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Google Launches $105 Android One Phone

Google launched $105 smartphone in an event that took place in India. This device is the first Android One’s initiative that aims at promoting sales in the emerging major markets through improved software quality and cheaper prices.

Google bonded with handset makers from India Micromax, Spoice Mobiles, and Karbonn to introduce the 6,399 Rupees phone. It targets the fast-thriving low-cost part of the world where the smartphone market is growing the fastest.

After the launch in India, Google announced that it plans to take Android One to Philippines, Indonesia, and several other South Asian states by the beginning of 2015.

Google is partnering with other companies including HTC, Panasonic and Acer to develop many more devices under Android One.

Google is aiming at using Android One to come up with higher quality software and hardware by offering the handset developers a frame of reference. A greater sale on Android One smartphones translates to more access to Internet and more usage of Google’s wide variety of products.

The availability of cheaper smartphones in the Indian Market has made it possible for many people to own smartphones for the first time. In a recent research, it was found out that 10 percent of the Indian population that owns smartphones currently is expected to double within the next four years.

India has over 80 smartphone brands and the research pointed out that if Android One is to compete with Motorola, China Xiaomi, and Samsung, it has to offer its customers more than just affordability.

Together with creating web content for its Indian customers, Google is also working towards making YouTube videos accessible to its users. It has also made new Android phones accessible in seven different Asian languages, Hindu included.

October 14, 2014
LG Curved Ultra HD 4K OLED TVs Finding Their way to US

After the showcasing of the Curved Ultra HD 4K OLED TV at IFA 2014, LG is this week showcasing it once more at CEDIA Expo. However, this time round it is bringing good news – the 65-inch model will be available in the market in October, while the 77-inch model will be available in November.

Before IFA, LG had introduced the 65EC9700 and the 77EG900, the two TVs that attempt to join two TV markets: the 4K OLED and the curved screens displays. Curved TV screens are relatively new in the market but they are already turning heads and getting good sales.

While the OLED technology is not new in the market, LG’s giant TV screen is the first of its kind bearing an Ultra HD resolution.

LG is also flaunting its WRGB, the “W” meaning a fourth white subpixel. This is in addition to the common green, red, and blue. This increases the TV’s brightness, which is quite useful having in mind that the OLED has no backlighting.

The OLED displays are also considerably thinner than the LCDs, thus giving LG’s displays both curves and thinness. In addition to the pixel densities and the attractive outward appearance, these TVs are smart TVs as they have WebOS on the metal.

The 65-inch 65EC9700 will be going for $9,999, while the 77-inch 77EG9700 will be retailing at $24,999.

While the 65-inch model will be available nationwide, the 77-inch TV set will be available in selected retailers.

October 9, 2014
GLDS and Alianza Launch Cloud VoIP Partnership

The cloud voice platform company, Alianza, announced successful integration and new solution partnership with GLDS’ WinCable. GLDS is a provider of customer management, billing, and broadband service for SMEs. The new partnership is said to “dramatically” reduce the cost of VoIP services and at the same time simplifie VoIP management.

Alianza and WinCable are together offering a cloud-based solution that includes comprehensive back-office functions and voice service delivery. Other services include number activation, customer service, billing, and account creation.

According to the companies, the new partnership has so far been able to eliminate over 50% of the systems used to support and deliver VoIP and at the same time it has automated work-flow thus driving down costs of operation.

The GLDS president Garrick Russel said in a statement that they believe the most agile approach and the lowest cost to broadband can be found in the cloud. He added that the new solution partnership will make it faster, easier, and less costly for both small and large service providers to manage and deploy VoIP.

The two companies will be at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

October 9, 2014
Vizio’s New P-Series Ultra HD TVs now up for Grabs

It is now official: Vizio’s P-Series TVs are available after the company showcased them at CES 2014. The new TVs come in a variety of screen sizes, including 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 inches. The price ranges from $999.99 to $2,499.99.

The P-Series come with the VIA Plus smart TV abilities and also have a full-array LED backlighting that provides great light uniformity together with local dimming abilities.

The new UHD TVs have been designed to offer users with unparalleled UHD streaming and “best-in-class picture quality that delivers true 4K performance.”

Besides the high quality pictures, the P-Series also offers users interested in quick moving content or sports with the Vizio’s Clear Action Rate 960. The 960 allows users to enjoy “smooth, crisp” pictures and it also comes with “superior motion clarity” when watching fast moving scenes.

The Active Pixel Tuning and Advanced Color Management also enhance the images.

The P-Series also comes with V6 six-core processor that is comprised of a dual-core CPU and a quad-core GPU. Vizio has also added the VM50 to ensure users get the high quality pictures.

You can now pre-order the P-Series at Vizio.com. The TVs will son be available at retailers, including Amazon, Costco, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target among others.

October 3, 2014
Speedflow’s MediaCore and CallMax Solutions Now Available

Announced at the beginning of September, the new versions of Speedflow‘s MediaCore and CallMax solutions are now available.

MediaCore ver. 4.2 includes:

– Updated interface. Now it is optimized for all models of smartphones and tablets.
– Enhanced SMS module: now SMS destination names can be copied from MCC MNC table. The company also added SMS dump option that allows to make log files of SMS traffic. Financial summary report for SMS traffic has also been added. From now customers can download SMS price lists directly from .xls and .xlsx files.
– Updated invoicing and report generation tools: new filters in reports have been added. Improved engine allows generating reports faster.
– Updated Guardian mechanism (Guardian is a revenue assurance system integrated in the MediaCore softswitch).

CallMax ver. 3.3 comes with:

– multilevel reseller’s mechanism for corporate customers;
– autodialing with prerecorded IVR;
– updated filtering in CDR.

Learn more on MediaCore and CallMax solutions on the company’s website.

September 29, 2014
Ubiquiti Networks Finally Makes Entrance Into VoIP Market

Ubiquiti Networks has recently announced their formal entry into the enterprise VoIP market with UniFi platform. This wireless communication vendor addresses wireless backhaul, video surveillance, routing, fixed wireless broadband, machine-to-machine communications, and enterprise Wi-Fi.

The company’s business model is based on a community concept. In order to improve and develop their products, a group of services providers, distributors, and VARs work hand in hand with the engineers of the company. This in turn keeps the costs down, improves market time, and allows the company to have market prices that are considered disruptive by competitors.

Ubiquiti was recently involved in an RFP involving their evaluation against four other different conventional Wi-Fi vendors and while the company may not offer the same wide set of features as you may find in other vendors, they still provide high quality Wi-Fi.

On your first encounter with Ubiquiti, it is possible to have doubts as to whether the model could actually work. However, its community approach has created a scalable organization model that is very cost effective. The company has only 183 employees, 111 of whom are solely dedicated to R & D.

The Ubiquiti revenues in FY08 totaled to $22.4 million and a whopping $320 million in FY13. During FY14, the company is anticipated to make $560 million. Most of the revenues come from the developing markets.

September 22, 2014
VMware Discloses Hybrid Cloud Service

VMware continues its expansion of hybrid cloud platform currently available in over 75% of the global cloud market.The company has revealed the capabilities of the new hybrid cloud service together with the third party mobile app services, whose design “seeks to allow application and enterprise developers to easily support the changing needs of contemporary businesses.”

Currently, many businesses look up to the contemporary mobile apps in order to drive loyalty, differentiation, and revenue. This is according to the general manager and executive vice president of the Hybrid Cloud Service VMware, Business unit, Bill Fathers.

Bill further added that VMware is continuing with its pace of their cloud expansion with the aim of making their vCloud Air the leading hybrid cloud platform in the industry for deploying, building, scaling, and operating the more recent mobile-cloud applications.

It has only been a year since the introduction of VMware vCloud Air and the hybrid’s cloud platform has swiftly stretched their global footprint and now provides Asia-Pacific, US, and the European business of different sizes with the most reliable path to cloud.

Currently, they boast of eight data centers in Japan, the US, and UK with an announcement that they will be expanding, through a SoftBank Telecom Corp joint venture, to the Asia-Pacific regions. VMware also publicized their strategic corporation with China Telecom in order to build a top notch hybrid cloud service in Beljing.

vCloud Air is anticipated to avail a wide range of pre-validated solutions offered by the different independent software (ISVs) vendors. These mobility specialists offer their clienteles with a selection of proven capabilities in order to meet a range of customer needs while keeping up with the rapidly dynamic mobile landscape.

The information director of the San Francisco Ballet, Murray Bognovitz, added that the disaster recovery service by VMware vCloud Air provides them with a dependable recovery services and a seamless connection which has helped them increase their resiliency even with minimum investments.

September 19, 2014
Amazon Makes Its Enterprise Cloud Storage Service Zocalo Available For All

Amazon recently announced that they are making their secure document sharing and storage enterprise service Zocalo available to all.

This news was released on the same day when Dropbox, their cloud storage competitor, announced increased storage and lower prices for their pro customers.

Zocalo last month sprung into a limited preview with very belligerent price points. An end user receives 200 GB in cloud storage for $5 per month per user. The user can then take advantage of the service to upload new versions, store all sorts of files, comment within and on files, and much more, from any device including Macs, PCs, and other iOS and Android powered devices.

In the meantime, Zocalo is being managed by IT admins who are integrating the service with surviving corporate directories like the Active directory, allowing the users to first sign in with their surviving Active Directory authorizations.

In a recent blogpost, Amazon confirmed that the Zocalo service is now available to all their AWS customers including a free trial period of 30 days.

Even though Zocalo is designed for the enterprise crowd, most of whom are on-premise solutions and still paying for legacy, to some extent, it is a competitor of other consumer-first services including Dropbox, which is not is not aiming to stretch further into the expert business markets, where it is in tough competition with other cloud storage rivals, including Google Drive and Box.

Zocalo is not Amazon’s first cloud storage service: the company also offers consumer grade service like Amazon Cloud Drive, whose greatest advantage is its assimilation with Amazon’s Fire phone.

September 16, 2014
Speedflow Announces Improved Versions of MediaCore and CallMax Solutions

Speedflow, a telecom services provider and VoIP software developer with long-term industry experience, announced the new versions of MediaCore and CallMax solutions that are set to be launched at the end of September.

The new versions will come with significant improvements and brand new features such as:

In the MediaCore Solution:

– a convenient mobile web interface

– enhanced SMS module, including integration with MCC MNC table, SMS Dump, Financial Summary report, etc.

– updated invoicing and report generation mechanisms, etc.

In the CallMax Solution:

– multilevel reseller’s mechanism for corporate customers

– autodialing with prerecorded IVR.

– updated filtering in CDR, etc.

The new versions of MediaCore and CallMax will be available at the end of September, 2014.

September 12, 2014
Meet Apple Pay, Apple’s new mobile payment system

Apple has plunged into the world of mobile payments with the introduction of Apple Pay. This new service is integrated in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. The payment service is designed to allow users to scan tickets, buy merchandise, and even engage in other payment actions by waving their mobile device at the reader.

With Apple Pay, you may no longer need to carry your credit or debit cards around as you can have all of them stored in your Passbook.

How it Works

With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, you don’t even have to open an app to use the service, simply place your finger on Touch ID and hold your phone near the contactless reader. You do not have to look at the screen as a subtle beep and vibration tells you that the information was sent successfully.

For the Apple Watch, hold the face of your Apple watch near the contactless reader and double click the button that is just below the digital crown. You will know your information was sent successfully when you feel a gentle pulse and a beep. This feature will become active in early 2015.

How to Setup

Setting up is easy as all your debit and credit card info can be stored in your Passbook. To get started, you can add the debit or credit card from your iTunes a/c to Passbook by entering the security code of your card.

Use the iSight Camera to add new card information. You could even type it in manually if you wish. The first card you add becomes your default payment card, but you can always change this by going to Passbook settings and choosing another card to be your default.

Security

Every time you add a card to your Passbook, a unique Device Account Number is created and encrypted. This number is then stored safely in a secure element on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Apple does not store these numbers in their servers. When you are making a payment, the Device Account Number, together with a dynamic transaction-specific security code are used to process your payment. This therefore means that your actual debit or credit card numbers never get to be transmitted with payments or shared with merchants.

In case you lose your iPhone, you could always wipe it clean or put it in Lost Mode using Find My iPhone.

You will be able to use Apple Pay in over 220,000 stores that accept contactless payments.

September 11, 2014