4. Categories

      Key Topics: Applications, Business Models, IP Telephony, Marketing, Mobility, Unified communications

  1. Articles from IP Carrier

    ipcarrier.blogspot.com

    1-24 of 3884 // 1 2 3 4 ... 160 161 162 »

    1. What's Danger of Shorter Movie Windows?

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 3 2012)

      BTIG Research media analyst Rich Greenfield does not think Hollywood revenues would be harmed if studios released new movies simultaneously in theaters and on demand, if the on-demand product cost $20 to $25. Survey bolsters his views. In other words, Greenfield believes the 90-day window between theatrical release and on-demand can be compressed to "zero," with no threat of increased piracy. Few in the content business are likely to be persuaded. And theater owners will ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   BTIG Research

    2. Smart Phone Shipments Exceed PCs for First Time

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 3 2012) Marketing

      Annual global shipments of smart phones exceeded those of PCs (including tablets) for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2011, says Canalys.  Vendors shipped 158.5 million smart phones in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 57 percent on the 101.2 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of  2010.  For the whole of 2011, smart phone shipments hit 488 million units, up 63 percent on the 299.7 million smart phones ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Samsung   Nokia   Apple

    3. Mobile Data Pricing, Packaging is Key to Profitability

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 3 2012) Business Models , Marketing , Mobility

      Vodafone's recent experience with mobile data traffic has lessons for other global operators. Among other key trends is the growing role played by smart phone users and the ways traffic shaping can improve experience. Also, smart phones are proving to be a key revenue driver, so plans tailored for the different behaviors various consumers have, can lift mobile Internet access demand.  The focus for Vodafone’s price innovation is squarely on smart phones because ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Vodafone

    4. Windows Phone 8 to Support microSD?

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 3 2012) Mobility

      Microsoft appears to be readying microSD support for its Windows Phone 8 operating system, a fact of some importance for mobile payments systems that would prefer to use microSD as a way of loading credentials onto mobile devices.According to Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore, “Apollo” will add support for removable microSD card storage. NFC radios will also be supported, with Belfiore placing specific emphasis on 8's push into contactless payments. The "wallet experience ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Microsoft

    5. Facebook is Mobile First, Revenue Isn't, Yet

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 2 2012) Applications , Business Models , Marketing , Mobility

      From the Facebook S1 document: "Although the substantial majority of our mobile users also access and engage with Facebook on personal computers where we display advertising, our users could decide to increasingly access our products primarily through mobile devices." "We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven."  The problem is that Facebook, though now a leader in display ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Facebook

    6. Android has 47% Smart Phone Share

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 2 2012) Marketing , Mobility

      Some 97.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3 percent market share, up 0.5 percentage points from September 2011. Apple maintained its number-two position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Microsoft

    7. "Less is More" Where it Comes to Smart Phones

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 2 2012)

      Some might argue there are "too many" phones being made available by device manufacturers, to the extent that what people might want are a couple of "hero" devices from each leading supplier. In other words, people might prefer to choose from a smaller number of "hero" devices that have lots of features a single consumer might want, but the few that a consumer really values. Think of that as the "cable TV" model, where lots ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Apple

    8. Tucows Launches Ting Mobile Service: You Might Ask Why

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 2 2012) Marketing , Mobility

      Ting is a new mobile virtual network operator launched by Tucows. You might wonder why Tucows thinks there is room in the consumer and small business markets for yet another mobile service provider. As with many offerings these days, the value might largely be indirect, much as triple play or quadruple play offers in the broader telecom space have increased the perceived value of a sales proposition and then reduce churn as well. Ting is ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Sprint Nextel

    9. Cloud-Based Voice Apps Cut Churn, fonYou Says

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 2 2012) Marketing

      Since March of 2011, Telefónica has been using fonYou to provide its mobile users access to a second number, visual voicemail, call registers and advanced call screening. The cloud player has developed a range of services that it seeks to white label to carriers as a competitive defence against the rise of over the top players, at least in the area of voice-related services. FonYou does have its own MVNO in Spain, which is hosted ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Telefonica

    10. Here's Why "Mobile First" is a Foundational Element of Business Strategy

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 2 2012) Applications , Business Models , Mobility

      Mobile revenue is about 4.5 times bigger than fixed network revenue, and it has been that way for several years. In a literal sense, the global telecommunications business has become a largely mobile business, with some important fixed line applications and revenue sources.  "Mobile first" therefore has become the important element of strategy for a growing number of application providers better known for their PC-based features and use cases.  (Read Full Article)

      Comment

    11. Mobiles Change Shopping

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 1 2012) Marketing , Mobility

      Mobile devices are changing the shopping experience, according to a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.  About 25 percent of adult cell phone owners used their devices to look up the price of a product online while they were in a store during this past holiday season, the study found.  Also. some 38 percent of mobile phone owners used their phone to call a friend while they were in a store for ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment

    12. Comcast, Verizon Wireless Bundles In Bay Area, Portland, Seattle

      Explore IP Carrier (Feb 1 2012) Applications , Marketing

      We are about to see how well new inducements offered by Comcast and Verizon Wireless will work as a customer acquisition tool. Consumers in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Portland, Ore. now will be eligible for a discount for buying new packages of video, fixed line voice, broadband access and wireless service. Consumers who sign up for a bundled service plan from Comcast and for new service from Verizon Wireless are eligible to ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Verizon Wireless   Comcast

    13. Wireless Customer Satisfaction Doesn't Prevent Customer Churn

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 31 2012) Marketing

      The conventional wisdom for most people, including executives at mobile service provider companies, is that there is a relatively direct relationship between "customer satisfaction" and customer churn. In other words, "happy customers" don't leave. It doesn't appear that is the case. Perhaps perversely, even happy customers will churn (leave a supplier for another), and at surprisingly high rates. Two out of three (66 percent) wireless and cable TV consumers switched companies in 2011 ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   AT&T   Apple

    14. User Experience on PCs, Tablets, Smart Phones Differs Vastly

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 31 2012)

      Latency is getting to be a bigger deal for mobile user experience. Apps that load quickly on a PC take much longer to load on a smart phone or tablet, Yankee Group reports, using Keynote Systems data. Also, according to Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe, typical users now carry as many as five different mobile devices. But each of those devices might be optimized in different ways, in terms of latency. Load times among sites ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google   Apple   MSN

    15. Global Telco "Meltdown" Coming? Or Just Normal Product Substitution?

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 31 2012) Business Models , Marketing

      BSkyB has been a major player in the United Kingdom subscription TV market for decades. But BSkyB faces a maturation of its base business, as do all other video entertainment and communications providers in Europe, North America and elsewhere.  “The company made a number of announcements which confirm that, beyond the near term slowdown, structural issues are looming,” Bernstein analyst Claudio Aspesi argues. “While we believe the pay TV business is inherently more defensive than ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Martin Geddes   Cagr   BSkyB

    16. Strong Tablet Adoption Changes Device Behavior

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 31 2012)

      That shipments of tablets are expected to grow from 72.7 million units in 2011 to 383.3 million units by 2017, according to NPD, would not surprise many observers.Growth in emerging markets, expected to account for up to 46 percent of worldwide shipments by 2017, an increase from the 36 percent share in 2011, might be more surprising. The tablet forecast also illustrates an important change in connected appliance trends. In the past ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Apple   NPD

    17. No Surprise: Internet Value is at App Layer

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 31 2012) Applications , Business Models

      A new Boston Consulting Group perspective piece about the inescapable role of the Internet in economic life raises obvious questions about where value now lies, as “every business needs to “go digital.” By 2016, there will be three billion Internet users globally, and the Internet economy will reach $4.2 trillion in the G-20 nations, BCG argues.“No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon,” BCG says. But that doesn’t mean every ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Martin Geddes   Google   AT&T

    18. Can Broadband Access be Segmented and Differentiated?

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 30 2012) Applications , Marketing

      MetroPCS is among the few U.S. mobile operators that have embraced the idea of application-based charging, at least to the extent of offering plans aimed at light video consumers, heavy video consumers, and those in between. Though it remains unclear precisely which new charging systems might gain favor, a survey of some 30 tier one service providers, sponsored by Tekelec and conducted by Heavy Reading, suggests several approaches are being considered. Though the emphasis ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Heavy Reading   Tekelec

    19. 50% of Adults Used Mobiles In-Store While Shopping

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 30 2012) Marketing , Mobility

      50% of Adults Used Mobiles In-Store While Shopping More than half of all adult mobile phone owners used their devices for some shopping-related purpose during the last while they were in a store Christmas and holiday shopping season, the Pew Research Center reports. Some 38 percent of mobile phone owners used their phone to call a friend while they were in a store for advice about a purchase they were considering making. Some 24 percent of mobile device owners used their phone to ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Pew Research Center

    20. Yahoo Goes "Mobile First"

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 30 2012) Applications , Business Models , Mobility

      Yahoo Goes "Mobile First" You can add Yahoo to the list of companies that have said their business strategy is "mobile first." Google executives have been saying that company's strategy is "mobile first" for some time. Most leading telecom service providers have been "mobile first," in terms of revenue, for some time as well. Now Yahoo says "we’re moving forward with a 'mobile first' mindset."  Mobile first is simply a response to where revenue opportunities and growth ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google

    21. Inc. 500 Firm Blogging Down, Other Social Media Up?

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 30 2012) Marketing

      Inc. 500 Firm Blogging Down, Other Social Media Up? For the first time since 2007, Inc. 500 firms seem to be blogging less, and shifting support to other forms of social media. In 2010 half of the Inc. 500 had a corporate blog, up from 45 percent in 2009 and 39 percent in 2008. In the 2011 study, the use of blogging dropped to 37 percent. The caveat is that the composition of firms in the Inc. 500 also has changed, and that makes ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Facebook   Inc

    22. Technologists Versus Hollywood: A Long History

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 28 2012) Business Models

      Technologists Versus Hollywood: A Long History On January 17, 1984, by a five to four vote, the the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that video cassette recorders (VCRs) did not infringe on Hollywood studios’ copyrights. Keep in mind the issue here: it wasn't the use of a VCR to create and sell illegal copies of content; it was the existence and use of the devices. The ruling in Sony Corp v. Universal City Studios, though, was an important but not ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   U.S. Supreme Court

    23. Amazon Kindle Fire is Having Quite an Impact

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 27 2012)

      Amazon Kindle Fire is Having Quite an Impact The Amazon Kindle Fire is having quite an impact on end user sessions. In just two months, the Kindle Fire has gone from zero sessions to 36 percent of all Android tablet sessions. On the chart you can see that the Samsung Galaxy Tab dominated Android tablet application sessions as recently as November 2011. Just two months later, In January 2012, Kindle Fire represented 36 percent of sessions, the same percentage as held by the ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Samsung Galaxy Tab

    24. Changes at Google Wallet Business Unit

      Explore IP Carrier (Jan 27 2012) Mobility

      Changes at Google Wallet Business Unit Google’s head of consumer payments Vikas Gupta has resigned, AllThingsD reports.  Separately, former vice president Stephanie Tilenius also has left to work in another position at Google.  To be sure, it would not be unusual if an entrepreneur whose firm was acquired by Google eventually left to perhaps start another company.  Nor would it be unusual if an executive gets moved to another post, at a firm as large as Google. But some will ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google   Commerce   Jambool