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  • Vonage Goes Mobile: Wi-Fi and Cellular Networks Low Rates Calls Available

    Vonage has launched Vonage Mobile, its first mobile calling application for smartphones. This free downloadable application provides seamless, low-cost international calling while on Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

    It’s available for download on the iPhone, BlackBerry and iPod touch.

    The app works with the existing mobile plans, what lets you keep your number, mobile device, existing contacts and mobile service provider.

    Vonage Mobile does not require any access numbers. You simply enter an international number or select a contact from the existing contacts on your iPhone or Blackberry, hit send and the app does the rest.

    When you dial an international number from your mobile device, your call is routed through the Vonage network. That way, you get their international rates and only use local minutes under your regular carrier’s plan.

    Obviously the app doesn’t support SIP calls over EDGE/HSDPA. International calls you make while being out of WiFi range but still having voice service, will be redirected to a local access number in the US – you’ll be then using your existing provider’s minutes while being charged Vonage Mobile’s discounted worldwide calling rates.

    "Our new mobile app is an important step in establishing Vonage as a software technology company that enables high-quality voice and messaging across any device in any location, providing great value over any broadband network," said Marc Lefar, CEO of Vonage.

    The company assures in the fourth quarter 2009, they will enhance the app to include the Vonage World plan that was introduced for home service in August. This enhancement extends the ability to make unlimited calls to over 60 countries for one flat monthly fee (at this moment – $25).

    According to Mike Tempora, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Vonage, when developing Vonage Mobile, the company focused on creating a more convenient alternative for customers who use calling cards or Wi-Fi only applications.

  • Toshiba Unveils Cell-Powered REGZA 55-inch LCD TV

    As Japan approaches the end of analogue broadcasting in 2011, the digital TV market has entered a period of diversifying customer needs.

    “In order to meet demand for more vivid reproduction of high contrast, high definition images, simultaneous viewing and recording of multiple programs, along with access to broadband content,” as they say, Toshiba just unveiled newly developed CELL REGZA TV and the CELL Platform.

    CELL REGZA 55X1 is the new flagship of the company’s REGZA line-up and will be available in the Japanese market from the beginning of December.

    The heart of CELL REGZA is Toshiba’s CELL Platform – a combination of the high speed parallel processing of the Cell Broadband Engine, specially developed for demanding multimedia applications, and Toshiba’s image-processing algorithms.

    According to the company, the CELL Platform achieves an arithmetic processing capability approximately 143 times that of the current top-of-the-line REGZA TV, allowing it to support unrivaled image-enhancing capabilities.

    It offers a dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1, and supports this with ultra-high-speed processing and recording, enhanced navigation and seamless network interactivity.

    In the new Toshiba’s TV, the eight-window multi-display is divided into 512 distinct areas, each with individually controlled lighting. Luminance is pushed to an 1250cd/m2, 2.5 times the level of typical TVs.

    The CELL REGZA consists of a slim monitor and a tuner that also integrates the 3-terabyte hard disk drive. Two terabytes of capacity are dedicated to the "time-shift machine," which can simultaneously record up to approximately 26 hours of programming for up to eight channels of digital terrestrial broadcasts.

    It combines the 120Hz scan rate of ClearScan 240 with its new Backlight Scanning technology, and now achieves 240Hz scanning. The new double backlight scanning function divides the display into 16, against eight for current REGZA models.

    Toshiba states that optimum picture quality is achieved by automatic fine tuning of multiple control settings: 1024 steps in color temperature, a 128 scale dynamic gamma range, 100 brightness settings, 32 settings each for color saturation, color sharpness, and adjustment of super resolution, plus control of the LED backlighting.

    CELL REGZA comes with the Opera-based browser with full HD support (e.g. enables displaying Youtube HD content), co-developed with Opera Software, and also supports broadband service, DNLA streaming and display of JPEG digital photographs.

  • IFA 2009: The Smallest Wireless Printer and Scanner for Smartphones


    Biz-News.com reporters interviewed Klaus Düll, the owner of PRETIOSO, the distributor of Datomo mobile solutions for German speaking market.

    Datomo provides mobile application development and marketing services and offers web to mobile content integration& adaptation. PRETIOSO localizes all the Datomo’s apps for the German language.

    Klaus gave us a live demonstration on the world’s smallest wireless printer and scanner designed for smartphones and offered by PLANon. According to him, the printer is also the world’s first to have built in paper cartridge.

    Take a look at these tiny smart devices!

  • Smartphone.biz-news.com one year of history

    Biz-New’s Smartphone vertical has been running for over a year now and we wanted to celebrate this anniversary by sharing with our regular and occasional readers the story behind the news you read.

    Biz-News is the work of a group of entrepreneurs who came together in 2007 with an idea to respond to what they though was missing in the technology media industry, a media outlet that covers start ups and small and medium companies with innovative ideas that are contributing to the development of the sector.
    Currently Biz-News founders live in the UK, Switzerland and Spain and we have a great team of collaborators covering the world from the US to South Africa. As you can see, a true global company thanks to today’s 24hour ready available communications technology.

    Our readership since our launch on the 23rd of September 2008 has grown fast and steady, increasingly we receive feedback from readers and companies that wish to know more about the subjects we cover.
    Our wish is to keep betting on the future, with the aim of becoming your reliable source on the Smartphone Industry news, because of this we have created a short 10 question survey for you to fill in.

    We want to hear from you, tell us what you want to read about, what are you not finding on the web, what interests you….We are listening.

      Click Here to take Our Survey

    Thanks.

    Regards,
    The Biz-News Team.

  • Channel Data Releases New REO Business Continuity Appliance

    Channel Data has released the REO Business Continuity Appliance (BCA) from its principal, Overland Storage. An ‘all-in-one’ business continuity solution, the REO BCA is designed for both continuous local backup and remote disaster recovery applications.

    It is positioned as a flexible data replication solution, enabling automated recovery of mission-critical data and applications at both the local data centre and remote disaster recovery levels.

    Kevin Falconer, general manager of Channel Data, says in the past organisations relied on traditional backups/snapshots as the basis for their data protection. "This approach alone is inadequate and susceptible to data loss that can occur between backups. The BCA is designed to ensure that mission-critical data and applications are always protected.”

    "Whether you are concerned about email, key business applications such as ERP, databases, or unstructured files, BCA provides both local and remote high-performance continuous data protection based on capacity-optimised replication technology coupled with comprehensive application awareness," says Falconer.

    The BCA enables ‘point in time’ restoration as well as event-based restorations to be undertaken. For example, it allows users to tag ‘event’ bookmarks and use them for fast recovery and failover point selection.

    “Unlike solutions which simply time-stamp each block to enable restoration to a given point of time, BCA understands the application state, allowing for application consistent restorations,” says the manager of Channel Data.

    "This critical difference allows organisations to restore back to a given event or a given point in time – and be assured that the application will restore correctly," he adds.

  • Sony Develops 240fps Single Lens 3D Camera

    Sony announced the development of a single lens 3D camera technology capable of recording “natural and smooth” 3D images of even fast-moving subject matter such as sports, at 240fps.

    The new technology combines an optical system for single lens 3D camera which captures the left and right images simultaneously, together with existing high frame rate (HFR) recording technology to realize 240fps 3D filming.

    In existing half mirror 3D camera systems with separate lenses for the left and right eyes, the parallax range is adjustable, enabling the depth of the 3D images to be modified.

    However, when operating the zoom and focus functions of such systems, the sensitivity of the human eye, in particular to differences in the size and rotational movement of dual images, as well as any vertical misalignment or difference in image quality has meant that complex technology has been required to ensure that each camera lens is closely coordinated, and there are no discrepancies in the optical axis, image size, and focus.

    According to Sony, the introduction of a single lens system resolves any issues that may occur as a result of having different optical characteristics for each eye. Furthermore, they say, by using mirrors in place of shutters, incoming light can now be simultaneously separated into left and right images and recorded as it reaches the parallel light area (the area where diverging light from the point of focus on the subject matter becomes parallel) of the relay lens.

    The separated left and right images are then processed and recorded with the respective left and right image sensors. As there is no difference in time between when the left and right eye images are captured, it is possible for natural and smooth 3D images to be captured, even of scenes involving rapid movement.

    Sony has made some optical tests that have shown that a frame rate 240fps represents the limit of human visual perception, and beyond that it becomes difficult to detect differences in terms of blur and “jerkiness” of moving images (where images that were continuous are now seen as a series of distinct snapshots).

    The company assures that with the new technology even when polarized glasses are not used, viewers will still be able to see natural 2D images, as the disparity of the images for left and right eyes are within the range that human eyes can recognize as a blur.

    A prototype model incorporating this technology will be demonstrated at “CEATEC JAPAN 2009”, to be held in Chiba city, Japan, from October 6th.

  • AIRCOM Reveals the Economic Reality of LTE Migration

    AIRCOM International, the network planning and optimisation consultancy, revealed the economic reality of LTE migration facing mobile operators around the world – as much as US$1.78 billion for a tier one US operator in the first year.

    As the economic downturn puts pressure on credit markets, and mobile operators attempt to limit significant CAPEX commitments, AIRCOM says they believe that innovative approaches to LTE network roll out, network sharing for example, will be essential in ensuring the profitable delivery of future mobile services.

    LTE investments vary by region, the legacy equipment operators have in place and the spectrum they have available. However, AIRCOM estimates the total CAPEX investment facing a tier one mobile operator in the first year of roll out to be as follows:

    "With an all IP-based network infrastructure, LTE requires completely new thinking compared to previous mobile technologies. Mobile operators around the world face very different challenges in embracing LTE, which will have serious implications on the levels of finance they need to raise," said Margaret Rice-Jones, CEO at AIRCOM International.

    While raising capital in today’s volatile global financial markets continues to prove difficult, operators and supporting infrastructure vendors are struggling to find the necessary credit to support the necessary enhancements to their radio network, backhaul and core network infrastructures.

    Rice-Jones continues: "Very few operators have the available resources or shareholder freedom to meet these costs. This means that innovation within the mobile industry needs to be redefined. It has been traditionally tied to finding the next "killer application". The economic reality of the mobile industry now means that true innovation is finding technology that will enable operators to deliver services more cost effectively."

    AIRCOM believes mobile operators can embrace innovation in a variety of different ways. Most significantly, operators must accept that the techniques used to drive efficiencies and revenues with previous technologies will not be applicable to LTE.

    Mobile operators must therefore find new business models to monetise LTE, compared to subsidising handsets and offering free voice minutes in return for fixed-term contacts.

    The significant investment required for LTE deployment could also see mobile operators globally embracing network sharing as a means of reducing CAPEX and OPEX. Other innovative ways of lowering costs include the automation of key optimisation processes through the roll out of self-organising networks (SON) and the deployment of femtocells within a network to cost-effectively provide macro network offload capabilities as well as indoor coverage solutions.

    "Despite the financial commitment required, there can be no doubting the tremendous potential of LTE technology in taking mobile services to the next level," added Rice-Jones.

    "LTE represents a major evolution and mobile operators must take an intelligent approach to network migration. With careful planning however, LTE will deliver sufficient network capacity and data speeds to further enhance the delivery of high bandwidth services to consumers globally."

  • AT&T and TerreStar to Offer Integrated Cellular/Satellite Solution

    AT&T has announced plans to work with TerreStar to offer an integrated smartphone mobility solution that will combine primary cellular wireless connectivity with the ability to connect to a satellite network as a backup, using one phone number and one smartphone device.

    This new solution will provide users with an access to both cellular and satellite networks through a handset that is – as the companies claim – both smaller and more feature-rich than previous satellite devices.

    The TerreStar Genus smartphone combines GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA terrestrial wireless capability with satellite voice and data capability. The device runs on the Windows Mobile and includes 2.6” touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth® and GPS.

    The device gives users the option to access theTerreStar satellite network when AT&T’s cellular wireless network is unavailable.

    AT&T wireless users with a line of sight to the satellite will be able to access voice and data coverage in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and in territorial waters.

    When cellular networks are unavailable, TerreStar’s satellite will act as a cell site in the sky to provide coverage to help users stay connected. The solution announced today is well-suited for government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users. AT&T states that it can provide a critical communications back-up capability, important to public safety agencies, first responders, emergency services and disaster recovery groups.

    The integrated cellular/satellite solution will combine the satellite network-related charges on the customer’s regular wireless bill. AT&T’s monthly invoice will include the customer’s cellular voice and data service charges, the satellite network access subscription feature charge and the satellite voice and data roaming charges.

    It is expected to be available for enterprise, government and small business customers and their corporate liable users in the first quarter of 2010. AT&T informs that the company is working on a similar solution for consumers.

  • Akamai Brings HDTV-Like Experience Online

    Akamai Technologies has launched the Akamai HD Network, its next generation video delivery offering and the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast-level audience scale.

    The new HD Network combines Akamai’s patented HD EdgePlatform, adaptive bitrate streaming and DVR technology. It supports live and on-demand HD streaming.

    It was designed as one, comprehensive HD network reaching multiple playback environments and devices (including Flash, Silverlight, and the iPhone) especially for large-scale broadcasters and film distributors.

    According to the press release, the network leverages the following functionalities:

    • Adaptive Bitrate Streaming – a streaming process that is designed to enable uninterrupted playback at HD bitrates that seamlessly adjusts to fluctuations in available bandwidth
    • Instant Response – Immediate response to viewer interactions with the video player, including sub-second time-shifting (such as pause, rewind, seek and play commands) video startup times, and seamless stream switching
    • HD Video Player – Open, standards-based video player for faster time to market
    • HD Player Authentication – Authenticates player for all three environments ensuring only authorized players access content

    What makes this new HD network unique is that it delivers video from HTTP servers located closest to end users (over 50,000 in 900 networks in 70 countries) minimizing packet loss and maximizing streaming.

    “We’re entering a different online world, where many content owners and publishers need to deliver HD-quality video to a much wider online audience, with a higher level of interactivity for consumers. Delivering ‘web-quality’ content to ‘web-sized’ audiences is one thing, but delivering HD-quality content to broadcast-scale audiences is another," said Paul Sagan, President and CEO of Akamai.

    The firm says, two key trends have made it necessary to now evolve how streaming media is delivered on the internet. First, online audiences have grown to broadcast scale. Second, those viewers are demanding higher quality content. Studies show that when higher quality video content is offered, viewer engagement time increases. According to Jupiter Research, 60% of regular online video users are less likely to return to a site for video content if the viewing experience is poor.

    Supporting this level of traffic requires a global network that can manage millions of simultaneous users streaming very high bitrate content, they claims.

    "We are excited to see Akamai’s commitment to HTTP adaptive streaming as the future of online video delivery, as we have worked closely over the past year to build a robust end-to-end media delivery platform with IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight," said Steve Sklepowich, director for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp.

    "Together, we’ve proven that these true HD experiences can dramatically increase online viewing times for broadcasters,” he added

  • Dataram Unveils XcelaSAN Storage Optimization Appliance

    Dataram has introduced the XcelaSAN storage optimization appliance, as the company claims – the industry’s first solution to seamlessly deliver up to 30x performance improvement to existing applications.

    The XcelaSAN storage optimization appliance augments existing storage systems by transparently applying caching algorithms that serve the most active block-level data from high speed solid state storage, creating an intelligent, virtual solid state SAN.

    According to Dataram, by accessing under-utilized disk capacity and optimizing data performance of existing storage systems, XcelaSAN eliminates the need for additional hardware to increase application performance – providing investment protection by extending the life of the existing infrastructure and lowering the overall cost of storage ownership for organizations.

    In addition, as the customer’s storage infrastructure changes or consolidates, those new components will automatically benefit from the XcelaSAN storage optimization technology, the company says.

    “The XcelaSAN is an innovative solution which enables mid-sized organizations to seamlessly increase the performance of their existing business-critical applications within an hour of installation. These gains come without making changes to the customer’s existing storage systems, servers or applications," said John Freeman, Dataram’s President and CEO.

    XcelaSAN connects to a storage network using eight 4Gb/s Fibre Channel ports and can connect to the storage switch fabric or directly to back-end storage. It transparently installs in about an hour with no new host software required. The system is managed through a web-based browser for user-friendly operation.

    "It is now well understood that the benefit of a solid state infrastructure for compute-intensive environments is higher application performance with less equipment and lower operational costs," stated Jason Caulkins, Dataram Chief Technologist.

    "The question is no longer ‘How can I benefit from solid state storage?’ but ‘How do I best implement solid state in my existing infrastructure?”

    The XcelaSAN begins shipping during Q4 in the United States and in 1H 2010 throughout Europe and Asia. Pricing starts at $65,000.