SWEDEN & INDIA: The UN has requested that Ericsson deploy its Ericsson Response organization to aid relief work in disaster-stricken Haiti. Ericsson has had 20 volunteers on stand-by and will now send four, all telecom experts, to set up a container-based mini GSM-system to enable mobile communication in the area.
Personnel and equipment will arrive in Haiti using UN transportation.
Rima Qureshi, head of Ericsson Response, says: “We know from past experience how important it is for aid workers to coordinate the rescue operation using mobile communications. Aid workers can get their work done faster if we can provide them with the tools to get quickly in touch with the outside world, each other and those most affected by the emergency.”
In 2009, Ericsson Response supported relief work in Kongo, Sudan, Indonesia and Philippines.
Ericsson Response was formed in 2000 and is the result of a conviction in Ericsson that telecommunication expertise is needed during times of disaster and has formed partnerships with international organizations such as the UN.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
iSuppli's Droid teardown finds $187.75 BoM and manufacturing cost
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Motorola Inc.’s Droid smart phone carries a $187.75 Bill of Materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost, according to a dissection conducted by iSuppli Corp.’s Teardown Analysis Service.
The Droid contains $179.11 worth of electronic components and costs $8.64 to manufacture, as presented in the attached table. This total comprises only component and manufacturing costs for the Droid and does not take into consideration other expenses such as software and royalties.
This gives the Droid a component cost similar to other comparable smart phones introduced during the past year, including Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3GS and Google’s Nexus One.
Major Cost Drivers in the Motorola Droid (Pricing in US Dollars)
Source: iSuppli, Jan. 2010
Can Droid save the day?
"Motorola has pinned all its hopes on one little Droid," said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst, teardown services, for iSuppli. "Indeed, the Droid is a critical product for Motorola, which has suffered from dwindling market share and declining market relevancy over the past few years.
"The last hit phone for Motorola was the RAZR, launched in 2003. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, multiple companies have found some success by offering competing smart phones, including Palm, HTC, Samsung and LG. For Motorola, the Droid represents an attempt to get on the comeback trail with a competitive smart-phone product."
Motorola’s share of global cell-phone shipments has been sliding over the past three years. The company accounted for 5.4 percent of worldwide unit shipments in the second quarter of 2009, down from 22.5 percent in the second quarter of 2006.
Motorola’s ranking in the global cell-phone business has declined in concert with its falling market share. The company in the third quarter of 2009 held the No.-5 rank worldwide, down from fourth place in the second quarter. As recently as the first quarter of 2007, the company was the world’s second largest cell-phone shipper after Nokia.
Droid outdoes?
With the Droid, Motorola has taken its hardware cues from other so-called iPhone killers, including the Palm Pre, the HTC Magic and the LG Voyager. These features include a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a high-resolution 5-megapixel camera module, upgradeable memory and a removable battery.
"With the inclusion of all these features, Motorola is attempting to address what it considers to be shortcomings in the iPhone," Rassweiler said. "However, at the end of the day, it’s Google’s software that will determine how well the device actually operates. This is critical because whatever the perceived shortcomings of the iPhone’s features, it’s the actual user experience that has made it so popular. The real lesson of the iPhone is how well the whole device comes together and actually functions, not how many features it has."
Disassembling the Droid
A major differentiating feature between the Droid and the iPhone is the inclusion of a microSD slot for adding additional NAND flash memory to store user data and content, such as apps and video and audio files. The Droid comes bundled with a removable microSD card that contains 16Gbytes of NAND flash memory, the same density embedded inside the high-end model of the iPhone 3G S. At $35, the microSD card is the Droid’s most expensive single component.
Looking inside the Droid, the device features a 3.7-inch TFT LCD display with 16 million colors and a resolution of 854 by 480 pixels. At $17.75, this display is the most expensive component integrated within the enclosure of the Droid. The capacitive touch screen/overlay is also a noteworthy component that supports the Droid touchscreen interface, with a cost of $17.50.
The camera module appears to be sporting a new type of auto-focus actuation technology that iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service has not previously seen, and still has not yet been identified. iSuppli hypothesizes that this may be bimetallic strips that are heat actuated. In contrast, most auto-focus camera modules at this scale feature voice-coil actuation. The Droid module features a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor, and the whole module is priced at $14.25.
The core semiconductor in the Droid is the $14.04 baseband processor/radio frequency chip supplied by Qualcomm Inc. The chip supports the CDMA2000 1x and EV-DO air standards, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and tri-band 800MHz/1900MHz/AWS(1700/2100MHz) frequencies.
Texas Instruments is the supplier of the Droid’s applications processor, priced at $12.90, as well as the Bluetooth/WLAN/FM transmitter and receiver, at $6.50.
Beyond the top cost drivers, one other interesting item in the Droid is the use of two silicon microphones from Knowles, presumably to provide noise cancellation, although no dedicated audio codec was found to support this feature.
Source: iSuppli
The Droid contains $179.11 worth of electronic components and costs $8.64 to manufacture, as presented in the attached table. This total comprises only component and manufacturing costs for the Droid and does not take into consideration other expenses such as software and royalties.
This gives the Droid a component cost similar to other comparable smart phones introduced during the past year, including Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3GS and Google’s Nexus One.
Major Cost Drivers in the Motorola Droid (Pricing in US Dollars)
Source: iSuppli, Jan. 2010Can Droid save the day?
"Motorola has pinned all its hopes on one little Droid," said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst, teardown services, for iSuppli. "Indeed, the Droid is a critical product for Motorola, which has suffered from dwindling market share and declining market relevancy over the past few years.
"The last hit phone for Motorola was the RAZR, launched in 2003. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, multiple companies have found some success by offering competing smart phones, including Palm, HTC, Samsung and LG. For Motorola, the Droid represents an attempt to get on the comeback trail with a competitive smart-phone product."
Motorola’s share of global cell-phone shipments has been sliding over the past three years. The company accounted for 5.4 percent of worldwide unit shipments in the second quarter of 2009, down from 22.5 percent in the second quarter of 2006.
Motorola’s ranking in the global cell-phone business has declined in concert with its falling market share. The company in the third quarter of 2009 held the No.-5 rank worldwide, down from fourth place in the second quarter. As recently as the first quarter of 2007, the company was the world’s second largest cell-phone shipper after Nokia.
Droid outdoes?
With the Droid, Motorola has taken its hardware cues from other so-called iPhone killers, including the Palm Pre, the HTC Magic and the LG Voyager. These features include a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a high-resolution 5-megapixel camera module, upgradeable memory and a removable battery.
"With the inclusion of all these features, Motorola is attempting to address what it considers to be shortcomings in the iPhone," Rassweiler said. "However, at the end of the day, it’s Google’s software that will determine how well the device actually operates. This is critical because whatever the perceived shortcomings of the iPhone’s features, it’s the actual user experience that has made it so popular. The real lesson of the iPhone is how well the whole device comes together and actually functions, not how many features it has."
Disassembling the Droid
A major differentiating feature between the Droid and the iPhone is the inclusion of a microSD slot for adding additional NAND flash memory to store user data and content, such as apps and video and audio files. The Droid comes bundled with a removable microSD card that contains 16Gbytes of NAND flash memory, the same density embedded inside the high-end model of the iPhone 3G S. At $35, the microSD card is the Droid’s most expensive single component.
Looking inside the Droid, the device features a 3.7-inch TFT LCD display with 16 million colors and a resolution of 854 by 480 pixels. At $17.75, this display is the most expensive component integrated within the enclosure of the Droid. The capacitive touch screen/overlay is also a noteworthy component that supports the Droid touchscreen interface, with a cost of $17.50.
The camera module appears to be sporting a new type of auto-focus actuation technology that iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service has not previously seen, and still has not yet been identified. iSuppli hypothesizes that this may be bimetallic strips that are heat actuated. In contrast, most auto-focus camera modules at this scale feature voice-coil actuation. The Droid module features a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor, and the whole module is priced at $14.25.
The core semiconductor in the Droid is the $14.04 baseband processor/radio frequency chip supplied by Qualcomm Inc. The chip supports the CDMA2000 1x and EV-DO air standards, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and tri-band 800MHz/1900MHz/AWS(1700/2100MHz) frequencies.
Texas Instruments is the supplier of the Droid’s applications processor, priced at $12.90, as well as the Bluetooth/WLAN/FM transmitter and receiver, at $6.50.
Beyond the top cost drivers, one other interesting item in the Droid is the use of two silicon microphones from Knowles, presumably to provide noise cancellation, although no dedicated audio codec was found to support this feature.
Source: iSuppli
Friday, January 15, 2010
voxclever highlights benefits of VoIP to SMEs
UK: Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from the flexibility and cost effectiveness of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) when used in business according to voxclever, one of the leading providers of Internet telephony for SMEs.
VoIP, also known as IP Telephony (IPT), is a voice service that is delivered over the internet providing exactly the same functionality as a ‘normal’ phone but with a wide range of extra features. VoIP transmits both voice and data communications over a single network, which serves to significantly reduce infrastructure and operation costs.
The price for VoIP extensions is much lower than other forms of telephony, and due to the fact that VoIP runs on hardware such as PCs, it is far easier configure, amend, and troubleshoot any issues. A simple interface makes VoIP accessible and easy to use for anyone, and the fact that VoIP is location independent means that providing a fast enough internet connection is available, calls can be made from anywhere.
Scott Goodwin, CEO of voxclever, commented: “The use of VoIP for business purposes provides a multitude of benefits, including a huge financial one. Although calls can still be charged at a pence per minute rate depending on the provider, there are still significant savings that small businesses can take advantage of particularly when implementing a new telephony system.
“VoIP is very useful for businesses looking to reduce costs in three main areas; infrastructure investment, monthly recurring fees and call charges, something which more and more small businesses are looking to do wherever possible as the recession continues.”
Voxclever is a leading provider of small business VoIP services, providing all of the vital communications capabilities that are essential to a modern office environment.
VoIP, also known as IP Telephony (IPT), is a voice service that is delivered over the internet providing exactly the same functionality as a ‘normal’ phone but with a wide range of extra features. VoIP transmits both voice and data communications over a single network, which serves to significantly reduce infrastructure and operation costs.
The price for VoIP extensions is much lower than other forms of telephony, and due to the fact that VoIP runs on hardware such as PCs, it is far easier configure, amend, and troubleshoot any issues. A simple interface makes VoIP accessible and easy to use for anyone, and the fact that VoIP is location independent means that providing a fast enough internet connection is available, calls can be made from anywhere.
Scott Goodwin, CEO of voxclever, commented: “The use of VoIP for business purposes provides a multitude of benefits, including a huge financial one. Although calls can still be charged at a pence per minute rate depending on the provider, there are still significant savings that small businesses can take advantage of particularly when implementing a new telephony system.
“VoIP is very useful for businesses looking to reduce costs in three main areas; infrastructure investment, monthly recurring fees and call charges, something which more and more small businesses are looking to do wherever possible as the recession continues.”
Voxclever is a leading provider of small business VoIP services, providing all of the vital communications capabilities that are essential to a modern office environment.
Mobile security market to exceed $4 billion by 2014
NEW YORK, USA: Strong enterprise demand for data security is driving rapid growth in mobile device management services. According to a new study by ABI Research, the number of smartphones protected by advanced security software will increase fivefold over the next five years.
Enterprises with mobile workforces have growing concerns about lost and stolen handsets, due to the increasing amount of data stored on a typical smartphone. In addition, organizations that deal with financial data, healthcare information, or personal identification such as social security numbers have to comply with several regulatory requirements (such as HIPAA, GISRA, and SEC) for protecting data, wherever it is stored.
Future handsets will come with pre-loaded anti-virus software clients to prevent the loss of data and services to malware. In many cases, mobile banking and person-to-person payments will be authenticated by fingerprint sensors on the handset.
“Although malware has been seen in mobile handsets, in the past it has not done much damage,” says ABI Research vice president Stan Schatt. “But smartphones have access to more sensitive data every year, and security must be tightened to prevent the theft or loss of important business information.”
The solution: security client software loaded on a mobile terminal, and a service to remotely lock a handset, erase its data, or locate it. Large enterprises will buy mobile device management platforms to use within their IT departments, and smaller enterprises or even consumers will use managed security services, as wireless carriers increasingly offer security services to their customers.
Enterprises with mobile workforces have growing concerns about lost and stolen handsets, due to the increasing amount of data stored on a typical smartphone. In addition, organizations that deal with financial data, healthcare information, or personal identification such as social security numbers have to comply with several regulatory requirements (such as HIPAA, GISRA, and SEC) for protecting data, wherever it is stored.
Future handsets will come with pre-loaded anti-virus software clients to prevent the loss of data and services to malware. In many cases, mobile banking and person-to-person payments will be authenticated by fingerprint sensors on the handset.
“Although malware has been seen in mobile handsets, in the past it has not done much damage,” says ABI Research vice president Stan Schatt. “But smartphones have access to more sensitive data every year, and security must be tightened to prevent the theft or loss of important business information.”
The solution: security client software loaded on a mobile terminal, and a service to remotely lock a handset, erase its data, or locate it. Large enterprises will buy mobile device management platforms to use within their IT departments, and smaller enterprises or even consumers will use managed security services, as wireless carriers increasingly offer security services to their customers.
Skyworks supports Google’s Nexus One mobile phone
WOBURN, USA: Skyworks Solutions Inc., an innovator of high reliability analog and mixed signal semiconductors enabling a broad range of end markets, announced that Google, Inc.’s Nexus One mobile phone is leveraging several of its highly integrated power amplifier modules. These 3G solutions were incorporated in the Google platform as part of HTC Corp.'s reference design.
Google’s newest Android-based handset is thin, light and fast – delivering speeds up to one gigahertz. Optimized features include a five megapixel camera with auto focus, flash, and geotagging, as well as onboard and expandable memory, noise suppression, and a stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control.
“Skyworks is delighted to be participating in Google’s newest Android phone,” said Liam K. Griffin, Skyworks’ senior vice president of sales and marketing.
“Our participation in this platform demonstrates Skyworks’ ability to work with leading handset manufacturers, smart phone providers as well as reference design partners to deliver the world’s most powerful and leading-edge wireless systems. In addition, we are pleased to broaden our support within the high growth smart phone segment. These platforms have forged the way to 3G and 4G adoption, while being endorsed by consumers as the preferred path for mobile Internet access.”
HTC manufactures powerful handsets that continually push the boundaries of innovation to provide true mobile freedom. HTC is behind many of today’s most popular operator-branded devices on the market. They have established unique partnerships with the five leading operators in Europe, the top four in the Unites States, and many of Asia’s fast-growing operators.
Google’s newest Android-based handset is thin, light and fast – delivering speeds up to one gigahertz. Optimized features include a five megapixel camera with auto focus, flash, and geotagging, as well as onboard and expandable memory, noise suppression, and a stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control.
“Skyworks is delighted to be participating in Google’s newest Android phone,” said Liam K. Griffin, Skyworks’ senior vice president of sales and marketing.
“Our participation in this platform demonstrates Skyworks’ ability to work with leading handset manufacturers, smart phone providers as well as reference design partners to deliver the world’s most powerful and leading-edge wireless systems. In addition, we are pleased to broaden our support within the high growth smart phone segment. These platforms have forged the way to 3G and 4G adoption, while being endorsed by consumers as the preferred path for mobile Internet access.”
HTC manufactures powerful handsets that continually push the boundaries of innovation to provide true mobile freedom. HTC is behind many of today’s most popular operator-branded devices on the market. They have established unique partnerships with the five leading operators in Europe, the top four in the Unites States, and many of Asia’s fast-growing operators.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
GetFugu and TapouT to provide cutting edge technology for mobile phones
HOLLYWOOD, USA: GetFugu Inc., the next generation mobile search tool, has entered into an agreement with TapouT LLC, the premier mixed-martial arts apparel, gear and lifestyle brand, to provide GetFugu’s “See It, Say It, Get It” technology to enhance MMA fans’ interactive experience on their iPhone, Android and BlackBerry through TapouT’s new MMA “mobile center” exclusively available on GetFugu.com.
TapouT’s MMA mobile center will showcase an innovative and seamless way to purchase TapouT clothing, accessories and gear in real time using GetFugu’s vision, voice and location recognition software. Additionally, users can access MMA content on the fly including fighter profiles/stats/bios/news and videos. GetFugu will also be offering Facebook widgets and other social networking integration in the near future.
“This is an opportunity for TapouT to provide a mobile interactive experience reaching MMA fans, old and new, across the globe,” said Dan Caldwell, TapouT CEO, Co-Founder. “GetFugu’s vision, voice and location recognition software will provide MMA fans with a mobile platform designed for those who love MMA as much as we do!”
“It’s no secret that MMA is the world’s fastest growing sport in the world today. Our partnership with TapouT will enable MMA fans to access information on their favorite fighter through their mobile phone—anywhere, anytime,” said Michael Solomon, Chairman of GetFugu.
TapouT’s MMA mobile center will showcase an innovative and seamless way to purchase TapouT clothing, accessories and gear in real time using GetFugu’s vision, voice and location recognition software. Additionally, users can access MMA content on the fly including fighter profiles/stats/bios/news and videos. GetFugu will also be offering Facebook widgets and other social networking integration in the near future.
“This is an opportunity for TapouT to provide a mobile interactive experience reaching MMA fans, old and new, across the globe,” said Dan Caldwell, TapouT CEO, Co-Founder. “GetFugu’s vision, voice and location recognition software will provide MMA fans with a mobile platform designed for those who love MMA as much as we do!”
“It’s no secret that MMA is the world’s fastest growing sport in the world today. Our partnership with TapouT will enable MMA fans to access information on their favorite fighter through their mobile phone—anywhere, anytime,” said Michael Solomon, Chairman of GetFugu.
FiberHome shipping Mindspeed’s Comcerto 300 VoIP processors in China PON access equipment
NEWPORT BEACH, USA: Mindspeed Technologies Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, announced that FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies Co., Ltd., a leading telecommunications solutions provider in China, is shipping Mindspeed’s Comcerto 300 series of VoIP access processors in its AN5006 access network equipment.
FiberHome’s access series products enable service providers in China to deliver voice and high-speed broadband services to subscribers in multi-tenant dwellings and office buildings, with significantly lower capital and operating expenses than traditional voice networks.
With the continued selection and deployment of Comcerto products by access equipment vendors in China, such as FiberHome, Mindspeed maintains a dominant position in China’s access VoIP deployments, having shipped tens of millions of VoIP ports since Chinese telecom/datacom operators began migrating from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to next-generation PON-based access networks.
“Mindspeed’s Comcerto 300 family provides a complete VoIP media processing solution,” said Cai Bin, FiberHome’s PON product line manager. “The Comcerto 300 family’s scalability allows us to select the right performance for our current needs, while allowing us to easily change the performance with minimal design modification.”
“We are pleased that FiberHome continues to adopt Comcerto solutions for their access network products,” said Kurt Michel, Mindspeed’s marketing director for carrier VoIP products. “With Comcerto 300, FiberHome is leveraging our latest high-quality VoIP technology for access applications – technology which they initially adopted with our first-generation Comcerto 600 products.”
Mindspeed’s Comcerto series of multi-core VoIP processors and carrier-class media stream processing software delivers one of the industry’s most complete VoIP media gateway solutions, with integrated signalling and control processing for next-generation network carrier and enterprise applications.
With a rich set of interfaces, voice codec options and packet-processing features, Comcerto series processors enable manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively integrate VoIP-enabled T1/E1 and plain-old telephone service (POTS) gateway functions into a broad variety of carrier and enterprise access equipment.
Comcerto devices are available in a broad range of channel densities and common packages, all operating Mindspeed’s field-proven software. This allows customers to develop lower-density systems well suited to remotely deployed access equipment, as well as higher-density systems supporting thousands of channels for core network applications, while offering a common set of industry-leading features and capabilities.
FiberHome’s access series products enable service providers in China to deliver voice and high-speed broadband services to subscribers in multi-tenant dwellings and office buildings, with significantly lower capital and operating expenses than traditional voice networks.
With the continued selection and deployment of Comcerto products by access equipment vendors in China, such as FiberHome, Mindspeed maintains a dominant position in China’s access VoIP deployments, having shipped tens of millions of VoIP ports since Chinese telecom/datacom operators began migrating from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to next-generation PON-based access networks.
“Mindspeed’s Comcerto 300 family provides a complete VoIP media processing solution,” said Cai Bin, FiberHome’s PON product line manager. “The Comcerto 300 family’s scalability allows us to select the right performance for our current needs, while allowing us to easily change the performance with minimal design modification.”
“We are pleased that FiberHome continues to adopt Comcerto solutions for their access network products,” said Kurt Michel, Mindspeed’s marketing director for carrier VoIP products. “With Comcerto 300, FiberHome is leveraging our latest high-quality VoIP technology for access applications – technology which they initially adopted with our first-generation Comcerto 600 products.”
Mindspeed’s Comcerto series of multi-core VoIP processors and carrier-class media stream processing software delivers one of the industry’s most complete VoIP media gateway solutions, with integrated signalling and control processing for next-generation network carrier and enterprise applications.
With a rich set of interfaces, voice codec options and packet-processing features, Comcerto series processors enable manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively integrate VoIP-enabled T1/E1 and plain-old telephone service (POTS) gateway functions into a broad variety of carrier and enterprise access equipment.
Comcerto devices are available in a broad range of channel densities and common packages, all operating Mindspeed’s field-proven software. This allows customers to develop lower-density systems well suited to remotely deployed access equipment, as well as higher-density systems supporting thousands of channels for core network applications, while offering a common set of industry-leading features and capabilities.
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