Gloves come off as industry players trade jabs over products, networks.
This year's CTIA Wireless trade show brought the return of energy and buzz to the wireless industry--something lacking from last year's confab--as well as some new devices and more talk about higher-speed wireless technologies.
Here were some notable trends at the industry confab:
Android aplenty
This was really a show dominated by Google Inc.'s Android mobile operating system. AT&T Inc. kicked off the show with the Dell Inc. Aero, while Motorola Inc. showed off its first Nextel-compatible Android phone, complete with military specifications and the standard walkie-talkie feature. Android also found itself in the HTC Corp. Evo, the first 4G cellphone in the U.S., as well as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Galaxy S, the two highest profile devices at the show.
Gloves come off
The industry players were surprisingly willing to jab each other throughout the show. Before things started, AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan downplayed Verizon Wireless's decision to upgrade early to 4G technology.
In demonstrating the power of the Evo, Sprint executives willingly took shots at the Motorola Droid, including calling its video playback capability "subpar."
Even Deutsche Telekom AG Chief Executive Rene Obermann got into the mix with his own snipe against T-Mobile USA's rivals."The network has capacity, so you can actually use those smartphones," he said during his keynote address on Wednesday."I was told that's important these days."
Clearwire Corp. Chief Executive William Morrow said the large telco's spectrum position was inadequate for 4G, while AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said he wouldn't trade his spectrum for Clearwire's position.
Leap cuts price
Leap Wireless International Inc. cut the number of its plans, in order to offer more services for less money, and expanded to nationwide coverage. The move is designed to keep in lockstep with MetroPCS Communications Inc., which earlier this year made its own cuts and eliminated taxes and fees. Leap is still keeping its taxes and fees though. MetroPCS has seen a lot of success since its cut earlier this year, but J.P. Morgan analyst Mike McCormack sees Leap experiencing margin pressure.
LG lacking
The handset maker's booth was loud and flashy, complete with a disc jockey, but the company has no new products
Gloves come off as industry players trade jabs over products, networks.
aside from one eco-friendly phone. The most fascinating part of LG's booth was the full-scale replica of Iron Man's armor. LG Electronics Inc. is a prominent sponsor of the movie and its upcoming sequel.
Being green
Companies are increasingly paying attention to the environmental impact of their business. IDC came out with a report saying Nokia Corp. was the greenest of the handset manufacturers, while HTC lagged behind everyone else. Apple Inc., which makes a lot of noise about its environmentally friendly ways, came in third.
3D mobile TV
3D is barely in any home television sets, and industry players are already working to get the feature on mobile phones. Charlie Chen, Huawei Technologies Co.'s senior vice president of marketing and product management for North America, said he got a chance to play with a prototype unit that displayed 3D video--without the glasses. Chen declined to comment on the vendor.
Spectrum needed
One thing the carriers all echoed was the need for more spectrum. It was a constant theme throughout the keynote addresses, including those from De la Vega and Obermann.
Infrastructure talk
The unsexy issue of backhaul, or the line that connects cellular towers to a wireless carrier's central facility, took center stage at the show, particularly with 4G on the rise. Verizon Wireless made a series of announcements related to backhaul, including tapping Alcatel-Lucent as its 4G backhaul supplier.
People coming back
The show's attendance bounced back to around 40,000, or what it was like two years ago. Attendance was roughly 35,000 a year ago, although things seemed lighter. Likewise, it was tougher to get taxis around town, and the show floor was more packed than a year ago.
Source: totaltele.com
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Monday, March 29, 2010
Nokia buys mobile Web browsing firm Novarra
Handset giant to launch new service for its mid-tier phones based on Novarra technology later in 2010.
Nokia on Friday announced it has acquired mobile Web browsing solutions provider Novarra, as the handset giant looks to enhance Internet services on its mid-tier devices.
Chicago-based Novarra develops a range of both server-side and device-side products used by operators and ISPs aiming to speed up mobile Web browsing and deliver a PC-like experience to handsets.
"Connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet will happen primarily on mobile devices, and delivering an optimised Internet experience on our devices is core to our mission," said Niklas Savander, executive vice president of services at Nokia, in a statement.
Nokia plans to use Novarra's platform as the basis for launching a new Internet service offering for its widely-used mid-tier Series 40 handsets later in 2010.
The Finnish phone maker did not provide any further details on the type of service, and was unavailable for comment at time of writing.
"By driving innovation in all segments of our portfolio, we are building one of the largest consumer audiences for Web services and contents," said Savander.
"Novarra's Internet services technology, delivered on the world's most widely-used mobile platform – Nokia Series 40 – will help us achieve this," he commented.
Indeed, the mobile market leader sold 127 million mobile phones at an average selling price of €63 during the fourth quarter, and has a strong presence in emerging markets.
Its unit shipments in Asia-Pacific markets, not including China, surged 15.4% on year to 34.5 million in Q4, up from 29.9 million – surpassing the 34.3 million it shipped in Europe. In China Nokia shipped 17.6 million devices, up 36.4% from the 12.9 million shipped in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Nokia said it expects to close the Novarra deal during the second quarter of 2010, subject to regulatory reviews. Following the acquisition, privately-held Novarra will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia.
The handset maker did not disclose the value of the transaction.
Source : totaltele.com
Nokia on Friday announced it has acquired mobile Web browsing solutions provider Novarra, as the handset giant looks to enhance Internet services on its mid-tier devices.
Chicago-based Novarra develops a range of both server-side and device-side products used by operators and ISPs aiming to speed up mobile Web browsing and deliver a PC-like experience to handsets.
"Connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet will happen primarily on mobile devices, and delivering an optimised Internet experience on our devices is core to our mission," said Niklas Savander, executive vice president of services at Nokia, in a statement.
Nokia plans to use Novarra's platform as the basis for launching a new Internet service offering for its widely-used mid-tier Series 40 handsets later in 2010.
The Finnish phone maker did not provide any further details on the type of service, and was unavailable for comment at time of writing.
"By driving innovation in all segments of our portfolio, we are building one of the largest consumer audiences for Web services and contents," said Savander.
"Novarra's Internet services technology, delivered on the world's most widely-used mobile platform – Nokia Series 40 – will help us achieve this," he commented.
Indeed, the mobile market leader sold 127 million mobile phones at an average selling price of €63 during the fourth quarter, and has a strong presence in emerging markets.
Its unit shipments in Asia-Pacific markets, not including China, surged 15.4% on year to 34.5 million in Q4, up from 29.9 million – surpassing the 34.3 million it shipped in Europe. In China Nokia shipped 17.6 million devices, up 36.4% from the 12.9 million shipped in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Nokia said it expects to close the Novarra deal during the second quarter of 2010, subject to regulatory reviews. Following the acquisition, privately-held Novarra will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia.
The handset maker did not disclose the value of the transaction.
Source : totaltele.com
Will 4G Phones help with 4G Adoption?
Sprint Nextel will soon roll out the first U.S. phone that works on a faster wireless network, an important step in the struggling carrier’s effort to stem subscriber defections, WSJ reports.
The company plans to unveil the phone, dubbed the Supersonic, at an industry conference soon. It will be produced by Taiwanese smart-phone maker HTC, according to people familiar with the matter.
There’s a problem though. Sprint, which has shed nearly nine million customers over the past three years, is the country’s third-largest wireless carrier and losing ground. But it has something market leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. don’t—a fourth-generation service that can upload and download data like Web pages much faster than conventional wireless systems.
Source: telecompk.net
The company plans to unveil the phone, dubbed the Supersonic, at an industry conference soon. It will be produced by Taiwanese smart-phone maker HTC, according to people familiar with the matter.
There’s a problem though. Sprint, which has shed nearly nine million customers over the past three years, is the country’s third-largest wireless carrier and losing ground. But it has something market leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. don’t—a fourth-generation service that can upload and download data like Web pages much faster than conventional wireless systems.
Source: telecompk.net
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