INTERNATIONAL CTIA WIRELESS 2012

For the first time, I registered to attend the International CTIA Wireless 2012 Show to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 8-10, 2012.

CTIA, which stands for Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, approved my credentials as a Member of the Press. It also invited me to be a Judge of the 2012 CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards competition, which is on its seventh year.

The E-Tech Awards program draws hundreds of entries and honors the most innovative new products in the areas of mobile apps, consumer electronics, enterprise and infrastructure.

The International CTIA WIRELESS Show is All Things Mobile. It draws more than 40,000 qualified attendees every year; occupies more than 300,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and hosts over 1,000 exhibitors.

Featured Keynote Speakers include Former President Bill Clinton; Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski; Gary Flood, President of the Global Products Division of the MasterCard Worldwide; Joe Kennedy, CEO & President of PANDORA; Patrick Riordan, President & CEO of Cellcom; Ralph de la Vega, President & CEO, AT&T Mobility; Dan Resse, CEO , Sprint Nextel Corporation; Philip Rumm, CEO & President, T-Mobile USA; Dan Mead, President & CEO, Verizon Wireless; Daniel Ek, CEO & Co-Founder Spotify; Gary Kovacs, CEO Mozilla Corporation; John Partridge, President of VISA, Inc.; and John Ricctiell, CEO of Electronic Arts.

Attendees will include service operators, retailers/distributors, applications providers, enterprise and vertical market users, content providers and mobile web companies.

Of course, there will be at least 1,000 press and analysts worldwide, and offers the most comprehensive educational programming in the industry.

The new Solutions Showcase features interactive exhibits from industry leaders such as AT & T, Verizon, Dell and Accenture who will bring wireless advancements to life. The attendees will experience current innovations and the future of wireless enterprise technology in automotive, energy and health.

Emerging Technology Showcase will feature more than 100 of the newest innovations.

The CTIA World will celebrate the wireless industry with interactive displays, programming and information on the grass-roots movement in each state.

I am particularly interested in seeing the Corporate Philanthropy Pavilion. This is supposed to be the first corporate social responsibility pavilion showcasing the different ways wireless technology makes our communities a better place to live.

The trend is going for All Things Mobile! CTIA is the driving force of this trend.

Reading in this Digital Age­

“Library in my pocket, knowledge at my fingertips.”

This is a phrase that we used to promote the eBookMan, an eBook reading device that my company had the license to manufacture and exclusively distribute in the Philippines.

It also served as a music player, MP3 and audiobook player aside from being a very good eBook reader. Amazon.com later on bought its technology and its successor device became the Amazon Kindle.

Having distributed the eBookMan, I learned to convert ordinary documents into the eBook format and download them into eBook devices. Correspondingly, I was able to create electronic libraries that are stored, retrievable, searchable, bookmarkable and annotatable in the eBookMan initially, and in all handheld devices eventually.

The most popular electronic library that we created in the Philippines was the electronic law library that contained all the Philippine laws and the Supreme Court decisions since 1901. We coined the phrase, addressing it to customers- mainly lawyers and law students, “You can now take the law into your own hands.” For PALM Pilot devices we called the library, “Law on the Go”.

When the Amazon Kindle became available in the United States, I purchased it knowing that all my existing libraries are transferable. It also let me continue converting documents into the eBook format that are downloadable and readable through the Kindle or Kindle Readers installed in other devices.

When I say documents, I mean docs that are in my computer as well as from online sources. Once these documents are stored in my computer or in my external hard drives, they are indexed. Hence, they all become searchable especially when they are converted into the eBook format.

Having access to a lot of data, information and knowledge from the Internet and from my own computer are indeed luxuries that many of us enjoy in this digital age. They all make us learned or potentially become one if we just desire to be such and dedicate some time to doing it.

Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others index the documents in the Internet. Of course, the offline search engines of your computers do the same.

Lately, I have explored other sources of knowledge derived from published and indexed books. These are the national and local public libraries and the university libraries.

As a resident of Fairfax County, Virginia my library card allows me to access eBooks and audiobooks online and/or download them into my laptop, Kindle, iPAD, iPod (audio), Android, or iPhone.

As an alumnus of two universities in the U.S. I can also access their libraries. Their digital libraries are also good sources. Google is now digitizing the books of many major universities and is gradually making them available online. Project Gutenberg has digitized hundreds of thousands of books and making them available for free. With public support, they continue to digitize more and offer more.

When I was a young boy my father, who was a schoolteacher, used to say, “Just master the art of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, and you can survive, be competitive, and succeed.”

Nothing can be more true in this digital age.

I am attending FOSE 2012 as I write this column.  Like in the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 and MACWORLD/IWorld, I am lucky to obtain Press Credentials.

Originally named as plain Federal Office Systems Exposition (FOSE) exhibiting office ware in the Federal Government, it has evolved over the years as “the premier government information technology (IT) event that brings together federal, state, local and private sector partners to share the latest innovations and best practices in technology implementation.”

This year FOSE 2012 is focusing on both technology and policy management. It is comprised of five conferences: Cybersecurity, Cloud and Virtualization, Mobile Government, Defense Innovations as well as Records and Information Management.

Produced by 1105 Media's Government Events Group efficiently and effectively, FOSE 2012 is being held April 3 - 5 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Providing a yearlong educational forum, FOSE will also host individual conferences for each of the topic areas above during 2012.

Kicking off the event on April 3rd was U.S. Chief Information Officer (CIO) Steven VanRoekel who delivered the opening keynote address. He expounded on the current landscape of federal IT as well as his vision for implementing a
common approach to the design of future federal architectures.

Tom Koulopolous, author of “The Innovation Zone”, was the featured speaker early in the afternoon. Koulopolous is known for “taking mystery out of innovation.”

One of the sessions that I attended was “The Dark Side of Facebook”. The speaker, Alix Levine who is the owner of WEBehavior, a consulting firm, discussed some samples and case studies on how the enemies of our way of life use Facebook for their sinister ends. I plan to write a separate article on this topic later.

The Wednesday keynote speaker will be former Senator George Mitchell and special envoy for Middle East peace. He is expected to offer a global perspective on government IT, including the impact of technology and social media on world political currents.

He will be followed in the afternoon by the first Navy SEAL ever to be appointed to a four-star flag rank, Adm. Eric Olson. His views on using technology to enhance the “new fighter warrior” will be aired. He will also offer “Lessons from the Bull Frog SEAL Commander”.

FOSE will feature five top women in government IT in a panel discussion on Thursday. They are Judy Marks, president of Siemens Government Technology; Dawn Meyerriecks, assistant director in the
Office of the National Director for Intelligence; Linda Rix, president of Avue Technologies; Lisa Schlosser, deputy administrator of OMB’s office of e-government and IT; and Susan Swart, CIO of the State Department. The panel will be moderated by 1105 Government Information Group President Anne Armstrong.

Being a member of the media, I am allowed to attend any or all of the sessions. Since I am unable to attend all, I will focus on some interesting sessions on Mobile Government, Cybersecurity, Cloud and Virtualization and Records and Information Management Conference Agenda. I will miss all the sessions on Defense Innovations because of time limitations.

I also plan to write about them in my next column.

It is indeed exciting and interesting to attend these sessions or conferences involving the government and its industry partners in the field of technology. I cite,for example, the initial stages of the Internet, the eBook and the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) technologies.
We all know that the Internet got started at the initiative of the U.S. Government. I was fortunate to be one of the first attendees of the conferences sponsored by the U.S. Federal Government on the eBook technology.

It was also due to these eGov conferences that I learned about the UAV technology. In fact, I was even appointed by one of the manufacturers/suppliers of the military to represent them in Southeast Asia.

In the case of the Philippines, the company was even willing, not only to sell it there, but also to transfer the technology for commercialization and for use of our military.

Unfortunately, despite an approved budget that passed through Philippine Congress to finance a pilot project, we failed to consummate an agreement probably because of our insistence on following the Anti-Corrupt Practices Act of the United States.

It might be worthwhile pursuing it again under the current Philippine regime if it is still possible. It is a very inexpensive and safe way to monitor our shorelines including those of the Spratlys.

IPAD 3 In My Family

Yesterday, I had a call from my wife while I was in our local library in McLean, Virginia.

 She said our oldest daughter Tanya Maynigo Loucks was visiting us to show or rather to show off her (and her husband Tim’s) iPAD 3 or HD.

I rushed home immediately (library is less than a mile from my house) not only because my wife said so and Tanya, whose birthday is today, wanted me to, but more because I wanted to examine her new iPAD 3 hands-on.

My family is what you call, an “APPLE Family”.  My wife Tina, daughters Tanya and Traci, and only son Raul  I call the “apples of my eye”.  They also represent the “apples” in my mind and in my heart. All of us live by the overused quote, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.  Now we do not only eat it but we live it, type on it, mouse it, touch it, finger it, order or dictate on it, signal it, and definitely, cannot leave home without it.

Of course, the fact that the value of the Apple stock has been steadily growing upward recently not only enhanced our Experience, Education and Entertainment but our Equity as well.

At least one of us always has the latest MAC device. When the amazing MacBook Air came out, my wife had it first. When the more amazing MacBook Pro came out, I had it first, followed by Traci and Tanya.  On the iPhones, Traci was the very first to have the iPhone 4 while Raul got ahead with the iPhone 4S, followed by Tanya. Then, when the most amazing iPAD 2 came out, I had to have it and I got it with the maximum features and memory. The price did not matter.  A while later, courtesy of her fiancé’s parents,  Traci got one too.

As of today, I installed about 400 carefully chosen, useful, and productive apps. These are apps that kept me more educated, skilled and learned that, at times, when I go to my “one to one” class at the Apple store, I could out-genius some of the “geniuses” at the Genius Bar.

Tanya’s (and husband Tim’s) iPAD 3 was a sweet delight. When she first showed me the device she and her mother were looking at the website of  Sweet City Desserts   (www.sweetcitydesserts.net) It was the site of a dessert shop owned by family friend Manny Tagle, brother of the Archbishop of Manila, featuring beautiful pictures of cakes and pastries.

What really made it so beautiful was not only because the site was beautifully designed with great photography but more so because we were looking at it with Tanya’s iPAD 3.

Having the current “bragging rights” in the family and also celebrating her birthday  (by Filipino time because she was born there), I wanted to reinforce her fun and happy celebratory mood. So I focused on all the new features, which make iPAD 3 superior to my IPAD 2.

But Tanya insisted on comparing our iPADs understandably reinforcing and enjoying her “bragging rights.” J

Earlier, my wife asked me why I have not gone to the Apple store to check out the new IPAD? I said, “I would only get envious and I might be tempted to upgrade which for me is unnecessary and economically impractical.”

Tanya’s insistence to compare hers to mine could have the same effect. But at the same time I was forced to show the difference for her satisfaction.

I took out my iPAD 2. I started comparing the physical features. First, both have the same size, so NO difference there. Then, I showed my cover and stand which could display my iPAD 2 in different “kama sutra” positions as featured at the MacWorld/iWorld 2012. Advantage: iPAD 2. 

We then looked at some features and built-in apps that come with iPADs such as Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Face Time, Skype, iTunes, Safari, Music, Videos, Contacts, Twitter, Facebook, App Store and Settings. NO difference.

I showed her the popular Flipboard in my device.  Her device did not have it. Advantage: iPAD 2.

I demonstrated the features of GoodReader in my IPAD 2. Her device did not have it. Advantage: iPAD 2.

I opened my “logmein” app that controls remotely my MacBook Pro. Her device did not have it.  Advantage: iPAD 2

Noticing that her “bragging rights” were slowly disappearing and the celebratory mood changing, I also changed gear.

I asked her to turn the IPAD 3 Camera as I did mine. The two cameras were focused on me. The iPAD 2 displayed a very handsome ME. The iPAD 3 displayed the handsomest guy on earth, also ME. That’s the BIGGEST ADVANTAGE of the iPAD 3. The amazing Retina Display. This made her happy. J

Then, I brought out an iPAD stand, which I got at the MacWorld conference. It is the same stand that I gave Traci, my other daughter on her birthday.  I gave it to Tanya as my birthday gift. This made her happy! J

I started explaining all the apps that she could download to make her iPAD 3 the most productive and useful device not just in our family but also in her neighborhood and elsewhere.

We accessed her iPAD 3 Apple store. We started to download the Flipboard, a free app. The store asked for a password. Tanya could not provide it.  Knowing the name, password, and ability to download are signs of ownership or co-ownership but possession is at least 90% ownership. Tanya currently has possession but accessibility is still an issue.

Today, as we celebrate her birthday, I am sure, this will be resolved! J

Windows of Opportunity

To have a Techie Life is not limited to using any or all of the MAC or Apple products. 

It does not mean that you should no longer look at or have a second look at the latest Windows-based tablets.

The advantages of MAC products were always the service aspect due to the number of Apple stores located worldwide, the design and the number of applications that are available for download.

According to the latest count, the number of downloads of MAC applications are now getting close to 25 Billion.

As of today however, there are still more PC or Windows-based computers being used worldwide. Which means that there are still more people individually or in the enterprise using them. Many are used to the Windows-based applications embedded or downloaded on their computers.

When the competition became a battle of tablets and smart phones the MAC and Android products were suddenly beating the Windows-based ones. This is because of the birth of mobile operating systems installed in these tablets and smart phones.

Realizing this, Microsoft decided to install its Windows 7 and 8 operating systems in tablets and ultra books. This means that these devices have become fully operating PCs as well. It further means that all applications and files in your old PCs are transferable and usable in the new tablets or ultra books.

As I told my barber, I use an iPad 2 because of the many applications available to me, the service I get at Apple stores and, of course, the beautiful design of my device.

As exhibited at the International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) last January, the Windows-based tablets, ultra books, and Windows 8 phones, have been designed to compete with those of MAC and Android.

To be more competitive, Microsoft also decided to put up Microsoft stores worldwide. One of these stores is located in Tysons Corner Mall, which is about a 10 minute drive from my house.

I visited the store yesterday and it looks like they are serious in providing better service to Microsoft/Windows users.

Like the iPad, the latest tablets and ultra books I saw are also touch screen. They are competitively priced and beautifully designed. The advantage I see is the fact that they are fully operating PCs.

Over the years while I was attending the International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) I was always seeking a tablet that had an off-line search engine. This is because there are people like me who store libraries of documents, music, video, photos and other files in their computers. For security and easy accessibility, they prefer to keep them in their tablets.

Since they are stored off-line, they should also be retrievable and searchable off-line. As a lawyer, for example, I store all the laws and court decisions in my computer. I would like easily searching and retrieving them.

I can do this with the built-in search engine of my PC and my downloaded Google Desktop search engine. I cannot do it in my iPad 2. It cannot be done in Android tablets. It could not be done in earlier Windows tablets.

In the latest Windows 7 and 8 tablets, all Windows applications are downloadable. This includes the Google Desktop search engine, which then allows the tablet to index all the files in the internal hard drive and in the external hard drives that you connect as well.  Of course, this makes them searchable too.

I cannot do this in my iPad 2. I do not know yet if the iPad 3 would have that capability.

Regardless, this presents some Windows of opportunity for Microsoft.

PRODUCT REVIEWS

RUNNUR

One product that caught my attention during the MACWORLD Conference was the “RUNNUR”.  It is a “strap worn across the body from shoulder to hip. It carries all the essential items you need to get you through your day.”

As can be seen in the picture, there is a pocket for each of your essentials:  ID, sunglasses, cash, credit cards and other valuables, phone, MP3 player, camera, snacks.  It has a Bottle Pouch and a Carabineer to hold keys. 

It is quite useful for Hiking, Travel, Cycling, Sporting Events, Fitness, Dog-Walking, Festivals; for the Beach Goers and the Urban Dweller alike. I got one and I love it!

EARPHONES/EAR BUDS

AFTERSHOKZ

Among the earphones that I possess, the one I bring to the gym is AFTERSHOCKZ. It does not cover my ears. It is a Sport headphone that enables joggers, bike riders, skiers, skateboarders, hikers and other athletes to safely use their portable music players while staying connected to their surroundings.

Since AfterShokz headphones rest outside the ear, users are able to also hear ambient noises such as oncoming traffic, car horns, ambulances or other warning noises, potentially preventing accidents. Headphones that cover the ear and ear buds that nest inside the ear significantly restrict a user’s ability to hear these important sounds.

CLARITY ONE

I listen to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Michael Buble, Harry Belafonte and the like. My favorite interpretation of the U.S. National Anthem is Marvin Gaye’s. These people have such beautiful voices that you do not want to miss any sound. You want to listen not just to the singer but to the sound of every instrument as well.

Clarity One has given me this pleasure beyond compare as I listen to my music. I understand that it is because of its Pure Sound Processor.  It is one sound technology that retains all the harmonics in music and voice that passes through it.

From my iPhone, iPod or iPad, the technology definitely produces “pure, clean and undistorted sound.” It is extremely good. I highly recommend this product. I cannot leave home without it!

AUDIOFLY

AF78 Series

Although this product was launched, it is not yet available for distribution.  I listened through it, but not long enough to make a definite judgment to compare to others. But it sounded great.

This is Audiofly’s premium hybrid in-ear headphone offering. It features a rare combination of a balanced armature device normally found in professional earpieces, as well as a 9mm custom dynamic driver.

The sample I was provided with was a less expensive version, AF33.  This version that a couple of friends and I tried is actually good. This should be an indication that the premier AF78 should be a superior version.

Techie Life vs. Tequila

My barber is younger but unlike me he has been enjoying more his Tequila than a Techie Life.

After my trips last month to the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 in Las Vegas,  Nevada and the MACWORLD/iWorld Conference in San Francisco, California,  it looks like the interest to learn and make use of new gadgets  grew on him.

He already has a smartphone but has been seeing me with my iPad 2 not just in the barbershop but everywhere I go. He wants to know its features and uses as he also intends to buy one.

He offered me a bottle of Tequila to describe my chosen Techie Life.

My iPad 2 has a memory capacity of 64 GB (gigabytes) – the highest and most powerful among the iPad 2s. To appreciate this powerful and large capacity; if I put only eBooks/documents in the device, I could store more than 60 million pages of documents or eBooks. That’s the entire library of a school, college, or community.

But I do not do that. This is because I also download and store songs, videos, photos and applications to complete my personal library.

SONGS

As I write this article, I notice that I have 131 songs. I have downloaded or synced through ITunes with my MacBook Pro the songs of Frank Sinatra (Duets I & II), Tony Bennett, Julio Iglesias, Michael Buble, Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Of course, several albums of the Beatles are also stored and accessible. A new special album of budding young singer Jason Myles Goss is one that I play very often because it contains my favorite song, “Coffee in the Morning, Wine at Night”.  I also have varied versions from different artists of some Christmas songs like Jingle Bell Rock and Oh Holy Night and various interpretations of the U.S. National Anthem (like Marvin Gaye’s and his duet with his daughter), America the Beautiful and many more.

VIDEOS

I currently have 140 videos in my device.  They were mostly downloaded from You Tube, from TED, home movies taken from my video camera, from some selected TV shows and movies and some eHows and educational materials.

My iPad 2 has a built-in speaker, an audio player/recorder, a video player/recorder and 2 cameras that can take either still or moving pictures/videos. This means I can either listen and watch through the speaker and monitor or use an earphone/ear bud. I have several earphones but the most pleasing one with the most advanced sound technology for me is ClarityOne. I carry it with me.

PHOTOS

I have 152 photos and counting. They are mostly taken from my iPad 2 but some were downloaded from my MacBook that consist of family albums of special occasions.

I have special apps that could modify or improve the photos and edit and produce the videos.

APPLICATIONS

Currently in my device are 327 applications. I actually have more in my iTunes library but I decided to install only the said apps.

I have apps that allow me to store and access my contacts, calendars and my email messages.

Of course, my device has WiFi capability, which means that I can access the Internet anywhere there is a hot spot. In places where there are no hot spots, I subscribe to a data plan that still allows me to have Internet access. Safari is the built-in Internet browser of my iPad.

What this really means is that I can access the whole wide world.  Using search engines, I can find out any What, Where, Who, When, Why and How that are available in other computers and libraries in the world. It is about localizing global knowledge. I can easily transition from being an ignorant being to one that is learned and knowledgeable.

I have access to news in print, audio and video. I also blog and update my friends and relatives in real time, upload photos and videos also in real time.

My apps allow me to access Facebook and Twitter instantly and to communicate either with video or just plain audio with anybody anywhere for free via the Internet.

Offline, I have apps to take notes, to create documents either in word, spreadsheet, and presentation. I can do any of these either by writing using stylus, typing, touching the screen or even speaking or dictating.

I could convert documents into the iBook or eBook format. I could store, retrieve and search them speedily. I could create music regardless of quality.

I also have a software app that allows me through my iPad to access my other computers remotely.

Of course, I have embraced what Techies call the “Cloud”. Instead of storing my personal or business library of documents, photos, songs, videos and other files in an offline hard disk, I can now store them in the “Cloud” or online for easy retrieval through my device.

In my next columns, I will specify and describe these and more amazing apps that now occupy my Techie Life.

More apparent than real, their effects seem to becloud my vision of life. But this I am sure – the effect on my vision is not as “cloudy” as that of Tequila.