Slashdot brought me from the BBS era and then UseNet to the web. Many of my big life decisions were (and are) influenced by what I've learned from this community. CmdrTaco this is your life's work---and it matters to me. Thanks for the memories and happy trails!
I use this Hotspot@Home service and find it fantastic! T-mobile already offers the best customer service, now I have a cell tower in my bedroom...and free wifi roaming while overseas.
The Good -WiFi call quality better than GSM -WiFi-GSM hand-offs work well -No minutes charged for calls started on WiFi and finished on GSM The Bad -Will not work with hotspots that require a web log-in (aside from T-mobile USA Hotspots) -The bundled router does not support Mac OS X (to register you need to run a Windows-only application from a CD) The Ugly -The service currently works with only 2 very basic phones that even lack a web browser...even though high end devices like the Dash have wifi chipsets
You would think that adding GPG would be a next logical feature for Google to add...well, anything that will get my mom to use GPG will make me smile.
Will this be the catalyst for IP reform?
on
The End for Vonage?
·
· Score: 1
If Verizon has the patents that effectively end the VoIP revolution, it will mean dramatically higher telecommunications costs. This could well drive the much needed patent reform we have all been dreaming about for a long time. Remember, in history very few societies have industrialized without land reform that brought real estate ownership from the elite to the middle classes. I would like to hazard a guess that the information age will not really take off until the ownership of intellectual property shifts from being controlled by the elite to being controlled by the middle classes. As a Mac user, I consistently see innovative small software companies introduce new features to the platform, with Apple eventually introducing a less effective clone into the OS. See the MissingSync, Watson, etc. over the years. A small developer cannot really win an IP lawsuit against a big company. Once this changes you will see a flowering of innovation across the world, although quite possibly less open source software.
Part of what makes Macs so reliable is that Apple offers the OS on a limited configuration of computers-having perhaps 100 machines that need to work with the current OSX versus millions of possible configurations for Vista. I do not see why someone running a Linux distribution, like Ubuntu, does not just publish a very detailed specification of what will work best with their OS and then allow a vendor like Dell to sell PCs which precisely map to this configuration. That way Ubuntu, or whatever, gets better distribution, Dell avoids the Microsoft tax, consumers benefit from a more accessible Linux and system administrators have a more manageable network.
I hate the record companies just as much as everyone else. The thing is that the record companies have to behave like scum. They are in a "shoot the moon"-type business. The vast majority, something like 80%, of artists loose money. To cover their costs, which are real but significantly less for downloads, the music industry must screw the profitable artists. All that we can hope is that Apple adds functionality to Garage Band that allows anyone to post music to iTunes. Right now artists, with a few notable exceptions, must work with the record industry to get their music onto store shelves. Apple can empower musicians to massively self-distribute for the first time in history.
Every time some new worm is released onto the Internet, I ask myself what drives the sick people who create such things. What can we do to provide more disincentives to keep them from being jerks?
After September 11th, all of the legacy hub airlines have faced enormous challenges. Unlike all of their competitors Continental still treats their customers right by, at no extra cost, having food on long flights, clean airplanes, pillows, curbside check-in and great crews. Plus unlimited upgrades for elite frequent fliers.;-) The other airlines that operate major lounge networks in the US all charge for wi-fi, Continental provides it for free and the MassHoles at BOS are suing them for it. Whenever given the chance, I prefer Continental befause they treat me right. N.B. for those of you who complain that only frequent fliers like me can use the free wi-fi. Um, open up your laptop near a PClub and connect to the network.
The discussion on this posting seems to focus on calls made from US mobile numbers to international numbers. VoIP has very few competitive advantages with such a set-up. At the same time, if you are calling from a comparatively expensive phone market to a comparably inexpensive phone market, say from China to San Francisco, this service creates significant value. Here in Beijing, it costs me US 50 cents per minute to call the US on my mobile and ~2 center per minute through VoIP. Is saving 48 cents per minute worth $10 per year? Sure. Oh, and finally: should this program actually be Skype brand extention for a one-time $5 fee? Definitely.
The view from a neighbor...
on
Lucas's New HQ
·
· Score: 1
I live in the Presidio, several blocks away from the LucasFilm complex. For one, I am very happy to have this new company move into the park. Although it will mean additional traffic and parking problems, I have found the Presidio to be too quiet. We might even have more decent restaurants and nightlife in the park now. The development is contraversial because it is located on Federal Propoperty in a National Park. This means that it did not have to go through the byzantine zoning politics that prevent almost all large scale development in San Francisco. Among other things, this meant a high voltage power line brought through a residential neighborhood without the usuall dialogue.
My only qualm is that the Presidio Trust signed a lease with Lucas focusing on the movie studio with a little extra office space and the finished product will reflect office space with a smaller movie studio attached. At the end of the day, the facility my father calls, "LucasLand" will mean more opportunities for the arts in San Francisco, a beautiful new office complex, a more vibrant Presidio and a positive change for our local culture. I'm excited to live here.
As a fellow American, I must beg to differ. Last year, I moved across San Francisco from downtown to the Presidio. My new home has cat-5 in every room and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The first monday after moving in, I called SBC, receiving a quote for phone service and internet. At around $125 per month for flat rate domestic calling and a skinny broadband connection, the fastest available, I was pretty excited. After placing my order, the salesperson transferred me to technical support to help move my number several miles. This did not seem relatively daunting, I have previously moved mobile numbers from Cingular (part of SBC) to T-Mobile and from People's to SmarTone (in HK) in either case taking less than a day or two. SBC has not yet figured out how to do this on their voice network. They did offer to let me keep the number at my old location and forward calls to my new location, for only $30 per month. Eventually, SBC suggested that I port my number to another carrier which would allow them to port it back to my new location. This did not work either. My ultimate option was to port the number to Vonage, a service which has worked perfectly thank you. My next problem started concurrently, getting stuck in SBC billing hell. With a flat rate phone plan, unlimited broadband and relatively few international calls, all of which were placed over the Vonage phone anyway, I expected a very stable bill. Unfortunately, over four monhts, my bill ran from ~$170 to over $500, all far more than SBC quoted in their original sales pitch. Attempts at sorting out billing problems cost hours and hours of time waiting on hold. Eventually, I gave up. SBC claimed I had signed some contract, which I have not, something they are unable to produce. They would not allow me to cancel my DSL service or move lines to another carrier. Given that my number was already in the trusty hands of Vonage, I simply ordered two more voip lines. I called Comcast and their sales agent personally brought over a cable modem within an hour. (Talk about incredible service!) Moral of the story: I'm not paying SBC one red cent, have boradband that is nearly 10x faster and have a higher quality phone service. My total communications bill, including television, is now less than $100 per month. I must respectfully disagree with all of the wankers who feel that America should really serve as a model for telecommunications policy.
Untitled Document
Our relationship started nearly a year ago. Like an attractive transfer student
in high school, it seemed like we needed an invitation just to meet. My friends
kept on telling me about your personality and, yes, joy about the ways you brightened
their lives.
Eventually one of my friends provided an introduction, and we hit it off. In fact,
we have been going steady for nearly nine months now. You are all that I ever
wanted, almost, and seem to be the most popular member of our class. From reliable
junk mail filters, to free pop access, to email searching, it seems like my past
relationships were with just a bunch of Yahoos.
My only wish is to be able to hold you in the Palm
of my hand, like a Web
Pro appreciating your every nuance. It may not be Siberia, but it remains
home sweet home. I know you listen, that's one of your features I find most endearing.
Let's celebrate our first anniversary and look forward to many more years of bliss.
As a policy maker, you want to best serve your constituents. One of the largest employers in your state faces increased competition created by new technology such as VoIP or WiFi. Sure it may not be good for consumers, but you can save thousands of jobs and have another door to knock on during your next campaign. This is not an engineering problem folks, it is a political problem.
The way budgeting typically works in an institution, every year the administrators are told that they will have a budget of $x which is (typically) y% less than the year before. Administrators, whose self worth is directly tied to the budget and headcount they control, then find whatever (usually small) parts of their budget might have the most political leverage over the more senior administrators who set their budget. When the media then announces that whatever sacred cow is about to be slaughtered, the Administrators are more likely to receive their budget of $x-1/2y% or, in other words, relatively more money than comparable administrators in other departments. Note, that certain administrative departments, think the Defense and Intelligence communities in the current presidency, receive favorable treatment thereby distorting the rest of the budget process. In fact, yesterday at the World Affairs Council of Northern California former secretary of defense Robert McNamara said that he felt that our $400b defense budget was excessive.
This type of scam will sound so quaint in five or ten years after Wal-Mart has individual RFID tags which document the price, supply chain and ultimate purchaser of any product. I'm excited.
What first drew me online and kept me excited for years was the sense of community that people had in the BBS scene before the rising popularity of the Web. Despite many attempts at creating this same feeling on the web from AIM, to Craigslist, Friendster, gMail to even Slashdot or Kuro5hin, I have not been able to develop the same type of relationships. It seems almost bizarre to suggest that a global online community could have a BBQ or meet for dinner at a local fast food restaurant. People like Jom Jennings of FidoNet and Scott Converse of OneNet really deserve to be recognized by organizations like the VCF. The communities they fostered, perhaps because local dial-up networks kept everything provincal, are probably what I miss about the modern Internet with its spammers, phishers, con artists, Patriot Act, unsecure email and general lack of polite behavior. More than anything else, this misplaced sense of community is what I miss about the early days online.
At the end of the article, the Almighty Institute of Music Retail provides a breakdown of the $15.99 spent on a new album. What surprises me is that when you adjust the underlying model for online music sales, the numbers break down to $9.88, which assumes that the record labels maintain their $4.61 of overhead and profit. This leads me to suspect that, despite their assertations to the contrary, Apple does in fact make some money off the iTunes music store.
As a user of both Gmail and Hotmail I, like most people, strongly prefer Gmail. My largest problem with Hotmail is its incompatibility with some browsers. I use a variety of clients, but much of my internet access takes place over high latency, low speed wireless connections. (Usually GPRS) In these circumstances, I prefer to use a stripped down web browser like lynx or the PalmOS Web Pro application primarily due to their lower bandwidth overhead. To check my Hotmail and Gmail accounts, unfortunately, I need to open a full-featured browser like Mozilla. Strangely enough, Gmail is even less compatible than Hotmail. The net effect is that while mobile, I only check email through my main account that uses POP3 and that great open source program Squirrelmail.
The battle over this song is just part of the larger war to maintain our Fair Use rights. The outcome of this war, with battlegrounds ranging from JibJab to MP3.com, Linux to Microsoft, could well define the future progress, or lack thereof, of democracy. Every major political movement needs its anthem and I think that "This Land is made for You and Me" would be serve well for the Fair Use Movement.
In this day and age, I cannot imagine that any type of blimp would be appropriate to provide additional wireless capacity near a major event. It only takes one person with a gun to puncture the blimp. The potential for terrorism would, unfortunately, be too great.
The original goal of the iPod was to drive Mac sales, although perhaps things are a bit upside down now. This SDK goes a long way, though not far enough, toward opening the iTunes music store and keeping the iPod (and therefore Apple) relevant.
Japan has two mobile phone networks, both of which are incompatible with the rest of the world. The PDC network, which by the way is now out of date and replaced by the PHS network, operates at 1.9Ghz and is a uniquely Japanese technology. The PHS network functions almost as a super cordless phone offering relatively low cost and limited coverage. The IMT-2000 network is analogous to the GSM networks available elsewhere and is a Japanese-specific implementation of CDMA. Neither is a global standard. The reason Japan chose these different technologies was to provide a sheltered local market, in effect a subsidy, for those companies mentioned in the previous post as supplying to Nokia et al. This is further illustrated by the Japanese 3G phones which are, no surprises here, incompatible with those elsewhere. (Japan's 3G technology is based on CDMA-2000 instead of the global standard W-CDMA) It seems like the previous post is quite misinformed. I would encourage a visit the website of the Japanese telecommunications ministry which has a rather straightforward illustration of the evolution of Japanese mobile phone standards.
It's real cool that 4G telephones in Japan will have higher theoretical speeds than a typical ADSL line, but I think that we are really missing the point. Japan is a small and rich country with a history of using unique standards to protect domestic industry, something of which mobile phones are a striking example. By having a closed Japanese system, it is possible to deliver next generation technology before it has left the international standards committees. A key benefit, for the Japanese, is that local companies have an intrinsic advantage over foreign competitors. This type of attitude explains, in part, the difficulties faced by non-Japanese companies doing business in Japan. For me, a real revolution in Japan will take place when I can use my triband GSM phone, or its 3G equivalent, in the land of the rising sun.
I suspect that China will be entirely unable to enforce any requirements that its software be Chinese-made. The streets of most Chinese cities are covered with small business people selling various qualities of pirated media ranging from burnt CDs, VCDs and DVDs with Hollywood's latest to pre-release versions of most popular programs. This disregard for software property rights, unsurprisingly, is mirrored in other products, the most incredible of which is a pirated car. This piracy problem is so pervasive, that I would be surprised if much software purchased by the government was legitimate. I suspect that this announcement is more of a political ploy than an actual policy statement.
Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot brought me from the BBS era and then UseNet to the web. Many of my big life decisions were (and are) influenced by what I've learned from this community. CmdrTaco this is your life's work---and it matters to me. Thanks for the memories and happy trails!
I use this Hotspot@Home service and find it fantastic! T-mobile already offers the best customer service, now I have a cell tower in my bedroom...and free wifi roaming while overseas.
The Good
-WiFi call quality better than GSM
-WiFi-GSM hand-offs work well
-No minutes charged for calls started on WiFi and finished on GSM
The Bad
-Will not work with hotspots that require a web log-in (aside from T-mobile USA Hotspots)
-The bundled router does not support Mac OS X (to register you need to run a Windows-only application from a CD)
The Ugly
-The service currently works with only 2 very basic phones that even lack a web browser...even though high end devices like the Dash have wifi chipsets
You would think that adding GPG would be a next logical feature for Google to add...well, anything that will get my mom to use GPG will make me smile.
If Verizon has the patents that effectively end the VoIP revolution, it will mean dramatically higher telecommunications costs. This could well drive the much needed patent reform we have all been dreaming about for a long time. Remember, in history very few societies have industrialized without land reform that brought real estate ownership from the elite to the middle classes. I would like to hazard a guess that the information age will not really take off until the ownership of intellectual property shifts from being controlled by the elite to being controlled by the middle classes.
As a Mac user, I consistently see innovative small software companies introduce new features to the platform, with Apple eventually introducing a less effective clone into the OS. See the MissingSync, Watson, etc. over the years. A small developer cannot really win an IP lawsuit against a big company. Once this changes you will see a flowering of innovation across the world, although quite possibly less open source software.
Part of what makes Macs so reliable is that Apple offers the OS on a limited configuration of computers-having perhaps 100 machines that need to work with the current OSX versus millions of possible configurations for Vista. I do not see why someone running a Linux distribution, like Ubuntu, does not just publish a very detailed specification of what will work best with their OS and then allow a vendor like Dell to sell PCs which precisely map to this configuration. That way Ubuntu, or whatever, gets better distribution, Dell avoids the Microsoft tax, consumers benefit from a more accessible Linux and system administrators have a more manageable network.
Let's move on, folks...this is another case of finding out what turns up when you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailor park.
I hate the record companies just as much as everyone else. The thing is that the record companies have to behave like scum. They are in a "shoot the moon"-type business. The vast majority, something like 80%, of artists loose money. To cover their costs, which are real but significantly less for downloads, the music industry must screw the profitable artists. All that we can hope is that Apple adds functionality to Garage Band that allows anyone to post music to iTunes. Right now artists, with a few notable exceptions, must work with the record industry to get their music onto store shelves. Apple can empower musicians to massively self-distribute for the first time in history.
Every time some new worm is released onto the Internet, I ask myself what drives the sick people who create such things. What can we do to provide more disincentives to keep them from being jerks?
After September 11th, all of the legacy hub airlines have faced enormous challenges. Unlike all of their competitors Continental still treats their customers right by, at no extra cost, having food on long flights, clean airplanes, pillows, curbside check-in and great crews. Plus unlimited upgrades for elite frequent fliers. ;-)
The other airlines that operate major lounge networks in the US all charge for wi-fi, Continental provides it for free and the MassHoles at BOS are suing them for it. Whenever given the chance, I prefer Continental befause they treat me right.
N.B. for those of you who complain that only frequent fliers like me can use the free wi-fi. Um, open up your laptop near a PClub and connect to the network.
The discussion on this posting seems to focus on calls made from US mobile numbers to international numbers. VoIP has very few competitive advantages with such a set-up.
At the same time, if you are calling from a comparatively expensive phone market to a comparably inexpensive phone market, say from China to San Francisco, this service creates significant value. Here in Beijing, it costs me US 50 cents per minute to call the US on my mobile and ~2 center per minute through VoIP. Is saving 48 cents per minute worth $10 per year? Sure.
Oh, and finally: should this program actually be Skype brand extention for a one-time $5 fee? Definitely.
I live in the Presidio, several blocks away from the LucasFilm complex. For one, I am very happy to have this new company move into the park. Although it will mean additional traffic and parking problems, I have found the Presidio to be too quiet. We might even have more decent restaurants and nightlife in the park now.
The development is contraversial because it is located on Federal Propoperty in a National Park. This means that it did not have to go through the byzantine zoning politics that prevent almost all large scale development in San Francisco. Among other things, this meant a high voltage power line brought through a residential neighborhood without the usuall dialogue.
My only qualm is that the Presidio Trust signed a lease with Lucas focusing on the movie studio with a little extra office space and the finished product will reflect office space with a smaller movie studio attached.
At the end of the day, the facility my father calls, "LucasLand" will mean more opportunities for the arts in San Francisco, a beautiful new office complex, a more vibrant Presidio and a positive change for our local culture. I'm excited to live here.
As a fellow American, I must beg to differ. Last year, I moved across San Francisco from downtown to the Presidio. My new home has cat-5 in every room and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The first monday after moving in, I called SBC, receiving a quote for phone service and internet. At around $125 per month for flat rate domestic calling and a skinny broadband connection, the fastest available, I was pretty excited.
After placing my order, the salesperson transferred me to technical support to help move my number several miles. This did not seem relatively daunting, I have previously moved mobile numbers from Cingular (part of SBC) to T-Mobile and from People's to SmarTone (in HK) in either case taking less than a day or two. SBC has not yet figured out how to do this on their voice network. They did offer to let me keep the number at my old location and forward calls to my new location, for only $30 per month.
Eventually, SBC suggested that I port my number to another carrier which would allow them to port it back to my new location. This did not work either. My ultimate option was to port the number to Vonage, a service which has worked perfectly thank you.
My next problem started concurrently, getting stuck in SBC billing hell. With a flat rate phone plan, unlimited broadband and relatively few international calls, all of which were placed over the Vonage phone anyway, I expected a very stable bill. Unfortunately, over four monhts, my bill ran from ~$170 to over $500, all far more than SBC quoted in their original sales pitch. Attempts at sorting out billing problems cost hours and hours of time waiting on hold.
Eventually, I gave up. SBC claimed I had signed some contract, which I have not, something they are unable to produce. They would not allow me to cancel my DSL service or move lines to another carrier. Given that my number was already in the trusty hands of Vonage, I simply ordered two more voip lines. I called Comcast and their sales agent personally brought over a cable modem within an hour. (Talk about incredible service!)
Moral of the story: I'm not paying SBC one red cent, have boradband that is nearly 10x faster and have a higher quality phone service. My total communications bill, including television, is now less than $100 per month.
I must respectfully disagree with all of the wankers who feel that America should really serve as a model for telecommunications policy.
Untitled Document Our relationship started nearly a year ago. Like an attractive transfer student in high school, it seemed like we needed an invitation just to meet. My friends kept on telling me about your personality and, yes, joy about the ways you brightened their lives.
Eventually one of my friends provided an introduction, and we hit it off. In fact, we have been going steady for nearly nine months now. You are all that I ever wanted, almost, and seem to be the most popular member of our class. From reliable junk mail filters, to free pop access, to email searching, it seems like my past relationships were with just a bunch of Yahoos.
My only wish is to be able to hold you in the Palm of my hand, like a Web Pro appreciating your every nuance. It may not be Siberia, but it remains home sweet home. I know you listen, that's one of your features I find most endearing.
Let's celebrate our first anniversary and look forward to many more years of bliss.
As a policy maker, you want to best serve your constituents. One of the largest employers in your state faces increased competition created by new technology such as VoIP or WiFi. Sure it may not be good for consumers, but you can save thousands of jobs and have another door to knock on during your next campaign. This is not an engineering problem folks, it is a political problem.
The way budgeting typically works in an institution, every year the administrators are told that they will have a budget of $x which is (typically) y% less than the year before. Administrators, whose self worth is directly tied to the budget and headcount they control, then find whatever (usually small) parts of their budget might have the most political leverage over the more senior administrators who set their budget. When the media then announces that whatever sacred cow is about to be slaughtered, the Administrators are more likely to receive their budget of $x-1/2y% or, in other words, relatively more money than comparable administrators in other departments.
Note, that certain administrative departments, think the Defense and Intelligence communities in the current presidency, receive favorable treatment thereby distorting the rest of the budget process. In fact, yesterday at the World Affairs Council of Northern California former secretary of defense Robert McNamara said that he felt that our $400b defense budget was excessive.
This type of scam will sound so quaint in five or ten years after Wal-Mart has individual RFID tags which document the price, supply chain and ultimate purchaser of any product. I'm excited.
What first drew me online and kept me excited for years was the sense of community that people had in the BBS scene before the rising popularity of the Web. Despite many attempts at creating this same feeling on the web from AIM, to Craigslist, Friendster, gMail to even Slashdot or Kuro5hin, I have not been able to develop the same type of relationships. It seems almost bizarre to suggest that a global online community could have a BBQ or meet for dinner at a local fast food restaurant.
People like Jom Jennings of FidoNet and Scott Converse of OneNet really deserve to be recognized by organizations like the VCF. The communities they fostered, perhaps because local dial-up networks kept everything provincal, are probably what I miss about the modern Internet with its spammers, phishers, con artists, Patriot Act, unsecure email and general lack of polite behavior. More than anything else, this misplaced sense of community is what I miss about the early days online.
At the end of the article, the Almighty Institute of Music Retail provides a breakdown of the $15.99 spent on a new album. What surprises me is that when you adjust the underlying model for online music sales, the numbers break down to $9.88, which assumes that the record labels maintain their $4.61 of overhead and profit. This leads me to suspect that, despite their assertations to the contrary, Apple does in fact make some money off the iTunes music store.
0.17 musicians unions
n/a packaging/manufacturing
0.8 publishing royalties
n/a retail profit
0.15 credit card fees
1.6 artists royalties
1.7 label profit
2.4 marketing
2.91 label overhead
0.15 retail overhead
9.88 total
As a user of both Gmail and Hotmail I, like most people, strongly prefer Gmail. My largest problem with Hotmail is its incompatibility with some browsers. I use a variety of clients, but much of my internet access takes place over high latency, low speed wireless connections. (Usually GPRS) In these circumstances, I prefer to use a stripped down web browser like lynx or the PalmOS Web Pro application primarily due to their lower bandwidth overhead. To check my Hotmail and Gmail accounts, unfortunately, I need to open a full-featured browser like Mozilla. Strangely enough, Gmail is even less compatible than Hotmail. The net effect is that while mobile, I only check email through my main account that uses POP3 and that great open source program Squirrelmail.
The battle over this song is just part of the larger war to maintain our Fair Use rights. The outcome of this war, with battlegrounds ranging from JibJab to MP3.com, Linux to Microsoft, could well define the future progress, or lack thereof, of democracy. Every major political movement needs its anthem and I think that "This Land is made for You and Me" would be serve well for the Fair Use Movement.
In this day and age, I cannot imagine that any type of blimp would be appropriate to provide additional wireless capacity near a major event. It only takes one person with a gun to puncture the blimp. The potential for terrorism would, unfortunately, be too great.
The original goal of the iPod was to drive Mac sales, although perhaps things are a bit upside down now. This SDK goes a long way, though not far enough, toward opening the iTunes music store and keeping the iPod (and therefore Apple) relevant.
Japan has two mobile phone networks, both of which are incompatible with the rest of the world. The PDC network, which by the way is now out of date and replaced by the PHS network, operates at 1.9Ghz and is a uniquely Japanese technology. The PHS network functions almost as a super cordless phone offering relatively low cost and limited coverage. The IMT-2000 network is analogous to the GSM networks available elsewhere and is a Japanese-specific implementation of CDMA. Neither is a global standard. The reason Japan chose these different technologies was to provide a sheltered local market, in effect a subsidy, for those companies mentioned in the previous post as supplying to Nokia et al. This is further illustrated by the Japanese 3G phones which are, no surprises here, incompatible with those elsewhere. (Japan's 3G technology is based on CDMA-2000 instead of the global standard W-CDMA) It seems like the previous post is quite misinformed. I would encourage a visit the website of the Japanese telecommunications ministry which has a rather straightforward illustration of the evolution of Japanese mobile phone standards.
It's real cool that 4G telephones in Japan will have higher theoretical speeds than a typical ADSL line, but I think that we are really missing the point. Japan is a small and rich country with a history of using unique standards to protect domestic industry, something of which mobile phones are a striking example. By having a closed Japanese system, it is possible to deliver next generation technology before it has left the international standards committees. A key benefit, for the Japanese, is that local companies have an intrinsic advantage over foreign competitors. This type of attitude explains, in part, the difficulties faced by non-Japanese companies doing business in Japan. For me, a real revolution in Japan will take place when I can use my triband GSM phone, or its 3G equivalent, in the land of the rising sun.
I suspect that China will be entirely unable to enforce any requirements that its software be Chinese-made. The streets of most Chinese cities are covered with small business people selling various qualities of pirated media ranging from burnt CDs, VCDs and DVDs with Hollywood's latest to pre-release versions of most popular programs. This disregard for software property rights, unsurprisingly, is mirrored in other products, the most incredible of which is a pirated car. This piracy problem is so pervasive, that I would be surprised if much software purchased by the government was legitimate. I suspect that this announcement is more of a political ploy than an actual policy statement.