Prepaid Reviews Blog » Mobile Data

Forecast: Mobile phone transactions to hit $300 billion in 5 years

Joe — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:40:13 +0000

For those who are sick of hearing about the Virgin Mobile/Helio merger, we’ll start off the day with something else. For those who want more on the deal, it’ll come in a couple of hours. For now, we turn our attention to the mobile transaction market, which is rather slow in the U.S. now. Everyone I’ve talked to blames security concerns for the lack of mobile transaction growth. That should eventually be resolved, though, and analysts have put a number to the level it should hit by 2013: $300 billion.

Report author Howard Wilcox noted: “Merchants in North America and Western Europe are just starting to realise the potential of a mobile web presence as a fourth channel to market. Retailers should be evaluating the benefits of the mobile web, and be mindful of the success of regular ecommerce sites in generating sales. They need to move quickly to exploit the opportunity presented, and ensure that they maintain ease of use for their customers who are already familiar with web shopping from their PCs.”

With more and more prepaid carriers picking up mobile Web (we’re waiting for you, Page Plus), one has to wonder if these kinds of transactions will ever hit prepaid phones. I’m not sure it would fly right now, given the anonymity you get with a prepaid phone. Then again, with some states clamoring to require IDs for prepaid phone purchases, maybe it could work.

Many American still view mobile shopping with a skeptical eye. And unless someone or some company can do something to convince them otherwise, Juniper Research, authors of the report, might find that reality doesn’t match their forecast.

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Forecast: Mobile phone transactions to hit $300 billion in 5 years

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

Forecast: Mobile phone transactions to hit $300 billion in 5 years

Anyone for prepaid wireless broadband?

Joe — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:30:27 +0000

One thing I’ve noticed lacking in prepaid is mobile data. A few carriers offer it — most notably Cricket. But for the most part, mobile data isn’t readily available on a prepaid basis. And forget mobile broadband cards for your laptop. Once again, we have Cricket here and few others. Thankfully, another player is entering the game. No, it’s not a prepaid carrier. Rather, it’s Slingshot Communications, and they’re planning a prepaid mobile broadband rollout in June.

“Rather than paying upwards of $75 a month for ‘unlimited’ wireless Internet access, Slingshot enables you to cut your costs and doesn’t require a long-term contract,” said David Vindici, chairman and CEO of Slingshot, in a statement. “You’re free to access the Internet wirelessly and on your terms.”

I can’t find specific pricing and availability right now. It’s an interesting concept, for sure. However, I’m a bit wary of what the rates will be. If ends up at the per-minute ratio of postpaid cellular to the per-minute rate of prepaid, well, then we might be onto something for the occasional mobile Internet user. Like me, who travels by train about once a week. I wouldn’t pony up for Verizon’s deal, but a pay as you go system would fit well.

Definitely more coverage on this as we get closer to the June 1 rollout date.

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

Anyone for prepaid wireless broadband?

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

Anyone for prepaid wireless broadband?

100 Mbps wireless Internet on the way?

Stuart — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:15:04 +0000

Well, if you consider three years “on the way.” Nokia is working on the technology, which will eventually be adopted as the 4G standard in the U.S. Presumably, at least, since AT&T and Verizon seem to be going in that direction. However, Nokia isn’t standing firm on 2010; they’re saying the “2010 timeframe.” To disambiguate, that means anywhere from 2010 to 2015. We expect it to be closer to 2010, though. The faster the mobile Internet, the better the opportunities to monetize it.

[Broadband Reports]

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

100 Mbps wireless Internet on the way?

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

100 Mbps wireless Internet on the way?

Qualcomm releases dual-mode laptop broadband card

Joe — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:00:22 +0000

Remember the days when you had to buy a USB WiFi card for your laptop? Clearly, those days are far behind us. The newest trend in external modems is broadband cellular cards, and even they are starting to move into the laptop’s shell. The problem is, though, that one card won’t power EV-DO technology — as used by Verizon and Sprint among others — and HSPA — as used by AT&T and T-Mobile. That makes laptop purchases that much more difficult. Qualcomm has a better idea. They’ve developed a card that uses both HSPA and EV-Do technology. So now laptop manufacturers can insert one card and not worry about alienating any potential customers.

“No one else makes a dual-mode 3G data card,” Sanjay Jha, chief operating officer and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Group. “With this Gobi technology, consumers don’t have to make a choice when they buy a laptop. They don’t have to worry whether they’re buying a Verizon laptop or a Sprint laptop.”

This development will not only allow consumers to make better choices, but it will also allow carriers to compete with the emerging WiMax network, which is a one-size-fits-all card, like it’s WiFi sister.

A dual-mode chip simplifies manufacturing. [Hewlett-Packard] and other computer companies will design and manufacture one version of each 3G laptop, Wagner said. That reduces manufacturing costs, which should result in savings that get passed on to consumers, he said.

So there is an added benefit for us consumers. We like lower prices. You do, too? We should be friends!

[San Diego on San Diego]

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

Qualcomm releases dual-mode laptop broadband card

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

Qualcomm releases dual-mode laptop broadband card

The cell phone home security system

Joe — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:11:41 +0000

Among the things we love about cell phones are the ways they’re used outside of their intended functions. Remember the cell phone motion detector? Or how about the cell laser? We applaud the people who engineer these devices. And so today we salute the man who turned a cell phone into a home surveillance camera.

The Mobile LiveCam is 0.3-megapixel camera equipped with a SIM card, a built-in microphone and a 512MB memory card for recording video-streaming images, SingTel said in a statement.

In addition, the battery-operated camera is equipped with infrared video capabilities to better capture images in dimly lit spaces and at night.

Heh, 0.3 megapixels. “Honey! Someone is approaching! It’s either my mother or an amorphous blob. Should I call the cops?” (Insert unwitty husband joke here.)

The camera works on a 3G network, and can be access from another approved 3G phone. You can use the keypad on your phone to control the camera’s movements, and you access the images by dialing the camera’s assigned number. Sounds pretty easy to use.

The greatest part about this is that unlike the cell phone motion detector, this isn’t someone rigged up in their basement. This is a product offered by SingTel Mobile in Singapore. It costs about $6 per month for the service, and the device is $250.

All you’ll have to worry about is someone using the cell phone “laser” to disable the camera.

[CNET News]

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The cell phone home security system

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

The cell phone home security system

As expected, mobile data usage grows in U.S.

Joe — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:30:43 +0000

We live in an increasingly mobile world, baby, so it comes as no surprise that mobile data usage in the U.S. has grown significantly so far this year. The second quarter number — $5.85 billion — represents a seven percent increase over the first quarter of this year. For the year-to-date we’re at $11.35 billion, which is an 81 percent — yes, 81 percent — increase over the first half of 2006. Verizon is the leader in data, accounting for 31 percent of the industry’s data revenue in the second quarter. Undoubtedly, we’ll see further increase in the next quarter.

[Information Week]

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

As expected, mobile data usage grows in U.S.

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

As expected, mobile data usage grows in U.S.