Cell Life

A report in tech publication Gizmodo on Thursday claimed that not only had the iPhone 3G been jailbroken but that the iPhone Dev Team had managed to unlock the phone, enabling people to use any carrier. At the moment, people wishing to use the iPhone must use Vodafone in India, O2 in the UK and AT&T in the U.S.

VS

Businesses always make more profits when they get early mover advantage in the market for new technologies and ideas. Individual/ end users many a times get benefited when they adopt a technology in later stages of its development. Because by then, most, if not all, lacunae would have been filled by the manufacturers.  I sincerely hope that the reader of this post is getting, what I am pointing at…Yes…U guessed it right…I am talking about Apple’s new 3G iPhone…

In India especially, there is a huge market for second hand phones and Chinese duplicate versions. When iPhone was launched first time by Apple, it became an instant hit everywhere around the world. But since it was on costlier side (Approx. Rs.30000+ in Indian currency), it could be afforded only by either business class people or people in high positions in companies. Surprisingly, it didn’t take even months or weeks but just a few days when iPhone came into market with no guarantees or warranties what so ever. These were imports from United States where iPhone was released first. Many people lost huge sums of money in buying these models just in hope that these may work just as good as the original one. There were hacking programs available in market which claimed to break the iPhone lock and make it work on the usual GSM carriers (similar story occurred in China).

And now…here you go…Apple has launched an all new upgraded version of iPhone and that too at less than half the old price (Approx. Rs.8000 - Rs.12500) in two storage versions i.e. 8GB and 16GB capacities. It has come out with more storage, better features and more affordable rates for everybody. Its 3G iPhone…and more

With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support for enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips.And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one — a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. It redefines what a mobile phone can do — again.

All these features are making the old iPhone users fume as they spent more to get less and now even if they want to resell their models, they will not be able to get even Rs.5000 for the same as the new upgraded 3G iPhone version with 8GB capacity will be just Rs.8000 approx. so why will anybody buy an old one for almost the same price…This justifies the title of this post…

VS

One of the senior officer’s of Department of Telecommunication in India has informed media that “There is no problem with the BlackBerry handsets or services and BlackBerry services are not going to be discontinued in India.” This is inspite of the fact that Research in Motion — the Canada-based maker of the push-mail device — is yet to resolve India’s security concerns.

The issue rose due to recent terrorist attacks in Rajasthan. Indian security department officials had raised an objection on encrypted messaging that happens from Blackberry devices which is being used by terrorist groups regularly for communication.

RIM’s spokesperson in India informed that they are still in talks with senior government officials over this issue but he also said that till date outcomes of these meetings have been positive.

Thus, I can say that many Blackberry enthusiasts in India will now be able to buy the device and fulfill their wishes to be among Blackberry users.

VS

India is catching up too in number of new startups and number of candidates looking for taking risk early/ late in their careers, to join these startups.

Last weekend,  I attended a Startup Lunch event held in Delhi (India) as a team building exercise. About 25 startups registered for the event and about 18 presented their businesses to 80+ prospective candidates. Many candidates were interviewed by these startups and results were almost mind blowing. Many candidates were hired by more than one startup.

I also presented showcasing CellStrat’s products and services. We got lot of attraction from almost all present there. This is because Mobile applications area is still a brand new area and people are just now beginning to get their hands around mobile data apps and uses.

Although venture funding companies are investing less in Indian companies in comparison to other countries, but good ideas and people behind the same have no fear and quite a few might become successful.

VS

Our article “Mobile Strategy - The New Corporate Imperative” has been published in the most recent editions of The Smart Techie magazine and Silicon India magazines. The links are below :

http://www.thesmarttechie.com/magazine/fullstory.php/NOBH841638463

http://www.siliconindia.com/magazine/pay.php/DMKZ462464795

Happy Reading. The Smart Techie magazine (www.thesmarttechie.com) is the leading Indian magazine targeting technology professionals and executives. Silicon India (www.siliconindia.com) is the corresponding US magazine.

MT

A new survey conducted by Deloitte and Touche on behalf of National Venture Capital Association suggests that innovation is going global. Even though US remains the headquarter of innovation with maximum VC funding going to US startups, many countries are gaining ground in high-growth areas. Eg Germany is close to US in clean investments, India is in strong second place in software investments and Japan is close to US in telecom investments. Yay to the whole world. Innovation is the air which drives human betterment and progress and we are all for its globalization.

57 percent of US venture capitalists are investing abroad this year as compared to 46 percent last year. The survey included 400 venture capitalists worldwide.

MT

On the subject of Net Neutrality, the editorial team at Telephony Online (www.telephonyonline.com) wrote an interesting note on “traffic shaping”, or the practice by telcos to inspect packet traffic and do bandwidth prioritization. User-generated content or P2P traffic like Video (YouTubes of the world) are congesting the global network and telcos want to control this kind of traffic and police it. The telephonyonline article can be accessed at :

http://telephonyonline.com/software/commentary/dpi-p2p-traffic-0519/

Editor Carol Wilson at telephonyonline.com writes “By enabling ISPs to identify P2P traffic and employ “traffic shaping” that prevented that traffic from taking over available bandwidth during times of congestion, DPI was supposed to give ISPs greater control over the quality of their networks.” DPI stands for “Deep Packet Inspection” or an ability to inspect data traffic and apply throttle control above certain loads. “Latency-sensitive traffic such as voice and video would get one level of QoS, best-effort data another, and P2P another. “, according to Wilson.

Wilson gives example of BCE, Canada which resorted to traffic shaping causing a headache for various ISPs. This has angered independent ISPs whose traffic is being policed by BCE.

Network Congestion and Traffic Shaping are vexing problems with great ethical and regulatory implications. We feel telcos should be able to recoup their heavy return on investment in the core network and have a right to resort to some bandwidth control eg we disagree with the idea that a couple of apps like YouTube and others should hog the bandwidth on the internet and all other low volume apps are left hanging high and dry with regards to bandwidth availability. But a balance is needed via regulation where carriers cannot control the internet traffic to the extent that they inhibit internet from functioning and end up throttling innovation instead.

MT

The global telecom market is prime for consolidation. So far the emphasis was on regional or local consolidation. Now the biggest service providers both in developed and developing world are itching to create a global foot print to offer a truly global and seamless wireless and telecom experience.

On the heals of Deutsche Telekom bid rumor for US operator Sprint, one hears that Bharti, the largest wireless operator in India, is interested in MTN of South Africa. MTN is the largest African operator with service in 21 countries in Africa and Middle East. MTN has 68.2 million subscribers, including 15.2 million South Africa alone. Bharti, which has grown at breakneck speed in India, is now looking to invest in other promising countries and create a footprint across a developing world. Bharti has no other option but to expand in other countries; if it does not create a multinational presence, the western telecom behemoths will capture the developing markets given time and lots of financial muscle. Vodafone is already in India, having acquired a controlling stake in erstwhile Hutch, the second largest India wireless carrier. AT&T is rumored to be eyeing a license bid in India.

Bharti move is in line with the known desire of large firms from newly rich countries like India and China and cash-rich regions like Middle East to assert themselves internationally by acquiring assets across the world.

Separately, France Telecom SA is interested in buying Swedish operator TeliaSonera AB. The global telecom consolidation is all but inevitable. It is just a matter of time. We think in few years, one will see a couple of giant wireless/telecom operators with a footprint on multiple continents offering not only a global scale but also a new level of global mobility and connectivity to their multinational clients and also to the international traveler.

MT