@jbtaylor on tech

I'm a spokesman for Sprint. This personal site is where I share news stories and my views about our company, our phones and other devices. I also write a bit about tech policy, the wireless industry and life in Washington, D.C.

To ensure that Sprint's lawyers continue to support employees' use of social media, please read the disclaimers on my "About this Posterous" page.

Pages
What I read to follow tech public policy news
Archive
2012 (11)
2011 (126)
2010 (81)
2009 (32)
Obox Signature Series

How Mobile Phones and M-Ubuntu are Improving Literacy Skills in South Africa

via youtube.com

In an effort to improve reading and literacy skills at two primary schools in South Africa, teachers are bringing cell phones into the classroom as part of an innovative program called M-Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a concept in Africa which gets at the heart of being interconnected with one another. The M as part of M-Ubuntu's name is for mobile, as in mobile phones.

Former South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Desmond Tutu explains Ubuntu this way:

"Ubuntu is a concept that we have in our Bantu languages at home. Ubuntu is the essence of being a person. It means that we are people through other people. We cannot be fully human alone. We are made for interdependence, we are made for family. When you have ubuntu, you embrace others. You are generous, compassionate."

Earlier this month, I had a chance Lesego Raleholi, a 6th grade English teacher and Deputy Principal at Spectrum Primary School to find out how they've benefited from M-Ubuntu's approach to m-learning. Raleholi was joined by four Spectrum students as well as Lucy Haagen, an adjunct lecturer and reading specialist at Duke University who is a consultant on the project. All six were in Washington, D.C. for an international media and learning conference held at the University of California's Washington Center and sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation.

The Sprint Foundation supported M-Ubuntu by donating 100 cell phones for use in the South African schools. To learn more about the Sprint Foundation and its work in education and other areas, visit www.sprint.com/community.

Even More EVO Reviews for Your Consideration

There are more EVO reviews out. In earlier blog posts, I shared links to the first round of reviews and also to those which came shortly after the first round. We have a limited supply of demo units, but we as we get devices returned, we are sharing them with reporters and bloggers across the country.

Here's the latest reviews for you to consider as you make your decision about the EVO:

Paul Taylor with the Financial Times says:

"Even without its 4G mobile broadband capabilities, HTC’s Android-powered EVO 4G smartphone is an impressive touchscreen-based handset because it combines many of the best features found in other devices to produce what could start a whole new category, which might possibly be called 'superphones'."

Hiawatha Bray with the Boston Globe says:

"It’s called the EVO 4G, and it’s our first glimpse at the next big thing in smartphones. When cellular carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. begins selling the EVO on June 4, it will be America’s first 4G cellphone, capable of far greater speed than the 3G iPhones and BlackBerries we have come to love."

Aaron Baker with Phonedog.com says:

"The HTC EVO 4G launch is right around the corner (June 4th), and simply put, the EVO takes the prize for flagship Android device. Though other high-end devices like the Incredible offer friendly competition, the EVO's combination of features blow everything else out of the water."

Mathew Honan with Wired says:

"The new Sprint HTC EVO sports some of the nicest hardware you can find on any mobile device on the market and boasts some of the burliest specs we've ever seen in a phone (4G finally!). What's more, it's just drop-dead gorgeous; the kind of thing that compels others to ask about it when you take it out of your pocket.

So the EVO's greatest draw is its 4G WiMax compatibility. How did it work? Uh ... we don't know. We tested the phone in San Francisco, which is not currently wired for 4G. If you're considering the EVO for its data-processing chops, take a look at where 4G is currently deployed.

However, it did do far better with 3G than our iPhone. We took the phone to three different locations in San Francisco where AT&T has coverage holes, and in every case, had a 3G data connection (sometimes slow) while our iPhone wouldn't even make calls. While this may be less of an issue in areas where AT&T delivers the coverage it advertises, those who suffer its inadequate network will be happy to know there's a robust alternative."

Andrew Kameka with Androinica.com says:

"Owning an EVO essentially comes down to one question: do I want to wait for the best phone on my carrier or do I want to get the best phone? Other than update-phobia and an aversion to Sense, there’s really no excuse not to own the EVO if you’re eligible for an upgrade to Sprint. Anyone obsessed with stock Android can opt for an AT&T or T-Mobile Nexus One, but there’s no other 1 GHz phone guaranteed to get updates within a reasonable timeframe. If you’re going to forsake promptness for the sake of day-to-day enjoyment, you might as well do it on the EVO powerhouse."

The HTC EVO 4G from Sprint: Our Favorite Features

via youtube.com

Last week, I had a chance to attend a hands-on training session to learn about the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. Afterwards, I interviewed some of my Sprint colleagues who work in sales in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. markets. (They're getting ready for the EVO launch on June 4.)

What struck me about these conversations -- and I spoke with about 20 people -- was that everyone liked something different about the phone.

What feature do you think you will like the most about the EVO?

 

Suddenly My Summer Just Got Busier: Democrats Announce Plans to Update Communications Act

Media_httpcommercesen_tbdbb
via commerce.senate.gov

Today Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Rep. Henry Waxman, Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Rick Boucher announced they will hold, "a series of bipartisan, issue-focused meetings" beginning next month which will begin a process for updating the Communications Act. This is the law which regulates television and telephones -- both the landline and wireless kind.

Here's what Reuters thinks and here's what Bloomberg thinks.

Here's what I think: suddenly, my summer got busier than I expected.

My Dad's a Mayor, Too

Media_httpmashablecom_rguig
via mashable.com

This week I was catching up with a colleague who, like me, is captivated with Foursquare. My co-worker and I are both Starbucks "mayors" and we were debating whether of not Starbucks' newly announced Foursquare Mayors Special -- a $1.00 off a frappuccino -- would be enough to keep Foursquare players engaged with that brand.

My bet is not, but we'll see if Starbucks shares details.

Later in the conversation, my co-worker tells the story of taking his 8 year old son to a community meeting where they had a chance to meet the mayor of their town, a small community of about 22,000 people. The 8 year old, upon meeting the town's mayor, piped up, "My dad's a mayor, too."

Indeed.

I wonder if the town government gives their mayor a discount on frappuccinos?

Next