Current Events Briefing

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Current Events Briefing
Comm 335 Group3 February 12, 2007
By Rina Longstreet, Ashton Jersey, Michael
Morisseau, Stephanie Bonda
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CONTENTS

• Operators, manufacturers to collaborate on 3G
  phones
• Senate committee questions Cyren Call proposal
• Samsung unveils mobile phone with features
  similar to Apple's iPhone
• Publishers cater to growing use of MP3s for
  schoolwork
• Low-Cost Laptop Could Transform Learning
• NBC May Be Up For Sale
• Gates Calls for Identity MetaSystem
• DTV Consumer Awareness Campaign
• Significant Rise in India Television Market

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Operators, manufacturers to collaborate on 3G
phones presented by Rina Longstreet

• Groups will jointly develop 3G platform in an
  effort to reduce phone development time and costs
• Phones that use the new platform could become
  available worldwide and at a lower cost than
  other 3G handsets.
• In addition to the communications support, the
  platform will include a baseband processor, an
  application processor with multimedia
  functionality and a reference design including
  audio and power supply. It will also incorporate
  an operating system, with Symbian being the first
  supported.
• Expected completion of platform would be in the
  second quarter 2008.
• It is important because it will be cheaper for
  the consumers like us to be able to pay monthly
  wireless phone bills.

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Senate committee questions Cyren Call proposal

• Lobbying firm trying to get congress to approve
  that this band of spectrum or frequency be used
  for public safety
• Nextel Communications co-founder Morgan OBrien,
  has proposed that 30 MHz of the 60 MHz of
  spectrum in the 700 MHz band scheduled to be
  auctioned by January 2008 instead be allocated to
  a public-safety broadband trust. The trust would
  lease the airwaves to commercial operators
  agreeing to build and maintain public-safety-grade
  broadband networks nationwide.
• This is important for us because it will one day
  effect saving peoples lives

Congressman Steve Largent
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Samsung unveils mobile phone with features
similar to Apple's iPhone

• Samsung Electronics Co. has unveiled a new mobile
  phone that features some of the sleek design and
  functions of Apple Inc.'s much-hyped iPhone.
• Its third-generation (3G) technology is
  considerably faster than the iPhone's EDGE
  system, and its 5-megapixel camera outclasses the
  iPhone's 2-megapixels.
• It is important for us because "The Ultra Smart
  F700 is a good example of how (the) mobile phone
  will evolve in the future," Choi Gee-sung,
  president of Samsung's Telecommunications Network
  Business.

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Samsung
Apple's iPhone
VS.
Apple's iPhone is set for U.S. release in June
and will cost US 599 for the high-end model. It
is to be introduced in other markets later this
year and in 2008. 2 Megapixel
Ultra Smart F700 has slide-out key pad, large
touch-screen 5 megapixel
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. Publishers cater to growing use of MP3s for
schoolwork presented by Ashton Jersey

• Students are using MP3 players more to listen to
  downloaded books, textbook study guides and
  language labs on-the-go.
• iTunes U
• 1.) A service launched a year ago by Apple Inc.
  that lets professors post lectures and students
  download them for free.
• C.) VangoNotes
• 1.) Textbook chapter summaries and reviews in MP3
  form.
• 2.) Created by Audible Inc., the biggest audio
  book seller, and Pearson Education, the biggest
  textbook publisher.
• D.) Playaway, a two-ounce flashplayer pre-loaded
  with an audio book made by Follett Corp. and
  Findaway World.
• 1.) Sold to school districts starting about 6
  months ago.
• 2.) The players are now on loan at roughly 1,500
  libraries, 15 percent of which are school
  libraries.
• 3.) Playaway is cheaper than iTunes.
• E.) Audiobook industry is already one of the
  fastest-growing parts of publishing.

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Low-Cost Laptop Could Transform Learning
Presented by Ashton Jersey

• XO
• To keep costs and power demands low, XO uses a
  slim version of the Linux operating system.
• Initial cost of the XO is set to be around 150.
• The project itself has gotten at least 29
  million in funding from companies including
  Google Inc., News Corp. and Red Hat.
• There are no Folders on the XO like most
  computers.
• XO machines are organized around a "journal," an
  automatically generated log of everything the
  user has done on the laptop.
• Students can review their journals to see their
  work and retrieve files created or altered in
  those sessions.
• Features
• A wide range of programs can run on it, including
  a Web browser, a word processor and an RSS reader
• A built-in camera and a color display that
  converts to monochrome so it's easier to see in
  sunlight.
• Hope for other countries
• 1.) The Inter-American Development Bank is trying
  to get the laptops to multiple Central American
  countries.
• The machines are being made by Quanta Computer
  Inc., and countries will get versions specific to
  their own languages.

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NBC May Be Up For Sale Presented by
Stephanie Bonda

• General Electric wants to sell their share of NBC
• GE owns 80 percent of the company, where as Paris
  Vivendi and Fairfield own the other 20 percent.
• Vivendi had the option to sell their small share
  to General Electric, but chose not to for hopes
  of NBC to make a come back.
• Not the first time for this proposal to be
  mentioned
• Former NBC Universal chairman and CEO Bob Wright
  wrote up and discussed this plan back in 2005 and
  2006 with General Electrics Jeffery Immelt,
  before being replaced by Jeff Zucker, The new
  CEO of Digital Age.
• GE said that Zucker can spin anything off
• What is going to happen next?
• Cablevision is showing much interest into
  NBC-owned units Bravo and USA studios.
• Even though Microsoft is Part owner Bill Gates
  stated, He does not want it!
• Why is this important to us?
• This could cut many jobs in our field of
  Communications Media

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Gates Calls for Identity MetaSystem Presented
By Stephanie Bonda

• Vista can not solve all security problems.
• All software has wink-links
• Employees use simple and obvious passwords for
  multiple accounts
• Making it easier for identity theft to occur
• No more passwords
• Gates favor Public Key Certificates called
  Identity Metasystem
• Names, address, social security number, digital
  signatures and other personal information
• Reasoning for new security
• Gates believes it is unlikely chance that a
  single Digital Identity System will be
  universally adopted.
• A different approach had to be acquired
• Why is this important to us?
• To have better security on any information
  entered into your computer system

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DTV Consumer Awareness Campaign

• DTV Transition Bill
• Announcement on 2/14 of formed coalition of the 3
  major associations
• Switch from analog to digital TV set for Feb. 17,
  2009
• Converter-boxes will be in place for viewers
  without cable or satellite
• Congress gives 5 million for awareness campaign

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DTV(cont)

• Digital TVs signal is almost never interfered
  with and picture quality is nearly perfect
• Expected to provide even faster speeds to
  internet access than currently possible

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Significant Rise in India Television Market

• Average of 21 increase a year in advertising
  spending
• Very fast paced growth
• Double digit growth rates are expected to
  continue for years
• Attracting global media companies including Sony
  Entertainment, Walt Disney, and News Corporation
• Roughly 105 million television households in
  India
• This accounts for only half of Indias
• households and 98 of Americas households!

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Indias Television Market (cont)

• India is ready for transition to digital
  television
• Warehouses are already storing set-top boxes
• Suffering growing pains allow for job
  opportunities related to improving technologies
  in the broadcasting industry
• Foreign companies can fully
• own entertainment networks
• No blatant methods of censorship
• over content in India

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The End
QUESTIONS???

• Thank You