Ram rules!

…and served with “red napkins”….

The feeling that a come from behind victory gives is extraordinary. If someone still questions the ability of this team to deliver without CR, then they should go back to their football lessons. What a good match that was! And Ryan Giggs just proved why he is considered one of the best winger of all times. That shot was tremendous. And so was Ando’s finish. People may say whatever they want to about his commitment, continuity, etc. He answered them with his boot!

Cant wait for the City game now. It will be interesting to see whether city would play Tevez, especially after the Ade-gate scandal. If Ade misses out, I don’t think city have got enough in their ultra rich selves to do the needful on the pitch.

Bring on the blues…..we are waiting.

A trio of Japanese electronics firms – Hitachi, Casio and NEC – have announced plans to merge their mobile phone operations in a bid to reduce costs and improve their competitive position in the domestic market. The three companies are relative minnows in the mobile phone market but plan to change this by agreeing to share technology and resources. From 2010 NEC will take a 71% equity stake in the enlarged entity, with Casio owning 20% and Hitachi holding a 9% stake. The tie-up will catapult the group into second position in terms of Japan’s leading mobile phone makers, with analysts predicting more consolidation could follow in the intensely competitive Japanese mobile market. All three vendors have suffered badly during the downturn.

DoT announces 7 December date for 3G auction; CDMA1xEVDO and WiMAX sales on 9 December.

Progress on the long-delayed Indian 3G auctions once again appears to be gaining momentum; on the back of recent decisions by a group of ministers confirming the base price for spectrum, the government has finally announced the auction date for UMTS spectrum. According to the Economic Times, the state will hold the W-CDMA auction on 7 December 2009, with bids invited between 26 October and 13 November; auctions for CDMA 1xEVDO and WiMAX licenses will be held two days later. Successful bidders will be required to pay deposits within five days of the auction closing, and the balance will be due after 15 days. A revised memorandum is expected to be produced by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on 29 September, detailing the new timeline.

Keen to ensure that no issues arise at the bidding stage, the state has also called on all interested parties to submit ownership information, alongside compliance certificates, and this documentation must be received by the DoT by 23 November. Details of company shareholdings must also be submitted, with a deadline of 18 November. In addition, the DoT has announced it will hold a pre-bid conference on 12 October, with a deadline of 8 October for any questions to be heard at the meeting.

It has been claimed by an industry experts that telcos in Australia are in a unique position to profit from online content, despite this area being traditionally dominated by Hollywood studios.

It has been claimed recently by an industry official that teclos in Australia are in a ‘unique position’ to benefit and profit from online content. Online content has become more and more popular as a result of more widespread and higher speed broadband, and telcos in Australia could really cash in on this according to Internode MD Simon Hackett, who was addressing the Telecoms World Conference.

Hackett stated: “It’s probably the reason why Hollywood hasn’t moved into this country as fast as people might like it to, apart from the overall market size is the fact that there’s a perception those download caps are a barrier to take-up by consumers here. I actually think they’re not nearly as much of a barrier as Hollywood might think.”

He went on to state: “In the US you have this whole conversation around network neutrality, which I interpret as being the outbreak of the tension with unlimited value providers who don’t have a way to charge for the higher amount of data, and the fact that they’re being used as an easy transport path without being part of the value chain.”

He also added: “So in Australia we’re standing here with download caps – actually that provides us with an opportunity as an industry to say ‘well we can take that [content] off the meter, but you need to… make us an active part of the value chain in return. And that’s unique here. The issue comes down to making sure everyone on the value chain can actually get paid. Because in the act of unmetering stuff we’re actually giving away stuff that previously we were charging for… the issue then of course is what happens when you unmeter a massive firehose.”
© Broadband Expert

Facebook is challenging Twitter with Facebook Lite and Tagging to keep friends linked. Facebook Lite was meant for developing countries but is available first in the U.S. and India. An analyst noted that the stripped-down Facebook Lite is easier for mobile users to access. Tagging lets users tell friends what they’re up to.

Here is what Jennifer LeClaire writes on Mobile Tech Today -

Facebook is going on the offensive against the rising Twitter star with new initiatives aimed at streamlining social networking Relevant Products/Services. Facebook launched Facebook Lite and Tagging on Thursday to make updating simpler and more social.

As its name suggests, Facebook Lite is a lighter version of Facebook. It was designed for people with slower connections. The stripped-down version loads faster.

Facebook Lite is available in the U.S. and India, and the company plans to roll it out in China, Russia and other countries. That makes Facebook’s intentions suspect, since most users in the U.S. have good connections.

However, Facebook issued a statement about the U.S. launch: “We decided to roll out Facebook Lite in the U.S. to give users a simple, expedient alternative to facebook.com, and hope that it will fill this need.”

Lite Enough for Mobile

Facebook Lite focuses on events, inbox messages, wall messages, video and photos, and, of course, status updates. The difference between Facebook and Facebook Lite is most obvious in applications. You won’t find support Relevant Products/Services for applications on the Lite version, which reminds some observers of Facebook’s original version.

“Facebook Lite was intended to be something for developing countries and places where high-speed connections were sparse or entirely nonexistent,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “However, the company is making it available in the U.S., and thus it now represents a total alternative for people who use or want to use Facebook but don’t like all the ‘noise’ and clutter of the regular site.”

Sterling’s guess is that most U.S. and Western users won’t access Facebook via the Lite version. But he noted that Facebook Lite is easier for mobile users to access with a browser.

Tagging, Tagging Everywhere

Facebook is also offering a new way to tag people and other things Facebook users are connected to in status updates and other posts. Facebook is positioning the amped-up tagging capabilities as a way for its members to let people know who they are and what they are talking about.

“People often update their status to reflect their thoughts and feelings, or to mention things they feel like sharing. Sometimes that includes referencing friends, groups or even events they are attending — for instance, posting ‘Grabbing lunch with Meredith Chin’ or ‘I’m heading to Starbucks Coffee Company — anyone want some coffee?’,” said Facebook engineer Tom Occhino.

Facebook tagging will soon let users that want to add a friend’s name to a status update do so by including the “@” symbol beforehand. As a user types the name of something to reference, a drop-down menu appears to choose from friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications and pages. Occhino said that soon, members will be able to tag friends from applications as well. The “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post.

“Friends you tag in your status updates will receive a notification and a Wall post linking them to your post. They also will have the option to remove tags of themselves from your posts,” Occhino said. “We hope that tagging your status updates and other posts from the publisher will enable you to share in a more meaningful and engaging way, and connect with even more people.”

Facebook is rolling out this feature over the course of the next few weeks.

iPhone Programming Course via Online Video, Worksheets and One-on-One Sessions

EDUmobile.org is currently offering online iPhone programming tutorials delivered to you via PDF, Online Videos and project Worksheets.

Our industry validated iPhone Course is aimed towards the student and the working executive who wants to make a career and cash in on the opportunity of the high growth and increasing demand for iPhone Apps.

Once candidates complete our iPhone course they may go on to Independently publish their own Apps, or work as Freelancers taking on iPhone projects for Clients from sites like Elance and oDesk, or they can directly benefit from a higher pay having enhanced their technical skill sets in a cutting edge technology space.

Salient features of the course

1. Web based interactive course is perfect for the working executive and full time students.

2. Learn from the comfort of your home at any time of your convenience

3. Work on live commercial projects

4. Get certification / work experience for the full tenure of the course.

5. You can interact with our parent company (Chakra Interactive) engineers and development team for better grasp of the concepts.

6. Remote access to Mac offered on a need basis.

7. Monetize your content using our distribution channels

The cost of the complete iPhone development course is $200. You can also opt to pay in 3 easy monthly installments.

The Course duration for is between 4 to 12 weeks depending upon the developers past experience in programming.

Interested people will need to register. Visit the link – http://edumobile.org/iphone-course.html to sign up.

Yahoo unveils Flickr iPhone app

Content from mobilenews.co.uk

Flickr as a mobile app for the iPhone is now available to download from the iTunes App Store

Yahoo! has announced the availability of Flickr as a mobile application for the Apple iPhone.

The Flickr iPhone app allows people to easily upload, share and tag photos and videos while staying in touch with the Flickr community, as well as share photos with friends.

Users can view their friends’ photos, comment on them and mark as their favourite as well as view activity and uploads from their contacts and search for photos by subject, people and places. Users can also take videos, upload and playback posted videos.

iPhone users can download the app through the iTunes App Store while Flickr has its own mobile website at http://m.flickr.com.

Alcatel-Lucent is Seeking Innovative Applications for 4G Mobile Environment!

The Metroplex Technology Business Council (MTBC), the largest technology trade association in Texas, would like to invite you to apply to meet with Alcatel-Lucent through the TechQuest program. Through this program, you can apply to meet with the team of Alcatel-Lucent executives. All you need to do is apply, be selected, and show up.

What is TechQuest? High-Tech Speed Dating

TechQuest is a program that gives small technology companies, university researchers and technology entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their technology-based ideas and business plans to a major North Texas “Technology Innovation Seeker” company which could result in:

-technology licensing
-funding
-customer/supplier relationships
-strategic partnerships
-some other type of business relationship

What Alcatel-Lucent is Looking For:

The bandwidth of mobile uplinks and downlinks as well as data latency parameters promise to be much improved over currently available 3G services with the advent of LTE and 4G wireless broadband technologies. Alcatel-Lucent is seeking applications and services that will benefit from this improved connectivity especially in these key areas:

-Public Safety
-Media and Entertainment
-eHealthcare
-eLearning

To learn more about Alcatel-Lucent’s areas of technology interests, click this link http://www.metroplextbc.org/Events/Tech-Quest-Program/Alcatel-Lucent-TechQuest.aspx.

Who Alcatel-Lucent is:

Alcatel-Lucent offers products that enable service providers, enterprises, and governments worldwide to deliver voice, data, and video communication services to end-users.

To learn more and apply for the Alcatel-Lucent TechQuest, click this link http://www.metroplextbc.org/Events/Tech-Quest-Program.aspx.

© Copyright Telecoms.com

During its swan song, Canadian vendor Nortel has teamed up with Korean manufacturer LG to demonstrate a 3GPP standards compliant data handover between a LTE network and a CDMA network.

The demo, which took place at Nortel’s R&D centre in Ottawa, Canada,  showed that activities like video downloads, web surfing, and VoIP calls can be maintained when a mobile data user moves between LTE and CDMA coverage zones.

The vendors said that initial LTE networks will co-exist with existing CDMA networks for some time an inter-technology handover allows mobile users to move between a LTE and a CDMA network without losing their data connectivity. This means that operators can run these networks concurrently without impacting services.Major deployments of LTE are expected as early as 2010, with big name CDMA players such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and KDDI having already committed to the technology.

"Nortel innovation will help CDMA operators enjoy a smooth migration to LTE," said Larry Murat, vice president of LTE R&D, Nortel. "Although CDMA networks will remain the primary networks for many years to come, LTE will become a key piece of the networking puzzle as early as next year."

Nortel, which is in the midst of a fire sale of its assets, is expected to offload its 50 per cent stake in joint venture LG Nortel this year.  The Canadian firm’s CDMA business and LTE access assets are also the subject of an asset sale agreement with Ericsson, set to close in the autumn of 2009.

BoxTone Introduces New Mobile User Self-Service Software to Lower TCO for BlackBerry Enterprise Server Deployments.

BoxTone, the expert in mobile user management, today announced its new BoxTone User Self-Service Module for the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the latest addition to a software suite that enables enterprise IT staffs and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to lower the cost of supporting their mobile users while ensuring a higher quality of service.

Deployed via a Web portal, this software enables mobile end users to easily check the real-time status of their end-to-end mobile service from a standard browser and follow simple instructions to resolve issues and take action 7 x 24, without any IT staff involvement.

For the mobile user, benefits include faster issue resolution, minimized downtime and a better mobile experience. IT staff benefit from up to a 50 percent reduction in mobility-related help desk calls. Freed from performing more routine support tasks, IT also has more time to focus on challenges that advance mobility in the organization.

Combined with existing BoxTone modules for on-device user self-health, and service desk, incident and problem management, BoxTone now offers organizations a complete low-cost, multi-tiered mobile support approach, which can reduce total mobility costs by up to one-third.

Analyst firm IDC estimates 17.7 million corporate mobile email subscribers in 2008, with an installed base of 34.6 million subscribers of corporate mobile email (Source: Worldwide Corporate Mobile Email 2009–2013 Forecast and Analysis (IDC # 217223), March 2009). Said Alan Snyder, CEO, BoxTone, "As more workers leverage their BlackBerry smartphones, enterprise and outsourced service desks – operating on reduced budgets — are seeking new, innovative ways to better support them at a lower cost. The BoxTone User Self-Service Module helps mobile end users help themselves stay productive at a lower cost – a win-win for end users and the IT staff that support them."

The new BoxTone User Self-Service Module is fully customizable, allowing an IT organization to enable or disable capabilities based on their operational procedures and the needs of its mobile user population. Capabilities were selected based on feedback from BoxTone’s more than 230 customers, then jointly developed with a global financial services firm, with a focus on addressing the types of mobile issues that most often lead to a service desk call.