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Your advert here!!! Technical Editors:
Last modified: | Mobile Insight Vol: 8 Issue 318 May 22nd 2006ATI says dual processors are bestThe full Inquirer story ... Dual processor handsets are way forward www.ati.com World Cup planner for handsets8Bit Games is cashing in on soccer fever with its 'World Cup 2006 Planner' for mobile phones. A USP with this offering is that it promises to provide you with the latest betting odds for your favourite team. As well as a 'fantasy' option, whereby if you can predict the winners you could possibly win an iPod. The Planner appears to be a Java app which should run on most smartphones. UK consumers can download it by texting the words 'go world' to 60300. They're then billed £4.50 for the application via reverse premium rate SMS. According to 8Bit's Dave Vout, this product "is like travelling with your own personal team of experts, commentators, pundits, journalists and mates." Having downloaded the app, Mobile Insight is a bit worried that parts of the offering aren't there yet. For example, the 'Facts and background' appears to be missing. However, this is something which purchasers will probably need to download from the 'Updates' section via GPRS.
The full Inquirer story ... Get world cup betting odds on your phone Zinwave distributes cellular to skyscrapers"Never whether it handles Bluetooth signals or not," Zinwave's general manager told Mobile Insight. "This things works with regular Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) as well as cellular signals." Mobile Insight had previously chastised Zinwave for ignoring Bluetooth. "Being British we've actually waited until the product really works before showing it off," Cassidy said. Zinwave's secret is that it has found a means of shoving radio signals down fibre optic cables. The signal then 'pops out' wherever an antenna is installed. "You can even choose what signal comes out of which antenna," Cassidy boasted. Zinwave's gear can also handle TETRA. However, Cassidy revealed that the company's first customers are going to be those with large sites such as airports, railway stations, shopping malls and sports stadia. One surprising customer is enterprises based in very tall buildings. "What happens is that the cellular signal works well in the middle of the building but badly at the bottom and very top," Cassidy explained. Apparently, on the top floors of skyscrapers you can get so many signals the handset doesn't know which cell site to pick, according to Cassidy.The full Inquirer story ... Never mind the Bluetooth, it works with WiFi www.zinwave.com Handsets replace business card readersThe dedicated business card reader will soon become a thing of the past. A new SDK from Abbyy will enable developers to create applications that use the camera inside a cameraphone to read business cards. The company claims the software is a truly OS independent technology.Abbyy maintains its recognition engine has a small enough footprint and resource requirement that it will work easily on mobile phones. When a user takes a picture of a business card, an application created with Abbyy's SDK can be designed to read the image and identify relevant data. This application can then be linked to a handset's addressbook. Abbyy may well be too late. There are already two rival systems that can achieve the same results. They both work by reading information off a special bar code and into the mobile handset. One version is the Mobile Tag developed by France's Abaxia. The second is the Shotcode which is now being offered by Dutch company, OP3. The Shotcode was formerly marketed by Bango as the 'Spot'. Abaxia's product is more efficient. Instead of relying on data contained in the Mobile Tag (or datamatrix) for a user's contact details, Abaxia's software triggers a data (GPRS) session and downloads the information from a server. The other good news is that the software required to create your own business card contact details is available free of charge over the net. So far Abaxia's system has been adopted by France Telecom/Orange, Bouygues Telecom (plus the other i-mode alliance companies) and SFR in France. All of the above seem far more practical than embedding a RFID tag into your business card using an industry standard Near Field Communications. (See What is NFC?).The full Inquirer story ...
Business card readers are dead IMS has no critical cocktailThe problem with IMS is that converting loads of existing applications over to a spanking new IMS system is going to prove expensive. So when Mobile Insight asked Marc Rotthier, general manager with HP's OpenCall business what applications could trigger an operator to convert, he had to hedge his bets. "There's no 'critical cocktail' of applications," he claimed. No one specific application like IM (Instant Messaging) or location based service was going to swing the balance. However, operators will eventually work out that if they want to launch loads of new services, they'll have to move to IMS. The main point is that HP makes billions - $9 billion in the EMEA region along from selling equipment to telecoms companies. The catch is that the standards that form IMS aren't complete yet. So claiming you've already got an IMS application out there which Mobile Insight swears Nokia' Bob Brace did at the recent HP sponsored IMS summit is cheating somewhat. Rotthier compared that claiming full IMS compatibility for a launched service was akin to planting a flag on top of your house, before you've even finished the roof. So he's not going to claim HP has loads of 'trials' rather than full roll outs, for example. . The event did confirm Mobile Insight's previous story that you can launch an IM service without having to go down the IMS route. The full Inquirer story ... No critical cocktail will force operators over to IP Provider says IMS app are realEric from Terrell Solutions writes: I believe your article 'IMS has no critical cocktail' [above] to be somewhat misleading. The real key point is that eventually operators will need to deploy myriad services in a rapid manner. They will have to know location and service profile and will have to be able to cross access network boundaries. Here is where the IMS value lies. If you just want IP Telephony, you don't need IMS. If you just want to run your EVDO or UMTS network, you do not need IMS. However, when you want to manage session hand-off between wireless and wireline, or add intelligent media to a VoIP call, or stream your Tivo to your cell phone, IMS can become very valuable. The clichι of the moment is that there is no killer application, but there is a killer network [IMS]. Really IMS is an enabler. Once it is deployed (very costly) operators will be able to sew lots of seeds. They will be able to build, deploy, and manage services that may only touch a fraction of a percent of their market, while still turning a profit. If operators wait on IMS, they will definitely feel the pain when their competitors have it up and running. And by the way, IMS is specified enough to have IMS applications today. I know - my team has built them. Mobile Insight replies: Only in the USA can it be said that operators have to know a subscriber's location because of E911 (Emergency Services) requirements. I'm glad your team have built an IMS application. Perhaps they could finish your Web site, now?
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