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Category: smartphone

  • Nokia Sues Apple for Infringement of Nokia GSM, UMTS and WLAN Patents

    Nokia announced that it has today filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in Delaware, alleging that Apple’s iPhone infringes Nokia patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards.

    Nokia says the ten patents in suit relate to technologies “fundamental” to making devices which are compatible with one or more of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA) and wireless LAN standards.

    “The patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007,” according to press release.

    There ware no more details given to the public.

    "The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Legal & Intellectual Property at Nokia.

    "Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation."

    Nokia informed the company has already entered into license agreements including the patents in suit with approximately 40 companies, “including virtually all the leading mobile device vendors, allowing the industry to benefit from Nokia’s innovation.”

  • Young Entrepreneur Brings Openmoko to Africa

    A young entrepreneur in South Africa has teamed up with Openmoko to distribute the Neo Freerunner to Africa.

    Nyasha Mutsekwa spoke to Biz-News.com at the sidelines of Mobile Web Africa conference in Johannesburg of his mission.

    Mutsekwa believes that the biggest challenge in Africa is not short of skills but lack of latest technologies that can be harnessed to empower people.

    “In Africa I think its not skills shortage but rather lack of access to latest technologies, this is why we are going all out to bring all the technologies available to Africa,” he said

    The Neo Freerunner is an open-source phone, which allows developers and enthuasists alike access to the source code and hardware schematics to customize the device to their hearts content.

    Nyasha Mutsekwa

    Mutsekwa through his company Engineering Ideas is optimistic of their business venture across the continent saying they have received favourable response in countries that they have a footprint.

    Openmoko is a project dedicated to delivering mobile phones with an open source software stack. This technology allows the users to freely choose to run any operating system on their Openmoko smartphone.

    Besides running the Openmoko software and applications, users can also run the following distributions: Qt Extended Improved, Debian, Gentoo, Google Android, Hackable: 1, neovento.

    “With this smartphone user have the ability to create their own African Mobile environments using a tried and tested open source platform,” Mutsekwa added.

    Mutsekwa, who previously worked for Oracle Africa as the e-School Business Development Manager teamed up with friends in 2008 to start Engineering Ideas, a private limited company serving the technology and intellectual capital needs of small to medium size business clients in Africa.

    Speaking about the regulatory environment on the continent, Mutsekwa said that his company hasn’t faced much challenges as there is an identical regulatory environment within their sphere of operation.

  • Smartphone Faces Security Threat

    The pervasive nature of the mobile world has made it difficult to successfully curb security threats on smartphones and other mobile devices offering internet access, says Alain Rollier, founder of AXSionics.

    In an interview with Biz-News.com this week, Rollier gave a detailed account of how security threat on mobile devices was shifting from the traditional devices that offer Internet Access.

    “Mobile phones become or in many cases are already as powerful as any other Internet Access device, therefore the known security issues on the PC and Laptops will appear on mobile.

    “So all the problems of laptop/pc world are heading the way of the smartphone, plus a few more as a direct result of the pervasive nature of the mobile world,” he said.

    The security expert dispelled myths that certain operating systems were more secure than others. He said the crux of the matter was the operating environment more than anything else.

    Alain Rollier

    Rollier said his company has developed solutions that work on all operating systems as well as networks.

    “I don’t think it’s really a question of only the operating system. I think the more important question is the operating environment. We have developed a solution that does not rely on the security of the operating system or the network or the access devices and still delivers complete security for transactions and identity management, Rollier explained

    Biggest threat to security on a smart phone

    Security issues around the smartphone are crucial because the device already accounts for 25 percent of the cellphone market. Given their current growth rate and the number of new devices, smartphones will account for an increasing share of the overall market with some sectors predicting as much as 40 percent over the next five years. This would be at a minimum 400 million devices per year.

    Rollier is of the opinion that security threats to smartphones are similar to those found on PCs or Laptops, but acknowledges that the use of many interfaces will be problematic on security.

    “Smart phones have all the issues around security that a pc or laptop has, plus a couple more which come from the additional interfaces like SMS and SIM cards. By nature, having a lot of interfaces is not helping to secure devices; one challenge is to have two independent channels on the same device – internet browser and communication. I think a shift in thinking is required,” he said

    Rollier said all devices including the smartphone would be impossible to fully guarantee security but noted that emphasis must be on ensuring secure identities and transactions.

    “The smartphone, laptop or pc will always be impossible to fully secure. The question we have to answer is ‘how do we make sure that identities and transactions are always secure when this is the case?’

    “This is what has driven our thinking at AXSionics, and we have developed a solution that provides this security regardless of how unsecured all the elements in the chain are,” he said.

    Enterprise security policies on mobile devices

    Biz-News.com enquired from Rollier if it was possible for companies to implement security polices on smartphones as much as they did on desktop computers.

    The security expert was quick to point out that some firms had already implemented policies to that effect but acknowledged that due to the nature of the mobile world it would always be a challenge for these to be a success.

    “Some companies also implement PKI type solutions which can, in very controlled environments, help. However, in the pervasive word of mobile communications, these solutions are not sufficiently scalable and hence cannot be successful.

    “Allowing companies to implement their current enterprise security policies on mobile devices will not solve the problem,” he said.

    On data theft, he explained that companies and individuals must be wary of data that was not on the smartphone but could be accessed by the device.

    Rollier pointed out that enterprise data, e-Banking, commerce transactions, identity data and username/password combinations that are available and that can be accessed and used by cyber criminals should be of concern to everyone.

    “I think a mobile security product is one part of the answer but we must stop thinking of these devices as anything more than a pc or laptop, only much more pervasive and much more vulnerable,” he said.

    Affordable and accessible security solutions

    On the question of availability and how companies and individuals can afford security solutions, the founder of AXSionics said their solution worked effectively on both secure and insecure operating systems on smartphones.

    “We provide solutions that work regardless how secure or insecure the operating system of the smart phone is. We use the smart phone and the internet connection only to transport encrypted information from the service provider to the AXSionics Internet Passport. It’s very secure, doesn’t drive usage costs and is very convenient for the user,” he said.

    AXSionics has in recent past won several awards for its innovation, concept and design. These included the Red Dot Design Award, the Red Herring Hot 100 Europe Award and the European Innovation Award in Identity Management.

    Rollier said despite the product being new, it was currently in use in a number of high security areas including defence and in volume use in retail banking. It has many innovations built in to ensure it is scalable, easy to use and convenient.

  • Collecting Testimonies of Violence Using Mobile Internet

    Kenya has taken a leading role in Africa by embarking on effective use of Mobile Internet to expose acts of political violence, murder and torture, Ory Okollo the founder of Ushahidi.com told Biz-news.com

    In an interview on the sidelines of Mobile Web Africa conference in Sandton recently, executive director of Kenya’s Ushahidi, Ory Okolloh, said her organization was primarily established to expose crisis situations to empower Africa.

    “In brief, Ushahidi means testimony. The name was derived from Swahili language and Ushahidi was developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post election fallout at the beginning of 2008.

    “This is basically about creating technological platform to enable anyone from around the globe to capture reports by mobile phone, web or email. With time, we would want this to work with other online tools,” said Okolloh.

    Ory Okollo

    She said Ushahidi was an open source application which could be downloaded, used or implemented, to bring awareness to regional crisis prevailing on the continent.

    Already some countries such as Uganda, war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi and Zambia are tapping into Ushahidi project to improve and track near real-time stockouts of medical supplies at pharmacies.

    Even renowned international television channel, Al Jazeera, is reportedly using some of the technology from Ushahidi in its work to expose elements of violence from around the globe.

    Ushahidi.com site collects “testimony” on violence as people see it. They can send reports using cell phones and computers to the site.

    The information is logged and registered according to the type of violence (riots, deaths, property loss, rape, looting, etc.) using Google Maps.

    In places and moments when reporting is dangerous and difficult, this kind of program uses information from ordinary citizens to record violence as its happening. Ushahidi was put together by a lawyer/activist, Okollo and a small group of Kenyan, blogger/techies while the post-election violence in Kenya was going on in the early part of 2008.

    It was then used in South Africa to track xenophobic attacks against foreigners, and then in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All these instances can be viewed on the website.

    In addition to offering a method of tracking violence, Ushahidi also serves as a bloggers’ space to talk about new uses of technologies in Africa. Videos produced on the spot that can be uploaded also add to the testimony. It is cutting edge technology married to a citizen empowerment project.

    The collected data is useful for all kinds of people and purposes from NGOs, media, human rights workers, aid organizations to ordinary citizens who want to know what is happening in times of crisis.

  • What Do Consumers Do With Their Phones?

    A recent Canalys consumer study, which surveyed over 3.000 people across France, Germany and theUK, looked at what features consumers are using on their phones.

    The first conclusion is that the use of data services is limited outside of smart phone owners and that customers on SIM-only contracts consume more data than their pre-paid counterparts. “The results go some way to quashing the expectations that SIMonly customers will only use voice and text,” says Canalys.

    When comparing the usage habits of respondents with pre-paid contracts versus those with SIM-only contracts, usage was higher in every category for individuals with SIM-only packages.

    For example, 27% of SIM-only users regularly browsed web sites on their handsets compared with just 14% of pre-paid users. Equally, the number of customers accessing social networking services on their mobile phones was considerably higher among SIM-only users (16%) when compared with pre-paid users (7%). The use of e-mail was also greater among those who subscribed to SIM-only deals (23%) versus consumers on pre-paid tariffs (16%).

    According to Canalys, operators will hope that the uptake of data services will steadily increase across their subscriber bases. “The major challenge that operators face is ensuring there is a sufficient penetration of handsets that are capable of accessing connected services, a questionable factor, especially looking at the difference in usage between handset brands across data services,” the report says.

    The other conclusion is that social networking on mobile phones remains a relatively small, but growing service. The research shows that despite the large usage figures quoted by companies such as Facebook, usage of social networking in the mass market remains limited.

    Only 10% of end users regularly accessed this type of service from their mobile phones. iPhone users were by far the most active, with almost half regularly accessing social networking services. Figures for BlackBerry (27%) and HTC (23%) users were lower than those for Apple, but were still significantly above the average.

    “These results show that usage of social networking services is higher among smart phone users, and as the market leader in the smart phone market, it is fair to assume that usage on Nokia’s flagship products would be similar. Usage of social networking services across all of its products, however, was only 7%,” says Canalys.

    When looking at e-mail usage on mobile phones, BlackBerry owners were the most active with 68% regularly using e-mail on their handsets. Owners of handsets from Apple (67%) and HTC (53%) also used e-mail far more regularly than those who owned handsets from the leading vendors, where on average only 15% of end users were regularly using e-mail on their phones.

    Web site browsing also revealed contrasting usage patterns: 73% of iPhone users regularly browsed web sites on their handsets; 60% of BlackBerry owners and 56% of HTC owners had similar habits.

    Conversely, just 8% of Motorola owners regularly browsed web sites on their phones and, though web browsing was higher on phones from LG (18%), Samsung (17%), Nokia (16%) and Sony Ericsson (16%), it was still significantly below that of iPhone users.

    Navigation services were cited by 36% of end users as a feature that they wanted on their next mobile phone that they did not have today. The majority of respondents were keen to have an in-car turn-by-turn solution on their next phone.

    “But as many navigation solution providers are now discovering, it is not good enough just to supply the software. For in-car navigation to be successful on mobile phones the experience of portable navigation devices (PNDs) needs to be matched or exceeded. This means that car kits or cradles need to be supplied alongside the software at the time of purchase. In addition, events such as incoming calls and other alerts need to be handled in a way that provides minimal disruption to the navigation experience,” analysts conclude.

  • Thumbs Up For SA's "Call Me Back" Technology

    South African mobile cellular phone companies have been praised for implementing a free “Call Me Back” short messages (SMS) information technology.

    Speaking at the inauguration of Mobile Web Africa conference in Sandton, Johannesburg on Wednesday, executive chairman for Krazyboyz Digital, Zibusiso Mkhwananzi, said the innovative information technology was simple and a popular way of communication for those who may not have airtime to send billed SMSes or make a call.

    “Voice and data messages are very expensive in this country (South Africa) thereby discouraging telephone calls by most local communities.

    “I would suggest that our local communities (in townships) utilize such technologies by packaging the mobile cellphones (Call Me Back) with contents that are sustained by advertising,” said Mkhwananzi.

    The two-day Mobile Web Africa conference was mainly focusing on harnessing the potential of the internet and applications on mobile devices aimed at improving people’s standards of life through affordable and readily accessible technology.

    Mkhwananzi was one of the panelists during the discussing on “Creating Africa’s New Generation of Mobile Designers, Entrepreneur and Success”.

    However, programme manager for Web Foundation/W3C, Stephane Boyera, said SMSes were not made for people who could neither read nor write.

    “It has to be appreciated that SMSes are not for people who can’t read or write. Voice message is the answer to those that can’t read or write.

    “They simply talk. They have voices,” said Boyera.

    The conference drew information communication technology (ICT) experts from as far as Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Algeria.

    Other issues discussed during the conference included topics on how to enhance the development of the technology ecosystem, reaching out to communities that may not be easy to touch base with, seizing the opportunity of the potential of mobile services and content, contributing towards bridging the digital divide by informing, involving and empowering.

    The Mobile Web Africa conference is the first of its kind in Africa and it is expected to be conducted annually on a rotational basis around the continent.

  • Internet On The Go: Interview with Deb Hall, Managing Director at Web2Mobile

    Web2Mobile is a company that specializes in making your content mobile ready for ease of use for your customers on the go.

    In the last 12 months we seen a lot change in the mobile market with a huge transition of users putting their mobile devices ahead of their laptops and desktop computers.

    Web2Mobile works with companies to strategize efforts to make the transition as easy as possible for both the company and the users will access that content.

    When asked whether companies understand the need to transition to mobile technology, Deb Hall states, “there is confusion on the term mobile marketing and what it entails and the opportunities it can offer.” To ease some of the misunderstanding, Web2Mobile specializes in creating a suite of tools that help to erase that confusion and make the client feel comfortable changing the format of their content.

    The tools created by Web2Mobile apparently make it easier for marketers or publishers to upload their content into Web2Mobile’s self serve system and convert it, making it mobile friendly. Being a service oriented business, it looks to reduce the costs based on consultants helping companies make the change and puts the power of the transition into the hands of the client themselves.

    “We’ve all seen content not formatted for mobility, such as bad email newsletters, unformatted websites, and this content just does not transition to the world of mobility,” says Deb Hall when asked about companies that think they can do it on their own. She made it a point to stress that there is a definite need to understand the difference between the normal web and the mobile browsers and that development for the two is very different.

    Deb Hall

    Deb notes that even on a personal level, using mobile devices create a difference in behavior in how we use and read content and how we interact with our devices. No longer are we worried about being at a desktop, nor do we have to worry about the life of a battery on a laptop. In the last ten months she notes that this transition has become more apparent as the iPhone, specifically, has immersed itself into the general populace.

    She also notes that “the mobile browsing space has increased as much as 400% month to month,” make it apparent that companies want to make it easy for the end user to use the devices and access their content. With the increase in wifi tethering, the ability to access content anywhere, and making the technology tools easily accessible to just about anyone, it’s not surprising to see such high numbers of adopters.

    Is the Western World Ready?

    There is a distinct difference in how the West uses mobile technology compared to our counterparts in the Far East. Our Eastern counterparts are using mobile technology for entertainment, streaming TV, music, maps, directions, and just about every basic need possible. The advancement of technology in mobility is leaps and bounds ahead of the West.

    In response to our conversation Deb Hall states that when “[she] worked for Yahoo mobile she noticed distinct differences in how both side of the globe use technology. There are behaviors that are distinct to each country. Pricing models are different and that drives the behavior.” She notes an example on how fast mobile technology picked up in the UK and how it was based on the nominal fee for use compared to Western pricing.

    There is no doubt that the West is slowly catching up with our overseas counterparts, but there is still a long way to go. Web2Mobile is doing it’s part to help companies understand just how important mobile technology can be to their business and eventually their overall bottom line.

    Key Points

    At what point does a company consider going mobile? It’s a matter of strategy, and companies like Web2Mobile look to help companies develop that strategy. When Deb hears the word strategy she thinks about how they are going into battle. The goal is to get their clients in front of as many people as possible.

    “How do we know we’re implementing the right strategy? It’s very important to determine the key objective, is it sales, awareness, or creating a good user experience? It’s all about prioritising,” Deb Hall says regarding the key points that must be identified.

    In all the studies done on mobile users it’s been determined that mobile users are more than likely to act on a call to action. The key then becomes how to make the call to action easy to find. It’s vital for companies to make their sites, emails, and advertisement mobile ready and easy to use.

    Tracking Metrics

    A key factor for a company is to know how much interaction is being done with their new mobile strategy. Metrics give good insights on the success of the campaign, and having access to those metrics can determine the direction.

    “One of the first questions we get when we work with new client is which platform they should be on. Should I be on an iPhone or Blackberry,” says Deb about the confusion of entering the mobile space.

    An inside tip that Deb shares with us is that most companies can evaluate what is happening on your current website and from there determine what devices are accessing your content. Based on those metrics you can better plan your mobile strategy based on those percentages of iPhone vs Blackberry vs any other mobile device.

    An example Deb gave was their involvement with the Masters Tournament. Based on the metrics they analyzed they were able to serve up distinct content to users on various platforms. This makes the content unique to each user experience and helps to build that relationship between the company and their end user.

    Web2Mobile is very excited with the involvement in FITC and hopes to interact with marketers, developers, and agencies and introduce them to their suite of tools. They look to share with all attendees what they are doing and hope that more companies understand the importance of making their content accessible via mobile devices, especially companies serious about extending their brand online.

  • Apple Ranks Highest Among Both Consumer and Business Smartphone Owners

    Overall satisfaction among smartphone owners has increased considerably over time as manufacturers continue to improve styling, feature sets, usability and software, according to the J.D. Power and Associates studies.

    Satisfaction among consumer smartphone owners has increased by 14 index points (on a 1,000-point scale) from just six months ago, while satisfaction among business owners has increased by 43 index points from 2008 as these devices have become more stylish, customizable and user-friendly, the report says.

    Among traditional mobile phone owners, overall satisfaction has declined by six index points from April 2009, likely as a result of heightened awareness among traditional mobile phone owners of advanced features available on smartphones.

    J.D. Power and Associates studies measure customer satisfaction with traditional wireless handsets and smartphones across several key factors. In order of importance, key factors of overall satisfaction with traditional wireless handsets are operation (30%); physical design (30%); features (20%); and battery function (20%).

    For consumer smartphones, key factors are ease of operation (30%); operating system (22%); features (21%); physical design (18%); and battery function (9%). For business smartphones, key factors include ease of operation (29%); operating system (23%); physical design (21%); features (16%); and battery function (11%).

    Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of smartphones used primarily for personal reasons, with a score of 811, and performs particularly well in ease of operation, operating system, features and physical design. LG (776) and RIM BlackBerry (759) follow Apple in the rankings.

    Among customers who use their smartphones primarily for business purposes, Apple ranks highest with a score of 803, followed by RIM BlackBerry (724).

    LG ranks highest in overall wireless customer satisfaction with traditional handsets with a score of 723, performing well across all factors, particularly battery function, features and operation.

    The proportion of consumers who purchase more affordable smartphones (those costing less than $100) has significantly increased among most of the manufacturers included in the rankings, compared with the previous wave of the study six months ago. This indicates that wireless carriers are discounting their devices to attract new customers who are willing to pay for more costly service plans.

    "Attractive rebates or discounts offered to current smartphone owners, as well as incentives given to traditional handset owners to upgrade to smartphones, are effective ways for wireless carriers to generate revenue and increase market share," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates.

    "It is important, however, that manufacturers meet the expectations of those taking advantage of such offers by ensuring the features are intuitive and ultimately rewarding to them in the long run. Providing an easy-to-use, yet powerful operating system with the ability to customize applications to suit owners’ individual needs is essential to providing a high-quality and rewarding wireless experience."

    The studies also find the following key wireless handset usage patterns:
    • Among consumer smartphone owners, 22 percent want Wi-Fi capability in their next handset, while 21 percent want touch-screen capabilities and 17 percent want GPS capability.
    • More than 40 percent of consumer smartphone owners report entirely replacing landline calling with mobile phone calling, while only 27 percent of traditional handset owners have done the same.
    • Among business smartphone owners, more than one-half report downloading third-party games for entertainment, while 46 percent report downloading travel software such as maps and weather applications-indicating business users are also integrating their devices into their personal lives. In addition, nearly one-half of owners (46%) report downloading business utility applications to increase productivity.

  • Mobile Navigation Users Increased to 28 Million

    According to a new research report by Berg Insight, the number of mobile subscribers downloading navigation routes and turn-by-turn navigation instructions using their mobile handsets increased twofold from H1-2008 to H1-2009 and reached 28 million.

    Until 2015, the subscriber base is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.7 percent to reach 160 million users worldwide.

    The growing adoption will primarily be driven by the broader availability of GPS-enabled handsets and bundling of navigation applications with mobile devices and service plans.

    The report says in countries such as the USA and Japan where mass market GPS handsets are already available, adoption of mobile navigation services have already surpassed 3 and 4 percent of the total mobile subscriber base respectively.

    More recently, increasing volumes of GPS handsets have also started to pave the way for adoption of mobile navigation services in Europe where Personal Navigation Devices have been the prevailing navigation solution for some years.

    In other regions of the world, better availability of low-cost GPS handsets and improving map coverage will enable rapid uptake of navigation services in the coming years.

    “Mobile operators and handset vendors are now starting to experience the business opportunity of a growing installed base of GPS handsets and customers trying navigation services”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight.

    He adds that since relatively few subscribers need turn-by-turn navigation services on a daily basis, the mobile industry should integrate navigation services with other location-based services to improve the total user experience and ensure that customers continue to subscribe.

  • Canalys Special Report “Smart phone market trends 2009/2010”

    ADVERTORIAL. The mobile industry is pinning its hopes on smart phones as the driver of growth in difficult times. Overall mobile phone shipments are falling, but smart phones are growing and taking an increasing share of the market.

    Companies such as Apple and RIM are seeing increases in demand for their devices, challenging the likes of Nokia, and leading a fundamental shift toward new device form factors and use of mobile applications by consumers and businesses.

    Network operators are struggling to establish the best strategy to open up new revenue streams, while having to manage complex partnerships with strong hardware vendors, as well as other companies that have entered their world with mobile service revenue aspirations of their own, such as Google and Microsoft.

    The Canalys “Smart phone market trends 2009/2010” report pulls together, in a concise format, qualitative analysis of key market trends, top-level market share and shipment estimates for the leading vendors, comparative analysis of vendors’ performance and evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses, and forecasts for future market development.

    “Smart phone market trends 2009/2010” report gives the precise and exhaustive answers to the following questions:

    • Who are the leading smart phone vendors in each region?
    • What impact will application stores have on operators and vendors?
    • How are the different mobile operating systems evolving and why?
    • Which operators have the best smart phone strategies?
    • How will the different regions grow over the next five years?
    • What are the biggest threats to today’s leading smart phone vendors?
    • How can mobile companies make the most of growth in China?
    • What are the implications of a more software-centric mobile ecosystem?
    • What are the key trends in user interfaces and form factors?
    • Where are the key competitive arenas for Google, Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Nokia et al?

    The full report, published in August 2009, is 70 pages and includes supporting definitions and explanation of the research methodologies used, and is only available direct from Canalys – the acknowledged leading market analyst firm in this area.

    Click here to find out more