Windfall for Wireless

By SVM | Published: May 27, 2009

Both InformationWeek and Network World covered the release of a new report announced yesterday by ABI Research on the opportunity that the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) affords to wireless communications equipment vendors. According to ABI, the $6.8 billion worth of funding for wireless communications upgrades and new deployments for the remainder of this year and 2010 have the potential to impact not only the Wi-Fi and wireless broadband vendors themselves, but also a wide range of vertical industries, including healthcare and the environment.

While the bill isn’t specific about which technologies the money should go toward, tech companies and service providers have an opportunity to apply for grants administered by both the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

ABI cites communications systems that link health networks, Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices and video surveillance systems, telepresence, and wireless LAN equipment as potential technologies where wireless could see the most traction within the healthcare industry, while wireless sensor technology enabling building automation stands to gain a boost from the stimulus package’s green buildings initiative.

See ABI’s “The 2009 Federal Stimulus Bill” for more.


Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Nokia's Ovi Store Open for Business

By SVM | Published: May 26, 2009

Nokia announced today that its Ovi Store is now available across an estimated 50 million devices worldwide, offering both free and premium content from thousands of media providers and independent publishers. The Nokia Ovi Store features a customized and contextually relevant user experience determined by a user’s “social location” such as personal contacts and physical whereabouts. AT&T confirmed it will make Ovi Store available to its customers in the U.S. later in 2009.

During the Nokia Developer Summit 2009 in Monte Carlo last month, Nokia execs said that the Ovi Store is a critical component in its evolution beyond its traditional role as a handset manufacturer into “a solutions-focused company.” Nokia executive vice president of services Tero Ojanperä stated that the company ultimately plans to offer applications optimized for all of the devices in its catalog, and will strive to foster a developer environment that cuts across platforms and leverages a large number of handsets.

For more information see: http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/ovi-store-opens-business-0

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Get Ready for Summer with The Hottest Mobile Apps

By SVM | Published: May 22, 2009

Everyone’s ready for summer and, thanks to innovations in mobile technology, when you head out to the beach or a cookout this Memorial Day weekend, you don’t have to compromise your ability to stay connected!

Jason Ankeny at FierceMobileContent has just released a list of the top 5 mobile apps to heat up your summer.

The list includes:

WeatherBug - Never be unprepared for unpredictable summer weather again! Meteorological information service provider WeatherBug’s free, ad-supported application promises users always-on National Weather Service alerts with GPS capabilities, live temperature conditions on their homescreen and neighborhood weather information spanning more than 45,000 locations worldwide.

Buzzd – This location-sensitive city guide and mobile social network delivers up-to-the minute information collected from content partners including Time Out, Zagat, Metromix, myOpenBar, last.fm and Citysearch as well as consumer reviews and ratings.

Fandango - The ticketing and review service’s free iPhone app, which debuted in mid-March, offers mobile ticket purchases for more than 16,000 movie screens nationwide, connecting with Google Maps to offer driving directions to the cineplex and identifying which venues are closest to you. This one really comes in handy!

Check out the complete list at http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/slideshow/five-mobile-apps-heat-your-summer

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Global Market for Mobile Speech Applications Expected to Triple By 2014

By SVM | Published: May 21, 2009

Industry analyst firm Datamonitor has forecasted that the global market for advanced speech recognition technology in mobile devices will triple by 2014, from $32.7 million to $99.6 million.

Demand for mobile speech applications, which typically enable a user to vocally control a mobile device’s functionality, have been on the rise as today’s consumer adopts a busier lifestyle. Another factor driving the rapid adoption of mobile speech applications is the increasing worldwide legislation restricting the operation of mobile devices while driving. Several countries, including Australia, Britain, Chile, and the Philippines, and 15 U.S. states have enacted legislation that restricts the use of handsets while operating motor vehicles. Most of these legislations permit the use of hands-free devices as an alternative, and telecom carriers have been promoting command and control and SMS-based services as well to alleviate these issues.

Other common mobile speech applications include voice-dialing, voice-search and voice-input.

For more information see: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/speech-recognition/articles/56373-mobile-speech-applications-market-set-triple-2014.htm

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/37565.php

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Worldwide Handset Sales on the Decline…but Smartphones Buck the Trend

By SVM | Published: May 20, 2009

Today’s GSMA Mobile Business Briefing reported that worldwide mobile phone sales have experienced a rather significant decline during the first quarter of 2009. Based on a press release issued by Gartner, handset sales declined by 9.4 percent over the year-earlier period. According to Gartner, this figure represents the largest quarter-on-quarter contraction since it first started monitoring the market quarterly in 2001.

The report went on to say that smartphone sales, which represented 13.5 percent of all mobile device sales in the first quarter, are on the rise and the trend looks as though it will continue at an even faster pace over the next several years. Some, including semiconductor vendor Marvell, believe smartphones will account for as much as 50 percent of all mobile phones in the next three to four years.

Roberta Cozza, a principal analyst at Gartner states, “Much of the smartphone growth during the first quarter of 2009 was driven by touchscreen products, both in mid-tier and high-end devices.” The growth was also attributed to an increase in sales at RIM and Apple.

In terms of the market leaders in overall handset sales, Nokia held on to its top spot with a 36.2% market share, despite a slight drop in sales compared to 2008. Samsung came in second, but showed a boost in sales of nearly 20%. LG took the third spot, while Motorola edged out Sony Ericsson to round out the top four.

To see the smartphone sales leaders, see: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=985912

For more information, visit: http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/mobBB3.php

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

LTE Growth to Outpace 3G?

By SVM | Published: May 19, 2009

Analyst firm Pyramid Research recently released its Global Telecom Insider report, “LTE’s Five-Year Global Forecast: Poised to Grow Faster than 3G,” which estimates that LTE will take just over four years to reach 100 million subscriptions- a milestone that took nearly six years for UMTS/HSPA to reach. Pyramid estimates that the number of LTE subscriptions worldwide will grow at a CAGR of 404% from 2010 to 2014, and will ultimately reach 136 million subscriptions by the end 2014. The report notes that among the factors that will contribute to the rapid growth of LTE mobile broadband technology are the cost of the network, widespread vendor and operator support, and the fact that Chinese carriers could move to LTE as early as 2011.

For more information see:

http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/ins_gl_090513.htm?sc=PP090515

http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=176806

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

AT&T = Smart

By SVM | Published: May 18, 2009

It may not boast the most subscribers – Verizon tops that list – but AT&T is by far the leading carrier for smartphone users in the U.S. According to an announcement made late last week, twice as many smartphone users subscribe to AT&T than any other U.S. carrier. As of March, AT&T had 11.8 million smartphone customers – more than double the 5.1 million customers of Verizon and Alltel combined. The company attributes its success to the fact that it offers the nation’s fastest 3G network, as well as 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. Strangely absent from AT&T’s announcement was any mention of Apple’s iPhone and the role it played in the company’s market dominance.

http://blog.telephonyonline.com/unfiltered/2009/05/15/att-touts-smartphone-success-doesn’t-thank-apple/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

U.S. Takes the Lead in Mobile Data Revenue with $10 Billion First Quarter

By SVM | Published: May 13, 2009

Revenue from mobile data services in the United States reached $10 billion in the first quarter of 2009, making it the worldwide leader in mobile data revenue and the first country to reach that point. According to research published by Chetan Sharma, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile now respectively hold the No. 3, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 8 spots worldwide in terms of the amount of mobile data revenue generated each quarter. The leaders worldwide are NTT DoCoMo and China Mobile.

The definition of data services in the report includes both mobile messaging (SMS and MMS) and other uses (browsing, apps, video, etc). Sharma noted that the growth in 3G networks, smartphones and better interoperability of messaging has allowed the United States to edge past Western Europe in data use, and to go “way past Western European countries in the actual data revenues being generated.”

For more information, see:

http://www.chetansharma.com/usmarketupdateq109.htm

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/us-pulls-ahead-in-mobile-data-revenue-analyst-says/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Backhaul Investments Continue- Despite Recession- as Operators Gear up for LTE Networks

By JCOLNA | Published: April 16, 2009

According to a new study published by ABI Research, wireless companies are continuing investment in backhaul technologies despite the current state of the economy, as operators gear up for deployment of LTE networks. In fact, ABI is predicting a fivefold revenue increase between 2009 and 2014.

Backhaul is the bottleneck that can prevent a satisfactory user experience. As the amount of data that crosses an operator’s network increases, backhaul will become an increasingly critical component to network management.

Senior ABI analyst Nadine Manjaro is quoted as saying, “Operators might not deploy LTE immediately, but they know that before they do, they’ll have to upgrade their backhaul capacity.”

For more information see: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Recession-or-Not-Wireless-bw-14931316.html

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Venture Capital Investment in Online Video Keeps Pace in Q1

By JCOLNA | Published: April 15, 2009

VideoNuze recently reported that the online video sector received more than $80 million in venture capital financing during the first quarter of 2009, which is comparable to the amount received in the fourth quarter of 2008. Investors expect investment to continue at this level for the remainder of 2009, with Web TV representing one of the few growth sectors in the venture capital business.

Neil Sequeira, a partner with venture capital and private equity firm General Catalyst, is quoted in a recent TV Week article as saying, “People realize that video on the Internet is going to happen, and you know in four years that’s how people will be watching content.” General Catalyst has already closed four deals this year to fund companies in the Internet business, which is a typical volume of deals for the firm.

Web video technology and services firms that have landed funding from investors this quarter include RipCode, JibJab, Digitalsmiths, Fliqz, Mixpo, Tremor Media and Visible Measures.

For more information, see: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/04/vcs_stay_bullish_on_web_video.php

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment