MobileGuru

ViewRanger GPS Now Live On iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:49:00 +0000

Award winning ViewRanger GPS from Augmentra is now available on the iTunes app store with premium map data from 13 countries including the USA, UK and Germany, so iPhone owners can now enjoy the benefits of this high quality, tried and trusted “off-road sat nav”. ViewRanger GPS is designed for anyone looking to optimise their time outdoors, and is already a favourite app of walkers, cyclists, and other outdoors enthusiasts.

By downloading ViewRanger GPS, customers install the benefits of a more-expensive stand-alone GPS navigation system onto their iPhone. The app uses the phone’s GPS capability and comes with inclusive credit to install a large area of premium national survey topographic mapping for the user’s choice of area.

The app is easy to use and the interface will be familiar and intuitive to iPhone users, as it makes full use of the multi-touch, swipe and pinch finger control features. Just a couple of taps are required to download routes or map tiles relevant to your location. Maps are then cached on the handset so that no data connection is required in use, and loading and refresh is extremely fast. Users can even create their own tracks for others to follow, and share routes and points of interest. Its speed and reliability has seen ViewRanger GPS adopted by Search and Rescue teams and other outdoor professionals.

Augmentra has created relationships with in-country mapping agencies and content partners across the world. This includes National Geographic in the USA, Ordnance Survey in Great Britain, Bundesamt fur Kartographie und Geodesie (BKG) in Germany, and partners in a further ten countries.

Dan Ortiz, Vice President, Products, Marketing & Operations for National Geographic Maps, comments that, “We are excited to offer detailed topographic maps of the United States to a growing number of smartphone users. There is a generation of people that have grown up with vehicle sat-navs and internet-based maps who may rarely use topographic maps. ViewRanger GPS captures this audience, and by making it easy to follow a topographic map on their phone, it will allow them to venture into the outdoors with confidence.”

ViewRanger GPS also exploits the connected nature of the iPhone to provide users with mobile access to a growing catalogue of downloadable outdoor route content from well known branded partners, including the AA, Walkingworld, Excellent Books and local tourist boards. It is easy to download routes and map tiles over the air.

David Stewart of Walkingworld, a route content partner in the UK, comments,

“We are delighted to have our walks available on direct download to iPhone through ViewRanger. With over 5000 routes on the Walkingworld site, one of the great advantages of our content is that people can find a walk wherever they happen to be. Being able to follow the route on a map and get instructions and pictures direct to the mobile phone is a real benefit to our members. ViewRanger remains the only mobile mapping app that supports our routes in all their detail. It is even better that the facility is free to those who have paid our modest annual subscription.”

Record 15 Multi-Company Live Demonstrations to take place at Management World 2010

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:48:00 +0000

TM Forum’s Catalyst rapid-development program will showcase a record 15 projects at Management World 2010 in Nice, France next month. The Catalyst program, which converts service provider challenges into prototype solutions in less than six months, will present 15 collaboratively developed solutions covering a range of key topics including managing cloud services, customer experience, analytics, mCommerce, and digital service delivery.

Communications Service Providers participating in these projects span the globe, including BT, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Swisscom, Qwest, Telstra, China Telecom, China Unicom, Zain, and many others. More than 40 suppliers are participating, including the biggest names in the business such as Cisco, Microsoft, IBM, Ericsson, Huawei, and Amdocs.

Each Catalyst project comprises a multi-company team of suppliers and service providers. The team works to address requirements defined by service provider project champions. With the focus of each Catalyst driven by the service provider champion, the resulting project provides a unique view of the challenges service providers are facing, and demand innovative solutions.

Multi-company Catalyst projects typically run for 3-6 months and utilize TM Forum’s Collaborative R&D methodology, enabling service providers to have prototype solutions to their requirements in a much shorter timeframe than standard RFx and lab testing processes.

DeviceAnywhere Works with BlackBerry Partners Fund for 2010 Developer Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:14:00 +0000

Further building upon its role as a BlackBerry® Alliance Member, DeviceAnywhere is working with the BlackBerry Partners Fund during the newly-announced BlackBerry Partners Fund Super Apps Developer Challenge. The competition, which is open to all developers, aims to spur the development of deeply integrated applications that deliver a compelling user experience leveraging the unique capabilities of the BlackBerry Application Platform.

Developers entering this competition will benefit from a direct link to DeviceAnywhere’s industry standard Test Center™ solution, which provides remote access to networked devices located across the globe. DeviceAnywhere is also supporting this challenge with Proof Center™ to provide a proof-based self-certification solution that gives application developers remote access to DeviceAnywhere’s banks of real networked devices. With Proof Center, users can compile evidence that their application works successfully using handset screenshots and video, which are automatically saved and organized into proofs that can later be viewed or searched for by application and handset. For the purposes of this competition, Proof Center serves as the testing platform for a more in-depth submission process that developers will use to submit a higher-quality version of their application, before they proceed to the final phase in which winners will be selected.

For the finalists, DeviceAnywhere will create free interactive tutorials using DemoAnywhere™, a solution that allows developers to demonstrate the application’s key features and functionality to consumers. DemoAnywhere can be leveraged as a powerful marketing tool on any online medium such as developer websites and blogs, allowing potential buyers to feel comfortable with the app before they go ahead and download it. Winners will also gain prizes of testing time in DeviceAnywhere’s industry-leading Test Center.

“Developer challenges are a breeding ground for application innovation and DeviceAnywhere is pleased to be an enabling partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund’s ‘Super Apps’ Developer Challenge,” said Faraz Syed, CEO of DeviceAnywhere. “The three DeviceAnywhere technologies that are being leveraged for the competition will demonstrate the breadth of support that we offer for the different stages of application development.”

More Train Operators than Ever Expected at Train Communications Systems 2010

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:15:00 +0000

There is no escaping it, 2010 is the year WiFi on trains came of age. As more and more train operators around the world bite the bullet and introduce passenger WiFi services, BWCS is launching its fifth annual Train Communications Systems Conference.

Once again train operators and suppliers from all over the world will converge on central London to discuss the benefits and costs of offering staff and passengers high-speed access to the internet on trains. This year a host of new operators have begun trials or fully-fledged WiFi services. These include Dutch, British, American, Japanese, Indian, German, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and French train companies who have all recently launched WiFi on-board services aimed at delivering benefits to passengers and cutting operating costs for the train companies involved.

According to Graham Wilde CEO of BWCS, “This type of service is fast becoming a must-have for passengers and is helping train companies in their battle against rival modes of transport. Not only do passengers come to expect it as a right, but the actual high-speed wireless connections can offer several handy cost-cutting services which are actually very appealing to the train companies.” Wilde continued, “The rail industry is not known for rapidly embracing new technology, but this is an area where it has shown real leadership.”

Wilde reflected that almost every train operator and supplier involved in, or interested in, this dynamic new sector will be at the conference, either presenting or attending. "This is now established as a truly global event and offers a great platform for train operators and suppliers to share their experiences in this area.”

BWCS, which has worked with many of the leading operators on the development and procurement of WiFi on train services, will host a series of presentations by the leading rail companies on the 2nd and 3rd of June at the Royal Horseguards Hotel in Westminster.

Among those presenting at Train Communications Systems 2010 will be: Amtrak, Indian Railways, MTA Boston, SJ Trains, Virgin Trains, Thalys, National Express Trains, VR Trains Finland, Swiss Trains and many more.

The conference is sponsored by Icomera, Nokia Siemens Networks and EURail Magazine. 21Net is sponsoring a cocktail event at the end of the first day.

Mimecast Launches First Always-On Continuity Service for BlackBerry Smartphone Users

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:19:00 +0000

Mimecast, a unified email management company offering SaaS-based email security, continuity, policy control and archiving, has today announced the launch of Mimecast Continuity ServicesTM for the BlackBerry® Wireless Solution. The new service is the first to enable enterprise IT managers to provide uninterrupted email access to BlackBerry smartphone users in the event of a Microsoft Exchange outage, a BlackBerry Enterprise Server failure and Research in Motion infrastructure downtime. Until now, businesses have been limited in their range of continuity choices for the BlackBerry solution, relying on SaaS services that require the availability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server or server replication solutions.

By bypassing the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and communicating directly with the handset from the cloud, Mimecast’s Continuity Service ensures that critical mobile workers can remain connected; sending, receiving and deleting mail as normal, during server downtime. Whether operating in standard or continuity mode, complete integration between Mimecast’s security, continuity and archiving service elements ensures continuous and consistent enforcement of email security, data loss prevention and archiving policies at all times, supporting businesses’ compliance and security needs.

Peter Bauer, founder and CEO of Mimecast, said: “Our own research recently revealed that just 36 percent of UK companies had a proper email continuity strategy, despite 97 percent of written business communication being over email. With the BlackBerry solution established in an ever growing number of IT departments, extending business critical email continuity to BlackBerry devices has become an essential requirement.”

Mimecast has been providing continuity services to hundreds of thousands of email users around the world over the last seven years. Mimecast Continuity Services for the BlackBerry Wireless Solution is the first extension of the company’s existing range of email disaster recovery services to mobile devices. With Mimecast, users are able to send and receive email and access their personal archive through a variety of mail clients including Microsoft Outlook (desktop), Mimecast Personal Portal (web) and BlackBerry smartphones (mobile) in the event of scheduled or unplanned mail server outages or connectivity failures.

In response to the announcement, Tim Hyman, IT Director at prominent UK law firm Taylor Wessing, said: “The Mimecast system has already gone a long way to ensuring the 100% availability of email during times of disruption to internal systems. The development of a genuinely robust BlackBerry solution is the final piece in the jigsaw as it means that our lawyers will be able to access their email from the device they favour, virtually eliminating the inconvenience and productivity loss of email downtime.”

Stephen Drake, Program Vice President, Mobility and Telecom at analyst firm IDC, added: “Solutions such as those from Mimecast address a real issue for IT Managers with large numbers of users depending heavily on their BlackBerry smart-phones. The fact is, Exchange Servers and BlackBerry servers are invariably in the same location, so in the event of a disaster the chances are both will go down. The Mimecast service also ensures users remain connected in the event of a RIM NOC failure, uniquely removing an additional potential point of failure.”

Mimecast Continuity Services for the BlackBerry Wireless Solution is on demonstration for the first time at this week’s Infosecurity Europe conference and exhibition in London, and will be available to customers from July 2010.

Cellcrypt Offers Government-Grade Voice Security for BlackBerry Smartphones on T-Mobile’s Network and Wi-Fi Hotspots

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:11:00 +0000

Cellcrypt, the leading provider of secure mobile voice calling, today announced the availability of its high-strength government-grade encryption application for mobile devices, including BlackBerry® smartphones, on both T-Mobile’s secure cellular network and T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi® HotSpots across the globe. With encryption accredited to the FIPS 140-2 standard (approved by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology), a government official or traveling executive can use their T-Mobile Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphone to make classified or confidential calls and be assured that the content of their call is protected to government-level standards.

According to a recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute entitled, “Security of Voice Data,” it costs U.S. corporations on average $1.3M each time a corporate secret is revealed to unauthorized parties. For more than 60 percent of surveyed organizations, these breaches occur at least once per month.

“Any breach of proprietary enterprise or government information can be incredibly costly,” said Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO at Cellcrypt. “Now, business and government customers using T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphones with Cellcrypt’s encryption application can add peace of mind to the cost and convenience benefits of Wi-Fi calling. In addition, Cellcrypt provides added security for calls placed over standard mobile networks.”

The Cellcrypt easy-to-use mobile application provides end-to-end voice encryption on smartphones over the entire path between callers. Utilizing an IP data channel, it seamlessly protects and supports both Wi-Fi and 2.5G, 3G and 3.5G cellular networks.

“Across the enterprise, we are seeing as many as 1.6 million calls originated using Wi-Fi calling per month,” David Pepe, Divisional Director, Government Sales at T-Mobile. “T-Mobile has put in place several security safeguards – from security algorithms and encryption keys on our Wi-Fi-enabled devices to an IPSec VPN tunnel to secure voice and data traffic between the core network and the device. For those customers desiring additional levels of security, Cellcrypt’s government-grade encryption application makes secure calling as easy as placing a normal phone call.”

Cellcrypt Launches Secure Mobile-to-Office Voice Calling

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:10:00 +0000

Cellcrypt, the leading provider of secure mobile voice calling, today launched Cellcrypt Enterprise Gateway™ which enables business executives to securely call office desk phones from their cell phone. The solution is aimed at senior executives travelling to hostile countries where phone interception is widespread.

In addition, mobile executives can securely access standard office telephony features – such as voicemail, conference calls and calling out to the public telephone network – allowing them to seamlessly continue their normal business routine when abroad assured that confidential corporate and personal information is kept private.

Cellcrypt Enterprise Gateway™ is an enterprise software application that interfaces with office phone systems (Public Branch Exchanges (PBXs)) and provides encrypted voice calling to Blackberry® and Nokia mobile phones running Cellcrypt Mobile™ software. It also passes commands to and from PBXs via keypad tones (DTMF) and interactive commands (IVR) to enable secure remote access to existing PBX telephony features such as conference calling.

Executives increasingly recognise the risk of call interception by foreign states, competitors, journalists and kidnappers, especially when travelling abroad. As recently as April 2010, an unauthorised spy centre was discovered in Latin America containing sophisticated cellular interception equipment used for spying on businesses, politicians and journalists. This is the latest example of illegal phone interception whose breadth and depth is only recently coming to the public stage. A 2005 report to US Congress* showed that far from being restricted to a few rogue nations, state sponsored interception is widespread, stating, for example, that 108 countries are actively engaged in collection efforts against US technology assets.

Another reason for business travellers to secure cell phone calls when abroad is to protect personal information from kidnappers in high-risk regions, such as South America. In 2009, an estimated 9,000 kidnappings took place in Venezuela alone**.

“The issue of phone interception is often thought to be restricted to government agencies but it has recently become clear that the equipment and software required is now available to the general public,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman & Founder, Ponemon Institute. “The widespread availability of both the GSM encryption codebook and a complete basestation software stack has brought mobile interception within reach of any graduate IT student with $2,000 of readily available equipment, substantially increasing the scale of the threat to the enterprise”.

Cellcrypt provides encrypted voice calls on mobile phones such as BlackBerry® and Nokia smartphones delivering government-grade security in an easy-to-use application that makes highly secure calling as easy as making a normal phone call. Utilising the IP data channel it supports all major wireless networks including 2G (GPRS/ EDGE), 3G (HSPA, CDMA/EV-DO), Wi-Fi® and satellite. Cellcrypt's encryption technology is compliant to FIPS 140-2 security standard, approved by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“As business is increasingly conducted over mobile phones and on a global scale, it is a corporate responsibility to both the individual and the organisation to protect private information,” said Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO at Cellcrypt. “With the threat growing at an alarming rate, organisations need to adequately protect all types of calls ranging from board of director conference calls through to itinerary discussions with personal assistants. Cellcrypt Enterprise Gateway allows important office communications to continue normally even when key executives are out of the office or travelling abroad.”

Intrexx 5 Professional puts a whole enterprise portal into your pocket

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:00:00 +0000

United Planet, one of the leading developers of enterprise portal software in Europe, has extended its successful Intrexx series. The new Intrexx 5 Professional enables users to create their own mobile enterprise applications for smartphones and the iPad with just a few clicks of the mouse and without any programming knowledge. With this feature United Planet is responding to its customers' growing need to be able to use portal applications when they are on the move.

Creating an application that can be accessed via the iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad and other mobile devices is very easy: After having built an application with Intrexx via ‘drag and drop’, simply select the desired mobile device. Intrexx automatically takes care of the technical implementation and special requirements of the selected device (such as bandwidth or sliding effects). Even data from existing software systems (ERP, CRM etc.) can be transferred to the mobile phone quickly and easily. An entire enterprise portal can be made mobile in just a few days. To facilitate a speedy start, Intrexx 5 Professional includes 30 ready-to-use applications as standard.

Axel Wessendorf, managing director at United Planet, said: “In this way, both managers and employees can access all important company data and documents anytime, anywhere, even when they are not in the office. Field staff can access the most current customer data on their way to a meeting, managers can approve an employee's application for leave or check an invoice from home. Intrexx 5 Professional really does open up the power of the portal to mobile users.”

In addition, Intrexx 5 Professional allows users to create high-performance internet pages at the same speed and ease as intranet pages. By reducing load times for these pages by up to 90 per cent, thanks to comprehensive caching mechanisms, Intrexx performs significantly better than many popular web pages. Furthermore, it is also possible to create highly accessible applications to increase usability for all.

United Planet has been able to achieve this by developing an entirely new layout designer based on CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which allows the user to position each element, right down to the pixel. This offers unequalled flexibility when professional users are designing portals, ensuring that portals fully conform to an organisation's corporate design - including the logo, in-house colour scheme and font style.

Despite the addition of these key innovations, United Planet has been able to keep license cost at the same level. A user license for Intrexx Professional still costs EUR 105 per user and a runtime license, which allows unlimited user access to an application, costs EUR 1,940.

Telefónica Selects Myriad Group To Provide Mobile Social Networking Services Across Latin America

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:49:00 +0000

Telefónica, one of the world’s largest telecommunications operators, and Myriad Group, a global leader in mobile technology with software in over 2 billion phones, announced today that Myriad has been selected to provide social networking aggregation services to Telefónica's mobile subscribers across 12 countries in Latin America.

Marketed under Telefónica's Movistar brand, Myriad services will enable mobile users to simultaneously access multiple social networks, via mobile browsers, downloadable apps and other mobile technologies. The aim of the partnership is to deliver a richer social networking experience for Movistar customers, over a broad range of devices including Movistar-branded phones.

“Latin American consumers are enthusiastic users of social networks. This agreement will bring them a compelling and affordable way to access these sites from their mobile phones,” said Luis Miguel Gilperez Lopez, Managing Director, Mobile Division of Telefónica Latin América. “One of the most appealing aspects of Myriad is its focus on mass-market phones rather than just high-end devices, which will enable Telefónica to reach the widest possible audience and make the most of this exciting opportunity.”

According to Internet measurement specialists comScore, Inc., 2 out of 3 global Web users visited a social networking site in December 2009. In Latin America the adoption rate exceeds 80%.

Telefónica currently serves more than 80 million mobile users in 12 Latin America countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The Telefónica deployment is further testament to Myriad’s successful acquisition of social media pioneer Xumii, Inc., and it follows recent commercial success with Australian mobile network operator, Optus, which involved Myriad delivering social networking services to over eight million customers.

"Coupled with our recent deal with Optus, our strategic partnership with Telefónica clearly positions Myriad as a leading provider of social networking solutions for mobile operators," said Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Myriad Group. "Our unique ability to deliver end-to-end solutions, including deep integration of social networking into mass-market phones, enables operators to deliver next-generation services for all mobile users, even in markets where many users will never afford an advanced smart phone."

Paradial Announces Availability of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Compatible ICE Stack

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:47:00 +0000

Leveraging Paradial’s award winning and standards-based RealTunnel firewall/NAT technologies, Paradial announces the availability of a Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 compatible RealTunnel MS ICE SDK. Paradial confirms it has signed a first license agreement with a customer for the solution. Paradial’s RealTunnel MS ICE SDK allows organizations to quickly build multi platform applications that are compatible with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 servers and that work in any firewall, NAT and web proxy environment.

Through the RealTunnel MS ICE SDK, companies can shorten the development time and reduce risk when developing Office Communications Server-compatible applications for Linux, MacOS, Windows Phone and Windows operating systems. The SDK contains an implementation of Microsoft Corp.’s ICE specification and includes STUN and TURN support.

“Through the RealTunnel MS ICE SDK companies can avoid the time consuming and complex development associated with implementing and ICE agent,” said Espen Skjæran, Paradial CTO.

“The MS ICE SDK reduces cost and removes risk for anyone building OCS-compatible applications. Building on a proven ICE SDK that runs on multiple OS-platforms allows MS-partners to focus on building high quality and innovative applications leveraging Paradial’s proven firewall and NAT traversal technologies” stated Paradial CEO, Ingvar Aaberg.

The RealTunnel MS ICE SDK is available immediately on Linux, Windows and MacOS. Support for other OS-platforms will be available soon.

Avaya Data Solutions Launches New Products to Drive Greater Business Value, Performance and Competitive Advantage

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:46:00 +0000

Avaya, a global leader in enterprise communications systems, software and services, today at Interop 2010 unveiled new data products that are faster, more cost-effective, and are specifically designed to support the growing needs of today's bandwidth-hungry video and unified communications (UC) applications. These products are designed to address the main challenge that enterprises face today: how to cost-effectively add the bandwidth needed to position them for growth.

"The days of the 'one size fits all' network solutions are over," said Kevin Kennedy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Avaya. "The Avaya Data Solutions business is positioned to play a critical role in Avaya's growth as we lead the industry to 'Fit for Purpose' data and SIP-based communications technologies that will redefine the IT value proposition and offer the best return on investment for business communications."

'Fit for Purpose' network solutions are designed to deliver unique communications applications -- the specific tools needed by a specific company -- better and cheaper. Contrary to traditional, overly-complex, inefficient systems that perform a myriad of functions companies don't need or use, this architecture is designed to deliver a specified return on investment.

"Avaya is bringing to market an innovative data portfolio that delivers 'no compromise' reliability, scalability and efficiency. Enterprises should never have to compromise one aspect of network performance for another, and Avaya's Data portfolio delivers all three," said Zeus Kerravala, Distinguished Research Fellow, Yankee Group.

Leveraging its leadership in the real-time business communications and applications market, Avaya's latest product offerings include four solutions that unify previously disparate networking elements to increase network dependability, efficiency and scalability. These products include:
Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch 8800 - to help enterprise campuses and data centers optimally boost capacity to embrace UC, virtualisation and unified wireless solutions.
Avaya Wireless LAN 8100 Series - an advanced Enterprise Class 802.11n wireless solution that easily and seamlessly extends UC applications to mobile users.
Avaya Unified Communications Management (UCM), Configuration and Orchestration Manager (COM) - a high-density, high-performance and resilient network management application that is part of the Unified Communications Management (UCM) solution that can more effectively manage multi-user configuration, provisioning and troubleshooting for a wide range of enterprise technologies.
Avaya Advanced Gateway 2330 - a flexible SIP gateway providing cost-effective, survivable voice services for branch locations, and is upgradable to support a full suite of routing and WAN services.

"With the introduction of Avaya's data solutions, we can help enterprises more easily adapt to business needs by delivering immediate and long term value," said Joel Hackney, President, Avaya Data Solutions. "With solutions that provide seven times more resiliency, 20 times better performance, 40 percent more energy efficiency and approximately 50 percent better total cost of ownership, customers can count on us to improve the value they derive from their technology investments."

Additional details on Avaya's Data solutions offerings include the following:

Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch (ERS) 8800 - Campus LAN Core and Data Center
Available immediately, this is the latest evolution of the Avaya ERS 8000 series of products. The Avaya ERS 8800 consolidates a number of hardware and software advancements to deliver a future-ready platform that more cost-effectively unifies the network core and edge, as well as unification of wired and wireless architectures. It offers increased reliability and scalability to help provide investment protection and a clear migration path for customers. It is also designed to help enterprises transition to a highly-virtualised application model and is especially suited to support bandwidth-hungry video applications. The solution provides more than a 150 percent increase in memory while using approximately 33 percent less power compared to existing 8600 options. It is also available in a small footprint chassis option to deliver advanced features to smaller networks in a much more cost-effective manner. The ERS 8800 is especially suited for campus core deployments such as in the finance, education, manufacturing, healthcare and hospitality industries.

"As a leading higher education provider, we are constantly faced with meeting our students' ever growing appetite for bandwidth, especially as we add more tools for online and video learning," said Michael Vertefeuille, Chief Operating and Information Technology Officer, University of Connecticut School of Business. "Avaya continues to provide us with the highest level of reliability, and their new ERS 8800 product provides an innovative, cost-effective solution to meet growing capacity demands today, while providing a platform to help us continue our ever expanding move towards virtualisation and differentiated services. In addition, Avaya's pricing models continue to save us up to 20 percent per year in capital and maintenance costs when compared to competitive products."

Avaya Wireless LAN 8100 Series - Advanced Enterprise Class 802.11n Wireless
Targeted for availability in mid-2010, the WLAN 8100 Series combines the latest 802.11n industry standard with a new, next-generation architecture that addresses the emerging 'wireless as primary access' environment while delivering high resiliency, efficiency and scalability. Avaya WLAN 8100's innovative 'split plane' architecture helps eliminate the inefficiencies and bottlenecks of today's overlay wired/wireless networks with a simplified, truly unified solution optimised for voice, UC and video applications. The solution helps reduce costs while providing a full 802.11n solution including a wireless controller (WC 8180), 802.11n wireless access points (WAP 8120), management software and partnerships for enhanced application support. This solution is especially suited for medium to large enterprises, such as healthcare, education and hospitality facilities.

"With the WLAN 8100, Avaya provides a truly unified wireless/wired architecture that allows customers to reduce the total cost of ownership of their wireless network while benefiting from greater wireless capacity, performance and coverage. In addition, Avaya is the only vendor today to deliver an integrated wired, wireless and voice network management solution," added Yankee Group's Kerravala.

Avaya Unified Communications Management (UCM), Configuration and Orchestration Manager (COM)
This latest module in the Avaya UC Management suite (Avaya UCM) is a real-time, web-based, multi-user network configuration management solution that offers best-in-class configuration, provisioning and troubleshooting for a wide range of enterprise technologies. Avaya COM offers intuitive wizards and templates to simplify configuration of complex network technologies including SMLT/MLT, Multicast, Routing, VLAN and VRF. It provides centralised 'off-box' element management to address the needs associated with managing inventory, updates, as well as device and user access control. Acting as a unified configuration management platform, it delivers an extensible architecture allowing it to support pluggable device add-ons through data-driven development models and loadable software components. It offers customers significant cost savings by enabling up to five times faster installation and three times faster configuration times while also helping prevent manual configuration errors.

The Avaya Unified Communications Management solution, of which Avaya COM is a key component, is a one-stop-shop portal that seamlessly manages data, voice, wired and wireless networks as well as heterogeneous network infrastructures, while simplifying network requirements associated with managing faults, installation, configuration, performance, IP Flow, QoS policies, telephony and messaging.

"For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Bell had to provide an always-on, converged network that could support all the network traffic needed to run the Games and manage it to deliver peak performance," said Kevin Harshaw, Senior Director, Olympic Operations, Bell. "With Avaya Visualisation Performance and Fault Manager and its real-time network monitoring, key performance indicators and extensive knowledge of network devices, we were able to monitor device health degradation and react to it before it impacted the network. While successfully managing 55,000 interfaces, Avaya Unified Communications Management was a key element in allowing Bell to deliver a flawless network for the Games."

Avaya Advanced Gateway 2330 - Survivable Voice and Data for the Branch
Targeted for availability in the early summer of 2010, The Avaya Advanced Gateway 2330 is a flexible branch gateway solution that enables enterprises to reliably extend centralised UC services to remote users. Interoperable with Avaya Aura™ and other Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) servers, it can provide local branch connectivity to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) as well as SIP survivability in case of IP wide-area network failure or service outages. The Advanced Gateway 2330 can also be software upgraded to a full suite of routing and wide-area networking (WAN) services to provide feature-rich voice and data services in a single multi-purpose platform, consolidating multiple devices and reducing branch deployment costs. The Advanced Gateway 2330 is available in multiple configurations to address a range of remote branch site needs and sizes.

Russias Mobile TeleSystems drives for network efficiency with landmark network operations outsourcing deal

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:12:00 +0000

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has become the first Russian operator to outsource its network operations, in a deal with Nokia Siemens Networks. The company aims to reduce its overall costs while increasing organizational flexibility, transparency and the predictability of its operational expenses. With this managed services agreement, MTS will be able to simplify its overall network operations model, which is especially important with the rollout of 3G services for millions of subscribers in Russia’s central region.

Mobile TeleSystems will outsource the daily operation and maintenance of its entire mobile network across Central Russia to Nokia Siemens Networks as part of a five-year managed services deal. Under the terms of the contract, MTS will transfer around 250 employees to Nokia Siemens Networks.

“Entering into a managed service agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks will allow MTS to substantially optimize network operations and increase efficiency while keeping service experience high for our customer base", commented Aleksander Popovsky, director of MTS Russia. “While managed services projects have already proved their efficiency worldwide, in Russia the experience of such project implementation will be unique and innovative. That is why we'll attentively follow up the progress in its development under local conditions. In the future this will allow us to make the decision on introducing this approach to other regions.”

“Our managed services offering enables our customers to simplify their operations and focus on their core business while they delegate daily operations to us,” commented Ashish Chowdhary, head of Global Services at Nokia Siemens Networks. “We are especially excited about this deal since it not only confirms our services leadership in the region, but is another example of the growing trend among major mobile and fixed operators to explore this dynamic outsourcing model.”

Nokia Siemens Networks currently has over 240 managed services contracts in mobile and fixed networks, servicing more than 300 million subscribers on its customers’ networks.

Nokia Siemens Networks has one of the world’s largest services organizations, with more than 28,000 services employees in 150 countries serving over 600 customers. Nokia Siemens Networks services business accounts for about 45% of the company’s overall sales.

Qtel launches Mobile Music Service powered by WIN

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:12:00 +0000

WIN, a leading provider of interactive information and entertainment to mobile phones, has today launched a new mobile music service called Mozaic Music* with Qtel, the leading telecommunications service provider in Qatar. WIN built and delivered the service and will manage it on behalf of Qtel. The service is live and available to Qtel’s 2.2 million customers in Qatar.

WIN’s fully managed mobile music service has been integrated directly into the existing Qtel Mozaic portal, providing a range of local and international full-track music as well as ringtones and music videos.

WIN is also responsible for the marketing promotion of the service which includes refreshing and adding content, updating the news and charts as well as aligning closely with Qtel’s marketing team in order to place and highlight the latest offers and promotions.

In the Middle East, mobile music revenues are forecast to reach $274 million (USD) in 2013**. With this new service, Qtel has the opportunity to tap into this growing market.

Graham Rivers, WIN plc said “Mobile music is a key growth area and one that mobile operators around the world are looking to deliver. We’re thrilled to be working with Qtel in this exciting growth market and we’re confident that our tried and tested mobile music service will be a hit with Qtel customers.”

WIN’s experience in providing mobile entertainment content ensured the selection of its technology by Qtel. WIN provides similar mobile music services for companies including Orange and Sony Ericsson.

Optus Selects Myriad To Power Mobile Social Networking Services

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:13:00 +0000

Myriad Group AG (SIX: MYRN), a global leader in mobile technology with software in over 2 billion phones, today announced that Australian mobile network operator, Optus, has signed a commercial agreement to offer its eight million customers social networking services, powered by Myriad. This is the first social networking deal announced by Myriad since acquiring Xumii, Inc., the company that pioneered the use of cloud-based technologies to simultaneously connect mass-market phones to multiple social networks.

Now live, the Myriad-powered Optus SocialView service seamlessly adds social networking features to Optus’ existing mobile portal, Optus Zoo. Using a mobile phone browser, Optus users can now view friends’ messages from Australia’s most popular social networking sites – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr. Users can also post their own updates and tweets, either to a specific site, or to all of their social networks simultaneously.

The new service offers unique advantages to Optus, as it only requires a standard mobile browser, providing access to SocialView for all customers, not just those with smart phones. As an added feature of the new service, customers are also given the option to receive free text alerts, which include social network updates and one-click access to SocialView.

“Social networking services are a sure-fire way for Optus to increase the appeal and popularity of Optus Zoo,” commented Jennifer Zanich, Myriad’s general manager for Xumii services. “Viewing friends’ updates and changing status are the most common actions on social networks. Enabling these features on a single screen creates a quick and easy way for mobile users to stay in touch throughout the day, which will increase visits to Optus Zoo and ultimately drive the adoption of other services on the portal.”

China Mobile and China Unicom reinforce ties with Nokia Siemens Networks

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:23:00 +0000

China’s leading telecom operators, China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile) and China United Network Telecommunications Corporation Limited (China Unicom) have signed frame agreements to continue purchasing GSM, WCDMA and TD-SCDMA mobile network equipment and solutions from Nokia Siemens Networks. The agreements reinforce the vendor’s ties with the two Chinese operators, who signed similar agreements last year as part of the China-Europe Purchasing delegation*.

“We are gratified that two of the world’s fastest growing mobile operators continue to place their faith in us,” said Zhang Zhiqiang, president of the Greater China Region at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Undoubtedly, our well proven capabilities in deploying GSM, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA and LTE networks – and the pioneering steps we have taken in next generation TD-LTE technology – have played a vital role in establishing us as the vendor of choice for these two leading operators.”

Under the scope of the current agreements, China Mobile plans to purchase Nokia Siemens Networks’ GSM and TD-SCDMA network equipment, and its IP Multimedia Subsystem solution.

China Unicom, on the other hand, will source Nokia Siemens Networks’ GSM and WCDMA equipment, as well as its HSPA solution, while continuing to purchase the company’s unique “direct tunnel” packet core technology. Direct tunnel will help the operator cost-effectively keep pace with the rising demand for data traffic.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ industry-leading energy-efficient solutions will allow the operators to reduce network operating costs and lower the power consumption by exploiting more efficient technology. In addition, both operators will receive various network services, including network planning, implementation, maintenance and training services to support the newly constructed 3G networks and ensure the provision of commercial services to consumers.

Building upon its established position as the leading WCDMA vendor for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and crucial agreements such as the supply of TD-SCDMA to Beijing Mobile, Nokia Siemens Networks is well placed to expand its 3G network footprint in the Greater China region this year.

Furthermore, Nokia Siemens Networks has steadily built up a strong manufacturing, R&D, operations and distribution presence in China. With the company locating three of its nine manufacturing sites in the country, Nokia Siemens Networks has also significantly invested in R&D activities in China, creating a TD-LTE competence center in Hangzhou, with plans to increase its R&D staff during 2010.

NextiraOne and Cisco Extend Polish Border Guard Communications Network

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:21:00 +0000

NextiraOne and Cisco have today announced that they have completed a major deployment to extend and support the Polish Border Guard information technology and communications platform. The project was co-financed by the European Union’s Outer Borders Fund.

Under the scope of the project, NextiraOne experts have installed a dedicated Cisco® wireless infrastructure for border crossing points, providing Voice over wireless local area network (VoWLAN) communications and Wi-Fi mesh technology for the fourteen Border Guard posts located along Poland’s borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

The Polish Border Guard deployment will provide a far more integrated communications experience for officers working across disparate locations. The use of voice over WLAN and the integration of the Cisco IP Interoperability and Communications System (IPICS) for push-to-talk communications aims at increasing responsiveness and further enhance safety and security.

The new infrastructure also includes a physical security solution featuring video monitoring from Axis Communications and NICE Systems’ voice recording of wireless telephony at the crossing points. This flexible implementation will allow the integration of the new wireless phone system with existing analog radiophones.

Colonel Wojciech Lechowski, the spokesperson for the Main Commanding Officer of the Polish Border Guard said: “Poland’s Eastern border is one of the longest stretches of external border in the European Union. We needed a partner who could deliver an innovative solution to meet our tough requirements in these often remote locations. NextiraOne was able to offer, design and implement a solution that upgrades the system to provide added security and surveillance along our borders, through the integration of innovative Cisco technology with the existing infrastructure.”

The wireless platform includes two highly innovative solutions, integrated for the first time with each other for the specific use of the Border Guard in Poland: IPICS and a Wi-Fi mesh system. Wi-Fi mesh is an outdoor wireless solution that allows the Border Guard to extend its IP network to areas where access to a wired network is technically impossible or difficult to implement.

Cisco IPICS provides communications interoperability between wired and wireless networks, by extending push-to-talk (PTT) to IP networks. IPICS is basically turning wireless IP phones into universal voice communication devices, thanks to an XML client which is running on the Cisco phones.

All implemented indoor and outdoor wireless solutions are based on the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, which provides high scalability and helps simplify the centralised management of the infrastructure. Moreover the deployment features a Cisco Unified Communications over WLAN (VoWLAN with Cisco IP phones) solution that provides high quality communication services, extending wired corporate telephony networks outside buildings and facilities. In the future, this flexible implementation will help the integration of the new wireless phone system with existing analog radio phones.

The Cisco wireless infrastructure is based on advanced Cisco technology including IEEE 802.11n and demonstrates Cisco’s leadership in RF excellence for indoor wireless access. The 802.11n standard improves the reliability of 802.11 communications and provides up to nine times the throughput of 802.11a/g networks. 802.11n provides reliable and very fast connections to Wi-Fi for voice and video streaming, and delivers the capacity and performance to serve future demands on the wireless network.

“Public sector agencies and other organisations that are responsible for preparing for and responding to emergency situations are finding themselves in the midst of a technology revolution. Incident response now involves modern networks, computers, and other devices in addition to the commonly used Land Mobile Radio. We are especially proud of the fact that many of the innovative technologies utilised by the Polish Border Guard have been introduced for the first time in Poland. These solutions increase the efficiency and effectiveness of border checks and contribute significantly to improving safety along the borders,” said Paweł Malak, General Manager Cisco Poland.

NextiraOne, Europe’s leading expert in communications services and a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, implemented the solution and integrated these technologies with the existing infrastructure. NextiraOne is also delivering training for system users and ongoing support and maintenance of the system.

Marek Kobielski, General Manager, NextiraOne Poland said: “This project builds on our strong existing relationship with the Polish Border Guard and our unrivaled expertise in the Public Sector. We are proud to be able to provide innovative solutions which are helping to secure the borders of Poland and the European Union.”

NextiraOne has worked with the Polish Border Guard for many years. In 2003 the company implemented, alongside Telekomunikacja Polska, a new IP telephony network across 12 regional divisions and covering more than 300 Border Guard posts. Based on Cisco technology, the integrated voice and data network was the biggest IP implementation in Europe at the time and the largest single outsourcing project in the Polish public sector.

tibboh Launches Mobile Internet With BBFC Cinema-Style Ratings

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:21:00 +0000

Educational technology specialist tibboh has announced the launch of the first and only family ISP to offer safe, secure internet access supported by BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) ratings to deliver age-appropriate content for children and teenagers.

Users of the tibboh service will get Internet free of the kind of content that worries children and parents, enabling age-appropriate access via a filtration system accredited by the BBFC, which has itself developed the policies for tibboh in line with the UK’s film and DVD classifications U, PG, 12, 15, 18.

The tibboh service, costing only £19.99 per month, is being launched with high-speed (3G) mobile internet access and is the first and only broadband internet provider to be able to offer the CEOPS button on Facebook. tibboh is fully supportive of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS)’s “Zip It, Block It, Flag It” campaign.

The system, which has been available for over a year in schools, is now being made available to the general public and can be bought from Amazon or directly from tibboh’s own website (www.tibboh.co.uk).

Andrew Cooke, of BBFC online says: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome tibboh as the first internet service provider to meet the BBFC online membership standards. We’ve been working very closely with tibboh and have helped them to develop bespoke criteria which match our standards.

“Parents often find themselves in the unenviable position of having to lay down the law in a digital universe they barely understand. Our classifications are understood and trusted by UK parents and they are based on our unique understanding of child development and parental expectations. Our research shows that 91% of parents want to see BBFC film and DVD classification on downloads or streaming films and other digital audiovisual content.*”

tibboh exists in the cloud, rather than on the user’s laptop or desktop, which takes the onus of keeping it up-to-date away form the user or parent. With the enormous amount of new sites and content becoming available daily, tibboh’s classifications are available to the user in real time. A number of schools are already using tibboh successfully as a solution for school and home-based internet access.

tibboh is also able to announce a proof of concept scheme with Birmingham City Council, which is currently engaged with the delivery of the national programme, Home Access for Targeted Groups. This programme, delivered by Link2ICT, seeks to provide appropriate ICT facilities and connectivity for 600 young people who may otherwise become disengaged from education.

Mark Mynard, who heads Link2ICT, comments: “The tibboh age related filtering will give these young people what they need; appropriate access to the internet. It is easy to apply safety policies across too wide an age range in too uniform a way – tibboh provides the level of 'granularity' we need."
tibboh is also establishing a tibboh Trust to provide an advisory and oversight role on classifications and moderation. It will include representatives from academia, childrens’ charities, education and the online industry. It will advise on difficult policy issues and sample problematic content in order to ensure that the ‘seal of approval’ remains up-to-date. It will also consult children and young people on aspects of appropriate content that will add to the future development of tibboh.

Martin Large, CEO of tibboh, comments: “tibboh marks the internet’s coming of age as a service. tibboh now offers a cleaned-up version, with classified age-appropriate content, for families and schools. This has been tried before but –the beauty of tibboh is that it’s more subtle in its distinctions than the “black and white” option offered by conventional filtering; after all, what’s suitable for a 17 year-old is not the same as what suitable for an 8-year old. Few parents know how to achieve this and to keep it up-to-date. The BBFC symbols are easily identifiable and understood for parents and teachers, saving them from the time and hassle of setting their own policies.

“If the internet were built today, tibboh’s functionality would be a standard feature. I predict that in a couple of years’ time, no one will dream of giving their children unfettered access to the internet.”

tibboh’s age-appropriate approach means that separate accounts are set up for each individual within the house, all under a single tibboh subscription. As a result, adults can access the internet based on the tibboh 18 classification whilst each of their children can access age classification based on the age classification established by their parent, guardian or school.

GlobalFun and Turner Broadcasting launch a beautiful game

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:20:00 +0000

Turner Broadcasting and GlobalFun have today announced that GlobalFun will publish a new football themed mobile game featuring a range of Cartoon Network Original properties.

The game will be launched under the Cartoon Network Toon Cup brand and is expected to be available in all European markets in May 2010 to coincide with the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Toon Cup will feature well-known characters including Ben 10, Chowder, Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls, and Zak from The Secret Saturdays, all acting as team leaders playing hard to win the trophy. This is the first time a mobile game will include a combination of Cartoon Network characters in one game.

It's an action packed 5-aside football mobile game which will include all sorts of special power ups, hazards and helpers. The game play has been designed to be fast and smooth, while keeping controls simple and direct to optimize the overall experience. Toon Cup is a high quality title which will be supported by a wide range of J2ME enabled handsets on its release.

"The Toon Cup mobile game is a fun and playful take on the football game genre with exciting features that adds a lot of fun and mischief to football. As a player you will be able to join favourite Cartoon Network characters in a different kind of football game than you are normally used to. It will simply give more action, new challenges and a different experience" says Marcus Johansson, CEO GlobalFun.
Joe Braman, Commercial Director Mobile, DVD and Digital at Turner CN Enterprises said "We are delighted to be launching this new mobile game together with GlobalFun in the run up to this year's World Cup. Bringing a host of Cartoon Network characters together in one game for the first time is a fantastic way of celebrating the competition, and also broadens the appeal of the game to a wide range of fans."

Nokia Siemens Networks gears up to exploit Digital Dividend

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:14:00 +0000

Operators will soon be able to extend the reach of mobile broadband services by exploiting the “Digital Dividend” radio spectrum becoming available as countries switch from analog to digital terrestrial TV. Ahead of the digital dividend spectrum auction currently underway in Germany, Nokia Siemens Networks has begun production of its LTE-ready Flexi Multiradio Base Station radio frequency modules for 800 MHz. The 800 MHz frequency band is particularly attractive for deployment in rural areas due to its greater reach, enabling operators to meet their mobile broadband access targets cost efficiently.

“As countries switch from analog to digital TV, they are freeing up spectrum that can be used for mobile networks,” said Thorsten Robrecht, head of LTE product management, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Most countries in Europe, and several in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, are evaluating this frequency band for LTE deployments. Recognizing the opportunity that this digital dividend presents for operators, we have stayed on top of this development and have now started producing base stations that operate in the 800 MHz band, with commercial deployments targeted for the second half of 2010.”

The longer range of the 800 MHz band allows operators to cover a given area with fewer sites, as compared to higher frequencies. Operators deploying LTE in 800 MHz can easily achieve the same coverage as GSM (900 MHz) networks using their existing base station sites, allowing them to take a big step towards the vision of providing universal broadband.

Seeing its potential to cost-efficiently cover rural areas, as well as improve indoor penetration in towns and cities, industry stakeholders and regulators at the World Radio Conference 2007 agreed to assign the 800 MHz band for mobile broadband communication. Germany is currently in the midst of auctioning the available spectrum to operators, and more countries are expected to follow suit.

Nokia Siemens Networks successfully tested LTE technology for 800 MHz last year at its R&D centers in Ulm, Germany, and Oulu, Finland, using the Flexi Multiradio Base Station.

The Flexi Multiradio Base Station is the most compact and energy-efficient LTE base station on the market. Deliveries started in September 2008 and today are used by a majority of Nokia Siemens Networks’ WCDMA customers. Its unique design consists of a common system module (which works with all frequency bands) and a radio frequency (RF) module for the particular frequency used in the network. The RF module for the 800 MHz version is now under production. The Flexi Multiradio Base Station supports GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE. Its compact, weather-proof and modular design allows for swift integration into existing base station sites.

StripeyLines Gives Shoppers Purchasing Power At Their Fingertips

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:13:00 +0000

Portaltech, a leading UK eCommerce systems integrator and consultancy, today announced that it has enhanced its StripeyLines iPhone app with the official release of StripeyLines V1.0. Originally launched at the end of 2009 in beta, StripeyLines is fast becoming the essential shopping companion for bargain and info hungry shoppers who want to ensure they are getting the best deal for a product, wherever that deal is, online or on the high street.

StripeyLines allows shoppers to instantly scan the barcode of goods in-store to compare pricing, or to check product and customer reviews. Shoppers can also use the app to create wishlists of products they want to buy at a later date, or share their new finds on Facebook and Twitter with friends and family.

Shoppers can even use StripeyLines to instantly link a scanned CD to iTunes and listen to that CD whilst in store. The customer then has the option to choose to buy in store, download straight to their iPhone from iTunes, or go to Amazon or Google to check pricing and customer ratings.

With StripeyLines 1.0, shoppers can synchronise everything scanned on their app, with http://stripeylines.com, allowing them to continue their research or buying frenzy at home, or over a cup of coffee in a local cafe.

StripeyLines is getting rave reviews from users on the iTunes app store, with a massive rating of 4 stars since the upgrade. Here is what some customers are saying:

“Superb application! A must have which will be invaluable to save money during these economic times. Very user friendly and easy to use. Utilises the iPhone to it’s potential. What’s amazing is it’s FREE! Tell all your friends, I know I will!” Harry Madhar

“Brilliant app, I’ll be using this constantly in the future before buying anything ever again. Highly Recommended” Tommo R

Here is a summary of how shoppers are using the StripeyLines app:

Customers can use the Wishlist function to create their weekly food shopping list by scanning everything they throw away. Also handy for upcoming birthdays, keeping a track of ‘Stuff you want to buy’ when shopping, or for creating Wedding wishlists across multiple stores.
Customers can use the Amazon and Google instant links to find the best product deals or to read customer reviews and ratings.
The iTunes link allows customers to scan a CD and then listen to it through their phone. They can choose to instantly download it, select specific tracks, or choose to buy the physical copy in store. Customers can also use the Amazon or Google links to compare pricing, or find a store nearby that sells the same product.
iPhone users can share what they scan with their friends by using the Facebook instant link. StripeyLines will instantly post the picture to your page.
Customers can tweet about products they’ve been looking at. StripeyLines makes it easier to share and keep friends in the loop.
Selling everyday product on eBay is quick and easy with StripeyLines; as the app fills in all the product details automatically, so the user can focus on selling.
StripeyLines updates itself so the latest features are available with no hassle - no more updating the app from the App Store!

StripeyLines could not have come at a better time, as a recent report by Eurostat found that 64% of customers are using the internet to research a product and 50% of customers use the internet to browse before purchasing in store. This trend is only likely to grow, as a recent Admob report stated that 50% of phones in the UK will be smart by the end of 2010.

Portaltech is reaching out to all major UK retailers to get involved in providing price and product data for StripeyLines. The company is keen to ensure that users of the application have all the latest retailer data, barcodes and pricing to inform their decision making process, turning browsers into purchasers.

Portaltech can also build retailer ‘plug-ins’ to provide “retailer specific” functions. This could be as simple as providing promotional pop-up ads or vouchers at point of purchase, or creating a brand building, or m-commerce plug-in for apparel retailers who want to cross-sell a look or collection.

“The plug-in feature on StripeyLines means that retailers don't need to build their own iPhone application,” said Andrew Walker, CEO of Portaltech. “Instead we can just create a web application as a plug-in to StripeyLines, which is then beamed to the StripeyLines iPhone app. For example, if a wine merchant wanted to have an application that recommended wine based on what an iPhone user had scanned in a supermarket, all they would need to do is create a website that compared wines. The location of this website would then be beamed to the iPhone and when the user scanned some wine, StripeyLines would give them the opportunity to run the plug-in. And this system too, could be applied to any product category for cross-selling purposes.”

Portaltech believes that mobile will be an increasingly important channel in retailing. Rachel Wilkinson, Head of Brand & Retail at Portaltech, said; “Mobile phones are now being used for product information and browsing whilst shoppers are out and about or when sitting in a high street coffee shop. Retailers mustn’t ignore this adapting behaviour, or see price checking as a threat, but harness it. These are latent purchasers who simply need an enabler like StripeyLines to convert them from browsers to purchasers. Mobile phones and devices should be utilised to leverage this opportunity and to join up the multi-channel experience. We can help retailers to develop an engaging solution, whether that’s a standalone mobile commerce app or a plug in to StripeyLines.”

Score free Wi-Fi with The Clouds FastConnect Wi-Fi connection and hotspot locator

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:13:00 +0000

The Cloud, Europe’s largest mobile Wi-Fi provider, today announced that all O2 iPhone users will be able to download a free application, which will give quick and easy access to all Wi-Fi hotspots powered by The Cloud free of charge. The application, called FastConnect, will allow users to access mobile broadband internet at no cost across The Cloud’s 22,000 access points throughout Europe, including all paid-for access hotspots. Users do not need to be in a Cloud access point in order to download and activate FastConnect, but instead just need to make a one-off visit to the Apple store (http://linktoapp.com/The-Cloud-FastConnect) wherever they have access online.

The Cloud is tipping FastConnect to prove to be a ‘must have’ for any self-respecting football fan this summer, as free broadband Wi-Fi will allow supporters to enjoy the same experience of watching live matches and highlight packages from the World Cup on the move as they would do at home. FastConnect is the only iPhone application to enable this, therefore offering the most effective way for O2 iPhone users to experience rich media and live video while they are out and about.

FastConnect incorporates additional features to make Wi-Fi as easy as possible for O2 iPhone users, both to download and access. The software has an in-built hotspot locator, giving automatic connection to all Wi-Fi hotspots powered by The Cloud when in range - all that is required is a one off free and quick installation. The application’s searchable directory spans all of The Cloud’s access points across Europe and provides a link to GoogleMaps, in order to provide a map and directions straight to the user’s mobile. The FastConnect Wi-Fi finder will also update its lists of venues automatically as new Cloud hotspots are added.

The Cloud operates the fastest Wi-Fi network in the UK and already delivers over a billion minutes of usage each year, powering mobile broadband access in some of Britain’s most well-known hospitality chains and across some of the country’s busiest public Wi-Fi hotspots. This includes providing access for McDonalds, Marriott hotels and Pret A Manger, as well as throughout the City of London. Free access to these hotspots, with just one initial click of a button, will ensure that users are never left offline while on the move, guaranteeing the same rich media experience as delivered by home broadband or in the office.

Steve Nicholson, CEO of The Cloud, comments on the timely nature of the latest iPhone application, “We launched the Wi-Fi finder late last year quickly understanding that people were frustrated by the complexity of connecting, so we have made Cloud Wi-Fi access as simple as we can. The World Cup starts in June and we have other major sporting events on the horizon including the Olympics, so we anticipate increasing numbers of people will want TV quality media on their mobiles whilst on the move. Our own research as well as growing industry-wide opinion suggests that Wi-Fi is the only solution in delivering an acceptable service and that traditional cellular networks will struggle to deliver acceptable quality to this level of users simultaneously.”

The free application automatically installs across multiple devices and platforms that share the same set of credentials, so users in the UK can enjoy the benefits of high speed Wi-Fi whether on their O2 iPhone, laptop, iPod or iPad. The Cloud database allows users to add subsequent networks to their existing profile that will then also be connected automatically when in range.

Nicholson continues, “I do not believe for one second that people are bothered about how they connect to the Internet – they just want a fast and easy, hassle free connection, ideally across all their mobile devices, whether an iPod Touch, an iPad, their PC or Notebook. The FastConnect software takes into consideration the needs of the modern consumer and packages up a solution into one simple application that is completely free.”

“We strongly suspect only a fraction of O2 iPhone customers are aware of this free service and would consequently encourage them to download the app from the app store to get quick and free access to our network. I do confess to being a patriotic type and hope we fare better in this World Cup than in previous years. I'm an avid iPhone user myself, so I'm looking forward to being able to ensure I will catch all the action, whether I’m at the pub, grabbing my lunch or at McDonalds with the kids!” concludes Nicholson.

When on Wi-Fi, customers will be able to connect to the BBC’s latest iPhone app that is set to be released this month, offering live streaming of all the World Cup matches. It is yet to be released whether this app will also be available over 3G networks but as iPlayer is currently only available over Wi-Fi on the iPhone, it is likely that Wi-Fi will offer the only way for footie fans to access live and high quality footage on their phones this summer.

Symena releases Capesso 4.7

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:26:00 +0000

Symena has released a new version of the market leading automatic cell planning (ACP) Capesso™. Capesso™ 4.7 extends Symena’s lead in automatic cell planning for LTE and other radio technologies by capitalizing on the experience with ten top LTE vendors. In particular Capesso™ LTE now supports coverage and quality optimization and analysis based on RSRP (reference signal received power) and RSRQ (reference signal received quality).

“Since we released the first version of Capesso™ LTE in March 2008 we have been gaining insights into the practical issues of LTE planning from our OEM and operator customers,” said Dr Thomas Neubauer, Managing Director of Symena. “They push us to make sure that Capesso™ LTE works the way that they need it. That means that we need to accurately represent the way that their equipment works. We are also finding that the increased complexity of LTE means that no one wants to plan it manually. Capesso™ solves that problem.”

Some of the other functionality added in this release includes:
Improvements in multi-core CPU utilization that deliver calculation speed improvements of between 10% and 30% depending on the scenario, availability of cores and sufficient RAM;
Improved support for indoor clutter types; and
Use, analysis and display of multiple focus zones in Capesso™ Inspector.

Capesso™ LTE is being used on several prominent, early, LTE networks in North America and Asia.

Capesso™ 4.7 is tightly integrated with Forsk’s ATOLL and the Mentum Planet radio network planning tools.

Qatar Telecom gets smartphone friendly as it prepares for LTE

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is offering its subscribers an improved smartphone experience, including faster broadband speeds, while paving the way for next-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. To make this happen, the operator has chosen Nokia Siemens Networks to modernize its network and enhance capacity.

“Qtel prides itself in offering unmatched service quality for its subscribers, and it’s important that we continue to improve the experience for them,” said Khalil Ibrahim Al-Emadi, executive director for networks at Qtel. “With Nokia Siemens Networks, we are not only able to deliver the most smartphone friendly network that delivers a faster, better broadband experience, but also able to take the first step towards the future of mobile broadband and LTE.”

Under the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks has supplied its unique Single RAN* offering, including its Flexi Multiradio Base Stations and all-IP backhaul technology, increasing Qtel’s 3G network capacity and enabling a smooth transition to higher-speed HSPA+ and LTE networks. The company has also deployed its NetAct network management system to monitor, manage and optimize the network. Additionally, Nokia Siemens Networks continues to operate Qtel’s network under an existing managed services contract.

“As competition in Qatar’s telecom market intensifies, Qtel is focused on ensuring that it maintains its market and technological leadership,” said Shady Makhlouf, head of the Qtel customer team at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Our solution and services are ensuring that Qtel’s network is ready to offer end users a differentiated, next-generation mobile broadband experience.”

txtNation connect Premium SMS in Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:35:00 +0000

txtNation, leaders in global premium rate billing services, are pleased to announce that they are to go live in Brazil after months of speculation.

txtNation are already active in South America across Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Brazil, viewed by many as the jewel in the crown for Premium SMS billing services is now due to go live, after today been approved for full roll out.

The regulations across Brazil require every company operating Premium SMS services to be validated and approved with the national regulatory body, which provides a way to monitor all activity on short codes in this fast growth area.

The Brazilian Regulation Body, Anatel, recognise businesses that have developed, implemented, and benchmarked the most efficient processes for service levels, regulation, support and delivery. Companies like txtNation, seeking this certification and approval must have passed through a rigorous assessment.

Michael Whelan, Director at txtNation, says ‘It’s great to be approved for premium rate and short code services in Brazil. It’s a market we have been after for some time and equally important is our support and commitment to all regulations in Brazil.’

Brazil has over 173million subscribers in total with a 92% penetration rate. txtNation connect to all major networks, Vivo, Clarom TIM, Oi with Nextel coming on board later in the year.

txtNation has recently added further features to the already well established txtNation SD, Support and Development platform, which allows for online ticketing, live chat, phone and email support for clients that use the multi-award winning Premium SMS and Mobile Billing services.

O-bit Telecom offers resellers the chance to provide cost-effective colocation services

noreply@blogger.com (MobileGuru) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Voice and data network solutions provider, O-bit Telecom, has launched its new colocation solution, Hostwise. The new offering will give resellers the opportunity to provide their customers with advanced data centre services, allowing them to meet the growing demand from businesses for stable and reliable server hosting solutions.

Based in a purpose-built modern data centre facility in High Wycombe, Bucks, Hostwise can provide 24/7/365 server access with massive savings when compared to facilities in London.

Hostwise allows resellers to provide customers with a competitive colocation solution that benefits from a 100 per cent uptime SLA for power and cooling, and a 99.99 per cent network uptime SLA.

“Increasingly, many businesses are offering their services via the internet” explains O-bit Telecom CEO Dave Breith. “Whether this is a simple e-commerce website, or a more complex cloud-based service, these companies need a reliable colocation solution to keep their business running. Hostwise provides high levels of reliability at a much lower price than similar facilities in London, allowing resellers to easily meet the needs of these businesses.”

As well as flexibility in choice of rack size, Hostwise customers are able to take advantage of bandwidth options ranging from 50GB to 100GB, as well as optional ‘remote hands’ technical support and optional VoIP connectivity.