[qi:___wimax] The future of WiMAX is pretty bleak in developed countries and as a result, equipment makers aren’t likely to sustain their investments in the space, according to a note out today by research firm Analysys Mason. The note calls out Cisco and Motorola specifically. Motorola […] Read more »
Upstream bandwidth use is on the rise, with some vendors reporting a 24 percent increase in traffic from 2007 to 2008. But does that increase mean more people are contributing content to the web, or that the few who do contribute use a disproportionate amount of ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Prepaid cell phone plans are looking increasingly attractive for those who want more services for less money, according to the latest issue of Consumer Reports. Several new plans that cost $50 per month for unlimited voice and texts have recently been introduced from smaller carriers such […] Read more »
The emergence of a commercially significant electronic book (e-book) market in the past three years has been the result of two quite-recent technological developments. The first, and most critical, has been a breakthrough in the technology for manufacturing reflective electronic paper displays (EPDs), allowing for the introduction of affordable, lightweight and portable e-book readers such as Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader.
The second has been the rollout of reliable “3G” wireless broadband networks, which have made it possible to deliver digital books directly to reading devices without the intermediate steps of downloading files to a PC and then transferring them to a reader. Direct-to-device sampling and delivery, particularly with Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPhone, have enabled impulse-driven e-commerce, which has been critical to early consumer adoption of e-books.
The technology for e-books, however, remains nascent. The Kindle and its ilk are very much first-generation devices that deliver the minimally acceptable experience. Further development of the business will be closely tied to future technological developments, including flexible and color displays, format standardization and rich-media applications. As the market grows, there are numerous opportunities for other technology players, from social networks to cloud service providers and more. This report examines the trends and opportunities ahead. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Android may be a young smartphone platform, but it’s clear that Google is developing it on a fast track. Information about the OS has been leaking out continually, and it’s become obvious that new features are being added for future releases. We previously questioned if the […] Read more »
Microsoft Exchange support is a big plus for the Palm Pre and was much ballyhooed in the pre-launch buzz of the phone. But while Exchange support is working for most Pre owners, according to reports, a number of new Pre owners are not able to get […] Read more »
The U.S. wireless data market grew 5 percent quarter over quarter and 32 percent from first quarter 2008 to reach $10 billion in mobile data service revenues. It marked the first time the U.S .market has achieved the $10 billion milestone. Given the strong growth in data revenues shown by the top carriers and the increase in service revenues overall, it appears that (at least for the time being) the worst is over for the mobile industry. In summary, the recession has been all but a tiny blip (from the service revenue perspective) in its growth trend, and the U.S. mobile market has weathered the downward spiral in the economy better than its counterparts in other developing nations. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Prime View International, a Taiwanese company that makes an e-readers display part, said today it would purchase E-Ink, a company that provides the digital ink technology in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, for $215 million. The two companies have been partners in developing the Sony […] Read more »
As cable companies transition to super-fast broadband speeds provided by DOCSIS 3.0, they’re also considering how they can move from providing analog and digital channels via radio frequency the way they do today, and instead transition to an on-demand IPTV model that could offer them more […] Read more »
Many companies looking to manage the energy consumption of rooms and buildings often first turn to the power of wireless, because wireless standards like Zigbee can make energy management systems relatively cheap and easy to deploy. Not OutSmart, a 1.5-year-old startup based in Natick, Mass., which […] Read more »
