Virtua Team Talk

At Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference, Steve Jobs, CEO, made the bold assertion that we are now living in a post-PC world adding “We are going to move the digital hub, the centre of  digital life, into the cloud.”

According to Apple, the iPhone and the iconic iPad are at the forefront of this new post-PC world and the statistics, which are staggering by any standards, seem to support this view. Sales of 25 million iPads in just 14 months, 15 billion songs downloaded since 2003 and 14 billion apps downloaded from a store that now runs to 425,000 apps.

And now, says Steve Jobs, this digital new world order is going to be all about freeing up all that data from the hardware where it traditionally resides and the PC where users have to go to manipulate their files.

This brave new world is all about Apple’s new cloud offering, aptly named” iCloud” which has been designed to help users leave behind the shackles of their old tethered ways. Ten years ago the PC was set to become the hub of our digital life but that model, according to Apple, has now broken down as mobile devices have become more powerful. Read the rest of this entry »

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has just launched a “consultation” on how best to sell off the rights to the next generation of mobile wireless networks. The auction of the fourth generation or “4G” spectrum is going to be the largest ever – equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum that is in use today. The auction is planned to start in the first quarter of 2012.

The last time an auction was held was in 2000 for “3G” and it raised a staggering £22.5bn for the Treasury so there is already a lot of attention being paid to the launch of 4G. However, most carriers and observers believe that operators overpaid for those licences and were then unable to invest in the infrastructure as a result of paying such extortionate fees. The simple fact is though consumers are demanding more bandwidth to fuel their insatiable desire for information.

The additional spectrum to be sold off promises faster speeds for downloading data – such as movies and music to phones and similar devices as more capacity is made available for all the networks. Smartphones such as the iPhone, Google Android and other tablet devices are big users of bandwidth, which means there has been a squeeze on what is left.

The sections of the spectrum being sold, at the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bandwidths, will include parts of the wireless spectrum historically used by analogue TV which is being switched off as digital is rolled out.

According to Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards, “The auction is not only critical to the future of the UK mobile telecommunications market but it is also of significant importance to the wider economy. It will support a wide range of data services that are fast becoming essential features of the modern world.”

Ofcom has already allowed some mobile phone carriers like Vodafone and O2 to use parts of the old 2G network until more of the spectrum is made available leading to UK network making a complaint. ‘Three’, the country’s smallest mobile phone operator is understandably concerned that its rivals will outbid it at auction, buying up larger slices of the available bandwidth and potentially squeezing Three out of the market altogether. In response the regulator has said it would impose a cap on the amount of new airspace companies could win at the auction in order to ensure fair competition and give consumers more choice.

Interestingly Ofcom said it would make any successful bid conditional upon a licensee agreeing to extend their coverage to 95% of the UK population. Current mobile coverage, particularly 3G coverage, is less available in rural areas than in urban areas so Ofcom has made it clear that it wants more “uniformity of coverage” for 4G services.

For those of us who remember the fanfares for 3G the launch of 4G is just another example of ‘bigger, faster, more’ that describes our obsession with mobile data. What I’m beginning to wonder is ‘where will it all stop’? Some of us are already drowning in a deluge of electronic information and it shows no sign of stopping.

But the demand continues to grow and there is no stopping progress. For those of us who work in the mobile phone industry it’s actually good news because it brings great new opportunities to develop and grow our business – and that means jobs and more security of employment.

Surely it will be only a matter of time though before the Holiday Operators start to advertise ‘mobile phone free’ holidays for those of us drained by information overload? I hope so because I’m tempted to book up straight away – before the 4G orgy begins!

We are getting used to the idea of using mobile phones for almost everything these days. The device that not so long ago was just used for cordless telephone calls has now become our portable diary, alarm clock, filofax, GPS, music player and much more.

When we go shopping though, we traditionally turn to our trusty credit card or cheque book to pay for goods and services. But all that looks about to change.

‘Everything Everywhere’ (the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK) is about to roll out a new ‘mobile payments service’ in partnership with Barclaycard that is set to change the way we think about financial transactions. Some analysts believe it will be the biggest revolution in payments since credit cards were introduced over 40 years ago.  (It was reported recently that Apple were looking to compete with Paypal as a payment mechanism through iTunes accounts but this hasn’t transpired yet.)

A spokesman for the new innovation, which is due to be released by the Summer of 2011, claimed that “very soon using your mobile to buy a ticket for a show, a coffee and a sandwich or a magazine will soon be the norm.”

Not only will mobiles become payment systems but at specific retail outlets customers will be able to pay for goods and services just by waving their mobile phone against a ‘contactless reader’.

In Turkey a similar initiative is already in use that was developed for iPhone users by a company called Wireless Dynamics. To use the service iPhone users simply attach a Wireless Dynamics ‘iCart’ accessory to the iPhone handset to download an app that enables the payment system to work. Once the Visa based mobile card is activated users simply launch the app and touch their iPhone onto the point-of-sale reader without any need to enter a PIN number.

Now that a number of security based teething problems have been resolved the new ‘credit card mobile phone’ seems set to revolutionise the way we think of ‘money’. For die-hard traditionalists this might seem like a step too far but for the younger generation it is probably just another step towards the so-called ‘cashless’ generation. Whether you support the idea or not this way of doing business is likely to become the norm over the next few years as pounds and pennies disappear into antiquity. Next time someone asks if you can lend them a fiver you will simply tap your phones together, say ‘cheers’ and five pounds will seamlessly leave your account and credit theirs.

True, it will be sad to hear the death knell of jangly coins. One day we will point to coins in a museum cabinet and tell our grandchildren “We used to carry those around in our pocket once upon a time…”

You may have read in the news over the last few days about the embarrassing glitch that recently came to light with iPhones as the New Year dawned. Apparently a technical fault stopped the integrated alarm clock from going off leading to a lot of oversleeping.

Like it or loathe it the alarm clock has undoubtedly become an integral part of our life. For some it is the essential tool that stirs us from slumber and signals a new day filled with excitement and expectation but for others it is the lurking beast on the bedside cabinet waiting to shatter our pleasant dreams and plunge us into the unwelcome reality of another stressful day.

Whether your chosen alarm buzzes, bleeps, rings, plunges your addled brain into breakfast radio or whistles as it makes the tea it’s hard to imagine how modern society would get jolted into action each day without the assistance of the ubiquitous alarm clock.

Today our radios, ipods, digital watches, TV’s, phones and a welter of other gadgets and gizmo’s include an integral alarm clock to make sure we are never far away from the ability to program a nerve-shattering and irritating noise to arouse or alert us on cue.

Now users of the iPhone have had this reliance on technology brought home the hard way. The glitch on the Apple device somehow prevented its inbuilt alarm from going off causing panic stricken scenes across the globe.

Professor Jim Horne of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University commented:

“As long as there have been clocks of some description, there have been alarms. In pre-industrial times we used to have ‘waker-uppers’ who would go from house to house tapping on all the windows with poles to get everybody out of bed. In fact, the iPhone represents simply the latest incarnation of a device that has been with us, in a variety of guises, for centuries”.

Historians know that the ancient Greeks and Romans had quite sophisticated water-powered clocks, the flow of which could be measured and timed to give off a signal. In the seventh century the Chinese developed a device on the same principles which would strike at set hours. Then the invention of the pendulum in 1656 and the balance spring circa 1670 meant timekeeping could be more accurate than ever before. But still the alarm clock remained beyond the reach of the vast majority of the population until the late 19th century. It was the Industrial Revolution that sparked the widespread use of alarm clocks making them available to the masses so that workers could get to the factories at specific shift times.

These days it’s never been easier to get jolted into life by an alarm and that’s how 99% of the population manages to get up in the morning. Until it goes wrong that is.

As for me, I’ve got early morning swim training and school runs to deal with so I don’t get to miss an alarm very often. It would be nice to wake up naturally feeling refreshed and ready to face the new day without recourse to artificial timing aids. Modern society is ruled by the clock enough as it is – so why not look at the positive side of a failing alarm clock? Another hour in bed!

Now, where’s that iPhone snooze button…?

There seems no limit to the imagination when creating new innovative ‘apps’ for the iconic iPhone or some of the other popular range of smart phones. Now, it seems, the Royal Mail have jumped on the innovation bandwagon by launching the world’s first ‘intelligent’ stamp.

Viewing the stamp via a smart phone takes users to a related webpage which launches online content. The stamp works in conjunction with a specific image recognition software application developed by a company called Junaio – versions of which have been made for iPhone and the Android smart phone. According to the Royal Mail intelligent stamps mark the next step in the evolution of stamps, bringing them firmly into the 21st Century.

Those viewing the stamp, which is part of the Royal Mail’s latest Great British Railways edition, will be directed to a short film showing Bernard Cribbins reading Auden’s famous poem “The Night Mail.” W. H. Auden wrote the Night Mail poem in 1936 for the Post Office’s own blockbuster film of the same name, which for many people of that generation has always remained popular.

The application is yet another example of so-called ‘augmented reality’ in which real world scenes or situations are annotated and enhanced by pairing them with web-based data. Philip Parker of The Royal Mail said of the new iPhone app: “This is the first time a national postal service has used this kind of technology on their stamps and we’re very excited to be bringing intelligent stamps to the nation’s post.”

For many years the Royal Mail’s special stamps have marked key events and anniversaries in the UK’s heritage as a medium which aims to be both educational and informative. Now the leap into intelligent stamp technology is likely to open up to a whole new world of information, interest and fun for enthusiasts and collectors as well as the millions of people who will receive them on letters in the years to come.”

Although Virtua work at the cutting edge of mobile phone technology we are still amazed at the new applications that are being developed and this new stamp innovation is going to turn the schoolboy stamp collecting hobby into a whole new world of possibility. Whatever will they think of next?

Although in our line of business we get involved in most aspects of mobile phone technology development and deployment there is one aspect that we have absolutely no control over – and that’s how people choose to use their own personal mobile phones.

With the huge advances in applications technology, particularly in relation to the innovative iPhone or the Blackberry, phones are now the ‘essential’ tool for most professionals and losing a mobile is like losing your computer or your office!

If there is a ‘dark’ or negative side to mobile phone usage though then it has to be the alarming, and growing, number of traffic accidents caused by drivers using mobile phones. This trend has now become so serious that the police recently reported that driving whilst using a mobile phone is now considered a more serious offence than drink driving and have therefore stepped up their campaign to raise awareness as well as raising fines and penalty points.

Using a Mobile phone while driving is a widespread problem, and still controversial. Across the globe different countries have taken a different legal stance regarding the use of phones whilst driving. Some jurisdictions have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Others have enacted laws to ban handheld mobile phone use, but do allow use of a hands-free device. In some cases restrictions are only directed to minors or those who are immediate license holders.

Although there have been very few scientific studies of this subject the data gathered so far is quite enlightening and has tended to prove unequivocally that increased cell phone use definitely correlates with an increased risk of a traffic accident. Also, with regard to texting a simulation study at the Monash University Accident Research Centre has provided strong evidence that both retrieving and, in particular, sending text messages has a detrimental effect on a number of critical driving tasks. Specifically, negative effects were seen in detecting and responding correctly to road signs, detecting hazards and time spent with eyes off the road.

Other studies have shown that driving whilst using a hands-free cellular device is actually no safer than using a hand held cell phone. The increased “cognitive workload” involved in holding a conversation, not the use of hands, causes the increased risk. The message then is very clear. It is our responsibility as individuals to use our mobile phones responsibly and not to put lives at risk by using a mobile phone whilst concentrating on driving. One of Virtua’s major projects is helping the emergency services improve their communications technology in order to save lives.

So let’s all be part of the solution rather than the problem!

We all get used to routines, and for millions of us setting off to work every morning the usual ritual is making sure we have got the essentials; car and front door keys, mobile phone and wallet with credit cards and some cash.

But very soon, according to those in the know, we will all be throwing our wallets away because cash will be redundant and our credit cards will be replaced by a new mobile phone payment facility. Yes, just when you thought the humble mobile phone couldn’t possibly get any more complicated ‘payment technology’ has arrived – enabling financial transactions to be made via our mobiles.

Whatever your personal views might be regarding the future of cash and cheques, there is undoubtedly a steady move towards the increased use of mobiles to make payments. Some sceptics doubt that cash is likely to completely disappear for some years yet, but according to a recent report by the ‘Payments Council’ its decline is likely to accelerate as mobile payments technology becomes more commonplace.

A number of operators have been developing systems that operate safely, conveniently and cheaply for mobile owners over the last year or two and one of the first mass-marketed examples is the “Send Money” app for the iPhone launched recently by Paypal. This app allows two owners of iPhones to “tap” their phones together – by bumping them against each other physically – in order to make a connection and send money to each other.

The tapping may seem like bit of a gimmick, but the technology that lies behind it signals the way that future financial transactions might well be made.

Having accepted a connection which flashes up on the screen, one person can instantly transmit money directly from their bank account or an account they have set up with Paypal (which provides a holding account for each individual so they do not have to exchange their bank details). It might seem a little quirky at first but astonishingly around one million people have already downloaded it worldwide.

Will I use it? I’m not sure yet. Call me old fashioned but I still like the feel of a leather wallet in my pocket with a few crisp fivers and the clink of loose change.

Will my children use it? You bet – and somehow I think that the old adage of ‘tapping’ your dad for a loan will take on a whole new meaning…

On the 13th April Microsoft unveiled its new “Kin” mobile phone in a bid to lure the Twitter and Facebook community. With hardware built by Sharp, the Kin comes in two models: the basic “Kin one” and a more powerful model called “Kin two”. Initially the devices will be sold exclusively in the U.S. by Verizon, starting from May. In Europe, Vodafone will be the exclusive provider with the first phones becoming available in October 2010. Speaking at a San Francisco launch event last Monday, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach described the devices as “smartphones designed for social-networking and video-obsessed users”

Even though I work in the Telecoms industry the pace of change still manages to astound me. It seems that even with the phenomenal success of the iPhone and the Blackberry and the ever increasing range of add-ons now available from Apple’s App store, mobile phone innovation is still breaking now boundaries.

Social networking is currently a hot business topic with a lot of the top sites now moving firmly out of the realms of teenage bedrooms into the boardroom. Already companies like Coca-Cola and Unilever have announced that they are cutting their traditional massive marketing budgets for Radio, TV and billboards to focus instead on marketing via social media. Little wonder then that the mobile phone industry has jumped on the bandwagon and added social networking facilities to its already impressive list of phone apps.

If you are a great fan of Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Twitter etc. then the appeal of having instant access to these sites via your mobile is completely understandable. Also, for those working in the Telecoms industry it means there are a lot of opportunities to get closely involved in the emerging technology.

But is all this innovation always a good thing? I think it depends on your viewpoint. On the positive side it is bringing people together as part of a thriving on-line community and open communication is always to be encouraged. On the downside, however, are the news stories we hear of susceptible young people being lured or influenced by the inappropriate behaviours of other social networkers.

Social media, therefore, can undoubtedly provide a powerful set of tools that can be used as part of an organisation’s sales and marketing strategy as well as an excellent medium of communication if used responsibly. And maybe that’s the key point. New social media apps on Kin phones might seem like a brilliant idea in principle but users need to take full responsibility for what it is that is actually being communicated.

Apple claims it sold more than 300,000 of its latest product, the iPad tablet computer, on its launch day in the US. Apple said its aim was to try to create a third category of product that falls midway between a Laptop and a Smartphone and offers a different experience to other devices.

The iPad is yet another gadget that is this month’s ‘must have’. It is sleek, eye catching and offers a wealth of innovations to keep any techno geek happy until the next best thing comes along. Whatever your preferred gadget might be, Blackberry, iPhone, Laptop, Notebook or even the new iPad it’s all about something called communication.

Ever since early mankind first started beating a hollow log with a stick we have been developing the technology with which to communicate. The iPad is merely the latest tool to link us to the internet, to email and to the thousands of web and blog sites and social networking tools that are now ingrained into our social fabric. We are swapping pictures on Facebook, linking up with old school buddies on Friends Reunited and Twittering to anyone who will listen on the ‘blogosphere’. It’s all about communicating in countless different ways. The tools may be different but the goal is just the same – it’s about interacting with other human beings.

Or is it?

What I have increasingly started to notice, particularly among teenagers and those in their early twenties, is that although social interaction via technology is now an integral part of their lives, real ‘communication’ is often being neglected. Spend time with a bunch of teens and you will notice that even at a party or lively social occasion they will tend to spend more time staring at their mobile phones screens or texting than actually communicating face to face with each other.

Yes, in many ways they are communicating more, and in more innovative ways than we did as children and teens, but it is not direct dialogue and it misses a huge part of what social interaction is all about.

Sometimes it’s the same in business. We are emailing and texting, blogging and communicating electronically but sometimes business relationships are more effective if they include the ‘human touch’. We may not be able to stop the electronic revolution but let’s not forget that sometimes a friendly face to face chat and a friendly smile can achieve so much more.

If you are thinking of investing in a smartphone then in many ways you are spoilt for choice. The problem is that there are numerous types of smartphone to choose from and it is easy to get confused by the plethora of models and features. There are, however, only two ‘celebrities’ in the smartphone marketplace, with both currently battling for supremacy – the sophisticated Blackberry and the iconic iPhone.

Yes there are some other great smartphones out there including the HTC powered by Google’s Android mobile OS. Palm is back in the game with the Pre, Samsung have launched the ‘Jet’ and there is also Microsoft’s ‘Windows phone’. But somehow all these great phones still fall within the shadow of the cool, sensuous Blackberry and the mighty iPhone.

So if you have set your eyes on the two hottest smartphones on the market how do you possibly choose between them? iPhone or Blackberry? An “impartial” observer would probably rate it a dead heat but few of us are truly impartial and we all have an allegiance to our favourite. If you are really stuck though here’s a few of my thoughts to help you make your mind up.

Firstly, as we’ve come to expect from Apple, the design and aesthetics of the iPhone are unrivalled and the user interface is slick, intuitive and responsive.  The on-screen touchpad keypad takes a little practice to get used to though, and some users will always prefer the more tactile feel of a real qwerty keyboard as found on most Blackberry models.

When it comes to apps the phone clearly wins hands down based on the range and sheer volume of apps available, usually at very reasonable prices.  OK, there are plenty of “dross” apps available but there are also some really useful gems to track down too. For web browsing, the safari browser supplied with the phone is difficult to beat and if you are fond of social networking (Face book, Twitter, etc) the phone appears to win hands down.

The Blackberry, in contrast, remains a firm favorite for corporate users because of improved integration with corporate networks, ease of management, exchange & MS Office integration and secure networking features.  For the installed base, corporations have made significant investment in integration of Blackberry with their corporate networks/IT systems and there will be a resistance to ditch this investment in the near term (regardless of the merits of iPhone or Blackberry) Both phones are fully capable of supporting email, although Blackberry’s qwerty keyboard is generally more easy to use than iPhone’s touch screen and in my opinion wins out for very heavy email users.

So in summary the main purpose of the iPhone is for personal use, web surfing and apps, rather than emails and calls, and the Blackberry is generally perceived to be a better business tool than the iphone.

But, at the end of the day, in terms or quality there’s not a lot to choose between them and the jury’s still out.

For me, I’m still hanging on to my Blackberry. Biased? Yes, probably!