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RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn't provide ETA for restore
If you don't own a BlackBerry yourself, chances are you know somebody who does. And if that person lives in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America or South America, they're probably quite unhappy with RIM at the moment. This week's service outage began with a server failure in the UK, and spread like wildfire to Africa and the Middle East, before continuing on to parts of Asia, the US, Canada and a good portion of South America. This is only the latest BlackBerry service outage for RIM, bringing email, BBM and web browsing services to a halt. But with BlackBerry services playing a critical role in real-time business and government communications, any interruption is unacceptable, and costly for all. RIM CTO David Yach responded to questions during a press conference this afternoon, explaining the original cause of the outage (that UK server failure, along with a series of failed redundancies), and how that grew into the global outage we're experiencing now: "It's a backlog issue. Clearly we have a backlog in Europe, based on the initial outage and the time it's taken to stabilize that. At this point, we have not throttled the other regions, but as you can imagine, with the global reach of BlackBerry, people using it to contact others around the world, there's a lot of messages coming to Europe from Asia and the Americas, and those would be backed up on the other system. It's looking like over time that backlog built, and started impacting those other systems." The obvious solution would be to clear the backlog and restore service, but in doing so, RIM would purge any undelivered messages. Yach said that all emails will eventually be delivered, however, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about there (there was no related comment regarding BBM messages). When asked what the company would be doing to "make right" by way of its customers, Yach emphasized that his focus was only on restoring service at this point, and made no promises of restitution. Is the BlackBerry outage affecting you? Let us know by voting in our poll, or leaving a comment after the break.
Mobile devices may outnumber humans in the US, but they can't take our soul
We're not really sure what to make of this, but it looks like Americans may be under siege... from their own cellphones. No, seriously -- according to the latest survey from CTIA, there are now more mobile devices in the US than there are human beings. The trade association's semi-annual statistics show that during the first six months of 2011, the number of wireless subscriptions rose by nine percent over the previous year, to a total of 327.6 million. The combined population of the US, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, by comparison, is around 315 million. That translates to a nationwide wireless penetration rate of 103.9 percent, and, not surprisingly, a 111 percent surge in data usage. CTIA says these results highlight "the industry's need to purchase more spectrum from the federal government," as well as our collective need to get a life. You can find more crunch-able numbers in the full PR, after the break. [Image courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art]
BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada, continues in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America (update: RIM confirms)
It's day three of RIM's BlackBerry service outage in much of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil and Chile. But now the problem appears to have spread into Canada -- RIM's home turf -- and we're even hearing reports of some service issues in the US as well. We've reached out to RIM for comment, but we'd like to hear from you. Let us know whether or not you're having issues in the poll below, and jump past the break to sound off in the comments.%Poll-69781% Update: RIM has posted the following statement to its BlackBerry Service Update page: BlackBerry subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent service delays this morning. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. We will provide a further update as soon as more information is available. Update 2: RIM UK has also posted a statement: We know that many of you are still experiencing service problems. The resolution of this service issue is our Number One priority right now and we are working night and day to restore all BlackBerry services to normal levels. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Verizon goes to bat for Samsung in patent war with Apple
Well, it was really only a matter of time before third parties stuck their nose in the ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung. For most of this time others have stood on the sidelines, occasionally shouting moral support. But, no one has rolled up their sleeves and put up their dukes for either party -- that is, until now. Verizon has requested permission to file a brief with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, asking it to deny Apple's request for a nation-wide injunction against the Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1. At the heart of Verizon's argument is that a ban on import of Samsung's devices would harm not only the carrier's business, but consumers and the economy by slowing the growth of its LTE network. The brief, technically, only relates to one of the four infringement claims filed by Apple, but it's clear that Verizon has just as much interest in seeing Samsung succeed in the other three challenges as well. For more (somewhat editorialized) details, hit up the source link.
LightSquared donates phones to North American tribes, keeps the rural connectivity flame a burnin'
It looks like LightSquared's crush on rural America is still ongoing, folks. The firm announced today it'll donate 2,000 satellite phones to the Indian Health Service and other tribal organizations, allowing them to make calls in areas that terrestrial networks don't cover. Sadly, no details on exactly what gear it's deploying, but according to Computerworld the devices are voice-only, meaning IHS employees better get pretty damn crafty if they want to surf Engadget whilst on the job -- can you say dial-up tether? Either way, with connectivity headed to facilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona, can the firm's wholesale debut be that far off? We'll have to see, but in the meantime, indulge in the official PR beyond the break.
FCC measures US wireline advertised broadband speeds, fiber dominates cable and DSL
Ever wonder if the speeds your ISP advertises are actually what you're getting while reloading Engadget all day? The FCC did, and decided to team up with 13 major broadband providers in the US to test how they performed from February to June of this year. Notably, during peak hours the average continuous download speeds of fiber connections were 14 percent faster than advertised, while cable and DSL were slower than claimed by 8 and 18 percent, respectively. Upload speeds also varied, with DSL again dipping the lowest at 95-percent of what's advertised -- might be time to ask your phone-based ISP for a partial refund, no? In addition to sustained speeds, the FCC analyzed consumer connections' latency and the effect of ISP speed boost tech on activities like VoIP, gaming, and video streaming. In concluding its research, the Commission noted that it should be easy to get tools in users' hands for keeping better tabs on ISP-provided services, without needing to contact customer frustrations relations. The study is chock full of even more graphs and stats, which you'll find by hitting that source link below. Now, if only we could get those speeds on par with our friends across the Atlantic.
FCC hails spectrum alliances with Canada and Mexico, seeks to reduce border conflicts
It's not every day that the FCC enters into new multinational agreements, so you'll have to forgive us for getting excited over the latest communique between Chairman Julius Genachowski and his counterparts in Canada and Mexico. After much negotiation, the regulatory heads have created a framework to resolve frequency conflicts along our nations' borders. While the deal with Mexico only applies to the 700MHz spectrum, the agreement with Canada also covers the 800MHz range. By reducing interference and maximizing spectrum allocation, Genachowski believes "these arrangements will unleash investment and benefit consumers near the borders by enabling the rollout of 4G wireless broadband service and advanced systems for critical public safety and emergency response communications." Once the policies become official mandates, license holders must coordinate and implement techniques to mitigate signal interference or face some nasty regulatory intervention. If you're a sucker for policy, just leap the break for the full press release.
Nokia shutters online and retail stores in UK, US web store
Nokia will be entering Q3 free of any direct-to-consumer sales channels in the US and UK. The Finnish smartphone maker shuttered its remaining UK retail stores earlier this month (with the exception of Heathrow Airport, which remains open), and also discontinued sales on its US and UK online stores -- joining France, Spain, and The Netherlands, which all went offline last month. We spoke to a former Nokia UK retail employee, who cited poor marketing, high prices, slowing traffic and a high product return rate as a few of the reasons that the stores closed -- returns of the N8 and E7 dominated other handsets, with customers complaining of device crashes and corruption, hardware failures, and usability issues. He reports that the stores were also only able to sell devices on Vodafone and T-Mobile, and only Vodafone allowed customers to upgrade in a Nokia store. The majority of customers came into the store for support, rather than to make a purchase. "The last two months were particularly quiet. Even if the shopping centre was busy, the Nokia store would have perhaps no more than 30 people through the door a day, usually for technical assistance. And that was that, all stores were closed abruptly on June 20th." We imagine pricing played a large role in the decision to close the UK and US online stores, just as it did with UK retail and online stores in other countries. Both country's online stores have been replaced with a closure notice, with the US store directing customers to Amazon, and the UK store referring visitors to eight retail partners, instead.%Gallery-127496% [Thanks, Karl]
US funds shadow networks, builds 'internet in a suitcase' for repressed protesters
Whether a repressive government, a buggy DNS server or a little old lady is behind your internet outage, it can't be much fun, but the US government sympathizes with your plight if you're dealing with reason number one. The New York Times reports that the US State Department will have spent upwards of $70 million on "shadow networks" which would allow protesters to communicate even if powers that be pull the traditional plug -- so far, it's spent at least $50 million on a independent cell phone network for Afghanistan, and given a $2 million grant to members of the New America Foundation creating the "internet in a suitcase" pictured above. It's a batch of mesh networking equipment designed to be spirited into a country to set up a private network. Last we'd heard, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had pledged $25 million for just this sort of internet freedom, and the New America Foundation had applied for some of those bucks -- see our more coverage links below -- but it sounds like the money is flowing fast, and in multiple directions now.
Sony's dual-screen S2 tablet hits the FCC, boasting AT&T-ready cellular frequencies
Regardless of how you might feel about the potential dangers of electromagnetic radiation, it came in mighty handy today -- identifying this brand-new Sony S2 tablet headed to the USA. The FCC recently got a glimpse at Sir Howard's dual-screen Honeycomb clamshell, and thanks to the public portion of their reports, we've got some crucial specs: the Sony "SGPT211US" will sport 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and most tellingly, 850MHz and 1900MHz 3G bands suggesting a launch on AT&T. Now, those frequencies are certainly also used by several prominent Canadian carriers, but it just so happens that this particular model tested is a US variant -- with others designated for Canada and Japan -- and this particular cellular module is the Ericsson F5521gw, which means we could even be looking at 21Mbps HSPA+ speeds. Before you start speculating, however, there's one more crucial spec to share: the prototypes apparently have a removable 3080mAh lithium-ion battery pack. Swell.
ZTE plans to launch LTE devices later this year, Windows Phone in early 2012
It may have been the third runner-up in global market share last year, but ZTE isn't content to just sit down and keep quiet in its new position. Speaking to Reuters, CEO Cheng Lixin mentioned his company wants to push LTE devices out to the States during the second half of the year, and introduce phones blessed with Windows Phone's Mango update in early 2012. We're already expecting an LTE-based tablet from ZTE in this same timeframe, but are unsure of what handsets may pop up between now and then. With thriving markets like LTE and Windows Phone, the Chinese manufacturer has a golden opportunity to grow right alongside them. But as hopeful as we'd like to be about the whole thing, let's not take Lixin's announcement as a guarantee that his phones will end up on AT&T's and / or Verizon's 4G lineups specifically -- while they'll be the only national players using LTE this year, MetroPCS already has a history of working with ZTE and could swoop in to pick one of its phones (or tablets) up. No matter where they land, we want these phones to be blazing fast.
Why Apple is trademarking Thunderbolt and why Sony might be left out
Thunderbolt (formerly known as Light Peak) may have been developed by Intel, but it's Apple that's been snatching up all the trademark glory. The company first filed in November of 2010 in Jamaica, then followed up in February of this year by securing the rights to the name in Canada, before registering similar claims in Europe, China, and now the US. This raised some interesting questions about Intel's claim to be the exclusive trademark holder (see the more coverage link) and whether or not other companies would be able to use the Thunderbolt brand. Intrigued, we did a little digging and you'll find what we uncovered after the break.
Toyota sells one million Prii in US alone
Thank you Toyota, for teaching us the plural of Prius, because somehow, "Toyota sells one million Priuples" just doesn't jive. That's right, the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday that it has officially sold its one millionth Prius on American soil. It's reportedly also reached a couple of other sales milestones in the last six months, with worldwide Prius sales reaching two million in October and overall Toyota hybrid sales exceeding three million in March. Now that's a whole lot of Prii. Full PR after the break.
Visualized: Google charts the rise and fall of United States revenues
Where would we be without Google? Well, we wouldn't have pretty charts to gawk at, for starters! The Mountain View squad has pulled 10 years' worth of fiscal data from the US Census Bureau and compiled it into some gorgeous, infinitely sortable, and re-organizable graphs. They inspire both our admiration and apprehension, as their lines illustrate most starkly the shrinkage that replaced US economic growth over the latter half of the last decade. We've only picked out a few of the big states here, but all 50 are in Google's public database -- why not hit the source link and check up on your local governors' pecuniary (mis)management skills, eh?
United States gets a National Broadband Map, finds much of its nation doesn't have broadband
The FCC of the Obama administration has been very keen to highlight the fact that many Americans today still aren't riding the information superhighway, a mission of awareness-spreading that was advanced a little more yesterday with the introduction of the National Broadband Map. Mostly the work of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, this $200 million project provides broadband data for thousands of providers with over 25 million searchable records -- all of which can be visualized in map form, categorized by connectivity type, or downloaded in full to your computer. APIs have been made available for anyone interested in remixing / using the NBM elsewhere, while information updates are promised every six months. In terms of the maps' content, we're still seeing unsatisfactorily wide swathes of broadband-free countryside, but we suppose the first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one.
Obama's State of the Union address goes Web 2.0
Tonight, President Obama will deliver the annual State of the Union address, and while partisan politics (and some great shots of various people nodding off) will rule the night, the US government is getting into the Web 2.0 game in a big way tonight. The speech -- scheduled for 9:00 pm ET -- will be streamed live on the web, and immediately following said speech, the White House will host an 'Open for Questions' event on Twitter making use of the hashtag #sotu, while other government officials will answer questions submitted on Facebook, as well as the White House website's webform. On Thursday night, the President will also answer questions on YouTube. We'll let you know if and when the government hatches a plan to answer questions on Yahoo! Answers. [Image Credit: Pete Souza for the White House]
Obama administration moves forward with unique internet ID for Americans, Commerce Department to head system up
President Obama has signaled that he will give the United States Commerce Department the authority over a proposed national cybersecurity measure that would involve giving each American a unique online identity. Other candidates mentioned previously to head up the new system have included the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security, but the announcement that the Commerce Department will take the job should please groups that have raised concerns over security agencies doing double duty in police and intelligence work. So anyway, what about this unique ID we'll all be getting? Well, though details are still pretty scant, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, speaking at an event at the Stanford Institute, stressed that the new system would not be akin to a national ID card, or a government controlled system, but that it would enhance security and reduce the need for people to memorize dozens of passwords online. Sorry, Locke, sounds like a national ID system to us. Anyway, the Obama administration is currently drafting what it's dubbed the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which is expected at the Department of Commerce in a few months. We'll keep you posted if anything terrifying or cool happens. Update: For clarity's sake, we should note that the proposed unique ID system will be opt in only, not a mandatory program for all citizens.
Sprint axes Huawei, ZTE telecom bids due to security fears in Washington?
Huawei might be making inroads into the US consumer smartphone market, but the Chinese telecom supplier's attempts to break into big business have been stonewalled. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that Sprint is excluding both Huawei and competitor ZTE from a multi-billion dollar contract -- where they would have been the lowest bidders -- primarily because of national security concerns. The US Secretary of Commerce reportedly called Sprint CEO Dan Hesse to voice concerns about letting firms with possible ties to the Chinese government supply local communications infrastructure, a perspective also penned by eight US senators back in August. "DoD is very concerned about China's emerging cyber capabilities and any potential vulnerability within or threat to DoD networks," the Department of Defense told the publication, without naming Huawei or ZTE directly. We're not doctors, but it sounds like someone's got a serious case of supercomputer envy.
US Cyber Command achieves 'full operational capability,' international cyberbullies be warned
A sword, a lightning bolt, a key, a globe, and a bird. These are the symbols of your United States Cyber Command, which you'll be proud to know has "achieved full operational capability." FOC is when a military organization basically has what it needs and knows how to use it, but we're guessing our new cyber-commandos will be a little nervous at first, like a prom date just presented with a room key, or a Modern Warfare player with a new weapon attachment. Surely the USCC will get into its stride real soon, enabling it to "operate and defend our networks effectively." You know what that means: feel free to be a little extra offensive when trolling on foreign soil today. Uncle Sam has your back.
Military's first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite makes its way into orbit
The first piece of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications system made its way into space recently with the launch of the AEHF 1 satellite. Also referred to as Milstar III, the planned successor to the current Milstar system will consist of three or more geostationary satellites, each of which has five times the capacity of current Milstar satellites. They will communicate with each other directly via crosslinks, and with the ground via narrow spot beams. The AEHF "is built to provide the highest levels of protection for our nation's most critical users. Encryption, low probability of intercept and detection, jammer resistance and the ability to penetrate the electro-magnetic interference caused by nuclear weapons are essential features when communication can be of the highest priority," said Col. Michael Sarchet, commander of the Protected Satellite Communications Group at the Space and Missile Systems Center. The craft will spend the next 100 days in testing, circularizing the orbit 22,300 miles over the equator with its conventional and exotic ion propulsion systems, at which point it should enter service from an orbital location to be determined.
