So far, RIM has been able to avoid data services bans in Saudi Arabia and India by compromising with the governments. The exact details of the agreements are confidential, but one concession RIM apparently made was to agree to install servers in both countries.

Part of the issue foreign governments are having with RIM isn’t just that their encryption is so goof the governments can’t break it, meaning they can’t monitor communications. It’s also that RIM’s servers are located in the United States and Canada, which means no foreign countries have any jurisdiction should they require access to data that runs through those servers.

This entire debacle stems from governments’ desires to monitor mobile communications, not of everyday, innocent people, but of confirmed and potential terrorists. If, during the course of an investigation, one of those alleged terrorists was found to be using a BlackBerry, the government would not be able to subpoena data stored on servers in foreign countries, those foreign countries being the U.S. and Canada.

The solution is for the countries, so far Saudi Arabia and India, to have their own servers so they can not only monitor communications, but access the stored data whenever they need or want to. Now that RIM has agreed to install a server in India, that country’s government is rolling the dice to see just how far they can take it by now requesting the same type of access to Google’s and Skype’s data services.

G.K. Pillai, India’s Home Secretary, spoke to reporters on Wednesday, and said notices were sent to both Google and Skype for security agencies to gain “lawful access” to their data. He went on to say, “People who operate communication services in India should (install a) server in India as well as make available access to law enforcement agencies.”

When you consider Google and Skype, the first thoughts you may have are those are computer-based programs and services, so they don’t really apply to mobile data. But do you access your Gmail on your mobile phone? Do you have a Skype application loaded on your smartphone? A lot of people in India do, too.

So now the issue for Indian people has gone from just giving up their BlackBerry devices in favor of other, secure smartphones to knowing that no matter what device they purchase, if they use Google or Skype, their searching histories, e-mail, and conversations may be subject to monitoring by the government.

That’s not the only issue, though. Now that RIM has opened the door by agreeing to install servers in India, and now that India is taking it further with other companies, where is it going to end? If India gets RIM, Google, and Skype servers, Saudi Arabia will probably want them too. And Kuwait. And Lebanon. And the United Arab Emirates. And any other foreign country that is concerned about being able to monitor mobile communications.

Having to install servers, provide the space to house them, and hire employees to service them and keep them functioning is going to get very expensive very quickly. Google can probably afford it easily. And maybe RIM can too. But Skype is still pretty new. Do they have deep enough pockets for this? And what about other communications applications companies? Are some iPhone apps going to be banned in certain countries because the small company that created them don’t have the resources to install offices in those countries?

One of the most interesting things about this entire issue that just keeps getting bigger and bigger is that the government of Canada, where RIM is headquartered, has yet to speak up and say anything about it. At all. Isn’t it about time it did?

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The BlackBerry ban threats started with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and then expanded to Kuwait, India, and Lebanon. Then countries outside the middle east joined in. Indonesia and even Germany wanted access too. Then the European Commission, which employs around 32,000 people, chose the iPhone and HTC devices as their official handsets, leaving BlackBerry out altogether.

Why all the fuss? RIM has created technology so secure that even governments that have been practicing communications monitoring for decades can’t break it. The governments’ response was to ask RIM for the “key,” or suffer the consequences. Banning BlackBerry data services would severely damage RIM’s business, especially in population-dense India.

The governments’ desire to monitor communications may seem extreme and Big Brother-like, but it’s not aimed at people sending love notes or messages about what to have for dinner, or e-mails between friends. The concern is about the ability to monitor potential and confirmed terrorist communications.

It’s understandable. But where does it end?

Because RIM doesn’t actually use any kind of data encryption key, it’s not a simple matter of handing over a code that allows monitoring. In addition, many of the foreign governments expressed concern about not having any jurisdiction over RIM communications information because the company’s servers are located in the United States and Canada, where the company is headquartered.

The solution, it now seems, is to put servers in the other countries. A spokesman for India’s Ministry of Home Affairs released a statement that said, in part, “It was also decided that the Department of Telecommunications would study the feasibility of all such services being provided through a server located only in India.” The agreement made with Saudi Arabia to avoid a ban there reportedly also included server placement.

If RIM does this for India, it stands to reason the other countries would want the same thing. And if a few countries get their own BlackBerry servers, won’t even more countries make their own requests for the same? If Germany has one, won’t Italy, Spain, France, and England want their own too?

And it’s not a simple matter of setting up a server somewhere and leaving it alone. It will require space, and employees to monitor its functioning. That means setting up a RIM office in every country that gets a server. Just how much is this going to cost RIM? And what is it going to do to their stock?

But I’m jumping way ahead there. Right now, there’s only talk of putting servers in Saudi Arabia and India to appease the governments and avert bans in those countries. And the solutions presented by RIM have only averted a ban for the next 60 days while the Indian government reviews the company’s proposal and decides what to do. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

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It’s not the first time the GAO has had something to say about the wireless industry, but their most recent concern was actually that the FCC wasn’t doing enough to protect consumers from the questionable practices of the wireless industry. Their criticism was two-pronged, saying that the FCC wasn’t doing enough to enforce consumer protection rules, or to educate consumers about available recourse when they encounter issues with their carriers.

But now the GAO is turning its spotlight on the industry itself. The office released a report last week (you can read a summary here) that says wireless costs have decreased over the last decade, even as the number of wireless subscribers has grown exponentially, increasing from about 3.5 million in 1999, to 285 million by the end of 2009.

The CTIA, a group that represents the wireless industry, took the report as good news. The group’s CEO, Steve Largent released a statement which said, in part:

“In finding that wireless consumers are seeing ‘lower prices and better coverage,’ today’s GAO report confirms what we’ve been saying for a long time—that the U.S. wireless industry is extremely competitive and continues to respond to increasing consumer demand by delivering real benefits for American consumers.”

But, the report didn’t say the wireless industry is competitive. In fact, it calls the industry “concentrated” because mobile phone users have fewer carriers to choose from today than they did ten years ago. According to the report, the four major carriers—Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile—control approximately 90 percent of the wireless market, and make it difficult for smaller, regional companies to compete.

So what happens now? Well, now it’s up to the FCC to use the data in the GAO’s report to investigate further, and possibly take action. What kind of action? That remains to be seen, but it will be quite a while before any real change comes about.

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The music industry has come after the wireless carriers before. First, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) sued AT&T and Verizon last year, saying that song ringtones amounted to public performances every time a phone using one rang. ASCAP wanted not just future royalties, but retroactive royalties, too, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. Thankfully, a judge saw common sense and ruled in favor of the wireless carriers.

But the music industry wasn’t swayed. A few months later, Broadcast Music, Inc., (BMI) sued T-Mobile for “improperly licensing” ringback tones. Ringback tones are what callers hear through their handset when they place a call. Some carriers, like T-Mobile, allow customers to choose custom ringback tones. BMI wants a piece of that action. That case is still pending.

Now, along comes NAB. They’re not in quite the same area of business as ASCAP and BMI, but they’re like a very close cousin. After all, it’s content produced by artists affiliated with ASCAP and BMI that is broadcast over radio stations affiliated with NAB, and the NAB pays musicians and their managers to use that content. So the music industry has an interest in seeing FM tuners placed in mobile phones.

Oh, but that’s not why the NAB wants Congress to mandate that FM tuners be installed in cell phones. Oh, no. They say it’s a matter of safety and security. You know, if there’s some sort of natural disaster or other dangerous situation, mobile phones can suddenly spring to life and broadcast warnings via their fancy shmancy FM tuners, much like the emergency notices that pop up on televisions when there’s a tornado in the area, or some other emergency situation.

The thing is, in order for a mobile phone to receive an FM signal, it doesn’t just need a tuner, it needs an antenna. (I can hear the groans over at Apple right now.) Interestingly, many mobile phones already do have FM tuners installed in them. They’re just not activated, and obviously, cell phones don’t have radio antennas on them.

While the NAB is talking a lot of big talk about going to Congress with this national safety issue, they don’t have any solutions for the antenna problem. In fact, when asked about it, NAB executive vice president Dennis Wharton said that was something for MIT engineers to figure out, not the NAB.

Wow, really? I’m pretty sure MIT engineers are busy with other things like, oh, I don’t know, figuring out how to get all that oil out of the Gulf of Mexico and the surrounding shoreline, not coming up with ways to outfit mobile phones with radio antennas so the music industry can continue to turn a profit.

Besides, there are already small, handheld devices that have both FM tuners and antennas. You may have heard of them. They’re called radios.

Image courtesy Zatz Not Funny!

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Bank of America’s testing is only taking place in New York City for the time being. If all goes well, they’ll expand to other areas. But for now, customers can test out the smartphone payment system at Walgreens, Home Depot, McDonald’s, and in taxis. Other companies that are set up to accept mobile payments include CVS, Burger King, and BP, if anyone is even buying gas from them anymore.

In order to use the service, smartphones must have a microSD card that is payment-capable installed. The technology for that has been developed by Visa and a company in Texas called DeviceFidelity. Their system allows smartphones, including the iPhone, to store multiple card accounts, doing away with the need to carry several cards in your wallet.

It makes sense that Visa would be involved in this program. Right now, Visa and MasterCard pretty much dominate point of sale credit card capabilities. But in order for merchants to accept those cards, they must pay Visa and MasterCard fees. Those fees have gone up quite a bit over the years, and continue to rise, in many cases to the point where merchants decide not to accept cards anymore because they simply can’t afford the convenience.

If the joint venture that the wireless carriers are involved in takes off, it could conceivably take a lot of business—and a lot of money—away from Visa and MasterCard. If their fees are lower, and if the companies can prove that their system is secure and reliable, merchants will most likely be quite willing to switch to save themselves from having to pay so much to accept credit cards.

But if that’s going to happen, and they’re going to compete at all, they need to step things up. While Verizon is investing in CardStar, people in New York area already paying making smartphone payments. If the Bank of America program begins to expand before the wireless companies even get their testing off the ground, they may miss their entry into smartphone payments altogether.

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The Nokia 5250 main feature has got to be its music player which has its own icon on the phone’s homescreen. The music player app supports Nokia’s Ovi Music Store, meaning you can purchase music tracks from the online store and download it directly to the Nokia 5250 phone. While the phone’s built-in memory is only 512MB which could hardly accomodate thousands of music tracks, you have the option to expand it via a microSD memory card up to 16GB. Aside from this, the Nokia 5250 also comes with a built-in FM radio and a complementary copy of Guitar Hero 5 Mobile.

Aside from the music player on the phone’s homescreen, there are also other apps, particularly social networking app such as Facebook, MySpace and others. The phone also lets you access your Ovi Mail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. You can also check out your IM accounts. For more apps, you can just check the Ovi Store to get the apps supported by the phone.

And since this is a music phone, it has to have long battery life. Fortunately, the Nokia 5250 can last you up to 24 hours of continous music playback or up to 18 days standby and 7 hours talktime.

Other features of the Nokia 5250 include – Symbian^1 OS, GSM/EDGE Network connectivity, 2.8-inch TFT screen with 16:9 aspect ratio and 640×360 resolution, and a 2 MP camera.

The Nokia 5250 is slated for a 4th Quarter release. It will cost you €115 to score this phone.

Via Nokia Conversations

CardStar is not any kind of payment replacement app. Instead, it allows you to consolidate all your store loyalty cards into one app, again reducing the number of cards you need to carry in your wallet. Grocery stores, pet supply stores, even electronics and office supply stores all have loyalty cards that offer discounts and other specials on occasion to keep people coming back. Between credit cards, debit cards, and loyalty cards, your wallet can get pretty crowded. CardStar lets you enter all your loyalty cards’ numbers in one place, and then simply use the app at checkout.

There are actually several apps available that do this. Where CardStar sets itself apart is by allowing merchants to offer promotions through the app. The app also gives merchants several ways to use the app, which is especially important for those that don’t have the ability to scan bar codes at the register. More than 2,000 merchants have already signed on with CardStar, and the app has more than 700,000 registered users.

In addition, CardStar recently announced an integration of its service with Foursquare. By selecting favorite merchants, Foursquare will automatically check you in whenever a purchase is made and identified via CardStar.

It’s not clear yet what Verizon hopes to gain from its investment, although it may be able to integrate its own payment system once it’s up and running. For now, CardStar is available for the iPhone as well as Android and BlackBerry devices.

Image courtesy CardStar

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Sure, any phone with video capabilities can be used by a deaf or hearing impaired person, but the occasional lag can hamper communication. People who use sign language every day sign as quickly as most of us speak. If the video can’t keep up, much of the meaning can be lost. In addition, people who communicate via sign language also use facial expressions to emphasize what they’re saying. Facial expressions convey important visual cues, regardless of whether a person is speaking or signing.

Researchers conducting the university study have formed a MobileASL team. One of the team’s goals has been to increase image quality, not only around the hands that are signing, but around the faces of those communicating. This is especially important because deaf and hearing impaired people must rely completely on video and cannot depend on verbal cues like laughter.

To increase image quality, the MobileASL team has optimized compressed video signals, bringing the data rate down to about 30 kilobytes per second. In addition, the phone has motion detection built in to “see” whether someone is signing or not. If no motion is detected, the phone automatically shuts itself off, thereby extending battery life.

It’s true that those with hearing impairment can also rely on e-mail and texting, but they’re not always convenient or desirable. Texting is good for short messages like “Pick me up at noon.” E-mail is fine, but it can be a little impersonal. Being able to sign over a video phone allows them to have a true conversation, and derive enjoyment from actually seeing the person they’re talking to.

Part of this study is also meant to find ways to make this improved video communication affordable. The phone’s battery will have to pack quite a punch to accommodate heavy video usage, and the higher resolution video and screen will necessitate more expensive components.

It’s important to note that this improved communication for deaf and hearing impaired people is just coming about as wireless carriers begin to do away with their unlimited data plans in favor of data caps and tiered pricing. To rely on video communication the way hearing people rely on voice communication will require a lot of data usage. Hopefully, all wireless carriers will make accommodations for this increased usage when the sign language phone is perfected and produced for the general public.

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According to a report from Wired, Verizon Android customers use 25 percent more data than AT&T’s iPhone customers. In addition, a study by Rhythm New Media showed that Android users stream more video over 3G networks than iPhone users do.

What does this mean? Well, for one thing, it means we can probably expect the other three carriers to follow AT&T’s example and begin capping data pretty soon. The major wireless companies all usually follow each other in policy changes and new offerings anyway. It’s part of remaining competitive. In this case, though, by continuing to offer their unlimited data plans, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile maintained a bit of an edge over AT&T. Unless a potential customer is really adamant about getting an iPhone, why wouldn’t they opt for unlimited data over capped, right?

AT&T’s data caps went into effect on June 7, 2010. Those who were already AT&T customers with unlimited data at that time were able to keep their unlimited plans if they wanted to, or they could switch to limited and maybe save a little money.

I would imagine the other carriers will do the same. The more people start using smartphones, and the more data they consume. And with the net neutrality debate heating up again, now may be the time to lock in an unlimited plan if you don’t have one already, before you’re left without the choice.

Image courtesy Rhythm New Media

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that an Indian source provided the media outlet with access to minutes taken during several meetings held between RIM representatives and Indian officials. The Journal says one summary of a discussion about e-mail indicated that “after some persuasion, the [RIM] representative agreed that they can provide the metadata of the message,” which would include an e-mail’s sender, recipient, and time stamp.

RIM issued a statement last Thursday saying that while it is willing to help carriers adhere to national security rules, it will not alter its e-mail servers’ security architecture in response to any foreign governments’ demands. The statement went on to say that “RIM maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries.”

Part of the problem foreign governments in India, as well as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Indonesia, and most recently Germany, have with not being able to access RIM’s secure network is they believe they are being denied access that other governments and countries have been given. Presumably, they are referring to the United States and Canada, where RIM is headquartered.

The U.S. government has expressed support for RIM, albeit cautiously, while the Canadian government has remained silent on the issue.

With news of the deal RIM is making with India surfacing, it stands to reason other governments will want the same kind of access. But what if other countries want more access? Where will it end? How far will RIM have to go to keep their BlackBerry data services from being banned around the world?

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