mobile

Cities and carriers won't win new mobile bandwidth by playing under the old rules

12 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Just the beginning for urban mobile crowding.

If mobile data networks are going to be capable of handing 1,000-times more traffic in the near future – as Qualcomm believes they will – the number of cell sites will have to increase by 100-times, at least in dense urban areas. That was the pictured painted last night by Ronen Vengosh, vice president of marketing and business development for PureWave Networks, at a small cell seminar organised by the Wireless Communications Alliance on Qualcomm’s Santa Clara campus.… More

HTML5 pace set by carrier dog days, not developer dog years

30 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Puppies for a while longer.

The Firefox OS is built to run thin client HTML5 applications, which depend heavily on network connections to store data and offload processing. So far, the available applications are a promising mixed bag, at least judging by performance on the first readily available Firefox phone, the ZTE Open.

Both the Facebook and, particularly, the Twitter apps are consumer-ready, but most of the other available apps are little more than browser bookmarks that take you to a website.… More

Firefox OS performing as well as it can on ZTE Open SDK

29 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Twitter top pick on Firefox app store.

The Firefox mobile operating system is clearly a work in progress, but that said, it works well enough already. I’ve been using a ZTE Open Firefox phone for three months, and can do most of the things I need to do and, as time goes on and software is released, more of the things I’d like to do.

The OS performs better than Bada, which I used for about a year on a Samsung handset.… More

Mobile broadband test results speeding back to the FCC

27 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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The FCC’s mobile broadband speed test app for Android is a hit. In its first two days, it was downloaded and installed on 30,000 devices. It’s been out now for two weeks, and its getting a 4.4 out of 5 rating on the Google Play store.

Those first two days produced 40,000 reports from all over the country. The FCC says that all 50 states and all the major carriers are represented in the data received so far.… More

New in-flight mobile phone rules could inspire airlines to catch fliers with honey, not vinegar

24 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Have you ever been in a federal prison, Joey?

With the possible exception of screaming children, I can’t think of anything I’d like less on an airplane than a cabin full of loud and one-sided mobile phone conversations. Even bringing back smoking would be preferable: at least that section of the plane used to be relatively child free. Allowing in-flight mobile phone calls would push the U.S. airline experience from miserable to pure hellish.

That said, Tom Wheeler is correct when he said last week “modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules”.… More

Looking for the Facebook of mobile medical platforms

26 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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With 26 million people – more than 8% of the population – in the U.S. suffering from diabetes, a device that wirelessly tracks blood glucose levels will find a ready market. Which is what iHealth is targeting with a new, networked glucose monitor that was previewed at Pepcom’s Holiday Spectacular in San Francisco last week. Piece by piece, this consumer oriented medical device maker is also building an online health and wellness management platform.

The monitor costs $80 and connects to an iOS or Android device via Bluetooth.… More

App-centric approach to home automation previewed at Pepcom


No need to worry when a ‘bot has your back.

Home automation is taking a step back from integration and interoperability. Judging by the the companies previewing products at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular in San Francisco last week, the latest, shopper-friendly strategy is to turn smart phones into home control centers simply by crowding single-purpose apps together on a screen.

Three companies – DoorBot, Dropcam and Honeywell – were showing smart phone-networked home automation devices and a fourth – Kevo – takes the direct route to iPhones via Bluetooth.… More

Old guard chipmakers emphasise the old at Pepcom

19 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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Plenty of leg, but no ARM at Pepcom.

If you were wondering why Intel and AMD released downbeat quarterly reports this week, you only had to look at their products. The difference, though, is that AMD has control of its own destiny, while Intel will have to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive.

The two chipmakers showcased the hottest products rocking their silicon at Pepcom’s Holiday Spectacular in San Francisco on Wednesday. That’s not the same, though, as saying they were showing the hottest products on the market.… More

New mobile payment push by Verizon takes centerstage at MobileCon

16 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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As easy as looking in your wallet to see how much cash you have.

Credit cards are simple to use, easy to carry and accepted everywhere. That’s a tough combination to beat, which explains why mobile payment platforms are stalled in the U.S.

“You’ve got to make it incredibly simple,” said Michael Abbott, the CEO of Isis, a mobile payment platform that’s pulled together support from Verizon, American Express and Chase. “The competition is plastic, we’ve got to make plastic obsolete.”… More

MobileCon draws more people than purpose in San Jose

16 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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Same booths, less booze, more schmooze than San Diego.

MobileCon’s last gasp is respectably windy, thanks to the decision to move it to San Jose. For the past few years, it’s bounced between San Francisco and San Diego as attendance, conference quality and buzz steadily spiraled downward. Following a dismal showing in San Diego last year, CTIA decided to combine MobileCon with its spring flagship show into a single event in Las Vegas next September, modestly called Super Mobility Week.… More