|
CommunicationsOnly Articles on Communications - Free Articles on All Aspects of Communication. Read Communications news, reviews, stories, information and articles. 1/18/2008Google sees surge in iPhone trafficThe New York Times Of all the iPhone's features, none had reviewers gushing more than its Internet browser.
It was the first cell phone browser that promised something resembling the experience of surfing the Internet on a PC. Santa helped deliver on that promise. On Christmas, traffic to Google from iPhones surged, surpassing incoming traffic from any other type of mobile device, according to internal Google data made available to The New York Times. A few days later, iPhone traffic to Google fell below that of devices powered by the Nokia-backed Symbian operating system but remained higher than traffic from any other type of cell phone. The data is striking because the iPhone, an Apple product, accounts for just 2 percent of smartphones worldwide, according to IDC, a market research firm. Phones powered by Symbian make up 63 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, while those powered by Microsoft's Windows Mobile have 11 percent and those running the BlackBerry system have 10 percent. The iPhone has taken the frustration out of browsing on a mobile phone, said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company. Other companies confirmed the trends, if not the specific data, observed by Google. Yahoo, for instance, said iPhones accounted for a disproportionate amount of its mobile traffic. And AdMob, a firm that shows billions of ads on mobile Web sites every month, said it saw traffic from iPhones surge drastically around Christmas. "Consumers are going to demand Internet browsers" as good as Apple's, said Vic Gundotra, a Google vice president who oversees mobile products. Gundotra said Web browsers as capable as the iPhone's could also prove a boon for developers of mobile software, who have long struggled to adapt their programs to different types of phones. As it does on the PC, he said, the browser could provide a more homogeneous "layer" for programmers. "The reason no one considered this seriously is that the Web layer on mobile devices was terrible," he said. Google has taken advantage of the capabilities of the iPhone browser to create a product, internally called Grand Prix, that it says provides easy access to many of the company's services, including search, Gmail, Reader and Picasa. Google, which developed the first version of Grand Prix in six weeks, is introducing a new version on Monday, just six weeks after the first one. That is a speed of development not previously possible on mobile phones, he said. John Markoff contributed reporting from San Francisco.
Entire contents, Copyright © 2008 The New York Times. All rights reserved.  
InformationWeek People can sign up for the service at PizzaHut.com and then add their mobile phone number to the account. They can create a customized "Pizza Playlist" with their favorite menu choices and use it as a guide when texting an order to Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is offering a second option that requires people to visit its Web site on a phone's browser. The Web site has been optimized to work on small screens, according to Pizza Hut. It works just like the desktop version where people can browse the complete menu and place their order on the site. Pizza Hut isn't the first to enable orders on mobile phones. Domino's and Papa John's offer similar services. The growing trend of mobile ordering has attracted startups like Mobo Systems to create services that simplify the process. Mobo's service, called GoMobo, is kind of like Fandango for food, according to CEO Noah Glass, who recently met with InformationWeek. GoMobo lets subscribers (who sign up for the service) order and pay ahead online through a mobile Web browser or by sending a text message -- all without having to wait in long lines at restaurants. Restaurants receive orders via Internet-connected computers using GoMobo's proprietary software, or through a fax machine. The service first launched in New York City and is being rolled out nationwide. GoMobo is expected to be live in three major cities and at more than 5,000 restaurants by the end of this year.
1/16/2008Study children and cell phones, experts adviseA few studies have indicated a possible link between mobile telephone use and brain tumors, although far more show no connection. But because wireless devices have become almost ubiquitous, researchers wants to ensure their safety. The Food and Drug Administration asked the National Research Council to recommend some future lines of study. The Council, which advises Congress and the federal government on scientific matters, held a meeting of experts including engineers and biologists and has now released the full report. Most studies have looked only at short-term effects on healthy adults, the report said. More study needs to be done on multiple, long-term, low-intensity radiofrequency (RF) exposure, the report said. "Measuring the amount of RF energy received by juveniles, children, pregnant women, and fetuses from wireless devices and RF base station antennas could help define exposure ranges for various populations," the council said in a statement. "Although it is unknown whether children are more susceptible to RF exposure, they may be at increased risk because of their developing organ and tissue systems," it added. "Additionally, Specific Absorption Rates for children are likely to be higher than for adults, because exposure wavelength is closer to the whole-body resonance frequency for shorter individuals." The report also notes that children today will experience a longer period of RF field exposure from mobile phones than adults, because they will most likely start using them at an early age. Researchers should also analyze the different types of antennas for the amount of RF energy they deliver to different parts of the body. (Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Alan Elsner)
|
|