Finally, Giesecke & Devrient contributes to Android!

Well, after some months of work, G&D has finally gone public on the project that it was developing on Android platform. As can be checked in the press release the contribution consists on code that enables any Android based phone with a microSD card slot (all of them, for the time being) to use a special microSD with a SmartCard embedded on it (check more info about the Mobile Security Card) to deploy security enhanced applications with the use of hardware Security Elements.
But this is only a start point as, it can be checked in this document, several SE may be added in the future... so if you have a good idea or want to work on that project just visit the Google Code page of the Secure Element Evaluation Kit (SEEK)!!

Android Phone

Finally, after talking a little bit about it I have the for the first time a Google phone in my hands.
Some months ago I had a HTC Dream locked to T-Mobile thanks to a friend, but I had no T-Mobile USA enabled SIM card to play with it so I had to be happy with "emulating" one and been able to play with the Wifi connection. I any case it was a nice experience and my first impression was that it was a nice OS, even though the handset was a bit bricky.

Now I have a HTC Magic unlocked phone, even though it is VF Germany branded, to play with it in my two weeks vacation in the States. I plan to acquire a prepaid SIM card and use it to access to Internet while travelling. I will travel also with my N95 but VF Spain roaming rate makes it very difficult to really explode it.
So, hopefully in some weeks I will have a brief report of my experience that I will be able to share here.

Mobile World Congress 2009, Barcelona

It is again here. The MWC 2009, the Congress of the Crisis, starts tomorrow. Today I have been in the booth as to check that everything was working correctly and I had a first impression of what was going in there. A lot of workers setting up the stands and changes in the presence of some exhibitors.
I will be in the G&D booth (Hall 8, Stand 8B65) these days and will try to meet as many people as I can and get first hand information of the industry. Forecasts say that there will be a fall in the number of visitors and also in the days of stay. Hope they are not very big and the Congress and the Exhibition keep the leading role they have in the Industry.
On the organisation, unfortunately this year was not included along the badge the four day ticket to use the public transportation system. Hope it is the only reduction in the reasonably good job that was done in the previous years and that the congress is celebrated here for some more years.

I will keep posting on the results from the MWC2009!

The MSc Thesis

The day arrived and last Monday I presented my master's thesis. It has been a long and tough way but now I'm happy with the result and with the stages that come along. Of course, I could do a better job if more time would have been available, but as mi adviser told me, it overtakes the standards of the task :-o . Nevertheless, this does not end here. Some opportunities have appeared now to apply the methodology and results to my day to day work and also positive perspectives arise on the academic field. A PhD? It is too early to know and I have promised my partner a period of relative rest.
Anyhow, and although this blog was started for the master, I hope to continue posting here the highlights (and down-lights) of my work, the random thoughts and the silly ideas that may appear in the future.

Mission (partly) accomplished!

The thesis work is more than fifty pages long and partly boring ;-) It is available here, and released under Creative Commons license, so if you enroll on having a look do it under your own responsibility, you are warned! Just kidding, any feedback is highly welcomed.

I post here the Abstract

The SIM card: An exercise of Technology Watch chasing state of the art and new opportunities.

The SIM card has become, thanks to its embedding in Mobile Handsets of GSM and other systems, the permanent companion of the subscriber and the more spread Smart Card of the world. In this work an exercise of TechnologyWatch has been done on the developments around the SIM Card along with a theoretical and literature review on the TW process. Technology Watch, and the broad concept of Competitive Intelligence, are introduced from a scholarlypoint of view and a review of literature on TW from the year 2003 to the present is done. This Theoretical Framework is then put on test with a Case Study about the SIM Card.
Using sources and data at three levels: Research, Development and Innovation and having in mind the corpus of the Technology Watch discipline, an analysis is done finding interesting knowledge, qualitative and quantitative, on the recent past and present development of the SIM card. This information is also used to do some prospect on the subject.
Some of the findings have been to identify the main publications at the research level, the Relevant International Patent Classifications and interesting sources for Market analysis for SIM Development. Moreover, a list of Institutions and Companies working in the subject is provided as well as the 2008 more published topics in the industry. The system and techniques used to do all this process are also described in detail.
This work is a start point in order to construct a system for continuous environmental scanning on SIM card developments as to detect weak signals and early trends to take advantage of them. Thus, it must be considered as a seminal work of a broader approach to Technology Watch in the SIM card business. It may be of interests of scholars, because the broad review on the literature, as well as practitioners, because the practical orientation of the Case Study, and managers of related industries because the information extracted from the data analysed.

SIM Machine

Today, at Luton Airport in London, I have found an interesting machine. It was a regular automatic can selling machine but instead of Coke cans it contained SIM cards and SIM Accessories! From cards of several European and Middle East operators, to a TurboSIM to unlock Nokia phones and SIM carriers...

This is one of the possibilities that the SIM card enabled and unleashed in the past, even without knowing, but that empower the mobile phones use and that increase the possibilities of users, and also of operators in most of cases, of using the technology to the most convenience for them.

One of the things that surprised me more was a SIM card of Orange Spain on sale in the machine. The point is that in Spain before buying a SIM card you must present your ID card and register it, so you can not be an anonymous user of a mobile phone for security reasons. This regulation stem from the Madrid bombings in 2004. Because this I wonder whether you can use the machine bought card directly from it or you have to do a previous activation in a physical shop in Spain, what would take convenience to the buy of the SIM card in the Airport...

Another of the most suprising items was the TurboSIM to unlock the Nokia phones... This simple device has become a common device and now not only Geeks use it to use their branded iPhone with whatever carrier!

GSMA Mobile Asia Congress news

These days the Mobile Asia Congress of the GSM Association is been held in Macau. From the first speeches some interesting news extracted from the Mobile Business Briefing of the GSMA:

GSMA CEO: Digital Dividend key to future growth
GSMA CEO Rob Conway used his opening keynote address at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress yesterday to call on governments around the world to free up further Digital Dividend spectrum for mobile use. Conway said that further mobile use of the spectrum ? which is becoming available due to the shift from analogue to digital TV ? would be a "major economic stimulus" that could help governments address the current global financial crisis. "Broadcasters have plenty of spectrum and using some of that spectrum for wireless is far more efficient and a much bigger boost to the economy than any TV channel," he said. "We all know the studies which show how mobile can increase GDP."
Conway added that the success of mobile broadband had meant that new spectrum is required to meet capacity demands and noted that future mobile standards such as LTE will also benefit from the new airwaves. "LTE depends on harmonised spectrum and LTE is the future," he said. Citing GSMA research, Conway said that network costs in lower frequencies such as 700MHz are around seven times cheaper than 3.5GHz, making network expansion into rural areas more economically viable and ensuring greater 'in-building' coverage. "The lower the harmonised frequency band, the greater the incentive for investing in LTE networks," he said. Conway hailed the recent decisions in France and Switzerland to make Digital Dividend spectrum in the 790-862MHz frequency band available for mobile use, but criticised the situation in Spain, which is allowing broadcasters to block the release of Digital Dividend for mobile. Elsewhere in his address, Conway pledged his support for measures aimed at increasing network efficiencies and reducing costs, such as network sharing between operators, and the deployment of energy efficient base stations.

And another one on NFC (Near Field Communications):

GSMA pushes for NFC handsets
The GSMA has called for full Near Field Communications (NFC) functionality to be built into commercially available handsets from mid-2009. Such a move would give a big boost to mobile payment services, it said. The Association's board also announced its support for the 'Single Wire Protocol' (SWP) standard that defines the interface between a mobile phone?s SIM card and its embedded NFC chipset. It is the NFC chip which communicates with contactless readers so users can make financial transactions over short distances, for instance using a debit or credit card to buy small items in a convenience store or a ticket on public transport.
A number of mobile operators are already conducting trials of NFC services as part of the GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative. The GSMA claimed that the trials ? being conducted by nine operators, including South Korea's KTF, and Taiwan's FarEastone, in eight countries ? have already shown a growing consumer demand for mobile payment services. Further trials are planned by 15 operators in 14 countries. Encouraging results from Taiwan found that 90 percent of people felt positive toward the new service, whilst over 90 percent of triallists in France said they found contactless mobile payment convenient, fast and easy to use. This latest development follows issue of a detailed Device Requirement document by the GSMA in July to a wide range of vendors and suppliers in the Pay-Buy-Mobile ecosystem. The GSMA revealed that 37 key players responded, giving an understanding of the core requirements for any SWP/NFC device.

More information in Mobile Asia Congress website and the GSMA official page.

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and NFC

Last Friday, while I was going to watch a cinema movie to Gràcia, I was shocked after what I watch underground. As can be seen in the following pictures, in Universitat Underground station there is an access barrier that is activated with NFC... this has been a big surprise because I have not found any official announcement in the net, but they have installed this access barrier and also a "recharge point" near the ticketing machines...






It does not seem supported by any mobile operator, as the logos and information there was unbranded. I guess they are using Nokia 6131 NFC enabled phones that does not use the SIM card for storing the sensitive data but an "embedded chip" that is inside the handset and managed over-the-air... will continue investigating.

Summer

This must be the most used post title in the present days... actually this and "The end of the Summer". Finally, August is over and the time to start again at cruise speed with all the duties is here. Tomorrow, September 1st., it will be the time to get all the ToDos that we step aside in July and retake them to see that they are not yet over.
For me August was pretended to be a prolific month where I could advance in my work for the MSc. Thesis, but unfortunately it has turned to be a demanding time from my work in order to get along with all the duties from the different customers. Anyhow, some work could be done and I have advanced in the preparation of a paper on the sources used for my work. Moreover, I had the opportunity to read some books interesting for my work in the Thesis and in G&D.
Hope soon to get at this cruise speed and get on with the hot fall that comes along!!

Israel

These days I am on a business travel in Israel. I must say that I have become a converted. I really find this country interesting and that its people is doing a hard work in order to get along. For sure, there are things I do not like about "the problem" but this young country is able to show the rest of the world incredible things, like how in 20 years they have formed the most wealthy region of startup and technology (IT, security and bio) enterprises. For sure there are some things to change, and to regret, but I am optimistic about it. Hope to come back some more times and show how this economically flourishing country becomes the flourishing of democracy in Middle East.

Summer

It looks like when one is approaching the summer, this time of warm and light, work becomes harder and thoughts fuzzier... anyhow it is a good time for reflection and born of new ideas.

Finally I will not be able to finish the Master Thesis before summer so I will continue it from September on. Notwithstanding the possibility to work on it this summer is exciting and I hope I will be able to invest some work time and resources on it and bring some light to my Thesis work...

Magic Black Box

As I previously introduced, for the Austrian last business travel I prepared a device as to impress my colleagues ;-) From this aim resulted the Magic Black Box, also known as I.M.W.V.S. (Integrated Mobile-Webcam Visualization System) :-D. Is basically a device to display in a computer screen a Mobile Handset display. It is useful to beam this screen and make live demos with big audiences.

In the following picture you can have and idea of the external look of the MBB.



Here a screenshot of how a beamed screen would look like.



Components

There two main components for building this device:

* Lifecam VX-3000
* Cardboard Box

The webcam original look



The displaying software and webcam features can be found at the Microsoft Website

The original cardboard box look



Assembly



This is the camera with its base unscrewed as to reduce the volume occupied. Note that there is a piece at the bottom of the camera, where the screw was attached, that may be used to pin the camera vertical if a suitable hole is done at the bottom of the cardboard box.



This is the cardboard support as to keep the camera fixed even when the box is moved.



These are views of the situation of the camera inside the box. The clips in the sides are removable so if the box must be transported unfolded it is easy and fast to unmount it.



These slits are where the folding handset is put in. They are, of course, in the side in front of the camera.




Final views of the present Magic Black Box configuration with a folding handset. Note the hole to pass the webcam USB cable by.
Further Developments
It would be quite interesting to improve it allowing to suit different handsets thant the folding ones!!!

Alive

I am Alive!!! I have just returned from a business travel to centre Europe (Vienna, Bratislava...) and have some things and thoughts to share... but I have no time :-( Hope soon to show here my new development... the Magic Black Box!

WIPO Python document retriever

Working on the sources for my MSc. Thesis I started to have a look to the patent finder of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). As it is the world database and the topic I am covering is quite globalised I think that it is the best IPR database to do the analysis. I need to do such an analysis of several searches on the Wipo database and I have not close the terms of the final search I have to do. So, I have to perform previous searches, analyze the number of records per year, applicant... and then decide if the terms are OK.

The point is that the way the records are retrieved is not useful enough. Thus I have written a Python script that retrieves the records that match the terms of search and stores them in a delimiter separated file. This file can be imported in a calc sheet and analyzed with the usual tools, or even exported to any database format to do advanced treatment of the information.

I put it in online under a Creative Commons license, as usual. I will update the code uploaded if I make further developments.

Here is a sample of what you would get if you execute:

C> wiposearchretrieve.py "Smartcard"

Query Params|Record Id.|Patent Code|Publication Date|Description|International Class|Application Number|Applicant Name|url|Abstract
SIM+Card|1|WO 2008/052205|02.05.2008|COMBINED ALGORITHMIC AND EDITORIAL-REVIEWED MOBILE CONTENT SEARCH RESULTS|G06Q 10/00|PCT/US2007/082754|JUMP TAP, INC.|http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41236014-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1451431&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=1&TOTAL=3280&START=1&DISP=500&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2007082754&QUERY=%22SIM+Card%22|In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for reviewing mobile content to determine relevance such that presenting the reviewed content to a mobile communication facility may be based at least in part on the relevance. The reviewed content may be subject to an algorithmic review, an editorial review, or a combined algorithmic- editorial review. The reviewed content may be blacklisted and prevented from being presented, whitelisted and permitted to be presented to the mobile communication facility, or given a relevance score based at least in part on appropriateness of content. Portions of the reviewed content may be removed or replaced with appropriate content prior to presentation to the user.
SIM+Card|2|WO 2008/052100|02.05.2008|PORTABLE MULTIFUNCTION DEVICE, METHOD, AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR ADJUSTING AN INSERTION POINT MARKER|G06F 3/048|PCT/US2007/082486|APPLE INC.|http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41236014-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1451325&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=2&TOTAL=3280&START=1&DISP=500&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2007082486&QUERY=%22SIM+Card%22|In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method is performed at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. The method includes: displaying graphics and an insertion marker at a first location in the graphics on the touch screen display; detecting a finger contact with the touch screen display; and in response to the detected finger contact, expanding the insertion marker from a first size to a second size on the touch screen display and expanding a portion of the graphics on the touch screen display from an original size to an expanded size. The method further includes detecting movement of the finger contact on the touch screen display and moving the expanded insertion marker in accordance with the detecte...
SIM+Card|3|WO 2008/051718|02.05.2008|METHOD, SYSTEM, AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR MAKING CONFERENCE CALLS|H04M 1/247|PCT/US2007/080971|APPLE INC.|http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41236014-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1450639&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=3&TOTAL=3280&START=1&DISP=500&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2007080971&QUERY=%22SIM+Card%22|A user interface for handling multiple calls includes displaying an image associated with a first party on a first call and an image associated with a second party on a second call. When one call is active and the other call is on hold, the image associated with the party that is on the active call is visually highlighted to make it more visually prominent relative to the other image. When both calls are joined into a conference call, both images are displayed adjacent to each other and neither is visually highlighted relative to the other.
...
...

Sources of information

It is interesting to see how hard is to get the right sources for developing a rigorous work on any subject. Let's say that sources are half of the final result. Of course, the effort is not half, just like buying good bricks is not half of the effort of building a house, but a bad election of bricks would have dramatic consequences in the final result.

In my work regarding the knowledge production on the SIM technology, I have found some databases that would help in the retrieving of records related with the research. I have mainly found in the UPC library page. I have also checked in the UB and UOC library, as I have remote access for this libraries only, and almost them all are accessible from them.

Additionally I have started using del.icio.us, the fantastic online bookmarks manager. I am not a fan of bookmarks thus the elementary possibilities provided by firefox sufficed my needs, but now that I have to look for interesting and locatable sources in the Internet, it is a very powerful tool.

One of the problem of creating a knowledge database is the format. First I started with MSWord, the I switched to BibTex, and finally I did it in Excel. I will combine the use of Excel with Python scripts to be able to convert between this format and the others... let's see how it works ;-)

Master Thesis

Finally the time has come. I have started the final season of the MSc. and I must prepare the Master Thesis. I have published some posts on the topic but I have some news. First of all, I have changed the subject of study. My original idea was to make some study about Knowledge Management and the ways to audit it.
After a first conversation with my thesis adviser I agreed to work on a KM related topic: Technological transfer and knowledge transformation in the SIM world. The objective is to do a quantitative analysis on the present production of knowledge in the Out of the mobile communications by the SIM card as to find some trends and opportunities... here is the draft for the proposal, although I must work deeply in clarifying the purpose and final hypothesis...

Bankinter Movil and Simyo

Some days ago I talked about the convergence between Banking Services and Mobile Communications... The same day I heard about Bankinter Movil, the new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) from Spain.
Bankinter is a Spanish bank specialized in offering Internet, Mobile and Telephone access to its services. I guess the start in offering a Mobile Telephony service has to do mainly with this, but I am sure that they will be pioneers in others fields like Mobile payment and financials...
They will work with KPN, that actually is another MVNO in Spain acting with the brand Simyo and using the physical network of Orange.

On the other side, I have bought a Simyo card for data access while on the go. I have also acquired an 6120 HSDPA enabled phone as to exploit it... I will post the results!

Convergence

Convergence was one of the buzzwords of 2007 in the Telecomunications world. Convergence between fixed and mobile services (FMC) , billing convergence or technological convergence.
The fact is that Telecom Operators are offering their customers different products that are billed separetely. For instance, Internet ADSL access, cable TV, fixed Telephony service or even Mobile Telephony. This situation has made that the Telco Operator may bundle Dual or Triple Play offers to the customer and bill them altogether. There is also an opportunity to create technology mixed solutions, like Femtocells that use the legacy fixed network and ADSL access to increase the Mobile Network access or Pay TV solutions over the ADSL connection... this is what convergence, at least in a restricted sense signified to the Telco Operators.

The present year, in the Mobile World Congress, one of the hot issues was the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology and the services associated, that is, Mobile Ticketing, Identification and Payment. This technology enables the possibility to put, securely and once issued, inside the mobile phone the applications needed to deploy these services. This situation positions the Mobile Operators as key players in a new group of payment services. And this is not new for them, at present they are charging the subscriber for the services that they use when browsing the Internet, like streaming TV or ring-tones and music download. This technology presents the opportunity to make the same in the real world.
This new position can take convergence to another stage. Once the physical platform, credit cards and SIM cards, converge, what will be the difference in putting a payment application on one or the other? The Telco Operators may start competing with the Credit Card issuers (mainly banks) for the customers as to offer them the more number of services. Maybe we can see in the near future some Telco Operators start issuing credit cards and some bank enter the business of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) as to offer Telecommunication Services to their own customers.

I am sure that not all the Telco Operators will enter the bank industry, as well as most of the banks will not start their own MVNO, but it will be interesting to see how this enabling technology that is the NFC affects the business arena between banks and telcos, and also all the supplier industry for both sectors Converge.

Traveling...

Tomorrow I travel to Morocco for 3 days. I go with a colleague to visit two customers. One of them is a new project that we must start up. It is quite challenging when you have to pioneer in an area like I am doing now. But it is also frightening the possibility of make a big mistake. Anyhow, I have been working for a long time on this project and I expect to do it OK.

Additionally I have been working on the bicingadget in the previous days. I have upgraded my hosting plan for domocat.com and now I am able to store the scripts I developed for the domocat.x10hosting.com site and link them in this site. Soon I will publish something about this work...

Mobile World Congress 2008 (II)

The Mobile World Congress ended a week ago and I have invested all this time in recovering from the 5 days work. Tough hours standing up at the booth, but also good conversations with my colleagues from around the world (Germany, Singapore, Argentina, Egypt, France...) and also with customers, partners and people passing by. These also from countries I have not yet visited: Romania, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Mexico, US... and some I have the opportunity to visit sometime in the past: UK, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil...

As can be seen the MWC is a preeminent international event. People from the Mobile industry once a year meet in Barcelona to talk with their customers, competitors, colleagues, students... and try to get some competitive advantage at the end, be it better image, more contracts, sensitive information or just more motivated stand crew.
On Monday there was a party held at "El Palauet" organized by Giesecke and Devrient. It was intended for all the staff of the Barcelona event but also for customers, partners and other G&D related people. It was a bit tiring going directly from the booth to the party and have dinner in the buffet also standing up, but the "El Bulli" catering, from the Ferran Adrià group of companies, and the musical events entertained us as well that it was a pity to had to leave so early.

The worst things of the MWC was like in the past, thefts, that were produced even inside the trade fair, and prices, quite high even for an international event like this. For the first, I saw a lot of police at the doors of the event after Tuesday, but they should be from Saturday on. Attendants to the Congress start doing the registration and taking their badges this day and so, they must be protected, because a theft becomes thousands of comments between attendants and its impact in the image of the organization is impressive. On the prices, I understand that the attendants to the MWC are mainly of the managerial levels and that they can pay 35 ? for having lunch, but would they want to pay for it if they have to take it in a tray by themselves, wait for a long queue and stand a high noise environment? I guess they will not. And less if they have a 15? alternative 100 meters walking from the venue with a good quality of food. These two things, security and prices (hotels, food and transportation) must be addressed for the next year if we want to keep this world leading event for next years.

Mobile World Congress 2008

Today I have been at the MWC trade fair. It has not yet started, it will tomorrow, but there were all the people setting up the stands for the show. It is incredible how many people comes from the other side of the world to meet here in Barcelona.
This fair is very important for Barcelona. Not every city has a world leading fair like this and so we must take care of it. Just arriving the congress I was told that a colleague was stolen his laptop and luggage. I did not see any policeman in the entrance of the event, so this is something that must be improved. The people that attends this fair is closed to the decision makers, so if we do not take care of them, the continuity of the event in the city.
Another issue is the hotel prices. It looks like some hotels have increased their rates because the high demand these days. This was one of the reasons, beside the smaller beds offer, for Cannes lose the fair. Some agreement has been achieved on this so hope the presence of the Congress in Barcelona will be assured at least until 2012.

End of 3rd. Semester

The third semester of the MSc. I am present studying (actually the reason because I started this blog) is over. With it, I have finished all the courses I had to study in Knowledge and Information Society. They have been:

- Introduction to the Knowledge and Information Society
- Technology Fundamentals of the Information Society
- Applied Statistics for Research in KS
- Technology, Economy and Society
- Information Management for Research
- Electronic Commerce and Marketing.
- Chaos Management. Introduction to Conflictology
- New Economy and E-Business
- Enterprise in the KS

Now I have to finish the MSc. preparing the Master Thesis. I prepared a brief Research proposal that I posted some time ago. Now I link the two essays I had to prepare for the New Economy and E-Business course. Both are in English and hope that you find them interesting.
The first one is on the effect of the different modes of payment in general economy. It pretends to be an introductory essay on macroeconomy. The second one is from the micro point of view and pretends to be an analysis of two case studies of enterprises applying the information collected in payment to improve their results. Both must be considered at the introductory level and hope to have the opportunity to expand them. Nothing more, enjoy the reading!

Bicing4Mobile, again

Some time ago I posted on the born of bicing4mobile. Basically was a lightweight way to check the status of a Bicing station while on the go, for instance from a mobile phone. It has some limitations, I have found problems in stations above Id # 103. Anyhow I plan to solve them.
Notwithstanding, as I already posted, the source code of the Bicing4Mobile is Open, so Its highly welcomed any help in expanding and improving it. Do not hesitate to contact me (pedro "at" domocat "dot" com) if any doubt arise.
The source code if formed by two files. I have uploaded them with a txt extension to be viewable for the browser and not interpreted as a php page. The first one, with the list of all the stations, and the second one that shows the information of the station referenced.

In addition, you can bookmark in your mobile browser the stationinfo pages in order to directly access to your favorite stations. Here you have a pair of examples of it: 1 & 2.

And now... Bicing4Mobile

Some time ago I published a google gadget that allowed users of this service of google to have updated information of the Bicing (Public bike renting service) station they choose. Some days ago, discussing with a friend at work, we started thinking in something similar but accessible from your mobile phone. We were thinking about geolocalization with the network cells, google maps API integration... the usual stuff when one starts to brainstorm ideas ;-)
I put my hands to work and today I can release the Bicing4Mobile page. It is not google based but PHP based. The iGoogle platform is very powerful but too heavy for the browser of a mobile handset. So I contracted a (free)hosting with PHP engine and started to work. I adapted the same code for the BicingGadget from Javascript to PHP and it was not very difficult. Like always the most of the effort went in debugging and testing activites. I attach to the post an screenshot of what you get once you connect to the page. Of course, it just shows the information of the Bicing station by my home. If anyone wants to expand it, feel free, like everything I post in the blog its licensed under Creative Commons.



The address, if you want to access to it is http://domocat.x10hosting.com/index.php. Enjoy it!

GPhone, OHA and the SIM

Some days ago the announcement of Google entry in the Mobile Business made real the rumors on the GPhone. Finally it is not going to be a physical handset but a software platform. It is business as usual for Google, but we have to thing that selling hardware is not estrange for Google as their Google Enterprise servers are installed worldwide and come from them!
The first thing that surprises from the Google announce is the fact that it is an Alliance. Android, a company bought by Google some time ago, will be the base for the platform, but the Open Handset Alliance, as it is called, has more than 30 members and I am sure that it will grow up in time. Secondly, it is about openness. No software, as far as I remember, is open. It is free for private use, but not open. Neither the Engine nor Google Earth are open source applications. They are proprietary but for free use by particulars. I guess is an important bet from Google to go in the way of openness.
Another interesting thing is that big worldwide operators like Telefonica and T-Online are in the Alliance. This boosts the possibilities of it to a higher level as a handset without a network is a very disturbing thing. Additionally, my opinion is that the intentions of Google for bidding on the new frequencies auction of the United States has been a way to press the operators to join the Alliance. Google, as far as I imagine, is not going to enter the telecom world, it would make all the other operators in the world, far more than a thousand, in its competitors, not its partners, as recently has been seen with Vodafone.
And if the operators are in... who will protect their information? The SIM card seems the natural way, as has been in the GSM-3G networks, and I think it will be. Than SIM card is a security token that belongs to the operator and so, it decides what is inside it. Information for authentication, service applications, user information like the phonebook, everything is at the reach of them. This fact has been a boost for the growth of the mobile market in Europe, and one of the important points in the leading of Europe in the Mobile Industry, and it will continue this way. The question I have is, will it be the preferred security token for the user? In an open platform based handset the probability of virus, malware, sniffing, scamming growths exponentially, so will be the worry of the user for security. If the SIM cards positions itself, with the help of the operators, as a useful and trustworthy security token for the user and third parties, then its life will be long. If not, it will be replaced by a broad number of dedicated and proprietary tokens that will partially do the role the SIM card can play in this future. Personally I am pessimistic... why? Just think in the number of ID, credit, frequent traveler and loyalty cards you carry in your wallet.

Technological Darwinism

Today I've read and article on the recent achievement of a teenager with the iPhone. It seems that this guys have connected the iPhone to the forbidden networks of Orange, Movistar and Vodafone. This is not a great novelty because each day thousands of cellular phones are unlocked in order to work with any network provider and in fact, it is a feature, the unlocking mechanism, guaranteed by the GSM standards in order to boost competition. The news, for me, comes from the fact that the unlocking procedure has engaged a token I did not now yet. It is the TurboSIM. What is the TurboSIM? Well, I would say it is something like a parasite in the biologic scale. It presumably filters the Cellular Phone - SIM Interface communication in order to take profit of it and send the suitable commands to get some functionality. It would be nice to see how it works (it is announced as Open Source) and which is the very change for the market dynamics the providing of such a "revolutionary" token but it looks like by now it is impossible to get one!!

Knowledge Society in Catalonia

This weekend I've been working in the bincingadget, a first approach to the idea I introduced in my previous post on having standard gadgets for my everymorning worries (bicing, renfe, weather...). At present I'm able to catch the information that I need and put it in an ftp server. The google gadget simply accesses to this information in the web server and shows it. Now I'm planning the step to put it in a dedicated server because I now have to keep the laptop on to execute the updating script.

Today I read this article on the knowledge society in Catalonia. It started setting up the fact that Catalonia, a former engine in software and IT services in Spain, has receded in its leading role. One of the targeted causes are lack of institutional strategy, or even diverging strategy, in the topic. I may agree with the idea but I would add also the high prices in the broadband access and the strong and rigid telecommunications regulation as factors that make a huge impact on it. At present, for a home to have broadband access to the Internet costs around 60 ? per month in Spain. This cost, affordable for middle and middle-high class homes contracting a double and triple play offer, lays quite aside for the 30-40 % of homes with incomes below the mean. Additionally, the ban for public institutions to offer free universal wireless access to the Internet is a hard barrier in order to give local administrations, like the city government and NPO's, the possibility to impulse and give momentum to local initiatives. These two factors may have been taken into account in the analysis of the KIS of any territory or country because the infrastructures are, like is mentioned in the article, the basement where the whole knowledge is build on.

Projects & Future

Today a person from Telefonica has promptly installed the telephone and ADSL lines and finally I'm a wired person. It's been hard doing the MSc. first with the UMTS connection and the last time even without these. ONO has disappointed me in a deep way. I asked for the broadband service almost four months ago and I'm still waiting to receive the documentation... a pitty.

Talking about work, I decided to accept the offering to became part of the Telecommunications department as a Project Manager. So, in a few weeks I'll start to develop a more market prospective and customer related work. It's been sad to leave the R&D crowd but I guess is a good change for my professional future. Hope to keep the leading position in the innovation and socioeconomic management framework the company has stablished and don't lose the technological contact I'm nowadays having.

Finally, as the access lines to the telephone and Internet network have been installed at home, I'm start playing with them and try to develop a lightweight fax/email gateway and exploit it. I don't know if I'll have time but think it can be fun.