-
Latest Discussions
Site Tag Cloud
Powered by Vanilla 1.1.5a.
Installed add-ons.
-
-
LTE - It's A Bit Like a Fast Car
- bytelecomtails on28th January, 2011 inOpinions
-
Answering a question at a Light Reading conference in London on “the customer experience”, David Chambers, Solution Marketing Manager in Amdocs OSS Division, likened LTE networks to a high performance car – but not necessarily in a good way.
Chambers described how the sales talk for those high speed performance cars much loved by petrol-heads was all about brake horse power, downforce, acceleration and the distribution of the drive; yet of course, while we are attracted by the specifications, it is the actual ride itself – the what it’s like to drive piece - that seals the deal and makes us happy to drive the car.
LTE, said Chambers, with its promise of higher speeds, faster downloads and a wonderful new world of mobile surfing was using the same tech spec sales talk – but again, it would be the ride that determines customer satisfaction. And if that’s the case, then earlier in his presentation Chambers had more than a few words of warning.
Quoting from an Amdocs survey of network planners Chambers said that some 63 per cent were already complaining of data network congestion. What’s more, he warned that Cisco were forecasting a 39-fold increase in data traffic by 2014 and that Telefonica O2 were already seeing data traffic doubling every six months.
Chambers words and numbers represent a clear and present danger for the operator community. Already faced with being by-passed in the revenue chain by over the top suppliers, operators need to find a route to...
-
-
-
IBC Calling
- bytelecomtails on11th September, 2010 inOpinions
-
So this week sees the IBC Show in Amsterdam and I am heading out there tomorrow. An event that used to be all about the Broadcast industry has increasingly attracted the attention of the telecoms media and industry as the convergence of the two fields continues.
Mobile TV and IPTV now occupy quite a large space within the IBC halls and usually manage to feature some of the most innovative pieces of technology.
In the UK we seem to be behind this curve at the moment though. The much talked about Project Canvas still seems to be just that - much talked about- and the operators don't yet seem to have found a mobile tv solution that is both feasible and profitable.
The dominance of Sky in the UK TV premium content market and the success of the BBC iPlayer have a lot to do with this lack of progress on the bigger issues. The simple fact is that PC-based TV viewing is on the rise - in both live and catch-up tv formats and with existing technnology doing the job so well, ambitious concepts such as Project Canvas struggle to flourish.
The UK broadcast market is very different and represents something of a challenge. With a successful subscription-based premium content supplier on the one hand, and publicly-funded free-to-air giant on the other - the traditional advertising funded free-to-air players are being squeezed from both sides; what's more, it is hard to see IPTV or Internet services riding to form...
-
-
-
The Hero and Spotify
- bymonsieurledan on7th February, 2010 inOpinions
-
Over Christmas I was given respite from the noise of family. I felt a wave of nostalgia as I took up the offer to trial the HTC Hero with Spotify from 3. I created offline playlists of tunes I used to love in the 90's and the Noughties. Despite what you might think, it's not the music I feel the need to reminisce over, instead it's the technology at work.
Spotify might be a cool new concept when it comes to convincing the Big 4 record labels that it's ok for people to stream music for free, but look beyond that at why those people love Spotify and maybe you'll see the same community of playlist collaborators I was once a part of, but using WinAmp and ShoutCast like an online radio station.
My spare time in secondary school was mostly spent talking to anonymous friends on IRC channels. I'd managed to get online with the help of my geek peers by circumventing the school's web filters. This was a time when "geek" didn't mean owning products made by Apple, drain pipe jeans, and over-using the word "chic" as it seems to now - back then, a good day was one that a geek wasn't stuffed roughly into a locker.
I digress. Music was a competition: who could collect the largest number of MP3 files, who could occupy the largest chunk of hard disk space, and who could produce the best .m3u playlist.
At college and university, how I consumed music was focused...
-
-
-
Mini Expectations
- bymonsieurledan on7th February, 2010 inOpinions
-
What feels like a lifetime ago, I was given the INQ1 and immediately fell in love with its converged thinking and simplicity. It won some awards, people loved it. I too nicknamed it the Facebook phone because of the awesome nature of the Address Book - it was possible to merge the data stored on your SIM and contact details available via Facebook. Following the release of Facebook for iPhone, people started to view Facebook as the new way to keep an address book updated and synced between devices. INQ got there first.
So anyway, a second and third INQ device have been available for a couple of months - the 3 INQ Mini and the INQ Chat. I happened upon an INQ Mini, courtesy of some blogger/consumer-focused social media ninjas who run @3mobilebuzz from 1000 heads.
Now let's be honest - we're all seeing the INQ "make phones for the masses" pitch and interpreting that as "cheap backup phone". Actually, I'd like to suggest a slightly different view - the INQ Mini is a superb 3G USB dongle because you can also make phone calls to your Facebook friends.
Overall this
donglehandset gets a thumbs up from me. Just to look at it and hold it in your hands, it feels like a more polished product than the INQ1. However, the INQ1 was the most amazing first product it was possible to release, and now I feel slightly disappointed that the INQ Mini is as far as INQ has progressed...
-
-
-
Deutsche Telekom Brings Software Portal Softwareload to UK
- bycmrlee on23rd October, 2009 inOpinions
-
Deutsche Telekom, the German communications leader, has launched its Softwareload download service in the UK. The service is extremely popular in Germany where Softwareload.de has more than a million users.
Softwareload.co.uk aims to become the place for Web users to purchase software from various application providers. Softwareload.co.uk contains software applications for work and home life, and customers can store their purchases securely on the site.
Products available at launch span categories such as anti-virus and security, data protection, photos and graphics, plus personal interest, leisure, Internet and browser software. Visitors can find products such as G Data security products, MAGIX photo and video applications, Nuance PDF apps and Nero burning software, alongside dozens of other applications. Customers can store their purchases for up to one year in the ‘My downloads’ section. This service is free for customers signing up before the end of 2009 and £4.99 thereafter for 12 months’ secure product storage. Softwareload.co.uk users can also benefit from customer support by both phone and email.
-