[WEEKLY WIRELESS REPORT] Week Ending September 30, 2011
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[WEEKLY WIRELESS REPORT] Week ending September 30, 2011 This Week’s Stories key rhetorical question: "Why not just evolve MeeGo?" The answer, he said, is that "the future belongs to HTML5-based applications, outside of a AT&T Mobility Suffers Huge relatively small percentage of apps ," and Intel Network Outage in Los Angeles believes its investment should shift in that direction. September 26, 2011 But, he added, "shifting to HTML5 doesn't just mean slapping a web runtime on an existing Linux, even AT&T Mobility subscribers in Los Angeles can now one aimed at mobile, as MeeGo has been." text and make calls again on their mobile devices after technicians repaired a widespread network outage that affected millions of people. Sousou said that emphasizing HTML5 means APIs need to evolve with platform technology and by market segment, which a new platform could more AT&T spokesperson Meredith Red said late yesterday easily provide. that a hardware failure led to network issues with about 900 cellular towers across LA. Tizen will reside within the Linux Foundation, be governed by a Technical Steering Group, will be The service problems began at about 3.00 P.M. developed openly, and will support tablets, notebooks, Saturday and contributed to an evening of missed, handsets, smart TVs, and in-vehicle infotainment dropped and failed calls. Service was fully restored systems. early Sunday morning, local time. On the new Tizen.org website, a welcoming Red says it's unclear how many wireless subscribers statement said that Tizen APIs will cover various were affected, but conservative estimates are in the platform capabilities, including messaging, multimedia, millions. Mobile users complaining about their lack of camera, network , and social media, and there will be service made AT&T one of Twitter's top trending a development kit for creating native code. It's not yet topics for the keywords 'Los Angeles'. clear if Tizen will use any of the development that already has been done for MeeGo. Red added that AT&T technicians are still working to pinpoint exactly what caused the equipment failure, in On Tuesday, Nokia announced its first MeeGo order to prevent such another failure from happening smartphone , the N9, which could well be its last. In in the future. addition to Intel abandoning MeeGo, Nokia has committed to transitioning its smartphone line to www.wirelessindustrynews.org Microsoft 's new Windows Phone 7 platform, for which a feature-rich Mango update became available Tuesday. Intel Says 'Goodbye MeeGo, Hello Tizen' Intel's long-term commitment to MeeGo had been September 29, 2011 unclear, especially in the wake of the Nokia-Microsoft alliance. Last month, for instance, Intel and Google Some days, it seems that mobile platforms are announced they would work together to optimize new dropping like flies, yet growing like mushrooms. On generations of Google's open-source Android platform Wednesday, Intel announced that it was dropping the for the chipmaker's low-power Atom processors. MeeGo mobile operating system it had launched last year with Nokia, and, at the same time, will be Intel is especially interested in placing its 32- developing an open-source Linux mobile platform nanometer Medfield chip into mobile devices, as well called Tizen. as coming 22-nanometer processors. The dominant processor for smartphones and tablets are those Intel will work with the Linux Foundation and the LiMo based on designs from the U.K.-based ARM Holdings. Foundation in the creation and launch of Tizen, with ARM chips are used in smartphones from Apple, first release of the OS by first quarter of next year, Samsung, HTC, Research In Motion, and in tablets. and Tizen-based devices by the middle of 2012. Tizen will be built on standards-based web technologies. At the time last month, Intel said it was still committed MeeGo had been an attempt by Intel and Nokia to to MeeGo, but that it was interested in positioning it merge their two previous Linux-based platforms, more for embedded applications. Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo. www.mobile-tech-today.com On the MeeGo official blog, Intel Open Source Technology Center Director Imad Sousou asked a [WEEKLY WIRELESS REPORT] Week ending September 30, 2011 Products & Services less compatibility problems between devices, and for mobile app builders, it means simplified development. Sprint's Unlimited Data Plans Without getting overly technical (the full spec is Aren't Going Anywhere, CTO available here, if interested), the new specification extends the NFC data exchange format (NDEF), Confirms which previously described how data, like a website September 27, 2011 URL for instance, would be moved from an NFC tag to a NFC-enabled phone by tapping or waving a Sprint may have plenty of changes in store for its mobile device within close proximity to the tag. upcoming "strategy update," but it looks like one crucial policy will remain in place -- unlimited data plans. Speaking to reporters at Mobilize in San NFC, or ―near field communication,‖ refers to the Francisco yesterday, company CTO Stephen Bye wireless technology that allows data exchange over confirmed that even though competitors like Verizon short distances. It’s the backbone to the many and AT&T are phasing out their unlimited plans, upcoming mobile wallet systems, like Google Wallet, Sprint remains committed to providing its customers Visa’s wallet or the carrier-led initiative Isis, which just with infinite data. Doing so won't come without costs, announced partnerships with all major Android device since, as Bye explained, not all unlimited subscribers manufacturers. eat up the same amount of data. But the exec pointed out that these efforts are counterbalanced by the With the new specification, devices from different relative simplicity of managing unlimited schemes, manufacturers would be interoperable when it came and don't seem quite as prohibitive when compared to exchanging data. That means, for example, with the hidden customer support costs involved with assuming the iPhone 5 includes NFC, you could tap more complex, tiered plans. your iPhone to an Android user’s phone to exchange contact info, pictures, URLs, or any sort of supported Yet despite all this optimism, Sprint seems fully aware data. And you wouldn’t necessarily need a special that some major expenses are on the horizon, app to do so, although apps like Bump at least especially with a revamped 4G LTE network in the provide an attractive front-end to the data exchanging pipeline and, perhaps, with the iPhone 5 on the way. experience. (Bump does not use NFC currently, but it "Is there pressure? Yeah," Bye acknowledged. could support it in the future, if the developers chose). "There's a challenge for all engineers to work on how Instead, the data-exchange via NFC option could be we get the cost structure down." Bye went on to built into the OS, similar to how Bluetooth is made reiterate, however, that although a new data network available today. may attract new investors, it's ultimately Sprint's unique data plans that will keep its customer base The NFC Forum suggests contact exchanges as one intact. possibility for the new spec’s use, in addition to ―collecting movie posters for later use.‖ That is, a www.engadget.com mobile user could tap posters with NFC tags while walking by and later tap their NFC-enabled TV to Emerging Technology watch the trailers they saved. (Yes, please!) That said, support for NFC is still years out, according New NFC Spec Makes it Easier to most forecasts, and until Apple’s announcement to Swap Contacts, Save Data next month, we don’t know if the iPhone 5 will include the technology. Still, there’s a lot of momentum in the to Phones space, and the reactionary nature of the Isis September 29, 2011 announcement seems to imply Apple’s forthcoming participation. Good news, then, that the new (fingers Mobile users with NFC-enabled devices will no longer crossed!) NFC-enabled iPhones will now be able to need a special application in order to exchange work with my Nexus S. contact details or other types of data between their phones thanks to a new NFC specification which has techcrunch.com just been released. The non-profit industry association The NFC Forum has published its 16th specification today, this latest being a standardization of the Simple NDEF Exchange Protocol (SNEP) to use peer-to-peer mode for data exchanges. For users, this means [WEEKLY WIRELESS REPORT] Week ending September 30, 2011 Mergers & Acquisitions A recent survey performed in August reveals that 43 percent of all smartphone owners have an Android device, with the iPhone in second place at 28 percent. Telecity Buys UK Grid for Manchester Expansion But Kellogg warned that Android smartphone makers September 26, 2011 should not rest on their laurels – consumer sentiment could change quickly if Apple comes out with a new iPhone, say the iPhone 6 in early 2012. European colocation provider Telecity Group (LON:TCY, news, filings) hit the acquisition trail this morning, announcing the purchase of UK Grid for The rumor mill has been churning out steady reports £11.7M. UK Grid operates over 50,000 square feet of that Sprint will get the iPhone in October. Sprint CEO carrier neutral colo space spread across three data Dan Hesse has talked a bit about the rumors, neither centers in Manchester, which lies few hundred confirming nor denying the reports. kilometers to the northwest of London. Hesse recently added that the iPhone was the They already have three locations in Manchester, number one reason customers drop their current totalling about 36,000 square feet with a fourth under handset for an iPhone device.