Monday, February 11, 2008

Devicescape Launches Wi-Fi Connect Service for Operators, Signs Deutsch Telekom

Devicescape Software announced the launch of a new service for operators that seamlessly and automatically connects subscribers' Wi-Fi devices to any operator's and their roaming partners' Wi-Fi networks. Using Devicescape's auto-connect solution, operators can provide seamless integration of cellular and Wi-Fi services, increase the number of users and number of sessions, bring new types of devices onto their networks and reduce support costs. Significantly, Devicescape Software has signed Deutsche Telekom to make Wi-Fi access easier for T-Home and T-Mobile users.


The Devicescape Connect Service simplifies a multi-step, sometimes challenging consumer process. Devicescape said that by making access to networks seamless, more consumers will be able to use Wi-Fi for mobile access, in more sessions, driving revenue potential for operators and their roaming partners.


Setting up automated access for users involves installing Devicescape and pre-configuring each device with a unique ID. The operator can customize networks access, including access to roaming partners, for each device based on device type, subscription plan or other criteria. Once set up, devices can instantly access the appointed coverage enabling a great service experience for the subscriber.


The Devicescape service works on over 1000 different networks around the world including major paid carriers, municipal and metro nets, University and other free networks.


Devicescape also announced today a deal with Deutsche Telekom, the leading Wi-Fi provider in Germany and Europe. By partnering with Devicescape, T-Home and T-Mobile users will have automatic wireless access whenever they are within range of a T-Mobile HotSpot. See the full release, entitled "Devicescape forms Partnership with Deutsche Telekom to Bring Easy Access to a Wide Range of Wi-Fi Enabled Devices" for more information.


Under the partnership with Deutsche Telekom, the Devicescape solution will be used to expand the range of Wi-Fi devices that can have automatic access to the more than 8,000 T- Mobile hotspot locations across Germany and Europe. The Devicescape service eliminates the need for users to type in cumbersome login and password information and supports automatic login for devices with or without browsers.http://www.devicescape.com

MontaVista Enables Linux-Based WiMAX Mobile Phone

MontaVista Software announced its participation in bringing the world's first Linux-based WiMAX multimedia reference design to market, which includes its MontaVista Mobilinux operating system (OS). This device was designed and built in only nine months by EB and NextWave Wireless.


The reference design uses NextWave Wireless' NW1100 WiMAX baseband mobile subscriber SoC (System on a Chip) with its companion NW1200 multi-band RFIC (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit).


Technical demonstrations of the NextWave-EB mobile WiMAX reference design are being shown behind doors at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.http://www.mvista.com

WiMAX Forum Updates Technology Roadmap to Include 700 MHz

The WiMAX Forum has expanded its technology roadmap to include the 700 MHz frequency band. Work on the technical specifications for 700 MHz WiMAX Forum certification is already underway in the association's working groups. The published specifications will be unveiled as they are completed and they will support both TDD and FDD certification profiles.


The WiMAX Forum also announced that 28 Mobile WiMAX products in the 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz frequency bands have been submitted for WiMAX Forum certification. The first mobile WiMAX products are expected to achieve the WiMAX Forum Certified seal of approval in Q2 2008 and to reach the market later this year.


In addition, the WiMAX Forum forecasts that more than 950 products will undergo Mobile WiMAX certification testing by 2011, representing an influx of new consumer devices and infrastructure equipment to support continued rapid WiMAX user adoption in the 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, and 3.5 GHz frequency bands. The WiMAX Forum's current network of six labs in China, Korea, Spain, U.S. and two in Taiwan will expand to nine with additions in Brazil, India and Japan to handle the anticipated certification demand.


The WiMAX Forum announced that it selected TTC-CCS as the second designated certification lab in Taiwan for both Fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX certification services.http://www.wimaxforum.org

Vodafone to Trial HSPA+ with Ericsson, Huawei, Qualcomm

Vodafone will work alongside Ericsson, Huawei and Qualcomm to trial Release 7 HSPA+ (also known as HSPA Evolution), which has the potential of delivering data throughput rates of up to 28.8 Mbps compared to the 14.4 Mbps maximum offered by today's HSPA networks.


HSPA+ technology is designed to offer higher throughput than HSPA through its use of multiple antennae on both base stations and handsets (Multiple Input Multiple Output) as well as the deployment of a complex modulation technique called 64-QAM HSDPA. Both features will require new advanced devices compliant to 3GPP Release7 standard.

Last year Vodafone launched a 3G broadband service based on High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) with downlink peak rates of up to 7.2Mbps in selected hotspots within some key markets. Vodafone said it plans to carry out software upgrades to more of these selected hotspots to deliver up to14.4 Mbps from the end of the year as part of the existing HSPA roadmap subject to device availability.http://www.vodafone.com

U.S. Senate Passes FISA Bill with Immunity Provisions for Telecom Carriers

The U.S. Senate voted 68-29 to approve an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance inside the United States. Significantly, the Senate-approved FISA bill gives retroactive immunity to telecom carriers that cooperated with the controversial warrantless domestic wiretapping program carried out by the National Security Agency. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar FISA bill last year, but did not include the immunity provisions for telecom carriers participating in the warrantless domestic wiretapping program. http://www.senate.gov

Alcatel-Lucent and NEC announce Long Term Evolution (LTE) Joint Venture

Alcatel-Lucent and NEC will form a joint venture to focus on the development of Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband access solutions. These solutions will support the network evolution of leading customers around the world, such as NTT DoCoMo, who has already selected NEC as a vendor for commercial service deployment of its Super 3G (LTE) project, and Verizon, with whom Alcatel-Lucent has already initiated a LTE trial program.


The companies said their joint venture could accelerate the availability of next-generation wireless solutions.


Leveraging the common LTE product strategy and platform of the joint venture, Alcatel-Lucent and NEC will each manage delivery, project execution and dedicated support to their respective customers.


Under this joint venture, the two companies will pool their existing research & development resources and leverage market-proven expertise in key technologies on which next-generation wireless access is based, such as IP, multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA).


Through this joint development effort, Alcatel-Lucent and NEC are affirming their R&D investment commitments and combining them to accelerate product innovation, differentiation and performance. The goal of the two companies is to achieve faster commercial availability of LTE solutions, serve an expanded, global customer base, and establish a leading position in the early development phase of the LTE market.


Alcatel-Lucent and NEC expect first commercial releases available in 2009, and will leverage their wireless expertise to ensure smooth integration of LTE technology with the existing W-CDMA/HSPA and CDMA/EV-DO networks of their respective customers.


In the future, the collaboration is expected to expand into end-to-end third-generation (3G) CDMA-based solutions, as well as a wide range of advanced IP-based solutions, such as optical transmission, IP service routing, and IMS-based communications services.


The companies will also investigate collaborating in developing IT solutions for service providers - such as service application solutions (e.g. streaming, e-commerce, etc.)- together with the servers and storage products on which those solutions depend.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.comhttp://www.nec.com

JDSU Expands 40G Test Portfolio

JDSU introduced its T-BERD/MTS-8000 40G Transport module for 40G field installation and maintenance testing. The 40G Transport module weighs less than 18 lbs. when fully equipped for 40G and has been demonstrated at multiple Tier 1 carriers worldwide.


JDSU's T-BERD/MTS-8000 platform addressing fiber characterization, optical spectrum analysis, service verification, and troubleshooting needs, from 1.5M up to 40G, in one platform. The 40G Transport module also includes all T-BERD/MTS-8000 mainframe hallmarks, including a large, integrated touch screen and GUI in a rugged, compact and scalable form factor.http://www.jdsu.com

Ericsson Selected for NTT DoCoMo's LTE Project

Ericsson has been selected by NTT DoCoMo for its Long-Term Evolution (LTE) base station development project.


Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo have long cooperated in the areas of research and development, and standardization. Since 1992, Ericsson has delivered PDC base stations to NTT DoCoMo and, more recently, W-CDMA base stations for the operator's FOMA network.http://www.ericsson.com

Nokia to Integrate Google Search into Devices Worldwide

Google's search engine will be integrated with the Nokia Search application beginning with the Nokia N96, Nokia N78, Nokia 6210 Navigator and Nokia 6220 classic in select markets. Google search will be extended to additional Nokia handset models in the future. Ultimately, Nokia will make Google search available to its customers in over 100 countries around the world, serving mobile owners speaking more than 40 languages.


"Providing choices for our consumers is an important driver in Nokia's Internet service strategy," said Ilkka Raiskinen, vice-president, software and services at Nokia. "This integration allows our consumers the ability to use the innovative search technologies, which have made Google almost synonymous with Internet search.http://www.mobilesearch.nokia.com

Yahoo! Signs T-Mobile for European Markets

Yahoo! announced a deal to provide its mobile search services to millions of consumers in T-Mobile's European footprint. This agreement sets the stage for Yahoo! oneSearch to become the exclusive mobile search service for T-Mobile customers beginning at the end of March 2008.


The two companies also plan to work together to bring additional Yahoo! services including Flickr, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Weather and Yahoo! Finance to T-Mobile customers. http://www.yahoo.com

Yahoo! Debuts "oneConnect" Mobile App

Yahoo! announced its "oneConnect" service for aggregating mobile communications tools -- email, instant messaging (IM), text messaging (SMS), and social networks.


Yahoo! oneConnect is expected to become available in the Yahoo! Go 3.0 and Yahoo!'s new mobile home page in Q2 2008.


Key features of Yahoo! oneConnect will include:

  • Socially-connected address book - Provide users the capability to integrate activity from popular social networks, professional networks, and communities into their address book, keeping it always in sync. Consumers will be able to view status updates, photo uploads, and the recent activity ("pulse") of contacts across all their networks.


  • Integrated mobile messaging - Offer seamless integration of IM and SMS, including threaded conversations. Any messaging service will be able to use Yahoo! oneConnect's open APIs to plug into the application's messaging feature - enabling consumers to access a wide range of popular services, such as Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger.


  • Status - Give consumers the capability to view their contacts by their most recent status updates on popular social networks, as well as update their own status on their favorite social networks - in one easy step - and automatically broadcast it to their friends.


  • Pulse - Provide consumers the functionality to see a dynamic overview of what friends are up to, including recent photos, their status, profile updates, and recommendations based on their most recent actions on popular social networks.


  • Favorites - Keep the people consumers interact with most at their fingertips. Users will be able to set up messaging shortcuts to make reaching out as quick as possible.


  • Social contact card - Allow users to aggregate the most relevant information on any given contact, including archives of past communications, detailed pulse history, and one-click ways to initiate communication.


  • Location-sensing technology - Provide new ways to locate, chat with, and exchange contact information with nearby Yahoo! oneConnect users. Proximity alerts will notify consumers when a contact enters their vicinity.


Yahoo! said it is pursuing an open communications platform , allowing users the functionality to communicate via multiple communications tools - such as IM, SMS, and social networks. Widgets will provide users the capability to access their email across major email providers, such as Yahoo! Mail, MSN Hotmail, Gmail, and AOL Mail.

Additionally, Yahoo! is in discussions with DataViz, a company that allows mobile users to access their corporate Microsoft Exchange email accounts and Microsoft Office, documents, to work together on widget versions of its RoadSynch and "Documents To Go" applications.http://mobile.yahoo.com

Yahoo! Acquires Maven for Web Video Publishing/Advertising Platform

Yahoo! has acquired Maven Networks, a start-up offering an online video platform, for approximately $160 million. Maven's platform is currently used to manage, distribute and monetize premium online video content for over 30 major media companies, including Fox News, Sony BMG, CBS Sports, Hearst, Gannett, Scripps Networks, and the Financial Times as well as hundreds of their affiliates. Maven is based in Cambridge, Mass.


Yahoo! plans to use the Maven platform to offer publishers a full portfolio of technology and advertising solutions.


Yahoo! said it already has a large library of professionally produced legally licensed video content and has video advertising relationships with over 75% of the top TV advertisers. Additionally, Yahoo! has advertising relationships with a growing number of premium publishers including eBay, Comcast, Newspaper Consortium, Forbes.com and others.
http://www.yahoo.com http://www.maven.net
  • In October 2007, Maven Networks launched its Internet TV Advertising Platform, which aims to increase video advertising inventory and revenue via new ad formats, an intelligent and dynamic video ad insertion engine, and video ad inventory management tools. Maven said its platform introduces a series of new, non-proprietary formats that take advantage of in-video interactivity through the use of transparent overlays and video telescoping, and are intelligently placed within video streams to create additional, previously unavailable ad inventory.


    Maven also announced the formation of the Internet TV Advertising Forum, which aims to define next-generation online video advertising standards. Inaugural members of the Forum include Fox News Digital, Scripps Networks, Ogilvy, Digitas, TV Guide, 4Kids Entertainment, Microsoft Corp., DoubleClick and 24/7 Real Media. The industry collaborative was established to help solve the challenges and deficiencies associated with current online video advertising models.“Ogilvy is working with Maven to help evolve the platform to create new formats in online video advertising that truly reach the right target at the right time with the right message — it is the holy grail of advertising that marketers have been searching for,�? said Maria Mandel, Senior Partner and Executive Director of Digital Innovation, Ogilvy.