Gossip

Shy researcher keeps Blackberry report secret

You can't fault Visiongain on hype. If you get the spam, you will know "- There is NO report like this available ANYWHERE -- This is the ONLY independent report on BlackBerry -- Should your company be offering BlackBerry handsets? -- Should your company be competeing [sic] against BlackBerry? -- Is BlackBerry a short term solution or long term success? - There is only 1 place to find out - I suggest you order this vital report NOW."

Intrigued, Sniffer checked the associated packets. They turned out to be no more than a list of chapter headings. What does the report actually say, Sniffer wondered?

So a call went out to Hugh McFadden, who wrote the report. Hugh refused to take the call, and (apparently, according to his assistant) isn't interested in getting the report written up, either; no executive summary is available.

So Sniffer checked the Web site. After much logging in and registering, our long-nosed one found the report mentioned in a headline, and clicked:

eWirelessNews.com Press Release

The Hong Kong government has allocated four 3G licenses without holding an auction. The government had originally offered to issue four licenses. The licenses went to Hutchison 3G HK, a venture between local conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, which has 75 per cent, and Japan's DoCoMo; CSL, a joint venture between Australia's Telstra and Pacific Century CyberWorks; Smartone Telecoms; and Sunday Comms.

Shome mishtake perhapsh? Or perhaps not. This is the research outfit which reported recently that "Bluetooth is in serious danger of becoming a forgotten technology" ...