My Appearance on WGST's "The Sully Show" 8/8/14 Talking the Tech Topics of the Week
Thursday, August 7, 2014 at 5:41PM Rick and Sully talk the tech topics of the week.
Sprint Gets New CEO and Deal with T-Mobile won't happen
Sprint Corporation on Wednesday confirmed that its CEO, Dan Hesse, is leaving and will be replaced by Marcelo Claure, founder/CEO of mobile hardware distributor Brightstar. Sprint Corporation’s stock opened 17% down today amidst rumors that is withdrawing its bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc on account of regulatory opposition. Investors fear that Sprint Corporation will continue to lose market share to bigger rivals like Verizon Communications Inc.
Claure, 43, is already a member of Sprint's board. He'll be resigning from Brightstar, and SoftBank will acquire his remaining interest in the company. Bloomberg states Hesse may receive a $40M+ severance package.
What does this mean for customers?
Hotel Chain Plans Phone-Based Check-in and Room Access
Forbes reports that Hilton Worldwide, international hotel operator, is rolling out smartphone-based guest tools allowing self-service check-in, access to a virtual floorplan to select a room, and (in 2015) actual door access once checked in. The author states the drive for this technology is the growing influence of the swelling ranks of Millennials, who "[...] have a very strong inclination toward automated and self-service customer service." But are there security risks?
FBI Studied How Much Drones Impact Your Privacy -- Then Marked It Secret
When federal agencies adopt new technology, they're required by law to do Privacy Impact Assessments, which is exactly what the FBI did regarding its secretive drone program. The PIAs are created to help the public and federal government assess what they're risking through the adoption of new technology. That part is a little trickier, since the FBI is refusing to release any of the PIA on its drone project, stating it needs to be kept, er, private to protect national security.
Rick has the new Amazon Fire smartphone... what does he think?
1. It's an AT&T only phone and Android.
2. Affordability - At $199 with a contract, or $650 at full price, the Fire Phone goes toe-to-toe with the best phones on the market in price. The price clearly reflects a lot of R&D that Amazon hopes to recoup
3. Design - Ok design, battery life isn't great. The center hardware button is handy as it helps you quickly get back to the home screen and switch views. But it's also easy to turn the thing on when it is in your pocket, etc.
4. Great for shopping - Capture bar codes and pictures of devices and you get options to buy them on Amazon.
5. Amazon also includes one year of Amazon Prime, a $99 value. If you are a current Amazon Prime member, then you will get your next year renewed for free. Free, unlimited photo storage on Amazon Cloud Storage is also provided. 1,000 Amazon Coins, a $10 value, will appear in your account so you can try out a few paid apps, books, or movies.
And one for Sully......
BlackBerry Launches Redesigned BBM for Windows Phone
BBM for Windows Phone was designed to be consistent with Microsoft's mobile design, reflecting a change in thinking at the updated BlackBerry.
A first release of BBM for Windows Phone is now available for download, BlackBerry announced July 31. The version, which follows a limited Beta release, is compatible with devices running Windows Phone 8 and 8.1.
A longtime favorite of BlackBerry users, the messaging app includes all the expected features—the ability to chat with up to 50 contacts at once, and to share photo albums, voice notes, location information, contacts and more within a chat. Plus, BlackBerry has promised to quickly add new features, such as "stickers, BBM Voice, BBM Channels" and Glympse location sharing, in the months ahead, Jeff Gadway, BlackBerry's head of brand marketing, said in a blog post.
But the app's most notable feature may be its appearance, which is very in line with the Windows Phone aesthetic.
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