Verizon Wireless Adds $30 Upgrade Fee As Smartphone Subsidies Bite Into Profits

Customers of the nation's largest wireless carrier will have to shell out another $30 to get their hands on a better device after April 22. Verizon Wireless says the upgrade fee will help the company avoid deterioration of service.

"This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect, which includes Wireless Workshops, online educational tools, and consultations with experts who provide advice and guidance on devices that are more sophisticated than ever," company spokeswoman Brenda Raney said in a post on the company's Web site.

Trade-Ins Help

She added that trading in older phones through Verizon's recycling program can earn a gift card to offset the upgrade cost. Customers can appraise their devices online.

We tried several phone models to get an idea of the trade-in value (for fully functional, undamaged devices). A first generation Motorola Droid was worth only $7, while an HTC Evo 3D was worth $80. A 16 GB iPhone 3G also trades in for more than the upgrade fee: $65.

Those hoping to upgrade a feature phone to a smartphone, however, may be disappointed. An LG Voyager had no trade-in value. Neither did the Motorola Rapture.

Verizon joins the other three largest carriers in charging fees for upgrades: AT&T and Sprint charge $36, while T-Mobile's fee is half that price.

New customers also pay a fee for their devices, a $35 activation fee at the time of starting a new account, in addition to the device cost.

The company backed down, however, from a recent plan to start charging customers a $2 processing fee to pay their bill online after a public outcry. The company was evidently trying to encourage more people to sign up for free automatic payments.

Carriers are likely to try to drive bills up even higher as costs increase and they build up faster 4G networks.

More Income Needed

"Carriers are constantly looking at how much they are being hit by the capital buydown fees they are paying to handset makers," analyst Gerry Purdy of MobileTrax told us. "In the case of Sprint they gained a tremendous increase of subscribers with the iPhone but it cost them hundreds of millions to pay Apple, which they will recover later."

As smartphones get more expensive, Purdy said, carriers "have to shell out more money up front rather than get it in monthly fees to pay the vendors for the smarter device. In a sense it was easier in the feature phone world, the expense was much lower than today."

But Purdy said competition may force carriers to back down and waive fees. He noted that cable providers now routinely have customer retention departments ready to make sweetheart deals for those about to bail, and wireless carriers may have to do the same.

"I think they will try to keep the customers, especially since smartphones are generating more income per unit, with data plans," he said. "Smartphones are already half the market and could be 90 percent by 2016."

Published by NewsFactor on April 11, 2012.

Tecnology And Ingenuity Help A Desert Bloom With Produce

ARAVA, ISRAEL -- Stepping out of a greenhouse alongside the Dead Sea, Naftali Lazarovich holds three of the juiciest bell peppers he can find -- orange, yellow and red -- tearing into them with his hands to offer slices to guests.

"The green ones don't have as much flavor," says the researcher, left, explaining why they are less popular.

The mouth-watering produce grown here in the Arava region, between the Negev desert and the Mediterranean, is popular in both Israeli and European markets. What makes it unusual is that it thrives in the middle of one of the most arid places in the world, where only weeds should grow, not cantaloupe, tomatoes or bell peppers.

Constant Attention

Making this feat possible is clever usage of a very limited water supply, with not a drop wasted and a high-tech system that constantly monitors the plants to make sure their needs are met.

"It only rains 20 millimeter a year here, less than one inch," said Lazerovich, whose Central and Northern Arava Research and Development Center is supported by Ben-Gurion University. "That's nothing."

The irrigation comes up to the surface from ground water located six feet below, in this region close to the Jordan River and Dead Sea. But the margin for error is extremely small. Because of the arid climate, even one day without water will lead many of the crops to start withering. "The bank account is very small," he says.

In an area with such arid conditions as this, the rain is not just inconsequential, it can even bring harm when it finally does arrive. Lazarovitch explains that when rain seeps into the greenhouse, it deposits saline into the root zone around the plants, harming the water uptake. He says farmers in the region have taken to irrigating during rainfall just to flush the salt out of the root zone.

There's An App for That

Walking along a row of tomato plants, Lazerovitch points out a sophisticated set of electric sensors that constantly measure moisture to provide the proper balance.

Lazerovitch says can get readings any time of day, simply by checking a readout sent to his smartphone. "I'm checking the water in, and the water out, so I can see the uptake of the plant," he said.

"We use mainly [Utah-based] Campbell Scientific data loggers and sensors designed for environmental studies but also for agriculture. We manipulate some of the sensors so they will be optimal for our needs."

A farmer's job in this region, which desperately needs economic development, means coping with low humidity and high ultraviolet radiation, since it is so far below sea level and there is so much air to absorb it.

The techniques being perfected here in the desert are also being shared with area farmers to help them succeed and expand their output. In addition, findings are being published in journals such as "Irrigation Science and Water Management" to help agriculture thrive in other arid regions.

"If you love agriculture, you can improve things," Lazerovitch said, taking a bite of a juicy red pepper -- especially that is, if you have the right mix of technology and ingenuity.

Japanese Speech Jammer Can Silence Hecklers, But Is It Ethical?

As published by NewsFactor.

You know that neighbor who always stops you while you're walking the dog to talk about sports or the neighborhood association?

How about the acquaintance on the train who wants to tell you his life story, or the coworker who won't shut up about her vacation?

You know you've wished there was a "mute button" that silenced their endless yapping.

Now there is, but no, there is not (yet) an app for that.

Stutter Gun

Japanese researchers have invented a device that's as useful as it is scary. When pointed directly at a person it records his or her words and in microseconds shoots them back so fast that it causes brain freeze, producing an artificial stutter.

Talk about your own words coming back to hurt you.

The prototype looks like a radar gun used by police to trap speeders, but with a laser pointer, directional microphone and a distance sensor. It's effective within about 98 feet. Its inventors suggest it could be used to block hecklers or microphone hogs at events, or people who are nuisances in public places.

"Fair discussions are essential for resolving conflicts," writes Koji Tsukada of Ochanomizu University in Tokyo in his research paper on the Speech Jammer, which was published by arXiv.org, an e-print service run by Cornell University for articles on science and mathematics.

"We have to establish and obey rules for proper turn-taking when speaking," Tsukada said. However, some people tend to lengthen their turns or deliberately interrupt other people...."

Tsukada proposes the device could be used as a turn-taking controller, in which the signal would be directed at noisy people via microphone and speakers, or as a "portable speech-jamming" gun, in which the signal is directed through the air directly from the device.

Since it can't be used discreetly, unlike jammers already available to block cell phone signals, it's uses for now are somewhat limited. It's also highly questionable whether such a device would ever be approved by regulators such as the FCC in the United States, or anywhere else. After all, imagine its ability for mischievous potential if it's aimed at, say, a politician during a debate, or a quarterback during a huddle.

Which Is More Rude?

In addition to legal issues, the device raises ethical issues. Is it wrong to use technology to effectively deny someone else's right to free speech, even if the intention is to uphold civility or your own quality of life?

"There is a difference between the right to free speech and the right to talk," says Miriam Schulman, assistant director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California, which deals with technology issues.

"When someone is talking too much, he may have the right to do it, but it doesn't make it less problematic. It's really invading your space," Schulman said. "But it doesn't seem to me this technology is any less rude than the original behavior. I don't see how it helps from an ethical point of view. It's unlikely to cool the situation down."

She would rather conductors, librarians, store owners or other people of authority keep the quiet.

Still, Schulman, who deals with noisy fellow commuters on the train to work each day, added "It sure is tempting."

Lately, His 'Happy Days' Are On the River

A talk with Henry Winkler about overcoming challenges, his new memoir (about fly-fishing?) and life after The Fonz.

He tried out stage names such as Chester Flame and Peter Avalanche at Yale Drama School, but when he got the chance to star in TV and movies, Henry Winkler stuck with the one his German refugee parents gave him.

“I am who I am,” says the pop-culture icon, who became one of the first Jewish superstars on network TV as the streetwise but sensitive 1950s biker Arthur Fonzarelli on ABC’s “Happy Days”; the show ran 1974-‘84. He still acts on stage, TV and the big screen, but is also the co-author of 19 children’s books and author of a recent memoir — not bad for a kid who struggled with poor grades and low self-esteem as a result of undiagnosed dyslexia.

A Manhattan native, Winkler, 66, has three adult children with his wife of 33 years, Stacy, and will co-star in the upcoming comedy “Here Comes The Boom” with Kevin James and Salma Hayek. He also regularly appears on the Adult Swim comedy “Children’s Hospital” and has a recurring role on USA’s “Royal Pains.”

His memoir, “I’ve Never Met an Idiot on the River” (Insight Editions) is about overcoming challenges, his passion for fly-fishing and the personal growth and sense of accomplishment he gained from the sport after being coaxed into it by his lawyer. "My increased self-confidence has helped me to be a better actor, a better husband, a better dad and a better person," he writes. The book is also a showcase of his outdoor photography. The Jewish Week recently caught up with Winkler by phone.

The Jewish Week: One of the first rules of publishing is: Give people what they want. You must have some amazing stories about your career and life behind the scenes at “Happy Days.” Why a book about fly-fishing?

Henry Winkler: My son asked me a few years ago, would I ever write an autobiography? This book is not just about inner peace, but about everything I have learned from fly-fishing over years that can apply to life. There are stories about the will to just take a chance, and I think that is very connected, for me, to fly fishing for trout.

Will you someday write that autobiography?

That’s a good question. I didn’t know I was going to write one book, let alone 19 novels, in my whole life. I always thought I was stupid and couldn’t write a book.

Do you enjoy writing?

I do. What I enjoy is going to the office with my writing partner Lynn Oliver and I think: Goodness, what are we going to write today, I don’t have the slightest idea, and by the time I leave I have six pages in my hand that never existed before. Every time it is a triumph and it’s shocking to me.

You had arguably the greatest role on television for 10 years. After it was over, it must have felt like leaving the presidency. How does what you do afterwards compare?

Everything compares differently, because it is oranges and apples. But it is true that when we finished doing the show, I sat in my office, I put my feet up on the desk and I literally had no idea what to do next. I was typecast. So a lot of roles weren’t coming.

Did you feel pressured to break out and do something completely different?

No, I felt a pressure to actually come up with something I wanted to do, to beat the fear that I had no idea [about what to do next]. I was just like a ship with no wind in its sails at the time. And finally, slowly but surely, the rest of my life started to take shape.

It seems like the character you played was almost the complete opposite of Henry Winkler. Does that make it easier to play?

It is easier to step outside of yourself completely. For me it is, absolutely.

Is there any similarity between you and Fonzie?

Of course there is a similarity between the actor and the part they’re playing. It is our job to find the similarities, because what we really do as actors is not be a star — what you do is illuminate life.

When you auditioned for the part did you have an idea that it was going to grow into a sensation?

No. I had six lines. And then it grew.

Did you ever get a sense the character was over the top? You have become associated with the phrase “jump the shark.”

That was somebody’s opinion. I met that gentleman [Jon Hein] and did his radio show. We went on to be a hit for the next five seasons [after the shark episode]. It didn’t matter to me.

Adam Sandler mentions you in his Chanukah song. Why do you think it is that, as he says, so many Jews are in show biz? What is it about the Jewish experience?

I have always respected that you can take anything away from a human being, but you can’t take their imagination and their intellect. They travel with you wherever you go in the world. I think perhaps the oppression for all those thousands of years — if you don’t laugh, you don’t survive. I think it became a survival technique and an opportunity, a great one, because humor heals a lot of wounds. There is that whole theory that laughing makes you better.

What has being Jewish meant to you over the years in your career and in your life?

I’m proud of the history; I’m proud of the tradition. I love the music. I love that everyone can choose their own way within the confines of the religion to believe. I love the logic and I love the humor.

Did you find that growing up with dyslexia made you work harder to become an actor?

I sometimes wonder — I’m not sure that I would have had the most wonderful life if I was not challenged. My parents did not want me to be an actor; they didn’t want me to be who I wanted to be. But I got a lot a lot from their being survivors. It gave me a sense of that determination.

(Published by The Jewish Week Jan. 8 2012)

Mideast Cyberwar Has Deadly Potential

Published by CIO Today on 1/16/2012

A tit-for-tat cyberwar between Israelis and Arabs, a new twist on an age-old conflict, has so far involved nuisance credit-card hacks and denial-of-service attacks on Web sites, but could easily take a deadly turn if it escalates.

That's the warning of a top technology consultant after the anti-Israel hackers kicked it up a notch, taking on the national airline, a major bank and the Tel Aviv stock exchange in their bid to cause havoc in the Jewish state.

The denial-of-service attacks hit the stock exchange, El Al Israel Airlines, and the First International Bank of Israel, as well as two subsidiaries, Massad and Otzar Hahayal on Monday, MSNBC reported.

Vehicular Mayhem

"As things become more connected, cars and planes could be hacked as well [as computers], resulting in potential damage that could make 9/11 look trivial by comparison," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "Think of a large number of connected cars with active accident avoidance suddenly turning right and stopping on a freeway, for instance.

"I expect these activities will increasingly become deadly as systems become more connected and the attacking groups move more sharply toward creating terror."

Monday's DoS attack comes on the heels of the Jan. 3 dumping of thousands of credit card numbers of Israeli citizens on a popular sports site. Saudi Arabian hackers, known as Group XP, believed to be tied to the international hacker group Anonymous, took responsibility for that attack and warned of more.

Shortly after that, a hacker who uses the nom de guerre oxOmar, believed to be a 19-year-old Saudi, posted credit card data of 6,000 thousand Israelis online.

The hacks were an embarrassment for a country known for its technological prowess -- as well as its penchant for revenge. But the retaliation seemed to come from a non-government source. A group of Israeli hackers told the daily newspaper Yediot Acharanot, "If the leaks continue, we will cause severe damage to the privacy of Saudi citizens."

Then, an Israeli 17-year-old, identified as a member of the Israeli army intelligence but acting independently, told Israeli media that he released thousands of Saudi credit card numbers. He called himself OXOmer, a twist on the name of his nemesis, and said he was part of a group of hackers called Israel Defenders.

The government, at least publicly, is keeping out of it, with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon saying in a statement published by Reuters that, "Just as the Israeli government has found answers for terrorism, we will find answers to this challenge...we call on Israeli citizens not to...act as vigilantes."

Enderle said the back and forth would likely fuel a push for "draconian laws" to stop hacking.

"Israel is already moving to make these [hackings qualify as] terrorist acts and that will raise dramatically both enforcement and punishment for them," he said. "Those of us in the security community have been warning for some time that this was a likely outcome, but methods to protect against it apparently weren't getting enough attention to get the critical funding. That appears to be changing very rapidly and this new battlefield is likely to become much harder fought in the near term future as a result. "

Last week, Ayalon said, "Israel has active capabilities for striking at those who are trying to harm it, and no agency or hacker will be immune from retaliatory action."

In May 2010, the United States established its Cyber Command, a division of Strategic Command, to "ensure U.S./Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries."

Wave Of Swastikas, With Question Marks

Published by The Jewish Week 1-20/12

The reports of swastika incidents and other crimes lately seem to appear so fast that it’s hard to keep track of them. But in some cases, the episodes may have an awkward, if not bizarre, explanation.

Police on Monday arrested a Jewish man from Manhattan for making anti-Semitic phone calls to his mother and other women, and he is also suspected of painting anti-Semitic graffiti.

David Haddad, 56, was arrested Sunday for making anti-Semitic phone calls including a Dec. 11 call to his mother in which he said “All Jews should die and go to hell.” He was also charged with painting swastikas on the doors of some apartments at the Penn South apartment complex in Chelsea. Because of that crime, authorities are reportedly investigating whether he is connected to another graffiti attack in Midwood over the weekend.

Haddad reportedly knew nearly all of the victims, some of whom were his relatives, according to the New York Times. He reportedly was in a business dispute with his family, which may be the reason for the attacks.

A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said Haddad would be charged with two counts of aggravated harassment as a hate crime and two more counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree and that other charges may be added. Hynes is prosecuting the case because some of the call recipients live in Brooklyn.

Marc Stern, legal expert for the American Jewish Committee, said that while he did not know of other cases of a Jew being charged with bias against Jews since New York passed its hate crimes law in 2000, there was no reason why it couldn’t happen.

“As an evidentiary matter it may be hard to prove, but there is no impediment,” said Stern. “It’s certainly not what the legislators had in mind, but there is nothing inherently wrong with it.”

A series of swastikas were painted the garage of a Jewish-owned house on East 5th Street in Midwood last weekend as well as on an apartment building across the street. The words “Die Jews” were also painted on the garage. A building of the Yeshiva of Brooklyn was also vandalized.

Councilman David Greenfield, who represents part of Midwood, said the perpetrator’s religion made little difference.

“Overall we are seeing a lot of anti-Semitism in the form of swastikas in the last few weeks, in Queens and Midtown, on a scale that we have never seen before, so the fact that we have an individual in custody is comforting,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

“I think Jewish people are capable of anti-Semitism, so I don’t see it as a matter of Jew versus non-Jew. A lot of these acts have no particular rhyme or reason.”

The vandalism, discovered Sunday morning, follows an incident in November in a nearby area of Midwood, when, on the day after the anniversary of Kristallnacht, swastikas were painted on the ground on Ocean Parkway and several cars were torched.

But in that incident, police are now considering the possibility that it was an insurance scam disguised as a bias crime, local media reported.

A police source told The Jewish Week Tuesday that that information “was released too soon” and that Hate Crimes investigators had yet to make a conclusion.

A swastika was also found scrawled in the heavily Jewish Wythe Avenue housing complex in Williamsburg on Jan. 12, and four days earlier several storefronts on Sixth Avenue near Bryant Park in Midtown were targeted with swastikas, including a bookstore and clothing shop. None was overtly Jewish-owned. Security cameras captured a group of youths identified as Asian carrying out the vandalism, according to the Village Voice, but no suspects have been arrested.

Michael Miller, executive vice president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York, said he had confidence in the police to uncover both the culprits and their motives in all these incidents.

“It’s much too early to determine if this is a wave of anti-Semitism,” said Miller. “Until the perpetrators are identified we can’t either rule it in or out. Based on the Hate Crimes Task Force’s record in these investigations I’m confident justice will be served.”

The Anti-Defamation League recently announced that it does not automatically classify the painting of a swastika as an anti-Semitic crime because the Nazi icon has become so ubiquitous a symbol of hatred and protest and is often used against non-Jews.

In another incident involving a synagogue last weekend, thieves broke into Temple Beth-El in the small Bronx community of City Island and stole ritual items, including silver crowns from Holocaust-era Torah scrolls and kiddush cups, shortly before Shabbat.

“Instead of preparing to welcome Shabbat with joyful song and dance, community members and clergy arrived to a mess in the sanctuary and police investigators saying, “Don’t touch anything,” said the congregation’s rabbi, Shohama Weiner, and a shul member, David Evan Markus, in an e-mail message to The Jewish Week.

“We’re lucky: we weren’t firebombed like the Temple Beth-El of Rutherford, New Jersey; nobody was hurt and our Torahs were unharmed,” they wrote. “But the recent spate of violence against area synagogues is a sobering reminder of our world’s brokenness.”

JTA contributed to this report

Gingrich Needs A Boost In New York

Long Island developer could open doors for ex-speaker's surging campaign.

New York donors haven’t been particularly generous to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s mercurial presidential campaign. He’s collected just over $52,000 across the state as of Sept. 30, according to campaign finance records, a drop in the bucket compared with chief Republican rival Mitt Romney’s $3,592,231.

Even long shot Ron Paul has raked in more cash in the Empire State: $303,161, as did Tim Pawlenty, who is no longer in the race.

But Gingrich, who has benefited from the withdrawal of scandal-plagued Herman Cain earlier this month and is now the front runner in some key primary states, has one important New York ally in Lawrence Kadish, above, a Long Island-based real estate investor and co-founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition, who reportedly spent $250,000 to help George W. Bush in his instrumental 2000 Florida win. He is also a major soft-money contributor with a long history of six-figure gifts to Republican campaign committees.

Kadish, his wife, Susan and son Charles each donated the federal maximum of $5,000 to Gingrich ($2,500 each for the general and primary campaigns), Federal Elections Commission records show. Those donations, made before Gingrich’s recent surge, are the largest family contribution to Gingrich recorded so far in the state.

Kadish is president of First Fiscal Trust and a resident of Old Westbury. He serves on the board of the conservative think tanks Hudson Institute and Claremont Institute and supports the pro-Israel media-watch organizations CAMERA and MEMRI.

He is credited as an executive producer of a 2008 documentary film about energy independence, “We Have The Power,” which features Gingrich. He is also executive producer of a pro-life film hosted by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Both films were produced by Citizens United, a conservative group that calls for limited government.

In an interview Monday, Kadish, who is New York’s male representative to the Republican National Committee, said he has been a longtime supporter of Gingrich.

“He’s the most knowledgeable person out there,” he said. “I’ve read his books, seen his videos, heard his speeches, met with him on many occasions. He has a real commitment to getting the country in order and protecting our allies.”

“He’s out front on energy independence and understands what has to be done. And he’s always been there for Israel.”

Kadish added “he’s the guy who can stand up to the Putins of this world,” referring to former KGB head and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who is poised to return to the presidency of Russia. “They might intimidate others but they’re not going to intimidate [Gingrich]. He is more likely to intimidate them.”

Of the Republican House members who served under Gingrich who have recently come forward to trash the speaker as tyrannical, Kadish said “When you are the speaker of the House people come to you and ask for things and you can’t give everything to everyone, or maybe they didn’t agree with the Contract With America.”

Kadish said he agrees “100 percent” with comments Gingrich has made recently doubting the viability of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, whom Gingrich dismissively called a “made-up people,” positions that could make him a tough sell among American Jews who overwhelmingly support a negotiated settlement.

That fact was surely not lost on Democrats. The head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, David Harris, told The New York Times, “What he’s saying is far to the right of the democratically elected Likud leadership of the State of Israel, not to mention established U.S. policy for decades. This is as clear a demonstration as one needs that he’s not ready for prime time.”

The remark about the Palestinians, in an interview with The Jewish Channel, drew rebuke from other political figures, including Romney. On Tuesday a leading pro-Israel senator, Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman, said “to me, the important fact is that the Palestinians are a people today, and any resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has to be between two people, two nations.”

Following the Jewish Channel interview here, Gingrich’s campaign clarified his position, saying “Newt Gingrich supports a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which will necessarily include agreement between Israel and the Palestinians over the borders of a Palestinian state.”

Gingrich has another powerful Jewish supporter in Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate, who with his wife has given the maximum donation to Gingrich while contributing $7 million to conservative organizations associated with the former speaker, The Forward reported.

But Gingrich has not yet resonated well with New York’s Republican Jews. As the April 24 primary here approaches, it remains to be seen if that will change as he surges in the polls or if they will pump more money into Romney’s campaign, seeing him as more electable.

On Dec. 6, at the Hyatt in Midtown, Gingrich met with some 30 prominent Jewish New Yorkers, including Daily News publisher Morton Zuckerman, an ex-chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; developer and Republican Jewish Coalition co-founder George Klein; Presidents Conference executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein; National Council of Young Israel Executive Director Rabbi Pesach Lerner and Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein, who lives in Pennsylvania, also attended.

“[Gingrich] was extremely impressive,” said Hikind, a Democrat, who has been said to be considering an endorsement of Gingrich, whose views are in line with many constituents of Hikind’s heavily Orthodox Borough Park and Flatbush district. “There are a lot of people from my part of the Jewish community that are pro-Israel that really like the guy. There’s no question that he is refreshing.” Referring to Gingrich’s admitted extramarital affairs, Hikind said, “Everyone in the world knows he comes with a lot of baggage. He has addressed it. That really doesn’t bother you much; people make mistakes.

“Obama before the election sat in a church and for a long time went along with the things being said. Nobody ever cried out about the issue of Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright, which was so much more important than the issues of Newt Gingrich.”

Asked if he thinks Gingrich could gain support in New York, Kadish said, “If they pay attention. New Yorkers are pro-Israel and they understand that we have a $15 trillion debt that will go up to $18 trillion under Obama. The way to deal with that is energy independence, and Newt is all over that.”

A prominent Jewish Romney supporter, Lee Cowen, who serves on the former Massachusetts governor’s finance committee, said Gingrich’s popularity was part of “a game of Whack-A-Mole” in the GOP primary.

“Romney is the best qualified candidate to be president and his campaign has been steady and strong,” said Cowen, a Washington lobbyist. “But you keep having these other candidates who are popular but flame out for one reason for another. I suspect that will be the case with Newt Gingrich. He’s a very smart person and a great visionary but I just din’t think he’s well-rounded enough for an executive role in terms of running the country.

“In the Jewish community and especially the Republican Jewish community, I suspect that’s the prevailing opinion.”

Jeff Wiesenfeld, a Republican and Jewish activist who is a trustee of the City University of New York, also said it was likely Gingrich’s rise would be a temporary phenomenon in the campaign.

“You have to presume that at the end of the day, when it all sorts itself out, it will be Romney, the establishment candidate,” said Wiesenfeld. “But when there is some excitement for someone like Gingrich who is in the highly conservative camp, it takes on a life of its own.”

He added, however, that “it would be quite a spectacle to see a debate between an individual like Obama who is ill-equipped to speak in a debate without reading cue cards and someone like Gingrich who can hold his own.”

Samsung Claims 300 Million Devices Sold

With a range of devices on all major carriers, Samsung is calling this its best year ever in the smartphone market, with a projected record of 300 million units shipped.

The company announced the milestone, which surpasses its 2010 record of 280 million units, in a statement Monday, with the president and head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business, JK Shin, saying, "We look forward to extending this success going into 2012," Reuters reported.

'Upscale Designs, Cutting Edge'

A request for comment from Edelman PR, which handles publicity for the South Korea-based technology giant in the United States, was not answered in time for publication.

But a company exec told Dong-A Ilbo (the East Asia Daily) that, "We attained the 300-million mark because we've introduced hit models in succession by banking on upscale designs and cutting-edge technology in 'full product lineup' ranging from feature phones (ordinary handsets), touch phones and smartphones."

New Samsung phones released this year include the Galaxy S II, the Skyrocket for AT&T and Droid Charge for Verizon Wireless. The latter two phones work on the carriers' new 4G long term evolution high-speed data network . Perhaps most eagerly awaited is the Galaxy Nexus, running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android . The phone is expected to come to the U.S. this week via Verizon Wireless after a European debut.

The Galaxy S II, sequel to the phone that has variants on all four carriers, has done particularly well, with a reported 10 million units sold so far, on top of another 20 million for its predecessor this year.

The Dong-A Ilbo report said Samsung's handset output has soared since 1996, when it produced 1 million, with 100 million in 2005, 200 million in 2009, and now 300 million, with a total of 1.6 billion units manufactured. (The number of sold units was not included).

Most of Samsung's smartphones are Android-powered, although it also sells the Omnia and Focus, powered byMicrosoft 's Windows Phone 7 platform. Samsung's feature phones, with no operating system, include the Star, Duos, Wave and Monte Slide.

Technology consultant Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said Samsung accomplished its milestone with phones that are bigger (screen sizes of more than 4 inches are typical on many devices, including the Galaxy S II) and with more features than rivals. And they are generally cheaper and in more stores, he added.

The Vendor To Beat

"It really helps establish Android as a major platform and Samsung as the vendor to beat at the moment, and the one most at risk as Motorola, now owned by Google, increases their pressure on the market," said Enderle, referring to Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a deal currently under regulators' scrutiny in the European Union.

"Android may end up to be largely a two-vendor platform, and Samsung is doing a credible job assuring they will be one of them," Enderle said.

Like Weiner, District's Fate Uncertain

Rep. Anthony Weiner was at an undisclosed location for sex-addiction rehab this week, leaving behind the question of whether the disgraced politician would relent to pressure from Democratic Party leaders — including President Barack Obama — to leave Congress.

But he also left behind questions among those who enjoyed a long relationship with a representative who carefully cultivated his political ties to the Jewish community. There is a long list of potential candidates to succeed him.

At the same time, some fear that with Albany required to eliminate two congressional districts because of a declining state population, the controversy may make Weiner’s 9th an easy target, especially if the congressman is intent on staying in office.

Reapportionment, however, would not be a quick fix to end the festering controversy over Weiner’s online relationships and attempts to cover it up — a national distraction and an albatross for the Democrats — since the new district lines must be decided by a bipartisan commission that has not yet been formed. It must be in place by this time next year, when candidates for Congress begin gathering petitions for the ballot.

The 9th, perhaps the most concentrated Jewish district in the country, includes Forest Hills, Kew Gardens Hills and the Rockaways in Queens, and areas of Flatbush, Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.

“It would be extremely outrageous to try to eliminate the district,” said Kalman Yeger, a political consultant in the Flatbush portion of the district. “People would be screaming bloody murder and calling their Albany representatives to make sure we have a unified voice in Washington.”

Yeger, a former aide to Fernando Ferrer when he was Bronx borough president, noted that the district was expanded in the early ‘90s, when now-Sen. Chuck Schumer was the representative, to include central Queens because the people in both areas, including the large Orthodox communities, had similar interests.

The sprawling area of greater Flatbush, which contains smaller communities like Midwood, East Flatbush and Kings Highway, is already divided into districts represented by Weiner, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Ed Towns and Rep. Jerry Nadler, all Democrats.

“If the communities are chopped up [further], we will have no voice in Washington,” Yeger said. “It will be like we don’t exist.”

But Forest Hills resident Manny Behar, a former director of the Queens Jewish Community Council who has worked at City Hall and Queens Borough Hall, said it was too soon to make dire predictions.

“A lot would depend on how the redistricting is done,” said Behar. “Right now the district is mainly in Queens and has a part of Brooklyn. If it was divvied up where Central Queens was divided into several neighborhoods, the neighborhoods would not have any influence in any of them, and that becomes a real problem.

“But if Central Queens is put into one district we would be significant in that district and it could be less of a problem.”

The federal Voting Rights Act protects districts that are heavily black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American but not religious minorities. Since Weiner’s district is surrounded by areas that are protected, with any changes subject to approval by the Justice Department, it could stand out as attractive for elimination.

Although the redistricting committee, appointed by the minority and majority of both state houses, will make recommendations, the final decision will be left to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — both Democrats — and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican. Since control of the Legislature is split there will have to be compromises between the leaders, such as losing one likely Democrat seat and one likely Republican seat or setting up even matches between incumbents in merged districts.

A Jewish political insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his relationships in Albany, said Silver is known to be protective of members of Congress who formerly served in his caucus, which includes a large portion of the downstate delegation. Representatives Nadler and Towns, Greg Meeks and Joseph Crowley are all former Assembly members. Weiner served in the City Council.

“Eventually, Dean and Shelly will have to come to a deal and if past deals are any indication, they will do one upstate and one downstate,” said the insider.

A spokesman for Silver, Michael Whyland, said on Tuesday that the Weiner controversy would have no bearing on redistricting.

“The speaker has indicated that the process is ongoing and still eight months to a year away,” said Whyland. “Whatever is going on is really not a factor in anything right now.”

While heavily Democratic, the 9th CD has grown increasingly conservative, supporting the Republican candidate in larger numbers in each of the past three presidential elections, a factor that may be tied to residents’ worldview following 9/11.

As calls for Weiner’s resignation increased, the Jewish communities of the district have not openly spoken out on behalf of the staunch Israel supporter, who has also helped Jewish organizations apply for Homeland Security funds to protect institutions.

But in interviews, leaders said they are pained by the spectacle of a man widely viewed as a rising star and mayoral material three weeks ago reduced to a national punch line with a career in flames.

“As far as I am concerned, his major advantage is that unlike other politicians he is accessible,” said Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, who recently retired as rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills. “His office is always ready to help. It’s very unfortunate and tragic.”

The rabbi declined to say whether he felt Weiner should resign as continued details and images of his secret life of social media connections before and after his marriage emerge. “We’ll have to see how this plays out. But [Manhattan Rep.] Charles Rangel didn’t resign. [Bill] Clinton, the president of the United States was impeached and didn’t resign. The question is, will his resignation help heal the situation or not? The way I see it right now he is compelled by circumstances to resign, which would make me very unhappy.”

A Marist poll last week found that 56 percent of district residents want Weiner to stay in office, as compared to 60 percent of Americans who want him to step down in a survey taken by Public Policy Polling. Fifty-five percent of women in the latter poll said Weiner should step down while more men, 66 percent, want him out.

As the House reconvened Monday for the first time since the scandal broke, there were some scattered signs of support for him among colleagues, despite the pointed demands from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Democratic National Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida that he step down.

“I have yet to find anything — not that I’ve dissected it — but I’ve yet to find anything that may touch upon the breaking of the House rules,” Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat told the Washington Post. “If I did, I would immediately ask for his resignation. But right now, I’m more concerned about his health and the health of his family, and that’s what friends are for.”

The second-ranking Democrat, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, did not in his appearances on Sunday talk shows demand outright that Weiner resign. And even Obama seemed to couch his language carefully, saying that if he found himself in Weiner’s position he would resign.

Still, many see Weiner’s burden as insurmountable even if he stays in office. “If he wants to be stubborn, he can stick it out and use some legal maneuvering to fight,” said University of Virgina political science professor Larry Sabato. “But his career is over; he’s finished as a candidate for mayor, and it’s hard to see him resurrected easily for anything else.”

Among those Democrats mentioned as candidates to succeed Weiner in a special election are former Queens Assembly member and City Council member Melinda Katz, a candidate in the1998 House primary won by Weiner and now a lawyer in private practice; Queens Councilman Eric Gioia and brothers David and Mark Weprin, who have each served in the Assembly and City Council. Republican Bob Turner, who won 40 percent of the vote in last year’s race against Weiner, is also likely to run again.

“I don’t think the district should be eliminated based on personalities,” said David Weprin, an Assemblyman who won the seat last year previously held by his brother and father. “I would not want to see a seat lost in Queens, especially since our population has not gone down while upstate it has since the last update.” The law requires that all districts have equal populations — 719,298 each this time.

On the matter of Weiner’s future, Weprin said, “I personally resent national Democrats dictating whether the congressman should resign or not. The process should play out through the ethics investigation to determine if there were violations that warrant resignation. I don’t think the media, national Democrats or the Republicans should be deciding the direction this is going.”

Weprin said he had made no decision about whether to run except that he would not compete in a primary campaign against his brother.

David Pollock, associate executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council said that his organization would lobby to ensure that no Jewish neighborhood is left politically isolated by reapportionment.

“Our concern has traditionally been that Jewish communities aren’t fragmented so that those Jewish communities cannot get an elected official’s attention,” said Pollock, who noted the success of voting blocs in neighborhoods like Crown Heights and Williamsburg.

“There is no magical number” of effective voting, Pollock said, “but clearly the Williamsburg community can get Congressman Towns’ attention and Yvette Clarke has been responsive to Crown Heights and Flatbush.”

Nokia Deal Could Make Phone 7 No. 2 in World Market

If a research group's reading of the tea leaves is correct, time is on Microsoft's side in the fast-changingsmartphone market.

Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts the software giant's Windows Phone 7 will be the second most popular mobile operating system in the world by 2015 with 20.5 percent of the market afterGoogle 's Android, which would dominate with 43.8 percent.

Replacing Symbian

That would be a huge boost from the measly 3.8 percent forecast for this year by IDC. The growth would largely come at the expense of Nokia's declining Symbian platform, which will be gradually replaced with Phone 7 in a deal between Microsoft and the Finnish phone manufacturer announced earlier this year.

Symbian would shrink from 20.6 percent this year to an abysmal 0.1 percent in that analysis, while other major platforms would decline less -- 14.2 percent to 13.4 percent for Research In Motion's BlackBerry and 18.2 percent to 16.9 percent for Apple's iOS, which is currently number two. The only other system to grow in this time frame would be Google's Android, from 38.9 percent to 43.8 percent.

Android's open-source operating system is available on a wide range of devices offered by all major wireless carriers. Microsoft has similar designs for Phone 7, with handsets made by Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE expected to join the current slate of Dell, HTC, Samsung and LG smartphones.

"If you take a look at the devices coming out for 2012 and the anticipated cadence of device releases, it helps push their numbers up," said IDC wireless industry analyst Ramon Llamas, citing conversations with Microsoft and Nokia officials.

He acknowledged that both Nokia and Microsoft have "a pretty low profile" in the important U.S. smartphone market, but in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia/Pacific region, "Nokia has out-and-out leadership across those regions' smartphone business , which gives us that much more to hang our hat on" in making predictions.

Nokia Denies Sale Rumors

The updated numbers from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker come as rumors swirl about a possible takeover of Nokia, whose profits have been slipping, by either Microsoft or Samsung.

Llamas said he accepts the word of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop -- a former Microsoft exec who made the deal to replace Symbian with Windows Phone 7 on most Nokia devices -- that the company is not for sale.

To get ahead in the U.S., Microsoft will need to generate more enthusiasm among carriers and customers. A PC magazine report Friday said that at retail outlets of the four major carriers in Manhattan, Windows Phone 7 devices were in short supply and salespeople were blasé about them.

A Verizon Wireless employee told the magazine that "one out of 500 customers comes in here asking for a Windows phone."

Nokia is expected to ship its first Phone 7 devices, complete with the system's Mango update, later this year.

Give It A 'Rest' Says Retiring Lieberman

Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who will not seek a fifth term in 2012, hasn't announced his future plans. But as a prolific author and prominent observant Jew, Lieberman says he wants to do "a little bit of missionary work," promoting Sabbath observance as a divine gift and lifting the mystique about what an observant Jew can and cannot do, especially while holding public responsibilities, within the confines of the day of rest.

Simon and Schuster will publish "The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath," written by Lieberman and David Klinghoffer in August.

The Jewish Week caught up with the former Democrat and current independent, 69, during a Passover vacation in Westchester with his wife Hadassah and their extended family, and he spoke candidly and extensively about what motivated the book, some pressing issues of the day, his place in history and the future.

Jewish Week: What do constituents and others have to say to you since you announced your retirement from the Senate?

Lieberman: People are very gracious and thanked me for my service, and were curious about what I was going to do. … The other night there was an interesting question someone asked about who would take my place [when he retires in January 2013], as it were, particularly in terms of U.S.-Israel relations. I said that no one is irreplaceable; it was my honor to play this role. Wherever I go and whatever I do I will always be concerned about the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. Yet there are a host of people already there who continue to play a significant role in Israel's security - the New York senators, Kirsten Gillibrand who is new and cares deeply about Israel and I have worked closely with her on Iran and other issues; people in both parties. John McCain is very strong and rising in importance as a pro-Israel senator.

Do people express concern about Israel and the Obama administration?

Yes, and I say that Obama is certainly pro-Israel; his whole record shows that. I mean he's done some things such as call for a settlement freeze, which I thought was a mistake. And I think anybody looking back at it now will say that it didn't work, [that] it didn't accomplish anything, [that] it created doubt in our relationship on the Israeli side with the government. But actually, not only did it not advance the prospect of negotiations between Israel and Palestinians, it seems to have set them back because the Palestinians raised the threshold. … So in other words there are things I have disagreed with. I've now been through two Bush presidents, Clinton and Obama, and if you look not only at the ones I served with but all American presidents since 1948, some generally more supportive, some less, there are times when almost every presidency is more supportive and times when he is less supportive. But the great guarantor of the U.S. Israel relationship is a pro-Israel, bipartisan majority in both houses, and I'm really pleased to be able to say that is stronger than ever.

How did you pick the topic of your new book?

Well, I've been very lucky to write six books in my life, none of which will jump instantly into your mind because they were not bestsellers, but this is very different. I'm very fortunate that I had the chance to write this book because it comes from deep inside me.

Rabbi Menachem Genack [CEO of the Orthodox Union's Kosher Division] and I have known each other for a long time and we learn together pretty regularly on the phone on Fridays. When he comes to Washington he sees me, and for a while he was noodging me that I should write a book about Joseph from the Torah, because of him being a political leader. But I said, Rabbi, you know what I have inside me: at some point I would like to write a book about Shabbat, which is so important to me because I experience it. It begins with a commandment from God as a gift; it really has centered my life in so many ways. People always ask me what I do and how do you do it on the Sabbath.

In the last couple of years Rabbi Genack formed the OU Press and they are doing some very significant publishing … and he said, 'Why don't you write the book that you want to do about Shabbat?" and he said the OU Press will publish it, I promise you, but I think some other commercial publisher would do it. Interestingly, [Simon and Schuster] has a subdivision called Howard Books that mostly publishes books for religious Christian readers, and the publisher thinks there would be a real interest in this book in the Christian community.

Are you dealing with some of the questions people raised - some well meaning, some not - when you ran for vice president and president about what your limitations might be on Shabbat?

I decided the best thing I could do in introducing people to what the Shabbat is, is to take them through a typical Shabbat. I begin with Erev Shabbat and go through the whole day to the end of Saturday night, Havdalah. So there is a lot of description about what happens … I talked about the basic ideas underlying Shabbat. The book is an appeal to people. I say at the very beginning that I'm describing what Shabbat is and how important it's been in my life, how meaningful it has been to Hadassah and me in our marriage and with our family. I'm also very clear that I'm doing a little bit of marketing, or missionary work here.

People in our country work hard, and they can't get away from work; they have their BlackBerrys and cell phones. … Shabbat is just a gift I'm urging people to take on in whatever way is comfortable to them. … I have one chapter in which I say, in the middle of a Shabbat afternoon, I'm going to stop now and describe the occasions when observant Jews have a reason to set aside the normal restrictions of Shabbat. [They can be set aside] because there's a purpose greater than even those restrictions, that are related to the underlying purpose of Shabbat, which is to honor God's creations. I deal with pikuach nefesh [the precept which says that you can break the Sabbath to save a life], tell some personal stories about how I walked to the Capitol on Shabbat when I anticipated there would be votes; what I've done when I've had calls come into the house on Shabbat, how I decided whether to take them or not. I actually went back and did some research, and there are Talmudic opinions all the way back to Roman times about the occasions when normal prohibitions have to be set aside for reasons of security for the community.

I hope that's of interest. The truth is our religion is very detailed and yet it has perspective. As I said, if you were walking along the street and saw someone having a heart attack, you wouldn't say 'Oh, gee I wish I could call an ambulance, but it's my Shabbat'. Of course you can call an ambulance, and in a similar way if someone calls about a national security matter, of course I would surely have to answer it.

What has it been like for you to have your religious views and practices under a microscope, both from within and outside your community?

It comes with territory. As my friend [New York Assembly Speaker] Shelly Silver likes to say, it is what it is. As time went on I felt that perhaps this was some sort of special opportunity in terms being observant in public life, an opportunity to explain to people why we do what we do and why I do what I do. And in the book there are times when I say I made this decision [but] I'm not sure every Jew would have made this decision.

The 2000 election and recount will be debated throughout history. In your heart, do you believe that you won?

I do, particularly because I know that our ticket got a half-million more votes than the other ticket. In a way I'm skipping over the Electoral College. Whenever I either visit a foreign country or am being visited by a foreign leader, they are puzzled about how you could have gotten a half-million more votes and not taken office, and I have to explain the Electoral College. ... There is no question that it was close in Florida; I think for various reasons that Al Gore and I had won, but life has to go on.

What would you have done differently? What about Tennessee and Arkansas?

Good point. None of these are unconventional answers. There are a few things, like sending Bill Clinton to Arkansas for the last two weeks of the campaign, or Al Gore would have had a sense earlier on that Tennessee was in some difficulty and spent more time there. In Florida, I happen to have been close to the Cuban community because of all the controversy, I think, over the Elian Gonzales case. The campaign didn't use me very effectively in the Cuban community and, of course, if we could have taken two or three more percentage points in the Cuban community we would have carried Florida. But these are all, sort of, 'could have beens.' The reality is, I still have -- believe it or not, it could just be my nature -- a very positive feeling about the whole thing because I was given this extraordinary honor by Al Gore, a singular decision; there are very few decisions as big in American politics where a single person makes a [vice] presidential nominee.

Also, as a Jewish American, the fact that I was chosen for the ticket -- I said this in the book we wrote about the campaign -- the night that Gore selected me and we flew to Nashville, he said: 'I want you to know that I talked to a lot of people, Jewish and non-Jewish, about whether the country was ready for a Jewish vice president and the conclusion is that fear of anti-Semitism among Jews was radically greater than the reality of anti-Semitism among Christians, and so I decided I can choose who I wanted to choose, which was you.'

And the second thing is we experienced almost no anti-Semitism.

Almost?

Well, there was a little flurry of anti-Semitism on the Internet when I was first named. But we were never confronted with anything. I always say to people that politics, even though there can be disputes, as in Florida, is like sports. It comes down to numbers, and in the end, the first time a Jewish candidate was on a national ticket, the ticket won by within half a million votes. To me that says what an open, fair country it is.

I'll tell you something, I went to Obama in '08 when I saw him on the Senate floor, even though I had already supported McCain. It was after he clinched the nomination; we had a conversation, and he said, 'You know, I understand that one of the reasons I was able to do this was because of what you did in 2000.'

What do you make of all the fixation on the president's birth certificate?

I think it's a real waste of time; I don't get it. From all that I can tell, I haven't done an exhaustive investigation but from what I've read in newspapers and seen on television he was born in Hawaii. The former health director of Honolulu she said she saw [the birth certificate] with her own eyes. [Editor's note: President Obama released the long form of his birth certificate the day after this interview.]

It's early, but who do you see supporting for president in 2012?

[Laughs] I'm just going to enjoy being independent for a while.

Do you think the president deserves to be re-elected?

I think it's early to say. I've tried my best to work with him when I agreed with him and to be respectfully disagreeable when I don't.

What do you think about J Street?

Listen, this is our political system; they have a right to do what they want to do -- to organize, to express a different point of view than I have about Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Are they bringing something constructive to the table?

I've got to be honest with you, I don't really see their stuff enough to know whether they are. I can tell you this, in my opinion they don't have much influence on Capitol Hill at this point. AIPAC has tremendous influence in terms of the attitudes of members of Congress toward Israel.

There has been growing support for clemency for Jonathan Pollard by former senior administration officials and intelligence leaders. You have not supported his release in the past. Has your position changed?+

To me, this has always been a matter for the president. I mean, way back when I was first elected, maybe it was in the first three or four years, in the early '90s, people asked me about this and I was fully briefed on it, a classified briefing. Pollard did some terrible things, not just for Israel but otherwise. And the intelligence community feels it would be a terrible precedent to set, and they are still saying it now, I presume, to let him go because of what it would say for others. They are not necessarily thinking about other Israeli agents; they're thinking about other ethnic Americans.

But he's been in a long time. I guess my own feeling has been that this really is a matter that ultimately must be resolved between the prime minister of Israel and the president of the United States, but if you're asking if I'm going to get involved, no.

Is there a point where you might feel he has served enough time for his crime?

He's been in a very long time. Our system of justice unfortunately sometimes produces results like this. Two people, even in the same state, can both be charged with murder and convicted of murder. One gets a life sentence for some reason and maybe that is commuted to 25 years; the other gets executed. I mean that's just the way it is.

Probably the question you hear most these days is, what's next?

Yeah, and the great answer is, I don't know. This is the first time in decades [that I don't know what's next]. It's not that I've always known what's next, but it has always been clearly in elective politics. So, when I made the decision not to run again, I was saying my career in elected politics is over. But public service has been so much a part of my life, including the U.S. Israel relationship, that I'll always want to be somewhat involved in these issues. But I don't know, and I've got time. I have until January, 2013. Nothing specific at all, and I'm enjoying it.

Would you rule out being a lobbyist?

I'm not going to become a lobbyist.