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Tag: 3g

  • Skype for iPhone Now Supports Multitasking, No Charges for Calling Over 3G

    In May, Skype upgraded their iPhone app to allow users to make calls over 3G data connections. Yesterday, the company introduced a new version of the app that now supports multitasking.

    This means users can receive Skype calls while other apps are running, even when the iPhone is locked. And during a call, users can keep the conversation going while they switch to another task, such as checking a movie listing or reading an email.

    Skype has also updated the app’s graphics to support iPhone 4’s Retina Display.

    “At Skype, we believe that better call quality and better availability (which is achieved with an app capable of multitasking and/or making calls over 3G) lead to increased call frequency and longer calls. We also believe that the mobile world is in a period of significant change, for example, with some operators starting to move to tiered pricing models,” said Peter Parkes on Skype’s blog.

    In light of that, Skype no longer have plans to charge a supplement to make calls over 3G. “We’re delighted to make it easier for you to talk for even longer and do even more together using Skype,” a post reads.

    Skype’s multitasking requires iOS 4 and an iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, or a third-generation iPod touch.

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  • Nortel Patent Auction Benefits LTE Market

    The decision by Nortel to sell its Long Term Evolution (LTE) patent portfolio could serve as a launch pad for companies planning to cash in on a market expected to undergo explosive growth in the coming years, according to iSuppli.

    iSuppli forecasts that LTE subscribers will reach 274.4 million by 2014, managing a whopping CAGR of 276.9 percent, up from just 1.4 million subscribers in 2010 and virtually no subscribers in 2009.

    “With Nortel’s decision to open its LTE patent portfolio to bidders, the market for LTE just became a lot more interesting. The acquisition of Nortel’s Intellectual Property (IP) could represent a coup for any company, as it could significantly reduce time to market, development costs and royalty exposure. It also potentially could yield a new serious competitor in the market, depending on who acquires the IP,” said Francis Sideco, iSuppli analyst.

    Currently, among the major suppliers in the chipset landscape for LTE, only Qualcomm and ST-Ericsson are known to have sampled LTE chipsets. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics and LG are known to be working on solutions for their captive handset businesses.

    Who could benefit?

    “Proven experience with licensing and royalties in 3G shows that having a strong IP position is essential to any company wishing to compete effectively and profitably in the wireless wide area networking market. This is true regardless of whether a company is an equipment manufacturer, a chipset supplier or even a mobile network operator,” said Sideco.

    According to him, with Nortel holding more than 4,000 patents in its portfolio, including those that are essential to the LTE standard, acquiring this IP might be a launch pad for companies that could be planning to get into the LTE market, expanding their portfolio or reducing royalty exposure on future products.

    iSuppli believes a number of companies could benefit from acquiring Nortel’s IP—whether or not they are actually bidding on the holdings. Broadcom, Intel, Infineon Technologies, Huawei, LG and Samsung are just a few companies that might be interested in the technology.

    The research group also believes that Nortel at present is testing the waters to gauge if there is enough interest going around in the market for a buyer to snap up the company’s patents, or whether Nortel could achieve greater revenues by turning its portfolio into a licensing business.

    “The real question here is whether interest in the auction exists—and if Nortel will be able to get as much as, or even more than, it obtained in 2009 for its CDMA patents, which yielded $1.1 billion,” concluded Sideco.

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  • CounterPath Brings Enterprise-Class VoIP Softphone to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

    CounterPath has released the Bria iPhone Edition for Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Bria iPhone Edition is a VoIP softphone that works over both 3G and Wi-Fi networks.

    Bria iPhone Edition integrates with other CounterPath desktop and convergence solutions, as well as with enterprise and carrier infrastructure equipment from vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, BroadSoft, Metaswitch, Avaya, Cisco and NEC. Bria iPhone Edition also supports Asterisk-based telephony systems.

    It is the latest CounterPath solution for mobile platforms and its first standalone mobile SIP application. Earlier this year, the company launched Linux, Mac and Windows versions of Bria. In addition to the Bria-branded version, CounterPath will also be developing customized white-label versions of Bria iPhone Edition for carriers, OEMs and enterprise customers worldwide.

    “Bria iPhone Edition leverages the iPhone’s native address book and its embedded Bluetooth technology to provide “a seamless calling experience while on the move,” as the company claims.

    Apple currently ranks third in smartphone shipments, with 16 percent of all units in the category in Q1 2010, according to several analyst firms. For all handset types – smartphones and feature phones – Apple is No. 6, with more than 8.7 million shipped worldwide in Q1.

    According to CounterPath, Bria iPhone Edition’s key features include:

    • Full SIP compliance, enabling use with any SIP-compliant server and hundreds of ITSPs that currently offer CounterPath-based services.
    o Bria iPhone Edition appears as another endpoint to service providers or PBX equipment, enabling fast, cost-effective deployments.
    • Call quality that’s superior to circuit-switched wireline and wireless voice, and based on the G.711, G.729 and GSM codecs.
    • An intuitive user interface that provides one-touch access to voicemail, call history, speakerphone and other frequently used telephony features such as 4-digit dialing.
    • Support for DTMF, which lets users enter numbers to access an auto attendant.
    • Bluetooth support, enabling hands-free calling for convenience, as well as safety while driving.
    • Multi-call management options, including the ability to switch between, merge and split calls, all in ways that are already familiar to iPhone users so they can start using these features immediately.
    • Signaling and call encryption via TLS and SRTP, enabling enterprise-class security.
    • Optional customized branding available for enterprises and telephony providers.

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  • Juniper Research: Mobile VoIP Users to Exceed 100 Million by 2012

    A new study from Juniper Research has found that Mobile VoIP services will develop significantly faster in developed markets due to the direct correlation between 3G roll outs and the take up of mobile VoIP.

    This is the case even though mVoIP traffic volumes may eventually be higher in developing markets due in part to the calling patterns of migrant workers, according to the study.

    “By 2012 we expect significant uptake of mobile VoIP in its various different flavours”, says Anthony Cox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research.

    “By that date mobile VoIP will be available over both 3G and WiFi networks. We also anticipate that several more traditional operators will have joined 3UK and Verizon in the US and developed relationships with mobile VoIP players such as Skype,” he says.

    The report finds that alliances between mobile VoIP players and traditional operators may provide the best option for today’s incumbent operators to address the advent of mobile VoIP.

    Another finding says that revenues from the circuit switched voice market will continue to diminish over the next five years, although this will not accelerate.

    According to the analysts, a high percentage of Mobile VoIP carried over applications will be via WiFi networks, bypassing operators’ networks altogether. Such traffic will result in some lost revenues, amounting to around $5bn by 2015.

    The research firm also anticipate that by 2012 over half of mobile VoIP users will reside in North America and Europe.

  • iPhone 4 is Here

    The iPhone 4 has been finally announced at the WWDC 2010. Steve Jobs himself revealed the new smartphone by Apple: the next iPhone is a 9.3mm thick (a quarter thinner than the iPhone 3GS; “the thinnest smartphone on the planet”, as Jobs said), has glass on front and back (“for better optical quality and scratch resistance”), and stainless steel around. It uses the stainless steel band as part of the antenna system.

    “It’s the most precise thing we’ve ever made,” Apple CEO said.

    iPhone 4 is powered by the A4 chip (designed ”in house”) and comes with two built-in cameras (one on the front and one on the back with an LED flash), two mics (one for a noise cancellation), micro-SIM (“we needed the space!"), 802.11n WiFi, GPS, compass, accelerometer, Quadband HSDPA/HSUPA, 7.2Mbps and up to 32GB of storage.

    The display is a huge innovation: based on new IPS technology ("quite a bit better than OLED"), the 3.5 inch, 960 x 640 Retina Display displays 326 pixels per inch (four times as many pixels as in any standard display) giving us really sharp text and pictures. The contrast ratio is 800:1 (4x better than the 3GS).

    Since the battery is now a bit bigger, its life has been improved. Apple says there is 7 hours of 3G talk, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music and 300 hours of standby.

    Another new piece of hardware is a gyroscope with pitch, roll, and yaw. It provides 6-axis motion sensing and features new CoreMotion APIs for extremely precise positioning. "We’re adding a 3 axis gyro, and we tied the gyro and accelerometer, compass, and gyro together for six axis. It’s perfect for gaming," Jobs said.

    Back camera has gone from 3 to 5 MP. Apple is using something that’s new to smarpthones — a back side illuminated sensor (giving more light to the camera). There’s a 5X digital zoom, tap to focus, and LED flash built in.

    Camera also does HD 720p (at 30 frames per second) video recording. It supports tap to focus and allows us to edit videos right on the phone. It also has 1-click sharing and the LED flash will stay on for the HD video recording. There is also iMovie coming to the iPhone for $4.99 (“if we approve it,” Jobs joked).

    iPhone 4 will also feature "FaceTime" video calling. It works between iPhone 4 devices, doesn’t require any setting-up and works anywhere there is WiFi. “It’s WIFI only in 2010. We need to work a little bit with our providers,” Jobs said. He added that Apple is going to make FaceTime and open industry standard.

    Apple has renamed the iPhone OS. Now it’s just iOS 4." Becuase it’s on iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone,” Apple CEO said. He also said that 100 millionth iOS device will be sold this month. "There is definitely a market for your applications," Jobs added.

    As announced earlier this year, new iOS 4 features include Multitasking for third party apps; Folders to better organize and access apps; improved Mail with a unified inbox, fast inbox switching and threaded messages; enhanced Enterprise support with better data protection, mobile device management and wireless app distribution.

    Apple has also added Bing to the iPhone for search (“Microsoft has done a great job on this,” Jobs said). Google will still be the default, but now we’ll have choice of Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

    Developers will get a Golden Master Candidate release of iOS4 today.

    Apple is also bringing iBooks to the iPhone with the iPhone 4. It has the same bookshelf as on the iPad, the same ability to read a PDF and comes with the same controls, highlighting, notes, and bookmarking. We can download the same book to all our devices at no extra charge (“Buy it on your iPad, download to your iPhone”)! In addition, iBooks will automatically and wirelessly sync our current place, bookmarks, and notes across all our devices.

    On July 1st Apple will also start providing iAds to all iOS 4 devices. “Why are we doing this? To help our developers earn money to continue to create free and low-cost apps for users,” Jobs said. According to him, they are trying to combine “the emotion of video with the interactivity of the Web."

    Apple sells and hosts the ads, so developers just have to tell them where to put the ads. And devs get paid 60 percent of the revenue. The company started selling ads eight weeks ago to: Nissan, Citi, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Geico, Campbells, Sears, JCPenney, Target, Best Buy, DirecTV, TBS Network and Disney. "We’ve got advertisers committing to $60m," Jobs said.

    Price and availability
    iPhone 4 comes in two colors: black and white. 16GB model is for $199, and 32GB model for $299. Old 3GS is now $99

    Jobs said that AT&T is going to make an “incredibly generous upgrade offer: if your contract expires at any time in 2010, you can upgrade to the iPhone 4. You can get it up to six months early."

    The new iPhone will be on sale June 24th. Pre orders begin June 15th. Apple will ship iPhone 4 in US and four other countries on the first day (U.K., Germany, France, Japan). In July they’re shipping in 18 countries more. By September it will ship in 88 countries. "Our fastest roll out ever," Jobs said.

    iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPod touch users can upgrade to iOS 4 for free starting June 21.

    Reed Hastings from Netflix, Mark Pincus from Zygna and Karthik Bala from Activision were also on stage announcing that Netflix, Farmville and new Guitar Hero will be coming to the iPhone.

  • Skype 2.0 Brings 3G Calling to the iPhone

    A long after its competitors had brought 3G VoIP calling to the iPhone, Skype has finally announced the launch of the new version of its iPhone app that allows to make and receive Skype-to-Skype calls, and to call mobiles and landlines over 3G data connection.

    The company informed that Skype-to-Skype calls on 3G will be free for a trial period which will run until the end of 2010. Details of pricing will be announced in the coming months. Skype-to-Skype calls over WiFi will still remain free.

    Russ Shaw, General Manager for Mobile at Skype said that using Skype on 3G “has been the number one request among our iPhone customers”.

    According to the company, additional new features of the Skype for iPhone application include:

    • Near CD-quality sound for Skype-to-Skype calls using wideband audio on iPhone 3GS or 2nd generation iPod touch and onwards.
    • Enhanced call quality indicator, which will help customers choose the best moment to call.
    • Improved start-up time
    • Rapid access to the dial pad from the home screen

    Unfortunately, the app doesn’t support Bluetooth audio and call waiting.

    The new version is compatible with the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch and iPad. Skype requires iPhone OS version 3.0 and above.

    Calling functionality is available on iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and 2nd generation iPod touch onwards. iPod touch requires a compatible headset with a microphone.

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  • Mobile VoIP Becomes a Threat to Tradicional Voice Revenues

    Mobile VoIP is no longer just hype, but has become a credible threat to traditional voice revenues, says Frost & Sullivan.

    According to the research group, considering, that this is only a matter of time when IP becomes the principal transport for various access technologies, an ambitious group of mobile VoIP start-up companies are creating a paradigm shift in the way users communicate with each other, with voice services moving to a true internet era of Telco 2.0.

    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Impact of Mobile VoIP on Next Generation Cellular Networks, finds that at the end of 2008, approximately $605.8 million of mobile VoIP revenues were generated in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. This is expected to grow to $29.57 billion by 2015.

    The technologies covered in this research service are high-speed packet access (HSPA), third-generation long-term evolution (3G LTE), global system of mobile communications (GSM), IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), HSPA+, general packet radio service (GPRS), voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and session initiation protocol (SIP).

    "The emergence of flat rate mobile data pricing, positive growth of smartphone shipments, and high-speed mobile broadband availability has spurred the adoption rate of mobile VoIP," saiid Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Saverio Romeo.

    He added that mobile operators realise they can no longer ignore the fact that mobile will be a key component of integrated IP-based communications and next generation wireless technologies such as HSPA+ and LTE.

    According to the report, significant traction in the application space, primarily driven by the success of the iPhone, has resulted in several smartphone vendors making provisions in their applications stores for users to download and use third-party VoIP clients over both wireless fidelity (WiFi) and cellular broadband networks.

    “However –the report continues– many cellular operators have prohibited the use of mobile VoIP over their cellular networks, with some imposing a surcharge to avoid cannibalisation of their circuit-switched voice revenue streams. Moreover, cellular operators face intense competition from the more popular Web-based VoIP alternatives that are permeating the mass market.”

    Romeo claims that despite user demand for cost-effective services, some mobile operators will continue to discourage mobile subscribers from using VoIP over cellular networks and suggest that it will not provide the same quality, efficiency and reliability of services offered by the GSM network.

    "Recent surveys indicate that nearly 60 to 70 per cent of the major European mobile operators prohibit or restrict the usage of VoIP over their popular mobile broadband data plans," he said.

    Analysts say that mobile operators should eventually do away with imposing bans or surcharges to their mobile broadband packages to support mobile VoIP, as the client devices supporting HSPA+ and LTE will be based on open platforms and support SIP for third-party applications.

    "When the operators migrate to an all-IP IMS network, they should drive innovative services such as multimedia telephony, high definition voice, integrating voice with context-based information about the user, and the device from a converged presence-enabled address book," concludes Romeo. "This will enable them to differentiate their services from mobile VoIP start-ups."

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  • AT&T Selects LTE Equipment Suppliers

    AT&T announced the selection of Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as equipment suppliers for the planned deployment of its LTE mobile broadband network.

    The company is planning a first field trials of LTE later this year. Commercial deployment is scheduled to begin in 2011.

    According to AT&T, after testing equipment from multiple suppliers in the field and in a lab environment, the company chose to extend existing relationships with Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, which provide equipment for the AT&T 3G network today.

    "Continued work with these two suppliers will enable AT&T not only to incorporate LTE equipment, but also to take advantage of compatibility between the suppliers’ existing 3G equipment and forthcoming LTE upgrades," states AT&T.

    As part of the supplier agreements, 3G equipment delivered to AT&T by the suppliers starting this year will be easily convertible to LTE, enabling AT&T to upgrade existing equipment and software rather than install entirely new equipment.

    “AT&T has a key advantage in that LTE is an evolution of the existing GSM family of technologies that powers our network and the vast majority of the world’s global wireless infrastructure today. As some competitors move away from their existing investment in niche 3G platforms, we are able to efficiently and quickly move toward LTE while enhancing our existing 3G performance and providing access to a strong ecosystem of customer devices,” said John Stankey, president and CEO of AT&T.

    The company also announced that it has designated Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as the domain suppliers for its Radio Access Network Domain. The multi-year agreement covers radio access network equipment needed to deliver LTE service. This equipment will be deployed at cell sites across AT&T’s network to enable LTE speeds and functionality. Financial terms of the supplier agreements were not disclosed.

    AT&T in January announced total 2010 capital expenditures are expected to be between $18 billion and $19 billion. These plans include an increase of approximately $2 billion in wireless network and backhaul investment.

    Earlier this year, AT&T upgraded 3G cell sites to HSPA 7.2 technology. Over the course of 2010 and 2011, the firm plans to combine this upgrade with enhanced fiber-optic backhaul connectivity.

    AT&T wireless network investment plans for 2010 also include construction of about 2,000 new cell sites and adding new radio controllers and carriers at a pace that doubles deployment in 2009.

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  • In-Stat: 4G LTE Gated by 3G Success, not WiMAX

    LTE, the next-generation mobile broadband standard, is the clear choice for the next leap in wireless technology, reports In-Stat. The analysts claim that while WiMax appeared to be a competitor for 4G early on, that battle is now largely resolved.

    In-Stat predicts that LTE’s deployment will primarily be impeded by the success of 3G networks and HSPA and HSPA+ networks as mobile operators seek to leverage their installed infrastructure.

    LTE still has several glaring issues. These include lack of spectrum, signal-to-noise ratio, and non-established patent and royalty pool. “It’s clear that the shift toward 4G LTE will be gradual and protracted,” says In-Stat.

    While LTE will ultimately become the 4G standard of choice, Mobile Wi-Max is much more mature in deployment and has a distinct niche. According to the research group, even by 2013, Mobile Wi-Max will have more than 5 times as many global subscribers as LTE.

    LTE deployments will effectively begin in 2010. North America and Asia/Pacific will be the first regions to deploy.

    In-Stat also believes that external clients, such as dongles, network cards, and USB dongles will be the first LTE subscriber devices sold. LTE mobile handsets will not start shipping in major volumes until 2H12.

    “WiMAX deployments have given chipset manufacturers, device manufacturers, and infrastructure suppliers real-world experience,” state the analysts.

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  • 8×8 Announces Voice over 3G Update to its iPhone App

    8×8 announced that an update to its Virtual Office Mobile application which supports business voice services over 3G is now available in the Apple iTunes app store for iPhone and iPod Touch models.

    The update to the 8×8 software application follows Apple’s recent removal of restrictions preventing VoIP applications from running on 3G networks.

    Originally released as a service which required access to a Wi Fi network connection, the new 8×8’s release enables the subscribers to utilize their business phone number or extension and service remotely from within any 3G coverage area or Wi Fi zone.

    8×8 Virtual Office Mobile extends the functionality of any Virtual Office extension to the iPhone or iPod Touch platforms to enable mobile access to the features, functionality of the 8×8 Virtual Office hosted PBX phone service, including unlimited inbound and outbound domestic calling as well as overseas calling.

    "We are pleased to be one of the first VoIP service providers to offer iPhone users an opportunity to experience the capabilities and cost savings of our hosted PBX platform from any 3G footprint, which is transforming the way businesses of all sizes are managing their day to day communications," said 8×8 Chairman & CEO Bryan Martin.

    8×8 Virtual Office Mobile is available as a free download in the App Store and can be added to existing 8×8 Virtual Office service plans for $4.99 per extension per month.

    The application is also available as a bundled service in 8×8’s recently announced 8×8 Virtual Office Pro Unified Communications solution which is available to existing Virtual Office unlimited, metered or global extension subscribers for an additional $20 per extension per month.

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