What can we expect for the fast-moving telecommunications market this year?
There are many predictions. I started looking for information from Twelve 2012 Predictions For The Telecom Industry and Top 12 Hot Design Technologies for 2012 articles. Then I did some more research on what is happening on the field and decided to make my own list of what is expected this year. You can go to the original information sources by clicking the links to see where all this information comes from.
The global telecommunications services market will grow at a 4% rate in 2012 (was 7% in 2011).
Mobile growth does not stop. The number of global mobile subscriptions will pass the 6 billion mark in February. India will pass China to become the world’s largest mobile market in terms of subscriptions.
The mobile handset market will surpass the $200 billion mark. Smartphones are most heavily used by people under 45, and that age group increasingly sees the smartphone or tablet as a portal to Facebook and Twitter, among other social networks. The demand for the chips that generate and process that data in smartphones is increasing (sales of smartphone applications processors surged to $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2011). Six Companies Want Supremacy On The Smartphones Chip Market! Qualcomm Look Out!
There is lots of competition on mobile OS marker, but I expect that thing continue pretty much as 2011 ended: Android continues to boom, RIM and Microsoft decline. Symbian’s future is uncertain although Symbian started and finished 2011 as the undisputed king of mobile OSs (33.59%). Windows Phone will try to get to market and Leaked Windows Phone Roadmap gives us a peek into the future. Java Micro Edition making a comeback according to the NetApplications report because large number of low-cost feature phones. The real mobile application battle lines of 2012 will be drawn across the landscape of HTML5.Tizen open source project tries to push to mobile Linux market (first version Q1 2012) with ideas from Meego, LiMo and WebOS. Cars and smartphones start to communicate using MirrorLink technology to allow new features.
Mobile campaigns to be hot in 2012 presidential race article tells that though mobile advertising not seen much on the campaign trail, mobile strategy is expected to be important for attracting younger voters. Social networks played an important role in the last U.S. presidential election, but the explosive growth in smartphone usage and the introduction of tablets could make or break the candidates for president in 2012. Expect to see specialized apps to help campaign groupies follow the candidates.
Text messaging has been very profitable business for mobile phone operators and making them lots of money. Text Messaging Is in Decline in Some Countries tell that all signs point to text messaging’s continuing its decline. There has been already decline in Finland, Hong Kong and Australia. The number of text messages sent by cellphone customers in USA is still growing, but that growth is gradually slowing, “SMS erosion” is expected to hit AT&T and Verizon in this year or next years. The fading allure of text messaging is most likely tied to the rise of alternative services, which allow customers to send messages free using a cellphone’s Internet connection.
EU politicians want to ban roaming charges according to Computer Sweden magazine article. If the proposal becomes law in the EU, it takes away slippery roaming charges for mobile data (could happen earliest at summer 2012, but I expect that it will take much more time). Roaming robbery to end – 2015 article tells that the goal is that the mobile roaming fees should be completely abolished the 2015th.
Near Field Communication (NFC) is becoming available in many mobile phones and new flexibility via organic materials can help in implementing NFC. NFC-enabled SIM cards are expected to become a worldwide standard. Electronic wallet in smartphones probably takes a step forward with this. Google, opened the game with Google Wallet service. According to research firm ABI Research estimates that in 2012 NFC phones is growing 24 million to 80 million units. There is still years to wait until mass market on NFC wallets starts. ABI Research estimates that there is 552 million NFC enabled devices at year 2016.
The 4G technology WiMax will see the beginning of its end in Asia. Like operators in other regions, Asian operators will opt for the rival 4G technology LTE instead.
The number of active (installed) PCs worldwide will pass the 2 billion mark. Broadband penetration continues to increase. Broadband penetration of the world’s population will pass the 10% mark globally. IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) penetration of the world’s population will pass the 1% mark. Broadband technologies are fundamentally transforming the way we live. UN wants two-thirds of the world online by 2015.
Today’s Cable Guy, Upgraded and Better-Dressed article tells that the cable guy is becoming sleeker and more sophisticated, just like the televisions and computers he installs. The nearly saturated marketplace means growth for cable companies must come from all the extras like high-speed Internet service, home security, digital recording devices and other high-tech upgrades.
Ethernet displaces proprietary field buses. As Ethernet displaces proprietary field buses to facilitate the operation of the digital factory. Ethernet switches are the ubiquitous building block of any intelligent network. Ethernet has also become the de facto networking technology in industrial automation even in mission-critical local networks. Modern Ethernet switches have added significant new functionality to Ethernet while decreasing port prices. Ethernet for Vehicles also becomes reality largely to serve the expected boom of camera-based applications in cars.
Operators’ growth will increasingly depend on their having a cloud computing strategy, an approach for the high-growth IT service market and a clear value proposition for the enterprise market. Data center technologies will be hot topic. 10GBase-T Technology will become technically and economically feasible interface option on data center servers. 10GBase-T Technology allows you to use RJ45 connectors and unshielded twisted pair cabling to provide 10Mbps, 100Mbps, 1Gbps, and 10Gbps data transmission, while being backward-compatible with prior generations.
40/100 Gbit/s Ethernet will be a hot topic. Carriers and datacenters have been clamoring for the technology to expand their core backbone networks. 2012–A Return to Normalcy and Pragmatic, Power Conscious 100G article mentions that in 2010 and 2011, the industry saw the first real roll-outs of 100G transport solutions based on Coherent Detection and FPGA-based Framers. In 2012 we’ll start to see 100G taking a bigger place in the build out of new and existing networks around the world. The initial deployments of 100G are clearly too costly and too power hungry to be widely deployed as the primary transport technology, so optical transport marketplace will move to much lower power and lower cost Direct Detection optical transport solutions. The average WDM link for 10G is dissipating about 3.5W per optical module, the average WDM link per 100G is dissipating about about 100W.
5 Major Changes Facing the Internet in 2012 article tells that 2012 is poised to go down in Internet history as one of the most significant 12-month periods from both a technical and policy perspective since the late 1990s. This year the Internet will face or can face several milestones: root servers may have a new operator, new company could operate the .com registry, up to 1000 new top-level domains will start being introduced, additional 10,000 Web sites will support IPv6 and Europe will run out of IPv4 addresses.
No IPv6 Doomsday In 2012. Yes, IPv4 addresses are running out, but a Y2K-style disaster/frenzy won’t be coming in 2012. Of course there’s a chance that panic will ensue when Europe’s RIPE hands out its last IPv4 addresses this summer, but ‘most understand that they can live without having to make any major investments immediately. Despite running out of IPv4 addresses we will be able to continue to use IPv4 techniques (Asia depleted all of its IPv4 address space already April 2011). ISP’s and hosting companies will not run out of IPs. This only means that the price per IP will start to slowly grow. Forward thinking enterprises can spend the year preparing for the new IPv6 protocol (USA is expected run out of addresses next year). Comcast has said it will offer production-quality IPv6 services across its nationwide network in 2012.
Operators start to pay more attention to the business opportunity of “M2M” (machine-to-machine connections). Investment and innovation in M2M (think smart energy meters and fleet trackers for logistics) will follow.
Smart Grid technologies include smart power management and architecture system components are already hot. Smart meter deployment on the rise globally. The global power utilities are the next mega-market moving from analog, standalone systems to digital networked technology. The opportunities are huge in everything from wireless components in smart meters to giant power electronics. First cut of some very basic framework standards have been drafted and lots of works needs to be done (ensure safety!). Forward-looking utilities and such vendors have now put business units and plans in place. IPv6 is seen as a needed technology in implementing Smart Grid communications. IPV6 has become a buzz word for smart grid firms.
You Will See A Ton Of Hype Around “The Internet Of Things” article tells that “The Internet Of Things” is a catchy term revolving around the idea that most everyday objects around us will be equipped with internet-collected electronics, and this will open up new applications. You Will See A Ton Of Hype Around “The Internet Of Things”, and it is hard to say if The Internet Of Things will be a huge business or a passing fad. NXP Semiconductor’s vision of Internet of Things starts with lightbulbs. Wireless sensor networks will get attention. EE Times article Top ten Embedded Internet articles for 2011 gives you links to articles that help you to catch on those topics.
Security issues were talked about lot on 2011 and I expect the discussion will continue actively during year 2012. There are still many existing security issues to fix and new issues will come up all the time.
802 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU states must allow 4G Internet use on analogue TV spectrum by January 2013
http://thenextweb.com/eu/2012/02/15/eu-states-must-allow-4g-internet-use-on-analogue-tv-spectrum-by-january-2013/
The rollout of 4G wireless data connectivity in Europe took a step forward today as the European Parliament approved plans to free up radio spectrum for this and other uses.
The Programme includes a ruling that by 1 January 2013, EU member states will have to authorise the use of the 800 MHz band, currently used for remaining analogue TV transmissions, for wireless broadband, unless they can obtain an exemption by that date. This band is seen as particularly useful for transmitting data due to its ability to travel long distances without losing strength, and to penetrate buildings well. The digital TV switchover is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2012.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HP CEO: Google-Motorola deal could close-source Android
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9224291/HP_CEO_Google_Motorola_deal_could_close_source_Android
HP CEO Meg Whitman said a closed-source Android and iOS could create a big opportunity for webOS in the long run
“The industry needs another OS,” Whitman said, contending that Android might not remain open source.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google may launch Android 5.0 in 2Q12, say Taiwan makers
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120215PD209.html
Viewing that the adoption of Android 4.0 has fallen short of original expectations and Microsoft will launch Windows 8 in the third quarter of 2012, Google is likely to launch Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) in the second quarter and appeal for adopting Android 5.0 and Windows 8 in the same tablet PC, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
Brand vendors can either choose to adopt only Android 5.0 or add Android 5.0 to Windows 8 devices with the ability to switch between the two OSes without the need to shut down the computer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/teknologia/700_megahertsia_langattomalle_laajakaistalle
International Telecommunication Union ITU Radiocommunication Conference has decided to make 700 MHz frequency band for wireless broadband systems after 2015. The final decision is made in 2015 be held in Congress
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do you suffer from nomophobia?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57379600-1/do-you-suffer-from-nomophobia/
According to a new study, two out of three people suffer from nomophobia, the fear of being without mobile contact.
Nomophobia is the fear of being without mobile contact (who knew such a term or condition existed?), and according to a new study from the U.K., two out of three people suffer from it.
in the U.K., 66 percent were afraid of losing or being without their phone–a 13 percent increase from when the study was first conducted four years ago.
Are you one of them? Take our poll.
Tomi Engdahl says:
UK bank Barclays targets PayPal with new mobile number money transfer service Pingit
http://thenextweb.com/uk/2012/02/16/uk-bank-barclays-targets-paypal-with-new-mobile-number-money-transfer-service-pingit/
Barclays says that Pingit is Europe’s first person-to-person service for sending money this way, requiring customers to own just a UK current account and a domestic mobile phone number. The service does away with bank details by linking a customer’s account to their mobile device.
With banks seeing billions of pounds transferred between accounts via services like PayPal on mobile devices, one has finally launched its own service that is capable of rivalling the eBay-owned company.
In that sense, you could say it’s the perfect mix of PayPal and US mobile payment platform Square.
Tomi Engdahl says:
With Clik, Your Smartphone Can Control Screens Everywhere
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/16/clik-universal-remote/
You’ve probably heard of Kik Messenger, a phone messaging app with the backing of Union Sqaure Ventures and RRE. It turns out Kik was just the beginning of the company’s plans — today it’s launching Clik, which is even more impressive.
Put simply, Clik can turn your phone into a remote control for any screen with a browser.
Here’s how it works: You point your desktop browser at ClikThis.com, which generates a unique QR code. Then you open the Clik iPhone or Android app, aim the camera at the screen, and the app uses the code to figure out which device you’re trying to control. Once it’s synced up, you can select YouTube videos from your phone, and they’ll play on the screen.
The idea of turning a smartphone into a remote control isn’t new, but using Clik, the process of syncing up a phone to a screen is a ridiculously fast and easy, and it requires no extra hardware.
Once you wrap your head around the concept, what’s really impressive is the speed. When Livingston demonstrated the app, he could play videos, jump ahead, and adjust the volume instantaneously.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The new battleground for mobile processors
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4236401/The-New-Battleground-for-Mobile-Processors?Ecosystem=communications-design
Over the past 18 months, we have seen the battle for smartphone processor supremacy accelerate so rapidly that it is reminiscent of the PC processor wars.
Each company continues to up the ante with faster processors, more processor cores, higher performing GPUs, advanced features, and higher levels of integration.
While companies like Qualcomm, Nvidia, TI, and Samsung battle for the high-performance segment of the market, many other vendors and start-ups are looking to satisfy the low-cost/high-volume segment.
The baseline for CPU appears to be a single core ARM processor operating at a 1GHz frequency, which is also on the low-end of the frequency range of most current multi-core mobile processors.
There is also the use of a programmable GPU like those offered by ARM, DMP, Imagination, and Vivante rather than fixed-function circuitry often used in baseband processors or MCUs. Most of these devices are also being produced on mature 40nm process technologies rather than the bleeding edge 28-nm technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The “Unhyped” New Areas in Internet and Mobile
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/19/unhyped-internet-and-mobile/
Data Reduction or Filters (Siri, Donna, Recorded Future, and many others)
Big data or Analytics (Ness, Billguard, The Climate Corporation, Kaggle, Datasift)
Emotion (Foodspotting, Ness, Instagram)
Education 2.0 (it’s early, but Altius, Khan Academy, CK12, Udacity)
TV 2.0 (Miso, Flingo, Maker Studios, both first and second screen apps as well as content production & sourcing)
Social Next (intersecting with all the interest graph stuff and verticals like Github, Coursekit, and Researchgate
Interest-based networks (where Meebo is pivoting to, Twitter, Snip.it, State)
Health 2.0 (Jawbone UP, Nike Fuelband, Empatica, BodyMedia, MC10, Fitbit, iBike, Recon, Withings, Alivecor)
Internet of Things/Universal ID/NFC/Smart sensors (a technology with the applications still to emerge)
Personal Collaborative Publishing (Pinterest, Tumblr, storify, Snip.it)
Utility Apps (Siri, Seatme, Ifttt, Uber, and many, many more
Marketplaces & Disintermediation (Interview Street, Kaggle, Etsy)
I chose not to define mobile or tablets as a category but it clearly is a major driving force behind much of this innovation; mobile is the theme that underlies the concept of “post-PC” or “always/everywhere.” The emergence of new languages like HTML5 (which I suspect will soon turn into new, hopefully cross-platform standards through the addition of traditional operating system services like inter-process communication) will enable more innovation, which will sell more devices, and drive even more innovation.
I ignored areas like cloud computing, because they are not new anymore (though still a source of significant innovation and a source of services that can be drivers of innovation)
Then there are payments; I think it is possible that we are seeing just the tip of the iceberg in a potential rethink on payments. We as investors have seen Square take off at an unprecedented rate (so far) for a payments startup, but in terms of relative scale, even Square is dwarfed by Mpesa — it is 20% of Kenya’s GDP already (using a totally different model than Square).
Then there is the Maker movement. Makers are enthusiasts who hack and modify the world around them in interesting and whimsical ways. Tools and services that used to be inaccessible to all but large manufacturers are now available to everyone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who Are the Top 10 Power Influencers in Mobile?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2012/01/03/who-are-the-top-10-power-influencers-in-mobile/
Mobile is perhaps the most important driver of innovation in the 21st century economy, so who are the top power influencers here? Who is influencing how we perceive developments in mobile, how we learn about it and what we know?
# Number 1 spot belongs to ex-Nokia executive Tomi Ahonen whose blog Communities Dominate Brands is a fixture on the mobile scene largely because of Ahonen’s comprehensive knowledge of the mobile ecosystem. Tomi is based out of Hong Kong.
Tomi Ahonen and this blog rated top Power Influencer in Mobile by Forbes
http://www.communities-dominate.blogs.com/
http://www.tomiahonen.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New HSPA+ Multiflow Tech Could Double Your Download Speeds
http://gizmodo.com/5886539
Nokia Siemens is going to demo HSPA+ Multiflow—a new cell tech that lets phones talk to two cell towers at once—at Mobile World Congress. It’s the first time that the tech, which can apparently double data speeds, will be shown working on stuff you might actually be able to buy.
Devices with the tech won’t be available until probably late 2013
Tomi Engdahl says:
First IPv6 Distributed Denial of Service Internet attacks seen
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/first-ipv6-distributed-denial-of-service-internet-attacks-seen/2039
Summary: You know IPv6 must finally be making it: The first IPv6 Distributed Denial of Service Internet attacks have been spotted in the wild.
We could have expected this. Besides human nature, Arbor Network’s Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report had predicted IPv6 DDoS attacks. “This is a significant milestone in the arms race between attackers and defenders,” stated the report. “We believe that the scope and prevalence of IPv6 DDoS attacks will gradually increase over time as IPv6 is more widely deployed.” And, now, they’ve started.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nielsen: 66% of Americans ages 24-35 own a smartphone
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/20/nielsen-66-of-americans-ages-24-35-own-a-smartphone/
But 55- to 64-year olds who make more than $100,000 a year are big buyers too
“Whether or not you have a smartphone is closely related to both how old you are and how much money you make,” finds a Nielsen survey
Apple (AAPL) was the No. 1 manufacturer with 28.3% of the U.S. market, but Google’s (GOOG) Android had the largest market share (42.8%).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meet the ZTE Mimosa X, the first smartphone powered exclusively by Nvidia
http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/20/nvida-first-branded-phone/
Nvidia’s technology powers many cell phones on the market, including the T-Mobile G2X and Motorola Droid X2. But until now, Nvidia only supplied its processors to external cell phone manufacturers. On Monday, Nvidia announced the first phone to be powered solely by its technology.
Nvidia’s first phone, called the ZTE Mimosa X, will be powered by the company’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor. The phone also includes an Nvidia Icera 450 HSPA+ modem, technology from Nvidia’s acquisition of Icera in 2011.
The ZTE Mimosa X will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest Android operation system.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mozilla to challenge big players in mobile web
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_20014223
Mozilla, the Mountain View nonprofit that took on Microsoft’s Internet browser dominance nearly a decade ago and won, now wants to play the same transformative role with the mobile Web.
Firefox now has about 450 million users, but access to the Internet is increasingly going mobile.
Mozilla is expected Wednesday to announce plans for its own app store, to be called the Mozilla Marketplace, offering mobile apps that could run equally well on an iPhone, an Android phone or a Windows Phone device. Mozilla is also working to develop a smartphone that would not be locked into the “walled gardens” of apps, operating systems and devices that are now controlled by Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Microsoft, Amazon and a few others.
Mozilla’s vision is to develop a phone that would run apps within the phone’s browser, and that would not be limited to a specific operating system
The project is code-named “Boot to Gecko,”
Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner who has been briefed on Mozilla’s plans, called them a win for software developers and “an interesting business challenge to the traditional lock-in ecosystem,” but said it’s hard to know how much demand there will be.
Mozilla is planning to open its app store to users later this year, while a commercial version of a Mozilla phone is probably significantly further away.
“Hang onto your hats; we’re moving fast,” Eich said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Research, no motion: How the BlackBerry CEOs lost an empire
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2789676/rim-blackberry-mike-lazaridis-jim-balsillie-lost-empire
Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry phones pioneered wireless email, no longer holds the commanding heights in the smartphone market. With Android, iOS, and even Windows Phone gaining market share, the Waterloo, Ontario, company finds itself in a battle for relevancy. The past year has been especially hard on the once-innovative RIM, but it may be at a turning point. Or the beginning of the end.
The company was Research In Motion, the Canadian firm whose BlackBerry virtually created the smartphone market. Success had come almost naturally to the company, until five years ago, when Apple released the first iPhone and upended RIM’s long-held strategy of appealing primarily to email-addicted professionals.
Apple’s iPad similarly re-defined the market for tablet computers, and then dominated it, a host of Android-powered competitors following in its wake.
Apple had made the smartphone a consumer device; RIM decided it would make the tablet an enterprise device. That was the hope, anyway.
“The kiss of death is when you allow marketing to dumb down innovation.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Siemens Networks delivers faster, more flexible 4G (HSPA+) #MWC12
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/news-events/press-room/press-releases/nokia-siemens-networks-delivers-faster-more-flexible-4g-hspa-mwc12
Presents first ever demo of HSPA+ Multiflow on commercial infrastructure equipment, delivering up to double the cell edge data speed
Operators will be able to offer enhanced mobile broadband with a new feature for HSPA+ networks from Nokia Siemens Networks and Qualcomm*. Known as HSPA+ Multiflow, it allows devices located close to the edge of a mobile base station’s cell to connect with a second base station serving a neighboring cell. The ‘Multiflow’ name refers to the two different paths data can then take to reach a device.
A live demonstration** at Mobile World Congress 2012 of the feature will be based on Nokia Siemens Networks’ commercial Single RAN offering and Qualcomm’s prototype USB dongles.
HSPA+ Multiflow enables simultaneous transmission of two data streams from base stations in two adjacent cells to a single user device instead of one data stream from one base station as is the case with HSPA+*** today.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple, Google and Others in Agreement on App Privacy
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/california-attorney-general-reaches-deal-on-app-privacy/
California’s attorney general, Kamala D. Harris, said on Wednesday that the state had reached an agreement with Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Research in Motion to strengthen privacy protections for smartphone owners who download mobile applications.
The agreement will force developers to post conspicuous privacy policies detailing what personal information they plan to obtain and how they will use it. It also compels app store providers like Apple and Google to offer ways for users to report apps that do not comply.
“Your personal privacy should not be the cost of using mobile apps, but all too often it is,”
In a statement, Ms. Harris’s office said that only 5 percent of mobile apps offer a privacy policy, leaving smartphone owners in the dark about what developers, advertisers and analytic services do with their “location, contacts, identity, messages and photos.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone owners ready to close the deal, 75% want to pay by phone
http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/22/mobile-shopping-data/
New data from Nielsen shows that nearly one-third of U.S. smartphone owners (29 percent) now turn to their devices for shopping dos and don’ts.
— 71 percent of app downloaders said they’d like to use their phone to pay at the register.
While just 9 percent of mobile shoppers indicated that they used their phone to pay at the register
And iPhone owners showed even more interest; 75 percent expressed interest in paying by iPhone, and 39 percent said they would be extremely or very interested in using an app for that purpose.
Pew Research Center found 52 percent of adult cell phone owners used their phone for shopping-related activities over the holidays.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chinese mobile subscribers grew to 987.58 million in January
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2814955/chinese-mobile-subscribers-january-growth
In total China’s mobile subscriber base grew to 987.58 million in January, though only a small percentage of those are 3G subscribers. The world’s largest provider, China Mobile, grew by 5.87 million in January to reach 655.44 million subscribers
COMMENTS:
It’s entirely plausible.
1. A feature phone is dirt cheap, carriers in China don’t gouge their customers the way that North American ones do.
Why is everyone surprised at these numbers? Even India’s mobile phone subscriber base was 893.84 million at the end of Dec 2011. Although less than 10% of those must be on 3G
Arguments about per capita income or PPP don’t hold good because the cheapest cellphones can cost about $20 in India (unlocked, free of any plan) and talktime is as cheap as $0.006 (about half a cent) per minute
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chief Mobile Officer: a Job Title Now Timely?
http://www.cio.com/article/700149/Chief_Mobile_Officer_a_Job_Title_Now_Timely_?page=1&taxonomyId=3123
The idea of creating a Chief Mobile Officer (CMO) inside corporations isn’t a new one. But as companies scramble these days to establish corporate mobile strategies, having a CMO could be a key to success, according to a new Forrester Research report.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.tietokone.fi/uutiset/lg_lta_neliydinpuhelin_teravapiirtonaytolla
LG phone quad-core high-definition display
1.5 GHz Tegra 3 and 4.7-inch screen
Optimus 4X HD is equipped with no less than 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 1280 × 720
The operating system is Android 4.0 LG’s own custom user interface.
LG’s new flagship model will go on sale in Europe in the second quarter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Throttling unlimited data plans is pointless, study finds
http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/23/throttling-unlimited-data-plans-is-pointless-study-finds/
Subscribers who approach the top 5% of unlimited data users in a single billing period see their data speeds throttled, however, and countless users have found that AT&T is now beginning to throttle users after less than 2GB of data usage in a billing period.
Wireless bill analysis firm Validas extracted data from more than 55,000 cell phone bills belonging to AT&T and Verizon Wireless subscribers from 2011, and the firm sought to determine whether or not data throttling is necessary. According to Validas’s findings, throttling may indeed simply be a ploy to push unlimited users into newer tiered plan
“When we look at the top 5% of data users, there is virtually no difference in data consumption between those on unlimited and those on tiered plans—and yet the unlimited consumers are the ones at risk of getting their service turned off,” Validas wrote in its report. “So it’s curious that anyone would think the throttling here represents a serious effort at alleviating network bandwidth issues. After all, Sprint does seemingly fine maintaining non-throttled unlimited data for its customers.”
AT&T is not the only wireless carrier in the U.S. that throttles smartphone data speeds for unlimited data plan holders
Tomi Engdahl says:
Carrier Ethernet 2.0 aims for global connectivity
The Metro Ethernet Forum’s Carrier Ethernet 2.0 will allow carriers to more easily manage and share Ethernet traffic
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/022312-carrier-ethernet-2-aims-for-256500.html
The Metro Ethernet Forum has updated its Carrier Ethernet specification, hoping to standardize the use of Ethernet for global multicarrier services.
“With Carrier Ethernet 2[.0], we’re expanding quality of service [QoS] well beyond best efforts, and will now allow carriers to interconnect to provide worldwide [Ethernet] service,” said Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet, during a Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Web conference held Thursday to announce the specification.
MEF introduced Carrier Ethernet in 2005 as a set of extensions that describe how data communications carriers should use Ethernet in a consistent manner. The new specification, Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE 2.0), establishes an additional set of rules. CE 2.0 provides guidance for setting up multiple class-of-service (multi-CoS) definitions, which will allow carriers to establish more nuanced service level agreements (SLAs). CE 2.0 provides a richer set of management metrics, and it also sets the stage for multiple service providers to exchange Ethernet traffic in a uniform fashion.
Tomi says:
2012 Mobile Future in Focus Whitepaper
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2012/2012_Mobile_Future_in_Focus
comScore presents the 2012 Mobile Future in Focus, its annual report* examining the mobile and connected device landscape, covering several mobile markets measured by comScore, through an exploration of key trends driving smartphone adoption growth, mobile media use in categories such as social networking and retail, mobile ecosystem dynamics, and shifts in multi-device digital media consumption in 2011. The report highlights insights primarily from mobile markets in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada.
Tomi says:
Too Many Connections Weaken Networks
http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/02/25/1917218/too-many-connections-weaken-networks
“Conventional wisdom holds that more connections make networks more resilient, but a team of mathematicians at UC Davis have found that that is only true up to a point.
When your network is under stress, the neighboring network can help you out. But in some cases, the neighboring network can be volatile and make your problems worse. There is a trade-off,
Brummitt’s team published its work (abstract) in the Proceedings of The National Academies of Science:
Suppressing cascades of load in interdependent networks
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/02/15/1110586109.full.pdf
Science: too many connections weakens networks
University of California mathematicians have built a model to determine the ideal number of cross-network connections
http://www.itworld.com/networking/253082/science-too-many-connections-weakens-networks
When it comes to connecting networks or other systems together, it is best to have many, but not too many, connections, mathematicians have found.
The work is a mathematical model of how a collection of systems works together. “We’re taking a larger view and studying networks of networks,” he said. Interconnected networks can be vulnerable to cascading failures, in which a failure, or overload, in one network can disrupt another network. In a typical scenario, when one network is overloaded, it will offload its traffic to the second network. But if a failure is enough to overwhelm the first network, it may overwhelm the second network as well.
“As a first theoretical step, it’s very nice work,”
“They found a sweet spot in the middle,” between too much connectivity and not enough, he said. “If you have some interconnection between clusters but not too much, then [the clusters] can help each other bear a load, without causing avalanches [of work] sloshing back and forth.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
RESEARCH PREDICTS that “Android will beat the Iphone ecosystem” this year, while other players including Research in Motion (RIM), Nokia and Microsoft are dead in the water.
While Apple and Android slug it out for the honours, Freelancer’s study cheerfully notes that the “Nokia and Microsoft mobile platforms are dead”. Microsoft was down 29 per cent to 888 jobs, Symbian down 34 per cent to 349 jobs and Nokia down 44 per cent to 488 jobs. All three recorded significant negative growth for the year and dropped to negligable job levels.
“Apple’s blocking of Flash on iOS platforms sounded the death knell for Adobe’s Flash in 2011, which shrank 11 per cent (to 12,247 jobs). We believe that online jobs related to Flash will be in terminal decline by mid-2012,” the report added.
Source: The Inquirer (http://s.tt/15RjM)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Orange to Sell Co-Branded Intel Smartphone Reference Design Directly to Customers, Codename: Santa Clara
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5578/orange-to-sell-cobranded-intel-smartphone-reference-design-directly-to-customers-codename-santa-clara
At CES Intel announced both Lenovo and Motorola would be bringing Atom based smartphones to market in 2012. Lenovo showed off its K800 for the China market at the show, while Motorola offered a more vague commitment to bring multiple devices to market starting later this year. Today Intel announced its next Atom/Medfield customer: Orange.
A French Telecom brand, Orange is one of the world’s largest mobile network carriers. The nature of the partnership with Intel is quite unique – Orange will be selling a co-branded version of Intel’s Medfield reference design platform, effectively cutting out any branded device manufacturer and going direct to customers with Intel’s platform.
As a recap, at CES Intel announced the Atom Z2460. The Z2460 SoC is the first incarnation of Medfield, although more versions are expected.
Tomi Engdahl says:
By 1 January 2013, EU member states will have to authorise the use of the 800 MHz band, currently used for remaining analogue TV transmissions, for wireless broadband.
When 800 MHz is taken for LTE use, some problems for TV reception are expected.
Ofcom needs you … to help spend £180m on purifying telly
Views sought on Freeview-4G interference
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/27/ofcom_mitco_consultation/
Freeview is at risk ‘cos the mega-action includes a band just above the digital transmissions, known as the “800MHz band”. But as Ofcom’s analysis points out, it is neighbouring frequencies which can interfere with television transmission; the nature of the signals mean that anyone using LTE in the 800MHz band can contribute to the interference experienced by up to quarter of a million UK households.
Ofcom wants 90 per cent of the affected houses to get cheapo filters in the post before LTE gets switched on. The regulator has been knocking on doors and reckons that 97 per cent of us will be able to plug in a filter on our own. Note the singular: Ofcom is only planning one filter per house, so anyone with more than one TV will have to buy more filters themselves.
But it is amplifiers which most worry the regulator, which estimates there are nine million of the things lurking in UK homes.
fitting a filter within the home will be ineffective once the combination has been amplified at the rooftop.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mozilla, Telefonica partnering on Boot to Gecko-enabled ‘Open Web Devices’ for 2012
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/27/2827492/mozilla-telefonica-partnering-on-boot-to-gecko-enabled-open-webhttp://www.theverge.com/2012/2/27/2827492/mozilla-telefonica-partnering-on-boot-to-gecko-enabled-open-web
Mozilla has been working on its Boot to Gecko project since last year to create devices that can “boot to the web,” running an HTML-based platform with the goal of providing the same level of performance and immersive performance in apps as other operating systems can. The company has announced today that it is hooking up with Telefonica — a carrier brand with presence around the world — to deliver an Open Web Device platform this year with Boot to Gecko baked in, the goal being to pump out low-cost smartphones.
The two are working on a hardware platform that uses a Qualcomm chipset — though it’s not specified which — and say that they’ll submit the Open Web Device architecture to the W3C for standardization.
No retail products have been announced, but the companies say we can expect the first OWD products in 2012.
tomi says:
Mozilla in Mobile – the Web is the Platform
http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2012/02/27/mozilla-in-mobile-the-web-is-the-platform/
This week we are in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2012, the mobile industry’s largest trade show. Our goal is to meet with industry operators, vendors and developers to further the cause of promoting an open, people-centric Web for consumers and developers across all devices and platforms.
In a joint press conference, Telefónica revealed their intention to work with us to deliver the very first open Web devices in 2012. These devices, architected entirely on the Web and built based on an HTML5 stack with powerful Web APIs, will mean significant advances in speed and cost reduction for mobile devices in the future. Attendees at the press conference were able to see a sneak preview of what is possible with HTML5 open Web technologies powering entire mobile device functions and experiences.
Boot to Gecko demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAaH5vikEOM
Mozilla is delighted to also announce Deutsche Telekom’s support of an open Web platform. Specifically, Deutsche Telekom’s Innovation Labs will join the Boot to Gecko project with dedicated development resources, and is evaluating further steps based on our common experience.
This week Mozilla is previewing open Web apps and Mozilla Marketplace, enabling the creation and distribution of apps powered by open Web standards like HTML5, CSS and JavasScript.
We are also previewing Persona, the first identity system truly of the Web, including Browser ID.
Telefonica: Mozillaphone is ‘ten times cheaper than an iPhone’
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-57385616-2/telefonica-mozillaphone-is-ten-times-cheaper-than-an-iphone/
A powerful Latin American mobile operator will carry Mozilla’s browser-based B2G OS, a challenger to iOS and Android, into Latin America. Deutsche Telekom is showing interest, too.
“What we’re selling the most in these countries is feature phones, which is ridiculous, said Carlos Domingo, Telefonica Digital’s director of product development and innovation, in an interview at the Mobile World Congress show here in Barcelona, Spain. “We think we can bring smartphones to the masses in developing countries with this approach.”
How affordable, exactly? The B2G phone will be “ten times cheaper than an iPhone,” Domingo said.
At a press conference today to announce the Telefonica pact with Mozilla, Domingo demonstrated the reference phone with a 480×320 pixel screen performing a number of mobile phone tasks with its browser-based interface. He put a call through to another phone, sent and received text messages, won a score of 317 at the HTML5 test Web site, and played two lightweight games, and read a Frankenstein e-book.
Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-57385616-78/telefonica-mozillaphone-is-ten-times-cheaper-than-an-iphone/#ixzz1neZ9qXGK
tomi says:
http://www.digitoday.fi/mobiili/2012/02/28/ericsson-kasvatti-markkinaosuuden-38-prosenttiin/201224087/66?rss=6
A Swedish network equipment manufacturer Ericsson announced that the mobile industry event in Barcelona increased their market share in the infrastructure sector to 38 per cent last year.
Mobile data networks, the demand grows, the operators try to shift part of the data traffic to wireless local area networks. This makes the industry especially in urban areas are the operators. Ericsson has developed this need picocell-basestation. RBD 6000 Series mini-base stations are integrated into a WLAN access point
Ericsson claims 38% mobile infrastructure share, unveils new products
http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=471636
Vestberg also presented Ericsson’s newest picocell product in its RBS 6000 family, which features integrated WiFi capability. ″This is part of our hetnets strategy,″ he said, reminding his audience that the company recently agreed to acquire WiFi specialist BelAir Networks.
″[Through the BelAir acquisition] we have a chance to make a seamless experience for the consumer,″ said Vestberg. ″We will be unique on that.″
″[We will work on] technology deployments that are easier for the mobile operators to deploy,″
The first step will see Western Union’s Mobile Money Transfer network integrated with Ericsson’s m-commerce solutions suite.
tomi says:
Intel Announces New Smartphone Partnerships With Lava, ZTE, And Visa
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/27/intel-announces-new-smartphone-partnerships-with-lava-zte-and-visa/
We’ve already caught wind of the Lenovo K800 and Orange’s newly-announced Santa Clara but Intel CEO Paul Otellini isn’t content to leave their push into mobile at that.
Otellini has just announced that Intel has entered into partnerships with a handful of companies in hopes of solidifying their place in the smartphone market. Among those new partners are relative unknowns like Lava International, to major players like ZTE and Visa.
Lava’s first Intel-powered smartphone offering is dubbed the Xolo X900
Otellini noted that India’s smartphone market has recently tripled
ZTE will help Intel push into China with their own Medfield device though Executive VP He Shiyou didn’t offer up any specifics beside a vague 2H 2012 release window.
These new partnerships have added a bit of wind to Intel’s sails, and according to Otellini, their mobile future is looking bright.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone causes operators losses no matter if you sell iPhone or do not sell iPhone:
http://www.tietokone.fi/tietokone/uutiset/ei_iphonea_asiakkaat_jattavat_operaattorin
iPhone seems to get the telecom operators mess – whether the phone company’s selection or not. IPhone seles in the United States led the operators to one billion in losses. The operator that does not sell iPhone did has problems that customers are leaving to other operators.
iPhone tie-in sales expenses were highly significant for the AT & T and Verizon, the results flashed one billion trade below zero
Sprint operator, was the announcement of iPhone first-time, and the result was soon billion loss
T-Mobile says that it lost at the end of last year’s 706 000 customers. At the same time, other operators increased their customer base. The company’s Managing Director Philipp Humm points out frankly that the reason was the lack of the iPhone.
Sprint sells 1.8 million iPhones but posts huge loss
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/08/technology/sprint_earnings/index.htm
company announced Wednesday that it sold a better-than-expected 1.8 million iPhones over the past three months. That helped Sprint show its biggest customer base growth in six years, and its average revenue per user rose by the highest rate in the wireless industry’s history.
But selling the iPhone, for which Sprint pays a gigantic up-front subsidy, came at a heavy price: Sprint posted its biggest quarterly loss in three years.
Sprint said that its margins would have been nearly nine percentage points higher if not for two expensive investments. The iPhone subsidy was by far the biggest drain, but Sprint’s Network Vision spending also played a part.
Sprint estimated in October that it would pay $15.5 billion in up-front iPhone subsidies over the next four years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Telcos gang up to snatch in-app cash from Google, Apple
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/28/wac_cash/
Nine operators have implemented an in-application API for the Wholesale Applications Community, so AJAX apps will soon be able to empty your pockets just like the competition can.
The new API – supported by AT&T, Deutsche Telecom and Telefonica among others – permits a WAC application to bill the user for in-application events such as upgrades or level unlocking. The same service is already offered by Google’s Marketplace (on Android) and iTunes (for iOS Devices).
WAC applications are developed using AJAX technologies, with JavaScript being central, but JavaScript applications can’t access a device’s camera, let alone the operator billing system, so the WAC has defined extensions to provide access to such functionality. Applications are only permitted to use those extensions if they’re digitally signed by the WAC, as verified by the WAC-compliant handset on which they’re run: the idea being that the same app can run equally well on Android, Bada, BlackBerry and anything else as long as it is WAC-compliant.
The WAC then operates as a warehouse, providing a portfolio of applications from which app stores can select (and price) content as they wish. So users never buy apps from the WAC, they buy them from AT&T, Telefonica or whomever has signed up to flog WAC content (and pay the WAC margin).
The WAC then operates as a warehouse, providing a portfolio of applications from which app stores can select (and price) content as they wish. So users never buy apps from the WAC, they buy them from AT&T, Telefonica or whomever has signed up to flog WAC content (and pay the WAC margin).
Device support is still very spartan, only marginally better than last year when all the WAC could show was a JavaScript clock on a Samsung Bada phone.
Even when running on a supported handset, there are things a WAC application just can’t do – such as running in the background while waiting for an event – so native development will always be necessary.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 smartphone trends at Mobile World Congress
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/5-smartphone-trends-mobile-world-congress-187497
The key characteristics of new mobile devices are bigger, faster, or cheaper
Here are five of the major hardware trends at this year’s show:
Quad-core processors
If you want to be a contender in the high-end Android smartphone game in 2012 it seems a quad-core processor has become a must.
Big, high-definition screens
The LG Optimus 4X HD and the HTC One X both have 4.7-inch screens with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels.
NFC
For mobile payments using NFC (Near-Field Communications) to become a hit, consumers must be able to choose between a large number of compatible phones, and they are slowly starting to become available. The biggest hurdle to NFC payments is to change user behavior, which takes much longer than deploying the infrastructure or devices
LTE
smartphones with LTE are becoming much more common.
While LTE has become a must-have in the U.S., Europe is still lagging behind
LG said it will launch smartphones with LTE in Europe during 2012.
Cheap smartphones
there is also a big battle over buyers that can’t afford or don’t want a quad-core processor and a 4.7-inch screen.
Intel is also interested in getting a piece of the action, and announced the 1GHz Z2000 processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Commbank shouts free beer, meals, to promote NFC
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/28/which_bank_buys_free_beer/
Launched in late 2011 and since downloaded more than 110,000 times, Kaching allows peer-to-peer payments between smartphone owners. Users don’t need to know each other’s account numbers – payments are facilitated through other services like Facebook. Peer-to-peer payments are possible over mobile networks, and the Bank will also sell punters NFC-equipped “iCarte” clip-ons for iPhones to make the app capable of paying for goodies in bricks and mortar stores that offer tap and go payments.
Tomi Engdahl says:
We Don’t Have a Mobile Payment Problem; We Have a Mobile Shopping Problem
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/jpmc-gopago-mobile-shopping/
Mobile payment systems feel like magic. Wave a smartphone in the air with a wandlike flourish, or tap two of them together like Captain Marvel’s bracelets, and invisible currency changes invisible hands.
Contact-free and tap-and-go payments powered by NFC (near-field communication) give great demo. They’re all the rage at this year’s Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, where Spanish bank La Caixa just rolled out an ambitious citywide payment system. But even at a Google Wallet-friendly Starbucks
“Consumers don’t really have a mobile payment problem,” says Jack Stephenson, director of mobile, e-commerce and payments at JP Morgan Chase. “Ninety-five percent of the time, paying with cash and credit cards actually works pretty well. Consumers have a mobile shopping problem. There’s a difference,” he said in an interview with Wired.
“If you ask the average customer, they don’t care about 50 cents off a cup of coffee,” says Gopago CEO and founder Leo Rocco. “They’d say, ‘I want to skip the line!’”
Gopago is a mobile payment company whose primary focus is making shopping easier by moving both orders and payments from the line to the smartphone — any smartphone
Does this mean that a company like Gopago can beat Google, Square, PayPal or Amazon? Not necessarily. But the infusion of cash from Chase means that it can build its infrastructure and compete with its bigger rivals for talent.
“The talent pool for people who really understand mobile payments is slim,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft testing Windows Phone 8 with dual-core Snapdragon S4 for Sprint?
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/29/2830246/windows-phone-8-dual-core-qualcomm-sprint
Microsoft’s Windows Phone engineering team is currently testing the Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans. The dual-core 1.5GHz system-on-chip is undergoing tests to make it ready for at least one Windows Phone 8 handset due later this year. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 has been making waves recently thanks to its impressive performance in recent Vellamo benchmark results
We are told that Sprint is interested in a potential Windows Phone 8 device running the MSM8960 and that it has shared its LTE specifications with Nokia. One source has suggested that the carrier may not introduce any further Windows Phones on its network until Windows Phone 8 is ready later this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here is video of Boot-to-Gecko phone that runs on Mozilla software
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/tassa+on+mozillan+selainpuhelin++toimii+kokonaan+netissa/a785508?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-01032012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video: NFC technology, proliferation and challenges examined
http://www.edn.com/article/521147-Video_NFC_technology_proliferation_and_challenges_examined.php?cid=EDNToday_20120308
NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless connectivity technology that allows short-range radio communication between devices. Included in a small chip inside the device, NFC allows for mobile money transactions, data exchange, location tagging and wireless connections between two devices in very close proximity to one other, usually just a couple of centimeters apart.
Owing to the short-range nature of NFC, transfers are often completed by “tapping” devices either to another NFC-enabled device or a payment system.
NFC services are set to proliferate rapidly over the next three years, with Juniper predicting almost 300 million NFC capable smartphones by the end of next year, more than half of which will be in North America, with Western Europe following closely behind.
The sudden growth spurt in the technology has much to do with its acceptance and adoption by many global mobile network operators, as well as giants like Google, RIM, Nokia, Samsung and more.
With more and more handset vendors integrating NFC chipsets, NFC payments, mobile coupons and smart posters are also slowly becoming more common amongst smartphone users in Western Europe, North America, and other developed regions.
NFC – Google Wallet and More – EE Times – Mobile World Congress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgSk7L6HhVw&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a better mobile experience from network to microprocessor
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4237292/Building-a-better-mobile-experience-from-network-to-microprocessor-?Ecosystem=communications-design
With the mobile industry driving even more leading-edge technology into the hands of global consumers, ensuring that all stakeholders throughout the ecosystem are evolving as quickly as end-user demand is often a challenge.
To demonstrate the need for an open, secure and multi-layered mobile Internet, Johnson showed a video. A woman is driving in a car listening to music. There’s a car crash. Her smartphone calls 911, and sends her medical records — indicating that she has a rare blood type — to the ambulance. As she is rolled into the hospital, a doctor can ask her questions via a tablet being held by a nurse. All of the data-retrieval is shown as a Star Trek-style visual overlay of where devices and networks are pulling data from various secure and interconnected systems and networks.
“Programmability is critical for the kinds of services –and quality of services — we’re talking about delivering in the future,” he said. “This will fuel innovation for the next 10 years.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Deutsche Telekom claims record data transfer record
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17271797
The German firm says it achieved a usable bit rate of 400Gbps (gigabits per second) over a single channel of its fibre optic network.
The experiment was carried out by sending data along the company’s network between Berlin and Hanover and back again – a total distance of 734km (456 miles).
Each optical fibre is thinner than a human hair but can carry a total of 48 channels – making the total potential throughput up to 24.6Tbps (terabits per second)
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone tethering app uses HTML5 to defeat Apple’s censors
Pushing web language to the limit
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/12/tethering_iphone/
A Wi-Fi tethering application for the iPhone has managed to bypass Apple’s restrictions on such apps by doing the whole thing in HTML5 – and charging for it too.
Network operators often charge extra for “tethering” – that is, connecting a laptop to the internet through a mobile phone. The increasingly spurious logic is that a laptop can consume more bandwidth than a mobile phone and therefore operators charge more to connect them up. Apple disables the feature on the iPhone at operator request, and third-party apps which make it work aren’t allowed in the app store.
Tether did pop up in the Apple store briefly; it was available for about 20 minutes before Cupertino spotted the app was allowing iPhone users to share their mobile data connections over Wi-Fi, a breach of many operator contracts. But now the author has managed to bodge the functionality into HTML5, making Apple’s store redundant and its restrictions irrelevant.
Tether isn’t the first application to use HTML5 to bypass Apple’s control.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WTF is… White Space radio networking?
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/03/12/wtf_is_white_space_networking/
2012 will be the year White Space radio starts delivering networks of unprecedented speed and range, but if it works then White Space will also change how radio is used across the spectrum.
The first commercial radio networks utilising White Space are already running, but in eagerness to associate White Space with the ever-popular home wireless networking standard, Wi-Fi, the industry has been busy binding the terms together, creating “White-Fi” and leading to considerable confusion.
After all, White Space has as much in common with Wi-Fi as a Renault Espace has with the M1.
The White Space band is way down the dial, at around 700MHz, so won’t interact with water and propagates over much greater distances than 2.4GHz at the same broadcast power.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-12/intel-said-to-seek-programming-rights-to-start-online-television-service
Intel Corp. (INTC), the world’s biggest chipmaker, is considering creating an online pay-television service that works on TV sets, computers and mobile devices, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.
As proposed, the plan would let consumers get their shows on any Internet-connected device without subscribing to traditional cable and satellite TV services. The offering would mark the first new full-service pay-TV system since AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) expanded into the market.
Intel’s inquiries are at an early stage,
Tomi Engdahl says:
The New Cable-TV Guy: Intel
Chip Maker Working on a Web-Based Video Service to Compete With Cable, Satellite Providers
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304450004577277732222512596-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMjExNDIyWj.html
Intel Corp. is developing an Internet-based television service that it hopes to sell to U.S. consumers, a strategic shift by the chip maker as it sets its sights on the crowded pay-TV business.
The TV offering would use Intel technology, and in at least some scenarios under consideration, would use Intel’s name.
An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment.
Intel in October disbanded a group that had been involved with Google and others developing Internet-equipped set-top boxes and TVs sold directly to consumers. But Intel said it would keep supplying chips for set-top boxes used by some major operators
Last year it hired Erik Huggers, an Internet-services specialist who had helped the British Broadcasting Corp. launch a high-profile service called iPlayer. Mr. Huggers, who in October became general manager of a new group called Intel Media, has announced plans to set up an Intel center in London to work on “user experience” software for TVs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Walmart To Charge $2-$4 Per DVD To Convert Movies To UltraViolet Cloud
http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2012/03/report-walmart-to-charge-2-4-per-dvd-to-convert-movies-to-ultraviolet-cloud.html
Tomorrow at 1pm ET, Walmart along with UltraViolet partners Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures and Fox will announce Walmart’s UltraViolet offering. Studio execs I have spoken with say that consumers will be able to bring their DVDs into Walmart, which will then charge the consumer between $2-$4 per DVD to give the consumer access to that movie in the UltraViolet cloud locker system. DVDs will then be stamped at the store, so they can’t be used by multiple people and I’m told pricing for converting the DVD to digital will vary based on either SD or HD quality.
I’m sure the studios and Walmart are going to talk about how great this is for consumers and they will probably use a term like “nominal” to describe the fee consumers will have to pay. In reality though, the studios are doing exactly what consumers don’t want, which is forcing them to pay multiple times for the same piece of content. The fact that consumers already spent money to buy the DVD apparently is not good enough to allow them access to a free digital copy, which they could easily get if they ripped the DVD on their own. It costs the studios almost nothing to store the movie in the cloud, about two cents per movie, and it only costs about four cents, at most, for them to pay a CDN to stream the movie to the user. So at $2 per DVD, a user would have to watch the movie 50 times from the cloud before the studio was losing money from digital.
Consumers have been vocal in saying they want more content digitally, at a fair price, and many of the studios are acting like they are giving consumers what they want, when in reality, they aren’t.
In January, Paramount rolled out a service to sell ten year old movies via the UltraViolet cloud for $22.99 for HD. Many of these same movies are available via Blu-ray for $8-$10 cheaper and I still can’t find any definition from UltraViolet on what they classify as an “HD” movie.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China unknowns may be next smartphone stars
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4237916/China-unknown-may-be-next-smartphone-stars
Ching-Jiang Hsieh has been forging tight links with China’s handset makers. The president of Mediatek believes they will be the source of the next big wave of smartphones.
“We will sell 50 million handset chip sets this year, up from 10 million last year,” said Hsieh in an interview with EE Times at the Mobile World Congress in late February. “This year feature phones will decline for the first time—they were almost flat last year—because smartphones are growing,” he said.
Market watchers agree.
Whether Mediatek can lead this new wave is an open question. The Taiwan company is battling with one of China’s fastest rising fabless companies, Spreadtrum Communications Inc., that also has its eyes on this market.
Hsieh said part of Mediatek’s edge is its relationships with and understanding of the China handset makers who he thinks will drive the shift. Four of China’s top handset makers–Huawei, Lenovo, TCL and ZTE—make up 40 percent of Mediatek’s handset business, and a diverse set of 100 other companies make up the rest, he said.
The China handset OEMs who make up 60 percent of Mediatek’s business are not household names. Some are what Hsieh refers to as second tier companies who have a respected brand in China, but no real export business. They include three Shenzhen companies Gionee Communication Equipment Ltd., OPPO Electronics Corp. Ltd, and BBK.
Then there is a wider group of third tier players. These companies have no brands of their own. They make handsets on an ODM basis for retailers mainly in India and China who slap their own names on the phones.
Mediatek claims it has hundreds of Android software engineers who can help wrestle the open source code into the needs of a particular design.
It remains to be seen whether China and Mediatek ride the next big wave in smartphones, a wave coming from the bottom rather than the top. But this is clearly the phone zone to watch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Heartbreak of Nomophobia
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/break-points/4237491/The-Heartbreak-of-Nomophobia
Nomophobia. It’s a bitter curse, an affliction that cripples those affected. Perhaps you have a friend or relative who suffers from this condition.
Today a gem from SecurEnvoy, another one of those annoying companies with camel-case names, warns that two thirds of us suffer from nomophobia – the fear of losing or being without our mobile phones. The apprehension is so intense that, according to the release, 41% of us have a backup cell phone.
The PR claims 77% of those in the 18-24 age group are nomophobic. Like so many early-onset diseases perhaps the syndrome will metastasize as that generation ages.
First, fear of being without their phones. Next, panic over data throttling. When the 3G symbol disappears and EDGE pops up howls of despair will fill the air.