tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42073618671770686322024-02-06T21:29:50.905-08:00Management, Technology and Startup - by Cristobal Alonso"Change isn't made by asking permission. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later"
Come with me (Shareholder and board member of a technology startup and an executive at a mobile operator) and enjoy reading about Management, Technology and Startup issuesCAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.comBlogger213125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-23675145389218161642010-09-15T16:00:00.000-07:002010-09-15T16:08:41.459-07:00Bite Lietuva: Fastest Lithuanian Mobile Internet gets 3 times faster!!!<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibevcGWdFpCk43ocUQcvIjdCTgNah96IAvQMW0yiWYzaOot3xjTdOYTeFW4hj50RGYJuq9UMwMIwg-8R_AcVLRtt_aRGb1jWno1NDkL4ah4sH80fZ_ILvktWoj5qVyHkW8k_T1gteH4AJ1/s1600/6x3_pataisytas+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibevcGWdFpCk43ocUQcvIjdCTgNah96IAvQMW0yiWYzaOot3xjTdOYTeFW4hj50RGYJuq9UMwMIwg-8R_AcVLRtt_aRGb1jWno1NDkL4ah4sH80fZ_ILvktWoj5qVyHkW8k_T1gteH4AJ1/s400/6x3_pataisytas+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Yes we are! </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Yesterday it was Latvia (Latvija). Today is Lithuania (Lietuva). The power of working as a Group efficiently!!!</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">After </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">completing another successful stage of the network modernization project, we have tripled the speed of our mobile broadband. After this upgrade still fastest in Lithuania, Bite Lietuva's mobile internet service now is one of the fastest mobile internet connections in whole Europe<b>. </b></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Bitė is the first mobile internet provider in Lithuania offering broadband mobile internet of such a speed. Tripled speed is supported in all Bitė’s 3,5 G network available in 41 towns across the country and covers more than 65 percent of population.</span></div><div class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">In the middle of September Bit</span><span style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">ė‘s</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;"> maximal mobile internet speed increased from 5 Mbps till 15 Mbps and average speed reached 6 Mbps. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">From the middle of September new "Vodafone Mobile Connect" modems supporting new speed are now available at Bitė’s outlets. Our customers may choose from 7,2 Mbps, or 21,6 Mbps modems. Actually all our customers, that are in 3,5 G will notice improvements on their speeds regardless of their modems. Also all our customers accessing the internet thought the smartphones will also be able to browse at faster speeds. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">What are you waiting for? Join Bite </span></div>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-56595592249434370172010-09-14T16:12:00.000-07:002010-09-14T16:21:21.661-07:00Bite empowers Latvia to be among top 5 European countries with fastest mobile internet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F6T33YKAe0iNvZIdWo6Q_-wiG5Ivgr5elHMALwmiF0fS6YT4v7aBOHlc2GJh39q1way9sG7_9mUB0XAhQhm4HJ8jIQxHaG_TYM9PBZZgG_mPrwNxlkGYQcEUvPyDZDhnzwdqBv8ahDcy/s1600/035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F6T33YKAe0iNvZIdWo6Q_-wiG5Ivgr5elHMALwmiF0fS6YT4v7aBOHlc2GJh39q1way9sG7_9mUB0XAhQhm4HJ8jIQxHaG_TYM9PBZZgG_mPrwNxlkGYQcEUvPyDZDhnzwdqBv8ahDcy/s400/035.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: small;">Wanted to include here our press release launched today on the recently launched upgrade on our mobile internet service, reaching speeds and quality not see in Latvia until now. In the coming days I will be publishing a white paper on this topic, covering both the mobile internet development both in Latvia and Lithuania</span></b><br />
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Also please find some links to some of the media coverage (in Latvian & Russian)<br />
<a href="http://pozitivaszinas.lv/posts/view/latvija-ierindojas-starp-mobila-interneta-atruma-lideriem-eiropa" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to article on pozitivaszinas.lv (Latvian)</a><br />
<a href="http://monitorings.leta.lv/main/item/5C9FC93E-BBF6-4C9D-B7DD-A6A900E8BEFC/" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to article on russina business daily</a><br />
<a href="http://tehnika.delfi.lv/dazadi/latvija-ierindojas-starp-mobila-interneta-atruma-lideriem-eiropa.d?id=34053507" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to article on Delfi.LV (Latvian)</a><br />
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Well done Bite!!!!<br />
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<b>Press Release </b> <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">After modernization of all 3G base stations in Latvia, <i>Bite </i>is launching the fastest mobile internet speed in the country, ranking Latvia among top 5 fastest in the whole Europe. <i>Bite</i> mobile internet speed in urban areas is on average 6 Mbps (download) – doubling the existing available speeds on the market in Latvia and reaching same level of the Mobile Broadband leaders in Europe. Tests carried out for two weeks by a group of active internet users prove that download speeds overreaching even 11 Mbps are available in Riga.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“We are proud to see that our network modernization puts Latvia on the map of fastest mobile internet speeds in Europe. And even more – we hope that our clients will enjoy the ability to download a song just in 1 second or watch a Youtube video with no interruptions on their phones or using mobile internet modems for laptops,” comments Fred Hrenchuk, CEO of <i>Bite Latvia</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">According to <i>Akamai</i>, the state of the internet report Q1 2010 out of 109 mobile providers operating in Europe, only 4 operators (in UK, Slovakia, Poland and Russia) have average speeds above 3 Mbps. With the mobile network upgrade, <i>Bite </i>is joining the group with average download speed of 6 Mbps. Which means that for example a song in mp3 file format can be downloaded in 1 second, whereas streaming of Youtube video would be without any interruptions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">14 European mobile operators have average connection speeds in the 2 Mbps or above range, while 35 have average measured connection speeds of 1 Mbps or more. Average download speed of mobile internet on Latvian market so far has been ranging from 1 to 3 Mbps.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Latvia</span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> is ranking also among the first European countries to have the new generation mobile internet modem on the market. This modem has theoretical capacity of processing 21 Mbps download and 5.8 Mbps upload speed. Whereas previous models available in Latvia and Europe have had capacity till 7.2 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload speed in ideal conditions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">As we’ve already announced, <i>Bite</i> has started most advanced network modernization project in the Baltics. The project is still in process, but all 3G base stations have been already modernized providing the first tangible benefit for <i>Bite </i>customers – higher mobile internet speed. The network modernization investment is using the latest technologies and solutions that will provide <i>Bite</i> customers with wider network coverage, faster data transmission speeds, and a higher signal and voice quality. All new equipment by <i>Huawei</i> is ready for future upgrades to 4G and LTE, if there is customer demand and as soon as it is allowed by the license conditions. New technologies are very environment friendly and will help <i>Bite</i> to reduce its energy consumption (and therefore CO2 emissions). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-2596240021152552932010-09-07T05:06:00.000-07:002010-09-07T05:08:48.879-07:00Be Aware: Why is Apple so silent about itunes accounts being hacked?<span class="fullpost">Past July (july 4th/7th) there was an initial alarm on the websphere and social media sites (facebook and twitter mainly) that <em>several itunes accounts have been hacked and we being used by some to buy different apps for the iPhone</em> (mostly linked to a vietnamese developer called Thuat Nguyen). </span><br />
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There was no official announcement from Apple, no patch releases, no advice indicated<br />
Official position goes into "400 iTunes accounts were compromised in this attack. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that's out of 150 million registered iTunes users, or around 3 ten-thousandths of a percent"<br />
As the story has developed, the problem has grown far more serious than initially thought – not just that one particular developer and his apps - <em>the Apple App store is filled with App Farms being used to steal. </em><br />
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Furthermore If you go a bit deeper into the investigation you will see that more and more cases have been reported and the seriousness of the cases have been increasing. <em>What I mean by this? Well many itunes accounts are linked to a PayPal account which is linked to a credit card account. 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 </em>you get it? Lots of people has reported this and we are talking about thousands of dollards in fradulental transactions<br />
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<em>PayPal response</em>: PayPal has acknowledged the fraudulent charges and is currently reimbursing customers. However, the company continues to insist that the security breach is "happening on the iTunes side."<br />
<em>Apple response:</em> "But if your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes, we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about canceling the card and issuing a charge-back for any unauthorized transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately."<br />
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Judge by yourself <br />
Yes people is not careful with their passwords and yes that may be pure password robbery, however the fact that itunes is not addressing the security issue is worrysome and not worth of a company that portraits itself as a customer advocat. <strong>There is some obvious security vulnerability that Apple can't or won't address. No other account from other reputable sites has been reporting such issues these days</strong><br />
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BTW the case is far from close. Andrea told me yesterday that her account has been hacked. Fortunetly the only money there was from aple gift card (150 USD) so chance to get into PayPal, but be aware. Change your passwords and maybe time to stop buying in itunes with yor credit card until Apple does address the issue<br />
Remember in Apple eyes, <strong>YOU ARE GILTY NOT APPLE</strong><br />
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Related sources:<br />
<a href="http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/04/appstore-hack-itunes/" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to thenextweb - sotry on app store hacked itunes</a><br />
<a href="http://www.tgdaily.com/security-features/51212-apple-itunes-plagued-by-nefarious-scammers" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to tg daily - story on Apple itunes and the plague of scammers</a><br />
<a href="http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2449108&tstart=0" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to apple forum on itunes hacked</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-82900927599665022282010-09-04T15:44:00.000-07:002010-09-04T15:48:46.088-07:00Dell Streak: my own review<span class="fullpost">I have been trying different Android lately and I go tmy hands into the Dell Streak lately. Until now most of the alternatives to the Ipad were Chinese Android devices, including the Huawei S7 which I was using for a while. Many of them were good devices, but to beat the Ipad specially when you don't have a brand you need more</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMOLtiUajqqtSAa86gxow08ram8Xv-c3v3HAN1IuZmqrkf9bCGBiwT7uiEf9tJZqvTxKVJtcfneTJSpc-U1Lefz6X_ugz9JL09M_Cxua_rU2PSC_ccndNJxAk_zuY3IcE9kSB95-f5DDV/s1600/dell+streak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMOLtiUajqqtSAa86gxow08ram8Xv-c3v3HAN1IuZmqrkf9bCGBiwT7uiEf9tJZqvTxKVJtcfneTJSpc-U1Lefz6X_ugz9JL09M_Cxua_rU2PSC_ccndNJxAk_zuY3IcE9kSB95-f5DDV/s1600/dell+streak.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span class="fullpost">So I took the Dell Streak, no expectations but excited (and 1 month later I am still using it quite regularly)</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><i>Hardware</i>: beautiful, elegant, slim. Very sexy</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i>Size and weight:</i> Very light (220g). Fits on my trousers back pocket beautifully</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i>Screen</i>: crispy, however size seems like a big phone. No way I can use it to do presentations or prepare documents. Mostly great for web browsing, messaging and email reading </span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i>Software</i>: my unit has Android 1.6. Not enough. It needs at least 2.1 (which supposedly is coming any time on the coming weeks and will be using frodo (2.2) before the end of year). You notice mostly on the screen transitions. Most of the Android apps are working. What it is nice is that if you are familiar with Android there is no learning curve</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i>Battery</i>: one of the weakest points of the unit. Gives you at the most 2 hours specially if you use the phone functions</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i>Phone</i>: obviously you are not going to use it to talk using it as a normal phone but it does a good job using a bluetooth headset or headphones. The speakerphone is not as good as it could be</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i>Camera</i>: great picture camera, one of the best I have seen but weak video </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Verdict</b>: I love playing with this unit and doing my newspaper browsing while having breakfast. Or watching some youtube videos. But as one of the bloggers in Latvia asked me the other day "what do you do with it?", there is no clear usage. It could replace my laptop on the weekend, but for that it needs a better battery and android 2.1. Or it could replace my Blackberry on the weekend (even during the week), but it is not that easy to write quickly (having said that after several months I am starting to type rather quickly at the HTC desire unit that I usually play with)</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">And with a price tag of 500 Eur I believe it can't be a mass market. (it needs to be on the 250-300 Eur range)</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">furthermore having a unit as the Samsung galaxy coming along</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">BTW as the Samsung Galaxy gets a lot of press these days, this is a great review and comparison of both the streak and the galaxy (which I hope to be testing very soon)</span><br />
<a href="http://www.knowyourmobile.com/comparisons/584221/samsung_galaxy_tab_vs_dell_streak.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to Know your mobile.com comporison galaxy vs. streak</a><br />
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<b><span class="fullpost">Product Features</span></b><br />
<span class="fullpost">Screen 5'' WVGA (gorilla Glass Display)</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">1GHZ Qualcomm processor</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">5.0 MP (rear)/VGA (front) camera</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">3G (modem 7.2/5.76)</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Bluetooth </span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Battery 4.7 W</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Memory Internal 16gb + Micro SD (external)</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Measurements </span>152.9 x 79.1 x 10 mm<br />
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More details on features, I like this site<br />
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<a href="http://http://www.gsmarena.com/dell_streak-3353.php" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to gsm arena Dell Streak detailed product features</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-51510420675009959892010-09-01T12:57:00.001-07:002010-09-01T12:57:35.401-07:00Bite starts cooperation with EMC (Media Coverage) - INcluding some quotesBite has launched a three-year cooperation project with data storage and management corporation EMC. EMC in cooperation with its partner, Bull Baltija, will provide data storage and maintenance services to the telecommunication company. "The amount of data used and processed by mobile connection operators is growing every year. Hence, we must efficiently use data storage technologies. EMC solutions we have upgraded our infrastructure with will help optimise data storage and use available resources more efficiently," Cristobal Alonso, Chief Technology Officer at Bite Group, says. <br />
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Below you‘ll find media monitoring results (with active hyperlinks) from today's Bite – EMC press release. Press release were published in three biggest Lithuanian news portals (delfi.lt, lrytas.lt, balsas.lt), business daily portal vz.lt and in other target media channels.<br />
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://vz.lt/rss/straipsnis/2010/08/31/Bite_investuoja_i_duomenu_saugyklas2">Bite invests in data storage.</a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Vz.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://kauno.diena.lt/naujienos/mokslas-ir-it/-bite-bendradarbiaus-su-it-milzine-emc-296507?utm_source=feed_reader&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_feed">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC.</a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Kauno.diena.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://klaipeda.diena.lt/naujienos/mokslas-ir-it/-bite-bendradarbiaus-su-it-milzine-emc-296507?utm_source=feed_reader&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_feed">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC.</a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Klaipeda.diena.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://vz.lt/rss/straipsnis/2010/08/31/Bite_bendradarbiaus_su_IT_milzine_EMC">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Vz.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.balsas.lt/naujiena/500037/bite-bendradarbiaus-su-it-milzine-emc">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Balsas.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.diena.lt/naujienos/mokslas-ir-it/-bite-bendradarbiaus-su-it-milzine-emc-296507?utm_source=feed_reader&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_feed">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Diena.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.lrytas.lt/-12832581921282918313-bit%C4%97-bendradarbiaus-su-it-mil%C5%BEine-emc.htm?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Lrytas.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://sc.bns.lt/?item=97505&rss=1">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Bns.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.elektronika.lt/news/business/25011/">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Elektronika.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.technologijos.lt/n/pranesimai_spaudai/S-14641/straipsnis?name=S-14641&l=1&p=1">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Technologijos.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.delfi.lt/news/economy/ITbussines/bite-saugant-duomenis-bendradarbiaus-su-it-milzine-emc.d?id=36020257">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC in data storage<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Delfi.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.balsas.lt/naujiena/500016/bites-duomenis-saugos-emc">EMC to provide data storage services to Bite<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";">Balsas.lt 2010 08 31 <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.elta.lt/zinute_pr.php?inf_id=1243654">Bite to cooperate with IT giant EMC<span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"> ELTA 2010 08 31<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"><a href="http://www.investar.lt/verslas/telekomunikacijos/1794-bite-pradejo-bendradarbiavimo-projekta-su-korporacija-emc">Bite to start cooperation with corporation EMC.</a></span></b><span lang="LT" style="font-family: "Frutiger Linotype";"> Investar.lt 2010 09 01<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-56823857043906681982010-08-28T15:50:00.000-07:002010-08-28T15:52:02.721-07:00Thomas Friedman, The need for a greener world and some latest developments (II)<span class="fullpost">Second development I was interested on touching base is what Mr. Friedman describes as the Smart Black Box, or basically the devices capable of managing the smart grid on private houses. The way it is described on the book it makes you believe we are talking about a science fiction movie, but the reality is that the technology, companies and users are already here. What we need is just some regulatory push and a clear push on objectives settings by companies. The market and the users will do the rest </span><br />
<br />
Smart grids is composed of those communications technologies that increase the level of efficiency to allow operators to balance supply and demand across the network. The intrinsic intermittent nature of renewable energy sources , such as wind power makes this development key for the future of such energies. Furthermore so called "advanced" smart grids will allow electricity companies some control over customers’ appliances, for instance by turning on washing machines at night when electricity was cheaper and wind plentiful, or turning down fridges at times of high demand.<br />
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The beauty of this concept is that it is here and now. Reading the FT on August 10th, on the online comments section we read a description of how the EU smart grids are developing (from Masa Serdarevich). This include:<br />
<ul><li> the EU setting a target to have 80% of the household with smart meters by 2020. </li>
<li>To move from today's EU installed based of 53m meters to more than 200m by the end of the decade</li>
<li>To the development of different companies competing for this market,</li>
<li> How already in Italy Enel together with california based company Echelon has already implemented 27m units!!! and it is on the making to launch a project in Spain for another 13m roll out. </li>
</ul>Optimistic? Maybe but clearly moving into the right direction.<br />
One more sign for optimism and in the right direction? We can read on the online edition of the FT on July 26th how "...Ofgem is to change its rules to make it easier for energy companies to raise from customers the £32bn needed to help modernise the electricity grid, in an abrupt reversal of the principles of post-privatisation regulation"<br />
The UK is clearly of the European countries far behind so time to react <br />
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<a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/daab3a9e-98e0-11df-9418-00144feab49a.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to FT online edition news on Ofgem smart grid decision</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-59657274700690391232010-08-26T14:16:00.000-07:002010-08-26T23:48:05.045-07:00Sweet moments at our call center<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost" style="font-size: small;"> I have always hear many legends around what happens once in a while with a particular customer at a mobile operator call center. Many of these stories they become legends and they pass over the years as part of the company history or culture</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost" style="font-size: small;">When sometimes somebody in our team sends us one of these stories, it always touches you. Our customer care quality manager Terese Kanapiene </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">share with us such a story today</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">I do my little translation to English and I keep the lithuanian orginal from her</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">"So an old lady called our customer care (Justina Sakalauskaite) wanting to get a phone (a prepaid one from Labas). However she is very old and could not pick it up from one of the locations. Furthermore she asked if we have a phone with big buttons as he has problems seeing clearly. Such a phone is not on our range but the team was touched and decided to make it ahppen. Our logistics team did find an old phone used for testing (don't know the model but I can remember the size of the first 3G phone from Siemens for example, it was huge!!!!) that was huge and had big buttons. One of our guys do live close to the lady and he offered to take the phone to her</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">When he come to her house she wanted to pay for the delivery and the phone. We told her that it was our pleasure, But somehow she managed to put the money on Arunas' pocket. He found out when he got home and our team offered to credit her labas card with the money she gave us. She told us "I forgave you to do such a thing. Get the money and buy something nice for the ladies in the team". So here we are, the team did go our a buy some cute blankets (see picture) ahead of the winter soon to arrive</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Love you guys and love how we put our customers first</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxGzHnT7hjFtaxhphFcK_qVl_muuHUav5VPcQWS_nSwEazOVwRvCl5fexjyh8AGr_6J1ns76-WepFXCB4izeUve-4Zvtsnrv3xPLL-12sWbgAP3svDQGdN9j9ByA7rTk3FEbB0E7SO4aj/s1600/IMG_3732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxGzHnT7hjFtaxhphFcK_qVl_muuHUav5VPcQWS_nSwEazOVwRvCl5fexjyh8AGr_6J1ns76-WepFXCB4izeUve-4Zvtsnrv3xPLL-12sWbgAP3svDQGdN9j9ByA7rTk3FEbB0E7SO4aj/s320/IMG_3732.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">In Lithuanian</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Turim tokią LABAS klientę ponią Jadvygą, kuri naudojasi mūsų paslaugomis jau 3 metus, jai sugedo telefonas. Kadangi maloni ponia Jadvyga jau su amžiumi ir atvykti i BITĖS saloną jai sunku, todėl paklausė ar galėtų kas nors atvežti jai telefoną į namus, bet tokį su didesne klaviatūra.<br />
<br />
Arūnas surado telefoną iš logistikos nebenaudojamų testinių telefonų fondo ir nuvežė jį poniai Jadvygai. Klientė primygtinai siūlė pinigus ir nejučia įkišo pinigus į kišenę. Grįžus dar buvo mėginta klientei pasiūlyti įdėti pinigus į jos LABAS kortelės sąskaitą, tačiau ji kategoriškai mums uždraudė tai daryti.<br />
<br />
Už ponios Jadvygos įduotus pinigus mes CC nupirkome 9 pledukus, kad galėtume šildytis šaltom rudens dienom.<br />
Poniai Jadvygai nusiūsime padėkos laiškelį su mūsų nuotrauka </span></span></div>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-27217005258784033502010-08-23T12:48:00.000-07:002010-08-23T12:48:14.680-07:00Thomas Friedman, The need for a greener world and some latest developments (I)<span class="fullpost">Lately I have read the entire and updated (2.0 version) of Thomas Friedman's book "Hot, Flat and crowded", </span> <br />
Taking it from his own website, <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazg7itEj-fO4k6lmCcgIjAjRMwHINjmSomtUk1VhT05JqSdHtkQih_VICQ7CVnbhD6Am6myG5pKAGhFDyamnYjzognSm36KYV7MAUtL06yZn7MWKElLqctuZdiRoN2IerCYaPRvEd6VGM/s1600/ThomasFriedmanBook-TDG-HTGG-fb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazg7itEj-fO4k6lmCcgIjAjRMwHINjmSomtUk1VhT05JqSdHtkQih_VICQ7CVnbhD6Am6myG5pKAGhFDyamnYjzognSm36KYV7MAUtL06yZn7MWKElLqctuZdiRoN2IerCYaPRvEd6VGM/s200/ThomasFriedmanBook-TDG-HTGG-fb.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>"...Now Friedman brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy—both of which could poison our world if we do not act quickly and collectively. His argument speaks to all of us who are concerned about the state of America in the global future.<br />
<br />
Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy—which he calls "Geo-Greenism"—is not only what we need to save the planet from overheating; it is what we need to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure"<br />
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In my opinion Friedman's book is still one of the most accessible but at the same time incisive and well researched books aound the problem and magnitude of the badly called (probably one of the worst naming strategies ever as the name does more harm that anything to the cause) <b>Global Warming</b> and to propose a number of initiatives, taking his points on how America (USA) can lead these changes<br />
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Being this one of my key personal and professional issues and having even as a company (Bite) taking a stand on green strategies I can recommend this reading <br />
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Interesting enough there a couple of development around 2 of the key ideas of Friedman's book: how to legislate on the US side (on the part of the book about Code Green) the Co2 emissions using price signals and secondly what he calls the "black box" or smartgrid<br />
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Chapter13 - The stone age didn't end because we run out of stones (you probably get the idea from the title right?) -<br />
Basically the main point of the chapter is the need for the government to step in to make the polluting (and before some of you debates why, just think how the governments have stepped in to help people stop smoking - with taxes and education) fuels expensive enough and there are several options to do this, but at the end the options are a "direct" carbon tax or an indirect tax through a cap and trade system. As many of you know this summer the Obama's government failed to have approved through Senate the cap and trade proposed system<br />
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I really see this as a total failure of the US to see its won decadence and to recognize how f.... up they are and how this could be the only opportunity to get back at the lead (because the Chinese are going to take care of this issue in terms of leadership also). Furthermore while I am not happy really with Obama lack of strong stand on this one (did he used all of it on the health care reform battle) or if some of my friends the system (who designed a system that does not help your country to take or make the right decisions?), it is time to look at the future<br />
First I don;t believe on the cap and trade as much as I believe the real effective measure is to apply a carbon tax. I think the cap and trade is dead, but I believe that the government will be back in 2 to 3 years and this time it will be with a carbon tax<br />
Secondly is that most of the necessary regulation could come from the federal agencies imposing different measures and limits on emissions and other urgent and necessary regulations<br />
<br />
By the way, on this point, I love the harsh and direct David Roberts blog post right after teh bill did not pass the senate and don't miss the follow up comments (really really interesting)<br />
<a href="http://www.grist.org/article/2010-07-22-on-the-death-of-the-climate-bill/s" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to David Roberts "On the death of the Climate Bill"</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-88441087806178455972010-08-20T15:43:00.001-07:002010-08-22T15:40:23.657-07:00(Updated) Bloggers and journalist inform on Bite LAtvia Baltic's Most Advanced Newtork development - Partially In Latvian<span class="fullpost">After our network expedition where we invited several journalist and social media / bloggers / twitter from LAtvia to see our kitchen (both the network and the real Bite kictchen) and also several phone interviews, there is a lot of coverage around it</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbk5pBvZ8gwW9SLVI6GAoZBo2qgDy8cwbfVeK7uuGW5gh7rhkxm2Zqfuqhwv2h7L3IWLz6eoL5aZtXaPXmmxFOZ_lAIDND3esCFLp_xZamkTcMQSQAhqub8GnfNBYf9HgUiIAt-2_jwRyR/s1600/DSC_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbk5pBvZ8gwW9SLVI6GAoZBo2qgDy8cwbfVeK7uuGW5gh7rhkxm2Zqfuqhwv2h7L3IWLz6eoL5aZtXaPXmmxFOZ_lAIDND3esCFLp_xZamkTcMQSQAhqub8GnfNBYf9HgUiIAt-2_jwRyR/s320/DSC_0095.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Look at some the links on the right corner (including some youtube action)<br />
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This one from blogger Kristaps: Es biju dzirdējis, ka Freds un Kristobals jums ir riktīgi feini cilvēki, bet šodien par to pārliecinājos pats. [I had heard that your Fred and Cristobal are cool guys, but today had the chance to witness it myself]<br />
<span class="fullpost"> </span><span class="fullpost">This one is in Latvian from Latvian Telecom blogger and journalist Juris Kaza on NAzare.LV</span><br />
(Thanks to our PR consultant, Zane Bojare from Hauska for the article and the voice over translation)<br />
"Bite Latvija": Trešdaļa tīkla bāzes staciju drīzumā būs spējīgas sniegt 4G pakalpojumus<br />
Publicēta: 17:03 19.08.2010.<br />
Rīga, 19.aug., NOZARE.LV. Aptuveni trešā daļa "Bite Latvija" mobilo sakaru tīkla bāzes staciju līdz 1.septembrim būs tehnoloģiski spējīgas sniegt ceturtās paaudzes (4G) mobilā interneta datu pārraides ātrumus, bet 4G testēšana plašākā apjomā, visticamāk, sāks tikai 2011.gadā, sarunā ar biznesa portālu "Nozare.lv" teica "Bite" grupas tehniskais direktors Kristobals Alonso.<br />
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Alonso sacīja, ka līdz gada beigām "Bite" varēs piedāvāt mobilo internetu ar lejuplādes ātrumu līdz 21 megabitam sekundē (Mbps), kas ir tehniski teju ātrākā iespējamā datu pārraides jauda, izmantojot esošās trešās paaudzes (3G) standartus un frekvences.<br />
Alonso skaidroja, ka apmēram nedēļas laikā būs pabeigta līdz pat 125 "Bites" bāzes staciju nomaiņa pret jaunām "daudzpakalpojumu" spējīgām ķīniešu telekomunikāciju infrastruktūras ražotāja "Huawei" bāzes stacijām. Tās var ieprogrammēt darboties pēc dažādiem standartiem - parasto GSM balss un datu pārraidi (2G), 3G un dažādiem 3G tehnoloģijas "paātrināšanas" paņēmieniem, un 4G, kas sniedz datu pārraides ātrumus līdz pat 100 Mbps.<br />
Drīzumā nomainīto bāzes staciju skaits atbildīs apmēram vienai trešdaļai šādu ierīču, kas veido "Bite Latvija" tīklu. Bāzes stacija ir raidītāju/uztvērēju un citu elektronisku ierīču komplekts, kas noteiktā rādiusā ap savu atrašanās vietu uztur radio sakarus ar mobiliem telefoniem un citām konkrēta operatora tīklā autorizētām ierīcēm.<br />
Kā stāstīja "Bites" tehniskais direktors, 21 Mbps datu pārraides testēšana jau sāksies tuvākajās dienas. Kā ziņo kompānija, "Bite" pabeigusi piecu jaunu "Huawei" bāzes staciju testēšanu Jelgavas apkaimē. Kopumā šajās dienās tiek uzstādītas vai ir jau uzstādītas ap 80 "Huawei", galvenokārt Latvijas rietumos, tostarp Talsos, Tukumā, Bauskā un Jelgavā, teica Alonso. Tuvākajā laikā tiks nomainītas Rīgas bāzes stacijas.<br />
"Bite" un citi operatori nav gatavi sākt apjomīgus 4G testus vai pilotprojektus vairāku iemeslu dēļ. "Bite" paziņojumā medijiem par Jelgavas bāzes staciju testiem raksta, ka "jaunais aprīkojums ir pielāgojams gan 4G, gan LTE (būtībā tas pats, kas 4G) vajadzībām, kad to ļaus licences noteikumi un būs pieprasījums no klientiem. "<br />
Lai varētu sniegt 4G pakalpojumus pilnā komerciālā režīmā, ir jāsakārto frekvenču lietošanas un operatoru licencēšanas jautājumi. Jau ziņots, ka Ministru kabinets (MK) augusta sākumā pieņēma noteikumus, kas paredz, ka radiospektra 2500-2690 MHz diapazonu no 2014.gada varēs izmantot 4G mobilā interneta pakalpojumu sniegšanai, to piešķirot vairākiem komersantiem izsoles ceļā. <br />
Savukārt valsts iestādes vēl nav ķērušās pie 4G operatoru licenču izsniegšanas kārtības izstrādes. Neskatoties uz šādu vadlīniju neesamību, "Latvijas mobilais telefons" (LMT) ir jau veicis 4G testus jeb īslaicīgus pilotprojektus Liepājā un dažās citās Latvijas pilsētās. <br />
Arī "Tele2" ir paziņojis par nodomu iespējami ātri ieviest 4G pakalpojumus, līdz ko būs sakārtoti frekvenču un licenču jautājumu. Kā skaidroja "Tele2" sabiedrisko attiecība vadītāja Vita Sirica, uzņēmuma tīklu veido "Nokia Siemens" bāzes stacijas, kuras visas var pārslēgt uz 4G ar nelielu programmatūras maiņu. <br />
Sirica arī teica, ka "Tele2" plānojot drīzumā palielināt savu mobilo datu pārraides ātrumu līdz 21 Mbps no tagadējā, daudzviet pieejamā 10,2 Mbps.<br />
"Bite" ir trešais lielākais mobilo sakaru operators valstī ar aptuveni 250 000 klientu, Latvijā darbojas kopš 2005.gada.<br />
Juris Kaža Nozare.lv<br />
<span lang="LV" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0DRKWgEcxia_fOVzHKIRi02M1tICmCLOBKy-e2PJMeLEjiGXPaVgLP5UBRqVVgrb1Q4MW2G8Kd3FeTiUQLhApOqNr2NN9NB9XpP3AGcwePQ6jNLHmZKiiKU6tXy4CDd1HaCBa_HmfC-G/s1600/DSC_0194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0DRKWgEcxia_fOVzHKIRi02M1tICmCLOBKy-e2PJMeLEjiGXPaVgLP5UBRqVVgrb1Q4MW2G8Kd3FeTiUQLhApOqNr2NN9NB9XpP3AGcwePQ6jNLHmZKiiKU6tXy4CDd1HaCBa_HmfC-G/s320/DSC_0194.JPG" /></a></div>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-36278927041363415012010-08-10T10:21:00.000-07:002010-08-10T10:22:22.130-07:00Usual active social media in Latvia (II)This is really even more interesting and fun – some enthusiast has even made a web poll re who has created the navzonas.lv webpage.<br />
Check the results:<br />
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<a href="http://flisti.com/1869/results" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to poll on who has created the navzonas.lv webpage</a><br />
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more votes are for the „average envious Latvian” or „independent enthusiast”.. from operators – Tele2 as you can see.<br />
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Vote and enjoyCAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-89008949792679572072010-08-10T10:07:00.000-07:002010-08-10T10:15:57.369-07:00Usual active social media in Latvia: post translated (I)The storms did hit Latvia and Lithuania during the past weekend so we were very busy<br />
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Today I was reading a little bit around the Latvian social media sphere (very active as usual) and the team pointed out an interesting post from Krizdabz, which I have posted his links once before. <br />
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<a href="http://krizdabz.lv/latvijas-internets/navzonaslv-melnais-pr-kas-dara-labu/" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to krizdabz blog posting on navzonas </a><br />
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The post relates to a project / website that has just been created called navzonas.lv, which aims to show where the coverage of mobile operator Bite is not ideal. I leave you with a translation to his article. Once more there is no need for such websites, we love to hear from our customers and to hear their feedback and complaints. On the network side you can go to<a href="http://www.bite.lv/lv/about/network/coverage" style="font-weight: bold;"> Link to Bite web site area for network feedback </a>. We can assure you we will listen and come back to you<br />
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This is a rough translation from parts of his post <br />
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".....In the description of the Project we can read the following...........<br />
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I have created this webpage so that me and other existent or former Bite clients could report on places/spots where the coverage of the mobile operator is not really complying with promises or where there are some problems with the network, ie, „the coverage pits” /Source – navzonas.lv<br />
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<br />
The principle of the Project is quite clear, there’s a map where anyone can mark a point where there are problems with Bite network, and can check what others have marked. The goal of the Project could even be called noble. But I am a typical sceptical average Latvian and consider this Project not an honest dealing with some person’s sadness and suffering, but an example of typical black pr campaign. Mobile operators in Latvia are on a competitive warfare, therefore it’s not a surprise that such projects appear. I just am sorry that such dirty methods are used and persons are not willing to take the responsibility for their work. <span lang="LV" style="color: #1f497d;"><o:p></o:p></span><span class="fullpost"> </span>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-47998286543724670132010-08-10T09:48:00.001-07:002010-08-10T09:48:28.320-07:00time for a short reflection: a quote I just read"to laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons...to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better...—this is to have succeeded. <br />
<div> ~ ralph waldo emerson </div>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-91034579561058636152010-08-03T14:58:00.000-07:002010-08-03T15:03:11.611-07:00Inspire by words of the "professional expatriate"<span class="fullpost">I was just reading an interview with British journalist (and owner of a nice bookshop in Riga, Robert's books) Robert Cottrell on the Baltic Outlook magazine. The article is called "professional expatriate", where Robert relates to his experiences living in many countries since he left the UK more than 15 years ago</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">I can relate to many of his words but there is one sentence that I truly like </span><br />
<span class="fullpost">When describing than like anything else you get better a being a foreign the longer you do it, Robert says </span><br />
<b><span class="fullpost">"...The longer you spend traveling in different countries, the more you start to think that everything is special and everything has its own merit, it's own reason to be"</span></b><br />
<span class="fullpost">Amen Robert, well said and thank you for a wonderful reading </span><br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost">You can download the entire August issue of the magazine in the link below and read the full interview with Robert</span><br />
<a href="http://www.airbaltic.com/public/44923.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to Air Baltic August Magazine</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-13993341121461555302010-07-29T14:00:00.000-07:002010-07-29T14:01:54.964-07:00BITÉ REPORTS SECOND QUARTER RESULTS: strong growth in cash and EBITDA<span class="fullpost">BITÉ REPORTS SECOND QUARTER RESULTS<br />
Strong growth in Free cash flow in Quarter 2 2010<br />
Quarter 2 EBITDA of € 11.0 million, increased by 39.2% from Quarter 2 2009<br />
EBITDA minus CAPEX improved 173% to reach € 9.9 million<br />
.<br />
<b>Quarter 2 results</b><br />
Service Revenue1 for Quarter 2 reached € 38.9 million compared to € 43.2 million for the second quarter of 2009. Consolidated Earnings before interest, income taxes and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)2 increased to € 11.0 million compared to € 7.9 million for the second quarter of 2009. EBITDA margin of Service Revenue grew to 28% for Quarter 2 of 2010 compared to 18% for Quarter 2 of 2009. Free cash flow3 is positive € 3.4 million for Quarter 2 of 2010 compared to negative € 2.5 million for the second quarter<br />
of 2009.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
<b>Quarter 2 results for Bité Lithuania and Bité Latvia</b><br />
Service Revenue for Bité Lithuania for Quarter 2 decreased to € 31.1 million compared to €<br />
37.3 million for the second quarter of 2009. EBITDA increased to € 12.1 million compared to € 11.6 million for the second quarter of 2009. Service Revenue in Bité Latvia for Quarter 2 increased to € 8.1 million compared to € 6.2 million for the second quarter of 2009. Bité Latvia Subscriber base grew by 74% compared Quarter 2 of 2010 with Quarter 2 of 2009 to reach critical mass of subscribers as EBITDA improved to negative € 0.5 million compared to negative € 2.9 million for the second quarter of 2009.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://images.bite.lt/bite/files/new/pub/bitegroup_net/en/pdf/BITE.reports.second.quarter.results.2010.pdf" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to Bite Group Official press release</a><br />
<span class="fullpost"> </span>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-3706328316006751072010-07-28T13:37:00.001-07:002010-07-28T13:37:46.274-07:00Rumours on the Indian 35 USD iPad (even if still at least a year away from hitting the shelves)Yes, you read that right. Nope, it's not a typo. £25 (actually, £23 on current rates). Rumoured features include colour, multi-touch 10.5" screen, 2Gb memory, Flash compatibility, Wifi, Ethernet connection, camera and an optional extra of a solar charger.<br />
That means word processing, video conferencing, web browsing and yes, the ability to play Flash videos, games for less than the cost of the <a href="http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC593ZM/A?mco=MTczNzY0MzA">AppleCare warranty on an iPad</a> (3 times less, if we're counting).<br />
The Indian technology sector is developing a name for itself for throwing out the rule book when it comes to the cost of consumer technology. Witness the £1,900 <a href="http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/">Nano car</a> from Tata and for roughly the same price, how's about <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125875892887958111.html">open heart surgery</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
The caveats? The device is still a prototype and the government is on the hunt for a manufacturer. Their aim is to have the tablet on-sale in 2011.<br />
Finding a company to produce the device on what must be wafer-thin margins might be a challenge, although with a potential home market of 1bn people, there should be plenty of opportunity to make profit on volume sales.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://chinwag.com/blogs/sam-michel/indian-ipad-competitor-launches-cost-25?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChinwagNews+%28Chinwag+News%29 " style="font-weight: bold;">Link to Chinwag blog posting</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-news/306-india-promises-35-tablet-soon-may-run-android-video.html " style="font-weight: bold;">Link to Android Tablet forum including YouTube demo video</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-42236177214468721402010-07-28T13:27:00.000-07:002010-07-28T13:27:39.380-07:00One of all time sporting idols Don Raul Gonzalez leaves R. Madrid after 15 glorious years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoGl28nv3XylVMjiX-pA5qwXrMtB1NA4GJI2sTiQGt0zG6bHeW-UHHU1IAzh242yij0jauZVoYKge9rNlBXvpI-mbF1-avMLzLptSPr8AnjjvP7h9eZ1IuNrfwMokQXe4q7WD9JUCfb5X/s1600/raul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoGl28nv3XylVMjiX-pA5qwXrMtB1NA4GJI2sTiQGt0zG6bHeW-UHHU1IAzh242yij0jauZVoYKge9rNlBXvpI-mbF1-avMLzLptSPr8AnjjvP7h9eZ1IuNrfwMokQXe4q7WD9JUCfb5X/s1600/raul.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Funny to think that for 2 weeks in a row I found myself writing about sports (as an spectator) and its influence on my life. Yesterday Mr. Raul Gonzalez, captain and Real Madrid player for the last 15 years announced that he is leaving the sporting club and will play his last 2/3 professional years in a foreign league, Germany at Schalke 04<br />
For many of you who may not follow football or Real Madrid this may mean nothing. However for those football lovers (I don't even believe they need to be Real Madrid fans) Mr. Raul represent one of the se few players who stay on the club all their life and represent their values above all<br />
For me Raul does and has represented many of the values that I respect and follow in life: passion, love for the shirt, professionality, commitmment, dedication<br />
Obviously I will never forget his goals and the times that I jumped from my sit to celebrate them. Funny enough even if I like football since I was a kid I was much more of a basketball fun (specially when talking about Real MAdrid). However as I spent many years abroad, watching Real Madrid on the TV was many timse how I did re-connect with my country and Raul is in most if not all of those memories from Brazil, UK, Czech Republic, South Africa, etc... he will be part of my 20-35 life memories for sure<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.marca.com/tv/?v=v5tahQaQVOs" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to MArca TV Video tribute to Raul career and goals</a><br />
uff difficult to contain tears when reviving so many memories of joy <br />
<br />
I remember how I did "strike" from the national team on the Euro 2008 (When we won!!!) as the national coach decided to not pick him even if he had been the second highest scorer of the League. For someone who did give so much for his country I am so sad he was not part of the 2008 and/or2010 national team achievements<br />
<br />
I did join the entire Bernabeu each time when during the 2007/08 league he did score and we all shout "Raul Seleccion" (Raul national team) and "El 7 de Espana" (Spain's #7).<br />
<br />
I remember how during your last 3 years I kept betting with my friend and another truly madridista Fran Gonzalez that you will score at least 15 goals and how you did each year except this last one. And how I felt that maybe it was better to not wait to buy a little key chain with the Real Madrid shirt, your number 7 and your name this year at the Real Madrid shop<br />
<br />
A legend and an example of "madridista" leaves. Raul enjoy to the fullest your last 2 years and please come back. The biggest of this sport have only a place in this world and that is Real Madrid<br />
<br />
See you soon (and I guess I will have to start watching now the German League)CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-88382117208616761422010-07-26T17:07:00.000-07:002010-07-26T17:07:31.490-07:00Thoughts while flying Tablets + Mobile Operators role?I was just reading Wired magazine (July UK edition) and I run into a print add of the dell streak tablet advertised jointly between carphone warehouse + o2<br />
<br />
It raises the question (in my mind) of what should be mobile operators approach to tablets? Taking into account that most of small countries mobile operators (aka like Lithuania and Latvia) will never be on the radar screen of Apple (and 90% of our users can’t afford an iPAd nor they may not have a reason why), should we mobile operators offer other alternatives, mostly around Android based devices and also create a local (language and topics/themes) android ecosystem around smartphones and tablets, which are in my opinion about to exploit in Eastern Europe ?<br />
<br />
will love to hear from youCAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-58249388798246315872010-07-19T01:27:00.000-07:002010-07-19T06:42:48.542-07:00Bite keeps progressing on their network modernization and the bloggers are keeping up to dateAnd we have some bloggers closely following up the action, as you may see the latest arrival of Huawei's shipment and some pics on the warehouse action by krizdabz, whom is one of the top internet bloggers in Latvia <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://krizdabz.lv/computer-related/bite-latvija-no-huawei-sanem-tikla-modernizacijai-paredzetas-iekartas/" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to krizdabz post on Bite Latvia Network Modernization evolution </a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-69157036016972047152010-07-14T07:42:00.001-07:002010-07-14T07:43:35.874-07:00The feeling of having my country SPAIN being World Champion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3SmtnKYb-rN6pLnUj8d5W63Yrt6ZBtJ6OqZPGeVRzbd9PYzNyf_spuFmvsvnO0MtTkrJLp_C2K2pG_5k3NyqHuTRdEggOmWs3MFoYTbvkLxVkxLgCVz5etcCTg7EIbKz4vq4p0mNTfQ/s1600/1279029105_extras_noticia_foton_7_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3SmtnKYb-rN6pLnUj8d5W63Yrt6ZBtJ6OqZPGeVRzbd9PYzNyf_spuFmvsvnO0MtTkrJLp_C2K2pG_5k3NyqHuTRdEggOmWs3MFoYTbvkLxVkxLgCVz5etcCTg7EIbKz4vq4p0mNTfQ/s400/1279029105_extras_noticia_foton_7_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I still remember being in the streets of France during the past world cup in Germany after France and Portugal just made it to the semifinals. Lots of people in the streets of Paris (there is a large Portuguese colony in Paris) celebrating, just happy to be from their country and what their football team has achieved<br />
I remember sending then an sms to 2 of my best friends (Philippe and Fran) telling them that "...one day the streets of Madrid will be having such celebration"<br />
True that months later Spain become basketball world champion in Japan and we had a similar celebration but being basketball Spain's second most popular sport and probably also the world's second, it is not the World Cup, aka the football one<br />
<br />
Little I knew that only 4 years later Spain will be World Champ. Yes not only we did pass the quarterfinals, our biggest enemy until date, not only we beat Germany on probably our best game and against probably the team that played best football on the world cup, but we WON THE FINAL<br />
On this opportunity as with most of Spain greatest achievements in different sports in the past 4 years I was in a foreign country. So the celebration is mostly personal (apart from sharing it with Andrea and a couple of Lithuanian friends that were supporting Spain also)<br />
I jumped after the goal, I screamed and I look at the sky. The last 2 minutes I was in my knees, all those previous defeats were on my head, I remember almost each of them since I was a child (the penalty from Eloy at Mexico 86, Raul injured in Korea and the ref invalidating 2 legal goals, and so for so on) but now tears (or cold sweat?) were there, and a feeling of great joy, of achievement or national pride. I knew that many years from now I will always remember where I was that day that Spain won the World Cup<br />
<br />
I sent SMS to many many people, I responded to tons of friends' that send me congratulations messages (thank thank very much to all of you)and I did enjoy immensely seeing Iker Casillas, our great captain, raising the World Cup, an image I have many times envisioned on my head but never pictured me in Vilnius (Lithuania) happening like this<br />
I have been wearing the Spanish National Team shirt (old one because the new one has now ONE start of World Champ :-) and the Spanish Flag around my neck for the last 2 days. I will keep celebrating and enjoying for a long time, the feeling of joy does not leave you<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwiD7i8qFd86sWfF_nASPSmouLhNs2sW63rRdlR3f26m-Ppj3T3lH4BYn_wFJGBStcTWGEJA_Lkv6ngcEiag9aRmAld9R0ro1MzP-G7rBXUb-uu1GtCy-G0qehok45ma9lN3PgT7dem_c/s1600/spain+celebration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwiD7i8qFd86sWfF_nASPSmouLhNs2sW63rRdlR3f26m-Ppj3T3lH4BYn_wFJGBStcTWGEJA_Lkv6ngcEiag9aRmAld9R0ro1MzP-G7rBXUb-uu1GtCy-G0qehok45ma9lN3PgT7dem_c/s320/spain+celebration.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>As my very good Brazilan friend Gustavo Fonseca says, "...enjoy it because it does not happen very often. I was born after 1970 so I missed Pele's 3 titles, so I waited 21 years for Brazil to win (and not only that but Argentina won 2 titles in the meantime). We won it twice but we never played as Spain did this time. Spain has revived the dogma that you need to play well (not pretty but well) to win the World Cup". <br />
<br />
So here we are ready to enjoy for a long time (and hoping that the basketball team will win again the world champ in Turkey in September :-)<br />
<br />
And singing "La copa ya esta aqui, la copa esta en Madrid" (The cup is already here, the cup is in Madrid) and ready to buy my new Spanish National team shirt that will have from now on and forever at least one star of World Champ<br />
<br />
Thank you for this great memory for life CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-40893158944053195532010-07-13T14:31:00.001-07:002010-07-13T14:54:37.167-07:00WOW: Bite (Latvia) flashmob among top 15 worldwide<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The joy of the day – accidentally via Twitter we found out that our flashmob from last year - featuring 1st Flash Mob Folk Dance in one of Riga's main squares - has been rated among top 15 worldwide by social media geeks Mashable!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A flash mob is defined by Wikipedia as “a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse.”Social media has greatly aided the organization of such events, and proof of their existence has been caught on camera only to go viral online via sites like youtube</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The background of this was that it was also our own little present to Riga, and it was done in times of crisis to spread the joy and making Latvians a bit proud of the nation they belong to</span></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcvmSBCJwKE&feature=player_embedded%20" style="font-weight: bold;">Link to YouTube's flash mob video</a><br />
<br />
Also I love some of the comments from YouTube users:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Fantastic! Best Flash Mob ever, more please</li>
<li>If only politics was this good in Latvia</li>
<li>I love this so much -- all the boring dances I was forced to learn as a kid -- and now I see people actually enjoying them in the way they were meant to be performed... spontaneously and joyously</li>
<li> </li>
</ul></div>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0Jelgava, Latvia56.6484159 23.71394156.5540414 23.4804815 56.742790400000004 23.947400499999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-81172993844970086672010-06-28T07:20:00.000-07:002010-06-28T07:20:51.834-07:00BIte modernization nice printed mention<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHR9b8O5YmT4T2JVaMLWdNI7KVMTJtILZWtQ24-C_C-wOMwfxg0sac57nG76gaXFy-ZAORN5j6J5NWNvhLXAghFwKHy86mfzUT0stE0RrvGJ3Ed0wZyJB7LDonF-NYxLUdtQUghkeLUGE/s1600/Lithuania_no_298_june_23_2010-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHR9b8O5YmT4T2JVaMLWdNI7KVMTJtILZWtQ24-C_C-wOMwfxg0sac57nG76gaXFy-ZAORN5j6J5NWNvhLXAghFwKHy86mfzUT0stE0RrvGJ3Ed0wZyJB7LDonF-NYxLUdtQUghkeLUGE/s400/Lithuania_no_298_june_23_2010-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="fullpost"><br />
</span>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-67118044110406037592010-06-25T15:44:00.000-07:002010-06-29T15:38:46.797-07:00New Android Tablets coming up: time to start testing devices, thus first testing impressions<span class="fullpost">Probably since the WMC this past February there has been as much talk around the Ipad as it was around all other device manufacturers, from mobile phones (&network vendors) ones to PC and even some start-ups, working on creating different tablet concepts all running Google's android platform as OS</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">It is good to read several ZDNet articles on the topic <br />
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/android-tablet-army-starts-to-form/34981" style="color: #b6cccc; font-weight: bold;">Link to ZDNet's Android tablet army starts to form</a>), which clearly puts it "</span>The big difference with the Android tablet army is that the Apple iPad doesn’t have much of a head start..." as it did on the case on the iPhone. Get used to this ideas as many of these tablets will be “...poor man’s iPads” on deck. Note these devices won’t be iPad killers or anything, but Apple legitimized the tablet form factor and the followers are lining up. There will be multiple Android tablets waiting in the wings". Price point seems to be around 199 USD (150 Eur) and I am sure that a number of mobile operators will subsidize the unit price around 12 to 18 months contracts<br />
<br />
For an end subscribers I still remain a bit skeptical, in fact I think that I could share some of ZDNet blogger Christopher Dawso, <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/would-i-buy-an-android-tablet/2091?tag=mantle_skin;content1" style="color: #b6cccc; font-weight: bold;">Would I buy an Android Tablet?</a><br />
<br />
But let's look at some of my impressions testing one of the upcoming devices (Huawei S7 Tablet, which it seems will be <a href="http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/huawei-s7-android-tablet-for-year-end-australian-debut/" style="color: #b6cccc; font-weight: bold;"> available in Australia by year end</a>, and is already available for pre-order at Expansys websites in UK and US<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<ul><li>In terms of weight and size (screen) I believe that most of the units coming from the mobile phone manufacturers will share (at least initially) a 7 inches screen and weight around 350-450 g. (see also Samsung tablet rumors http://www.androidjunkies.com/index.php/2010/06/14/new-details-leak-on-samsung%E2%80%99s-first-android-tablet/).The S7 has a 7-inch WVGA 800 x 480 resolution and weight around 470 g.</li>
<li>These units need to have Android 2.2. I tested my unit with 2.1. It was good enough, but we need an excellent experience to make users go here. 2.1 is sufficient for an smartphone but slow for a tablet (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/android-22-froyo-is-fast-and-flashy/2096?tag=mantle_skin;content), and it does not support flash on websites (which is a key to differentiate on this matter vs. iPad)</li>
<li>As of today, market apps are not ready for these tablets. I try to download many apps and mostly were not available for this device or were far from being optimized</li>
<li>Connectivity was very good, although sometimes I had difficulties on automatic mode and have to find the network manually. Furthermore embedded modem was 7.2 (not good enough as our network is today already on 21) but it gave a very good browsing experience and was streaming youtube without issues</li>
</ul>UPDATE: there is a youtube video of Huawei demo of the device in Q1<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otm-jp0SdXc" style="color: #b6cccc; font-weight: bold;">Link to YouTube video on Huawei S7</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul></ul>Overall it was a good start. Android 2.2. should be a powerful OS for tablets and I see lots of people wanting to have this type of device and the iPad not being an option for them. What I still struggle is seeing many people taking this device instead of their laptop when traveling. For me it has become something I bring when going for a coffee out (together with my blackberry) or to surf when in bed. For web browsing and email the 7' inch screen is great and also makes the unit fit into my coat pockets. I also believe in using skype with the front camera for video calls (which I will not do with my BB, but I do lots with my laptop)<br />
However if I were to read a book here (which people seem to be taking this habit on the iPad) I don't think I will last long. However Android is still to take the ebook challenge as part of their areas of focus <br />
<br />
There will be much more in the futureCAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-62416957273633249342010-06-21T14:59:00.000-07:002010-06-21T15:03:36.338-07:00Not all feedback on Ipad from me is negative - 'He was wrong about the Ipad and he admits it"<span class="fullpost">I did buy an iPAd when I was in the US in april for my good friend and former colleague at Bite Group Manju Kesani <a href="http://lt.linkedin.com/in/mkesani" style="color: #b6cccc; font-weight: bold;">Manju Linkedin Profile</a><br />
All I asked him in return (being a super geek guy) was a in depth review on the iPAD. And he has way deliver on my expectations. He was negative before testing the product, but now he is a convert :-) On my side, I am playing with a "rival" tablet that I believe does address some of the current iPAD gaps. In the mean time, please read Manju's assessment. Really interesting one</span><br />
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Manju wrote "I’ve been a gadget guy for a long time. Any new gadget that comes out, I have to test and play with. Usually own. Having tested almost every smart phone and innovative mobile device in the last two years, I tend to be very opinionated and a harsh critic. This is why when the iPad was first announced, I like many people (including Cristobal), jumped on the bandwagon and became a “doomsayer”, prophesizing the impending demise of this product and potentially Apple itself in the long run…all without even touching the device. I questioned how many times a single company can keep creating revolutionary devices that change the way we do things? Surely they must fail at some point…and the iPad felt like it may be it. Like many,</span><br />
<br />
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<a name='more'></a><span class="fullpost">I reasoned that the backlit screen, weight and battery life should clearly make it inferior to my Kindle for reading books. And, the lack of a keyboard should make it inferior to my Mac for surfing, word processing or almost anything else. For the first time I can remember, I really had no desire to own a new gadget.<br />
But, when Cristobal was kind enough to offer to bring me an iPad from the US, my gadget obsession got the better of me and I bought one. 32GB WiFi model (3G model had yet to be released at the time). Living in Lithuania, without ubiquitous WiFi access, I quickly realized that WiFi only was very limiting. I wanted to use my iPad everywhere, just like I use my laptop, for which I have a Vodafone Mobile Connect mobile broadband card). After doing a bit of research, I quickly realized that I could turn several of my phones into mobile WiFi hotspots, using the 3G network and the SIM card from my VMC card. I currently use both an HTC HD2 and a Nokia E71 as mobile hotspots (Note: the E71 required a 7 piece of software called Joikuspot Premium – which I can easily recommend). Now that this problem was solved, and I could get both my Mac and iPad online simultaneously, I got on with seriously testing my iPad<br />
My first reaction was surprisingly positive. I was impressed with the design, interface and functionality but I was (and still am) disappointed with weight (its a bit too heavy) and the difficulty this creates in holding the device for long periods of time. All in all though, I find myself spending more and more time with my iPad. To my own surprise it has replaced both my Kindle and Mac for most day-to-day functions. The small size, ease of use and always-on functionality makes me want to take it with me almost everywhere.<br />
So what do I do with my iPad everyday?<br />
1. Surf: The iPad has become my preferred internet surfing device. Whether I’m laying in bed, sitting on the couch or sitting in a café. It really is a convenient way to peruse the web<br />
2. Read the Newspaper: I love reading the Financial Times on the iPad, using the FT app. Yes, FT is expensive, and has many VERY annoying limitations (like the inability to share articles with your friends). But, the fact remains that it is a great way to read the newspaper without getting out of bed in the morning <br />
3. Stay Up-to-date with:<br />
a. the Markets: The Bloomberg iPad app is great. It gives me the latest business/market news, currency and stock quotes with a simple, great user interface.<br />
b. Twitter: I don’t tweet a lot, but I do follow a number of people/companies on twitter that enrich my life and give me a information which I would not have otherwise gotten. The twiteriffic app is perfect for this.<br />
4. Read Books: I love reading, and the iPad gives me a new way to read my Kindle books using the Kindle iPad app. While still nowhere near as convenient as my Kindle, the ability to allow me to mult-task on one device more than makes up for its deficiencies as a reader. Also, it’s nice to read and see pics in color. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, apps like Stanza, iBooks, BN reader and Zinio all give me additional ways of getting and viewing content on my iPad. I’m no longer linked to one source for all my reading material. Sorry Amazon.<br />
5. Take Notes: I love using Evernote…on all my applications (blackberry, Mac, pc and now iPad). I like taking notes and always having my notes with me. In fact, I’ve used a Tablet PC for almost 6 years now. The iPad+Evernote has effectively replaced my Lenovo Tablet PC + Microsoft One Note.<br />
But there are still drawbacks…<br />
1. The iPad is a little too heavy to be comfortable holding for long periods of time and a bit slippery (perhaps the design is a little too slick). I live in constant fear of it slipping out of my hands and watching the beautiful display smash into a thousand pieces. <br />
2. I agree with Cristobal, from time to time I experience some WiFi issues. The handover and searching for networks isn’t as smooth as I would expect. This is not too big a problem, and I’m sure that a future software upgrade will fix this.<br />
3. The lack of support for flash videos is incredibly annoying. My primary internet device cannot play many of the videos on the web. Either Apple will have to start supporting flash, or the whole web will need to change. I’m betting on the latter.<br />
4. Where is the front facing camera? I’m disappointed that its not included in the iPad, while the recently announce iPhone 4 will have this functionality. <br />
5. Price…like it or not, it is still a bit too expensive<br />
Conclusion<br />
I love my iPad. Its become an indispensible part of my life for all the reasons I mentioned above. But, for me, most importantly, the iPad has given me a view on the future and two very important trends:<br />
1. The browser is no longer my primary window to the internet. My guess is that more and more over time, we will not be reaching for Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome to access the internet. We’ll be reaching for custom purpose built apps. Mobile apps are going to continue to grow in leaps and bounds.<br />
2. Content is evolving from a static form to a more dynamic/interactive form. The Kindle was revolutionary for its time…it became an iPod for your books. The Kindle took heavy books, and moved them to a convenient electronic format. The iPad has gone much much further, it is changing the way content itself is presented. For those of you with doubts, check out these three apps (which are really books/magazines disguised as apps):<br />
a. The Elements: A lot has been said/written about this already. It truly is amazing<br />
b. Wired Magazine: Mags are evolving and Wired was the first one to realize it. <br />
c. Alice: Two guys and a vision of taking a classic book and making it more interactive. They were right it worked.<br />
While these apps are still first generation, and have significant room for improvement, you’ll probably begin to see how content will evolve in the future.<br />
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</span>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-61854738954484681882010-06-14T15:52:00.000-07:002010-06-14T15:52:28.052-07:00Why I decided not to use facebook (at least for the time being)?<span class="fullpost">I joined facebook about 3 years ago. I did it because everyone kept talking about it and it was also becoming a mobile web phenomenon.<br />
Being an executive in the mobile industry and a former CEO and investor of a mobile content/platform company, I could not use/try/understand how facebook was being used. WIth time I did use it more and more, have more than 300 friends, posted about 200 pictures and at least 4-6 updates a week<br />
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On this point, I recommend you to read the last issue of Time magazine (may 31st 2010, vol. 175). There is a very good editorial article on facebook and also a very good commentary from Steven Johnson on his own choices on facebook usage. He does also introduced a movie/documentary I saw recently "we live in public" on late 1990 Internet tycoon Josh Harris (really recommended)). It does nothing to support or not support my thesis but it gives you lots of arguments on both sides on choices ahead. BTW found fascinating the reference to Zuckerberg's Law (Facebook CEO) that each year we will share twice as <br />
much information as we did the year before <br />
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Suddenly after my good friend and former mmCHANNEL and Vodafone Colleague Damien Saunders decided to quit facebook (and just focus mostly on twitter and his blog)<br />
I did my own examination on facebook usage. </span><br />
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Privacy (the most spoken topic about the danger on facebook) was not a concern as I have self-imposed a number of rules<br />
on what I post and what I don't (which I can tell people should re-think a bit on this one). My key issue is that a lot of people is substituting the email and phone <br />
communication (and in some cases blogging) for facebook. Yes it is real time, but in the majority of the cases it is short, impersonal, almost effortless. And for me friendships and strong professional ties have comed by investing heavilty (time and emotionally) on those relationships. IN fact the people who really invested time on <br />
my facebook communication (through messages and not just comments and like/dislike) will easily transfer those skills into email. Furthermore I could use my facebook time for my blog, email communication, calling friends<br />
</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">So what I decide to do? I did delete all my pictures, and shut down the email notification and reduce my profile to a minimum. I will decide in the future If I truly delete the profile. I send messages<br />
to those good "facebook" only friends to move to email, phone and blogging (will keep using twitter and linkedin) and start this experiment<br />
This week I bother to send those pictures that I thought special to the people that will mean most (mostly Blackberry pictures using my email fucntion on share/send to) and I usually got a nice email back with comments or messages. Even so I will need to think if I want to maybe start using picassa or something similar for photo uploading (as the blog does only allow oen picture per text<br />
And I feel I am using time for something else and not feeling OUT of the communication loop or the facebook so called ALWAYS ON stardom :-)<br />
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Will keep reporting on how does it feel so far<br />
<br />
PS I know many of you, my friends and family love using facebook. I have nothing to say about this and I have no intention to have any influence on people usage<br />
My only aim is about how do I coomunicate with my people and the choices I made when dealing with them </span>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207361867177068632.post-2116360088245743832010-05-14T01:25:00.000-07:002010-05-14T01:32:57.272-07:00Bite keep adding "real" benefits to our internet customers: triple our maximum speedTelecommunications company Bite Lietuva is to increase the maximum connection speed of its mobile internet three times, from 7.2 Mb/sec to 21 Mb/sec. According to the company, the new mobile internet speed and new modems will be introduced to Vodafone Mobile Connect clients in July. Bite says that data transmission speed will go up almost four times.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(180, 204, 204);" href="http://www.delfi.lt/news/economy/ITbussines/bite-didina-mobiliojo-interneto-greiti.d?id=32177119%3Cspan%20class=" fullpost=""> Read the entire press announcement on Delfi (in LIthuanian)</a>CAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07523269235055591220noreply@blogger.com0