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  • Vonage Mobile App Provides Free Wi-Fi / 3G Calling For Facebook Users Worldwide

    Vonage has just introduced the Vonage Mobile application for Facebook, a new service that allows users to make free mobile calls to all of their Facebook friends who have the app, anywhere in the world, directly from their friends list.

    The downloadable application is free to get and free to use. According to Vonage, the new service enhances the ability to connect with Facebook friends through the addition of voice calling.

    It is available for iPhone, iPod touch and Android devices and works over Wi-Fi and 3G /4G networks in most countries.

    “The new service is easy to use,” says Vonage. The app works with a user’s existing community of Facebook friends, so there’s no need to remember screen names or to input numbers. The application eliminates dialing – users can just click on a friend and start talking. When placing a call, the friend’s profile picture and status update display on the screen.

    "The Vonage Mobile app for Facebook is a tangible example of our commitment to deliver extraordinary value and a better communications experience for individuals and their social networks, across broadband-enabled devices, around the world," said Marc Lefar, Chief Executive Officer of Vonage.

    "This is just the start. In the future we will expand on this service to include a wide range of integrated voice and messaging services that change the way people communicate," he added.

    The application can be downloaded from the Android Market in 48 countries and from the iTunes Store in 87 countries. Users who don’t have an unlimited data plan should check with their carrier to see if any charges apply.

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  • ABI Research: Mobile Data Usage Grows but Data Revenue Lags

    Mobile data usage continues to grow exponentially as 3G technology spreads globally. According to ABI Research, from 2009 to 2015 data usage in Western Europe and North America is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 42% and 55% respectively.

    In 2010, the average North American user is expected to consume 159 megabytes of data – up from 100 megabytes in 2009.

    “Mobile voice has already been surpassed by mobile data traffic on some networks, and this trend will only accelerate,” says ABI Research wireless analyst Bhavya Khanna.

    “This boom in usage is driven by the rapid adoption of smartphones in these markets,” he added.

    According to analysts, the explosion in data traffic does not mean a corresponding rise in data revenues for operators, as the popularity of unlimited or fixed price plans caps revenue even as usage grows. Mobile data revenues are expected to grow at a CAGR of about 18% in North America, in sharp contrast to the increase in usage. This presents a challenge for operators as they look to manage the demands on their networks without a corresponding increase in income.

    ABI Research claims that the growth in data traffic comes at the cost of voice: minutes of use are on the decline in developed markets in North America and Western Europe.

    "However, in emerging markets there is still room for voice usage growth. Increasing competition in Africa has reduced tariffs, resulting in minutes of use per user growing by 9% between 2009 and 2010. There is still much room for growth on the continent, as average usage per subscriber continues to be half of that of the Asia-Pacific region," said Khanna.

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  • Apple to Rise to No. 2 in Semiconductor Spending by 2011

    The phenomenal success of the iPad and iPhone is expected to make Apple the world’s second-largest semiconductor buyer in 2011, potentially positioning the company to become the world’s top chip purchaser in 2012, according to iSuppli.

    The research group predicts that with projected semiconductor spending in 2011 of $16.2 billion, Apple will leap over Samsung, which will drop to the third spot after finishing with $13.9 billion. Apple’s one-step rise in the rankings will move the company to a close second place behind Hewlett-Packard, which will retain its No. 1 ranking next year thanks to $17.1 billion in spending.

    "Leadership in semiconductor spending represents a position of prestige, and an advancement in the rankings means that a company has been successful in introducing new products and that it is allocating more dollars in research and development—two factors that, as it turns out, feed innovation as well," said Min-Sun Moon, Senior Analyst at iSuppli. 

    According to him, in Apple’s case, the move to second place reflects the company’s triumph in the iPhone 4 and iPad, two flagship products that have captured the public’s imagination—and have garnered tremendous sales—on a scale unequaled by rival devices.

    Apple’s expected rise to No. 2—eclipsing Samsung and putting it within a hair’s breadth of Hewlett-Packard— indicates that the company’s investment in its new smart phone and tablet has paid off—and will do so for some time to come, he believes.

    Apple’s anticipated growth in 2011 continues the extraordinary arc of expansion enjoyed by the company in recent times. In 2009, Apple recorded a surprising 13 percent increase in semiconductor spending—a year when most manufacturers posted negative growth. This year, spending by Apple will rise by a staggering 54.0 percent to reach $12.4 billion—the highest growth rate predicted for any company. Next year, spending levels will be augmented by another 30.4 percent for the company to catapult to its vaunted second-place finish.

    According to the analysts, barring any unforeseen mergers and acquisitions by current champion Hewlett-Packard, Apple could well snag the top spot as soon as 2012, ousting a company that has held the lead since early this millennium.

    iSuppli data show that for 2010, a number of OEM companies are set to join Apple and post rapid growth in semiconductor spending levels.

    The next five companies following Apple, in descending order, are Lenovo at 47.1 percent; SanDisk at 44.3 percent; Research in Motion at 42.9 percent; Cisco at 37.3 percent; and Acer at 29.4 percent.

    "Overall, semiconductor consumption will continue to increase in the Asia-Pacific region, given the rise of manufacturing levels in the region and because of outsourcing activity flowing out from other areas. Major markets contributing to this trend include compute platforms, wireless communications and wired communications," concluded Min-Sun.

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  • Global Crossing Launches Telepresence Solution

    Global Crossing has announced it is launching an immersive telepresence solution and collaboration tools for high-quality virtual meetings with Teliris.

    The solution is provided on Global Crossing’s Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)–based global Virtual Private Network (VPN) and tier-one global public Internet network, “ensuring a reliable and secure connection for this premiere video communication technology.”

    According to the companies, through these innovative collaboration tools, “customers will experience enhanced decision-making, reduced travel costs, lower carbon footprints and increased productivity.”

    “From single screen personal solutions to fully custom engineered meeting environments, Global Crossing’s telepresence solution is easy to use, schedule and initiate, and is fully interoperable with other telepresence systems and traditional videoconferencing services,” as the company claims.

    As an added benefit, customers using Global Crossing’s telepresence solution will be able to video stream telepresence meetings through ON24’s Webcast Center platform that delivers HQ video.

    According to Gartner, the global market for telepresence systems endpoints is projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 25.7 percent between 2008 and 2013.

    Global Crossing has informed that the volume of its collaboration services grew by 13 percent in the first half of 2010 compared to the first half of 2009. Increased usage was driven in large part by the rising cost of energy, business travel restrictions and other global economic factors, the company said.

    "Our telepresence offer represents a milestone in our collaboration portfolio," said Dave Carey, Global Crossing’s chief marketing officer. "Customers around the world continue to demand a wide range of collaboration tools to conduct meetings without boundaries. This new capability transforms the video conference into a true-to-life interactive experience, leading to better global communications."

    Marc Trachtenberg, Teliris CEO and co-founder, said: "We are thrilled to extend our market-leading immersive telepresence and collaboration experience to Global Crossing and its customers. This partnership is the latest example of how Teliris is providing companies around the world with maximum flexibility through a broad continuum of affordable telepresence solutions that wrap around any business requirement."

  • VoicePulse Announces SIP Trunking Interoperability with IPitomy PBX Products

    VoicePulse and IPitomy announced that they have successfully completed interoperability testing between SIP products and services. VoicePulse is now interoperable with IPitomy’s Pure IP PBX platform.

    IPitomy designs and manufactures IP telephony equipment for businesses. VoicePulse delivers SIP trunking, worldwide termination, origination, and phone service to residential and business customers.

    According to the companies, IPitomy’s PBX combined with VoicePulse’s SIP origination and termination services “create a complete phone solution for businesses of all sizes.”

    VoicePulse can now provide new customers using IPitomy’s IP PBX with official configuration guides when setting up VoicePulse VoIP services on their PBX. Businesses using IP PBXs such as Digium’s Asterisk, AsteriskNow, Fonality’s PBXtra, trixbox, FreePBX, FreeSwitch, Switchvox.

    “And now IPitomy can benefit from VoicePulse’s competitive international rates, toll-free services, and failover features all on a “Tier 1” back bone network,” as the company claims.

    “We are confident that with this new relationship, we will see an increase of resellers and new customers combining IPitomy’s IP PBX products with VoicePulse VoIP services,” said Monica Haley, Marketing Associate at VoicePulse.

    “IPitomy sets itself apart from its competitors by providing enhanced features beyond the typical key systems and PBXs of the past,” she added.

    Nick Branica, President and CEO of IPitomy, said: “IPitomy is happy to add VoicePulse to our growing list of qualified SIP providers. SIP providers are a very important component to the growth of the IP PBX market and VoicePulse adds value to our total overall product offering. Open Standards SIP based systems are all about choice.”

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  • Wananchi Takes Triple Play Services to the Next Level

    Wananchi Group, Africa’s provider of triple-play (broadband, multi-channel cable television and voice telephony) and VSAT (broadband data and internet) services, has signed a contract for the purchase of Cisco network technology solutions and services in East Africa.

    The agreement is supported by Cisco Capital, a subsidiary of Cisco Systems, specializing in providing financing solutions.

    Wananchi Group, currently the only triple-play operator in East Africa, will roll-out its new services in nine countries in the eastern African region – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia.

    According to the companies, the contract will also enable the Wananchi Group to deploy Cisco’s integrated end-to-end network technology solutions, encompassing Cisco’s Borderless Networks, Collaboration as well as Data Centre Virtualisation solutions, as their customer base expands and technology advances.

    Cisco has been selected as the Wananchi’s preferred supplier as the full end to end network solution provider encompassing the access technologies (fibre and cable), IP Core Infrastructure, Optical Transport up to Video Head-End, Data Centre and Multimedia Set Top Boxes.

    The companies also informed that under this agreement, they will provide “a number of innovative and competitive managed and hosted communications and collaboration services for residential, corporate and government sectors.”

    “The Wananchi Group’s key objective is to expand our portfolio, enhance our commercial proposition, revenues and reputation. Cisco will help us to continuously deliver the necessary technology enhancements to our infrastructure to service our ever growing customer needs and remain at the forefront of delivering new and innovative services to our customers,” said Mark Schneider, group chairman, the Wananchi Group.

    Paul Mountford, President for Cisco’s Emerging Markets, stated: “This agreement with Wananchi is significant for Cisco’s business in Africa because it demonstrates our strong business partnership and consultancy capabilities beyond just being an end-to end network solutions technology provider. This is becoming increasingly important for our customers in Africa where we are witnessing major developments in the information, communications and technology (ICT) landscape.”

  • RIM Introduces BlackBerry Torch 9800

    Today, Research In Motion launched the BlackBerry Torch 9800 – RIM’s first slider smartphone. It features a capacitive touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which includes a WebKit browser.

    BlackBerry 6 features a redesigned interface that seamlessly works with the touch screen and trackpad, includes “expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds,” and provides integrated access to the BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other instant messaging applications.

    According to RIM, new WebKit-based browser renders HTML web pages (as well as HTML email) “quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience”. It features tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, pinch to zoom and an auto-wrap text zoom feature that can intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page’s key elements.

    Key BlackBerry Torch features include:
    • new form factor – Touch/QWERTY combination smartphone
    • touch-sensitive trackpad located on the front face of the device
    • BlackBerry App World pre-installed (supporting carrier billing through AT&T)
    • 3.2" 360 x 480 capacitive touch screen display
    • 5.0MP camera with flash, auto focus, image stabilization and geo-tagging
    • Support for 3G networks (HSDPA)
    • 512MB Flash memory, 4GB on-board memory, microSD/SDHC memory card slot (4GB card included, cards up to 32GB supported)
    • Built-in GPS and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
    • Network Support
    o GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
    o HSPDA/UMTS: 800/850/1900/2100 MHz
    • Approximately 4.4" x 2.4" x 0.57" (closed), 5.8" x 2.4" x 0.57" (open)

    In the U.S, the BlackBerry Torch will be available for AT&T customers on August 12 for $199.99 with 2-year service agreement on a qualifying rate plan and data plan required.

    “We were the first to launch the BlackBerry solution in 1999 and have a rich history of innovation and collaboration with Research In Motion,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.

    “The two companies that brought the first BlackBerry smartphones to market have teamed up again with the new BlackBerry Torch, creating a true generational shift in hardware and operating system for this enormously popular service,” he added.

    Mike Lazaridis, president and co-ceo, Research In Motion, said: “This is one of the most significant launches in RIM’s history and we are proud to introduce the new BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry 6 together with AT&T.”

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  • Brother Launches An iPhone App

    Brother UK has launched the iPhone app that allows users to scan to and print from their mobile phones.

    The company’s iPrint&Scan is free to download and allows customers to wirelessly print from and scan to their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad – with a compatible printer from Brother’s latest inkjet multifunction printer range.

    Brother also informed that they are developing similar versions of the app for other types of smart phone including Google-based Android 1.6 handsets and above.

    According to the company, all of Brother’s latest inkjet multifunction printers introduced from 2009 onwards that have a wireless interface will be fully compatible with the application. Models with network interface are also compatible when connecting to a wireless network.

    Phil Jones, sales and marketing director at Brother UK, said: “Smart phones are becoming an essential modern day business tool and we are pleased to be able to offer even more convenient features for our customers.”

    “iPhone users have been waiting for an app like this for quite some time. We’re really pleased to be at the forefront of innovative printing technology, providing businesses with the means to succeed,” he added.

    The application has been initially launched in English, with plans to introduce French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch versions by the end of 2010.

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  • Wireless Infrastructure Spending to Rise in 2011 as 4G Deployment Starts

    Following two years of declining expenditures, global capital spending on wireless infrastructure equipment is set to return to growth in 2011 as carriers in the developed world start deploying next-generation 4G networks, according to iSuppli.

    The research group says that capital spending on wireless infrastructure throughout the world is projected to reach $40.3 billion in 2011, up 6.7 percent from $37.8 billion in 2010.

    This will reverse the downward trend that first occurred in 2009 and is expected to continue this year. Expenditures dipped 5.7 percent in 2009, and in 2010 will tumble by an additional 2.3 percent to $37.8 billion.

    “The upturn in 2011 signals renewed commitment within the wireless industry to move on expansion plans that had been delayed or put on hold because of the global recession,” said Dr. Jagdish Rebello, senior director and principal analyst for wireless research at iSuppli. “Starting in 2011, wireless carriers in industrialized countries will start to deploy 4G in order to attain faster speeds and to unclog the heavy data traffic generated by the exploding use of smart phones. This 4G-driven growth in capital spending will continue at least through 2014.”

    According to iSuppli, carriers the developed world in 2011 will start to deploy 4G, with most expected to choose Long Term Evolution (LTE). Over the next decade, LTE will become the dominant technology, while WiMAX will be relegated to the status of a niche 4G technology, iSuppli believes.

    Already, a number of wireless carriers have announced support for LTE, including NTT DoCoMo and KDDI in Japan, as well as Vodafone and Orange in Europe. In the United States, Verizon Wireless has announced it will roll out LTE by the end of this year, with AT&T and T-Mobile expected to follow suit in 2011.

    Overall, carriers will work to establish viable business models to achieve greater revenue growth in light of the capital expenditures needed for network upgrades, iSuppli believes. This means that in all likelihood, carriers launching 4G will implement tiered pricing plans based on data access rates. As a result, data traffic in access networks will be prioritized, and customers will be required to pay higher access fees when using high-bandwidth services like mobile video or peer-to-peer mobile video gaming.

    Rebello notes that while wireless carriers in Japan, the United States and Western Europe contemplate launching 4G services in 2011, their counterparts in the developing world will continue to invest in 3G network enhancements.

    "For Latin America, China, India and the rest of the developing world—where wireless penetration has yet to extend to many rural areas—4G is not considered a feasible proposition at this point. Instead, carriers will focus on expanding the geographical coverage of their networks, or seek network-sharing agreements with infrastructure providers to help reduce total capital outlay," Rebello siad.

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  • CTIA Updates Its “Consumer Code for Wireless Service”

    CTIA–The Wireless Association has released an updated version of its “Consumer Code for Wireless Service,” which was originally developed in 2003 to help consumers make informed choices when selecting and managing their wireless service.

    CTIA said that while they periodically review the Code to ensure it reflects the industry’s innovations and consumers’ needs and expectations, these updates reflect the new and increasingly popular offerings by carriers.

    The Code, which has been adopted unanimously by CTIA’s Executive Committee, includes new provisions that cover messaging and data services for both prepaid and postpaid wireless customers. It will be effective on January 1, 2011.

    Some of the changes to the Code include disclosure of data allowances offered in a service plan, whether there are any prohibitions on data service usage and disclosure of whether there are network management practices that will have a material impact on the customer’s wireless data experience.

    The Code also states that prepaid service providers must disclose the period of time during which any prepaid balance is available for use.

    Signatories must adhere to the Code’s 10 points, including commitments to disclose rates, additional taxes, fees, surcharges and terms of service; provide coverage maps; make customer service readily accessible; and allow a trial period for new service.

    Compliance with the Code is reviewed on an annual basis. Carriers complying with the Code will receive the Seal of Wireless Quality/Consumer Information, which they can display on their company’s website and collateral materials.

    According to CTIA, the Code has been widely supported by many national, regional and rural wireless carriers including AT&T, Cellcom, CellularOne of NE Arizona, Clearwire, Illinois Valley Cellular, SouthernLINC Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, Unicel, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless.

    The Code’s signatories cover almost 93 percent of U.S. wireless subscribers. Additional carriers have indicated they will comply with the voluntary code.

    “When we originally developed the Code, many of the great innovative wireless products and services that are now seamlessly integrated in our lives were non-existent. The Code’s updates reflect how consumers are using wireless and to help them make the most informed and personalized choices,” said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA.

    He added that the new Code “provides consumers with a wide range of information about their service, disclosures in advertising and reflects the industry’s continued voluntary commitment to consumers’ best interests when it comes to wireless.”

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