Store
1:32 New apple exec explains how the iPad can automatically increase the size of apps originally designed for iPhone so they can be used on the iPad
1:35 Editorial: will this iPad be an ergonomic nightmare for people who try to type with it?
1:40: [Experiencing some technical problems on the live feed]
1:40: Showing off the gaming experience on the iPad.
1:41 [Editorial: Listening to Leo Laporte's feed... I have to say, if Apple prices this at $999, I don't think it'll be a winner. Just my 2 cents]
1:42 NYTimes content looks really nice on the iPad.
1:44: Electronic Arts about to show off games on the iPad
1:48 Very cool racing game being demo'ed... [Game console makers may have something to fear from this portable device]
1:49 Now Major League Baseball will show off what it has to offer on the iPad
1:52... here we go: the ebook reader. Jobs makes direct comparison to Amazon Kindle ... new app is called iBooks. ("we're going to stand on their shoulders," Jobs said of Amazon.)
1:53: will have five of the largest publishers in the world supporting iBooks... "and we'll open up the floodgates for the rest of the publishers this afternoon."
1:55 Jobs explains how to navigate on the ebook pages...
1:56 "And that is iBooks..." 1:57 [FYI: Gizmodo has some good, clear photos of the iPad over at: http://live.gizmodo.com/]
1:57: Jobs introduces updated iWork software productivity suite for the iPad
1:59 New versions of Keynote, Pages and Numbers software....
2:02 [Editorial: I'm not sure anyone was expecting Apple to configure iWork to work on the iPad....pleasant surprise? This device can also be used to do some productive work, too.]
2:06 Showing off how to use Pages to make spreadsheets.. [Aside: Imagine that: making spreadsheets with your fingers!]
2:10 $9.99 for each of the three iWork software apps... [Cheaper than I thought -gus]
2:12 Back to Jobs: syncing with iTunes.... 3G wireless data built in... Now what's it cost for data: U.S. Telecom typically charges $60 a month ... we 've got two awesome plans... first gives u 250 MB per month: just $14.99, or an unlimited plan for $29.99... AT&T providing the data .... No contract. you can cancel anytime.... 2:23: Okay, folks, I'm stepping away from second-by-second blogging of the event... what do you think so far of the iPad?? Drop comments below!!
I signed on to Twitter this morning to discover that I now had access to its latest feature: local trends.
For those who maybe aren't so familiar with Twitter.com, one of its tools for highlighting what people are talking about is trending topics.
That feature has been only available from a worldwide perspective (though you could figure out tweets around you by using Twitter's specific search tool.)
But Twitter users should be seeing a local version of trends, meaning now we'll see results from what Tweeters in Baltimore (or several other cities) are talking most about.
In Baltimore this morning, these are the top topics (left). Apparently, there're a lot of people in Charm City excited about their IRS tax refund check. Heck, so am I!
Why are you complaining about your cellphone bill? Don't you know that the average monthly bill for cellphones has gone down nearly 50 percent since 1988?!
I stumbled across this graph from CTIA, the wireless industry's trade group, yesterday while leafing through its Website. Back in 1988, when cellphones were the size of shoes, the average monthly bill was $95. Cellphones were truly a luxury item. They reached a monthly low in Jun 1998, at $39.88, but then bumped up into the mid-to-high $40s. My back-of-the-napkin guess is that's because feature phones and smartphones started to hit the market (and text-messaging plans started taking off).
So, does this make you feel a little better about your wireless bill? Hehe.... :-)
You gotta wonder -- at least I did -- if Apple was inspired by the creative doodlings of AOL in crafting their invitation to their press event on Jan. 27, where the highly anticipated tablet, or "iSlate", device is expected to appear.
A similar artistic sentiment appears to be at work in both instances. You've got bursts of bright colors that encase the company's logo (Apple) or name (Aol).
Both sets of corporate art work want to yell at you: look at how whimsical and creative we can be with bright colors!
One of the Apple patent applications made public today details the company's efforts to create a useful parking application that mashes up a user's geo-location data with information about parking garages and parking regulations.
The methods described in the application include using GPS and triangulation to help users locate themselves on a map. Then, using a computer algorithm, the application could send you automatic alerts to warn you if you're about to violate the parking regulations.
It's interesting to note that this isn't just about making your iPhone or whatever other Internet-connected portable device more useful. It's also about creating a venue for potential advertising revenue.
The patent filing states about the invention: "It has been considered to provide advertisements and other information pertaining to a present location of a mobile device. For example, detecting a present location of a mobile device, and providing information, including advertisements, about restaurants in that vicinity is an application that has generated interest."
One of the latest patent applications from Apple delves deeper into the company's experimentation with integrating solar power cells with their portable devices, including the iPod and iPhone models.
The patent -- titled "power management circuitry and solar cells" -- describes a system for a portable device use of solar power to either power the device fully, or assist in providing energy to a battery.
The patent appears to be an advancement of a previous patent that Apple filed in 2008, which was unearthed by MacRumors and which described how the solar panels would be configured on portable devices.
What's interesting about this patent is how Apple is integrating "boost" circuitry within the devices so that it can work together with the solar cells to generate power, even when power is already low or nonexistent or if some of the solar cells are obstructed.
I've downloaded the White House iPhone app. It's chock full of content, from ideas for modernizing government to photos of First Lady Michelle Obama's birthday party.
But the app, frankly, leaves me itching for more White House insight. Here are the top 10 features I hope the Obama administration adds in Version 2.0.
10) Transcripts and voice snippets of the Nixon tapes. Just for giggles at our fingertips. Include a share with Twitter/Facebook function, too, guys.
9) A play-by-play of Coakley's loss to Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race. Or just a link to FoxNews.
8) A Google map of Cheney's secret bunker locations and the stores, pizza joints, and gas stations within a 1-mile radius of each.
7) Celebrity glam photo galleries of guests at White House state dinners, including our favorite party crashers, the Salahis.
6) One of those thermometer charts (the kind you see for local PTA fundraisers) that shows how close we are (or not) to passing health care reform.
5) A live Webcam peering inside Guatanamo Bay and the Gitmo prisoners' lives. Lift the secrecy!
4) George W. Bush's iPod playlists.
3) Bill Clinton's favorite ringtones.
2) In the spirit of bipartisanship, include a feed of tweets from FakeRonReagan.
And, drumroll please, for #1:
1) The official White House iPhone iFart sound effect.
Do you have features that you'd like to see the Obama administration include in the White House app? Drop a note here!
The New York Times said today they plan to move to a "metered" pay model, where heavy users of the site can be expected to be charged for access depending on the number of stories they click on.
The newspaper was careful to publicize the cautious deliberations they went through in making their announcement, which is expected to take effect in January 2011.
Indeed, it'll be a closely watched effort. I have to guess that many, many publishers who've contemplated moving their content behind a paywall may now wait to do so until they see how well the NYTimes does with it.
News publishers are a notoriously conservative bunch who look to the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal as trend-setters, to a certain extent.
Overall, though, I like the Times' idea so far. I think part of the success will depend on how many articles they choose to make freely available to casual users of their site and if they can propose a reasonable price structure for those who may be willing to pay a little for their content.
The Kaiser Family Foundation today released the results of a big survey that analyzed media use by children in the 8-18 age demographic, and the results probably won't surprise you.
In short, kids last year used cellphones and portable multimedia devices a lot more than they did in 2004. (But didn't you have a gut feeling that would be the case?)
* Over the last five years, kids in the age range saw a "huge increase" in ownership of cell phones (39% to 66%) and iPods and other MP3 players (18% to 76%).
* About three in 10 young people say their parents set rules for multimedia consumption, i.e. TV, video games, computer usage.
* Two-thirds of young people say the TV is on in the home during meals, and 45% said the TV was left on in the home, even when no one was watching.
* Heavy media users reported getting lower grades. (Though the connection between media use and grades is not easy to establish, the report cautioned.)
* Black and Hispanic children spend more time with media than white children do.
* Big changes in TV, the report says -- The average amount of time spent watching regularly scheduled TV dropped by 25 minutes a day, but the new ways people consume video (Internet, cellphones, MP3 players) led to an actual INCREASE in total TV consumption
* What about good ol' fashion reading? Time spent reading books didn't drop over the five year period, but time with magazines and newspapers did.
* Girls spent more time on social networking sites, listening to music, and reading, while boys spent more time playing console video games, computer games, and watching video sites, like Youtube.
(Photo credit: Australian public service ad warning against distracted iPod listening via Engadget)
Update: In this post, originally published Friday, Jan. 15, I initially omitted the University of Maryland, College Park in the table below. I updated the table to include UMCP figures. Also, on the jump, you'll find a letter from two deans from UMCP who were distressed with my omission. It was an honest oversight made in manually transferring the data into a new table; my apologies, folks. -Gus
The CyberMaryland report released this week by Gov. O'Malley is chock-full of interesting factoids and charts, one of which I republished (and modified a little) below.
You'll see a list of Maryland colleges and universities in alphabetical order, followed by the number of bachelor's and graduate degree students they have in computer and information sciences.
I added the "percent of total" column to give us all a sense of each school's computer/info science geeks relative to their entire student body.
As you can see, UMBC in Catonsville stands well above the rest, and churns out many, many undergraduates in the fields.
Hopkins, on the other hand, has a good number of graduate students. Now, who wants to see some statistics on how many of these students actually stick around and work in Maryland after they get their degrees?
"The phrase 'advanced persistent threat' is something you're going to be hearing a lot more of the next two years," said Martin Roesch, founder of Sourcefire Inc.
That's one bit of perspective Roesch has to offer on last week's news of Google (and 30+ other companies) getting hacked by someone from inside China, by perhaps the Chinese government itself.
Roesch's company, based in Columbia, Md., crafts intrusion detection and prevention defenses for major government and military agencies and, increasingly, major companies.
But the attack on Google may have been a watershed moment for corporations.
"This is the first time that nation-state-grade tactics were used against a commercial target," Roesch said. "They were trying to hide. They were taking the time to cover the tracks."
Hence the hacking term "advanced persistent threat," or APT. HackingUniverse.com defines APT as:
...cyber attacks mounted by organizational teams that have deep resources, advanced penetration skills, specific target profiles and are remarkably persisent in their efforts. They tend to use sophisticated custom malware that can circumvent most defenses, stealthy tactics and demonstrate good situational awareness by evaluating defenders responses and escalating their attack techniques accordingly.
Indeed, what may be remarkable in Google's case is not the hacking itself, but the fact that Google was able to sniff it out.
What the attack on Google means is that more companies in different industries will need to pay more attention to APT, from defense contractors to banks to health care systems, Roesch told me.
"I think you are seeing a new level of attacking taking place here," Roesch said. "I think this [attack on Google and others] does change the game and the scope of the problem. You have to consider a whole new security posture."
Gus G. Sentementes (@gussent on Twitter) has been writing for The Baltimore Sun since 2000. He's covered real estate, business, prisons, and suburban and Baltimore City crime and cops. He was one of the first reporters at The Sun to use multimedia tools and Web applications -- a video camera, an iPhone -- to cover breaking news. He hopes to cover Maryland geeks and the gadgets and Web sites they build, and learn -- and share -- something new every day.
Gus has a wife, a young daughter and two feuding cats. They live in Northeast Baltimore.
Starting next week, Comcast will be rolling out a new brand name -- Xfinity -- for its cable television, telephone and Internet connection products beginning in Baltimore and 10 other markets. 
Nothing casts a chill in the heart of a fancy-free Web surfer than all this talk lately of 
Hit refresh every minute or so! 
For those who maybe aren't so familiar with Twitter.com, one of its tools for highlighting what people are talking about is trending topics. 
I've downloaded the White House iPhone app. It's chock full of content, from ideas for modernizing government to photos of First Lady Michelle Obama's birthday party. 
The New York Times said 
"The phrase 'advanced persistent threat' is something you're going to be hearing a lot more of the next two years," said Martin Roesch, founder of 
