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  • Mobile Phone Sales Fell in 2012 While Smartphones Thrived

    Half of last year, the research and market analysis company Gartner warned that sales of handsets are in decline, the final report for last year, which was published today, confirming the trend observed in August.

    The unfavorable economic climate that people from Gartner blame for this negative trend, has affected the sales figure for mobile phones. Producers managed to sell 1.75 billion pieces, a 1.7 percent decrease compared to performances recorded in 2011.

    The least demanded products were the featurephones, in the last three months they managing to attract only 264.4 million customers, a figure that marks a sharp drop of 19.3 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

    In the same three months of last year, smartphone sales reached a record level, the 207.7 million units representing a jump of 38.3 percent compared to the last quarter of 2011. In 2013, Gartner estimates that sales of smartphones will reach one billion and the entire mobile phone market will recover and reach a figure of approximately 1.9 billion pieces.

    Rivals Samsung and Apple have captured 52 percent of the market. South Koreans last year sold 386.4 million mobile phones, of which 53.3% were smartphones, while Apple, which is only selling smartphones, has sold 130 million handsets, an increase of 22 percent from 2011.

    According to Gartner, the Android platform has captured nearly 70 percent of smartphone market in the last quarter, followed by the iOS, down nearly 3 percent, BlackBerry OS, also in decrease, and Windows Phone, which managed to reach a modest market share of only 3 percent, but which represents almost double compared to the situation in late 2011.

  • Verizon names data and battery hogs

    Verizon Wireless in a relatively unprecedented move by a carrier has started a campaign of rating and reviewing of apps for both Android and iPhone. On whats grounds?

    • Respect for users' privacy,
    • User battery drain while on use,
    • Data plan usage while on use.

    Verizon has not made any friends by opening this can of worms, although its usefulness to users is relatively unquestioned among experts. The worst rated apps have been popular games (among them OMGPOPs Draw Something and Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja,) and even heavyweights like Facebook and MSN Messenger have got low grades for its persistent connection.

    It remains to be seen how this impacts users and Verizon's network. Will this be the beginning of a recommendation scheme to alleviate carriers' nightmares?

  • Apple Launches iOS 6.1: Short List of Improvements

    Apple has released an update package for the 6.1 version of its iOS software platform, bringing few improvements. iOS 6.1 is a minor update designed to improve the LTE compatibility and to repair a series of vulnerabilities.

    iOS 6.1 expands the LTE support for 36 operators in 17 countries, this feature being offered to the iPhone 5, iPad 4th generation tablets and iPad Mini. Those who are using the 3rd generation of iPad will be limited by the LTE support of the modem used by Apple.

    The list of software innovations includes the integration within Siri of the possibility of purchasing movie tickets through Fandalgo, feature limited to the United States, and the possibility of individual downloading and deleting music tracks downloaded from iTunes Match, option that existed in iOS 5, but which disappeared from iOS 6 until this new version.

    iOS 6.1 brings improvements and strengthens the security in the operating system kernel and the modules WebKit, StoreKit and Identity Services, as well as eliminating a security vulnerability discovered in the Broadcom wireless drivers that affected the models iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4th generation and iPad 2.

    The list of minor innovations also includes the possibility of removing identification codes used by advertisers, option available in the General/About/Advertising menu, and small changes in the interface, such as redesign of audio playback control buttons in Lock Screen.

    According to Apple, of the 600 million Apple products running the iOS, half of them are using the latest major release of the operating system.

  • RIM to license its technology out to other hardware manufacturers?

    Research in Motion is thinking ahead, while the Blackberry 10 is about to hit the market. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins told Die Welt that they are examining the possibility of selling their hardware to other hardware manufacturers in the future. This means that they could license their technologies and provide them to others, leaving behind their exclusivity, which had its advantages, but also its disadvantages.

    More specifically, he mentioned:

    "There are several options, including the sale of the hardware production is as much as licensing our software. But there is no reason for us to decide in hectic. It is important first of all, BlackBerry 10 successfully putting them on the market. Then we shall see."

    Altough it is still early to predict the future of RIM, it could be a good choice, which could significantly expand their audience. Especially now with the release of Blackberry 10 that they have put all their hopes on, it could be a wise move indeed for such a thought.

    For the time being they are focusing on the promotion of BB10, enlarging its hype and raising the anticipation level. For example, RIM's stock is following the general hype that favors RIM, jumping more than 10% the last week. And BB10 has not even launched to justify the general optimism.

    If it is a success, as they wish, why not plan for bigger things?

  • LG Optimus G Pro: a new generation of LG Optimus handsets

    LG is already planning to release the next generation of LG Optimus G, hoping that it will be successful, too. Optimus G was a decent choice for a smartphone and it has received relatively good reviews. Now it is rumored that Optimus G Pro will be the new generation of Optimus handsets, coming as the upgrade of the older version.

    Optimus G was a decent choice for a smartphone and it has received relatively good reviews. Now it is rumored that Optimus G Pro will be the new generation of Optimus handsets, coming as the upgrade of the older version. Optimus G Pro will have a 5-inch display, a 1080p resolution, 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and LTE in order to reach 4G speeds.

    What's more, it will have 2GB RAM, 32GB memory and it will run on Android Jelly Bean. It will weigh 160g and it will have a 13MP camera and a 2.4MP front camera. Judging by the rumored specifications, it seems that it LG Optimus G Pro has the potential to sell even more handsets than Optimus G. The main disadvantage for Optimus G was the old version of Android it was running, but as it seems LG is planning to fix it with Optimus G Pro and the Android Jelly Bean.

    Thus, a similar but improved version of Optimus G and (hopefully) at a similar price might be a good choice for a smartphone and possibly a good competitor for Samsung and Nexus phones.

  • Mozilla Presents The First Firefox OS Smartphones

    Mozilla Foundation announced its first handsets powered by Firefox OS. Named Keon and Peak, the new mobile devices are developed by Telefonica and Geeksphone and are designed for developers interested in the platform.

    The first terminal, Keon, does not have too impressive specifications, but Mozilla Foundation’s ambitions also aims to emerging markets, where the price is a critical issue.

    Keon offers a 3.5-inch display with HVGA resolution, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor clocked at 1 GHz, RAM memory with a capacity of 512 MB and 4 GB internal storage which can be expanded with a MicroSD card. The first Firefox OS handset offers a 2G tri-band modem and 3G quad-band plus 802.11n wireless connectivity. The features list also includes a 3-megapixel camera, a battery with a capacity of 1580 mAh, GPS and accelerometer.

    With this terminal, Telefonica and Geeksphone have developed a second model, more impressive in terms of hardware, but the fact that Mozilla did not mention this product makes us think that this one might be launched later.

    Peak will offer a 4.3-inch screen, IPS panel and qHD resolution, while the hardware platform will be a much more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip, clocked at 1.2 GHz. Connectivity and storage facilities are the same, but Peak’s camera will have a 8-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixle front partner, the battery also making a jump to 1800 mAh.

    Unfortunately, Mozilla Foundation has not communicated the price of these terminals, but they will be launched the next month.

  • Alcatel-Lucent and Reliance Communications enter long term billion dollar contract

    Alcatel-Lucent and Reliance Communications (RCOM), a telecommunications service provider for India, announced that they had signed a contract for an innovative, end-to-end network that will provide service for customers in the Eastern and Southern regions of India through the year 2020.

    This contract means that the current business agreement between RCOM and Alcatel-Lucent will be continued with an additional 1 billion USD.

    The customer demand for communications applications and services is ever-changing and constantly evolving, thus making this agreement even more significant. According to the companies, the contract offers the first fully-integrated line of services for India, and is among only a handful across the world.

    Through the aid of Alcatel-Lucent, RCOM will combine both the wireless and wireline departments into a single, synergized organization. With this new streamlining in place, RCOM can then direct their energy toward business expansion and maintaining high-level communication services to patrons. RCOM's current practices and tools, with the help of Alcatel-Lucent, will be standardized in order to enable the optimum level of efficiency throughout the company.

    Through this contract, Reliance Communications will be able to provide quality and reliability across a variety of devices and connection mediums for its customer base. One of the first steps on Alcatel-Lucent's end of the deal will be to implement next-generation OSS (operation support systems), as well as high-end tools for improved network capabilities for the wireless, wireline, and long-distance features that RCOM has to offer. By working together, these two major companies will forge a road that the modern digital communications society of India demands.

    Gurdeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer of the Wireless Business division for RCOM, and Rajeev Singh-Molares, President of the Asia-Pacific division of Alcatel-Lucent, both commented on the contract, saying that the partnership can only bring good things for both companies, who have had a long-standing, positive relationship. Reliance Communications hopes to emerge from this agreement as the leading provider of voice and data communications services. The main priorities of Alcatel-Lucent in the relationship will be to improve quality and providing a reliable customer experience throughout all service areas.

    RCOM's Chief Executive Officer, Punit Garg, and Alcatel-Lucent India's President and Managing Director, Munish Seth, are both confident that the enhanced bond between the companies will bring great things, allowing customers to gain access to state-of-the-art technologies through this entirely re-invigorated, re-envisioned provider. Alcatel-Lucent has over 20 years of experience with outsourcing and network operation, with over 100 operations across the globe

  • Comcast and Google welcome ARRIS Group into Relationship

    Comcast has thrown its hat in the cable box and modem arena by pledging to invest in the ARRIS Group, Inc. to the tune of $150 million. In return for its investment, Comcast will acquire about 10.6 million shares of ARRIS, which amounts to approximately 7.85 percent of the company.

    The stock was purchased from Google, which previously owned 15.7 percent of ARRIS but with the Comcast deal found its shares reduced in half. This deal makes Comcast and Google equal holders of common stock in the company.

    Although Bob Stanzione, ARRIS CEO seemed pleased, "We believe this investment by one of our largest customers is a strong indication of customer support for the Motorola Home acquisition and its potential to accelerate innovation to the benefit of the industry and consumers." The deal between Comcast and ARRIS is small compared to ARRIS's acquisition of Motorola Home for $2.35 billion from Google. Motorola Home was part of Motorola Mobility, which was in turn a subsidiary of Google Inc. It is expected that ARRIS will be an active participant in Comcast and that the two companies will work in close conjunction with each other.

    The result is, that after the dust settles, Comcast will have its foot in the door by owning part (7.85%) of the ARRIS Group's broadband media technological empire. ARRIS owns Motorola Home and Google is richer by $2.35 billion from the Motorola Home sale and $150 million from the Comcast deal. Additionally Google's shares of common stock in the ARRIS Group are now down to 7.85 percent.

  • Facebook, Google and Amazon reportedly outsourcing new storage product orders to Taiwan-based ODMs

    Inexpensive data storage boxes from Taiwan are being picked up in lieu of storage arrays from Dell, EMC, HP and NetApp by Facebook and other vast data-centre operators such as Google and Amazon.

    Supply chain insiders say that the juggernaut that is Facebook is about to buy bargain storage kits from original design manufacturers, or ODMs, based in Taiwan. Original design manufacturers work with customer specifications to design and produce hardware. Both Quanta Computer and Wistron will be likely bidders for Facebook's supply contracts.

    Facebook looks to save a small fortune by using arrays defined by its Open Compute Project standard and running its own software. It's quite possible this may not even occur, as reports from Far East supply chain sources tend to be a little questionable, but the information is interesting nonetheless.

    Using ODMs for storage gear doesn't come as a big surprise; Facebook is merely following a trend. According to Digitimes, Google buys all its servers from ODMs and Amazon follows suit about 30 per cent of the time.

    Sales of standardised hardware via distribution channel partners to the West and beyond could start happening anytime. Amazon, Baidu and other cloud giants are likely to expand their services into the cloud; businesses are purchasing fewer storage arrays because of the cloud, so it's no surprise that Amazon, Baidu and others are making forays into this area.

    DEY Storage, a startup company, claims it can follow the trend started by Amazon, Facebook and Google. The company claims they can unbundle "storage management from the physical layer to provide customers with a storage system which is massively scalable and designed to align and integrate with their services-based infrastructures".

    The current crop of servers, storage and network switch vendors may have to look to Taiwan for a new model if they want to continue to be successful.

  • Voxbone Launches VoIP Emergency-Calling Service in Europe

    VoIP telephony service providers are struggling to meet European regulatory requirements and market demand for access to emergency-calling services. Inability to fulfill these needs is deterring many enterprises from migrating to VoIP-based telecommunications and is necessitating costly, complex arrangements for those that make the move.

    Voxbone today launched an easily-set-up,cost-effective solution: VoxOUT, which enables providers of cloud communications, SIP trunking and other enterprise VolP services to support emergency calling.

    Available initially in seven countries – the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark – VoxOUT is claimed to be the first wholesale service that supports telephone access to emergency services in multiple European countries from a single IP-based interconnection. As a result, VoxOUT helps customers avoid the cost and complexity of alternatives for providing emergency-calling services in Europe, which require interconnecting with a local telco in each country or managing a local VoIP-to-PSTN gateway at every customer location.

    When a Voxbone customer’s subscriber calls an emergency number, Voxbone connects the call via the PSTN to the closest emergency service center. According to Voxbone, this process is completed in seconds and works with any SIP-compatible service platform.

    VoxOUT is available as an add-on to Voxbone’s VoxDID service, which offers global service providers local geographical telephone numbers and call capacity from more than 4,000 cities in 50-plus countries. VoxOUT is priced at a flat rate.

    “Our new VoxOUT service gives VoIP providers a competitive advantage when targeting European and multinational enterprises by helping them overcome one of the biggest barriers to migrating to VoIP,” said Voxbone CEO Rod Ullens.

    “While wholesale access to emergency services is widely available in North America, this is not common in other countries. This complicates things for U.S.-based cloud communication providers wanting to expand their services internationally. Combined with powerful IP-based communications applications and traditional voice-termination services for local calls to regular phone numbers, VoxOUT enables cloud providers to offer communications services that are superior to old-style telephony at all levels.”

    The company also informed that later this year, itwill make VoxOUT available in additional European countries, "followed by other major markets based on customer needs."