Half of the data traffic on US carrier Verizon Wireless is now carried on its LTE network, its CEO announced last week at CES, marking a significant increase on its October 2012 watermark, when just 35 per cent of its data traffic was LTE.
In the wake of the problems surrounding Apple’s own Maps application Google has now launched its own mapping app for the iOS platform. Although Google Maps was preinstalled on previous versions of the iOS platform, Google did not offer a version of its app for the latest iteration, iOS6. Instead Apple, having dispensed with a native installation of Google Maps, created its own mapping application in a move to take more control of the assets on its devices.
Capitalising on an opportunity to trump its fiercest rival in the smartphone space, Google is launching what it claims is its “biggest ever update” to its Street View application.
More flaws have appeared in Apple’s iPhone 5 as the device has been failing to connect some US users to their wifi network and instead forcing them to use their monthly allowance of cellular data. Users have been unknowingly surpassing their data limits due to the fault.
With any iPhone launch the industry’s commentators are out in force, and Wednesday’s unveiling was no different. Here’s what some of them had to say about the iPhone 5:
Only one of the three spectrum bands supported by the European version of Apple’s iPhone 5 is a European LTE band; a decision described by one industry consultancy as “really odd”.
Putting all anticipation, agitation and speculation to rest, Apple has finally unveiled the iPhone 5. As expected, the handset is larger than previous models, with a 4in Retina display. It has 16:9 aspect ratio to better accommodate gaming and video playback. It is also thinner; measuring just 7.6mm in thickness. The device runs on an Apple-designed A6 processor, which the firm claims is “up to twice as fast compared with the A5 chip”, although the device does not have an NFC chip to enable contactless payments.
The public launches of flagship products generate plenty of hoopla these days and none more so than those brought to market by Apple; especially the iPhone. The anticipated announcement of the 6th version of the iPhone (following the 2G, 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S models) is the most critical for the company to date – and possibly for any technology company, ever. For at no point in Apple’s history has so much of its future depended on the fortunes of a single device.
At a press conference in London, Everything Everywhere – the company formed by the merger of the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the UK – has announced that it will be launching its LTE service by the end of 2012. The company has pledged to bring 4G services to 16 cities covering a third of the population in the coming weeks.
Despite being given permission from UK regulator Ofcom to launch LTE services from September 2012, Everything Everywhere will not be in a position to offer 4G-enabled handsets for some time due to a lack of availability. The operator – formed by the merger of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK – is instead more likely to follow the route of early LTE adopter operators and initially launch its service via USB dongles.
Why is it that the tablet – rapidly establishing its position as the fourth screen in the home – isn’t a family friendly, multi-user device? I understand that it’s a personal screen, but it’s not a personal device.
Google’s takeover of Motorola Mobility has hit a stumbling block as the European Commission (EC) has suspended its review of the merger. An EC spokesperson confirmed to Telecoms.com that it “needs certain documents from Google that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction”.
Apple has been denied a preliminary injunction to block the sale of Samsung’s touchscreen smartphones and tablets in the US, after a judge in California ruled that the Korean manufacturer’s products would not severely impact Apple’s sales. The ruling means that Samsung will be able to sell its devices in the US during the traditionally lucrative Christmas season.
Chipmaker Qualcomm has announced the Gobi 4000, its first integrated chipset that supports LTE and various 3G flavours such as HSPA+, dual-carrier HSPA+, CDMA2000, and 1xEV-DO Rev A and B. The chipset package, which consists of the MDM9600 the MDM9200 chips, is the first integrated 3G/LTE chipset available from Qualcomm, which should bring the increasing efficiency and improved packaging that has prevented Apple from introducing LTE into the iPhone 4GS.
Dag Kittlaus, entrepreneur and co-founder of voice control software and ‘personal assistant’ Siri, has departed Apple just days after seeing his application launched as part of the latest iPhone package.
Apple is losing influence over the telecommunications industry, according to a senior exec at Swedish operator TeliaSonera. Tommy Ljunggren, SVP and head of system development for mobility services at the operator told Telecoms.com that, due to its decision not to embrace LTE and a recent apparent slowdown in its pace of innovation, Apple’s importance to the market is now the subject of much debate within the industry.
Apple shocked Wall Street by reporting results that missed expectations for the first time in years, despite seeing a staggering 85 per cent increase in profit for the year. The company posted net profit of $25.9bn for the year ending 25 September 2011, up from the $14bn it recorded over the course of FY10. Apple’s total revenue for the year stood at $108bn, 66 per cent higher than what was generated over 2010.
The USA’s International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that Apple did not violate rival vendor HTC’s patents for technology used in its mobile devices. HTC had filed the complaint with the ITC last year seeking a ban on the import of Apple devices into the USA as part of an ongoing patent dispute between Apple and Android device manufacturers.
Apple has won an injunction to block the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet in Australia. The device was already temporarily banned pending the court ruling, and the ban has now been upheld until a full patent trial is held next year. Samsung had initially offered to modify the software on the device to counteract the injunction, but Apple’s argument stated that the device also copies the design of its iPad and iPhone products.
Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs has died, aged 56, after his long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California, the company said late Wednesday night, other details were not disclosed.
Lean and MeanWith summer supposedly fast approaching, many look to trim some fat and get in shape for the sunny months. The Informer has never been a huge fan of gyms; in fact his favourite machine in the gym is the one that sells chocolate. Telefonica’s UK arm O2, is one business that is looking to get lean for the holidays, though, and this week it announced that it is to trim 3,500 UK employees.
Cross-border opportunities are there, but Telenor has work to do in BulgariaPan-European operater group Telenor is making another move into Eastern Europe, this time buying Bulgaria’s Globul. The move makes sense for several reasons, but success won’t come easy in a country with high mobile penetration and a sluggish economy.
Telecoms.com speaks with Ali Agan, who has risen through the ranks of TeliaSonera Group to become CEO of KCell in Kazakhstan. With a young population Agan is keen to deploy LTE and exploit nascent demand for data services.
Jonathan Bell, VP of Marketing at OpenCloud, discusses how policy and pricing are just two dimensions along which telecoms operators can differentiate their propositions. By adding a third dimension, the service behaviour itself, operators can define and bring true innovation to the market that surpasses the traditional approaches of the past, he says.
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Calls for consolidation in the European mobile market grow louder by the week and four-operator markets look increasingly challenged. Now, those mobile operators that have already built scale seem to be suggesting that there is no option but to expand yet further through diversification.