FCC boss tackling broadband shortfall and mobile competition

The new head of the Federal Communications Commission says broadband provision will be the agency’s top priority under his leadership. He also confirmed the commission will examine exclusivity agreements with cellphone handsets.

Julius Genachowski (pictured), who had not previously served as a commissioner, took office as chairman on 29 June. He’s now given his first major round of interviews laying out his plans.

He told the MercuryNews, which serves Silicon Valley, that though mobile telephone issues were an immediate concern, the key issue for his administration was broadband provision. He said a lack of long-term planning in the past had led to too few homes today having access to broadband services, while in areas which do have access, there are concerns over prices, speeds and a lack of competition.

In an interview with GigaOM, Genachowski indicated it would take more than legislation to tackle such issues. He said that the commission needed more than just lawyers on its staff and that the door was open for “great engineers, strong economists and people with entrepreneurial backgrounds.”

In the same discussion Genachowski appeared unwilling to give specific answers to several questions including whether he supports the idea of metered broadband and where cable companies need regulating in the same way as phone companies. Instead he reiterated a message that, under his watch, FCC policymaking will be “fact-based and data-driven.”

While broadband may be the priority, it’s mobile issues which have filled Genachowski’s in-tray in recent weeks. He’s announced that the FCC is following up a request from several senators to investigate concerns over cellphone manufacturers signing exclusive deals with networks and the effects that has on people in rural areas not covered by the networks in question. Genachowski noted to Reuters “In some markets, no matter what, you can’t get an iPhone or you can’t get a Pre.”

The FCC has also written to both Google and Apple asking for more details on Apple’s decision to throw Google Voice out of the iPhone App store. The application allowed users to make calls through an internet connection rather than through AT&T. That’s bad news for Apple as AT&T expects to get all call revenue as part of its deal to subsidize iPhone sales.



PSP: OMG! Girlz play too!

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

pspgirlz

When I read about the new PSP Girlz Play Too campaign at Game Life this morning, for a second I actually thought it was a spoof. But no, it’s very real, and now all I can think is: OMG WTF were you, like, totally thinking, Sony?

It’s not as if marketing to girls is a new thing in the videogame world, and neither is using stereotype-laden advertising to do it. Because everyone knows that a girl will only play a game system if it is bedazzled. Or purple (sorry, lilac). Or covered with stickers of pretty, pretty ponies. However, I think there is still a line between targeted marketing and perpetuating a stereotype, and Sony has definitely crossed it. I’m assuming this is their stab at competing with Nintendo in this market. And yes, the DS had pretty much sewn up the young girls demographic, but Nintendo traditionally skews much younger than Playstation anyway. And the I Play for Me campaign somehow managed to not make me have to fight my gag reflex.

Maybe I’m missing the whole point, and “girlz” are actually a different demographic, perhaps an entirely different species (what is the singular of “girlz” anyway?). Here is what I know about “girlz” after spending five minutes on the PSP website:

  • They like to shop. (Example tagline: “Did somebody say shopping?!”)
  • They like purple.
  • They like these games (and only these games): Patapon 2, Loco Roco 2, Hannah Montana, Dogz, Fantasy Golf Pangya, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
  • They like to hang out with their BFFs, oh, and of course,
  • Girlz got game. Apparently.

Also, I took a quiz and apparently I am “so totally Princess Patapon.”  Hey, here’s a marketing idea: Market the games.  Well, first make good games.  Then market them.  If there are games that girls (or even “girlz”) will like, they will buy them.  In the meantime, let’s not potentially squash an entire generation of up-and-coming girl geeks and gamers by making them think that they’re only supposed to play games with sparkly cases.



Revolt of the Mouses

The war between pencils and computer mouses has finally begun…

“Revolt of the Mouses” takes us to an imaginary battle field, in which computer mouses confront the all time traditional pencils, erasers and sharpeners. At the end it will all turn into a nonsensical parody about how the present technology, in the hands of advertisement, is invading our society in a way that no one will ever be able to stop. At a nearby television, the past and the future fight for the present!

Interorbital puts your personal satellite into orbit

By Sterling “Chip” Camden
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

What could be more geeky than putting your own personal satellite into Low-Earth-Orbit?  OK, sending yourself into space would definitely pwn that – but who can afford to do it?  Now, for only $8000 US (“but you have to call now, ‘cause we can’t do this all day”) you can launch your own personal space satellite, thanks to Interorbital Systems.  Yeah, it’s a bit outside my budget, too – but it’s a whole lot closer than I would have thought.

The TubeSat Satellite Kit (PDF) comes with everything you need to put 0.2 kg (a little less than half a pound) of payload into polar orbit:

? Casing, Endplates, and Mounting Hardware
? A Transceiver
? A Battery Pack
? Solar Cells
? A Power Management Control System (PMCS)
? Microcomputer
? Software
? Antennas
? Safety Switches
? Complete Instructions

The $8000 price tag also includes launch on board an IOS NEPTUNE 30 rocket from the South Pacific island of ‘Eua in Tonga.  Each rocket can carry up to 32 such satellites, which are released into an orbital pattern that avoids clustering.  Launches are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010 at the rate of one per month.  TubeSats are scheduled according to the order of receipt of full payment.

What could you do with such a satellite, you ask?  The folks at Interorbital have some suggestions:

? Earth-from-space video imaging
? Earth magnetic field measurement
? Satellite orientation detection (horizon sensor, gyros, accelerometers, etc.)
? Amateur radio relay
? Orbital environment measurements (temperature, pressure, radiation, etc.)
? On-orbit hardware and software component testing (microprocessors, etc.)
? Tracking migratory animals from orbit
? Testing satellite stabilization methods
? Biological experimentation
? Automatic simple, repeating “message from orbit” transmission
? Private e-mail

I have to launch my own satellite to get private email?  I think I’ll wait for Google Wave.

Biological experimentation?  At less than half a pound payload, it would have to be something more minute than a lab-rat entry into the 100 Mile High Club.  Of course, they do offer double, triple, or quadruple size TubeSats – so you could send almost two pounds of biomass up for a little space action if you’ve got the money and inclination.  That’s just enough for your average pair of rats (not including food, water and oxygen source  :-( — oh well).

While in orbit, you can communicate with the satellite via HAM radio frequencies, either rolling your own or using existing ground station networks.  They’re also working on a web-based system for keeping up with your baby.  Twitter?  Facebook?

But nothing good can last.  Within three months, the satellite’s orbit decays and your $8000+ investment will burn up in the atmosphere – to “prevent the build-up of orbital debris fields”.  I don’t know about you, but that 90-day expiration date makes that $8000 look a lot more expensive to me.

[Via Space Fellowship]

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Now Available for Pre-Order

Just a quick heads up for those of you running Intel-based Mac boxes. Mac OS X Snow Leopard is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com for $29, shipping included. The new version features a more responsive Finder, a smaller install footprint, quicker time machine backup, and plenty more.

Please note that only OS X Leopard users are eligible for the upgrade. Also, Snow Leopard will only run on Intel-based Mac computers.

[Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard – $29, Shipping Included]

ATM scammers have mixed run of luck in Vegas

The Secret Service is investigating a string of ATMs in Las Vegas which are debiting accounts without dispensing cash. But a similar scam in the city failed after picking the worst possible audience to attempt to defraud.

The IDG news service reports that several customers reported problems with ATMs in the Rio casino. Among them was Chris Paget whose account was debited $200 when attempted to withdraw that amount, but he received no cash. Paget says at least half a dozen other people experienced similar problems on machines at the venue, but staff refused to take action. Ironically Paget is a hardware security consultant whose work has covered credit card fraud.

While it’s possible scammers were hitting a jackpot at the Rio, they quickly busted in what was certainly an attempted heist at the Riviera casino. A man named Brian Markus noticed that the glass in front of an ATM’s built-in security camera was suspiciously smoky. When he shone a torch onto the glass there was no camera to be seen – but there was a computer which had been set up to capture data from cards.

To give them some credit, the scammers had skillfully picked a location for their fake ATM: in putting it near a security office they used one of the few spots not covered by the hotel’s security footage.

Unfortunately their timing wasn’t so great. Both Paget and Markus were in town for a conference held at the Riviera.

Specifically, the DefCon security conference, the world’s largest annual gathering of security experts and hackers.

(Pictures, courtesy of Flickr user bowbrick, show an unauthorized device fitted to the front of a grocery store ATM to read and copy card data.)