Sorry Keith I was too harsh (no excuse, even though I am having a bad morning!). WARNING: Long post here, so couldn't be bothered in the spell checker - as i need to write a 2500 word article on alternative broadband access technologies!
As for expected GPRS at 14.4...no. GPRS has various (I think, 4) classifications depending on downlink/uplink channels. Motorola have release the Timeport p7389i to selected carriers just over 6 months ago for "commercial" trials. the problem with that phone it used tow downlink channels offering 18-20 kbps depending on netwrok configuration. The other manufacturers are concentrating on higher downlink phones that will offer a realistic 40 kbps dwonload.
I agree totally about software solutions and lack of at the moment. GPRS will become a real commercial service this year, if i am lucky during the summer otherwise it'll be the run up to Christmas. Services are the key. Unlike new telecom technologies before, the whole mobile Internet (2.5G and 3G) market has been awash with hype - one never seen before. This is the reason why there has been much disappointment (certainly in the financial markets) as they basically don't know the industry. As I wrote in my last post, delays are by in large normal.
Survey Says: "Wireless Web" A Great Idea ... Some Day
February 26, 2001
By Steven Bonisteel, Newsbytes
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.
Around the world, consumers say they like the idea of wireless and mobile Web access, according to a five-country study released Thursday. Problem is, says Accenture (the firm formerly known as Andersen Consulting), the concept faces some obstacles in practice.
The Accenture survey - which interviewed 3,189 individuals in the US, UK, Finland, Germany and Japan - also suggested that technology vendors and consumers may not be on the same page when it comes to assessing the shortcomings of the "wireless Web" today.
For example, while the wireless industry cranks out announcements about online shopping services for mobile consumers and technologies to make those transactions more secure, Accenture said it found that few people surveyed had ever shopped on the run and that privacy wasn't a pressing concern.
In the US and Japan, just 25 percent of those questioned said they were concerned about privacy when surfing the wireless Web, Accenture said, while in each of the European countries that number was less than 13 percent.
"Clearly, privacy is not a major impediment to development of the mobile Internet," said John Beck, an associate partner with Accenture's Institute for Strategic Change. "The primary concerns we hear from users have to do with the technological limitations of the devices and services now on the market."
Accenture said most of those surveyed - all of them users of cell phones, handheld computers or pagers - said they were not using the wireless Web "because they believe it costs too much, screens are too difficult to read and the service is too slow."
In the US, UK, and Finland, Accenture said, more than half of all those surveyed said there was "no compelling reason" to browse the wireless Web using their digital phones or handheld computers.
Overall, just 15 percent of the survey group accessed the Web through a wireless device, and less than one percent have made an online purchase that way.
In Japan - where half the population has mobile phones - mobile consumers are more likely to connect to the wireless Web, Accenture said. Yet, in the US, where mobile phone penetration is lowest, those who do use mobile connections to the Internet are more likely to make a purchase online.
Accenture said 72 percent of Japanese cell phone owners were using their devices to connect to the Internet, compared with just 6 percent in the US.
However, of those US users, 12 percent made purchases online, compared with 9 percent in Germany, 7 percent in Japan, 6 percent in the UK, and 5 percent in Finland.
The survey found that those with wireless Internet access are most likely to use it for e-mail, text messaging and receiving news headlines.
Accenture said European wireless users send more than one billion short text messages each month.
"Despite these limitations, the study showed roughly 40 percent of respondents in the US and Europe still find the concept of the mobile Internet either 'somewhat appealing' or 'very appealing,' while fewer than 20 percent of the respondents considered it to be 'unappealing'," Accenture said.
"This study shows that while people may not want to browse the Web extensively on their wireless device, they do want the 'anytime, anywhere' access to information and options for purchasing available through the mobile Internet," said Richard Siber, a partner with Accenture's communications and high tech practice.
"Our survey indicates that people across the globe can see the great potential of mobile commerce. However, because of current device and access limitations - including screen size, and slow transmission speeds - widespread Web surfing and shopping on mobile devices has yet to arrive."
Accenture can be found online at: accenture.com .
Reported by Newsbytes.com, newsbytes.com .
From mobiledatabiz.com
"... Orange officials insisted the company would reap profits four to seven years after the launch of the GPRS services, with subscriber revenues doubling. "We don't want to launch GPRS until we have enough terminals. The network is ready in France and Britain; the billing system is ready. We are just waiting for the handsets," Orange Europe Managing Director Didier Quillot reportedly said. Orange announced last week that it was delaying the launch of the GPRS services."
Chips are not quite my forte, but will research the points you raised about integrating solutions - of so, and Qcom are manufacturing them...that will be very good for you guys.
As for leaving the door wide open for 1xEV. Really? I have yet to hear anything from any operoatr to suggest that is so. Who would supply the equipment, Qcom? Thought they pulled out of the manufacturing market. What would the cost be?
Anyway, this may be of interest to you guys, from the same source above:
"Golden Bridge Technology today announced that Arthur D. Little Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based technology consulting firm, has begun developing models "to quantify the financial benefits" of GBT's common packet channel (CPCH) technology. According to the company, CPCH handles 3G wireless packet data, improves spectrum efficiency and reduces infrastructure cost. Based on simulations performed by GBT, AT&T Labs and SBC Technology Resources, CPCH improves spectrum efficiencies up to 21 times in the uplink and up to 3.3 times in the downlink. In addition, CPCH will improve base station resource utilization between 2 to 16 times, according to the company.
All for now.
M |
