WirelessDoc

Walt digs the Droid with some reservations

Walt reviews the Motorola Droid, which is Verizon Wireless' first Android offering, priced at $200 after the $100 mail-in rebate. (I tend to believe that this price point will drop as the smart phone competition heats up.)

His likes...

He thinks this is the best Motorola phone, the best Verizon smart phone, and the best hardware he's tested that runs Android.

It runs Android Eclair (2.0). He says that this version adds voice-prompted turn-by-turn navigation. Actually both the HTC Hero and the Samsung Moment offer Sprint's navigation app which work well with both phones according to my tests.

Its screen is sharper and larger than the iPhone's.

His dislikes...

No multi-touch. Actually the HTC Hero uses a multi-touch function sitting on top of the Android. I didn't like it at all. It was very jittery, and hard to get the right sizing. The Samsung Moment doesn't have multi-touch in any form but uses zoom icons, and they work much better.

The keyboard has, in his opinion, "flat, cramped keys that induce too many typing errors, yet lacks auto-correction." This sounds like the keyboard on the Moment, which I'm falling out of love with. I can type faster on the Treo keyboard.

The Android platform only has 3 panels for displaying app icons in contrast to the iPhone's 11.

UPDATE: Another article in today's WSJ "BlackBerry Offers Low-Hanging Fruit" suggests the that BlackBerry will take the hit with the rising smart phone competition provided by the new crop of Androids. Third quarter estimates put the global smart phone market share for RIM at 20%, while Apple sits at 17%. Nokia is at approx. 38% according to Strategic Analytics.

The article speculates that the BlackBerry may become "the AOL of the mobile device market." This might a little over dramatic.

Apple is leading the price war with their $99 iPhone. I'm sure you'll seen an Android soon similarly priced.

Webinar: Biggest Opportunities in the Smart Grid — GigaOM Pro

With recent calls for power grid 2.0 and an influx of stimulus dollars, the smart grid is fast becoming a reality. From long-time players such as GE, IBM, and Silver Spring Networks to more recent converts such as Cisco Systems, companies across Silicon Valley and beyond are turning their attention to opportunities within this rapidly evolving sector.

via pro.gigaom.com

This is the first Webinar I've attended sponsored by GigaOm Pro. I was a little disappointed in the quality of the information presented, as it seemed too non-specific.

The speakers didn't think that there would be the emergence of a new IT giant for smart grid management, but rather other players like Google (Google Powermeter) and HP (grid security service) would move into this vertical markets.

The Cyber Security Coordination Task Group of NIST published a draft of their Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements last month. From one section:

1.3  SCOPE, RISKS, AND DEFINITIONS
Cyber security must address not only deliberate attacks, such as from disgruntled employees,
industrial espionage, and terrorists, but inadvertent compromises of the information
infrastructure due to user errors, equipment failures, and natural disasters.  Vulnerabilities might
allow an attacker to penetrate a network, gain access to control software, and alter load
conditions to destabilize the grid in unpredictable ways.  The need to address potential
vulnerabilities has been acknowledged across the Federal government, including NIST, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DOE, and FERC.  
 
Additional risks to the grid include:
 
•  Increasing the complexity of the grid that could introduce vulnerabilities and increase
exposure to potential attackers and unintentional errors;
•  Interconnected networks can introduce common vulnerabilities;
•  Increasing vulnerabilities to communication disruptions and introduction of malicious
software that could result in denial of service or compromise the integrity of software and
systems;
•  Increased number of entry points and paths for potential adversaries to exploit; and
•  Potential for compromise of data confidentiality, include the breach of customer privacy. 
 
With the adoption and implementation of the Smart Grid, the IT and telecommunication sectors
will be more directly involved. These sectors have existing cyber security standards to address
vulnerabilities and assessment programs to identify known vulnerabilities in these systems.
These same vulnerabilities need to be assessed in the context of the Smart Grid.  In addition, the Smart Grid has additional vulnerabilities due to its complexity, large number of stakeholders, and highly time-sensitive operational requirements.