Category Archives: BUSINESS & SOCIETY

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Verizon’s XV6800 Release Date: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , ,

Based on my recent conversations with Verizon employees, I think XV 6800 is going to be released in or around November.

Now, please keep in mind that no Verizon manager has come right out and said to me, “Luthar, I assure you that the XV6800 is going to be released in November of 2007 for the Christmas season.”

Absolutely no one has said that!

What I am saying is based on my assessment of nonverbal cues given to me by Verizon employees in lengthy conversations with them. Essentially my prediction is based on reading between the lines in the talks that I have had with Verizon reps.

One Verizon manager, probably in a position to know, said to me clearly, “If I knew the release date of XV6800, I would not be able to tell you.”

I respect that. That’s just being honest with the customer.

But I am more than just a customer. I am an analyst and a professor. I watch the technology scene and try to figure out what is going on. That is what I do.

It’s my business to know what technologies and products are coming out and how these will be impacting organizations and their work environment and quality of life.

My interest in XV6800 is both personal and professional. It’s personal because my old Verizon phone is pretty busted up. Since it is several years old, I am eligible for a discount on an upgrade to a new phone.

For professional reasons, I want to upgrade to XV6800 because it is going to have the latest windows Mobile 6.0 operating software and the windows applications I use at work everyday. Further, the built in Outlook in XV6800 will allow me to synchronize it with my Microsoft exchange server at work. This means that I will be able to get student e-mails and those of other professors on my XV6800.

I don’t know if that is good or bad. I do know that I need a new phone. I am not interested in music or mp3 players and stuff like that. So the iPhone and other gimmicky and fancy looking overpriced phones are out.

I need a phone that gets the job done. For me that is XV6800.

Now, what I am writing today is based on conversations I had with Verizon employees a couple of weeks ago. Things could have changed since then.

I have seen rumors on the net that the XV6800 is going to be released in September, meaning this month! Some are saying the release date is September 17.

However, I am sticking for now with my intuitive prediction based on assessment of nonverbal cues and reading between the lines in my conversations with Verizon employees.

I predict that the XV6800 will be released to regular customers sometime in November before the start of Christmas sales season. Perhaps, from Verizon’s marketing perspective, before or during the Thanksgiving holiday may be the logical time to release the XV6800.

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MOTORAZR(2) V9m

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , ,

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Verizon Wireless formally announced that MOTORAZR2 V9m will become available to Verizon Wireless customers in September 2007. Clearly in competition with Apple’s iPhone, MOTORAZR2 V9m comes with external touch-sensitive keys for access to Verizon’s catalog of over two million songs. It also comes equipped with Bluetooth® stereo support for listening to music.

The MOTORAZR2 V9m has a 2.0 megapixel camera with 4x zoom and picture, video, text, and instant messaging (IM) capabilities.

MOTORAZR2 V9m has been strategically priced by Verizon to be about half of that of the iPhone.

Sprint and AT&T are releasing their own versions of the MOTORAZR2 V9m. Sprint, in fact, promises to release its version of the phone in August before Verizon. Interestingly, Sprint also beat Verizon in releasing their version of the HTC 6800 as well.

Strategically, AT&T releasing a MOTORAZR2 V9m makes sense. They will not lose customers to Sprint and Verizon who do not want to pay for the much higher priced iPhone.

For information on the Verizon’s MOTORAZR2 V9m, go to Verizon news URL listed below.

http://news.vzw.com/news/2007/08/pr2007-08-10.html

Engadget has good coverage of the release by all three carriers (Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T).

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/10/sprint-verizon-both-announce-motorola-razr-2-v9m/

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Verizon’s XV6800: Still In The Testing Phase? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , ,

By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

On July 22, 2007 I asked the question “Where is Verizon’s XV6800”?

Given the rumors of its imminent release since December 2006, http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/12/22/verizon-utstarcom-xv6800-the-cdma-tytn-lives/, it is a question many Verizon subscribers who want to upgrade from their XV6700 have been asking.

Here is an early picture claiming to be that of Verizon’s XV6800. It came out on engadgetmobile website in February of 2007 along with a second review of the XV6800 features.

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http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/09/verizon-xv6800-in-the-flesh/

I followed up my original post on XV6700 and XV6800 by doing an analysis of the legal battle between Qualcomm and Broadcom and its potential impact on Verizon’s introduction of XV6800.

My second post ended on an optimistic note for the early release date of XV6800 based on the recent agreement between Verizon and Broadcom. The Verizon-Broadcom agreement apparently frees Verizon to offer PDA/Cell phones like the XV6800 which have a Qualcomm chip that allegedly infringes on Broadcom patents.

However, there is still no word on the XV6800 release date even after the Verizon-Broadcom agreement which should have ended the mystery.

I talked again to a Verizon’s customer service rep on July 27 on the phone and asked for information on the upcoming XV6800 which is meant to be a successor to their XV6700 model. The Verizon customer rep said that he knew nothing about any XV6800 and they usually get only one week notice before a new product comes out.

I pointed out to the rep that there had already been many discussions on the web of the XV6800 since the Christmas season of 2006 and so it was surprising that no official information is available from Verizon.

The Verizon rep was sympathetic and suggested that I go to phonescoop.com.

When I went to phonescoop.com and looked around I found this. The site has good information about the XV6800 but most of it is common knowledge by now to the XV6800 fans. The phonescoop site does not seem to mention that the XV6800 has 256 megabytes of RAM which is a substantial increase from XV6700.

The next day, on July 28, I visited a large Verizon store hoping for a face to face conversation with an experienced Verizon employee.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, a well dressed gentleman came up to me and said that he could help me. Not losing any time, I asked him whether he could tell me the release date for the XV6800 as I was waiting to buy it.

Here is the Whole Conversation about XV6800.

Luthar: I am very interested in buying the XV6800 when it comes out. Can you tell me anything about its release date.

Verizon Rep (VR): No, I can’t do that. I don’t have that information.

Luthar: Do you think it would be out in two or three weeks? Would that be a good estimate?

VR: I don’t know. I just don’t know.

Seeing that he was not denying the very existence of the XV6800, I asked, “What could be taking so long for Verizon to bring it out..”

VR: Testing. Verizon has to thoroughly test a phone before they release it. If a phone does not pass the tests, it does not get released.

Luthar: What tests, what kind of tests are done on these phones. Is this not just an upgrade from the XV6700? What new testing are they doing?

VR: Tests, tests, tests have to be done to make sure everything works…..

Luthar: OK. Does Verizon have another phone like the XV6800 with a sliding keyboard? I guess what I am asking is that whether there is another phone that I can buy that has some of the XV6800 features. Would one of the Blackberry phones be a similar phone or a close competitor for it for Verizon customers who are waiting for an upgrade to XV6800?

VR: Not really. We don’t have any other phones at this time with the sliding keyboard except the XV6700. Would you like to look at that?

Luthar: I have already looked at that and tried it out. I don’t want to get the XV6700 if the XV6800 is going to be released in a few weeks.

VR: I don’t know when that phone will be released. It could be a few months. It all depends on the testing. If a phone fails the test, it does not get released.

Luthar: A few months? There have been pictures of it all over the web since December of 2006.

VR: I can’t really tell you anything more than I have.

***********************************************

The conversation left me wondering again what the Verizon strategy is.

When Apple was getting ready to release the iPhone, a big media sensation was created that ultimately had people waiting in lines for the iPhone.

Verizon’s strategy seems to be just the opposite and there has not been any official word on the XV6800 release date at all.

For many business people and professors who use windows applications including Microsoft Outlook to synchronize to their Exchange servers at work, the XV6800 is a far superior choice to the iPhone.

Could Verizon be missing an opportunity to market the XV6800 to its customers who could potentially be switching to Sprint to get its twin the Sprint Mogul (PPC-6800)?

Time will tell what is going on behind the scenes with the Verizon XV6800 and how this fits in with the Verizon’s strategy for marketing this device which many consider to have much more utility for their work than the Apple’s iPhone.

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Verizon’s XV 6800 Mystery Solved? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , , , ,

After thinking some more about why Verizon’s XV 6800 model has not yet made it to the stores, I did some research and realized that there is a logical reason for it. Evidently the problem seems to have now been solved by Verizon and so the XV 6800 should be available in the near future.

Here is the story, I think.

It seems that Verizon’s XV 6800 had been delayed due to the ongoing legal dispute between Qualcomm and Broadcom.

How?

The Facts Follow:

The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled last month (June 2007) that Qualcomm’s 3G chips infringe on certain Broadcom patents.

Therefore, the ITC banned future imports of products to the US containing Qualcomm chips.

Guess what? High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC) which is the manufacturer of Verizon’s cutting edge XV 6800 and its twin the Sprint Mogul PPC-6800 powers the 6800 models with a Qualcomm chip (MSM7500)!

So, although the legal dispute over patents started with Qualcomm and Broadcom, a number of chip users of Qualcomm in the U.S. are affected including Verizon and Sprint! This explains the delay in the XV 6800. Some of the information on this can be found at the following url.

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=020001YSTWYW

After the ITC issued its ruling to ban the import of Qualcomm chip based products that infringe on Broadcom’s patents, the reaction by Verizon was predictable and an unhappy one. Verizon and its customers would definitely be hurt severely by such a ban.

The ITC ruling was appealed to President Bush who has the right to affirm, modify, or veto the ruling within 60 days.

Verizon, however, apparently had second thoughts about waiting for President Bush to make a decision on the Qualcomm case. In a brilliant tactical move, Verizon, bypassing its partner Qualcomm, reached an agreement directly with Broadcom that would allow Verizon to sell products containing Qualcomm chips even though these chips may infringe on Broadcom patents.

The Verizon-Broadcom agreement stipulates that Verizon Wireless will pay Broadcom $6 per phone (up to $200 million) for rights to the patent in question.

http://techpolicysummit.blogs.com/tech_policy_summit/intellectual_property/index.html

This will allow Verizon to start selling their latest phones containing Qualcomm chips in the U.S. market without fear of Broadcom as Broadcom has now been paid off. In order to make Broadcom even happier, Verizon also agreed to stop helping Qualcomm to overturn the ITC ban on Qualcomm’s chips. Verizon wireless broke the story on its website last week.

http://news.vzw.com/news/2007/07/pr2007-07-19j.html

Broadcom is clearly the victor here. However, Verizon also won. For Verizon, 200 million dollars to Broadcom is a small price to continue having the dominant role in the wireless market.

Qualcomm, of course, is probably not too happy right now, although publicly they are saying that they like the Broadcom and Verizon agreement. Perhaps Qualcomm likes it because at least the products containing their chips can now be sold in the U.S. by Verizon. According to Qualcomm, serious issues of public policy and public interest still remain regarding this case and need to be addressed. At least, that’s what they say on their website.

http://www.qualcomm.com/press/releases/2007/070719_views_verizon_wireless.html

OK. That’s it and hope it makes sense. I am not sure I got everything right or covered. If there are mistakes in my connecting the dots, please let me know.

Good luck to Verizon, Qualcomm, and Broadcom. Let’s get the XV 6800 out now to the Verizon customers!

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Where is Verizon’s XV 6800? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , , ,

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By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

Reports have been coming since the 2006 Christmas/New year shopping season that Verizon was getting ready to release the successor to their popular PDA/Cellphone XV 6700.

Verizon’s XV 6700 generally got good reviews when it came out. It’s sliding keyboard and being able to connect to the web made it an early favorite for business people, professors, students, and those who want to stay at the cutting edge of technology.

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The built in windows mobile 5.0 operating system along with Windows applications and the ability to synchronize Outlook with Microsoft Exchange are some of the attractive features of Verizon’s XV 6700.

Where is Verizon’s XV 6800?

It is now almost the end of July 2007 and I have not seen XV 6800 at any Verizon store. Verizon salespeople and those working in the customer service department have been unable to say anything about the XV 6800 since December of 2006 when the news/rumors started surfacing that its release as the successor of XV 6700 was imminent.

Sprint Mogul (PPC-6800)

Sprint, on the other hand, has released the successor to their PPC 6700. The Sprint PPC 6800 is called the Mogul.

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See the review of the Spring Mogul at the following url.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/htc-brings-the-goods/the-sprint-mogul-is-here-269646.php

Verizon customers whose one or two year contract with the company has expired are left scratching their head. What should they do? Stay with Verizon’s network or jump ship. The release date for Verizon’s XV 6800 has been shrouded in mystery.

Verizon XV 6800 Release Date

About a week ago, in a casual conversation, a Verizon employee mentioned to me that the Verizon technicians or salespeople were getting some training materials on the XV 6800. If I heard correctly, perhaps Verizon is getting ready to make the big announcement.

Regardless of when the release date is for Verizon’s XV 6800, I would love to know Verizon’s strategic reasons for giving little information to customers prior to this much awaited product coming out.

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Tips for Career and Stress Management in the Workplace: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , , ,

In my view, stress and career management are central to the lives of most people. Given below are some tips that make sense to me. Take them with good humor and make up some of your own.

1. Make friends with your Boss. Research shows that bosses can be a major source of workplace stress. According to Professor Hochwater and his doctoral students, who conducted a study on bad bosses, “Employees stuck in an abusive relationship experienced more exhaustion, job tension, nervousness, depressed mood and mistrust.”

2. Laughing can break up an otherwise negative mental state. Humor plays a big role in our seeing things in perspective. Keep a book of good jokes handy at the workplace and flip through it now and then. Make friends with funny co-workers. They are all around you. When things get difficult, go talk to them and ask them to make you laugh. You will be surprised at the comedic talent available in the workplace. From personal experience, after my most uncontrollable laughs, I have felt much better and rejuvenated afterwards.

3. Assess your skills and abilities in terms of long term goals. Enhance these further through education and training, particularly if your company is willing to pay for it. Many organizations these days pay for their employees getting an advanced degree like an MBA. Higher level of training and education will allow you take charge of your career and make you more marketable. People experience more anxiety and stress when they feel things are not in their control and that they have limited options.

4. Be alert to opportunities around you both within and outside the workplace and take advantage of them. Bite only as much as you can chew and do not say yes to too many workplace projects. It will scatter your energy and leave you exhausted. However, success in fewer and even smaller projects will give you confidence as well as an enhanced professional reputation among your co-workers.

5. Take one or two 10 minutes walks during the workday. I find short walks, or even climbing up and down the stairs several times during the day to be very useful for me. Lunch is a good time for walking. You can walk outside in the fresh air and then come back and eat a light, balanced, and nutritious lunch. I wish I could take my own advice more often! When I can though, I find that walking and deep yogic breathing can do wonders for creativity, energy level, and the general elevation of mood.

6. I find that drinking enough plain water during the workday is very helpful to me. If I drink too much tea or coffee as substitutes for water, it creates physiological symptoms of stress such as sweaty palms, increased heart rate, and just more nervous energy than I need. Students who drink too much tea and coffee before their classes risk the increased possibility of having to take a bathroom break when critical topics are being discussed.

7. Calm and center yourself through meditation and/or prayer several times a day. This is particularly helpful before important presentations and meetings. People listen better, speak more clearly, and in general communicate much more effectively when they are relaxed. If you do not have your own office and feel strange about closing your eyes publicly and just sitting quietly, then go to the bathroom, close the door, and sit there for a few minutes.

What Should Organizations Do?

Organizations should consider incorporating meditation training in their employee wellness programs. Employees who meditate regularly experience greater job satisfaction, improved job performance, are more alert and active, self confident, less irritable, more cooperative with others, and enjoy a greater level of accomplishment.

Organizations also need to be sensitive to the fact that personal problems (divorce, illness in the family, death of a loved one, or other trauma) can temporarily influence the workplace behavior of otherwise good employees. Giving leaves of absence or personals days off with pay to manage such situations can help to reduce the employee stress level.

My Personal Belief

In my view, relaxation and meditation training can be particularly helpful in coping with difficult life or workplace issues. It has been documented in a variety of research settings that meditation and prayer can lead to significant decreases in psychological distress, health complaints, insomnia, and smoking. There is a lot of good information available on stress management in the research literature as well as in popular magazines, and of course on the Internet. Like everything else, one has to be an intelligent consumer of knowledge and use common sense.

Strive and thrive! Do well, and be the best that you can be and leave the rest to the higher power.

Good luck!

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An Ode To WordPress: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. ART & POETRY, BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , ,

By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

A mighty stallion has appeared on the scene
The crowd notices, then a building roar
It dawns that this race is already won.

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WordPress Haiku: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. ART & POETRY, BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , ,

By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

A gift of love should be like WordPress
Given freely, it multiplies the joy
Of celebrating who we are.

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Google Should Diversify Its Strategy: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , , , , , ,

Google’s recent announcement to start offering an integrated basket of its existing services (Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, and Google Page Creator) for free is the next logical step in its strategy to challenge Microsoft in its traditional stronghold. With this move, Google is aiming to get small businesses, non profit organizations, and universities as clients.

Microsoft, in anticipation of this long awaited move, has started testing its Internet based service for small businesses called Office Live. Office Live Basics is being offered free by Microsoft and will continue to be free after the Beta period is over. However, Microsoft will start charging $29.95 a month for their premium services found in their “Office Live Collaboration” and “Office Live Essentials” services. These two are only free during the Beta period but not afterwards. Given the fact that Microsoft is entrenched in the desktop office space and its office products are already well integrated may give Microsoft more leverage to successfully offer premium Office Live services and charge for them.

Google needs to follow Microsoft’ s lead in offering its own premium services for a fee to add another dimension to its ad based revenue model. Google has indicated that it will indeed release a fee-based version of its service aimed at larger companies offering more data storage and technical support. Hey, but what about me Google? I am not a large company but I would like Google’s premium service and I would be willing to pay for it.

I have been wondering for a long time why Google does not offer premium services to its individual customers like Microsoft does. As soon as Google bought Blogger, they did away with the Blogger premium package and made it all free for everyone. Poof! No more premium Blogger. We don’t want your money loyal customers! What gives?

I have used the MSN paid premium service based on the MSN premium software which runs on top of my broadband service. It includes MSN mail and a number of other things for $9.95 a month. I am also a user of Google’s free services including Gmail, Picasa, Hello, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Blogger, Writely, …you name it and I have got it. I think Google free services are vastly superior to MSN paid premium services in every way. Gmail beats MSN mail in speed, functionality, and search any day of the week. Other than parental controls which come with the MSN premium software (which not everyone needs or wants), there is really nothing that MSN offers to justify charging $9.95 a month, except nice looking icons and colors.

Of course, Microsoft has known this for a long time which is why we have the introduction of Windows Live and a number of other initiatives being launched. As I have noted before, I am impressed with Microsoft’s recent moves. In particular, their desktop blogging application Windows Live Writer, squarely meets the demands of the blogging market and is in response to customers. So the way I see it, Microsoft is making amends and moving in the right direction. Maybe someday, I can say that my $9.95 a month for MSN premium are well spent. That day is not today. Basically by parting with my money monthly, I am investing in Microsoft’s future. I have my reasons for staying with MSN which I will go into some day. In part, I feel I have to use a product or a service before I can praise it or criticize it.

However, if I was paying $9.95 a month for an integrated package of Google services which included a well developed Writely that interfaced with the Google spreadsheet, a better Blogger, Google Page Creator with the ability to have my own domain name, extra storage for Gmail and all the other Google services, I would feel good. I would feel my money was well spent. So why is it that Google is not offering its premium services to loyal customers that want it? Why should Google’s premium service be only reserved for large enterprises? What would Google have to lose by having a two tiered structure of services like Microsoft does. Premium and Regular. They certainly would have a lot to gain. First, it is potentially another way to generate revenues independent of the ad based model. Second, having satisfied customers with increasing good will for Google is going to add to their future success.

My advice to Google. Start paying attention to your customers (Me!) and listen to what they want and need. Think outside the box.

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Microsoft’s Counterpunch to Google: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

. BUSINESS & SOCIETY . , , , , , ,

With the release of Windows Live Writer on August 11, 2006, Microsoft has delivered a winner for bloggers who want to use a desktop client.

I started experimenting with the Live Writer three days ago and was able to set it up easily to work with my WordPress blog. All the Live Writer needs is the user name and password and it automatically recognizes the type of blog you have and configures it self. Although Microsoft hopes that bloggers will use the Live Writer as a client for Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft has gone out of its way to make sure that it is compatible with other weblogs including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, and WordPress. Frankly, given the history of Microsoft, I am pleasantly surprised and impressed with the Live Writer.

Prior to Live Writer, I was using Writely to blog my posts. Writely is the web based word processor that was bought by Google in March of 2006 and potentially poses a threat to Microsoft Word. However, Writley is very limited in that it can only be configured for one blog at a time. With Live Writer, one can maintain multiple blogs switching easily between them.

When Google bought Blogger in February 2003, it showed incredible foresight into the future of blogging and where the Internet was headed. However, Google appears to have squandered valuable time and the opportunity it had to improve the Blogger. It is only now that Blogger is getting a major upgrade from Google which will give it some of the features that WordPress has had for a while.

Microsoft, with the introduction of the Live Writer has delivered a strong counter punch to Google. First, like many Google products, Microsoft is offering the Live Writer for free. So people are going to try it! Most will like Live Writer because it is very user friendly. Second, for those individuals who were using Writely to blog, the Live Writer is a far superior choice. Third, by assuring that the Live Writer is compatible with Blogger, Typepad, LiveJournal, WordPress, and other formats, Microsoft is creating some good will among users which it needs very badly given its history.

Let’s face it. Whether you love or hate Microsoft, it has a record of coming from behind and catching up and even surpassing competitors. Google, however, is no Netscape. Although Google will remain the search king for the foreseeable future, it needs a very clear focus and a strategy to compete with Microsoft on other Internet fronts. Upgrading Blogger is a good move, although it could have been done much earlier. Google should not let Writely stagnate like that for years and ideally develop it as comprehensive blogging tool. That is where the future of the Internet is going.