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Tag: market-data

  • Mobile Web a "Miserable" Experience for Many Users


    Mobile web users have 35 per cent less success completing website tasks on cell phones than they do on a PC, according to a study.

    Small screens, awkward input, download delays and badly designed websites were all given as obstacles to a good browsing experience.

    The results led usability researchers at the Nielsen Norman Group to conclude in their report that it is neither "easy nor pleasant" for people to use the Web on their mobile phones.

    Conducted in the US and UK, the studies found that the average success rate for users completing tasks on the mobile Internet was 59 per cent.

    This compared to an average success rate of 80 per cent for websites accessed on a regular PC.

    Jakob Nielsen, principal of the Nielsen Norman Group, said: "The phrase ‘mobile usability’ is pretty much an oxymoron.

    Jakob Nielsen, principal of the Nielsen Norman Group

    "Observing users suffer during our user sessions reminded us of the very first usability studies we did with traditional websites in 1994. It was that bad."

    Not counting poor cellular signal, researchers identified four main obstacles that mobile users face to getting a good user experience:

    • Small screens: When users see fewer options at any given time, all interactions become harder to do
    • Awkward input: Text entry is particularly slow and error prone, even on phones with mini-keyboards, and it is difficult to operate GUI widgets without a mouse
    • Download delays: Getting to the next screen takes forever, often longer than it would on a dial-up connection
    • Mis-designed websites: Sites optimized for usability under desktop conditions, meaning they don’t follow guidelines for mobile access, create all kinds of additional obstacles for mobile users

    Raluca Budiu, lead researcher for the study and co-author of the study, Usability of Mobile Websites, said the first two problems are inherent to mobile devices.

    "As for connectivity, it’s going to take many years before mobile connections are as fast as even a modest cable modem," she said.

    "The key opportunity for improving the mobile user experience lies in websites being designed specifically for better mobile usability."

    The researchers found that when test participants used sites designed specifically for mobile devices, their success rates averaged 64 per cent compared to the 53 per cent success rate they experienced when using "full" sites on their mobile phones – in other words, the same sites offered to PC users.

    The report said that user performance could be improved by 20 per cent by creating mobile-optimized sites.

  • Mobile Broadband Could Reach 418m in 2017


    There could be 94 million people using VoIP hardware over mobile broadband connections across Europe by 2017, according to new research.

    Figures from the Coda Research Consultancy suggest the uptake of mobile broadband will continue to expand significantly.

    This could potentially change business practices as more people have the option of working from home rather than heading into the office.

    Global mobile broadband connectivity is forecast to reach 418 million over the same timeframe as the flexibility of the technology appeals to more people.

    The researchers predict that portable laptop and netbook users accessing the internet via mobile broadband will produce USD $48bn in operator revenues in 2017 and will generate and consume an immense 1.8 exabytes of traffic per month – a forty fold increase over 2009.

    Steve Smith, founder of Coda Research, said: "With enormous growth in traffic and considerable decline in average revenue per user, operators will need to be ruthlessly efficient."

    The most significant growth will occur in the Asia-Pacific region, where users will amount to 162m by 2017. Europe will account for 94m users, and North America for 58m users.

    The Coda report says the impact of Long Term Evolution (LTE) will be dramatic, with half of all mobile broadband via netbook and laptop users employing LTE worldwide in 2017.

    Three quarters of users in Europe and nearly two thirds of users in North America will employ LTE in 2017.

    This contrasts with just over half of users in Asia Pacific, and 12 per cent in Central and South America.

    Smith said LTE take up will be greatly skewed toward European and North American markets in the short to medium term, where ARPU will be highest.

    "However, we will also see significant take up in China, and we may also see countries like India bypass 3G altogether, and move straight to LTE," he said.

  • STEC Signs $120 Million Deal for ZeusIOPS SSDs


    STEC has signed an agreement with one of its largest enterprise storage customers for sales of USD $120 million of ZeusIOPS SSDs in the second half of 2009.

    With this agreement signed, the company is now forecasting revenue from the sale of its ZeusIOPS drives will exceed USD $220 million in 2009.

    Manouch Moshayedi, chairman and chief executive officer of STEC, said the agreement reflects the enterprise storage manufacturer’s continued commitment to integrate STEC’s SSD technology into the manufacturer’s systems.

    He said it validates significant storage system performance improvements enabled by STEC’s ZeusIOPS SSDs in these enterprise systems.

    "We are pleased to see that sales of our customer’s enterprise storage systems utilizing our ZeusIOPS drives have grown significantly over the past few years," he said.

    "Our customers have helped evangelize this technology and we are glad to be partnered with them as we expect that they will help drive further innovation in SSD usage in the highest-end of the enterprise storage markets."

    The STEC ZeusIOPS SSD product family offers an array of options for enterprise system architects. ZeusIOPS SSD provides a wide range of interface options, spanning Fibre Channel to SAS to SATA, as well as the widest range of capacity options, spanning 73GB to 1TB.

    Fundamental to the ZeusIOPS product family is the proprietary SSD architecture which renders an enterprise-optimized storage device with an unprecedented combination of performance and energy efficiency.

  • Amimon Raises $10 Million on Back of Strong WHDI Performance


    Wireless HD chipmaker Amimon has raised USD $10 million in its latest round of funding.

    The Israeli company’s announcement as demand for HDTVs capable of wirelessly transferring HD video from one device in the home continues to grow.

    Led by Stata Venture Partners the funding round also includes previous backers Argonaut Private Equity, Cedar Fund, Evergreen Venture Partners, Walden Israel and Motorola Ventures.

    The company said it has developed six different chips to date with its prior funding, including a new chip based on the WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) standard.

    Its first-generation product is performing well, both in consumer electronics devices and in medical imaging equipment.

    Customers include Sony, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Gefen, Belkin, Stryker (medical devices), IDX (Pro AV video cameras), Philips, and Hinsense.

    The second-generation WHDI chip set improves on the first in that it can transfer full HD video – defined as video in the 1080p format running at 60 frames per second.

    The previous chip set could only do 1080i video at slower speeds.

    The new chip set is compliant with the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) industry standard and is expected to ship in customer products in 2010.

    Rival SiBEAM uses a different technology, based on the 60-gigahertz band of the radio spectrum, with higher speeds but shorter ranges.

    Yoav Nissan-Cohen, chairman and CEO of AMIMON, said the company is experiencing "strong acceptance" of the newly introduced 1080p/60Hz chipset.

    "The additional funding will allow Amimon to seize this opportunity to solidify our leadership position," he said.

    "We will use this round of funding to enhance production and expand our worldwide operations to meet growing global demand for our technology in the consumer electronics market as well as the medical and professional video markets."

  • EMC Completes Acquisition of Data Domain


    EMC Corporation has finally overcome rival NetApp and succeeded with its bid to buy data deduplication leader Data Domain at a price of USD $2.1 billion.

    The acceptance of the final offer comes after a six-week bidding war and will raise questions about whether EMC overpaid for Data Domain – and what NetApp will do now.

    EMC’s final offer of USD $33.50 per share for Data Domain is a lofty figure compared to the $18 its stock was trading for before NetApp’s first bid May 20.

    NetApp went on to offer of USD $25 per share before increasing that to USD $30 after EMC joined the fray.

    While EMC could be accused of overpaying, deduplication is viewed as a growing segment of the storage market and Data Domain offers some very good technology.

    For NetApp there do appear to be other potential acquisition targets to bring it into the data deduplication/backup space, including CommVault, FalconStor, Quantum and Sepaton.

    The challenge facing EMC now is to decide how to bring Data Domain to market.

    With businesses storing 50 per cent more data each year, according to some market research estimates, EMC is betting the acquisition will pay off.

    Joe Tucci, EMC chairman, president and CEO, said: "This is a compelling acquisition from both a strategic and financial standpoint.

    "We look forward to bringing Data Domain together with EMC to form a powerful force in next-generation disk-based backup and archive."

  • Demand for VoIP Solutions Likely to Rise with Spread of Satellite Broadband Technology


    VoIP solutions are likely to benefit from more people around the world seeking to access the internet using satellite technology, according to research from Global Industry Analysts.

    The technology has been tipped as a possible way to provide broadband services in more remote, rural communities where it will be much more difficult to deploy conventional broadband infrastructure.

    The analysts said this could mean that web users have better use of VoIP solutions and are able to access high-speed downloads many miles from the nearest telephone exchange.

    The study said: "The satellite broadband’s capability to extend unique services such as rural telephony, e-distance learning and telemedicine services is enticing the prospective market participants in a major way."

    It added that the value of the satellite broadband market could reach nearly GBP £4 billion within six years if the interest and subsequent take-up continues to grow.

  • Consumer LBS Market to Double, "Free" Services to Gain


    Worldwide consumer location-based services (LBS) subscribers and revenue are expected to more than double in 2009.

    The growth is being driven by the higher availability of GPS-enabled phones, reduced prices and the appearance of application stores, according to Gartner.

    Research from the firm’s analysts shows that despite an expected 4 per cent decrease in mobile device sales, LBS subscribers are forecast to grow from 41.0 million in 2008 to 95.7 million in 2009.

    They calculate that revenue is anticipated to increase from USD $998.3 million in 2008 to USD $2.2 billion in 2009.

    Annette Zimmermann, senior research analyst at Gartner, said the LBS industry has matured rapidly in recent months through a mixture of consolidation, improved price/performance of the enabling technologies and compelling location applications.

    "Factors driving the increase in the next year or so include higher availability of GPS-enabled phones, reduced prices and appearance of application stores," she said.

    Gartner predicts that advertising-based or ‘free’ LBS (disregarding data charges by mobile carriers) will gain more traction as users adopt it as a way to limit costs.

    Mobile carriers that stick to the current predominant business model of charging users USD $5 to $10 per month plus data plans will experience high churn rates as users will look for free alternatives.

    In North America and Western Europe, the share of users taking advantage of free services is approximately 10-15 per cent today and is expected to grow to 40-50 per cent in 2013.

    Zimmermann said the competitive landscape will change and most mobile carriers need to alter their approach toward offering LBS and dealing with developers.

    "Subscriber growth will hinge on "free" – disregarding data charges – services," she said.

    "Mobile operators’ initiatives to open up the application programming interface (API) to third-party developers will help them compete against other players in the market and will also be beneficial to the different parties involved, down to the end user."

    Gartner expects more compelling and useful applications and services to come to market in the next 12 to 18 months such as digital coupons to be redeemed in a nearby shop and points-of-interest search services.

    Smaller niche players will survive in local markets only when they have an established user base and unique offering that larger players cannot compete with. Other players will be acquisition targets for larger vendors.

    The Gartner analysts said LBS market dynamics vary by region. For example, North America is the largest market due to mobile carriers’ strong efforts in navigation services and family-safety solutions.

    In Western Europe, navigation is currently the most used application, followed by local search and "friend finder." There is still no significant uptake of safety applications.

    Japan will continue to see steady growth as GPS has been required by law in mobile phones since 2007.

    In Asia/Pacific, during the summer Olympics, location services were for the first time offered in China which is now an advertising-based solution and free to the user.

  • Open-Source "Tidal Wave" Will Shift Power to Developers


    The number of smartphones shipped with open source operating systems (OS) will increase from 106 million this year to 223 million by 2014.

    That’s the prediciton of telecom consultants Juniper Research, who found that operating systems and applications are playing an increasingly important role in the differentiation of new smartphones.

    They also found that the OS plays a key factor in the choice of which handset to choose from by users.

    Juniper’s research mirrors recent figures from rival market watcher Strategy Analytics, which forecast that Android smartphone shipments will increase 900 per cent during 2009 over last year.

    The last three years has seen a revolution in the OS market, with market leader Symbian moving to open source and Apple leading the way in the distribution of apps through their innovative, but now widely copied, AppStore approach.

    The move to open-source OS has also encouraged developers to design new and attractive applications.

    With over 60 per cent of the OS market now based on open-source, and a sizeable pool of software design talent out there, there is a massive opportunity for innovation.

    However, Juniper said the real key is not whether the OS is open-source but whether it’s easy for a developer to design an application and make money from that effort.

    The combined changes of Apple’s open route to the market and LiMo, OHA and Symbian’s open-source OS approach have generated a tidal wave-like effect which even the economic downturn has been unable to reverse.

    The researchers said there is a clear warning for device manufacturers – the choice of OS is now critical and market share will, to a large extent, follow application development.

    They add that the unexpected side effect, however, will be a shift in the balance of power towards application developers and end users.

    Handset-makers beware.

  • EMC Extends Data Domain Offer


    EMC Corporation has extended its all-cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Data Domain common stock for USD $30 per share.

    The move is to provide additional time to satisfy closing conditions, the offering period now expires at 12:00 midnight EDT on July 10, 2009.

    The initial offering period, which began on June 2, 2009, was previously scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight EDT on June 29, 2009.

    Data Domain is the object of a bidding war between EMC and NetApp.

    It is unclear what EMC hopes to achieve by the extension, since Data Domain already rejected the offer on June 15 and said EMC’s offer is not in the best interest of its shareholders.

    It prefers a bid from NetApp.

    In May, NetApp announced that it had agreed to buy Data Domain for USD $25 per share in cash and stock, or about USD $1.5 billion.

  • VoIP Biggest Victim of IT Managers' Hesitance to Deploy Next-Generation Apps


    VoIP is the most likely application type to have deployments delayed due to third-party network concerns, according to a survey of IT managers.

    The report by Apparent Networks found that 73 per cent of respondents also said VoIP was the most common application to stress their networks.

    Of the IT managers surveyed who said they delayed an application deployment (36 per cent), 61 per cent said they had delayed a VoIP application.

    Unified communications and video delivery applications were the next two most commonly cited for delays in deployment.

    Jim Melvin, Apparent Network’s president and Chief Marketing Officer, said the report, The State of the Path, provides an interesting insight into the issues causing network managers to delay their deployment of next-generation applications.

    Writing on the Apparent Networks blog he said the survey, which targeted hundreds of network managers, found that network concerns outside of managers’ control are slowing application deployments, especially for VoIP and Unified Communications.

    "Apparent understands that network managers are completely on board with these next-generation technologies, but they are not confident enough in the third-party network performance necessary to make these technologies meet their performance requirements," he said.