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Tag: iphone

  • Flash For iPhone Soon – If Apple Says Yes


    Adobe Systems is preparing a version of its Flash Player that could be used on Apple’s iPhone.

    Paul Betlem, Adobe’s senior director of engineering, told Flash Magazine that the iPhone version could be available “in a very short time”.

    Whether the software is actually accepted by Apple is another matter.

    Speaking at the Flash on the Beach (FOTB) conference in Brighton, UK, Betlem conceded that Apple has the last word on what runs on the iPhone.

    “My team is working on Flash on the iPhone, but it’s a closed platform,” he said.

    The "closed system" of MobileSafari poses difficulties in building a plug-in for a browser that doesn’t officially support plug-ins.

    But Betlem told Flash Magazine that Adobe will have the player ready for Apple’s approval.

    Would Apple really baulk at the opportunity to allow the iPhone to work on any Flash-based website?

    Wouldn’t it be good to further reduce differences between phone and laptop?

    Well, in March Sun Microsystems came off badly when it committed to a version of its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for the new iPhone only to discover the handset’s SDK prohibited Java on the phone.

    It’s also worth remembering that earlier this year Steve Jobs said that Flash Lite for mobile was not full-featured enough, while the full version of Flash would not run well on the iPhone.

    It was reported at the time that Adobe could run into problems due to restrictions of the iPhone SDK.

    Corporate issues aside, Jens Brynildsen, of Flash Magazine and Flash Gamer, makes some strong performance-related arguments for not having Flash on the iPhone.

    He doesn’t believe it would add to the iPhone experience and argues there is no reason for Apple approve it.

    A main objection is that MobileSafari wouldn’t be able to cope if it had to deal with websites laden with Flash ads.
    But he said politics would undoubtedly play a big part in Apple’s decision.

    “Apple wants to be in control – Apple don’t want Flash on their device,” said Brynildsen.

    “They want the phone to be easy to use with a uniform user interface. They want to get more developers to their platform, not Adobe’s.”

    Brynildsen argued that if Apple opened up the device for Flash, thousands of apps and developers would be added for the platform.

    “All of these would create different looking and fancy UIs that "break" the iPhone experience,” he said.

    “Very few will have the skills required to write content that does not tax the CPU or load progressive content that is too big for memory.”

    There’s plenty of gamers out there, for instance, that would be happy to run that risk. Please let us know your view on Flash for the iPhone.

  • Nokia Touch-screen Smartphone Expected Today


    An announcement is expected from Nokia today about the launch of a touch-screen device.

    Dubbed the “Tube”, the handset could be unveiled at a media and analyst event in London.

    It would be Nokia’s first touch-screen since Apple launched the iPhone last year.

    IMS Research recently published a report saying the current steady growth in sales of touchscreen-equipped mobile handsets will become even stronger.

    It forecasts that while fewer than 30 million touchscreen phones were sold in 2007, this will surge to over 230 million by 2012.

    Nokia wouldn’t comment on an unannounced product.

    Reports suggest the device will be closely tied to Nokia’s Comes With Music service, which will first be released in the United Kingdom and compete with iTunes and other music services.

    On September 2, Nokia announced that Carphone Warehouse will be the exclusive UK prepaid channel for the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic edition.

  • Who Said Smartphones Were Just For Fun?

    While the iPhone and Google’s HTC-made G1 may be introducing a more consumer-oriented market to the smartphone, it is still very much a business tool.



    The high-end handsets are being used to carry increasing amounts of confidential data, yet only 35 per cent of companies have a mobile device security strategy in place.



    Smartphone.biz-news.com spoke to Larry Ketchersid, chairman and CEO of Media Sourcery, about how it’s helping enterprises with mobile workforces securely distribute confidential information.

    Epitomised by RIM’s BlackBerry, with its reputation for secure email and text messaging, smartphones remain a powerful data communication tool for companies.

    Larry Ketchersid, chairman and CEO of Media Sourcery, believes that role is likely to gain in importance as more enterprises latch on to the benefits of utilising smartphone-based products.

    But security and data regulations have to be a major consideration when dealing with highly sensitive information.

    His company has developed a secure smartphone application called Mobile Data Messenger (MDM) that allows the sending and receiving of encrypted traffic.

    It securely transfers data files through a network without the need to use E-mail or FTP, or having to burning CDs or DVDs and sending them via snail mail or courier.

    Intended for use in virtually any size of organisation, it also enables companies to do away with the need for significant numbers of paper forms and provides real-time information that can be integrated directly into a data system.

    Ketchersid said the result was secure data transmission – but also increased productivity.

    “Security is great, and it’s required, but when it gets down to doing the ROI, the company and CEO are looking for simplified and improved accuracy and efficiency for their mobile workforce,” he said.

    Ketchersid said the MDM package was written in Java and was already being used by a major US healthcare company on its BlackBerries.

    “Security of patient health information is required in the US by the HIPAA regulations, and our solution solves that and other problems, such as the removal of paper forms, automation of data entry, cleaner data, mobilization of their application and so on, for our customers,” he said.

    Ketchersid said MDM wasn’t restricted to the RIM handsets or the BlackBerry encrypted enterprise server.

    Larry Ketchersid

    The package has been adapted for use on Nokia’s S60 platform at the request of the Finnish phone manufacturer.

    Media Sourcery has also just completed a request by HTC to port the application to Windows Mobile and Ketchersid said he was keeping a close watch on Android to see if it became more enterprise focussed in the future.

    “By having Symbian 60 and RIM, we have the two big ones,” he said. “So we have a pretty large market share.”

    Ketchersid said MDM was initially intended for use in heavily-regulated industries with a need for high security and audit trails.

    All transactions are encrypted and tracked for full regulatory compliance and once securely sent and succesfully received, confidential data is wiped from a smartphone’s memory.

    Simplicity Essential For High Adoption Rates

    Ketchersid said a prime example of the importance of this was in the healthcare industry, which has a mix of technically-trained staff and employees with low technical skills.

    “Our biggest customer in the US is the country’s largest hospice company,” he said.

    “We provide a user interface for healthcare workers to enter patients’ data, which is then sent back to the company’s database and automatically integrated into the back-end health information system.

    “What we have to do where the customer is not as used to smartphones as in other industries is make the application very simple.
    “We are talking about making the transfer from filling out a paper form, yet it has to be something everyone can do.”

    But Ketchersid said feedback from the client was good, adding: “They are loving it and asking us to put all the forms they have on it.”

    The MDM package is either sold as a hosted subscription service or as a software version for companies to manage themselves.

    Ketchersid said the decision on which version to adopt came down to whether IT departments wanted to have complete control of their own systems.

    MDM is also being used in the oil industry where security is an important feature, as are GPS requirements, a timestamp and automatic integration.

    “We have a customer in the oil field professional services that has to go out to remote locations,” said Ketchersid. “What they really need is an audit trail to show they were at a site and did tasks. It’s like a timesheet on steroids.”

    He said there was a growing market for MDM from companies looking for a forms package with Media Sourcery’s security built into it.

    Aside from the healthcare and oil industries, MDM is being used in the legal profession.

    Potential future uses include a law enforcement project where officers are required to record possible evidential data or prove a vehicle was stopped.

    “It’s a pretty open field. We got started in the healthcare market and will continue to have healthcare customers but are expanding out from that,” he said.

    “There are so many possibilities. It’s really going to be where the customer demand comes from.”

  • G1 Cheaper to Run Than iPhone


    T-Mobile has introduced the first Google Phone, the HTC-made G1, which the company hopes will rival Apple’s iPhone.

    The much-anticipated G1, formerly known as the HTC Dream, is the first open-source Android-based smartphone.

    The handset touts touchscreen functionality, a QWERTY keyboard, and a Google-centric mobile Web experience.

    Inevitably, comparisons with the iPhone were going to be made and the price – both of the handset and monthly contract charges – was going to be an area of key interest.

    The G1 will be available for USD $179 in the US from 22 October where it will be SIM-locked to T-Mobile’s network.

    It will be offered with either a USD $25 data plan with unlimited Web access but limited messaging, or users can opt for true unlimited data for USD $35.

    T-Mobile’s voice plans start at USD $30, meaning a total cost of USD $55 for unlimited Internet access.

    Wired has done an interesting price comparison which estimates that, based on a two-year contract period, the G1 is around USD $380 cheaper than the 3G iPhone.

    While the initial reaction to the USD $179 price tag for the G1 was positive, there have been complaints that it doesn’t apply to existing T-Mobile subscribers who have been reportedly been offered an unsubsidized price of USD $399 and a USD $100 online discount.

    This ends up giving the G1 a USD $344 total cost – although this would still make it cheaper using the Wired calculations.

    In terms of the spec, “solid but not spectacular” would probably sum up reviews of the handset, which is to be launched in the UK in November and elsewhere in Europe in early 2009.

    As would be expected, the G1 comes loaded with Google Search, Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and other popular Google software that PC users are familiar with.

    A full HTML Web browser lets users see any Web page the way it was designed to be seen, and then zoom in to expand any section by tapping on the screen.

    Importantly, the G1 builds on the promise of the Google mobile operating system, which gives users access to the Android Market.
    Customers can find and download applications from there to expand and personalize the HTC-made handset.

    However, while the G1 has generally been greeted with praise, there has been some criticism of its styling and design – with complaints that it’s thicker and heavier than the iPhone and lacks features such as video playback.

    A major grumble is that instead of standard headphone and USB ports, it has a proprietary combination port, meaning that regular headphones won’t work unless you add a special dongle.

    There has also been some questioning of how “open” the G1 really is, since T-Mobile will be restricting voice over internet protocol (VoIP) applications.

  • Microsoft Delays Windows Mobile 7


    Microsoft is not expected to complete a final build of its Windows Mobile 7 operating system until the second half of 2009.

    ZD Net Asia said the software maker has informed some of its partners that it has had to delay the much anticipated update to its cell phone operating system.

    The report describes the delay is a significant blow for Microsoft, which has been counting on the next version of WinMo to enable devices that better rival Apple’s iPhone.

    It points out that the delay also comes as competition steps up in the smartphone market.

    Google is preparing to launch the G1, first phone running its Android operating system, while Apple has its updated iPhone 3G, and new models are also debuting from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

    While no major update to its core operating system is expected ahead of Windows Mobile 7 other improvements are likely to take place before then, including an improved browser that brings the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 6 onto Windows Mobile.

    That update should allow Windows Mobile phones to display rich Web pages, including those that are home to Flash content and Ajax applications.

  • Apple Clamps Down On Rejected iPhone Apps


    Apple is to block developers’ abilities to distribute iPhone applications outside of its iTunes App Store.

    Developers were previously allowed to distribute apps directly to users by binding the software to the serial number of their iPhone.

    The move is certain to add to the growing disquiet from application developers unhappy with Apple’s unclear and seemingly arbitrary approvals policy.

    A number of apps, including Podcaster, NetShare, Murderdrome and MailWrangler, have received rejection letters from Apple despite following official guidelines.

    Among those affected by the latest decision is Almerica, the creator of a podcast download and playback tool known as Podcaster.

    It was initially rejected by Apple because the application duplicated the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.

    So it began using a method that created ad hoc licenses for the utility as an impromptu distribution tactic, an approach that left out the App Store entirely and consequently left Apple out of its 30 per cent revenue from each sale.

    The new restriction is being seen as a risky precedent and one that could lead to legal activity if Apple’s attempts to control any and all sales channels of software to iPhone and iPod touch owners falls foul of monopoly legislation.

    Apple is also trying to prevent developers whose applications are rejected from discussing the reasons by issuing a non-disclosure agreement with the refusal notice.

    The situation is in stark contrast to T-Mobile’s G1, which as the first official Google Android phone operates an open source policy for applications and OS development/modification.

  • Mobile TV To Become Standard Feature of Smartphones

    Mobile TV has really only achieved great popularity in nations such as Japan and Korea.

    But the market is expected to expand rapidly over the next few years, spurred on by the smartphone which is driving improvements in screen quality, microchips and antennas.

    Smartphone.biz-news.com spoke to David Srodzinski, chief executive of fledgling semiconductor firm Elonics, about his expectations for the future of mobile TV.

    Mobile TV will soon become as accepted a feature of mobile handsets as the camera.

    That is the prediction of David Srodzinski, founder and chief executive of Elonics, a semiconductor company that has designed a silicon radio frequency (RF) tuner used to convert signals into sound and pictures.

    “We do see mobile TV as going to take off just like the camera phone has taken off,” he said.

    “It’s not something you will use all the time, but it’s a part of the phone that will be such a ‘nice to have’ feature that all phones will simply have to have them.”

    David Srodzinski CEO Elonics

    Based in Livingston, Scotland, Elonics recently announced that David Milne, the founder and former chief executive of chip maker Wolfson Microelectronics, was joining its board as non-executive chairman.

    Milne was credited with taking Wolfson from a university spinout to the FTSE 250 and the company made its name as a key supplier of microchips to the iPod.

    Founded in 2003, Elonics has developed RF architecture called DigitalTune that is the foundation for a family of re-configurable CMOS RF front end products.

    Its E4000 device is designed for reception of all major world-wide fixed and handheld terrestrial digital multi-media broadcast standards within UHF to L-Band ranges (76MHz to 1.70GHz).

    It allows designers to implement front ends capable of cost effectively supporting multiple TV and radio broadcast standards and enabling smaller, lighter, cheaper and lower power consumer electronics.

    Elonics has finished market sampling its products and is about to begin mass-production.

    Srodzinski said the immediate focus for the broadcast receiver technology was the traditional TV market, ranging from digital TVs, set-top boxes and PC TVs to multi-media devices.

    But he believed the biggest opportunities lay in the mobile TV market, with analysts forecasting sales of mobile TV enabled handsets rising to 100 millionin 2010.

    “All future potential growth is coming from the cell phone side of the market,” he said. “Smartphones are increasingly a sizeable part of that market.”

    Screen size and quality a key factor influencing the adoption of mobile TV on cell phones

    Srodzinski said that with QVGA screens appearing on increasing numbers of handsets, a barrier to mobile TV was being removed.

    He said that prior to the introduction of QVGA screens, adding mobile TV to a cell phone meant additional costs for the screen, the graphic processors and mobile TV chip set.

    “With the advent of QVGA offerings, such as on the new HTC phones and the iPhone, which have them as standard, the cost add of mobile TV is minimal now,” he said.

    For the screens alone, Srodzinski estimated that the cost add had dropped by a tenth, from USD $50 to $5.
    “All that has to be added now is the mobile TV chip set,” he said.

    But if cost and technological issues were no longer an impediment to widespread uptake of mobile TV, what about users’ appetite for the service?

    Srodzinski expected mobile TV to be something people would use once or twice a week for five to 10 minutes, most probably as a free-to-view service.

    “That user experience will be such a good feature and such a compelling reason, that people will want mobile TV on their cell phones in a similar way to how they want to have camera phones too,” he said.

    “We believe that if mobile TV works and takes off in that way, it will be a major opportunity that will grow out of the smartphone and into middle layer cell phones.”

    The great success of mobile TV in Japan and Korea, where penetration rates now reach 40 per cent, owes a great deal to government intervention promoting the services, according to Srodzinski.

    He said this had created revenue opportunities and lifted technological barriers to entry.

    “What’s holding back other parts of the world has more to do with the infrastructure roll-out and the cost of doing that,” he said. “That and the lack of clear government support.”

    However, Srodzinski insisted that the growth of mobile TV in territories outwith Japan and Korea would accelerate as more people experienced it and saw the quality of the services and content.

    “I think other regions will catch on,” he said. “This is not a technological push situation – it has to be a consumer-led requirement., especially if it’s free-to-air that takes off.”

    While content may be free, any explosion in mobile TV will also have to offer opportunities for revenue to the industry.
    As Srodzinski said: “The question has to be: who makes any money out of it? There’s no particular economic benefit to operators.”

    Undoubtedly an answer to that conundrum will be found, but will mobile TV really take off?
    Please let us know your thoughts on the matter.

  • Smartphones Fuelling Mobile Search Growth


    The increasing numbers of smartphones on flat-rate data plans, coupled with ever-improving handsets, is leading to a surge in mobile search, according to comScore.

    It has published the results of a survey which show that searching the internet from a mobile phone is gaining in popularity in the United States and Western Europe.

    In June, 20.8 million US wireless customers and 4.5 million European subscribers searched from their mobile handset – an increase of 68 per cent and 38 per cent from the year before.

    comScore said Google was the dominant mobile search provider, with an estimated 60 per cent share in all countries measured.
    Recognising the potential yields from mobile searching, Google has attempted to build up its presence in cell phones.

    As a result, the search company is the default search provider for Sprint handsets, the iPhone, and is reportedly in talks to provide mobile search and advertising for Verizon Wireless.

    With the first smartphone using Android, the company’s mobile OS, due to be launched shortly, Google’s share of mobile search revenue is certain to increase.

    In the US, Yahoo has around 35 per cent of the market and is second to Google in most countries.

    The UK tops the penetration rate table for mobile subscribers using search, with 9.5 per cent, followed by the US at 9.2 per cent.
    Industry analysts expect penetration to grow in all markets, particularly with US subscribers.

    Alistair Hill, a comScore analyst, said that as the number of mobile search users increased so did the frequency of activity.

    “The number of people accessing mobile search at least once a week grew 50 per cent in Europe, with France and Spain leading at a rate of 69 and 63 per cent, respectively,” he said.

    “Meanwhile, the number of US users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans.”

    Hill said there had also been a substantial improvement to the mobile search offerings in the US market.

    "The number of US users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans," he said.

    "We have also seen a substantial improvement to the mobile search offerings in the U.S. market."

  • 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 Interface Allows Call Center Mangement


    Smoothstone IP Communications has developed a mobile interface that allows corporate call centers to be controlled from anywhere in the world using the iPod and iPhone.

    The company says Apple’s new support for corporate security standards allows it to provide a secure, enterprise solution for IT professionals to use when they are out the office environment.

    Utilizing the new technology available in Apple’s handset, clients with Smoothstone’s Intelligent Call Control (ICC) suite can now use the mobile version of the revolutionary ICC application to:

    * Manage call queues across multiple locations in real time

    * Reroute any calls to any other agent or call center location on the fly

    * Transfer held calls through a drag-and-drop interface

    * See instant statistics and analytics of call activity and agent performance

    * Listen to live calls via Bluetooth headset or speaker

    * Record and review calls for training and quality assurance

    The announcement comes a year after the initial launch of Smoothstone’s ICC suite, a completely integrated solution.

    ICC requires no customer purchased equipment, is flexibly priced according to client size, and can be tailored to each organization’s individual needs.

    ICC is a part of Smoothstone’s comprehensive managed solution for mid- to large-size enterprises, which delivers next generation applications over Smoothstone’s nationwide, private, MPLS network that utilizes proven Cisco Systems technology.