Business News Holding

Blog

  • IPsmarx Streamlines Bundled Services' Billing


    Billing can be a complicated process for VoIP service providers and calling card operators – especially if they want to diversify and offer more than one service.

    In some cases customers end up receiving separate bills or a third system has to be used to generate them.

    Now Ipsmarx Technology is offering a solution which it claims streamlines the billing process.

    Called Unified Customer Management (UCM) it enables service providers to offer calling card, PINless dialing, IP phone, and video over IP services to the same customer and provide only one bill for all the services.

    It also makes life easier for end users, who get the convenience of signing up for each service using one web interface.

    Carrie Fedders, account manager with IPsmarx, told voip.biz-news that if a service provider does not have an all-in-one solution, they may have one system that manages their calling card platform and another system that manages their VoIP business.

    "Then, they cannot send only one bill to their customer or they have to generate the bill using a 3rd system, while pulling information from their calling card and VoIP systems, so it can be quite complicated," she said.

    With the IPsmarx package billing feature, service providers can decide to bill for all services on a per minute or flat rate basis as well as create selling packages, or "bundles", for different services.

    Fedders said the UCM solution streamlines the billing process and gives operators the ability to offer a complete suite of VoIP and calling card services to their end users.

    This in turn has the potential to increase revenue for operators, which are increasingly looking to diversify their services.

    So an operator with an established client base who are making international calls could can capitalize on this by offering additional long distance services and increase their market share.

    "A calling card company can now add VoIP service, for example, and advertise it to their calling card users, in order to increase their usage and call volume, thus generating another revenue stream," she said.

    "Also, operators avoid the expense of multiple systems and 3rd party billing/invoicing software."

  • Skype For iPhone App Offers 3G Calls


    A new app is offering iPhone users a way of making Skype calls using 3G by turning outgoing calls into incoming ones.

    Appropriately called Incoming, it connects to any landline or mobile phone over Edge, 3G, and WiFi – whereas the official Skype for iPhone app is limited to WiFi.

    Calls made on the iPhone using the Incoming app are routed through a user’s home PC’s Skype software and turned into an incoming call.

    This means users don’t eat into wireless dialplan minutes if they have unlimited inbound minutes.

    There’s obviously a cost if SkypeOut credits are required but that can be limited by signing up for one of Skype’s unlimited call plans.

    How it works:
    1. Open the Incoming app and enter a phone number and press CALL.
    2. Receive an incoming call, once answered, the dialled number is called
    3. Wait to be connected

    The app costs USD $4.99 on the iTunes store.

    Other features include:

    • Make a visual favorites list for fast dialing.
    • Access contacts from your address book.
    • Conference Calling supporting up to nine callers.
    • International Calling

  • Pre Launch Kicks Off Smartphone Summer


    So the launch of the Palm Pre is June 6th – and the scene is all set for what is likely to be an exciting summer for the smartphone industry.

    Those joining Palm in announcing new – or updated handsets – over the next few months are Apple with an upgraded iPhone and new phones using the Android operating system from Google.

    The launch season has already begun in the US, with T-Mobile announcing the introduction of the Sidekick LX, while AT& T unveiled the Samsung Jack.

    But the peak time is the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day – a spell that will be a crucial one for the industry in the US, according to the New York Times.

    How the Pre fares is certain to determine the future of loss-making Palm.

    It is a little surprising, then, to hear that Dan Hesse, Palm’s CEO says he expects a shortage of Pre handsets at launch.

    If true, it will certainly lead to headline-making lines forming outside of stores on June 6th.

    But even if it is a sales tactic, it’s a risky one for a company in Palm’s financial situation.

    The stakes are also high for Sprint Nextel, which has exclusive rights to the Pre in the United States.

    Striking a positive note, the NYT comments that with only 100 million smartphones out of the four billion mobile devices in the world, the market is capable of sustaining more than one succesful handset.

    The summer launches will add spice to the general mood of optimism within the smartphone industry.

    Lee Williams, chief of the Symbian Foundation, has predicted smartphone sales will grow 12-15 per cent in 2009, while Marvell Technology Group’s chief executive Sehat Sutardja reckons smartphones will soon make up 50 per cent of the mobile market.

    And the latest figures for smartphone sales suggest demand in unflagging.

  • Smartphone Sales Keep Growing As Mobile Market Suffers


    Smartphone sales grew 12.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 despite sharply falling sales of mobile phones generally – down 9.4 per cent year-on-year.

    Leading the charge in high-end device sales were RIM’s Blackberry handsets and Apple’s iPhone, along with a number of other touchscreen phones, according to research firm Gartner.

    Sales of RIM handsets totalled 7.23 million in Q1, or 19.9 per cent of the smartphone market, up from 13.3 per cent in the same period last year.

    Over the same period, the iPhone’s market share more than doubled from 5.3 per cent to 10.8 per cent, with sales of 3,94 million devices.

    The growth makes Apple the third-largest smartphone maker in the world and gives it twice as much share as HTC.

    Nokia remained the leading maker of smartphones in Q1 but saw its market share drop to 41.2 per cent from 45.1 in Q1 2008. It sold 14.99 million devices, up slightly from 14.58 million in the same period last year.

    The Finnish giant’s smartphone sales were helped by the introduction of its 5800 device into more regions.

    Nokia started shipping its 5800 touch screen smartphone at the end of 2008.

    Overall Smartphone sales were 36.4 million units, which accounted for 13.5 per cent of all mobile device sales in the first quarter of 2009 compared with 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2008.

    However, worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 269.1 million units in Q1 2009, a 9.4 per cent decrease from the first quarter of 2008.

    Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner, said the positive performances by RIM and Apple showed that services and applications are now instrumental to smartphones’ success.

    She said that much of the smartphone growth during the first quarter of 2009 was driven by touchscreen products, both in midtier and high-end devices.

    "Touch for the sake of touch was enough of a driver in the midtier space, but tighter integration with applications and services around music, mobile e-mail, and Internet browsing made the difference at the high end of the market," she said.

    Symbian accounted for 49.3 per cent of worldwide smartphone operating systems (OS) market share in the first quarter of 2009, but this was down from 56.9 per cent share in the first quarter of 2008.

    Nokia maintained its leading position in the overall mobile market, although its market share dropped to 36.2 per cent from 39.1 per cent a year earlier.

    Samsung’s market share rose 4.7 percentage points to 19.1 per cent and Gartner said the announcement of its first Android-based product, the i7500, will help Samsung in a highly competitive second half of 2009.

    LG’s market share increased slightly to 9.9 per cent, with the company benefitting from a very strong portfolio of touchscreen, messaging and imaging devices.

    Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, said there are some signs of a recovery in markets such as North America and China.

    But she said that overall sales in the first quarter of 2009 registered the biggest quarter-on-quarter contraction since Gartner began monitoring the market on a quarterly basis in 2001.

    "This was also the first time the market contracted year over year during the first quarter, a period traditionally helped by strong seasonality in the Asia/Pacific market," she said.

  • Smartphone Market Will Remain Buoyant in 2009


    Lee Williams, chief of the Symbian Foundation, is confident that sales of smartphones will remain buoyant with growth of 12-15 per cent in 2009.

    While his forecast falls short of some estimates which predict 30 per cent increases, it underlines the growing confidence felt in the smartphone sector of the mobile market.

    This is expected to be boosted with the launch of the Palm Pre on June 6th – and the scene is all set for what is likely to be an exciting summer for the smartphone industry.

    Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology summit in Paris earlier this week, Williams said larger display sizes and more memory for media such as music were also encouraging consumers to buy smartphones.

    "For the first time people are realizing you don’t have to carry your digital camera with you and your phone, for the first time people are realizing that you can do your email and access Internet services on your mobile phone," he said.

    Williams’ comments were echoed by Frank Esser chief executive of France’s second-largest mobile operator SFR.

    He said the company was seeing strong demand for smartphones.

    This growth, couple with the contractions taking place in the wider mobile market, will see smartphones becoming increasingly widespread as mass market devices.

    A report just published shows that smartphone sales grew 12.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 despite sharply fallings sales of mobile phones generally – down 9.4 per cent year-on-year.

    Sehat Sutardja, chief executive of Marvell Technology, said smartphones will make up half of the mobile phone market in the next few years.

    He predicted multimedia-enabled smartphones will account for at least 50 per cent of all mobile phones in the next three to four years, and grow even more popular in the following years.

    "Smartphones today are only addressing the tip of the pyramid," he told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York.

    "I would say in the next three to four years, at least 50 per cent of the market will move to smartphones."

    Sutardja said this could grow to 90 per cent in six to seven years.

  • Green Datacenter Regulations Concern For Corporate Strategies


    Senior datacentre professionals in Europe are increasingly concerned about the potential impact of green regulations on corporate datacenters, according to a survey.

    A similar study carried out in the US found that significant shifts have occurred over the past 12 months in datacenter strategies – but concern for regulation is a major driver in 2009.

    The findings in Europe and the US came from two studies carried out on behalf of datacentre provider Digital Realty Trust.

    In Europe, the independent survey of senior datacentre professionals revealed heightened concerns about government regulation in the datacentre industry.

    Nearly 70 per cent of companies surveyed reported that they are extremely concerned or very concerned with the potential impact of Green regulations on data centres.

    Jim Smith, CTO of Digital Realty Trust, said the survey clearly showed a high level of concern about the impact of Green regulations on datacentre facilities.

    "While the new Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) regulations in the EU address a number of questions about the new rules, new concerns about how companies will achieve compliance have arisen," he said.

    "That uncertainty is reflected in these results in terms of how the new rules will impact operations, finance and customer relations."

    Those taking part in the survey were restricted to a minimum of director level in IT, MIS, IS or finance and they needed to represent companies with either EURO 500M or GBP 500M annual revenues or 2,500 plus employees.

    They also had to be responsible for managing a datacentre, implementing a new datacentre, executing contracts for a new datacentre or expanding existing datacentres. The survey was concluded at the end of March by Campos Research.

    Other findings from the European study include:

    • 60 per cent of surveyed companies now have Green datacentre strategies in place
    • Over half (57 per cent) felt there was now a clear definition of what constitutes a Green datacentre
    • Energy efficiency is viewed as the key criteria for a Green datacentre
    • While many mention a Green strategy as a factor in choosing a datacentre provider, no company emerges as a Green leader in the survey
    • Among companies that have a Green datacentre strategy, the qualities they are looking for in datacentre providers include:                           –

                               – Knowledge of current regulations and emerging Green standards

                               – Experience building facilities with LEED or BREEAM certification
                               – The ability to meet ISO 14001 and Green Grid standards
    • More than half (55%) would reject a provider with no Green strategy

    While energy efficiency was seen as the dominant characteristic of a Green datacentre, recycled materials, carbon issues and transportation were nearly equally important to those surveyed, who also included targeted cooling, efficient UPS and metering equipment among their "wish list".

    ISO 14001 and Green Grid were thought to be the leading standards for certifying a Green datacentre.

    Companies who have already adopted a Green strategy said that the most important goal of their strategy was in reducing energy costs, but other benefits including climate change, customer image, cost of compliance and updating datacentres were also important.

    Despite the challenges facing the global economy, 58 per cent of respondents had increased their focus on Green initiatives and 69 percent revealed that carbon credits were part of their strategy.

    The US study showed that concern for regulation is a major driver for green datacenter efforts in 2009.

    The survey indicates that significant shifts have occurred over the past 12 months in corporate green datacenter strategies.

    It, too, was based on a detailed survey of senior decision makers at large US corporations who are responsible for their companies’ datacenter and green IT strategies.

    Smith said that what dominated last year’s study was the need for clearer standards and best practices for green datacenters.

    "There has been significant progress in that area over the past year, including the publication of green datacenter case studies by industry leaders, the development of green building standards specifically for datacenters, and widespread efforts to educate datacenter professionals on the practical application of that information," he said.

    "We’re not there yet, but progress has been made, which is reflected in this survey.

    "By contrast, what dominates this year’s study is companies’ concerns about potential government regulation and how that would impact datacenter operations."

    Key findings of the US study include:

    • 69 per cent of survey participants said they were extremely or very concerned about government regulation.
    • 81 per cent of survey participants said that carbon credits are now part of their green IT strategy – compared to only 18 per cent in 2008.
    • 53 per cent said that the industry now has a clear definition of what makes a datacenter green, compared to 82 percent in the 2008 survey who said that there was no clear definition.
    • 73 per cent of survey participants identified "energy efficiency" as the key aspect of a green datacenter.

    Smith said that concerns about potential regulations are driving companies to look closely at their datacenters and accelerate the process of implementing green initiatives to increase energy efficiency.

    "We applaud these green datacenter initiatives because they result in lower power usage and lower costs, even when companies take very basic steps toward designing and operating their datacenters in a greener fashion," he said.

    "However, it is important to note that some of the concerns about government regulation may not be warranted, given the good faith efforts that government agencies such as the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are making to work with the industry and advocacy groups like The Green Grid to spur self-management of this issue.

    "We believe that collaboration between the government and datacenter professionals is the most effective approach to addressing datacenter energy efficiency."

  • Consumer Network Storage Equipment Market Growing, More Promotion Needed


    Consumer demand for data storage is expected to drive Network Attached Storage (NAS) revenues to more than USD $1.25 billion in revenues by 2011.

    That’s the conclusion of ABI Research, which says the phenomenal growth of digital photography, audio, and video have focused consumers’ minds on the need for secure storage.

    Jason Blackwell, ABI Research senior analyst, says the need to store precious pictures, music, and movies has raised the profile of backup and media server solutions.

    He said that although most consumers still rely on single-computer backup scenarios, a small but growing number are opting for NAS.

    But the market needs to be promoted more to ensure an even greater uptake.

    "In order to move the consumer NAS market forward, vendors, including leaders such as Buffalo Technology and Linksys by Cisco, need to educate and inform consumers about NAS’s advantages," he said.

    Consumer NAS equipment falls into three groups:

    • Integrated NAS drives, which include the necessary networking software
    • Network storage enclosures, for those who wish to add the hard disk themselves
    • Storage routers and bridges, which allow attachment of standard USB or IEEE 1394 hard drives to a network

    Blackwell says that integrated NAS drives comprise the lion’s share of the market, but storage routers and bridges offer vendors the greatest growth opportunity.

    Challenges in this market have traditionally included consumers’ relative indifference to data security: backups have always been considered a bore.

    So marketing and customer education will be key to success. Cost has been an issue too: while prices continue to fall, they still pose a barrier to adoption.

    Blackwell says the rise of the home media server market, however, will provide some lift: DLNA and UPnP-enabled NAS devices can act as media
    servers and are being branded as such.

    "The fact that NAS devices are becoming more like media servers will certainly help them penetrate the digital home network," he said.

    "Vendors are making a concerted effort to market NAS for these more exciting purposes rather than simply for backup."

  • Toshiba Launches First PC With 512GB SSD


    Toshiba has launched what it claims is the first PC integrating 512GB SSD (Solid State Drive).

    The top-of-the-range Portege R600-ST4203 (known as dynabook SS RX2/WAJ in Japan) is a notebook PC employing a 2-bit-per-cell multi-level NAND flash memory.

    The company says this is the largest capacity SSD, with four times the density of SSD integrated into currently available products.

    A new controller allows high-speed parallel processing with the multi-level NAND flash memory, boosting data access speeds by approximately 230 per cent for read (max. 230MB per sec) and 450 per cent for write (max.180MB per sec), compared with SSD integrated into current PCs.

    The Portege also boosts data access speed by approximately 300 per cent for read and 250 per cent for write, compared to a hard disk drive (HDD).

    The Portege R600-ST4203 is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV SU9400 processor, 3GB RAM, and integrated GMA 4500MHD graphics.

    It comes with a 12.1-inch 1280×800 LCD display with LED-backlit, a DVD SuperMulti burner, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

    Obviously all this comes at a price – the Portege R600-ST4203 is now available for pre-order for USD $2,999.00.

    Other features of the Portege include:

    • weight approx.1,095g
    • thickness 19.5mm to 25.5mm
    • long-time battery operation (12 hours) helped by ultra-low voltage CPU, a transreflective LCD that uses natural sunlight to make screen images more visible even without switching on the backlight

  • Fujitsu Server System Raises Stakes in Virtualization


    Fujitsu has launched a new-generation blade server system as a key part of its global growth program to boost its market share for x86 servers.

    The PRIMERGY BX900 is a complete dynamic server infrastructure in a single blade cube.

    It has been designed so that users can adapt it dynamically to different IT usage scenarios, which Fijitsu says increases the agility of IT infrastructures while reducing costs.

    The company says the server it is built on four guiding principles:

    • a dynamic new power and cooling concept to reduce energy costs
    • improvements in operational performance, through dynamic virtualization
    • delivers unmatched uptime, via dynamic high availability
    • new system architecture offering dynamic scalability

    Stanley Payte, product manager, Enterprise Solutions Group, said: "The four guiding principles of the PRIMERGY BX900 design ensure that it meets the needs of datacenter operations where achieving cost savings and increasing IT systems’ agility are immediate concerns."

    Fujitsu wants the PRIMERGY BX900 to be the key foundation stone in its global market growth program for x86 servers.

    It is spearheading the company’s global growth program to increase its market share for x86 servers, with a worldwide server sales goal of 500,000 units in 2010.

  • Imeem App Helps iPhone Users Overcome Storage Limits


    Imeem has launched its Mobile social music application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

    The main thrust of the online streaming service is the ability to search and play millions of user-posted songs through a free downloadable app.
    But it also offers users cloud storage for music libraries and data files.

    By creating an imeem account on its Web site, you can upload up to 100 songs for free.

    It offers a VIP Subscription service for USD $29.99 per year, which allows 1,000 uploads, while USD $99.99 a year gives 20,000.

    The app is likely to prove popular with iPhone owners, particularly those with 8GB handset who find it isn’t sufficient to hold large playlists and music collections.

    The iPhone app follows one launched for Android last year.

    Dalton Caldwell, founder and CEO of imeem, said MyMusic enables music lovers to browse and stream their personal imeem music library.

    "People can upload up to 20,000 songs of the music they own directly to imeem.com, and then enjoy the songs on the go whenever they want without taking up additional storage on their mobile device," he said.

    imeem Mobile is now available from Apple’s App Store.