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Tag: voices-of-the-industry

  • The Automotive Aftermarket X-Factor: Telematics Tech Wins Over the Consumer

    By 2014, 70% of consumer devices will be connected to the internet, extending the digital lifestyle into vehicles. So one key questions stands out – how will automotive and consumer electronics technologies optimize the customer experience? Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Honda and six other leading automotive OEMs will take the stage in Las Vegas on Jan 7, 2013 in order to discuss how to satisfy consumer demands for a smooth, seamless In-Vehicle Infotainment and HMI solution in the vehicle at the Consumer Telematics Show, one day before the International CES.

    Technology in active interfaces have proved to drive car purchasing decisions, and the market for infotainment systems alone is set to grow 7.3% year on year to $35.89 billion in 2013, and as a consequence the telematics value chain is currently investigating how companies can take advantage most effectively of this growth in this vertical.

    The Consumer Telematics Show is the premier B2B forum and the key start of year event created specifically to answer the crucial tech and business strategy questions set to unlock the value of telematics innovation in the US market and beyond. High quality, seamless and personalized end-to-end connected driver experiences are at the top of the agenda.

    John McLaughlin, National Manager for Cross Car Line Planning at Toyota, declared “CTS is your one stop shop to get on board with the latest technological innovations driving change in telematics”. Now in its 11th year, CTS is the largest forum dedicated to automotive infotainment and HMI in the USA and is once again set to feature exclusive keynote OEM announcements of brand new services for 2013. 

    The race to merge the consumer’s out-vehicle and in-vehicle lifestyle

    At this lucrative tipping point for connected vehicle services, The Consumer Telematics Show 2013 (Jan 7, Las Vegas) marks the start of a critical year in the development of the consumer telematics industry. Indeed, with embedded connectivity on the horizon, it is imperative that the ecosystem unites at the start of 2013 to engage and maintain consumer loyalty through bridging the gap between life outside and inside the car.

    Senior-level speakers  at CTS 2013 including Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Audi, Chrysler, Toyota, Subaru, Honda, Porsche, KIA and many more will address key infotainment and HMI focused topics such as:

    • CREATE YOUR APP DELIVERY STRATEGY: Assess how the availability of apps will influence consumers’ device-related purchasing decisions and debate their form and function in the vehicle: through a tethered solution, embedded, hybrid, or cloud

    • THE ARRIVAL OF HTML5 AND ITS VALUE TO THE AUTO WORLD: Harness the full capability of an HTML 5 ecosystem to create a flexible, cross-platform, non-proprietary solution which enables developers to build a host of profitable applications for the automotive environment

    • BALANCE NEXT-GEN HMI WITH D.O.T GUIDELINES: Discuss innovative HMI technologies such as touch, gesture and audio to ensure the compliancy of your solutions in a landscape fraught with fears over driver distraction

    • BRING CLOUD-BASED APPLICATIONS UP TO AUTO STANDARD: Render apps to the high-quality and robust specifications which customers expect, and ensure a seamless transition for the driver when it comes to cloud-based integration in the vehicle

    • A BRAVE NEW WORLD OF M&As: Hear directly from Hughes Telematics and Verizon Wireless as they speak out on the telematics industry’s first major acquisition and forecast its impact on the market’s development from 2013 to 2020

    With exclusive OEM presentations, 350+ exec delegates, 25+ senior-level telematics speakers and 10+ businesses-focussed sessions, CTS 2013 is the premier business intelligence and networking forum for the CE, telematics, digital, mobile and wireless industries.

    For the complete CTS 2013 conference program and speaker line-up, access the e-brochure here.

    Register today to join the 350+ senior delegates already registered.

    About Telematics Update:

    Telematics Update Conferences are the most prestigious in the industry. We produce the largest telematics events in North America, Europe & Asia, and attract the most influential speakers providing a rich environment for establishing strategic relationships and networking.

  • Telecom Service Providers Waking Up to Global Wi-Fi Roaming

    15 disruptive service providers around the world with nearly a billion mobile subscribers have partnered with the largest global Wi-Fi roaming network, iPass.

    iPass chief executive officer Evan Kaplan reporting on the state of Wi-Fi in the telecom operator industry said: “Mobile carriers are waking up to the power of global Wi-Fi roaming and the competitive advantage it offers. While Wi-Fi is in its early years, 15 telecom service providers worldwide are pioneering its growth and the signs are incredibly encouraging for explosive growth in this market.”

    Even though the public discussion on mobile operator Wi-Fi has previously centered on cost-savings offered by domestic mobile data offload, global Wi-Fi roaming has the ability to generate revenue. iPass has a unique vantage point in the telecom industry and the ability for service providers to deliver both consumers and the enterprise global Wi-Fi roaming connectivity is set to be an inherent part of their subscriber features in the future.

    “The 15 service providers that have signed up to offer global Wi-roaming have a combined mobile subscriber base of 974 million people worldwide. With high-value customers demanding Wi-Fi roaming, these service providers are seizing the initiative to provide the benefits of a global Wi-Fi network,” said Kaplan.

    With the increasing number of international business travelers using multiple mobile devices – including non-SIM devices – to data roam, various service providers are looking at Wi-Fi to serve the needs of these high-value customers. “Mobile is everything; it has changed how people communicate and work. Wi-Fi is global in nature and these service providers recognize that they are in a highly competitive industry. Providing convenient and cost effective connectivity options all around the globe for their high-value customers is going to be the next big differentiator,” said Kaplan. “We’re breaking a religious barrier by enabling carriers to bundle services to support the needs of their customers who carry both SIM and non-SIM devices that are Wi-Fi enabled.”

    A recent industry report from Juniper Research indicated revenues generated from mobile roaming will hit more than $80 billion by 2017. “There is an increasing opportunity for telecom operators to enhance their roaming revenues and profit margins via Wi-Fi networks,” said report author Nitin Bhas. “These revenues will largely be driven by increasing data usage and mobile operators are looking at global Wi-Fi as a way to protect their post-paid, high-value customers that are demanding Wi-Fi, especially when they travel overseas.”

    With 1,137,695 Wi-Fi hotspots in 113 countries and territories worldwide, iPass has nearly doubled the number of hotspots in its Wi-Fi network since the beginning of 2012 and expects its network to hit two million Wi-Fi hotspots by the end of 2013. “We are building the largest Wi-Fi ecosystem in the world and operators in Asia and the Middle East are taking an early lead in shaping how people roam today and in the future,” said Steve Livingston, iPass senior vice president of carrier development.

    Both Zain and Etisalat in the Middle East and China Telecom and China Mobile are using the iPass Open Mobile Exchange as a foundation for their global Wi-Fi data roaming service; along with SK Telecom in South Korea, dtac in Thailand and KDDI in Japan there is a surging Wi-Fi expansion throughout Asia. Additionally, Oi, South America’s largest mobile operator has joined the exchange and is building the largest Wi-Fi network in Brazil. With a nexus of forces driven by cloud computing and mobility causing an ever-increasing need for global Wi-Fi, iPass is starting to see carriers thinking of Wi-Fi roaming as an inherent part of their mobility services that subscribers will expect as a feature rather than an add-on service.

    Wi-Fi standards such as the Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) from the Wireless Broadband Alliance and the Wi-Fi certified Passpoint program from the Wi-Fi Alliance are a welcome evolution according to iPass. “NGH and Passpoint are critical to remove the friction inherent in the seamless mobile connection process today as it will improve the user experience,” said Livingston. “iPass is helping lead these discussions on defining and driving the future of Wi-Fi and these initiatives speak to the core value proposition of iPass. The network that iPass has built enables operators to bridge the gap from today’s Wi-Fi into the future and beyond.”

    As Wi-Fi standards continue to progress and improve the user’s experience, iPass is strongly positioned both today and in the future. The company’s global Wi-Fi presence is unsurpassed and their technical integration and expertise over the last 12 years with more than 140 global Wi-Fi networks provides iPass a significant advantage, especially as Wi-Fi uses a different infrastructure to cellular networks.

    “Consumers are very sensitive about expensive data roaming charges but with Wi-Fi people are used to daily, flat-rate or time based billing versus consumption usage,” said Kaplan. “As both mobile and fixed-line operators now have an opportunity to get into the global Wi-Fi roaming business, iPass is there to help operators derive greater wallet share from mobile customers. Whether it’s a smartphone or a non-SIM device, they can use our Wi-Fi network virtually wherever they are in the world.”

    An early pioneer in the creation of the global broadband roaming market, iPass delivered the industry’s first broadband roaming service that gave business travelers simplified, high-speed and secure remote access to their corporate networks. iPass is a board member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance and co-author of the WISPr 1.0 protocol, a standard that defines how smart clients can access Wi-Fi networks.

  • Sample Attendee list just announced for NFC Payments – PayPal, Raley’s, Best Buy, Bank of America, Barclaycard, Verizon, T-Mobile and more to meet

    Press Release

    M for Mobile have released the latest sample of the biggest industry experts to attend this year’s NFC Payments USA (Oct 29-30, Boston) event, taking place in just 2 weeks’ time.

    NFC’s most exciting event yet will reveal a stark comparison and in-depth analysis on NFC as a payments technology, compared with its peer competing payment technologies. 

    It also offers a valuable financial perspective through the high caliber of speakers who will lead the exceptional networking opportunity in Boston on the 29th and 30th of this month, including PayPal, Best Buy, Raley’s, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Bank of America, Citi, Barclaycard, Capital One and many more.

    Identify your future partner here.

    With NFC still topping the charts as the next big thing in mobile payments, this year’s conference is bursting with new ideas including an in-depth comparison and evaluation of NFC Payments technology versus all other forms of mobile payment technologies to measure and plan your future NFC strategy, a financial perspective on NFC including the most effective business models to apply and how to reach the fastest ROI for your organization and the opportunity to network with executives from across the entire NFC ecosystem to form those profitable partnerships for 2013.

    Have a look at the attendees already signed up here.

    Contact [email protected] to see what available discounts are left – make sure you secure your place before.

  • FBI Warns Android Users of Malware Risk

    The news arrived from the FBI via the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) division, warn the owners of Android smartphones about the appearance of new malware targeting this category of devices.

    According to IC3 – the organization responsible for investigating allegations of criminal activities in the online environment, "Loozon" and "FinFisher" are the latest known versions of these forms of malware, each with a slightly different operation mode.

    One of the strategies used to attract victims involves displaying a message that the phone owner is lured with job offers that involves working from home, at a substantial salary and offered in exchange for sending emails. The message contains a link that leads to a website infected with Loozon, the user being instructed to click on the link for more information about the job offer. Once infection has occurred, the malicious app extracts all the information stored in the address book along with the infected phone number.

    FinFisher is a form of spyware that can take control over certain parts of the mobile phone, so that once infection is produced, the device can be controlled and monitored remotely, regardless of the location of the victim. Infection with FinFisher malware can occur when the user accesses using the Web browser a website or an infected link, or opens a text message disguised as an Android update.

    IC3 provides some recommendations for protecting mobile phones, such as turning on the encryption feature in order to protect personal data in case of loss or theft, installing antivirus software for the smartphone, creating an access password and avoiding using untrusted public wireless networks.

  • Facebook and HTC to Launch New Smartphone

    Facebook is working with HTC to build a smartphone, which will be released mid next year. According to sources quoted by Bloomberg, initially, the two companies wanted to have the smartphone released until the end of 2012, but HTC asked for more time because it had to work on other products too.

    Also, Facebook wants to create an improved operating system for its first smartphone, and Mark Zuckerberg has gathered many former Apple programmers to improve the Facebook application for iPhone.

    More than a half of the 900 million users of the social network are using the service from a mobile device, but Facebook did not obtain any money from the 3.15 billion dollars from the advertising on the phone.

    "Internet users are now going mobile and Facebook failed to cover this new market, but a smartphone with many applications and a lot of advetisement could be a great solution," said Victor Anthony, analyst at the Topeka Capitals Markets.

    Facebook shares fell by 23% since the listing in May 17th, partly due to the investors' fears that the company does not obtain sufficient revenues from mobile advertising. Facebook securities ended on Wednesday up by 3.1%, at $ 29.34 per unit.

    Facebook has also worked with HTC in two phones that have a button dedicated to the social network, HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa, but the new model seems to be more focused on the Facebook services.
    Initial speculations were aiming at a launch in Q3 2012, but the Facebook smartphone will be launched only in the summer of 2013.

    Some rumors also aims at the interest shown by Microsoft towards the Facebook phone, so the option that the new smartphone to run WP 8 is not ruled out.

  • HTC Releases First Details on Its Windows Phone 8 Smartphones

    Besides Nokia, HTC is one of the leading supporters of the mobile platform from Microsoft and this does not seem to change with the new version of the platform – Windows Phone 8.

    After yesterday’s event in which we learned the first elements, more or less spectacular, related to Windows Phone 8, HTC rushed to make give the first official details for its next generation of smartphones running on the new operating system from Microsoft.

    HTC Rio is the low-end model powered by WP8. The smartphone will feature a 4-inch WVGA screen, will support HSPA data connection of 14.4 Mbps and will have an integrated 5-megapixel camera with video capture capability in 720p resolution. The processor used will be a Qualcomm MSM8227 from the new series Snapdragon S4 Plus, and the amount of RAM will be only 512 MB.

    HTC Accord will be the second model on the price scale. This one will have a 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 screen and a native resolution of 720p. It will integrate an 8-megapixel sensor, and will jump to 1080p when capturing video content. In terms of data, the new smartphone will support 42Mbps HSPA+ as well as NFC connection. HTC Accord will be powered by a dual-core processor – probably Qualcomm MSM8260A, while the amount of RAM will jump to 1GB.

    HTC Zenith will be the new flagship of the WP8 range of smartphones. It will feature a 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display with a native resolution of 720p and will integrate the same 8-megapixel sensor. Also concerning the similarities with HTC Accord, HTC Zenith will also feature the same processor and quantity of RAM.

    The first two terminals and HTC Rio and HTC Accord are scheduled for launch in October, while HTC Zenith will be available shortly before the end of the year.

  • Blackberry Maker Says It Plans to Release New Model First Before Disclosing Financial Figures

    RIM, the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone today said it was postponing its earlier scheduled disclosure of the latest company financial figures, preferring to go ahead first with the release of its awaited new BlackBerry 10 models.

    In a report by Reuters, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said it was delaying its scheduled disclosure of financial figures to analysts set for May this year, instead setting the business meeting for later in 2012. RIM had typically released its financial report for analysts during the Blackberry World conference, usually held in the summer.

    RIM spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy told Reuters the company is deciding to focus instead on its worldwide customers, developers and partners as the Canada-based technology firm goes into the final stages of the impending public release of its new generation of smartphones to be led by the popular BlackBerry.

    Kennedy confirmed that the company is planning to set up a session separate from the product-oriented BlackBerry World conference in May that would target the interests of investors looking to RIM as an alternative investment focal point, at a point level with such smartphone leaders as Apple, Samsung, Nokia and LG. 

    Research In Motion had earlier announced its impending release of the new BlackBerry 10 editions which will use the same operating system of the company’s PlayBook tablet.  The PlayBook itself has not made a successful sales impact on the strictly competitive tablet market, led by Apple’s top selling iPads.

    The new RIM schedule, both for the postponement of the public release of its financial position as well as the marketing of the BlackBerry 10 models, has been interpreted by industry observers as the firm’s redoubling of efforts to come out with a competitive smartphone that would make use of powerful chipsets it said were set for delivery to its factories sometime early this year.

  • Apple iPhone, Partly Built By 13-Year-Olders for 70 Cents per Hour

    Not many people know that the popular iPhone and iPad are made in unbelievable working conditions. According to a report conducted by NPR, some of those working in production are 12, 13 or 14 years old.

    Foxconn, the factory where parts of Apple terminals are made, is located in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, with a population that exceeds New York – over 13 million people. Factory workers are more than 430,000.

    What surprised NPR reporters is that they met many children at the entrance. Apparently, Foxconn employers ignore age when hiring, even when they have less than 14 years old. The reporters  estimated that 5% of Chinese people working in manufacturing are minors. They suspect that Apple's U.S. representatives must know this or, if they don't, it's because they don't want to know being concerned about the price of production to remain as low as possible.

    According to NPR, at the Foxconn factory as well as other factories in Shenzhen, employees are working in halls with a capacity of 30,000 people. Work is done exclusively by hand, and the room is always quiet, because people are not allowed to speak. Workers are watched by cameras and have no right to create trade unions.

    On the move, reporters saw a former employee of Foxconn factory. He has broken his hand in a metal press, but has not been provided with medical care. Moreover, when he got back to work he did not have the same dexterity, so the man was fired. One reporter showed an iPad to the former employee and despite the fact that he worked for years in production the man had never seen such a device.

    NPR reporters claim that Foxconn employees earn about $250 per month. According to Reuters, their salary is $298 per month. Considering the fact that they are working over 15 hours a day, they are paid with less than 1 dollar per hour.

    You may also want to read:
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    LG Optimus 3D and Nokia X7: The Battle Continues!

  • Google, Sued by the British Telecom Operator BT

    British telecom operator BT sued Google in the United States for infringement of patents in areas such as mobile access to maps, Reuters.

    BT has launched the action in a court in Delaware. The complaint refers to six patents that would have been violated by https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Google, according to BT, by services such as https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Android, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Google Maps, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Google Music, Advertising, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Gmail and other products.

    "It’s about protecting BT’s investment in intellectual property and innovation. We think we have a solid case," said in a statement the British group.

    In the telecommunications industry are currently taking place numerous conflicts on patents, while the number of operators, mobile phone manufacturers and content providers try to offer attractive services such as accessing the maps or entertainment.

    Google Group is already involved in several disputes with companies such as https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Apple, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Microsoft and https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Oracle. A Google spokesman said the allegations are without foundation.

    BT announced that it has a total portfolio of approximately 5,600 patents and applications in the past financial year and demanded protection by patents of 62 inventions.

    The British group is the fifth largest company that sued Google for patent infringement.

    In August, Google announced that an agreement was reached regarding the takeover of https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Motorola Mobility for $ 12.5 billion, the largest acquisition in its history, partly to protect themselves from aggressive legal attacks. Motorola is one of the largest portfolios of patents in the mobile phone industry.

  • iPhone 4S Could Be Banned in Europe

    iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest smartphone, could be banned in Europe along with all Apple devices that have GPRS connectivity and run iOS, following a lawsuit filed in Germany by Motorola.

    The number of lawsuits in which the company in Cupertino is involved grows with every passing day. After last week a court in Australia has unanimously decided to withdraw a preliminary decision prohibiting Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be sold in Australia, Apple faces a new threat from Motorola.

    The company, acquired this year by Google, has won in Germany a preliminary injunction through which obtained prohibiting the sale of Apple devices that have the GPRS  technology, namely iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G, in Europe.

    The case represents a huge loss for Apple in the patents war that they are carrying with the Asian manufacturers of Android devices in several countries worldwide.

    “We will appeal the decision immediately. German consumers who want to buy an iPhone or an iPad for the holidays should not have troubles finding them,” said Apple representatives shortly after the decision.

    In the light of recent events, the Motorola Mobility purchase by Google, recorded this summer, seems a natural one. Market specialists have speculated even since those times that Google has paid $12.5 billion for the U.S. company only for its patent portfolio in the telecom area, and only in order to defend Android, the mobile platform that develops, by the trials filed by Apple against several manufacturers.

    Legal conflict between Apple and Android manufacturers has a long history, most of the lawsuits being filed by the U.S. company against the South Koreans from Samsung.

    Apple accuses them of copying the design and functionality of the iPhone and iPad smartphones and tablets of the Galaxy series models. In response, Samsung accuses Apple of violating several patents in the telecommunications area.

    Currently, between Apple and Samsung are opened 23 lawsuits in countries like France, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the United States.