Mobile devices have come a long way from their walkie-talkie wartime roots, and their user interfaces have come further in a shorter time. Touchscreens are all the rage today, but in the future, where will the user interface reside?
Since mid-2008, when Apple first opened the doors of its genre-defining App Store, the concept has swept the mobile industry and become the primary means for consumers to discover content. While there are some who believe the devices space has become a two horse race in terms of platforms, with Apple and Google’s Android as the only runners, the software side of the mobile experience is in a state of flux, and 2012 may still be too early to place confident bets.
Analysis suggests that the Middle Eastern telecoms industry is actually stronger in terms of credit health, than its European equivalent, despite the impact of the Arab Spring, says Pavle Sabic, Solutions Architect at S&P Capital IQ.
If mobile government services in Africa are to be more sustainable than previous e-government initiatives, they must benefit all stakeholders. Today, the business model is uncertain. To put it bluntly, governments have limited budgets and the end users with most to gain from mobile government are often living in poverty in remote rural areas. As a result, telecom operators anticipate only modest, if any, return for providing low-cost connectivity and backhaul for these services.
According to the E-Government Survey published by the UN in 2010, although African countries generally lag behind other markets in the rankings of e-government implementation, there has been improvement in the region since the 2008 survey, particularly in northern Africa. Tunisia and Egypt were two of the highest-ranked countries in Africa alongside Mauritius, South Africa and Seychelles.
Data might be the driving force behind LTE’s gathering pace, but there’s no escaping the fact that voice continues to be the killer application for mobile operators. “Smart” they may be, but drop the “phone” element from the current crop of devices and you’re dropping 64 per cent of your revenues—according to Ovum research, this is the percentage of MNO turnover that voice will generate by 2015.
Apple teased the masses ahead of the launch of its newest handset – with the only detail being divulged being the title of the event: “Let’s Talk iPhone”. As with most Apple launches, the technology press and blogger community were fast spreading rumours about what new features the device would have. Would it be called the iPhone 5? And what would it look like? On Tuesday the Cupertino-based company unveiled the iPhone 4S – an upgrade to the iPhone 4, with a new chip and enhanced voice recognition features but largely the same appearance as its predecessor.
In July, O2UK launched a location-based loyalty and retention scheme offering its customers discounts and deals from 30 partners from the fashion, leisure and retail sectors. The launch builds on existing loyalty and location-marketing initiatives from O2, which is among the most advanced carriers in the world in terms of location.
The hype and excitement generated by the advent of digital advertising a decade ago led to widespread speculation on the death of traditional media. But were those predictions very much exaggerated or just premature?
Operators are renewing their enthusiasm for location as OTT players build their own means of accessing positional information on consumers. Marketing and advertising will be key, and success will be derived from expertise in context, content and customer relationship.
Ericson is turning out to be a dissapointment especially in the way they are handling emerging markets:case in point - ...
Dimitris,you have it completely right with Operators focussing on increasing performance which will improve cusotmer experience. That is why ...
Dawinderpal, you are right that mobile operators are facing many challenges while transitioning to the next generation of backhaul on ...
Don't blame CEO, they want RIM win.
RIM has strange culture and self distruct political environment.
In RIM if a new hired ...
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