Table of contents:

* 1 - X Marks the Spot That Makes Online Ads So Maddening - Monty
  Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
* 2 - Can't put down your device? - Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
* 3 - Wi-Fi calling to begin landing on some Verizon smartphones this week 
    - Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>

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Message-ID: <82A44AE9-154E-4134-BD21-669E66106171@roscom.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2015 01:07:14 -0800
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: X Marks the Spot That Makes Online Ads So Maddening

by Sidney Ember

They pop up, they expand, they take over, they even dance: As our screens have
shrunk, online advertisements have grown ever more annoying.

Ads pop up and play automatically, daring readers to shut them down
with feats of fine motor control. The ads commandeer the screen. They
expand and contract. They cover the text and refuse to budge.

And then there is the dreaded X - the one that invites you to
close the ad yet seems impervious to repeated clicks of the cursor or
the jabs and thrusts of even the most powerful fingers. (Perhaps you
have tried a hammer?)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/business/x-marks-the-spot-that-makes-online-ads-so-maddening.html


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Message-ID: <1F3DF3B4-647A-4200-B0F1-B202ADD00777@roscom.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2015 01:03:55 -0800
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Can't put down your device?

by Natasha Singer

Some people in the technology field are rethinking techniques that
encourage users of an app or a service to stay with it or return to it
habitually.

Greg Hochmuth was one of the first software engineers hired at
Instagram. He worked on a team in 2012 that developed the first
Android app for the slick photo-sharing service. In its first 24
hours, the app was downloaded more than one million times.

But Mr. Hochmuth eventually came to realize that the platform's
pleasing features - the interface that made it easy for people to
upload and share beautiful images, the personalized suggestions of
accounts to follow - also had potential downsides.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/technology/personaltech/cant-put-down-your-device-thats-by-design.html


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Message-ID: <66E5298D-2C23-4297-B2C1-227E7537BBB0@roscom.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2015 06:44:56 -0800
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Wi-Fi calling to begin landing on some Verizon smartphones this week

by Steven Musil

The feature is useful when customers find themselves in an area with weak or
no carrier coverage.

Verizon will bring Wi-Fi calling this week to some customers with
Android smartphones, making it the last major US carrier to offer the
wireless network feature.

Verizon said Friday it would push out a software update on December 8
that will allow owners of Samsung's Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to make and
receive calls using a Wi-Fi network. The feature is useful whenever
customers find themselves in an area with weak or no carrier coverage.

http://www.cnet.com/news/wi-fi-calling-to-begin-landing-on-some-verizon-smartphones-this-week/


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End of telecom Digest Tue, 08 Dec 2015