Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • VoIP-PAL Working on New iPad 2 App

    VoIP-PAL announced the development of integrating the video conferencing feature on forthcoming new PointsPhone Mobile App for the iPhone 4G and Apple’s new iPad 2. The App and the new Video Calling feature will soon be available for free downloading at the Apple App Store.

    According to VoIP-PAL, its goal is to provide "a quality, reliable, cost-effective and safe solution" for the casual and business international traveler who must rely on their smartphones to communicate.

    "Apple has once again proven to be the leader in innovation," stated Dennis Chang, President of VoIP-PAL. 

    "When it comes to providing what the consumer seems to want. A front facing camera on its iPhone 4G has made it practical for video calling and conferencing. Apple’s own FaceTime App is available from the Apple App Store, but we are developing a new version of our PointsPhone Mobile iPhone App that will also incorporate video calling. This new iPhone App will also be compatible and allow video chatting on Apple’s latest iPad 2. The new iPad 2 is a modest but significant upgrade and it’s important for our PointsPhone iPhone App to work on Apple’s latest product," he added.

    According to him,  video valling capabilities for smartphones is an important step in bringing the world closer together. Face-to-Face communication will not only improve family and friends’ connectivity, but it will help strengthen business relationships.

    "The first step is to complete the work to upgrade our iPhone App," said Mukesh Mohanbhai, VoIP-PAL’s Chief Technical Officer. "A beta version has been completed and tested. The new version will be fully capable of supporting our new Video Calling feature. Some of the new features of the Video Calling will be highly competitive to some of the others offered, such as transports to various popular Instant Messaging (IM) protocols such as MSN, Google Talk and Yahoo. Again, we will not release a product until I am sure it is truly a quality product and that it is safe and reliable. At VoIP-PAL we have adopted the doctrine of ‘Right the First Time’ release."

  • Warner Bros. Starts Offering Movies Directly on Facebook

    Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) announced it will begin testing an offering of selected movies for purchase or rental through Warner Bros. Entertainment’s Facebook movie Pages. Consumers will be able to use Facebook Credits to buy or rent a title, all while staying connected to Facebook.

    Consumers simply click on the "rent" icon to apply their Facebook Credits, and within seconds they will begin enjoying the film. The cost per rental is 30 Facebook Credits or $3. This offering is presently available only to consumers in the United States. Additional titles will be made available for rental and purchase on a regular basis over the coming months.

    "Facebook has become a daily destination for hundreds of millions of people," said Thomas Gewecke, President of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. "Making our films available through Facebook is a natural extension of our digital distribution efforts. It gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy our films through the world’s largest social network."

    Fans will have full control over the film while watching it through their Facebook account for up to 48 hours from purchase. They can choose to watch it in full screen, pause the movie, and resume playing it when they log back into Facebook. Consumers will also have full Facebook functionality including the ability to post comments on the movie, interact with friends and update their status.

  • Opera Launches the Opera Mobile Store

    Opera Software has just announced that the Opera Mobile Store is now open and available at mobilestore.opera.com. The Opera Mobile Store has been built and delivered through a partnership with Appia and offers both free and paid applications for virtually any mobile platform and device.

    The Opera Mobile Store is available to Opera users and users of other mobile browsers, on almost all mobile phone platforms in more than 200 countries. According to the company, the Store uses Appia’s storefront commerce technology and leverages a wide catalog of applications for phones with Java, Symbian, BlackBerry and Android operating systems. The storefront experience is customized to each user’s phone, providing a tailored catalog based on the phone’s operating system, local language and currency.

    "The launch of the Opera Mobile Store supports Opera’s core belief in an open, cross-platform mobile Internet experience by providing Opera users with an integrated storefront of mobile applications," said Mahi de Silva, EVP, Consumer Mobile, Opera Software. "Our partnership with Appia delivers to all Opera Mobile and Opera Mini users easy access to a wide variety of great content, on any device, all over the world."

    To support the Opera Mobile Store, Opera Software has also launched the Opera Publisher Portal, providing developers with an easy way to get their applications onto the Opera Mobile Store. In its pre-launch state, the Opera Mobile Store attracted more than 15 million users in February, from 200 countries, achieving more than 700,000 downloads per day. These metrics establish the Opera Mobile Store as a top 10 mobile application store around the world.

    "The Opera Mobile Store presents a remarkable opportunity for mobile application developers to distribute localized content through a single, far-reaching marketplace," said Jud Bowman, CEO of Appia. "Appia is thrilled to partner with Opera to deliver an incredible storefront of applications to Opera users and beyond."

  • MWC 2011: Solar Power Solutions from Intivation

    At this year’s Mobile World Congress Intivation has announced that they have partnered with Umeox to unveil the world’s first solar powered smartphone: Apollo. It runs on Android 2.2, has a touch screen and all the bells and whistles, and still comes at a super affordable price. This was one of the attractions of the show.

    The company also announced their third-generation SunBoost technology platform, and the Smart Cell as part of it.

    For the last couple of years Intivation have been developing and testing their proprietary technology and they are working to create a new market segment of solar powered portable electronic devices.

    Based in Amsterdam (HQ), Hong Kong, Nairobi, and Rio de Janeiro, the company develops and markets highly innovative, proprietary SunBoost technology that increases the power output of solar cells making a solar powered device that works.

    Intivation partners with some of the world’s leading ODMs, and has broad experience integrating solar power solutions in portable consumer electronics.

    At the Mobile World Congress we talked to Paul Naastepad, the company’s CEO.


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  • LifeSize Video Center Introduces Mobile HD Video Streaming

    LifeSize, a division of Logitech, has just announced HD video content streaming on mobile devices using LifeSize Video Center. According to the company, now organizations can benefit from "greater communication reach and flexibility" by using HD video streaming, recording and auto-publishing to make video content available to teams working remotely on mobile devices, such as iPads and iPhones.

    Today, mobile devices are everywhere. According to Frost & Sullivan, 2010 enterprise-level shipments for tablets worldwide was 600,000 units and is expected to go up to 49.1 million in 2015. LifeSize claims that the latest version of itsVideo Center helps organizations address the need for workers to have mobile access to live and on-demand video content such as executive updates, business presentations, sales meetings, training sessions, lectures and data.

    New features of LifeSize Video Center include:

    · Mobile Streaming: Users can access live and on-demand HD video content not only on a PC, but on a variety of devices, including an iPod, iPhone or iPad connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular network. Videos are accessed through the native Web browser, which requires no additional software installation.

    · Automatic Adaptive Streaming: LifeSize Video Center now features automatic adaptive streaming so that a single HD recording from a LifeSize 220TM Series endpoint can be streamed at up to four different bitrates, which means users will always experience optimal video quality especially when working from home, on mobile devices, or in locations with slow bandwidth.

    · Network Storage: Organizations looking to leverage existing storage can now serve on-demand videos from NAS and store a virtually unlimited amount of footage without additional fees, giving IT administrators infinite scalability to meet enterprise needs. Administrators can also control the backup of videos in case of an emergency.

    · API: Using LifeSize Video Center’s API enables easier automation and integration of LifeSize Video Center into third-party systems and tools, such as the company intranet and Learning Management Systems (LMS), so that resellers and organizations can easily customize the video streaming solution for their unique environment.

    "Based on our research, the demand for HD video on-the-go will play a big role in accelerating the adoption of video conferencing technologies in 2011," said Roopam Jain, industry director, conferencing & collaboration at Frost & Sullivan.

    "Tools like LifeSize Video Center present use cases that extend beyond the typical green story and cross-office collaboration. They bring value closer to home by giving professionals access to video content no matter where they need to be and enabling those working the field to leverage video as a visual touch point to their teammates at home base," he concluded.

  • Samsung Develops Mobile DRAM with Wide I/O Interface

    Samsung announced the development of 1 gigabit mobile DRAM with a wide I/O interface, using 50 nanometer class process technology. The new wide I/O mobile DRAM will be used in mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

    The new 1Gb wide I/O mobile DRAM can transmit data at 12.8 gigabyte (GB) per second, which increases the bandwidth of mobile DDR DRAM (1.6GB/s) eightfold, while reducing power consumption by approximately 87 percent. The bandwidth is also four times that of LPDDR2 DRAM (which is approximately 3.2GB/s).

    To boost data transmission, Samsung’s wide I/O DRAM uses 512 pins for data input and output compared to the previous generation of mobile DRAMs, which used a maximum of 32 pins. If you include the pins that are involved in sending commands and regulating power supply, a single Samsung wide I/O DRAM is designed to accommodate approximately 1,200 pins.

    Following this wide I/O DRAM launch, Samsung is aiming to provide 20nm-class* 4Gb wide I/O mobile DRAM sometime in 2013. The company’s recent achievements in mobile DRAM include introducing the first 50nm-class 1Gb LPDDR2 DRAM in 2009 and the first 40nm-class* 2Gb LPDDR2 in 2010.

    According to iSuppli, mobile DRAM’s percentage of total annual DRAM shipments will increase from about 11.1 percent in 2010 to 16.5 percent in 2014.

  • Bandwidth.com Enters Into a Groundbreaking Agreement with Verizon

    Bandwidth.com, a privately held telecommunications company, announced that it has signed a commercial deal with the Verizon wireline companies under which the parties agree to terminate each other’s VoIP traffic at a rate of $0.0007 per minute.

    According to Bandwidth.com, the agreed upon rate, which applies to traffic that originates from or terminates to a VoIP end user, provides the companies with cost certainty for the traffic they exchange.

    "For too long, uncertainty over what charges apply to VoIP traffic has served as a wall to the innovations customers want and the lower prices they need," said John Murdock, President of Bandwidth.com.

    "We are delighted to be working with Verizon in reaching a commercial deal that hopefully will serve as a path for the industry and service providers to move forward and better serve customers," he added.

    According to Murdock, this agreement demonstrates how VoIP and other innovative services can flourish through private agreements.

    We know from our experience first hand how such services can spur economic growth and workplace productivity, while lowering costs and generating job growth," Murdock noted.

  • Verizon and Apple Team Up to Deliver iPhone 4 on Verizon

    Verizon Wireless and Apple have just announced that the iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon network beginning on Thursday, February 10. Verizon customers will be given the opportunity to pre-order CDMA iPhone 4 online on February 3, ahead of general availability.

    The companies have signed a multi-year but non-exclusive deal. The device will be selling at standar $199 for the 16GB and $299 for 32GB. iPhone 4 on Verizon will include new Personal Hotspot capabilities allowing customers to use iPhone 4 to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices. The phone works on Verizon 3G (EV-DO) only – 4G data or GSM roaming will not be available.

    “We are pleased to introduce millions of wireless users to the industry leading iPhone 4 on the nation’s most reliable network,” said Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon.

    “This is an important step for the industry as two great companies join forces to give wireless customers one of the most important technological additions to the mobile landscape this century,” he added.

    Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer said: “Verizon Wireless customers have told us they can’t wait to get their hands on iPhone 4, and we think they are going to love it. We have enormous respect for the company Verizon has built and the loyalty they have earned from their customers.”

    iPhone 4 features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 chip, a 3-axis gyro and a glass and stainless steel design. iPhone 4 also comes with iOS 4, which includes multitasking, folders, Game Center, AirPlay and AirPrint wireless printing.

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  • Amazon Opens Android Application Store to Developers

    US-based online retailer Amazon has opened its mobile application store to submissions from developers. The Amazon "Appstore" is due to launch in the US during 2011 and will be available for Android devices that run versions 1.6 of the operating system and above.

    Developers will be able to set a list price for their applications for which they will receive the industry standard 70 per cent share of revenues. Amazon, however, reserves the right to discount applications and will guarantee to give developers at least 20 per cent of the list price.

    Amazon will take a more hands-on role with its store than Google, with a stricter approval process than for the official Android Market; a move which will likely see Amazon’s store focus on high quality premium applications. Unlike the official Android Market, which comes preinstalled on all Google-approved devices, users will have to download the Amazon Appstore.

    According to iSuppli, Amazon’s control over pricing may see developers receive lower revenues per download than from other stores. However, the retailer’s ability to offer scale, its wealth of customer data and track record in online retailing will guarantee developers’ interest.

    "Developers’ major issues with Android Market include the poor opportunity for monetisation due to the plethora of free, low quality applications and consumers’ reluctance to use Google Checkout as a billing platform. The Amazon Appstore offers a solution to both these issues. Amazon has credit card/bank details from all its customers and offers a trusted billing platform. Its stricter approval process will ensure higher quality content and its wealth of customer data and expertise in providing customer recommendations will also improve app discoverability and monetisation," said iSuppli analysts Jack Kent.

    According to him, as a downloadable store, rather than one that arrives preinstalled on the device, Amazon’s store will struggle in the face of competition from the official Android Market and other embedded application stores run by operators and handset manufacturers. At launch, the store’s availability is limited to the US; a rapid international rollout will be vital for the store to attract wide developer interest.

    Amazon already has a considerable presence on mobile platforms; it offers its Kindle e-book app for Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, iOS and Android devices and has a number of mobile apps that enable users to make purchases from Amazon’s online store directly from the app. It will hope to leverage its existing Android mobile audience to boost the adoption of its own mobile application store.

  • Skype Officially Launched Group Video Calling with New Premium Package

    Today at the Consumer Electronics Show, Skype has officially launched group video calling for consumers and enterprises. Group video calling is available as part of the new Premium package which offers group video calling together with access to live chat customer support as a day pass for $4.99 (€3.49/£2.99) or as a monthly subscription for $8.99 (€5.99/£4.99) per month.

    Skype users who sign up for group video calling in the first month it’s available will receive a 33 percent discount on 3 and 12-month subscriptions. New users receive a 7-day free trial. In addition, consumers who sign up for group video calling will receive a 25 percent discount off an HD webcam.

    Group video calling is also available in the new Business version of Skype, a desktop application for PCs, which gives enterprises the ability to control how Skype is used within the workplace, with the capacity to turn off or configure a variety of Skype settings. According to Skype, with group video calling, enterprises "can easily set up real-time, face-to-face meetings and work in more collaborative and productive ways." For enterprises using Skype Manager who sign up for Group Video Calling, they will receive a 33 percent discount when signing up for a 3 or 12 month subscription. In addition, they will receive a 15 percent discount off of a headset and speakerphone bundle.

    To start a group video call, only one member of the call needs to have activated the seven-day free trial or to have signed up for a day pass or monthly subscription using Skype for Windows 5.1. For all participants to receive video, they need to be on at least the 5.0 version of Mac and windows.

    According to Skype, video calling accounted for approximately 41.5% of all Skype-to-Skype minutes in the second half of 2010.

    Skype also said that video calls between two parties will continue to be offered as a free product.

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