ROW International Briefs

Wi-Fi to lead in new home deployments: In-StatNew research from In-Stat suggests that new home computer networks will be dominated by wireless local area network technology. The 640 consumers who responded to the survey said they are more likely to use the wireless home network for data-networking applications as opposed to consumer electronics applications. This presents a challenge for consumer electronics vendors, says In-Stat, in that they will have to overcome the perception that Wi-Fi is predominately used for data-centric applications. "The challenges that Wi-Fi faces, in terms of range, bandwidth, security, and quality of service, are being addressed by new standards that have either recently been ratified or are set to be ratified over the next several years," reads a market alert. Camera phones take share away from digital camerasNew data from ABI Research indicates that camera phones will take a significant portion of the market currently held by low-end digital cameras. Kenneth Hyers, principal analyst of global wireless operator research, says, "We believe that within the next two years, the quality of mobile phone cameras will be such that people won’t need low-end stand-alone digital cameras. This will dramatically impact camera sales." The research indicates that it won’t take that long before the 1.3 megapixel camera phone will be ubiquitous and 5 megapixel models won’t be uncommon. "We are in the midst of a megapixel race and by early 2006, 1.3 megapixel models will outsell VGA camera phones; in the following years, two-, three- and four-megapixel devices will replace lower specification models," Hyers adds. Qualcomm to acquire OFDM company FlarionQualcomm Inc. is entered into an agreement to acquire Flarion Technologies for approximately US$600 million. Flarion is recognized as one of the leading OFDMA technology developers in the world and is the inventor of Flash-OFDM, a technology used for mobile broadband IP services. "With this acquisition Qualcomm will be in a stronger position to support advanced development in CDMA and OFDMA technologies," Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said in a news release. "We believe CDMA will provide the most advanced spectrally efficient wide area wireless networks for the foreseeable future, but with Flarion we can now more effectively support operators who prefer an OFDMA or hybrid OFDM/CDMA track for differentiating their services." Adult content continues to grow in the mobile spaceAdult oriented content continues to make its presence felt in the mobile world as Brickhouse Mobile inks an agreement with Homegrown Video to make its video content available on a pay-per-use basis. Homegrown’s products are currently available in Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America and Asia. Trials are underway in North America. Both companies are working to make sure that the content meets U.S. and international standards and that age appropriate users can access the content. SMS.ac introduces rights for mobile consumersSMS.ac, the host to a large community of mobile consumers, has introduced the creation and implementation of a Mobile Consumer Bill of Rights. Michael Pousti, CEO of SMS.ac, says it’s a "best practices guide" to which the company adheres. "Where clarity, accountability and a commitment to satisfaction are found, consumer confidence will follow. That bodes well for the financial future of every mobile data application or content enterprise that is looking to keep customers and the revenues they produce at their fingertips," Pousti adds. The key tenets of the Mobile Consumer Bill of Rights are as follows: clear description and pricing; privacy, opt-in and opt-out; prompt possession and satisfaction; customer service and technical support; money-back refund; and customer confidence. IPWireless introduces new network softwareIPWireless has released its latest network software that allows operators to implement full packet inspection and prioritization capabilities, extending the benefits of an IP core to its air interface. The platform is available as a software upgrade for existing operators, and will be first deployed on a T-Mobile network in the Czech Republic. "Consumers will experience a whole new level of performance while operators can offer a new set of mobile services and maximize their revenue per bit," IPWireless COO Bill Jones said in a news release. iSkoot takes Skype into wireless worldISkoot is hoping to capitalize on the Voice over IP (VoIP) bandwagon by taking it into the mobile world and enabling users to make inexpensive long distance calls over cell phones. The company’s software claims to be able to let people make international long distance calls to other Skype users for little more than the price of local airtime. The way it works is the cell phone user accesses the home computer network over mobile networks and then completes the international call over the Internet. Jacob Guedalia, founder of iSkoot, says the company’s vision was to allow the individual to become his or her own long distance carrier. "We can take the Voice-over-Internet revolution, which until now has really been confined to the personal computer, and bring it to the mobile world," Guedalia says in a Boston Globe article.

ROW International Briefs

News | August 25, 2005

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