Sony Ericsson is now in the market with their two latest Greenheart tree-hugging phones first is Elm and second one is Hazel. To fit better in your palm this phone has curved designed and splash-resistant bodies. The benefit of GreenHeart is reducing negative impact on the environment, no lead and fewer chemicals and a low power consumption charger to save electricity, in short a environment loving phone in your hand now. This phone also has a built-in GPS to show you the right path of your destination. Here you will get standby widgets like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to connect you with social networking and Google Search, you just have to select search from standby to open Google search, even you can use Google Maps also.

There is also so many features of Sony Ericsson like SenseMe, TrackID, Clear Voice and Intelligent Volume Adaptation, Noise Shield and the best one is Accelerometer sensor for auto rotating. This Eco Friendly phone supports 2G and 3G both networks; it supports GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 with 2G and HSDPA 900 / 2100 and HSDPA 2100 with 3G networks. Camera of 5 Mega Pixel enables you for Geo tagging, face and smile detection with extra feature of auto focus and LED Flash. Here you will get 319 MB of internal which is mind-blowing and also here is a card slot to support up to 16 GB MicroSD card. This smart phone will be in market in second quarter of 2010; currently this is in Pre-Order at Cellhut.

Click Here To Buy This

Technology comes to help: Students of IGNOU can look forward to download their study course contents and get SMS alerts through mobiles

 The Indira Gandhi National Open University will soon start using third generation mobile technology to impart education to students across the country.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is exploring the advantages of the 3G (third generation) mobile services in delivering education to the nook and corner of the country.

On October 29, the university signed a MoU with Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd. (EIL), an Indian chapter of Swedish multinational firm Ericsson, to start application of the third generation mobile in education delivery.

Students of IGNOU will soon get 3G mobile services at nominal rates. It will be only Rs.20 or Rs.25 more than what they are paying for the normal admissions.

Explaining the advantages of the new project, Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai told The Hindu EducationPlus that the country had recently launched the third generation mobile services.

“This MoU is aimed at the effective use of facilities supported by 3G mobile services in open and distance education. It is a state-of-the-art technology being used to connect the remote area learners,” he said.

Pointing out that the common SMS today is already used in the course management through SMS alert services, Prof. Pillai said that students will be supported with access to parts of the course web pages, downloading files like assignments and video clips with the introduction of the 3G services.

Stating that the 3G technology would reach out to the heterogeneous echelons of IGNOU student communities, K.R. Srivathsan, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the university, who is spearheading the project, said that it is not the distance education alone, which will be the beneficiary of the 3G mobile services. “Even in the conventional university system, the students using the technology will have an edge over others,” he said.

Describing that the 3G technology creates wider scope for a learner, Prof. Srivathsan said that it is a small-screen mega performer which has a browser to scan, stream, build capacities of the users by getting materials at shortest possible application methods.

“The 3G technology helps a learner stream through video, audio and selective Internet browsing. Downloaded files may be played through laptop or personal computer. New notebooks will have built-in 3G chip sets with advanced e-learning services. This will allow consulting with academic counsellors, course coordinators, and peer-to-peer discussions,” he said.

Prof. Srivathsan said that a small laptop or a notebook with a built-in 3G chip can be a wonderful utility tool for the distance education teachers, particularly for areas where infrastructure and electricity are not available.

“The 3G technology ensures both web-mentoring and web-proctoring. Web-mentoring is studying through the 3G chip, consulting with counsellors and engaging in peer-to-peer discussions. The web-proctoring is more expert-driven. It means only the experts and researchers in the m-learning technologies can participate to effect better application modules. Web-proctoring will ensure not only the two-way audio and video interactive but also makes possible a delivery of classroom discussion or a seminar in a three-party module,” he said.

Giving an example of a student using sign language, Prof. Srivathsan said that the candidate could take his/her classes through the mobile screen of the 3G model of mobile telephony.

“His/her learning is more by watching the signs created by the interpreter. In this case a lecture is given at a place, the interpreter interpreting it through sign language is stationed at a different location and a speech and hearing impaired learner watching the signs of the interpreter from a different place. All activities at three points take place simultaneously. The 3G technology can make this possible,” he said.

Explaining the students profile at IGNOU, Prof. Pillai stressed the heterogeneity of the communities of IGNOU. “We are not like the conventional universities. Our students come from all types of communities of the country. They are disadvantaged BPL families, lower income groups, middle-class societies and also are highly articulate professionals like engineers, doctors, scientists, professors etc. We cater to all kinds of life of the country. Our 2.5 million student bases are powerful receptors of the 3G technology,” he said.

No financial burden

Dispelling doubts that the technology will be a financial burden for the student community, Prof. Pillai said that the university students earn and learn in most cases. “They can provide for the 3G mobile services for education. Even then, from this collaboration we will charge them hardly Rs.20 or Rs.25 for the 3G mobile services. But the real cost is likely to be from the TRAI and other services providers,” he said.

Elaborating on the agreement with IGNOU, Ericsson India president Gowton Achaibar said that Ericsson and IGNOU would create an eco-system for the 3G mobile technology applied in education. “India has about 20 per cent of the world’s population. If we create an ecosystem, delivery of education through the 3G Mobile will become a great success story,” he said.

According to the university estimates, the 3G technology has a niche area of functioning for the university.

The cost of the service will increasingly come down with enrolment figures going up. IGNOU will be at an advantage in this situation.

At present IGNOU disseminates education to over 8 million homes through the Edusat-mediate beams of DTH services.

The university is also implementing the latest Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) aimed at reaching out to the un-reached in the rural areas across the country.

Prof. Pillai said that scientists at IGNOU constantly evaluate the latest ICTs to use it for education services. This MoU by the university is yet another niche area specialisation for developing domain knowledge, he said.

High School, New School Day: Year 2020 (Log in: Cyber School Bus. World History. Teleport to Pangaea Virtual Island in Avatar Dress Code [Arab]. Prepare to Represent Palestinian Authority. Review Oslo Peace Accords.
By
Robert L. Frantz
Tags: Just-in-Time (JIT), U.N. Cyber School Bus, synchronous learning, bore holes, Net 2, Net 3, avatar, Pangaea, 3G technology, affective learning, asynchronous learning, Moodle, social presence, teacher presence, cognitive presence, Learning Course Management System, threaded learning, blended learning, and Swarm Intelligence Theory

Futurists have predicted that between the years 2020 and 2025 all education will be delivered on an individual basis. Harvard professor Clayton Christensen in his book Disrupting Class has predicted that one half of all education will be delivered on an individual basis by 2015. Can this really be happening? Yes, because education could become virtually free through technology; education through technology could be delivered just in time (JIT) and any place; and education through technology can be as effective, if not more effective, than traditional “brick and mortar” education. These are very bold statements, but let me share my own education experience and research into our current technology revolution.

My first experience in education at a distance involved global video conferencing from my nonprofit organization’s studio in Washington D.C. From this location and with access to high speed internet we were able to invite local K-12 students to participate in the United Nations Cyber School Bus program. Once a year students from around the world would come together to work as a team on building resolutions in support of the U.N. Millennial Goals. One particular year was exceptional because joining the program were high school students from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The subject was “Water as a Human Right” (who better would understand water as a human right than Africans). The program also included participants in the video conferencing from six other high schools and 80 students physically participating at the U.N. headquarters in New York City. The final resolution at the end of the day was voted on, approved, and presented by the students to the President of the General Assembly who, in turn, presented it to the General Assembly, as a whole, for adoption.

Our students in the studio were so excited that their school class later raised nearly $800 to be used to dig two shallow bore holes in a village dependent on subsistence farming (bore holes are shallow wells which provide temporary sources of water and are essential for survival during the dry season in Sub-Saharan Africa). The exuberance shown by these students reflected both affective and cognitive learning. It is this kind of life event outside the normal classroom that could frame their future thinking and career paths.

Another video conferencing event involved students from the Ukraine, Poland and two schools from the United States who came together to discuss global politics. The student groups were required to act as the students from another country and the results turned out to be rather humorous. At one point the Ukrainians started scolding the Americans for, then, current Bush policies. But the Americans countered by saying they were the Irish, and the Ukrainians should scold the Polish students who were representing the U.S. The point of the exercise was to view the world through the lens of different countries and different cultures in order to arrive at common consensus leading to peaceful solutions to difficult problems.

Today, with the evolvement of Net 2, Net 3 technology, what we did globally through video conferencing, we have now expanded into a much larger global net. The global virtual community today allows students to interact with other students from around the world 24/7. The students can teleport anywhere in the virtual world and do their “Meet Ups” in a virtual classroom; around a virtual campfire, or any desirable scenario location. They would arrive in their Avatar bodies, dressed according to the local customs of the country, but speaking with their actual real time voices. When controlled academically, my scenario would have the students teleport to my island known as Pangaea which metaphorically resulted when the continental drift reversed itself returning our planet to its original single island state—“a place where students can learn that they are part of one world and not a world apart”. Here they can view world problems through different perspective lens and share their common future dreams and hopes with fellow students. This technology has serious academic interest (search Second Life. If you meet Colonel Watanabe in the virtual world—that’s me).

Let us return to the video conference experience I shared above because shortly following this session a significant world event occurred which demonstrated the power of another emerging technology, the mobile phone. The successful Orange Revolution in the Ukraine was credited in part to student activists who coordinated their activities via their mobile phones. Another significant international protest occurred recently in Iran where mobile phones powered by 3G technology allowed students to use Twitter to communicate and coordinate their activities. If you were on a Twitter Grid at this time in the U.S. you could follow the minute by minute events that occurred during the protest marches. It is predicted that this form of technology will result in significant improvements in democracy and economic growth around the world.

As an example developing countries, like those on the African Continent, should soon realize a technological revolution as 3G mobile phone use is introduced along the existing extensive cellular transmission tower infrastructure. It is predicted by this writer, who does extensive nonprofit work in Africa, that education provided via mobile phones when combined with existing microfinance programs will dramatically close the digital/economic divides that have been a major frustration on the continent. In our nonprofit work we refer to this as “Innovation X Implementation = I (squared).” The enhancement of communication will translate into economic freedom, increased democracy, and increased personal dignity among the African citizenry.

Teachers today should consider mobile phones, not as a nuisance, but as an educational asset. A recent observation of a very successful seminar started out with the speaker providing his Twitter address and encouraging participants to Tweet during the presentation. The audience shared their thoughts on the topics with other participants and with the speaker. The speaker could review the Tweets on break and address them when he resumed speaking. The speaker could also survey the audience and even quiz them on their understanding of the subject. This demonstrates how mobile phones can be a resourceful education tool promoting both affective learning and cognitive learning.

So far this paper has talked only about synchronous technology and social software tools. But to examine the bold predictions made in the beginning of this paper we need to understand the evolvement of asynchronous technology, referred to as online learning (learning at a distance). Let’s address this in terms of convenience, cost, and effectiveness.

We are seeing that post secondary education is rapidly moving towards online education. Almost half of education at this level is now offered online. The outreach to adult learners is proving successful because online education is convenient, occurring at any time, and at any place in the world. Phoenix University now commands impressive market share with its global online programs. Other universities are moving in this direction, but are encountering resistance from tenured professors, unions, and administrative bureaucracy. Community colleges are also moving in this direction, initially through their certificate programs. Virginia community colleges are expediting online training for their teachers because of the threat of the Swine Flu epidemic. This could become a permanent change in their future concentration. K12 schools are also exploring online education; initially, as an outreach to the rural communities, but also as an alternative to traditional secondary education schools.

In regard to cost savings, today we have free “open source” internet platforms such as Moodle (Modular Online Delivered Learning), which is gaining competitive advantage over more expensive, licensed, software like Blackboard. Moodle only involves server and administrative costs. The Moodle tools allow courses to easily be built by teachers themselves, thereby avoiding expensive designer and programmer costs. This disrupting technology will soon make education available and affordable globally. Like the mobile phones in Africa, this new pedagogical delivery will enhance global productivity; enhance economic freedom; promote democracy; and result in the Pangaea metaphor becoming a reality.

Finally, is online learning effective? As of this writing a 93 page report on online education was provided by SRI International to the Department of Education. This meta analysis, conducted over a 12 year period and representing 99 studies, compared online with traditional classroom performance on the same subject and reported that online students scored in the 59th percentile on tested performance as compared to the average classroom performance in the 50th percentile. There is increasing evidence to further support these results, but the key to effective online education is understanding theory behind the pedagogy.

Learning technology has outpaced theory development but “strong theory” is starting to catch up. One theoretical model advanced by R. Garrison is called the “Community of Inquiry” and has been validated by other researchers. His model includes three cluster constructs: social presence; teacher presence; and cognitive presence. The interaction of these three clusters results in the overall education experience: the social/cognitive overlap supports discourse; the social teaching overlap sets the educational climate: and the cognitive/teaching presence results in the proper selection of content. In order for teachers to be effective they must be trained in a Learning Course Management System (LCMS) that introduces them to the theory so that they can properly utilize the tools available on virtual platforms like Moodle and effectively deliver their education programs.

A very powerful aspect of online learning is that it facilitates constructivist pedagogy which is student centric. When we recognize that there may be as many as thirteen different learning styles (styles like Kolb’s Experimental Learning Theory (ELT) and as many as eight intelligence domains (Gardner), the student centric approach allows teachers to tailor education to meet the student’s individuality. Further, online constructivist pedagogy necessitates critical thinking and online learning accomplishes this through “threaded learning”. The threaded learning in turn is the opportunity for the teacher to demonstrate his or her academic knowledge. Although online teaching requires more preparation and attention by the teacher, the pedagogical rewards are decidedly more satisfying.

There is no doubt that our Y Generation (Millenial) students can adapt to online technology, for they are the “gamers”. A question that must be addressed is: at what age can students begin the transition to online learning? The answer lies with maturity, but researchers use the notion of “autonomy” or if we think of a continuum line for autonomy, at one end we would find structure and at the other end dialogue. The more autonomous (mature) a student is, the more the teacher can rely on structure: a good syllabus outline; thoroughly written lectures; clearly written declarative course objectives and assignments. At the other end of the continuum would be the word “dialogue” where less mature (less autonomous) students would require more verbal instructions through the medium of video, audio, chat rooms, blogs or face-to-face for example. The age of the student would require a careful evaluation of each student by the teacher. I would boldly suggest that this could be offered to students as young as K-5. Those students demonstrating the necessary maturity could start with blended learning (a combination of in class and online classes) and transitioning to full online when ready.

In closing, a question pertinent to the above must be addressed. With exploding technology, where information available to us is growing at an exponential rate, but can only absorbed at a finite level, how do educators filter out extraneous information? As a possible solution and for your homework assignment, please search: “Swarm Intelligence Theory”. Prepare a 500 word essay and upload it by the end of next week. Remember to demonstrate critical thinking.
Robert L. Frantz
CEO, Kepler Space University and President, Ashburn Institute

New WiBro-enabled Navigation device has been announced by EASYCAR during World IT show 2009 in Korean market. It has adopted “TocToc” navigation software from Point-I that allows users to enjoy the experience of Wi-Fi/WoBro access and e-mail. Moreover, you can download many multimedia contents. This device has the ability to display the real-time traffic information and CCTV video information.

Click to know about Pocket GPS Navigator for car

This device is powered by Telechips TCC7901 Dual Core CPU at 498×498MHz. The other major features of this device are, SkyTrag GPS chipset, 800 x 480 resolution LCD screen and a rear camera. This device is expected to be available for 329,000 KRW from this month.

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3G is the third generation of tele standards and  technology for mobile networking.

3G is now implementing in India. BSNl collaborated with MTNL is launching this technology my Mid 2009 and by launching this technology it wil bring a revolution in mobile technology in India. It has been successfuly launched all parts of the world but till now India wasn’t part of this technology, but by this India is also entering into this technology.

3G networks will enable users to receive a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

The services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls and broadband wireless data.

Additional features also include high speed data transmission capabilities.

Source

One of the significant news from MWC 2009 (mobile world congress) was the culmination of rumors with official announcements of app stores. Now we have a long list of Application Stores including:

• Apple is the innovator and king of this and called it Apple App Store
• Google called its app store as Android App Market
• Nokia extended its service brand Ovi to Ovi application store
• Microsoft may call its service SkyMarket and its own service as My Mobile for Windows Mobile phones
• RIMM called it Blackberry Application Store Front
• Samsung for its smartphones created Samsung App Store

Why is this significant for the Mobile VAS (mobile value added services) market?

Until now, Mobile markets have suffered from 3Ds:

• Distribution
• Discovery
• Dollars or whatever Currency you prefer

Theses announcements solve two of the problems -  that of Distribution and Dollars.

With smartphone sales estimated at over 60M units in 2008, it is clear that software developers only working on smartphone now have access to a large market. Should VAS developers even bother with lower-end phones? We will tackle this in a later blog.

How did we reach the 60M units number – based on many articles and estimates with the best one from Eric Zeman at Information Week.  Here is the breakdown which may cause many arguments and surprise many:

• Apple shipped 14M in 2008
• Microsoft shipped 20M in 2008 – yes more than Apple
• Nokia shipped 18M in 2008 with N and E-Series counted as smartphone
• RIMM shipped close to 14M in 2008 of Blackberry Curve and up

With an average price of $20 per application/application pack for the life of smartphone, there is room for many $100M software companies in the mobile VAS space with focus only on smartphone. No need to have large expensive sales forces calling on many mobile operators worldwide as distribution is now possible from the app stores which in most cases give 70% of the revenue to software developers rather than 20-50% which operators are giving to the software developers. So what does this mean for Mobile Operators – relegation to being a dumb pipe or? Of course, it is different for different geographies – we will tackle that in a later blog.

Now comes the third problem something that has plagued most application stores including that of facebook, myspace and hi5. Yes that is the problem of discovery and this is where virality, usefulness and marketing becomes ever more important. We will tackle this in the next blog.

R. Paul Singh

WITH CDMA taking the backseat, round one of the technology war in telecom has gone to the GSM platform. A second war for supremacy is brewing between the soon-to-be-launched 3G and WiMax technologies. Both are platforms for providing highspeed Internet on mobile, enabling video calls, movie downloads and other multimedia applications on mobiles.

The differences between the proponents of two technologies are heating up ahead of the spectrum auction next month. Ericsson – the biggest supporter and equipment vendor of 3G – is now laying claims even on 2.3 Ghz spectrum band, which is supposed to be used for WiMax in India. On the other hand, WiMax Forum, the international body supporting WiMax deployment, feels that it has products certified for use in that band, which is most spectral efficient for offering high-speed internet on mobile.

WiMax stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It can be used to provide voice services too and is considered a rival of 3G since both platforms are used for similar applications. 3G, however, is said to be voice-centric and is expected to be used for easing network congestion before high-end data services can be offered.

As per the Department of Telecom (DoT), spectrum in the 2.1Ghz band will be used for 3G while 2.3 GHz and 2.5Ghz have been earmarked for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), which is considered synonymous with WiMax. However, Ericsson CTO Hakan Eriksson said BWA is a family of technologies, which include 3G, HSPA (high speed packet access), LTE (long term evolution) as well as WiMax. “There is nothing that specifies it is only for WiMax,” he told ET.

WiMax Forum, however, feels otherwise. “2.3 and 2.5 Ghz bands are globally harmonized bands as per International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)- 2000 standard. As a telecom professional, I have not seen a 3G network operational in these two bands anywhere in the world,” WiMax Forum India chapter chairman C S Rao said.

WiMAX, which can be fixed as well as mobile, mainly operates in the 2.3 – 2.7GHz range. Japan and the US are using both 2.3 and 2.5 for WiMax/OFDMA, said Mr Rao. Till now, several mobile WiMAX products operating between 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz have been certified by the WiMax Forum, allowing their commercial deployment, like by Sprint Nextel in the USA.

Ericsson, however, anticipates that by 2013, there will be two billion mobile broadband subscribers, with majority using 3G networks. “I don’t think WiMax will ever break the 10% market share,” said Mr Eriksson.
For BWA, the DoT auction will distribute two 20 MHz blocks in both the 2.3 and 2.5 GHz bands. In the 2.1 GHz 3G band, the auction will be for spectrum in blocks of 5 Mhz. The success of both 3G and WiMax will largely depend on the strength of ecosystem around them. The larger the number of equipment vendors, software suppliers and operators supporting a technology, the more widespread will be the usage. How each of them will span out in India will be visible only after the deployment of networks next year.

(Source: The Times Of India) 

In the game of targeting, what is the opportunity to hit Melting-Pot Australians with 3G technology?

1. Do these communities seek this technology?
2. What do they know about 3G?
3. What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
4. What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
5. What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
6. What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
7. What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?

Lets look at 5 key communities to answer these questions:

Chinese Australians
Korean Australians
Filipino Australians
Arabic Australians (from Lebanon, Iraq,Iran, Egypt)
Indian Australians
Chinese-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
First, China is the world’s largest mobile telephony market with over 500 million cellular users. 200 million more than landline users. $10 Billion of revenue in 2007 came from data – representing 20% of all revenues. This is expected to grow to 30% of all revenue by 2010. This means that the relatives of Chinese-Australians in China are well-versed in mobile telephony and use their mobile phones to keep in contact with their Aussie-based family and friends. This also means that Chinese-Australians are keen to keep up with technology and are not afraid of seeing the mobile phone as their primary source of communication.
What do they know about 3G?
Enough to know that it is the future of telephony and already growing in China. They understand that it means more access to content and bandwidth BUT unsure about technical improvements like lowered drop-out rates and better coverage. They need a better explanation of real user benefits that make sense and make for better quality phone service.

What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
3G networks were deployed in China before the Beijing 2008 Olympics with a commitment of an additional $1Billion in infrastructure investment every year for the next 5 years from China Telecom and China Netcom. They are projected to add another $1Billion or revenue every month by 2009.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
50 million users in China are already using their mobile for Internet access and this number is expected to double in the next 6 months. 3G will be THE technology to deliver this. China Telecom is currently experimenting with all types of content – from mini-gambling games to news and info to some entertainment.

What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
So far, in just a few months, 10% of the owners of mobile phones have upgraded to 3G technology. This is easier to achieve in a country that doesn’t have the old-network infrastructure technology!
What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
Right now, 90% of revenues from data come from text messaging. China Telecom predict that this will fall to 80% over the next 18 months as other data forms start to be transmitted via 3G. Leading the charge with be mobile internet access, followed by content information data downloads.
What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Chinese-Australians tend to stick with big, safe providers. Telstra is well placed to convert these users. They expect a nice bundled package for multiple family users and good deals for family and friends!
____
Korean-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
South Korea is THE leading country for mobile, wireless and 3G technology. It is considered THE world leader in 3G mobile technology. South Korea is an early adopter of triple play models, which provide TV, broadband Internet and voice telephony as packaged services from a single provider. The South Korean government is committed to transitioning the country to digital terrestrial, digital cable and digital satellite TV broadcasting by 2010. Additionally, e-services such as e-commerce, online trading, e-banking, e-government and online gaming  will be key drivers of the converged environment in South Korea

What do they know about 3G?
Lots. If they are recent arrivals form South Korea, they are one big step ahead of their Aussie counterparts. Korean arrivals who are not recent to Australia will have heard of this digital landscape from friends and relatives in Korea.

What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
South Korea is considered a leader in 3G technology and has the world’s highest percentage of mobile users on 3G technology. 3G technology was available to the market in December 2003 BUT it has taken a few years for LG Telecom to launch decent (and interesting) content and services despite holding the 3G licences. In 2005, the Government of South Korea started to push this along and now the uptake is growing.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
About 50% of mobile users are connected to 3G services. In a population of 50 million, close to 40 million have a mobile phone. 3G usage varies from ‘engrossed’ to ‘dabbling’ but the trend-curve suggests that this technology and content for 3G is ‘with a bullet’.

What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
In December 2003 when 3G first came online in Korea, it was met with a little bit of ambivalence – mainly because there were no purpose build content services for the technology. Today, almost 5 years later, Korean content providers and Telcos get that this technology is driven by cool, interesting – as well as useful content. What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
South Koreans have gone beyond text and downloading – with Korean-Australians following suit. The trick is to make sure that there is relevant content-  e.g. who will be providing a combination of Aussie AND Korean content! What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider? Korean-Australians need three things from their providers – trusted services, a fair price and interesting content from which to choose.

____

Filipino-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
The Philippines has forged ahead when it comes to mobile telephony and technology. Of the population of 91 million, roughly 45 million have a mobile phone. The Philippines company SMART (specialising in mobile telephony) offered a free-trial of 3G back in February 2006 and used this as a major acquisition strategy. Roughly a third of all subscribers are subscribing to 3G services.

What do they know about 3G?
Lots. Filipino-Australians know their family back in the home country are all over this technology – and they need to be as well. 3G services in the Philippines include video-calling, video-mail, mobile streaming, Mobile Eye (a remote access video), high speed mobile Internet access, video and audio downloads in film-clips, speed-dating and find-a-friend via video. Filipino-Australians need cool content options to try.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
This new technology has been around since 2000 but pushed hard since the beginning of 2006. In a country with a record or instability, Filipino’s pride themselves on having 21st century technology. This group wants to be better than equal to their western counterparts and willing to dabble and try what’s available.
What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
It took at least 4-5 years for content to equal the technology. Slow at first but pushed hard by leading mobile Telco companies like Smart. What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
Filipinos love to talk and text but there is a huge download of music – this seems to be the way in to Filipino-Australians.
What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Filipino-Australians like to stick with the big providers if they can match the start-ups on price!

____

Arabic-Australians (Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Egypt)

Do these communities seek this technology?
Lebanese-Australians love the idea id mobile technology but in their country of origin, mobile penetration is low (about 30%). In Iraq it is 33%. In Iran it is also approx. 33% and in Egypt, this number is 30%.

What do they know about 3G?
Not as much as other markets
What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
Due to only recent deregulation and little competition (until recently) – the birth of 3G is a little slow to come to market…

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
It’s getting there – especially as 2nd-generationers see what’s on offer and show their first-generation counterparts what’s on offer…

What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?

Talk and text is it for now – will some downloading of music

What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Arab-Australians pride themselves on nailing a good deal!

____

Indian-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
Indian-Australians are more familiar with the services that 3G can offer rather than the technology itself – especially the success of music and ring-tone downloads in India – via their family and friends.
What do they know about 3G?
Enough to know that it allows for content downloads – especially music. They don’t understand the ‘quality story’ of 3G.
What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
3G licences will soon be awarded in India. Currently 86% of all mobile phones in India are GSM – with 250 million mobile subscribers in India. The prevalent thinking of Telco experts in India is that 3G will ride the wave of music downloads and ring-tone downloads.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
Indian-Australians (in general) are fans of new technology – but it’s the benefits that this technology delivers that excites them – especially visual and audio content.
What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
Yet to happen in India…

What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them - do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?

Talk and text is obviously big – but the runaway success stories are music and ring-tone downloads.
What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Indian-Australians are all about choosing a Telco with the best ‘service’ packages. What type of value-adds can I get? – is a key question.

The Samsung U900 is the super slim slider phone from the company. With lots of exciting features and avant-garde design – this is sure going to make you crazy in the very first instance. The cell phone offers 3G technology for video calling, a 5 MP camera to capture the moment and a music player to groove great music on the move.

Specifications:

• 5 MP camera with 4x digital zoom, face-detection autofocus, image stabiliser and Power LED flash
• Video camera (MPEG4 / 3GPP) / 3G video calling
• Display: TFT, 16 million colours, 320 x 240 pixels
• Music player (MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+ formats, OMA, WM digital rights management)
• FM radio
• Bang & Olufsen power amp
• Ringtones: MP3 ringtones / 72-voice polyphonic tones
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
• Voice memo & voice mail
• Speakerphone
• Java games
• Document viewer
• Offline mode
• WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, 3.5G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps), web browser
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
• Memory: 100 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot
• Personal organiser functions
• Triband GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G
• Size: 106 x 50 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 112g

Today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone 3G. This new iPhone was the focus of Jobs’ keynote speech at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The new iPhone which goes on sale July 11 carries several competitive enhancements. First, its faster! By accessing 3G cellular networks the new iPhone is twice as fast as the old one. Second, business users can access office email, calendar and contacts with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support (this will also allow iPhone to go head-to-head with Motion Ltd’s Blackberry as an enterprise communication solution!). Third, the new iPhone has built in GPS, combining GPS, Wi-Fi and cell tower location technology into its interface to provide “the best mobile map application ever.” Finally, at just $199, the new iPhone is half the price of the old one!

Is it too soon to replace my old iPhone?

HEYA!  I’m sure heard the news.  I’m excited.  In honor of this moment I am running a file photo from a previous post.  Apple

IPhone_Original

peace, nyenye

Here’s a cool use for a phone that has both cellular broadband and Wi-Fi: Turn it into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot so your friends can surf the Internet on their laptops.

A couple startups have created and made available software like this in the last year. But a more established software maker said Wednesday that it has created a package for carriers to offer their customers.

TapRoot Systems Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., said it was talking with carriers about providing their customers with the software, which would let up to five Wi-Fi users connect to a phone.

A possible free trial version would let only one Wi-Fi user connect to the phone at a time.

The software works on phones with Windows Mobile or Symbian S60 software. Windows phones are common in the U.S., while Symbian is championed by Nokia Corp. and more common in Europe. There already is an independent program called WMWifirouter that turns Windows phones into hotspots, and there’s one called JoikuSpot for Nokia phones.

Capacity is limited on third-generation cellular broadband networks, and carriers are somewhat restrictive of the applications they allow, for fear their networks will be overwhelmed.

TapRoot’s system attempts to assuage that fear by letting carriers control access through a server, said Chief Executive Bob Bicksler. The carriers could then charge extra for the service, he said.

Not many phones have both 3G and Wi-Fi. U.S. carriers have in some cases removed or disabled Wi-Fi antennas for the U.S. launches of some phones by overseas manufacturers, apparently because they fear customers would be less likely to pay for 3G. However, combined Wi-Fi and 3G phones are becoming more common.

Bicksler mentioned AT&T Inc.’s Tilt and 8525 models and Sprint Nextel Corp.’s Mogul by HTC as phones that would work as mobile hotspots.

Another way of using a 3G network to create a Wi-Fi hotspot is to buy a Wi-Fi router that accepts a cellular broadband card. Cisco Systems Inc. makes such a router for the Sprint network.

Introduction

Imagine a situation where you are about to make an important Sales Presentation. You realize that you have brought the wrong presentation slides and you call up your colleague. She immediately emails the file to your 3G terminal and you transfer it to your laptop. Another scenario is having video-conferencing and sending character-based messages simultaneously with your clients. With 3G, the possibilities for wireless applications are numerous. For instance, imagine calling up a map in your car, conducting a video conference over wireless phones, checking e-mails, and browsing the web – wirelessly.

3G Defined

3G stands for the third generation of wireless communication technology and the industry direction are to raise speeds from 9.5K to 2M bit/sec. According to 3gnewsroom.com, devices will fall into four categories. The first category includes the basic 3G phones will be used mainly for talking and will store all their information on the network. The second category will support video-streaming, and will provide the user with news and web content. More sophisticated models will be information centres which let users download information from the Internet and store data on the device.

A recent initiative by four leading handset manufacturers–Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens–plus the messaging companies CMG, Comverse and Logica was motivated by the launch of 3G. The companies hope to create awareness and foster development of multimedia messaging service (MMS) by making audio, video, photographs and other images to accessible to handsets.

3G and the Growth of the Wireless Mobile Market

The wireless mobile market is set to explode and this will provide fresh graduates with exciting job opportunities. According to Will Daugherty’s The Growth of Wireless Mobile in Business 2.0, there will be 3 waves of mobile data services. The first wave is linked wireless access to existing information and data applications. The current second wave takes advantage of wireless-specific functionality. The third wave will bring rich graphics, video, real-time multiplayer games.

Don Tapscott has been quoted “Mobile commerce is the next stage of e-commerce, where we have the integration of the physical world with the digital world…What we ’re talking here is the beginning of pervasive and ubiquitous computing where billions and billions of inert objects become Internet appliances – enabling the sharing of knowledge and the delivery of a vast new array of services.”

Need more convincing and statistics?

According to the findings in Wireless Portals: the Information Gateway to the Wireless User, by the end of 2006 there will be close to 1 billion wireless portal users worldwide. The bulk of these users will be wireless voice users, WAP users, 2.5G and 3G subscribers, and other wireless device users such as those using PDAs. Multi-modal users worldwide will stand close to 282 million in 2006.

The Reaction of 3G in America

The importance of 3G technology can also be gauged by the stance of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is the Executive Branch’s principal voice on domestic and international telecommunications and information technology issues. NTIA recently published a report entitled “WIRELESS” INTERNET: What the 3G Challenge Means for U.S. Competitiveness where it insisted that 3G is important for the future of America’s global competitiveness amongst other things and that the Europeans and Asians view 3G development as their golden opportunity to beat the United States’ in the area of telecommunications and ecommerce. The report also went further to state that the US will remain two years behind many Asian and European countries on 3G services.

In contrast in another report entitled “Can U.S. Wireless Firms Ride Business Applications to Global Leadership?,” Summit Strategies Practice Director Warren Wilson argues U.S. vendors and service providers stand to win the strategic high ground, first in their home markets and then internationally. “Japan and Europe are leading the way in consumer-focused wireless applications, but business applications will drive U.S. markets,” Wilson says. “North American vendors and service providers that correctly gauge which business applications to offer, and the development and deployment models that serve customers best cannot only catch up to global competitors, but even turn the tables and claim leadership roles in wireless data. It won’t be easy, but it’s far from impossible.”

The importance of 3G and Wireless collaboration with the US has not been lost with NTT DoCoMo which understands that in order to move towards 3G, it must persuade other carriers to follow suit. DoCoMo’s USD$10bn investment in AT&T Wireless came with the agreement that AT&T transferred towards W-CDMA.

I will highlight some promises provided by 3G Technology:

1)3G and Workplace Dynamics

3G Technology is an enabler of the development of the Wearable Computing Industry. The WearTel (TM) phone, for example, uses EyeTap technology to allow individuals to see each other’s point of view. Therefore, the miniature laser light source inside the WearTel eyeglass-based phone scans across the retinas of both parties and swaps the image information, so that each person sees what the other person is looking at.

This technology will enable the HR manager to have a better understanding of how to motivate and reward their employees as personal documentaries of their work-life will be shot from a first-person perspective. HR managers can provide better advice about handling difficult customers or closing sales. However, the immediate benefit is that this technology can be used as a training tool. The reason is that privacy laws have to be reviewed and updated in order that customers are adequately informed of this technology

2)3G and Mobile Job Interviewing

With an attached camera in a mobile device, job interviews can be conducted as video-conferencing between the HR manager and the potential job applicant. Initially, the job candidate can answer basic questions like his highest qualification and salary expectation by pressing the key-pad of the mobile device. If successful, he can proceed to have a face-to-face interview.

3)3G and Mobile Advertising

3G technology will enable advertisers to send more sophisticated and customized permission-based advertisements to their target audience’s mobile devices. This will be an improvement from the current SMS. There will be a convergence between the internet and wireless technology as the target audience can request that more product information be sent as email. It is unlikely that these services will provide a sustainable advantage over the long run but they will shape the brand perception of an operator at the initial stage of the introduction of wireless Internet services.

However, with the rise of m-commerce, ‘business-webs ’will become even more powerful as every customer will become linked into the web. According to Keith Shank of Ericsson, wireline operators will have to find a way to integrate with wireless by providing a package of combined service capabilities and transparent coverage. Demanding consumers will want convergence of wireline, wireless and data services.

4)From E-Learning to M-Learning

The future holds a lot of promise for the E-Learning Industry. Martyn Sloman, author of The e-learning revolution has been quoted as saying “The pace of change in the global economy and advances in communications technology means that there is no debate about whether e-learning is the future or not. It clearly is. Latest assessments indicate that competitive organisations will soon be delivering up to a fifth of their training through the Internet, intranets or the web.”

With the greater acceptance of e-learning, mobile learning (m-learning) will be thrive. An example of how 3G can power m-learning is when a student who may be late for a lecture can view the entire proceedings through the screen of a mobile device. It is also not far-fetched idea that the same student can even sit for a test by entering a password through the mobile device.

Challenges Ahead

Privacy is a huge question as in the case of m-commerce, each of us will leave a trail of “digital crumbs”. With the increasing likelihood of a convergence between the net and wireless technology in many facets of social and business interactions, each of us will leave a mirror image of ourselves as we travel around.

Another problem that is highlighted by Eric Schonfeld of eCompany is getting developers interested in creating the applications that 3G phones can run. Currently developers tend to ignore markets with fewer than 1 million customers and concurrently, demanding customers insist that 3G phones should have lots of new applications to hold their attention.

Lastly, as sourced from the University of California’s Berkeley School of Information Management and System (SIMS) report “How Much Information?” Professors Hal Varian and Peter Lyman analysed industry and governmental reports for production of information in terms of paper, film, optical and magnetic data. Among some of their findings:

§The direct accessible “surface” Web consists of about 2.5bn documents and is growing at a rate of 7.3m pages per day.

§Counting the “surface” Web with the “deep” Web of connected databases, intranet sites and dynamic pages, there are about 550bn documents, and 95% is publicly accessible.

These findings show that we are already taking in a lot of information even before the introduction of wireless communication through 3G. Will there be further information overload or will mobile devices help us manage our daily affairs better?

The concluding 2 sections will provide some pointers:

1)Towards An Information Society

In the Foresight Project, an initiative led by New Zealand’s Ministry of Research, Science and Technology has stated that in an information society, individuals who are well-educated, self-motivated, and linked into information networks, are the most likely to live prosperous and fulfilling lives. Enterprises that are attuned to their customers’ requirements, employ educated workers, encourage innovation through their workplace organization and, and know more and learn faster than their competitors, are the most likely to succeed and grow.

Reinforcing this point, according to Peter Drucker, there is the discipline of innovation. This is translated into having a clear mission and defining the measurement of results. In the event that there are no results, the organization should abandon the idea and then continue to seek for new and unique opportunities.

2)Future Challenges of a Knowledge-Economy

According to Dr Johari Mat, Secretary General Ministry of Education (Malaysia) at the First SEAMEO Education Congress, a Knowledge Economy Index developed using selected key elements required to drive a K-economy such as computer infrastructure, infrastructure, education and training, research and development and technology shows that most countries in this region lag behind developed and newly industrialized countries in terms of readiness to become a K-economy. For instance, the Knowledge Economy Index is 3877 for Singapore, 2460 for Malaysia, 1705 for Indonesia, and 1648 for Thailand while the Index is 6650 for USA, 5908 for Japan, 4901 for Australia, 4686 for UK, and 3912 for Korea, thus, to make a transition to the K-economy, countries in this region face the daunting task of putting in place and strengthening the core elements required to support the K-economy. Efforts need to be accelerated in the priority areas of human resource development, science and technology, research and development (R&D), ICT, and lifelong learning.

To conclude, 3G is definitely here to stay despite the early glitches. The opportunity of being truly wireless and mobile is just too enticing.

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