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Tag: wifi

  • Apple Devices Dominate Mobile Wi-Fi Use


    iPhone owners are the single largest source of mobile WiFi data traffic worldwide, particularly in the US and UK, according to AdMob.

    In the US, the Apple handset represents 50.6 per cent of all requests from handhelds of any kind, followed by the iPod touch, which accounts for 28 per cent of the requests.

    The best non-Apple device, Sony’s PSP, only manages 13.1 per cent of this traffic.

    Even further down the scale come the T-Mobile Dash, G1 and various BlackBerries, which each have less than one per cent of WiFi use.

    UK figures are similarly weighted and give the iPhone the lead at 46.1 per cent, followed by the iPod touch at 21.8 per cent and Nokia’s N95 at 16.7 per cent.

    The Apple device is also more than twice as likely to be used on Wi-Fi than other devices and is used 42 per cent of the time on these hotspots in the US rather than EDGE or 3G compared to no more than 10 to 20 per cent for competitors.

    In the UK, this reaches 56 per cent.

    The phone’s presence helped roughly double the use of mobile WiFi to 8 per cent in both countries between October and November.

    Increasing numbers of smartphone users are taking advantage of WiFi to make voice calls over IP networks.

  • Smartphones Help WeFi Pass One Million User Mark


    The growing number of WiFi enabled smartphones appears to be spurring WeFi Inc on to greater things.

    The community-based global Wi-Fi network says it has now amassed over one million users in 215 countries, with an increasing number coming from mobile devices.

    WeFi, which recently added Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms to its Wi-Fi-connection service, also reported that it now has 10 million discovered hotspots.

    A statement said this makes it the largest virtual global Wi-Fi network, and the largest worldwide map of Wi-Fi access points available today.

    WeFi offers free downloadable software that enables automatic connection to the best Wi-Fi hotspot available.

    As well as Symbian and Windows Mobile, it has versions available for PCs and Macs, and has gained in popularity as more mobile devices become Wi-Fi compatible.

    In addition to gaining access to hotspots, members of the WeFi community are invited to map and rank open hotspots in any given location around the world, forming an aggregate picture of all the available Wi-Fi connections.

    Zur Feldman, CEO of WeFi, said the one million users demonstrated the rapid growth in users, located all across the world.

    "WeFi has been successful in being able to give our users the ability to add hotspots themselves and to share them with others," he said.

  • Orange Brings Mobile HDTV to Hybrid Phones


    Orange is to offer high definition mobile TV to users of hybrid mobile/fixed Unik handsets.

    From next month, its customers in France will have access to more than 60 HD mobile TV channels, 20 of which will be with unlimited access.

    In September, Orange announced the world’s first 3G+ UMA platform, combining the two technologies to allow customers with hybrid phones to connect whether at home, near an Orange WiFi hotspot or on the move through the 3G network.

    Initially, the mobile HDTV service will only be available through LG’s KF757 handset or on the Sony Ericsson G705u.

    Orange currently has one million Unik subscribers.

    The channels are available on the Orange TV Player or, if the handset does not support the software, on the Orange World portal.

  • DeFi To Offer Global VoIP For iPhone


    DeFi Mobile is to make its Global Access VoIP service available to iPhone owners – possibly by the new year.

    Users will have access to unlimited global calling, roaming, and long distance for a monthly subscription fee.

    While calls will require a WiFi connection, DeFi says it has struck global partnerships that ensure an extensive network of private and commercial connections.

    The service will also offer voice-to-email, caller-ID, call-forwarding, call-hold, and call-transfer.

    Customers will be given a choice of countries from which their DeFi contact number will originate from.

    With packages starting from USD $40 per month there will also be the option to add three contact numbers from different countries for USD $10.

    DeFi claims its Global Access is superior to standard mobile VoIP solutions in several significant ways.

    Among them is the fact that calls are routed over its managed network, which is says delivers superior call quality by eliminating the “jitter” and dropped calls synonymous with other VoIP operators.

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • Samsung launches 8-megapixel smartphone

    i8510 – or the Innov8 – offers strong combination of business and entertainment features

    Samsung has launched the i8510, its first 8-megapixel camera phone, which comes with autofocus features, face recognition, image stabilizer, and flash.

    The smartphone uses the Symbian v9.3 operating system and features on-board software that allows users to edit and personalise photos.

    The camera records video at 30 frames per second and comes with a secondary camera to make video calls.

    For mobile professionals, the Innov8 offers multiple ways to connect. It’s HSDPA-compatible, so users outwith the US can get a maximum downlink speed of 7.2 Mbps.

    There’s also integrated Wi-Fi for high-speed connection, and an EDGE connection. The smartphone can receive push e-mail, has an HTML browser, and is Bluetooth-capable.

    Although lacking a touch-enabled display, its 2.8-inch LCD screen has an accelerometer sensor, and it can be navigated with a 4-way navigation key and an optical mouse. Samsung did not elaborate on how the optical mouse would be implemented.

    The Innov8 has an integrated GPS that can be used to geo-tag photos, as well as utilise cellular data for assisted-GPS services.
    Handsets come with 8 or 16 GB of memory on-board and that can be expanded up to 8 GB via the microSD slot.

    On the multimedia side, the Innov8 has a host of options. The handset, which has a standard headphone jack, can play multiple audio formats, and it has a built-in FM radio. The video player is capable of playing many codecs, including DivX.

    Measuring 4.2 by 2.1 by .7 inches, the Innov8 will be launched in Europe in August, with global release to follow in September.
    No details have so far been released on pricing.

  • The iPhone takes on new role as universal remote control


    A new application is to go on sale in July that turns the iPhone into an all-purpose remote control capable of operating everything from your HDTV to audio, video and lighting.
    While the iPhone is popular as an interface for home-control systems such as home automation (HAI, Savant), multiroom audio (SpeakerCraft) and media servers (Sooloos), so far there hasn’t been a low-cost solution for using the iPhone (or iPod Touch) as an ordinary universal remote control.
    Now London-based integrator, Steve Moore, has launched the AirRemote application which he modestly describes as “the greatest little TV remote you’ve ever used”.
    The setup includes the AirRemote software and a communications box from Global Cache, which can turn the iPhone’s IP commands into signals to operate an array of home electronics devices.
    “The beauty of the iPod Touch or iPhone versus other tablets is that it has bullet-proof Wi-Fi, doesn’t need to wait for Windows to boot up, and can be held in a hand,” Moore told CE Pro.
    “And they sell loads of them so they cost almost nothing.”
    AirRemote will be available from July 11th exclusively from the iPhone App store for $99. The Global Cache transmitter will retail for about $100.