Spotify the Swedish music streaming company (which has players for Mac and Windows) has now launched an iPhone version.
It's been in the queue with Apple for about a month, but was finally given approval yesterday. Many feared it wouldn't make the app store as it competes with Apple's own iTunes service.
Spotify on iPhone will only be available to users who subscribe to their £9.99 per month service, though the application is a free download. Spotify expect the iPhone app to drive new customers to their premium services.
The app allows sync'ed playlists with the desktop version and other features.
US customers still have to wait until Spotify complete licensing deals with the stakeholders in the US, but a launch there is expected next year, though some lucky US people have had pre-launch invites.
Spotify is also rumored to be in talks with Facebook who have been lacking a music service so far, a FB/Spotify tie-up would seriously impinge MySpace's youth music market.
Whichever way you look at it, Spotify are a company to watch, hopefully they'll not get bought out by Facebook or other US giant and can be a genuine European success story.
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28 Ağustos 2009 Cuma
26 Ağustos 2009 Çarşamba
24 Ağustos 2009 Pazartesi
Google transports 600GB of data per day
Google's municipal WiFi network in Mountain View, CA is now transporting more than 600GB of data per day.
Tropos built and maintains the network for Google, which offers free WiFi in about 12 square miles around Mountain View.
The traffic volumes have doubled over the last 2 years and much of the increased traffic can be attributed to iPhones and other devices with built-in WiFi.
AT&T is also seeing increased device usage in its hotspots, but muni WiFi has not succeeded on the whole.
Tropos built and maintains the network for Google, which offers free WiFi in about 12 square miles around Mountain View.
The traffic volumes have doubled over the last 2 years and much of the increased traffic can be attributed to iPhones and other devices with built-in WiFi.
AT&T is also seeing increased device usage in its hotspots, but muni WiFi has not succeeded on the whole.
Apple haven't "rejected" Google Voice
Apple's response to the FCC investigation over allegations of Apple rejecting Google's Google Voice app are unfounded, maybe.
Apple is still considering whether it should allow the application into the app store. It has not consulted with the MNOs and it's still in internal discussions.
Of course Apple's indecision is pretty much equivalent to them rejecting it, at least until they make a decision as a non-decision means no entry into the app store.
If Google Voice is allowed in, it could mean a change in policy for other VoIP applications which "intercept" the dialer.
Apple is still considering whether it should allow the application into the app store. It has not consulted with the MNOs and it's still in internal discussions.
Of course Apple's indecision is pretty much equivalent to them rejecting it, at least until they make a decision as a non-decision means no entry into the app store.
If Google Voice is allowed in, it could mean a change in policy for other VoIP applications which "intercept" the dialer.
Nokia announces now Booklet
Nokia has announced a new Windows laptop (or Booklet as they call it). It utilises the Intel Atom processor and comes with WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G built-in. It also incorporates A-GPS, an SD card reader and an HDMI port.
It does this all while having an impressive 12 hours battery life. It's also only weighs 1.25Kg and is less than 2cm thick while having an HD glass LCD panel.
Nokia haven't released full specs or pricing which will be announced at the forthcoming Nokia World.
Though running Windows, it will still offer the Ovi suite which will be pre-installed.
Nokia is obviously making a statement before Apple come out with their 10" ultra portable.
It does this all while having an impressive 12 hours battery life. It's also only weighs 1.25Kg and is less than 2cm thick while having an HD glass LCD panel.
Nokia haven't released full specs or pricing which will be announced at the forthcoming Nokia World.
Though running Windows, it will still offer the Ovi suite which will be pre-installed.
Nokia is obviously making a statement before Apple come out with their 10" ultra portable.
21 Ağustos 2009 Cuma
Twitter adding Geolocation to API
In the near future the Twitter API will be extended with the ability to geotag the tweet. The user will have to enable adding geo information to the tweet (for privacy reasons) but this will be a genuinely useful addition to the service. It will also allow a whole new slew of geo enabled applications that can get very interesting information from gthe Twitter stream.
Initially the new API will be released to a limited number of platform developers (who are generally the people writing Twitter clients) before opening it to the general public.
Twitter are also developing further additions which will enable commercial users of Twitter to gain increased functionality from the service, though @ev (Evan Williams) has said the service will always be free for ordinary users.
Initially the new API will be released to a limited number of platform developers (who are generally the people writing Twitter clients) before opening it to the general public.
Twitter are also developing further additions which will enable commercial users of Twitter to gain increased functionality from the service, though @ev (Evan Williams) has said the service will always be free for ordinary users.
13 Ağustos 2009 Perşembe
Femto cells to be big?
Ubiquisys has just raised $11m as they expect the Femto cell market to explode.
Why is everyone so surprised? Femto cells in the home using the customer's broadband connection makes sense for the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) as they remove some of the backhaul requirements which is an incredibly expensive operational cost.
As new data services are launched like HSPDA+ which offer 20Mb/s or so download speeds and eventually LTE (or even WiMAX) the backhaul requirements just get worse.
Currently the MNOs restrict the in-premise cells to just a few users, but in the future it's likely the femto cells will be given away for free, the customer gets "free" or greatly reduced call charges and free or cheap data. However at some point the MNOs will allow 3rd party users on to the cells for calls and data. They can then use in-home cells for micro fill and offloading traffic from the main cell sites.
This only is really practical for 3G femto cells as they will co-operate with neighbouring cells and not interfere on the radio side of things. Unfortunately 2G femto cells still need to be frequency planned which causes a nightmare if they are randomly deployed (unless they have their own spectrum to sit in, which is available in the old GSM Guard Bands - but of the MNOs only O2 has a low power guard band license).
Vodafone have taken the initiative in the UK and it's surely only a matter of time before the other operators follow suit with their own femto cell rollouts.
Why is everyone so surprised? Femto cells in the home using the customer's broadband connection makes sense for the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) as they remove some of the backhaul requirements which is an incredibly expensive operational cost.
As new data services are launched like HSPDA+ which offer 20Mb/s or so download speeds and eventually LTE (or even WiMAX) the backhaul requirements just get worse.
Currently the MNOs restrict the in-premise cells to just a few users, but in the future it's likely the femto cells will be given away for free, the customer gets "free" or greatly reduced call charges and free or cheap data. However at some point the MNOs will allow 3rd party users on to the cells for calls and data. They can then use in-home cells for micro fill and offloading traffic from the main cell sites.
This only is really practical for 3G femto cells as they will co-operate with neighbouring cells and not interfere on the radio side of things. Unfortunately 2G femto cells still need to be frequency planned which causes a nightmare if they are randomly deployed (unless they have their own spectrum to sit in, which is available in the old GSM Guard Bands - but of the MNOs only O2 has a low power guard band license).
Vodafone have taken the initiative in the UK and it's surely only a matter of time before the other operators follow suit with their own femto cell rollouts.
11 Ağustos 2009 Salı
Consultation on the way forward for the future use of the band 872 - 876 MHz paired with 917 - 921 MHz | Ofcom
Consultation on the way forward for the future use of the band 872 - 876 MHz paired with 917 - 921 MHz | Ofcom
Ofcom is holding a consultation on the 872 - 876 MHz paired with 917 - 921 MHz bands.
The last consultation was held in Summer 2006, but the conditions have changed since then.
It's likely that the GSM directive will be amended such that the 900MHz and other bands can be refarmed for 3G use. This means the 917 - 921 MHz which is adjacent to this band will need to be controlled such that 3G interference is minimised.
Ofcom are considering the band for UMTS use and systems such as LTE could work in the band.
Ofcom are also considering allowing short range devices such as RFID systems to operate in this band in a light licensing regime as interference is likely to be very localised.
The consultation closes on the 3rd of Nov 2009.
Ofcom is holding a consultation on the 872 - 876 MHz paired with 917 - 921 MHz bands.
The last consultation was held in Summer 2006, but the conditions have changed since then.
It's likely that the GSM directive will be amended such that the 900MHz and other bands can be refarmed for 3G use. This means the 917 - 921 MHz which is adjacent to this band will need to be controlled such that 3G interference is minimised.
Ofcom are considering the band for UMTS use and systems such as LTE could work in the band.
Ofcom are also considering allowing short range devices such as RFID systems to operate in this band in a light licensing regime as interference is likely to be very localised.
The consultation closes on the 3rd of Nov 2009.
4 Ağustos 2009 Salı
Blackberry App World updates itself
Blackberry has updated it's App World application to v1.1 which promises faster image and icon loading and other improvements such as showing the available memory and suggesting ways of gaining more memory such as moving applications on to SD storage.
There are now about 2,000 applications on App World which is still a tiny amount compared to Apple's efforts, but at least there are some.
There are now about 2,000 applications on App World which is still a tiny amount compared to Apple's efforts, but at least there are some.