Fierce Mobile Content
Feb,19, 2013
by:+ Jason Ankeny
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder and chairman Bill Gates admitted the company failed to execute on its early mobile strategy, calling its initial efforts to dominate the smartphone market "clearly a mistake." During an interview with CBS This Morning's Charlie Rose, Gates acknowledged mounting media and investor criticism of Microsoft's mobile efforts, stating "There's a lot of things like cell phones where we didn't get out in the lead early. We didn't miss cell phones, but the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership." That strategy, Gates said, was "clearly a mistake," but he did not delve deeper into Microsoft's errors, indicating a full explanation would be "too complicated" for the broadcast segment being recorded. Microsoft entered the mobile space in April 2000 with the release of its first Windows Mobile operating system. Despite expanding to mobile phones years before rivals like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft has fallen far behind them in the consumer consciousness: Windows Phone, which replaced Windows Mobile in 2010, currently powers just 2.9 percent of all smartphones in the U.S., far behind Google's Android at 53.4 percent and Apple's iOS at 36.3 percent, according to comScore data issued earlier this month.
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This Week's Wireless News
Fierce Mobile Content
Apple patches Exchange bug with iOS 6.1.2, still no fix for lockscreen exploit
Feb,20,2013
by:+Jason Ankeny
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its iOS 6.1.2 firmware update Tuesday, patching a bug preventing some iPhone and iPad users from syncing their mobile mailbox with Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Exchange Server 2010 but failing to address a security vulnerability enabling hackers to bypass an iPhone's lockscreen and access core device functions. iOS 6.1.2 "fixes an Exchange calendar bug that could result in increased network activity and reduced battery life," according to Apple. The 12.8 MB update is available over the air by accessing Settings > General > Software Update; consumers may also download it from the Apple site. While the previous iOS 6.1.1 update was available exclusively for the iPhone 4S, iOS 6.1.2 applies to all devices supported by iOS 6, including the iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, and 5; the iPad 2, iPad mini, and both Retina iPads; and the fourth- and fifth-generation iPod touches.
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RCR Wireless U.S.
Prepaid update: Leap reports slower growth; T-Mobile USA rolls out GoSmart Mobile
Feb,20,2013
by:+Martha DeGrasse.
Leap Wireless (LEAP) reported a dip in service revenues for the fourth quarter, and although the carrier added customers, the rate of customer additions slowed. Fourth quarter service revenues were $700.2 million, down 4% from the year-ago quarter. Operating income was $60.6 million, but would have been negative if not for a net gain of approximately $106 million resulting from an exchange of spectrum licenses. Leap reported 419,000 gross customer additions and approximately 337,000 net customer losses for the fourth quarter. Roughly 77% of the additions and 60% of the losses were related to Leap’s Cricket Wireless service. “During the fourth quarter, Cricket Wireless gross additions decreased by nearly 50% year-over-year due to general softness in the prepaid sector and increased average out-the-door selling price for our full-featured, better-quality devices,” said Leap CEO S. Douglas Hutcheson in a statement. Customer churn during Q4 was 4.6%.
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Wireless Week
Report: iPhone 5 Top Smartphone Globally
Feb,20, 2013
by:+Ben Munson
Apple moved 27.4 million iPhone 5 units globally in the fourth quarter of 2012, more than any other smartphone and good enough to claim 12.6 percent of the world smartphone market share. A new report from Strategy Analytics said this is the first time the Apple flagship has been sold the most in the world. In the third quarter of 2012, the iPhone 5 moved 6 million units worldwide, only one third of the Samsung Galaxy S3’s 18 million units globally. According to the report, the iPhone 4S came in second in the fourth quarter of 2012, with 17.4 million units shipped worldwide and an 8 percent global market share. Executive director at Strategy Analytics Neil Mawston said, "Apple's iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S together accounted for 1 in 5 of all smartphones shipped worldwide in Q4 2012.” In the fourth quarter of 2012, the GS3 slipped to third place with 15.4 million units sold and a 7.1 percent share, compared with the 10.4 percent global market share Samsung’s flagship held in the third quarter of 2012.
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Small Business Healthcare Consortium
Hello Businesses Owner,
I am writing to you because our changing health care system will have a profound effect on all of us. Now that the election is over and the Supreme Court has ruled, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is not going away. It will not be repealed and it is up to us to make sure it will work for small businesses and individuals as it was intended to do.
That’s why I joined the Campaign for Better Health Care’s newly created Small Business Health Care Consortium (SBHCC). This consortium views the needs of small businesses and their employees as a top priority.
And, as a member of the Steering Committee of the SBHCC I am personally inviting you to join our network of small businesses who know that only through our collective voices that will assure that the Affordable Care Act live up to its goal of making healthcare affordable for all.
Discussions around health reform have been confusing and, sometimes, even misleading. It is the goal of the SBHCC to provide factual information about the changes that are already happening and those coming in the near future. The SBHCC discusses the benefits and opportunities of the ACA and what Illinois small businesses need to do to make sure this law will benefit them.
Many key components of the ACA are national in nature. For instance, small businesses currently providing health insurance to their employees could be eligible for a 35% tax credit. And, while employers with fewer than 50 full time employees are not required to provide health insurance, their employees can take advantage of the ACA’s benefits.
Other components will be implemented at the State level and these decisions will either enhance small businesses or provide another hurdle. One important component is that all states must implement a health insurance exchange (marketplace). These exchanges will include a rate review process with defined, easy to understand plans to consider and review side-by-side.
As small business owners we share many of the same, serious business challenges. It is my hope that you and your small business peers do want to learn more about the ACA. Let’s take this opportunity to act collectively to get control of health insurance costs and improve access to coverage. The opportunity to create positive change is now. It is about fairness and choices for small businesses. To that end I like for you to hear my own personal story about how the new healthcare law will effect me. Please go to this link at Healthcare.gov to see my story Watch My Story
And, then do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or thoughts. I may be reached at wireheadtec@gmail.com or Wirehead Technology
Sincerely,Howard Lee
CIO
Wirehead Technology
Tel-312-286-8416
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