VANCOUVER, CANADA: Sierra Wireless announced that Hughes Telematics Inc. a leader in providing next-generation connected services, has selected Sierra Wireless AirPrime embedded wireless modules and application framework to support its award-winning In-Drive aftermarket solution.
Using Sierra Wireless modules such as the AirPrime SL6087 EDGE Module and the AirPrime XM0110 GPS Module, In-Drive offers a range of industry-leading solutions that leverage simple, self-installed devices to offer a comprehensive set of in-vehicle connected services ranging from emergency response and family monitoring, to diagnostics and driver behavior data.
The AirPrime EDGE modules provide a connectivity platform for the In-Drive solution to connect over GSM/GPRS/EDGE wireless networks. These modules deliver reliable connectivity even under the demanding conditions of transportation systems, which can include extreme temperatures, vibration, and limited reception.
Built upon SiRFstarIV GPS technology, the AirPrime GPS module provides a comprehensive, field-proven solution that integrates seamlessly with the AirPrime wireless modules. With a direct connection to the wireless modules, a shared power supply, simplified software integration, and no external components apart from the GPS antenna, the GPS modules are much easier to integrate than standalone GPS solutions.
“The tight integration of GPS and GSM communications that Sierra Wireless can offer helps streamline and improve efficiencies in our design and engineering process,” says Eric Berkobin, vice president of aftermarket engineering, HTI. “We can offer our customers the latest GPS technology while lowering our costs and getting products to market more quickly.”
Friday, April 15, 2011
Comtech Telecommunications receives $1.2 million satellite ground station equipment order
MELVILLE, USA: Comtech Telecommunications Corp. announced that its Tempe, Arizona-based subsidiary, Comtech EF Data Corp., received a $1.2 million order for satellite ground station communications equipment. The order was from a systems integrator and will be used by a Latin American country as part of their military network.
The military end-customer specified that they required Comtech's CDM-625 Advanced Satellite Modems and LPOD Block Up Converters. The CDM-625 Advanced Satellite Modem combines advanced forward error correction with revolutionary DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier bandwidth compression, allowing for maximum savings under all conditions.
The combination of advanced technologies in the CDM-625 enables multi-dimensional optimization. Comtech's LPOD Block Up Converter eliminates the traditional requirement for the modem to supply a DC power source and a 10 MHz reference to the Block Up Converters and Low Noise Block Converters.
"This order demonstrates the continued reliance on our products by foreign military customers who acknowledge our best in class products by deploying them to support mission-critical communications," said Fred Kornberg, president and CEO of Comtech.
The military end-customer specified that they required Comtech's CDM-625 Advanced Satellite Modems and LPOD Block Up Converters. The CDM-625 Advanced Satellite Modem combines advanced forward error correction with revolutionary DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier bandwidth compression, allowing for maximum savings under all conditions.
The combination of advanced technologies in the CDM-625 enables multi-dimensional optimization. Comtech's LPOD Block Up Converter eliminates the traditional requirement for the modem to supply a DC power source and a 10 MHz reference to the Block Up Converters and Low Noise Block Converters.
"This order demonstrates the continued reliance on our products by foreign military customers who acknowledge our best in class products by deploying them to support mission-critical communications," said Fred Kornberg, president and CEO of Comtech.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Japanese earthquake hits supply of cell phone image sensors
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Last month’s earthquake in Japan is impacting the production of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors at two facilities in the country, affecting the supply of these parts to the cell phone market, IHS iSuppli research has determined.
Toshiba Corp.’s Iwate Image Sensor fab, which produces logic chips and CMOS image sensors for mobile phone cameras, was shut down. Likewise, delivery was delayed from Sony Corp.’s CMOS image sensors to cell phone original equipment manufacturers.
Toshiba in 2010 was the world’s fifth-largest supplier of handset image sensors with 11.8 percent share of global revenue, according to a preliminary IHS iSuppli estimate. Sony ranked sixth with 7.3 percent share. Together, the companies accounted last year for 19.2 percent of the global handset digital camera image sensor revenue.
The table presents the revenue market share ranking of the world’s Top-10 suppliers of CMOS and CCD image sensors for cell phones.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
“With their low cost and easy integration with other electronics, CMOS has long been the technology of choice for cell phone cameras,” said Pamela Tufegdzic, analyst for consumer electronics at IHS. “The Japan earthquake and subsequent logistical challenges have disrupted a portion of the supply of this key component.”
While CMOS sensor production and distribution has been impacted, supplies of the major alternative image sensor technology—CCDs—appear to be unaffected, at least for the near term. The global CCD market is dominated by Japanese suppliers including Sony, Panasonic Corp., Fujifilm, Sharp Corp. and Toshiba.
Because of their higher image quality, CCDs are commonly employed in digital still cameras. In contrast, CMOS sensors predominately are used in cell phones and often in other devices where the camera is secondary to other functions.
Taiwan-based digital camera makers Altek Corp. and Ability Enterprise, which contract-manufacture products for major Japanese brand names, said they were not experiencing any shortages in near-term CCD supply from Japan. Ability now sources about 90 percent of its CCD components from Sony, while Altek buys between 70 and 80 percent of those parts from Sharp. Sharp’s CCD plants in Japan are far from the worst-hit zones, while Sony’s CCD plants are located in Thailand.
Because of this, CCD supply in the future should not face any immediate supply issues. The situation may change over the long term, however, as CCD makers could experience challenges with their own upstream material suppliers and encounter problems with transportation and power.
Given the impact of the quake, Japanese-based digital camera brands Panasonic, Canon and Nikon have had to close down some of their high-end production lines for digital still cameras in Japan. But because the lower-end consumer models of those companies are primarily manufactured at plants in China and Thailand or outsourced to Taiwan-based makers, the earthquake is not expected to have a significant impact on those segments, the two companies noted.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
Toshiba Corp.’s Iwate Image Sensor fab, which produces logic chips and CMOS image sensors for mobile phone cameras, was shut down. Likewise, delivery was delayed from Sony Corp.’s CMOS image sensors to cell phone original equipment manufacturers.
Toshiba in 2010 was the world’s fifth-largest supplier of handset image sensors with 11.8 percent share of global revenue, according to a preliminary IHS iSuppli estimate. Sony ranked sixth with 7.3 percent share. Together, the companies accounted last year for 19.2 percent of the global handset digital camera image sensor revenue.
The table presents the revenue market share ranking of the world’s Top-10 suppliers of CMOS and CCD image sensors for cell phones.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.“With their low cost and easy integration with other electronics, CMOS has long been the technology of choice for cell phone cameras,” said Pamela Tufegdzic, analyst for consumer electronics at IHS. “The Japan earthquake and subsequent logistical challenges have disrupted a portion of the supply of this key component.”
While CMOS sensor production and distribution has been impacted, supplies of the major alternative image sensor technology—CCDs—appear to be unaffected, at least for the near term. The global CCD market is dominated by Japanese suppliers including Sony, Panasonic Corp., Fujifilm, Sharp Corp. and Toshiba.
Because of their higher image quality, CCDs are commonly employed in digital still cameras. In contrast, CMOS sensors predominately are used in cell phones and often in other devices where the camera is secondary to other functions.
Taiwan-based digital camera makers Altek Corp. and Ability Enterprise, which contract-manufacture products for major Japanese brand names, said they were not experiencing any shortages in near-term CCD supply from Japan. Ability now sources about 90 percent of its CCD components from Sony, while Altek buys between 70 and 80 percent of those parts from Sharp. Sharp’s CCD plants in Japan are far from the worst-hit zones, while Sony’s CCD plants are located in Thailand.
Because of this, CCD supply in the future should not face any immediate supply issues. The situation may change over the long term, however, as CCD makers could experience challenges with their own upstream material suppliers and encounter problems with transportation and power.
Given the impact of the quake, Japanese-based digital camera brands Panasonic, Canon and Nikon have had to close down some of their high-end production lines for digital still cameras in Japan. But because the lower-end consumer models of those companies are primarily manufactured at plants in China and Thailand or outsourced to Taiwan-based makers, the earthquake is not expected to have a significant impact on those segments, the two companies noted.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
Qualcomm and Zoom Technologies sign WCDMA subscriber unit license agreement
BEIJING, USA: Qualcomm Inc. and Zoom Technologies Inc. announced that they have entered into a subscriber unit license agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has granted Zoom a worldwide, royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell WCDMA and TD-SCDMA subscriber units. The royalties payable by Zoom are at Qualcomm's standard worldwide rates.
"Qualcomm and Zoom Technologies both share a strong commitment to R&D and are dedicated to driving the wireless industry forward in China and around the world," said Derek Aberle, executive vice president and president of Qualcomm Technology Licensing. "This agreement enables them to develop, manufacture and sell advanced 3G products, greatly enhancing Zoom's competitive position in the global wireless landscape."
"This agreement with Qualcomm is an enormous step towards our advancement in the 3G market, enabling us to produce the latest products for the dynamic Chinese market," said Leo Gu, chairman and chief executive officer of Zoom Technologies.
"Our Nollec Wireless subsidiary, long known for its world class design team in wireless communication, will now develop highly competitive 3G products, such as smartphones, running on the Android operating system, setting in motion our plan to deliver a series of professional use 3G smartphones to Asia, Europe and beyond."
Zoom's wholly owned subsidiary Nollec Wireless, a mobile phone and wireless communication design company, will operate under the license.
"Qualcomm and Zoom Technologies both share a strong commitment to R&D and are dedicated to driving the wireless industry forward in China and around the world," said Derek Aberle, executive vice president and president of Qualcomm Technology Licensing. "This agreement enables them to develop, manufacture and sell advanced 3G products, greatly enhancing Zoom's competitive position in the global wireless landscape."
"This agreement with Qualcomm is an enormous step towards our advancement in the 3G market, enabling us to produce the latest products for the dynamic Chinese market," said Leo Gu, chairman and chief executive officer of Zoom Technologies.
"Our Nollec Wireless subsidiary, long known for its world class design team in wireless communication, will now develop highly competitive 3G products, such as smartphones, running on the Android operating system, setting in motion our plan to deliver a series of professional use 3G smartphones to Asia, Europe and beyond."
Zoom's wholly owned subsidiary Nollec Wireless, a mobile phone and wireless communication design company, will operate under the license.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
CommScope appoints new head of wireless sales for India
BANGALORE, INDIA: CommScope, a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communication networks, has appointed Pankaj Gandhi as director of Wireless Sales for India, effective immediately.
In his role, Gandhi will head all customer-facing sales activities for CommScope’s wireless business in India. Gandhi reports to Navin Vohra, who was promoted to vice president of Wireless Sales, Asia Pacific last year.
A veteran in the telecom industry, Gandhi brings more than 16 years of industry experience including a successful sales track record and relationships with key telecom players in India. Gandhi joins CommScope from Nokia Siemens Networks, where he was the head of customer marketing for India.
Prior to Nokia Siemens Networks, Gandhi started up the Indian sales office for Airwide Solutions and was head of wholesale business, South Asia at British Telecom. He also worked for Siemens Communication for 12 years.
In his role, Gandhi will head all customer-facing sales activities for CommScope’s wireless business in India. Gandhi reports to Navin Vohra, who was promoted to vice president of Wireless Sales, Asia Pacific last year.
A veteran in the telecom industry, Gandhi brings more than 16 years of industry experience including a successful sales track record and relationships with key telecom players in India. Gandhi joins CommScope from Nokia Siemens Networks, where he was the head of customer marketing for India.
Prior to Nokia Siemens Networks, Gandhi started up the Indian sales office for Airwide Solutions and was head of wholesale business, South Asia at British Telecom. He also worked for Siemens Communication for 12 years.
Apple iOS to dominate media tablet market through 2015, owning more than half of it for next three years
EGHAM, UK: Despite mounting competition from other operating systems (OSs), Apple’s iOS will continue to own the majority of the worldwide media tablet through 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. Due to the success of Apple’s iPad, iOS will account for 69 percent of media tablet OSs in 2011, and represent 47 percent of the media tablet market in 2015.
Gartner analysts said Apple iPad did to the tablet PC market what the iPhone did to the smartphone market: re-invented it. A media tablet is not just a different form factor to perform the same tasks that can be done on a PC. Tablets deliver a richer experience around content consumption, thanks to the ecosystem they support. The richer the ecosystem, the stronger the pull for consumers.
“Seeing the response from both consumers and enterprises to the iPad, many vendors are trying to compete by first delivering on hardware and then trying to leverage the platform ecosystem,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “Many, however, are making the same mistake that was made in the first response wave to the iPhone, as they are prioritizing hardware features over applications, services and overall user experience. Tablets will be much more dependent on the latter than smartphones have been, and the sooner vendors realize that the better chance they have to compete head-to-head with Apple.”
Google’s Android OS is forecast to increase its worldwide share of the media tablet market from 20 percent in 2011 to 39 percent in 2015 (see Table 1). Analysts said Google’s decision not to open up the Honeycomb, its first OS version dedicated to tablets, to third parties will prevent fragmentation, but it will also slow the price decline and ultimately cap market share.
“Volume will be driven by support from many players, the ecosystem of applications for tablets getting more competitive and some platform flexibility allowing lower price points,” said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner. “The new licensing model Google has introduced with Honeycomb enables Google to drive more control, allowing only optimal tablet implementations that don’t compromise quality of experience. This might mean that prices will drop at a slower pace than what we have seen in the smartphone market.”
Table 1
Worldwide Sales of Media Tablets to End Users by OS (Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner, April 2011.
With the migration of Blackberry devices to QNX – the OS used on the Blackberry PlayBook - in 2012, RIM will be able to offer users a consistent experience across its whole product portfolio and create a single developer community. While QNX is a strong platform that delivers on performance, graphics and multitasking features, Gartner analysts said success in the media tablet market will be driven by richness of ecosystem.
“It will take time and significant effort for RIM to attract developers and deliver a compelling ecosystem of applications and services around QNX to position it as a viable alternative to Apple or Android. This will limit RIM’s market share growth over the forecast period,” Ms. Milanesi said. “It will be mainly organizations that will be interested in RIM’s tablets because they either already have RIM’s infrastructure deployed or have stringent security requirements.”
Gartner analysts said platforms such as MeeGo and WebOS, which currently have a weak presence in the smartphone market, will have a limited appeal unless they can grow that business.
“Smartphone users will want to buy a tablet that runs the same operating system as their smartphone. This is so that they can share applications across devices as well as for the sense of familiarity the user interfaces will bring,” Ms. Milanesi said. “Vendors developing on Android should be prepared to see more cross brand ownership as some users might put OS over brand when it comes to the purchasing decision. Improvements on usability and brand recognition are the strongest differentiators they can focus on.”
A media tablet is a device based on a touchscreen display (typically with a multitouch interface) whose primary focus is the consumption of media. The devices have screens with a diagonal dimension that is over 5 inches and may include screens that are as large as is practical for handheld use, roughly up to 15 inches. The media tablet runs a lightweight OS such as Android and iOS that is more limited than, or a subset of, the traditional fully featured OS such as Windows.
Gartner analysts said Apple iPad did to the tablet PC market what the iPhone did to the smartphone market: re-invented it. A media tablet is not just a different form factor to perform the same tasks that can be done on a PC. Tablets deliver a richer experience around content consumption, thanks to the ecosystem they support. The richer the ecosystem, the stronger the pull for consumers.
“Seeing the response from both consumers and enterprises to the iPad, many vendors are trying to compete by first delivering on hardware and then trying to leverage the platform ecosystem,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “Many, however, are making the same mistake that was made in the first response wave to the iPhone, as they are prioritizing hardware features over applications, services and overall user experience. Tablets will be much more dependent on the latter than smartphones have been, and the sooner vendors realize that the better chance they have to compete head-to-head with Apple.”
Google’s Android OS is forecast to increase its worldwide share of the media tablet market from 20 percent in 2011 to 39 percent in 2015 (see Table 1). Analysts said Google’s decision not to open up the Honeycomb, its first OS version dedicated to tablets, to third parties will prevent fragmentation, but it will also slow the price decline and ultimately cap market share.
“Volume will be driven by support from many players, the ecosystem of applications for tablets getting more competitive and some platform flexibility allowing lower price points,” said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner. “The new licensing model Google has introduced with Honeycomb enables Google to drive more control, allowing only optimal tablet implementations that don’t compromise quality of experience. This might mean that prices will drop at a slower pace than what we have seen in the smartphone market.”
Table 1
Worldwide Sales of Media Tablets to End Users by OS (Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner, April 2011.With the migration of Blackberry devices to QNX – the OS used on the Blackberry PlayBook - in 2012, RIM will be able to offer users a consistent experience across its whole product portfolio and create a single developer community. While QNX is a strong platform that delivers on performance, graphics and multitasking features, Gartner analysts said success in the media tablet market will be driven by richness of ecosystem.
“It will take time and significant effort for RIM to attract developers and deliver a compelling ecosystem of applications and services around QNX to position it as a viable alternative to Apple or Android. This will limit RIM’s market share growth over the forecast period,” Ms. Milanesi said. “It will be mainly organizations that will be interested in RIM’s tablets because they either already have RIM’s infrastructure deployed or have stringent security requirements.”
Gartner analysts said platforms such as MeeGo and WebOS, which currently have a weak presence in the smartphone market, will have a limited appeal unless they can grow that business.
“Smartphone users will want to buy a tablet that runs the same operating system as their smartphone. This is so that they can share applications across devices as well as for the sense of familiarity the user interfaces will bring,” Ms. Milanesi said. “Vendors developing on Android should be prepared to see more cross brand ownership as some users might put OS over brand when it comes to the purchasing decision. Improvements on usability and brand recognition are the strongest differentiators they can focus on.”
A media tablet is a device based on a touchscreen display (typically with a multitouch interface) whose primary focus is the consumption of media. The devices have screens with a diagonal dimension that is over 5 inches and may include screens that are as large as is practical for handheld use, roughly up to 15 inches. The media tablet runs a lightweight OS such as Android and iOS that is more limited than, or a subset of, the traditional fully featured OS such as Windows.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Movial launches RCS on Android and iPhone, taps Russian Android market
IMS World Forum 2011, BARCELONA, SPAIN: Movial has launched its award-winning Movial Communicator on Android and the iPhone and is working with several operators to launch Android and iPhone VOIP applications.
Movial Communicator, a SIP/IMS (RCS and MMTel) application for operators provides HD voice, HD video telephony, enhanced address book and messaging along with advanced communication user experiences across PCs, Mobile, TV, and Multimedia devices running on MAC OS, Linux and Microsoft Windows platforms. The company also announced it is working closely with the industry’s leading manufacturers and silicon vendors to enable up to 720p HD video calling on Android tablets. Movial Communicator on Android is immediately available in the Android market in Russia.
The Movial Communicator Android and iPhone application integrates the native phone book for intuitive GSM and VoIP calling and messaging. This enables end users to make IP calls when they are in Wi-Fi coverage. All phone calls and messages are charged to the user’s single phone bill. The Android and iPhone applications are accompanied with PC/Mac applications enabling users with "mobile phone" capabilities such as voice calls, SMS, MMS, but also IM, Presence, and contact list management.
Movial Communicator on Android can be downloaded to Android 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 phones. The application is seamlessly integrated into Android address books enabling IM and file transfer for convenient, single tap access to rich communications. The Russian application for the Android Market is available here.
Movial ensures that operator voice and video chat services are well received by subscribers – providing uncomplicated, intuitive and easy to use features along with the added convenience of VoIP service offerings. Over 18 operators have had mass market success with Movial’s services that eliminate over-the-top players’ credit card account top-up irritations and hassles by enabling them to offer subscribers a single, easy to understand monthly bill tied to their single phone number for their mobile phone, PC and Web calls and even enable them to extend free video calls to their subscribers.
“Movial is delighted to power leading smart phones with commercial deployments,” said Jari Ala Ruona, CEO and Co-founder Movial. “We started as smart phone company 7 years ago committed to improving the user experience and as platforms have evolved so have we. Our commitment has never wavered, and today, our team of design engineers provide highly competitive and sought after applications for operators that deliver the industry’s smartest and most beautiful consumer user experiences.”
Movial Communicator, a SIP/IMS (RCS and MMTel) application for operators provides HD voice, HD video telephony, enhanced address book and messaging along with advanced communication user experiences across PCs, Mobile, TV, and Multimedia devices running on MAC OS, Linux and Microsoft Windows platforms. The company also announced it is working closely with the industry’s leading manufacturers and silicon vendors to enable up to 720p HD video calling on Android tablets. Movial Communicator on Android is immediately available in the Android market in Russia.
The Movial Communicator Android and iPhone application integrates the native phone book for intuitive GSM and VoIP calling and messaging. This enables end users to make IP calls when they are in Wi-Fi coverage. All phone calls and messages are charged to the user’s single phone bill. The Android and iPhone applications are accompanied with PC/Mac applications enabling users with "mobile phone" capabilities such as voice calls, SMS, MMS, but also IM, Presence, and contact list management.
Movial Communicator on Android can be downloaded to Android 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 phones. The application is seamlessly integrated into Android address books enabling IM and file transfer for convenient, single tap access to rich communications. The Russian application for the Android Market is available here.
Movial ensures that operator voice and video chat services are well received by subscribers – providing uncomplicated, intuitive and easy to use features along with the added convenience of VoIP service offerings. Over 18 operators have had mass market success with Movial’s services that eliminate over-the-top players’ credit card account top-up irritations and hassles by enabling them to offer subscribers a single, easy to understand monthly bill tied to their single phone number for their mobile phone, PC and Web calls and even enable them to extend free video calls to their subscribers.
“Movial is delighted to power leading smart phones with commercial deployments,” said Jari Ala Ruona, CEO and Co-founder Movial. “We started as smart phone company 7 years ago committed to improving the user experience and as platforms have evolved so have we. Our commitment has never wavered, and today, our team of design engineers provide highly competitive and sought after applications for operators that deliver the industry’s smartest and most beautiful consumer user experiences.”
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