Regardless of which platform is winning today’s smartphone race, the installed base of active iPhones remains huge, and according to a new report from mobile infrastructure maker Ericsson, those iOS devices are having an outsize impact on the world’s 3G networks.
Traffic originating from the iPhone is nearing 50 percent of all data traversing carriers’ HSPA networks. Those numbers could have a chilling effect on emerging LTE operators, which are trying to migrate to 4G but are finding themselves contending with the iPhone’s enormous 3G demands.
For its Traffic and Market Report, Ericsson sampled data from GSM carriers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, discovering that, on average, the iPhone accounts for a little more than 20 percent of their total subscribers but a whopping 45 percent of their total 3G/HSPA traffic. In comparison, Android penetration levels among those same operators are around 15 percent, while those devices account for about 30 percent of their 3G traffic loads.
Ericsson found that, on average, iPhone and Android ran neck and neck when it came to average consumption per subscriber: around 350 MB per month. But there was huge variation in those usage levels among different carriers, especially on Android. At the high end of Ericsson’s measurements, Android users consume 1,400 MB per month, compared with 1,200 MB for the iPhone, while on some networks Android phone usage averaged a mere 50 MB per month. Network monthly averages for the iPhone never drop much lower than 200 MB.
The overall variation can be explained by carriers’ widely differing pricing policies. For instance, T-Mobile USA not only offers fairly liberal data buckets in its data tiers but also allows customers to use mobile hotspot capabilities at no extra charge, driving up monthly consumption. Ericsson explained the even bigger variation among Google OS phones, however, by the fact that Android devices run the entire gamut of the market, while Apple targets the middle to high end. So in networks where Android plays second fiddle to the iPhone—which for a long while was the case at AT&T—Android devices often gravitate toward the low end, while Apple devices wind up in the hands of power users.
That helps explain how the iPhone can have such an enormous impact on operators’ 3G networks. IPhones are not only a plurality of all devices on the network but are also often wielded by the carriers’ most-aggressive data users.
Ericsson’s data take only HSPA networks into account. CDMA operators such as Sprint and Verizon only recently landed the iPhone, so they have spent the past several years loading up their 3G networks with Android devices. Android also is the only smartphone OS, besides Windows Phone, supported on an LTE network. Compared with 3G, the installed LTE phone base is miniscule, but it’s growing rapidly.
If Apple doesn’t include LTE in this year’s iPhone, the gap between Android and iOS on 3G traffic levels may only grow bigger. Android power users will start migrating to new LTE networks, while iPhone users will remain on much more inefficient 3G networks.
How would moving to LTE affect you? As I have written before, a 3G-only iPhone scenario could play havoc with the wireless industry, particular in North America. If operators must keep investing in their 3G networks in order to meet mounting iPhone traffic, they won’t be able to focus on their future LTE networks, which will ultimately allow them to deliver a lot more data a lot more cheaply.
Apple has signaled it’s ready to embrace LTE with the launch of the new iPad, hopefully securing 4G’s place in at least some versions of the new iPhone. LTE may sound like a carrier conceit—promising little to consumers except higher speeds and crappier battery life—but consumers stand to lose out as well if the transition to LTE is delayed. LTE is the first stepping stone to much-higher-capacity LTE Advanced systems.
By dramatically lowering the cost to deliver data, carriers will start lowering the data prices they offer consumers. They won’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, but that’s where competition comes into play.
Also from GigaOM:
LTE Advanced: What It Is and Isn’t, and Why That Matters (subscription required)
CloudLock Aims to Bring PCI Compliance to Google Drive
Crazy: Orange Censors All Blogs, Not Just GigaOM
Graduate smuggled cocaine into UK while working at Northampton’s O2 store - Northampton Chronicle
A law student who hoped to become a commercial barrister is facing years in prison after being convicted of plotting to smuggle £224,000 of cocaine from Nigeria into the UK.
Christina Ubah, 26, a law graduate of The University of Northampton, signed for a parcel containing the drugs while working at the O2 shop in Abington Street, Northampton.
She denied knowing about the consignment of cocaine, which was hidden in bottles of body lotion and intercepted at Parcel Force’s Coventry depot in November.
However, Ubah, who said she had not expected a parcel to be delivered when she signed for it, was convicted of drug smuggling by a jury after a three-day trial at Northampton Crown Court.
Her legal career now lies in ruins and she also faces a substantial prison sentence.
Kate Tompkins, prosecuting, said: “On Thursday, November 17 last year, at 1.55pm, a parcel declared as containing cosmetics, arrived at Parcel Force’s hub in Coventry from Nigeria.
“It was addressed to the O2 shop where the defendant worked in Northampton.”
It contained four bottles of body lotion cosmetics, but when they were opened, police found plastic bags inside containing 846 grams of cocaine with a 61 per cent purity.
Miss Tompkins told the jury: “The evidence in this case is this defendant had a motive. There is also evidence the sender of the parcel had knowledge of the defendant and of the trust that the sender had placed in this defendant as the receiver of a high-value consignment of cocaine.
“£2,600 was also transferred into her bank account around the time the consignment was posted to her.”
John Lucas, defending, said the parcel had been addressed to Ubah, of Wellington Street, Northampton, but she knew nothing about what it contained. He added: “You have to be sure that she knew that parcel contained class A drugs. If you are even slightly unsure then your answer is not guilty.”
The jury, who deliberated for almost five hours, convicted Ubah of fraudulent evasion of a prohibition by a 11-1 majority verdict and unanimously of conspiracy to supply class A drugs
Adjourning sentence for reports until later this month and remanding her in custody, Recorder John Steel QC said: “You are a young woman who has got into a lot of trouble. Your career may have now gone, but your life has not. You have got to look beyond to come out of this tunnel and you can only say to yourself that you will.”
Email to a friend
Print this pageMini-ITX Embedded Board includes redundant 3G capability. - ThomasNet Industrial News Room
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - Habey USA, a leading manufacturer of embedded computer and an Associate member of the Intel Embedded Alliance, today announces the MITX-6930, the new mini-ITX embedded board based on the Intel NM10 Chipset and equipped with the next generation dual core Intel Atom N2800 or D2700 processor. Delivering enhanced performance, clearer graphics, responsiveness, embedded life cycle, and enabling connectivity, the MITX-6930 is a designed solution targeted at digital signage, POS, kiosks, enterprise security, digital surveillance, medicine, and factory automation.
"Everyday devices are seeking to be more connected while staying afloat with faster speeds to respond relevantly." says Alan Sung from Habey's Marketing Department. "For technology to be applicable in this growth, the need for low power reliable embedded system with redundant connectivity is critical."
Compact Design Made Connective
Utilizing the small carbon footprint of 170mmx170mm, the MITX-6930 offers greater connectivity with dual Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet with options of expansion via PCI slot on board, two serial ports for factory automation, and two mini-PCIe slots on board for WiFi and 3G/4G cellular connection. On board the MITX-6930 are also one SIM socket and multiple USBs for WiFi and 3G flexibility.
Extended Life Cycle Solution
Offering greater leverage for longer life solutions, the MITX-6930 runs up to 2.13GHz (Atom D2700) with I/O interfaces: 4 USBs, 2 COM ports, 2 LAN, 1 VGA up to 2048x1536, 1 DVI up to 1920x1200, and 7.1 HD Audio I/Os. On board are 2 mini-PCIe slots; 1 Mini-PCIe with SSD support, 1 Mini-PCIe with SIM card socket for 3G/4G connectivity, 1 PCI slot, 2 USB2.0, 4 COM ports, 1 LPT, 1 LPC, 1 DDR3 support up to 4GB memory, 2 SATA, HDMI pin, and LVDS display output up to 1366x768. The MITX-6930 operates in extended temperatures of -20C to70C with the processors having a 7 year extended lifecycle support to protect development investment. On-board features for scalability also include 3-pin CPU fan on board, Watchdog Timer, 8-bit GPIO, and ATX 20-pin standard power connector. In addition, the system architecture is designed with more custom design options for OEM/ODM solution development.
Improved Realism with Intel Technologies
Complementing rich I/Os are various Intel Technologies with integrated graphics on chip, GMA 3650, bringing 4 times the 3D performance than previous generations while operating in the same power envelop - displays dual HD 1080 videos at average 12W. The improved realism with improved image quality is completed in the fanless thermal design of the MITX-6930 embedded board with operation on battery up to 10 hours of use.
Features:
o Adopt Intel NM10 chipset, onboard Intel Atom N2800/D2700 processor
o 1 x SO-DIMM slot supports DDRIII 1066MHz memory up to 4GB
o DVI-I, LVDS display output, DVI/VGA dual independent display supported
o 2 x Mini-PCIE; 1 x Mini-PCIe onboard SIM card socket for 3G module, 1 x Mini-PCIe supports SSD
o 2x Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet
o 6 x serial ports, 6 x USB 2.0, 7.1 HD AUDIO
o 1 x PCI, 1x LPC, 1x PLC, 8-bit GPIO, 2 x SATA
o Operating extended temperatures of -20C to70C
System: MITX-6930
Motherboard Type: Mini-ITX
Processor: Onboard Intel Intel Atom N2800/D2700 Processor
System Memory: 1xDDRIII 1066MHz SO-DIMM SLOT , up to 4GB
Chipset: IntelNM10
I/O Chip: ITE IT8783F
Ethernet: Intel 82574L, 10/100/1000Mbps,2x RJ-45
BIOS: AMI EFI BIOS
Wake-on-LAN: Support
Watchdog Timer: Generates a time-out system reset
H/W State Monitoring: Monitor the state of voltage, temperature and rotational speed of the fan
Expansion: 2xMini-PCIe ; Mini-PCIe2 supports SIM Bus interface, Mini-PCIe1 supports SSD ; Onboard SIM card socket for 3G module
Battery: Lithium Battery
Power Supply: ATX
Dimension: 170mm170mm
Operating Temperature: -20~70 Celsius Degree
Storage Temperature: -40~80 Celsius Degree
Operating Humidity: 0%~90% relative humidity, no condensation
Display Controller: IntelN2800/D2700 integrated
Video Memory: Resolution
VGA : max. resolution 2048x1536@60MHz
LVDS : max. resolution 1366x768@60MHz
DVI : max resolution 1920x1200@60Hz
Display Interface: 1x VGA,1xLVDS,1x DVI,
I/O
Storage: 2x SATA
Serial Port: 5x RS-232, 1x RS-232/422/485
Parallel Port: 1xLPT supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode
USB: 6x USB2.0
KB&MS: 1x KB/MS
GPIO: 8 bit programmable digital I/O
LPC: 1x LPC
Audio: Realtek ALC888/655, HD Audio,Speak-out, MIC-IN,LINE-IN
Tested: iPhone 4S on T-Mobile 3G at WWDC - PC Magazine
SAN FRANCISCO—T-Mobile has been the only national network which couldn't run iPhones at 3G speeds - until now. The carrier is "refarming" 1900-MHz airwaves to 3G, making itself finally iPhone-compatible.
Whether it's a total coincidence (as T-Mobile insists) or a publicity stunt, the carrier turned on a single 1900-MHz 3G cell site in San Francisco's Moscone West this week – the exact location where Apple will announce its new iOS 6. I took an unlocked iPhone 4S down and tested it out against AT&T and Verizon iPhones. (Sadly, I don't have a Sprint iPhone at the moment.)
The default state for an iPhone on T-Mobile is EDGE, and EDGE is really slow. I ran several tests on an iPhone on T-Mobile's EDGE network today and generally got speeds between 30-50kbps. Ouch.
But as soon as I walked alongside Moscone West, a "3G" indicator appeared in my iPhone 4S's status bar.
It's definitely a test network, using only one in-building cell site. The signal was much stronger at the front of Moscone West than at the back, and it vanished altogether half a block north of the convention center.
I ran 10 tests using the Speedtest.net app on the T-Mobile iPhone and got very erratic results; some numbers were clearly impossible, so I had to exclude them. Of the valid results, I saw download speeds from 500kbps to 6.5Mbps, but mostly in the 1-2Mbps range.
That's much less than what T-Mobile's HSPA+ 42 network can produce. On an HTC One S in the same location, I got 9.9Mbps down and 1Mbps up. And I got consistently faster speeds on AT&T, which has a slower HSPA network.
There are two factors at work here.
First, the iPhone 4S isn't capable of T-Mobile's full speeds. It's an HSPA 14.4 device like the HTC Sensation, which reached speeds of 4.3-6.5Mbps down during testing last year.
So why wasn't I getting the same 4-6Mbps on the iPhone? This was definitely a test network, and probably one designed not to emanate far outside the Moscone Center itself. Who knows what they're using for backhaul, or how much spectrum is devoted to the 1900 3G network. I wouldn't draw conclusions about future speeds from this test network.
I will draw conclusions about price, though. As I said last week, T-Mobile's no-contract plans are competitive with Virgin Mobile and much cheaper than AT&T and Verizon, with potentially faster data speeds than any of them on 3G devices. For more on that, see Virgin Mobile's $30 iPhone Plan Gamble.
So when will the wonders of refarming come to you? T-Mobile is remaining vague except to say that it'll arrive in a "large" number of markets this year.
Apple unveils iOS 6: Facebook integration, new 3D maps, FaceTime 3G, turn-by-turn nav - Wired.co.uk
At its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) today, Apple has announced iOS 6, the latest version of its mobile operating system for iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.
Scott Forstall, Apple's head of iOS, started off by announcing that Facebook is joining Twitter in iOS 6, meaning you can send messages, links and photos to Facebook without using an app. Developers will be able to bake Facebook support into their apps, for example for sharing scores from games. Facebook calendars can also be pulled into the iOS calendar app.
New maps
One of the biggest updates, however, is that Google Maps has gone
-- Apple has built its own global mapping system, which includes 3D
city renders (which got a massive applause at WWDC), traffic
reports, business listings and -- at last -- built-in turn-by-turn
navigation. Bye bye, expensive TomTom app.
The maps service will also crowdsource traffic congestion information based on anonymous data gathered from other iPhone users. If Apple knows there's a traffic jam on your route, it'll automatically reroute you.
Siri
Siri, Apple's virtual assistant app on the iPhone 4S, supports the
turn-by-turn system and is the voice of the navigator, and it too
is getting some updates.
Firstly, Siri is going to be supported on the new iPad with iOS 6. The UK is also (finally) getting local search and business listing support, and more broadly Siri will be able to pull in sports scores and player performance stats -- including UK football Premiere League -- as well as more detailed restaurant information, including reviews from Yelp and reservations from OpenTable.
Siri can also pull up cinema listings, with ratings and reviews from RottenTomatoes, for cinemas it knows are geographically nearby. Information about directors and actors are also supported and Siri can now launch any app on your iPhone or iPad as well as compose and send messages to Twitter.
Eyes Free is a new feature that lets you interact with Siri in the car, and Apple is working with manufacturers including Toyota, Audi, Honda, Mercedes and BMW to integrate the technology with their models.
Passbook
A brand new feature was introduced in iOS 6 -- an app called
Passbook. It's a digital ticket system that supports on-screen
versions of things like plane boarding passes, gig tickets and
coupons for coffee stores. It's unclear how shops will support
this, but in essence it should allow you to buy a ticket for a
movie, have it land directly into the Passbook app, and let you
show the digital ticket at the door to get in and see the film.
The iPhone's phone app is getting a new reminder system that allows you to tell your phone to remind you to do something when you leave a location. For example, if you tell your iPhone where your home is, you'll be able to tell it to ring and remind you to do something when you leave the house. This is because the iPhone has GPS, and it knows when you move away from any location.
FaceTime 3G and more
FaceTime is getting support 3G for videocalling over cellular
data, and you can tie your phone number to your Mac, so if you
FaceTime someone from your laptop it can show up as if it's calling
from your phone. iMessage is getting the same treatment.
Mobile Safari got some updates including offline reaching for Reading List, Apple's Read It Later/Instapaper-like text-caching system. Want to read a 6,000-word web story offline? That's what this enables within Safari.
A few small but important updates came to the Mail app, including the ability to insert photos and videos when composing new email, VIP starring to flag up email from important contacts, and support for password-protected document attachments.
Finally, much improved accessibility support is coming with iOS 6, such as support for hearing aids and better ways to stop kids accessing parts of the phone they should be playing with.
Release date
There are reportedly over 200 new features, of which the above are
some of the highlights. Some raise questions. For example how
complete with the global maps service be? Will there be a cost for
turn-by-turn navigation?
But iOS 6 won't be released until the autumn, so there's plenty of time to find out more. It will be supported by the iPhone 3GS, 2nd and 3rd generation iPad and the 4th generation iPod touch when it does release.
Don't miss:
New MacBook Pro with Retina Display announced
The last major release for iOS was iOS 5, released in October 2012 alongside the iPhone 4S. It included the Notification Centre, iMessage and, on the iPhone 4S only, Siri.
No comments:
Post a Comment