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  • iPhone 4 Turns up the Volume for MEMS Microphone Technology

    Highlighted by their adoption in Apple’s iPhone 4, microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphones are set to achieve a more than 50 percent increase in shipments in 2010 and a fourfold rise by 2014, according to the market research firm iSuppli.

    Global MEMS microphone shipments are set to expand to 695.5 million units this year, up 57.7 percent from 441 million in 2009. By 2014, shipments will rise to 1.7 billion units, four times the total for 2009.

    MEMS microphones are tiny microphones that employ a pressure-sensitive diaphragm etched on a semiconductor using microelectromechanical technology. They are commonly employed in cell phones, headsets, notebook PCs and video cameras, replacing conventional electret condenser microphones (ECM).

    “In a major milestone, Apple in 2010 employed MEMS microphones in the iPhone 4, the first time the company used the technology in the iPhone line,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and principal analyst, MEMS, for iSuppli.

    “Although Apple previously used MEMS microphones in the fifth-generation iPod nano released in 2009, the company exclusively had been employing ECM technology in the iPhone line. With this move, Apple in 2010 will become the world’s second-largest buyer of MEMS microphones, behind Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Apple was the sixth largest buyer in 2009,” he added.

    Although they are significantly more expensive than ECM devices, MEMS microphones provide a host of advantages in terms of size, scalability, temperature stability and sound quality.

    The iPhone 4 employs two separate MEMS microphones for noise suppression, a technique that reduces background sounds to improve the clarity of voice communications. Although noise suppression has been available since 2006, the arrival of Motorola’s Droid as well as the iPhone 4 has caused the popularity of the technology—and of MEMS microphones—to soar. The majority of smart phones by 2014 will use two or more MEMS microphones.

    The mobile handset market in 2010 is the largest consumer of MEMS microphones, ahead of notebook PCs. Headsets will form the third largest user of MEMS microphones, due to their use by Apple. By 2014, mobile handsets and notebook PCs will still be the largest application for MEMS microphones, followed by slate-type tablets, such as Apple’s iPad.

    Since establishing the business in 2003, MEMS microphone pioneer Knowles Electronics has maintained market dominance, with the company set to account for more than 80 percent of shipments this year. The company has benefitted from its strong intellectual property portfolio. However, competition is rising, with three of the world’s five largest MEMS microphone suppliers now being Asian suppliers of conventional ECM—AAC Acoustic Technologies Holdings Inc., BSE Co. Ltd. and Hosiden Corp.—all of which recently added the product to their portfolio. These companies buy MEMS die from Infineon Technologies, package them and sell them, using their existing channels. Analog Devices Inc. is the only other pure MEMS company in the Top 5.

  • Fring Launches Dynamic Video Quality Mobile Calling

    fring announced the rollout of its network-optimized DVQ mobile video calling technology. The company’s proprietary DVQ (dynamic video quality) technology adjusts video bit rate and frame rate according to the specific device to match current network bandwidth during a call, delivering the best possible video picture quality for available bandwidth between call peers.

    Where network capacity is constrained, fring’s DVQ technology dynamically adapts the video picture quality, rather than losing the video call while providing the best possible audio quality. In addition, with an integrated DVQ indicator, fring intelligently notifies users of changes in their network strength in real time.

    According to fring, mobile eco-system resources are "core" to the company’s product’s design and its use: DVQ technology adjusts to match bandwidth at every point of every call. This adaptive nature allows for changing call conditions and network availability which translates into more connected calls and fewer dropped calls. Importantly, users enjoy rich video calling according to network congestion and in step with operator’s bandwidth availability – at all traffic hours.

    “In the year since pioneering mobile video calls, we’ve seen that users network conditions change dramatically during and between video calls. That’s the nature of mobile experiences in heterogeneous networks,” said Alex Nerst, Co-Founder & CTO of fring.

    "DVQ lets users make the best use of the peer- to- peer network capacity available at any moment during a video call, regardless of if they’re stepping into an elevator, commuting on a train or simply walking away from their WiFi hub," he added.

    DVQ technology is compatible with all mobile data bearers: 3G, 4G, WIMax and WiFi and is currently available from the iPhone App Store and the Android market.

    Related news
    Pinger Aims to Bring Free Voip to iPod Touch and iPhone
    fringOut’s “Almost-Free Calls” Coming to Android
    Skype Now Available for Android Phones
    fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

  • LG Unveils E90 LED Monitor

    LG has just unveiled its new E90 monitor, the company’s slimmest LED monitor to date at just 7.2 mm in depth. It will be available starting this month in select markets.

    In keeping with its ultra slim design, the LG E90 places the power supply and the socket connecting the monitor with the PC on the back of the stand, an innovation called EZ-cabling.

    According to LG, in addition to the reduced footprint offered by its light weight and slim size, the E90 manages to reduce both energy consumption – as much as 40 percent less than conventional CCFL-backlit LCD monitors – and use of hazardous materials such as halogen and mercury in its manufacturing.

    The E90 is a good choice for watching action movies or sporting matches because, with a response time of just 2 milliseconds, the monitor’s display "remains clear and bright" even during fast-moving action sequences. Additionally, LG’s Image Booster software, blurry streaming content from video sites such as YouTube are significantly enhanced so they look terrific on the E90’s vivid display, as the company claims.

    "The E90 is the result of advanced technology and beautiful design coming together in perfect alignment," said Si-hwan Park, Vice President of LG’s monitor division.

    "With its revolutionary features in terms of design and picture quality, the E90 is the leading example of the company’s "SUPER LED" monitor line that is setting new benchmarks for style and performance," he added.

  • TI's OMAP4440 Processor Boasts New Upgrades

    Texas Instruments announced that the OMAP4440 applications processor enhancements deliver "impressive performance improvements" beyond the OMAP4430 processor, including a 1.25x increase in graphics performance, a 30 percent decrease in webpage load time, a 2x increase in 1080p video playback performance and clock speeds as fast as 1.5 GHz per ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore.

    According to TI, these marked performance advantages, along with other feature enhancements, reaffirm the OMAP 4 platform’s ability to drive today’s most coveted Smartphone and tablet user experiences, such as 1080p stereoscopic 3D (S3D), 1080p video conferencing and gesture recognition.

    "The increased performance given by the OMAP4440 applications processor illustrates TI’s ability to push mobile computing possibilities with the right processor architecture enveloped in the right platform," said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president, OMAP platform business unit, TI.

    "We seized an opportunity to enhance the platform capabilities driving the OMAP4430 processor’s success today. As OMAP4430 processor-based products hit the market in first half 2011, we’re arming our customers with a huge performance boost via an easy migration to OMAP4440 processor for their next wave of exciting devices. The resulting user experiences will radically impact how consumers continue to integrate mobile technology into their daily lives," he added.

    The OMAP 4 platform is a highly-optimized system-on-chip (SOC) leveraging two ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore general-purpose processors, reaching speeds of 1.5 GHz per core, complemented by two ARM Cortex-M3 cores to power-efficiently offload time-critical and control tasks.

    High-performance multimedia capabilities are provided by programmable cores including a POWERVR 3D graphics engine, TI IVA 3 for high-definition/multi-standard video, TI image signal processor (ISP) for high-quality/high-megapixels imaging, TI low-power audio processor and TI digital signal processor (DSP) based on the TI C64x DSP for natural user interface and signal processing innovations optimized for mobile applications.

    The OMAP 4 platform supports concurrent, high-performance processing and high-definition multimedia with dual, high-bandwidth memory channels. The platform is secured with TI M-Shield security, and delivers high performance within the small power budget of mobile devices by leveraging TI SmartReflex™ power and performance management technologies.

    The company has informed that OMAP4440 applications processor will sample in first quarter 2011, with production expected by the second half of 2011. These products are intended for high-volume wireless OEMs and ODMs and are not available through distributors.

  • KDDI to Deliver Video Conferencing Service

    Vidyo has announced that KDDI, a carrier headquartered in Japan will deliver a video conferencing service based on Vidyo’s multi-point, telepresence-quality solution. VidyoConferencing enables carriers, service providers and unified communications vendors to offer SVC-based video conferencing technology that delivers telepresence-quality over the Internet or general purpose IP networks.

    KDDI’s service will be available in Japan in January 2011.

    According to Vidyo, its architecture is the first in a new generation of software solutions that leverages the H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) video compression standard enabling a video stream to be broken into multiple resolutions, quality levels and bit rates. Utilizing this capability and Vidyo´s intellectual property, VidyoTechnology eliminates the Multipoint Control Unit (MCU), and offers unprecedented error resiliency enabling natural, high quality video to work over the Internet, LTE, 3G and 4G networks.

    Because Vidyo’s solution is software-based, it can easily be expanded, upgraded, and customized for customers’ individual Enterprise and vertical market video conferencing needs.

    "As the first SVC-based solution to eliminate the transcoding MCU, Vidyo reduces the latency in the video stream so our customers will enjoy superb, natural, telepresence-quality solution over KDDI’s Wide Area Virtual Switch Service, even over the Internet or wireless networks."said Yasuhisa Yamada, General Manager of Data Network Product Planning Department at KDDI.

    Ofer Shapiro, co-founder and CEO of Vidyo, said: "Carriers today need enterprise-ready, highly scalable, telepresence-quality solutions that can address both desktop and room system requirements. By leveraging our patented solution, KDDI is able to provide their customers with a communications service that is on the leading edge of video conferencing with bandwidth guaranteed circuits and best-effort network. KDDI’s service is further evidence of the growing worldwide interest and support we’re seeing today from service providers for our SVC-based video communication solutions."

  • Junction Networks Announces 10,000th Account

    Junction Networks has announced that MBLM NYC has become the company’s 10,000th customer of its hosted VoIP services. Following a merger, the New York-based branding firm chose to deploy OnSIP Hosted PBX service to "quickly deploy a complete communications solution and save on upfront investment."

    "When we merged with a larger company and needed to quickly deploy an additional 16 workstations, we decided to move from a PSTN Gateway service with Junction Networks to OnSIP, in order to save on upfront cost and get up and running quickly," said Olaf Kreitz, Partner, MBLM NYC.

    "We love that the service was easy to set up and also offers such a robust feature set. We did a lot of shopping around and found OnSIP to be the best value. The My.OnSIP feature has also become a fast favorite for us, as it allows each individual employee to manage their extension in so many ways," he added.

    OnSIP is available at an industry low average cost per user monthly of under $20 and offers a complete Unified Communications solution: hosted HD calling and conferencing, voicemail-to-email, instant messaging, presence, and more.

    "The addition of our 10,000th customer is a tremendous milestone for OnSIP and Junction Networks. OnSIP is quickly becoming the go-to hosted VoIP service for small businesses because it’s simple to use, a cinch to set up, and extremely cost effective," said Michael Oeth, CEO of Junction Networks. "We will continue to increase our service offerings and keep costs down to provide small businesses the benefits of an enterprise phone system for a fraction of the cost."

  • HDTV Rollout in China Continues to Power Cogo's Digital Media Growth

    Cogo, an embedded solutions and software provider for the technology and industrial sectors in China, continues to benefit from the strong roll-out of HDTV as total HDTV subscribers in China passed 2 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 2 million in July 2010.

    Cogo, in conjunction with its partner, a semiconductor company, provides customized solutions for HDTV set-top boxes ("STB") for use in both domestic China and various export markets.

    Additionally, Cogo, in conjunction with this same semiconductor partner, has recently launched an upgraded STB solution with additional functionality (including cable modem features) that carries a higher Average Selling Price ("ASP") for Cogo than the current solution.

    Cogo has already started shipping this new solution to its HDTV customers, and shipments are expected to ramp significantly in 2011. It is believed that China’s HDTV ecosystem will continue to evolve over the next five years and will require new platform upgrades to drive increased functionality. It is expected this trend will continually drive higher ASPs for Cogo’s customized solutions.

    Several factors are unfolding that are expecting to accelerate the HDTV ramp in 2011. First, an increasing number of cable operators are expected to roll-out HDTV over the next year. Second, the government will expand the number of HDTV channels from the current 12 to 42 by the end of 2011. Triple-play field trials started in the third quarter of 2010 and trials are active in 12 cities currently; the number of cities and scope of the trials are expected to ramp significantly in 2011. Finally, cable operators in China are utilizing "mass market" upgrade pricing packages for migration to HDTV services.

    "I am very pleased that Cogo continues to participate in the rapidly growing HDTV roll-out in China," commented Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogo.

    "We prove time and again and that we can quickly position ourselves to take advantage of the ‘sweet spot’ of rapidly growing new end markets, like 3G Smartphones, tablets, smart meters, autos and HDTV. Our order patterns in these end markets continue to drive upside to our revenue targets and provide strong visibility to maintaining high-growth in 2011," he concluded.

  • Businesses Must Get Smart with Mobile

    Smartphone adoption in leading European markets, including the UK, has now topped 60 million[1], and predictions forcast that by 2013 smartphones will overtake PCs as the dominant web access service[2].

    This burgeoning market presents huge opportunities for businesses to maintain contact with consumers 24/7 and influence purchase decisions in ways never before thought possible.

    Richard Baker, managing director, Sequence explains how and why businesses should take advantage of this.

    Prior to smartphones, mobile advertising was limited to opt-in mobile messaging and small ad banners, which were often difficult for the mobile user to read or be impressed by.

    The advent of smartphones and our growing dependency on them creates opportunities for companies to exploit, and as a result, clever brands are increasingly shifting focus from hard sell, (SMS, banner adverts) to engagement.

    Applications present great opportunities for businesses to interact with customers through a device that is personal to them. If brands can create two-way relationships with customers through their smartphone, it can open up a direct channel for engagement.

    The challenge for businesses is how they initiate these relationships. Rather than being a passive audience to messaging, consumers are increasingly asking ‘what‘s in it for me?’.

    Entertainment applications have proved an effective tool to help engage brands with consumers who might not normally buy their products, while also incorporating mentions of products and services. Barclaycard’s Waterslide Extreme game, launched earlier this year, immediately captured consumers’ attention with over 32,000 people downloading the application on its first day.

    Business should also consider focusing on value, creating apps that customers perceive as improving their lives, or brightening their day. This can generate positive brand impressions, and keep users returning on a daily basis to be exposed to the brand.

    Snow+Rock recently worked with us to release a practical application for hikers to download maps, popular routes and up-to-date weather information; helping Snow+Rock engage customers by improving their hiking experience, while also promoting the brand’s outdoor equipment and clothing.

    Burger King also understand the benefits of providing value, and do so through mobile coupons; consumers who use the BK app receive vouchers and discounts, direct to their phone, which they can redeem in Burger King stores by showing to staff on their Smartphone.

    Smartphones have become a channel that is increasingly difficult to ignore. As we see more businessess turn to mobile applications, a focus on engagement through branded, practical, and entertaining content will provide advantage to those looking to build relationships, direct sell to customers, and importantly, create advocates for the brand.

    Businesses must however make sure that any application they do create is carefully thought out, incorporates brand values and importantly, works as they are intended. A shoddy application can do more damage than good to a brand’s reputation.

    As with all new technologies, there is a period of uncertainty as users come to understand how they can be used most effectively. Businesses now realise the possibilities this new era in digital offers to them, and are only just beginning to explore its potential.

    [1] The Chartered Institute for IT
    [2] Economist Intelligence Unit

  • GSMA Opens Brand App Challenge for Mobile World Congress 2011

    The GSMA today announced that it is now accepting entries for its Brand App Challenge, a competition in which mobile application developers create “brand apps” for a select group of global consumer brands. Winners will be named at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, which will be held 14-17 February, 2011 in Barcelona.

    Developers will compete by creating customised mobile apps for the participating brand sponsors based on the objectives and guidance provided by the individual brands. The apps will address a wide range of mobile operating systems including Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry OS 6, HP webOS, Symbian and Windows Phone 7.

    "The Brand App Challenge will create networking and business opportunities which benefit the brands, application developers and the broader mobile ecosystem,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer at the GSMA. “This competition taps the creativity and capabilities of the mobile application developer community to address brand and industry challenges.”

    Developers can sign up for the Brand App Challenge via an online portal and then upload a brief video demonstrating their proposed brand app. Each brand will select five finalists who will then compete to become the ultimate winner for the respective brands.

    Submissions for the Brand App Challenge will be accepted until 10 January and the finalists will be named approximately one month before Mobile World Congress 2011. The Brand App Challenge winners will be announced as part of the Mobile World Congress conference programme and will receive cash awards for their winning efforts.

    The Brand App Challenge is an integral element of App Planet, the GSMA’s developer-focused programme at Mobile World Congress. Working with App Planet ADC partners such as Google, Nokia, Palm, RIM and Samsung, as well as with its Macworld Mobile partner IDG Expo, the GSMA will target hundreds of thousands of developers worldwide to encourage participation in the Brand App Challenge.

  • 3X Systems to Distribute Private Cloud Backup Appliance to Canadian Computer Resellers

    3X Systems, manufacturer of the 3X RBA Remote Backup Appliance, announced a distribution agreement with Foreseeson Technology, of Richmond, British Columbia. Foreseeson Technology will distribute the 3X Systems portfolio of backup appliances through its network of Canadian resellers.

    By expanding its distribution into Canada, 3X can help more small and medium organizations, as well as divisions of larger companies, to easily and automatically implement secure private cloud infrastructures for complete control, governance, and protection of all of their data in a cost-effective unified manner.

    “3X Systems is very pleased to be able to offer our revolutionary backup solutions through Foreseeson,” said Alan Arman, Founder and CEO of 3X Systems. “Foreseeson’s IT Distribution Division’s expertise in high-availability, disaster recovery, storage, networking and virtualization solutions makes them a natural partner for our Remote Backup Appliance (RBA) products. We look forward to a long relationship bringing value to Canadian resellers and end users.”

    “We are excited about bringing the 3X backup solutions into our IT offerings,” said Brian Cherrin, General Manager, distribution division of Foreseeson. “The 3X RBA enables businesses to easily deploy a private backup cloud that combines the benefits of high-speed, on-premise backup with the convenience of remote backup for true disaster recovery – without monthly recurring fees. Our resellers will be able to offer a robust backup solution at an affordable price-point with the capability of hosting the RBA and managing it for their clients.”

    3X Systems offers three RBA solutions to align with customers’ data volumes: 500, Tera, and Enterprise series. Each enables businesses full data backup and recovery and automatic connection to servers, desktops, and laptops on one appliance. The unique private cloud architecture keeps a client’s data safe, private, quick-to-recover and always in their possession. Sold exclusively through resellers, the 3X RBA product line provides data de-duplication for maximum storage capacity and SSL encryption for total data security.