Tag Archive for 'Mobile'

Technology 2012: Virgin territory

Published on December 5, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In some parts of the new digital world, it is obvious who is in charge. Google rules in search; Facebook in social networking; Amazon in retail. These territories are still being fought over: Microsoft’s Bing is attacking Google in search, Google is attacking Facebook in social, and so forth. But these are all large, relatively mature fields.

During 2012 the more interesting battles will be those taking place on the smaller, lesser-known territories on the fringes of the technology world, in areas such as mobile payments, location and augmented reality.

They may seem marginal fields now, but it is worth remembering that social networking went from obscurity a decade ago to being used by hundreds of millions of people today, accounting for more time online than any other activity, according to a survey of American internet users by Nielsen, a market-research firm. Like search, social and online retail, these promising new territories have the potential to transform people’s lives, but have yet to be conquered [Source].

HTC’s Anti-Apple Strategy Wins U.S. Market

Published on November 10, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

HTC has become the top seller of smartphones in the U.S. with a strategy that’s precisely the opposite of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s. Where Apple is secretive, HTC is open. Where Apple is exclusive, HTC works with all carriers. Where Apple is proprietary, HTC is collaborative. Where Apple customizes for no one, HTC customizes for everyone. It’s the anti-Apple and, so far, it has worked.

By quickly incorporating the latest technologies and customizing phones for customers, Chou has forged ties to more than 100 wireless operators on six continents. The company has climbed to the No. 4 position in smartphones globally, behind Samsung, Apple and Nokia.

The question is whether HTC can stay on top. Chou has benefited as people trade in traditional phones, used primarily for voice calls and texting, for smartphones, which can download apps and surf the Web. Carriers scrambling to keep up with demand such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint turned to HTC for smartphones that use Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software during the almost four years AT&T had exclusive U.S. rights to the iPhone [Source].

Samsung’s new phones will have flexible screens

Published on October 30, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Samsung‘s new mobile device lineup will feature flexible screens starting in 2012, the company announced today.

In its quarterly earnings call, Samsung’s vice president of investor relations, Robert Yi, told investors, analysts and press, “The flexible display we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part. The application probably will start from the handset side.”

After flexible-screen mobile phones roll out, the company plans to introduce the same technology for tablets and other devices.

In January 2011, Samsung purchased Liquivista, a strategic acquisition that will allow it to produce the kinds of displays that were announced today. Liquivista made electrowetting display technology, which is used to create mobile and other consumer electronic displays that are bright, low-power, flexible and transparent [Source].

Beyond the PC

Published on October 9, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: .

Mobile digital gadgets are overshadowing the personal computer, says Martin Giles. Their impact will be far-reaching.

This marks a turning-point in the world of personal technology. For around 30 years PCs in various forms have been people’s main computing devices. Indeed, they were the first machines truly to democratise computing power, boosting personal productivity and giving people access, via the internet, to a host of services from their homes and offices. Now the rise of smartphones and tablet computers threatens to erode the PC’s dominance, prompting talk that a “post-PC” era is finally dawning.

The rise of tablets and smartphones also reflects a big shift in the world of technology itself. For years many of the most exciting advances in personal computing have come from the armed forces, large research centres or big businesses that focused mainly on corporate customers. Sometimes these breakthroughs found their way to consumers after being modified for mass consumption. The internet, for instance, was inspired by technology first developed by America’s defence establishment[Read more].

Google takes on Asia: New strategies in Asia’s diverse market

Published on June 14, 2011 in Emerging Markets, Global Strategy and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Daniel Alegre, Google’s President for Japan and Asia-Pacific, insists that his company is “locally relevant”, as it tries to appeal to the different tastes and internet capabilities of the hugely diverse Asian region.

It signals a shift in the centre of gravity of cyberspace, as Asia becomes the biggest and fastest growing region for the internet.

“Here in Asia… we have very strong competitors. And we thrive on that competition, because it forces us to be better and it forces them to be better and in the end, the internet benefits,” Daniel Alegre says.

The confidence is understandable. Given its global dominance and the new users that the Android operating system is drawing in, Google is still well positioned to challenge the Asian incumbents [Source].

New Apps Aim for Social Serendipity In Real Life

Published on May 25, 2011 in Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

People have created a web of connections online through social networks. But a new wave of apps aim to help people create spontaneous connections when they arrive at specific locations, giving rise to temporary social networks that are built around a place and a time.

LoKast, a proximity-based media sharing service, is updating its mobile app today to enable local chatting among strangers and other social tools. Two of the start-ups at TechCrunch Disrupt this week Karizma and Sonar showed off the ability for people to connect with others right around them for video chats or live interactions. A couple of months back, Color made a splash in the photo-sharing app space with the promise of letting people share pictures with the people immediately around them.

We’ve already seen some of this momentum with apps like Yobongo, a new chatting app that brings people together in one area. Local question and community-assisted recommendations sites like LocalMind and CrowdBeacon help get answers for people from the nearby community. Gay dating app Grindr also works to bring people together locally. But many of those are targeted on a larger area, not just built around one specific location [Source].

Visa Is Making The E-Wallet Real

Published on May 12, 2011 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

We’ve heard a lot about the notion of a digital wallet, but the tech itself seems slow to arrive apart from one or two regional experiments, and the promise of more exciting tech in the future. Now Visa’s changing all that with a new plan to make the e-wallet, including wireless payments, a reality–and soon, too.

Visa, which calls itself a “global leader in electronic payments” has just announced what it’s calling the “next generation of payments solutions.” It means, quite specifically, the technology and financial data infrastructure that’ll supplant the little card payment machines we’re all used to swiping our card through to pay at a checkout or restaurant–a tech that’s being swiftly overtaken by digital commerce, mobile commerce, and “burgeoning social networking commerce environments.” Basically Visa’s seen the writing on the wall for the way its credit card systems currently work, and is planning to reinvent everything into a “secure cross-channel digital wallet” and a “range of customized mobile payments services” tailored to local markets around the world. This is a good thing for us consumers, and probably a shrewd business move by Visa itself.

The new digital wallet will arrive in the U.S. and Canada in the fall of 2011, and it’ll work by storing Visa and non-Visa payments data. It will support NFC payments through Visa’s payWave system and it’ll cover all sorts of payment situations, including e-commerce, mobile commerce, micropayments, social networks, and person-to-person payments. A long list of financial institutions are already on board, including U.S. Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada–indicating this really is a thing that’s happening, rather than a far-fetched patent [Source].

A Google Mobile Payment Service?

Published on January 4, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Google is reportedly working on a new near field communication [NFC]-based mobile payment service that would allow individuals to easily pay for products just by tapping their smartphones against a special terminal at checkout.

The information comes from Bloomberg Businessweek, who cites “two people familiar with the plans.” The sources indicate that the service could become available as soon as this year. Smartphones would be required to be at least 10cm away from the register in order to exchange payment information [Source].

Already, several companies are looking to offer NFC-based mobile payment services. For instance, Verizon Wireless in partnership with AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc. announced a joint-venture in November of 2010, which seeks to create a mobile commerce network called Isis. The service is expected to debut sometime in early 2012.

Other companies looking to create NFC-based mobile payment services of their own include Visa, Ebay and PayPal, and others.

Read another article here: Mobile phone will change the world.

Google unveils Nexus One phone

Published on January 5, 2010 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Google has unveiled an own-brand smartphone called the Nexus One. Google is aiming to take on Apple’s iPhone and defend its dominance in Internet search, introduced a touch-screen mobile phone that runs on its own Android operating system.

The device is 0.45 inches (11.5 millimeters) thick, about the same as the iPhone, and has a larger screen than its rival. The phone will cost US$179 with a T-Mobile USA contract and US$529 without it, Mario Queiroz, Google’s vice-president of product management, said today at an event at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California [Source 1] [Source 2].

Mobile Broadband Fastforward

Published on March 18, 2009 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

mobilebroadbandMobile broadband is taking off! Increased usage of mobile broadband is among others fuelled by the fact that handsets turn into computers, laptops are becoming more like mobile phones, networks are becoming faster, and prices for mobile data traffic is rapidly decreasing. Even industry veterans have been surprised by the rapid take-up of mobile broadband using built-in receivers or plug-in “dongles” to provide internet access to laptops via high-speed mobile networks.

In Western Europe alone, the number of mobile-broadband users will grow by 50% to 27m this year, according to IDC, an analyst firm. Worldwide, there are thought to be around 100m.

However a few questions still remain: Will mobile broadband replace fixed broadband in the longer term? Will emerging economies leapfrog directly to mobile broadband like with mobile phones?