October 7, 2008
Mobile operator Vodafone has announced a new ebook download service for its customers. Partnering up with GoSpoken, Vodafone is offering its customers the opportunity to purchase audiobooks and ebooks for between £5 and £15, with the cost of the book being added to the user's monthly bill. GoSpoken.com was set up by Tony Lynch, in partnership with SAS novelist Andy McNab, to ...
Vodafone launches ebook service
by David MastersMobile operator Vodafone has announced a new ebook download service for its customers. Partnering up with GoSpoken, Vodafone is offering its customers the opportunity to purchase audiobooks and ebooks for between £5 and £15, with the cost of the book being added to the user's monthly bill. GoSpoken.com was set up by Tony Lynch, in partnership with SAS novelist Andy McNab, to ...
T-Mobile and 3 appoint BT for backhaul support
by David MastersMobile operators T-Mobile and 3 have signed a deal with BT to have 7,500 of their base stations connected up to BT's next generation broadband network. The deal was agreed between BT Wholesale and Mobile Broadband Network Ltd (MBNL), a joint venture between 3 and T-Mobile. It will see BT lightening the load of the network operators by carrying data from their ...
HTC Q3 profits down 5%
by David MastersHigh Tech Computer (HTC) has reported its results for the third quarter, with net profit falling 4.9%. The decline in profit is being blamed on a typhoon that delayed the company's September shipments. Revenues, however, were in line with expectations, up 30% on year to $1.2 billion. HTC said it is on track to meet the upper end of 2008 revenue growth targets, ...
GoHello’s Ideas For SME Cost Cutting Initiatives
by Alan HartenLike so many businesses around the world, SMEs are probably about to face hard times as the planet's financial systems reel under ever-growing turmoil. GoHello business telephony systems company says that although times ahead look difficult there are ways to combat the potential problems. They consider that a big headache for SMEs is out of control overheads, and believe that controlling ...
October 6, 2008
BT Openzone has expanded its Wi-Fi estate with 6,600 more Wi-Fi locations from iBAHN, Wayport, and Vex. The three new networks give BT Openzone customers over 45,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the world. The partnership with iBAHN provides around 1,500 hotspots at the Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton and all Marriott brands in the Americas and Canada, and well as 230 UK locations. The ...
BT Openzone wins 6,600 more Wi-Fi hotspots
by Jan HarrisBT Openzone has expanded its Wi-Fi estate with 6,600 more Wi-Fi locations from iBAHN, Wayport, and Vex. The three new networks give BT Openzone customers over 45,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the world. The partnership with iBAHN provides around 1,500 hotspots at the Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton and all Marriott brands in the Americas and Canada, and well as 230 UK locations. The ...
T-Mobile confesses customer data breach
by David MastersT-Mobile confessed this weekend that it has lost confidential data for 17 million of its German customers. The data was stolen in 2006, and included telephone numbers, dates of birth and email addresses. A statement from the company said a storage device containing the details is in the hands of unknown parties. Research by T-Mobile has found that customers' banking details are not ...
Government to spy on e-mails and phone calls
by David MastersPlans to create a £12 billion database, that holds all the phone calls, e-mails, and internet browsing patterns of everyone in the UK, have been proposed by the British government. The government says the database will help it to combat terrorism and reduce crime. A statement from the Home Office said no official decision has been made yet, but there is general ...
Freescale’s mobile chip business for sale
by David MastersTexas-based chip maker, Freescale, has put its mobile phone chip division up for sale. The company is seeking a buyer or partner for the division so that it can focus on making chips for computer networks and cars. In a statement, Freescale said the sale is intended to 'sharpen' the company's 'strategic focus' on high growth markets. Freescale has historically supplied chips to ...
Taiwan’s WiMax future in doubt
by David MastersTelecoms operators in Taiwan have warned that WiMax could prove too costly to install and may not work in built-up areas. Last week, Taiwan's six WiMax service providers considered teaming up to buy WiMax equipment in bulk as a way of reducing costs. The six providers - Vastart Cable TV Network Co, First International Telecom Corp, Global Mobile Corp, Tatung InfoComm, Far ...
October 3, 2008
T-Mobile has unveiled a new docking station for its 3G mobile broadband dongles. The docking station functions as a Wi-Fi wireless router, allowing up to three users to access the internet at once, over the same connection. Software supplied with the docking station sets up any computers that want to access the Wi-Fi network. Docking stations will be sim-locked, meaning that they will ...
T-Mobile unveils Wi-Fi router for mobile broadband
by David MastersT-Mobile has unveiled a new docking station for its 3G mobile broadband dongles. The docking station functions as a Wi-Fi wireless router, allowing up to three users to access the internet at once, over the same connection. Software supplied with the docking station sets up any computers that want to access the Wi-Fi network. Docking stations will be sim-locked, meaning that they will ...
Virgin broadband goes mobile
by David MastersVirgin Media this week launched a mobile broadband service to compete with rivals O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3. Anyone signing up for an 18 month mobile broadband contract with the company will receive a free USB modem. The service will cost £15 per month with a 3GB download limit - Virgin says this is enough for 2,000 emails, 100 hours surfing ...
Gigabyte Communications joins touch-UI trend
by David MastersTaiwan-based ODM, Gigabyte Communications, has joined the increasing number of smartphone vendors releasing their own-brand handset with a touchscreen interface. The Smart Touch II interface was developed by, and is patented to the company, and two handsets have been released that exploit the technology. The MW702 and MS802 smartphones are already shipping to Hungary, with plans to launch the MS802 in Taiwan ...
October 2, 2008
For the second year in a row, ECI Telecom have beaten off all comers in the competition for the Current Analysis award for best top platform in the world of CO DSLAM. The award goes to ECI’s Hi-FOCuS Multi-Service Access Node (MSAN). The award is innovation driven and focuses on five criteria: scalability, standards, capacity, QoS support and pricing. One of ...
ECI Wins Broadband Access Platform Award
by Alan HartenFor the second year in a row, ECI Telecom have beaten off all comers in the competition for the Current Analysis award for best top platform in the world of CO DSLAM. The award goes to ECI’s Hi-FOCuS Multi-Service Access Node (MSAN). The award is innovation driven and focuses on five criteria: scalability, standards, capacity, QoS support and pricing. One of ...
European and World Broadband Subscriber Statistics
by Alan HartenThe Broadband Forum, who met in Brussels for the Broadband World Forum this week, has announced the results of their findings in regard to broadband’s spread across the globe. And they have figures to show that the European market is the most utilised, with a third of all broadband users located in the continent. This is the second year that Europe ...
Swedish Homes to Get 10 Fold Speed Increase
by Alan HartenResidents in Swedish properties will soon be able to take advantage of high speed internet, in fact it will be ten times faster than the connections they have now. NEC's European arm is to provide Swedish network operator, Svenska Fibernät, with a new fibre solution to speed connections. At the moment these householders can receive 100Mbps, while the new service via ...
October 1, 2008
Struggling mobile phone maker Motorola is looking to Google's new Android software to revive its ailing fortunes. The company revealed this week that it has increased its staff numbers developing Android-based handsets from 50 to 350. Problems at Motorola have been well documented over the past year. The company has struggled to emulate the success of its RAZR handset, sales and profit have ...
Motorola seeks salvation in Android
by David MastersStruggling mobile phone maker Motorola is looking to Google's new Android software to revive its ailing fortunes. The company revealed this week that it has increased its staff numbers developing Android-based handsets from 50 to 350. Problems at Motorola have been well documented over the past year. The company has struggled to emulate the success of its RAZR handset, sales and profit have ...
Sony Ericsson axes 2,000 jobs
by David MastersSony Ericsson plans to cut costs by axing 2,000 jobs around the world, 450 of which will be in the US. The company blames the job cuts on rapidly changing market conditions and the need to stay competitive in a 'fast-paced' industry. A statement from the company said the cost cutting measures will will put it back on track for profitable growth. Revenues ...
UN: 4bn mobile users by 2009
by David MastersThe United Nations expects the number of mobile phone users around the world to hit four billion by the end of this year. That's almost two thirds of the 6.7 billion global population. Hamadoun Touré, head of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU), said that the usage growth has been driven by uptake in rapidly developing economies such as Brazil, China, India ...
September 30, 2008
Timico Group, which provides unified communications products to enterprises, has completed two 1Gb IP connections in preparation for the launch of BT's 21st century network. 21CN is an end-to-end Internet Protocol-based network which will enable faster and more efficient delivery of converged services. Timico is now ready to commence trials of customer migrations over to BT’s 21CN link, allowing customers ...
Timico prepares for 21CN network
by Jan HarrisTimico Group, which provides unified communications products to enterprises, has completed two 1Gb IP connections in preparation for the launch of BT's 21st century network. 21CN is an end-to-end Internet Protocol-based network which will enable faster and more efficient delivery of converged services. Timico is now ready to commence trials of customer migrations over to BT’s 21CN link, allowing customers ...
WiMAX arrives in America
by David MastersWiMax has arrived in the US, with telecoms company Sprint unveiling the price plan for its next generation XOHM WiMax service. Although WiMax is already available in some areas of the US, Sprint is the first service to make WiMax laptop modems available. Baltimore, on the east coast of the US, will be the first city in the country to be offered ...
