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GLOBAL
NETWORK |
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| US
Wireless Data Usage Surges 63% |
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The
US wireless trade body, CTIA says that wireless data service revenues
for the first half of 2007 rose to US$10.5 billion. This represents
a 63% increase over the first half of 2006, when data revenues were
US$6.5 billion. Wireless data revenues now amount to 15.5% of all
wireless service revenues, and represent money that consumers spend
on non-voice services.
"American consumers are continuing to turn to wireless for their
voice and data needs," said CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent.
"As wireless devices continue to evolve to meet ever-changing
consumer demands, we are seeing an increase in the number of subscribers
who are using wireless to surf the Internet, listen to music, watch
video and take photographs. Wireless is the only medium that allows
consumers to stay in-touch and connected while on-the-go and its popularity
and usefulness continues to grow," continued Largent.The survey
also revealed that text messaging again set new records, |
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with
28.8 billion messages reported in the month of June 2007 alone -
almost one billion messages a day. This represents an increase of
130% over June 2006. Wireless subscribers continue to capture and
send more pictures and other multi-media messages, sending 2.6 billion
MMS messages in the first half of 2007 - almost as many as were
sent in all of 2006.
As of June 2007, the industry survey
recorded more than 243 million wireless users. This represents a
year-over-year increase of almost 24 million subscribers. The industry’s
12-month record for subscriber growth was reached in 2005, when
25.7 million new users came online.
Other highlights of the survey include:
wireless customers using more than 1.1 trillion minutes in the first
half of 2007, up 18% over the first half of 2006, and generating
more than $67 billion in total wireless revenues in six months..
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| Intel
starts production at new $3b plant |
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Intel
would have by now, started production at a new $3 billion factory
in Arizona, that is its first to mass-produce microchips with circuits
almost a third smaller than before, the company said recently.
According to Reuters News Agency, the new facility, called Fab 32,
will start production on Thursday of a chip design known as Penryn
that has circuits just 45 nanometers wide, compared with the 65 nanometers
that is used now. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.
Smaller circuits usually translate into higher computing speeds and
lower energy consumption. Chipmakers also see improved productivity
because they can squeeze more circuits onto a given area of silicon.
Penryn chips will be used in desktops, laptops and server computers
that run networks. The processors are scheduled to hit the market
on November 12, Intel said.
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The
design uses a transistor that Intel unveiled last year, an advance
that was hailed as the biggest breakthrough in four decades to the
basic building block of microchips.
The factory, located in Chandler, where
Intel has several other facilities, helps the world's biggest chip
maker maintain its manufacturing edge over rival Advanced Micro
Devices, which now makes processors on 65 nanometer technology and
expects to move to 45 nanometers next year.
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| Qualcomm
introduces dual-3G laptop chip |
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Qualcomm
Inc. has launched a chip that will make it easier to build laptops
compatible with the two dominant cellular broadband technologies
in the United States.
Currently, business-oriented laptops are generally available with
chips for either AT&T Inc.'s, Verizon Wireless' or Sprint Nextel
Corp.'s networks. AT&T's network uses a technology called HSPA,
or High-Speed Packet Access, while Sprint and Verizon Wireless use
EV-DO, or Evolution-Data Optimized.
Both network technologies are also
being rolled out overseas, with HSDPA being the dominant choice.
Qualcomm's new Gobi chip can connect to either type of network,
which should make it easier for laptop users to shop around for
the carrier that has the best coverage and prices in their area.
The chips are available immediately, and Qualcomm expects them to
appear in laptops in the second quarter of next year.
The chips may increase the choices
for cellular broadband users, but those networks are competing not
just with each other but with WiMax, another long-range wireless
technology that promises higher data speeds on a network that's
cheaper to build. Qualcomm's chip does not support WiMax.
In the U.S., Sprint is building a WiMax network, in alliance with
Clearwire Corp., which already has a network in parts of the country. |
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