This May Be the End of Set-Top Boxes- May 28, 2008 The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has announced an agreement with Sony that will create standards for two-way televisions and "other devices" that will work without set-top boxes. Today, the set-top box provides the interaction with the cable operator. By having an industry-wide standard, the set-top boxes (and their remotes!!!!) can go away and the functionality can be provided by the TV. Of course, "set-top box" is not an accurate description of these devices in an age of...http://www.northcountryconsulting.com/2008/05/this-may-be-end-of-set-top-boxes.html Follow The Great Switchover- May 27, 2008 Click here for the FCC's page on The Great Switchover. The period for comments is ending May 30--June 2 looks like a tight timeframe, but signs still point to a widespread belief it will happen (signs=gossip). The supporting documents provide the precise information. For some reason, media coverage of this has been sparse and, in some cases, misleading. The FCC is the primary source, so its data can be relied on.http://www.northcountryconsulting.com/2008/05/follow-great-switchover.html The Great UnicelAT&T Customer Swap is Under Way: iPhones Work without Roaming- May 24, 2008 Verizon and AT&T are swapping customers in Upstate New York, Vermont, and the south. Current Unicel customers in Vermont and Upstate New York will move automatically to AT&T which will establish a presence in the region for the first time. When Verizon wound up owning Unicel last year, its GSM subscribers stood out from the CDMA subscribers of the rest of the Verizon network (which, apparently, is why they never merged them). Because AT&T is GSM, it's happy to have the Unicel customers; the...http://www.northcountryconsulting.com/2008/05/great-unicelat-customer-swap-is-under.html |