Mae
| News and views on everything wireless and mobile, from WiFi and WiMAX to 3G and fixed-mobile convergence (FMC).
wireless
Wireless Energy Efficiency Pop Quiz
January 16, 2007
Pop quiz: which of the following is the most energy efficient method of delivering mobile broadband?
1. WCDMA (cellular)
2. WiMAX
3. WiFi
Here with your answer is ABI Research analyst Stuart Carlaw (quoted from a recent news release): “From a pure coverage perspective WiMAX is twice as energy-cost-effective and metro Wi-Fi is 50 times more energy-cost-effective than WCDMA.
1. WCDMA (cellular)
2. WiMAX
3. WiFi
Here with your answer is ABI Research analyst Stuart Carlaw (quoted from a recent news release): “From a pure coverage perspective WiMAX is twice as energy-cost-effective and metro Wi-Fi is 50 times more energy-cost-effective than WCDMA.
Cisco Sues Apple Over iPhone Trademark
January 11, 2007
Surprise, surprise. Cisco is suing Apple over the ‘iPhone’ trademark. Well, it does come as somewhat of a surprise, since up until Cisco announced the lawsuit yesterday afternoon, it appeared the companies were on the verge of an agreement regarding the name. I guess the agreement must have fallen through at the last moment.
To be honest, the lawsuit surprises me quite a bit, since I just assumed Apple had worked out the legal details of iPhone before announcing the product.
Phones That Were Popular Before iPhone
January 10, 2007
Here’s something that caught my eyes this morning: Wirefly, a Web site that offers comparison shopping services for cell phones and wireless plans, today released a list of the ten most popular cell phones during 2006.
My first response to the list is to wonder how many of these phones, a year from now, will still be considered popular or cutting-edge, now that Apple has shaken things up with the long-awaited iPhone. As Steve Jobs said in his speech Tuesday, its unlikely that anyone will look at smartphones the same way again now that iPhone is on the scene.
Back two days ago, before the iPhone, though, the following list did represent the hottest and best cell phones available.
1. Cingular RAZR by Motorola
2.
2.
Apple and Steve Jobs: Masters of Product Design and Theater
January 10, 2007
I suppose it says something about my level of geekiness (in every positive sense of the word) that last night I went home and spent the evening watching the video of Steve Jobs’ Macworld keynote speech. At roughly two hours, the speech represented a time investment equal to that of a feature-length movie. And it was worth every second.
I came away from watching the keynote with a firm conviction that Jobs and Apple not only are masters of product design, but also of theater.
I came away from watching the keynote with a firm conviction that Jobs and Apple not only are masters of product design, but also of theater.
Yes, Virginia, There is an Apple iPhone
January 9, 2007
If you’re both a newshound and an Apple junkie like me, you just couldn’t resist hopping on some of the blogs reporting live from Macworld Expo, where even as I write this Steve Jobs is keynoting about The Next Big Thing.
Big news that I’m sure is causing a lot of analysts and commentators to eat humble pie (or crow, if you prefer): Apple IS coming out it a mobile phone. And they ARE calling it iPhone. (Not sure how that will work trademark-wise, given Linksys’ recent launch of its iPhone VoIP line.)
Here’s Jason O’Grady of XDNet’s Apple Core, quoting/paraphrasing Steve Jobs:
“Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products
1.
1.
A Few Final Words About iPhone and other Potential Apple Macworld Announcements
January 5, 2007
Warning: time is running out to issue predictions regarding what cool, new products and services Apple will announce at the Macworld Expo next week. If you’ve got Apple fever, here’s a little something to keep your temperature high over the weekend.
In a posting Thursday, AppleInsider blogger posted information from the latest Macworld Rumor Roundup from research and investment firm PiperJaffray.
The roundup gives numerical rankings/probabilities for a variety of products that Apple potentially could be unveiling.
Parks Associates: Adoption of Standards Will Drive Growth in Wireless, Multimedia Networking
January 3, 2007As is usually the case with technology, once the underlying specifications become standardized, adoption becomes widespread by both consumers and manufacturers/providers. That’s because standardization reassure people they knew what they’re getting, and that it will work the same way in a variety of applications.
Research company Parks Associates noted this fact in its recent report about the market for wireless, multimedia networking. The firm predicted that “industry adoption of next-generation specifications will provide a substantial boost to the market for wireless multimedia networking, prompting growth in excess of 50 million wireless network devices by 2010.”
Two of the specification poised to help spur the growth are next-gen WiFi and Ultra-wideband (UWB), Parks Associates said.
ABI: Growth Ahead for In-building Wireless Systems
December 22, 2006It’s a problem most users of cell phones and other wireless devices have encountered at some point: spotty indoor network coverage. The signal that may be so strong while walking around outside or driving from Point A to Point B may be weak or nonexistent inside a house or other building.
Broadening and strengthening indoor coverage for wireless networks is the topic of a recent report from ABI Research, in which the firm notes the current and anticipated growth of the in-building wireless systems market.
Revenues from deployment of such systems, ABI says, likely will exceed $3.6 billion by 2011.
ABI: 32 Million Mainland Chinese Users of Mobile Video in 2008
December 21, 2006Today’s news about the mobile video market comes from... drum-roll please... the East. China, more specifically.
ABI Research today released a report predicting that 2008 will be the year when the mobile video market in China really takes off.
Samsung Intros V960 'Optical Joystick' Phone in Korea
December 20, 2006This seems to be the week of the phone. First, the long-awaited iPhone hit the market… but it turned out to be a VoIP phone from Linksys rather than a cell phone from Apple. Then, ASUSTeK Computer, Inc., launched a wireless music Skype phone in India.
Now comes news that, later this month, Samsung Electronics will be introducing in Korea what it describes as “the world's first mobile phone featuring a n optical joystick for a whole new mobile experience.”
