The FCC sent some letters to all the US mobile phone carriers today (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mob, and Sprint) including Google which asked them to explain how they make the early termination information known to consumers. They believe that consumers are confused about ETFs, especially because they are different at every provider.

Well, thanks FCC for inquiring on something that seems fishy, but do most consumers even care about ETF?

I say no. Unless they are an obsessed type of gadget hound like myself that needs to have the latest greatest device that is available. Other than that, most consumers I imagine don’t even know what the ETF is or when most carrier’s ETFs increase. Here is what the FCC thinks about all of this:

The absence of a standard framework makes it especially important that consumers have a clear understanding of terms and practices of individual companies, which will allow them to compare services offered by different providers on a clear and consistent basis

Once again, I say it doesn’t really matter to standard consumers. They will make the choice of a new device based on it’s price, features, and service, not the possible early termination fees. If consumers are worried about ETFs then they will buy unlocked or used phones on eBay or from other consumers and activate them without contract. Either that or they will go with a service like Boost or Virgin (both sub-par from my experience).

One more thing. If someone buys a new device from any of the four largest US carriers they still have to pay full price for any of the plans that go with the phone. I thought that these phones were subsidized? If so, when someone buys a brand new device they shouldn’t have to pay as much for service.

So, do early termination fees really matter? Or is the FCC just trying to become another consumer watchdog that wants consumers to think that they are doing something important?

While blogging over the last couple of years I have found that having a niche that excites you is important, almost mandatory to blogging on a continual basis and keeping yourself interested. Without it you won’t get very far.

Something else that I have learned is that having a niche that is too broad can really muck things up. Take technology for instance. There is a lot in their, especially for one guy that is working, schooling, being a boyfriend, and trying to be responsible. Just too much. So, not having enough to write about is just as bad as having too much to write about.

Here is how I am going to solve the dilemma. I love mobile gadgets and mobile technology. I love “cloud computing” because it saves me time and lets other geniuses handle what they handle best. These two topics combined, mobile tech and the cloud, are what trends are pointing towards. These topics are going to be very important in the next 5 to 10 years, and what better place learn and be involved with them than my blog.

Starting today, Tech Hacker will be better known as MobileTechMob. After asking some friends and colleagues about a new name, everyone voted that MobileTechMob was good and “less scary” than Tech Hacker, even though a Mob is much more intimidating than a hacker. Also, since I will be concentrating more on mobile tech, it only makes sense to fit that in the name of the blog somehow. I feel that this name change could make the blog more marketable as well.

Here is what I will be working on this year:

• Regular postings about trends in mobile technology and the cloud and what they mean to standard consumers
• Bringing on some new writers
• Tutorials and HOW TOs
• Podcast

I feel good about this change and feel that it was necessary. Hopefully as time moves forward this year MobileTechMob will turn into a decent community of sarcastic, intelligent, and motivated tech nuts like me that love mobile technology and the cloud and want to find out more about it.

Here is to MTM!

This week wasn’t too too exciting mostly because everyone is widing down from a long year. But here are some links to keep you warm, that is if you are cold like me.

• Exclusive: Google Nexus One hands-on, video, and first impressions via Engadget Mobile
  • Excellent piece of tech here, although I do not feel extreme lust towards it for some reason. Maybe the Droid is helping curb my gadgetite.
• Apple pulls iPhone app that upset Hollywood via CNET News
  • Apple has to stop playing the police in regards to their app store.
• Jobs to unveil Apple Tablet new month ex-Google exec says via Computer World
  • With CES and the beginning of the gadget year, hopefully Kai-Fu Lee is right and we will get some news about this Tablet.
• AT and T is the latest to drop Woods via NYT
  • I guess since Luke Wilson is doing such a wonderful job looking kind of stupid, AT&T decided to drop Tiger Woods. Or I guess it could have been that whole cheating, drunken, beating, mess thing.
• Notion Ink tablet first with Pixel Qi Display via Crave Blog
  • I want to see how this gadget will pan out. LCD / e-paper screen? Awesome. Just let me write on it and I am in.
• Leaked Nexus One Documents: $530 Unlocked, $180 With T-Mobile via Gizmodo
  • I guess this isn’t very surprising. That is a pretty decent deal at $180 for this piece of hardware. $20 cheaper than the Droid on Verizon, plus T-Mobile plans are cheaper than Big Red’s
• 2010: the year of Cloud Computing via CNET Open Road Blog
  • I don’t know. I think that 2008 was my first real year of “cloud computing”. Where is everyone else at? Hopefully 2010 will be the year where businesses and the masses get more comfortable with the idea of making your life easier.
• AT&T resumes online iPhone sales in New York via CNET
  • This was sort of weird, but for a whole day New Yorkers couldn’t buy an iPhone online. AT&T has still not issued any response about it.
• Dell, Toshiba and Gateway Core i3 laptops get revealed early, joined by Pine Trail netbooks via Engadget
  • I cannot wait to get my hands on a notebook that has this new chip in it. Hopefully we some some battery life gains without loss in performance.
• What Mobile Tech will you get this year? via jkontherun
  • I think that this a really good question. Especially once CES comes around. Then we will have a much better outlook on what’s coming up.
• Fast Company Geeks of the Year: Jon Rubinstein via Fast Company
  • This is awesome! Rubinstein basically saved (well sort of saved) Palm from destruction with webOS and the Palm Pre and Pixi.
• Quake Ported to Palm Pre via PalmInfoCenter
  • Not just a port, but hardware accelerated. That is the important part. This means that the hardware can handle some decent 3D graphics and games.
• Predictions for 2010? via Engadget
  • This is just way too funny to pass up.

I have been watching this story unfold in the wings for a couple of weeks now. Mostly because it didn’t seem like anyone knew what the heck they were talking about and I just wanted someone to get to the bottom of it. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe any of the reports, it’s just that something seemed fishy.

According to Wired, it now seems that Google will be having a press conference on January 5th, the day that many a blogger proposed would be the release date of the infamous “Google Phone”, Nexus One. At this press conference we may see what Google is going to do for their plan to market and sell this phone.

The Nexus One may be sold a tad differently than normal US handsets. Rather than being subsidized by a specific carrier, the phone may be sold directly by Google at an unsubsidized price. The phone would then need to be activated on a GSM carrier such as AT&T or T-Mobile. Yet some others are speculating that since Google has a good relationship with T-Mobile, that the Nexus One will be available at a subsidized price through them. This is where the Nexus One doesn’t seem to add up but here is what we know so far.

Killing Industries

If Google decides to release their own phone (it’s actually HTC hardware) they will potentially alienate their partners such as Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. By providing a their own handset at an unsubsidized cost they are essentially taking the middle man completely out of the picture.

What I personally see happening is pure “creative destruction”. Google is trying to change the face of mobile and cloud-based technology; they are releasing a device and just using the cell phone carriers as “data-pipe” for the Android user experience. This means that in the long run Google will try to create and sell (or even give away for free) new devices that run on any network. This could be a nightmare for smartphone manufacturers and even the carriers because as 3G penetration grows and becomes more reliable only cost will matter in the long run when consumers decide what carrier to go with (here that Verizon?).

Contention, you better believe it

As Google’s mobile takeover pans out in the near future, we will see how protective cell phone companies and handset makers are over their fragile businesses. I am sure that if Google keeps moving forward with their mobile takeover (which they will) eventually these companies are going to sue or make their fears known to the US Government where they will have to battle some type of anti-competitive suit.

So, will Google actually release their unsubsidized Nexus One on January 5th to start a mobile takeover of the United State? Probably, yet they are definitely in store to fight some older industries over their disruptive business behavior. These are some exciting times and it will be interesting to see how this pans out in January.

This week was filled with cell phone carrier news, “reliable sources” telling us something that will happen that probably won’t, Dane’s trying to turn themselves in for ripping their own purchased DVDs, and Intel gives us a taste of 48 cores (picture). Enjoy!

• Leak: The Google Phone is a “certainty” via Gizmodo
  • I think that this post is funny. Gizmodo is saying that Google will produce hardware for an Android phone and that it is a certainty because that’s what they heard from “reliable sources”. I say no on this one. If there will be a Google phone, it will be a “developer” phone that Google will use internally.
• Black Friday sale up 11 percent from last year via Comscore
  • 11 percent seems like a pretty big jump and it is. I wouldn’t say that this means that our economy is out of the woods yet, but consumer electronics spending is through the roof.
• iPhone may go to T Mobile next via TheStreet
  • Ummm I guess this sort of makes sense. The only reason that this may happen would be because Apple doesn’t want to create brand new hardware until Verizon has rolled out their 4G network.
• Google’s 2009 Zeitgeist via Google
  • Check out what has been searched for the most this year. They’re aren’t too many surprises
• AT&T gives up Verizon ad lawsuit via CNET
  • I have a feeling that AT&T’s lawyers just felt more and more ridiculous everyday trying to defend against the truth.
• Sprint fed customer GPS data over to cops 8 million times via Ars
  • This was all over the place this week though I think that it is not as bad as it seems. Ars has a great post about it that isn’t filled with too many conspiracy theories.
• Dane who ripped his DVDs demands to be arrested under Dane law via Boing Boing
  • How funny is this. A Danish man rips his DVDs and because he is unsure if he broke the law or not turns himself in. The authorities didn’t even take him seriously even though it is technically illegal!
• Intel crams 48 cores onto stamp-sized processor, wants to do what Cell did via Engadget
  • 24 dual cores on one small-ass processor. This is amazing. And it actually uses less wattage as the Xenon processor. Hopefully this will be in my next phone.
• Microsoft’s Bing goes down via CNET
  • Who did they think they were Google? Oh wait, Google goes down all the time. So, yeah, I guess they did.

Passing out the link love!

• Measure and Analyze Your Website Stats With Woopra via LostInTechnology
  • This looks like a great alternative to Google Analytics. I feel that Analytics is sometimes extremely confusing and maybe even a little overkill, at least for now.
• How to use tearable tabs in your browser via Castellini on Computers
  • Yet another nice, quick video post on Rick’s site. I didn’t know that you could do this in Firefox!
• Bittorrent Explained: A Guide For the Beginner via WillINeedIt
  • Seriously, if you don’t know what Bittorrent is, this is THE guide that explains it. Matt did a very excellent and thorough job on this one.
• 11 Ways to Listen to Music Online for Free via The 2.0 Life
  • Need some free, legal music online? David gives you 11 ways!
• Reading eBooks on Phones: It’s all   in the settings via jkOnTheRun
  • After taking a look at this I may not get that eReader I have been mulling over. May just learn how to format for the Droid and be happy with it.

CNET is reporting that a UK pub owner is being fined about $13K for someone using his pub’s open wifi network to download some copyrighted material. This may be the first time anything like this has happened in the UK.

I understand that this may be the law in the UK, that no matter who was downloading the content that it is still the wifi hotspots owner’s responsibility for the crime. It sounds to me that the laws need updated for this type of crime.

Some are saying that they should just encrypt the wifi signal. Problem solved, except not at all. Even if you made customers pay for a key to your wifi hotspot, who is to say they will not download illegal content?

The only logical thing to do in this situation is to log who is on the wifi and then when there is some sort of infringement, turn that information over to the authorities.

Is the way that the authorities in the UK are handling this seem odd to anyone else? Is there a better way to handle this copyright infringement?

This week has been a little slow due to the US Thanksgiving Holiday, but at least we didn’t get sucked into a horrible black hole from Cern! Check out some of the top tech stories of the week!

• Roku adds Flickr, Facebook, Pandora, and more video channels via CNET
  • Yet another reason to purchase a Roku, and at $79.99 it really is a steal
• Microsoft Offers To Pay News Corp To “De-List” Itself From Google via Silicon Alley Insider
  • Some people thought that this was a sneaky and unethical move by Microsoft. I don’t say that; I say that it is just dumb. People will find the news however they want to find the news, regardless of who “lists” it.
• Gameloft says it, others reining in Android plans via Reuters
  • I am not sure why they are doing this, especially with the estimated sales of the DROID by the end of the year. The only thing that I can think of is that they are afraid of the Android platform becoming segmented.
• Apple’s Schiller Defends iPhone App Approval Process via BusinessWeek
  • I didn’t know that there was an actual “process” from all the terrible stories coming from developers lately!
• New Apple ads to Verizon: Can Droid do this? via CNET
  • The funny part about this commercial is that they are specifically talking about the iPhone in these ads and the iPhone alone isn’t capable of this, it has to do with AT&T’s network. Verizon’s network cannot handle both data and voice at the same time.
• More Android Users Get Google Maps Navigation via PCWorld
  • Android 1.6 gets Google maps Navigation added to it’s functionality. So, you don’t need a Droid if you want Google Maps Navigation.
• Cern’s Large Hadron Collider makes first collisions via BBC News
  • Well, looks like we have some atoms colliding and none of us have been sucked into a black hole… yet.
• 9/11 tragedy pager intercepts via WikiLeaks
  • I suggest taking a look at this. It is yet another look into this tragic day. Some are arguing that this infringes on people’s privacy, but I think that it just shows a lot of the information and misinformation that was traveling through the airwaves that day.

Passing out the link love!

• LostInTechnology Holday 2009 Gift Ideas via LostInTechnology
  • I took a look through Kyle’s lists and I have to say he has some damn good picks. Check it out.
• Windows 7 Email Options via Castellini On Computers
  • A good discussion over at helpmerick.com about the many alternatives to Windows 7 email options. And considering there isn’t a native email option anymore for Windows, you may want to check out this post.
• 5 Cool Things You Can Do With Google Wave via WillINeedIt.com
  • Matt definitely has a better handle on Google Wave than I do! I really like being able to embed Amazon info to a Wave. Very cool!
• 7 Ways to Watch TV Online for Free via 2.0 Life
  • I have to say that I only knew 3 of these online TV options. If you need to get your free online TV on, then check out David’s post.

I have made a rather large mistake with my last post and have since pulled it down. I said that Google was re introducing Google Chrome and because of this I was confused. I linked to this post at the Official Google Blog. Well, no wonder I was confused. The post was from July 7th 2009 not November 7th 2009!

I may have made a mistake in going through articles in my Google Reader. I apologize for this mistake and will make sure that things like this don’t happen again.

Anyways, I still think that Google should just concentrate on Android!

This week was DROID week, I got mine and am working on a nice little post about it. But there was more happening in the world of tech, right? Right?

• Midnight Droid Madness in Manhatten via CNET News
  • I was hoping that the release of the DROID would do better but lines don’t really mean anything. Also, a lot of people are waiting it out. My advice. Don’t wait!
• Another DROID commercial, Stealth, and it’s awesome via BGR
  • Stealth fighters? Moto DROID? Do you need anything else?
• Windows 7 Boxed Software Sales Surpass Vista Launch, According to NPD via NPD.com
  • Here is a quote from the article, “Windows 7 software unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista’s first few days of sales.” People have been waiting for 7. Enough said.
• Transparency, choice, and control – now complete with a Dashboard! via Official Google Blog
  • I don’t know if anyone has checked this out yet, but talk about a walk down memory lane especially if you have been using Google services and products for a while.
• EU offers hope to File-sharers via BBC News
  • Kind of a crappy headline but the EU made some pretty good decisions regarding consumer rights. Now they just need to stop punishing the businesses.
• AT&T sues Verizon over ‘there’s a map for that’ ads via Engadget
  • I am liking the new aggressive, evil Verizon. Now they just need to work on keeping their ETF to $175.
• Sony XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands on via Engadget
  • This thing looks great in videos so far but all reviewers are talking that it is pretty much unusable. We’ll see what happens with it.
• Apple iTunes Pitch: TV for $30 Per Month via All Things D
  • I still don’t know about this. But Apples is great at tricking us!

Passing out the friend love!

• Does Your Blog or Site Design Make You Happy? via EricaSays.com
  • You know what? My design is starting to get there. Erica’s post definitely made me think of it in depth this week.
• Early thoughts on Windows 7 via Castellini on Computers
  • Here Rick points out some really great things going on with Windows 7, and he should know!
• 7 Google services you have never tried via Castellini on Computers
  • I commented that I tried all of these! But, for someone that maybe new to the Google world these could be overlooked.
• Replace Your Office Suite with Google Docs via LostInTechnology
  • Great post. Mostly because I totally agree!
• FeedDemon: The Best Offline Feed Reader via LostInTechnology
  • Still haven’t tried it, but LostInTechnology says it’s the best.
• How To: Download TV Torrents Automatically with uTorrent via WillINeedIt.com
  • Like TV? Like Torrents? Like uTorrent? Well then you may want to check out Brian’s post that incorporates all three.

The Times is reporting that EU leaders agreed to give more rights to internet consumers.  This agreement will help pad consumers from a kind of global DMCA, at least in the EU. This agreement bars certain types of regulations from taking place in the new telecommunications act that France and other countries are looking at or trying to pass. Basically, France was trying to adopt a “three strikes” plan that would bar consumers from the internet after three reports from telephone, ISP, or mobile companies of alleged copyright infringements. The biggest problem with this is that these consumers would not even be able to gain a fair trial; they would be service-less without even being proven guilty of copyright crimes.

The Soapbox

I am glad that the EU has come to their senses and actually listened to consumers and citizens, yet I still believe that there is going to be a problem.  I love how the Times reports this at the end of the article:

National regulators in the European Union will also gain the power to break up dominant telephone companies, which regulators in Italy and Poland are considering. The law also establishes rules for creating an E.U.-wide range of common frequencies for mobile broadband freed up by broadcasters in the transition to digital transmission.

All that ans no mention of how instead of infringing consumers rights, they are going to infringe on “dominant” telephone companies. I am a stern believer of the government staying out of the consumer’s way and granting consumers the right to use the internet in a lawful way just as much as I am a believer of the government staying out of strong business’s ways. This type of shifty wording allows the government to break up any telephone company that they feel is “dominant”.

So, instead of only protecting consumers by not letting businesses govern what’s right and wrong the EU decides to take control of the businesses themselves. I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of the end of consumer and telco business rights in the EU.