That slide above is no joke — it comes from a marketing webinar put on by two companies that count Verizon, AT&T and Vodafone as clients, and it describes a system that identifies customer internet activity and charges a different rate for using Facebook than watching YouTube, while allowing access to Vodafone services for free. Yes, that’s basically the nightmare scenario for net neutrality advocates. The two companies behind the slide are Allot Communications and Openet, which sell subscriber-management tools to carriers around the world — tools that Allot’s director of marketing says can scan even encrypted packets to determine what service customers are using and charge accordingly. We’re not making this up — here’s the direct quote from the webinar:

[We use] a number of different methods to accurately identify the application — methods like heuristic analysis, behavioral and historical analysis, deep packet inspection, and a number of other techniques. What’s key is that we have the best application identification available on the market, which means that even applications that are encrypted or use other methods to evade detection will be correctly identified and classified… We essentially feed this real-time information about traffic and application usage into the policy and charging system. Each subscriber has a particular service plan that they sign up for, and they’re as generic or as personalized as the operator wants.

Yeah, that’s not how anyone actually wants the internet to work — except carriers, who’ve been saying increasingly insane things about charging even smartphone manufacturers for customer data usage lately. What’s more, it’s rumored that the FCC will cave to Verizon and AT&T and exempt wireless internet service from major parts of net neutrality regulation it’s expected to pass next week, so this nonsense could very well hit the US sooner rather than later. We’ll be keeping a close eye on things — we’ll let you know.

Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TimeCommand dock turns your iPad into a very pricey dimmer switch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Dec 2010 01:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, well, look at what’s been added to a tentative agenda when the FCC meets on December 21st: net neutrality. Here’s how the item reads:

Open Internet Order: An Order adopting basic rules of the road to preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression. These rules would protect consumers’ and innovators’ right to know basic information about broadband service, right to send and receive lawful Internet traffic, and right to a level playing field, while providing broadband Internet access providers with the flexibility to reasonably manage their networks.

Presumably, a draft order is now circulating amongst attendees, the details of which are of the utmost concern for both consumers and wired / wireless providers alike. According to the AP, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will outline his net neutrality proposal in a speech on Wednesday, with plans to bring the new rules to a full vote before the end of the year and ahead of the newly elected Republicans taking their seats in the House.

Update: The AP received an advanced copy of Genachowski’s speech. Here are the highlights of the FCC proposal:

• Wired broadband providers will be required to let subscribers access all legal content, applications, and services with the flexibility to manage network congestion and spam as long as they publicly disclose their network management approach. Broadband providers would also be allowed to experiment with dedicated networks to route traffic from specialized services like smart grids and home security systems as long as they “don’t hurt the public internet.”
• Wireless providers would also be required to disclose network management practices and be prohibited from blocking access to web sites or competing applications like cellphone VoIP services. However, they’d be given more flexibility to manage traffic due to relative bandwidth constraints. In other words, wireless networks will still be special under the FCC proposal, just not as special as the plan pitched by Google / Verizon plan (which only required transparency) over the summer.
• The proposal would leave the FCC’s regulatory framework for broadband unchanged as a lightly regulated “information service,” not as a “common carrier” as Genachowski had wanted. Another victory for Comcast.

FCC addressing net neutrality on December 21st (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guess what people, Verizon’s LTE network launch is really for real and the carrier has now scheduled a news conference for tomorrow where it’ll discuss its December plans in more detail. Tony Melone, VZW’s chief tech officer, will be on hand to answer any questions beyond the already known plans for 38 metropolitan areas to get the 4G LTE treatment — accounting for a cool 110 million Americans who’ll be able to ride the lightning of faster internet speeds on the move. The event kicks off at 12PM and we’ll make sure to tune in, if only to find out what Tony’s answer is to the inevitable “what is 4G” question.

[Thanks, Henry]

Verizon hosting 4G LTE news conference tomorrow to discuss launch plans originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon’s been talking details on LTE deployment for some time now, but even at CTIA earlier in the year, the carrier insisted that it would be the first half of 2011 before the next-gen network was active in the US of A. Now, it looks as if the engineers have been working triple-time in order to get Long Term Evolution live in the States under Big Red’s branding, as a new VZW commercial (embedded after the break) has affirmed that the first LTE waves will go public here in December 2010. Yeah, next month. Granted, there’s no information beyond the date, but at least we shouldn’t have to ponder long which devices will be first out of the gate. Here’s hoping Santa’s wish list has room for one more thing.

Continue reading Verizon launching LTE network in December 2010 (video)

Verizon launching LTE network in December 2010 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no secret that RIM doesn’t exactly agree with Steve Jobs’ characterization of the company’s prospects, and Jim Balsillie has some more to say on the Apple vs. RIM front, particularly where it comes to apps. It’s hard to imagine RIM catching up with Apple’s 300,000+ apps, but Jim doesn’t think that’s the point: “We believe that you can bring the mobile to the Web but you don’t need to go through some kind of control point of an SDK, and that’s the core part of our message.” The statement was made at the Web 2.0 Summit a couple days ago, and on further prompting Jim made it clear he rejects Apple’s “appification” of the web. RIM’s strategy is obviously riding on highly portable Adobe AIR apps and Flash support in the browser (much like Microsoft’s Silverlight app strategy for Windows Phone 7), and we look forward to seeing just how well that playbook plays out in the PlayBook. Of course, “there’s not an app for that, but our browser is fully capable of performing that functionality” isn’t quite so catchy…

RIM’s Jim Balsillie says ‘you don’t need an app for the web,’ rejects Apple’s appification of the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From the parallel universe known as “you’ve got to be kidding me” comes yet another trinket from New PC Gadgets that’ll undoubtedly sell well despite being about as mindless as a product comes. In a bid to solve a simple problem that every internet addict faces when dining out or simply joining other Earthlings around a dinner table, the aforesaid company has just issued the Smartphone Coaster. That’s a fanciful name for a bent piece of stainless steel. In practice, it holds just about any smartphone (or dumb / featurephone, for that matter) at a 75 degree angle, enabling you to keep a close eye on your display while stuffing your face. We’re surmising that these will be aimed as restaurants more than in-home dinner tables, but hey, if you’d rather enable your tweens to ignore vital family conversations while gathered for supper, more power to you. It’s available now for $3.95 (or less if buying in bulk), and no, we won’t tell anyone that you’re seriously considering a dozen.

Continue reading Smartphone Coaster keeps your eyes on the prize, even while you eat

Smartphone Coaster keeps your eyes on the prize, even while you eat originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It almost sounds too good to be true, but apparently some G2s are getting an official (if stealthy) OTA update from T-Mobile that adds the inexplicably withheld Android 2.2 native internet tethering back into the phone, along with the UMA WiFi calling T-Mobile plans to offer on all of its forthcoming Android handsets. What’s not to love? Well, so far our G2 hasn’t been offered the update, which is, like, totally unfair. Also, if you’ve been messing around with a “soft root” on your G2, you’ll probably want to hold off for now. Still, if this is legit and meant for the masses it’s a pretty major score for current and prospective G2 owners: WiFi calling is basically a beautiful dream short of a desirable handset, and of course tethering is becoming a requirement in this Android-age.

T-Mobile G2 getting an OTA update to add WiFi calling and tethering? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looking for a new Android form factor on AT&T and don’t mind a bit of BLUR? Motorola’s got you covered, with the mid-range Bravo, low-end Flipside and budget Flipout you see immediately above. We spotted the trio of Android 2.1 devices at CTIA 2010 and had to give them a try, and though none really impressed they’ve got some interesting designs. You won’t hear us clapping for the $129 Bravo, as it’s basically a pared-down Defy — the same 3.7-inch WVGA slatephone, but with a fixed-focus three megapixel camera and without the ruggedized outsides.

Meanwhile, surfers, skaters and virtual keyboard haters could possibly enjoy the $80 Flipout and $100 Flipside. The former’s got the same sort of irresistible, pocketable style that made Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance SP an instant hit half a decade back, arguably even more so than its inspiration, though as you’d imagine the 2.8-inch QVGA screen and other Charm features leave much to be desired — it’s a painfully slow, low-res experience for those used to serious smartphones — and though the Flipside throws in a decent landscape keyboard and an HVGA screen, they don’t help much when it’s got the exact same silicon and yet another iffy three megapixel shooter inside. Still, the wonderful thing about the internet is that you can look before you buy, so feast your eyes in galleries below and videos after the break!

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading Motorola Bravo, Flipout and Flipside hands-on: hastily handled and summarily shot (video)

Motorola Bravo, Flipout and Flipside hands-on: hastily handled and summarily shot (video) originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Nokia remains mum about the status of its first MeeGo handset, Doug Fisher, Vice President of Intel’s Software and Solutions Group and General Manager of Systems Software Division, is being decidedly more talkative. According to an interview published by Forbes, MeeGo phones and tablets are in the works but we’ll have to wait until 2011 to handle them. Specifically, Fisher says that MeeGo based cellphones won’t debut until the first half of next year, possibly at a large industry trade show. Hmm, could that be Mobile World Congress by any chance, scheduled for February 2011? It’s also worth noting that Fisher’s timeline coincides with plans for a MeeGo 1.2 release tentatively scheduled for sometime around the end of April.

This is of course disappointing — especially after seeing Nokia’s amazing looking MeeGo-based N9 (pictured) in that supposed leak. Though it’s hardly unexpected given all the executive level changes at Nokia. Remember, back in December Nokia had promised to “deliver” a Maemo 6 powered mobile computer in the second half of 2010. That promise was then seemingly reiterated when the joint MeeGo initiative was announced in February (MeeGo being the union Maemo and Intel’s Moblin). It was during that announcement that Intel and Nokia promised to “launch” MeeGo devices from Nokia and other manufactures in 2010. We took that to mean retail delivery, not just a product annoucement. In fact, we’ve already seen the first MeeGo tablet — the WeTab — ship in Germany. And Fisher says that other MeeGo devices like netbooks and Internet Connected TVs are still on track to ship this year.

Regardless of the semantics, we just want to see Nokia get this right, especially as MeeGo looks to be Nokia’s big play to win back the US market. If they don’t get this right, well, Nokia might not get a second chance — not with Android rapidly maturing, Windows Phone 7 set to launch, and HP getting ready to put its muscle behind webOS. Let’s give Skillman some time to perfect the user experience, shall we?

Intel says no MeeGo phones until first half of 2011, Nokia just shrugs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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