Cortland Coleman

An email was sent to Sprint customers this afternoon inviting them to print the message and bring it to a local Sprint store in order to purchase a new Samsung Instinct, Sprint's answer to the iPhone, one day before the phone goes on sale to the general public.

 

DivShare had a major security breach compromising user log-in information including DivShare subscribers' passwords. If you use DivShare, change your password immediately. If you use that same password for other sites or services, change those passwords as well. Here is the notice you never want to receive from a web services company.

Thanks for being a part of DivShare. Late last night we were alerted of a security breach that allowed a malicious user to access our database, which included user e-mail addresses and other basic profile information. No financial information has been accessed by any unauthorized parties. We have taken extreme measures to secure the site in the last 24 hours and are currently in the process of rolling out new security precautions, which is why many files were unavailable earlier today. We apologize for this inconvenience and for the oversights that allowed this security breach to take place. We take the security of all data and files very seriously and are embarrassed and regretful that an intrusion was allowed to take place on our watch.

Please rest assured that no financial information whatsoever has been compromised. While we are not aware of what data has actually been accessed or copied, the database included user e-mail addresses and other data you may have saved to your profile, such as your first name. We are not aware of any files being accessed without permission, but we recommend that you change your account password and the passwords on any private folders as a security precaution.

We can’t apologize enough for allowing this breach to take place. We know how important security is for all our members and their files, and we are taking every precaution available to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. We ask for your patience as we roll out new security upgrades in the coming days, and we pledge to keep your files and user information under the tightest security possible from here on out.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@divshare.com with any questions or concerns. Yours,

The DivShare Team

Uncle Walt uses the Instinct for a week and shares his thoughts about the product in the video below. The web browser is being repeatedly criticized as inadequate and clunky, not just from Walt but from several reviews. I assume this is something Sprint and Samsung can still address because they definitely need to deliver a better browsing solution by next Friday. A weak web browser - one of the strengths of the iPhone - could be enough to keep me and other potential Instinct purchasers far, far away from the device.

Pricing for the new Samsung Instinct for Sprint has been announced. The iPhone competitor will cost $199 when it becomes available next week. News, reviews and additional Instinct information is busting out all over this morning.

Sprint has wisely held off making their new phone available to customers until after the new iPhone has been announced. Sprint developers now have a couple weeks to perhaps make a few tweaks to the upcoming Instinct in order to make it a more formidable competitor to the iPhone. Of course, the iPhone sets the bar and the Instinct can only play catch up, which is not an enviable position for Sprint to be in.

Here's something new - the user manual for the Samsung Instinct (pdf). One-hundred twenty-five pages of gadget glory! Supposedly, Sprint stores now have the highly anticipated Instinct in stock for staff to get acquainted with. I'll visit my local store tomorrow and report back. Stay tuned.

...because the Sprint service around Hunter, NY and Hunter Mountain is awful. I can not describe how frustrating it was to see other people making calls and texting friends back home during Mountain Jam while I sat there unable to get a signal on my BlackBerry. Not cool. I remain excited about the Samsung Instinct coming out in just over two weeks, but I am growing increasingly unexcited with Sprint's coverage and customer service issues.

Anyway, welcome back!

Sprint is starting to ramp up marketing for the Samsung Instinct. Available on June 20, the phone company put out this fun "trailer." The release date is interesting because Sprint seems to be setting up the Instinct as a direct iPhone competitor. Is that smart? We'll see. In the meantime, check out the most exciting phone to come to Sprint since I've been a subscriber (5 years).

My pleas for a Samsung Instinct continue. Warning: little, if any, business value to be found in this CortlandCast, but I do touch upon customer loyalty and long-term retention. Sprint, are you listening?

Times are good - I'm actually excited about an upcoming product for Sprint. As a customer for almost 5 years with a monthly bill over $200, I think I qualify as loyal and reliable. I really want the new Instinct. I really don't want to wait until sometime in June. I'm sure Sprint can offer one up in exchange for a thorough, well-written and honest review of the exciting new gadget. Two-year renewal? No problem. Sub-$200 price tag? No problem. Just send me the phone! So, how about it, Sprint?

Google is about to simplify an industry that's ripe for change and in need of an ease-of-use
revolution. Early next week, the company will unveil a new automation system for running radio stations. The software, known simply as Google Radio Automation, is backed by a SQL database and features useful widgets that greatly simplify on-air production and processes, including recording, library searching and more. The system also features one-touch podcasting ability and sharing that allows stations to easily and quickly share media with local outlets, syndicators, etc.

Google Radio Automation looks like a great system that will make tons of radio engineers, board operators and producers very happy, in addition to making tons of money for Google since AdSense for Audio is baked into the system. Well done.

Anytime a musician writes an opinion piece in the newspaper, there's justifiable cause for concern. Some of those concerns were removed when Billy Bragg dropped the world "piquancy"in this New York Times piece.

Billy is understandably concerned about the current state of the music industry and its ability, or lack thereof, to produce profits for artists while fans share music files all over the web. Unfortunately, his proposed solution - at least the one he uses as an example in the article - is a non-starter. Bragg suggests that the recently-acquired social networking site Bebo pay artists on the site a royalty due to the fact that, according to Bragg:

"The musicians who posted their work on Bebo.com are no different from investors in a start-up enterprise. Their investment is the content provided for free while the site has no liquid assets. Now that the business has reaped huge benefits, surely they deserve a dividend."

Sure they are, except for the fact that the musicians never entered into to a monetary arrangement with Bebo. That would have been a great thing to build into the service on the front-end. Interestingly, Bragg goes on to say:

"In our discussions, we largely ignored the elephant in the room: the issue of whether he ought to consider paying some kind of royalties to the artists."

So there was an opportunity to discuss this issue - an opportunity that was, apparently and unfortunately, lost. That's a shame because that conversation at that particular time could have changed the course of the music industry, streaming/sharing revenues, etc. Honestly, Bragg should have and could have brought it up at that time. If he did, he may not be complaining about the state of the industry right now.

The solution to this gnawing problem will ultimately mesh with the way consumers find, use and share media while also assuring fair revenue for the artists who produce the sought-after content. Music lovers don't care if that means a $.01 per listen revenue trickle, a $850 million cash flood or something in the between as long as it's easy, affordable for the listener and profitable for the artist.