ICT Statistics Newslog - Mobile applications

Over Third of Hungarians Now Using a Smartphone

Some Other User — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:20:33 GMT

Two thirds of Hungary's smartphone owners state that applications constitute an organic part of their smartphone according to the research carried out by Magyar Telekom among smartphone and internet users.

As partially known already from earlier researches, 38% of Hungarian internet users aged 14-69 have smartphones, equaling about 1.7 million people. 80% of them also use smartphones to access the internet. The current research underlines that 80% of Hungarian internet users realize that smartphones are differentiated from traditional phones by running an operation system, and 70% are also right about seeing the difference in the availability of applications.

1.3 million users state that they already downloaded applications, on average 16 - the most popular apps are music players, followed by calendars, email and community apps, and naturally games. Top ten apps include weather, photo and video recorder and player, as well as map and navigation apps. The research outlines that smartphone owners mostly look up information about applications in the AppStore or on the internet - however many enquire with friends and acquaintances. Women and those aged 14-18 are less active in checking individual applications.

Majority of those paying for applications only purchased 1-2 apps, 25% of them bought 3-5 apps and 6% of them purchased more than 10 apps. iPhone owners are clearly on top of the statistics, men and those with higher education background, as well as the more affluent are somewhat more active in this domain. Smartphone owners using apps on their phones clearly found prefer payment methods where against paying a smaller amount the given app can be tested and further payment is only needed for further functions.

Mobile phone applications are also ever more popular among small and medium entrepreneurs: shop owners, those working in catering trade and real estate agencies start to realize possibilities inherent in this new communication channel.

Source: Cellular News.

Discounting Data Access to Messaging on Mobile

Some Other User — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:46:50 GMT

Facebook announces discounting data access to messaging on mobile.

"Today were announcing partnerships with mobile operators to provide free or discounted data access to Facebook messaging for their subscribers.

Through this promotion, free or discounted data access will be available in the coming months on Messenger for Android, Messenger for iOS and Facebook for Every Phone, which is now optimized for chat.

This promotion will be available from more than 18 operators in 14 countries. Operators committed to special pricing for Facebook messaging include TMN in Portugal, Three in Ireland, Airtel and Reliance in India, Vivacom in Bulgaria, Backcell in Azerbaydzhan, Indosat, Smartfren, AXIS and XL Axiata in Indonesia, SMART in Philippines, DiGi in Malaysia, DTAC in Thailand, Viva in Bahrain, STC in Saudi Arabia, Oi in Brazil, Etisalat in Egypt, and Tre in Italy.

Messaging on Facebook lets people connect with friends and contacts on the go, regardless of what device they are using. Three out of every four people on Facebook send a message on the platform each month, making messaging one of the most popular activities on Facebook. Today, Facebook messaging and chat can be accessed from more than 6,000 mobile phones via Facebook Messenger, Facebook for iOS and Android, Facebook for Every Phone, m.facebook.com and across other devices with Facebook integration."

Source: Facebook Mobile.

Nokia unveils new mobile phones for faster internet experience (Pakistan)

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:58:41 GMT

Nokia has unveiled two new mobile phone models as it continues to accelerate its strategy to connect the next billion consumers to information and the internet. The Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 have been designed to appeal to young, urban consumers who want to experience a fast, affordable online experience.

Both devices are perfect for communicating across Facebook, Twitter and social media networks. The internet experience is also smooth thanks to the Nokia Browser. This innovative technology allows users to consume less data by up to 90 percent, by compressing websites in the cloud. Both devices offer direct access to Facebook and Twitter from their home screens. The Nokia 112 also features preloaded eBuddy instant messaging service right out of the box, so users can use popular chat services to keep conversations going 24/7.

In common with other Nokia mobile phones, consumers can choose from thousands of apps to download on the Nokia Store. With the upgraded camera, they can now customize their contacts with pictures, and share them with friends via social networks and Bluetooth.

Mary T. McDowell, executive vice president, Mobile Phones, Nokia, said that today¡¯s mobile phone users want a quick internet experience that allows them to discover great content and share it with their friends ¨C but without being held back by high data costs. The new Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 devices combine browsing, social media, apps, world-class entertainment and long battery life to create a great package for young, urban consumers who want to do it all.

The devices all feature a generous 1.8¡å display optimized for a great gaming experience. In the coming months, the Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 will bring free 40 key EA Games, valued at EUR 75 if bought separately, including well known titles like Tetris, Bejeweled, Need for Speed(TM) The Run, Monopoly Here & Now, and SimCity(TM) Deluxe. Consumers will be able to easily access the content by clicking on the Games Gift EA icon on their home screen which will take them to the Nokia Store to download the games. Once they have accessed the offering, they will have 60 days to download the games of their choice, keeping the games forever.

Both new phones offer an improved VGA camera for sharp and clear pictures with support for up to 32GB of external memory, enough for more than 6000+ songs or 90,000 pictures. Consumers can tune into their favorite radio stations and share their favorite songs with friends over Bluetooth. The phones have been optimized to provide a long-lasting battery life, with over 10 hours of talk time and nearly a month¡¯s standby, meaning that consumers can stay in-touch and entertained all day long.

The Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 are both Dual SIM phones, featuring the benefits of Nokia¡¯s unique and industry leading Easy Swap technology. This enables users to switch between SIMs quickly without having to remove their battery or turn off their phone. The Easy Swap technology can personalize and remember up to five different SIM cards, giving consumers full control over their costs.

The Nokia 110 will also be available as single SIM versions - Nokia 111 and Nokia 113, with this last one available in Europe and Eurasia only. The estimated retail price for Nokia 110 and its single SIM versions is about $45 and they are expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012. The estimated retail price for Nokia 112 is about $49, excluding taxes and subsidies, and is expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2012.

Source: Wireless Federation.

More than 60% doctors and consumers in India rely on mHealth (India)

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:52:25 GMT

A recent survey by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) on emerging mHealth reveals that India ranks 2nd place in adopting the mobile healthcare among the 10 other countries, as reported by WatBlog. Over 60 percent of doctors and consumers are relying on mHealth in the country according to the survey.

As per the report, a study called Emerging mHealth: Paths for Growth recorded that in countries which are developing, developed and emerging rely on mHealth as they are easily available on mobile subscription, convenient & easy and a route to increased healthcare. Also according to PwC, the impact of such widespread mobile healthcare on healthcare delivery could be significant and fundamentally alter traditional relationships within the healthcare industry. PwC have recently speculated that mHealth market will be $535.9 million market in the next 5 years.

A source from PwC was quoted as saying that mHealth is the future of healthcare, deeply integrated into delivery that will be better, faster, less expensive and far more customer-focused.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Mobile payments expected to reach $30.5 billion by 2021 (UK)

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:04:23 GMT

Industry sources claim that owing to rapid technology upgradation and the increase in the number of smartphone users, British consumers are likely to spend as much as $30.5 billion by 2021 on purchases through their mobile handsets. As per reports, the mobile purchases currently account for $1.8 billion, with almost $417 million comprising of mobile sales from the food and groceries category.

Sources claim that mobile commerce is expected to grow by 55 percent over the next five years. Innovations such as Near Field Communications (NFC) and faster mobile data transmission play an important role in the success of mobile commerce, by offering users a more secure and convenient way to pay for goods and services. In order to better provide mobile payment services to their customers, network operators O2, Everything Everywhere and Vodafone joined forces to offer users a single system of paying for goods and services via mobile phones.

Source: Wireless Federation

Mobile App Downloads to Approach 48 Billion in 2015

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:58:10 GMT

The mobile applications market has had strong growth over the past several years, as a result of the addition of new products, players, and business models. This growth will continue, driven mainly by increased smartphone penetration, as well as growth in consumer mobile application libraries.

As a result, In-Stat expects mobile application downloads to reach nearly 48 billion in 2015.

"The prevalence of handset touchscreens is a significant development impacting the mobile applications market," according to Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst. "The projected rapid penetration of touchscreen-enabled devices will allow more users to easily interact with mobile applications, thereby driving growth. Increased on-board memory capacity will also lead to a better user experience."

Key data includes:

Touchscreens will account for nearly 90% of smartphones shipped in 2011, and will increase to nearly 100% in the next several years.
Smartphones are expected to increase from 23% of total phone shipments in 2010 to 45% in 2015.
In December 2010, the number of applications in the Apple App Store reached 350,000 while Android Market reached 80,000.
Survey results show that Apple and Android users are significantly more likely than BlackBerry users to have downloaded mobile applications.
Smartphone applications are not only about 3G. Almost half of survey respondents report downloading applications over Wi-Fi.

Source: Cellular News

Using Smartphones for Medical Diagnosis

Thu, 12 May 2011 07:52:19 GMT

New research from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine shows that doctors can make a stroke diagnosis using an iPhone application with the same accuracy as a diagnosis at a medical computer workstation. This technology can be particularly useful in rural medical settings. This allows for real-time access to specialists such as neurologists, regardless of where the physicians and patients are located.

Neuro-radiologists in the study looked at 120 recent consecutive noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) brain scans and 70 computed tomography angiogram (CTA) head scans that were obtained from the Calgary Stroke Program database.

Scans were read by two neuro-radiologists, on a medical diagnostic workstation and on an iPhone.

The research is published in the May 6th edition of Journal of Medical Internet Research. The study was designed by Dr. Mayank Goyal, and involved the iPhone software technology originally developed by Dr. Ross Mitchell, PhD, and his team at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), then further enhanced and commercialized by Calgary Scientific Inc.

"This iPhone app allows for advanced visualization and our studies show it is between 94% and 100% accurate, compared to a medical workstation, for diagnosing acute stroke," says Mitchell who is from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine. "In a medical emergency, medical imaging plays a critical role in diagnosis and treatment, time is critical in acute stroke care, every minute counts."

Click here to see full article>

Fellow HBI member, Dr. Mayank Goyal who is also the director of research in the department of radiology and one of the neuro-radiologists in the study who analyzed the data. "Time is critical for diagnosing stroke and starting treatment. There are definitely benefits for doctors to have the ability to analyze and diagnose these images from virtually anywhere. We were pleasantly surprised at our ability to detect subtle findings on the CT scan, which are often very critical in patient management, using this software," he says. "Another strength of this platform was its ability to handle massive imaging datasets of over 700 images seamlessly over the iPhone." Goyal is also a member of HBI's Stroke and Vascular Dementia Program.

The study was done using Calgary Scientific Inc.'s ResolutionMD Mobile, an application for iPhone and Android smart-phones. In April 2010, the application was approved by Health Canada so Canadian doctors can now legally make a primary diagnosis using the device.

Resolution MD is different from other medical image applications as a server does all the computing work and streams images to display on a smart-phone in real time. Doctors can see and manipulate medical images in seconds unlike other apps that can take 10-20 minutes to download raw medical images to an iPhone before they can be displayed. It is also unique as all medical images are secure. The confidential patient images remain behind hospital firewalls to prevent any patient data from being lost or stolen. The technology can also be used over great distances. By placing a server in a remote community, distant medical experts, such as stroke neurologists and radiologists, can have immediate secure access to patient scans anywhere, using a device they carry in their pocket.

The images can be viewed on an iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone or web-browser.

Calgary Scientific has licensed the application to many medical imaging companies and over 50,000 hospitals around the world will have access to it in the next 24 months as it's installed in their networks.

Source: Cellular News

Mobile Applications Downloads Approached Eight Billion in 2010

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:05:57 GMT

2010 saw considerable growth in the mobile applications market, and more competition is expected in 2011. Despite more proactive involvement in app store development from other platform providers, Apple's iTunes is still the market leader after having such a successful head start. According to ABI Research's estimates, the iPhone interface had notched up more than 5.6 billion accumulated downloads by the end of 2010, compared to nearly 7.9 billion total downloads from all stores during that year. However, Apple is set to face more intensive competition in 2011.

"The iTunes App Store only targets Ios users; that leaves more room for other platform application stores to step up and focus on 'non-Apple' clientele," comments research associate Fei Feng Seet. "Android smartphone quarterly shipments now exceed Apple's. There is still a long way to go, but accumulated downloads from both Android Market and third-party platforms surpassed 1.9 billion by the end of 2010. Android Market currently features more than 130,000 Apps in 48 countries, nearly half of iTunes App Store's catalog.

"RIM has also been making a conscious effort to increase BlackBerry's footprint in the mobile apps market, as seen in its recent aggressive expansion to over 100 markets, and developer conferences it has held in United States and Indonesia," adds Seet. ABI Research estimates that accumulated BlackBerry app downloads totaled more than 1 billion as of December 2010.

ABI Research's mobile marketing practice director, Neil Strother adds, "More mobile network operators are also considering entry into the mobile application market; India's Idea Cellular, for example, just launched its Online Application Store shortly in advance of its 3G network launch." Multi-platform-supported app store GetJar has just raised $25 million for further expansion in a recent announcement, and plans to secure its position as the premier open-source app store."

Source: Cellular News

Estonians Vote in Parliamentary Election by Mobile Phone

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:11:20 GMT

TeliaSonera's subsidiary, the mobile operator EMT in Estonia, has created a world's first mobile identification service which makes it possible to vote via a mobile phone. The service enabled the citizens of Estonia to cast their vote to yesterday's parliamentary elections via their mobile phone - for the first time in the world.

TeliaSonera's subsidiary EMT has created a Mobile ID-service that enables verification of people's identity over the Internet, digital signature, and now casting votes electronically as well.

"It is a technological breakthrough that a mobile phone could be used for giving legally binding digital signature replacing handwritten signature on paper. We are very proud to be able to use this kind of innovative mobile service for voting in elections. Additionally all kind of other e-services can be used with the Mobile ID in Estonia", says Håkan Dahlström, President of Mobility Services."

Click here to see full article>

Source: Cellular News

Text Messaging Helps Thousands of Iraqi Refugees in Syria Receive UN Food Aid (Syria / Iraq)

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:02:30 GMT

Tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria will now be able to receive United Nations food aid by exchanging coupons sent to their mobile telephones as the first such electronic food voucher system in the world moves beyond its pilot phase to embrace those living outside Damascus, the capital.

Under the voucher project, which has proved effective in feeding refugees in cities where food is available on the market but out of their economic reach, beneficiaries receive a text message providing a code enabling them to cash in all or part of the virtual voucher at selected Government shops."WFP's Electronic Voucher System is an innovative and revolutionary way to deliver food assistance to Iraqi refugees in Syria," WFP country Director Muhannad Hadi said. "After successful implementation inside Damascus, we are expanding its implementation in other governorates. We have already reached 100 per cent of the refugees living in Homs, Lattakia, and Tartous and by the end of October we are planning to expand in Edlib, Hama and Daraa."

Started last October with 1,000 refugee families in Damascus, it has now been extended to more than 9,600 families, or about 32,500 Iraqis, who can exchange the voucher, worth $30 per person per two-month cycle, for more than 15 different commodities such as rice, lentils, chickpeas, oil, canned fish and sugar, as well as cheese and eggs, fresh produce that cannot usually be included in conventional aid baskets.After each transaction, another text message will be sent informing them of their remaining balance will. "This system provides families with the freedom to select food of their own choice, at any selected shop and at any time they wish," Mr. Hadi said.

There are more than 1 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, according to Government figures, with some 130,000 regularly receiving WFP food and non-food aid from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has also appealed to the world community to make the 65 percent shortfall in the US$32 million needed for the 130,000 Iraqi refugees it helps in Syria.

Source: Cellular News

Afghan Farmers to Get Farm Produce Pricing by Mobile Phone

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:09:08 GMT

Afghan mobile network, Roshan has launched a mobile service, branded as Malomat, that provides pricing information to farmers and distributors to assist in buying and selling goods at fair rates. The service has been set up with assistance from USAID and the Global Development Alliance (GDA).

Malomat will initially cover 11 provincial wholesale markets using mobile phones with Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology and SSMS. Once developed further, the project will expand to other provinces and incorporate additional commodities, with a focus on reaching rural communities in remote areas of the country.

Click here to see full article>

Source: Cellular News

China Trumps U.S. in Mobile Internet, App Use

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:08:17 GMT

A greater portion of Chinese mobile subscribers are accessing the Internet via mobile devices than users in the U.S., according to a report from The Nielsen Company. Research conducted by the measurement firm also suggested more Chinese users download mobile applications and make use of mobile instant messaging services than their U.S. counterparts.

Although mobile devices are only just reaching widespread penetration in China, Nielsen found 38 percent of mobile subscribers there claim to access online content on a monthly basis, compared with just 27 percent of subscribers in the U.S. In addition, 20 percent of users in China claim to download mobile apps and 23 percent use mobile instant messaging products, compared with 18 percent and 16 percent of U.S. users, respectively.

China also surpassed the U.S. in terms of text message usage, with 86 percent of users there using SMS services compared with 64 percent of U.S. subscribers. Two areas in which the U.S. continues to outpace China in terms of adoption, however, are location-based services and e-mail.

Nielsen's research was based on face-to-face surveys with 4,946 consumers age 15 and up in 19 cities around China. The interviews were conducted in March 2010.

Source: Clickz.com

Belgacom lance son service de transfert dargent mobile vers le Maroc (Belgium)

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:49:16 GMT

Belgacom a présenté, en présence de lambassadeur du Maroc, son service international de transfert dargent mobile vers le Maroc, en collaboration avec Maroc Telecom. Concrètement, ce nouveau service permet de transférer de largent dun téléphone mobile en Belgique vers un téléphone mobile au Maroc. Le service est ouvert aux titulaires dun compte PingPing, la plate-forme de paiement mobile de Belgacom. Une fois ce compte chargé, il est possible de transférer de largent, que ce soit par gsm ou par internet, aux clients de Maroc Telecom ayant souscrit au service MobiCash. Le destinataire voit son compte de téléphonie mobile crédité immédiatement lors de lopération et peut retirer cet argent partout au Maroc.

Source: Belgacom

Project Uses Texting to Help South African Diabetes Patients

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:31:25 GMT

A pilot medical study by the University of California, Los Angeles, or UCLA, uses mobile phones to help diabetes patients in South Africa. Our correspondent spoke with the physician behind the study, Neal Kaufman, about the expanding role of technology in personalized health care.

The UCLA project uses texting on mobile phones to encourage patients with type 2 diabetes to adopt more healthful lifestyles.

Dr. Kaufman, a professor of pediatrics and public health at UCLA, says this form of the disease, called adult-onset diabetes, is becoming common, even among children. He says the problem is in our genes.

Click here to see full article>

"Our genetics have programmed us to want to eat sugar, salt and fat, and to be as inactive as possible," he said. "And that's what allowed us to survive when there was famine and when there was not enough food, when we didn't want to burn any calories."

Today, he says fat, salt and calories are too readily available and that health care practitioners must find ways to urge patients to avoid them. Text-messages provide one way to do that.

The South African study pairs low-income women with type 2 diabetes and links them by cell phone. Each day, a computer program sends an automated message to prompt a conversation between the women. The message might ask whether they ate a healthy breakfast or simply how they are feeling.

"The text message will ask them a question. That question, they answer to their peer as a way to begin a conversation or to encourage a conversation between peers," said Dr. Kaufman. "And what we find is that a lot of these women who would otherwise be isolated and not have someone they could talk with are texting back and forth to each other, which they've never done before, in a way that's really quite supportive."

The text messages are supplemented by group meetings to help educate patients and provide face-to-face support.

Dr. Kaufman developed the program through a company he co-founded called DPS Health - one of many initiatives that uses technology in health care.

The South African project fosters peer-to-peer support and Dr. Kaufman says it has the advantage of being inexpensive. If the program proves successful, it can be expanded to a larger population at low cost. Most important, Dr. Kaufman says, it does not require a computer or Internet connection.

Other technologies connect patients to physicians or offer online chat rooms moderated by a trained medical practitioner. Internet sites provide prenatal advice for mothers or allow patients with specific medical conditions to share advice and comments. Some sites are moderated by trained professionals.

Dr. Kaufman says this type of technology will be an increasingly important link between patients and medical providers.

"We basically believe that most outcomes from chronic conditions can be improved if you help patients to help themselves," said Dr. Kaufman. "Some people call that self-management support - managing their daily lives, helping them take their medicines, helping them to be more active, helping them to adopt health behaviors."

Dr. Kaufman says the South Africa study will yield important information on how a population of middle-aged diabetes patients responds to text prompts from mobile phones. He says results so far show that patients are interacting and encouraging each other.

The UCLA researcher says the project is part of a trend to connect patients.

"We know that social support is the wonder drug of the 21st century, that connecting people to other people - whether it's in person, whether it's online, whether it's through a cell phone - is really a very, very powerful medicine," he said.

The World Health Organization says six people die every minute from complications from diabetes and that the prevalence of the disease is rising rapidly. It says the largest number of diabetes patients is in India, followed by China.

Dr. Kaufman says that if the UCLA project is successful, it can be applied to low-income diabetes patients around the world, including in the United States, where the disease is also a major problem.

Source: Cellular News

Orange expands Mobile Money service to Madagascar

Fri, 28 May 2010 11:59:09 GMT

Orange launched its mobile payment service Orange Money in Madagascar in early May in partnership with Banque Malgache de l'Ocean Indien (BMOI) and post office Paositra Malagasy (PAOMA). The service allows mobile customers to deposit, withdraw and transfer money, to easily buy call credit, to pay for goods at certain retail partners and to pay bills. As previously reported, the operator introduced Orange Money to two West African countries in the last few weeks, Senegal and Mali. Orange is studying customer needs in each market, with the intention of developing additional, more advanced mobile payment services such as international money transfers. Orange Money is available to all Orange customers whether or not they have a bank account, and is activated free of charge and with no minimum deposit. Orange's mobile-payment service is built around partnerships with local banks, which are responsible for issuing and guaranteeing the electronic money. The introduction of Orange Money in Senegal, Mali and Madagascar follows the initial launch of the service in Cote d'Ivoire in December 2008.

Source: Telecom Paper

Report Predicts 894 Million Mobile Banking Users by 2015

Mon, 03 May 2010 13:43:13 GMT

According to a new research report by Berg Insight, the worldwide number of users of mobile banking and related services is forecasted to grow from 55 million users in 2009 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59.2 percent to reach 894 million users in 2015.

Over the past year many of the leading players in both the telecom industry and the financial sector have intensified their efforts to bring financial services to the world's unbanked population. Asia-Pacific is expected to become the most important regional market, accounting for more than half of the total user base. Mobile banking is also anticipated to play a key role in bringing financial services to people in the Middle East and Africa. In Europe and North America, the technology will mainly serve as an extension of existing online banks as mobile handsets become more widely used for Internet access. By 2015, Berg Insight forecasts that mobile banking will attract 115 million users in Europe and 86 million users in North America.

"The global number of mobile banking users more than doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is expected to almost double again in 2010. Mobile handsets are in an excellent position to become the primary digital channel for providers of banking and related financial services on emerging markets," said Marcus Persson, Telecom Analyst, Berg Insight. "People who sign up for their first mobile subscription today will likely open their first bank account in the coming years and thus join the modern financial system. Mobile operators can play a vital role in this development and will have the opportunity to take an active part in the creation of some of tomorrow's most important financial institutions based in Asia and Africa."

In addition to traditional retail banking, the report also identifies international money transfer as an important revenue source for mobile industry players. Berg Insight forecasts that 3-15 percent of the international money transfers currently handled by various formal or informal agent networks will be carried out using a mobile handset by 2015, generating US$ 1.2-6.2 billion in service revenues.

Source: Cellular News

MTNL inaugurates 3G mobile IPTV (India)

Mon, 03 May 2010 13:10:11 GMT

State-owned Indian telco Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has announced the launch of a 3G mobile TV service, Telecom Talk reports. The new service it is claimed will offer MPEG4 picture quality and will be available in both the Delhi and Mumbai circles. MTNL has partnered with content provider Apalya Technology to offer the service, alongside vendor Alcatel-Lucent and IPTV service provider Aksh Optifibre, the latter of which already offers a fixed IPTV product, iControl, via the telco. Commenting on the launch, Dr Kailash Choudhari, managing director at Aksh, said: We are proud to launch Indias first 3G mobile TV in Delhi and Mumbai. 3G Mobile TV as a value added feature epitomises convergence in technology realising ... live television viewing on the move. The new service utilises Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Streaming Server, which supports all types of standard-based media formats and dynamic switching from high-bit rate to low-bit rate streaming based on network coverage and bandwidth availability.

Source: TeleGeography

Maroc Telecom launches mobile service Mobi Cash (Morocco)

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:04:40 GMT

Launch of mobile service Mobi Cash has been announced by the major wireless and fixed line telecom operator in Morocco, Maroc Telecom, in partnership with Comviva which provides mobile solutions beyond VAS.

Comvivas mobiquit mCommerce solution will be used by the Moroccan operator enabling mobile operators and financial institutions to offer secured and cost-effective mobile banking, mobile wallet and mobile payment services.
According to Sabri Amireh, Vice President, MENA Region, Comviva, the company is focusing strongly on delivering mCommerce solutions for the rapidly growing markets, as demand for transformational mobile financial services is significant.

As per a research, mobile phone will be used by over 100 million users globally for international money transfers by 2013. The mobile international transfers are expected to exceed an average of one transaction per month. Western Europe, North America and Africa and Middle East (MEA) will account for more than 75% of the global international mobile money transfer gross transaction value by 2013.

Source: Wireless Federation.

The Mobile Phone That Could "Read Lips"

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:13:44 GMT

Researchers at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a method for mobile phones to convert silent mouth movements into speech. The technology is based on the principle of electromyography, that is the acquisition and recording of electrical potentials generated by muscle activity. This muscle activity is measured in the face and converted into speech.

An example is soundless calling.

The user can speak into the phone soundlessly, but is still understood by the conversation partner on the other end of the line. As a result, it is possible to communicate in silent environments, at the cinema or theater, without disturbing others. Another field of use is the transmission of confidential information.

For the transmission of passwords and PINs, for example, users can change seamlessly to soundless language and, hence, transmit confidential information in a tap-proof manner.

On the web: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Source: Cellular News

Safaricom, Others Find Pricing Key to Mobile Service Use (Kenya)

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:08:48 GMT

Kenya's Safaricom, and other emerging market mobile operators, are seeing increasing use of non-voice services as a result of pricing plans that take into account how money is actually earned and spent in developing economies. A Strategy Analytics report points out that Safaricom's M-PESA mobile funds transfer service handles nearly 10 percent of Kenya's GDP in transactions that average less than $20.

Click here to see full article>

"Providing low-increment services in a pre-paid environment has some unique requirements for back-office and billing services," notes Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, Director of Strategy Analytics Mobile Broadband Opportunities service. "It is not good business if a $2 transaction billed incorrectly leads to a $10 customer service call."

Source: Cellular News

UK Bus Company Starts Accepting Mobile Tickets

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:56:18 GMT

A UK bus company, Arriva has launched a mobile ticketing service, which the company says is believed to be the largest deployment of its kind in the world, covering approximately 1,000 routes served by Arriva's regional fleet of 4,500 buses. It will enable passengers to use their mobile phones to purchase tickets and then display them to the driver.

Arriva has worked in partnership with Concept Data Technologies and mBlox to create the m-ticketing service, which is a free to download mobile phone application. Once downloaded it allows people to purchase a range of tickets. Tickets can be bought either directly through the application via a registered card or by purchasing credit from any PayPoint outlet either by cash or card.

People using the m-ticketing service can save also 10 per cent off Arriva four-weekly saver tickets.

The m-ticketing technology can be operated on any GPRS enabled phone. The service also works on BlackBerry smartphones and from early 2010 will be iPhone compatible as well. Phones with black & white screens, which are typically four or more years old, cannot be used.

Source: Cellular News

Mobile Money in Emerging Markets - Still Fragile but Ready to Become Mass-market

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:20:34 GMT

Mobile Money could reach a one-third penetration rate within 5-years, says a new report from Ovum. The report finds the market is still in its infancy, yet it has the potential to become a mass-market service. However, much will hinge on how well the industry addresses various market barriers, and its ability to nurture user demand with clear, simple and attractive propositions.

The mobile money market has accelerated in the last two years in emerging markets, mostly in more mature markets.

Click here to see full article>

"The success of Vodafone's Kenya subsidiary Safaricom with its mobile money service M-Pesa has underlined the potential for mobile money services," says Angel Dobardziev, Emerging Markets practice leader and co-author of the report. Yet, despite more than 100 launches of mobile money services by both service providers and banks globally the marketremains in a fragile state with few well-established services. Whilst there is a range of alternative scenarios, Ovum predicts that the most likely scenario will be a market where service penetration reaches between 30% and 40% of the emerging market's mobile users in 2014. Where the industry resolves the market barriers more quickly than envisaged, an optimistic scenario is possible where strong user demand propels mobile money services to penetrate between 60% and 70% of the mobile users in the emerging market by 2014.

One of the key factors influencing market uptake of mobile money services is the relatively low penetration of access to financial services compared to higher (and fast-growing) penetration of mobile services. Service providers along with banks will need to target unbanked and connected customers as they are the key demand driver for the market today, says the report. "Recruitment, training, incentivising and support of networks of mobile money agents will be key to service providers' mobile money strategies, particularly when it comes to targeting unbanked customers", says Dobardziev. "Without access to an extensive distribution network for the users to deposit and withdraw cash as they make use of the service, users will be prevented from making the most of the service."

In order to ensure early user disappointments do not extinguish the market, services providers must get the basics of the service right. "This means not losing sight of the fact that telecoms and banking have very different volume, size, margin and error tolerances on their core transactions. As the two worlds draw closer with mobile banking, this will mean a different mindset and approach to service provision, reliability and security," Dobardziev concludes.

Source: Cellular News

Students From Around The World Learn Through SMS

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:22 GMT

Students from around the world will be able to learn together by using SMS in the new school year 2009-2010. An IICD supported Global Teenager Project will experiment with using SMS to ensure that schools without internet access can also participate in one of the world's largest online learning programmes.

Although the Global Teenager Project was already widely spread throughout the world, the programme was only accessible for schools with access to the internet. Through the internet, classes around the world ask each other questions about a certain theme (such as 'politics in my country', 'teen life' and 'how HIV/AIDS affects the world') that they also talked about in class. This way they earn from each others cultures. With the new SMS component, it is now also possible for schools in rural areas with very limited or no access to the internet at all to participate in the project.

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Source: Cellular News

Google and Grameen launch mobile services for the poor (UGANDA)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:18:43 GMT

The Grameen Foundation has announced the launch of a suite of mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda for Uganda's poor and disadvantaged communities, writes TelecomPaper. The suite of five mobile services, provided using Google SMS Search technology and the MTN network, includes Farmer's Friend, a searchable database with both agricultural advice and targeted weather forecasts; Health Tips, which provides sexual and reproductive health information, paired with Clinic Finder, which helps locate nearby health clinics and their services; and Google Trader, which matches buyers and sellers of agricultural produce and commodities as well as other products. The services are SMS-based and designed to work with basic mobile phones to reach the broadest possible audience. The launch makes available the first suite of applications resulting from an endeavour initiated by Grameen Foundation 18 months ago called the Application Laboratory (AppLab). AppLab Uganda, which is located in Kampala and directed by Grameen Foundation's Technology Center, focuses on creating opportunities for poor people to share and access essential information through innovative uses of mobile phones. The new services in Uganda can be accessed by existing Village Phone Operators (VPOs) who extend service to people without mobile phones as well as by people who have their own phones.

Source: Telegeography.

Mobile Payment Users Worldwide to Increase 70 Percent in 2009

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:30:59 GMT

The mobile payment industry will experience steady growth, as the number of mobile payment users worldwide will total 73.4 million in 2009, up 70.4 percent from 2008 when there were 43.1 million users, reports Gartner. The research firm predicts that the number of mobile payment users will reach more than 190 million in 2012, representing more than 3 percent of total mobile users worldwide and attaining a level at which it will be considered "mainstream."

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Momentum in the mobile payment market gathered further in 2008 with a number of high-profile launches of mobile money transfer services in multiple markets, participation of major global institutions in near-field communication (NFC) payment trials, as well as new payment solutions entering the market, said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. However, at the same time, security concerns, an inadequate ecosystem and undefined areas in banking regulations remain challenges for mobile payment.

Gartner defines a mobile payment as paying for a product or service using mobile technology such as a short message service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and NFC. It includes transactions that use banking instruments such as cash, bank accounts or debit and credit cards, as well as noncarrier stored value accounts, such as travel cards, gift cards or Paypal. It does not include transactions that use mobile operators billing systems, such as purchase of mobile content or telebanking by mobile to the service center via an interactive voice response (IVR) system.

Mobile payment has very different user cases and impact on developing markets to that of developed markets, Ms. Shen said. In developing markets, together with mobile banking, it allows people to use financial services in a more-efficient way - and sometimes the only way - at more-affordable costs, and can greatly improve standards of living. In developed markets, mobile is more of an extension of the existing payment infrastructure that allows people to deal with their financial needs on the go and in a timely fashion.

This disparity leads to the presence of different products in different markets. For example, many services in the U.S. rely on a full browser and credit card, but this wont work in developing markets, as many people dont even have a bank account or bank card. On the other hand, Ms. Shen said USSD banking wouldnt be acceptable in the U.S. as mobile operators have never made use of this for customer services and users may find it very awkward to work with.

In terms of both number of users and transaction volumes, Gartner expects Asia/Pacific and Japan to maintain a larger share of the market through 2012. While mobile payment penetration in Western Europe is expected to rise from 0.9 percent in 2009 to 2.5 percent in 2012, and from 1.7 percent to 3 percent in North America; penetration in Asia/Pacific and Japan will rise from 2 percent in 2009 to 3.8 percent in 2012. Mobile payment penetration in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America is also expected to exceed 3 percent by 2012.

The most profound impact of mobile banking and payment services is that they provide the nonbanking population with access to modern financial services, giving them tools to improve their living standards, said Ms. Shen. For mobile operators, mobile payment can help attract and retain users and generate new revenue streams. For financial institutions, mobile payment is an opportunity to reach users who may have been previously unreachable, due to a lack of retail infrastructure.

Ms. Shen said that overall, the market will see fragmentation in both technologies and business models, meaning that services need to be adapted for individual markets - even when deployed with the same partners - and that long lead times will be needed for deployment. This, together with the time required for creating user awareness, leads Gartner to believe that mobile payment is at least three years away from entering the mainstream market.

Source: Cellular News.

ICT Statistics Newslog - Mobile applications

Over Third of Hungarians Now Using a Smartphone

Discounting Data Access to Messaging on Mobile

Nokia unveils new mobile phones for faster internet experience (Pakistan)

More than 60% doctors and consumers in India rely on mHealth (India)

Mobile payments expected to reach $30.5 billion by 2021 (UK)

Mobile App Downloads to Approach 48 Billion in 2015

Using Smartphones for Medical Diagnosis

Mobile Applications Downloads Approached Eight Billion in 2010

Estonians Vote in Parliamentary Election by Mobile Phone

Text Messaging Helps Thousands of Iraqi Refugees in Syria Receive UN Food Aid (Syria / Iraq)

Afghan Farmers to Get Farm Produce Pricing by Mobile Phone

China Trumps U.S. in Mobile Internet, App Use

Belgacom lance son service de transfert dargent mobile vers le Maroc (Belgium)

Project Uses Texting to Help South African Diabetes Patients

Orange expands Mobile Money service to Madagascar

Report Predicts 894 Million Mobile Banking Users by 2015

MTNL inaugurates 3G mobile IPTV (India)

Maroc Telecom launches mobile service Mobi Cash (Morocco)

The Mobile Phone That Could "Read Lips"

Safaricom, Others Find Pricing Key to Mobile Service Use (Kenya)

UK Bus Company Starts Accepting Mobile Tickets

Mobile Money in Emerging Markets - Still Fragile but Ready to Become Mass-market

Students From Around The World Learn Through SMS

Google and Grameen launch mobile services for the poor (UGANDA)

Mobile Payment Users Worldwide to Increase 70 Percent in 2009

Belgacom lance son service de transfert dargent mobile vers le Maroc (Belgium)