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Category: smartphone

  • Consumer Interest in Smartphones Catapulted to Unprecedented Levels

    ChangeWave‘s latest smart phone survey of 4,028 consumers shows an explosive transformation occurring in consumer demand – resulting in some major new winners and losers for second half 2010.

    The survey – completed June 24th – took a close-up look at consumer demand for the new Apple iPhone 4 and the HTC Droid Incredible, along with the impact these and other offerings are having on the rest of the smart phone industry.

    According to the report, consumer smart phone planned buying going forward is at an all-time high for a ChangeWave survey – with 16.4% of respondents in their latest survey saying they plan on buying a smart phone in the next 90 days.

    ChangeWave note that overall buying plans going forward are significantly higher than they were a year ago at the start of the iPhone 3GS release.

    Smart Phone Market Share

    At the individual manufacturers’ level, the survey findings show a major leap forward for Apple and HTC at the expense of RIM and Motorola.

    In terms of current share, Apple (34%) is up 1-pt since our March survey to an all-time high while RIM (34%) has taken another hit – dropping 4-pts in the past 90 days.

    According to ChangeWave, Android phones continue to have a major impact on the market, with HTC (8%; up 2-pts) and its new Droid Incredible and EVO models the biggest beneficiary. Motorola (6%), who in recent surveys had registered a wave of new demand for their Droid model, remains unchanged in the current survey.

    “But it’s when we look at future buying plans that the huge moves upward for Apple and HTC become most apparent. The new Apple iPhone 4 is driving much of the industry’s growth going forward, with more than one-in-two (52%) respondents who plan to buy a smart phone in the next 90 days saying they’ll get an Apple iPhone – an explosive 21-pt leap over our previous survey,” say the survey authors.

    HTC (19%) also shows a huge improvement going forward – registering a 7-pt jump in terms of future buying plans. On the other hand, Motorola (9%) has declined 7-pts since previously.

    The analysts say that the biggest loser of all in the current survey is RIM (6%), which has registered an 8-pt drop to its lowest level ever in a ChangeWave survey.

    Palm has also been buried in the wave of momentum for Apple and HTC. For the first time in a ChangeWave survey, Palm is registering less than 1% of planned smart phone purchases going forward.

    “The combined momentum of these latest Apple and HTC offerings has catapulted consumer interest in smart phones to unprecedented levels – with consumer planned buying now at an all-time high for a ChangeWave survey,” as the report says.

    “Importantly, the momentum for Apple and HTC is occurring at the expense of other smart phone manufacturers – Motorola and Research in Motion in particular,” the analysts conclude.

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  • IDC: Mobile Banking Usage Nearly Doubled Since Last Year

    IDC has released a new report, 2009 Consumer Mobile Banking Preferences Survey Results – Waiting for Takeoff, that reveals that mobile banking has seen an increase in usage and in institutions offering the service in the last year. In fact, reported mobile banking usage has almost doubled since last year’s survey.

    However, according to the survey, while mobile banking may have finally turned the corner with customer acceptance, it is not a mainstream channel and in order to be successful, financial institutions need to be strategic about their mobile offerings.

    In addition, realistic expectations, an understanding that there are few to no revenue opportunities around mobile currently, and the backing of senior management, are all key to mobile success.

    According to the report, the challenge with mobile banking continues to be that it introduces a new cost structure without providing opportunities for revenue. Consumers have become accustomed to having more for free, and the convenience of mobile banking so far does not appear to be something that people are willing to pay for.

    However, enhancements to mobile platforms – including the addition of adding deposit capture and payment solutions – will provide more opportunities for financial institutions to potentially gain some revenue opportunities.

    IDC recommends that financial institutions begin expanding what they offer, marketing these offerings as easier to use, and providing more opportunities around payments and fund movement. Financial institutions that can capitalize on this will be better positioned to both obtain and retain customers.

    Key findings include:
    • Usage was up across all channels, requiring bankers to manage more transactions across an ever-expanding portfolio of delivery options.
    • The financial services industry should leverage its branch network to compete against potential nontraditional entrants that lack the brick-and-mortar infrastructure.
    • SMS is the most popular form of mobile banking.
    • Customized alerts and payments outside of network are gaining in popularity, while check image view and getting rate information on the mobile device appear to be fading.
    • Demographics for mobile banking customers were skewed toward a younger male audience, but all demographics are showing usage.

    "Consumers are transaction and information happy, and the branch continues to be as popular as ever," said Marc DeCastro, Research Manager, Consumer Banking and Credit, IDC Financial Insights.

    "The financial services industry recognizes the importance and advantage it has with its brick-and-mortar branch networks, evidenced by continued branch investment. Our survey, however, shows that consumers are getting more and more comfortable opening accounts outside of the branch. While many financial institutions have jumped into the mobile banking space and are offering solutions, some are still pondering their entrance. Those that have already installed a solution may also be looking at modifications or enhancements to their first-generation rollouts."

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  • Pioneer Cellular Selects Jinny Software for its CDMA Business

    Jinny Software, a global supplier of messaging and media solutions to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), announced it is to support Pioneer Cellular through its suite of next generation messaging solutions.

    Pioneer Cellular is an Oklahoma-based CDMA carrier which offers voice and data services, and will now utilize the power of Jinny’s messaging solutions, specifically its SMSC, MMSC and OTA products, in its service offering.

    According to Pioneer Cellular, they was seeking a trusted partner and able messaging provider to deliver key systems in its network. "Experience and quality of support combined with the cost/benefit ratio, flexibility and capability of Jinny’s solutions were the key determining factors in securing this deal," as the company says.

    Jinny Software offers a wide range of messaging, call & media and mobile advertising solutions. They claim that their messaging solutions "drive increased efficiency in traffic management and enable the rapid introduction of secure, innovative and revenue-generating services."

    Pioneer Cellular provides services with 3G EVDO Rev A technology, such as Picture and Text Messaging, Data Browsing and downloadable BREW applications.

    “We are delighted to be working with Jinny Software,” said Richard Ruhl, General Manager at Pioneer Cellular. “Jinny’s comprehensive product set will allow us to offer our subscribers a full range of messaging services in a short timeframe.”

    Fintan Supple, Americas Regional Sales Director at Jinny, added, “We are pleased to announce this latest CDMA customer win and we are looking forward to forging a long-term relationship with Pioneer Cellular. This project reinforces the position of Jinny Software in North America, as a trustworthy and reliable partner for delivering complete and comprehensive messaging solutions in aggressive timelines.”

  • Number of Worldwide Mobile Payment Users to Reach 108.6 Million in 2010

    The number of mobile payment users worldwide will exceed 108.6 million in 2010, a 54.5 percent increase from 2009, when there were 70.2 million users, according to Gartner. Mobile payment users will represent 2.1 percent of all mobile users in 2010.

    Gartner report "Market Insight: The Outlook on Mobile Payment" finds that Asia/Pacific is the leading region with mobile payment users. In Asia/Pacific, mobile payment users will surpass 62.8 million in 2010, and represent 2.6 percent of all mobile users.

    In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), mobile payment users will total 27.1 million and represent 2.1 percent of all mobile users in the region. In North America, mobile payment users will number 3.5 million and represent 1.1 percent of all mobile users in the region.

    "We continue to see strong growth in developing markets in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa for mobile payment, while adoption in North America and Western Europe lags behind due to the plentiful choices of payment instruments that consumers have," said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. "Developing markets have found the right formula for mobile money services — functions that users want and an ecosystem that can sustain the service."

    Shen said that the strong demand for mobile payment in developing markets is being driven by the unbanked and underbanked populations that do not have ready access to the banking infrastructure or PC, positioning mobile as the natural choice of access platform. “At the same time, regulators in early-adopter markets are tightening up policies to provide better user protection and fight against unlawful financial activities relating to money transfer,” she said.

    The report also shows that Short Message Service (SMS) remains the dominant mobile payment technology. Its ubiquity and ease of use makes it the technology of choice, not only for consumers in developing markets, but also for those in developed markets. Wireless Application Protocol/Web can support either downloadable clients or mobile browsers. It is more frequently used by consumers in developed markets due to the higher penetration of data-capable phones and active data plans.

    According to Gartner, many financial institutions have failed to see the business case of Near Field Communication (NFC) payment, in particular, which offers similar functionality to contactless cards but with the added complexity of dealing with mobile carriers and other ecosystem partners.

    Shen urged service providers in developing markets to investigate service interoperability to speed market uptake and foster healthy competition. She said that solution providers should ensure platform flexibility so that platforms can work with both the bank’s and mobile carrier’s systems, and so that it can be readily customized for local deployments.

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  • Apple Releases Find My iPhone App

    If you lose your iPhone or iPad while on the go, simply install the Find My iPhone app on any other iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to find it. Apple has just announced that the Find My iPhone app is now available as a free download from the App Store.

    In case you lost your device, sign in with your member name and password to locate your missing device on a map and have it display a message or play a sound.

    There is even an option to remotely lock the missing device to protect your privacy, or to wipe it to permanently delete all of your data if you think that it won’t be returned. The app will automatically sign you out after 15 minutes of inactivity or you can manually sign out at any time.

    In addition to the new app, the Find My iPhone web application on me.com now displays the device location on a full-screen map.

    Unfortunately, Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe are not available in all countries.

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  • Mobile Technology for Social Change: Interview with Katrin Verclas, Co-Founder of MobileActive.org

    MobileActive.org is a global network of people using mobile technology for social impact. They are committed to increasing the effectiveness of NGOs around the world who recognize that the 4.5 billion mobile phones provide unprecedented opportunities for organizing, communications, and service and information delivery.

    Smartphone.Biz-news.com spoke with Katrin Verclas, co-founder and editor of MobileActive.org; she was one of the speakers at Mobile Monday workshop @ Lift10 that took place last month in Geneva, Switzerland.

    Katrin explained to us what MobileActive.org is: “Our core resources, which are available to any organization that is interested in using mobile technology in their work, include our blog where we regularly report and feature case studies on latest issues and trends on innovative uses of mobile technology in areas as diverse as poverty alleviation, providing health diagnosis, improving elections, reuniting families after a natural disaster, advocacy and fundraising, mobile journalism or human rights reporting, and more.

    Katrin Verclas

    “We also publish How-To Guides and strategic tool-kits geared towards NGOs and civil society practitioners wanting to use mobile phones in their work, as well as maintain the m-Directory on our website, which is a comprehensive database of information on projects, programs and mobile tech tools for social change,” she said.

    And, because it’s important to engage & share experiences offline as well as online, MobileActive.org frequently organizes events, workshops and mobile camps focused on mobile technology for social good. These "M4Change camps" happen in various cities across the world.

    Katrin said that one of the most meaningful ways they play a role is by “connecting people and organizations that have experience and know-how with others who are seeking to do similar work.”

    “By maintaining a deep awareness and knowledge of what different projects and programs are being implemented around the world, MobileActive.org functions as the connector or facilitator – bringing together the appropriate people who may be helpful to one another.

    “For example, if there is a project to help young people find employment in India through SMS alert messages, and we know that a similar project is underway in Morocco, MobileActive.org will facilitate an introduction and bring those groups together to share experiences and expertise, as well as lessons and challenges learned which can help avoid redundancy and "re-inventing the wheel" in a world of scarce resources,” she said.

    MobileActive.org was founded in 2005 when 40 activists from various parts the world convened in Toronto for the first time ever to explore the use of mobile technology for social change. Out of this three-day meeting a new community, and ultimately organization, was born. Today, five years later, MobileActive.org manages a growing international digital community of more than 10,000 highly skilled practitioners, technologists, campaigners and strategists who are actively collaborating and sharing information, innovative strategies and tools.

    “The time has been right for the MobileActive.org network,” Katrin said. She claims that “as in any new and fast-moving field, there is a need for knowledge and skill-sharing in order to not be redundant, to maximize scarce resources, and to advance common issues.”

    “MobileActive.org’s fast growth, active community, and the many collaborative projects which have been born, are result of this need. Community and collaboration matter in this brand-new field where we all ‘build the plane as we fly it’ in order to learn from one another and collectively advance our knowledge and experience,” MobileActive.org co-founder said.

    “With more than 4.5 billion phones globally, the use of mobile phones to improve lives has often been referred to as a mobile revolution,” as MobileActive.org states on their website. Asked how they foresee the future development of this revolution, Katrin said: “I think the revolution lies in the fact that we are now a connected humanity – we have a way to reach each other and connect no matter where we are in the world. If you think of this network of humanity that is unprecedented in history in revolutionary terms, I am ok with that!”

    According to her, “the way we can communicate today, exchange information, received and deliver services certainly has the potential to be revolutionary.”

    “However – she said – I am not sure we have realized this potential yet. Mobile phones as a communication device that connects us all — even those at the bottom of the economic pyramid has certainly had an economic impact – mobile companies in some countries are the largest employer and contributors of tax payments and markets have been made more efficient with the introduction of mobile communication (and when markets become more efficient prices tend to go down and incomes rise).

    However, we are still only at the beginning of what will be the real revolution – mobile payments and financial transfers, including savings and wide-scale remittances, mhealth services that are universal, secure, and reliable, and ways in which people can use mobile to make their governments and political processes more accountable. In some of these areas we are just at the beginning of what is possible.”

    When asked about the effective strategies and tactics of mobile use for NGOs that MobileActive.org organization recommends, she had this to say: “The two single most important things that we preach to organizations are a. to be very clear about what you are trying to accomplish and, consequently, very clear about how mobile fits into those goals (and sometimes it just simply does not) and b. knowing the target audience extremely well – and their needs, wants, desires, and ways in which they currently use mobile.”

    She added that they have heard of more examples than she can count where an organization thought that including a mobile strategy was a good idea only to find out that the target audience did not agree. “A clearly identified need and rationale for why to include mobiles into the organizational work and goals is a must. This might sound trite but it’s the point organizations do not take seriously enough in the rush towards and the hype amidst the ‘mobile revolution," Katrin said.

    She claims that, while it is not a new concept, citizen media (which refers to media content produced by private citizens who are otherwise not professional journalists) has become more widespread in recent years.

    “Due to developments in information & communication technologies such as smaller and cheaper recording devices, cameras and phones, and shifts in access to venues and platforms for self-publishing (thanks to blogs and social media websites etc.), media production tools are in the hands of a lot more people today,” she said.

    “Given that the mobile phone is the most ubiquitous communication device in human history, mobiles certainly play a special role in the spread of citizen media and reporting. Mobiles allow people to express themselves: take pictures, audio, video, write. Even a simple SMS message is a means for transmitting critical news & information in real-time.

    And because phones are small and mobile, they can be with people wherever things are happening. This has been especially notable in large-scale events such as the London bombing, the crackdown on protesters in Burma, 2009 Iranian elections, etc. In each case, citizens were able to take video/pictures and bear witness, sometimes even where journalists couldn’t,” Katrin said.

    She gave us an example: a video filmed on a mobile phone that recently made history when it won the prestigious George Polk Award for Journalism. The famous video clip showed of the death of Neda, a young woman who was killed in the violent aftermath of the Iranian elections last year, and came to be seen around the world upon gaining the attention of international media.

    “This is symbolic of the rise in citizen media and the role of mobiles, as the the video was taken on a mobile phone, and it was the first video in the Polk’s 61-year history awarded to an anonymous citizen journalist,” Katrin concluded.

    ***
    Mobile Monday is a global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influentials fostering cooperation and cross-border business development through virtual and live networking events to share ideas, best practices and trends from global markets.

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  • Digital Dividend Spectrum and Mobile Broadband in South East Europe

    Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society has driven an initiative to develop a unified approach to the allocation of ‘digital dividend’ spectrum – the spectrum that will be freed up by the switchover from analogue to digital TV – in South East Europe.

    The Ministry hosted a Ministerial Summit on the digital dividend in Belgrade attended by regulatory bodies and government delegations from states in South Eastern Europe including Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey.

    GSMA, that represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, said it applauds all governments’ actions to establish a harmonized approach to spectrum allocation in South East Europe.

    “The region of South East Europe lies on the borders of the European Union and achieving harmonised use of spectrum is important to the growth of the telecoms market and the wider economic well-being of the countries in it,” said Martin Whitehead, Director of GSMA Europe.

    “A cohesive regional approach from EU member states and their neighbours in South East Europe will maximise the affordability of telecommunications services in the area. We are delighted that Minister Matic and the Serbian Ministry have taken a lead on this issue by bringing together key nations from across the region to discuss and encourage a unified approach to spectrum harmonisation,” he added.

    GSMA informed that the objective of the meeting was to discuss how best to maximise the economic and social benefits promised by the digital dividend in South East Europe. Allocating some of the digital dividend to Mobile Broadband will increase Internet penetration and have a significant positive economic impact by driving innovation, job creation, productivity and competitiveness.

    However, harmonisation of the spectrum on a regional basis is needed to drive down handset and network equipment costs and make Mobile Broadband affordable to consumers.

    The unprecedented amount of spectrum that will be freed up in the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial TV is known as the Digital Dividend. The Digital Dividend spectrum is located between 200 MHz and 1GHz. This spectrum band offers an excellent balance between transmission capacity and distance coverage.

    If just 25%, or around 100MHz, of the spectrum currently used by analogue TV (470 – 862 MHz) was re-allocated to mobile communications, the mobile industry could dramatically speed up the rollout of broadband communications and increase coverage.

    Because of its good signal propagation characteristics, less infrastructure is required to provide wider mobile coverage, meaning that communications services can be provided in rural areas at lower cost.

    This is of core importance in South East Europe where population density is typically lower than in other parts of Europe. The region’s position on the borders of the EU also makes coordination between states more complex and the high number of multiple border issues threatens to complicate coordination further.

    Harmonisation of digital dividend spectrum throughout Europe is an important element in the greater spectrum debate, as the mobile industry currently faces an urgent need for more spectrum to accommodate significant increases in Mobile Broadband usage.

    Extending coverage to rural areas and ensuring that the ‘digital divide’ between town and country is lowered is also a vital element of EU policy. Work on the digital dividend must continue to ensure universal connectivity.

    According to GSMA, the mobile industry needs around 100 MHz because:

    • Economic studies show that about 100MHz gives the optimum trade-off in Europe
    • It is in line with MEPs’ ITRE report
    • It leaves broadcasters with the spectrum they need to offer more content (75% of the resource)
    • This spectrum needs to be harmonised as much as possible to control cross-border interference and reduce terminal costs – separate national bandplans destroy value
    • LTE needs wider bandwidths to offer mobile broadband data rates (2 x 20 MHz for up to 100 Mb/s downlink) that consumers want, efficiently
    • Spectrum allocation needs to accommodate multiple operators to promote competition
    • More may be needed in some markets on a national basis, which may happen at different times in different markets

    What can be done to attain 100 MHz?
    Allocation of the digital dividend is a national prerogative, meaning that Member States of the European Union are entitled to manage the freed up spectrum according to their national interests, provided that they are in line with the decision taken within the International Telecom Union (ITU). The Member States are likely to be bound also by a spectrum management framework, as set out at the European level, in order to guarantee benefits that stem from a minimum common denominator of spectrum allocation.

    According to GSMA, these benefits include the possibility of harmonized frequencies, the balanced allocation of spectrum between the different service providers, and the avoidance of interference within the boundaries of the European Union. Overall, this would lead to faster, cheaper and better services with an increased possibility for content enhancement and interoperability of devices (e.g. Mobile TV).

  • iSuppli: HP’s Palm Acquisition Opens up a Tablet of Possibilities

    Hewlett-Packard planned acquisition of Palm immediately puts the PC-centric company knee-deep in the smart phone race, but perhaps more importantly positions the company to compete in the burgeoning tablet market, says iSuppli.

    According to the research firm, the acquisition gives HP the means to use Palm’s WebOS platform to release a tablet device that will compete against Apple’s iPad as well as whatever arises from the relationship between Nokia and Intel.

    iSuppli forecasts worldwide tablet shipments will expand to 11.0 million units in 2010, up from just 2.0 million units in 2009 and 1.8 million units in 2008. Most of the shipments in 2010 will be made up by sales of the iPad, and sales will continue to expand in the coming years as a range of competitors enters the tablet market.

    iSuppli believes that a key component in HP’s strategy will be to utilize its common WebOS operating system as a basis for developing a tablet that can use the same applications and services being employed by the company’s existing smart phone product line.

    According to the analysts, the challenge for HP is to develop an ecosystem around a platform that will be able to compete with the centralized apps store Apple has created. That also means garnering support from leading developers in order to get the right apps and features available for multi-platform mobilized devices.

    What this means is that there are now three major competitors positioning for a fully interoperable, multi-device platform: Nokia/Intel, Apple and now HP with its Palm purchase.

    “Even so, this doesn’t even address the number of Taiwanese and other vendors that are developing their own tablet PCs in what will surely be a highly competitive market in years to come,” as iSuppli claims.

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  • Rubberduck Launches Support for Touch Phones

    Rubberduck, a provider of streaming mobile TV services, announced support for a wide range of new touch phones, through an in-house developed Java application.

    Rubberduck already supports smartphones such as the iPhone and Android-based devices through downloadable apps and offers various services through its recently announced HTTP-streaming architecture.

    According to Rubberduck, the Java app is a natural extension of this product portfolio, and supports touch phones from a wide range of manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, Nokia and SonyEricsson. The app is fully compatible with the company’s content management system and streaming infrastructure.

    “Our new Java app extends support for our mobile-TV services to a wide range of touch phones, which are wide spread in the market. This will extend our reach and make it more attractive to watch TV on your mobile also for those who don’t have the most expensive high-end phones,” said Managing Director of Rubberduck, Erling Paulsen.

    The company also said that they had experienced a brisk upturn in traffic in 2009, where streaming numbers increased by some 75 percent, much due to the launch of a new iPhone client.

    The Java client also runs on Symbian devices from Nokia and Sony Ericsson ahead of a dedicated app, expected with the launch of Symbian^4 in 2011.

    Rubberduck claims that the combination of touch interface and large screen has been a catalyst for mobile-TV adoption, “and with ever more competing platforms, ensuring a base level of touch support via Java is a crucial step to delivering a premium experience to the widest possible audience.”

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  • iPhone 4 Sounds Starting Gun for Smartphone Gyroscope Market

    Monday’s introduction of the iPhone 4 is set to trigger explosive growth in the market for gyroscopes used in cell phones, as a flood of competitors vie to emulate the feature, says iSuppli.

    According to the research group, global unit shipments of gyroscopes in mobile handsets are expected to rise to 285 million in 2014, up from 26 million in 2010 and from zero in 2009.

    The integration of the gyroscope in the iPhone 4, which is set to begin shipping on June 24, confirms iSuppli’s forecast that these parts would make their first appearance in smart phones this summer.

    “Because of Apple’s role as a technology trendsetter, a multitude of mobile handset OEMs are expected to offer smart phones that integrate gyroscopes,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and principal analyst, Microelectromechanical Systems, for iSuppli. “This will cause shipments to rise by 157 percent in 2011 and by 60 percent in 2012 and 2013.”

    Mobile handset makers until recently have shown little interest in gyroscopes, Bouchaud noted. However, the success of the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus video game console demonstrated the consumer appeal of gyroscopes for game playing. Meanwhile, InvenSense and STMicroelectronics have offered a cascade of new gyroscopes with 2 and 3 axes, making the technology more accessible.

    “STMicroelectronics is the sole supplier of accelerometers for previous models of the iPhone, as well as for the iPad and the iPod line,” Bouchaud said.

    “Because of this, we believe that STMicroelectronics is also the supplier of the gyroscope in the iPhone 4. However, we will have to wait for confirmation from iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service when it dissects the iPhone 4 in late June.”

    According to the analysts, the main applications for gyroscopes in cell phones in 2010 and 2011 will comprise a user interface utilizing a gyroscope in combination with an accelerometer, followed by image stabilization and dead-reckoning for in-vehicle navigation.

    From 2012, gyroscopes will start to be used for indoor navigation in combination with an accelerometer, compass and pressure sensor for floor accuracy. By 2014, the market for gyroscopes in cell phones is expected to amount to $220 million.

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