Archive for May 28th, 2008
Posted by: admin in Mobile
Mobile Entertainment reports that France Telecom is planing to spend 200mn Euros on movies and TV this year. As most of you know, the French OpCo has moved strongly in to “Triple Play” - that’s to say it has Mobile, TV, and World wide web subscribers. As such, there needs to be a co-ordinated approach to it's content offering.
This dovetails neatly in to a related post I made earlier regarding Orange, and it's “Orange Sports” channel - you can read about that here.
[Via: Mobile Entertainment]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
In the UK: Tracking technology created by Path Technologies is being used to watch how shoppers mobe around shopping malls, according to The Register.
By installing their receivers in the shopping centre, Path are able to pick up comms between handsets and base stations, enabling location-fix to within a couple of metres. There are apparently two UK shopping centres using the tech, with three more to come soon!
The point of the tech, as aforementioned, is to find out more about the rituals of shoppers - something that has only previously been possible with fairly manual surveying methods. As most of the GSM comms are encrypted, and the network uses a TMSI (Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity) rather than sending the IMSI, it is stated to be anonymous. Path Intelligence is also keen to say all their tracking is anonymised, and that they can't establish who you really are…
Security concerns aside for a moment, the tech does have a lot of interesting applications - whether it is shopping, traffic, or trade shows.
For the moment Path Intelligence only does 2G GSM, though supporting CDMA wouldn't be too difficult. 3G GSM is slightly more secure but still uses a TMSI, so those on a 3G network are unlikely to remain untracked for long.
Whether shoppers will (a) know and (b) be happy with being tracked remains to be seen - I guess whether you need to inform them they’re being monitored might be a legal grey area - however, as The Register neatly points out, if you match CCTV footage to location info, then you would potentially have a good set of data about people - just like they do on 24! 
[Via: The Register]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
Windows Mobile device makers are on the rage. HTC unveiled the Diamond, Sony Ericsson - XPERIA X1, and Samsung is preparing to roll-out its “iPhone answer” - i900. There's certainly a momentum for Microsoft's mobile platform and once all the devices mentioned above are released, picking the right one won't be an simple task. XPERIA still leads in my eyes because of a more massive screen and that ultra-useful QWERTY keyboard. On the other hand, both Diamond and i900 look more compact. Which one will you choose?
More images of the Samsung i900 follow after the jump.
[Via: Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
Having reported only yesterday on the recommendation of one researcher to proactively introduce Mobiles into schools as a learning tool, I now present for you a complete paradigm-shift in terms of the approach of the Japanese to the issue of kids with phones. Before you continue, it's worth bearing in mind that Japan is one of, if not the most, advanced countries in the world as regards this tech..!
Japanese children should be prevented from using their mobile phones for anything other than talking to protect them from harmful influences, according to an advisory panel to the government.
The panel is already calling on schools and parents to take a much greater role in controlling the services children can access, reports the AFP, but ultimately sees no reason why children need to use a phone for more than speaking into.
The concerns are the usual bugbears: anonymous bullying via bulletin boards, and access to inappropriate material. Apparently only about one per cent of children have some form of content blocker in place, while a third of primary school (7-12) kids have mobiles, a figure that rises to 96 per cent once they reach secondary.
Personally I can't see Japan really enforcing this ban, and certainly there would be the not insignificant logistical issues of how this would be done - but it's an interesting reflection of some of the thinking going on in a very Mobile-advanced country.
[Via: The Register]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
Having reported only yesterday on the recommendation of one researcher to proactively introduce Mobiles into schools as a learning tool, I now present for you a complete paradigm-shift in terms of the approach of the Japanese to the issue of children with phones. Before you continue, it's worth bearing in mind that Japan is one of, if not the most, advanced countries in the world as regards this tech..!
Japanese kids should be prevented from using their mobile phones for anything other than speaking to protect them from harmful influences, according to an advisory panel to the government.
The panel is already calling on schools and parents to take a much greater role in controlling the services kids can access, reports the AFP, but ultimately sees no reason why children need to use a phone for more than talking into.
The concerns are the usual bugbears: anonymous bullying via bulletin boards, and access to inappropriate material. Apparently only about one per cent of kids have some form of content blocker in place, while a third of primary school (7-12) children have mobiles, a figure that rises to 96 per cent once they reach secondary.
Personally I can't see Japan really enforcing this ban, and certainly there would be the not insignificant logistical issues of how this would be done - but it's an interesting reflection of some of the thinking going on in a very Mobile-advanced country.
[Via: The Register]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
Orange France has obtained a DVB-H mode frequency for its “Orange Sports” TV channel, following the request for applications issued on 6 November 2007 by the French Audiovisual Regulator.
Orange Sports Television, the sports news and discovery channel, will thus be one of the first channels to be broadcast on mobiles in France, via the new DVB-H standard. Winning this frequency will enable Orange Sports Television to continue its development and expand its audience. The channel, launched on 6 September 2007, is already available on Television capable mobiles, on the Internet and on Orange TV.
Orange originally launched live Mobile TV (3G) in 2004, and since then has expanded “coverage” to run over both EDGE and 3.5G. In total there are (apparently) 62 live TV channels and 3000 or so videos.
Orange is also committing to Mobile TV not only as a delivery channel/aggregator, but also as a content producer - hence “Orange Sports”, as oppose to simply carrying an existing terrestrial/satellite provider. The PR on the channel says:
Orange Sports TV is the first French TV channel specially created for multi-media broadcasting: Television, Internet, and mobile. Orange Sports TV is a sports information channel with a highly specialised team of writers and crew who are lent support from the experience and content provided by its prestigious partners such as CNOSF (The French Sports and National Olympic Committee) and the Sporever Group.
[Via: 3G.co.uk]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
NTT DOCOMO has announced the new 906i and 706i series, with a total of 19 handsets and 64 body colours!!
The 906i series' eight handsets are equipped for all-round functions, including 3G/GSM international roaming, upgraded GPS location information, HSDPA, “One-Segment” mobile TV, 2 in 1® (combines abilities of two phones in one), DCMX® mobile credit card and iD™ mobile credit payments, VGA LCD screen and voice-to-text translation for Chinese, English and Japanese.
The 906i series enables full-spec enjoyment of diverse video content and services, including DOCOMO's Music & Video Channel, which provides more than 100 channels of downloadable broadcasts spanning 14 genres, and the new video portal on the i-mode™ top screen, which offers a wide array of free, searchable videos and clips. The handsets come with upgraded full browsers to play Windows Media® Video (all models except F906i) and Flash® 8 (all models except P906i) content commonly available on PC websites, and can upload movies and images of up to 2MB.
The new 706i series, 11 handsets in all, boasts trim, sophisticated designs and compatibility with “One-Segment” mobile TV. The 706i meets diverse needs with a wide-ranging lineup, including the Extra-Slim One-Seg Phone (slimmest One-Seg phone available), the Waterproof One-Seg Phone, the Wellness phone that monitors diet and health, and the enhanced Easy-to-Use phone with improved user interface. Some models are also compatible with advanced services such as HSDPA and 3G/GSM international roaming.
Comment: talk about going for the whole-shot! Across the series of devices, I think every major Mobile tech is in there, from mobile-wallet to mobile Television, to fitness monitoring! The Japanese penchant for the clamshell device is certainly in evidence too….
[Via: 3G.co.uk]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
So here’s some news of a 3G launch that’s a little farther afield than normal….
Kenya's largest mobile operator, Safaricom has launched its 3G network commercially. Subscribers will apparently have access to 3.5G at up to 7.2Mbps. The 3G tech will become available in Nairobi first, and then be rolled out further over the next year. Safaricom ran trials in 2006, and won it's licence in 2007.
As is often the case with new tech, the targeting of the new services will be at corporate and SME customers - both from the perspective of handsets, and also the now ubiquitous 3G-USB modems.
It's good to see that the wonder of 3G pervades nearly entirely across the globe - I wonder where it will go live next…..?
[Via: Telecom Paper]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
Vodafone Group’s German business head, Fritz Joussen has stated that he doesn't think pay-TV on Mobile devices is feasible, due to the development of newer handsets that are going to be able to display terrestrial (presumably DVB-T) signals….
He was quoted in the FT Deutschland as saying “These devices came as a surprise and call a payment based subscription model into question”. He also added that to generate the substitute revenues, VF was planning to offer on-demand video services for things such as Television programmes and Music video clips.
This is pretty much a sign of the times for Mobile Television right now - the two large issues of broadcast (or not) and business model keep rearing their heads - with the added spin in this case that handsets capable of picking up broadcast TV without using any specific mobile variant, are appearing - as a result, according to Vodafone, the business model gets blown apart. My money is on advertising being leveraged heavily to make the existing/planned Mobile TV services some sort of a success….
[Via: Telecom Tiger]
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Posted by: admin in Mobile
Vodafone Group’s German business head, Fritz Joussen has stated that he doesn't think pay-TV on Mobile devices is feasible, due to the development of newer handsets that are going to be able to display terrestrial (presumably DVB-T) signals….
He was quoted in the FT Deutschland as saying “These devices came as a surprise and call a payment based subscription model into question”. He also added that to generate the alternative revenues, VF was planning to offer on-demand video services for things such as Television programmes and Music video clips.
This is pretty much a sign of the times for Mobile Television right now - the two huge issues of broadcast (or not) and business model keep rearing their heads - with the added spin in this case that handsets capable of picking up broadcast TV without using any specific mobile variant, are appearing - as a result, according to Vodafone, the business model gets blown apart. My money is on advertising being leveraged heavily to make the existing/planned Mobile Television services some sort of a success….
[Via: Telecom Tiger]
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