Category Archives: Mobile tech
Cisco: Global mobile data traffic to increase 18-fold by 2016
Additionally, by 2016 video is expected to make up 71 percent of all mobile data traffic, up from the 66 percent by 2015 that Cisco forecasted last year. By 2016 there will be more than 10 billion mobile Internet connections around the world, according to Cisco, with 8 billion of them being personal devices and 2 billion machine-to-machine connections.
Cisco’s annual report is widely cited every year by carriers and vendors alike as a key benchmark for measuring and predicting data traffic, and also as a data point to justify calls for network investment, traffic management technologies and more spectrum. According to Cisco, in 2011 global mobile data traffic more than doubled–2.3 times growth, or 133 percent–and Cisco projects that it will double again in 2012, but at a slightly lower rate of 110 percent growth.
Apple now third largest mobile phone vendor as feature phones fade
iPhone Data Debunks Recording Industry’s Report On How French Three Strikes Law Increased Sales
EU Parliamentarian Schaake To Lead European Union Research Regarding Internet Freedom
…and how that affects civil rights
Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2717606/d66-politica-gaat-eu-onderzoek-internetvrijheid-leiden.html
Provider GiffGaff has spent some time examining the usage patterns of internet traffic on its network and discovered that just 1% of users are eating over 33% of its total data capacity
Saudi mobile phone salesmen pose threat to female customers
Half of mobile users willing to watch ads for free app content
One Percent of Mobile Broadband Users Eat Half of all Data Capacity
Ofcom Publishes Draft Annual UK Telecoms Regulation Plan 2012 to 2013
China overtakes US as world’s biggest smartphone market
5 Million Dutch T-Mobile customers use 160 Terabytes of data per week. 108% increase compared to last year
Dutch language news article:
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/77984/klanten-t-mobile-verbruiken-160tb-aan-data-per-week.html
Fortinet expert warns on mobile malware that encrypts its data streams
The SpyEye banking trojan has acquired the ability to reroute one-time passwords sent to victims’ cellphones, a measure that bypasses protections more and more financial institutions are adopting
The single-page Department of Justice document, “Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers,” is a guide for law enforcement agencies looking to get information — like customer IP addresses, call logs, text messages and web surfing habits – out of U.S. telecom companies, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon
The document, marked “Law Enforcement Use Only” and dated August 2010, illustrates there are some significant differences in how long carriers retain your data.
“People who are upset that Facebook is storing all their information should be really concerned that their cell phone is tracking them everywhere they’ve been,” said Catherine Crump, an ACLU staff attorney. “The government has this information because it wants to engage in surveillance.”
More details and full report:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/09/cellular-customer-data/
None of the developers of Mobile Operating Systems has issued a patch to remove compromised DigiNotar certificates from their white lists. Smartphones and tablets still vulnerable
Dutch language news articles:
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/76688/smartphones-en-tablets-blijven-kwetsbaar-voor-valse-ssl-certificaten.html
World WiFi Hotspot Internet Usage to Top 120 Billion Connections by 2015
Digitimes Research: Apple to lead in 2011 smartphone shipments
Android nabs 41 percent share in U.S.
A new survey from UK ISP PlusNet has revealed that the average British (UK) person spends ten hours a day online and over 40% of respondents in the North West, Northern Ireland, Scotland, London and Wales say that the ability to access Wi-Fi is crucial when picking a hotel to stay in
Twitter “explodes” after Virginia earthquake, Verizon cell phone voice service goes down
iOS 5 gets Japan earthquake notifications
Don’t look now but smartphone prices are starting to creep higher. This strategy is going to be tested amid a weakening economy and an iPhone 5 that may sell at $199.99
4G a boon to U.S. economy and jobs, study says
If someone runs Netflix through a wirelessly connected tablet or smartphone (as opposed to streaming across Wi-Fi), the wireless carrier is going to love that because sooner or later the user is going to exceed his or her mobile broadband data cap and thus produce greater revenues for the telecom carrier
San Francisco really got the ball rolling when it passed a groundbreaking ordinance that required cell phone retailers to display the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a mobile phone
Lawmakers in city halls and statehouses across the country are joining the cause
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20058696-85/cities-and-states-consider-cell-phone-radiation-laws/
Voice revenues, hit by MTA (mobile termination access fees) reduction in the short term, will in the longer term be negatively impacted by mobile VoIP, with SMS revenues also under pressure. Operators will find it difficult to counteract these negative trends
Charging for services creates a mobile broadband class system
Consumers that don’t want to pay a la carte for carrier-supported products may only have the threat of competition from other mobile broadband providers to keep their mobile broadband provider honest
http://gigaom.com/mobile/its-coming-the-emergence-of-second-class-mobile-citizens/
Dutch provider Vodafone admits that in the past, pricing levels have been too low: “One has to make it attractive for consumers”
“The fact that we [Vodafone, KPN and T-Mobile] are increasing the prices right now, proves that it’s necessary to do so.”
Dutch language news article: http://www.nu.nl/internet/2582923/providers-verdedigen-prijsstijging-mobiel-internet.html
Clearwire, the biggest cheerleaders for WiMax mobile broadband, revealed their intent to support the competing LTE standard as well. Did the 4G wars just end?
AT&T: Many experts agree the country is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch. We’re responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire additional network capacity. We’re also taking additional, more immediate measures to help address network congestion
One new measure is a step that may reduce the data throughput speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on unlimited plans – those whose extraordinary level of data usage puts them in the top 5 percent of our heaviest data users in a billing period. In fact, these customers on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other smartphone data customers. This step will not apply to our 15 million smartphone customers on a tiered data plan or the vast majority of smartphone customers who still have unlimited data plans.
Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.
This change will never impact the vast majority of our customers, and is designed to create a better service experience for all.
To rank among the top 5 percent, you have to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period.
Typically what puts someone in the top 5 percent is streaming very large amounts of video and music daily over the wireless network, not Wi-Fi. Streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, sending large data files (like video) and some online gaming are examples of applications that can use data quickly.
More: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=20535&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=32318&mapcode=corporate
Internet Video Streaming Dominates 39 Percent of Mobile Broadband Traffic
Samsung sees 300% growth in smartphone market share
Almost 90 per cent of operators now charge for data by volume, but billing by content is growing, with free access to social networking and partner sites becoming commonplace
The figures come from Allot Mobile, providers of caching and content delivery for mobile operators around the world. The company reports annually using the accumulated data, and continues to show mobile data consumption shooting up (77 per cent up on last year); even the way that operators change for it is changing rapidly
