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  • Sony Commercializes World's First 16MP CMOS Sensors for Mobile Phones

    Sony announced the commercialization of two new "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS image sensors with improved photographic performance including high sensitivity and low noise.

    In addition, Sony will launch two new lens modules equipped with these image sensors, which also include the smallest and thinnest model for mobile phones. This is also the first time that "Exmor R" is commercialized for the use in mobile phones.

    "IMX081PQ" is world’s first type 1/2.8 back-illuminated CMOS image sensor which realizes 16.41 effective megapixel resolution, and adopts the industry’s smallest unit pixel size of 1.12μm achieved by the fine pixel fabrication process technology. In theory, when a unit pixel size is made smaller, there are also some issues such as color mixture among smaller unit pixels. Sony said they solved this problem by implementing a “unique” formation of photo diodes optimally designed for fine pixel structure to realize a CMOS image sensor with high resolution, high sensitivity and low noise.

    "IMX105PQ" is a type 1/3.2 back-illuminated CMOS image sensor which realizes 8.13 effective megapixel resolutions for higher sensitivity and adopts a unit pixel size of 1.4μm. By embedding these highly sensitive sensors into mobile phones, including those without camera flash, users can capture high quality photos and videos even in low light settings.

    Furthermore, Sony will commercialize "IU081F" and "IU105F2" compact auto-focus lens modules which include the two new "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. According to Sony, these down-sized modules are “suitable and efficient for mobile phones with relatively limited space and are equipped with high performance lens which maximize the image sensors’ respective performances.”

    "IU081F" is the industry’s smallest and thinnest auto-focus lens module (W10.5 X D10.5 X H7.9mm) and is equipped with the 16.41 megapixel CMOS image sensor. "IU105F2" adopts the 8.13 effective megapixel CMOS image sensor, and belongs in the industry’s smallest and thinnest size class (W8.5 X D8.5 X H5.67mm).

    Sony first announced the development of "Exmor R" on Jun, 2008. "Exmor R" has been incorporated in Sony’s digital imaging products since 2009, and its use in other products has continued to expand.

    In this back-illuminated CMOS image sensor, light is directed onto the silicon substrate from behind, allowing light to be used with a level of efficiency not possible with conventional front-illuminated structures.

    Since 2009, Sony has been mass producing "Exmor R" for Digital Still Cameras and Digital Video Camcorders on wafer lines (with diameter of 200mm). At the end of 2010, the company plans to start the mass production of "Exmor R," including those for mobile phones announced today, on cutting-edge wafer lines (with diameter of 300mm).

  • Motorola and Verizon Introduce Droid Pro

    Verizon Wireless and Motorola today unveiled Droid Pro, an Android 2.2-based smartphone optimized for business use.

    According to the companies, Droid Pro meets employers’ and employees’ needs by addressing the productivity tools businesses require, including corporate connectivity and security; full push corporate e-mail with corporate level security; unified calendar with additional work features and pre-loaded Quickoffice Mobile Suite, a 1 GHz processor; 4 GB of memory (2 GB internal; and 2 GB removable) and a QWERTY keyboard.

    Among other features are:
    – multi-touch 3.1-inch display;
    – 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with dual LED flash;
    – Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support;
    – 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities (allows customers to connect up to five other Wi-Fi-enabled devices and laptops);
    – dual-mode CDMA/GSM chip for worldwide roaming;
    – Wi-Fi-enabled DNLA connectivity;
    – 3G diversity antennae;
    – global roaming support in more than 220 countries and data coverage in more than 200 countries.

    Droid Pro also has built-in security features, including AuthenTec IPSec multi-headed VPN integration, remote wipe of device and SD card, and complex password support. The company informed that device and SD card encryption will be available in early 2011.

    The new Motorola’s handset will be available in the first week of November.

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  • Gartner: The Use of Mobile Fraud Detection in Mobile Commerce Environments is Imperative

    By year-end 2013, location information or profile information from mobile phones will be used to validate 90 percent of mobile transactions, according to Gartner.

    The research firm says that the rapid adoption of smartphones is forcing banks, social networks and other e-commerce providers to implement the kinds of fraud detection capabilities that have become mainstream with fixed-line computing.

    "Because of the improving browser experiences on smartphones, mobile commerce and transaction execution are set to increase rapidly," said William Clark, research vice president at Gartner. "We estimate that by the end of 2013, 12.5 percent of all e-commerce transactions will be mobile."

    "Enterprise applications must detect fraud in these mobile environments, but fraud detection tools available today that work in fixed-line computing environments don’t work well or at all in the mobile world," Clark said.

    "There are a number of methods that can be implemented to help enterprises detect fraud in the mobile space, but they are still in their early stages of development, and it will take until at least 2012 for them to transform from embryonic applications to technically mature systems that work easily and transparently across disparate mobile networks," he added.

    According to Gartner, fraud prevention methods available today to mobile applications include:

    Mobile device identification — This is enabled through a JavaScript on the server that the user logs in to, which captures whatever information it can get from the user’s browser and phone, depending on whether the user is using a browser or native application. If the application is browser-based, then the JavaScript application captures whatever information it can get from the user’s browser to uniquely identify that particular user’s browser and mobile device. If the mobile application is native and residing on the mobile handset, native applications can additionally gather the phone’s serial number and network card number. This will require opt-in by the user.

    Location of device — This is based on the phone’s location information independent of the browser (IP address), so the user does not have to have his or her mobile browser application open for this to work; the phone only needs to be turned on. Enterprises may want to check and correlate the location of the device relative to anything else they know about the user’s location through other systems they may interact with at the enterprise. For mobile phones, there are two architectures that are used to obtain location information: One relies on device information (e.g., using the GPS-API applications that the user must opt into); the other employs APIs provided through mobile network operators that don’t require the users to opt in to releasing this information.

    Some online fraud detection vendors are starting to tune their risk scoring and/or rule-based models specifically for mobile applications — For example, some vendors are looking at the mobile device itself, the location of the phone, and the behavior of the user inside the host application while transacting from the phone. This area is very new to the fraud detection vendors, as there is little mobile transaction experience to draw on in order to build effective risk models and scores that significantly improve on risk models that have already been built for fixed-line computing. It tries to combine some of the methods listed above, including mobile device identification and examining the location of the mobile phone in relation to other information known about the user and his/her location.

    Gartner estimates that 70 percent of the largest 20 global card issuers (who authorize more than 50 percent of all payment card transactions) will gradually adopt mobile context information to help detect fraud on fixed-line transactions, and that by year-end 2015, more than 15 percent of all payment card transactions will be validated using context-aware profile information.

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  • fringOut’s “Almost-Free Calls” Coming to Android

    Two weeks after releasing fringOut that enables users to make cheap calls to any regular landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world, with rates as low as 1¢ a minute, fring announced the service is now available for Android phones.

    fring’s new service is currently available also for Nokia S60 (Symbian) devices and will soon be available on iPhone.

    fringOut’s rates for Germany, US, UK and India starts at 1¢.

    A list of rates is available at fring.com/fringOut/rates

    fring users will still be able to use other SIP service through fring (“We are sure you’ll love fringOut’s simplicity and its low prices. If for some reason, you still want to use other SIP providers, you are welcome too,” the company said).

    All the other fring features, like fring to fring calls (audio and video) are still available for free. The option to send an sms using fringOut credit is currently not available.

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  • Skype Now Available for Android Phones

    Skype has just announced the release of Skype for Android, a client for mobile handsets, built for smartphones running Android OS version 2.1 or above.

    Skype said that the application has been tested successfully by the company on HTC Desire, HTC Legend, Google Nexus One, Motorola Milestone XT720, and Motorola Milestone. It may work on other Android phones, but the company can’t guarantee full functionality or compatibility.

    In the US, Skype for Android calling works over WiFi only. Outside the US the app works over WiFi or mobile data connection (GPRS, EDGE, 3G). It is not available in China and Japan at this moment.

    The application is downloadable for free from the Android Market and supports the following languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese & Traditional Chinese.

    Mark Douglas, Product Manager of Android said: "The Skype experience is ubiquitous today. More and more people are using Skype to do things together when apart. With the addition of Android, we are pleased that Skype is now available on three of the most popular mobile platforms today: Android, iOS and Symbian"

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  • Microsoft Files Patent Infringement Action Against Motorola

    Microsoft today filed a patent infringement action against Motorola for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones.

    The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are “essentiall” to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.

    ”We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market. Motorola needs to stop its infringement of our patented inventions in its Android smartphones," said Horacio Gutierrez, Motorola’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing.

  • Avaya and Skype Team Up to to Collaborate on Unified Communications

    Avaya and Skype have announced a strategic agreement to deliver communications and collaboration solutions to businesses of all sizes. The multi-phase deal includes both go-to-market and a joint technology integration.

    In the first phase of the agreement, Avaya customers in the U.S. market will have access to Skype Connect, a product which adds Skype calling to IP-based enterprise communications systems, providing a SIP communications channel between Avaya communications systems and Skype.

    According to Avaya, Customers with Avaya Aura Session Manager or Avaya Aura SIP Enablement Server, CS1000, Avaya IP Office, or BCM systems can use Skype Connect to place calls globally “for increased reach, while aiming to save on international calling.” Enterprise-level security and features such as tracking, recording, regulatory compliance, and more are provided by the Avaya system.

    Skype reported 124 million average monthly connected users during the second quarter of 2010. Now, Skype users can make inbound calls to Avaya customers in the U.S. market for free or at a low cost. Calls will be treated with Avaya’s routing, conferencing, messaging, mobility and contact center capabilities, as well as other collaboration services.

    For example, businesses can:
    • Establish Skype Click & Call buttons for inbound calling from Web sites
    • Establish Skype Online Numbers for inbound calling from landline and mobile phones
    • Route inbound calls from a Skype user to an enterprise extension.

    In the second half of 2011, Avaya and Skype plan to deliver integrated unified communications and collaboration solutions for enterprises within the U.S. The integration is intended to establish federation between Avaya Aura and Skype communications platforms and both user communities, so that an Avaya end-user and Skype user can engage and interact via presence, instant messaging, voice and video.

    According to the companies, a business, for example, could use Skype to access an Avaya-based contact center “in a simple and highly integrated way to quickly and efficiently resolve customer service issues.” The integrated solutions will also allow enterprise IT managers to manage and control the inter-connectivity between end users to meet their corporate IT policies.

    "Our relationship with Avaya is expected to expand the footprint for Skype Connect into more enterprises in the U.S. market, while allowing us to help Avaya’s customers benefit from Skype’s cost savings and access to Skype’s global user base," said David Gurlé, vice president and general manager of Skype for Business.

    "We believe our integrated solution in the second half of 2011 is expected to offer the benefits of Skype to a growing number of businesses and open up new ways for people to communicate and collaborate," he added.

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  • Marvell Unveils 1.5 GHz Tri-Core Processor Capable of 1080p 3D Video for Smartphones

    Marvell has introduced the world’s first 1.5 GHz tri-core application processor, the Marvell ARMADA 628. It incorporates a full System-on-a-Chip design (SoC) with three Marvell-designed, ARM-compliant CPU cores operating as the world’s first commercially available heterogeneous, multi-core, applications processor.

    The tri-core design of new ARMADA integrates two symmetric multiprocessing cores and a third core optimized for ultra low-power. The third core is designed to support routine user tasks and acts as a system management processor to monitor and dynamically scale power and performance.

    According to Marvell, the tri-core architecture provides superior performance and lower power over dual-core designs “while maintaining industry compatibility and leadership – ensuring a richer, faster and smoother experience than any other ARM-based processor available today.”

    The architecture is analogous to a hybrid muscle car. The ARMADA 628 is intended to perform like a race car engine on demand, while still delivering the frugal gas-mileage of a hybrid automobile. In real world terms, this enables the ARMADA 628 to play more than 10 hours of full 1080p HD video or 140 hours of music on a single charge while still providing 3 GHz of raw computational horsepower.

    The new Marvell’s processor comprises a complete SoC design – a first for the industry. In addition to the tri-core CPU, there are six additional processing engines to support 3D graphics, 1080p video encode/decode, ultra high fidelity audio, advanced cryptography, and digital photo data processing – for a total of nine dedicated core functions.

    The company said that the ARMADA 628 is also designed to be the first mobile CPU to provide high-speed USB 3.0 connectivity, which offers 10x faster performance than USB 2.0.

    "Marvell’s groundbreaking tri-core architecture is a unique solution to a long-time problem-how to achieve enterprise performance without breaking the limited power budget of smartphones, tablets and other mobile consumer devices," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group.

    The ARMADA 628 is based on a Marvell-designed ARM v7 MP compatible CPU offering 1.5 GHz performance. It offers support to use LP-DDR2 or DDR3 memory up to 533 MHz, a highly flexible display controller capable of driving four simultaneous displays at up t o 2K x 2K resolution, and a highly robust security subsystem that includes a secure execution processor.

    An integrated 3D engine renders 200 million triangles per second for an immersive game play experience and a multi-format video engine supports dual stream 1080p video for a true 3D visual experience. In addition, the ARMADA 628 supports DirectX, Open GL ES 2.0, and Open VG 1.1 – ensuring complete compatibility with the most hotly anticipated mobile game titles.

    ARMADA 628 supports RIM OS, Android™, Linux, Windows Mobile, and full Adobe Flash.

  • Survey: 79% of Consumers Have Experienced Poor Voice Quality

    According to a recent survey undertaken by the Customer Experience Foundation (CEF) on behalf of Empirix, 79 percent of consumers have experienced poor voice quality.

    The study asked 3,925 consumers about their experiences in dealing with contact centers and identified technology related trends and common problems that are affecting customer service and costing organizations around the world billions of dollars.

    The high percentage of global consumers that highlighted poor voice quality as a common problem points to a real issue in the industry. The study also revealed that poor voice quality drives down sales volumes, increases call lengths and the number of calls that are forced to be redialed. As a result, churn rates can increase for both customers and staff. The magnitude of the problem is indicative of how much businesses are struggling to come to terms with this issue, while consumers are quickly losing patience.

    "The word most associated in the study by consumers with poor voice quality was stress, which is not a word organizations want associated with their customers’ experiences," said Tim Moynihan, vice president of marketing, Enterprise business unit, Empirix.

    "Nearly half of the consumers who commented also felt that poor voice quality was a sign that companies really didn’t value their business-at a time when ensuring customer loyalty is more important than ever in any industry. When you analyze the problems with the core issue of poor voice quality, it equates to costing the industry billions of dollars, directly impacting the bottom line of organizations across the globe," he said.

    Other key survey findings include:
    ● Consumers say that 42 percent of all call center calls are impacted by poor voice quality.
    ● Thirty percent of consumers who experienced poor voice quality said it happened in more than half of their calls, with 68 percent of those saying they would usually hang up as a result, and if they were calling about a new product or service, they would call a competing company instead.
    ● Twenty-six percent of consumers say they need to redial to complete a transaction.
    ● Only one in six companies said they used specialist tools to manage voice quality, so it is no surprise that 72 percent of the businesses polled said they had frequent voice quality issues for which they could not identify the root causes.
    ● "Stress" is the most commonly used word when consumers were asked to explain how they felt after a poor voice quality call was completed.
    ● Case studies show that consumers are often forced to repeat themselves on calls as a result of poor voice quality.

    "Consumers are quickly losing patience with companies that suffer from poor voice quality-truth is, it’s a consumer’s market; they have choices in today’s market," said Professor Morris Pentel, chairman at Customer Experience Foundation.

    "Consumers are having major issues that they will not tolerate, which has obvious ramifications for businesses. Customer and agent churn will increase if they are unable to communicate with each other, not to mention the loss of new business opportunities, such as upsells or new products and offerings. Organizations with a reputation for poor customer service are simply pushing their customers toward their competitors, which impacts market share and the bottom line."

    The survey had more than 5,140 responses online and by telephone, which came from call center and IT Professionals in the U.S., UK, France and Germany, as well as 3,925 consumers.

  • Grandstream Introduces New HD Enterprise SIP Telephone

    Grandstream has extended the portfolio of its GXP series enterprise SIP telephones with the introduction of the new GXP2110.

    Based on Grandstream’s broadly interoperable SIP stack, “the GXP2110 SIP telephone delivers superior HD audio quality for crystal clear voice communications, packed IP telephony features and integrated Web applications, as well as support for highly flexible XML customization and strong security protection,” as the company says.

    The new GXP2110 SIP phone comes standard with HD handset and high performance full duplex speakerphone, a broad range of voice codecs, dual network ports with integrated PoE, 4 line keys, 3 soft keys, 18 programmable BLF keys, 5-way conferencing, large 240×120 backlit graphical LCD with 8-level grayscale, multiple languages, large phone book and call log (2,000 records), automated provisioning using TR-069 and encrypted XML file, extension module expandability, and a number of integrated Web applications such as real-time local weather, stock, currency, RSS news, etc.

    The company informed that in the near future, more advanced Web applications will continue to be integrated via FREE firmware upgrade and an open Web service API will also be provided for advanced custom enterprise/Web application development. Grandstream plans to continue to expand the GXP phone series with new models during the rest of this year.

    “The proliferation of Web applications from PC to mobile phones and now to desk phones is clearly gaining momentum,” David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks.

    “The combination of HD voice communication with open Web application integration will unleash vastly improved productivity and create potentially unlimited new business opportunities at every desk phone. Known for our commitment to innovation and value delivery, Grandstream fully embraces market evolution and will continue its quest of providing advanced voice and video solutions that mirror evolving market demands,” he added.

    The GXP2110 is commercially available for purchase now through Grandstream’s worldwide distribution channels at a MSRP of US$139.

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