SP Technologies has sued Apple for infringement on a patent that SP filed in August 2000. SP Technologies, a Florida company, is seeking a permanent injunction against the Mac-maker. SP also seeks damages and attorney fees. SP’s patent, which was awarded in August 2004, is for a “method and medium for computer readable keyboard display incapable of user termination.” The document describes software that allows users to input directions on a virtual keyboard that cannot be minimized or closed.
Fibre-to-the-home that will provide broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps made possible in France. Read full story What has sparked investment in broadband is France is the low take-up of digital television, which makes it more attractive to offer TV over the internet. Many broadband providers now throw in a set-top box with a package which gives customers television, telephone and internet down a fast broadband line for around 30 Euros (about £20) a month. But something even faster is on its way. Beneath the streets of Paris two companies, France Telecom’s Orange and Free, are laying down fibre-optic cables to bring speeds of up to 100Mbps to homes in parts of the city.
Motorola has been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research. Nokia claimed the second spot, while Samsung and LG were ranked equally in third place in the company’s most recent evaluation of ultra low-cost handset vendors worldwide. ABI defines ultra low-cost handset that sells below US$50 in the retail outlets. Read more.
Nine out of ten American adults believe that sending text messages or emails while driving is distracting, dangerous, and should be outlawed, according to a new survey commissioned by mobile messaging service Pinger and conducted by Harris Interactive. Similar numbers (91%) of adults thought that drivers distracted by sending text messages or mobile email were as dangerous as drivers who had a couple of drinks. Read more.
The total electronic equipment production in India will reach US$32 billion in 2011, compared to $14 billion in 2006, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 percent, according to Gartner. Semiconductor consumption in India will more than double from $2.8 billion in 2006 to $7.2 billion in 2011. The growth in electronic equipment production is being bolstered by the rapidly growing demand for electronics equipments in India.
The New York Consumer Protection Board (NYCPB) is acting on a barrage of complaints being made by many owners of the most hyped mobile handset in history – iPhone. The powerful regulator is taking Apple to task over the sealed battery the company insists in placing in the iPhone. The chairperson of the NYCPB, Mindy Bockstein, has written to Apple CEO Steve Jobs requiring him ensure that the design of the iPhone is changed to allow owners of the device to gain easy access to its battery so that they can change it for themselves. Read more.
lirne_2007_8_colombo.ppt Sujata Gamage gave a brief overview as to the CPRsouth Conference. This included the objectives behind the Conference, and the Organization as a whole and the quality of the papers recieved. She went on to say that successful applications make necassary the synergy between the technical and policy. Also how can you measure the inputs and outputs and it is supported by a wealth of literature.
The ‘Next Billion’ is a somewhat familiar term to those in the telecom/ICT sector. This Boston Consulting Report considers the ‘next billion’ in financial services. The report reveals many parallels with the ‘next billion’ talk in the telecom sector, except for the fact that this realisation has already been made in the telecom industry whereas, according to this report, the financial sector is just on the verge of making that same realisation in a big way. It looks at those traditionally excluded from financial services, because they are deemed a non-commercially lucrative group to serve. It argues that by adopting innovative business models, these groups can become commercialy viable to serve.
CITATION for Mahabir Pun Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies Nangi Village, where Mahabir Pun was born, rests high in the Himalayan foothills of western Nepal. Here and in surrounding Myagdi District live the Pun Magar, whose men have soldiered for generations across the globe as Gurkhas. Yet, their worldly careers have done little to change their sleepy homeland, so far from the traffic patterns that knit together the rest of the world. Indeed, Nangi is seven hours’ hard climb from the nearest road. No telephone lines have ever reached it.
According to a Maldives online news publication, always on Internet is now available in 27 more islands. News In Brief 5 August 2007 Dhiraagu has extended its internet service to twenty seven additional islands, meaning 70% of Maldivians can now access broadband internet. Dhiraagu, which was given permission to extend internet coverage to the atolls in August 2006, now provides a service to forty two islands. The company plans to extend its network to cover all islands with more than nine hundred residents. Is it possible for a knowledgeable person to tell us what “broadband internet” means in the Maldives?
Myanmar will implement a cyber village project aiming to enable every village in the country to have access to internet link like urban cities, according to computer entrepreneur circle Thursday. A pioneer pilot project for the move will start late of this year by the open season with installation of IP Star phone lines by the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), the Computer Entrepreneurs’ Association (CEA) said. Investment is being invited from the private sector for the establishment of public access centers in villages and power source is being sought either from battery or solar energy to operate the internet in some remote villages in short of electricity as an alternative, the Association added. According to the MPT, the number of internet users in Myanmar has reached nearly 300,000, up from merely 12 in four years ago. The authorities have projected to introduce 400 public internet service centers in 324 townships in the country within three years to facilitate communication links.
Google has refused to deny mounting speculation that it is working to produce its own brand mobile phone. Reports suggest that the web giant is developing a series of”GPhones”, centred on its mobile services, such as search, e-mail and maps. In a statement, Google said it was working with carriers, phone makers and content providers to “bring its services to users everywhere”. The firm would not say if its efforts included plans for a handset. The Google statement said: “What our users and partners are telling us is that they want Google search and Google applications on mobile, and we are working hard every day to deliver that.
The article also contains interesting data on minutes of use by age group. What’s Good for a Business Can Be Hard on Friends – New York Times Unlike traditional landline telephones, which once made callers distinguish between local and long distance, cellphone carriers divide the world into in-network and outside. And because basic plans from the three major cellphone carriers, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T, are all about the same price — under $60 a month — the deciding factor for young people, in particular, is what network friends are on. Carriers are giving customers more options to stay connected with people outside their network. This year, T-Mobile introduced a plan that allows customers to choose five telephone numbers outside its network that they can call free at any time.
Sales in Emerging Markets Help Nokia Add to Its Cellphone Lead – New York Times Nokia sold 100 million mobile devices in the period, an increase of 29 percent over 2006, while the overall industry growth was about 14 percent, with 262 million mobile devices sold globally, Nokia said. But the group again warned about the performance of its troubled network operations, describing market conditions as challenging because of heavy competition. “We shall have to increase the amount and speed of cost cutting,” the chief executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said, giving no details. The greatest growth in Nokia’s handset sales, 37 percent, was in the Middle East and Africa, it said. But at 36 percent growth, sales were also strong in the Asia-Pacific region and in China.
Daily News – Friday, 3 August 2007 In a press conference held yesterday to announce South Asia’s first Broadband Communications Congress and Expo (SABCCE) General Manager/ Head of Consumer Market Development Division of Sri Lanka Telecom SLT M.Z Saleem said CDMA Broadband technology will be introduced to the local market by SLT soon. Most of the service providers in the local telecommunication industry are in the process of introducing this technology to the market. However the equipment needs higher investments for introducing this technology, he said. ‘Broadband communications are very cost effective.
NowPublic, the participatory citizen-journalist website that began life in a garage in Vancouver, Canada, has announced it has secured US$10.6 million in venture capital funding. The website allows anyone – from amateurs to professionals – to post news stories and upload images, videos, and audio files. The company, that claims to be the world’s fastest-growing news organisation, says 120,000 people from over 140 countries have contributed to the site since its launch in 2005. The website relies for its content on “crowdsourcing” – that it describes as being similar to outsourcing, but with unpaid or low-paid amateurs.