From the post:

“Created on Ericsson’s behalf and entitled On The Brink, the video features interviews from Caterina Fake, co-founder of Hunch and Flickr, Erik Wahlforss co-founder of SoundCloud and others discussing the effect of broadband on society. It’s kind of like a 20-minute version of our RoadMap conference next week, where we have other big name thinkers talking about the same topic. The 20-minute documentary looks at the past, present and future of connectivity and technology, and the impacts on people, business and society.”

Here is a shorter high level video of the vision:

"In other words, Apple’s way of getting you to buy a new phone is to make you really happy with your current one, whereas apparently Android phone makers think they can get you to buy a new phone by making you really unhappy with your current one."

From the post:

“Other than the original G1 and MyTouch, virtually all of the millions of phones represented by this chart are still under contract today.If you thought that entitled you to some support, think again:

• 7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
• 12 of 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less.
• 10 of 18 were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.
• 11 of 18 stopped getting any support updates less than a year after release.
• 13 of 18 stopped getting any support updates before they even stopped selling the device or very shortly thereafter.
• 15 of 18 don’t run Gingerbread, which shipped in December 2010.
• In a few weeks, when Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, every device on here will be another major version behind.
• At least 16 of 18 will almost certainly never get Ice Cream Sandwich.”

At P&T/Expo Comm this week, Broadcom will unveil its latest communication chips for NFC-enabled smartphones and state-of-the-art solutions designed specifically to manage the exponential growth in network traffic.

Broadcom is gearing up for the P&T/Expo Comm in China this week with the announcement of its new 40NM NFC chip. Broadcom will be demoing the new chip set at the conference and has high hopes that it will provide a solid product to capture the rapidly growing demand for mobile communications options.

From NFC Times:

The chip, the BCM2079x, could be used for device pairing and content sharing between smartphones and other devices and also to support payment and ticketing.

Broadcom’s announcement said the chip supports both a single-wire protocol connection–enabling applications on SIM cards–as well as interfaces for embedded secure chips. It also said the chip is the “only NFC controller to integrate transaction-based Application ID routing for simultaneous support of multiple secure elements within a single device.”

From the press release:

“The accelerated adoption of NFC will transform the use of smartphones, advancing beyond contactless mobile payments and ticketing to enable radically simplified connectivity between the handset and other devices like Bluetooth headsets and Wi-Fi-enabled digital televisions.

• New BCM2079x solutions are the industry’s first NFC chips manufactured in 40 nm CMOS process for smaller size and the industry’s lowest power consumption
• Transaction-based Application ID routing provides unmatched support for all business models, with the ability to simultaneously use multiple secure elements or SIM cards for authentication and mobile payments
• Advanced Maestro™ middleware allows new NFC applications to also utilize Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities in the device

Broadcom's vision of the NFC ecosystem

An accelerated adoption of NFC could transform the use of smartphones, advancing beyond contactless mobile payments and ticketing to enable radically simplified connectivity between the handset and other devices like Bluetooth headsets and Wi-Fi-enabled digital televisions. The proliferation of NFC has the ability to expand the usefulness of smartphones and inspire a range of new applications built on the ability to create simple, secure connections between devices and enable services with a touch of the phone.

Craig Ochikubo, vice president and general manager for Broadcom's wireless personal area networking unit

“Broadcom has already demonstrated its leadership in helping drive adoption of technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in smartphones and other consumer electronics products, having established itself as the leading supplier of wireless connectivity combo chips to handset makers. The features and capabilities of these new solutions position the company to follow a similar trajectory with NFC.”

John Devlin, Group Director, Security and Identification, ABI Research

“Broadcom is committed to making NFC as ubiquitous as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are today. These solutions provide the features and performance that enable disruptive innovation that will reshape the mobile consumer experience. Our leadership and proficiency in wireless connectivity influenced the architecture of these new chips to meet the performance required by OEMs, allowing them to more easily add NFC to their designs.”

Craig Ochikubo, VP and GM, Wireless Personal Area Networks, Broadcom Corporation

From EETimes:

“Broadcom said the BCM2079x family reduces power consumption by more than 90 percent, uses 40 percent fewer components and has a 40 percent smaller board area compared to the previous generation of Broadcom’s NFC chips. According to the company, BCM2079x chips are the smallest and most power efficient NFC solutions on the market.”

From EWeek:

Electromagnetic vibration energy harvester

“NFC, for it to have any degree of utility, has to be on 100 percent of the time. It’s just going to spend the majority of its time just listening to make some type of transaction, whether it’s a data file transfer or making a payment. That’s why we’re really attacking this whole power consumption piece.”

Moreover, Broadcom’s NFC chips support field power harvesting, allowing the chip to draw energy from the environment so it can support transactions even if the phone battery is spent.

This feature alone could draw attention from rivals NXP and Samsung. If there is one thing Google Wallet has been heavily criticized for, it’s that it won’t work when the phone battery dies. Consumers can’t pay for goods when they’re phones are out of juice and their wallets are stuffed in sock drawers at home.”

More in the Innovision acquisition from NFC Times:

“The chip maker more than a year ago finalized its $47.5 million purchase of UK-based Innovision, which supplied Broadcom and other chip makers with intellectual property for incorporating NFC in combo wireless chips.

Innovision's low-cost NFC chip

Combo chips, which also can variously include such wireless technologies as FM radio and GPS, are used in a variety of smartphones and the expectation is that smartphone makers will eventually order the chips supporting NFC, as well. The combo chips save both space and money compared with separate chips covering the different wireless technologies.

The Innovision acquisition also gave Broadcom an NFC-tag unit. The chip maker is no doubt using IP it acquired from Innovision in the standalone chip, said observers.”

From an older post on Innovision from UK Technology Live:

“Innovision, which is joining the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) missions in July, supplies a range of chips and intellectual property into China for applications including contactless transport tickets and cards.

“We expect that 15 to 20 percent of all the handsets shipped globally in 2012 to include low-cost NFC technology,” said David Dent, Vice President Asia Pacific Sales, Innovision Research & Technology. “Since most mobile manufacturing now happens in China, it is important for us to build our presence in the market. Never mind the billions of potential consumers in the region.”

“People have talked about contactless technology on mobile phones for a long time. The problem has been that it has been expensive and time consuming to integrate NFC into mobile devices. This is changing and by demonstrating a solution that delivers the technology simply, quickly and cost effectively, we hope to engage with the Chinese manufacturers to adopt leading British technology across the world.”

Google is firmly in the NFC camp, as indicated by its abandonment of QR Codes in its Places program.  I believe that any real adoption of mobile payment systems is going to be dependant on NFC technology.  Sure there are stickers and audio work arounds but to acheive the level of convience that mass market consumers will demand, NFC is the only solution.

The other big news about the launch of Google’s mobile payment solution is the partners it is bringing along with it. VISA, American Express and Discover have all agreed to work with Google in addition to its already established partnership with Mastercard.

From NFC Times:

“The announcement by Google that the three card schemes will support its wallet is not surprising, since all had indicated they would be open to working with Google on NFC payments. MasterCard Worldwide was already part of the U.S. Google Wallet launch today, along with Citigroup.”

On Day 1, Wallet supports just one third-party card: the Citi Mastercard.

From the official Google blog post by Osama Bedier, Vice President of Payments:

“When we announced Google Wallet, we pledged a commitment to an open commerce ecosystem. We appreciate Citi and MasterCard for being our launch partners. And today, Visa, Discover and American Express have made available their NFC specifications that could enable their cards to be added to future versions of Google Wallet.

Our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional wallets. In fact, we’ve got a video of our first customer, someone who is ready to replace his famously over-stuffed wallet. We hope Google Wallet gives him “serenity now.”

Techcrunch has a good overview from a user perspective as well as videos that I can’t embed:

“Google Wallet is great, magical, impressive, and all sorts of other positive adjectives. But today’s launch is just a small, but meaningful, first step. NFC-based payments via Mobile is something the world has long unanimously agreed would be awesome, but nearly all of the progress toward it (at least in the US) has been behind the scenes. This is the first time the public has really gotten to play with it — and while it’s going to take a few years (at the very least. Think about how many shops still insist on “Cash Only”.) before it’s ubiquitous enough to kill your wallet, Google seems in it for the long haul.”

It’s a seamless process and it offers tangible value over fumbling through various cards.

Another user review from Mashable:

“If you have never used NFC-enabled devices, it can take a bit of getting used to. The way Google Wallet is set up, it only works if the screen is on and unlocked. If you haven’t used your wallet within a certain period of time, you will also be prompted to enter an unlock code before using the app.

We’ve discussed the security behind NFC systems in the past, and Google has created its own Secure Element that adds an additional layer of security. Google hopes to make this Secure Element an accepted standard within the NFC space.

I liked the process of using Google Wallet. The one frustrating aspect was that my day-to-day credit card, my Bank of America Visa checkcard, couldn’t be tied directly to the system. I do have a Citi-Mastercard and that worked seamlessly with the system (after calling Citibank to get the card activated for use with Google Wallet), but having to use the Google Prepaid Card added an additional layer of complexity that just wasn’t worth the hassle unless I knew I was going to be buying something in advance.”

One thing missing from the big annoucnment was any discussion of Offers. Again from NFC Times:

“But today’s announcement didn’t mention Google Offers, which delivers targeted coupons and other deals to subscribers. Offers is the centerpiece of Google’s business model for the wallet. In a separate development, reports today said Google purchased a Germany-based offers site called DailyDeal.

Google Offers is expected to be trialed in New York and San Francisco, along with Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Most stores are not ready yet, though one, American Eagle Outfitters, is “up and running in some stores,” a Google spokesman told NFC Times.”

From the Washington Post:

“Unleashing white spaces spectrum will enable a new wave of wireless innovation,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a statement. “It has the potential to exceed the billions of dollars in economic benefit from WiFi, the last significant release of unlicensed spectrum, and drive private investment and job creation.”

From the FCC (Word document):

“Today, the Commission is taking a critical step towards that goal by issuing a public notice announcing the start of the first trial of a TV white spaces database. The limited public testing of Spectrum Bridge’s database system is intended to allow the public to access and test the system to ensure that it correctly identifies channels that are available for unlicensed TV band devices, properly registers those facilities entitled to protection, and provides protection to authorized services and registered facilities as specified in the rules.

Commission rules require that unlicensed TV band devices contact an authorized database system to obtain a list of channels that are available for their operation (i.e., channels not occupied by authorized radio services) at their individual locations and must operate only on those channels. The trial of the Spectrum Bridge database system is scheduled to last for 45 days, ending November 2, 2011. Parties may participate in the trial by accessing Spectrum Bridge’s TV band database test facility at  http://whitespaces.spectrumbridge.com/Trial.aspx.” (This link goes to a web page that seems to be a single, unclickable image…)

White Space Channel Availability for Low Power (40 mW) Personal/Portable TVBDs (Channels 21 - 51)

From Spectrum Bridge:

Spectrum Bridge has developed and made tools available to help you understand the utility and implications of using White Spaces Spectrum:

“Unused TV spectrum is termed “TV White Spaces”, or simply “TV White Space”. The FCC has not dictated specific modulation or protocol requirements for TV Band Devices (TVBDs), allowing TV White Space to employ a wide range of devices and applications on an unlicensed basis, similar to Wi-Fi.

The FCC has also ensured incumbent TV band users (TV broadcasters, public safety, registered microphone users, etc) have priority over TV White Space Device operation. To make certain incumbent users are protected, TV White Space devices communicate with a database to obtain a list of currently available White Space channels.  Available channels may vary, depending on TVBD device type and location.

• White Space Spectrum Search – View available white space channels at any U.S. location.
• TV White Spaces US Interactive Map – An interactive U.S. map tool powered by Spectrum Bridge’s TV White Spaces database that depicts available white space and protected entities.
• micFrequency iPhone Application – Spectrum Bridge’s Wireless Microphone Frequency Locator identifies spectrum available for unlicensed wireless microphone operation.
• Show My White Space iPhone Application – Quickly find white spaces spectrum available at any U.S. location.”

From Ars Technica:

“As part of its authorization process for TV band database systems, the Commission stated that each database will be subject to a public trial period of not less than 45 days to ensure that the database is providing accurate results before it is allowed to be made available for regular public use,” the FCC says.

If that means that each of these companies has to be tested, at 45 days a cycle, we are talking about over three hundred tryout days for the whole white space database team—and that doesn’t include the evaluation periods in between each trial. Even if it doesn’t take that long, clearly we are quite a ways from the hoped for or dreaded moment when unlicensed broadband devices are ready to go to market.”

The article points to a recent report by ISH that concludes: “web-capable consumer electronics such as media tablets, televisions and Blu-Ray players will outsell traditional PCs in 2013 — just under two years from now. This category is fast growing, with expected sales of 503.6 million units in 2013, up from 161 million in 2010. Half a billion consumer electronics devices are still just a drop in the bucket as compared to 50 billion.”

Internet-enabled consumer electronics devices are products that enable users to connect to the extensive universe of the Internet, where they can then view, share or download content. Examples of these devices are televisions, Blu-ray players, game consoles, set-top boxes, digital media adapters and media tablets. Excluded from this category are other devices that can connect to the Internet like PCs and smartphones, which are tracked separately as data processing and wireless communications equipment, respectively.

Also from the report: “These new figures are the latest evidence that the Internet is not just for PCs anymore,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS. “The Internet now is revolutionizing the consumer electronics business by delivering a range of products that can bring web-based content to homes. Increasingly, each Internet-enabled consumer electronics device is vying to become the center of what is known as the digital living room, aggregating content throughout the home and serving up movies, television programs, videos and music. In the future, consumers will be more likely to access the Internet through their televisions than via their PCs.”

GigaOM describes the obvious connected devices: media tablets, video game consoles, Blu-Ray players and smart TVs, E-readers and cameras.  But it gets more interesting when they explore the less obvious devices:

• “Smart homes. This category adds a number of subcategories and devices: One single smart home has the potential to add dozens of connections. A home security component might add half a dozen connected cameras, for example. Electronic door locks, intelligent thermostats and smart irrigation systems could add more, as could smart power meters.
• Health care devices. More self-monitoring systems are expected as wearable devices with web connectivity capture, log and report health data such as heart status, blood pressure, weight, blood sugar and other key health metrics.
• Automobiles. Cars with dedicated Internet connections aren’t just for the kids to play online while their parents do the driving: These can help with real-time traffic information on the road ahead. Car manufacturers could also use a web connection to proactively monitor automobiles for potential problems and either inform the driver directly or generate a warning sign in the vehicle. The growth of hybrid and electric vehicles could benefit as well, through the creation of smartphone applications that interface directly with a connected car, helping to monitor power requirements and helping drivers find the next-closest charging station. Ford, GM and Toyota appear to lead these connected efforts.”

You could also add the smart grid to the list but you can see the jump from obvious to less obvious also represents a jump from single connected devices to connected systems. Connected systems have broad based impact on economies and lifestyles that represent the real power of the connected planet.

lightRadio represents a new architecture where the base station, typically located at the base of each cell site tower, is broken into its components elements and then distributed into both the antenna and throughout a cloud-like network.

LightReading reports that the all in one micro base station from Alcatel-Lucent called lightRadio could be available as soon as the first quarter of 2012. The new device will dramatically reduce the onsite need for infrastructure and power.

From the product site:

“The benefits of lightRadio are dramatic:

• Improves the environment: lightRadio reduces energy consumption of mobile networks by up to 50% over current radio access network equipment. (As a point of reference, Bell Labs research estimates that basestations globally emit roughly 18,000,000 metric tons of CO2 per year). Also, lightRadio provides an alternative to today’s jungle of large overcrowded cell site towers by enabling small antennas anywhere.
• Addresses digital divide: By reducing the cell site to just the antenna and leveraging future advances in microwave backhaul and compression techniques, this technology will eventually enable the easy creation of broadband coverage virtually anywhere there is power (electricity, sun, wind) by using microwave to connect back to the network.
• Offers major savings for operators: Thanks to lightRadio’s impact on site, energy, operations and maintenance costs; when combined with small cells and LTE, this new solution can lead to a reduction of total cost of ownership (TCO) of mobile networks up to 50% (as a point of reference, Bell Labs estimates that TCO spent by mobile operators in mobile access in 2010 was 150 billion Euros).
• Enhances quality for end users: by doubling macro capacity and reducing the cost per bit lightRadio opens up the possibility to offer new services and price points.”

Key Components of the New Architecture

From Daily Wireless:

“AlcaLu shunk the basestation, collapsing three radios into one tiny cube, 2.5 inches square. Each can operate between 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz. The end result: lightRadio cell towers don’t need huts, air conditioners and heaters, big amps, fans, or even local processing gear. Baseband processing moves closer to the data center and gets new capabilities like beamforming and load-balancing.

The lightRadio design uses a new system-on-a-chip (SoC) from Freescale along with compression and virtualization software is expected to shrink the base station to about the size of a Rubik’s cube. The lightRadio MetroCell is based on the Freescale SoC.

The cube — or wideband active array antenna (WB-AAA) — will follow sometime in 2012, reports Light Reading. “The commercial products are going to be highly tuned to operators’ needs,” suggests the AlcaLu spokesman.”

From the product announcement press release:

“Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio approach is a revolutionary step in evolving traditional telecommunication networks to more heterogeneous networks with higher capacity and lower cost,” said Lisa Su, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Freescale’s Networking and Multimedia Group. “Freescale is collaborating with Alcatel-Lucent to provide the chip-based architectures through our new system-on-chip technology that supports the highly-flexible, multi-standard, programmable capability required to make lightRadio a reality.”

“Communication service providers will be better able to meet the shifting and growing demands placed on their networks as a result of the new lightRadio product family from Alcatel-Lucent,” said Sandeep Johri (PDF), vice president, Strategy and Solutions, Enterprise Business, HP. “As part of the lightRadio evolution, HP intends to work with Alcatel-Lucent in a co-creation fashion around the use of cloud and virtualization technologies in the mobile access space.”

“The day has finally come when service providers need to take a serious look at the road ahead in terms of technology and their economic models,” said Phil Marshall of Tolaga Research. “To survive and thrive, service providers must evolve network designs, embrace small cell sites and all-IP architectures and replace traditional network designs with flexible cloud-like architectures that can truly meet the data demands of the future.”

For more information you can download the lightRadio Whitepaper (PDF)

As depicted in the right panel of Figure 8, lightRadio significantly reduces this problem. It also allows continued evolution in radio capacity, well into the future, by utilizing wider frequency band radios which can be incorporated into a smaller number of lightRadio RRHs.