Online References

Here are some of the places I have appeared in the press over the past several years:

TECHNOLOGY IN SLEEP MEDICINE

2006 I currently oversee an advanced set of products for medical device manufacturer ResMed. We recently released a device that treats Complex Sleep Apnea and sleep disorders associated with heart failure. See below for an article highlighting this product.
http://www.vpapadaptsv.com/PDF/SleepdtV1N7.pdf


MIT CLUB OF SAN DIEGO

2005 - 2007 In this period I led many of the activities of the MIT Club of San Diego, first as a committee member and then the Vice President of Programs.
http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/sandiego/contents_officer.shtml.htm


NETWORK SECURITY & WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY

2003 - I was a guest lecturer at the Stanford Network Research Center. Here I lectured on taking hardened security all the way to the clients of a network. http://scpd.stanford.edu/scpd/courses/proEd/crseOther.asp?crseID=254&sdID=4

2003 - For several years I led 3Com's security product portfolio. In 2003 the Embedded Firewall was awarded "Best New Security Solution" by SC Magazine.
http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/pressbox/press_release.jsp?INFO_ID=148274

2004 - At 3Com, I led the development of a suite of Wireless LAN products. The AP7250 received an Innovator Choice Award from VARBusiness. http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/pressbox/press_release.jsp?INFO_ID=204120


OPERATIONS

2000 - In 1999 - 2000, I was the co-president of the Operations Club at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In this role I led an MIT team to runner up position in a consulting operations case competition held at Carnegie Mellon. Upon our return we handed off to the next class and they won the competition in a very talented and competitive field.
http://lfm.mit.edu/?fileName=news_articles/lfm_cmucompetition00/lfm_cmucompetition00.html

Digital Content

It's official. 2006 is the year of digital online content.

In 2005 7% of all music sales were online. In the first 2 months of 2006, that number is already 17%! There is no more debate, the digital revolution is kicking into full swing.

What are the implications of this transformation? Here are a few of my thoughts...

Content distributors - EVERY distributor needs to have a digital strategy. The concerns over rights management and piracy need to be acknowledged, but without allowing them to paralyze forward progress. The industry needs to identify a common standard if they wish to move consumers to a format other than open MP3.

Consumers - have to deal with multiple incompatible formats. On the plus side, players are now available for the home, in the automobile, and on the go. Managing digital libraries and backing up licenses for purchased content are new concerns for music mavens.

Electronics Manufacturers - consumers want their content with them. More storage, high quality output for video and audio are in demand. Convergence of entertainment, voice, and data management is coming and in many cases is here.

This is an exciting year. Let the games begin!

Home Monitoring

[The author has a current business relationship with this company]

For those of you who have considered a video monitoring solution but were put off by the complexity and/or cost of those solutions in the market, you should check out a new system by a company called WiLife.

This system is a case study in design elegance and was engineered from the ground up as a complete video monitoring solution. The results of this holistic approach is a system that:

• Can be installed in 10 minutes
• Produces high quality video
• Can be monitored via the internet from anywhere in the world

To do this, the user needs no special skills other than typical PC user skills. If you can do e-mail and use a word processor, you can run this system.

Interested? If so, please contact me at info@terryhitech.com and I will let you know more...

CES 2006

I visited CES 2006 in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and was struck by a number of trends:

1. Voice and Video Over IP services. It’s not that these services are new, but that they are now being integrated into everything. The company that makes the Yappernut was showing a mouse that doubles as a handset for your Skype service. They were pretty excited about it, but I was having a hard time discerning the advantage over other alternatives.
2. "Active" Game Interfaces. Video games have gotten a bad rap lately and there are now plenty of companies who are trying to integrate an active experience with the game. Jackie Chan was associated with a company that had the widest variety of offerings. There were examples of good and bad in this genre, here are a few below:

• Good – dance beat floor mat. This has been a hit for a while in the arcades, now you can do it at home. Variations include aerobics and martial arts.
• Bad – virtual table tennis. One of the key elements of a video game is to provide an experience that you can’t get otherwise. After playing virtual table tennis, I found myself thinking I would much rather have been playing the real thing.
• Good – Golf tee as an accessory to the PS2. This allows you to take real swings with real clubs. In this case, providing an experience that I might not be able to have otherwise – e.g. playing the Kapalua Plantation Course in Hawai’i.

1. Monitoring. Get ready folks. Cameras are being integrated into everything and being made available at price points that allow many more people to play in the game. One interesting company at the show was WiLife, showing their LukWerks home video surveillance system. A complete system can be installed, registered and configured in about 15 minutes. Watch my website for more information.
2. Miniaturization. Several companies (notably many of them are Korean companies) were showing media players with tiny screens that are designed to store and play video files in addition to music. I get "smaller is better" for my MP3 player, but I think there is a serious limit for anything with video associated with it. Unless they plan to start offering 20/10 lasik for both eyes with each purchase, I say the screens need to be a little bigger.

The show was huge this year and I put a lot of miles on my shoes. Just as interesting as the products was seeing which companies were generating buzz and why. Here are my subjective observations on show buzz:

• Sony had a hit with the "previews" of the PS3. People crowded around to get a glimpse at the video. PSPs were also popular.
• Honda drew crowds for Asimo. It is pretty cool, but I still can’t figure out how all of that R&D is helping them to build better cars…
• Polaroid was nothing but crickets and tumbleweeds. There were a bunch of rebadged flat panel displays, some Polaroid instant cameras (really, this is NOT new technology Polaroid), and some informational posters. Even a prolonged saunter through the center of the large display area did not evoke a response from the booth personnel. Apparently they didn’t want to be there either!
• The Samsung "booth" was unreal. I understand that it cost about $8,000,000 to erect this display that seemed the size of a city block. Cool products, cool layout, and attentive personnel. This was a home run.
• Motorola is back in a big way. The company that was bleeding market share and profits a few years ago is generating buzz with cool products like Razr and iRadio. (I don’t know what happened with Rokr, that’s a real dud...) The booth was jammed and people were really enjoying printing out new "skins" for their Razr phones.
  

This year promises to be interesting and exciting for creators and consumers of high-tech products.

Ciao!

San Diego Telecom Council Gadgetfest 2005

Tonight I attended my first Gadgetfest in San Diego. An open invitation was extended to companies to compete for the most innovative and desirable new gadget. Many of the companies were showing products that have not been publicly announced, preceding even their announcements at the CES. This stuff is cutting edge!

The event was hosted by “CommNexus” San Diego. As an aside, I think the group just went from a solid name that perhaps was not sexy, but well understood to a very confusing name. I had to look it up 3 times just to make sure that I got it right in this Blog. For that reason, I am going to be a laggard in adopting the new name and continue to call it the San Diego Telecom Council.

Before the main event, there was a mini trade-show with new products and services from leading companies like Nokia and Motorola as well as startups like StreamLoad, Televolution, and Imagination Technologies. It was great to see the latest phones and gadgets from Motorola and Nokia. I was taken aback by the freshness of the Motorola designs. They are really pushing the envelope these days. This is a reversal of positions. 9 years ago I designed test equipment for phone manufacturers including Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson and Lucent. At that time Nokia was clearly the design innovator and Motorola was lagging. How would this translate to the gadgetfest competition? Stay tuned…

The gadgetfest competition was moderated by the affable Andy Abramson and Ken Rutkowski, hosts of “World Technology RoundUP” on Kenradio. Devices were presented in 2 sections: cell phones and multimedia gadgets.

Mobile Phones

The phone presenters included:
· Qualcomm
· Motorola
· Nokia
· i-Mate
Qualcomm presented phones from all over the world that use Qualcomm chips, including an interesting metallic phone shaped like a Ferrari that includes a breathalizer capability.

Motorola brought the heir apparent to the venerable Blackberry franchise, the “Moto Q”. This sleek specimen of industrial design is as sexy as it is capable. The Moto Q has conveniently located dial and buttons right where you need them for single handed operation. The slim device easily handles pictures, streaming video, and e-mail and with a mini-sd slot and a powerful processor, the Moto Q should handle your most demanding mobile needs. Clearly a strong showing for Motorola.

Nokia showed a couple of devices that are currently on the market in Europe. They were slim, capable phones, but nothing worthy of note and the judges reflected this with the lowest score of the evening.

Up and comer i-Mate is based in Dubai and provides highly capable phones with direct service and support. The catch is that they sell directly, so your costs are not subsidized by carrier contracts. This means that you will shell out quite a few clams for these devices, up to US $1200! If you can get past the price, the devices appear to be quite capable and good looking. However, the most revolutionary thing about the device is the business model and this is gadgetfest, not b-plan fest.

The first round of the competition goes to Motorola.

Multimedia

Next up, the multi-media gadgets from:
· Motorola
· Sony
· Sling Media
· Entropic
· TelEvolution

Motorola showed the i-Radio, a new system that allows you to stream commercial-free radio content from your mobile phone to your car stereo via Bluetooth. You subscribe to a service and select from among 400 radio channels. Each night when you dock your phone in a USB station, content is updated via your internet connection. The phone can hold about 10 hours of content or even more by adding a larger capacity SD card. The Bluetooth adapter for the car stereo can connect to a CD port, satellite port, or other auxiliary port on the stereo and is expected to cost about $79. The service will require a monthly subscription of about $7.

Sony showed the Location Free TV solution, including a content aggregator/gateway that allows you to stream any audio and video source in your entertainment center to computers around the house or over the internet. There is also a mobile device that is like a combination of a video iPod and a TiVo. You can record content on the device, view videos, and stream content from the mobile device via the gateway. The judges liked this solution and gave it an 8 out of 9.

Sling Media showed the Slingbox, which essentially does everything that the Sony system does at approximately 33% less. A slingbox costs about $249 and allows you to watch your DVR, Cable, Satellite, and DVD content from anywhere you can get an internet connection. The judges loved the solution, the price, and the fact that this scrappy company is taking on Sony and others in this nascent market. 9 out of 9.

Entropic makes chips that go inside of set top boxes to allow high-speed networking over your existing coax cabling. The idea is to allow high speed interactive content to all TVs in your house without requiring multiple boxes. Good stuff, but not really a gadget. The moderators and the judges liked the solution but could not get past the fact that the event is not “component fest”.

TelEvolution is a company that was started by one of the founders of Earthlink, David Beckemeyer. David was easily the most enthusiastic presenter and could barely contain himself describing all kinds of techie acronyms like VOIP and SIP. The product is called the Phone Gnome and is the latest addition to the internet calling world. The long and the short of it is that you buy the device, plug in the phone and the network connection and you are ready to place calls for free to any other number that uses a Phone Gnome. The judges loved the device, the simplicity, and David’s enthusiasm, 9 out of 9.

With a tie between the SlingBox and the Phone Gnome, it was left to the audience to judge via the volume of applause. It took 3 rounds of voting and a very enthusiastic whistler to put Phone Gnome over the top.

If you consider yourself an early adopter, you may want to check out the winners and runner’s up at:
www.motorola.com
www.phonegnome.com
www.slingbox.com

Who Left the Door Open?

Unlocked Cars and Computers
When you park your car downtown do you leave the doors unlocked, or worse yet, wide open with the interior light on? Locking your doors when you park your car is a simple way to protect the car and its contents. The computer equivalent of locking the doors is enabling effective network security. It’s a simple step to protect your network and the valuable personal and financial information that is stored on your computers.

We Know Better, Right?
Based on the wireless surveys that I have done in North County San Diego, lots of folks are leaving the doors to their networks wide open. San Diego County is arguably one of the most technically savvy areas of the country with many technologies that are developed here by the likes of Qualcomm and lots of technology startup companies working on cutting edge wireless networking. One might think, then, that something as important as properly securing your network would be well understood by the early adopters here. Not so.

Having worked in the wireless industry for several years, I have long advocated that home users secure their networks properly. Occasionally, I like to check in on how people are doing in this regard. Recently, I performed wireless surveys in multiple residential and business neighborhoods in Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, and downtown San Diego . What I found was not surprising based on results of similar surveys in other parts of the country. Nearly 50% of the networks that I detected did not encrypt the data that is transmitted between the computers and the access points. This means that somebody with the right equipment can capture all of the data that is being passed back and forth, including interception of e-mails, documents, print jobs, even passwords and credit card numbers if they are passed “in the clear” .

Some time ago there was a lot of press and discussion about a flaw in the security system that was used to protect Wireless LAN’s when 802.11b was first introduced. Specifically, data transmitted wirelessly was scrambled or encrypted so that only someone with the proper key could understand the data. Many industry pundits declared that it was not safe to use Wireless LAN because of the flawed encryption. This deficiency has been corrected for several years and all Wireless LAN equipment now sold is capable of stronger encryption. However, my point is that ALL Wireless LAN systems are capable of some level of protection, yet 50% of the networks I scanned used no encryption at all! Even worse, some of the systems did not even change the default settings of the equipment; making it extremely easy to identify a vulnerable network and even make changes to the network itself, turn off other security features, and other mischievous activities.

Too Busy to Lock the Door?
So the question is, why do people leave their networks unprotected? All the equipment comes with instructions to enable the security features and protect the network. I believe that people who do not enable security features fall into the following categories:

1. Liberators are aware of the security risks and choose to leave their networks open so that others may access the internet through their network. They think of it like a public service and often are technically savvy people who also support the Open Software movement, Linux, and free content on the internet. Most Liberators are aware of the risks and take other measures to protect their network, such as putting access in a DMZ that is isolated from the rest of their network. To the liberators, I say “thank you, I appreciate the access.”

2. Ostriches have heard of the security risks but choose to ignore them. They stick their heads in the sand assuming that because they have never been victims in the past that they are not vulnerable in the future. Everyone has to decide for himself or herself what risks are substantial enough to require action, but I submit that most ostriches do not understand the risks. For the ostriches, I recommend that you look into the risks and then decide if you choose to be a Liberator. If you do, then make sure you protect your computers with a good firewall. If not, see the recommendations for the Frustrated and Confused below.

3. Frustrated and Confused consumers understand the risks and know that they should enable security features, but cannot successfully do so. These consumers want the access and convenience of a wireless network, but are less interested in the technical details of how it works. The Frustrated often try to configure the security, but the arcane details of doing so are difficult for people who are not familiar with networking, even with the instructions provided with the equipment. To the frustrated I say “it’s not your fault”. Wireless networks are fantastic, they allow us to work and play on our computers without being chained to a desk. They are also fickle and when a connection doesn’t work, the consumer is left to his or her own devices to figure out if the problem is security, radio interference, or problems with other settings on the network.

Locking the Digital Door
If you are an Ostrich or Frustrated, the rest of this article is for you. Follow these recommendations and you will be up and running, safely and securely.

1. Carefully follow the instructions provided with your equipment to establish a connection to the internet via the wireless Access Point. Depending upon whether your product is A. a standalone access point or B. a router/access point or C. a Modem/router/access point the instructions will vary. It is a good idea to test your connection to the internet via a wired connection first. This helps to establish whether any wireless connection problems are due to the DSL or cable connection or a problem with the wireless link. Once you have a “wired” connection establish, use the default settings of the system to connect to the internet without any security. Now you know that the equipment is working properly and you are ready to lock it down.

2. Change the system password for your access point. This will prevent a hacker with a list of default passwords from entering your system. Write this down.

3. Change the SSID to something other than the default setting. This should be something that you will recognize, but not provide any clues to a hacker as to how to access the network. Write down your new SSID.

4. Enable encryption. I recommend that you use the highest level of encryption that is supported by all wireless clients. One complicating factor is that different manufacturers use different names for the same encryption, so some homework may be required. Use the following in descending order of preference: 256 bit WPA or AES, 192 bit WPA or AES, 128 bit WPA or AES, 128 bit WEP, 64 bit WEP. Most consumer products require that you enter the same “key” on the access point and on each client. Choose a key with the required number of digits and write it down along with the type of encryption that you chose. Now enter the same key for each of the computers that you wish to connect to the network. This will require that you access the client configuration tool for your computer. For many computers this is the XP Wireless client, accessible by “right-clicking” on the wireless icon on the right hand side of the Windows Toolbar. For help configuring the Windows XP Wireless client see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313242

5. Now that you have the SSID, encryption type, and encryption key written down, any time you wish to connect a guest to the network, you will need to configure their computer correctly.

These instructions are not comprehensive, but a good guideline for how to configure most home-based networks with equipment that is commonly in use. After reviewing the instructions above, you may think that it’s no wonder 50% of the wireless networks out there are not protected. You’re right. The process is more complicated than it should be and there are many companies working on solutions to simplify it. I have participated in some of this work through the WiFi Alliance. In the future, it will be much easier to configure these devices to work securely together.

In the meantime, if the steps outlined above are beyond your capabilities or interest, I strongly recommend that you contact someone you know to help you out, or contact a professional who can do all of the above and configure additional security and services on your network for around $200. The investment in time or money will be well worth it for the increased productivity you experience and the peace of mind knowing that your valuable information will be protected.

© 2005 Drew Terry


Drew Terry has worked in high-technology for over 10 years and enjoys teaching people all over the world about the benefits of Wireless LAN technology. You can find more information about wireless technologies and their application at www.terryhitech.com.

Challenges and opportunities in telecom

What are the challenges that business in the telecom and wireless industry are facing?

Presently a large portion of the Telecom value chain is experiencing massive cost reduction pressures. This is due to a global consolidation of manufacturing of the more mature technologies in Taiwan and China. This is true for most mass-market products like handsets, WLAN equipment, etc.

This outsourcing trend is causing many companies to change the way that they do business. Some, like Motorola, have been outsourcing for several years and are being quite successful at it. Others, like Kyocera are only beginning the process and will yet experience some bumps in the road.

Another challenge faced by telecom providers is the business environment that they are selling into. Traditional baby bells and long distance carriers are losing revenue each quarter in their traditional markets. Many of the more innovative companies are supplementing these reductions with the sale of broadband internet services, bundled satellite/wireless/internet/long distance. In some limited markets, carriers are even experimenting with television programming carried to the home on new FTTH (Fiber To The Home) networks.
Much of the industry is affected in some way by regulatory requirements or changes in legislation. Changes are still shaking out in the wake of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the momentum seems to be swinging back to the incumbents (baby bells) with recent rulings in disputes over access to physical metropolitan networks.

New technologies offer challenges and opportunities for companies in telecom. VOIP offers a lower cost model of sending voice traffic and is one of the factors driving down price in long-distance. Combining VOIP and WLAN may prove to be a disruptive technology to both cellular carriers/equipment providers and traditional land based carriers.

What measures are business taking to compete with the rapid change of technology?

Successful companies recognize the changes in technology early on and invest aggressively in technologies and services despite the potential to cannibalize their traditional sources of revenue. Verizon has done this with its wireless joint venture Verizon Wireless, and is now experimenting with converged services over FTTH networks.

It is an exciting time to be a customer and provider of telecom products and services.