Do not use your phone abroad without preparing or your bill will be shocking!

The difference between American and European mobile phone providers are vast, and the modern traveler is likely to run afoul if they are unprepared, running up a surprisingly large bill! Here’s a rundown of my standard techniques to prepare my American mobile phone for travel abroad.

Frequency Compatibility

The first thing to do when considering a trip abroad is checking whether your phone supports the technology and frequencies used by the carriers in the country will visit. The majority of European carriers rely on the 900 and 1800 MHz bands for GSM voice, SMS, and low-speed data, and the 2100 MHz band for high-speed 3G HSPA data service.

Only AT&T and T-Mobile use the same GSM technology as most European and other international providers, but this does not mean that all of their phones will function correctly overseas. Although nearly every American GSM phone is capable of voice calling and text messaging in Europe, 3G data service is another story entirely.

Neither AT&T nor T-Mobile uses the same 3G HSPA frequencies that are standard in Europe. Many phones, including my iPhone 4S, support the European frequencies as well, offering high-speed data in both Europe and America. But others only support one or the other set of frequencies for high-speed data. This is the reason my unlocked Huawei E585 is useless in the USA.

Check the specifications of your phone to see if it supports the 900/1800/2100 MHz bands for both GSM and HSPA. Note that Verizon, Sprint, and many smaller operators using entirely different technology that isn’t compatible at all with European providers. These companies do sell a few “world phones”, including the iPhone 4S. But the earlier Verizon iPhone 4 will not work in Europe.

Preparing Your AT&T Account for Use Abroad

Assuming your phone will work abroad, it is wise to consider the cost of various services while roaming. There are essentially three considerations when using the phone outside its home territory:

• Voice calling can be expensive unless a special plan is purchased at a time. Note that European carriers do not charge for incoming calls, though American carriers do.
• SMS text messaging can also be surprisingly expensive when roaming. Although most Europeans have unlimited messaging plans, and their carriers do not charge for incoming messages, many Americans have only a small allowance of text messages and are charged in both directions.
• Data service can be the biggest shocker when traveling abroad. It is not unheard of for a few days of casual e-mail, navigation, and web use to cost over $1000 while roaming abroad.

When I’m traveling abroad, I always contact AT&T ahead of time and activate features on my plan to offset these costs. Here are my recommended settings:

• AT&T’s “World Traveler” plan costs $5.99 per month but reduces the cost of voice calls from of $1.39 to $.99 per minute. If you plan to talk for more than 40 minutes, this is a win.
• AT&T also offers a variety of “Global Messaging” plans, which allow you to send SMS text messages much cheaper. I usually purchase the $10 “Global Messaging 50” plan, which includes 50 prepaid outbound text messages. This works out to $.20 per message rather than the normal rate of $.50, giving you a break even point at 34 messages.
• Data remains a problem, even though AT&T offers a variety of “Data Global” add-on packages. I usually purchase the cheapest 50 MB “Data Global Add-On” package, which includes 50 MB of data for $24.99. This may seem expensive, but it’s nowhere near as much as AT&T’s normal rate of almost $.02 per kilobyte. 50 MB of Data Global is an astonishing $973.41 (40 times) less expensive!

Don’t Rely on Data Roaming

I highly recommend purchasing a local mobile broadband device to avoid extortionate roaming charges

Even with Data Global, however, it really is not practical to use data roaming outside the United States. This is why I recommend purchasing a local “MiFi” device and 3G data plan in whatever country you will be visiting. I am bringing my Huawei E585 with me to the UK for Dell Storage Forum, recharged with 3 GB of data for just £15.

I’m really only purchasing AT&T Data Global as insurance in case I need data and the MiFi is not available for some reason. You can ring up $24.99 of data roaming charges in less than 5 seconds after using just 1.25 MB without a plan like that. It’s extortion, but that’s AT&T for you.

I will often call AT&T to activate these services a few days before leaving. They are sometimes offered to automatically cancel the service when I return, or at least give me a call back so I can cancel it. If you activate these features online, remember to deactivate them afterwards since they offer no value if you are not traveling.

You should also read An Inexpensive Mobile Broadband Alternative When Traveling in the UK and Wireless Internet Access During My Trip To The Netherlands

Stephen’s Stance

Before traveling abroad with an AT&T phone, I recommend going online or calling the company and activating 3 features: “World Traveler” for voice, “Global Messaging” for SMS, and “Data Global” for data service. I also advise purchasing a local 3G “MiFi” and turning off Data Roaming on your iPhone, even though this would seem a waste of the $24.99 Data Global plan. I imagine T-Mobile has similar offerings for world travelers, and Verizon and Sprint as well as long as a “world phone” is used.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2012. | How to Prepare Your AT&T Phone for Travel Abroad
This post was categorized as Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

HSPA data for less than €5 per day is a great deal!

Mobile broadband roaming is insanely expensive. Using my AT&T iPhone overseas costs $20,000 per gigabyte, and that’s not a typo or a joke. So I always pick up a local 3G data SIM for my Huawei E585 mobile hotspot when traveling. Here’s documentation of my experience with T-Mobile in the Netherlands this week.

The Best Wireless Internet Overseas

First, it is absolutely essential to purchase an unlocked 3G mobile hotspot or hotspot-capable mobile phone if you plan to do much international travel. American mobile phones can occasionally be unlocked, but AT&T is notoriously reluctant to allow foreign SIMs to be used in their iPhones. And frequency differences can affect the ability of American devices to work in Europe, South America, and Asia.

You basically have two choices:

1. Do some research and locate a device to purchase when you land that can be easily unlocked. I picked the Huawei E585 from Three in the UK, though that device is no longer available.
2. Purchase an unlocked device before leaving. eBay is a great source of such devices, though you run the risk that it might not work when you need it most. But then you can always fall back on option 1.

Whatever you do, don’t plan to use your US device overseas. Most aren’t unlocked, so they won’t accept any SIM card but your own. And many won’t work with the high-speed 3G data frequencies in use outside the USA, so you’ll be limited to 2G speed.

There are also some rental services that will mail you a local “MiFi” or hotspot, but these often cost far more than just buying a device and a local SIM card!

3G Data Options in the Netherlands

This is the SIM card you want for T-Mobile's Netherlands data deal

There are a number of mobile phone operators in the Netherlands, but KPN, T-Mobile, Telfort, and Vodafone are the most popular. Of these, only T-Mobile offers an “unlimited” pre-paid data option, though all my Dutch friends recommended Vodafone for their superior coverage.

I considered Vodafone’s €14.99 prepaid 1 GB smartphone SIM but decided instead on T-Mobile’s option. The T-Mobile Laptop PrePaid SIM offering. At €0.30 per MB does not look cheap, but there’s a daily maximum charge of €4.50, which is very reasonable for travelers. Since I would only need access for three days, this was the cheaper option.

Buying the T-Mobile Laptop PrePaid SIM

You might also be interested in my experience with Wireless Internet Access in the UK

There are many T-Mobile outlets in the Netherlands, but the first store I visited (MediaMarkt in Utrecht) was out of stock. So I headed to the “high street” T-Mobile company store on Lange Elisabethstraat. After waiting a surprisingly long time, the salesman was able to sell me a Laptop PrePaid SIM for the advertised price of €9.95, which includes “€10 usage credit” (more about that in a moment).

I had previously looked up the local APN specifications for my hotspot, so I was ready to go. I inserted the SIM, entered the PIN through the E585′s web interface, and was up and running (for the moment!) The salesman discussed how to recharge the account (through SMS or in the store) and sent me on my way.

Here are the APN details when using a prepaid SIM with T-Mobile Netherlands:

• APN: Internet
• Username: tmobile
• Password: tmobile

Performance of the T-Mobile network in Utrecht was acceptable – a bit slow inside the Café-Restaurant Olivier, but almost 2 Mbps down and .5 Mbps up past the train station. And the UK Huawei E585 was 100% compatible with the T-Mobile NL frequencies, including HSPA speed.

Zero Account Balance and No Connectivity

After a short period of usage, I was surprised when every page I visited redirected to a T-Mobile portal. Something was not right. I located the proper page to view account credit and was shocked to see a balance of €0.04 – I had used up the entire account value already!

I was unable to call T-Mobile NL’s prepaid support phone number using my American mobile phone, and could not locate an online service guide in their (Dutch-only) web site (which was still accessible). I searched through the documentation and located an offer of €7.50 for registering the SIM online, along with a URL that worked.

After registering, the T-Mobile site showed €7.54 credit, so I timidly tried accessing a web site. Suddenly everything was working again! My credit steadily dropped until it hit €5.50, where it stayed even through a Speedtest.net session. I was back in business!

It turns out that the SIM does not come with €10 as advertised. It comes with €2.50 and an offer for an additional €7.50 after registering! See the problem? I used up all the credit before hitting the €4.50 daily max because I had not registered the card!

Stephen’s Stance

The T-Mobile NL Laptop PrePaid SIM card is a great choice for use with an unlocked MiFi device like the Huawei E585. But make sure to set up the APN first, and register the card online immediately to get the full €10 credit!

Update: One warning if you go with T-Mobile NL: Top up your card in the store with all the credit you will need! Although you can buy T-Mobile NL credit in convenience stores, you cannot actually use this credit without an NL bank account. I wasted €10 this way and never could get the credit applied. Purchase all the credit you will need (€4.50 per day) in the T-Mobile store. Also, the daily max is per calendar day, not per 24-hour period. So you lose your “unlimited” status at midnight.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | Wireless Internet Access During My Trip To The Netherlands
This post was categorized as Deals, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Is this a secret spying tool for the Chinese military?

There have been a few press reports recently suggesting that one newcomer on the enterprise storage scene, Huawei Symantec, is more than meets the eye. According to a Washington Times story, a sale of the company’s storage products to a supercomputing lab was blocked after allegations that the Chinese government or military would use the platform as a Trojan horse for spying. Normally I wouldn’t comment on political matters on this blog, but I happen to know a thing or two about Huawei Symantec, and I hate to see jingoistic nonsense interfere with the progress of technology.

The Allegation

You should probably read my earlier write-up, Huawei Symantec Enters The United States Storage and Security Market

I’ve covered Huawei Symantec before, but let’s get a little housekeeping done right at the start: A 51/49 joint venture between Chinese telecom giant Huawei and American storage and security software leader, Symantec, Huawei Symantec is actually an independent company with its own leadership and software/hardware engineering teams. The company entered the United States market in 2010 with a line of storage and security devices and has steadily expanded, bringing in new products from their international portfolio. Despite the implications of their famous parentage, most of Huawei Symantec’s products are engineered in-house and apparently little use Huawei or Symantec components.

In an August 16 article, Eli Lake of the Washington Times reports that four Republican senators and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence raised concerns about the purchase of Huawei Symantec storage systems by the National Center for Computational Engineering at the University of Tennessee. In an August 9 letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others, the lawmakers refer to “Huawei’s close ties to the [Chinese] government and its military and intelligence sectors, its history of alleged corrupt practices and infringement on intellectual property rights, and concerns it may act as an agent for a foreign government…”

The suggestion is that Huawei Symantec will somehow use these storage arrays to pass information on sensitive scientific and engineering tests to the Chinese government or military. But no specific evidence is cited apart from the allegations of connections between parent-company Huawei, the government of China, and very real concerns over corruption and a disregard for intellectual property in China as a whole.

In short, these allegations have nothing to do with Huawei Symantec specifically and everything to do with American fears over competition and unfair business practices. It is telling that the four senators involved in these allegations (Kyl, DeMint, Coburn, and Inhofe) are among the five most conservative members of that body.

All This Happened Before

Allegations that foreign companies are spying in America for their respective governments are nothing new. Similar suggestions remain widespread concerning Israeli companies in the security and telecom fields: Check Point is continually disparaged as an avenue for Israeli spying, even though I can find no concrete evidence of this. And Huawei itself was blocked from selling telecom equipment to Sprint based on similar allegations from Senator Kyl. Both of these companies were founded by ex-members of their national military, giving a bit of heft to the accusations.

Could Huawei Symantec leverage their storage systems to spy on American labs? Absolutely! But there is no evidence that they are doing this, only allegations based on generalizations about the Chinese people and their business practices. And most reporters (and indeed the Senators themselves) failed to notice that Huawei Symantec is not Huawei itself! This is a separate company yet it is being criticized for hazy allegations about its parent.

Then there is the technical challenge of actually leveraging an enterprise storage array for spying. Although movie spies often grab a hard disk on their way out of the building, it’s actually very difficult to sift through petabytes of data stored across multiple devices. Huawei Symantec would have to include computational power and intelligence in the array controller to analyze data locally before sending it out through some kind of hidden encrypted WAN link. Disguising that link means controlling security and network infrastructure as well, and they would need to keep throughput at a reasonable level so no one would notice the data transfer. In short, it would be very difficult technically for the Chinese military to use a storage array for spying even if this was their plan.

One must also consider the efficacy of spying through IT devices. Since these are purchased by each organization separately, a “spy vendor” we have a great deal of difficulty targeting sensitive environments and ensuring access to sensitive data. Huawei Symantec could try to target government labs, but there’s no telling whether they would actually succeed in the open market. It would be much more effective if a spy agency simply embedded spy technology in a wider range of products from less recognizable names.

HP, for example, sells a range of high-end network switches developed in cooperation with Huawei itself. Wouldn’t these switches be easier to leverage then a few storage arrays in Tennessee? But then reactionary senators with no concept of the business of IT would never recognize these efforts. Apparently, they need a big colorful Chinese name in order to get up in arms.

Stephen’s Stance

Huawei Symantec is being unfairly targeted based on its parentage, its name, and its national origin. There is absolutely no evidence presented, only vague suggestions and generalizations about China, and their accusers are a handful of ultraconservative congressmen. There is no reason to put any faith whatsoever in these allegations. To those concerned about these companies, I say this: Give me evidence or keep your anti-China feelings to yourself.

Disclaimers: I’ve never done business with Huawei Symantec or Huawei itself, though I have been briefed by them repeatedly. I work closely with Symantec Corporation on Tech Field Day and other projects, but they do not pay me a retainer and were not involved with this article.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | Is Huawei Symantec Spying For the Chinese?
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Virtual Storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

The Huawei E585 on the Three network in the UK is an excellent deal for travelers

Traveling overseas is challenging in many ways, but mobile phone and data service is especially difficult. While it’s fairly easy to find a reasonable deal locally, it’s almost impossible to transfer these deals abroad. The best way to avoid a huge ripoff is to use a local provider, and this is exactly what I did during my recent trip to the UK. I picked up a Huawei E585 “MiFi” on the Three network for half what AT&T charged me for modest use on my last trip.

Introducing the Huawei E585

The E585 is the latest “MiFi” device from Three in the UK. Like the familiar Novatel MiFi devices in the USA, the Huawei includes a 3G modem, Wi-Fi access point, and runs for hours on an internal battery.

Note: MiFi is a trademark of Novatel in the USA, but Three registered the “MiFi” trademark in the UK years before Novatel, so they are able to use the term for their 3G Wi-Fi service there, regardless of hardware maker.

Unlike my Novatel 2200, Huawei includes an OLED display on the E585, which clearly shows relevant information including battery charge and 3G and Wi-Fi connection status. The device is controlled with a single button and includes a Micro SD slot for local data sharing.

I found the battery to last at least four hours of casual use, which is nice since it takes quite a while to power on and off. But at least it isn’t eager to power itself on without my input – I often find my Novatel on and running down the battery for no reason!

The default WPA password is unique and printed on the inside of the device. Like Novatel’s “admin”, Huawei set the administrative password to “Admin”, leaving something to be desired. I quickly changed the SSID, and WPA and administrative passwords.

The Three network was widespread and speedy in my travels through the south of England. I was pleased by their £71.99 offering, which included the modem and 3 GB of data good for 3 months. I walked into one of their High Street stores and walked out with Internet access in less than 15 minutes.

Traveling Outside the UK

The E585 supports five GSM bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, and 2100 MHz. It is possible to unlock the E585 using free tools, as noted below, and this makes it potentially useful in many European and Asian countries.

But high-speed 3G HSPA is limited to 900 and 2100 MHz, and AT&T uses 950/1900 for 3G HSPA in the USA. It definitely does not support the 1700 MHz band required by T-Mobile USA’s 1700/2100 MHz 3G network, either, so it won’t be useful there. The same problem crops up in Canada, where most providers use 1900 MHz for 3G HSPA.

Providers that offer 2100 MHz HSPA service (see also list of UMTS networks):

• Africa  - Most GSM providers
• Asia – Most GSM providers
• Australia/New Zealand – Telstra, Optus, Vodafone AU & NZ, Three Mobile AU, 2° and Telecom NZ
• Brazil – All five GSM providers
• Europe – Most GSM providers
• Israel – Cellcom, Orange, Pelephone
• Japan – NTT DoCoMo, SoftBank Mobile
• Middle East – Most GSM providers
• Thailand – TOT

On returning to the USA, I followed steps I found online to unlock the E585. When an invalid SIM is inserted, the device’s unlock code becomes visible in its EFS memory, which can be dumped by a utility called PSAS. My modem hid the code later in memory than earlier revisions, but I was able to locate and use it.

I tested the E585 on the AT&T network using the SIM from an iPhone. It worked fine after unlocking, but was limited to 2.5 G “EDGE” performance. This limits its attractiveness to US buyers somewhat, though it’s still useful in many other countries.

Stephen’s Stance

I would not hesitate to recommend the Huawei E585 for use in the UK, especially with Three’s generous prepaid data offer. Since it can be unlocked for use in other European countries, it becomes all that much more useful. But it is disappointing it’s not more useful in the USA!

Update, November 2011

In November, I traveled to Germany and the Netherlands with my E585 MiFi. I’m happy report that it works just fine with GSM networks in both countries. As reported in my follow-up post, Wireless Internet Access During My Trip To The Netherlands, issues that I experienced were due to the idiosyncrasies of local billing, not the device or the unlock detailed above.

I would recommend looking up the APN and username/password combination of whatever provider you intend to use before purchasing a SIM card. On the E585, you can set up a new network configuration and preset the device for the local APN. That way, the device will work as soon as you insert the SIM. Just don’t forget to set the network configuration correctly when traveling to the next country.

Update, January 2012

As I prepare to return to the UK this month for Dell Storage Forum, I’ve been working through the process necessary to reactivate my Three MiFi device. It seems that Three does not allow non-UK post codes to be used for accounts or credit cards. Perhaps this is some sort of security measure, but it makes it difficult for travelers like me to top up their account.

Probably the best method is to have a friend in the UK by some top up credit at a petrol station or small shop and send you the top up code. You may then enter this online to reactivate your device before entering the UK. I had a friend purchase top up credit on my behalf, so my account should be ready to go as soon as I touched down at Heathrow.

If you don’t have a local to help you out, it is possible to buy a top up code with a foreign credit card at many shops and petrol stations in the UK. Once you have the code, you’ll need to get online somehow (public Wi-Fi?) and enter it into your 3 account.

Accessing your Three account online requires you to have registered with them. They use an SMS to send you your password, so it’s best to do this in the UK before your allowance runs out. But I found that the device would happily receive their password even with an un-funded SIM in the USA! I requested my password, turned on the MiFi with the Three SIM in it, and the SMS came through about half an hour later. I was then able to activate my account, though I couldn’t enter my information (address, credit card) since I don’t have a UK post code. Everything still worked fine, though.

Also, Three no longer sells the Huawei E585 device I purchased. The replacement E586 looks identical, but probably has somewhat different specs. Hopefully, the new device supports American GSM bands and is just as easy to unlock. But I’m really not sure if this is the case, so your mileage may vary. Regardless, I’m still happy with my Huawei E585 and the Three service in the UK.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | An Inexpensive Mobile Broadband Alternative When Traveling in the UK
This post was categorized as Deals, Everything, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Is this really the best the world can offer to unseat Apple's mighty iPad?

Last year, as the pre-release hype around the iPad was reaching its peak, dozens of companies announced their own tablet computers or “pads”. Some predicted doom for Apple’s device even before it was released. After all, how could premium-priced Apple compete with the volume PC makers and all the factories in China?

Pretty well, it turns out. Almost a year later, no tablet has even come close to Apple’s mighty iPad, and it currently boasts 95% market share. Where are the iPad killers?

Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts

The iPad has succeeded beyond the imaginings of even the most wild-eyed Apple fanboy. Seriously. No sane person (or cracked fanboy) would have guessed that the iPad alone would be a $7 billion business of that Apple would sell over 10 million of them in the first year. But the company is on track to exceed both of these numbers, selling over 4 million iPads (worth $2.7 billion) in their fourth fiscal quarter. And this doesn’t include the holiday season!

What’s so great about the iPad? It’s not the basic components. The “Apple-designed” A4 CPU turned out not to be the game-changer we thought it might be; the internal storage (16, 32, or 64 GB of it) are merely fine; even the excellent IPS screen offers middling 1024×768 resolution. The lack of a camera for FaceTime, pathetic 256 MB of RAM, and long wait for iOS 4 further detract from the device, in theory at least.

The amazing thing about the iPad is that it’s such an excellent overall device built from such ordinary components. About the only really extraordinary elements in the iPad spec sheet are its solid build quality and excellent battery life. Yet the iPad continues to delight its users, inspiring word-of-mouth marketing like no product before it – even beating the buzz around Apple’s iPhone!

Apple just took these simple components and mixed them together into an excellent overall experience. My household includes literally dozens of computers, including three Macs and five iPhones, and yet the iPad is all anyone wants to use. I am often summoned by the children to settle “iPad time” disputes, even as two perfectly-fine (though Wi-Fi only) iPhones sit idle. Not to mention the TiVo, Mac Mini, Wii, and assorted GameBoys.

Where Are The iPad Killers?

We like to break the ice at the Tech Field Day events I organize for Gestalt IT with a fun gift exchange. Since the iPad was introduced the week before, buying one as the grand prize for our April event was a no-brainer. Then came July, and iPad mania was strong enough to demand another iPad. In September, I hunted high and low for something more-compelling but settled on an iPad again.

Now here we are November and I have another event coming up. I made a real effort, shopping the various Android tablets against the now-dated iPad. Yet nothing comes close even now:

• 

  The Dell Streak is too small to compete as a tablet and too big for a phone

  The Dell Streak isn’t a bad device, but it’s way too small to compete with the iPad. I’d get an iPhone or Droid if I wanted a tiny “tablet”. It’s also encumbered with a 2-year wireless contract or a high price: I’d get an iPad if I had to spend over $500 anyway.

• Archos was early with an Android tablet, but their chintzy offerings didn’t seem worth a few hundred dollars, especially with a $499 iPad on offer. The limited software and tiny size were really off-putting.
• The newer Archos tablets like the Archos 70 and Archos 101 are much nicer, with capacitive touch screens and modern Android builds. But their plasticky build quality and phone-based OS didn’t leave me with a great feeling. I’d still happily spend $200 more for an iPad.
• 

  The Samsung Galaxy Tab is well-built but expensive

  Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is probably the best 7-inch Android tablet out there, but the cartoony interface screamed “not ready for prime time” to me. Plus, I’ve only seen the 3G versions for sale, and it’s crazy expensive. Seriously – $100 more than an iPad WITH a contract from Verizon or Sprint. An unlocked 16 GB Galaxy Tab is an astonishing $1,000.

• The new Huawei S7 is an alternative to the Archos 70, but isn’t really an iPad competitor. It’s a junky-feeling plastic device with a mediocre screen for $200 less than an iPad. Just like the Archos.
• The HP Slate 500 is definitely the coolest Windows 7 machine out there, but the proliferation of cut-priced netbooks cuts it off at the knees. The tablet form factor is nice, but is it worth more than two similar-spec netbooks?
• 

  The HP PhotoSmart eStation C510 is cheaper than most 7" Android tablets and includes a really nice printer!

  Probably the best value in an Android tablet comes with a free HP PhotoSmart printer attached. The $399 eStation C510 printer comes with a 7-inch wireless Android tablet every bit as good as the Archos or Huawei for around-the-house use. Sure it doesn’t have 3G or GPS, but who cares at this price?

• The bad mojo around the JooJoo eliminates it from consideration.
• The random Android-powered “xPad” devices (iRobot aPad? Seriously?) are total junk, with non-responsive resistive screens, crappy build quality, outdated software (Android 1.6?!?) and horrible batteries. About the only thing they have going for them is a proliferation of USB ports and SD slots.
• 

  The Barnes & Noble Nook Color looks like a nice Android e-reader

  The new Barnes & Noble Nook Color looks cool but isn’t shipping yet. When it does we’ll have another 7″ Android-powered tablet for a nice $50 less than the Archos or Huawei, and Barnes & Noble is thankfully stripping it down to focus on core e-reader features. If you just want an iPad as an e-book reader and occasional browser, this looks like a good alternative.

Have I missed something? Is there some awesome iPad alternative I haven’t listed here? I’m sure there are dozens more, but none can hold a candle to Apple’s aluminum wonder in terms of usability, build quality, or (gasp) price.

Stephen’s Stance

I guess I’ll just buy another iPad for Tech Field Day San Jose 2010. Some may call me an Apple fanboy, but I’m failing in a serious attempt not to give money to Steve Jobs and company. I really wish I could give an HP PhotoSmart eStation C510 or HP Slate 500, but the former is too big and the latter is too expensive to justify. The Samsung Galaxy Tab and Dell Streak are great, but both are way too expensive and chained to wireless contracts to boot.

It amazes me to say this, but apart from the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPad remains the only really compelling portable electronics buy this year. It’s nicely integrated, well-built, reasonably inexpensive, and universally desirable enough to be given as a (very nice) gifts. Nothing else really comes close. I guess Apple will have no trouble selling another 5 million iPads while the rest of the industry tries to get their products in order. But by that time, the next-generation iPad will launch.

Note: Of course the Cisco Cius looks great, too. And Cisco’s relationship with Apple suggests it might interoperate with FaceTime. But it’s not released yet, so it didn’t make this list.

Note: Some of these links include affiliate codes that help pay for this blog. For example, buying an Amazon Kindle with this link sends a few bucks my way! But I don't write this blog to make money, and am happy to link to sites and stores that don't pay anything. I like Amazon and buy tons from them, but you're free to buy whatever and wherever you want.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | The Tablet Wasteland and the iPad Oasis
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Huawei Symantec recently introduced their SAN, NAS, and security offerings for the United States market

Surprise! Huawei Symantec has arrived in the United States, ready to take on the midrange storage and network security market with a line of devices that have proven their worth in the international market for three years. I sat down with the company’s management at Storage Networking World and quizzed them on their plans and aspirations for growth.

Introducing Huawei Symantec

It’s important to get one thing straight right off the bat: Huawei Symantec Technologies Co., Ltd (Huawei Symantec) is neither Chinese telecom giant, Huawei, nor American storage and security powerhouse, Symantec. It is an entity unto itself, formed in 2008 as a joint venture of the two but managed independently. And Huawei Symantec USA (HS USA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of this China-based operation rather than a simple sales or marketing engine. Huawei Symantec USA is akin to NEC’s American operations rather than a global subsidiary like HDS or an integrator/reseller.

Huawei Symantec was created to commercialize the enterprise storage and server hardware of Huawei and the enterprise software offerings of Symantec, but blessed with its own independent 4,000-strong engineering, marketing, and sales force.

This independence is sometimes evident, though perhaps not in HS USA’s initial product offerings. They will enter the market with three products in two lines:

• “Oceanspace” storage:
  • S2600 “Low-End” Fibre Channel/iSCSI SAN array (see this technical whitepaper for more)
  • N8300 unified SAN/NAS array
• “Secospace” security:
  • Secospace USG2000BSR/HSR router/security appliance

Huawei Symantec has a much-broader product range, however, including VTL and PACS storage, cloud storage solutions, SSD drives, and SAN arrays on the storage side (all part of the Oceanspace line); UTM, Anti-DDoS, VPN, and IDS systems for security (referred to as Secospace); as well as servers. The HS USA team confirmed to me that they intend to broaden their product portfolio in America by bringing additional products to market in the near future.

Although these initial products are based on Symantec software, this is not the case for the entire product line. The Oceanstore VTL appears to use FalconStor software, for example, and Huawei Symantec has created hardware and software components that are distinct from both of its famous parents.

What’s In A Name?

I imagine that the famous names attached to this organization might prove to be both a blessing and a curse. The Symantec name carries cachet in the enterprise IT space, much of it inherited from Veritas along with proven products like Storage Foundation, NetBackup, and Enterprise Vault. Although less familiar to Americans, Huawei is a giant in the data centers of the Far East, with thousands of engineers and customers worldwide. But many will undoubtedly draw conclusions about these parents’ motives and strategies and apply these to their child, Huawei Symantec.

I discussed the entry of HS USA with Symantec staff as well, and they stressed that the new company is not driven by (or coordinated with) their management in Mountain View. Their reaction to the new products appeared to reflect the curiosity and interest they might direct towards any new storage or security company that leveraged their products. In short, Symantec appears supportive but disconnected from HS USA. Although they share a name, Huawei Symantec is not an attempt by Symantec itself to enter the enterprise storage array and security appliance market.

The Huawei name and roots in China may prove somewhat perilous, however. Members of the United States Senate and NSA recently moved to block Sprint Nextel and AT&T from using Huawei telecommunications gear, and some of the IT managers I spoke to at Storage Networking World were similarly worried. They expressed skepticism about the build quality and engineering of Chinese products in general and wondered aloud if Huawei Symantec would meet enterprise standards in terms of localization and customer support. And every end user I spoke to was confused about the company’s relationship with Symantec in particular.

Stephen’s Stance

I have been watching Huawei Symantec’s growth for the last few years, and the company’s entry into the United States market has great potential. Huawei Symantec has proven itself on the international stage and brings tremendous engineering and financial resources to the midrange storage and security market. It leverages the contributions of its famous-name parents but enjoys autonomy to go beyond this base.

Make no mistake: Although this is not just another storage startup, its success is not a foregone conclusion. Localization of products, support, and sales is perilous, and every market is littered with examples of failure. Huawei Symantec must act quickly to build strong relationships with resellers, who have traditionally been the gatekeepers of the midrange storage and security market. They must also move aggressively to localize product marketing and develop collateral and strategies to support their new American customers. And they must reach out to educate the market about their relationship with Huawei and Symantec and their engineering credentials.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | Huawei Symantec Enters The United States Storage and Security Market
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Gestalt IT. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

The players are lining up for the biggest acquisition game enterprise IT has witnessed in a while

Today is the (a?) day of reckoning in the 3Par saga, with Dell widely expected to make a counter-offer higher than HP’s bid. But this mega deal, like the Data Domain war before it, sends a strong signal to the enterprise IT world: It’s open season on data storage companies! But the rising superpowers are also likely looking at networking as an area of expansion. The game is afoot!

The Competitors

The simple fact is, enterprise IT prefers to buy from large, established names like HP and IBM rather than smaller and less-familiar companies with names like Ocarina, EqualLogic, or even 3Par. The acceleration of sales by enterprise providers is what makes these big acquisitions so successful and why others involving less-powerful players often fail to deliver the same results.

Full-line “superpowers” like IBM, HP and now Dell and the new Oracle can influence purchasing decisions across a broad spectrum of hardware and software. Many large organizations are tightly coupled to one of these vendors, and will give their products stronger consideration even when they are new or unfamiliar. HP is already flexing their muscle selling their broadened network lineup, and Dell found that it could do this in data storage.

Software vendors like Microsoft, Citrix, and Oracle adamantly maintained a neutral stance toward hardware, but Ellison and company seem serious about changing this. Oracle’s success in selling Sun hardware will likely dictate further software acquisitions for Dell and HP, though IBM already has strength there. Then there is Intel, the wild card who just got wilder with their acquisition of McAfee.

Companies with narrower focus like Cisco, EMC, NetApp, Juniper, and Brocade have the same power within their sphere of influence but cannot pull in wholly-distinct products. Cisco is in the midst of this fight with their technically-excellent UCS blade servers: Although they were certainly a strategic CIO-level vendor in the largest organizations, “blades from a networking company” isn’t the as easy a decision as “networking gear from a full-line company.”

The Game

Then one must consider the market in contention. The enterprise IT space is not expanding, especially in the United States. This is very close to a zero-sum game, with Oracle’s or Dell’s wins being HP’s or IBM’s losses and vice-versa. There is massive money in play, and flexibility enough for it to swing between the competitors, but growth is not unlimited.

Enterprise storage and data center and campus networking are two areas where smaller companies retain enviably-large slices of the pie, explaining the interest in these spaces among the superpowers. These verticals still have room for sales to grow without displacing a fierce full-line foe, and the superpowers have lately been weak here. Storage and networking are enticing opportunities, but each slice is similarly dominated by “vertical superpowers” and partners EMC and Cisco.

So this is the game: Four full-line enterprise superpowers battling each other for datacenter dominance and coveting the extra profits of a few verticals. HP clearly believes they can chip away at EMC and Cisco in storage and networking; Dell and IBM have so far focused mainly on storage; and Oracle hasn’t made a move in either direction, instead challenging the other three in the core server and software space.

Pawns or Knights?

So where does this leave the smaller players? Are they merely pawns in the game, waiting to be sacrificed, or are they knights who can wield power across the field? The largest (Cisco and EMC especially) appear to have ambitions of their own as well as the financial and technical strength to shake up the game. They are unlikely to be acquired by the superpowers. Brocade, too, has broad strength in storage and networking but maintains relationships across the board that make an acquisition difficult.

Strong vertical players like Juniper, NetApp, Riverbed, and Compellent are ripe for acquisition, as were Foundry, 3Com, Data Domain, and 3Par. IBM, Dell, and Oracle are all likely buyers of the networking players, though HP may consider filling in where 3Com was found lacking. All four will likely take a strong look at the remaining storage players as well, with the loser in the battle for 3Par likely to be hungry indeed.

One should also consider the potential impact of smaller acquisitions. Although they would not immediately “move the needle” for a massive superpower, there are many excellent technology companies that could be bought low and pushed strongly. The enterprise-class technology at Sepaton, Pillar Data, Xiotech, BlueArc, Extreme Networks, Force10, Blue Coat, Isilon, CommVault, FalconStor, and many others should not be overlooked. If a superpower can drive a larger acquisition to succeed, imagine what they can do with strong but inexpensive technology from one of these!

Stephen’s Stance

This game is nowhere near finished. The 3Par acquisition will not only generate revenue, it will shake up the ranking of data storage array dominance. This is very likely to kick off additional acquisition in the data storage space, spurring either Dell or HP to pick up additional technology and perhaps causing IBM or Oracle to engage as well. With no easy alternatives to 3Par, I expect Compellent, Xiotech, and Pillar to get closer looks, but Sepaton and BlueArc are just as ripe. NetApp may be too expensive at this point, but would be a nice match for Oracle’s strategy.

HP’s acquisition of 3Com could also signal a race to integrate datacenter and campus networking technology into the stack. Many are suggesting a Brocade acquisition, and it would be much cheaper than Juniper, but OEM ties make it a difficult purchase for any of the superpowers. Extreme and Force10 would be excellent and less-expensive alternatives.

We should also keep our eyes outside the superpower space. Intel showed that they can make big moves, and Microsoft might consider a diversification into hardware as well. One should also look to the East, where Huawei could try to enter the Western market with a merger or joint-venture to cast off the China stigma. Although I would love to see a rebel alliance rise (imagine Juniper, NetApp, and Symantec joining forces!) this is not a likely scenario.

Image credit: Chess Board by mosdave

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | The Enterprise IT Acquisition Game
This post was categorized as Computer History, Enterprise storage, Everything, Gestalt IT, Virtual Storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

H3C already has a long list of products, most based on in-house hardware and OEM software. On the storage side, the company makes an iSCSI storage array platform dubbed “Neocean”. This storage platform, selling strongly in China, is alleged to leverage technology licensed from FalconStor (on the low-end IX1000), Intransa (on the bigger IX5000), as well as iVivity and Xyratex. OEM storage developer Ciprico today announced that it will be working with H3C on the next generation. H3C also sells a WAFS accelerator leveraging Expand Networks software. All of these should be coming to the United States next year.

Huawei itself is also getting back into the storage market in the form of a joint venture with Symantec, creatively called Huawei-Symantec. This company is set to be coming out with a line of network devices with Veritas-based software built in. We’re hearing about virus scanning and content indexing appliances, as well as NAS and SAN arrays which will include storage foundation software from Symantec right out of the box.

Who knows what’s next from Huawei? I’d guess expanded services, more resellers in the West, and more OEM deals to create bigger systems. In a few years, they might give Hitachi and EMC trouble in the enterprise market, especially when big server vendors like Sun, SGI, Dell, and HP start rethinking their OEM strategies…

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2007. | Storage from behind the great wall
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.