Stats, product launches and hamburgers…

I’ve been away for a week. As I clear down my email and other feeds, I decided to collate some of the releases, stats and opinions that I missed from last week. Apologies for this outburst of “last week’s news this week”. If you’re across all this stuff already then please ignore, but I thought it would be a useful exercise to select the more interesting bits from across a quietish week in August – as seen by my inbox. And it made the task of clearing out my email marginally less boring (for me).

Obviously, just as I finished this collation Google broke the news that it was about to buy Motorola Mobility, so you don’t care about any of this any more. Or perhaps you do. Anwyay, here goes…

1. A nugget from comScore about QR codes:
In the EU5 region (including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) 4.6 percent of mobile users and 9.8 percent of smartphone owners scanned a QR or bar code during the month of June 2011.

In the USA 6.2% of the total mobile audience scanned a barcode or QR code on their device during June. The study found that a mobile user that scanned a QR or bar code during the month was more likely to be male (60.5 percent of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4 percent) and have a household income of $100k or above (36.1 percent).
Back in Europe, among mobile users who scanned a QR or bar code on their mobile devices in June, 57.4 percent did so from home, while 22.6 percent did so while at work and 20 percent scanned a QR or bar code when outside or on public transport. Nearly 18 percent scanned a QR code while at a retail store, while 17.2 percent did so while in a supermarket and 5.7 percent did so while in a restaurant.

2. A comment from IP lawyer Rouse, predicts that Apple’s European injunction against Samsung’s tablet design may not be the last such case we see:
Unlike most of the previous battles between the mobile phone/tablet manufacturers, this concerns not the technology inside the device which is protected by patents, but solely the appearance of the device which is protected by registered designs. Registered designs can be Europe wide, unlike patents. This allowed Apple to get an injunction covering the whole EU (with the exception of the Netherlands where there is separate litigation ongoing).
This injunction is just the initial salvo, more legal proceedings will follow and as part of the fight back, Apple’s design is likely to be challenged. Even if the design is held to be valid, Samsung may still succeed in arguing that its product is sufficiently different to avoid liability.
Patent battles will doubtless continue but we may well see more design litigation as manufacturers step up their efforts to protect unique looking aspects of their products, because these can sway consumers who are not just concerned with the technology inside. Given the importance of the look of Apple products, it’s no surprise to see them taking steps in this area.

3. An effort to get NFC usage moving – featuring London Museums and Nokia’s NFC Hub service:
From 12 August, visitors to the Museum of London who have NFC-enabled phones have been able to access content and other elements via NFC. Nokia has helped bring the technology to the museum’s two venues – the Museum of London and Museum of London Docklands.
Nokia’s NFC Hub team works with organisations to help them create custom-built NFC campaigns and develop NFC tags and posters with built-in NFC tags to enable them to easily adopt the technology. 
Visitors to the museum’s two sites can try out NFC in the following ways:
·         Access vouchers for the museum’s shop and cafés
·         Book tickets for future exhibitions,
·         Learn more about exhibits
·         Join the Museum’s Friends scheme
·         “Follow”, “like”, & “check-in” at the museum on Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare
·         Download the Soundtrack to London app for Nokia smartphones

4. More NFC – this time a report from Frost $ Sullivan that estimates that revenues derived from the trusted service management for the NFC services market will reach approximately €330 million by 2015, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 74 per cent between 2010 and 2015.  Life cycle management of applications and management of the secure element are anticipated to remain the main sources of revenue.
“NFC handset availability will stop being a restraint and will, instead, become a driver for the NFC services market, and thereby, for the trusted services market with 2011 and 2012 expected to be key years in NFC-handset-deployment,” notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Mario Fernandez. “Moreover, the increasing number of collaborations between mobile network operators and service providers will constitute one of the major catalysts for trusted services market in NFC.”

5. Orange UK launched three broadband price plans and added the Orange E5830C Mobile WiFi device to its existing range of mobile broadband products. The price plans (Small, Medium and Large) offer data allowances from 500MB and no WiFi for £10 (£5 for Orange customers) to 3BG and unlimited WiFi for £30 (£25 for Orange customers).

6. Android media tablets have taken 20% share from Apple in the past 12 months, but no single manufacturer is having much of an impact, according to ABI Research. Mobile devices group director Jeff Orr comments, “Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple. In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads.”

Orr added that fragmentation within operating system software is hindering growth of this device category. Application developers must choose an initial software platform and may delay starting development if the market potential is not significant. Google’s Android OS has no less than three different software builds deployed across media tablets at the same time. The benefits of open software platform development have yet to be realized for media tablets.

7. Major European group operators now occupy the top two positions at the GSMA, with the appointment of France Telecom Orange’s Anne Bouverot as Director General. The GSMA has done away with the CEO job title, held by the former CEO Rob Conway. Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabè is the GSMA’s Chairman. Bernabè said the board wanted the GSMA’s new leader’s title to “fully reflect the GSMA’s role as an association representing the interests of its members.”

8. The Western European market for enterprise mobility management and security will reach $763 million in 2015 and grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% between 2010 and 2015, according to a new study by International Data Corporation (IDC). “Enterprise mobility is becoming mission-critical, but implementing security, policy, and compliance across a diverse set of devices, networks, and applications remains a hurdle,” said study author Nicholas McQuire, EMEA research director, Mobile Enterprise Strategies.

9. Smartphones will outnumber other handsets by 2014 in Western Europe
Emma Buckland, Senior Analyst at AnalysysMason said that  the number of smartphones will overtake that of other handsets by 2014. Buckland added that the mass adoption of smartphones will reinforce two trends that are already at play in the mobile market: the rationalisation of SIMs and the emergence of handset data services as the fastest–growing source of revenue for mobile operators.

Smartphones represented 23% of all active handsets in Western Europe in 2010. They will account for more than half by 2014, and will have reached 72% by 2016, IDC said.

10. But there are still plenty of feature phones, and they will need apps… The mobile apps market for feature phones will almost double by 2016, hitting revenues of $1 billion according to Ovum. The analyst said developing and publishing feature phone apps has become easier, and the larger size of the market and reduced competition mean that the sector has the potential to be more lucrative for some developers.
Nick Dillon, Ovum analyst and author of the report, commented: “While addressing this market is not as easy as the smartphone market, it has the potential to be more lucrative for some developers. The larger size of the market combined with higher barriers to entry means that there is less competition than in the smartphone market.”
According to Ovum, the number of feature phones worldwide will reach 2.3 billion in 2016, when they will continue to dominate the market, with a 63 per cent share, compared to 37 per cent for smartphones.

11. Renesas Mobile Corporation and Anritsu announced they have developed and validated MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) test cases which have been accepted by 3GPP (RAN5). Whilst MIMO has been available in the networks and some initial products are available, there have been no official certification requirements in place to ensure interoperability and consistency of the benefits of MIMO technology.

“Our industry leading collaboration in certification has been a core focus of our approach to product development since our days as part of Nokia Wireless Modem.“ said Heikki Tenhunen Senior Vice President Renesas Mobile. “Our customers see the benefit through faster product approvals and the operators gain assurance on the quality and maturity of the resulting handsets.“

12. Will operators come under increasing pressure to open up on their networks? Following Ofcom’s research into mobile “not-spots”, Brian Boroff, MD of Ofcom-accredited mobile price comparison site Mobilife.com said “We feel mobile providers should go a step further: consumers need to be able to compare all aspects of coverage – not just see total black spots. For example, they should be able to compare variations in network capacity and signal strength for 2G and 3G phones in congested areas at peak times and also, be able to understand how the differing signal frequencies affects how well they penetrate buildings.”

13. Mobile Security Software Revenues to Increase Six Fold to $3.7bn by 2016. The market for security software to protect mobile devices including tablets, smartphones and feature phones will reach almost $3.7 billion by 2016 according to a new report by Juniper Research. By that date enterprise and business sales will account for almost 69% of the market.
The report also found that as more tablets are brought into the enterprise over the next five years, the proportion of tablets featuring security products will also increase and overtake the percentage of smartphones protected.
Other key findings include:
•    Currently  less than 1 in 20 smartphones and tablets have third party security software installed in them, despite a steady increase in threats
•    Mobile security products enter the mainstream by late 2013, crossing $1 Billion
•    277 million mobile devices will have some kind of protection installed by 2016

14. Telsis Updates Its Programmable IN Application Server.
For operators looking to sweat more value from their legacy TDM assets while simultaneously rolling out NGN infrastructure
Telsis’ Ocean 2280 IN Application Server has been re-engineered to run on commercial off-the-shelf servers, delivering more than double the performance, but with lower deployment and operational costs.
The new 2280 retains Map Studio, Telsis’ Windows-based service creation environment that enables operators to configure and deploy services. It also comes with a range of pre-configured services including number translation and least-cost routing.

15. A piece of LTE myth-busting on a blog on Allott Communcations’s website. Jay Klein, VP and CTO, turns his guns on three beliefs about LTE he believes are common: Myth #1: LTE will provide limitless broadband, Myth #2: LTE will solve all congestion problems, Myth #2: LTE will solve all congestion problems, Myth #3: In LTE subscribers will pay more for speed. Obviously, as a vendor of broadband traffic management solutions, you can see what Allot has in the game, here. But Klein’s points are still worth reading.

16. Staying in this area, Sandvine announced today the next release of its Usage Management product, which it said now gives operators a single vendor, pre-integrated source for a high-availability software solution that incorporates a real-time advice of usage interface at any threshold. “Additionally, the new release allows operators to create a virtually unlimited number of service plan offerings, by enabling operators to differentiate the service plans using combinations of application, location, device awareness, access technology, and volume or time metrics.”

Usage Management provides several use-cases:

• Cost certainty – Some operators are offering basic plans, for set monthly charges, targeted towards subscribers who primarily use specific applications, such as Facebook or email.  These plans have become popular because they offer consumers cost certainty for heavy-use applications.
• Dynamic subscriber notification – For volume-based plans, service providers can help inform consumers with real-time usage portals, and provide advice of usage notifications when they are nearing their quota limit, so there is no overshoot.  Proactive communications help prevent unnecessary overage charges and allow redirection to a portal so the subscriber can top-up his quota or upgrade his plan to another tier.
• Bill shock avoidance – Subscribers who travel outside of their service plan jurisdiction may be in for a nasty surprise when they are additionally billed for use of third-party network usage.  Some jurisdictions, like the EU, have now mandated that subscribers get official notice, when they exceed a certain cost threshold, while roaming in out-of-network geographic areas. With Sandvine’s ability to track roaming usage and display usage in real-time, subscribers can be kept informed of their usage charges.
• Family plans – Within the subscriber’s home, multiple users can access the Internet from different login locations concurrently, so that each can enjoy favorite applications at leisure on different devices.

17. And Oracle announced its Oracle Communications Network Charging and Control 4.4  product release. This includes a stack of software, hardware and support – all from Oracle – to help communications service providers (CSPs) offer their customers more flexible charging options and create new revenue streams in the wake of explosive mobile data growth. Features include multi-network prepaid charging, voucher recharge, promotions management, Intelligent Network (IN) and Next Generation Network (NGN)-based service control and graphical service configuration, as well as integrated number routing and messaging services – to enable CSPs to launch new services and charge millions of subscribers for a multitude of offerings.

Product Details:

• Configurable budget controls to enable CSPs to manage personal spending quotas for all services and send personalized real-time notifications to customers as they near contractual limits – subsequently eliminating bill shock and enhancing customer satisfaction
• Advanced reservation management to increase operator control of concurrent and long running data charging sessions – optimizing network performance and improving the customer experience
• Prorated service payments that provide customers and operators with flexibility to select personalized charge dates for subscription-based services

18. ZTE announced it has shipped 60 million terminal products including 35 million handsets in the first half of 2011. This represents a c30% increase year-on-year in handsets shipped and saw ZTE witness a 400% increase in smartphone sales.
In Europe, ZTE has partnered with over 65 operators on smartphones, with its handset sales increasing over 30%. Market analyst IDC’s ‘World Mobile Phone Tracker’ July 2011 report states that ZTE became the fifth-largest mobile phone vendor in the world based on shipment numbers for the first two quarters of the year.

19. A neat apps infographic (click for bigger) from Sybase: It took McDonalds almost 26 years to reach 15 billion burgers sold, and about 46 years to hit 100 billion. That means Apple hit the 15 billion mark about 9x faster than McDonald’s. And based on projections, Apple could hit 100 billion within five and a half years, or about 9x faster than McDonalds.

20. OpenMarket released industry research of 1,000 UK consumers that found that a significant number of consumers are interested in mobile crediting – where a brand adds credit directly onto a consumers mobile bill or PAYG credit in return for interacting with it. 62% of consumers surveyed said that they would buy a product or service from a brand that offered mobile credit as an incentive: a further 31% of consumers also said that they would be likely to buy from that brand in the future.

OpenMarket’s research also found that almost one in four users want purchases of less than £10 to be automatically deducted from their mobile bill. This shows the revenue opportunity for brands which make much more use of mobile micropayments alongside secure, seamless operator billing as a way to engage with the owners of the estimated 81 million mobile devices in use in the UK.

Other highlights of the research include:
•               55% of consumers said that the need to provide credit card details was a disincentive to make a purchase
•               36% of consumers would happily buy products up to £10 via their phone as a spontaneous purchase
•               Only 14% of consumers felt that having mobile payments enabled via a known, trusted brand was important
•               67% of consumers said their main concern when making a mobile payment was the accuracy of the information on their bill

The whitepaper is available to download for free from http://www.openmarket.com/payments-white-paper

21. Synchronica launched a Synchronica Mobile Gateway Instant Messaging (IM) client app for the Android mobile operating system, which enables operator-branded IM services on Android Smartphones.
América Móvil will be the first to launch the new client app, which is powered by Synchronica’s IMPS platform through all their subsidiaries. The IM client app for Android can be downloaded from Synchronica Mobile Gateway or pre-installed by the device manufacturerr and supports popular services such as Facebook, Windows Live, Yahoo!, Google Talk, AOL, ICQ, Jabber XMPP and the Synchronica Messenger IM service.
Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte said, “We are seeing significant growth in Android, particularly in the prepaid and midrange smartphone markets. Service providers like América Móvil see the value in deploying consumer IM solutions alongside operator-owned IM communities as a highly effective means to increase customer stickiness and reduce churn. Now, with the new Synchronica IM client app for Android, operators will be able to offer branded IM services on the fastest growing Smartphone platform.”