Owners of the 3G iPad in Britain will be able to buy mobile broadband access from Orange on a pay as you go, daily, weekly and monthly basis, the mobile phone network said today.

Prices start at £2 for one day’s 3G access and extend to £25 a month for 10GB of 3G browsing and 750MB of wi-fi usage, through BT Openzone hotspots. Vodafone and O2, who announced last month that they had also signed deals with Apple, are due to set out their pricing plans shortly.

Earlier today, Apple said it will start selling the iPad in the UK on 28 May with prices starting at £429. The cheapest 3G-enabled iPad, which also has wi-fi, will be a 16GB version at £529 including VAT; the 32GB 3G device will be £599 and the 64GB £699.

Orange is launching the device in Britain, France, Spain and Switzerland. In the UK it is offering a pay-as-you-go option that costs 5p per MB. Users of this tariff – which entails registering a credit card with Orange – will be charged a maximum of £40 a month, but can carry on browsing after using £40 worth of capacity (800MB).

Large data users, however, would be better off signing up to one of Orange’s four individual pricing plans, which all require payment up front.

For £2, customers can get a day’s worth of browsing – capped at 200MB. For £7.50, customers can get a week’s worth of browsing – up to 1GB. Beyond those usage caps, browsing is charged at 5p per MB.

There are also two contract options. Both are monthly contracts but can be cancelled at any time. For £15 a month, users get 3GB of 3G access plus up to 750MB of wi-fi browsing through BT Openzone hotspots. For £25 a month, users get 10GB of 3G access and 750MB of wi-fi through BT Openzone.

Consumers who want to use their iPad on a 3G network can pre-register for one of the micro-SIMs they will need in order to get online on the Orange website from Monday next week. The micro-SIMs can be obtained from Orange shops as well as directly from Apple.

The mobile phone companies had hoped to be able to tie their iPad pricing plans in with existing mobile phone subscriptions – so that, for instance, an iPhone customer could get unlimited iPad browsing for a few extra pounds per month. But Apple is understood to have made it plain that it wanted iPad mobile phone pricing plans to stand alone.

In the US, Apple’s wireless partner AT&T offers two contract-free options: $14.99 for 250MB per month and $29.99 for what it terms a month’s worth of “unlimited” 3G access. Customers can sign up directly through their iPad and check how much of their allowance they have used.

Resource:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/may/07/orange-ipad-price-plans

Searching for information on the web is the most popular activity for the new generation of tech-savvy phone owners, research into the mobile phone habits of Australians has revealed.

More than three-quarters of people with internet connected phones use them to hunt for information online while on the move – up from just 30 per cent a year ago.

Popular online activities for mobile phone users include:

CHECKING news and weather (59 per cent).

EMAIL (58 per cent).

MAPS or directions (56 per cent).

SOCIAL networking (39 per cent).

Facebook is by far the most popular social networking site accessed via the mobile Web, snaring 98 per cent of visitors, followed by Twitter and MySpace.

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The Nielsen internet and technology report shows new activities, such as buying items online, jumped 10 per cent to 17 per cent.

The previously popular pastime of downloading ringtones dropped 9 per cent to 21 per cent.

The survey comes as new social networking-oriented phones hit the market. They boast iPhone-style touch screens, Qwerty keyboards and the ability to snap and instantly upload photos to sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Samsung spokesman Tyler McGee said manufacturers were responding to the demands of consumers.

“Research shows that three out of five Australians under the age of 35 who access the internet claim to use social networking on their mobile phones,” he said.

Samsung has just released four internet-friendly phone models.

The survey said Nokia still leads the internet-capable mobile phone pack, controlling more than 35 per cent of the market. Apple’s iPhone has more than doubled its share to 28 per cent and is growing quickly.

About 13 per cent of Australians who have not yet used their mobile to go online plan to do so over the next 12 months.

“We’ve seen a big shift in the levels of activity among those who are using mobile internet,” Nielsen online spokesman Matt Bruce said.

Resource:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/mobile-phone-users-hungry-for-accessing-online-including-facebook/story-e6frf7l6-1225860323408

Placing Internet ads on websites easier and more profitable in the future as the latest technology allows ads to be resized to fit any available website space.

Internet ads are currently only available in three or four specific sizes, meaning websites must be designed around the ads. The size restrictions greatly limit ad placement options and affect the way ads look on devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

However, the new technology, developed by UofT Electrical and Computer Engineering associate professor Parham Aarabi, enables ads to be resized automatically to conform to any web space.

“Currently, a significant portion of usable website spaces are not used for advertising because the standard size ads don’t fit,” said Aarabi.

“Our technology is the first ever to conform ads to any available website space in an automated and practical way. Essentially, advertisers provide a single ad at a preset size, and our technology can, automatically and dynamically, regenerate the ad at any size, resolution, or aspect ratio by taking into account the contents of the ad, relevant text, and other information,” Aarabi added.

He added that the technology would translate into profit because formerly wasted web space can be used for advertising.

“Given an online advertising market worth billions of dollars, this technology could significantly increase revenues for publishers, and create new opportunities for advertisers,” Aarabi said.

The concept will be presented at the World Wide Web 2010 Conference in late April in Raleigh, North Carolina. (ANI)

Resource:
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/04/20/newtechnology-to-give-internet-advertising-aboost.html

screens in the month of February 2010, India accounted for 5.9 percent of the share. While there is a large disparity between U.S. and India when it came to mobile data usage, the commendable fact is that India did manage to outstrip China when it came to the mobile web space.

However, since the report is generated by Google, let us also remind you that Google is not as dominant in China as it is in other countries. Also, with the recent issues with the Chinese Government, there is a possibility that the Chinese mobile market might not be well assessed by Google.

Anyway, coming back to the report, Google’s India product head, Vinay Goel, has revealed that India has shown a fivefold increase in the number of mobile Internet users in the last five years. Another interesting fact was his comment that the number of new data connections added globally this year will be higher on the mobile than on the PC. In terms of sheer numbers, only 25 million out of the 500 million strong mobile users in India use paid data accounts. Another large chunk of users (55-65 million users) use operator provided data services.

Another factor that came to light in the report was the means people use to access the mobile web. While U.S. and most western countries saw high-end devices ruling the roost, India interestingly still uses low-end handsets for its web browsing needs. The iPhone, for example, which costs over Rs. 30,000 holds 40 percent market of the global mobile web traffic. In case of India, Nokia phones were right on the top of the charts (as expected). The most popular handsets for web browsing in India were the Xpress Music 5130 and the 3110c. These handsets are low-end devices and costs only between Rs. 3,500 and Rs. 5,500. It is pertinent to note that only one Nokia device makes it to the top 10 listing when the global mobile data is assessed. That device is the Nokia N70. In the case of India however, all 10 devices are from Nokia!

While there is no doubt that mobile based Internet access is on the rise in India, it is high time that we receive faster data speeds and better mobile Internet devices to make the overall experience somewhat comparable to what people experience in the western countries.

Resource:
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Mobile_Internet_Usage_on_the_Rise_in_India/551-110326-643.html

According to Gartner, two new versions of Bluetooth wireless technology will emerge by 2011. Bluetooth 3 will emerge to enable faster data transmission, and Bluetooth 4 will introduce a new low-energy (LE) mode that will enable communication with external peripherals and sensors. Both versions will include other technical improvements to improve battery life and security. Gartner believes that Bluetooth 3 will facilitate corporate and consumer functions demanding large bandwidth like downloading images and videos from handsets. Bluetooth LE will enable a range of new sensor-based business models in industries such as fitness, healthcare and environmental control.

By 2011, over 85% of the handsets shipped globally will include some form of browser. In mature markets such as Western Europe and Japan, about 60% of the handsets shipped will be smartphones with sophisticated browsing capability and the ability to render conventional HTML sites in some manner.

“Mobile technologies will evolve in ways that affect corporate strategies, significant numbers of customers or employees will adopt or expect them, or they will address particular mobile challenges that organisations will face through 2011,” said Nick Jones, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

By the end of 2011, over 75% of devices shipped in mature markets will include a GPS. GPS will be the primary, but not the only, means of establishing handset locations. Wi-Fi and cell ID systems will remain important in situations where GPS is unavailable or unreliable.

Mobile widgets will also become popular. Widgets are installable web applications that use technologies such as JavaScript and HTML. Many handsets support widgets running on their home screens, where they are easily visible and accessible.

Mobile platforms will become more diverse through 2012, although consolidation will not have started, and in some markets, five or more platforms may have a significant presence. Mobile application stores will be the primary, and in some cases, the only way to distribute applications to smartphones and other mobile devices, says the research firm. App stores also provide a range of business support functions, such as payment processing that assist smaller organisations.

They will be a distribution channel for mobile applications and a commercial channel to sell applications and content, especially in international markets. Many applications will exploit eco-system cloud services. Touchscreens are emerging as the dominant user interface for large-screen handsets and will be included in over 60% of the mobile devices shipped in Western Europe and North America in 2011.

In 2010-11, the availability of multi-megabit wireless broadband performance will continue to grow, because mobile networks enhance their broadband performance. Embedded cellular networking will become a standard feature of many corporate laptops, and will enable new types of network-connected devices and business models such as e-books and media players.

Resource:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/Mobile-space-to-buzz-with-10-new-technologies-by-2011/articleshow/5720791.cms

A wi-fi connection offers better indoor reception, faster download speeds and quality streaming compared with a normal phone network. And it allows users to preserve their network minutes.

Wi-fi has been popular with notebook computers, but the technology is still at a nascent stage with mobile phones.

The feature is gradually being made available on more handsets and customers have started to ask for it while making purchases.

“Before, it used to be a neat, add-on feature. Now it’s an absolute must-have,” ABI Research analyst Michael Morgan said. “You have to bring this to the table if you want to have a successful smartphone device.”

It is only recently that carriers have started to trust wi-fi, Morgan said. Initially they viewed it as a competition to their cellular networks, he added.

The wi-fi feature was available on about 55 percent of smartphones shipped in 2009, and that is expected to increase to 65 percent to 70 percent in 2010, Morgan said.

Wi-fi capable smartphones, which received a shot in the arm with the launch of the Apple iPhone, are offered by Nokia, Research in Motion, Motorola, HTC Corp and Samsung Electronics.

Nokia is the leading market-share vendor for dual-mode wi-fi handsets, according to market researcher In-Stat.

While about 12 percent of all mobile handsets had wi-fi capability in 2009, it could be a feature on nearly a third of mobile phones four years from now, figures from In-Stat show.

“We are forecasting about 183 million phones with wi-fi in 2010,” In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee said. The total phone market is expected to be about 1.2 billion for the year.

With the growing market for smartphones, consumption of data on mobile devices is growing significantly, creating a lot of pressure on carrier networks.

Wi-fi in phones is seen as an alternative to core carrier networks, not just helping carriers offload traffic but offering consumers with a cheaper and faster option over third generation or the next generation networks like long term evolution.

“Operators are putting wi-fi in phones to offload some of the traffic from their 3G networks because they are finding that many of the 3G networks are being overloaded with data usage,” analyst Nogee said.

Service providers are also using wi-fi to expand their touchpoints with customers.

“Major service providers provide free wi-fi for their customers at places like McDonald’s and Starbucks,” Dell’Oro Group analyst Loren Shalinsky said.

Apart from accessing the Internet, wi-fi is used to make long distance calls via voice over Internet protocol at lower prices. But 90 percent of wi-fi use on phones is still for data, ABI’s Morgan said.

“Wi-fi offload is certainly an effective strategy for carriers to help manage the capacity demands on their network and it is one of the tools that carriers and handset makers will take advantage of,” Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said.

“But it’s not the silver bullet to solve the problem. It’s just one of a number of pieces of the overall solution.”

The market for wi-fi in phones includes not only handset manufacturers and the carrier providers, but also chipmakers and network equipment makers.

Chipmakers like Broadcom, Atheros Communications Inc, Qualcomm Inc and Marvell Technology Group are expected to be among the prime beneficiaries as demand for the technology grows.

Companies like Aruba Networks and NetGear Inc, which sell the access points, will indirectly benefit as more devices that are connected to wi-fi will create more demand for bandwidth carried by the wireless networks. Despite the growth ahead, wi-fi has its drawbacks: integration between cellular and wi-fi networks, poor power efficiency and low awareness that such a feature exists. There are also issues in getting quality signals.

“I think people will use wi-fi in certain situations such as at their homes or in places where wi-fi is available. But wi-fi is not available in many places and probably never will be,” Nogee said.

Resource:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62O4CR20100325

Miami Beach likely won’t be changing its name to Silicon Beach anytime soon, and Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado hasn’t thrown himself into Biscayne Bay to grab Google’s attention.

But despite the lack of antics and buzz seen from other regions of the country since the announcement of Google Fiber, several South Florida communities are hoping they will become, if not the site of a new and experimental high-speed Internet, then one of the few communities with it.

Friday is the deadline to apply for Google’s revolutionary network, which according to the Internet giant will operate at more than 100 times the speed of the average connection. Miami Beach, Miami, South Miami, Cutler Bay and Boca Raton said they have applied or expect to.

Google is describing the new network as a groundbreaking development that will allow “applications that will be impossible today.” And the possibility of exclusively snagging the technology has sent U.S. cities into an online and media bidding war that in some cases has bordered on bizarre.

Topeka, Kan., changed its name to Google for the month of March. The ploy was countered the next day by a Duluth, Minn., mock decree that every first-born male in the city would be known as Google Fiber. Sarasota’s mayor even swam in a tank of water with bonnet head sharks.

A MUTED RESPONSE

Steketee Greiner & Company released a list Thursday of the 10 most active cities vying for Google’s revolutionary network, and Duluth, Topeka and Sarasota were named.

But no other Florida city made the list. And compared with other parts of the United States, the response in South Florida has been tepid.

“Am I going to set myself on fire to draw attention to our city? No,” said South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard.

No one from Miami responded to an interview request made through a spokeswoman.

Brian Breslin, a self-described South Florida “tech community evangelist,” said he has heard little talk about Google Fiber.

“I know a large percentage of people in the tech community, and very few people are mentioning it,” he said.

Breslin said the new network will be a boon to any community chosen as a test site, because having the world’s fastest Internet connection would attract business.

“If you wanted to build a company around video content or large-scale data processing, you need a super high-speed Internet connection,” he said. “You’re opening the possibility for more startups and lowering costs.”

Kevin Crowder, director of economic development for Miami Beach, said the absence of antics shouldn’t be construed as a lack of interest.

He said Miami Beach — which has free citywide WiFi and is home to the New World Symphony, a musical partner with Google on the YouTube Symphony — stands on its merits.

“Think about the potential for an event like Art Basel,” Crowder said, adding that Miami Beach’s brand would bring Google publicity.

WHAT’S COMING UP

Google says it will announce its pick or picks later this year, and that between 50,000 and 500,000 people will have access to the new network. The company will bear the cost of constructing the new high-speed network, which will then be offered at a yet-to-be-determined cost to individual customers, according to a spokesperson.

Resource:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/26/1547896/some-s-fla-cities-hope-for-high.html

The beta version provides integration of Opera Mini with the Windows Mobile platform. "Opera is able to deliver an optimized version of the popular Opera Mini browser that dramatically improves performance and the overall user experience," a company press release said.

The Opera Mini will work on any Windows Mobile phone, as it does not requires Java.

The Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile includes the same rich feature set as the Java-based version, the company said. Such features as tabbed browsing, password manager, bookmarks and Speed Dial, are built-in.

One of Opera Mini’s claimed benefits is that it compresses data traffic by up to 90 percent, resulting in significantly improved page-loading and speed. "This results in a dramatically reduced data load, which can translate to lower browsing costs when on a pay-per-MB data plan or when on expensive roaming," the company said.

"Windows Mobile deserves a mobile browser that looks better, handles better and delivers better than the default browser," said Dag Olav Norem, Vice President of Products, Opera Software. "Even though Opera has 50 million satisfied Opera Mini users, we always seek ways to improve our browser for each and every mobile phone user out there. Now, we are pleased to offer the world’s most popular mobile Web browser as a native Windows Mobile application."

Download
Windows Mobile 5 and 6 users can download Opera Mini directly to their phone free from http://m.opera.com/next/ or read more at http://www.opera.com/mini/next/.