Can mobile ubiquity help bridge Philly’s digital divide?

In partnership with Temple University’s Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab, the university’s capstone journalism class, students Chelsea Leposa and Jared Pass will cover neighborhood technology issues for Technically Philly and Philadelphia Neighborhoods through May.

Apple’s iPhone and iTouch sold 57 million units in 28 months, according to Morgan Stanley’s The Mobile Internet Report.

Smartphones and other Internet-ready handheld devices have gained immense popularity. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 83 percent of people own cell phones or smartphones and 35 percent of people have surfed the Internet with their phones.

Ashley Cox on smartphone

“I go on there for everything,” says Ashley Cox of her mobile smartphone, “I’m on it everyday, all day.” African Americans are the most active users of mobile Internet. On an average day, 29 percent of African Americans used mobile Internet in 2009, up 141 percent from 2007. In 2009 the national average was only 19 percent.

“Mobile Internet expands people’s realization of the power of the Internet,” says Michael Morgan, an industry analyst on mobile devices for ABI Research, “you know you can be connected to information wherever you are.”

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Comcast Roundup: Philly gets faster Internet speeds, a cable guy gets arrested and More

Every Thursday morning, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup.

Philly, your life just got a little more Comcastic.

Comcast has completed its local rollout of “wideband” internet, introducing two new premium tiers of service.

Extreme 50, the higher tier, offers up to 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. The lower tier, Ultra, offers 22 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up.

In other words, customers in the metropolitan area will soon be able to turn their Internet connections up to 11. The fastest current offering is 16 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.

The company has been upgrading our tubes since December 2008 and has already covered 50 percent of the nation with the upgraded DOCSIS 3.0 network.

After the jump, a Comcast tech is in to bondage, Comcast helps you go green and how you will soon be able to buy hapiness for under $7 a month.
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Comcast CEO gives the Internet a hug at The Cable Show

Brian Roberts (far left) sits on a panel about new media at The Cable Show.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts had the honor of being a panelist at the cable industry trade show in Washington. All of the cable big wigs are slated to attend the event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, including News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.

According to reports, Roberts used his time to persuade his colleagues that the Internet is not the enemy and is another avenue for monitization. The cable industry has been abuzz over customers canceling pricey cable packages in favor of getting media via broadband Internet connections. The practice, known as “cord-cutting” in cable-company-speak, has had an impact on cable companies. Many companies are also suffering because of cost-cutting consumers not renewing service to save money, and the Center-City based Comcast is no exception. As covered previously in Technically Philly, the company lost 233,000 cable subscribers last quarter.

Of the five member panel, Roberts was the most supportive of placing video online.
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