WiMax subscribers to hit 50 million by 2014

WiMax is a wireless technology that delivers broadband speeds over the last mile, ideal for locations where cabling is not available or feasible. Faster than current wireless 3G technology, WiMax can also serve large metropolitan areas as it covers a wider area than conventional Wi-Fi.

Referenced in the report, the most advanced WiMax standard, WiMAX 802.16e, delivers greater throughput than other WiMax standards.

Though large-scale WiMax deployments have been delayed, many providers have so far been successful in countries ranging from Pakistan to the U.S., says Juniper.

The new 4G Clearwire wireless networks used by Sprint, Comcast, and other providers, runs over WiMax.

But WiMax faces an uphill climb against the competing wireless broadband standard Long Term Evolution, or LTE. A recent study by research firm In-Stat, predicted that WiMax may ultimately lose the battle against LTE, which is already backed by major telcos AT&T and Verizon.

Juniper Research, however, believes that the global deployment of WiMax will drive its growth. The larger number of WiMax subscribers will be in the Far East and China region, says the report, due to that area's early adoption of the technology.

WiMax gains in Western Europe and, to a lesser degree North America, will occur in areas underserved by DSL. Growth in Africa and the Middle East is likely to surpass that of Western Europe, says Juniper, gaining 15 percent of the overall WiMax subscriber base by 2014.

"WiMAX 16e will have opportunities not just in developing countries, but also areas of developed countries where the DSL coverage is weak or nonexistent," said Howard Wilcox, the author of the report. "The key for the industry ecosystem now is to overcome the challenges and ensure trials evolve into commercial services quickly."

More information about WiMax can be found here.

Microsoft and Yahoo! 'to confirm search deal'

After months of speculation, Microsoft and Yahoo! are today expected to announce details of an online search and advertising partnership, as both companies seek to compete more closely with Google

The announcement will come almost a year after Yahoo! rejected a $47.5 million (£28 million) takeover bid from Microsoft. Despite the knock-back, Microsoft continued to make overtures to the ailing portal company, and turned its attention towards creating a joint search and advertising venture that would present stiffer competition for Google, which dominates the market.

Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, is expected to power all Yahoo! searches, while Yahoo! assumes responsibility for handling advertising sales. The two companies are likely to leverage Microsoft's ad-serving technology to deliver relevant, contextualised advertising alongside search results.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo! are aware that they need to employ a different strategy if they are to have any hope of chipping away at Google's huge market lead in the search and online advertising sectors.

Yahoo! enjoys an eight per cent share of the global search market and is the second most popular search engine worldwide, but it is still dwarfed by Google, which enjoys a 67 per cent share of the search space, according to comScore. Microsoft, meanwhile, is struggling to convert people to Bing, the new search engine it launched in May. Bing currently accounts for around three per cent of all global searches.

The deal is sure to be well-received by both Microsoft and Yahoo! shareholders. Carl Icahn, a high-profile investor who is on the Yahoo! board of directors and owns a five per cent stake in the company, signalled his support for a deal between the two companies just a few weeks ago.

Now tweet, email with the Nokia 6760 slide

Nokia has announced to roll out its Nokia 6760 slide, a messaging optimized device with a sliding QWERTY keypad.

Ideal for individuals who want to stay connected when they are out and about, the Nokia 6760 slide offers fast and easy access to favourite social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter as well as email accounts from Ovi Mail, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail and thousands of other email providers.

Setting up an existing email on the Nokia 6760 slide is simple. Only the email address and password are required. Push email is available through Nokia Messaging.

Instant Messaging no longer needs to be confined to a computer as the Nokia 6760 slide also offers access to instant messaging solutions from Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger.

In addition to great messaging options, features like the inbuilt A-GPS module together with the 3D landmarks and the terrain maps give a greater dimension to the Nokia 6760 slide.

At the end of the day, the Nokia 6760 slide is a great multi-tasker – you can tweet, email, IM, share online, browse the web, listen to music, all at the same time. And it makes phone calls too!

The Nokia 6760 slide will be available during the third quarter of 2009 for EUR 199 before subsidies and taxes.

Airtel Slashes Broadband Rates

The broadband war is all set to heat up as Bharti Airtel slashes rates.

Subscribers will be able to experience 1 Mbps surfing speeds from Airtel at Rs. 1,699 per month, which is Rs. 100 more than current 512 Kbps. The 512Kbps speed plan will now cost Rs. 1,099, which is Rs. 200 more than current 256 Kbps.

For Rs. 1,699, subscribers will be offered 1Mbps surfing speeds, along with a free VAS bundle from Airtel worth up to Rs. 500 every month. This bundle would include gaming on Games on Demand, Anti-Virus software PC Secure, Airtel Speed on Demand, and Online desktop

While for Rs.1,099 per month, subscribers will get to experience 512 Kbps broadband speeds along with Rs. 100 worth of free call value per month.

Get details on these plans here.

According to Hindustan Times, state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) have said that they would offer services at lower than Bharti prices.

Get set for a speedier broadband experience for less. It only gets better!

Global warming: Sea level may rise 7-82 cm by century-end

New predictions indicate that the amount of sea level rise by the end of this century will be between 7- 82 cm – depending on the amount of warming that occurs.

Placing limits on the amount of sea level rise over the next century is one of the most pressing challenges for climate scientists.

Dr Mark Siddall from the University of Bristol, together with colleagues from Switzerland and the US, used fossil coral data and temperature records derived from ice-core measurements to reconstruct sea level fluctuations in response to changing climate for the past 22,000 years, a period that covers the transition from glacial maximum to the warm Holocene interglacial period.

By considering how sea level has responded to temperature since the end of the last glacial period, Siddall and colleagues predict that the amount of sea level rise by the end of this century will be similar to that projected by the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

According to Dr Siddall, “Given that the two approaches are entirely independent of each other, this result strengthens the confidence with which one may interpret the IPCC results. It is of vital importance that this semi-empirical result, based on a wealth of data from fossil corals, converges so closely with the IPCC estimates.”

“Furthermore, as the time constant of the sea level response is 2,900 years, our model indicates that the impact of twentieth-century warming on sea level will continue for many centuries into the future. It will therefore constitute an important component of climate change in the future,” he said.

... contd.

Transparent aluminium is 'new state of matter'

Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world's most powerful soft X-ray laser.

'Transparent aluminium' previously existed only in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.

In this week's 'Nature Physics', an international team led by Oxford University scientists report that a short pulse from the Hamburg-based FLASH laser 'knocked out' a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal's crystalline structure.

This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.

"What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before," said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University's Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper.

"Transparent aluminium is just the start.

Sony launches Wire-free, All-in-one Walkman, W Series MP3 Player

Sony recently launched All-in-one Walkman W Series MP3 Player . Showcasing a wire-free design, the Walkman W series is perfect for audio fans who want a simple and headphone-only MP3 player to use on the go. The ultra portable W series is compact and lightweight (35g) with a revolutionary design that fits comfortably behind the head, so users can get active without getting tangled. Available in five stand-out colours; black, white, pink, violet and lime, it features 2GB internal storage, ensuring you have a wide selection of songs whilst working the treadmill.

The unique design means there is no traditional display to this MP3 player; instead, it incorporates Sony’s unique new ZAPPINTM function that offers an effortless way of browsing, searching and listening to music without a display, allowing you to concentrate solely on your workout. By simply clicking the Jog Dial operation on the inside earpiece, the ZAPPINTM mode helps you find tunes easily, by playing a four or 15 second snippet of each song in the music library one after the other until a favourite song is found.

The Walkman W series MP3 player offers a handy solution for all those times you’ve discovered your battery is flat. A quick charge feature has been incorporated in this model, allowing users to play back up to 90 minutes of music with only a three minute charge – perfect for a quick gym session. Give it a full charge and users can enjoy up to 12 hours of music playback. The W series also comes with a USB cradle to dock and charge your MP3 player.

You can be assured of the clearest sound with Sony’s impressive 13.5mm EX headphones, offering exceptional sound quality and maximum comfort. In addition, the ‘Content Transfer’ software supplied with the W series Walkman allows you to easily transfer non-DRM music files from online music services, such as iTunes, to the Walkman by simply ‘dragging and dropping’ files.

With an affordable price tag of Rs.4,990/-, the NWZ-W200 Series will be available at all Sony Center stores and retail partners across the country

Microsoft Opens Mobile App Store to Developers

Microsoft officially opened its Windows Marketplace for Mobile application store to software developers on Monday as the giant software maker moves to catch up to the success of Apple's iPhone App Store.

Microsoft is now accepting submissions of mobile phone software applications from registered developers in 29 countries and is offering prizes for the most popular applications as judged by downloads, revenue, usefulness and more, said Todd Brix, leader of Windows Marketplace for Mobile at Microsoft, in a blog posting.

Developers can start uploading applications to Windows Marketplace now and will probably have to wait about 10 business days for certification or a detailed explanation of why a program was not accepted, according to Brix.

"Our strategy for all of this is pretty straightforward; we want to create a global marketplace for Windows Phones where developers and users meet to sell and buy high quality and high value applications that make work easier and life more fulfilling," said Brix.

Software developers can include their own marketing materials with their applications and will be able to earn money on sales.

People buying software on the site will be able to download applications to their PCs or mobile phones, use a variety of payment options, and enjoy a money back guarantee, said Brix.

Brix estimates the software customer base for Windows mobile phone applications is around 30 million people.

Apple runs the world's largest mobile phone application store. Over a billion software applications have been downloaded from the App Store, which is available in 77 countries, has 65,000 applications and serves 45 million iPhone users, Apple executives said during the company's quarterly investors conference last week.

Nokia N86 is the reply of Sony Ericsson W995?

Nokia has entered into the market with its Nokia N86 8MP. At the same time Sony Ericsson has come up with W995. It’s being said that Nokia N86 is the proper reply of Sony Ericsson W995. Let’s check the every details of both the smartphones.

Nokia N86 8MP
The Nokia N86 8MP is designed to excel in both bright and low light conditions, and it’s optimized for both video and still imaging. Its high-speed connectivity ensures easy and convenient sharing.

The Nokia N86 8MP is ideal for watching videos and playing games. Each Nokia N86 8MP can play up to 25 hours of music on one charge which can be enjoyed with the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-214 also.

People can build a personal music collection from the millions of tracks and playlists available from the Nokia Music Store, where available.

The Nokia N86 8MP is the first mobile device with variable aperture, adding to the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for excellent results. It has never been easier to capture special moments in such a great quality.

Every detail of the metal-framed Nokia N86 8MP is thoughtfully designed with photography in mind, including 8 GB of internal memory for up to 4,000 images.

Sony Ericsson W995
Sony Ericsson W995 Walkman is the ultimate mobile phone to keep you entertained when on the bus, lunch break or waiting for a train, the company says in a press release.

It’s the powerful video mobile phone; watch news, TV shows or blockbusters in premium video quality or check out the latest videos from YouTube using Turbo 3G or Wi-Fi.

It comes with an 8.1megapixel camera and Walkman player, with clear
audio experience.

The W995 Walkman supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UTMS/HSPA 900/2100. W995 is available in selected markets in the colours Progressive Black, Cosmic Silver and Energetic Red.

10 Ways Google Is Trying To Kill Microsoft

Google's offering: Google's newest challenge to Microsoft: Chrome OS, coming in 2010.

Microsoft's offering: Windows, sold on ~90% of consumer PCs.

What's at stake: Much more for Microsoft than Google. Windows represents some $11 billion of annual operating income for Microsoft, about half its total. Google is hoping Chrome OS will disrupt Microsoft and might make Web based apps -- like Google Docs and Apps -- more plausible for more people.

Edge: Microsoft, as Chrome OS is not even shipping. But when you have 90%+ of the market, it's hard to go anywhere but down.

Google: Google search owns 65% of the U.S. search market, according to comScore, and makes up more than 90% of of Google's ~$4 billion quarterly revenues.

Microsoft: Microsoft re-branded its search engine as Bing in June. Spending $80 million marketing the service, Microsoft's U.S. search market share climbed from 8% to 8.4%. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says he's going to spend 5%-10% of Microsoft's operating income over the next five years on search. That's about $10 billion per year. And a deal with Yahoo could boost Microsoft's share near 30%.

What's at stake: Search advertising is a huge market and is crucially important to Google, as it helps fund all of the company's money-losing products, like Chrome OS, YouTube, etc.

Edge: Google.

Google: Google finally took GMail out of beta this July. 146 million people use it each month, according to ComScore. (Google is also trying to get companies to use its email service via Google Apps.)

Microsoft: Hotmail has 343 million monthly users, according to comScore. (Microsoft also has an email server business, selling Exchange licenses.)

What's at stake: Traffic and some ad revenue. Mail drives a ton of traffic to Google search for Google and MSN for Microsoft. E-mail is also the easiest way to get people to use that company's other products, such as IM. (And corporate Exchange servers make Outlook/Windows and Windows Mobile a little better.)

Edge: Microsoft. Size matters. But Microsoft needs to catch up on the user experience front for Hotmail/whatever it's called these days.

Google: Google Docs, which includes word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Google Apps, which includes email and calendar hosting.

Microsoft: Office, which includes Word, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Outlook, etc. Office 2010 coming next year. And server products like Exchange.

What's at stake: For Microsoft, Office is a cash cow that represented about 1/3 of the company's revenue last fiscal year and 60% of its operating income. For Google, the chance to break deeper into corporations and add another revenue growth driver.

Edge: Microsoft, as Google Docs isn't that good. But as Google Docs and other services -- even Microsoft's free Web-based office tool -- disrupt the Office giant, there aren't many directions but down for Office's business to go.

Google: In 2006, Google agreed to pay MySpace $900 million over three years for a search and advertising deal. Google is also leading OpenSocial, a social networking platform designed to weaken Facebook's grip.

Microsoft: In 2007, Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook for $240 million. As a part of the deal, Microsoft also agreed to pay Facebook ~$150 million for advertising rights.

What's at stake: Facebook has 250 million monthly active users to MySpace's 130 million users worldwide. OpenSocial is still mostly an idea. Social networking is extremely popular, but isn't a big business yet -- the hope is that it could be someday. (Or at least a crucial component in the online ad mix.)

Edge: Microsoft.

Google: The only portal Google owns that it sells brand ads against is YouTube. During Google's Q2 '09 earnings call, execs said YouTube will soon, finally, be profitable. They said it'll get there by serving a lot more pre-roll ads. Google won't break out YouTube's revenues, but figure they're around $500 million. ComScore says YouTube saw 92 million U.S. unique visitors in June.

Microsoft: MSN is the third most-popular major Web portal after Yahoo and AOL. Still, 93 million U.S. unique visitors came to MSN in June.

What's at stake: In 2008, the top two brand advertisers alone spent more than $4 billion on measured media, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

Edge: Google. Because they're so used to TV commercials, brand advertisers love Web video. MSN is adding premium video content as fast as it can, but YouTube is way ahead.

Google: Chrome, launched in 2008. Has about 2% of the market by usage, according to Net Applications.

Microsoft: Internet Explorer, launched 1995. Has about 66% of the market.

What's at stake: At this point, mostly driving traffic to the browser's built-in homepage (if any) and parent company's search engine. In theory, Microsoft's dominance with Internet Explorer also gives an edge (or more relevance) to Microsoft Web technologies, like ActiveX and Silverlight.

Edge: Microsoft. Even Firefox has barely cracked 20% of the market, according to Net Applications, after years of pushing. Chrome will take a long time to be relevant to mainstream users.

Google: Android, launched 2008. Shipping on a few phones, but still waiting for mainstream adoption. Sales modest, but a technically impressive operating system.

Microsoft: Windows Mobile. Shipping on dozens of phones from several partners, with distribution around the world. About 12% of the smartphone market late last year, according to Gartner. But a platform that desperately needs a major technical and design overhaul. (Microsoft also paid $500 million for Sidekick designer Danger, which has tiny market share.)

What's at stake: For Microsoft, some revenue it brings in from Windows Mobile licenses, and whatever business Danger does. For both, a back door into the mobile advertising market, which each hopes will be a big money maker in the future.

Edge: Push. In the next year, as mobile companies build Android into dozens of phones, we'll learn if it's a winner. Meanwhile, Microsoft has amazing tools at its disposal -- Windows, Xbox, entertainment products, Hotmail, money -- but needs to make Windows Mobile not suck.

Google: Google acquired DART when it bought DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in 2007. DART for publishers is the standard ad server for premium publishers.

Microsoft: Microsoft brought Atlas Systems into the fold when it paid $6 billion for Acquantive in 2007. Atlas has almost no footprint on the publisher side of ad serving. On the advertiser side, Atlas is bigger - probably 30% share vs Dart for advertisers' 70% share.

What's at stake: The back door into the online display advertising market.

Edge: Google.

Google: ComScore says Google AdSense for Content reached 163 million unique visitors in June. That's about 84% of the total U.S. Internet population.

Microsoft: During the same month, 146 million unique visitors stumbled across the Microsoft Media Network, for a 76% reach.

What's at stake: A lot of money. Google doesn't break out its AdSense for Content revenues, but it does say that its syndicated search advertising business and AdSense for Content together generated $1.68 billion in Q2 '09. A Google rep also told us that the company pays its publishing partners ~$5 billion annually. Both companies also have mobile ad networks, which they're hoping will be big growth drivers in the next several years.

Edge: Push. Google's bigger now, but it got a big head start.

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