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Tag Archives: Wifi
Are We Expecting Too Much from WiFi?
Over the weekend I spent a little time digging into O2′s plans to offer a free citywide WiFi blanket across London. As any regular readers of the blog will know, I’m a huge supporter of WiFi blankets. In 2011 we saw some encouraging signs that rollouts were starting to grow in size and frequency. New York had a number of interesting projects deployed and some European cities also moved forward with rollouts in parks and other public places.
If successful, O2′s network will be a first for the U.K. and for Europe and will hopefully stimulate similar developments in other cities. There can be no question that the U.K. needs to start driving forward with mobile connectivity. However, while I was reading about this project, I was reminded of an article in Gigaom from last year. This article discussed whether our WiFi expectations are simply too high and misaligned with service providers’ plans. Read more
Mobile Data and the Ticking Tablets
After a week of U.S. travel, I spent some time yesterday looking at how much data I’d consumed on my laptop, iPad and iPhone. I was amazed at the results. I shouldn’t be. Looking back I realise that I barely used my laptop. My iPad is rapidly becoming my mobile office. Emails, video conferencing, document sharing, Twitter. This is no longer a tool purely for mobile consumption but is now a device for mobile productivity. Looking again at my data usage, even my iPhone outstripped my laptop. Needless to say, I’m expecting a congratulatory note from my mobile service provider later this month. Read more
Mobile Video’s Unstoppable March
There can be few people in the tech industry who have not been drawn into discussions on the impact of Apple’s announcements at this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The launch of the company’s iCloud service has once again raised debate as to network capacity, especially from a mobile perspective. This news comes less than a week after the release of Cisco’s VNI report that highlights mobile traffic is already anticipated to increase 26-fold by 2015. As Apple moves gradually into the cloud, there can be no question that this figure will only increase.
Looking at Apple’s history, it’s incredible to consider how the company has redefined the mobile market, opening new avenues of communication, education, entertainment, and just about every other area that impacts upon our daily lives. By 2015, analysts estimate that there will be over one billion smartphones generating 6.3 exabytes of data per month. Much of this data will be driven by video, whether it be video conferencing over Skype, watching a movie on Netflix or online gaming. Indeed, Cisco predicts that 90% of all IP traffic will be video by 2015. Mobile devices are set to account for 8% of this total. Read more
Are We Entering the Age of WiFi?
There are few reports in the networking industry that illicit as much dialogue and debate as Cisco’s annual Visual Networking Index (VNI). This year’s report proves no different. Released yesterday, the report has already garnered significant media coverage and a brief glance through some of the figures reveals why. There are some incredible predictions here, but one in particular has caught my attention.
Cisco forecasts that by 2015, there will be a significant shift in global IP traffic, with WiFi devices consuming more bandwidth than wired devices. The report highlights that WiFi traffic (including mobile devices) will rise to a commanding 54% of all IP data consumed, while wired traffic will decrease from 63% in 2010 to 46%. This is the first time that such a swing has occurred and there’s no indication that this trend will stop any time soon. Indeed, many analysts believe that wired traffic will only diminish as the proliferation of WiFi-enabled devices continues to grow. Read more
Could VoIP Break the Mobile Industry?
As the ink still sets on Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, industry analysts are continuing to debate the wide-reaching implications of the deal. With a price tag of $8.5 billion, Microsoft is taking a huge gamble on Skype’s potential to turn a profit, something it hasn’t done in many years. Yet this gamble is more than just on Skype. Microsoft has used over a sixth of its cash reserve in the expectation that voice and video calls over IP will become the key communication tool for both business and personal users.
The long-held promise of voice and video calls over IP is still yet to reach maturity. Since its launch in 2003, Skype has experienced a difficult and at times slow development path. The much-publicised acquisition by eBay and the near collapse of the company in 2008 has seen its expansion delayed, especially into video conferencing and mobile applications. Additionally, the marketplace has become much fiercer. Google Voice, Apple’s FaceTime and T-Mobile’s Bobsled (currently enabling VoIP calls on Facebook) are just a few of the competing services challenging Skype’s dominance.
