VoIP News: VoIP Hardware

Returns from multimedia IP telephony solutions in 2014 will more than triple by 2009, Infonetics Research has said.

The communications industry market research firm has forecast that worldwide IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) equipment vendor revenue will rise to $1.44 billion (£950 million) in 2014.

Income from multimedia VoIP solutions equipment totalled $426 million (£281 million) in 2009, with the year's fourth quarter up 92 per cent on the previous quarter.

The fourth quarter of 2009 was also the first quarter in which revenue from IMS equipment for mobile networks outstripped that of IMS equipment for fixed-line networks.

Diane Myers, directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, said that the company expects "strong annual growth for at least the next five years" from IMS.

Deployments of LTE is expected to drive IMS growth from 2012, with telecommunications industry leaders currently looking to agree on a standard for rolling out voice and SMS over 4G.

The likes of Wi-Max and LTE could eventually see high-definition mobile VoIP phones supersede traditional mobile voice services, technology news and reviews website PCWorld said recently.

Posted on: 2010-03-08, in: VoIP Hardware

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The number of Wi-Max deployments worldwide in 2009 far outstripped deployments of LTE and HSPA, TeleGeography has said.

There were over 600 Wi-Max networks rolled out last year, compared to only 300 HSPA networks and 70 LTE networks, according to the global communications markets research company.

Wi-Max has the potential to boost the availability of mobileIP telephony solutions, as networks using the technology offer fully mobile internet access.

While few Wi-Max networks offer widespread coverage, demand for them is set to increase as they can offer wireless broadband access in rural areas, making mobile VoIP solutions more reliable.

This demand will see Wi-Max continue to grow, despite TeleGeography predicting that the next-generation mobile communication standard LTE and HSPA, another mobile broadband technology, will begin to supersede it in 2010.

"While the footprint of Wi-Max worldwide is still growing steadily, LTE deployments should gain momentum in 2010 and 2011," Peter Bell, analyst at TeleGeography.

The roll-out of LTE could be the "revolutionary" catalyst for the transition of VoIP phones and broadband speeds to mobile devices, broadband communications forum BroadbandIgnite said recently.

Posted on: 2010-02-16, in: Hardware, VoIP Hardware

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In a report on the Mobile Unified Communications market, TMCnet, the online industry magazine, has identified an increase in the range of VoIP solutions available to consumers.

The report analyses Google's just-hinted tablet, which is expected to be VoIP-capable as part of Google's overall corporate commitment to integration, with Google Voice and other VoIP solutions forecast to be available on the product.

And tablets are growing in importance, with ABI Research recently forecasting that four million media tablets will be shipped worldwide this year.

Apple got in the act just recently with the launch of its iPad.

Jeff Orr, ABI Research's senior analyst, said: "While laptops are focused on productivity, and mobile phones are still primarily about communication, the main focus of media tablets is entertainment."

He also stressed the importance of mobility to these devices, stating that content consumed on laptops and smartphones is increasingly based on Internet services. Home networks and mobile broadband data services make viewing possible without wires. These media tablets could not have come to market any sooner than 2010.?

And as tablets typically come with a variety of in-built devices necessary for VoIP, ranging from webcams to microphones to high-bandwidth routers, it is expected that the growth in the emerging tablet sector will have direct effects on VoIP.

Posted on: 2010-02-03, in: VoIP Hardware

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Consumer electronics and computer software company Apple launched its new tablet computer, the iPad, yesterday.

The device is designed for web browsing, emailing, viewing photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games and reading ebooks.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, said that the iPad "defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

The iPad, available late March, will come in to versions, one with Wi-Fi and one with both Wi-Fi and 3G.

The inclusion of Wi-Fi and 3G gives the iPad the potential to use IP telephony solutions, such as applications which allow it to perform similar functions to VoIP phones.

The iPad's 3G connection allows users to obtain speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps through HSDPA networks. Combined with the latest Wi-Fi, this should allow HD VoIP solutions to be used with the iPad.

IDC predicted the iPad's arrival last month, saying that it will help push the number of mobile devices accessing the internet by the end of 2010 up to one billion.

Posted on: 2010-01-29, in: VoIP Hardware

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Support for VoIP solutions is set to grow through to 2014 and beyond, according to a report.

The study by Juniper Research - "Mobile Cloud Applications & Services: Monetising Enterprise & Consumer Markets 2009-2014" - highlights the importance of data storage for the mobile phone sector.

Cloud applications and services are used by VoIP carriers to support applications, provide operational infrastructure and better shuttle the flow of data.

The report identifies the growth area on the basis of expansion of VoIP supporting mechanisms, such as HTML5, combined with a greater adoption of smartphone technology by the enterprise space.

HTML5 has been used by Google as an alternative to Adobe Flash as a platform for delivering Google Voice on the Apple iPhone.

The one blot on the cloud sector's horizon is the growing issue of security, though companies such as McAfee and Kaspersky are working on this.

Dr Windsor Holden, author of the Juniper Research report, said: "Not only is it imperative for cloud providers to ensure that access to and storage of customer data is secure, but that the procedures that they put in place in this regard - including data backup strategies - are transparent to the customer."

Posted on: 2010-01-28, in: VoIP Hardware

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