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  • Boeing Ships HD Broadcasting Satellite DIRECTV 12 to Launch Site

    Boeing, who has provided advanced satellite systems to DIRECTV for more than 16 years, announced that DIRECTV 12 was shipped Nov. 25 from Boeing’s satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo to the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility in Kazakhstan.

    Upon arrival, the satellite will undergo final preparations for a December launch aboard an International Launch Services Proton/Breeze M rocket.

    DIRECTV 12 is the 11th satellite Boeing has built for DIRECTV. According to the company, the new satellite will increase DIRECTV’s high-definition capacity by 50 percent, and when combined with the DIRECTV 10 and 11 satellites that launched in 2007 and 2008, will enable DIRECTV to deliver 200 national and 1,500 local HDTV channels to “millions of U.S. households”.

    DIRECTV 12’s national and spot-beam Ka-band payloads are designed to receive and transmit programming throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.

    "The successful launch and deployment of DIRECTV 12 will bring the best in digital television programming to DIRECTV’s more than 18.4 million customers across the United States," assured Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems.

    Forbes.com has recently named the DIRECTV iPhone app one of the Best Branded Mobile Applications of 2009.

    A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest manufacturer of military aircraft.

  • Canalys Mobility Forum: Interview with Patrick Remy, VP Devices for Orange Group

    The Canalys Mobility Forum EMEA 2009 took place in London on the 17th of November.

    A highly informative event which gave industry experts insights into the evolution of the pc and phone industries for the coming years, it specifically developed a discussion around the dynamics of the netbook and smartphone sectors.

    Biz-News.com was with Patrick Remy, VP Devices for Orange Group a young French industry professional that is based in London. Patrick gave us some insights into the work of Orange Group and how it is managing to keep on top in a market that is continuously changing and where customers are growingly more demanding with the devices and services operators offer.

    At the event, great relevance was given to the smartphone sector, focusing on the various existing operating platforms and making special emphasis on Andriod as the platform to watch out for. As a special note attendants were told to look towards Asia, this is where most of the innovation is coming from.

    The event also covered the evolution of the netbook market, questioning its margins which are very low when compared to Notebooks and specially when compared to the smartpone sector. The recent introduction into the market of the Google Navigator and the effect it has had in the PND market was also discussed, something to keep an eye on as Google expands its service to more cities.

  • fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

    Just a week after fring brought world’s first video calls over IP to mobile, the company announced “the first ever” mobile video calls over internet for the iPhone.

    fring video enables users to conduct video calls with other users as well as with Skype contacts over their device’s Wi-Fi or 3G internet connection, with support for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-desktop calls.

    The company says this is the first video over internet service on the iPhone or iPod touch.

    The new fring version with video calls support is currently available to users with iPhone/ iPod touch OS 3.0 and selected Nokia Symbian S60 devices (Nokia X6, N97 mini, N97, 5800, N95 8G and N95).

    For the iPhone only incoming video-stream is available (due to the location of the camera). 2-way video streaming is available for Symbian devices.

    “We were the first to bring mobile voice over internet to mobile devices, the first to bring iPhone/ iPod touch users the choice to make free Internet calls, the first to enable cost-saving mobile twitter over internet, and now we’re proud to continue leading the field of rich mobile-internet communication by bringing users the world’s first fring video calls over internet for the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring.

    “As the mobile VoIP trail-blazers since this industry’s inception, we have a responsibility to continue breaking the mobile-internet barriers, and bringing users all the choices, richness and always-on connectivity that internet communications on mobile can deliver,” he added.

    The new video feature is embedded within the popular fring application that enables free voice calls to other fring, Skype and GTalk users as well as friends on regular phone lines via Skype-Out and SIP services.

  • A New Vision of Mobile Social Networking: Interview with Olivier Chouraki, Mobiluck

    Mobiluck is another company that has rapidly realized the need for mobile information and mobile geo-locating people and places.

    Many companies are moving to the mobile space for a variety of reasons, but businesses that make the jump sooner tend to see the benefits much earlier and the relationships between users and companies tends to be stronger.

    Companies providing mobile web content, mobile media, mobile conversation tools, and mobile entertainment are finding themselves ahead of the curve and supplying their audiences with exactly what they need.

    Specifically, Mobiluck is a mobile service that allows users to find friends, places, and even people nearby with their smartphone. If you’ve got an account on Skype, AIM, or MSN for example, those friends can be included on the Mobiluck system, and their locations relative to yours will be shared and if they are nearby, what a great way to notify them.

    When asked if importing of contacts is remainst strictly to chat clients, Oliver Chouraki, CEO of Mobiluck says, “Yes at the moment you can import your MSN and other chat client contacts and we are working on Facebook and Twitter.”

    The service offered by Mobiluck is a location based service that is a more real life social network, allowing users to connect no matter where they are. Many will relate it to the online site, FriendFinder, but Mobiluck specializes in using the contacts you have on your programs and sharing just how far they are away from you.

    Oliver Chouraki

    Currently the service has 1.2 million people worldwide. “Our first place country is India, followed by the United States with rising numbers in Europe and the Middle East,” states Olivier on the rising popularity of the service.

    The Importance of Location Technology

    The concept of location technology is nothing new, we’ve been using these types of services on our GPS systems and on our cell phones with apps like FourSquare. Mobiluck is a social system that goes beyond connecting people with businesses, they look to connect people with people.

    If you look at the homepage on Mobiluck you will see simple text boxes where you can enter a keyword and you have ready buttons to search for places, friends, or people.

    “It’s not just tied to people you know, you can also search for people you don’t know so that you can meet new people who are at the same conference or in the same restaurant or at the same show and so on,” details Olivier.

    “We think that mobile social networks are extremely popular but today it is difficult to monetize and to create a profitable social network. On the other hand, the business model for yellow pages services, business directories, restaurant directories is very clear and can be very profitable. So what we are trying to do is combine the volumes of power of social networking with the profitability of yellow pages,” he continues sharing the business model for the company.

    It’s an interesting model considering that many social networks out there are still struggling with ways to monetize their efforts. Twitter for example has struggled with how to turn the millions and millions of users into a profitable community. Mobiluck offers up a business model that future social networks may emulate.

    Relationships with Businesses

    The vision of many mobile companies is that the mobile will be used for finding and being found. Many companies have an online presence, whether they own their website or just listed in directories, but due to the lack of understanding, very few of these sites are accessible on personal mobile devices. It’s not an uncommon thing since development for the mobile web is significantly different then general web site design.

    More often than not a company may not even be aware of their online presence, and if they do now they don’t know the difference between a standard website and a mobile site.

    As more and more people turn to mobile devices for information and interaction, companies that fail to realize the difference will be on the losing end of this turn in culture trends.

    “With Mobiluck companies can create their webpage in one minute for free. If you have a shop or a restaurant for example, you add a new place by filling out a form, and in a minute you have your own mobile page with a static web address that will be indexed by mobile search engines that not only Mobiluck users will be able to find your page, but anyone searching Google mobile or yellowpages mobile can still find your page and it will show what a lot of mobile users want to know: a shop description, name, the address of your place with a map, your phone number with a click to call, a price range and operation hours,” Olivier states.

    This type of return on information is what users are looking for when they are looking for informaiton on their mobile. Data consistently shows that users become frustrated and move on if there are barriers to getting this information. But aside from just receiving the information, users want to engage with that information and interact with others.

    Next Generation Search

    The next generation of search is more than just finding information, but what do people do with it? Mobiluck has seen the light, and many others in the mobile market are seeing the light too.

    Users feel more comfortable when they can interact with the information they are given by being able to rate something, comment on something, and share other people’s ratin gand coments. Favoriting and bookmarking are hot items right now and this type of information sharing is what has made the Web 2.0 era so dynamic.

    Businesses will not have a direct way to communicate with users, and users will have a new way to connect with their friends. With Mobiluck specifically, companies will be able to manage an internal mobile newsletter that keeps visitors and searchers informed on specials, events, and other important information related to the business. This information can be shared and responded to creating a two way street for information.

    Mobiluck will be speaking at Mobile Monday in Zurich, Switzerland on December 7, 2009. Be sure to pay special attention to the companies in the mobile space as they will collectively define the future of how we interact with data, businesses, and with one another.

  • It’s Our Year, Says Solar Power Mobile Phone Giants Intivation

    Intivation has declared 2009 a breakthrough year and the solar power mobile phone technology giant is not about to rest on its laurels.

    Paul Naastepad, chief executive officer of Intivation, says GSM Association award the Netherlands based company won early this year is clear testimony that they are moving in the right direction in technology advancement.

    “Intivation today is the biggest supplier of solar power conversion chip technology used in mobile phones in the world.

    “What we believe is more important though – that since we won the GSM Association’s Major Innovation Award in early 2009, the whole industry seems to be more and more interested in the idea of using solar powered phones to enable people living in electricity grid deprived areas make telephone calls now!

    “The year 2009 is definitely the breakthrough for our SunBoost technology, as it is currently deployed in solar phones made by ZTE and Commtiva,” said Naastepad.

    He believes the world has wasted no time in embracing their products, born out of proprietary technology which enables the development of highly efficient and reliable solar powered handsets, chargers and battery packs.

    Paul Naastepad

    “In less than six months after we launched, solar phones ‘with Intivation inside’ are now sold in eight countries by 10 operators already, both in Africa and Latin America.

    “The Commtiva phone is aimed largely at the more data intensive users as it operates in GPRS, while the ZTE phone caters for the buyers seeking the lowest price,” he said.

    Naastepad was clear about the advantages of the solar powered phones in a world with millions of people without access to electricity, especially in rural areas.

    “Intivation’s SunBoost technology ensures that phone batteries are charged much faster than with any other solar technology.

    “Phones with our technology also charge the battery in fully cloudy conditions, in which case others would not charge at all.

    “In the future, many more devices will be brought to the market in Africa and beyond, some of which are high performance universal chargers that can be used with any existing phone,” he said.

    Intivations’ target market, says Naastepad, is easy to identify.

    “First of all it’s people living in areas without electricity, unreliable electricity or who cannot afford the electricity charges.

    “And when you know that there are 1.6 billion people in the world who do not have electricity, 640 million of whom do have GSM coverage, that is quite a lot.

    “Secondly, environmentally conscious people who want to take their responsibility for CO2 emission reduction.

    “And thirdly, all those people who simply enjoy the comfort of a phone that never runs out of power,” he said.

    Naastepad said the solar phones had made a huge impact on people.

    “It brings communication to them, enabling both better trade and social welfare,” he noted.

    Environmentalists, says Naastepad, have warmly received the new technology.

    “Even in places where we did not expect the ‘green’ feature of solar phones to matter that much, we are surprised by how much attention the environmentalists are giving this issue.

    “Of course, with a solar phone you never produce any CO2 anymore since you are using the sun to charge your phone. And the sun is even free of charge,” he said.

    The Intivation CEO said they were looking forward to 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, which he said would be a perfect platform to market their products where around 500 000 visitors from all over the world are expected to converge.

    “We will continue to develop our technology to enable solar phones charge yet faster, become smaller and cheaper so that more people can benefit from our invention,” promised Naastepad.

    Intivation was founded in 2003 as True Solar Autonomy, after inventor Anne Osinga found a new way to boost output voltages.

  • Canalys Mobility Forum: Interview with Ted Morgan, CEO of Skyhook Wireless

    The Canalys Mobility Forum EMEA 2009 took place in London on the 17th of November.

    A highly informative event which gave industry experts insights into the evolution of the pc and phone industries for the coming years, it specifically developed a discussion around the dynamics of the netbook and smartphone sectors.

    Great relevance was given to the smartphone sector, focusing on the various existing operating platforms and making special emphasis on Andriod as the platform to watch out for. As a special note attendants were told to look towards Asia, this is where most of the innovation is coming from.

    The event also covered the evolution of the netbook market, questioning its margins which are very low when compared to Notebooks and specially when compared to the smartpone sector. The recent introduction into the market of the Google Navigator and the effect it has had in the PND market was also discussed, something to keep an eye on as Google expands its service to more cities.

    Smartphone.Biz-News.com spoke to Ted Morgan, CEO of Skyhook Wireless, an American based company that has great passion for its developed iPhone App, a location based app which has been used to develop most extraordinary and original apps. Watch our video interview to find out more.

  • U.S. Smartphone Market – Only the Strong Will Survive

    According to the recent Canalys Smartphone Analysis, the smart phone market continues to increase as a proportion of the overall mobile phone market in the US.

    Despite a drop in market growth to 6% in Q3 2009, down from 37% in Q2 2009, smart phones represented 26% of all mobile phones shipped in Q3 2009. This is up from 24% in Q2 2009 and will continue to rise in coming quarters.

    The top two smart phone vendors increased their combined market share in Q3 to 76.3%. Research in Motion (RIM) held 48.1% while Apple held 28.2%.

    “Despite what looks like a ‘closed shop’, with continued growth expected in the US smart phone market there is still plenty to play for, and new products are coming thick and fast from the competition,” the report says.

    Four other smartphone platforms in the US market today – Android, Symbian S60, webOS and Windows Mobile – represented only 23.7% of the market in Q3.

    Canalys claims the challenge for the handset vendors on the multivendor platforms is to “differentiate their products, especially as the market gets busier, while also providing competition to Apple and RIM and choice to the consumer.”

    Canalys also thinks that with an increasing number of Android and Windows Mobile devices launching, there can be little, by looking at the specifications, to choose between one and another on the same platform. “A key product differentiator will be seen in the software and the user interface. In short it is all about the user experience, particularly how the user organises their favourite applications, content, messages, people and places,” analysts say.

    Canalys says Verizon needs to fight back against the iPhone’s tremendous success and will be hoping the new Android devices (Motorola’s Droid and HTC’s Droid Eris) will “light up its somewhat uninspiring consumer device portfolio.” Demand for Android devices will be helped by the addition of Google Maps Navigation on Android 2.0.

    Analysts reminds us of the fact that AT&T is the only one of the big four US mobile operators not yet to range an Android device.

    RIM’s US device shipments were up 27.5% in Q3. Around 3.8 million net new subscriber accounts were added worldwide in its fiscal quarter and profits beat analyst expectations. According to Canalys estimates, RIM, with only the Storm, held a 2.2% share of US touch-screen smart phones in Q3 2009. As its entry-level and mid-range (mostly keyboard-based) devices increasingly come up against new touchscreen Android devices, buyers’ appetite for BlackBerry devices will be tested.

    The iPhone remains the leading consumer smart phone in the US. The response to the iPhone 3G S was ‘tremendous’ and ‘very surprising’ according to Apple, so much so that many international markets had limited supply for several weeks.

    Canalys says with each software release the iPhone gets more ‘CIO friendly’. According to Apple, the iPhone is being ‘deployed or piloted’ at more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies and is doing well in higher education institutions and government agencies, though increased device security will still be needed for broad deployment to be considered in government.

    The report shows that US smart phone share of HTC, the leading worldwide manufacturer of Android smart phones, supplying T-Mobile and Vodafone (in EMEA) as well as selling under the HTC brand, has hovered around the 5-7% mark for five quarters.

    “HTC devices are ranged by the big four US mobile operators. These relationships and the installed base of customers it has are crucial to HTC, and Microsoft. From being the first, HTC is now one of many Android device vendors,” says Canalys.

    According to the research group, Motorola “rose from the ashes” of the smart phone market recently with the announcement of the new Android-based smart phones, the CLIQ with T-Mobile and the Droid with Verizon.

    “If the CLIQ and the Droid do anything like as well as the RAZR did it will give Motorola a solid base for 2010. Working on Android means that building its own app store need not be a top priority for Motorola.,” according to Canalys.

    They also think Nokia really needs a big hit in the US (“It has failed to get its most popular Nseries devices ranged by the leading US mobile operators and it has thus far failed to make a significant impression with its Ovi services in the US”), Palm needs the old volumes back (“Mobile operators must be convinced that they can profit from ranging Palm webOS devices. Palm needs their commitment”), and Samsung has lagged in smart phones, although it still leads the overall US mobile phone market and continues to roll out new handsets with all leading mobile operators at a “blistering pace.”

    Canalys notices that there are more vendors planning to launch smart phones in the US in the next few months: Dell, Kyocera Wireless, LG (Android handsets) and Acer (Android and Windows phones).

    “They will all be faced with the same challenges: getting their smart phones ranged by the mobile operators and capturing the imagination of consumers. The mobile operators can only range, subsidise and promote a certain number of devices. As Apple did, new entrants need to come up with something special, and that is no easy feat,” the report concludes.

  • iSuppli: California Regulations Could Cut LCD-TV Energy Use Worldwide in Half

    New television power consumption limits imposed by California’s Energy Commission (CEC) could cut aggregate annual power consumption of LCD-TVs worldwide in half by the year 2013, if these standards are adopted universally, according to iSuppli.

    If all of the 200 million LCD TVs set to be shipped in 2013 complied with the CEC standard, they would use a total of 64.4 billion kilowatt hours for the year, compared to 126.8 billion if they didn’t, iSuppli estimates.

    Analysts say this represents a 50 percent decline in power consumption. With indications that other states may follow California’s lead, and with the United States the world’s largest LCD-TVs market, it’s conceivable that CEC-style regulations could spread throughout the country and the world.

    The U.S. Consumer Electronics Association is warning that the CEC mandates will have a deleterious impact on consumer choice and technological innovation. The trade organization stated the regulations will result in higher prices for consumers, job losses for Californians, and lost tax revenue for the state.

    iSuppli believes the regulations could reduce California tax revenue as consumers purchase larger-sized LCD-TVs through out-of-state channels. Furthermore, the regulations could cause a cessation in sales of certain products in the state, such larger-sized plasma televisions.

    However, with both the industry and consumers already embracing greener televisions that consume less power, the negative impacts of the CEC regulations are likely to be limited.

    “While the CEA has legitimate concerns, the CEC regulations simply follow suit with the EPA’s Energy Star 3.0 and 4.0 guidelines,” said Randy Lawson, senior analyst, display electronics, for iSuppli.

    “Television makers already have been working to cut the power consumption of their products so they can earn the coveted Energy Star label.”

    Furthermore, iSuppli’s research indicates that consumers increasingly are aware of power consumption issues, and are likely to gravitate toward sets that use less electricity.

    “Because of this, television brands will still be offering a plethora of product choices that will be attractive to consumers,” said Lawson.

    An iSuppli survey revealed that 46.1 percent of U.S. consumers in the third quarter said green factors influenced their television purchasing decisions. The same survey showed that 43.4 percent of those consumers considered power savings to be the most important green feature.

    According to iSuppli, the ever-more-restrictive television power consumption standards in California and elsewhere definitely will impact the path of technology development for flat-panel TVs, affecting panel materials, LCD backlight designs and system audio/video electronics.

    Lawson said, “Many design changes will occur in the television electronics and OEM-enabled features, including technologies like ambient light sensing to help enable intelligent backlight drive options.”

  • OKI Develops Industry’s First 1.1 Inch QVGA High Brightness LED

    OKI Digital Imaging, a subsidiary of OKI Data Corporation (a subsidiary that develops, manufactures, and markets LEDs), announced it has succeeded in developing a 1.1 inch QVGA (Quarter Video Graphics Array) LED display while reducing power consumption to one-tenth that of conventional LCDs.

    According to OKI, this achievement is the direct result of a new company technology that enhances luminance efficiency, based on refinements of its proprietary Epi Film Bonding technology that permit two-dimensional deployment.

    This new technology applies the Epi Film Bonding technology to mount thin-film LEDs onto a metal board in a manner permitting high reflection and radiation.

    “Featuring the world’s first 65-micrometer pitch between LED chips, this LED display also realizes high density to deliver high-definition images while maintaining diminutive dimensions,” the company says.

    OKI claims that since it is self-illuminating, the new display features faster response, more compact dimensions, and lower power consumption than LCD displays that require a separate light source. It also features high contrast (over 5000:1) for high visibility even in bright daylight.

    “The new technology has made it possible for us to develop a groundbreaking LED display that provides high definition images while maintaining compact dimensions,” said Hiroshi Kikuchi, President of OKI Digital Imaging.

    Ha added that the firm plans to leverage the expertise and technical knowledge accumulated over 20 years of experience with LED printing to develop new technologies in other areas and to expand its LED-related businesses.

    OKI informed they will manufacture the LED display at the newly-acquired LED manufacturing facility in Gunma prefecture, Japan. Shipments of samples are expected to begin by the end of fiscal year 2010.

  • Paessler AG Introduces PRTG Network Monitor to Safeguard VoIP Transmission Quality

    Admitting that VoIP technology has revolutionized corporate communications to become one of the most efficient, flexible and affordable solutions for day-to-day business communication, Paessler AG released the PRTG Network Monitor that allows corporate network administrators and VoIP service providers to keep a watchful eye on the quality of these services to ensure “continuous and reliable delivery of VoIP service.”

    Employing specially-developed quality of service (QoS) sensors and probes to collect and analyze network performance data, PRTG Monitor provides continuous monitoring of VoIP infrastructure to safeguard transmission quality.

    The company says an uninterrupted flow of data is essential to the reliable performance of VoIP and video streaming; even minimal changes to QoS parameters can have significant effects on these user datagram protocol (UDP) services. If UDP packet transmission quality suffers, so do the sound and image quality of the individual applications too.

    “The new QoS sensor introduced with PRTG Monitoring Tools version 7.2 keeps tabs on the performance of VoIP connections to measure various QoS parameters such as jitter, package delays or losses etc.,” said Dirk Paessler, CEO of Paessler AG.

    According to him, by analyzing performance against these parameters, as well as recording a log of packages that are lost, requested again or duplicated, PRTG can “dramatically reduce the risk of failures in connectivity or quality of service.”

    Performance measurements are made by sending UDP packages between two installed remote probes to monitor the transmission quality of VoIP and video applications at each ‘end’ of the connection.

    By analyzing the performance data, network administrators can troubleshoot the network to determine potential sources of error responsible for poor quality of service interruptions. And, when major problems occur, PRTG delivers an instant alert to the administrator immediately, via e-mail or SMS for example.

    PRTG Network Monitor 7.2 also includes a sensor that captures IP SLA data, the preferred method for checking the quality of VoIP applications. IP SLA is based on active network traffic monitoring technology, and therefore provides a reliable method for measuring performance.

    With PRTG at their disposal, administrators who work with appropriate routers and switches have the ability to analyze IP service levels for different IP applications.