TAIWAN: The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) is demonstrating the next evolution of Qi at Computex 2013, June 4-8, 2013, in Taipei, Taiwan. All new Qi technology and products will be on display, including:
* A sneak peek of PowerbyProxi’s highly resonant technology showing full spatial freedom, simultaneous charging of multiple devices and interoperability with the existing Qi specification.
* The first cordless kitchen appliances for sale to consumers.
* Integrated Qi wireless charging in cars.
* New Qi smartphones, phablet covers and chargers.
PowerbyProxi joined the WPC in mid-May and is a leading developer and proven supplier of highly resonant wireless power solutions. PowerbyProxi is sharing its expertise and intellectual property to help advance the technical capabilities of the Qi standard and ensure that consumers can enjoy the best charging experience.
Based on a prior miniaturized design, PowerbyProxi is revealing this prototype at Computex, showing how quickly it has begun to contribute to the WPC with plans to extend specifications and ensure backward compatibility with the existing Qi ecosystem.
Demos will be held at booth G436 in Exhibition Hall 3 at the Taipei World Trade Center.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Lava launches E-Tab XTRON+ tablet
INDIA: LAVA International Ltd has launched its E-Tab XTRON+ tablet, a feature-packed Android tablet priced at sub-INR 8,000 price point.
The XTRON+ tablet is the first tablet to run on the latest Android version Jelly Bean 4.2.2 and extends the legacy of the highly successful E-Tab XTRON line-up from Lava. Through the announcement Lava has further strengthened its tablet portfolio.
The XTRON+ offers all the features that makes it one of the most complete tablets to date. It is powered by a fast 1.5 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB RAM. With an internal memory of 8 GB, that is expandable up to 32 GB, it gives users enough space to store their multimedia content.
Allowing for greater connectivity and convenience, the tablet features dual cameras (Front 0.3 MP and Rear 2.0 MP). The latest device also offers video output for Full 1080p HD with HDMI v1.4 to let users enjoy the tablet experience on a bigger screen.
The tablet even provides access to valuable content courtesy pre-bundled tie-ups with online content providers Edukart.com, Meritnation.com and BIGFlix. Students can learn via the free Vedic Maths package and discounts of up to INR 4,000 offered by Meritnation.com or through the free Career Booster package and the 20 percent discount on Edukart courses offered by the online player. On the entertainment front, XTRON+ brings great offers on BIGFlix content for the users.
XTRON+ boasts of a thin and compact design with full aluminum shell giving it an elegant feel and superior strength. The right sized bezel and ultra slim size makes it convenient to hold and use on-the-go.
XTRON+ runs on an improved and powerful 3700 mAh battery as compared to its predecessor XTRON. It supports 5 hours of running time. For connectivity, the XTRON+ offers Wi-Fi access, micro-USB and a HDMI out port.
Elegantly designed, enhanced by high-speed performance, with a remarkably sharp screen, E-Tab XTRON+, is an ideal device for those who wish to live a high definition life. It is available on online channels at a best buy price of INR 6,990.
The XTRON+ offers all the features that makes it one of the most complete tablets to date. It is powered by a fast 1.5 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB RAM. With an internal memory of 8 GB, that is expandable up to 32 GB, it gives users enough space to store their multimedia content.
Allowing for greater connectivity and convenience, the tablet features dual cameras (Front 0.3 MP and Rear 2.0 MP). The latest device also offers video output for Full 1080p HD with HDMI v1.4 to let users enjoy the tablet experience on a bigger screen.
The tablet even provides access to valuable content courtesy pre-bundled tie-ups with online content providers Edukart.com, Meritnation.com and BIGFlix. Students can learn via the free Vedic Maths package and discounts of up to INR 4,000 offered by Meritnation.com or through the free Career Booster package and the 20 percent discount on Edukart courses offered by the online player. On the entertainment front, XTRON+ brings great offers on BIGFlix content for the users.
XTRON+ boasts of a thin and compact design with full aluminum shell giving it an elegant feel and superior strength. The right sized bezel and ultra slim size makes it convenient to hold and use on-the-go.
XTRON+ runs on an improved and powerful 3700 mAh battery as compared to its predecessor XTRON. It supports 5 hours of running time. For connectivity, the XTRON+ offers Wi-Fi access, micro-USB and a HDMI out port.
Elegantly designed, enhanced by high-speed performance, with a remarkably sharp screen, E-Tab XTRON+, is an ideal device for those who wish to live a high definition life. It is available on online channels at a best buy price of INR 6,990.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Liquid Telecom selects Telarix SAAS solution for voice traffic management
AUSTRIA: Liquid Telecom has selected the SaaS version of Telarix’s popular iXTools platform, as well as the industry’s only business-to-business exchange service iXLink, to help automate the management of its fast-growing international voice traffic operation.
Liquid Telecom supplies wholesale fibre optic, satellite, and connectivity services in Africa. It has built Africa’s largest single fibre network spanning over 13,000 kilometres and running from the north of Uganda to Cape Town on a single thread. Its customers include Africa’s largest mobile network operators, ISPs, financial institutions, and businesses of all sizes in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa.
Telarix’s iXTools SaaS is a fully hosted and managed interconnect business optimization and settlement service that enables service providers to reduce costs and increase profitability across their interconnect networks.
Telarix’s iXLink, a business exchange with over 3,300 carriers electronically exchanging over 40,000 documents monthly, provides real-time insight, stopping revenue leakage and allowing profit management. Liquid Telecom joins Telarix’s growing customer base from continents all over the world.
Telarix, through iXTools and iXLink, will provide Liquid Telecom a real-time view of voice traffic on its network, enabling Liquid to ensure that its customers continue to receive the highest quality voice service with accurate billing across different countries.
Liquid Telecom supplies wholesale fibre optic, satellite, and connectivity services in Africa. It has built Africa’s largest single fibre network spanning over 13,000 kilometres and running from the north of Uganda to Cape Town on a single thread. Its customers include Africa’s largest mobile network operators, ISPs, financial institutions, and businesses of all sizes in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa.
Telarix’s iXTools SaaS is a fully hosted and managed interconnect business optimization and settlement service that enables service providers to reduce costs and increase profitability across their interconnect networks.
Telarix’s iXLink, a business exchange with over 3,300 carriers electronically exchanging over 40,000 documents monthly, provides real-time insight, stopping revenue leakage and allowing profit management. Liquid Telecom joins Telarix’s growing customer base from continents all over the world.
Telarix, through iXTools and iXLink, will provide Liquid Telecom a real-time view of voice traffic on its network, enabling Liquid to ensure that its customers continue to receive the highest quality voice service with accurate billing across different countries.
Failures in telecom policy and regulation could hamper economic growth in Europe
ENGLAND: The telecom industry, governments and regulators need to move decisively to fiber in order to support future economic growth, states Arthur D. Little in its new report, “National Fiber Strategies: National economic imperative or just another private industry task?”
There are clear economic benefits to improving broadband infrastructure; jobs are created, household income is increased and there is a permanent boost to GDP. Ultra-fast broadband also drives critical diversification of economies, as Small and Medium Businesses are among the first to benefit from new services.
It is no longer possible to modernize and upgrade the copper-based network. Whole fiber or mainly fiber networks are now needed not only for the fastest fixed access services, but also to underpin the micro layer of the latest mobile backhaul networks.
These benefits do not come cheap, as the investment needed is vast. The re-wiring of Europe will cost hundreds of billions of Euros. “The challenge of how to attain the clear national economic benefits of the latest fiber infrastructure while managing the considerable investment required is still unclear in many markets,” states Andrea Faggiano, principal with Arthur D. Little’s TIME practice.
“Market liberalization has introduced strong price pressure in the EU and left most markets either with too much infrastructure or scarce resources to sustain real infrastructure competition (as opposed to the United States).”
Based on a global market survey, Arthur D. Little has identified five National Fiber models that governments around the globe have been following to reap the benefits from fiber. These models vary in terms of the degree of public investment to support fiber deployment and regulatory intensity. Based on its analysis, Arthur D. Little has concluded that the most promising fiber strategy models involve a hybrid approach, a combination of free market competition, government coordination and geographically-targeted public investment open to competitive bid.
“Governments need to rethink their infrastructure strategies to catch up with global best practice examples,” adds Dr. Karim Taga, managing partner and global practice leader of Arthur D. Little’s TIME practice. Ultra-broadband is an essential infrastructure for national competitiveness, and public policy must encourage an investment-friendly environment to ensure that fiber is deployed nationwide.
There are clear economic benefits to improving broadband infrastructure; jobs are created, household income is increased and there is a permanent boost to GDP. Ultra-fast broadband also drives critical diversification of economies, as Small and Medium Businesses are among the first to benefit from new services.
It is no longer possible to modernize and upgrade the copper-based network. Whole fiber or mainly fiber networks are now needed not only for the fastest fixed access services, but also to underpin the micro layer of the latest mobile backhaul networks.
These benefits do not come cheap, as the investment needed is vast. The re-wiring of Europe will cost hundreds of billions of Euros. “The challenge of how to attain the clear national economic benefits of the latest fiber infrastructure while managing the considerable investment required is still unclear in many markets,” states Andrea Faggiano, principal with Arthur D. Little’s TIME practice.
“Market liberalization has introduced strong price pressure in the EU and left most markets either with too much infrastructure or scarce resources to sustain real infrastructure competition (as opposed to the United States).”
Based on a global market survey, Arthur D. Little has identified five National Fiber models that governments around the globe have been following to reap the benefits from fiber. These models vary in terms of the degree of public investment to support fiber deployment and regulatory intensity. Based on its analysis, Arthur D. Little has concluded that the most promising fiber strategy models involve a hybrid approach, a combination of free market competition, government coordination and geographically-targeted public investment open to competitive bid.
“Governments need to rethink their infrastructure strategies to catch up with global best practice examples,” adds Dr. Karim Taga, managing partner and global practice leader of Arthur D. Little’s TIME practice. Ultra-broadband is an essential infrastructure for national competitiveness, and public policy must encourage an investment-friendly environment to ensure that fiber is deployed nationwide.
CORMORAN project exploring ways to improve co-operation in and between wireless body area networks
FRANCE: CEA-Leti announced it is co-ordinating the multi-partner CORMORAN project focusing on new forms of cooperation in and between wireless body area networks. Targeted applications include coordinated navigation of groups in buildings or large-scale motion capture for gaming, sports and healthcare.
Wireless body area networks (WBANs), consisting of wearable sensors or devices, already are being commercialized in emerging markets as diverse as security, rescue, health, gaming or intelligent clothing. If deployed in very large segments of the population, they might eventually be a key component of the Internet of Things (IoT) and form the skeleton of future distributed cooperative communication networks for mobile-device users.
Protocols for communication and localization, adapted to individual and/or collective behavior of humans in movement (i.e. including biomechanical and social mobility aspects) can therefore utilize new forms of cooperation within and between these body sensor networks.
The CORMORAN project, funded by the French National Research Agency, is specifically investigating new mechanisms that allow WBANs to work more efficiently at the body scale, while also interacting and cooperating with other similar networks. The coexistence of groups of equipped users can cause radio interference, but it is also a beneficial source of information redundancy and/or diversity through co-operation.
The latter enables optimal data relaying or routing, and mitigation of packets’ losses or body obstructions, and supplies sufficiently large series of independent radiolocation measurements.
Determining the proper level and modalities of such cooperation thus helps to optimize the quality of communications in and between WBANs, as well as to opportunistically locate radio devices relative to the body or even users carrying them in a building, for example. In addition to overcoming severe constraints on power consumption and radiated power, the partners have also integrated in their investigations WBAN-specific constraints such as short transmission ranges, finite network topologies or periodic radio obstructions due to body shadowing or human movement patterns.
To permit multi-standard WBAN deployment (i.e. involving simultaneous on-body, off-body and body-to-body links), project partners are investigating both low-data rate and low-power wireless technologies, including impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) or narrow-band radio systems centered on 2.4GHz (ZigBee, Bluetooth - low energy etc.).
Based on a detailed modeling of these heterogeneous wireless resources, the CORMORAN project will identify the different layers of a communication protocol suitable for the new cooperative functionalities, including synchronization issues, radio channel access and networking, and management of coexistence, or radiolocation, algorithms.
With its multidisciplinary approach, CORMORAN will address theoretical aspects, such as modeling radio metrics and physical mobility, and design of algorithms and protocols. More practical aspects include characterization of the propagation channel and on-body antennas, development of adapted cross-layer simulation tools and field experiments based on real radio platforms.
The CORMORAN consortium includes four research laboratories with complementary strengths and proven experience in the areas of wireless sensor networks and radiolocation: CEA-Leti (coordinator), INSA de Lyon-CITI, ISIC Telecom ParisTech–LINCS, and University of Rennes 1-IETR.
Wireless body area networks (WBANs), consisting of wearable sensors or devices, already are being commercialized in emerging markets as diverse as security, rescue, health, gaming or intelligent clothing. If deployed in very large segments of the population, they might eventually be a key component of the Internet of Things (IoT) and form the skeleton of future distributed cooperative communication networks for mobile-device users.
Protocols for communication and localization, adapted to individual and/or collective behavior of humans in movement (i.e. including biomechanical and social mobility aspects) can therefore utilize new forms of cooperation within and between these body sensor networks.
The CORMORAN project, funded by the French National Research Agency, is specifically investigating new mechanisms that allow WBANs to work more efficiently at the body scale, while also interacting and cooperating with other similar networks. The coexistence of groups of equipped users can cause radio interference, but it is also a beneficial source of information redundancy and/or diversity through co-operation.
The latter enables optimal data relaying or routing, and mitigation of packets’ losses or body obstructions, and supplies sufficiently large series of independent radiolocation measurements.
Determining the proper level and modalities of such cooperation thus helps to optimize the quality of communications in and between WBANs, as well as to opportunistically locate radio devices relative to the body or even users carrying them in a building, for example. In addition to overcoming severe constraints on power consumption and radiated power, the partners have also integrated in their investigations WBAN-specific constraints such as short transmission ranges, finite network topologies or periodic radio obstructions due to body shadowing or human movement patterns.
To permit multi-standard WBAN deployment (i.e. involving simultaneous on-body, off-body and body-to-body links), project partners are investigating both low-data rate and low-power wireless technologies, including impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) or narrow-band radio systems centered on 2.4GHz (ZigBee, Bluetooth - low energy etc.).
Based on a detailed modeling of these heterogeneous wireless resources, the CORMORAN project will identify the different layers of a communication protocol suitable for the new cooperative functionalities, including synchronization issues, radio channel access and networking, and management of coexistence, or radiolocation, algorithms.
With its multidisciplinary approach, CORMORAN will address theoretical aspects, such as modeling radio metrics and physical mobility, and design of algorithms and protocols. More practical aspects include characterization of the propagation channel and on-body antennas, development of adapted cross-layer simulation tools and field experiments based on real radio platforms.
The CORMORAN consortium includes four research laboratories with complementary strengths and proven experience in the areas of wireless sensor networks and radiolocation: CEA-Leti (coordinator), INSA de Lyon-CITI, ISIC Telecom ParisTech–LINCS, and University of Rennes 1-IETR.
Mobile industry players must position now to win 5G race
USA: Strategy Analytics says now is the time for industry players to position to win the 5G race.
The Strategy Analytics Wireless Networks & Platforms (WNP) service report, "Is the 5G Race Beginning?," recommends that companies start now with their strategies to influence the definition of the requirements for the new generation systems and to ensure that R&D spend translates into strong 5G patent positions.
Momentum is building as leading companies engage in the first round of 5G technology development. Samsung is the latest industry player to have announced its 5G demonstration. The traditional technical leaders in the radio transmission technology area, Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo, also revealed their progress in 5G research. Chinese industry players even formed an industrial group to promote the research and development of 5G technology.
"The official process of 5G standardization should be launched in 2015-2016 time frame, to be kicked off at ITU-R WRC-15. So all current '5G' activities are only a warm-up before the official process," noted Guang Yang, senior analyst for Wireless Networks & Platforms.
"But these warm-up activities are important for the industry to build technical consensus and to prepare the ecosystem. It is also a key period for the technology giants in the industry to predict the core components of the future system and to secure related patents."
"The next two years will see significant movement between industry players as the building blocks of 5G are researched and defined," added Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, director, Wireless Networks & Platforms. "Big EU companies and East Asian players (China, Japan and Korea) are already developing their 5G visions. It will be interesting to see what strategies emerge from North America. In particular, the plans of Qualcomm and Intel, the two chipset giants, should be closely watched."
Improved data transmission rates are still a focus of the next generation 5G system, just as faster data was a focus for today's 4G LTE. Other requirements for 5G that are beginning to emerge in industrial and academic research include support for a higher number of connected devices, longer battery life, and reduced End-to-End latency, among others.
The Strategy Analytics Wireless Networks & Platforms (WNP) service report, "Is the 5G Race Beginning?," recommends that companies start now with their strategies to influence the definition of the requirements for the new generation systems and to ensure that R&D spend translates into strong 5G patent positions.
Momentum is building as leading companies engage in the first round of 5G technology development. Samsung is the latest industry player to have announced its 5G demonstration. The traditional technical leaders in the radio transmission technology area, Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo, also revealed their progress in 5G research. Chinese industry players even formed an industrial group to promote the research and development of 5G technology.
"The official process of 5G standardization should be launched in 2015-2016 time frame, to be kicked off at ITU-R WRC-15. So all current '5G' activities are only a warm-up before the official process," noted Guang Yang, senior analyst for Wireless Networks & Platforms.
"But these warm-up activities are important for the industry to build technical consensus and to prepare the ecosystem. It is also a key period for the technology giants in the industry to predict the core components of the future system and to secure related patents."
"The next two years will see significant movement between industry players as the building blocks of 5G are researched and defined," added Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, director, Wireless Networks & Platforms. "Big EU companies and East Asian players (China, Japan and Korea) are already developing their 5G visions. It will be interesting to see what strategies emerge from North America. In particular, the plans of Qualcomm and Intel, the two chipset giants, should be closely watched."
Improved data transmission rates are still a focus of the next generation 5G system, just as faster data was a focus for today's 4G LTE. Other requirements for 5G that are beginning to emerge in industrial and academic research include support for a higher number of connected devices, longer battery life, and reduced End-to-End latency, among others.
Gilat Satellite wins 'VSAT Provider of the Year Award' at SatCom Africa 2013
ISRAEL: Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd has received the "VSAT Provider of the Year Award" at a gala dinner held Tuesday night at the Sandton Sun Hotel during the SatCom Africa 2013 conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
For over a quarter century and with over a million products shipped to more than 85 countries, Gilat has provided enterprises, service providers and operators with efficient and reliable satellite-based connectivity solutions for consumers and enterprises, cellular backhaul for mobile operators, banking and retail solutions, rural communication networks and e-government.
Earlier in the year, Gilat launched to market its ground-breaking SkyEdge II-c platform, the New Simple in Internet Connectivity. SkyEdge II-c supports Ka-band and Ku-band internet services for both consumer
and enterprise applications, including fast Web browsing, video streaming, IPTV, VoIP and other bandwidth-intensive services.
For over a quarter century and with over a million products shipped to more than 85 countries, Gilat has provided enterprises, service providers and operators with efficient and reliable satellite-based connectivity solutions for consumers and enterprises, cellular backhaul for mobile operators, banking and retail solutions, rural communication networks and e-government.
Earlier in the year, Gilat launched to market its ground-breaking SkyEdge II-c platform, the New Simple in Internet Connectivity. SkyEdge II-c supports Ka-band and Ku-band internet services for both consumer
and enterprise applications, including fast Web browsing, video streaming, IPTV, VoIP and other bandwidth-intensive services.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Mobile Labs and Northway Solutions Group partner to provide turnkey mobile app testing solution
USA: Mobile Labs, LLC, a leader in automated, cross-platform mobile application testing, announced its partnership with Northway Solutions Group, an industry-leading technology solutions provider. Northway provides consulting services around HP's IT Performance Suite of products.
As an HP Elite Specialist software partner, Northway specializes in the implementation, education and support of HP's Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) platform, including Quality Center, Unified Functional Testing, Performance Center, LoadRunner and Service Virtualization.
This partnership calls for Northway to be a value-added reseller of Mobile Labs’ suite of automated mobile application testing technology, including deviceConnect and Mobile Labs Trust.
As a Mobile Labs VAR, Northway can now provide customers with comprehensive management capabilities for mobile devices, users and apps in corporate test labs via deviceConnect, a private, internal device cloud. deviceConnect securely supports organizations no matter what their test strategy is – whether testing is highly automated, 100 percent manual or somewhere in between.
Mobile Labs’ test automation solution, Trust, is an add-in for the industry’s leading automated testing platform. Trust uses deviceConnect to perform cross-platform automated testing on real, pristine smartphones and tablets. Trust is a second-generation mobile app testing tool that uses object-level detection and interaction rather than visual-based (optical character recognition or image-within-image) techniques. The result is more effective and efficient mobile application testing.
Together these solutions address two major challenges in the mobile application testing landscape: deviceConnect securely manages and provides access to mobile devices while Trust gives Quality Assurance and testing professionals the right tool to address the complexities of testing mobile apps.
As an HP Elite Specialist software partner, Northway specializes in the implementation, education and support of HP's Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) platform, including Quality Center, Unified Functional Testing, Performance Center, LoadRunner and Service Virtualization.
This partnership calls for Northway to be a value-added reseller of Mobile Labs’ suite of automated mobile application testing technology, including deviceConnect and Mobile Labs Trust.
As a Mobile Labs VAR, Northway can now provide customers with comprehensive management capabilities for mobile devices, users and apps in corporate test labs via deviceConnect, a private, internal device cloud. deviceConnect securely supports organizations no matter what their test strategy is – whether testing is highly automated, 100 percent manual or somewhere in between.
Mobile Labs’ test automation solution, Trust, is an add-in for the industry’s leading automated testing platform. Trust uses deviceConnect to perform cross-platform automated testing on real, pristine smartphones and tablets. Trust is a second-generation mobile app testing tool that uses object-level detection and interaction rather than visual-based (optical character recognition or image-within-image) techniques. The result is more effective and efficient mobile application testing.
Together these solutions address two major challenges in the mobile application testing landscape: deviceConnect securely manages and provides access to mobile devices while Trust gives Quality Assurance and testing professionals the right tool to address the complexities of testing mobile apps.
Mellanox announces SX1012 12-port 40Gb/s Ethernet switch solution
USA & ISRAEL: Mellanox Technologies Ltd, a leading supplier of high-performance, end-to-end interconnect solutions for data center servers and storage systems, announced its SwitchX-2 based SX1012 Ethernet switch, a cost-effective solution for small-scale high-performance computing, storage and database deployments.
The SX1012 system provides 12 ports of 40GbE at the smallest footprint in the industry with two systems fitting into a single 1U height, in a standard 19 inch rack. Each port can be configured to provide up to 56GbE line rate to further enhance the performance capabilities of the switch and can also be split into four standalone 10GbE interfaces. This allows the SX1012 to be used in migration scenarios from 10GbE to 40/56GbE server and storage connectivity.
The Mellanox SX1012 switch solution is based on Mellanox’s Virtual Protocol Interconnect (VPI) technology and can run the full capabilities of MLNX-OS to enable the switch to work in mutual Ethernet and InfiniBand environments for maximum usability in various scenarios.
The SX1012 will be generally available in August 2013.
The SX1012 system provides 12 ports of 40GbE at the smallest footprint in the industry with two systems fitting into a single 1U height, in a standard 19 inch rack. Each port can be configured to provide up to 56GbE line rate to further enhance the performance capabilities of the switch and can also be split into four standalone 10GbE interfaces. This allows the SX1012 to be used in migration scenarios from 10GbE to 40/56GbE server and storage connectivity.
The Mellanox SX1012 switch solution is based on Mellanox’s Virtual Protocol Interconnect (VPI) technology and can run the full capabilities of MLNX-OS to enable the switch to work in mutual Ethernet and InfiniBand environments for maximum usability in various scenarios.
The SX1012 will be generally available in August 2013.
New CSR platforms allow developers to capitalise on Android’s native support for Bluetooth Smart
UK & USA: CSR plc announced the launch of its second generation Bluetooth Smart platforms, designed to give greater flexibility to developers looking to create low-power wireless accessories.
The CSR1010 and CSR1011, part of the CSR µEnergy range, will provide developers with end-to-end solutions for a range of devices, including HIDs such as wireless remote controls, mice and innovative ‘appcessories’.
The news follows an announcement from Google and Bluetooth Special Interest Group that Android will include native support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices in the next version of its OS, meaning 75 percent of smartphones will be able to integrate seamlessly with a plethora of Bluetooth Smart Ready devices.
“Google’s announcement marks a significant milestone in the roll-out of Bluetooth Smart technology and subsequently provides a huge opportunity for developers looking to create innovative low-energy wireless devices, and more functional mobile apps,” says Paul Williamson, director of Low Power Wireless at CSR. “CSR is committed to helping developers capitalise on this opportunity and by providing flexible and powerful platforms, like the CSR1010 and CSR1011, we are allowing them to create devices which give consumers the seamless connectivity experience they desire.”
Bluetooth Smart enables low-power connectivity and basic data transfer for applications previously limited by the power consumption, size constraints and complexity of other wireless standards. CSR1010 and CSR1011 are based on CSR’s qualified Bluetooth Smart radio and offer a number of improvements on its first-generation platforms.
The CSR1010 and CSR1011, part of the CSR µEnergy range, will provide developers with end-to-end solutions for a range of devices, including HIDs such as wireless remote controls, mice and innovative ‘appcessories’.
The news follows an announcement from Google and Bluetooth Special Interest Group that Android will include native support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices in the next version of its OS, meaning 75 percent of smartphones will be able to integrate seamlessly with a plethora of Bluetooth Smart Ready devices.
“Google’s announcement marks a significant milestone in the roll-out of Bluetooth Smart technology and subsequently provides a huge opportunity for developers looking to create innovative low-energy wireless devices, and more functional mobile apps,” says Paul Williamson, director of Low Power Wireless at CSR. “CSR is committed to helping developers capitalise on this opportunity and by providing flexible and powerful platforms, like the CSR1010 and CSR1011, we are allowing them to create devices which give consumers the seamless connectivity experience they desire.”
Bluetooth Smart enables low-power connectivity and basic data transfer for applications previously limited by the power consumption, size constraints and complexity of other wireless standards. CSR1010 and CSR1011 are based on CSR’s qualified Bluetooth Smart radio and offer a number of improvements on its first-generation platforms.
iGR study analyzes all aspects of US LTE infrastructure market
USA: Global LTE deployments are progressing worldwide, and the United States is leading the way with many US operators adding new LTE markets each week.
There is still a great opportunity for growth, as US operators will continue to build out their LTE infrastructure to keep up with an increasing number of US consumers who want to take advantage of the faster mobile data speeds of LTE.
Operators must balance their network CapEx between coverage and capacity by providing sufficient coverage to be competitive and sufficient capacity for the growing subscriber base.
"The US LTE market is progressing rapidly, as operators have invested significantly in the build-out of their LTE networks," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR, a market research consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry.
"As the LTE rollout continues, it is important to understand all aspects of LTE, including the ongoing OpEx, as well as future enhancements to LTE, such as LTE Advanced and LTE Carrier Aggregation."
There is still a great opportunity for growth, as US operators will continue to build out their LTE infrastructure to keep up with an increasing number of US consumers who want to take advantage of the faster mobile data speeds of LTE.
Operators must balance their network CapEx between coverage and capacity by providing sufficient coverage to be competitive and sufficient capacity for the growing subscriber base.
"The US LTE market is progressing rapidly, as operators have invested significantly in the build-out of their LTE networks," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR, a market research consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry.
"As the LTE rollout continues, it is important to understand all aspects of LTE, including the ongoing OpEx, as well as future enhancements to LTE, such as LTE Advanced and LTE Carrier Aggregation."
HomeGrid Forum and HomePNA Alliance merge
USA: HomeGrid Forum and the HomePNA Alliance announced that they have merged to create a single organization focused on promoting advanced wired home networking technologies.
The combined organization, under the HomeGrid Forum banner, will promote the smooth transition of all current generation wireline home networking technologies to G.hn, the "any wire" technology defined by ITU-T open international standards. Right at the time G.hn-based products are starting to ship, the merger creates an organization that will guide those planning new networks based on G.hn as well as migrating from earlier network technologies to G.hn.
However, there will also be continued support for the installed base of over 40 million certified HomePNA devices, thereby protecting the investment of both HomePNA equipment manufacturers and their customers.
"HomePNA is a mature, field proven technology, and continues to be selected by large service providers worldwide for IPTV deployments," said HomePNA president Eran Gureshnik. "Service providers over four continents have achieved great results with HomePNA-based products and we have gained considerable experience in deploying home networks.
"However, the obvious future direction for all wireline home networking is to migrate to G.hn. Therefore, it made sense for us to merge the HomePNA Alliance with the HomeGrid Forum at this time, providing a clear, strong vision to existing and new customers."
The merged HomeGrid Forum has more than 70 members, including 28 Service providers, and some of the largest OEMs, ODMs and retailers in the world.
The combined organization, under the HomeGrid Forum banner, will promote the smooth transition of all current generation wireline home networking technologies to G.hn, the "any wire" technology defined by ITU-T open international standards. Right at the time G.hn-based products are starting to ship, the merger creates an organization that will guide those planning new networks based on G.hn as well as migrating from earlier network technologies to G.hn.
However, there will also be continued support for the installed base of over 40 million certified HomePNA devices, thereby protecting the investment of both HomePNA equipment manufacturers and their customers.
"HomePNA is a mature, field proven technology, and continues to be selected by large service providers worldwide for IPTV deployments," said HomePNA president Eran Gureshnik. "Service providers over four continents have achieved great results with HomePNA-based products and we have gained considerable experience in deploying home networks.
"However, the obvious future direction for all wireline home networking is to migrate to G.hn. Therefore, it made sense for us to merge the HomePNA Alliance with the HomeGrid Forum at this time, providing a clear, strong vision to existing and new customers."
The merged HomeGrid Forum has more than 70 members, including 28 Service providers, and some of the largest OEMs, ODMs and retailers in the world.
TELUS acquisition plan approved by Ontario Superior Court
CANADA: Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Holdings Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, Mobilicity) announced that the Acquisition Plan under the terms of the Interim Order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) dated Friday, April 26, 2013 has been approved by the Court.
The TELUS Acquisition Plan was approved by debtholders on Thursday, May 23, 2013 and remains subject to the satisfaction of certain regulatory approvals.
Stewart Lyons, Mobilicity president and COO, said: "The Court approval of the Plan of Arrangement for the TELUS acquisition marks an important milestone for us. We will continue to work with TELUS to expedite the approval process of an acquisition that is in the best interests of our customers, employees and other stakeholders."
With Court approval of the TELUS Acquisition Plan and the positive result of the May 23, 2013 debtholder vote, the TELUS Acquisition Plan remains the best way forward for Mobilicity.
The TELUS Acquisition Plan was approved by debtholders on Thursday, May 23, 2013 and remains subject to the satisfaction of certain regulatory approvals.
Stewart Lyons, Mobilicity president and COO, said: "The Court approval of the Plan of Arrangement for the TELUS acquisition marks an important milestone for us. We will continue to work with TELUS to expedite the approval process of an acquisition that is in the best interests of our customers, employees and other stakeholders."
With Court approval of the TELUS Acquisition Plan and the positive result of the May 23, 2013 debtholder vote, the TELUS Acquisition Plan remains the best way forward for Mobilicity.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Ruby from Yota Devices dazzles at CTIA 2013
RUSSIA: Yota Devices, creator of YotaPhone, the first dual screen smartphone, is now shaking up the portable router market with the introduction of Ruby, a new multiband WiFi hotspot that works in many countries around the world.
Ruby was unveiled last week in Las Vegas at CTIA 2013, the pre-eminent trade show for the wireless industry.
“A router does not need to be unattractive or clunky to be effective, and we have proven that with Ruby,” said Yota Devices CEO Vlad Martynov. “Our industrial design team spent as much time thinking about how Ruby looks, as our development team did on how it works. With its sleek design you aren’t embarrassed to put Ruby on the table, alongside your smartphone or laptop.”
Ruby supports most of the mobile connections in the world, including EDGE, HSPA+ and several LTE bands, and has a hidden slot for users to insert local SIM cards to stay connected more affordably while traveling.
Ruby substantially improves the battery life of smartphones. Smartphones connected to Ruby via WiFI use 3 - 5 times less energy for data transmission compared to 3G HSPA+. Ruby’s 2100mAh battery powers the unit for up to 16 hours of use and up to 60 hours on standby, which is more than two times longer than competitors.
It charges using any USB or micro USB to 70 percent capacity in less than an hour. Ruby’s display, which shows battery and signal status, is the first router to use energy-saving E Ink technology, which Yota Devices also features on its YotaPhone.
The power button on top has three user modes. Slide it one way to create a private password-protected network; slide it the other way for an additional public network that supports up to 10 connections; and turn it off when in the central position. The LED backlit logo informs users of the type of network it is connected to — blue if connected to 4G, orange if the device has downshifted to 3G or 2G.
“This is our latest device that demonstrates our business philosophy of putting user experience first and applying the very best emerging technologies to enhance this experience,” said Martynov. “For example, with Ruby’s driverless installation and with no wires to attach, you are ready to use it immediately whether at home or on the go. Ruby takes only a few seconds to connect to its driverless installation and its self-contained software is updated automatically without disrupting the user experience.”
Ruby also has a number of features that appeal to operators as well. Yota Devices’ specially-designed software allows operators to monitor the usage of the device and optimize network performance. Ruby’s driverless installation and automatic software updates reduce calls to operators’ customer help desks. Ruby supports operators’ efforts to sign up new subscribers by allowing them to brand the device with their logo and to invite those who use the router’s WiFi sharing mode to become trial users.
Ruby is available for order by mobile carriers in European markets, Russia and some Asia Pacific markets immediately. Rollout to other markets, including North America, will follow at the end of 2013.
Ruby was unveiled last week in Las Vegas at CTIA 2013, the pre-eminent trade show for the wireless industry.
“A router does not need to be unattractive or clunky to be effective, and we have proven that with Ruby,” said Yota Devices CEO Vlad Martynov. “Our industrial design team spent as much time thinking about how Ruby looks, as our development team did on how it works. With its sleek design you aren’t embarrassed to put Ruby on the table, alongside your smartphone or laptop.”
Ruby supports most of the mobile connections in the world, including EDGE, HSPA+ and several LTE bands, and has a hidden slot for users to insert local SIM cards to stay connected more affordably while traveling.
Ruby substantially improves the battery life of smartphones. Smartphones connected to Ruby via WiFI use 3 - 5 times less energy for data transmission compared to 3G HSPA+. Ruby’s 2100mAh battery powers the unit for up to 16 hours of use and up to 60 hours on standby, which is more than two times longer than competitors.
It charges using any USB or micro USB to 70 percent capacity in less than an hour. Ruby’s display, which shows battery and signal status, is the first router to use energy-saving E Ink technology, which Yota Devices also features on its YotaPhone.
The power button on top has three user modes. Slide it one way to create a private password-protected network; slide it the other way for an additional public network that supports up to 10 connections; and turn it off when in the central position. The LED backlit logo informs users of the type of network it is connected to — blue if connected to 4G, orange if the device has downshifted to 3G or 2G.
“This is our latest device that demonstrates our business philosophy of putting user experience first and applying the very best emerging technologies to enhance this experience,” said Martynov. “For example, with Ruby’s driverless installation and with no wires to attach, you are ready to use it immediately whether at home or on the go. Ruby takes only a few seconds to connect to its driverless installation and its self-contained software is updated automatically without disrupting the user experience.”
Ruby also has a number of features that appeal to operators as well. Yota Devices’ specially-designed software allows operators to monitor the usage of the device and optimize network performance. Ruby’s driverless installation and automatic software updates reduce calls to operators’ customer help desks. Ruby supports operators’ efforts to sign up new subscribers by allowing them to brand the device with their logo and to invite those who use the router’s WiFi sharing mode to become trial users.
Ruby is available for order by mobile carriers in European markets, Russia and some Asia Pacific markets immediately. Rollout to other markets, including North America, will follow at the end of 2013.
Banamex and Axtel sign contract
MEXICO: Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V., a Mexican telecommunications company, announced the signing of a contract with Banamex to become their nationwide provider of telephony managed services and collaboration applications.
The five-year contract signed this month requires AXTEL to provide cloud-based telecommunication and collaboration services to Banamex.
AXTEL is the first company in Mexico that offers collaboration managed services from end to end, which include all of the customer’s infrastructure and network and telecommunication services, with the adequate technology platform to serve the 1,700 Banamex branches and offices throughout Mexico.
In addition to providing the voice infrastructure, AXTEL will also develop and operate advanced voice traffic monitoring systems and collaboration applications, such as Unified Messaging, Web Conference, Tele-presence, as well as Video and Audio Conferencing services on any device.
The five-year contract signed this month requires AXTEL to provide cloud-based telecommunication and collaboration services to Banamex.
AXTEL is the first company in Mexico that offers collaboration managed services from end to end, which include all of the customer’s infrastructure and network and telecommunication services, with the adequate technology platform to serve the 1,700 Banamex branches and offices throughout Mexico.
In addition to providing the voice infrastructure, AXTEL will also develop and operate advanced voice traffic monitoring systems and collaboration applications, such as Unified Messaging, Web Conference, Tele-presence, as well as Video and Audio Conferencing services on any device.
Sonus, Juniper form an alliance to develop SDN capabilities
USA: Sonus Networks Inc. is working with Juniper Networks, the industry leader in network innovation, as part of Juniper’s Technology Alliance Program to jointly deliver integrated solutions designed to simplify the way service providers deliver differentiated Cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) and video experiences to enterprises.
Use of video within UC is a key driver of increased communications traffic and a growing burden on service provider networks. For example, according to Gartner Inc., mobile data traffic will experience a 70 percent CAGR from 2011 through 2016 and video is expected to account for over 50 percent of all mobile traffic over the coming five years.
To address this and other requirements of delivering UC services, the combined Sonus and Juniper solution will help service providers simplify network design, reduce costs and effectively monetize networks through delivery of new tiered service offers. Through this integration, real-time interaction between Sonus Session Border Controllers (SBCs) and Juniper’s routing and forwarding plane during the establishment of a UC session permits a level of quality of service (QoS) delivery that is not possible in isolation.
Service providers that leverage this capability can operate their existing networks in a highly cost-effective manner carrying voice, video and UC traffic. It also ensures delivery of tiered levels of services by dynamically assigning network resources to a communication session based on predefined policies, improving service delivery, enhancing user experience and optimizing network utilization.
The ability to deliver differentiated, Cloud-based UC and video services to enterprises is increasingly important to service providers for reasons including:
* End user spending for public Cloud-based services is predicted by Gartner Inc. to grow at a 16.8 percent CAGR from 2011 through 2017, to over $237 billion (Source: Forecast: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2011-2017, 1Q13 Update, March 26, 2013).
* Use of video across enterprises is reaching mainstream portions as 71 percent of businesses are using, evaluating or planning to use extranet videoconferencing for B2B collaboration according to the Nemertes Research (Source: Oct. 2012, Benchmark Report).
* In a shift from a 2011 Cloud study, Infonetics Research found in December 2012 that collaboration tools and security have overtaken email as the top Software as a Service (SaaS) application (Source: Press Release: SDN, OpenFlow, collaboration and security on the minds of operators planning Cloud services, January 2013).
* Currently 65 percent of UC deployments are premises-based, though that is expected to drop to 31 percent as future deployments move more to the Cloud according to a survey by Webtorials (Source: Feb. 2013 Research Report).
The joint Sonus-Juniper solution is being demonstrated at Juniper Networks' OpenLab, The Junos and SDN Center for Innovation in Bridgewater, New Jersey where visitors can experience various levels of video services and commensurate network behavior. Sonus and Juniper are currently working together on customer engagements.
Use of video within UC is a key driver of increased communications traffic and a growing burden on service provider networks. For example, according to Gartner Inc., mobile data traffic will experience a 70 percent CAGR from 2011 through 2016 and video is expected to account for over 50 percent of all mobile traffic over the coming five years.
To address this and other requirements of delivering UC services, the combined Sonus and Juniper solution will help service providers simplify network design, reduce costs and effectively monetize networks through delivery of new tiered service offers. Through this integration, real-time interaction between Sonus Session Border Controllers (SBCs) and Juniper’s routing and forwarding plane during the establishment of a UC session permits a level of quality of service (QoS) delivery that is not possible in isolation.
Service providers that leverage this capability can operate their existing networks in a highly cost-effective manner carrying voice, video and UC traffic. It also ensures delivery of tiered levels of services by dynamically assigning network resources to a communication session based on predefined policies, improving service delivery, enhancing user experience and optimizing network utilization.
The ability to deliver differentiated, Cloud-based UC and video services to enterprises is increasingly important to service providers for reasons including:
* End user spending for public Cloud-based services is predicted by Gartner Inc. to grow at a 16.8 percent CAGR from 2011 through 2017, to over $237 billion (Source: Forecast: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2011-2017, 1Q13 Update, March 26, 2013).
* Use of video across enterprises is reaching mainstream portions as 71 percent of businesses are using, evaluating or planning to use extranet videoconferencing for B2B collaboration according to the Nemertes Research (Source: Oct. 2012, Benchmark Report).
* In a shift from a 2011 Cloud study, Infonetics Research found in December 2012 that collaboration tools and security have overtaken email as the top Software as a Service (SaaS) application (Source: Press Release: SDN, OpenFlow, collaboration and security on the minds of operators planning Cloud services, January 2013).
* Currently 65 percent of UC deployments are premises-based, though that is expected to drop to 31 percent as future deployments move more to the Cloud according to a survey by Webtorials (Source: Feb. 2013 Research Report).
The joint Sonus-Juniper solution is being demonstrated at Juniper Networks' OpenLab, The Junos and SDN Center for Innovation in Bridgewater, New Jersey where visitors can experience various levels of video services and commensurate network behavior. Sonus and Juniper are currently working together on customer engagements.
Carrier Wi-Fi market to reach $4 billion by 2018
USA: Mobile Experts has released a new Carrier Wi-Fi Report, illustrating the convergence of Wi-Fi networks with mobile and cable networks to create heterogeneous networks (HetNets).
Dr. Jacob Sharony, senior analyst at Mobile Experts, said: "New technology will move quickly in Carrier Wi-Fi. We anticipate very rapid adoption of 802.11ac technology by operators, which will drive 5 GHz radios in handsets. Mobile data will be offloaded quickly onto Wi-Fi, creating a need for new controller architectures and network integration software for interoperability with mobile networks."
Joe Madden, principal analyst explained: "Wi-Fi is much cheaper than LTE in terms of cost per bit delivered. Some mobile operators are investing heavily in Wi-Fi to take advantage of rapid deployment and very low cost. As the small cell market matures, we are tracking multiple projects that combine small cells and Wi-Fi, with interesting combinations in DAS networks and other variations as well.
"This study illustrates the complexity of a heterogeneous network in terms of combined radio nodes, changes in the user devices, and changes to the core network and controller architectures to make everything play together. Our approach in this study was to scour the Wi-Fi market from one end to the other, to make sure that we had a complete view. In the end, we see a clear path to a run rate of 5 million APs per year."
This report creates a roadmap of how the Carrier Wi-Fi market will evolve in tandem with mobile networks:
Phase 0 involves disjointed networks, with very little connection between Carrier Wi-Fi networks and mobile networks.
Phase 1 comes into play with Hotspot 2.0 (Next Generation Hotspot), in which SIM authentication becomes a standard feature.
Phase 2 improves the billing, policy control, and interoperability of Carrier Wi-Fi networks; and
Phase 3 introduces advanced network intelligence to optimize the use of multiple air interface modes based on location, context, application, user status, and network conditions.
Dr. Jacob Sharony, senior analyst at Mobile Experts, said: "New technology will move quickly in Carrier Wi-Fi. We anticipate very rapid adoption of 802.11ac technology by operators, which will drive 5 GHz radios in handsets. Mobile data will be offloaded quickly onto Wi-Fi, creating a need for new controller architectures and network integration software for interoperability with mobile networks."
Joe Madden, principal analyst explained: "Wi-Fi is much cheaper than LTE in terms of cost per bit delivered. Some mobile operators are investing heavily in Wi-Fi to take advantage of rapid deployment and very low cost. As the small cell market matures, we are tracking multiple projects that combine small cells and Wi-Fi, with interesting combinations in DAS networks and other variations as well.
"This study illustrates the complexity of a heterogeneous network in terms of combined radio nodes, changes in the user devices, and changes to the core network and controller architectures to make everything play together. Our approach in this study was to scour the Wi-Fi market from one end to the other, to make sure that we had a complete view. In the end, we see a clear path to a run rate of 5 million APs per year."
This report creates a roadmap of how the Carrier Wi-Fi market will evolve in tandem with mobile networks:
Phase 0 involves disjointed networks, with very little connection between Carrier Wi-Fi networks and mobile networks.
Phase 1 comes into play with Hotspot 2.0 (Next Generation Hotspot), in which SIM authentication becomes a standard feature.
Phase 2 improves the billing, policy control, and interoperability of Carrier Wi-Fi networks; and
Phase 3 introduces advanced network intelligence to optimize the use of multiple air interface modes based on location, context, application, user status, and network conditions.
INSIDE Secure announces FIPS-certified embedded security offerings
FRANCE: INSIDE Secure announced that its SafeZone encryption toolkit, a key sub-component of the company’s embedded security software products, has received Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 certification from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The certification expands the company’s portfolio of FIPS-certified hardware security modules and secure microcontrollers to include software offerings for securing data in transit over SSL/DTLS and IPSEC, as well as data at rest on Android devices.
With these additional FIPS-certified offerings, INSIDE now gives OEMs and application developers even greater ability to secure appliances, applications, mobile devices and servers in accordance with stricter government security requirements.
“Security is now a basic requirement for every device and at every point where data is touched, stored or transmitted. Even beyond government-mandated applications, many industries in the commercial sector are adopting FIPS because it has become a globally recognized standard for security,” said Simon Blake-Wilson, executive VP for embedded security at INSIDE Secure.
“Using software development tools that incorporate this pre-validated module, manufacturers can meet current and future security requirements, avoid the lengthy and expensive FIPS validation process, stay focused on their core competency and get their products to market more quickly.”
According to Simon Blake-Wilson, this enhancement to INSIDE’s lineup of FIPS-certified offerings also illustrates how the recent Embedded Security Systems acquisition is supporting INSIDE’s strategy to provide its customers with the most complete assortment of hardware- and software-based security solutions.
FIPS 140-2 is a globally recognized US government security standard for securing commercial, government and defense applications.
US and Canadian government telecommunications systems already are required to use FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic modules to secure data. As more industries are categorized as critical infrastructure and become targets of cyberattacks, their applications, devices and communications networks will also be required to meet these stricter government mandates and recognized standards.
Recent directives in the US and Europe seek to expand this requirement to more industries—including finance, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, communications and other utilities—all of which are considered so vital that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating effect on economic security or public health and safety.
The certification expands the company’s portfolio of FIPS-certified hardware security modules and secure microcontrollers to include software offerings for securing data in transit over SSL/DTLS and IPSEC, as well as data at rest on Android devices.
With these additional FIPS-certified offerings, INSIDE now gives OEMs and application developers even greater ability to secure appliances, applications, mobile devices and servers in accordance with stricter government security requirements.
“Security is now a basic requirement for every device and at every point where data is touched, stored or transmitted. Even beyond government-mandated applications, many industries in the commercial sector are adopting FIPS because it has become a globally recognized standard for security,” said Simon Blake-Wilson, executive VP for embedded security at INSIDE Secure.
“Using software development tools that incorporate this pre-validated module, manufacturers can meet current and future security requirements, avoid the lengthy and expensive FIPS validation process, stay focused on their core competency and get their products to market more quickly.”
According to Simon Blake-Wilson, this enhancement to INSIDE’s lineup of FIPS-certified offerings also illustrates how the recent Embedded Security Systems acquisition is supporting INSIDE’s strategy to provide its customers with the most complete assortment of hardware- and software-based security solutions.
FIPS 140-2 is a globally recognized US government security standard for securing commercial, government and defense applications.
US and Canadian government telecommunications systems already are required to use FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic modules to secure data. As more industries are categorized as critical infrastructure and become targets of cyberattacks, their applications, devices and communications networks will also be required to meet these stricter government mandates and recognized standards.
Recent directives in the US and Europe seek to expand this requirement to more industries—including finance, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, communications and other utilities—all of which are considered so vital that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating effect on economic security or public health and safety.
MPayMe announces strategic partnership with Billing System to jointly promote ZNAP mobile app in Japan
JAPAN: MPayMe Ltd, a global mobile business company, and Billing System Co. Ltd, a leading provider of payment support and consulting services in Japan, announced a strategic partnership.
The collaboration will see MPayMe's ZNAP application integrated into Billing System's platform without any additional infrastructure, a move that will revolutionise Japan's mobile payment market. The partnership symbolises a key milestone for MPayMe following the announcement earlier this month of another strategic partnership with First Data from the United States. With these two new developments, MPayMe is poised to become the leader in worldwide mobile payments.
ZNAP is a cross-platform application founded in mobile payments but expanded to offer extensive value added features. These features deliver an easy, intuitive and secure QR code scanning and PIN-payment method for consumers.
ZNAP also creates customer relevance through one-to-one marketing, targeted offers, loyalty integration and couponing that supports new revenue methods and efficiencies for merchants. This branded solution can be deployed directly or embedded within existing merchant applications, depending on the optimal business strategy.
MPayMe's ZNAP represents a new generation of integrated payment solutions for businesses, offering a comprehensive layer of value-added services and industry specific vertical features. Thanks to payment capabilities across both traditional (e.g. in-store, online, App-to-App) and new sales channels (e.g. bill and invoice, mobile POS, virtual shopping), ZNAP allows merchants and businesses to solve problems, create new sales opportunities and leverage customer loyalty.
Supported by best-of-breed security features and patented technology, ZNAP delivers value for both merchants and consumers. As a mobile cloud-based solution, ZNAP requires no additional hardware or infrastructure for either merchants or their customers.
The collaboration will see MPayMe's ZNAP application integrated into Billing System's platform without any additional infrastructure, a move that will revolutionise Japan's mobile payment market. The partnership symbolises a key milestone for MPayMe following the announcement earlier this month of another strategic partnership with First Data from the United States. With these two new developments, MPayMe is poised to become the leader in worldwide mobile payments.
ZNAP is a cross-platform application founded in mobile payments but expanded to offer extensive value added features. These features deliver an easy, intuitive and secure QR code scanning and PIN-payment method for consumers.
ZNAP also creates customer relevance through one-to-one marketing, targeted offers, loyalty integration and couponing that supports new revenue methods and efficiencies for merchants. This branded solution can be deployed directly or embedded within existing merchant applications, depending on the optimal business strategy.
MPayMe's ZNAP represents a new generation of integrated payment solutions for businesses, offering a comprehensive layer of value-added services and industry specific vertical features. Thanks to payment capabilities across both traditional (e.g. in-store, online, App-to-App) and new sales channels (e.g. bill and invoice, mobile POS, virtual shopping), ZNAP allows merchants and businesses to solve problems, create new sales opportunities and leverage customer loyalty.
Supported by best-of-breed security features and patented technology, ZNAP delivers value for both merchants and consumers. As a mobile cloud-based solution, ZNAP requires no additional hardware or infrastructure for either merchants or their customers.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Gemalto supplies MTS Russia with UpTeq NFC SIM for mobile transport services
THE NETHERLANDS: Gemalto is supplying Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia’s largest network operator with over 70 million subscribers, with its UpTeq NFC high-end SIM cards for a mobile phone-based public transport ticketing solution in the city of Novosibirsk.
Produced and personalized at Gemalto’s Moscow service center, the solution can deliver increased efficiency and responsiveness for the swift deployment of MTS’ NFC program. Gemalto uniquely provides its Russian customers with deep expertise and local presence across telecommunications, banking and transport sectors.
Operated alongside Zolotaya Korona, a Russian payment and money transfer system, the ticketing service allows users to pay for journeys on buses and the metro in Novosibirsk, the country’s third-largest city, simply by tapping their mobile phone on an NFC reader. For optimum convenience, users will be charged for journeys via their regular MTS billing scheme.
Over 95 percent of public transport turnstiles and terminals in Novosibirsk are already equipped with NFC readers and the new system is designed to replace the current paper tickets. Queuing will become shorter for customers and the traveling experience will improve across the entire public transport network, throughout the city.
Produced and personalized at Gemalto’s Moscow service center, the solution can deliver increased efficiency and responsiveness for the swift deployment of MTS’ NFC program. Gemalto uniquely provides its Russian customers with deep expertise and local presence across telecommunications, banking and transport sectors.
Operated alongside Zolotaya Korona, a Russian payment and money transfer system, the ticketing service allows users to pay for journeys on buses and the metro in Novosibirsk, the country’s third-largest city, simply by tapping their mobile phone on an NFC reader. For optimum convenience, users will be charged for journeys via their regular MTS billing scheme.
Over 95 percent of public transport turnstiles and terminals in Novosibirsk are already equipped with NFC readers and the new system is designed to replace the current paper tickets. Queuing will become shorter for customers and the traveling experience will improve across the entire public transport network, throughout the city.
Android offers successful MHealth app publishers up to 17 times higher reach than Apple
GERMANY: Successful free Android mHealth apps in both categories – Health & Fitness and Medical – reach significant higher downloads than Apple apps. Health & Fitness apps that were listed in the top 10 between December 2012 and February 2013 managed to generate 238.000 downloads on average since they have been on the market.
Successful apps that are being listed in the Health & Fitness category generate on average 4-5 (free) and 2-3 (paid) more downloads than apps that are listed in the Medical section of the Apple App and Google Play stores.
The following graph illustrates the average accumulated downloads of free apps that have been listed in the top 10 in the Health & Fitness app category during the analysis period.
The Health & Fitness app market is still a niche market if you compare it with the average download number of top 10 apps in the game or entertainment sections of the app stores. This is especially true for apps that are being listed in the Medical sections (see Brazil Top 10 mHealth App Performance Benchmarking Report for more details).
On the other hand if all downloads from the top 10 apps from both Android and iOS are summed up, the reach becomes more impressive. In total, health-conscious users downloaded 3,44m apps that track calories, measure heart rates and count steps. This does not even include top 10 Health & Fitness apps that have been in the top 10 e.g. a year ago or paid apps, or apps long tail Medical apps. This shows that even in so called emerging countries, mobile apps became a channel to health-conscious users and patients that can’t be neglected.
Similar to the US and the German mobile health market, apps that are listed in the Health & Fitness category attract significantly more iPhone, iPad and Android users than apps in the Medical category. One reason for the performance gap of paid apps is the 4 times higher pricing level of Medical apps.
The Brazilian mHealth app market seems to offer higher chances for local apps to reach the top 10 than other Western app markets. However global mHealth players like Runtastic also rank amongst the top 10 in Brazil with some of their apps.
This analysis is part of our new series of benchmarking reports starting with USA and Germany. In our benchmarking report series, which compares the app market performance amongst the most successful mHealth apps on the iOS and Android platforms, we will be publishing reports about Japan and UK soon.
Successful apps that are being listed in the Health & Fitness category generate on average 4-5 (free) and 2-3 (paid) more downloads than apps that are listed in the Medical section of the Apple App and Google Play stores.
The following graph illustrates the average accumulated downloads of free apps that have been listed in the top 10 in the Health & Fitness app category during the analysis period.
The Health & Fitness app market is still a niche market if you compare it with the average download number of top 10 apps in the game or entertainment sections of the app stores. This is especially true for apps that are being listed in the Medical sections (see Brazil Top 10 mHealth App Performance Benchmarking Report for more details).
On the other hand if all downloads from the top 10 apps from both Android and iOS are summed up, the reach becomes more impressive. In total, health-conscious users downloaded 3,44m apps that track calories, measure heart rates and count steps. This does not even include top 10 Health & Fitness apps that have been in the top 10 e.g. a year ago or paid apps, or apps long tail Medical apps. This shows that even in so called emerging countries, mobile apps became a channel to health-conscious users and patients that can’t be neglected.
Similar to the US and the German mobile health market, apps that are listed in the Health & Fitness category attract significantly more iPhone, iPad and Android users than apps in the Medical category. One reason for the performance gap of paid apps is the 4 times higher pricing level of Medical apps.
The Brazilian mHealth app market seems to offer higher chances for local apps to reach the top 10 than other Western app markets. However global mHealth players like Runtastic also rank amongst the top 10 in Brazil with some of their apps.
This analysis is part of our new series of benchmarking reports starting with USA and Germany. In our benchmarking report series, which compares the app market performance amongst the most successful mHealth apps on the iOS and Android platforms, we will be publishing reports about Japan and UK soon.
SkyVision to showcase new services at South Africa’s “Satcom 2013” exhibition
SOUTH AFRICA: SkyVision Global Networks Ltd, a leading global provider of IP connectivity over satellite and fiber optic systems, has announced that it will be showcasing a host of new products and services at the Satcom 2013 exhibition and conference, May 28-29, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
To consistently re-inforce its leading position in Africa, SkyVision is dedicated to continuous development of new solutions and services to meet the increased demand for reliable connectivity. The company’s intensive efforts and corporate strategy have led to its reputation of delivering superior solutions across the continent.
SkyVision’s success in the African market is also a result of its comprehensive network of local partners and representatives, and dedicated SkyVision offices in Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.
SkyVision Voice services, Mobile Satellite services, Managed Firewall services, and the SkyVision Active – business continuity series are amongst the company’s most recent launches. This range of new services is designed to serve corporate customers, and tailored to meet the needs of commercial sectors, including mining, oil and gas, government, NGOs and financial institutions.
In addition, SkyVision also delivers end-to-end Private Network and VPN solutions which provide the ability to connect/share information between headquarters and remote offices, featuring extensive global coverage and seamless network integration. As highly reliable solutions, connectivity is maintained under any conditions and offers the ideal solution for mission-critical business applications.
To consistently re-inforce its leading position in Africa, SkyVision is dedicated to continuous development of new solutions and services to meet the increased demand for reliable connectivity. The company’s intensive efforts and corporate strategy have led to its reputation of delivering superior solutions across the continent.
SkyVision’s success in the African market is also a result of its comprehensive network of local partners and representatives, and dedicated SkyVision offices in Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.
SkyVision Voice services, Mobile Satellite services, Managed Firewall services, and the SkyVision Active – business continuity series are amongst the company’s most recent launches. This range of new services is designed to serve corporate customers, and tailored to meet the needs of commercial sectors, including mining, oil and gas, government, NGOs and financial institutions.
In addition, SkyVision also delivers end-to-end Private Network and VPN solutions which provide the ability to connect/share information between headquarters and remote offices, featuring extensive global coverage and seamless network integration. As highly reliable solutions, connectivity is maintained under any conditions and offers the ideal solution for mission-critical business applications.
Friday, May 24, 2013
2G M2M modules maintained shipment dominance in 2012
USA: M2M modules based on 2G technologies continued to dominate shipments in 2012 with over 70 percent market share. As a result, module revenues did not break the $1 billion mark as hoped and the average module price continued to decline.
“Cellular M2M module price competition was intense in 2012 driven by several factors,” says practice director, Dan Shey.
“Europe was not the traditional M2M module bellwether market and continued to decline in share of module shipments; some Chinese vendors competed aggressively in the higher volume 2G led market segments; and operators pushed hard for lower module pricing to grow total cellular connections.” However, unlike the personal cellular modem and even the smartphone market, M2M module vendors can insulate themselves from pricing competition by targeting the right industry verticals and offering additional services.
Shey adds: “The average module price for the top vendors in the market ranged from $12 to $31. Vendors with higher average per module revenue are focused not just on application markets that seek 3G and 4G modules such as Fixed Wireless Terminals and OEM telematics. These vendors also target industry sectors where module quality and additional services such as product integration expertise and device management services are key value components and drive customer retention.”
“Cellular M2M module price competition was intense in 2012 driven by several factors,” says practice director, Dan Shey.
“Europe was not the traditional M2M module bellwether market and continued to decline in share of module shipments; some Chinese vendors competed aggressively in the higher volume 2G led market segments; and operators pushed hard for lower module pricing to grow total cellular connections.” However, unlike the personal cellular modem and even the smartphone market, M2M module vendors can insulate themselves from pricing competition by targeting the right industry verticals and offering additional services.
Shey adds: “The average module price for the top vendors in the market ranged from $12 to $31. Vendors with higher average per module revenue are focused not just on application markets that seek 3G and 4G modules such as Fixed Wireless Terminals and OEM telematics. These vendors also target industry sectors where module quality and additional services such as product integration expertise and device management services are key value components and drive customer retention.”
ATeam Scientific’s helps ADLINK develop high-speed transmission telecom and media servers
TAIWAN: ATeam Scientific digital solution team successfully helps ADLINK develop world-class telecom and media servers for USB 3.0, PCI-e G3, SATA G3, 10GBaseT, DisplayPort, SFP+, HDMI through the digital lab pre-compliance test capacity, technical consultation team and digital test instruments.
ADLINK is a global company delivering high performance and quality products ahead of competitive offerings. ADLINK is dedicated to innovation and investment in new technologies on AdvancedTCA, CompactPCI, PXI Express and AXIe and received numerous international certificates from ISO, TL9000 and Taiwan Excellence Award.
Chief director of R&D Center of ADLINK, Alex Lee said: "ADLINK puts quality high on the top. We carefully select the test and measurement partner to co-work with as we look for world-class performance instruments as well as a first-rate sales and technical service team. We are satisfied and think highly of ATeam digital lab and technical solution team’s professional and timely consultation services throughout the high-speed transmission interface product development process."
Paul Yang, CEO of Infinet Group (ATeam Scientific is a subsidiary of Infinet Group), said: "We capture the trend of high-speed data, voice and video transmission interface test demand in the rapidly changing market and many customers show positive feedbacks to our efforts and investment. Infinet Group has heavily invested and will continue to invest in high speed digital test solutions, including expanding the engineering team, enhancing the bandwidth of leading-edge test instruments, and increasing solution offerings.
"Earlier this month, Infinet Group added Wilder Technologies high-performance test fixtures into our product offerings. We are glad to work with our long-term superior customer-ADLINK-to timely and efficiently develop the new generation digital and communications products. Meanwhile, we are also pleased to share our views and experiences of building up and managing a quality and professional high-speed digital laboratory with our partners. Our goal is to create best values for our customers and partners."
ADLINK is a global company delivering high performance and quality products ahead of competitive offerings. ADLINK is dedicated to innovation and investment in new technologies on AdvancedTCA, CompactPCI, PXI Express and AXIe and received numerous international certificates from ISO, TL9000 and Taiwan Excellence Award.
Chief director of R&D Center of ADLINK, Alex Lee said: "ADLINK puts quality high on the top. We carefully select the test and measurement partner to co-work with as we look for world-class performance instruments as well as a first-rate sales and technical service team. We are satisfied and think highly of ATeam digital lab and technical solution team’s professional and timely consultation services throughout the high-speed transmission interface product development process."
Paul Yang, CEO of Infinet Group (ATeam Scientific is a subsidiary of Infinet Group), said: "We capture the trend of high-speed data, voice and video transmission interface test demand in the rapidly changing market and many customers show positive feedbacks to our efforts and investment. Infinet Group has heavily invested and will continue to invest in high speed digital test solutions, including expanding the engineering team, enhancing the bandwidth of leading-edge test instruments, and increasing solution offerings.
"Earlier this month, Infinet Group added Wilder Technologies high-performance test fixtures into our product offerings. We are glad to work with our long-term superior customer-ADLINK-to timely and efficiently develop the new generation digital and communications products. Meanwhile, we are also pleased to share our views and experiences of building up and managing a quality and professional high-speed digital laboratory with our partners. Our goal is to create best values for our customers and partners."
Optical WDM hardware narket up 10 percent from year-ago Q1
USA: Infonetics Research released vendor market share and analysis from its Q1-2013 Optical Network Hardware report.
"The four-quarter rolling average for global optical WDM equipment revenue notched a third consecutive quarter of growth in 1Q13, and we believe the market will continue trending in a positive direction this year,” notes Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research.
He adds: “On a year-over-year basis (1Q12 vs. 1Q13), total optical spending is down 5 percent, but this is only a result of massive cuts in legacy (SONET/SDH) spending over the past 12 months (down 30 percent). The WDM segment is up 10 percent year-over year, a welcome sign that spending in this more relevant segment is returning to long-term trend levels. I won’t call it a recovery until WDM revenue is up by double-digit percents for several quarters on a year-over-year basis, but 2013 is looking good, especially in North America and China, where 100G rollouts are picking up speed.”
Optical market highlights
* Worldwide, the overall optical network hardware market, including SONET/SDH and WDM equipment, totaled $2.6 billion in 1Q13.
* North America was the only region to post growth in overall optical hardware revenue on a quarterly basis in 1Q13, up 7.5 percent from 4Q12.
* Topping the optical market share leaderboard in 1Q13 are, in alphabetical order, Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Fujitsu, Huawei and ZTE.
* Ciena is now a larger supplier of WDM gear than Alcatel-Lucent and is second only to Huawei.
* Cyan, now publicly traded, grew revenue 86 percent year-over-year (and is now tracked in Infonetics’ Optical Network Hardware report).
* Nokia-Siemens completed its divestiture of its optical division, now called Coriant (also tracked in Infonetics’ optical report).
"The four-quarter rolling average for global optical WDM equipment revenue notched a third consecutive quarter of growth in 1Q13, and we believe the market will continue trending in a positive direction this year,” notes Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research.
He adds: “On a year-over-year basis (1Q12 vs. 1Q13), total optical spending is down 5 percent, but this is only a result of massive cuts in legacy (SONET/SDH) spending over the past 12 months (down 30 percent). The WDM segment is up 10 percent year-over year, a welcome sign that spending in this more relevant segment is returning to long-term trend levels. I won’t call it a recovery until WDM revenue is up by double-digit percents for several quarters on a year-over-year basis, but 2013 is looking good, especially in North America and China, where 100G rollouts are picking up speed.”
Optical market highlights
* Worldwide, the overall optical network hardware market, including SONET/SDH and WDM equipment, totaled $2.6 billion in 1Q13.
* North America was the only region to post growth in overall optical hardware revenue on a quarterly basis in 1Q13, up 7.5 percent from 4Q12.
* Topping the optical market share leaderboard in 1Q13 are, in alphabetical order, Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Fujitsu, Huawei and ZTE.
* Ciena is now a larger supplier of WDM gear than Alcatel-Lucent and is second only to Huawei.
* Cyan, now publicly traded, grew revenue 86 percent year-over-year (and is now tracked in Infonetics’ Optical Network Hardware report).
* Nokia-Siemens completed its divestiture of its optical division, now called Coriant (also tracked in Infonetics’ optical report).
Tata Communications becomes preferred supplier of international voice termination for Vonage
USA & INDIA: Tata Communications has signed a five-year strategic voice sourcing agreement with Vonage Holdings Corp.
This partnership is a first of its kind between Tata Communications and a major Over-The-Top provider.
Through this agreement, Tata Communications will provide Vonage with access to its global network and on-going investments in systems, tools and processes to improve voice call quality. These resources aid in operational efficiency and the delivery of leading international call quality for customers.
Michel Guyot, president, Global Voice Solutions, Tata Communications says: “Vonage is a recognised leader in delivering an innovative, feature-rich, voice experience to meet the needs of its customers. We are very proud of this opportunity to expand our partnership with Vonage by offering them the breadth and scope of our global network.”
"Vonage strives to deliver the highest possible quality of voice service to our customers, regardless of where they are or what device they use,” says Ed Mulligan, VP of Carrier Operations for Vonage. “Tata Communications’ people, commitment to quality and world-class customer service provided us with the confidence to enter into this agreement. They understand the needs of next generation and OTT providers, and we look forward to our collective success.”
This partnership is a first of its kind between Tata Communications and a major Over-The-Top provider.
Through this agreement, Tata Communications will provide Vonage with access to its global network and on-going investments in systems, tools and processes to improve voice call quality. These resources aid in operational efficiency and the delivery of leading international call quality for customers.
Michel Guyot, president, Global Voice Solutions, Tata Communications says: “Vonage is a recognised leader in delivering an innovative, feature-rich, voice experience to meet the needs of its customers. We are very proud of this opportunity to expand our partnership with Vonage by offering them the breadth and scope of our global network.”
"Vonage strives to deliver the highest possible quality of voice service to our customers, regardless of where they are or what device they use,” says Ed Mulligan, VP of Carrier Operations for Vonage. “Tata Communications’ people, commitment to quality and world-class customer service provided us with the confidence to enter into this agreement. They understand the needs of next generation and OTT providers, and we look forward to our collective success.”
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Pioneer offers most smartphone connectivity options
USA: Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. continues to offer consumers the most smartphone connectivity options for the car with two versions (SPH-DA210 and SPH-DA110) of its next generation AppRadio 3 smartphone connected in-dash receiver.
Expanding on Pioneer’s philosophy to enable consumers stay connected , both AppRadio 3 models feature compatibility with MirrorLink enabled smartphones in addition to the current AppRadio compatibility with both iOS (iPhone 4/4S/5) and select Android OS smartphones.
Additional features are also integrated into each model for enhanced smartphone control and added convenience, including voice control for Siri Eyes Free and Google Voice Recognition, a revised graphical user interface, Bluetooth audio streaming, and a built-in DVD/CD mechanism (SPH-DA210 model only).
Through the use of Pioneer’s free AppRadio application (available for both iOS and Android OS) and compatible third-party apps, both AppRadio 3 receivers offer control of supported app functions using similar touch and motion gestures of the connected smartphone devices on a high resolution 7-inch capacitive touchscreen.
Expanding on Pioneer’s philosophy to enable consumers stay connected , both AppRadio 3 models feature compatibility with MirrorLink enabled smartphones in addition to the current AppRadio compatibility with both iOS (iPhone 4/4S/5) and select Android OS smartphones.
Additional features are also integrated into each model for enhanced smartphone control and added convenience, including voice control for Siri Eyes Free and Google Voice Recognition, a revised graphical user interface, Bluetooth audio streaming, and a built-in DVD/CD mechanism (SPH-DA210 model only).
Through the use of Pioneer’s free AppRadio application (available for both iOS and Android OS) and compatible third-party apps, both AppRadio 3 receivers offer control of supported app functions using similar touch and motion gestures of the connected smartphone devices on a high resolution 7-inch capacitive touchscreen.
Netxcell makes another breakthrough in Africa in association with Funmobile to implement MTN Nigeria mandates
AFRICA & INDIA: Netxcell Ltd announced its association with Funmobile, a leader in the mobile content domain in West Africa which offers entertainment and information with richer multimedia forms of video, music and gaming.
Through this partnership, Netxcell will implement services for MTN, one of the leading telecom operators in Africa with GSM licenses in 21 countries, across Africa and Middle East leveraging the local know how of Funmobile.
Netxcell will provide its cutting edge technology solutions such as IVR based services – Voice Chat & Information and Subscription Dialers in Nigeria. While Netxcell will be responsible for driving the products from registration phase, profile maintenance, filtration, connectivity (with Funmobile and MTN), usage, promotions, billing, etc,
Funmobile, which is a known player in voice sms will start offering Voice Chat with Netxcell’s support and with their local knowhow and expertise handle day-to-day operations. They will also engage end customers through their call center and moderators to increase uptake/calling minutes.
This association between Netxcell and Funmobile is a win-win proposition, while on one end it will enable Fumobile to better its offerings for its clients’ customer engagement resulting in enhanced bottom lines, for Netxcell this partnership will give it exposure to Nigeria which will be an additional geography for the company in the fast growing African market along with their current presence in 7 namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Burundi.
Through this partnership, Netxcell will implement services for MTN, one of the leading telecom operators in Africa with GSM licenses in 21 countries, across Africa and Middle East leveraging the local know how of Funmobile.
Netxcell will provide its cutting edge technology solutions such as IVR based services – Voice Chat & Information and Subscription Dialers in Nigeria. While Netxcell will be responsible for driving the products from registration phase, profile maintenance, filtration, connectivity (with Funmobile and MTN), usage, promotions, billing, etc,
Funmobile, which is a known player in voice sms will start offering Voice Chat with Netxcell’s support and with their local knowhow and expertise handle day-to-day operations. They will also engage end customers through their call center and moderators to increase uptake/calling minutes.
This association between Netxcell and Funmobile is a win-win proposition, while on one end it will enable Fumobile to better its offerings for its clients’ customer engagement resulting in enhanced bottom lines, for Netxcell this partnership will give it exposure to Nigeria which will be an additional geography for the company in the fast growing African market along with their current presence in 7 namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Burundi.
IMImobile and Content Connect Africa sign pan-African strategic content partnership agreement
SOUTH AFRICA: IMImobile, a leading global specialist provider of mobile data platform and services to telecom operators, enterprises and media companies, announced a strategic partnership with Content Connect Africa (CCA) to provide premium local independent music and video content across Africa.
CCA has a substantial catalogue of African music content in Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Kenya. It also holds the rights to exclusive video content featuring a host of popular African artists, including DJ Cleo and Will of Steel (South Africa), Flavour (Nigeria) and Cabo Snoop (Angola)
The partnership with CCA will allow IMImobile to offer a wide selection of exclusive content such as full tracks, ringback tones, real tones, animation, images and videos to its mobile operator clients.The content will be integrated into IMImobile’s award-winning DaVinci Evolved Service Platform (ESP) to guarantee multi-channel delivery and superior customer experience across Africa.
CCA has a substantial catalogue of African music content in Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Kenya. It also holds the rights to exclusive video content featuring a host of popular African artists, including DJ Cleo and Will of Steel (South Africa), Flavour (Nigeria) and Cabo Snoop (Angola)
The partnership with CCA will allow IMImobile to offer a wide selection of exclusive content such as full tracks, ringback tones, real tones, animation, images and videos to its mobile operator clients.The content will be integrated into IMImobile’s award-winning DaVinci Evolved Service Platform (ESP) to guarantee multi-channel delivery and superior customer experience across Africa.
Reliance Communications ready to offer country’s first Aadhar authentication process across retail outlets
INDIA: Reliance Communications is ready to offer the first of its kind Aadhar authentication process in the country post successful testing of the services in both company owned and non-company owned retail outlets.
Reliance becomes the first telecom operator in the country to test the concept of Aadhar authentication from a non-company owned multi brand small retail outlet. Reliance Communications is ready to launch the services across all circles post the necessary guidelines issued by DOT.
Mobile customers can soon walk into any retailer in the country with their respective Aadhar card, post which the retailer can share the customer’s Aadhar profile details along with the biometric authentication details online with UIDAI server for real time authentication of the identity of the customer.
Post this authentication, the customer details can be fetched online from UIDAI server and the customer mobile connection can now be processed with Reliance Communications for immediate activation. The customer verification process is thus undertaken through Aadhar authentication.
Aadhar online authentication process is a paperless and regulatory process to activate new mobile connection instantly. Reliance is the first telecom operator in the country to test the concept of Aadhar authentications from a non company owned multi brand small retail outlet. These non-company owned multi brand small retail outlets spread across the country accounts for 90 percent of the new SIM cards sold every month.
Reliance becomes the first telecom operator in the country to test the concept of Aadhar authentication from a non-company owned multi brand small retail outlet. Reliance Communications is ready to launch the services across all circles post the necessary guidelines issued by DOT.
Mobile customers can soon walk into any retailer in the country with their respective Aadhar card, post which the retailer can share the customer’s Aadhar profile details along with the biometric authentication details online with UIDAI server for real time authentication of the identity of the customer.
Post this authentication, the customer details can be fetched online from UIDAI server and the customer mobile connection can now be processed with Reliance Communications for immediate activation. The customer verification process is thus undertaken through Aadhar authentication.
Aadhar online authentication process is a paperless and regulatory process to activate new mobile connection instantly. Reliance is the first telecom operator in the country to test the concept of Aadhar authentications from a non company owned multi brand small retail outlet. These non-company owned multi brand small retail outlets spread across the country accounts for 90 percent of the new SIM cards sold every month.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Freescale partners with Brazil’s leading research center on large-scale deployment of country’s wireless infrastructure
CTIA WIRELESS 2013, USA: Freescale Semiconductor is collaborating with CPqD, Brazil’s largest telecom research and development center, on the deployment of advanced wireless infrastructure technology across the nation ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games and other major events.
CPqD is partnering with Freescale to develop 450 MHz LTE solutions based on Freescale’s QorIQ Qonverge base station-on-chip processors, which are slated to power long-range base stations throughout Brazil.
As host nation for the 2013 Confederation Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Summer Games, Brazil is investing heavily to enhance and expand its wireless infrastructure systems. As part of this investment, CPqD recently opened Latin America's first laboratory for testing and measuring LTE technology for different frequencies, including the 2.6 GHz, 700 MHz and 450 MHz bands.
Networking and communications processing leader Freescale Semiconductor is playing a significant role in Brazil’s wireless infrastructure build-out, supplying its QorIQ Qonverge BSC9132 base station-on-chip SoC as the defining processor for a network of small cell, 450 MHz LTE base stations featuring coverage up to 30 km each. The solution also includes Freescale RF power products and low noise amplifiers.
CPqD is partnering with Freescale to develop 450 MHz LTE solutions based on Freescale’s QorIQ Qonverge base station-on-chip processors, which are slated to power long-range base stations throughout Brazil.
As host nation for the 2013 Confederation Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Summer Games, Brazil is investing heavily to enhance and expand its wireless infrastructure systems. As part of this investment, CPqD recently opened Latin America's first laboratory for testing and measuring LTE technology for different frequencies, including the 2.6 GHz, 700 MHz and 450 MHz bands.
Networking and communications processing leader Freescale Semiconductor is playing a significant role in Brazil’s wireless infrastructure build-out, supplying its QorIQ Qonverge BSC9132 base station-on-chip SoC as the defining processor for a network of small cell, 450 MHz LTE base stations featuring coverage up to 30 km each. The solution also includes Freescale RF power products and low noise amplifiers.
Quantenna announces availability of world’s fastest Wi-Fi chipset
COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2013, The Cable Show 2013, USA: Quantenna Communications Inc., has redefined wireless performance and quality once again with the first commercially-available 4x4 MU-MIMO 802.11ac chipset – the QSR1000 family.
The only Wave 2 802.11ac chipset, Quantenna’s 1.7Gbps QSR1000 solution transmits faster, reaches farther and serves more devices more reliably than any other Wi-Fi solution ever created.
The QSR1000 supports the latest Wave 2 802.11ac specification. It combines Quantenna’s industry-first 4x4 architecture with multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, dynamic-digital beamforming and support for four spatial streams to deliver unsurpassed performance, range, reliability and coverage. Equally at home in access points, set-top boxes and consumer electronics, the QSR1000 is ideally suited to multimedia applications that demand wire-like quality.
With almost 2Gbps total throughput, it streams flawless, carrier-grade IPTV to multiple devices in full 1080p or 4K Ultra HD resolution, easily reaching through concrete walls and into every corner of multistory homes. Quantenna’s 4x4 solutions are fully industry-standard compliant and work with all third-party clients and consumer devices in any MIMO configuration (e.g. 1x1, 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4).
The only Wave 2 802.11ac chipset, Quantenna’s 1.7Gbps QSR1000 solution transmits faster, reaches farther and serves more devices more reliably than any other Wi-Fi solution ever created.
The QSR1000 supports the latest Wave 2 802.11ac specification. It combines Quantenna’s industry-first 4x4 architecture with multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, dynamic-digital beamforming and support for four spatial streams to deliver unsurpassed performance, range, reliability and coverage. Equally at home in access points, set-top boxes and consumer electronics, the QSR1000 is ideally suited to multimedia applications that demand wire-like quality.
With almost 2Gbps total throughput, it streams flawless, carrier-grade IPTV to multiple devices in full 1080p or 4K Ultra HD resolution, easily reaching through concrete walls and into every corner of multistory homes. Quantenna’s 4x4 solutions are fully industry-standard compliant and work with all third-party clients and consumer devices in any MIMO configuration (e.g. 1x1, 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4).
More than half of US women would rather give up sex than their mobile device for a week
THE NETHERLANDS & USA: In an increasingly digital world, today’s ultra connected women have never been more emotionally detached.
So say the findings of the latest global study by AVG Technologies N.V., the provider of Internet and mobile security, privacy and optimization to 150 million active users, which charts the changing ways women are using technology to form and manage their relationships.
The study, which questioned 4,000 women in the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Brazil, highlighted the increasing role mobile devices and social media channels play in the dating process, and suggested that online research has displaced in-person chemistry when it comes to partner evaluation. Nearly 35 per cent of women now use social media channels to check out dates ahead of time, prioritizing pictures followed by common friends and finally interests and comments.
Just as women are turning to technology to kick-start their relationships, so too have they become reliant upon it to end them. All up figures indicated that more than 50 per cent of those questioned either have or would break up with a significant other on the phone and more than a quarter have or would do so via text message.
“We all recognize that face-to-face is usually better than Facebook when it comes to relationships, but when so many of us live such busy lives it’s not surprising technology is increasingly being used as a substitute for one-on-one, in-person contact,” said John Giamatteo, COO of AVG Technologies.
“What’s more telling is the extent to which women, both old and young, are now relying on technology in matters of the heart. This study suggests an increasing level of detachment, where devices serve as agents to filter potential partners and release them when women are ready to move on. On a purely abstract note, we might even consider whether mobile devices and their trusty stream of insight will become the new primary relationship.”
When it came to the different age ranges, predictably it was 18-25 year olds who were the most likely to break up with a partner using their phone (61 percent), by posting on Facebook (19 percent) or via sending a text message (38 percent). That said, the older generations were not far behind, with 45 percent of 45-54 year olds also indicating that they would or have ended a relationship using their phone. The most dramatic differences, however, arose between nationalities.
Though women in the US are the most prolific users of social media channels to screen dates, Brazilian women emerged as the most cutthroat group in the dating stakes. According to the survey, not only would 58 percent use a phone call for a break up, but 61 percent had cancelled dates based on information they’d discovered on social media channels. Data showed that Brazilians are also the most likely to break off a relationship over Facebook (18 percent).
Conversely, responses indicated that the French were more traditional in their approach and the least reliant upon technology for their relationships. Fewer than 25 percent of French women questioned look at social media channels ahead of a date, for example, and they are also the least likely to secretly read their partners’ text or email messages (18 percent). Again, Brazilian women topped this particular category, with more than 50 percent of respondents admitting to some form of mobile snooping.
And finally, 57 percent of US women would rather give up sex than their mobile device for a week, which, among other things, places mobile devices rather close to the heart.
So say the findings of the latest global study by AVG Technologies N.V., the provider of Internet and mobile security, privacy and optimization to 150 million active users, which charts the changing ways women are using technology to form and manage their relationships.
The study, which questioned 4,000 women in the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Brazil, highlighted the increasing role mobile devices and social media channels play in the dating process, and suggested that online research has displaced in-person chemistry when it comes to partner evaluation. Nearly 35 per cent of women now use social media channels to check out dates ahead of time, prioritizing pictures followed by common friends and finally interests and comments.
Just as women are turning to technology to kick-start their relationships, so too have they become reliant upon it to end them. All up figures indicated that more than 50 per cent of those questioned either have or would break up with a significant other on the phone and more than a quarter have or would do so via text message.
“We all recognize that face-to-face is usually better than Facebook when it comes to relationships, but when so many of us live such busy lives it’s not surprising technology is increasingly being used as a substitute for one-on-one, in-person contact,” said John Giamatteo, COO of AVG Technologies.
“What’s more telling is the extent to which women, both old and young, are now relying on technology in matters of the heart. This study suggests an increasing level of detachment, where devices serve as agents to filter potential partners and release them when women are ready to move on. On a purely abstract note, we might even consider whether mobile devices and their trusty stream of insight will become the new primary relationship.”
When it came to the different age ranges, predictably it was 18-25 year olds who were the most likely to break up with a partner using their phone (61 percent), by posting on Facebook (19 percent) or via sending a text message (38 percent). That said, the older generations were not far behind, with 45 percent of 45-54 year olds also indicating that they would or have ended a relationship using their phone. The most dramatic differences, however, arose between nationalities.
Though women in the US are the most prolific users of social media channels to screen dates, Brazilian women emerged as the most cutthroat group in the dating stakes. According to the survey, not only would 58 percent use a phone call for a break up, but 61 percent had cancelled dates based on information they’d discovered on social media channels. Data showed that Brazilians are also the most likely to break off a relationship over Facebook (18 percent).
Conversely, responses indicated that the French were more traditional in their approach and the least reliant upon technology for their relationships. Fewer than 25 percent of French women questioned look at social media channels ahead of a date, for example, and they are also the least likely to secretly read their partners’ text or email messages (18 percent). Again, Brazilian women topped this particular category, with more than 50 percent of respondents admitting to some form of mobile snooping.
And finally, 57 percent of US women would rather give up sex than their mobile device for a week, which, among other things, places mobile devices rather close to the heart.
IEEE celebrates Ethernet's 40th anniversary
USA: IEEE celebrated Ethernet’s 40th anniversary. IEEE 802.3 “Standard for Ethernet” and the varied technologies, applications and networks that the family of standards helps enable have changed the world as we knew it, and multi-dimensional innovation never stops.
Frontiers of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet innovation include ever-increasing speeds and new applications for the technology. For example, in April 2013, IEEE announced the launch of an IEEE 802.3 study group to explore development of a 400 Gb/s Ethernet standard to efficiently support ever-increasing, exponential network bandwidth growth.
Fast-growing IEEE 802.3 Ethernet application areas include energy efficiency, the globally emerging smart grid, data centers and super computing, access networks, mobile-communications infrastructure, healthcare and medical-device communications, entertainment and networking for automotive and other industries. Furthermore, in both developed and developing areas of the world, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet is being deployed with infrastructure build outs to support the exploding array of applications that users rely on in their every-day lives.
Frontiers of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet innovation include ever-increasing speeds and new applications for the technology. For example, in April 2013, IEEE announced the launch of an IEEE 802.3 study group to explore development of a 400 Gb/s Ethernet standard to efficiently support ever-increasing, exponential network bandwidth growth.
Fast-growing IEEE 802.3 Ethernet application areas include energy efficiency, the globally emerging smart grid, data centers and super computing, access networks, mobile-communications infrastructure, healthcare and medical-device communications, entertainment and networking for automotive and other industries. Furthermore, in both developed and developing areas of the world, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet is being deployed with infrastructure build outs to support the exploding array of applications that users rely on in their every-day lives.
EdgeConneX to deploy extensive small cell network solution throughout State of Vermont
USA: EdgeConneX, a leading provider of Infrastructure as a Service solutions, announced that it has been selected to deploy an initial small cellular network for CoverageCo, a provider of carrier and technology neutral cellular coverage services to underserved markets.
Funded in part by the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) through an award to CoverageCo, the Small Cell network solution extends wireless coverage throughout the state of Vermont.
Until today, Small Cell networks have been noted as a key communication solution platform, but seldom deployed on a broad scale due to the lack of expertise and uncharted process to identify sites and work with municipalities to obtain proper permits for installation.
CoverageCo selected EdgeConneX as its Small Cell deployment and maintenance provider due to their experience and leadership in spearheading the process while effectively solving problems that traditional RF solutions failed to resolve.
EdgeConneX’s unique business and technical solution expertise ensures that carriers’ Small Cell network deployments achieve their desired Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) objectives. The outdoor Small Cell solution does not require new tower infrastructure and can be deployed without any disruption to a community’s day-to-day operations.
Funded in part by the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) through an award to CoverageCo, the Small Cell network solution extends wireless coverage throughout the state of Vermont.
Until today, Small Cell networks have been noted as a key communication solution platform, but seldom deployed on a broad scale due to the lack of expertise and uncharted process to identify sites and work with municipalities to obtain proper permits for installation.
CoverageCo selected EdgeConneX as its Small Cell deployment and maintenance provider due to their experience and leadership in spearheading the process while effectively solving problems that traditional RF solutions failed to resolve.
EdgeConneX’s unique business and technical solution expertise ensures that carriers’ Small Cell network deployments achieve their desired Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) objectives. The outdoor Small Cell solution does not require new tower infrastructure and can be deployed without any disruption to a community’s day-to-day operations.
Oberthur's dragonFly NFC SIM card certified by MasterCard and Visa
FRANCE: Oberthur Technologies, one of the world’s largest providers of security and identification solutions and services based on smart card technologies, has obtained certifications from MasterCard and Visa, two of the largest global payment networks, for its dragonFly NFC SIM card.
Oberthur Technologies’ NFC SIM cards are available in all form factors including 2FF, 3FF, 4FF, and SMD¹, and are compatible with all networks 2G, 3G and 4G. Through MasterCard and Visa’s certifications, Oberthur Technologies is able to provide flexibility for payment scheme users and enhance security for payment transactions.
Oberthur Technologies gained recognition for the high security levels of its NFC SIM cards, when it was the first to receive the EAL4+ certification and is today the sole card vendor to offer a built-in anti-virus. With the MasterCard and Visa certifications, Oberthur Technologies reinforces its position worldwide, in the field of secure mobile banking.
This latest generation of Oberthur Technologies’ NFC SIM card, dragonFly, is fast, convenient and secure. As the fastest card on the market, it offers speedy download of new services and files through an integrated “NFC Turbo Engine”, based on a hardware accelerator and software optimisation. This dramatically reduces the time a transaction takes to run; transport access validation or transport ticketing transactions are granted faster than with any other SIM card.
The dragonFly NFC SIM card is also the most secure with its integrated anti-virus; if attacked, it isolates the malware, preventing the corrupted application from interacting with any other application containing stored sensitive data. Finally, its convenience stems from the wide variety of applications it offers: transport, identification, access control, loyalty and payment. In the field of payment, Oberthur Technologies demonstrates a true competitive advantage by offering MasterCard and Visa certified NFC SIM cards.
Oberthur Technologies’ NFC SIM cards are available in all form factors including 2FF, 3FF, 4FF, and SMD¹, and are compatible with all networks 2G, 3G and 4G. Through MasterCard and Visa’s certifications, Oberthur Technologies is able to provide flexibility for payment scheme users and enhance security for payment transactions.
Oberthur Technologies gained recognition for the high security levels of its NFC SIM cards, when it was the first to receive the EAL4+ certification and is today the sole card vendor to offer a built-in anti-virus. With the MasterCard and Visa certifications, Oberthur Technologies reinforces its position worldwide, in the field of secure mobile banking.
This latest generation of Oberthur Technologies’ NFC SIM card, dragonFly, is fast, convenient and secure. As the fastest card on the market, it offers speedy download of new services and files through an integrated “NFC Turbo Engine”, based on a hardware accelerator and software optimisation. This dramatically reduces the time a transaction takes to run; transport access validation or transport ticketing transactions are granted faster than with any other SIM card.
The dragonFly NFC SIM card is also the most secure with its integrated anti-virus; if attacked, it isolates the malware, preventing the corrupted application from interacting with any other application containing stored sensitive data. Finally, its convenience stems from the wide variety of applications it offers: transport, identification, access control, loyalty and payment. In the field of payment, Oberthur Technologies demonstrates a true competitive advantage by offering MasterCard and Visa certified NFC SIM cards.
Wireless History Foundation announces 2013 inductees for Wireless Hall of Fame
USA: The Wireless History Foundation (WHF) announced four individuals who will be inducted into the prestigious Wireless Hall of Fame during the Foundation’s Oct. 15, 2013 dinner in San Jose, CA at the Fairmont Hotel. The 2013 inductees are:
George Schmitt — George Schmitt has broad telecom experience in wireless and wireline companies gained over a 40-year career. At Pacific Telesis, he was responsible for building the first GSM system in the world in Germany for the Mannesmann consortium.
As president of Omnipoint, he built the largest American PCS network at the time and was on the forefront of advanced wireless technologies including GSM, GPRS packet data, EDGE, positioning, and Internet access. As executive VP of International Operations for Airtouch he built the world's first CDMA network in South Korea. He also served as the first American Chair of the GSM Association.
Kris Rinne — With more than 30 years of experience in the telecom industry, Kris Rinne’s early leadership in deploying GSM technology in the US set the stage for the success of the 3GPP family of technologies. She has served many roles at AT&T, where she is currently SVP – Network Technologies, AT&T Labs, and oversaw the HSPA rollout.
She formerly held the position of VP—Technology Strategy for SBC Wireless and MD—Operations at Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems. She has also contributed to the industry as the chairperson of the Board of Governors at 3G Americas, LLC, and as a director of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS).
Mark Warner — Mark Warner was elected to the US Senate in 2008 from the Commonwealth of Virginia and served as Governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. Before entering public office, Senator Warner was MD of Columbia Capital, a venture capital firm, and invested in many startups in the cellular telephone business.
He was one of the initial investors in FleetCall, the company that became Nextel. Through these ventures, he either founded or co-founded MRW Enterprises, Capital Cellular, and Columbia Cellular.
Craig Farrill — Craig has a long record of leadership and experience in the wireless industry. Early in his 38-year career, he worked with Communications Industries, one of the first modern wireless companies. He also served as CTO for major international wireless carriers, including Vodafone AirTouch Plc, PacTel Corp., and AirTouch Communications.
He is a founder of the CDMA Development Group (CDG), an international industry association furthering digital wireless technology. He is one of the original board members of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), and served as acting general manager during its organizational phase.
George Schmitt — George Schmitt has broad telecom experience in wireless and wireline companies gained over a 40-year career. At Pacific Telesis, he was responsible for building the first GSM system in the world in Germany for the Mannesmann consortium.
As president of Omnipoint, he built the largest American PCS network at the time and was on the forefront of advanced wireless technologies including GSM, GPRS packet data, EDGE, positioning, and Internet access. As executive VP of International Operations for Airtouch he built the world's first CDMA network in South Korea. He also served as the first American Chair of the GSM Association.
Kris Rinne — With more than 30 years of experience in the telecom industry, Kris Rinne’s early leadership in deploying GSM technology in the US set the stage for the success of the 3GPP family of technologies. She has served many roles at AT&T, where she is currently SVP – Network Technologies, AT&T Labs, and oversaw the HSPA rollout.
She formerly held the position of VP—Technology Strategy for SBC Wireless and MD—Operations at Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems. She has also contributed to the industry as the chairperson of the Board of Governors at 3G Americas, LLC, and as a director of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS).
Mark Warner — Mark Warner was elected to the US Senate in 2008 from the Commonwealth of Virginia and served as Governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. Before entering public office, Senator Warner was MD of Columbia Capital, a venture capital firm, and invested in many startups in the cellular telephone business.
He was one of the initial investors in FleetCall, the company that became Nextel. Through these ventures, he either founded or co-founded MRW Enterprises, Capital Cellular, and Columbia Cellular.
Craig Farrill — Craig has a long record of leadership and experience in the wireless industry. Early in his 38-year career, he worked with Communications Industries, one of the first modern wireless companies. He also served as CTO for major international wireless carriers, including Vodafone AirTouch Plc, PacTel Corp., and AirTouch Communications.
He is a founder of the CDMA Development Group (CDG), an international industry association furthering digital wireless technology. He is one of the original board members of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), and served as acting general manager during its organizational phase.
Monnit releases M2M cellular gateway for wireless sensors
CTIA WIRELESS 2013, USA: Monnit Corp. has released of a new Machine-to-Machine oriented cellular gateway for use with wireless sensors.
This gateway is specifically designed to respond to the increasing demand for a low-cost, reliable, “connect-from-anywhere” monitoring solution that addresses the needs of a variety of M2M applications.
Features of the new M2M cellular gateway for wireless sensors:
* Dual band CDMA (800/1900 MHz).
* Supports Monnit wireless sensors in global (900, 868 and 433 MHz).
* “Plug & Sense” - no configuration or setup required.
* Remote software upgrade capability.
* Watchdog function alerts if gateway goes offline.
* LED indicators indicate system status.
The MonnitLink cellular gateway model CGW2 is an advanced, all wireless, M2M gateway that enables fast time-to-market solutions for a wide range of M2M applications. The gateway was designed to support Monnit sensors, which are capable of detecting and monitoring functions that are critical to business operations, including: temperature, humidity, water, light, access, movement and much more.
Monnit’s wireless gateways transmit data between local sensor networks and iMonnit, the online data monitoring system, which aggregates sensor information and sends notifications via text or email if user defined conditions are met or exceeded.
This gateway is specifically designed to respond to the increasing demand for a low-cost, reliable, “connect-from-anywhere” monitoring solution that addresses the needs of a variety of M2M applications.
Features of the new M2M cellular gateway for wireless sensors:
* Dual band CDMA (800/1900 MHz).
* Supports Monnit wireless sensors in global (900, 868 and 433 MHz).
* “Plug & Sense” - no configuration or setup required.
* Remote software upgrade capability.
* Watchdog function alerts if gateway goes offline.
* LED indicators indicate system status.
The MonnitLink cellular gateway model CGW2 is an advanced, all wireless, M2M gateway that enables fast time-to-market solutions for a wide range of M2M applications. The gateway was designed to support Monnit sensors, which are capable of detecting and monitoring functions that are critical to business operations, including: temperature, humidity, water, light, access, movement and much more.
Monnit’s wireless gateways transmit data between local sensor networks and iMonnit, the online data monitoring system, which aggregates sensor information and sends notifications via text or email if user defined conditions are met or exceeded.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Crehan sees factors falling in place for strong 10-Gigabit Ethernet growth
USA: In its newly-released 1Q13 Server-Class Adapter & LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) Report, Crehan Research sees the 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) market poised for strong growth as a number of factors fall into place, including:
* 10GbE inventory reductions at major server OEMs, clearing the way for additional sales.
* Price reductions, stimulating end-user 10GbE demand.
* Broader product offerings including additional 10GBASE-T Modular LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) and quad-port 10GbE (despite the lack of a full set of offerings from all the major OEMs, 1Q13 10GBASE-T Adapter and LOM shipments jumped 60 percent to approach a one-million port annual run rate).
* The launch of Intel-based Ivy Bridge server platforms in the latter half of 2013, bringing an opportunity and value proposition for users to upgrade their servers and incorporate 10GbE networking.
In contrast to the Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) server networking transition – where 1GbE chip-down LOM solutions were often included free with the server platform to end customers, thus driving a rapid 1GbE upgrade – 10GbE is offered mostly as an option card.
This is reflected in a still-high server-adapter card mix. As shown in the accompanying figure, the 10GbE card mix is still close to 50 percent, even 10 years after the initial 10GbE server adapter introduction. Since option cards remain such a significant part of the overall shipment mix, full product offerings and attractive pricing in this segment are very important in driving overall 10GbE market growth.
* 10GbE inventory reductions at major server OEMs, clearing the way for additional sales.
* Price reductions, stimulating end-user 10GbE demand.
* Broader product offerings including additional 10GBASE-T Modular LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) and quad-port 10GbE (despite the lack of a full set of offerings from all the major OEMs, 1Q13 10GBASE-T Adapter and LOM shipments jumped 60 percent to approach a one-million port annual run rate).
* The launch of Intel-based Ivy Bridge server platforms in the latter half of 2013, bringing an opportunity and value proposition for users to upgrade their servers and incorporate 10GbE networking.
In contrast to the Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) server networking transition – where 1GbE chip-down LOM solutions were often included free with the server platform to end customers, thus driving a rapid 1GbE upgrade – 10GbE is offered mostly as an option card.
This is reflected in a still-high server-adapter card mix. As shown in the accompanying figure, the 10GbE card mix is still close to 50 percent, even 10 years after the initial 10GbE server adapter introduction. Since option cards remain such a significant part of the overall shipment mix, full product offerings and attractive pricing in this segment are very important in driving overall 10GbE market growth.
More than one in two people will be covered by LTE-FDD by 2018
SINGAPORE: LTE-capable networks will continue to mushroom around the globe through 2018. In particular, frequency-division duplex (FDD) networks will see their population coverage expanding at a CAGR of 33 percent between 2012 and 2018 to hit 57 percent.
Time-division duplex (TDD) networks will gain ground at a more rapid rate of 43 percent during this period, but will only reach 52 percent population coverage due to fewer licensed markets currently.
This overall picture is consistent with the contracts awarded to vendors thus far this year. Slightly more than half of the contracts concluded are related to LTE-FDD. “However, LTE-TDD will start to close the gap,” commented Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research. “Dual-mode device chipsets supporting both variants as well as converged FDD/TDD network solutions are already available. It’s only a matter of time before the need for more spectrum pushes an increasing number of operators to embrace both simultaneously.”
Concerning spectrum, about three-quarters of recent and upcoming auctions grant the rights to deploy 4G networks. Of these, 29 percent involve 2,600 MHz, 25 percent 800 MHz, and 22 percent 1,800 MHz, making these three bands the most popular.
“Currently, 1,800 MHz is the most widely used frequency band for LTE,” says Jake Saunders, VP and practice director. “The rising popularity of 800 MHz, especially in Europe, will help operators save cost when fulfilling the aggressive roll-out obligation set by regulators worldwide, which is a key reason for the rapid increase in population coverage.”
Time-division duplex (TDD) networks will gain ground at a more rapid rate of 43 percent during this period, but will only reach 52 percent population coverage due to fewer licensed markets currently.
This overall picture is consistent with the contracts awarded to vendors thus far this year. Slightly more than half of the contracts concluded are related to LTE-FDD. “However, LTE-TDD will start to close the gap,” commented Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research. “Dual-mode device chipsets supporting both variants as well as converged FDD/TDD network solutions are already available. It’s only a matter of time before the need for more spectrum pushes an increasing number of operators to embrace both simultaneously.”
Concerning spectrum, about three-quarters of recent and upcoming auctions grant the rights to deploy 4G networks. Of these, 29 percent involve 2,600 MHz, 25 percent 800 MHz, and 22 percent 1,800 MHz, making these three bands the most popular.
“Currently, 1,800 MHz is the most widely used frequency band for LTE,” says Jake Saunders, VP and practice director. “The rising popularity of 800 MHz, especially in Europe, will help operators save cost when fulfilling the aggressive roll-out obligation set by regulators worldwide, which is a key reason for the rapid increase in population coverage.”
Nexius sets small cell stage at CTIA 2013
USA: Soaring demand for mobile data services is making small cell technologies the go-to solutions for expanding wireless capacity and coverage.
The massive interest is reflected in analyst predictions, most of which forecast the small cell market to more than quadruple by 2016, resulting in multi-billion dollar annual growth. Industry analysts predict that 4G small cell shipments will overtake 3G shipments by the end of the year.
Despite small cell’s bright future, many mobile operators, cable companies, OEMs, venue owners and other companies are still grappling with how to make it happen. Many small cell adopters simply don’t have the wherewithal to support a small cell initiative, from planning and design to deployment, maintenance and optimization. Meanwhile, other companies find that unexpected considerations can stall or even derail their entire project.
At CTIA 2013 , Nexius Solutions Inc., the leader in delivering end-to-end wireless services and software solutions, is sharing small cell wisdom gleaned from its work with some of the world’s largest mobile operators, cable operators and other early adopters.
Among many best practices in small cell, Nexius offers incisive counsel on determining placement and deployment of small cells, as well as how to use per call data measurement and other analysis tools and techniques to help optimize roll-out plans.
The massive interest is reflected in analyst predictions, most of which forecast the small cell market to more than quadruple by 2016, resulting in multi-billion dollar annual growth. Industry analysts predict that 4G small cell shipments will overtake 3G shipments by the end of the year.
Despite small cell’s bright future, many mobile operators, cable companies, OEMs, venue owners and other companies are still grappling with how to make it happen. Many small cell adopters simply don’t have the wherewithal to support a small cell initiative, from planning and design to deployment, maintenance and optimization. Meanwhile, other companies find that unexpected considerations can stall or even derail their entire project.
At CTIA 2013 , Nexius Solutions Inc., the leader in delivering end-to-end wireless services and software solutions, is sharing small cell wisdom gleaned from its work with some of the world’s largest mobile operators, cable operators and other early adopters.
Among many best practices in small cell, Nexius offers incisive counsel on determining placement and deployment of small cells, as well as how to use per call data measurement and other analysis tools and techniques to help optimize roll-out plans.
Cephasonics unveils next-gen wireless-imaging technology
USA: Cephasonics, a technology-innovation leader with a game-changing embedded-ultrasound platform, introduced the cQuest Ultrasound SDK Client/Server Toolkit that allows complete network-based communications with all cQuest Ultrasound hardware platforms.
Cephasonics will demonstrate its latest embedded-ultrasound technology, including this new capability, at Hospitalar 2013 held in Sao Paulo, Brazil from May 21-24. Cephasonics is located in the US Medical Trade Mission in Green Hall, aisle O, booth 50/58.
The Client/Server Toolkit provides full compatibility with the current cQuest Ultrasound SDK core API set, allowing for easy porting and migration to the client/server-programming model.
Ultrasound applications developed with the new toolkit no longer need to run adjacent to the underlying cQuest Ultrasound hardware. Additionally, the client API set is platform- and operating system-independent and includes ports for Java, Microsoft .NET (C#), Python and C++ and availability on Windows 7/8, Mac OS X and Linux.
Cephasonics will demonstrate its latest embedded-ultrasound technology, including this new capability, at Hospitalar 2013 held in Sao Paulo, Brazil from May 21-24. Cephasonics is located in the US Medical Trade Mission in Green Hall, aisle O, booth 50/58.
The Client/Server Toolkit provides full compatibility with the current cQuest Ultrasound SDK core API set, allowing for easy porting and migration to the client/server-programming model.
Ultrasound applications developed with the new toolkit no longer need to run adjacent to the underlying cQuest Ultrasound hardware. Additionally, the client API set is platform- and operating system-independent and includes ports for Java, Microsoft .NET (C#), Python and C++ and availability on Windows 7/8, Mac OS X and Linux.
Google unlikely to deploy fiber broadband service nationwide
USA: Despite the expansion of Google Fiber to a third and fourth city—Austin, Texas; and Provo, Utah—Google Inc. is set to remain a minor player in the US broadband market, with the company unlikely to deploy the service nationwide due its high cost, according to a new report from the IHS Screen Digest Operator Multiplay Intelligence Service.
IHS believes Google Fiber will be offered only in smaller markets such as in the two new cities, which collectively have a population of about 1.4 million and roughly 600,000 households; as well as in Kansas City, Kan.; and Kansas City, Mo. The cities represent only about 0.4 percent of US households, so even if Google managed to secure a high market share in these metropolitan areas, it would reach only about 0.2 percent of US homes with the service.
In comparison, Comcast in 2012 boasted 18.3 million broadband subscribers, AT&T totaled 16.4 million, Time Warner Cable had 10.9 million and Verizon reached 8.8 million. Matched against any of the top eight US broadband companies, Google is a minor player.
“While the deployment of Google Fiber to the cities may capture attention, the company’s plans are miniscule compared to what its competitors undertake in the overall market,” said Dexter Thillien, senior analyst for multiplay at IHS. “AT&T and Verizon have spent many billions of dollars establishing fiber networks in larger population centers, something Google is unlikely to be able to match.”
Risky business
Rolling out fiber is a risky endeavor, and most companies do not expect to break even quickly. Because of this, Google has been expanding its fiber empire by buying up failed rollouts of unused fiber, otherwise known as dark fiber. In some ways, Google is being opportunistic in its experiment to bring high-speed broadband to various locations.
Alongside the trials of 2.5-gigahertz service in California, Google is focused on bringing its networks to specific areas to learn about trends in consumer usage of its content services. The company also is using this approach to gain a better understanding of how consumers use its core service: advertising.
However, if the fiber experiment is successful for Google, it may very well become a long-term undertaking for the company. This would allow Google to expand its activities beyond and leverage its entire ecosystem, which increasingly is encompassing a variety of business models and devices.
Google’s fiber experiment also may serve as a test to see how consumers might use more bandwidth, and inform the company about the sort of needs consumers might have over the next decade or so. This would help Google to develop products that meet these needs.
Cost cutting
One advantage of Google Fiber is its price compared to those of incumbent broadband providers.
The pricing plan for Austin will likely be similar to Google’s plan in Kansas City, with a free basic Internet connection at 5 megabits per second following a $300 construction fee, and 1 gigabit-per-second broadband available for $70 a month, or with TV service at $120 a month. These prices are similar to European offerings.
Some have argued that Google can deliver a lower-priced broadband service because it picks and chooses where to roll out—getting incentives from local governments to enter their communities. But AT&T also has announced its intention to roll out a fi ber network in Austin, meaning Google will have a harder time in the Texas capital because of increased competition.
Fiber rich
Austin may now become a broadband battleground, given that AT&T is using the city to be part of its strategy to increase fiber footprint as an element of its Project Velocity IP plan. However, IHS believes that AT&T’s main investment will continue to be rolling out 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services nationwide.
AT&T wants to use Austin to highlight the differences in regulation between incumbents and new suppliers such as Google, while at the same time put more pressure on the search giant by promising greater competition than Google’s previous launches. It remains to be seen if a city such as Austin needs two competing advanced fiber networks, as this would involve heavy investment.
The goal of AT&T in Austin may be more to issue a warning to Google and regulators. By doing so, AT&T is telling Google it can compete at the same location if it chooses to. The carrier also is signaling to the government that there is no need for two different types of regulations—one for incumbents, and another for new participants.
IHS believes Google Fiber will be offered only in smaller markets such as in the two new cities, which collectively have a population of about 1.4 million and roughly 600,000 households; as well as in Kansas City, Kan.; and Kansas City, Mo. The cities represent only about 0.4 percent of US households, so even if Google managed to secure a high market share in these metropolitan areas, it would reach only about 0.2 percent of US homes with the service.
In comparison, Comcast in 2012 boasted 18.3 million broadband subscribers, AT&T totaled 16.4 million, Time Warner Cable had 10.9 million and Verizon reached 8.8 million. Matched against any of the top eight US broadband companies, Google is a minor player.
“While the deployment of Google Fiber to the cities may capture attention, the company’s plans are miniscule compared to what its competitors undertake in the overall market,” said Dexter Thillien, senior analyst for multiplay at IHS. “AT&T and Verizon have spent many billions of dollars establishing fiber networks in larger population centers, something Google is unlikely to be able to match.”
Risky business
Rolling out fiber is a risky endeavor, and most companies do not expect to break even quickly. Because of this, Google has been expanding its fiber empire by buying up failed rollouts of unused fiber, otherwise known as dark fiber. In some ways, Google is being opportunistic in its experiment to bring high-speed broadband to various locations.
Alongside the trials of 2.5-gigahertz service in California, Google is focused on bringing its networks to specific areas to learn about trends in consumer usage of its content services. The company also is using this approach to gain a better understanding of how consumers use its core service: advertising.
However, if the fiber experiment is successful for Google, it may very well become a long-term undertaking for the company. This would allow Google to expand its activities beyond and leverage its entire ecosystem, which increasingly is encompassing a variety of business models and devices.
Google’s fiber experiment also may serve as a test to see how consumers might use more bandwidth, and inform the company about the sort of needs consumers might have over the next decade or so. This would help Google to develop products that meet these needs.
Cost cutting
One advantage of Google Fiber is its price compared to those of incumbent broadband providers.
The pricing plan for Austin will likely be similar to Google’s plan in Kansas City, with a free basic Internet connection at 5 megabits per second following a $300 construction fee, and 1 gigabit-per-second broadband available for $70 a month, or with TV service at $120 a month. These prices are similar to European offerings.
Some have argued that Google can deliver a lower-priced broadband service because it picks and chooses where to roll out—getting incentives from local governments to enter their communities. But AT&T also has announced its intention to roll out a fi ber network in Austin, meaning Google will have a harder time in the Texas capital because of increased competition.
Fiber rich
Austin may now become a broadband battleground, given that AT&T is using the city to be part of its strategy to increase fiber footprint as an element of its Project Velocity IP plan. However, IHS believes that AT&T’s main investment will continue to be rolling out 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services nationwide.
AT&T wants to use Austin to highlight the differences in regulation between incumbents and new suppliers such as Google, while at the same time put more pressure on the search giant by promising greater competition than Google’s previous launches. It remains to be seen if a city such as Austin needs two competing advanced fiber networks, as this would involve heavy investment.
The goal of AT&T in Austin may be more to issue a warning to Google and regulators. By doing so, AT&T is telling Google it can compete at the same location if it chooses to. The carrier also is signaling to the government that there is no need for two different types of regulations—one for incumbents, and another for new participants.
Xtreamer-Mobile launches Xtreamer-JoyZ smartphone
SOUTH KOREA: Xtreamer-Mobile has launched JoyZ - the company's new 4.7" screen size smartphone, with features that exceeded Samsung Galaxy 3 performance.
JoyZ impressive advantages are mainly due to its Samsung EXYONS 4 QUAD processor, as well as 3D graphic performance, which provide the users powerful experience while browsing, gaming or using other features.
In addition, the EXYONS 4 QUAD processor enables high speed multi-tasking when switching seamlessly between apps or online social networking, along with ultra-low power consumption. The Xtreamer JoyZ comes with an advanced operating system type Deck OS ROM with Root Access and Multi-lingual Locale with RTL support.
JoyZ main features and added values:
* Operating System – Jelly Bean.
* 13 megapixel camera.
* Built-in GPS voice-guided that allows easy, convenient and available navigation.
* GORILLA glass 2 – The powerful and advanced available on the market, which enabling to reduce cover glass thickness up to 20% without compromising image quality and touch sensitivity.
* MAH2500 battery allows 250 hours standby, 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi browsing, 6 hours browsing in G2 and 6.5 hours video playback.
JoyZ's very competitive price of €334 (including flip cover and shipment), is a part of the Xtreamer business philosophy to provide its consumers a smartphone with ROOT ACCESS to all updates and apps, while sharing its knowledge with the Android community users worldwide – at the best value for price.
JoyZ is the third phone that launches by Xtreamer in the last year, following AIKI 5 and the AIKI 4, which were successful accepted by the market.
In addition, the EXYONS 4 QUAD processor enables high speed multi-tasking when switching seamlessly between apps or online social networking, along with ultra-low power consumption. The Xtreamer JoyZ comes with an advanced operating system type Deck OS ROM with Root Access and Multi-lingual Locale with RTL support.
JoyZ main features and added values:
* Operating System – Jelly Bean.
* 13 megapixel camera.
* Built-in GPS voice-guided that allows easy, convenient and available navigation.
* GORILLA glass 2 – The powerful and advanced available on the market, which enabling to reduce cover glass thickness up to 20% without compromising image quality and touch sensitivity.
* MAH2500 battery allows 250 hours standby, 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi browsing, 6 hours browsing in G2 and 6.5 hours video playback.
JoyZ's very competitive price of €334 (including flip cover and shipment), is a part of the Xtreamer business philosophy to provide its consumers a smartphone with ROOT ACCESS to all updates and apps, while sharing its knowledge with the Android community users worldwide – at the best value for price.
JoyZ is the third phone that launches by Xtreamer in the last year, following AIKI 5 and the AIKI 4, which were successful accepted by the market.
Superfast broadband for Europe should cost less
ENGLAND: Providing superfast broadband services to the whole of the European Union could be much less expensive than previously estimated. This is the key conclusion of a new report from broadband specialists Point Topic.
Earlier estimates suggested the cost could be as high as €270 billion. Point Topic puts the figure at about €80 billion, with nearly two thirds of that total needed to service the lowest density areas.
One of the main objectives of the European Commission’s “Digital Agenda” programme is to ensure that all European homes can connect to superfast broadband, defined as delivering at least 30 megabits per second (30Mbps) of data downstream. But the investment needed to achieve that target is controversial and the EC’s plans to contribute to it were slashed at the EU Budget Summit in February.
“Eighty billion euros is still a lot of money,” says Tim Johnson, lead author of the report, “but we think our figure is more accurate than earlier ones. It’s more realistic and should be more acceptable.”
Several factors combine to make the Point Topic estimate lower than previous ones. The approach takes full account of existing superfast networks, which already covered about 50% of European homes at the end of 2011. It recognises that superfast broadband does not have to be provided by optical fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology but can also be delivered by cable TV networks (using the Docsis 3 standard) or over telephone lines using VDSL (the very-high-speed version of DSL).
VDSL is much cheaper to provide than FTTH where a good telephone network is already in place. Thus Point Topic’s chose to use VDSL as the benchmark for modelling the cost of superfast rollout in more densely populated areas. Some other estimates assume much wider use of FTTH.
Point Topic’s report also uses a radical new approach to separating out areas of high and low cost for superfast rollout. The methodology identifies the population density in every square kilometre across Europe and divides them into three sectors – urban, semi-rural and rural. One key conclusion is that only 14 percent of European homes are in the deeply rural areas, with less than 100 people per square kilometre. Earlier estimates generally assumed that Europe has about 19 percent rural homes.
The size of the rural sector is important because it is where superfast broadband is most expensive to provide. The rural areas are likely to take the lion’s share of the budget for superfast investment - €52 billion from the €82 billion total by Point Topic’s estimate. Another €22 billion will be needed to complete coverage of the semi-rural sector and a mere €8 billon more to achieve the target in urban areas according to the report.
Earlier estimates suggested the cost could be as high as €270 billion. Point Topic puts the figure at about €80 billion, with nearly two thirds of that total needed to service the lowest density areas.
One of the main objectives of the European Commission’s “Digital Agenda” programme is to ensure that all European homes can connect to superfast broadband, defined as delivering at least 30 megabits per second (30Mbps) of data downstream. But the investment needed to achieve that target is controversial and the EC’s plans to contribute to it were slashed at the EU Budget Summit in February.
“Eighty billion euros is still a lot of money,” says Tim Johnson, lead author of the report, “but we think our figure is more accurate than earlier ones. It’s more realistic and should be more acceptable.”
Several factors combine to make the Point Topic estimate lower than previous ones. The approach takes full account of existing superfast networks, which already covered about 50% of European homes at the end of 2011. It recognises that superfast broadband does not have to be provided by optical fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology but can also be delivered by cable TV networks (using the Docsis 3 standard) or over telephone lines using VDSL (the very-high-speed version of DSL).
VDSL is much cheaper to provide than FTTH where a good telephone network is already in place. Thus Point Topic’s chose to use VDSL as the benchmark for modelling the cost of superfast rollout in more densely populated areas. Some other estimates assume much wider use of FTTH.
Point Topic’s report also uses a radical new approach to separating out areas of high and low cost for superfast rollout. The methodology identifies the population density in every square kilometre across Europe and divides them into three sectors – urban, semi-rural and rural. One key conclusion is that only 14 percent of European homes are in the deeply rural areas, with less than 100 people per square kilometre. Earlier estimates generally assumed that Europe has about 19 percent rural homes.
The size of the rural sector is important because it is where superfast broadband is most expensive to provide. The rural areas are likely to take the lion’s share of the budget for superfast investment - €52 billion from the €82 billion total by Point Topic’s estimate. Another €22 billion will be needed to complete coverage of the semi-rural sector and a mere €8 billon more to achieve the target in urban areas according to the report.
Lava Iris 458 q: Experience the power of four!
INDIA: Lava International Ltd has announced its entry into the quad-core processor smartphone category by introducing the Iris 458q with a 1.2 Ghz quad core processor.
The power of four cores enables seamless multitasking that makes it easy for the user to switch between multiple running apps thereby adding to their productivity. Aesthetically designed with a slim form factor that has a curve bend and matte finish, the Iris 458q has an elegant look. It runs on Android 4.2 Jelly bean operating system and sports a crystal clear 4.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with FWVGA resolution.
In built sensors include Proximity, Light and G Sensor. It also packs in 512MB RAM and 4GB internal memory that is expandable up to 32GB using microSD storage memory cards. Lava has also preloaded various useful apps such as WeChat, Push Mail, Ebook reader etc. on the phone along with HD movies and HD games – making it a smart choice for the smartphone buyers.
An 8 MP rear auto-focus camera with built-in flash provides multiple camera options and captures stunning photographs. It also carries a front VGA camera for 3G video calling. A large 2,000-mAh battery provides ample back up for multimedia, stand by and talk time.
Priced at Rs. 8,999, the Iris 458q is one of the most affordable quad core smartphones today and will be available across all major retail and online stores.
In built sensors include Proximity, Light and G Sensor. It also packs in 512MB RAM and 4GB internal memory that is expandable up to 32GB using microSD storage memory cards. Lava has also preloaded various useful apps such as WeChat, Push Mail, Ebook reader etc. on the phone along with HD movies and HD games – making it a smart choice for the smartphone buyers.
An 8 MP rear auto-focus camera with built-in flash provides multiple camera options and captures stunning photographs. It also carries a front VGA camera for 3G video calling. A large 2,000-mAh battery provides ample back up for multimedia, stand by and talk time.
Priced at Rs. 8,999, the Iris 458q is one of the most affordable quad core smartphones today and will be available across all major retail and online stores.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Ericsson tops EPC and SDN/NFV competitive assessment
USA: ABI Research’s latest Competitive Assessment looks at the overall business, technical, and mindshare race of the leading EPC suppliers, including special consideration of their leadership on SDN/NFV.
In a small field of top tier competitors, the overall EPC top spot goes to Ericsson thanks mostly to its high Implementation scores, second place goes to Huawei, whilst Nokia Siemens Networks holds out for a respectable third with solid scores in most categories.
In the Innovation category Alcatel-Lucent gains top spot thanks to first mover advantage from its Nuage Networks venture. Second place is captured by Huawei due to its forward looking embrace of open SDN/NFV, and third is secured by NSN having demonstrated virtualized EPC.
The Implementation first place goes to Ericsson for its worldwide market share, penetration and comprehensive End-2-End stable. Second goes to Huawei thanks to its worldwide market position and application of the R&D muscle. Third goes to Cisco for its increasingly accepted EPC platform and commanding financial strength and health at the pari-mutuel window.
In a small field of top tier competitors, the overall EPC top spot goes to Ericsson thanks mostly to its high Implementation scores, second place goes to Huawei, whilst Nokia Siemens Networks holds out for a respectable third with solid scores in most categories.
In the Innovation category Alcatel-Lucent gains top spot thanks to first mover advantage from its Nuage Networks venture. Second place is captured by Huawei due to its forward looking embrace of open SDN/NFV, and third is secured by NSN having demonstrated virtualized EPC.
The Implementation first place goes to Ericsson for its worldwide market share, penetration and comprehensive End-2-End stable. Second goes to Huawei thanks to its worldwide market position and application of the R&D muscle. Third goes to Cisco for its increasingly accepted EPC platform and commanding financial strength and health at the pari-mutuel window.
Encore Networks delivers powerful, next gen 4G router family
CTIA WIRELESS 2013, USA: Encore Networks, a leader in M2M solutions for fixed and wireless communications, announced the launch of its 4G LTE/HSPA+ broadband router, the EN-4000.
The high throughput EN-4000 will add speed, capacity, and flexibility to Encore’s portfolio of IP+Legacy wireline/wireless routers. The first in the 4000 series, the EN-4000 is an Ethernet to 3G/4G model, supporting single or simultaneous dual wireless carriers.
Subsequent releases this year will include user configurable slots for legacy wireline interfaces such as T1, fiber, 2 and 4-wire analog voice, alarm contacts, RS-232, serial and VoIP services. The EN-4000 delivers TCP/IP Ethernet and wireline based services, transported over either public or private 4G LTE and HSPA+ wireless cellular carrier networks for both North American and International deployments.
The high throughput EN-4000 will add speed, capacity, and flexibility to Encore’s portfolio of IP+Legacy wireline/wireless routers. The first in the 4000 series, the EN-4000 is an Ethernet to 3G/4G model, supporting single or simultaneous dual wireless carriers.
Subsequent releases this year will include user configurable slots for legacy wireline interfaces such as T1, fiber, 2 and 4-wire analog voice, alarm contacts, RS-232, serial and VoIP services. The EN-4000 delivers TCP/IP Ethernet and wireline based services, transported over either public or private 4G LTE and HSPA+ wireless cellular carrier networks for both North American and International deployments.
Sequans intros EZLinkLTE family of modules for all-in-one LTE connectivity
CTIA WIRELESS 2013, USA: 4G chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. has introduced a new line of LTE modules called EZLinkLTE.
The modules are based on Sequans’ LTE baseband chip and include a complete RF front end and key interfaces in a single, compact package. EZLinkLTE modules give device designers a plug-and-play, all-in-one LTE connectivity solution that significantly reduces development cost and time to market.
The first EZLinkLTE module, sampling now, is the VZ20Q, which is one of the first modules in the industry to support both LTE bands 4 and 13. The new module will be on display at CTIA 2013 in Sequans’ booth 2836 through May 23.
The baseband chip at the heart of the new module is Sequans’ SQN3120 Mont Blanc chip that was certified by Verizon Wireless in 2012. The chip is compliant with 3GPP release 9 and it delivers category 4 throughput of up to 150 Mbps in the downlink. Starting with the SQN3120 chip, the VZ20Q integrates all other elements necessary for a complete LTE modem system.
These include an LTE-optimized RF transceiver provided by Sequans’ RF partner, Fujitsu Semiconductor, a complete dual-band RF front-end for bands 4 and 13, LP-DDR SDRAM, embedded boot Flash, and VC-TCXO, all in a single, surface-mountable package with a very compact footprint, 17 x 24 x 2 mm.
The modules are based on Sequans’ LTE baseband chip and include a complete RF front end and key interfaces in a single, compact package. EZLinkLTE modules give device designers a plug-and-play, all-in-one LTE connectivity solution that significantly reduces development cost and time to market.
The first EZLinkLTE module, sampling now, is the VZ20Q, which is one of the first modules in the industry to support both LTE bands 4 and 13. The new module will be on display at CTIA 2013 in Sequans’ booth 2836 through May 23.
The baseband chip at the heart of the new module is Sequans’ SQN3120 Mont Blanc chip that was certified by Verizon Wireless in 2012. The chip is compliant with 3GPP release 9 and it delivers category 4 throughput of up to 150 Mbps in the downlink. Starting with the SQN3120 chip, the VZ20Q integrates all other elements necessary for a complete LTE modem system.
These include an LTE-optimized RF transceiver provided by Sequans’ RF partner, Fujitsu Semiconductor, a complete dual-band RF front-end for bands 4 and 13, LP-DDR SDRAM, embedded boot Flash, and VC-TCXO, all in a single, surface-mountable package with a very compact footprint, 17 x 24 x 2 mm.
GS1 and Open Mobile Alliance team up to bring intelligent bar code scanning to mobile devices
BELGIUM & USA: GS1 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) are collaborating to enable bar code scanning features built directly into mobile devices. This will make it easier for application developers to allow their apps to scan and link to trusted content.
“Mobile data is growing exponentially and bar code scanning is a key driver for consumers to access data and media owners to engage users. Today, the industry is working with a bar codes ecosystem that is fragmented by non-standard solutions. This specification will enable application developer innovation for the mCommerce and mobile advertising industry, allowing companies to develop interoperable and scalable applications,” commented Bryan Sullivan, OMA board of directors vice-chairman.
GS1, the supply chain standards organisation, manages the system of product barcodes used by close to 2 million companies on billions of products across the world. OMA, the mobile standards organisation, is recognised for a wide range specifications and application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable mobile services. These include OMA DM (device management), which has been deployed on over 1.4 billion devices. The two organisations have been working together since 2011.
GS1 and OMA will develop a new specification leveraging existing GS1 and OMA standards. It will allow mobile device manufacturers and operators to build mobile devices with the following key bar code scanning capabilities:
* universal scanning of standardised bar codes.
* built-in code scanning capability accessible to users manually through the device camera, and also to applications thanks to a Web API exposed on the device.
* intelligent linking of bar codes with trusted content provided by the owners of the bar codes.
* support for collection of user analytics including location on an opt-in basis.
For application developers the specification will simplify and accelerate deployment of applications that use code scanning by providing:
* more flexible integration of code scanning into applications.
* seamless and more consistent user experience reduced time to market: common standards and enablers will reduce both complexity and development costs.
Ultimately consumers will benefit through a new generation of more intuitive applications.
“Mobile data is growing exponentially and bar code scanning is a key driver for consumers to access data and media owners to engage users. Today, the industry is working with a bar codes ecosystem that is fragmented by non-standard solutions. This specification will enable application developer innovation for the mCommerce and mobile advertising industry, allowing companies to develop interoperable and scalable applications,” commented Bryan Sullivan, OMA board of directors vice-chairman.
GS1, the supply chain standards organisation, manages the system of product barcodes used by close to 2 million companies on billions of products across the world. OMA, the mobile standards organisation, is recognised for a wide range specifications and application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable mobile services. These include OMA DM (device management), which has been deployed on over 1.4 billion devices. The two organisations have been working together since 2011.
GS1 and OMA will develop a new specification leveraging existing GS1 and OMA standards. It will allow mobile device manufacturers and operators to build mobile devices with the following key bar code scanning capabilities:
* universal scanning of standardised bar codes.
* built-in code scanning capability accessible to users manually through the device camera, and also to applications thanks to a Web API exposed on the device.
* intelligent linking of bar codes with trusted content provided by the owners of the bar codes.
* support for collection of user analytics including location on an opt-in basis.
For application developers the specification will simplify and accelerate deployment of applications that use code scanning by providing:
* more flexible integration of code scanning into applications.
* seamless and more consistent user experience reduced time to market: common standards and enablers will reduce both complexity and development costs.
Ultimately consumers will benefit through a new generation of more intuitive applications.
Aircel offers ‘Extra’ on its full talk time
INDIA: In its commitment to offer innovative products and services to its customers, Aircel, one of India’s leading telecom players today introduced yet another innovative product under its ‘Extra’ proposition – 'Extra Recharge'.
Through an easy recharge of Rs. 69, the customers will enjoy Full Talk time and get an Extra talktime upto Rs. 100 (conditions apply).
Anupam Vasudev, CMO, Aircel, said: “We at Aircel constantly strive to provide simple and innovative products & services which are value for money propositions. We understand that it always feels nice when we get something ‘Extra’ unexpectedly. Therefore, we are delighted to introduce the Extra Recharge, which will give our prepaid subscribers more value for money along with our seamless services.”
The product is available in Karnataka for a validity of 10 days.
As a committed telecom company, Aircel has been constantly working towards introducing superior products at affordable prices. The company has recently introduced a revolutionary product ‘One Nation One Rate’ which has made roaming charges free. Some of the other noteworthy and unique products from Aircel have been Full Talk Time, PocketBuddies, Pocket Internet Games and the recent one being PI 24, amongst others.
Through an easy recharge of Rs. 69, the customers will enjoy Full Talk time and get an Extra talktime upto Rs. 100 (conditions apply).
Anupam Vasudev, CMO, Aircel, said: “We at Aircel constantly strive to provide simple and innovative products & services which are value for money propositions. We understand that it always feels nice when we get something ‘Extra’ unexpectedly. Therefore, we are delighted to introduce the Extra Recharge, which will give our prepaid subscribers more value for money along with our seamless services.”
The product is available in Karnataka for a validity of 10 days.
As a committed telecom company, Aircel has been constantly working towards introducing superior products at affordable prices. The company has recently introduced a revolutionary product ‘One Nation One Rate’ which has made roaming charges free. Some of the other noteworthy and unique products from Aircel have been Full Talk Time, PocketBuddies, Pocket Internet Games and the recent one being PI 24, amongst others.
WiLAN grants wireless license to Telrad Networks
CANADA: Wi-LAN Inc. announced that Telrad Networks Inc. has taken a license to WiLAN's wireless patent portfolio including LTE-related technologies.
The license grants royalty bearing rights covering Telrad Networks' worldwide sales of all WiMAX and LTE telecommunications equipment. All other terms of the license agreement are confidential.
"We are pleased to include Telrad Networks, a leader in the area of telecommunications network equipment and deployment services, as one of WiLAN's licensees," said Andrew Parolin, senior VP, Licensing. "We worked quickly and effectively with Telrad's management to conclude this agreement, allowing them to integrate a newly purchased business unit. We look forward to working with them in the future to collaborate on patent acquisition or partnering matters."
Telrad is an established telecom equipment vendor and services company that has been providing communications products and services used by millions of end-users worldwide. The company combines a high level of technological experience gathered in decades of dedication to customer service with expertise in developing products in the areas of IP NGN soft switches, media gateways, transport solutions in the optical and metro networks, enterprise, wireless and switching. In tangent to its product divisions, Telrad provides full solutions and system integration for TDM and NGN solutions.
The license grants royalty bearing rights covering Telrad Networks' worldwide sales of all WiMAX and LTE telecommunications equipment. All other terms of the license agreement are confidential.
"We are pleased to include Telrad Networks, a leader in the area of telecommunications network equipment and deployment services, as one of WiLAN's licensees," said Andrew Parolin, senior VP, Licensing. "We worked quickly and effectively with Telrad's management to conclude this agreement, allowing them to integrate a newly purchased business unit. We look forward to working with them in the future to collaborate on patent acquisition or partnering matters."
Telrad is an established telecom equipment vendor and services company that has been providing communications products and services used by millions of end-users worldwide. The company combines a high level of technological experience gathered in decades of dedication to customer service with expertise in developing products in the areas of IP NGN soft switches, media gateways, transport solutions in the optical and metro networks, enterprise, wireless and switching. In tangent to its product divisions, Telrad provides full solutions and system integration for TDM and NGN solutions.
Electro Freeze intros Genni, soft serve frozen dessert mobile app
USA: Electro Freeze, a division of H.C. Duke and Son, LLC (Duke), introduced to the US frozen dessert industry, Genni, the first soft serve frozen dessert quality management smartphone app.
Genni mobilizes the company's newly released Virtual Quality Management System (VQM) in the Genesis Series Soft Serve Freezer line.
"We want to give operators the ability to better manage their soft serve assets from across the store, or anywhere in the world where they can use their phone or tablet," said Tom Hotard, president.
"We are providing real-time, pertinent information to manage business right now via cellular technology, the most secure method." Genni, the app, will premier with the new Genesis Series SLX400 and SLX500 soft serve freezers featuring VQM at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show in Chicago IL, May 18-21, 2013, in the Electro Freeze booth 4815.
Genni mobilizes the company's newly released Virtual Quality Management System (VQM) in the Genesis Series Soft Serve Freezer line.
"We want to give operators the ability to better manage their soft serve assets from across the store, or anywhere in the world where they can use their phone or tablet," said Tom Hotard, president.
"We are providing real-time, pertinent information to manage business right now via cellular technology, the most secure method." Genni, the app, will premier with the new Genesis Series SLX400 and SLX500 soft serve freezers featuring VQM at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show in Chicago IL, May 18-21, 2013, in the Electro Freeze booth 4815.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Sovereign | Santander launches mobile app for on-the-go banking
USA: Sovereign Bank, N.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, Inc., has launched a new consumer banking application bringing mobile banking services to their customers' Apple and Android devices.
Using the Sovereign Bank Mobile App gives customers on-the-go access to:
* Account balances and activity including deposits, withdrawals and interest accrued.
* Transfers between accounts.
* BillPay functions such as scheduling recurring and one-time payments or checking payment status.
* ATM/branch locator.
* One-touch customer service.
"Delivering great banking products and services is our top priority. We believe the intuitive interface and convenient features specific to the Sovereign Bank Mobile App will really be appreciated by our customers," said Nuno Matos, MD of Retail Banking. "And this is just the beginning. We're committed to continually enhancing the app's features and functionality in order to meet the changing preferences of banking consumers."
Customers can download the free app to their iPhones and iPads from the Apple App Store or to their Android devices from the Google Play Store.
Using the Sovereign Bank Mobile App gives customers on-the-go access to:
* Account balances and activity including deposits, withdrawals and interest accrued.
* Transfers between accounts.
* BillPay functions such as scheduling recurring and one-time payments or checking payment status.
* ATM/branch locator.
* One-touch customer service.
"Delivering great banking products and services is our top priority. We believe the intuitive interface and convenient features specific to the Sovereign Bank Mobile App will really be appreciated by our customers," said Nuno Matos, MD of Retail Banking. "And this is just the beginning. We're committed to continually enhancing the app's features and functionality in order to meet the changing preferences of banking consumers."
Customers can download the free app to their iPhones and iPads from the Apple App Store or to their Android devices from the Google Play Store.
Mobile app for monitoring and incentivizing use of clean cookstoves in India
INDIA: Qualcomm Inc., through Qualcomm Wireless Reach, Nexleaf Analytics, in collaboration with the Energy and Resources Institute New Delhi (TERI), Project Surya and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), have worked together on the development of SootSwap, a mobile application for monitoring the use and incentivizing the adoption of clean cooking technologies.
Approximately 3 billion people depend on traditional cookstoves for their cooking needs. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 estimates that four million people die each year as a result of inhaling the smoke produced by cooking over these open fires.
Switching to clean-burning cookstoves can reduce the amount of firewood used in open fires, as well as the amount of smoke indoors and outdoors. This could lead to improved health for the women and children who have shown to be the most exposed to the smoke.
At a cost of approximately $50-$100 (Rs. 2700 – Rs. 5500) each, clean cookstoves are currently unaffordable for the estimated three billion people worldwide living on less than $2 a day. Registered carbon credit programs are beginning to provide financial incentives for reducing carbon emissions through the use of clean cookstoves.
Estimates suggest that a family could earn enough money selling carbon credits on the carbon market to directly finance the purchase price of a clean cookstove within two to five years through a loan. However, it is difficult and expensive to verify the reduction in carbon emissions produced by clean cookstoves, making it a challenge to apply carbon credits to the use of improved cooking technologies.
Approximately 3 billion people depend on traditional cookstoves for their cooking needs. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 estimates that four million people die each year as a result of inhaling the smoke produced by cooking over these open fires.
Switching to clean-burning cookstoves can reduce the amount of firewood used in open fires, as well as the amount of smoke indoors and outdoors. This could lead to improved health for the women and children who have shown to be the most exposed to the smoke.
At a cost of approximately $50-$100 (Rs. 2700 – Rs. 5500) each, clean cookstoves are currently unaffordable for the estimated three billion people worldwide living on less than $2 a day. Registered carbon credit programs are beginning to provide financial incentives for reducing carbon emissions through the use of clean cookstoves.
Estimates suggest that a family could earn enough money selling carbon credits on the carbon market to directly finance the purchase price of a clean cookstove within two to five years through a loan. However, it is difficult and expensive to verify the reduction in carbon emissions produced by clean cookstoves, making it a challenge to apply carbon credits to the use of improved cooking technologies.
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