Hello!
And welcome to a special CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2006 edition of our column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry—especially at trade shows—so this column is a chance for us at RCR to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
Well the news is coming fast and furious as the show kicks into high gear today. RCR’s reporters are hustling around this morning, desperately trying to get to their appointments while chugging as much coffee as possible.
I myself am recovering from a horrific shaving accident this morning. It’s my own fault really. I should have snuck my own razor onto the plane so I wouldn’t have to use the hotel’s razor (which I’m guessing cost around 0.00000001 cents to make).
Walking into the convention center this morning, I briefly wondered if the building has enough cell sites to handle us all. Every single person, and I mean everyone, was on a cell phone. At least, in this industry, we practice what we preach. (Disclosure: I felt somewhat embarrassed that I wasn’t on my phone so I called my wife, just to fit in.)
Anyway, let’s take a look at what’s going on this morning:
–The big news is that News Corp. is going to take a stake in VeriSign’s Jamba wireless business. Seems that News’ Mobizzo effort isn’t enough, they need more help selling ringtones and graphics for “Family Guy.” My only hope is that this agreement between News and VeriSign results in more “Simpsons” content, because if you haven’t guessed it already, my world view begins and ends with Homer. “Why you little…!”
–With Sprint Nextel moving ahead on EV-DO Revision A, Verizon Wireless is now playing “me too” with an announcement with Motorola for Rev. A equipment. It’s always fun to watch the Cold War-style warring between carriers over network upgrades. Mr. Forsee, tear down this network! Update: A Verizon Wireless spokesman kindly informed me that this is not Verizon’s first Rev. A contract, they also have deals with Nortel and Lucent for Rev. A. Gear.
–Cingular is going to start selling Nokia’s super duper E62 e-mail phone. My only comment is: Why doesn’t it have a cutesy name like “Pearl” or “Q” or “Treo” or something? Here’s my suggestion for a good E62 name: “Justlike.” As in, Nokia’s new “Justlike” is just like all those other e-mail phones, except it’s from Nokia. Good?
–A little bit of shameless self-promotion: RCR @ CTIA. We’re doing the Show Daily, we’ve got all the news you need online, and we’ve even got a WAP site (www.RCRNews.com) for you cell phone users out there.
–And finally, looks like the chairman of Hewlett-Packard (who is a woman but is stilled called “chairman”) is going to step down because of the company’s phone-records scandal. The scandal involves HP tapping into journalists’ phone records to find out where their internal leaks are coming from. I sure hope all you corporate types out there aren’t tapping into my phone records… because there is absolutely nothing interesting in there.
And, of course, the most important information I can give you: the CTIA party list. Enjoy.
TUESDAY, Sept. 12
Mobile Digital TV Alliance’s CTIA Press and Analyst Breakfast
Tuesday
7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Marriott Hotel
Board Room Lounge
333 S. Figueroa Street
Exhibit Floor Reception
Tuesday
3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Exhibit Floor
Autodesk cocktail party
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Admission by invitation only
WIC Reception
Tuesday
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Rooftop Bar
The Standard Downtown LA Hotel
FierceWireless party
Tuesday
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Marriott Pool Gardens
333 S. Figueroa Street
MobileFocus
Tuesday
7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Westin Bonaventure Hotel
Qpass party
Tuesday
8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Figueroa Hotel
939 S. Figueroa Street
Admission by invitation only
Walt Disney party
Tuesday
9 p.m. to midnight
Social Hollywood
6525 Sunset Blvd.
Admission by invitation only
I welcome your comments. Please send me an email at mdano@crain.com
