Business News Holding

Tag: 3g

  • Ditech Offers Network Operators More Deployment Options


    Ditech Networks today announced that its Packet Voice Processor (PVP) is now available in a smaller size.

    The move will give network operators and enterprises greater flexibility to support VoIP, 3G and Web 2.0 services.

    PVP now can be configured and deployed to support 1,000-4,000 sessions at the network’s edge, and up to 16,000 sessions in the core of the network.

    The company says this range and configurability make its PVP product the industry’s most flexible voice quality platform for IP services.

    Although the demand for VoIP, 3G and Web 2.0 services continues to increase significantly, the volume of IP voice traffic can vary widely at different points in the network.

    Network operators and enterprises need the ability to support a wide range of call volumes and the flexibility to increase capacity as demand for IP voice services grows.

    Ditech’s PVP product supports early stage markets and services, in addition to supporting the high-capacity requirements of IP voice services in the core of the network.

    Karl Brown, vice president of marketing at Ditech Networks, said the new low-density PVP chassis had all of the same functionality and performance of the higher-capacity product.

    But he said it was implemented in a way that offered network operators and enterprises more deployment options.

    “Ditech’s new form factor and session capacity ensures that PVP can meet the different network requirements of supporting the growth of IP voice services,” he said.

    Ditech’s PVP product now is available in two platform options: 13RU, 14-slot chassis for up to 16,000 sessions; and 5RU, 6-slot chassis for 1,000-4,000 sessions.

    Cards in the 6-slot chassis can be redeployed in the 14-slot chassis as the demand for network capacity increases.

  • Truphone announces VoIP app for BlackBerry


    The VoIP mobile software developer Truphone has launched a beta version of its iPhone app for RIM’s BlackBerry 8801 and Curve devices.

    While Truphone Anywhere for Blackberry only works on WiFi enabled BlackBerrys at the moment it will be rolled out for 3G at some point.

    Offering similar services and features as found on Truphone’s Symbian S60 and Apple iPhone platforms, the free VoIP service provides discount calling around the world.

    Truphone doesn’t currently offer a Windows Mobile version but one is understood to be in development.

    The software can be downloaded via Blackberry’s built-in browser.

    It integrates with the handset’s address book and the newer version of the software routes calls via the cheapest network available to the handset, be it GSM or Truphone’s service over VOIP, but only if you select this manually.

    Geraldine Wilson, the new CEO of Truphone, said: "There’s no GSM business tariff that gets close to the prices we can offer BlackBerry users with Truphone for international calling."

  • iPhone Sets The Standard In China


    The iPhone may be made in China but Apple still hasn’t launched its game-changing handset there yet.

    That hasn’t stopped the 3G smartphone having a huge impact on China’s estimated 700 million cell phone market, according to the latest report from Research and Markets.

    It says that Apple’s iPhone has had a significant impact on the smartphone world generally, because of its user interface (UI), user experience (UE), and business model.

    And despite not being officially on sale in China, the report says it has also made a big impact on the smartphone market there as well.

    "The iPhone has set a standard for users’ expectation of entertainment smartphones, resulting in iPhone-like models appearing in the marketplace," the report states.

    Not surprisingly, it goes on to predict that this type of revolutionary UI/UE, enabled by a touchscreen, with acceleration and proximity sensors technologies will be a distinct trend in China’s entertainment smartphone market over the next two years.

    The report analyses Chinese consumer attitudes toward smartphones (including the iPhone) based on a web survey carried out in May 2008.

    Based on this analysis, the repsearch provides drivers and barriers for the Chinese smartphone market and smartphone shipment forecasts from 2008 to 2012.

  • Global Mobile Web Usage Exploding


    Mobile Web and application usage is growing rapidly, according to mobile advertising agency AdMob.

    In its latest Mobile Metrics Report, the expansion is shown to be widely spread, with 34 countries sending more than 10 million ad requests to AdMob’s network in September 2008, compared to only 16 countries in September 2007.

    Celebrating its first anniversary, the reports states that since its launch the number of monthly ad requests in the AdMob network tripled from 1.6 billion in September 2007 to 5.1 billion in September 2008.

    The increase is attributed to a combination of organic growth from AdMob’s legacy publishers and the addition of thousands of new mobile sites and applications to the company’s publisher network.

    The number of mobile sites and applications in AdMob’s network increased to more than 6,000, with 4,308 publishers requesting ads in September 2008.

    Other highlights from the September 2008 report:

    Worldwide, the Apple iPhone is now the number 4 handset after the Motorola RAZR, Nokia N70, and Motorola KRZR. There were 103 million ad requests from iPhones worldwide in September 2008.

    In the US, 16 of the current Top 20 devices are new from September 2007, including the Samsung Instinct and Apple iPhone.

    In the UK, the Nokia N95 gained share steadily throughout the year and is now the leading handset with 9.7 per cent share of requests. The SonyEricsson K800i and W810i, the number 1 and number 5 handsets respectively in September 2007, both remain in the Top 5 a year later.

  • Smartphones Will Remain Dominant Mobile Video Platform


    Smartphones will continue to be the device most used for watching mobile video, according to research firm In-Stat.

    The high-end handsets will not have it all their own way though.

    Over the next five years, they will be joined by over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones.

    David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst, said the entry of this broad range of new mobile devices able to display video will have a profound effect on the mobile video market

    He said the reach of new device choices will provide more markets for mobile operators, mobile broadcasters, advertisers and other content owners.

    "Even though cellphones and smartphones will remain the predominant method of viewing mobile video, over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones will be sold in the next five years," said Chamberlain.

    Other findings in In-Stat’s report Global Cellular Video Devices: Internet Video Expands the Market include:

    • Shipments of 3G video-capable cellphones will increase at 11.2 per cent annual growth, reaching over 641 million by 2013.
    • The number and types of devices using digital mobile broadcast networks such as ISDB-T, DVB-H, MediaFLO, and DMB-T will expand to nearly 127 million in five years. China’s CMMB will make up over 12 per cent of those devices.
    • More than a half-billion devices capable of viewing Internet video over 3G networks will be sold in 2013. Cumulative sales will approach 2 billion units.

  • US To Miss Out On HTC Touch


    HTC’s Touch HD has joined the Blackberry Bold and Nokia 5800 on the list of 3G smartphones that have no US release date.

    HTC has announced through its Twitter feed that says that although it "looked into it," it has decided that by the time the HD could be converted and imported into the US, the device would be "old news".

    It is promising "other cool stuff" later down the line, but gave no details on what this involved.

    The phone can theoretically support American GSM and EDGE networks, but would likely require conversion of its 3G support to work on networks like AT&T’s.

    The HD’s 3.8-inch touchscreen display is capable of resolutions up to 800×480 – substantially higher than most phones in North America, including the iPhone.

    Among the various other theories being put forward for the decision is that AT&T demanded that the HD be kept out of the US to prevent any competition with the iPhone 3G.

  • Cicero delivers Mobile Video over IP


    Cicero Networks has announced the release of CiceroPhone V2oIP (Voice and Video) for Nokia E series and N series handsets.

    In what it claims is the world’s first real-time, two-way IP video application for Nokia phones, the software enables high quality video telephony over Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks.

    CiceroV2oIP provides video streaming using either the front or back camera on phones and simultaneously displays both the outgoing and incoming video streams to both parties on a call.

    The application also supports a range of half-duplex video applications, including “see-what-I-see” video sharing on any Series 60 Nokia device.

    Ross Brennan, CEO of Cicero Networks, said there was a demand from operators and service providers for services that made the most of both their fixed and mobile assets.

    CiceroPhone is SIP and 3GPP standards compliant, allowing it to be used in conjunction with an operator’s existing IP infrastructure.

    Cicero said that interoperability had already been proven with the IP and IMS communication platforms of the world’s leading network equipment providers.

  • Launch Date Set for First Android-based Smartphone

    Android launch will heighten competition in a market increasingly dominated by Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerries

    Touted as Google’s answer to the iPhone, the first cell phone powered by the feverishly anticipated Android software is to be unveiled on 23 September.

    T-Mobile has announced a press conference in New York to demonstrate the touchscreen, 3G phone next week – but the handset isn’t expected to go on sale until October.

    As has been widely reported, the phone – possibly called the Dream – will be made by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC and will be the first to use the open-source mobile-phone operating system.

    Android is expected to make it easier and more enticing to surf the Internet on a handset.

    Details about the phone’s pricing have not been released but T-Mobile is expected to subsidise part of the phone’s cost for buyers who agree to subscribe to the carrier’s mobile service.

    Google is anticipating higher advertising revenues from use of the software because of increased use of its Internet search engine and other services while they are away from the office or home.

    The iPhone is currently Google’s biggest source of mobile traffic but the search giant expects hundreds of different mobile devices to run on the Android system.

    The Open Handset Alliance, a group that includes Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola, is billing Android as the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.

    Handset manufacturers and wireless carriers are expected to be allowed to customise the platform, possibly introducing new services, internet applications and user-friendly interfaces.

    Sprint is also planning to produce an Android phone but that is not expected to launch until early next year.

  • iPhone users "unique" in their mobile behaviour

    Study shows that US iPhone users are five times more likely to access mobile internet than average mobile consumer

    The Apple 3G iPhone will change the mobile behaviour of users and alter consumer expectations for phone capabilities.
    That’s according to a report by analysts Nielsen Mobile which looks at the worldwide state of the mobile web.

    The study says that its growth is due to a combination of increasing numbers of user friendly handsets, higher speed networks and unlimited data packages.
    It then goes on to describe the mobile web as having reached a “critical mass” of users this year.

    But it singles out the iPhone – despite being the second most popular device among mobile users in the US after Motorola’s RAZR – for special mention.

    The report says the device’s impact is amplified by the increased awareness its marketing campaign and buzz has driven.
    “As a result, demand for advanced data services and more robust mobile media-focused handsets has increased.

    “iPhone users, a small but growing segment of the overall mobile audience, are unique in their mobile behaviour.
    “For instance, 82 per cent of iPhone users access the mobile Internet, making them five times as likely to do so as the average mobile consumer.”

    The report goes on to say that, so far, the iPhone population had self-selected through price point as early adopters, describing them as “über media consumers”.
    But it adds that as the price point lowers for this device and penetration increases to include more average consumers, the high data usage of iPhone users may be diluted.

    “At the same time, we expect that the powerful user interface and increasing network speeds will continue to change the behaviours of many iPhone purchasers.
    “Fundamentally, the iPhone, and competitive devices, will also affect consumer expectations for phone capabilities.”

  • Mobile operators say regulatory burden is jeopardising European mobile broadband services





    The GSM Association is claiming that Europe’s mobile industry is cutting back spending on new networks and services as a growing regulatory burden from the European Union puts profitability under pressure.
    The European Commission, however, has asserted that mobile operators are making excessive profits and has imposed retail price caps on the industry.
    This is refuted by the GSMA – using data from management consultancy AT Kearney – which argues that the European mobile industry’s return on capital employed (ROCE) was just 9 per cent in 2006 compared with more than 20 per cent in software, pharmaceuticals and several other sectors.

    In its response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the voice roaming regulation, the GSMA is warning that European mobile operators, on average, are only just covering their weighted cost of capital and some of them are making an economic loss.
    AT Kearney figures estimate that ROCE for the mobile industry in 2007 was equal to or slightly lower than the 2006 figure.
    The GSMA is also saying that the European Commission’s belief that regulated price caps on voice roaming calls introduced last summer would lead to a major increase in usage – and so offset possible revenue losses of operators – has not materialised.
    AT Kearney calculates that voice roaming call volumes have increased by only 11 per cent year-on-year to July 2008 while operators’ voice roaming revenues have decreased by 26 per cent.
    According to the GSMA, heavy capital investment is needed to ensure the widespread availability of advanced 3G networks, which enable mobile users to access the Internet and other multimedia services at broadband speeds.
    The EU mobile industry’s capital spending has slipped from 13 per cent of revenue in 2005 to 12 per cent in 2006 to 11 per cent in 2007.
    The operator’s body says that while the mobile industry’s technology roadmap envisages further dramatic improvements in network performance and capacity, the speed of deployment of new networks may be constrained by the mobile industry’s relatively low level of profitability.
    Tom Phillips, chief government and regulatory affairs officer of the GSMA, said Europe’s mobile industry was in the midst of another major investment cycle to deploy new services, such as mobile broadband, video downloads, mobile television and mobile email.
    “However, it is clear that the high level of investment required to provide these services across Europe won’t happen if regulators continue to distort the market by setting prices,” he said.
    Following recent announcements by individual operators suggesting average prices will continue to fall, the GSMA says there is no need for the European Commission to also introduce price caps on these services.