Alexander’s Blog

Are you impressed with the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless speeds? Great. Then you are really going to like what Samsung Electronics announced yesterday. Samsung announced that they have developed the world’s first adaptive array transceiver technology operating in the millimeter-wave Ka bands for cellular communications. This new mobile technology is supposed to provide blazing transmission speeds up to several hundred times faster than current 4G networks. Here’s what Samsung has to say about this technology:

“It transmits data in the millimeter-wave band at a frequency of 28 GHz at a speed of up to 1.056 Gbps to a distance of up to 2 kilometers. The adaptive array transceiver technology, using 64 antenna elements, can be a viable solution for overcoming the radio propagation loss at millimeter-wave bands, much higher than the conventional frequency bands ranging from several hundred MHz to several GHz.”

Before you run to the store looking for the new 5G Samsung phone, I should point out that the new technology won’t be available for at least another 7 years.

“Samsung plans to accelerate the research and development of 5G mobile communications technologies, including adaptive array transceiver at the millimeter-wave bands, to commercialize those technologies by 2020.”

Imagine watching 3D movies and games on your smart phone. How about real-time streaming of ultra high-definition (UHD) content? I have always believed that the wireless technology have been introduced to the consumers way before it was ready. We have been using cell phones for decades and still can’t consistently get a reliable connection even in large cities. Not to mention the security issues related to the wireless. What about the speed? The vendors will sell you phones for $500-$800 so you can watch television or videos on your smart phone but its like watching black and white movies from the 20s on your expensive 3D television. Or worst…..like using Skype instead of a video phone.

You can read the entire story on Samsung’s Web site here.

Microsoft has several products that are generating good revenue for their business. Mary Jo Foley recently published this article that has more details. Most of the heavy hitters are big names but SharePoint definitely stands out.

There are over dozens products in this select group that generate over a $1 billion a year in sales for Microsoft, including the following products listed in alphabetical order.

1.  Azure
2.  Developer Tools
3.  Dynamics (ERP & CRM)
4.  Office
5.  Online display and search advertising.
6.  SharePoint (crossed the $2 billion mark in 2012)
7.  SQL Server
8.  System Center
9.  Unified Communications
10. Windows
11. Xbox

SharePoint is supposedly the only product that have crossed the $2 billion mark. If I am not mistaken, SharePoint was also the first product to cross the $1 billion in sales. You can bet all the tea in China that Office365 will be added to this list shortly.

For more information on this topic, check out Mary Jo Foley’s article. She also has some other interesting stuff in her article.

Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn just announced to the public that the City of Seattle will develop an ultra-fast broadband network. This is exciting news for both Seattle’s businesses and residents.

The City of Seattle has reached an agreement with broadband developer Gigabit Squared to develop and operate an ultra high-speed fiber-to-the-home/fiber-to-the-business broadband network. The plan will begin with a demonstration fiber project in twelve Seattle neighborhoods and includes wireless methods to deploy services more quickly to other areas in the city. The initiative, leveraging the City of Seattle’s excess fiber capacity, the expertise of Gigabit Squared, and the community leadership of The University of Washington, aims to stimulate business opportunities, spur advancements in health care, education, and public safety, and enhance quality of life for the residents and businesses of Seattle.

“This is a very promising proposal that can help bring 21st century infrastructure to Seattle,” said Mayor McGinn. “I’ve heard from residents and businesses that Seattle needs better broadband service, and this agreement lays the groundwork for building that network. I’m excited to work with the University of Washington and Gigabit Squared to provide new Internet service choices.”

Check out GigabitSeattle.com for more information.

Looks like Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 8 and tablet Surface RT will be available to general public on October 26, 2012. According to Mary Jo Foley, Windows Phone 8 is expected to officially launch on October 29 and should become available for ordering within a week or two after that.

No official news on Windows Server 2012 general availability yet but it seems like it will be early 2013 before it becomes available. Then why is it called Windows Server 2012? Good question. Obviously, Microsoft expected to launch it in 2012, and may still do that. Frankly, I prefer that Microsoft takes it time and doesn’t release a half-baked product like it did with Exchange 2007 and Windows Vista.

If you recall, in June Microsoft announced an upgrade offer for people who have or will purchase Windows 7 PCs between June 2012 and January 2013. They will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $14.99, which is essentially free. Frankly, this is a very generous offer. Microsoft also announced that people running Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 will be able to pay only $39.99 for an upgrade to Windows 8. Again, this is an incredible offer. Microsoft could easily charge more for an upgrade. Well, let’s put it this way, there is a reason why Microsoft’s operating system is on almost 95% of the computers in the world and Apple’s isn’t.

Launch Dates

Windows 8 = October 26

Surface RT = October 26

Windows Phone 8 = October 29

Windows 8 Upgrade Cost

If you purchased a PC between June 2012 and January 2013 = $14.99

Owners of Windows XP/Vista/7 = $39.99

The economy has not been very good lately. Duh? And I don’t mean just in the USA, but in Europe and the rest of the world. There are a couple of industries that haven’t been hit hard by the global economic downturn: Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications. Because I happen to be involved in both of these industries, I am always interested in keeping an eye on what’s happening in IT and telecommunications, especially in today’s economic conditions.

As the world turns to cloud computing and the $1.7 trillion telecommunications industry is cruising around like there was no such thing as a slow economy, the IT spending is going nuts. Okay, so may be it’s not going nuts but it sure is increasing at a faster rate than expected.

Here’s what the industry analysts at Gartner Research are saying. If you are not familiar with Gartner, they are the world’s leading IT research and advisory company. They have 1,280 research analysts and consultants. They are like the E.F. Hutton of IT because when Gartner talks, people listen. If you don’t know E.F. Hutton you’re too young. Don’t worry just keep on reading. According to Gartner, the world will spend $3.6 trillion on IT in 2012. This is 3% higher than what was spent in 2011. One of the main reasons given by Gartner for this increase is that spending on cloud services is expected to go up from $91 billion in 2011 to $109 billion this year. That’s about a 17% increase. In fact, Gartner is predicting that it will go up to $207 billion by the time your 15 year old kid graduates from high school in 2016. That will be about 44% increase in spending on cloud services from 2011 to 2016. Microsoft didn’t jump on the cloud computing bandwagon until the last couple of years but now Microsoft is pouring money and resources in cloud services. According to this 2011 post on Bloomberg, Microsoft was planning to spend $8.64 billion of its $9.6 billion annual Research & Development (R&D) budget on cloud computing. That’s 90% of it’s R&D budget. Are you kidding me?

Besides IT, the telecommunications industry is another area that has experienced decent growth. According to Gartner, telecommunications spending is going to go up $1.69 trillion this year, an increase of 1.4% from 2011. Although telecommunications and IT compliment each other in certain ways and Gartner says that IT consulting is in great demand, telecommunications spending is by far the hottest ticket in town.

As an instructor and a consultant, I believe Microsoft SharePoint is one of the reasons why IT business has been booming in today’s economy. Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint online (which is also offered as part of Office 365) are part of the cloud computing push and considering the fact that Microsoft is investing so heavily in R&D, the future for IT industry looks good.

For more information, check out this New York Times blog post.