T-Mobile USA Plans to Introduce Apple Products in 2013

It’s official, Apple products will be available through T-Mobile in 2013. The plans were unveiled Thursday at Investor’s Day by company CEO Rene Obermann though the details did not include specifically which devices would be available. Speculation suggests that their offering will include both the iPhone and iPad models.

Adding the iPhone to their phone lineup may be just what the now-struggling mobile carrier needs to perk up sales. Lately their subscriber base been dwindling, which many analysts have suggested is because of their lack of Apple support (although some of their customers do use iPhones on the T-Mobile network that were purchased unlocked from other sources).

Unless the company is planning on waiting for quite some time until a new model of the iPhone or iPad becomes available, it is expected that the carrier will debut with the current iPhone 5 smartphone as well as the iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad Retina tablets.

According to representatives at T-Mobile, more details on this news will become available “at a later date.”

Courtesy : http://www.padgadget.com/2012/12/07/t-mobile-usa-plans-to-introduce-apple-products-in-2013/

Motorola to pull out of South Korea in 2013, shed around 500 jobs

As part of its Google-led overhaul to become a lean and mean smartphoneoutfit,Motorola is pulling out of South Korea next year. Around 540 jobs will be lost, with 60-or-so staffers being offered a chance to relocate to the company’s R&D departments elsewhere. It’s not the first high-profile departure from the country this year, after HTC found it difficult to compete with the local superpowers – and we can’t imagine it’ll be the last.

Courtesy :   http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/10/motorola-to-pull-out-of-south-korea-in-2013-shed-around-500-job/

Apple iPhone likely to be sold by T-Mobile in 2013

Courtesy : NDTV

T-Mobile USA had been the lone iPhone-less carrier among the four national wireless companies in the U.S. Although it has been possible to use iPhones on T-Mobile networks, customers had to provide the phones themselves. The phones also work at much slower speeds, though T-Mobile has been reshuffling its network to match or exceed AT&T’s data speeds.

The three larger carriers, AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., already sell the iPhone, as do many smaller ones.

Deutsche Telekom AG said Thursday that T-Mobile will add Apple products to its portfolio in the coming year. Though it didn’t mention the iPhone by name in its press release, that’s the product it is most likely referring to. It’s possible T-Mobile will also sell a cellular version of the iPad, as the three national carriers do.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison confirmed the agreement but would not comment further. In an email, T-Mobile also wouldn’t mention the iPhone by name, saying only that more details will come “at a later date.”

Having the iPhone would likely win T-Mobile more customers and help it keep up with rivals. But the upfront costs of carrying the device are high for phone companies. That’s because carriers subsidize the iPhone when they sell it to customers, counting on making up the money in service fees over the life of a two-year contract. Last year, U.S. Cellular Corp., the country’s sixth-largest cellphone company, said it turned down an opportunity to carry the iPhone, saying it’s too expensive.

T-Mobile has agreed to combine its cellphone business with MetroPCS Communications Inc. in a deal they signed earlier this fall. The combined company will stay No. 4 among U.S. wireless carriers, though the combination is aimed at letting the two better compete with larger rivals. Deutsche Telekom will hold a 74 percent stake in the combined company. MetroPCS shareholders will own the rest. The deal awaits government clearance.

Originally posted at http://gadgets.ndtv.com/telecom/news/apple-iphone-likely-to-be-sold-by-t-mobile-in-2013-302278

Upcoming Nokia Mobile – Nokia Lumia 920

Approximate Price – 24,999

 Nokia Lumia 920 is a new gift by Nokia in the very famous and successful Lumia series, which supports wireless charging. The Finnish handsets maker, Nokia, has some way back launched the highest ever 41 megapixels camera sensor smartphone, Nokia PureView 808, which was very warmly welcomed by the Indian customers. The company has again created the magic with Nokia Lumia 920 that has the same PureView camera, but this time it is 16 megapixels only. The body built of this phone is very attractive and to make it more appealing the company designed various vibrant colored body cover for this smartphone. The Lumia series is doing a good business in the market and with the time to come it is supposed that this will also boost up the decreased market share of Nokia. The display of this droid is very sharp and crystal clear. Unlike the PureView 808, this smartphone is not running on the Symbian operating system but it has the very new and advanced Microsoft Windows Phone 8, Apollo, operating system that brings a whole new experience at your feet. Another most appealing feature of this phone is its Dual core 1.5 GHz processor that makes the processing speed of this beast pretty fast, like the lightening in the sky. The only drawback with this smartphone is that it does not hold any microSD card slot, so you cannot extend the external memory of the device.

Nokia Lumia 920 has an AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with multi touch facility. The 4.5 inches wide display provides a screen resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels with 16 million colors conspiring to make so many color combinations. The 326 ppi of pixel density brings real life like look to the device thus you will feel everything moving on the screen is real and you can touch it with your naked hands. Not only the screen, but the sound quality of this handsets also very good and of superior quality. The Internet connectivity options like EDGE, GPRS, 3G with HSPA+ speed, Wi-Fi, etc. delivers very fast connectivity speed and to add more usability to this, you will also find GPS navigation application in the device. The internal storage capacity of this phone is 32GB with 1GB space for RAM. The camera has Carl Zeiss Optics and the lens has auto focus feature with support of LED flash. This camera completely depends on the PureView technology and this shooter can also record 1080 pixel videos by capturing 30 frames per second.
Nokia Lumia 920 is also the owner of very robust and strong battery that delivers you a fair enough talk time and standby time.

Courtesy : http://mobiles.pricedekho.com/mobiles/nokia/lumia-920-price-pladl.html#Review

Five Reasons Why Google Android versus Apple iOS Market Share Numbers Don’t Matter.

Gartner just released its Q2 2012 mobile sales unit report, ranking vendors and operating systems for mobile devices.  Over this past quarter, of the mobile devices sold, 64.1% are powered by Google’s Android and 18.8% are operated by Apple’s iOS.  Google’s Android made significant strides over the past year when 43.1% of mobile devices sold in Q2 2011 operated on Android.  Apple remained about the same.  Should investors care about these statistics?

At an initial pass, two trends in the past quarter are important to note before reading too much into the Apple versus Google battle.  While Google gained 20.7% market share over the same period a year ago, Nokia and Research in Motion, together, lost 21.7%.  Google’s gain may have more to do with Nokia’s and Research in Motion’s losses than a win against Apple.  Moreover, Apple’s iPhone unit sales were below expectations in the second quarter due to interest in Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5, announcement expected September 12.  New product releases by either Apple or manufacturers using Google’sAndroid can influence market share numbers from quarter to quarter, and the ratio of Android to iOS market share tends closer to 2:1.  More importantly is that Apple iOS + Google’s Android operating systems run almost 85% of the mobile devices sold.

Original article posted at http://www.forbes.com/sites/darcytravlos/2012/08/22/five-reasons-why-google-android-versus-apple-ios-market-share-numbers-dont-matter/

Samsung unveils plan for smartphones with bendable screens next year

Courtesy : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2236234/Samsung-set-market-bendable-mobile-screens-year.html

Next year could bring a new twist in the evolution of the smartphone.

Samsung are gearing up to produce flexible, unbreakable mobile phone screens that can be bent, twisted and even folded up and put in your wallet.

The South Korean tech giant reportedly has the flexible screens in the final stage of development and will be ready to ship them next year.

The breakthrough has been made by through the use of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), which are thin and can be put on flexible material such as plastic or metal foil.

Samsung is not the only company to have invested heavily in research into flexible screens using OLEDs. Companies including Japan’s Sony and LG Display, also of South Korea have launched prototypes.

However Samsung is the first to promise a launch date for the technology, with an unnamed source ‘familiar with the situation’ telling the Wall Street Journal they will ship in the first half of 2013.

Looking at the release dates of the company’s flagship smartphones, the S series, that suggests that the first device to feature the flexible screen technology could be the yet to be announced S4.

The company’s move to produce the flexible displays comes as smartphone and tablet makers search for ways to differentiate their products in a market where customers face a glut of almost identical products.

Vinita Jakhanwal, director of mobile and emerging displays and technology at IHS Electronics and Media, told Tech News World: ‘Flexible AMOLEDs can help Samsung differentiate its products in a smartphone market where most products offer similar products and functionality.’

Even if Samsung were not able to able able to commercialise flexible screens straight away, making their screens out of plastic rather than glass would make their devices lighter, more durable and cheaper than rivals’.

A common bugbear with the kinds of touchscreen displays often used on mobile devices is that they are brittle and prone to cracking. Replacing the glass now used with plastic would solve that problem.

Samsung had previously promised to bring flexible displays to market this year, but that deadline came and went without any announcement from the company.

LIGHTER AND MORE DURABLE

Flexible displays are made by depositing organic light emitting diodes on a flexible plastic surface.

Regular LED displays are usually made on a glass surface, but substituting that for a flexible plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate makes it possible to manufacture screens that are both flexible and lightweight.

One possible mass-production method might use a technique similar to inkjet printing.

However, the company’s push for innovation has become more urgent as other display makers are also introducing different technologies for mobile phone and tablet screens.

Sony has been researching the same flexible screen technology since 2002, and showcased a 4.1in flexible OLED two years ago, the same time as Samsung showed off their version of the technology.

However, a spokesman for Sony told the Wall Street Journal he couldn’t comment on when the company would begin mass producing the displays.

And earlier this year, Apple filed a patent for ‘electronic devices with flexible displays’ that included features like on-screen keyboards that can be modified to handle concave or convex curves.

Lee Chang-hoon, vice president of Samsung’s display division, told the Journal his company has sent out samples of the new displays to a few select customers, but added that the release dates of any new products using the technology has not yet been confirmed.

The Apple iPhone 5 is thinner, lighter and faster than its predecessors.

The iPhone 5 was the most anticipated Apple handset launch since the iPhone 4. The 4S offered only an incremental, albeit antenna-fixing, upgrade, and the fifth-gen iPhone arrives just as many 4 users’ 24-month contract comes up for renewal.

However, in that time we’ve seen a seismic shift, with competing smartphones offering quality and desirability to match and even surpass the iPhone.

With the big boys tempting users away from iOS with the lure of a slick Androidexperience as found on the HTC One X and the Sony Xperia T or much-improved Windows Phone interface – step forward the Nokia Lumia 920 -  it’s crunch time (sorry) for Cook and co.

But wait a goddamn minute. Statistics don’t lie (usually) and, just as we were putting pen to paper, Apple announced that pre-orders for the iPhone 5 hit two million in 24 hours, spanking its previous record of one million in a day for the iPhone 4 and ensuring that many won’t see their new precious until October.

So, with it clearly hooking the gagging mouths of many, how does it perform as ‘the latest iPhone’ and, crucially, how does it match up against the superphone stars of today?

iPhone 5: Build

Let’s start with the chassis because, let’s face it, that’s the only distinct visible change to differentiate it from its two previous family members. Grasp the frame in your hand and the first thing you’ll notice is the weight; it’s the lightest iPhone ever.

By a long way. At 112g, it’s 20% daintier than the iPhone 4S, 16% less butch than the Samsung Galaxy S3 and 14% lighter than the HTC One X. Reducing the SIM to weency, or ‘nano’, size has helped, minutely, as has making the shell out of anodised aluminium.

The brace of glass strips adorning the top and bottom of the rear give both the black/slate and white/silver models a premium feel but are actually employed to allow an uninterrupted phone signal. No-one wants another antenna gate.

Originally posted at http://www.t3.com/reviews/iphone-5-review

Data plans and mobile PC usage

There are variations in the service availability and
data plans provided by operators around the world,
with both factors impacting subscriber behavior. This
section focuses on the effects of data plans on traffic
volumes and application use. The measurements
are made using a deep study analysis of one mature
operator’s 3G network over one month. The results
presented here are for mobile PCs only.
The monthly
traffic resulting from applications such as online media
and file sharing increases in line with volume data plan
caps. Web browsing is the exception here and reaches
a saturation point at the 5-10GB data plan cap (i.e.
users on the 5-10GB and 10-20GB data plans use
around the same volume for web browsing).

consumer insights: smartphone usage

Courtesy : Erricson Report

http://www.univercell.in/images/products/detail/sonyxperiap-F.jpg

Almost 40 percent of smartphone
owners globally use the internet
before getting out of bed. This
reflects habitual behavior in
which users always have their
smartphone at hand. Over
50 percent use their device
between getting out of bed and
leaving home in the morning.
From here, usage levels increase,
reaching peaks during
commuting and lunch hours.
Smartphone users are quickly
adopting a pattern of frequent,
short internet access that is
spread throughout the whole day.
The simplicity of smartphone apps
has led to consumers developing
a habit of finding new apps to
address the challenges and
chores that everyday life brings.
They do this spontaneously as
new situations arise, and in the
process integrate internet use into
a more mundane level of their lives
than ever before. The only point
during the day when usage dips
significantly on a global scale
is dinner time.

This is in contrast to mobile PC
usage, which is characterized by
fewer but longer spells in a small
number of places, typically at
home, in the office or at school.

Applications on mobile networks

To better understand how usage differs between
various devices and networks, a study has been
performed based on deep analysis of selected
3G networks that together cover all major
regions of the world.

The spread observed for mobile PCs is between
1 and 7GB per month. Mobile PCs have
the highest average monthly traffic volume
per subscription over 3G (global average at
1-2GB), followed by tablets at 250-800MB and
smartphones at 80-600MB.

Regardless of device type, online video
(30-40 percent) is the biggest contributor to
traffic volumes, followed by web browsing
(20-30 percent). Traffic drawn from mobile PCs is
notable for having significantly higher file sharing
activity than other devices. On tablets and
smartphone devices, online audio, email, software
downloads, and social networking traffic are
important contributors to 3G data traffic.

SESSiON LENgThS
Mobile PCs are used for a few longer
sessions, mainly during the daytime and
evening, but between late night and dawn,
most are turned off. In contrast, tablet and
smartphone devices usually have frequent,
short sessions typically across the whole
day. Tablets are in this respect much closer
to smartphones than to mobile PCs.

Effect of Urbanization

Urbanization is currently a major global trend.
By 2016 over 30 percent of the
world’s population are expected live in metro and
urban areas with a density of more than 1,000 people
per square kilometer. These areas represent less than
1 percent of the Earth’s total land area, yet they are
set to generate around 60 percent of mobile
traffic by 2016.
In metro and urban areas, heterogeneous networks
will complement macro network improvements
to serve the traffic and provide high-quality user
experience. In less-densely populated areas the
focus will be more on building cost-effective
coverage and capacity.

This analysis is made based on knowledge of traffic
volume data from different geographical areas in
many networks combined with traffic forecast figures.
A high quantity of today’s mobile data traffic is
already being generated in metro areas. However, it is
worth noting that by 2016 the amount of mobile data
traffic is forecasted to be 10 times that of 2011.

Mobile traffic: Data vs Voice

Courtesy : Erricson Report

Data traffic doubled over one year
The total monthly
traffic split for voice and data. It
depicts a stable trend of traffic growth
with some seasonal variations.
However, there are large differences
in traffic levels between markets,
regions and operators due to differing
customer profiles.
Mobile data surpassed voice in Q4
2009 and was double that of voice for
the first time in Q1 2011. Data traffic
grew by 100 percent between Q2
2010 and Q2 2011. The comparatively
smaller quarterly growth of 8 percent
between Q1 and Q2 2011 is likely to
be related to seasonal variations in
traffic levels, similar to those
observed in the past.
Mobile voice traffic has doubled
over the last four years and continues
to grow at a steady rate. The growth
is especially high in regions with a
strong increase in subscriptions,
such as developing nations in Asia.
These measurements have been
performed by Ericsson over several
years using a large base of live
networks that together cover all
regions of the world. They form a
representative base for calculating
world total traffic in mobile networks
(not including DVB-H, WiFi, and
Mobile WiMax).

MOBiLE pC daTa
The mobile PC data
traffic produced by the
average subscription per
month varies. The overall
trend is positive and
average usage is now
between 1-2GB on the
networks measured.
1-2GB.

Mobile device and traffic correlations

Mobile data traffic is predicted to grow 10 times by
2016, by which time data traffic will be split fairly
equally between devices such as smartphones on
one hand, and PCs and tablets on the other.
A large part of the data traffic is generated by a
limited number of users in each device category.
These users may considerably change their usage
if operators implement data volume caps or other
traffic management schemes. Measures like
this could significantly impact the traffic forecast.
Traffic per subscriber partly relates to the
screen size of the user’s individual device.
On average, a mobile PC generates
approximately 4-6 times more traffic than a
high-traffic smartphone
3
. A mobile PC generates
approximately 1-2GB per month on average vs.
250-500MB per month produced by smartphones.

BY 2016…
> Mobile broadband subscriptions
will reach almost 5 billion, up from the
expected 900 million by the end of 2011.
> The number of high-traffic smartphones
3

will increase more than 5 times and
generated traffic will grow around
12 times.
> Mobile PC subscriptions will more than
double and generated traffic will grow
about 8 times.
> Tablet subscriptions will grow 10 times
and generated traffic will increase
about 40 times.

Smartphone Market in India 2012

A Smartphone is a cellular phone with better, faster and enhanced operating abilities and performance which was earlier restricted to Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and portable computers. Smartphones are rapidly replacing feature phones in India. With the number of vendors offering wide variety of smartphone devices, consumers are spoilt for choices with diverse features at different price.   The report begins with ‘Introduction’ section covering overview of smartphone which provides basic idea of the technology and brief details regarding the prime features of smartphones.   The ‘Smartphone Overview’ section elaborates global & domestic market state of smartphone business. It is accompanied by a plethora of qualitative and statistical information regarding the state of smartphone in major countries such as, smartphone shipments by various vendors and their market share and other related information.   It is followed by ‘Drivers & Challenges’ section elaborating the major furtherance & impediments for smartphones in India. Both the ‘drivers’ and ’challenges’ are equally stressed upon to provide clear idea regarding the probable obstacles and rewards in the line of business and help vendors take necessary measures.   The report continues with ‘Market Opportunity’ section where potential application areas for smartphones in India are elaborated. Each of the opportunity areas are accompanied by statistical data for detailed analysis.   Next the recent developments and prominent trends in the market are illuminated under ‘Market Trends’ section.   In the ‘Smartphone Player Profiles’ section, the key smartphone manufacturers are profiled. The section begins with a feature-price trade-off matrix for smartphone players in the country. It continues with information such as corporate & business highlights covering operational & recent information regarding each company’s contact information, location, key product and service offerings and key contacts for each of the players. It also provides financial performance for a period of time including revenue and profit, key ratios, financial summary and key financial performance indicators. Key business segment and key geographic segment for each player are provided as well to provide further clear idea regarding the companies. It also consists of a prices and specifications table for the latest smartphone devices available in India.   The report concludes with the section ‘Strategic Recommendation’ which is derived after a comprehensive analysis of the market state & scope. It suggests key strategic moves which can help enhance and accelerate adoption of smartphones in India.

Google Android Claimed 75% Of Q3 Smartphone Market Share

The Google Android mobile OS controlled 75% of the Smartphone market in Q3 2012. According to a new study by market analysis firm IDC the jump in market share was a direct result of faltering market reach for Nokia’s Symbian platform and Research In Motion’s Blackberry mobile OS.

According to the study Google Android smartphone shipments increased by 91.5 percent during Q3 2012. Apple in the meantime watched its Apple iOS shipments claim 57.3 percent of the smartphone market.

IDC  suggests that 181.1 million smartphones shipped in Q3 2012, a jump of 46.4 percent from one year earlier.

Based on current estimates Google Android devices accounted for 136 million of those sales and iOS smartphones counted for 26.9 million units sold.

Overall Apple is believed to hold a 14.9 percent share of all smartphones currently on the market, up 1.1 percent from Q3 2011. Android is estimated to control 17.5 percent of the overall market based on end of Q3 numbers.

Suffering at the hands of Android and iOS was Symbian which watched its share drop from 14.6 percent last year to 2.3 percent this year. The report also found that the Symbian based smartphones were down 77.3 percent.

Research In Motion in the meantime now controls 4.3 percent of the market, more than half of its market share during the end of Q3 2011.

Microsoft has fared better, shipping 3.6 million units since the same period of 2011. While the Windows Phone OS has improved its market share the company still only controlled 2 percent of Q3 2012.

In terms of marketshare by company Apple still leads a quickly growing Samsung smartphone division.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/386763/google-android-claimed-75-of-q3-smartphone-market-share/#QZXvEYhbZXfjpQ2p.99

Mobile Devices vs. Tablets

An important initial distinction is the difference between handheld mobile devices andtablets.
Although tablets are included within mobile statistics, they are broken down separately within the
data that we record through the network. It is important to separate them in terms of traffic, sales
and conversion rates.
Tablets are more akin to laptops, rather than being a handheld device that is taken everywhere. 80%
of tablet owners have said they mostly use the device at home. True mobile devices can be easily
transported around and is typically kept on you wherever you go.
The iPad currently has a 97% share of the tablet market.
Additionally, mobile optimised sites are not necessarily needed for tablets – as long as the standard
e-commerce site translates well on the devices. Optimised m-commerce sites can however provide a
more intuitive user experience suited to tablet devices. Advertisers are able to determine whether
their default site for visitors through tablet devices is a dedicated m-commerce site or the traditional
e-commerce site.
Additionally sites can be developed especially for tablet devices. Not all m-commerce sites that are
developed for handheld devices translate properly onto tablets. Advertisers may wish to use their
standard e-commerce site for tablets rather than their m-commerce site.
Mobile devices on the other hand benefit significantly from having a fully optimised mobile site. It
makes the site more user friendly on the smaller screen. A standard e-commerce site can be fiddly to
navigate on a mobile device making it difficult to transact – a fully optimised mobile site can help
advertisers get around the obstacles associated with transacting through a non-mobile site.

Courtesy : http://blog.affiliatewindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/M-Commerce-The-Complete-Picture2.pdf

Mobile Devices vs. Tablets

An important initial distinction is the difference between handheld mobile devices andtablets.
Although tablets are included within mobile statistics, they are broken down separately within the
data that we record through the network. It is important to separate them in terms of traffic, sales
and conversion rates.
Tablets are more akin to laptops, rather than being a handheld device that is taken everywhere. 80%
of tablet owners have said they mostly use the device at home. True mobile devices can be easily
transported around and is typically kept on you wherever you go.
The iPad currently has a 97% share of the tablet market.
Additionally, mobile optimised sites are not necessarily needed for tablets – as long as the standard
e-commerce site translates well on the devices. Optimised m-commerce sites can however provide a
more intuitive user experience suited to tablet devices. Advertisers are able to determine whether
their default site for visitors through tablet devices is a dedicated m-commerce site or the traditional
e-commerce site.
Additionally sites can be developed especially for tablet devices. Not all m-commerce sites that are
developed for handheld devices translate properly onto tablets. Advertisers may wish to use their
standard e-commerce site for tablets rather than their m-commerce site.
Mobile devices on the other hand benefit significantly from having a fully optimised mobile site. It
makes the site more user friendly on the smaller screen. A standard e-commerce site can be fiddly to
navigate on a mobile device making it difficult to transact – a fully optimised mobile site can help
advertisers get around the obstacles associated with transacting through a non-mobile site.

Courtesy : http://blog.affiliatewindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/M-Commerce-The-Complete-Picture2.pdf

Effects of urbanization

Urbanization is currently a major global trend.
Figure 8 shows that by 2016 over 30 percent of the
world’s population are expected live in metro and
urban areas with a density of more than 1,000 people
per square kilometer. These areas represent less than
1 percent of the Earth’s total land area, yet they are
set to generate around 60 percent of mobile
traffic by 2016.
In metro and urban areas, heterogeneous networks
will complement macro network improvements
to serve the traffic and provide high-quality user
experience. In less-densely populated areas the
focus will be more on building cost-effective
coverage and capacity.

This analysis is made based on knowledge of traffic
volume data from different geographical areas in
many networks combined with traffic forecast figures.
A high quantity of today’s mobile data traffic is
already being generated in metro areas. However, it is
worth noting that by 2016 the amount of mobile data
traffic is forecasted to be 10 times that of 2011.

Original report at file:///E:/SONY%20CHANDRAN/Univercell/Articles/erricson%20report.pdf

Mobile Coverage

The coverage of the world’s mobile 
networks is constantly increasing
as more and more base stations are
being deployed. GSM/EDGE is the
technology that by far has the widest
reach and today covers more than
85 percent of the world’s population
(see figure 7). WCDMA/HSPA covered
around 35 percent of the population
by 2010 but is now accessible by over
40 percent of the world population.
Further build out of WCDMA/HSPA
coverage will be driven by the
availability of affordable smartphones,
the surge in mobile broadband
services and faster speeds, as well as
regulator requirements to connect the
unconnected. By 2016 it is estimated
that 80 percent of the world’s
population will be able to access
the internet using WCDMA/
HSPA networks.
The combined 2G and 3G population
coverage for CDMA is estimated to be
above 50 percent. CDMA coverage
is expected to grow slightly, and
most large CDMA operators have
announced a migration plan to LTE.

Original post at  file:///E:/SONY%20CHANDRAN/Univercell/Articles/erricson%20report.pdf

Apple iPad Air

The announcement of Apple’s iPad Mini is right around the corner. Speculations are rife about the device, especially regarding its hardware and price-range.ccording to iMore, the Cupertino-based company may go the way of the MacBook Air, and introduce an ‘iPad Air’ that is smaller, more portable, lighter, and features a screen that doesn’t have retina display.

John Gruber from Daring Fireball said, “You know what other Apple product’s primary attributes are thinness, weight, and price? The MacBook Air. And, no coincidence, the latest revisions to the Air lineup debuted on stage at WWDC without retina displays. We’re a couple of years away from Apple going retina across the board.”

Earlier, it was revealed that Apple may discontinue the iPad 2 to make way for the new iPad Mini, or ‘Air’ as we earlier speculated. According to AppleInsider, Rob Cihra with Evercore Partners has said in a note to investors that Apple may phase out the iPad 2. The reason stated mentions Apple’s visions of “clearer product tiers.” This could point to Apple’s aims of lowering the entry-bar of iPad products.

So if one wants to purchase an iPad 2, now would be a good time as the product may be not available when the next line-up of Apple devices hit the shelves.

Apple may launch the iPad mini as soon as November 2, 2012, which is roughly 10 days after its announcement taking place on October 23. Apple has sent out media invites for an event slated for October 23 with the caption, ‘We’ve got a little more to show you.’

The invite could mean that Apple has more gadgets in the offing for the year 2012. This invite also confirms a recent report, which stated that Apple would be hosting an event on October 23.

As far as the rumours of the iPad mini go, it appears that the Cupertino-based company is not holding back any punches with this smaller iPad, and launching it in various storage capacities such as 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and the top-of-the-line model at 64GB of internal storage. The top of the line iPad mini is expected to be sold at approximately €649 for the 64GB Wi-Fi plus cellular version. The cheapest model, an 8GB Wi-Fi only version is believed to retail for approximately €249.

Rumours claim that Apple will introduce a redesigned version of the iPad which was launched earlier this year and the new model is expected to come with the Lightning connector as well as making it lighter.

It is also believed that the Apple event will also play host to a number of other announcements, which include the updated line up of Macs and on the software front, iBooks.