Posted: 03/12/12 by Mobile Future Team
March Madness just begun and as Mashable reported, an interesting mobile app may help college basketball fans keep track of all the action. Thuuz monitors sporting events in real-time and alerts users when games get interesting by rating the excitement of each game.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 03/07/12
As reported by AllThingsD's Ina Fried, today during the unveiling of the newest iPad Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that last year there were 315 million iOS devices sold, there are currently 585,000 apps in the app store and on Monday Apple surpassed 25 billion downloads.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 03/06/12 by Mobile Future Team
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. Air Force just announced its contract to buy 18,000 iPads for its pilots and navigators. The Air Mobility Command is making the departure from heavy flight manuals and navigation charts that can weigh up to 70 pounds of paper per aircraft to increase fuel efficiency and reduce space and weight on an aircraft.
To read more, click here.
Posted: 02/21/12 by Mobile Future Team
Check out Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter’s latest op-ed on The Hill on social media’s role in the 2012 races here.
Posted: 02/17/12 by Jonathan Spalter
Today, in the midst of extending a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for struggling Americans, lawmakers passed a historic piece of spectrum legislation authorizing the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions, an initiative that will ultimately help spur private investment in mobile broadband infrastructure and create U.S. Jobs. Congress took an important first step toward reallocating more spectrum for mobile broadband to combat a looming capacity crunch exacerbated by exploding consumer demand. They could not have acted a moment too soon.
On the one hand, more than one-third of adults own a smartphone and for the first time in history there are more mobile subscriptions that people in the United States. Additionally, the number of adults who own a tablet or e-reader skyrocketed from 18% to 29% between mid-December and January. From mobile payments to smart grid technologies, digital education initiatives to mobile health applications, wireless is a powerful engine of economic growth and American innovation.
On the other hand, wireless data traffic is expected to grow 100 times faster than mobile voice traffic over the next ten years and an estimated 50 billion devices will be connected worldwide in the same amount of time. Wireless networks in North America are already running at 80% of capacity and the FCC predicts that we will have a spectrum deficiency by 2013.
The important action today on Capitol Hill to enact legislation aimed at repurposing spectrum for wireless rightly acknowledges the ever-increasing benefits of mobile broadband and it has the added advantage of generating revenue for American taxpayers. Mobile Future stands ready to assist the FCC as it begins its work to repurpose spectrum as quickly as possible, while ensuring that all 300 million U.S. wireless consumers have the opportunity to benefit from these additional spectrum resources and continued mobile innovation.
Posted: 02/15/12 by Mobile Future Team
Cisco’s annual Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update was released yesterday and the analysis points to the extraordinary growth in mobile data and looks ahead at future developments in the wireless space. Some of the key findings from the report are noted below.
In 2011:
Global mobile data traffic grew 133%, more than doubling for the fourth year in a row.
Smartphones generated 35 times more mobile data traffic than basic-feature cell phones, and tablets generated 121 times more mobile data traffic.
The average amount of traffic per smartphone almost tripled, growing 55 MB per month in 2010 to 150 MB per month in 2011.
The number of wireless tablets reached 34 million and used 3.4 times more traffic than the average smartphone.
Looking ahead:
More than 100 million smartphone users will use over 1 GB of data per month by 2012.
In 2016, tablets will generate almost as much traffic as the entire global mobile network in 2012.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 02/13/12
Today, the Washington Post highlighted that President Obama’s federal budget for fiscal year 2013 is available to the public via mobile app. The Government Printing Office released the app this morning and provides users with important budget information such as the president’s budget message and spending overviews for federal agencies.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 02/09/12 by Mobile Future Team
A new study out this week highlights the app market's impact on job creation in the United States. According to TechNet, since 2007 the application economy has created about 500,000 jobs.
As President and CEO of TechNet Rey Ramsey stated:
“America’s App Economy – which had zero jobs just 5 years ago before the iPhone was introduced – demonstrates that we can quickly create economic value and jobs through cutting-edge innovation…Today, the App Economy is creating jobs in every part of America, employing hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers today and even more in the years to come.”
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 02/07/12 by Mobile Future Team
State regulators have gathered from across the country this week for the winter meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) here in Washington. Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter participated on a lively panel exploring the exploding demand for mobile connectivity, and what a predicted spectrum crunch means for consumers and the nation’s economy.
Consider the benefits of mobile broadband: constant and instant connectivity with people around the world in the palm of your hand. Near limitless possibilities for innovation and investment. In the U.S., one of the crucial benefits of wireless is the impact on the economy. Researchers Robert Shapiro and KevinHassett concluded that transitions from early wireless networks to more advanced 3G and 4G technology led to some 1.5 million new jobs from April 2007 to June 2011. For every additional 10% increase in adoption of 3G and 4G technologies, 231,000 new jobs may be added in less than a year. Plus, with an additional 500 MHz of spectrum for mobile, the Analysis Group conservatively estimates that we can create 500,000 American jobs and add $400 billion to the nation’s GDP. Spectrum is the lifeblood of wireless, becoming more and more vital to our economy and how we conduct our everyday lives.
No one wants to go back to the days of the ‘busy signal.’ If we don’t reallocate more spectrum for wireless now, the capacity constraints could wreak havoc on the consumer experience - more dropped calls, stalled apps, and slow mobile Internet connections. State and federal regulators alike need to support policies that help get spectrum to those who need it the most – the 300 million wireless consumers.
So what can state policymakers do? Some states have the authority to review secondary market transactions within their state. Timely approval of thosetransactions is necessary so providers can swiftly make the best use of thespectrum that is available to them. Additionally, state regulators can help educate local municipalities. Acting as a resource on the capacity constraints of wireless networks may help to smooth tower siting approvals so providers can build out and expand their networks, allowing consumers to continue to enjoy unfettered access to mobile broadband.
State regulators should also encourage their federal counterparts to act now to free more spectrum for mobile. Congress is working on federal legislation authorizing the FCC to conduct incentive auctions and we strongly urge them to enact legislation quickly. As Jonathan said yesterday, “we need to stop playing games; it can take seven to 10 years to put any new spectrum into not only the pipeline but into commercial deployment. We don’t have time to waste.”
Consumers are demanding a mobile future. Policymakers must act now on these opportunities, before the spectrum crunch becomes a reality and millions of Americans are left waiting for many of the advantages mobile broadband can offer.
Posted: 01/31/12 by Jonathan Spalter
On Capitol Hill today lawmakers discussed the urgent need to address spectrum capacity to meet exploding consumer demand for wireless connectivity. And not a moment too soon. In today’s wireless market, data-intensive mobile devices are gobbling bandwidth at an astounding rate, literally sucking the oxygen out of the wireless ecosystem. In fact, the FCC’s own data shows the U.S. exhausting its current supply of mobile spectrum by 2013.
It’s critical that policymakers move immediately to sustain the pace of mobile innovation and investment in the United States. And one of the more immediate ways they can do is to move ahead now with voluntary spectrum auctions. Implementing a spectrum auction process that is open to all stakeholders will continue to fuel economic recovery and help ensure that consumers will have enough spectrum to meet exponentially growing demand in today’s competitive wireless market.
It is well documented that the expansion of licensed wireless broadband networks and services is driving economic growth, creating jobs, and enhancing productivity. In fact, a study released last week by economists Robert Shapiro and Kevin Hassett indicated the transition from 2G to 3G created almost 1.6 million jobs between April 2007 and June 2011, and the build out of 4G should add over 230,000 new U.S. jobs by the end of this year.
Now is the time for leadership. Policymakers on Capitol Hill, at the FCC and in the Administration must work together to chart a clear path to address the nation's immediate spectrum deficit. More than 300 million wireless consumers are waiting. And the clock is ticking.
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Tags: Applications, Consumer Awareness, Consumer Benefits, Innovation, March Madness, Mobile Applications, News, Wireless Innovation