Communications and Technology Blog with the latest news in the IP communications, telecom, VoIP, call center and CRM space, with plenty of opinion & analysis...
PayPal's Eric Duprat spent some time talking with me today about his company's success in the mobile world. The first thing worth sharing is they have opened up their developer program and you can find the site at x.com. Other thoughts worth discussing:
The company's eBay app is in the top three in the lifestyle category on iTunes.
They have an Android app which works in the US, Canada, UK and Australia
They are doing checkout for RIM's app store and this is the largest non-ebay ecommerce application for the company.
There are now officially 1.6 million downloads of the company's PayPal application for the iPhone.
Novarra is one of the companies enabling the mobile broadband revolution having products embedded in a good deal of the world's smartphones and networks. I spent some time with Anthony Love and Scott Cotter as they demonstrated some of their very interest video transcoding services allowing carriers to provide video streaming to customers. The idea is even if a phone doesn't support a video format such as Flash (Apple, I'm looking in your direction ) they are able to adapt content accordingly so it shows up on the device.
Altair Semiconductor is looking to provide the world with energy efficient chips for WiMAX and LTE. Utilizing software defined radio technology and low-power design, expect to see the company's chips in more mobile internet devices, laptops and smartphones. Oh, and don't forget the world of USB dongles either. Mark Rice, VP and General Manager of the company explains the details below.
I have been a strong proponent of carriers rolling out WiFi networks as they provide another sticky service which customers are loathe to give up. Cablevision's Optimum WiFi which is a free WiFi service rolled out in much of the cable company's footprint is an example of a service which has been proven to reduce churn and is currently running at over one million minutes per day of usage.
AT&T's acquisition of Wayport and Verizon's partnership with Boingo show the carrier of the future needs to blend WiFi into their offerings. It should come as no surprise that wireless carriers are looking to WiFi networks running on unlicensed spectrum as they are being hammered by smartphones and iPod Touch devices.
The company providing the equipment which powers Cablevision's offerings is BelAir Networks and they have a product called the 100S which the cable company strings every 800 feet on their poles. They are plug-and-play devices that light up vast areas quickly. More recently they rolled out a 100SX device which also provides WiMAX.
An important point made during our conversation is how carriers are WiFi-enabling sporting and concert arenas to offset the network congestion becoming so rampant in areas where people gather.
I just had a conversation with Martin Suter the VP, Business Development at BelAir Networks about some of the exciting things happening in the space and some of the best points are captured in the video below.
I had a chance to catch up with Bridgewater Systems and their efforts to help carriers as they look to provide mobile personalization using the control plane. As wireless networks become more congested, the company's solutions help carriers manage the chaos. They have a bunch of announcements in the 4G space detailed in the video below. Joanne Steinberg and David Sharpley from the company are on the video below.
Skype Founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom seem dead set on killing off Skype. The company they own JoltId - which controls the p2p technology used by Skype, has filed an copyright suit, now in the US with an injunction (fast-track lawsuit) in an effort to shut Skype down. The company says damages are amassing at more than $75 million per day and as the legal dispute drags on, one wonder just what sort of deal Meg Whitman struck a few years back which allowed this many angles for lawsuits. See more from the Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Li Mo, Chief Architect and Sean Cai, Deputy General Manager, WiMAX Product Line, ZTE USA discuss the company's plans in communications, 4G and WiMAX.
You really can't have a serious discussion about WiMAX without asking Alvarion for their opinion. I did just that with Ashish Sharma who heads up Corporate Communications and Market Development for the company. Topics covered include the WiMAX business model, broadband stimulus around the globe and usage patterns of WiMAX users. I also asked about the WiMAX/LTE battle and if there needs to be a single winner. Check out the video for the answer.
) they are able to adapt content accordingly so it shows up on the device.
