YouTube to go Mobile

YouTube is talking about bringing their service onto the mobile market. They aren't sure on on how they'll be able to make money but are considering Google's Adwords to be used as a money making solution. Read about the beaking news here.

S60 Browser Blog

Another great blog by the S60 Blog team called S60 Browser Blog has been launched. Check it out.

What is a Walled Garden ?

A simple graphical explanation that goes straight to the point here.

Information Utilities for your Mobile Phone

A host of useful mobile utilities including a Spell Checker, WordNET Dictionary, UK STD Codes, Crossword Finder, Websters Dictionary, Mini Thesaurus, Bible Dictionary, Abbreviations, Stock Quotes, UK Highways Traffic Information and POP Email client are available via a simple WAP connection at MobileQueuery.com. In other worrds there is no application to install all you need to do is bookmark the applications URL in your mobile WAP/WEB browser and you will be able to access the information you require.

Mobile Phones used for Outdoor Games

Mobile games are the new way of getting people off the couch, out of the house and out for some fun these days. With technologies like bluetooth, GPS, GRPS, 3G, 4G, cameraphones, smartphones, Symbian, Flash Lite, etc., becoming the norm , game developers are coming up with great game ideas and implementing them.
With GPS and mobile phones paired together street games has become a reality. Check out "Come Out & Play Festival" which will take place in New York City from September 22nd to 24th for a list of mobile games that are available.
The details for the mobile games are Insider, snagu, Crossroads, Spy Text, Sleuth!, The Go Game, Conquer The Quarter, Manhattan Story Mashup.

Motion Sensor + Screen Saver = Battery Level Meter

The N702is 3G phone by NTT DoCoMo in Japan has a built in motion sensor and when the screen saver is activated, the screen acts exactly like a glass of water. The "water" level moves when you move the phone around with the information it gets from the motion sensors. The water level reflects your battery status, the lower it gets, the less power you have and therefore needs some juice.

Telstra Tunes out of this Universe

Australian incumbent Telstra has reportedly cooled on the idea of launching a DVB-H network, after a 12-month trial with some other companies. Instead it’s looking at 3G-based video technology MBMS pushed by Ericsson, which is building out Telstra’s 3G network. The article is a bit confusing about which technology is better and/or cheaper, which I think accurately reflects the fact that nobody really knows. If DVB-H does launch it will require new spectrum, but the government has a couple of frequencies bands it plans to auction off for “new services”, so that shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Incidentally, a good place to check out the various mobile TV technologies is here.

LG Telecom loses 3G licence in Korea

Remember the news that a Korean government-appointed panel had recommended revocation of LG Telecom's right to 3G on the 2GHz band? Well, it happened. Interestingly, investors think this is great news for the company, pushing its stock sharply upward on the news -- possibly because the technology for which the license was issued has failed to become a commercial success. LG Telecom now looks to instead deploy EV-DO rev. A on the more widely-accepted 1.8GHz band, but at any rate, Korea takes their 3G deployments seriously -- per regulation, the government is now pressing for CEO Nam Yong's removal.

3G in a Nutshell

Third generation (3G) networks were conceived from the Universal MobileTelecommunications Service (UMTS) concept for high speed networks for enabling a variety of data intensive applications. 3G systems consist of the two main standards, CDMA2000 and W-CDMA, as well as other 3G variants such as NTT DoCoMo's Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA) and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) used primarily in China.

The major impetus for 3G is to provide for faster data speed for data-intensive applications such as video. In addition, 3G to providing faster data speeds on a per-user basis, 3G is also helpful to provide greater overall capacity for voice and data users. For example, NTT DoCoMo's plan to migrate iMode users from the 2G PDC network to FOM is driven by overall capacity concerns, as apposed to individual user data speed requirement.

Data Speed

The data speed of 3G is determined based on a combination of factors including the chip rate, channel structure, power control, and synchronization.

An example of calculating the theoretical 3G data speed is as follows:

• W-CDMA assigned code 400-500 Kpbs/code. 6 codes X 400 > 2Mbps (UMTS target for 3G data speed in fixed location)

Actual data speeds will vary in accordance with several factors including:

• Number of users in cell/sector
• Distance of user from cell
• User is moving or stationary
• Network operator capacity and network optimization requirements

1xEV-DO is a data-only solution, supporting a theoretical data speed of up to 2.457 Mbps

1xEV-DV is a data and voice solution, supporting a theoretical data speed of up to 3.072 Mbps

FOMA has two operational modes, supporting a dedicated 64 Kbps connection or a 384 Kbps downlink/64 Kbps uplink best-effort connection.

TD-SCDMA can operate in 1.6 MHz or 5 MHz mode for 2 Mbps or 6 Mpbs respectively

Comparison of W-CDMA to CDMA2000

Both use a coding scheme that separates each subscriber from other subscribers

Both use control channels to manage the network

W-CDMA and CDMA2000 are not compatible from the perspective that they have different chip rates - 3.84 MCPS for W-CDMA vs. 1.2888 MCPS for CMDA2000. W-CDMA uses a 5 MHz channel. Initially, CDMA2000 uses only a 1.25 MHz channel, but with CDMA2000 3x, three 1.25 MHz channels can be combined to form a super channel structure.

W-CDMA is synchronous, relying on mobile station time measurements between two base stations, rather than using GPS as CDMA2000 does.

There are three modes of operation for W-CDMA/CDMA2000:

• Direct Sequence (DS) W-CDMA (UMTS) for Frequency Divsion Duplex (FDD)
• W-CDMA Time Division Duplex (TDD)
• CDMA2000 Multi-carrier FDD

Each of the three radio interface methods may be employed on either a GSM or ANSI-based Core Network (CN).

IS-833 is a standard, developed by the 3GPP2, to support CDMA2000 1xRTT Radio Access Network (RAN) to interface with a GSM CN. RAN upgrade required includes CDMA base station and BSC. CN upgrade required includes CDMA PDSN and AAA server.

3G Architecture

W-CDMA uses the same CN as GPRS, utilizing existing infrastruture such as the GGSN and SGSN. W-CDMA, however, does require new RAN infrastructure such as the Node B, which replaces the BTS, and the Radio Network Controller (RNC), which replaces the BSC. Ultimately, the W-CDMA CN will evolve to comprise a full Mobile IP infrastructure including Media Gateway (MGW) and Media Gateway Controller (MGC) equipment for VoIP and other new equipment such as the HSS and CSDF.

CDMA2000 starts with new channel cards and then migrates to a full Mobile IP infrastructure requiring new Core Network (CN) infrastructure such as the AAA server and Packet Data Server Node (PDSN).

Virgin Mobile to launch First Mobile TV in UK?

ZD Net are reporting that the UK's Virgin Mobile are preparing to launch the UK's first true mobile broadcast service this autumn, utilizing British Telecom's Movio product. The Movio product makes use of the same digital spectrum as digital radio, but enhances the signal to included support for a limited number of TV channels.

Previous iterations of mobile TV in the UK, such as services provided by Orange and Vodafone, have streamed the signal as Internet Protocol (IP) packets. This method uses a large amount of 3G bandwidth and the resulting expense forced operators to cap the number of hours that users could watch per month.

Streaming mobile TV over 3G networks can also lead to a degraded service if there are many active users in the cell.

Insiders have told ZDNet UK that Virgin's deal with BT includes a period of exclusivity of three months. The content providers for Movio will likely be announced within a month.

More Mobile Internet that Wired Internet Users in Japan

A report from Digital World Tokyo (via Textually.org) has the interesting news that more people in Japan access the Internet through mobile devices than through wired connections, and more frequently. At the end of 2005, an estimated 69.2 million people were using the Internet from mobile devices, compared with 66 million from conventional PCs. This is a startling figure, and one I can only assume comes from a much cheaper data transfer pricing model in Japan compared with elsewhere. We've seen recently that UK providers like O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile are launching high speed mobile services, but they also cost significantly more than fixed line services, and come with much more restrictive limits on data usage, which prevents them from being a competitor for fixed line Internet access.

One side effect of cheap access to mobile Internet services in Japan has been an explosion in mobile commerce services, with the Japanese mobile commerce market worth an estimated US$6.3 billion in 2005. 2005 was also the first year that saw sales of conventional goods via mobile websites exceed the sale of mobile-specific content, such as ringtones and video clips.

Benhui - J2ME & Bluetooth

This is the time of the year that we hear about existing mobile news from the big players. First there is Symbian OS 9.0, then followed a tons of 3G phones and multi-media phones.