ID-WIBB launched Indonesian Broadband Roaming Facilities

November 23, 2010 – To encourage WiMAX™ growth in Indonesia, ID-WiBB, an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to promote national vision through the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products in Indonesia, announced today the launch of an Indonesian broadband roaming facility to serve the many wireless broadband service providers throughout the region.

This will enable roaming between WiMAX and Wi-Fi and possibly future LTE operators, creating a unified 4G wireless network across the nation.

“Our goal is to encourage further wireless broadband adoption and growth of the broadband ecosystem by establishing an automatic networked ID authorization that will allow anyone – regardless of their service provider – to tap in to the benefits of wireless broadband from anywhere, at anytime,” said Kanaka Hidayat, ID-WiBB. “Today’s announcement takes us one step closer to uniting the Indonesian market under one wireless broadband umbrella.”

To date, three operators awarded WiMAX derived Wireless Broadband licenses in Indonesia have signed up to become roaming partners.

Aptilo Networks, the global leader in integrated solutions for control of billing, user services and access in wireless networks including Wi-Fi, WiMAX and LTE, has been selected by ID-WIBB to enable this multi-access roaming. The award-winning Aptilo Service Management Platform™, which will serve as a AAA proxy for the authentication, authorization and accounting of roaming users between the different WiMAX and Wi-Fi service providers. The Aptilo solution will keep track of roaming subscribers’ consumption of resources (time and/or data) in any visiting network and provide the required statistics to allow ID-WiBB to serve as a neutral accounting party. The addition of LTE support to the Aptilo platform in 2011 will expand opportunities for ID-WiBB for future revenue streams.

“Aptilo is dedicated to full compliance with wireless standards, and is unparalleled in our commitment to interoperability testing with vendors in the wireless broadband arena including WiMAX,” said Jan Sjonell, Managing Director Asia/Middle East, Aptilo Networks. “We are proud to have been selected for this important project. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with ID-WiBB in encouraging growth of the wireless broadband ecosystem in Indonesia.”

ITU Ratified LTE-Advanced as IMT-Advanced

4G Americas Applauds 3GPP and ITU

November 23 2010

BELLEVUE, Wash. –

4G Americas, a wireless industry trade association representing the 3GPP family of technologies, today applauds the final ratification of LTE-Advanced as an IMT-Advanced technology by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In its October meeting, ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Working Party 5D, which is responsible for defining the IMT-Advanced global 4G technologies, completed the assessment of six candidate submissions and reached a milestone by deciding on LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced for the first release of IMT-Advanced. Final ratification of the full IMT-Advanced technology family took place at the ITU-R Study Group meeting on November 22 and 23 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The future is bright for LTE, with nine official commercial launches already in 2010, and an additional 11 expected before the end of the year. More than 250 companies have publicly expressed interest in deploying LTE networks, including Greenfield, CDMA, WiMAX and GSM operators. LTE is expected to be the leading choice for next-generation OFDMA networks over the next decade for all wireless carriers.

As the future evolution of LTE, LTE-Advanced will be poised as a pre-eminent ITU-sanctioned 4G mobile broadband solution for information, communications and entertainment. By offering a full suite of integrated 3G (IMT-2000) and 4G (IMT-Advanced) ecosystems, the 3GPP technology family supports the evolving and expanding mobile broadband needs of the expansive international base of mobile operators and their customers. IMT-Advanced provides a global platform on which to build the next generations of interactive mobile services that will provide faster data access, enhanced roaming capabilities, unified messaging and broadband multimedia.

“This day is a milestone to remember for mobile broadband connectivity,” said Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. “4G Americas is excited about this new era of wireless communications and extremely pleased that 3GPP Release 10 and beyond – LTE-Advanced – mobile broadband technology has been approved by the ITU. The future for mobile broadband technologies has never been brighter to help progress societies in the Americas and throughout the world.”

LTE-Advanced technology will now move into the final stage of the IMT-Advanced process, which provides for the development in early 2012 of an ITU-R Recommendation specifying the in-depth technical standards for these radio technologies.

Pearson added, “Congratulations to ITU, 4G Americas’ member companies and 3GPP for their great work efforts in making this moment a reality.”

4G Americas is a Market Representation Partner of 3GPP.

For more information on LTE-Advanced, download the Rysavy Research white paper, Transition to 4G: 3GPP Broadband Evolution to IMT-Advanced.

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About 4G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Mobile Broadband Technology
4G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to promote, facilitate and advocate for the deployment and adoption of the 3GPP family of technologies throughout the Americas. 4G Americas contributes to the successful commercial rollout of 3GPP mobile broadband technologies across the Americas and their place as the No. 1 technology family in the region. The organization aims to develop the expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and applications enabled by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 4G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas. More information is available at www.4gamericas.org.

4G Americas' Board of Governors members include: Alcatel-Lucent, América Móvil, Andrew Solutions, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Ericsson, Gemalto, HP, Huawei, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Openwave, Powerwave, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Rogers, Shaw Communications, T-Mobile USA and Telefónica.

BlackBerry Playbook will become a tough challenger for iPad

Research In Motion (RIM) today redefined the possibilities for mobile computing with the unveiling of its new professional-grade BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet and BlackBerry® Tablet OS. Perfect for either large organizations or an “army of one”, the BlackBerry PlayBook is designed to give users what they want, including uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking and high performance multimedia, while also providing advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a breakthrough development platform for IT departments and developers. The incredibly powerful and innovative BlackBerry PlayBook is truly a game-changing product in the growing tablet marketplace.

“RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia.”

The Tablet You'll Want to Take Everywhere
This beautifully designed and incredibly powerful tablet is ultra portable, ultra thin and super convenient for both work and play. Measuring less than half an inch thick and weighing less than a pound, the BlackBerry PlayBook features a vivid 7” high resolution display that looks and feels great in your hand. With such a unique mix of utility, performance and portability, you’ll want to take it everywhere.

The New Benchmark in Tablet Performance
At its heart, the BlackBerry PlayBook is a multitasking powerhouse. Its groundbreaking performance is jointly fueled by a 1 GHz dual-core processor and the new BlackBerry Tablet OS which supports true symmetric multiprocessing. Together, the abundant processing power and highly sophisticated OS enable the BlackBerry PlayBook to provide users with true multitasking and a highly-responsive and fluid touch screen experience for apps and content services.

Uncompromised Web Browsing
With support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML-5, the BlackBerry PlayBook provides customers with an uncompromised, high-fidelity web experience and offers them the ability to enjoy all of the sites, games and media on the web. For more than a decade, the mobile industry has worked to bridge the gap between the “real web” and mobile devices through various apps and technologies and, in fact, a significant number of mobile apps today still simply serve as a proxy for web content that already exists on the web. The BlackBerry PlayBook closes that gap and brings the real, full web experience to mobile users while also opening new and more exciting opportunities for developers and content publishers.

High Performance Multimedia
The BlackBerry PlayBook features premium multimedia features to support high-quality mobile experiences. It includes dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing that can both record HD video at the same time, and an HDMI-out port for presenting one's creations on external displays. The BlackBerry PlayBook also offers rich stereo sound and a media player that rivals the best in the industry.

BlackBerry Integration
For those BlackBerry PlayBook users who carry a BlackBerry smartphone*, it will also be possible to pair their tablet and smartphone using a secure Bluetooth® connection. This means they can opt to use the larger tablet display to seamlessly and securely view any of the email, BBM™, calendar, tasks, documents and other content that resides on (or is accessible through) their smartphone. They can also use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data. This secure integration of BlackBerry tablets and smartphones is a particularly useful feature for those business users who want to leave their laptop behind.

Enterprise Ready
Thanks to the seamless and secure Bluetooth pairing experience and the highly secure underlying OS architecture, the BlackBerry PlayBook is enterprise ready and compatible (out-of-the-box) with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. When connected over Bluetooth, the smartphone content is viewable on the tablet, but the content actually remains stored on the BlackBerry smartphone and is only temporarily cached on the tablet (and subject to IT policy controls). With this approach to information security, IT departments can deploy the BlackBerry PlayBook to employees out-of-the-box without worrying about all the security and manageability issues that arise when corporate data is stored on yet another device.

QNX Neutrino Reliability
The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built upon the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture, one of the most reliable, secure and robust operating system architectures in the world. Neutrino has been field hardened for years and is being used to support mission-critical applications in everything from planes, trains and automobiles to medical equipment and the largest core routers that run the Internet. The new BlackBerry Tablet OS leverages and builds upon the many proven strengths of this QNX Neutrino architecture to support a professional grade tablet experience and to redefine the possibilities for mobile computing.

An OS Built for Developers
The Neutrino based microkernel architecture in the BlackBerry Tablet OS delivers exceptional performance, high scalability, Common Criteria EAL 4+ security, and support for industry standard tools that are already familiar to hundreds of thousands of developers. The OS is fully POSIX compliant enabling easy portability of C-based code, supports Open GL for 2D and 3D graphics intensive applications like gaming, and will run applications built in Adobe Mobile AIRas well as the new BlackBerry® WebWorks™ app platform announced today (which will allow apps to be written to run on BlackBerry PlayBook tablets as well as BlackBerry smartphones with BlackBerry® 6). The BlackBerry Tablet OS will also support Java enabling developers to easily bring their existing BlackBerry 6 Java applications to the BlackBerry Tablet OS environment.

Key features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook include:
• 7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
o Measures 5.1”x7.6”x0.4” (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
o Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
• Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
• RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Availability
The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be available in retail outlets and other channels in the United States in early 2011 with rollouts in other international markets beginning in (calendar) Q2.
RIM will begin working with developers and select corporate customers next month to begin development and early testing efforts.
The BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK is planned for release in the coming weeks and developers can register for early access at www.blackberry.com/developers/tabletos.

For more information, visit www.blackberry.com/playbook.

*Bluetooth support required.

Twitter is becoming a Powerful Tool for Political Communications

Twitter, which was created by a 10-person startup in San Francisco called Obvious, is a heady mixture of messaging, social networking, "microblogging" and something called "presence," shorthand for the idea that people should enjoy an "always on" virtual omnipresence.

Twitter's rapid growth made it the object of intense interest and a fair amount of ridicule, as it was derided as high-tech trivia or the latest in time-wasting devices. But its use in Iran in the wake of the disputed presidential election of June 2009 to organize protests and disseminate information in the face of a news media crackdown brought it new respect.

"Twitterers" or "tweeters" send and receive short messages, called "tweets," on Twitter's Web site, with instant messaging software, or with mobile phones.

When a user is logged in through the Web or a cellphone, it asks one simple question, "What are you doing?" Users answer in 140 characters or fewer. While some of these tweets have the profundity of haiku, most are mundane, like "Sure is pretty out tonight" or "My eyes itch. I am very aggravated."

Unlike most text messages, tweets are routed among networks of friends. Strangers, called "followers," can also choose to receive the tweets of people they find interesting.

In April 2010, Twitter rolled out a much-anticipated plan for making money from advertising, finally answering the question of how the company expects to turn its exponential growth into revenue.

The advertising program, which Twitter calls Promoted Tweets, will show up when Twitter users search for keywords that the advertisers have bought to link to their ads. Later, Twitter plans to show promoted posts in the stream of Twitter posts, based on how relevant they might be to a particular user.

In its short history, Twitter has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal.

But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers - ghost Twitterers, who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star's own voice.

It is not only celebrities who are forced to look to a team to produce real-time commentary on daily activities, but also politicians like Ron Paul, who have assigned staff members to create Twitter posts and Facebook personas. Barack Obama's presidential campaign used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

In 2009, people in Iran and Moldova created their own searchable tags on Twitter to organize protests against their governments and share information with each other and the world. In April, Moldovans used the network to rally more than 10,000 young people against their country's Communist leadership. And in June, Iranian opposition supporters angry over presidential election results used Twitter and other forms of new media to share news on rallies, police crackdowns on protesters, and analysis.

With the authorities blocking text-messaging on cellphones, Twitter has become a handy alternative for information-hungry Iranians. While Iran has also tried to block Twitter posts, Iranians are skilled at using proxy sites or other methods to circumvent the official barriers.

In a notable moment during the Iranian protests, State Department official e-mailed Twitter to request a delay in scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran.

Twitter complied with the request and briefly postponed its upgrade. The episode demonstrated the extent to which the Obama administration views social networking as a new diplomatic tool. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talks regularly about the power of e-diplomacy, particularly in places where the mass media are repressed. (source: The NY Times)

Android is gaining Users faster than expected. It may overtake Symbian soon

I suppose that it's just as well that Apple's Steve Jobs is used to being at the bottom in terms of market share, because it's about to happen again. According to Gartner research it will happen by the end of 2010, when the Android mobile OS will have surpassed both Apple's iOS and Research In Motion's BlackBerry operating system to reach second place behind only Symbian. By 2014, according to the report, Android and Symbian will be approximately equal in market share.

Interestingly, this growth to parity with Symbian is happening about two years sooner than Gartner had predicted in 2009. What's happened, of course, is that Android has been adopted by a wide variety of manufacturers this year, and it's selling a lot of those devices at prices far lower than Apple sets for the iPhone. In the United States, where Nokia's presence is relatively low, Android is expected to reach the top spot by the end of 2010. (source; eWeek)

There are many reasons for the explosive growth of Android phones. In the United States, there are a lot of users who can't use the sole iPhone carrier, AT&T, and a lot who could but don't want to, either because they're happy with whatever company provides their wireless service now or because AT&T's service has gotten a poor reputation due to problems with iPhone service.

Android phones, on the other hand, are available from every carrier in the United States, and they're made by nearly every company that builds smartphones.

This wide range of choices means that you don't have to do things Apple's way if you don't want to. And you don't have to use your smartphone in any particular way because of the number of form factors and interfaces available for Android devices. Giving users a range of choices has always worked well, and it works even better when that range of choices is also less expensive than the alternative.

Apple is trying to combat the market-share erosion caused by Android devices by letting other carriers sell the iPhone. In the United States, it appears that T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless will be getting the iPhone in the near future. However, the chance of Apple actually pulling off an Android upset is remote. The iPhone is too expensive for many buyers who are looking for a phone that's smart enough, but still affordable. Android can offer that, while Apple has been going after the high end of the market and that isn't going to change.

It's the long run that's the most interesting, however. Just as Gartner missed the mark on Android growth last year, it's very likely the predictions are also too conservative this year. The reason lies in the nature of the Symbian market and Nokia's smartphones. Symbian has a large market share due to a preponderance of legacy devices, legacy here being another term for "old." While much of the world has a much lower level of turnover than happens in the United States and Western Europe, old phones are still going to be replaced when they die or when they fail to meet their users' needs. Nokia, with its aging phone population, faces that turnover much sooner than does the Android world.

So what's going to happen is that a portion of those old Nokia phones are going to be replaced with Android devices, while a much smaller portion of Android devices will be replaced with Symbian phones. Nokia's market share will sink while Android's market share grows. I think the crossing point will happen sooner than predicted in 2014 and could happen as soon as the end of 2012.

At that point, Android devices will be tops in market share globally, not just in the United States. Nokia's share will continue to erode, as will RIM's and Apple's. Unless Apple can find a way to step up its development rate or provide a broader choice in models, it's likely that the popularity of iPhones will decline fairly quickly. RIM will have a similar problem with the BlackBerry, but not to the same extent. RIM has a solid business base that the other makers don't and can't get a part of. But that's not going to keep RIM at the top of the heap, either.

There is, of course, a wild card. Microsoft is getting ready to release its new phone and its new Windows Phone 7 operating system. If the Redmond team can get past the clunky interface and vague models showed in earlier versions of Windows Mobile and the ill-fated Kin line, and if the company can sell those phones at a highly competitive price, then you may see Microsoft gaining significant market share. Right now we don't know what will happen, but remember, one reason Windows has such a huge part of the computer operating system market today is because Microsoft let anybody sell Windows, and machines running it were far cheaper than those running the Mac OS.

If Microsoft does the same thing with phones, then it could be a factor that upsets all of those carefully (or not-so-carefully) thought-out predictions. We'll have to see, but I think Android is still going to come out on top.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media.

Posted on Wed May 6 2009

There are a million ways for businesses to use social media well, and only a handful of ways to do it horribly wrong. So why do companies keep falling into the same traps?

The answer is easy: human nature. And as we all know, humans are constantly beset by malicious temptations.

So as a public service, I've decided to break down the Seven Deadly Sins that make social media go sour. (Click on any one of the tips to learn more.)

1. Lust: Loving your customers is great, but take it slow.

2. Gluttony: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

3. Greed: It’s hard to shake hands while you’re reaching for someone’s wallet.

4. Sloth: Always avoid the temptation to “set it and forget it.”

5. Wrath: There are a lot of people out there itching for a punch in the nose, but you’re not the one to give it to them.

6. Envy: Don’t be dissuaded by other people “doing it better than you.”

7. Pride: Stay humble, rock star.

If you're a glutton for insight, read on after the jump.

1. Lust: Loving your customers is great, but take it slow. In the ribald days of 2006, a business would sign up on MySpace and then start “friending” everyone with a pulse. These days, lusting after fans like that will get you labeled as desperate — or even as a spammer. So keep it in your pants and truly get to know the first people who connect with your brand. In return, they might just love you for life.

2. Gluttony: Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Once companies decide to take a seat at the social media table, they often dig in with gusto. The downside: They want to be everywhere at once, spreading themselves across the Web instead of being strategic and focused. You don’t need accounts on all social networks — just the right ones.

3. Greed: It’s hard to shake hands while you’re reaching for someone’s wallet. We’d all like to make money through social media, and if your business is strong, it’ll happen. But if all you do on your Twitter feed or Facebook page is spout off sales messages, no one’s going to stick around. Be yourself. Be helpful. Be a good listener. Then the money will come to you.

4. Sloth: Always avoid the temptation to “set it and forget it.” Starting a blog or creating a presence on a social network? That’s easy. Keeping it alive and growing? That takes commitment, adaptability and good-old effort. You would never open a storefront, then close shop two weeks later because of low turnout. Go for the long term, and plan accordingly.

5. Wrath: There are a lot of people out there itching for a punch in the nose, but you’re not the one to give it to them. Once you’re active online, you’re bound to get a few critics. Some will offer valuable feedback. Some will shout obscenities. You won’t have a hard time telling the difference, so focus on the ones who deserve a response. And no matter what, never lash out. Your scathing “private” e-mail will probably end up on 100 blogs before breakfast, and the Internet has a long (if not infinite) memory.

6. Envy: Don’t be dissuaded by other people “doing it better than you.” Someone will always have more followers, more blog comments, more write-ups in Wired. Focus on who you are and what your business has to offer, not on what the other guy is doing. And when you must steal an idea (because hey, it happens), find a way to make it so much bigger and better, no one can even recognize the original.

7. Pride: Stay humble, rock star. Successful social media really is easier than you’d think. If you plan ahead, pace yourself and listen more than you talk, you’ll strike a chord with existing customers and potential fans alike. It will open new opportunities and enhance your brand in ways you never imagined. But don’t let it go to your head. There’s always more work to do. (source:thesocialpath.com)

Texas Authority probes Google Search Engine Results Ranking

The Texas attorney general has opened an antitrust investigation into how Google ranks search results, the first United States case to strike at the heart of the company’s main search business.

The issue at hand — referred to as search neutrality — is whether Google manipulates results to thwart competitors and advance its own businesses. Some companies worry that Google has the power to discriminate against them by lowering their listings in search results or charging higher fees for their paid search ads.

“This whole issue of how Google treats these vertical competitors, that’s a big issue now,” said Gary L. Reback, a lawyer at Carr & Ferrell in Palo Alto, Calif., who has advised small companies that have brought antitrust cases against Google.

Google announced the inquiry by the Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott, on Friday after Search Engine Land, an industry blog, reported on it. Lauri Saathoff, a spokeswoman for Mr. Abbott, confirmed the existence of the investigation but declined to give more information because the review was not complete.

Don Harrison, Google’s deputy general counsel, wrote in a company blog post that Google’s responsibility is to its users, not to Web sites, and that the company’s priority was to “provide the most useful, relevant search results and ads for users.”

“Given that not every Web site can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it’s unsurprising that some less relevant, lower-quality Web sites will be unhappy with their ranking,” Mr. Harrison wrote.

In his post, he said the Texas attorney general asked the company for information about a number of companies. It listed three — Foundem, a British shopping comparison site; SourceTool, a business search directory; and myTriggers, which collects shopping links.

Foundem is involved in the European Commission’s antitrust investigation of Google. The other two sites have each brought private suits against Google; a federal judge dismissed SourceTool’s suit this year.

In the blog post, Mr. Harrison also suggested the three companies were connected to Microsoft. He pointed out that Foundem belonged to the Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace, a European group co-founded by Microsoft, and that SourceTool and myTriggers were clients of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the law firm that represented Microsoft on antitrust issues.

Industry analysts expect Google to continue to attract broader and deeper antitrust scrutiny as it dominates the Web search business and expands into new areas.

“We’ve got an investigation in Europe, and now we’ve got an investigation by one of our biggest state enforcement agencies,” Mr. Reback said. “The next question is, why isn’t the Department of Justice investigating this?”

There may be other companies involved in the Texas investigation, and the Department of Justice is looking at issues of search fairness related to Google’s acquisition of ITA, the flight information company. The company has also faced antitrust inquiries over advertising deals.

Google was contacted by the Texas attorney general in August, said Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman on policy issues. (source: The New York Times)